I am on my currently relaxing on Seth's couch while he tries to make a concoction so that he can see the faeries that I see. I am trying to stay calm, as I have agreed to go to a carnival with Keenan, a faery. He does not know that I know he is a faery though. I am trying to find out what they want with me!
TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to: Grab your current read.
The man's breath smelled like clean dirt. Like most Middle Easterners, he valued cleanliness far more than your typical westerner - even here in the desert, assuming he hadn't been out long enough to have been driven to a city, the man would take care to bathe each day. Ryan could still smell the soap on him. (p26, uncorrected proof, Boneman's Daughter by Ted Dekker)
It is time for another edition of Mailbox Monday hosted by The Printed Page or In Your Mailbox hosted by The Story Siren. I am trying to get caught up on books that I have received in the mail, but have not featured here yet - so here are all the books that I received in February and March from blogger giveaways!
From Fantastic Fiction: Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend's restless spirit.
In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the multiple-award-winning Speak, best-selling author Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia's descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery.
Sway by Zachary Lazar was won from Wendy at Wendy's Minding Spot. From the back cover: At the razor's edge of an era, the worlds of the Rolling Stones and Charles Manson accidentally converged. Sway is the story of those two forces and how they became entwined in the last days of the 1960s. It is the story of the young Rolling Stones - beating out their new sound and their new identities in freezing apartments and tiny clubs - and it is the story of Bobby Beausoleil, a handsome drifter under a dangerous influence. With uncanny artistry, Zachary Lazar weaves scenes from these real lives into a true but heightened reality, making superstars human and demons palpable and restoring mythic events to the scale of daily life.
Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman was won from Mari at Mari Reads. From the back cover: Something mysterious is happening in Skeleton Creek. Something scary. Something sinister.
Ryan came close to it . . . and nearly died. Now he's trapped in his house. He can't trust anyone -- not even himself.
He is forbidden from seeing his best friend, Sarah. So while Ryan is isolated and alone, she plunges back into the mystery, putting her life on the line to get to the truth.
Ryan is desperately trying to write down the full story. And while he does, Sarah takes videos of what she finds, then sends him the links so he can watch.
Together, they discover: The past is dangerous. The present is haunted. And the future is deadly.
From the back cover: A kind, bookish only child born in the 1940s, Alice Lindgren has no idea she will one day end up in the White House, married to the president. In her small Wisconsin hometown she learns the virtues of politeness, but a tragic accident when she is seventeen shatters her identity and changes the trajectory of her life. More than a decade later, when the charismatic son of a powerful Republican family sweeps her off her feet, she is surprised to find herself admitted into a world of privilege. And when her husband unexpectedly becomes governor and then president, she discovers that she is married to a man she both loves and fundamentally disagrees with - and that her private beliefs increasingly run against her public persona. As er husband's presidency enters its second term, Alice must confront contradictions years in the making and face questions nearly impossible to answer.
Drood by Dan Simmons was won from Carey at The Tome Traveller's Weblog.From the inside cover: Drood is the name and nightmare that obsesses Charles Dickens for the last five years of his life.
On June 9, 1865, Dickens and his mistress are secretly returning to London, when their express train hurtles over a gap in a trestle. All of the first-class carriages except the one carrying Dickens are smashed to bits in the valley below. When Dickens descends into that valley to confront the dad and dying, his life will e changed forever. And at the core of that ensuing five-year nightmare is. . .
Drood. . .the name that Dickens whispers to his friend Wilkie Collins A laudanum addict and lesser novelist, Collins flouts Victorian sensibilities by living with one mistress while having a child with another, but he may be the only man on Earth with whom Dickens can share the secret of . . .
Drood. Increasingly obsessed with crypts, cemeteries, and the precise length of time it would take for a corpse to dissolve in a lime pit, Dickens ceases writing for four years and wanders the worst slums and catacombs of London at night while staging public readings during the day, gruesome readings that leave his audiences horrified. Finally he begins writing what would have been the world's first great mystery masterpiece, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, only to be interrupted forever by. . .
Drood.
Based on actual biographical events, Drood explores the still-unresolved mysteries of one of our greatest writer's dark final days in a profoundly original tale that confirms Lincoln Child's assessment of New York Times bestselling author Dan Simmons as "a giant among novelists."
