Kid's Korner: Dump Truck Day (Book Review)

Title: Dump Truck Day
Author: Cari Meister
Publisher: Capstone Press

Dump Truck Day is about a little boy named Jacob who gets to spend the day with his uncle in a dump truck. The neat thing about the book though is that it is a graphic novel for K-2. I have never read any kind of graphic novel before, so I do not know how this compares to adult graphic novels. It is almost like a hard covered comic book, and it was pretty cool. The pages are filled with colorful illustrations that any youngster into trucks would love.

At the end of the book some discussion questions are listed as well as some writing prompts. I like this as it makes the book more interactive for the child. One of the writing prompts is to draw a truck you like since the book is about trucks, or to draw the map of the pit mine and the surrounding area based on the story. It makes them actually think about the book and not just put it down and start on the next one.

This book is one in a series that includes these books:




Visit Capstone Press for more information.

~This book was provided for review by Capstone Press.~

Teaser Tuesday: 2-16-2010

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 have given!
Please avoid spoilers!








Acting as if nothing was unusual, she turned and carried the large, hot pink package of pads to the registers, getting into the line with only one woman in it. As it turned out, the pads she'd chosen were some kind of supersized, mega-absorbent, recommended-for-elephant-use sort of product. (p52, Anything but Normal by Melody Carlson)







Anything but Normal
Publisher/Publication Date: Revell Books, Jan 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3258-5
254 pages

Larissa Ione on Blog Talk Radio!

Please join us in a live interview with Larissa Ione, author of

ECSTASY UNVEILED

Forever Romance ISBN 9780446556828

Date: February 17, 2010

Time: 2:00 PM ET

Author: Larissa Ione

Title: Ecstasy Unveiled

Publisher: Forever Romance

BlogTalkRadio/HBG Program:

Larissa Ione, an Air Force veteran, lives a nomadic lifestyle with her U.S. Coast Guard husband and young son. She currently lives in Wisconsin and is hard at work on her next Demonica novel. Visit her website at www.LarissaIone.com. She writes: "After I'd joined the Air Force and was in dire need of something to read between shifts at the weather station, I continued to read horror, but I'd branched out into fantasy, and then, finally, romance (though I admit I went kicking and screaming to the latter.) Turned out that I loved romance! So I started writing it, but again, my style and voice leaned toward the dark, paranormal side. Fortunately for me, paranormal romance, as a sub-genre, was booming. I let my imagination fly, and soon I'd sold a series of dark, sexy paranormal romances to Grand Central Publishing. I still read a lot of horror, science fiction, and fantasy, and in fact, one of my all time favorite books about writing is On Writing, by my favorite childhood horror author, Stephen King. If you're an author or a reader, I highly recommend this book for an insight into an author's mind—which can sometimes be a very scary place. Go ahead; Seduce your dark side."

Call-in with your questions during show time to participate in the live interview @ 646-378-0039.

Listen-in or chat on the Grand Central Publishing channel on BlogTalkRadio.

If you would like your questions to be read on air by the host or if you would like to give advanced notice of your participation during the live call, email anna.balasi@hbgusa.com.

Giveaway of The Moon Looked Down by Dorothy Garlock

The Moon Looked Down
by Dorothy Garlock

The new Americana romance from bestselling author Dorothy Garlock, this time set against the backdrop of WWII. Sophie Heller's family immigrated from Germany to Victory, a small town in Illinois, before WWII began. Now that the war has affected the town, the townspeople discriminate against Sophie and her family. When a train derails, it is an accident but the Heller family is blamed. Coming to Sophie's rescue is a teacher from the high school, and despite their cultural differences, a romance starts to bloom.

Read an excerpt

Giveaway

I have five copies of this paperback book to giveaway courtesy of Hachette Books. For your first entry (MUST DO THIS ONE FOR ANY OTHER ENTRIES TO COUNT) tell me your favorite WWII novel - if you have one. Oh - and leave your email address.

For additional entries you can sign up to follow (old followers let me know), Twitter or post it on your blog. Each entry must have it's own comment. (Four entries total.)

This giveaway if for U.S./Canada only - no PO boxes and will end Mar 8!

It's Monday! What are you reading? 2-15-2010

What are you reading on Mondays is now being hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey - be sure to stop by her blog and congratulate her on being bequethed this great meme! You can hook up with the Mr. Linky there with your own post - but be sure and let me know what you are reading too!

I am really going to try to clean up this list this week - I am as tired as you are seeing some of these books week after week!

