Blue Like Play Dough Blog Tour

Blue Like Play Dough by Tricia Goyer

Be sure to watch for this one around the blogosphere this week as it tours with Random House. I have about 50 pages left in the book and plan to finish it this evening. It is a very good book and I love the way that it shows all those "imperfect" mothering moments that we all try to hide and deny that we have - and shows how God uses those to help us grow - or to mold us (you know - like play dough). But enough from me - I will be posting my review later this week!

Summary (from Random House): In the everyday stretch and squeeze of motherhood, Tricia Goyer often feels smooshed by the demands of life. In Blue Like Play Dough, she shares her unlikely journey from rebellious, pregnant teen to busy wife and mom with big dreams of her own. As her story unfolds, Tricia realizes that God has more in store for her than she has ever imagined possible.

Sure, life is messy and beset by doubts. But God keeps showing up in the most unlikely places–in a bowl of carrot soup, the umpteenth reading of Goodnight Moon, a woe-is me teen drama, or play dough in the hands of a child.

In Tricia’s transparent account, you’ll find understanding, laughter, and strength for your own story. And in the daily push and pull, you’ll learn to recognizes the loving hands of God at work in your life… and know He has something beautiful in mind.

Author bio: Tricia Goyer is the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, including Generation NeXt Parenting and the Gold Medallion finalist Life Interrupted. Goyer writes for publications such as Today’s Christian Woman and Focus on the Family, speaks to women’s groups nationwide and has been a presenter at the Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) national convention. She and her husband, John, live with their family in Montana.



I currently have a giveaway going on for Blue Like Play Dough which ends Aug 4th.

If you can't wait for the giveaway - purchase Blue Like Play Dough.

Wonderful Win: Stand the Storm by Breena Clarke

Stand the Storm by Breena Clarke

Publisher: Back Bay Book/Hachette Book Group

I won this book from Dar at Peeking Between the Pages. Thanks Dar!

About the book: Even though Sewing Annie Coats and her son, Gabriel, have managed to buy their freedom, their lives are still marked by constant struggle and sacrifice. Washington's Georgetown neighborhood, where the Coatses operate a tailor shop and laundry, is supposed to be a "promised land" for former slaves but is effectively a frontier town, gritty and dangerous, with no laws protecting black people.

The remarkable emotional energy with which the Coatses wage their daily battles - as they negotiate with their former owner, as they assist escaped slaves en route to freedom, as they prepare for the encroaching war, and as they strive to love each other enough -- is what propels Stand the Storm and makes the novel's startling denouement so powerfully affecting. (from the back cover.)

About the author: Breena Clarke grew up in Washington, DC, and was educated at Webster College and Howard University. She is also the author of the novel River, Cross My Heart, which was a selection of Oprah's Book Club and became an international bestseller. (from the back cover)

Stand the Storm
Publisher/Publication Date: Back Bay Books, Reprint June 2009
ISBN: 978-0-316-00705-4
352 pages

Do you care about animals? (giveaway)

Do you want to help them but don't know what you can do? Then this giveaway is for you!
The Practical Guide to Animal Rights (Simple Acts of Kindness to Help Animals in Trouble) by Ingrid Newkirk

Please visit my post about The Practical Guide to learn more about this book. To enter this giveaway - please let me know if there is anything you have done to help or rescue animals or why you would like to win this book (or who you would like to win it for). This is open to U.S. only. I have one book to giveaway and this giveaway will end Aug 17. Must leave email address in entry to be valid.

The Practical Guide to Animal Rights
Publisher/Publication Date: St. Martin's Griffin, May 2009
ISBN: 978-0-312-55994-6
496 pages

Me, Just Different Blog Tour and Review

Me, Just Different by Stephanie Morrill

Publisher: Revell/Baker Publishing

First sentence: I wanted to refuse Eli, but I couldn't after the night we'd had.

My synopsis: Skylar was your typical rich party girl - hanging out with the "in" crowd, going to all the cool parties -- until someone slips something in her drink at a summer bash. Eli, a good friend and her best friend's ex, steps in and rescues her from what could have been an even worse situation. Skylar feels indebted to Eli and so slips into being his girlfriend. She also makes a vow to change her life, stop drinking and start going to church again.

Unfortunately Skylar's troubles are just beginning. Her parents have stopped counseling and if her dad is ever home long enough from work he usually just fights with her mom. On top of that, both Skylar and her sister Abbie have broken their mom's rule of not dating. Abbie's secret goes a bit deeper.

Then Connor and his family move to town. The friction between he and Skylar is almost instantaneous. This guy just seems to rub her the wrong way, but everywhere she turns, he seems to be there.

