In My Mailbox/Mailbox Monday 11-9-2009

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!

I won this DVD from The Mommy Files - thanks Shannon!

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!: Wubbzy Goes Boo

Wubbzy and his friends are back in an all-new DVD collection just in time for the fall season! Watch as Wubbzy, Widget and Walden clean up a crazy mess with Moo Moo's magic wand, pick the perfect pumpkin and create the spookiest Halloween costume of all. There's singing, dancing, trick or treating and kickity-kick ball too, plus plenty of positive values like creativity, patience and responsibility. It's all here in the Emmy winning Nick Jr./Noggin hit that's so much fun it's scary! (Amazon)

The rest of these books are ARCs that I received from various sources.

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters expands the original text of the beloved Jane Austen novel with all-new scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents, and other biological monstrosities. As our story opens, the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. While sensible Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrars, her romantic sister Marianne is courted by both the handsome Willoughby and the hideous man-monster Colonel Brandon. Can the Dashwood sisters triumph over meddlesome matriarchs and unscrupulous rogues to find true love? Or will they fall prey to the tentacles that are forever snapping at their heels? This masterful portrait of Regency England blends Jane Austen's biting social commentary with ultraviolent depictions of sea monsters biting. It's survival of the fittest - and only the swiftest swimmers will find true love! (back cover)



Double Take: A Memoir by Kevin Michael Connolly


Kevin Michael Connolly is a twenty-three-year-old who has seen the world in a way most of us never will. Whether swarmed by Japanese tourists at Epcot Center as a child or holding court as the X Games on his mono-ski as a teenager, Kevin has been an object of curiosity since the day he was born without legs. Growing up in rural Montana, he was raised like any other kid (except, that is, for his father's MacGyver-like contraptions such as the "butt boot"). As a college student, Kevin traveled to seventeen countries on his skateboard and, in an attempt to capture the stares of others, he took more than 30,000 photographs of people staring at him. In this dazzling memoir, Connolly casts the lens inward to explore how we view ourselves and what it is to truly see another person. We also get to know his quirky and unflappable parents and his spunky girlfriend. From the home of his family in Helena, Montana, to the streets of Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur, Connolly's remarkable journey will change the way you look at others, and the way you see yourself. (back cover)



The Cost of Dreams by Gary Stelzer

Set against the vivid backdrop of a Central American country in turmoil and a desolate Mexican wilderness, The Cost of Dreams introduces a masterful new writer of fiction. Gary Stelzer, a retired Midwest physician, draws upon an ordeal of one of his most memorable patients for a novel that's both a powerful, compelling page-turner and a poignant illumination of a woman's - and a people's - struggle to survive.

"Years ago," recalls Stelzer, "a foreign-born woman appeared at the ER of my small city hospital dreadfully injured by her drug-dealing brother-in-law. She had been shot at her family's home in the southwester U.S. and her husband had driven her and their two small children to this northern Midwest locale. There I cared for her and directed her protracted rehab. Then the husband abandoned them all.

"She drifted away in the years following. But I always recalled how badly I felt for her and her children. Then one day in southwestern New Mexico, I watched as dozens of freight trains passed by and I began asking myself, 'what if?"'

Thus the indomitable Flora Enriquez came to life.

Flora, a Mayan teenager, has escaped Talapa, her civil war-torn Central American village where her parents have been slain - and where even being seen in native wear could result in summary execution. Following her dream with nearly superhuman determination, she makes her way to San Diego, and against all odds, becomes a wife, mother and teacher. By hard work and shrewdness, she even obtains legal U.S. status.

But her life takes a horrific turn when she's shot by her drug-dealing brother in-law. As she lays unconscious and bleeding in front of her house, Mexican immigrants traveling on a freight train kidnap and claim her as their daughter, caring for her on a long, grueling cross-country flight.

Nearly a year later, still gravely wounded and disfigured, a freed Flora arrives at the Lake Michigan home of Kate Bowman, an American aide worker who had previously befriended Flora in Talapa. Kate's nephew had vanished on that mission, leaving Kate devastated and overwhelmed with guilt for permitting him to remain in a civil war ravaged Central America while she returned home.

Now Flora, eager to heal her injuries and desperate to restore what remains of her family, reignites in Kate a fire to learn the fate of her long lost nephew. The two women embark on a harrowing journey that takes them to the ancient caves of northwestern Mexico in the Barrancas del Cobre, an exceedingly vast abyss of canyons, in search of a storied Indian healer. The cost of healing borders on the unendurable.