Books I am reading:
1. Samson's Walls by Jud Niremberg-
2. A Hope and a Future: Overcoming Discouragement by Don Wilton
3. The Swan Thieves: A Novel by Elizabeth Kostova -
4. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
5. Eggs in Purgatory (A Cackleberry Club Mystery) by Laura Childs
6. Anything but Normal: A Novel by Melody Carlson
7.Disrupting Grace: A Story of Relinquishment and Healing by Kristen Richburg

New this week:
1. Countess of Scandal (The Daughters of Erin) by Laurel McKee
2. Penguin Luck by Kay Mupetson

Someday Soon:
1. The Sacred Cipher: A Novel by Terry Brennan
2. The Good Girl's Guide to Getting Kidnapped by Yxta Maya Murray
3. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
4. All About Us #6: The Chic Shall Inherit the Earth: An All About Us Novel by Shelly Adina
5. Forest Gate: A Novelby Peter Akinti
6. The Naughty Listby Suzanne Young

Read and Reviewed:
1. Catch of a Lifetime by Judi Fennell
2. The Marriage Project by Kathi Lipp

Waiting for Review:
1. Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients by Dr. Jeff Hertzberg
2. What Your Mother Never Told You: A Teenage Girls Survival Guide by Richard Dudum
3. 101 Glam Girl Ways to an Ultra Chic Lifestyle: A Cheeky Book with Tidbits of Advice for a Glamorous Lifestyle by Dawn Del Russo
4. Legend of the White Wolf by Terry Spear

Children's Books Waiting for Reviews:
1. Building a Bridge (Pebble Plus)by JoAnn Early Macken
2. Demolition (Pebble Plus)by JoAnn Early Macken
3. Dump Truck Day (My First Graphic Novel)by Cari Meister


Current Audio:
1. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

Ready - Set - Read!

Mailbox Monday/In My Mailbox 2-15-2010

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

Strange Neighbors
by Ashlyn Chase

He's just looking for peace, quiet, and a little romance. . .

Hunky all-star pitcher and shapeshifter Jason Falco buys an old Boston brownstone apartment building as an investment. But when Merry MacKenzie moves into the ground floor apartment, the playboy pitcher decides he might just be done playing the field.

On her own for the first time, she just wants to have fun. . .

Jason seems like the perfect fling, but sexy nurse Merry's not sure she's ready to trust him with her heart. . . especially when the tabloids start trumpeting his playboy lifestyle.

Then Pandemonium breaks loose when the vampire who lives in the basement and the werewolf from upstairs join forces to make it almost impossible for Merry and Jason to get it together. . .(back cover)

(Image not available)

I Love This Bar
by Carolyn Brown


She runs the honky tonk beer joint; she doesn't need a single thing else. . .

Daisy O'Dell has her hands full with with hotheads and thirsty ranchers until the day one damn fine cowboy walks in and throws her whole life into turmoil. . .

He's looking for a cold drink and moment's peace, and finds himself one red hot woman. . .

She's just what he needs, if only he can convince her to come out from behind that bar, and come home with him. . .(back cover)

The Weirdo Deluxe presents
The Silver Key

Somewhere in the United States is hidden The Silver Key. All the clues needed to find it are hidden in this album. The first person to solve the puzzle and find the key gets to keep it, and may win a cash prize of $1,000, plus one additional dollar ($1) for every album sold.

Scars and Stilettos
by Harmony Dust

Nineteen-year-old Harmony Dust is trapped. Thousands of dollars in debt, struggling to get by, dominated by her boyfriend: things can't get worse. . .until someone tells her how much money she can make as an exotic dancer. For the next three years, Harmony lives a double life as Monique, a dancer in a fully-nude strip club.

Scars and Stilettos is Harmony's stark, honest, and ultimately hopeful story of how God found her in that dark, noisy place and led her back out. She has since married, completed an MA in Social Welfare, and now leads Treasures, an organization helping women in the sex trade discover their true worth. (back cover)

You Belong to Me
by Kimberly Nee

A marriage of convenience, to a man she'd only just met, was the only way to protect Brenna McIntyre from the cruel viscount determined to have her no matter what.

The only problem was a most unwilling groom.

The last thing Tony Radcliffe wanted, or needed, was a wife - even if their marriage was in name only. Left without a choice, he relented, but remained determined to keep Brenna at arm's length.