Add to this all the drama that comes with trying to fit in and navigate the halls of high school. How will Skylar deal with her senior year?

Read the first chapter of Me, Just Different.

My opinion: I really enjoyed reading this book! I would go so far as to say that it was one of the best YA Christian fiction books I have read this year. It showed all the confusing feelings that teens (at least teen girls) have regarding relationships with best friends and boyfriends. How important family really is and the security that it does or doesn't provide. During all this it weaves in very subtly the importance of a relationship with Christ, how forgiving He is and how He will always be by your side. Highly recommend!

About the author: Stephanie Morrill is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association and the Teen Lit writers' group. When she isn't writing or traveling, she's likely reading or experimenting with new recipes. Morrill also serves in youth ministry. She lives in suburban Overland Park, Kansas, with her husband and young daughter.

Me, Just Different
Publisher/Publication Date: Revell, July 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3377-3
256 pages

Mailbox Monday/In Your Mailbox 7-27-2009

Mailbox Monday is hosted at The Printed Page or In Your Mailbox at The Story Siren. Please stop by those posts and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week!

Purchased Pages:

1. Night World - L.J. Smith
   
2. The Apostle - Brad Thor
   
3. Path of the Assassin - Brad Thor
4. Lions of Lucerne - Brad Thor

Wonderful Win:

1. The Bone Factory - Nate Kenyon

Arc Arrivals:

1. I Can See You - Karen Rose
2. The Invention of Everything Else - Samantha Hunt
   
3. The Brutal Telling - Louise Penny
   
4. The Weight of Silence - Heather Gudenkauf
   
5. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind - William Kamkwamba
   
6. The Friends We Keep - Sarah Zacharias Davis
   
7. The Husband Project - Kathi Lipp
   
8. The Hope of Refuge - Cindy Woodsmall
   
9. Sugar Time - Jane Adams
   
10. Best Friends Forever - Jennifer Weiner
    
11. Mercury in Retrograde - Paula Froelich
    
12. The Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood
    
13. Undone - Karin Slaughter
14. Rose House - Tina Ann Forkner
15. The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper - Kathleen Y'Barbo
    
16. June Bug - Chris Fabry
    
17. The Practical Guide to Animal Rights - Ingrid Newkirk

Tome Travelers

1. Bad Cat - Jim Edgar
2. No Second Chance - Harlan Coben
3. Third Degree - Greg Iles
4. Right as Rain - George Pelecanos
5. By the Light of the Moon - Dean Koontz
   

Blog Awards

I have been honored to receive some awards this month - so I am going to take this opportunity to acknowledge them (I love getting awards!) and to pass them on!

I received the Humane Award from J.Kaye at J.Kaye's Book Blog. Her's was one of the first blogs that I discovered last year when I started blogging and it is still one of my favorites.

The Humane Award is to honor certain bloggers that are kindhearted individuals. They regularly take part in my blog and always leave the sweetest comments. If it wasn't for them, my site would just be an ordinary book review blog. Their blogs are also amazing and are tastefully done on a daily basis. This award is to thank them for their growing friendships through the blog world.

J.Kaye awarded this to a great group of bloggers - some of which would have been on my list also, but I tried not to duplicate any of her recipients, so I am going to award this one to the following bloggers:

Bridget at Readaholic
Audra at Anonymously Uncensored
Tonya at Storytime with Tonya and Friends
Mary at Bookfan Mary
Alyce at At Home with Books
Teabird at Tealeaves

The Kreativ Blogger Award I received from Nightdweller at Bibliophiles 'R' Us. Thanks Nightdweller!!

The rules are:

Once you receive this award, you are to list seven of your favorite things and then nominate seven other blogs.

Here are my seven favorite things in no particular order:

1. Family/kids
2. Books
3. Cadbury Creme Eggs
4. Candy Corn
5. Sleeping late
6. Back rubs
7. Cross stitch

I am awarding this to these seven blogs/bloggers:

1. Kelly at The Novel Bookworm
2. Gwendolyn at A Sea of Books
3. Amy at Park Avenue Princess
4. Beth at Beth's Book Review Blog
5. Mari at Bookworm with a View
6. Kim at The Book Butterfly
7. Tina at Fantastic Book Reviews
   

I also received this Lemonade Stand Award from LuAnn at Reading Frenzy. Thanks LuAnn!

The Lemonade Award is a feel good award that shows great attitude or gratitude. Here are the rules for accepting the award:

1) Put the Lemonade Award logo on your blog or post.
2) Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.
3) Link to your nominees within your post.
4) Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5) Share the love and link to the person from whom you received your award.