With breathtaking suspense, pulse-pounding action and authentic Indian culture,
THE COST OF DREAMS is peopled by fully realized characters facing overwhelming obstacles and moral dilemmas. In short, it's a riveting and believable first-rate thriller. (publicity letter from Carol Fass Publicitiy)

Run For Your Life by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

A killer passes judgment on New York. A calculating murderer who calls himself the Teacher is taking on New York City, slaying the powerful and the arrogant. His message to them is clear: Remember your manners or suffer the consequences! For some, it seems that the rich are finally getting what they deserve. For Gotham's elite, it is a call to terror.

One man struggles to save a city. There is only one man in the NYPD who can tackle this high-profile case: Detective Michael Bennett. For anyone else, the pressure would be overwhelming, but Mike is ready to step up - taking care of his ten children has prepared him for the job! With his hands already full, as his kids all come down with a virulent flu at once, he must now also face the challenge of tracking down the killer. As a secret pattern emerges in the Teacher's lessons, Detective Bennett has just a few precious hours to save New York from the greatest disaster in its history. (back cover)




Treasured: Knowing God by the Things He Keeps
by Leigh McLeroy

Every treasure tells a story. And this story has your name on every line.

Cigar boxes. Refrigerator doors. Scrapbooks and sock drawers and top shelves. These are the places we store our treasures - the keepsakes that tell the story of whom and what we've loved, how we've lived, and what matters most to us.


God is a collector, too, whose treasures are tucked securely into the pages of His book: a golden bell here, an olive leaf there, a scarlet thread, a blood-stained cloth, a few grains of barley. Each of these saved artifacts reveals a facet of His heart and tells the story of a Father whose most precious possession is. . .us.

In Treasured, Leigh McLeroy considers tangible reminders of God's active presence and guides us in discovering evidence in our own lives of His attentive love. (back cover)



Bo's Cafe by John Lynch, Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol

High-powered exec Steven Kerner has no idea his tightly wound American dream is about to come crashing down. His high-profile, high-octane life has always provided everything he's wanted.

Or so he thought.

When his unresolved anger threatens his marriage, and his attempts to fix it only drive the one he loves farther away, he is pushed to the brink. An invitation from mystery man Andy Monroe may be the greatest hope Steven's ever been handed. (back cover)



God Gave Us Love
by Lisa Tawn Bergren and illustrated by Laura J. Bryant

As Little Cub and Grampa Bear's fishing adventure is interrupted by mischievous otters, the young polar bear begins to question why we must love others. . .even the seemingly unlovable.

In answering her questions, Grampa Bear gives tender explanations that teach Little Cub about the different kinds of love that is shared between families, friends, and mamas and papas. Grampa explains that all these kinds of love come from God and that it is important to love others because. . .

"Any time we show love, Little Cub, we're sharing a bit of his love."

This sweet tale will warm the hearts of young children as they learn about all the different sorts of love they can share with others. (back cover)




God Gave Us Christmas
by Lisa Tawn Bergren and illustrated by David Hohn

As Little Cub and her family prepare to celebrate the most special day of the year, the curious young polar bear begins to wonder. . . "Who invented Christmas?"

Mama's answer only leads to more questions like "Is God more important than Santa?" So she and Little Cub head off on a polar expedition to find God and to see how he gave them Christmas. Along the way, they find signs that God is at work all around them. Through Mama's gentle guidance, Little Cub learns about the very first Christmas and discovers that. . . "Jesus is the best present of all."

This enchanting tale provides the perfect opportunity to help young children celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and to discover how very much God loves them. (back cover)

Fall to Pieces:
A Memoir of Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll, and Mental Illness
By Mary Forsberg Weiland

In March 2007, twenty-four hours after Mary Weiland dragged her husband Scott's pricey rockstar wardrobe onto their driveway and torched it, she was locked up in a mental hospital. Watching all this were her frightened extended family, a conflicted husband wrestling with demons of his own and a tabloid industry gone gleeful at the "Bonfire in Toluca Lake!"

To the outside world, Weiland had led whatt seemed to be an enviable life. A successful international world model in the nineties, she married her longtime sweetheart - famed lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots and, later, Velvet Revolver, Scott Weiland - in 2000. Mary was the sane one, went the story - it was the tempestuous, unpredictable Scott who was crazy.

In her gripping memoir Fall to Pieces, Mary Weiland reveals that the truth is somewhere in between. From her earliest days in San Diego, Weiland displayed signs of trouble: a black depression that sometimes left her immobile for days, a temper that sent her into wild rages she didn't understand, an overdose. But her fierce determination to "have more" led to early success as a model.

At sixteen, she fell in love at first sight with Scott Weiland, then an aspiring musician who was hired to drive her to and from modeling gigs. Slowly, her casual relationship with beer and pot grew into an affair with cocaine and heroin that rivaled her love for Scott, who was addicted as well. From rehab to rehab, from breakup to reconciliation to eventual marriage, the couple fought their way back, welcomed the babies they'd dreamed of, and hoped their struggles were behind them. Then came the bonfire breakdown and the full onset of Mary's bipolar disorder, a widely misunderstood and misdiagnosed mental illness that affects more than five million Americans and had been, in fact, stalking Mary Weiland since her teens.