The journey from Ireland to America sparks a desire neither had expected, and one too powerful to ignore, even as the shadow of Brenna's past threatens the peace she's found in Tony's arms. (back cover)

Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure
by Allan Richard Shickman

"She began to move warily in a circle as the men tightened the trap, and as they got closer the lioness began to stride and prowl in a circle so small that she almost seemed to be chasing her tail. But she was watching, watching while she turned and snarled, for a weakness in the ever-tightening ring of her pursuers. Then, at the moment the attack finally was sounded--when the men, putting down their drums and torches, charged on the run with their spears -- the lioness saw what she was looking for. One of her enemies was smaller, weaker than the rest. There was a point of the strengthening line that could be broken! Thought merged with furious action and the beast, with a mighty bound of astonishing swiftness, darted toward Zan. Five hundred pounds of snarling fury sprang directly at him with claws bared and fanged mouth open!"

Zan-Gah: A prehistoric adventure has only begun. Pressed by love for his brother and a bad conscience, the hero undertakes a quest which leads to captivity, conflict, love, and triumph. In three years, Zan-Gah passes from an uncertain boyhood to a tried and proven manhood and a role of leadership among his people. This dramatic and impassioned story will thrill and deeply move young adults and older readers. They will dream of Zan-Gah at night, and remember it all of their lives! (back cover)

Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country
by Allan Richard Shickman

"Well past the middle of the night Zan felt a shaking of his shoulder as he slept, and then an impatient foot kicking at him. Instinctively grabbing for his spear, he looked up and saw the orange glow of a torch, and as his eyes adjusted to the invading light he recognized his brother's ghastly face. Dael's dangerous brow was furrowed, and the vein of his forehead bulged under the old scar. His teeth were clenched, and his eyes darted nervously back and forth. His every motion expressed a profound agitation, and Zan knew that what he had been dreading had come.
"It is time, Zan. Let us go!"
"Where? It's dark!"
"I want to find where the river comes from."

The volcanic turbulence that shakes Dael's mind carries him to vicious extremes. It is Zan's task to calm his brother and lead him away from thoughts both destructive and self-destructive. But even the paradise of the Beautiful Country will not erase them. (back cover)

Rumor has It
by Jill Mansell

This man doesn't seem to match is reputation. . .

Newly single Tilly Cole impulsively moves to a small town, only to find she's arrived in a hotbed of gossip, intrigue, and rampant rivalry for the most desirable man -- irresistible Jack Lucas, whose reputation is beyond bad. Tilly has no intention of becoming another notch on his bedpost. But the thoughtful, caring guy she comes to value as a friend doesn't seem to fit the town's playboy image.

Tilly doesn't know what to believe -- and Jack's not telling. (back cover)

Heresy
by S.J. Parris

Oxford. 1583. The cloistered academic and spiritual home of the most revered scholars in the world. But somewhere within the private chambers of the university, a brutal killer lurks. . .

Giordano Bruno -- monk, scientist, philosopher, and magician -- is wanted by the Inquisition on charges of heresy for his belief in a heliocentric universe. After years on the run throughout Europe, Bruno is mysteriously recruited by Queen Elizabeth I and sent to Oxford on the pretext of a royal visitation. Officially, Bruno is to take part in a debate on Copernican theory; unofficially, he is to find out whatever he can about a Catholic plot to overthrow the queen.

But before Bruno's investigations commence, his mission is dramatically thrown off course when Oxford fellows begin to turn up dead. As he discovers a pattern in the murders, he realizes that he isn't the only one harboring secrets and that no one at Oxford is who he appears to be.

From the gothic manors of the English countryside to the seedy taverns and mysterious bookshops outside the university gates, Bruno's search for clues takes him to places he never knew existed and toward revelations that could threaten the stability of England.

Based on the real-life adventures of Giordano Bruno, this clever and vastly entertaining whodunit is written with the unstoppable narrative propulsion and stylistic flair of the very best historical thrillers. (back cover)

Waking up in the Land of Glitter
by Kathy Cano-Murillo

With glue guns, glitter, twigs, or yarn, the ordinary can become extraordinary. . . especially at La Pachanga. Owned by Estrella "Star" Esteban's family, the restaurant has a rep for two things: good food and great art. La Pachanga brings people together -- even when it looks like they couldn't be further apart.

One ill-fated evening, Star jeopardizes her family's business, her relationship with her boyfriend, and her future career. To redeem herself, she agrees to participate in a national craft competition, teaming up with her best friend, Ofelia -- a secretly troubled mother whose love for crafting borders on obsession; and local celebrity Chloe Chavez -- a determined televsion personality with more than one skeleton in her professional closet. If these unlikely allies can set aside their differences, they'll find strength they never knew they had, and learn that friendship, like crafting, is truly an art form. (back cover)