Waiting on Wednesday: The Last Song

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:



The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

Publisher/Publication Date: Grand Central Publishing/Sept 8, 2009

About the book: #1 bestselling author Nicholas Sparks's new novel is at once a compelling family drama and a heartrending tale of young love.

Seventeen year old Veronica "Ronnie" Miller's life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wilmington, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alientated from her parents, especially her father...until her mother decides it would be in everyone's best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him. Ronnie's father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church.

The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story of love on many levels--first love, love between parents and children -- that demonstrates, as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can, the many ways that love can break our hearts...and heal them. (from Barnes and Noble website)

About the author: Ever since The Notebook made Nicholas Sparks a word-of-mouth publishing sensation in 1996, he has maintained his status as a bestselling author of tragedy-tinged love stories. His spare, simply themed novels star ordinary people overcome by extraordinary emotions, and changed by them.

It's possible that Sparks might have enjoyed his level of popularity by writing these stories strictly from imagination, but in fact his family's struggles play an important role in many of his books, especially the earliest novels. (For exampleThe Notebook, his tale of a great love affair extending into old age, was inspired by his wife's grandparents; Message in a Bottle drew from Sparks' father's life story and A Walk to Remember from his late sister's.) In addition, a three-week trip he and his older sibling Micah undertook in 2003 became the basis for Three Weeks with My Brother, a unique memoir as moving and tenderhearted as any of his fiction.

Sparks is very methodical about his writing, an approach he makes transparent on his web site with several essays, updates on works in progress, and notes on the mechanics of his novels. Unsurprisingly, critics have faulted him for being too formulaic or cliched. Still, Sparks never fails to move his stories along quickly, maximizing emotional impact and featuring strong, down-to-earth characters. His endings also tend to depart from convention a bit, revealing tragedy where the walk into the sunset should be.

Although he is often classified as a Romance writer, Sparks is quick to point out that his books don't really satisfy the requirements of Romance publishers. Instead, he admits to writing love stories, a different genre altogether. Whatever he cares to call them, one thing's for sure: Nicholas Sparks continues to strike gold with his bittersweet novels of love and loss. (from Barnes and Noble website)

The Last Song
Publisher/Publication Date: Grand Central Publishing, Sept 2009
ISBN: 978-0446547567
400 pages




What are you waiting for? Waiting on Wednesdays is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Wonderful Win: Prime by Nate Kenyon

Prime by Nate Kenyon

Publisher: Apex Publications

When I announced that I had won The Bone Factory last week from Nate Kenyon, I forgot to tell you all about the "surprise" book, Prime, that was in the package!

About the book: When simulated interactions are an essential part of life, a programming glitch can be devastating, especially for the company that controls the sims.

William Bellow is an experienced bug hunter who comes as close as any human to the anticipated Transformation that links man to machine. As he digs into the problems surrounding New London's most advanced programming, the nature of his own memories and the events of his past are called into questions. Desperate manipulations and complex deceptions take him from the corporate towers to the underground resistance as Bellow's work quickly escalates into a fight for his life in both the physical and virtual worlds.

Kenyon's fast-paced, twisting thriller tracks Bellow's progress forward through the case and backward through his own questionable past. Prime is a must-read for fans of Richard K. Morgan, Neal Stephenson, and Philip K. Dick. (from the back cover)

Prime
Publisher/Publication Date: Apex Publications, July 2009
ISBN: 978-0-9821596-2-0
156 pages

Are you hungry for another giveaway?

I have five copies of Dark Hunger by Rita Herron to give away - courtesy of Hachette Books!

About the book: Reporter Annabelle Armstrong will go to any lengths to deliver a story, even track down Quinton Valtrez, a man she believes is a coldhearted assassin. Yet the truth about the darkly sensual Quinton is even more shocking...and the overwhelming desire he ignites is one she vows to resist.

Quinton has fought his demonic powers since he was a child. Now using his gifts for the good of national security, he can't let himself be distracted by the beautiful, determined Annabelle. But his need for her is sudden, fierce--and could soon cost Annabelle her life. For a wicked enemy is out for vengeance, a demon who wants to draw Quinton into a life of pure evil and is willing to use Annabelle as bait. To save her, Quinton must achieve the near impossible: tame the sinister force that is both his inheritance and his curse before it claims him forever.

Watch my blog for the blog tour starting in August!