I have passed this one on before so I am only sending it on to 5 blogs this time:

1. Jonita at The Book Chick
2. Libby at Libby's Literary Library
3. Rhapsodyinbooks Weblog
4. Melissa at Booknut
5. Scrap Girl at Serendipity

I was also tagged by Rebecca at Lost in Books for the What's on My Desk meme. Here are the rules:

Grab a camera and take a photo of your desk! Or anywhere you stack your books/TBR pile. And no tidying!

Add this photo to your blog.

Tag at least 5 people!

Come back here and leave a link back to your photo in the comments section.

That’s it.

I have some built in bookshelves that I used to use, but they quickly became too full and so now I utilize the floor space under these built ins.

And to be honest - since these pictures were taken, I also have a large pile on my desk that are waiting to be "featured" as arrivals, as well as a stack next to the tbr shelves that were garage sale pickups!



So for this meme I am going to tag:

1. Marcia from The Printed Page
2. Linda Ellen at Bambi Reads
3. Jessica Marie at Books Love Jessica Marie
4. Yvonne at Socrates Book Reviews
5. Cindy at Cindy's Love of Books

ARC Arrival: The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

Publisher: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday

I actually got one of these from Doubleday through Shelf Awareness! I am very excited to get this one!

About the book: The times and species have been changing at a rapid rate, and the social compact is wearing as thin as environmental stability. Adam One, the kindly leader of the God's Gardeners - a religion devoted to the melding of science and religion, as well as the preservation of all plant and animal life -- has long predicted a natural disaster that will alter Earth as we know it. Now it has occurred, obliterating most human life. Two women have survived: Ren, a young trapeze dancer locked inside the high-end sex club Scales and Tails, and Toby, a God's Gardener barricaded inside a luxurious spa where many of the treatments are edible.

Have others survived? Ren's bioartist friend, Amanda? Zeb, her eco-fighter stepfather? Her onetime lover, Jimmy? Or the murderous Painballers, survivors of the mutual-elimination Painball prison? Not to mention the shadowy, corrupt policing force of the ruling powers.

Meanwhile, gene-spliced life forms are proliferating: the lion/lamb blends, the Mo'hair sheep with human hair, the pigs with human brain tissue. As Adam One and his intrepid hemp-clad band make their way through this strange new world, Ren and Toby will have to decide on their next move. They can't stay locked away. . .

By turns dark, tender, violent, thoughtful, and uneasily hilarious, The Year of the Flood is Atwood at her most brilliant and inventive. (from the back cover)

About the author: When Margaret Atwood announced to her friends that she wanted to be a writer, she was only 16 years old. It was Canada. It was the 1950s. No one knew what to think. Nonetheless, Atwood began her writing career as a poet. Published In 1964 while she was still a student at Harvard, her second poetry anthology, The Circle Game, was awarded the Governor General's Award, one of Canada's most esteemed literary prizes. Since then, Atwood has gone on to publish many more volumes of poetry (as well as literary criticism, essays, and short stories), but it is her novels for which she is best known.

Atwood's first foray into fiction was 1966's The Edible Woman, an arresting story about a woman who stops eating because she feels her life is consuming her. Grabbing the attention of critics, who applauded its startlingly original premise, the novel explored feminist themes Atwood has revisited time and time again during her long, prolific literary career. She is famous for strong, compelling female protagonists -- from the breast cancer survivor in Bodily Harm to the rueful artist in Cat's Eye to the fatefully intertwined sisters in her Booker Prize-winning novel The Blind Assassin.

Perhaps Atwood's most legendary character is Offred, the tragic "breeder" in what is arguably her most famous book, 1985's The Handmaid's Tale. Part fable, part science fiction, and part dystopian nightmare, this novel presented a harrowing vision of women's lives in an oppressive futuristic society. The Washington Post compared it (favorably) to George Orwell's iconic 1984.

As if her status as a multi-award-winning, triple-threat writer (fiction, poetry, and essays) were not enough, Atwood has also produced several children's books, including Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut (1995) and Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes (2003) -- delicious alliterative delights that introduce a wealth of new vocabulary to young readers. (from Barnes and Nobel website)

The Year of the Flood
Publisher/Publication Date: Nan A. Talese, Sept 22, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-385-52877-1
448 pages

ARC Arrival: June Bug

June Bug by Chris Fabry

Publisher: Tyndale Fiction

I received this book for a First Wild Card Tour in August.

About the book: For as long as she can remember, June Bug and her father have traveled the back roads of the country in their beat-up RV, spending many nights parked at Walmart. One day, as she walks past the greeter at the front of the store, her eyes are drawn to the pictures of missing children, where she is shocked to see herself.