With refreshing candor, innate comic timing, and earned wisdom, Weiland recounts the extreme highs and lows of her life, including an unforgettable love affair with the man she always knew she'd marry, the careers and rock tours that took them around the world, and her fight to finally come to grips with the addictions that could have killed her. In her journey to understand and manage her bipolar disorder, she takes the reader on a wild ride into the dark and back into the light. (book jacket)

Hey - you there -

Look at me - announcing winners in the same week that the giveaways ended!

For The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy - the winner was Nancye!

The winner of Kiss Me Again is Nickolay!

Interview with Bill Walker - author of A Note From an Old Acquaintance

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1. To get us started, please tell us a little about your latest book - A Note from an Old Acquaintance.

I would consider this book to be more of a love story, rather than a category romance, in that I wasn't saddled with trying to write within a publishing house's mandated formula. I just wanted to tell a tender story as honestly as possible. The story concerns two people, Brian and Joanna, who are really meant to be together, but life's travails separate them during the most passionate moment of their lives. Each of them is haunted by memories of the other until, years later, Joanna sends Brian an e-mail, an act that sets the entire story into motion.

2. You design books and dust jackets as well as writing books/screenplays - Would it be fair to ask which you enjoy more?

Definitely the writing. It's a much more rewarding experience in the long run, but I also love graphic design because it keeps my creative juices flowing when I'm not writing.

3. Do you design your own covers or do you have any input in designing them?

For my three published novels, including this one, I designed both the covers and the interior layouts. However, the only thing I really can't do is draw or paint, so I commissioned a really terrific artist, Mike Kupka (www.michaelkupka.com), to take my still life concept and render it. I knew exactly what I wanted and he did a stellar job in bringing it to life.

4. How important do you think the cover of a book is to a reader?

We've all heard the old saw about not judging a book by it’s cover, but we all do it, every one of us. I read somewhere that we will usually make an irrevocable decision as to a book's worthiness in about five seconds—all based on whether or not the cover grabs us. It's why the major publishers will spend more on the jacket than on the rest of the book's production.

5. Your dad wanted to be a writer - did he have a big influence on your decision to become a writer?

My dad was the quintessential "Man in the Gray Flannel Suit," an advertising executive who was eventually hired by one of his clients, Bacardi Rum, to be their head of marketing. He always wanted to write a novel and started several, but never finished them. I actually took one of them, a time travel story called The Normandy Club, and finished it. That was the second novel I wrote and it rests proudly in my dresser drawer, along with a few others--just like Brian's ;-)

My father was a big influence on me and he always encouraged my writing, from day one. He was a great idea man, too. My first two books were collections of scary short stories for kids and he helped me brainstorm story ideas, because I ended up writing way more stories, so the publisher could pick the ones they wanted.

6. Were there any authors or books that had an influence on you growing up?

As a kid, my favorite books were The Mad Scientists Club by Bertrand R. Brinley, Blackbeard's Ghost by Ben Stahl, and an anthology of scary stories entitle Hauntings edited by Henry Mazzeo. There were a lot of other books, but those are the standouts.

7. Where do you get your ideas for your books?

Anywhere and everywhere. Sometimes, I'll read or hear something on the news that will spark an idea, or sometimes I'll be daydreaming and something will pop into my head. I'm thankful that things like this happen and hope they don't stop.

8. I read that you liked to play guitar really loud - What kind of music do you like to play and/or listen to?

I guess you could call me a classic rocker all the way: Hendrix, Cream, Black Sabbath, anything with a really killer guitar tone. I'm a big Green Day fan, as well. And I just purchased the new KISS album. I was never really into them back in the day, but have grown to appreciate their style and business acumen. As for playing guitar really loud, part of that is because in the old days, the amps had to be cranked to get them to distort in that really cool way. Nowadays you don't have to do that, but it's still the best way to get a certain sound. I do have to wait for the neighbors to go out, however ;-)

9. If you could have A Note from an Old Acquaintance made into a movie - who would you cast as the primary characters?

That's a tough one, especially as I'm an old film school graduate. I used to love casting a favorite book in my mind. The irony here is that I don't have anyone in mind for these two roles. And that's probably because I don't want to use any well-known actors with cinematic baggage, so to speak. If I were producing the film I would want to cast two up-and-coming actors, actors who embodied the roles, rather than familiar faces. It's riskier from a box-office standpoint, but sometimes from a producer's standpoint, you can take a very promising actor and elicit a star-making performance. Quite a few of today's stars were made in just that way, and I would rather have Brian and Joanna emerge in that fashion.

10. Are you working on anything currently?

I am working on a couple of things, but I don't really like to reveal anything while I'm doing so.