Rules for the giveaway:

1. Five copies to giveaway.
   
2. Open only to U.S. and Canada.
   
3. No PO Boxes
4. All entries in one comment if possible (I understand that if you are posting to a blog, etc at a later date you will need an additional comment. . .)
5. +1 Must leave email address in comment -(I have had a winner in the last month that I was unable to track down)
6. +2 if you are a new or old follower - but please let me know
7. +3 if you post this on any social network - (limit of 6 entries for this one - so you can post it as many places as you would like, but only 2 will count)
8. +3 for referrals of NEW followers - if you already follow, you will not get entries for saying someone referred you - you can however get entries for referring new people...
9. Giveaway ends on Aug 19th
   

ARC Arrival: hush, hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

hush, hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

I received this book from the publisher through Shelf Awareness. Isn't this a great cover?

About the book: Nora Grey is responsible and smart and not inclined to be reckless. Her first mistake was falling for Patch. Patch has a past that could be called anything but harmless. The best thing he ever did was fall for Nora.

After getting paired with Patch in biology, all Nora wants to do is stay away from him, but he always seems to be two steps ahead of her. She can feel his eyes on her even when he is nowhere around. She feels him nearby even when she is alone in her bedroom. And when her attraction can be denied no longer, she learns the secret about who Patch is and what led him to her. Despite all the questions she has about his past, in the end, there may be only one question they can ask each other: How far are you willing to fall? (from the back cover)

About the author: Becca Fitzpatrick grew up reading Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden with a flashlight under the covers. She graduated college with a degree in health, which she promptly abandoned for storytelling. Hush, Hush is her first novel. She lives in Colorado. (from the back cover)

hush, hush
Publisher/Publication Date: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Oct 13, 2009
ISBN: 9781416989417
400 pages
Ages 14 and up

ARC Arrival: A Change in Altitude

A Change in Altitude by Anita Shreve

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company/Hachette Books

About the book: Twenty-eight-year-old Margaret travels to Kenya with her new husband, Patrick, with the intent of staying a year. In a dizzying multicultural city, she struggles to maintain her balance as her sense of self, her marriage, and her understanding of the world are shaken to the core.

Invited on a climbing expedition to Mt. Kenya, the newlyweds are caught up in a horrific accident. In its aftermath, Margaret must try to understand exactly what happened on that mountain and what it has done to her and to her marriage.

A major author in terms of critical acclaim and bestseller status, Anita Shreve limns the secrets at the core of our closest relationships and the ways in which lives can turn on the axis of a single catastrophic event. (from the back cover)

About the author: Anita Shreve is the acclaimed author of fourteen previous novels, including Testimony; The Pilot's Wife, which was a selection of Oprah's Book Club; and The Weight of Water, which was a finalist for England's Orange Prize. She lives in Massachusetts. (from the back cover)

A Change in Altitude
Publisher/Publication Date: Little, Brown and Company, Sept 22, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-316-02070-1
320 pages

ARC Arrival: Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz by Belinda Acosta

Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz: A Quinceanera Club Novel by Belinda Acosta

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Books

I received this for an August Blog Tour from Hachette.

About the book: Being a woman is never easy. . . no matter what your age.

Ana Ruiz can't change the fact that her husband, Esteban, moved out or make their tow children miss him less, but she can reach out to her angry and confused daughter, Carmen. What better way to come together as a family than a traditional quinceanera?

Carmen blames her mother for her parents' separation, and Ana is torn between telling her daughter the truth--that Esteban was unfaithful--and protecting her from it. The advice Ana gets from friends and family also pulls her in two directions: Some urge her to get over Esteban's betrayal while others think she should get over him altogether and move on. As the quinceanera approaches, Ana realizes that Carmen isn't the only Ruiz who needs a lesson in what it means to be a strong and independent woman. (from the back cover)

About the author: Belinda Acosta has written and published plays, short stories, and essays. As a journalist, her work has appeared in the Austin-American Statesman, the Austin Chronicle, the San Antonio Express-News, the San Antonio Current, AlterNet, Poets & Writers, and on National Public Radio's Latino USA--the Radio Journal of News and Culture.

Belinda received a master's of fine arts in writing from the University of Texas in 1997.