This discovery begins a quest for the truth about her father, the mother he rarely speaks of, and ultimately herself. But when her father's past catches up with them, forces beyond his control draw them back to Dogwood, West Virginia, down a winding path that will change their lives forever. (from the back cover)

About the author: Chris Fabry is a native of West Virginia who hosts the daily program Chris Fabry Live! on Moody Radio. He and his wife, Andrea, are the parents of nine children. Chris is the author of Dogwood and more than 50 novels for children and young adults.

June Bug
Publisher/Publication Date: Tyndale Fiction, July 9, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4143-1956-8
336 pages

Tome Travelers - Garage Sale Day!

If you have been following me for any length of time, then you know that I love to go to garage sales - mainly for the books! I was able to pick up 5 books today.

Title: Bad Cat: Not-so-pretty kitties and cats gone bad
Author: Jim Edgar

It's the dark side that most cat owners never see. The side that wouldn't be caught dead purring. Here, captured in all their infamy, are hundreds of trouble-makers, delinquents, and dementos.

They're bad cats, with bad intentions, bad habits, and bad attitude. So the next time your sweet little ball of fur misses the litterbox, ask yourself -- was it really an accident?




Title: No Second Chance
Author: Harlan Coben

When the first bullet hit my chest, I thought of my daughter. . .

Shot twice by an unseen assailant, Dr. Marc Seidman lies in a hospital bed. His wife has been killed. His six-month-old daughter has vanished. But when the ransom note arrives, it gives Mark one chance to bring her home alive. Then something goes wrong, and Marc spirals into a world of shock and surprise, of hope and yearning, where nothing is as it seems. . .




Title: Third Degree
Author: Greg Iles

Sometimes the gravest dangers -- and the darkest souls -- live right beside us. . .

In the span of twenty-four hours, everything Laurel Shields believes about her life and her marriage to a prominent doctor will be shattered -- if she survives a terrifying ordeal. The day begins with the jarring discovery that, soon after ending an affair, Laurel is pregnant. But when she returns home to find her husband ashen, unkempt, and on the brink of violence, a nightmare quickly unfolds. In the heart of an idyllic Mississippi town, behind the walls of her perfect house, Laurel finds herself locked in a volatile standoff with a husband she barely recognizes. Confronted with evidence of her betrayal, she must tread a deadly path between truth and deception while a ring of armed police prepares a dangerous rescue. But Laurel's greatest fear -- and her only hope -- lies with her former lover, a brave man whom fate has granted the power to save both Laurel and her children -- if she can protect his identity long enough.


Title: Right as Rain
Author: George P. Pelecanos

Derek Strange is black and successful. Terry Quinn is white and barely holding on. Now Strange has been hired to investigate a police shooting in which Quinn played a major role. For Strange, a savvy and careful man, the investigation goes against his style and instinct. For Terry Quinn, Strange's questions are a chance to absolve his conscience and shake out a little truth. But in a city that lives in the shadow of a nation's dream, neither man can foresee the dirty little war that will break out around them . . . or how deadly being right can be.




Title: By the Light of the Moon
Author: Dean Koontz

Dylan O'Conner is a gifted young artist just trying to do the right thing in life. He's on his way to an arts festival in Santa Fe when he stops to get a room for himself and his twenty-year-old autistic brother, Shep. But in a nightmarish instant, Dylan is attacked by a mysterious "doctor," injected with a strange substance, and told that he is now a carrier of something that will either kill him. . .or transform his life in the most remarkable way. Then he is told that he must flee -- before the doctor's enemies hunt him down for the secret circulating through his body.

No one can help him, the doctor says, not even the police.

Stunned, disbelieving, Dylan is turned loose to run for his life. . . and straight into an adventure that will turn the next twenty-four hours into an odyssey of terror, mystery -- and wondrous discovery.

It is a journey that begins when Dylan and Shep's path intersects with that of Jillian Jackson. Before that evening Jilly was a beautiful comedian whose biggest worry was whether she would ever find a decent man. Now she too is a carrier. And even as Dylan tries to convince her that they'll be safer sticking together, cold-eyed men in a threatening pack of black Suburbans approach, only seconds before Jilly's classic Coupe DeVille explodes into thin air.

Now the three are on the run together, but with no idea whom they're running from -- or why. Meanwhile Shep has begun exhibiting increasingly disturbing behaviour. And whatever it is that's coursing through their bodies seems to have plunged them into one waking nightmare after another. Seized by sinister premonitions, they find themselves inexplicably drawn to crime scenes -- just minutes before the crimes take place.