Thank you Bill for taking the time to answer these questions today - looking forward to seeing what you have for us in the future!

It Happened One Night - by Lisa Dale - Win this book!

I have five copies of It Happened One Night to give away courtesy of Hachette Books.

Sometimes love finds you when you least expect it.

Lana Biel has always wanted to shake the dust of Vermont off her feet and see the world, one exotic country after another. But when a lighthearted spring fling changes her life forever, she turns to the one man whose strong shoulders can lighten any burden: her best friend, Eli Ward.
Eli has always been there for Lana--after all, that's what best friends do. But Lana isn't the only one hiding something. Eli is keeping secrets of his own that threaten their relationship. Yet as summer turns to fall, new desires awaken between them, even as old fears tear them apart. Then, when another Vermont winter fills the valleys with snow, Eli and Lana are given the chance for an adventure greater than they ever dreamed possible...and a love that will last for all time.

This giveaway is open to U.S./Canada only - no P.O. Boxes. There will be 5 winners. Giveaway ends Nov 27, 11:59 PM CST.

For entries:

1. BIG RULE CHANGE - EACH ENTRY MUST BE IN A SEPARATE COMMENT.
2. +1 leave a comment with your email address - must leave email address at least once for any of your comments to count.
3. +1 New follower
3. +2 for a Tweet - please leave link
4. +3 Old follower
5. +3 for a side bar post - leave link
6. +5 For a blog post - not a side bar - leave link.

i.e. If something is worth 5 entries - please leave 5 comments. November is going to be my experimental run to see how things work. Sorry if it creates extra work on your end....but you are possibly winning a book...

Any questions or suggestions please email me at kherbrand @ comcast . net (w/o the spaces)

Giveaway of Jane Goodall's Hope for Animals and Their World - audio version

Giveaway rules are changing - please follow directions so all your entries count!

Thanks to Anna and Hachette Books I have 3 audiobooks of Hope for Animals and Their World: How Endangered Species are Being Rescued From the Brink by Jane Goodall.


At a time when animal species are becoming extinct on every continent and we are confronted with bad news about the environment nearly every day, Jane Goodall, one of the world's most renowned scientists, brings us inspiring news about the future of the animal kingdom. With the insatiable curiosity and conversational prose that have made her a bestselling author, Goodall-along with Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard-shares fascinating survival stories about the American Crocodile, the California Condor, the Black-Footed Ferret, and more; all formerly endangered species and species once on the verge of extinction whose populations are now being regenerated.

Interweaving her own first-hand experiences in the field with the compelling research of premier scientists, Goodall illuminates the heroic efforts of dedicated environmentalists and the truly critical need to protect the habitats of these beloved species. At once a celebration of the animal kingdom and a passionate call to arms, HOPE FOR ANIMALS THEIR WORLD presents an uplifting, hopeful message for the future of animal-human coexistence. (Amazon)

You can listen to an excerpt or watch a video for more information.

Many thanks go out to Heidi V. from Sweepstakes & Contest Lists Directory for sending me a link to number comments. I have a feeling that my giveaways just got a lot easier - at least on my end!

This giveaway is open to U.S./Canada only - no P.O. Boxes. There will be 3 winners. Giveaway ends Nov 27, 11:59 PM CST.

For entries:
1. BIG RULE CHANGE - EACH ENTRY MUST BE IN A SEPARATE COMMENT.
2. +1 leave a comment with your email address - must leave email address at least once for any of your comments to count.
3. +1 New follower
3. +2 for a Tweet - please leave link
4. +3 Old follower
5. +3 for a side bar post - leave link
6. +5 For a blog post - not a side bar - leave link.

i.e. If something is worth 5 entries - please leave 5 comments. November is going to be my experimental run to see how things work. Sorry if it creates extra work on your end....but you are possibly winning a book...

Any questions or suggestions please email me at kherbrand @ comcast . net (w/o the spaces)

The Friday 56: 11-06-2009

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.




It has been almost two months since I have done a Friday 56. Shame on me!



"These children will tax you of all your energy, if you let them - they're very needy, as you can imagine - but bear in mind, we're her to guide and help you. Be sure to come to us if you any concerns."(p56 Maggie Rose by Sharlene MacLaren)










Maggie Rose
Publisher/Publication Date: Whitaker House, June 2009
ISBN: 978-1-60374-075-3
429 pages

Friday Finds 11-6-2009

Here are my finds this week!