The Terror by Dan Simmons was won from Kalea at Enroute to Life.From the back cover: The men on board the HMS Terror - part of the ill-fated 1845 Franklin Expedition - are entering a second summer in the Arctic Circle without a thaw, stranded in a nightmarish landscape of ice and desolation. Endlessly cold, they struggle to survive with poisonous rations and a dwindling coal supply. But their real enemy is even more terrifying. There is something out there in the frigid darkness: an unseen predator staking their ship, a monstrous terror clawing to get in.
Staging Your Comeback by Christopher Hopkins was won somewhere but somehow I can't find from whom! 
From the back cover: A Single mom, a struggling carpenter, and two hearts in need of renewal.
Leslie Ruskin has just purchased the historic Midlands Building, which - like her life - needs a little renovation. She and her five-year-old daughter are starting over after a devastating divorce - but standing on the sidewalk looking up at the seedy downtown brownstone, Leslie wonders if she's done the right thing. It needs work. A lot of work.
Jack Kenyon, a master carpenter, is starting over too. Beginning his own construction business, he seems to be the perfect man for the project. But haunted by loneliness, his past failures, and the lost relationship with his own young daughter, Jack finds it difficult to maintain his sobriety.
As Leslie struggles to manage as a single mom, work begins; she's thrilled when the commercial space rents to experienced restaurateurs and excited when the renovation exposes a mystery on the first floor. But even as Jack an Leslie discover a growing attraction, Jack's old demons begin to surface. Will the whole project derail - or will they find the renewal their lives so desperately need?
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford was won from Katrina at Stone SouP. From the inside cover: In the opening pages of Jamie Ford's stunning debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle's Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol.
This simple act takes Henry back to the 1940s, when his world was a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who was obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American. While "scholarshipping" at the exclusive Ranier Elementary, where the white kids ignore him, Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese American student. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship - and innocent love - that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. After Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war will end and that their promise to each other will be kept.
Forty years later, Henry Lee, certain that the parasol belonged to Keiko, searches the hotel's dark, dusty basement for signs of the Okabe family's belongings and for a long-lost object whose value he cannot even begin to measure. now a widower, Henry is still trying to find his voice: words that might explain the actions of his nationalistic father; words that might bridge the gap between him and his modern, Chinese American son; words that might help him confront the choices he made many years ago.
Set during one of the most conflicted and volatile times in American history, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is an extraordinary story of commitment and enduring hope. In Henry and Keiko, Jamie Ford has created an unforgettable duo whose story teaches us of the power of forgiveness and the human heart.
From the cover: Who says exercise is good for one's health? Certainly not Polly Dent!
Polly Dent Loses Grip on the treadmill and takes a fatal spill that's ruled an accident.
While helping her mother-in-law move into Bridgeton Towers Assisted Living & Nursing, LaTisha Barnhart's nose smells trouble simmering. The residents' gossip is revealing all kinds of motives for murder.
Can LaTisha stay on her achin' feet, and one step ahead of the villain, long enough to solve yet another crime?
As Abigail follows him across the border into Canada, her journey is awash in memories of family and childhood, especially those of her younger sister Hailey. Even as Abigail races into her future, her past continues to pull her back. Only when she is brought to the edge of her obsession will she be able to come to terms with the tragedy that ignited it.
Jennifer of Jennifer's Book Blog awarded me The Splash Award!
The Rules:
1) Put the logo on your blog/post.
2) Nominate up to 9 blogs which allure, amuse, bewitch, impress, or inspire you.
3) Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4) Let them know that they have been splashed by commenting on their blog.
5) Remember to link to the person from whom your received your Splash award.
This award goes to:
An Iowa Mom
Kathy - Bermudaonion
Amy - My Friend Amy
Shelleen - Shelleen's Musings
Sweetsue
Tammy - Tammy's Book nook
The Book Muncher
Carey - The Tome Traveller's Weblog
Wendi - Wendi's Book Corner
From A Bookish Mom I also received The Lemonade Stand Award!
This equals 3436 pages read. Now I see my discrepency - this is 300 more pages than February - duh - longer books!
If you have read and reviewed any of the above books - or any books from my archive - please leave me your link and I will add it to my review!
I had one challenge end in March which I completed - this was the Well-Seasoned Reader.