What this unfathomable power is, how they can use it to stop the evil erupting all around them, and why they have been chosen are only parts of a puzzle that reaches back into the tragic past and the dark secrets they all share: secrets of madness, pain, and untimely death. Perhaps the answer lies in the eerie, enigmatic messages that Shep, with precious time running out, begins to repeat, about a man who does his work "by the light of the moon."

(all book descriptions were taken from back covers or book jackets)

Purchased Pages and a Giveaway!

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet Brad Thor at an author visit to our local library. The following is a repost of that visit:

Then, on Saturday, I got to meet Brad Thor, also a New York Times bestselling author - this time of thrillers, or I would call them political thrillers. Even though he was up for the Thriller of the Year award last night at Thriller Fest in NYC - he opted to come to our little ole library to continue his tour for his latest book - The Apostle. (The award went to Jeffrey Deaver for The Bodies Left Behind).

He was a great speaker and we got to hear about what pushed/enabled him to write his first novel, The Lions of Lucerne. His wife had asked him one evening (as they were drinking wine in Italy no less) that if he were on his deathbed, would there be any one thing that he would regret. He said he would regret never writing and publishing a novel. She told him then, that when they returned home, he needed to take 2 hours of time - everyday - and get busy, and she would do whatever it took to enable him to do that. (Behind every good man is a good woman you know!) And that is how The Lions of Lucerne was born. Since then he has written seven more novels.

He also entertained us with stories about his research for his last novel, The Apostle. He actually spent time with a Black Ops group in Afghanistan to learn how they would go about "recovering" someone who might be kidnapped. After he left Afghanistan, NYTimes reporter David Rohde was kidnapped by the Taliban, and the Black OPS group that he traveled with were the ones sent in to try to find him. (Mr Rohde has since escaped the Taliban last month after 7 months in captivity and is apparently in good health.) Mr. Thor said that was probably his scariest research he has ever done for a book. He also has a fun website full of pictures and information about his books - www.bradthor.com. I forgot my camera for this one - but the photographer for the library was nice enough to take our picture and will be emailing it later this week - so I will share it at that time.

I picked up a copy of his last book - The Last Patriot - and had it signed to giveaway to one of my readers.

I want to take the opportunity now to giveaway this book that I purchased and to share with you some of his other books that I either purchased that afternoon, or picked up through paperback swap since then.

The giveaway is for 2008 release - The Last Patriot - and it is autographed.

About the book: June 632 A.D.: The prophet Mohammed shares a final and startling revelation. Within days, he is assassinated. September 1789: Thomas Jefferson uncovers a conspiracy that could change the face of Islam. Present day: Men still kill to keep the secret hidden. When a car bomb explodes outside a Parisian cafe, counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath is thrust back into the life he has tried desperately to leave behind. In a race to uncover an ancient secret with the power to stop militant Islam, Harvath will risk everything to reclaim Mohammed's final revelation and defeat one of the deadliest evils the world has ever known. (from the back cover)

Easy to enter giveaway - just leave me a comment as to why you would like to win this book with your email address. Giveaway will end Aug 14. Only open to U.S. (sorry guys - this is out of pocket for me)

Other books that I have purchased this month by Brad Thor:

Title: The Lions of Lucerne

I got this book from Paperback Swap.

About the book: On the snow-covered slopes of Utah, the unthinkable has happened: The President of the United States has been kidnapped and his Secret Service detail massacred. Only one agent has survived - ex-Navy SEAL Scot Harvath. He doesn't buy the official line that Middle Eastern terrorists are responsible, and begins his own campaign to find the truth - and exact revenge. But his search makes him a marked man by the sinister cabal behind the attack.

Framed for murder by the conspirators, Harvath goes on the run, taking the fight to the towering mountains of Switzerland. There, he finds an unlikely ally: the beautiful Claudia Mueller of the Swiss Federal Attorney's Office. Together they must brave the subzero temperatures and sheer heights of treacherous Mount Pilatus - and their only chance for survival is to enter the den of the most lethal team of professional killers the world has ever known. . .(from the back cover)

Title: Path of the Assassin

I bought this at the author visit and had it autographed to me!
About the book: After rescuing the President from the kidnappers, Navy SEAL-turned-Secret Service agent Scot Harvath's bloody and twisting mission of revenge leads to one man: Hashim Nidal. Having assembled an internationalleague of Islamic terrorist networks in an ingenious plot to topple both Israel and America, Nidal must be immobilized. But Harvath and his CIA-led team have no idea what the man looks like and must recruit a woman who survived a brutal hijacking, the only person who can positively identify their quarry. From the burning deserts of North Africa to the winding streets of Rome, Scot Harvath's hunt for a ruthless madman has the world's survival at stake. (from the back cover)





Title: The Apostle

This is his latest book - I also purchased this one at the visit and had it autographed, too.