Beneath Bone Lake by Colleen Thompson

Ruby Monroe knows she's way out of her depth the minute she lays eyes on Sam McCoy. She's been warned to steer clear of this neighbor, the sexy bad boy with a criminal past. But with her four-year-old daughter missing, her home incinerated and her own life threatened by a tattooed gunman, where else can she turn? Drowning in the flood of emotion unleashed by their mind-blowing encounters, Ruby is horrified to learn an unidentified body has been dredged up, the local sheriff is somehow involved, and Sam hasn't told her all he knows. Has she put her trust in the wrong man and jeopardized her very survival by uncovering the secrets... (Amazon)

The Return by Sharon Sala

As a legacy of hatred erupts in a shattering moment of violence, a dying mother entrusts her newborn daughter to a caring stranger…. Now, twenty-five years later, Katherine Fane has come home to Camarune, Kentucky, to bury the woman who raised her, bringing a blood feud to its searing conclusion.

At the cabin in the woods where she was born, Katherine is drawn to the ravaged town and its violent past. But her arrival has not gone unnoticed. A stranger is watching from the woods, a shattered old man is witnessing the impossible, and Sheriff Luke DePriest's only thoughts are to keep Katherine safe from the sleeping past she has unwittingly awoken….(Amazon)

Audrey's Door by Sarah Langan

Some doors lead to all the wrong places.

When budding architect Audrey Lucas abandons her live-in boyfriend for a flat in the Breviary, an architectural landmark on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, her new found freedom comes at a price. Her apartment’s gruesome history includes a deranged mother who drowned her children in the bathroom’s claw-footed tub. Yet ghosts and the strange habits of her eccentric fellow tenants of the building are nothing compared to the horrors she unleashes within herself when, after sleepwalking during torturous dreams, she starts constructing a door in the middle of her living room. (Fresh Fiction)

Library Loot 11-04-2009

I have been spending way too much time at the library recently - the problem is that I have actually been combing back over all my Friday Finds and Waiting on Wednesdays and reserving them!

Library Loot is hosted by Eva at A Striped Armchair and Marg at Reading Adventures.

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell

From award-winning writer David Mitchell comes a sinewy, meditative novel of boyhood on the cusp of adulthood and the old on the cusp of new.

Black Swan Green tracks a single year in what is, for thirteen-year-old Jason Taylor, the sleepiest village in muddiest Worcestershire in a dying Cold War England, 1982. But the thirteen chapters, each a short story in its own right, create an exquisitely observed world that is anything but sleepy. A world of Kissingeresque realpolitik enacted in boys' games on a frozen lake; of "nightcreeping" through the summer backyards of strangers; of the tabloid-fueled thrills of the Falklands War and its human toll; of the cruel, luscious Dawn Madden and her power-hungry boyfriend, Ross Wilcox; of a certain Madame Eva van Outryve de Crommelynck, an elderly bohemian emigre who is both more and less than she appears; of Jason's search to replace his dead grandfather's irreplaceable watch before his parents discover he has smashed it; of first cigarettes, first kisses, first Duran Duran LPs, and first deaths; of Margaret Thatcher's recession; of Gypsies camping in the woods and the hysteria they inspire; and, even closer to home, of a slow-motion divorce in four seasons.

Pointed, funny, profound, left-field, elegiac, and painted with the stuff of life, Black Swan Green is David Mitchell's subtlest and most effective achievement to date. (book jacket)

The House on Tradd Street by Karen White

Practical-minded Realtor Melanie Middleton hates to admit - even to herself - that she can see ghosts. But she's going to have to accept it, because an old man she met just days ago has died, leaving Melanie his historic Tradd Street home, complete with a housekeeper, a dog, and a family of ghosts anxious to tell her something.

Enter Jack Trenholm, a gorgeous writer obsessed with unsolved mysteries. He has reason to believe that some diamonds that went missing from the Confederate treasury a century ago are hidden in Melanie's home. So he decides to charm the new tenant, only to discover that suddenly he is the smitten one.

But it turns out that Jack's search has caught the attention of a possibly malevolent ghostly presence. Now Jack and Melanie need to unravel a mystery of passion, heartbreak, and even murder. And they must hurry. . . for an eveil force - either dead or alive - lies in wait. (Back Cover)

Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall by Kazuo Ishiguro

One of the most celebrated writers of our time gives us his first cycle of short fiction: five brilliantly etched, interconnected stories in which music is a vivid and essential character.

A once-popular singer, desperate to make a comeback, turning from the one certainty in his life. . .A man whose unerring taste in music is the only thing his closest friends value in him. . .A struggling singer-songwriter unwittingly involved in the failing marriage of a couple he's only just met. . .A gifted, underappreciated jazz musician who lets himself believe that plastic surgery will help his career. . .A young cellist whose tutor promises to "unwrap" his talent. . .

Passion or necessity - or the often uneasy combination of the two - determines the place of music in each of these lives. And, in one way or another, music delivers each of them to a moment of reckoning: sometimes comic, sometimes tragic, sometimes just eluding their grasp.

