Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Mailbox Monday! (Jan 30, 2012)


 Mailbox Monday will be hosted in January by Alyce at At Home With Books.  In My Mailbox is hosted Sundays at The Story Siren. Please visit these posts and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week! 


No Mark Upon Her
by Deborah Crombie

New York Times bestselling author Deborah Crombie makes her mark with this absorbing, finely hued tale of suspense -- a deeply atmospheric and twisting mystery full of deadly secrets, salacious lies, and unexpected betrayals involving the mysterious drowning of a Met detective -- an accomplished rower -- on the Thames.

When a K9 search-and-rescue team discovers a woman's body tangled up with debris in the river, Scotland Yard superintendent Duncan Kincaid finds himself heading an investigation fraught with complications.  The victim, Rebecca Meredith, was a talented but difficult woman with many admirers-- and just as many enemies.  An Olympic contender on the verge of a controversial comeback, she was also a high-ranking detective with the Met -- a fact that raises a host of political and ethical issues in an already sensitive case.

To further complicate the situation, a separate investigation, led by Detective Inspector Gemma James, Kincaid's wife, soon reveals a disturbing -- and possibly related -- series of crimes, widening the field of suspects.  But when someone tries to kill the search-and-rescue team member who found Rebecca's body, the case becomes even more complex and dangerous, involving powerful interests with tentacles that reach deep into the heart of the Met itself.

Surrounded by enemies with friendly faces, pressured to find answers quickly while protecting the Yard at all costs, his career and reputation on the line, Kincaid must race to catch the killer before more innocent lives are lost -- including his own.


I won this one from the author.
The Yippy, Yappy Yorkie in the Green Doggy Sweater
by Debbie Macomber

What happens when you combine:
A girl named Ellen who has just moved to a new neighborhood; a yippy, yappy Yorkie named Baxter who disappears from Ellen's new yard; and a new neighborhood that doesn't look anything like their old home on Blossom Street?

For Ellen and Baxter, it's a moving day that turns into something very special, with many happy discoveries.

In their second Blossom Street Kids picture book, New York Times bestselling authors Debbie Macomber and Mary Lou Carney share a charming and heartwarming tale about embarking on new adventures and finding friends in unexpected places.


This was recommended to me from a random stranger at a thrift store - so I bought it!
Dark Hollow
by John Connolly

Haunted by the murder of his wife and daughter, former New York police detective Charlie Parker retreats home to Scarborough, Maine, to rebuild his shattered life.  But his return awakens old ghosts, drawing him into the manhunt for the killer of yet another mother and child.  The obvious suspect is the young woman's violent ex-husband.  But there is another possibility -- a mythical killer who lurks deep in the dark hollow of Parker's own past, a figure that has haunted his family for generations: the monster known as Caleb Kyle. . .



I won this from Spades High Reads
Beyond (Book One in the Afterlife Series)
by T.P. Boje

Have you ever wondered where you go when you die?

Meghan is 16 when it happens to her.  She wakes up on a flying steamboat on her way to a school run by Angels in a white marble castle.  On the boat she meets Mick, who has been dead for more than a hundred years but still looks like he is a teenager.  He helps her through the difficult beginning at the new school in a new world filled with heavenly magic.

One day some of Meghan's roommates find a mirror in the cellar of the school and they persuade her to go through it with them -- well knowing it is strictly against the rules of the school.  Meghan ends up back on earth where she meets Jason.  But Jason is in danger and Meghan knows something important.  Soon she is forced to choose between the two worlds.  The one she belongs to now, and the one she left behind.



I bought this one at a thrift store also.
F is for Fugitive
by Sue Grafton

F is for Flight
When Kinsey Millhone first arrives in Floral Beach, California, it's hard for her to picture the idyllic coastal town as the setting of a brutal murder.  Seventeen years ago, the body of Jean Timberlake -- a troubled teen who had a reputation with the boys -- was found on the beach.  Her boyfriend, Bailey Fowler, was convicted of her murder and imprisoned, but he escaped.

F is for Fear
After all this time, Bailey's finally been captured.  Believing in his son's innocence, Baily's father wants Kinsey to find Jean's real killer.  But most of the residents in this tight-knit community are convinced Bailey strangled Jean.  So why are they so reluctant to answer Kinsey's questions?  If there's one thing Kinsey's got plenty of it's persistence.  And that's exactly what it's going to take to crack the lid on this case.

F is for Fugitive
As Kinsey gets closer to solving Jean's murder, the more dirty little secrets she uncovers in a town where everyone has something to hide -- and a killer will kill again to keep the past buried. . .


What books came home to you this week?

Pyxis by K.C. Neal (Two Giveaways - One for a Kindle!!!)