She lives in Austin, Texas, and is the TV columnist for the Austin Chronicle. (from the back cover)

Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz
Publisher/Publication Date: Grand Central Publishing, Aug 11, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-446-54051-3
336 pages

Teaser Tuesday 7-28-2009

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

"But that's how the Lacuna Cabal was born. That reading, from a novel that hasn't been published yet, elevated us, even in our inception, from the echelons of the everyday, Oprah-style book club, and established us as a cabal. A secret society." (The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal, p112)








The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal
Publisher/Publication Date: Other Press, April 2009
ISBN: 978-1-59051-312-5
304 pages

Wonderful Wins: Mother's Day Giveaway - 5 books

I won these five books in the Mother's Day giveaway at Marta's Meanderings and Hachette Books!

The Road Home by Rose Tremain

About the book: After losing both his job and his beloved wife, Lev journeys from Eastern Europe to London in search of employment to support his family. At first he is homeless, but before long he lands a job, finds shelter, and even begins to make friends. While he embarks on an affair with a fellow restaurant worker (and dodges the attentions of other women), Lev's new life remains constricted. Homesickness dogs him, not only for nostalgic reasons but because he doesn't belong, body or soul, to his new country. But can Lev really go home again?

Rose Tremain's prodigious talents as a novelist are on full display in a work that freshly illuminates the immigrant experience--and never loses sight of what is truly important in our lives. (from the book cover)

About the author: Rose Tremain's fiction has won the Whitbread Novel of the Year (Music and Silence) and has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize (Restoration). The Road Home was one of the four finalists for the Costa Novel Award and was the winner of the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction. Tremain lives in Norfolk and London with the biographer Richard Holmes. (from the book cover)

Beginner's Greek by James Collins

About the book: What if you met the love of your life. . .and then lost her phone number? Then what if, when you finally managed to find her again, she was about to marry your best friend? The complications only begin there for Peter and Holly, the winning duo at the center of this buoyant, generous, lushly romantic, brilliantly understated comedy of manners. Whatever your own experience in matters of the heart, Beginner's Greek is a novel that will make you believe that true love really does exist. (from the back cover)

About the author: James Collins was formerly an editor at Time and has contributed to The New Yorker and other magazines. He grew up in New York City and now lives in Virginia with his family. This is his first novel. (from the book)




Odd Mom Out by Jane Porter

About the book: Advertising executive Marta Zinsser is no poster child for her wealthy Seattle suburb--and nothing could please her more. This former New Yorker wears combat boots, not Manolos, and drives a righteous Harley hog instead of a Mercedes SUV. Now she's launching her own agency in this land of the Microsoft elite, even though her ten-year-old daughter wishes she'd put on a sweater set and just be normal. Can this ex-urbanite remain uniquely herself without alienating the inner circle of smug, cookie-cutter executive wives? And when push comes to shove, can she stop being the proud odd mom out and take a chance at something frighteningly--and tantalizingly--new? (from the back cover)

About the author: Jane Porter is also the author of Flirting with Forty and The Frog Prince. She lives in Seattle, Washington, with her two sons. (from the back cover)


Mommy Grace: Erasing Your Mommy Guilt by Dr. Sheila Schuller Coleman

About the book: You ARE a wonderful mother. You just don't know it.

Mothers tend to feel they are not good enough at the colossal job of parenting. many fear they are even harming their kids by not being flawless. They confess:

• I lost my temper and yelled at my son to stop acting like a baby.
• I ran out of groceries and fed my kids fast food instead.
• My daughter failed her spelling test--I was too tired to help her.
• I used the television as a babysitter instead of reading to my kids.
• I slept in and missed my devotion time.

Good news: MOMMY GRACE can help erase your mommy guilt! In these short, funny, and moving stories, Sheila Schuller Coleman offers portraits of authentic motherhood--foibles and all. She also reveals how to avoid the "perfect parent" trap and embrace the reassurance God provides. The fact is, God designed each mother for her particular kids, and--the best news of all--He makes up for our human weakness with His grace.

The true "supermom," Sheila writes, doesn't have it all together. Just the opposite! A supermom is someone who is real and brave enough to admit her limits and ask God for help. A supermom lets God fill in the gaps in her less-than-perfect parenting.

Inspirational and heartwarming, MOMMY GRACE is comfort and strength for the weary mom. Sheila affirms, "You are not alone. I pray you will realize that mommy guilt is actually a gift - an opportunity - to experience mommy grace. In the process your love affair with Christ will be magnified and you will never be the same."