About the book: Every politician has a secret. And when the daughter of a politically connected family is kidnapped abroad, America's new president will agree to anything - even a deadly and ill-advised rescue plan - in order to keep his secret hidden.

A new administration and a new approach to dealing with America's enemies have left covert counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath without a job. But when American doctor Julia Gallo is kidnapped in Afghanistan, the terms of her ransom leave the president with only one course of action.

In a dangerous assignment that the United States government will deny any knowledge of, Scot Harvath must secretly infiltrate Kabul's notorious Policharki Prison and free the man the kidnappers demand as ransom --al-Qaoda mastermind Mustafa Khan.

But when Harvath arrives, he quickly learns that there is more to the kidnapping than anyone dares to admit. And as the subterfuge is laid bare, Harvath must examine his own career of hunting down and killing terrorists, and ask himself if he has what it takes to help one of the world's worst go free.

Brimming with the kind of ripped-from-the-headlines authenticity Brad Thor's internationally bestselling novels are known for, The Apostle doubles down on the blockbuster uccess of The Last Patriot and reaffirms Thor's status as the master of the political thriller. (from the book jacket)

His other books include State of the Union, Blowback, Takedown and The First Commandment.

Any Minute audiobook winners!

Let's hear it for:

nfmgirl
neas nuttiness
janetfaye

They have each won an audio copy of Any Minute by Joyce Meyer and Deb Bedford. All winners have been emailed and responded. Congrats!

The Friday 56: Hollywood is Like Highschool with Money

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.




Kylie. Her moment of sisterly advice in the kitchen replayed itself in y head with a flash. Trade info. Honesty is pretty much always the best policy. I winced involuntarily. (p56, Hollywood is Like High School with Money)











Hollywood is Like High School with Money
Publisher/Publication Date: Grand Central Publishing, July 23, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-446-69719-4
288 pages

ARC Arrival: The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper by Kathleen Y'Barbo

The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper by Kathleen Y'Barbo

Publisher: Waterbrook Press

I received this from Random House for an August blog tour.

About the book: The future is clearly mapped out for New York socialite Eugenia "Gennie" Cooper, but she secretly longs to slip into the boots of her favorite dime-novel heroine and experience just one adventure before settling down. When the opportunity arises, Gennie jumps at the chance to experience the Wild West, but her plans go awry when she is drawn into the lives of silver baron Daniel Beck and his daughter and finds herself caring for them more than is prudent -- especially as she's supposed to go back to New York and marry another man.

As Gennie adapts to the rough-and-tumble world of 1880s Colorado, she must decide whether her future lies with the enigmatic Daniel Beck or back home with the life planned for her since birth. Will Daniel's past -- and disgruntled miners bent on revenge -- take that choice away from her? (from the back cover)

About the author: Kathleen Y'Barbo is the best-selling, award-winning author of more than thirty novels, novellas, and young adult books, with more than 850,000 books in print. A graduate of Texas A&M University, she is currently a publicist with Books & Such literary agency. The mother of three grown sons and a teenage daughter, Kathleen makes her home in the Houston area. (from the back cover)

The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper
Publisher/Publication Date: Waterbrook Press, June 2009
ISBN: 978-0-307-44474-5
352 pages

ARC Arrival: Rose House by Tina Ann Forkner

Rose House by Tina Ann Forkner

Publisher: Waterbrook Press

I received this book from Random House for an August tour.

About the book: Still mourning the loss of her family in a tragic accident, Lillian Diamon finds herself drawn back to the Rose House, a quiet cottage where four years earlier she had poured out her anguish among its fragrant blossoms.

She returns to the rolling hills and lush vineyards of the Sonoma Valley in search of something she can't quite name. But then Lillian stumbles onto an unexpected discovery: displayed in the La Rosaleda Gallery is a painting that captures every detail of her most private moment of misery, from the sorrow etched across her face to the sandals on her feet.

What kind of artist would dare to intrude on such a personal scene, and how did he happen to witness Lillian's pain? As the mystery surrounding the portrait becomes entangled with the accident that claimed the lives of her husband and children, Lillian is forced to rethink her assumptions about what really happened that day.