Title: Pyxis: The Discovery
Author: K.C. Neal
Publisher: StoneHouse Ink

About the book: Corinne lives an average teenage life working at her dad’s cafe, hanging out with her best friend, and trying to forget a falling-out with her almost-boyfriend Mason. Things take a strange turn when she uses her late grandmother’s food dyes for a bake sale, and her customers suddenly find her irresistibly alluring. Then she discovers she and Mason are haunted by the same dreams of a dark force that consumes everything in its path.

Pursued by shadowy figures and a crazy woman with secrets from the past, Corinne must find out who her grandmother really was. In her quest to unravel her family’s history, she learns she is destined to protect this world--and the dark world of her dreams. She races to find the answers she seeks before her nightmares break free.



My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book.  It started out as what I would say as just a very gentle and nice read, pulling you in, making you want to find out more and more.  Little clues are dropped along the way, especially concerning Mason, and you want to know who this Mason is and what his relationship with Corinne is all about.

I was instantly drawn to Corinne and was kind of rooting for her, even though I didn't know who or what I was rooting against.  She just came across as a really nice girl - the kind you want your daughter to be friends with, or your son to date (lol). 

As the title of the book says Pyxis: The Discovery, Corinne is left a box by her Grandma Doris when she passes away.  It is a wooden box with the word PYXIS enscribed on the top and 5 bottles of liquid inside. Together with her friend Ang, they discover that these liquids have some kind of magical quality, though they don't seem to work the same on everyone.  This is only the beginning of what they find though.  Pyxis is much more than just a box of magical liquids.  Together with Mason and Ang, Corinne sets out to discover what her grandmother has really left her. 


Pyxis by K.C. Neal is touring right now with Airel by Aaron Patterson and Chris White, which I reviewed a couple of days ago (with a giveaway) and Arson by Estevan Vega.  For Pyxis, K.C. Neal is giving away a Pyxis notebook and pen and a signed Pyxis bookmark right here!  (I am jealous!  I want to win this!)  To enter for the Pyxis swag, just leave a comment with your email address.  This giveaway is for U.S. entrants only. 

In addition to that though, the author is also hosting a Kindle giveaway that you can enter using the Rafflecopter form below, or you can enter at her blog, K.C. Neal's Blog. 

Check out each of these books on Amazon!

Pyxis by K.C. Neal
Corinne lives an average teenage life working at her dad’s cafe, hanging out with her best friend, and trying to forget a falling-out with her almost-boyfriend Mason. Things take a strange turn when she uses her late grandmother’s food dyes for a bake sale, and her customers suddenly find her irresistibly alluring. Then she discovers she and Mason are haunted by the same dreams of a dark force that consumes everything in its path. Pursued by shadowy figures and a crazy woman with secrets from the past, Corinne must find out who her grandmother really was. In her quest to unravel her family’s history, she learns she is destined to protect this world--and the dark world of her dreams. She races to find the answers she seeks before her nightmares break free.
$2.99 on Amazon.com
Airel by Aaron Patterson and Chris White

Airel is a story about an angel who falls so deeply in love with a woman that he chooses to fall from heaven to be with her. She gives birth to a daughter in Arabia, 1250BC. The girl is pursued ferociously, relentlessly by an enemy in the deepest darkness. In present day Boise, Idaho is just a girl: Airel. She's just your average high school student...who turns out to be anything but average. It's because of who she is, because of her ancestry, because of her lineage. Past and present crash in on each other in the final pages as what has been twisted comes dangerously unraveled.

Arson by Estevan Vega
Arson Gable feels like a freak. He can create fire. He never asked for it. He never wanted it. But he can't shut it off. Before now, three things were true: he both loved and despised his grandmother; his life was going nowhere; and he was alone. But when a strange girl--who feels more normal behind a mask than inside her own skin--moves in next door, Arson hopes to find something he's never had: purpose. Using what he fears most about himself, Arson must face his consuming past and confront the nightmare that is his present as he walks the fine line between boy and monster.

DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT FOR THE PYXIS SWAG WITH YOUR EMAIL!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Read Aloud Thursday


Read Aloud Thursday is hosted at Hope is the Word. I forgot to add that last week!

Title: Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
Author: Virginia Lee Burton
Published: 1939


If I would have told my son that this book was published the year after his grandma was born, he probably would have thought I was crazy.  After we read it, when I asked him what he liked the most about it, he started flipping through the book saying "this part, and this part, and this part"  so I think he enjoyed it. 

Mike has a steam shovel that he has named Mary Anne.  He has worked with her for years and dug canals and helped build passages through mountains and airports.  He has kept Mary Anne in really good condition.  With the passage of time though comes innovation and soon there are gasoline, electric and Diesel shovels and no one wants to use Mary Anne anymore.  They leave the city for the small town of Popperville, as they have heard they are building a new town hall.  Mike makes them an offer that he and Mary Anne can dig the cellar in one day, and if they don't, then the town won't have to pay them. 