Get rid of that guilt! And rest assured: You truly are a wonderful mother. (from the book jacket)

About the author: Dr. Sheila Schuller Coleman is the daughter of Robert H. Schuller, founding pastor of the Crystal Cathedral. Sheila has had a diverse career as an author, a public schoolteacher, and most recently as a private Christian school administrator. She currently serves as director of family ministries at the Crystal Cathedral and writes a column, "Ask Sheila," which is published monthly in Powerlines, a Crystal Cathedral publication reaching four hundred thousand readers. Sheila has a doctorate in educational leadership and administration. She and her husband, Jim, have been happily married for thirty years and are the parents of four grown sons. (from the book jacket)



Your Best Life Now for Moms by Joel Osteen

About the book: #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Joel Osteen revisits his seven core principles from YOUR BEST LIFE NOW to offer a guide to successful living for moms. YOUR BEST LIFE NOW FOR MOMS will help women through the vast parenting responsibilities and teach them how God can pour out "His far and beyond favor" on them and their children. (from Amazon website)

About the author: Joel Osteen is the senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. Listed by several sources as America's largest and fastest-growing congregation, Lakewood church has approximately 45,000 adult attendees every week. Millions more watch Joel's messages as they are broadcast on national and international television networks. He resides in Houston with his wife, Victoria, and their children. (from Amazon website)

ARC Arrival: Blue Jean Baby by Sally Parmer

Blue Jean Baby: One Girl's Trip Through the 1960's L.A. Music Scene by Sally Parmer

Publisher: Sally Altman

I received this book through Bostick Communications.

About the book: Blue Jean Baby by Sally Parmer aims to unveil the truth about the sixties, showing how the beauty and inspiration of that decade is offset by war, riots, loss and oppression.

The 1960s were a tumultuous time of peace, love and misunderstanding, says author Sally Parmer in her uniquely personal novel, Blue Jean Baby. Contrary to popular belief, says Parmer, the youth in the sixties were actually an oppressed culture that had not yet morphed into the socially-freed individuals of the seventies and early eighties. Parmer was a teenager in Los Angeles during the sixties, and her exploits cast an honest light on what Parmer calls "the most wonderful and the most terrible" time of her life.

From chronicling her start in the L.A. music scene as a singer/songwriter and then as a groupie, to her abusive relationships and home life, Parmer shows how music saves her, and how after mothering a rock star's child, she finally finds her new calling in musical theater. Filled with watershed sixties' moments and insider views about the music scene, Parmer means this to be a book not just for those who remember the sixties, but for those who need to know what it was really like to live it.

According to Kirkus Discoveries, Parmer "tells her story without glamorizing or romanticizing it. And without a drop of remorse, self-pity or false humility. 'There will never again be a decade so remarkably transitional, terrifying and beautiful as the sixties,' she says, and it rings true." (from Bostick email)

About the author: Sally Parmer writes for and performs in musical theater and teaches the arts. She holds degrees in composition, theater arts and Shakespeare, and has won several awards for her stage plays and screenplays. A paid songwriter since the age of 15, she has written more than 50 plays, edited several magazines and published two novels, a raft of textbooks and a dozen self-help books. (from Bostick email)

Blue Jean Baby
Publisher/Publication Date: Sally Altman, April 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4392-2982-8
190 pages

ARC Arrival: The Cross by Arthur Blessitt

The Cross: 38,102 Miles, 38 Years, 1 Mission by Arthur Blessitt

Publisher: Authentic

I received this book from TBB Media.

About the book: On June 13, 2008, Arthur Blessitt walked his 38,102nd mile in Zanzibar, off of the coast of Tanzania, completing a journey that began in 1969. Arthur started walking with a twelve-foot cross on December 25, 1969, and has successfully carried a large wooden cross into every nation and major island group of the world.

Follow Arthur's journey from his initial call from God to carry a cross from Hollywood, where he was known as "the minister of Sunset Strip," across America to its capital, Washington, DC.

Accompany Arthur as he hacks his way through the Darien Jungle from Panama to Colombia. You'll join Arthur and his son, Joshua, as they take the cross to South Africa in 1986. Enter into the stories of how God used them to bring people spiritual, physical, and relational healing during the final tumultuous days of racial apartheid. Trek with Arthur and his wife, Denise, as they cross desert sands to take the cross to Saudi Arabia when the nation was closed to tourists. Follow them as they walk with the cross in the various regions of the former USSR just weeks after its collapse. You'll be amazed by how people in all cultures respond to the cross.