A captivating novel rich with detail, Rose House explores how the brushstrokes of pain can illuminate the true beauty of life. (from the back cover)

About the author: Tina Ann Forkner, author of Ruby Among Us, is originally from Oklahoma. She now lives with her husband and three children in Wyoming, where she serves on the Laramie County Library Foundation Board of Directors. (from the back cover)

Rose House
Publisher/Publication Date: Waterbrook Press, May 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4000-7359-7
320 pages

ARC Arrival: Undone by Karin Slaughter

Undone by Karin Slaughter

Publisher: Delacorte Press/Random House

About the book: In the trauma center of Atlanta’s busiest hospital, Sara Linton treats the city’s poor, wounded, and unlucky—and finds refuge from the tragedy that rocked her life in rural Grant County. Then, in one instant, Sara is thrust into a frantic police investigation, coming face-to-face with a tall driven detective and his quiet female partner…. In Undone, three unforgettable characters from Karin Slaughter’s New York Times bestselling novels Faithless and Fractured collide for the first time, entering an electrifying race against the clock—and a duel with unspeakable human evil.

In the backwoods of suburban Atlanta, where Sara’s patient was found, local police have set up their investigation. But Georgia Bureau of Investigation detective Will Trent doesn’t wait for the go-ahead from his boss—he plunges through police lines, through the brooding woods, and single-handedly exposes a hidden house of horror buried beneath the earth. Then he finds another victim.…

Wresting the case away from the local police chief, Will and his partner, Faith Mitchell—a woman keeping explosive secrets of her own—are called into a related investigation. Another woman—a smart, upscale, independent young mother—has been snatched. For the two cops out on the hunt, for the doctor trying to bring her patient back to life, the truth hits like a hammer: the killer’s torture chamber has been found, but the killer is still at work.

In her latest suspense masterpiece, Karin Slaughter weaves together the moving, powerful human stories of characters as real as they arecomplex and unforgettable. At the same time she has crafted a work of dazzling storytelling and spine-tingling mystery—as three people, each with their own wounds and their own secrets, are all that stands between a madman and his next crime. (from Barnes and Noble website)

About the author: Karin Slaughter is the New York Times bestselling author of eight novels, including Beyond Reach and A Faint Cold Fear, which was named an International Book of the Month Club selection; she contributed to and edited Like a Charm. She is a native of Georgia, where she currently lives and is working on her next novel, which Delacorte Press will publish in 2010. (from Barnes and Noble website)

Undone
Publisher/Publication Date: Delacorte Press, July 2009
ISBN: 98-0-385-34196-7
448 pages

Friday Finds 7-24-2009

Here are my finds this week!

(I could not get a picture of this cover to post here.)


Heart of the Sky by Miranda Pope

Publisher: Lulu

About the book: HEART OF THE SKY celebrates the magic of place and the transforming power of an unlikely love. When recently widowed Marilyn Carpenter moves to Guatemala, she intends to volunteer for a few years after which she'll return to California to retire comfortably as a psychotherapist. When she meets Mayan farmer Juan Carlos Tuc, is it love for this man and his children or for the Guatemalan countryside and the Mayan people that she feels? For him, is it love or simply need? And when Guatemala's past suddenly intrudes, can the fabric of their relationship withstand the strain? A gracefully crafted, richly sensual tale which traverses Mayan traditions, emotional, historical and spiritual issues, and the ever-changing culture. A percentage of the profits will go to support the author's projects in Guatemala. (from Lulu website)

About the author: Miranda Pope is a former psychotherapist, social worker and teacher from California who has lived and volunteered in Guatemala for three years. This is her first published work. (from the back cover via Lulu website)

Read an excerpt of Heart of the Sky.

No Mercy by John Gilstrap

Publisher: Pinnacle

About the book: No names. No feds. No trace evidence. That's how Jonathan Grave operates. As a freelance specialist in covert rescues, he has to work outside the law to get things done—especially in highly sensitive hostage situations. But when an Indiana college student is abducted, and Jonathan's meticulous plan explodes into a deadly shooting spree, the local authorities are out for blood—and they're not alone. Someone wants to control a devastating secret... someone rich and powerful... someone willing to capture, torture, and kill anyone to get it. Even the people he loves most... (from the author's website)

Please visit his website to learn more about the author, John Gilstrap. Read a sample chapter of No Mercy.

No Mercy
Publisher/Publication Date: Pinnacle, July 2009
ISBN: 978-0786020874
400 pages

Critical Care by Candace Calvert (book review)

Title: Critical Care
Author: Candace Calvert
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers

I read this book for a First Wild Card Tour earlier this month and have been delinquent in writing the review! You can visit the tour post to read the first chapter of Critical Care.

First sentence: Don't die, little girl.

My synopsis: Claire thinks she is settling in nicely as nurse educator at Sierra Mercy, until an explosion at a daycare center thrusts her back into the ER. She is called on to provide staff support for the ER team.

Erin is a charge nurse who also leads a morning prayer circle called Faith QD. Though her relationship with God may be strong, she always seems to find the guys who are losers, and her latest is no exception.