An exploration of love, need, and the ineluctable force of the past, Nocturnes reveals these individuals to us with extraordinary precision and subtlety, and with arresting psychological and emotional detail that has marked all of Kazuo Ishiguro's acclaimed works of fiction. (book jacket)

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater

Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is a prodigiously gifted musician. She's about to find out she's also a cloverhand - one who can see faeries.

Unexpectedly, Deirdre finds herself infatuated with a mysterious boy who enters her ordinary life, seemingly out of thin air. Trouble is, the enigmatic and gorgeous Luke turns out to be a gallowglass - a soulless faerie assassin - and his interest in her might be something darker than summer romance. A sinister faerie named Aodhan is also stalking Deirdre. They both carry the same assignment from the Faerie Queen, one that forces Dee right into the midst of Faerie. Caught in the crossfire with Deirdre is James, her wisecracking but loyal best friend.

Deirdre had been wishing her summer weren't so dull, but taking on a centuries-old Faerie Queen isn't exactly what she had in mind. (book cover)

A Great and Terrible Beauty (audio) by Libba Bray (read by Jo Wyatt)

Gemma Doyle isn't like other girls. Girls with impeccable manners, who speak when spoken to, who remember their station, who dance with grace, and who will lie back and think of England when it's required of them.

No, sixteen-year-old Gemma is an island unto herself, sent to the Spence Academy in London after tragedy strikes her family in India. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma finds her reception a chilly one. She's not completely alone, though. . .she's been followed by a mysterious young man, sent to warn her to close her mind against the visions.

For it's at Spence that Gemma's power to attract the supernatural unfolds; there she becomes entangled with the school's most powerful girls and discovers her mother's connection to a shadowy, timeless group called the Order. It's there that her destiny waits. . .if only Gemma can believe in it.

A Great and Terrible Beauty is a curl-up-under-the-covers kind of book. . .a vast canvas of rustling skirts and dancing shadows and things that go bump in the night. It's a vividly drawn portrait of the Victorian age, a time of strict morality and barely repressed sensuality, when girls were groomed for lives as rich men's wives. . .and the story of a girl who saw another way. (back cover)

Woman in Red (audio) by Eileen Goudge (read by Susan Ericksen)

Alice Kessler spent nine years in prison for the attempted murder of the drunk driver who killed her son. Now she's returned home to Gray's Island to reconnect with the son she left behind. Her boy, Jeremy, now a sullen teenager, is wrongly accused of rape, and mother and son are thrown together in a desperate attempt to prove his innocence.

Alice is aided by Colin McGinty, a recovering alcoholic and 9/11 widower, also recently returned to the island in the aftermath of his grandfather's death. Colin's grandfather, a famous artist, is best known for his haunting portrait Woman in Red, which happens to be of Alice's grandmother. IN a tale that weaves the past with the present, we come to know the story behind the portrait, of the forbidden wartime romance between William McGinty and Eleanor Styles, and the deadly secret that bound them more tightly than even their love for each other. A secret that, more than half a century later, is about to be unburied, as Alice and Colin are drawn into a fragile romance of their own and the ghost of an enemy from long ago surfaces in the form of his grandson, the very man responsible for sending Alice to prison. (back cover)

Library Loot is hosted by Eva at A Striped Armchair.

Waiting on Wednesday: A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents

A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents by Liza Palmer

Publisher/Publication Date: 5 Spot, Dec 23, 2009

Grace Hawkes has not spoken to her previously tight-knit family since her mother's sudden death five years ago. Well, most of the family was tight-knit-- her father walked out on them when she was 13 and she and her two brothers and sister bonded together even closer with their mother as a result.

She's been doing her best to live her new life apart from them, but when their estranged father has a stroke and summons them, Grace suddenly realizes she's done the same thing he had done...abandoned those who need her most.

And need her they do, for inside the hospital walls, a strange war is unfolding between the pseudo-kindly woman who is their father's second wife and the rest of the original Hawkes clan. Upon reconnecting with her brother and sisters, Grace will find a part of herself she thought was lost forever. As they unravel the manipulative deception of the second Mrs. Hawkes, Grace will finally be able to stand up for her family-- and to remember what a family is, even after all these years. (Amazon)

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

A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents
Publisher/Publication Date: 5 Spot, Dec 23, 2009
ISBN: 978-0446698382
320 pages

Blog Housekeeping - as Pesky as the Real Stuff!

I wanted to give everyone an update on my son - he tested negative for H1N1 (Yah!) He went back to school today. My oldest daughter however has had a horrible ear infection since Saturday, but hopefully will be returning to school tomorrow.

I also wanted to thank everyone who commented on my Halloween cross stitch at the top of the blog. I appreciate those comments so much. I hope to have a new one up in the next few days.

Now I need to ask for help. Can anyone walk me through how to number the comments? It is taking longer and longer to do my giveaways and I need that numbering system to help me out! Please email me at kherbrand at comcast.net if this is something that you can help me with.