Here is a list of challenges and progress - you will see that some of them are completed, but I am not going to do a wrap up on them until they are officially over.
Christian Readers Challenge 21/5 - Completed
Book Awards Challenge 6/10
Unshelved Reading Challenge 0/3
Daring Book for Girls 3/9
Themed Reading Challenge 0/4 (6)
Numbers Challenge 0/5
The Countdown Challenge 26/45
Outlander Challenge 0/7
Genre Challenge 8/12
Whitcoull's Challenge 1/7
Chunkster 3/6
Series Challenge Season 3 2
9 Books from '09 7/9
100+ Reading Challenge 35/100
18th and 19th Century Women Writers 0/4
2009 ARC Reading Challenge 27 - Completed
2009 Chick Lit Challenge 16/10 - Completed
2009 Pub Challenge 12/9 - Completed
2009 Suspense and Thriller Reading Challenge 4/12
999 Challenge 33/81
A to Z Challenge (authors) 13/26
A to Z Challenge (titles) 11/26
Art History Reading Challenge 0/6
Audiobook Challenge 2/12
Celebrate the Author challenge 0/12
Centuries Reading Challenge 0/4
Colorful Reading Challenge 2/9
Daniel Defoe 0/2
Decades '09 0/9
Dewey's Books Reading Challenge 1/6
Harlequin/Silhoutte Challenge 0/5
John Steinbeck 0/2
New Author Challenge 29/50
Read Your Name Challenge 6/8
Romance Reading Challenge 10/5 - Completed
Sarah Dessen 0/2
Science Book Challenge 1/3
Scott Westerfeld 0/2
Seconds Challenge 3/12
Serial Readers Challenge 8
Support Your Local Library 8/50
What's in a Name 2/6
World War II Challenge 0/5
YA Challenge 9/12
Young Readers 59/12 - Completed
5 Under 35 0
Books coming up for April:
Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark - Donna Lea Simpson (already finished)
An Offer You Can't Refuse - Jill Mansell (already finished)
Rachel's Tears - Beth Nimmo and Darrell Scott
The Boneman's Daughter - Ted Dekker
Fatal Illusions - Adam Blumer
The Girl She Used to Be - David Cristofano
Unquiet Bones - Mel Starr
The Lost Hours - Karen White
So Not Happening - Jenny B. Jones
New York Debut - Melody Carlson
Fire Me - Libby Malin
Wild Highland Magic - Kendra Leigh Castle
Fragile Eternity - Melissa Marr
Outcasts United - Warren St. John
Sag Harbor - Colson Whitehead
Big Sid's Vincati - Matthew Biberman
I currently have some giveaways posted -
10 Things I Hate About Christianity: Working Through the Frustration of Faith
Look for giveaways for these books coming up soon:
An Offer You Can't Refuse
The Girl Who Stopped Swimming
Dear Mom
Mama's Got a Fake I.D.
Enduring Justice
I am also going to host my first author (or possible authors, if I can get my act together!) - But Karen White author of The Lost Hours will be here the end of the month - so be sure to watch for her!
Thanks to Anna and Hachette Books - I have up to 5 copies of Bobbi Brown Living Beauty by Bobbi Brown (with Marie Clare Katigbak) to give away!Now for the rules!
How do you enter? (ALL ENTRIES MUST LEAVE EMAIL ADDRESS!)
Here are my finds for this week - only three as I am still a little under the weather. Thank you to everyone for both the birthday wishes and the get well wishes!
I just found this one yesterday from At Home With Books.
The story begins in 1862, when Dr. Joseph Bryarly leaves England to head Richmond's Wingate Asylum, run by the sadistic and scarred Captain Samuel Percy. Bryarly launches his own war battling the Captain on behalf of the inmates, while also battling his own demons. On the frontlines near Fredericksburg, seventeen-year-old Zeke Gibson joins his brother, Corporal Billy Gibson. In the midst of heavy fighting, they are separated. Each embarks on a path that will take him deep into lunacy and a struggle for survival as the war progresses and their fates become intertwined with Dr. Bryarly's.
Coventry by Helen Humphreys
Etta by Gerald KolpanI found this one at Booking Mama.