Sarah is a tough nurse who seems to be able to anticipate Dr. Logan Caldwell's needs before he can. She always arrives early to double check equipment - but will the secret she is keeping tear apart her entire life.

Dr. Caldwell runs the ER with an iron hand. He expects nothing but the best from his nurses and doesn't fail to tell them when they don't live up to those expectations. He has no patience for "touchy-feely" during work hours. Has he detached himself from personal relationships too?

Claire is definitely needed to bring support to this ER staff, but after her firefighter brother Kevin dies in a trauma room, every day she spends in the ER is worse than the last. She has prayed and prayed for God to give her the strength to go on - so why does He keep putting her back in the middle of where her pain started?

My thoughts: This was a good book. I liked the way it showed how God works even when we think He is no where to be found. how He sometimes uses the most unexpected people to show us His love and especially how our plan is not necessarily His plan!

About the author: Candace Calvert is an ER nurse who landed on the "other side of the stethoscope" after the equestrian accident that broke her neck and convinced her love, laughter - and faith - are the very best medicines of all. The inspirational account of her accident and recovery appears in Chicken Soup for the Nurse's Soul, and launched her writing career.

Her new medical drama series offers readers a chance to "scrub in" on the exciting world of emergency medicine, along with charismatic characters, pulse-pounding action, tender romance, humor, suspense - and a soul soothing prescription for hope.

Born in Northern California and the mother of two, Candace now lives in the Hill Country of Texas. (from the back cover)

Critical Care
Publisher/Publication Date: Tyndale House Publishing, June 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4143-2543-9
304 pages

ARC Arrival: Mercury in Retrograde by Paula Froelich

Mercury in Retrograde by Paula Froelich

Publisher: Atria

Another Atria Galley Grab Book! For some reason that I cannot explain, I really like this cover!

About the book: Penelope Mercury, an intrepid reporter at the New York Telegraph, has pounded the pavement for five years from city borough to borough, carrying out her boss's eccentric orders to break stories that seem inconsequential to everyone but him. Finally, she is inches away from being promoted to her dream job--covering courtroom drama for the paper--but after one spectacularly disastrous day, she is fired instead.

Lena "Lipstick Carcrash" Lippencrass has a pretty fabulous life, even by a socialite's standards, as a top editor at the high fashion magazine Y. Long lunches with her girlfriends and afternoons spent shopping at Bergdorf's are all in a day's work. But when Lena's always indulgent parents abruptly cut off her cash flow and kick her out of her beloved West Village duplex for refusing to work for the family business, she is forced to confront the reality of what it takes to pay the bills.

Dana Gluck, a workaholic lawyer, had been married for two years to a man who was perfect on paper but increasingly critical in reality. She hoped that her dreams of motherhood would be fulfilled soon, which surely would also fix their marriage problems. Instead, her husband leaves her for an exchange student/model who, to make matters worse, promptly gets pregnant.

When fate conspires to have these three very different women move into the same SoHo apartment building, they soon discover that having their carefully planned lives fall to pieces might be the best thing that could have ever happened to them. (from the book jacket)

About the author: Paula Froelich is the deputy editor of the New York Post's Page Six column. She lives in New York City. This is her first novel. (from the book jacket)

Mercury in Retrograde
Publisher/Publication Date: Atria, June 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4165-9893-0
272 pages

ARC Arrival: Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

Publisher: Atria

I received this book from Atria Books Galley Grab!

About the book: Addie Downs and Valerie Adler will be best friends forever. That's what Addie believes after Valerie moves across the street when they're both nine years old. But in the wake of betrayal during their teenage years, Val is swept into the popular crowd, while mousy, sullen Addie becomes her school's scapegoat.

Flash-forward fifteen years, Valerie Adler has found a measure of fame and fortune working as the weathergirl at the local TV station. Addie Downs lives alone in her parents' house in their small hometown of Pleasant Ridge, Illinois, caring for a troubled brother and trying to meet Prince Charming on the Internet. She's just returned from Bad Date #6 when she opens her door to find her long-gone best friend standing there, a terrified look on her face and blood on the sleeve of her coat. "Something horrible has happened," Val tells Addie, "and you're the only one who can help."

Best Friends Forever is a grand, hilarious, edge-of-your-seat adventure; a story about betrayal and loyalty, family history and small-town secrets. It's about living through tragedy, finding love where you least expect it, and the ties that keep best friends together. (from the book jacket)

About the author: Jennifer Weiner is the New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including Good in Bed, In Her Shoes, which was made into a major motion picture, and Certain Girls. A graduate of Princeton University, she lives in Philadelphia with her family. (from the book jacket)

Best Friends Forever
Publisher/Publication Date: Atria, July 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7432-9429-4
368 pages