Ok - I have lot's of October Winners to share - all of which have been notified and responded. I bet some of them have even received their books already!

Lucan by Susan Kearney
Stacie
Etirv
CrystalGB
Budletsmom (already won)Dawn M
Edna

To Tempt the Wolf and Heart of the Wolf by Terry Spear
Anonymous - Karolptrsn

A Highlander's Temptation by Sue-Ellen Welfonder
BusyBee
Wendi
Renee
pixie13
Cherdon

Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell
Valorie
ossmcalc
Roswello
Cindy
Booklogged

Simon's Cat by Simon Tofield
fredamans
RachieG
Lyoness2009
donnas
Winning Readings

Permission Slips by Sherri Shepherd
Stacie - already won - Heidi V.
Pam
Anonymous - kmkuka
amweeks
Nancye

Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley
Sheila Deeth - already won - enyl
Cindy
Barb
Beth (BBRB) - already won - Anita Yancey
Stacie

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Virginia C
Lynz Pickles
Carrie K.
Nancye
pippirose

The Sound of Sleigh Bells by Cindy Woodsmall
chey

Run For Your Life by James Patterson
Sheila Deeth
Jane
Anonymous - bgcchs
donnas
cherdon

The Bible Salesman by Clyde Edgerton
edmontonjb - already won - LeeP
Laura
fredamans
DarcyO
BelindaM

The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy by Sara Angelina
Nancye

Congratulations winners! I am going to try to do better this month to announce them as they end.

It's a Great Day for a Giveaway!

I have one copy of White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner to give away to a reader!

The Janviers have the idyllic life - a beautiful home, great jobs, two wonderful kids - and surrounding it all is the proverbial white picket fence that protects them, offers them a serene sense of security. . .and hides all their secrets.

When her black sheep brother disappears, Amanda Janvier eagerly takes in her sixteen-year-old niece Tally. The girl is practically an orphan: motherless and living with a father who raises Tally wherever he lands -- in a Buick, a pizza joint, a horse farm -- and regularly takes off on wild schemes. Amanda envisions that she, her husband, Neil, and their two teenagers can offer the girl stability and a shot at a "normal" life, even though their own storybook lives are about to crumble.

Seventeen-year-old Chase Janvier hasn't seen his cousin in years, and other than a vague curiosity about her strange life, he doesn't expect her arrival will affect him much -- or interfere with his growing, disturbing interest in a long-ago house fire that plagues his dreams.

Tally and Chase bond as they interview two Holocaust survivors for a sociology project, and become startlingly aware that the whole family is grappling with hidden secrets, with the echoes of the past, and with the realization that ignoring tragic situations won't make them go away.

Will Tally's presence blow apart their carefully constructed world, revealing a hidden past that could destroy them all - or can she help them find the truth without losing each other? From the author of The Shape of Mercy, one of Publishers Weekly's Best Religious Fiction Books of 2008, comes a tale of family secrets smoldering behind a white picket fence. (back cover)

It is easy to enter the giveaway - Just give me the title of another Christian Fiction book that you have read this year. Include your email address in your comment. U.S. Only. (sorry) One entry per person and the giveaway will Nov 24.

Family Plots by Mary Patrick Kavanaugh (Book Review)

Title: Family Plots: Love, Death & Tax Evasion
Author: Mary Patrick Kavanaugh
Publisher: iUniverse

First Sentence: The day was unusually hot and clear.

My synopsis: This is a somewhat autobiographical novel - the author has even said taken some liberties for "dramatic impact" - she calls it Pulp Faction. The novel opens Oct 17, 1989 - the day of the big California earthquake where the bridge collapsed. I was living in San Diego at the time so I remember this day! Anyway, Mary is a young mother living with her little girl Rachel's, daddy. I won't call him her boyfriend as he seems to be a loser and has just admitted to infidelity.

Well, Mary decides to turn her life around, cutting out some bad habits and trying constructively to get a job. During this search she contacts an ex-employer, Dan, and ends up with more than a job. A relationship develops and he seems to be the answer to all of Mary's problems. Because of her own dysfunctional upbringing, she thinks that a stable relationship is the answer. Dan seems to be able to provide that for her. Unfortunately in her rush for "stable" she overlooks suspicious activity on Dan's part - tinfoil on his windows, shady business associates, always paying in cash. What would you overlook to have what you think you desire?

My review: According to the "award" on the front of this book - as well as information from Mary Kavanaugh's guest post, this book was rejected 16 times from NYC publishers. I am not sure why. I thought the book read very well, was very entertaining in a dark sort of way, and I would definitely recommend it. If you have the chance to pick this one up - do so!