Beautiful, elusive, and refined, Etta Place captivated the nation at the turn of the last century as she dodged the law with the Wild Bunch, led by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Her true identity and fate have remained a mystery that has tantalized historians for decades. Now, for the first time, Gerald Kolpan envisions this remarkable woman’s life in a stunning debut novel.
Kolpan imagines that Etta Place was born Lorinda Jameson, the daughter of a prominent financier, who becomes known as the loveliest of the city’s debutantes when she makes her entrance into Philadelphia society. Though her position in life is already assured, her true calling is on horseback. She can ride as well as any man and handle a rifle even better. But when a tragedy leads to a dramatic reversal of fortune, Lorinda is left orphaned, penniless, homeless, and pursued by the ruthless Black Hand mafia.
Rechristened “Etta Place” to ensure her safety, the young woman travels to the farthest reaches of civilization, working as a “Harvey Girl” waitress in Grand Junction, Colorado. There, fate intervenes once more and she again finds herself on the run from the ruthless Pinkerton Detective Agency. But this time she has company. She soon finds herself at the legendary hideout at Hole-in-the-Wall, Wyoming, where she meets the charismatic Butch Cassidy and the handsome, troubled Harry Longbaugh, a.k.a. the Sundance Kid. Through a series of holdups and heists, Etta and Harry begin an epic and ultimately tragic romance, which will be the greatest of Etta’s life. Then, when Etta meets the young and idealistic Eleanor Roosevelt, her life is changed forever.
Blending a compelling love story, high adventure, and thrilling historical drama, Etta is an electrifying novel. With a sweeping 1900s setting, colorful storytelling, and larger-than-life characters, Etta is a debut that is both captivating and unforgettable. (description from Amazon)
Title: Lady Anne and the Howl in the DarkShe had dressed her bonnet with some of the purple tulips from her crushed bouquet, and as they nodded above her shadowed face, she looked both absurd and oddly adorable. He glanced at the path then back at her. It was true her nose was a little too long and her chin too pointed. There was a faint equine suggestion about the nose and generous mouth. Her color was good, though, and her dark hair glossy; she glowed with health and vivacity. (from Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark, p 207, uncorrected copy)
"But cultivated gardens have their place, my lord," she said, ambling toward the eddy, a swirling, shadowed pool at the base of the waterfall. She stood on a humped hillock of moss and stared, admiring the sparkle of sunlight on the drops that scattered as a rivulet hit a rock. Mist billowed from the force of the falls and bedewed her cheeks. (from Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark, p 215, uncorrected copy)
Charla Krupp, beauty editor and expert, known for her real woman's approach to looking fabulous, offers brutally frank and foolproof advice on how not to look old.
Read an excerpt.
Now for the rules!
How do you enter? (ALL ENTRIES MUST LEAVE EMAIL ADDRESS!)
Congratulations go out to Martha E, Valorie, MJ, Olympian Lady and Sharon!
You have each won a copy of Jantsen's Gift. You have all been emailed. Please send me your mailing address within 72 hours or I will need to pick new winners!
Please spread the word - I will be hosting 3 more giveaways from Hachette and 3 giveaways from Multnomah later this week!
This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:
Once Upon a Fastball by Bob Mitchell
Publisher: Kensington Publishing
Available: April 28, 2009
Description: Your legacy is in the Attic.
The words leap from the cryptic poem left for Harvard professor Seth Stein by his Papa Sol, the doting grandfather who vanished without a trace two years earlier. It was Papa Sol who instilled an unquenchable passion for baseball in Seth’s soul; it was Sol who also ignited Seth’s obsession with history, spinning fabulous tales of times and people long gone.
Seth is still searching for answers to Papa Sol’s disappearance when the poem leads him to a scuffed, yellowed baseball resting in a box handmade by his grandfather. A single touch of the rough leather thrusts Seth through the swirling vortex of history onto the streets of 1950s Brooklyn, and then to the greatest baseball game ever played, the Bobby Thomson “Shot Heard ’Round the World” play-off classic. In this surreal, sepia-toned site of past glory, Seth begins a wondrous, life-changing odyssey to find the answers he so desperately seeks.
Suspenseful, thought-provoking, funny, and poignant, this beautifully crafted novel is a joyous tribute to our inspiring and timeless national pastime, and a rare treasure for all those who love baseball.
This was a fun challenge and I am glad that I participated. Thank you Book Nut for hosting!