As Arthur has traveled around the world, he has found the cross to be a universal symbol of God's love that breaks down the barriers of language and culture. He writes, "Perhaps I'm the only person in history who has been physically shaped by the weight of a cross. But the changes the cross has brought to my physical body are not important. What is important is how the cross has changed my life, and the lives of so many others, from the inside out!" (from the back cover)

About the author: Arthur Blessitt has devoted his life to carrying the cross in every nation. When he isn't traveling, Arthur speaks nationally and internationally. He is married to Denise and has seven children. (from the back cover)

The Cross
Publisher/Publication Date: Authentic, January 2009
ISBN: 978-1-934068-67-0
240 pages

ARC Arrival: Lost Mission by Athol Dickson

I could not find a cover picture of this book.

Lost Mission by Athol Dickson

Publisher: Howard Books

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

About the book: Buried beneath the dirt-poor barrios and ultra-wealthy enclaves lining the hills of southern California lies a haunting secret that will challenge one community's understanding of morality, sin, and faith.

Hundreds of years ago, an idyllic Spanish mission was hastily abandoned and buried along with the evidence of a crime. When a construction project disturbs the ruins of this beautiful structure, four unrelated people -- each having a stake in the building's fate -- get pulled into the mystery of the mission's past and presented with difficult moral choices. In every case, a greater good could be served with a compromise of some basic moral value. But their choices could also perpetuate the very crime that left the mission forgotten hundreds of years ago -- a mystery that is gradually revealed through research into a piece of art excavated at the mission site.

Lost Mission is a spiritually compelling work that captivates, entertains, and instructs. Athol Dickson's writing style has been likened to Octavia Butler's (Publishers Weekly) and Flannery O'Conner's (The New York Times), and his novels are known for their richly evocative settings, unforgettable characters, intense suspense, and unique elements of magical realism. In Lost Mission, four distinctly different individuals have to decide whether they will repeat the mistakes of the past or uphold righteousness together. (from the back cover)

About the author: Athol Dickson is an award-winning author of several novels. His Christy Award-winning novel River Rising was named one of the "Top Ten Christian Novels of 2006" by Booklist magazine. He lives in California with his wife. (from the back cover)

Lost Mission
Publisher/Publication Date: Howard Books, September 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4165-8347-9
288 pages

ARC Arrival: The Pravda Messenger by Robert Cornuke

I was unable to find a cover picture of this book.

The Pravda Messenger by Robert Cornuke with Alton Gansky

Publisher: Howard Books

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

About the book: In this riveting spiritual thriller, a follow-up to The Bell Messenger, a teenaged girl has the power to detect when someone speaks a lie -- a special gift that plunges her into a plot of international intrigue and suspense.

Tanya Novack and her father Yuri, a recent widower, visit a monastery near Leningrad in Soviet-era Russian. There a priest presents her with a gold snuff box from the stone coffin of a monk named Feodor Kuzmich, suspected to have actually been Czar Alexander. KGB officers capture her father, sending him to a Siberian gulag. Tanya escapes and flees to America.

Years later, on a goat farm in the mountains of Colorado, Tanya is presented with an antique Bible -- the same Bible that changed the lives of so many in The Bell Messenger. Her intuitive powers are put on high alert when she notices that the Bible contains the hand-written name Feodor Kuzmich, sending her to an expert on Russian history and politics in Washington, D.C. to learn more about the mysterious monk - and the equally mysterious Bible. Her unique inheritances -- her intuitive gifts, the historical Bible, and the gold snuff box she hasn't seen since her father was captured -- catapult her across the glove, with unscrupulous people who want only to profit from her gifts close behind. Will Tanya unravel the mystery of her past before she's captured and exploited -- even killed?

Full of ancient mysteries and that same powerful Bible from The Bell Messenger, The Pravda Messenger is an exciting collaboration between a real-life archaeologist and a bestselling suspense novelist that is sure to leave readers breathless. . .and wanting more. (from the back cover)

About the authors: Robert Cornuke is the author of several books and an internationally recognized expert on biblical history and archaeological investigation. He has appeared on the History Channel, National Geographic Television, CBS, MSNBC, CBN, Fox, and TBN's Ripley's Believe It or Not.

Alton Gansky is the author of twenty novels and six nonfiction works. Previously a firefighter and an architect, he has spent twenty-two years in pulpit ministry. (from the back cover)

The Pravda Messenger
Publisher/Publication Date: Howard Books, September 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4165-4984-0
272 pages

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