Family Plots: Love, Death & Tax Evasion
Publisher/Publication Date: iUniverse, Oct 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4401-0466-4
300 pages

Teaser Tuesday: 11-2-2009

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!


He was a classic barroom-brawler type, a huge man with a fleshy nose that lay flat against his face, supposedly because he'd had the cartilage removed so he could take more punches. The beating Tex had taken in his fight with Holmes had been so severe, Howard Cosell had retired from calling boxing matches in protest that the fight wasn't stopped sooner. (p95, The Time of My Life by Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi)

Teaser Tuesday is hosted at Should be Reading. Come on over and share your teaser, too!

Musing Mondays 11-02-2009

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about social reading…


How much of your reading do you share with others (outside of blogging?) Do you belong to a book or library club? Do you trade books with friends? Do you tell others what you’re reading?


Musing Mondays is hosted by Rebecca at Just One More Page. To participate please visit her blog and leave your link! (You are also welcome to leave your link for me too!)


I mainly share what I am reading right here. Occasionally I will try to get my mom or my sister interested in what I am reading, but it is usually futile. I am not quite sure where my love of reading came from! There is a lady who shares my bus stop that always asks what I am reading - and actually asked to borrow one of the books that I finished last week - so I might have found a new buddy there! I only know of one reading group in this area, and it is on a night where I already have a prior commitment.

Who do you share your reading with?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 11-02-2009

What are you reading on Mondays? is hosted by J. Kaye at J. Kaye's Book Blog. If you would like to participate, please leave your link with Mr. Linky at J.Kaye's blog - but you can also leave me a comment - I would love to know what you are reading!

Finished last week - most waiting for reviews:

1. Night of Flames by Douglas Jacobson
   
2. Family Plots by Mary Patrick Kavanaugh
3. Hot and Irresistible by Dianne Castell
4. Jesse's Girl by Gary Morgenstein
5. Messages to Myself by Helen B. McIntosh
6. Pendragon's Banner by Helen Hollick
7. Mom Needs Chocolate by Debora Coty

Currently Reading

1. Life As We Knew It
   - I only have about 30 pages left in this one so I should be finishing it today!
2. The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy
   - Modern Day Pride and Prejudice - it is a fun book to read.

Books to start this week:

1. The Wildest Heart
   
2. A Note From An Old Acquaintance
   
3. The Fruit of Her Hands: The Story of Shira of Ashkenaz
   
   
   

Night of Flames by Douglas W. Jacobson (Book Review)

Title: Night of Flames: A Novel of World War II
Author: Douglas W. Jacobson
Publisher: McBooks Press

First sentence: Anna Kopernik slept on this hot, muggy night, but it was a restless sleep troubled by strange dreams.

My synopsis: Anna and Jan Kopernik were a young married couple in Poland when the Germans invaded in 1939. Jan was a Major with the Wielkopolska Cavalry Brigade and was in the field when the Germans bombed Warsaw. Anna was in Warsaw with her good friend Irene and her son Justyn to take care of everything since Irene's mother had just passed away. Irene's husband Stefan was in the cavalry with Jan.

After narrowly escaping the bombs that fell on Warsaw, Anna, Irene and Justyn make their way back home to Krakow. When their driver is killed and Anna injured they end up staying with an older farm couple, the Berkowicz until Anna is recovered. When they finally make it back to Krakow, it has been taken over by the Germans, but Anna's father Thaddeus is still safe. He is a professor at the local university. It isn't long before all the professor's are rounded up and sent to a prison camp in Germany. Since Irene and Justyn are Jews, they are forced to wear the Star of David on their sleeves. Anna knows they must escape and through contacts of her father's she is able to secure visas for the three of them to Italy.

The story continues of Jan's endeavors during the war and how he is eventually recruited as a spy since he speaks fluent German. He takes the chance to return to Poland so he can search for Anna. Meanwhile, Anna inadvertently becomes involved in the resistance in Poland and the Comet Line, which escorted fallen aviators out of the country. Will they both survive the war? If they do, how in the world will they ever find each other again?

My review: While I am not a WWII buff, this book was a great read! You did not need to know a lot about the war to be able to appreciate the sacrifices that everyday people made in the name of freedom. It was a very engaging read and I was instantly invested in the outcomes of Anna, Irene and Justyn. The author told the story in a very easy manner, going back and forth from Anna and the Resistance to Jan and his involvement. In this way, you moved through the war and actually got two different perspectives - one of the actual fighting, and one of the behind the scenes sabotage efforts. I wish that I would have taken some notes along the way though, as there were a lot of characters, and when they would go on a mission, they would use different names, so sometimes I wasn't sure who was who! It was still a really good story though!


*This book was provided for review from Dorothy at Pump Up Your Books.*

Night of Flames
Publisher/Publication Date: McBooks Press, Oct 2008
ISBN: 978-1-59013-166-4
384 pages