Well, they don't think he can do it, so of course they take the bet.  A little boy stops to watch and he invites more and more people throughout the day (because the more people are watching, the faster and better Mike and Mary Anne work).  Now here comes my favorite part.  They get the cellar built and here is the steam shovel and Mike down in the cellar - there is a good picture of this in the book - and my son says "How are they going to get out?"  and I turn the page in the book and the little boy in the book says "How are they going to get out?"  I looked at my son and asked him if he had heard this story before.  He looked up with the childlike surprise and told me no.  So I told him he must be the little boy in the story!  (He liked that).

Well, rather than try to get Mary Anne out, they turn her into a furnace and Mike gets the job as janitor and they still get to spend every day together. 

The book has some cute illustrations, also by Virginia Lee Burton.  I especially like the sweet face on the steam shovel and some of her expressions! 


Challenges:  Excellence in Reading

Third Sentence Thursday: In Search of the Rose Notes


Third Sentence Thursday is hosted by Proud Book Nerd - visit her site to see all the other entries!

  1. Take the book you are currently reading, open it to a random page. Count three lines down and post it – it doesn’t even have to be a full sentence or anything. Just whatever’s on the third line. Feel free to share more (or a full sentence or two or three) if you’d prefer.
  2. Share your thoughts on the sentence (or sentences).
  3. Add a link to your blog post at Proud Book Nerd in the linky list.
  4. Visit one or two of the other blogs to check out their third sentence(s).

Here's mine from In Search of the Rose Notes:


the poor stinking Toby. He already had enough problems that (p75)
      Actually you get a lot of the meaning from that snippet - but the full two sentences look like this: I remember trying to pull my nostrils together using just my face muscles -- rather than my hands -- so as not to tip off the poor stinking Toby.  He already had enough problems that he didn't need the girl sitting next to him holding her nose on top of it all. Now I don't know about you, but when you were in fourth grade, would you have been sensitive enough to not add to someone else's problems?  I am not sure that I wasn't still in my egocentric world and wouldn't have held my nose and scooted as far away as possible!

    YA Giveaway Hop (Jan 27th - 31st)


    I want to thank I am a Reader, Not a Writer for putting together this great blog hop.  She is being helped out with this one by Amber at Down the Rabbit Hole.

    I was going to give away one of the YA books that I have upstairs in our spare bedroom, but we have someone staying with us and she is already asleep, so I can't go up and pick one!  I guess I will have to save those for the YA Paranormal Hop coming up in February!   So, for this hop, I am going to giveaway any YA book up to $15 value (w/shipping if your country isn't a free ship country)  from The Book Depository.  This giveaway will be open to wherever Book Depository ships!  So I think you guys definitely benefit from my house guest!

    To enter the giveaway you will need to enter through the rafflecopter form below.  Please be sure to check out my other rafflecopter giveaways while you are here! You can find them at the top of the blog.


    a Rafflecopter giveaway






    Wednesday, January 25, 2012

    Airel by Aaron Patterson (Book Review and Giveaway)

    Title: Airel (The Airel Saga, Book 1)
    Author: Aaron Patterson, Chris White
    Publisher: StoneHouse Ink


    About the book: All Airel ever wanted was to be normal, to disappear into the crowd. But bloodlines can produce surprises, like an incredible ability to heal. Then there s Michael Alexander, the new guy in school, who is impossibly gorgeous...and captivated by her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she can hear the sound of pages turning, and another, older story being written. It is the story of an ancient family, of great warriors, of the Sword of Light, and the struggle against an evil so terrible, so far-reaching, that it threatens everything. Airel knew change would be an inevitable part of life. But can she hold on when murder and darkness begin to close in and take away everything she loves? Will she have what it takes when the truth is finally revealed?

    My thoughts: Where to start?  This was a very complex story - actually two stories.  The book opens in the present day in Idaho.  You begin to learn about a young girl named Airel, with all the typical teenage angst that is normal.  What is not normal is that seemingly overnight Airel's appearance is changing.  Her complexion is becoming flawless, her hair luxurious. Even though she sees the changes in the mirror, she still questions when the boy of her dreams, Michael, appears to be infatuated with her.  When she discovers that she has the ability to heal quickly, she wonders who or what she really is.

    The second storyline takes place in Arabia in 1250 B.C.  Kreios, a fallen angel, has lost his wife right after the birth of his daughter and is on a journey to now save his daughter's life.  In order to achieve this, he has to, quite literally, take flight.  This flight attracts the unwanted attention of The Brotherhood.  These are demons whose mission is to destroy all the angels who came to earth and married a mortal.  The description of these demons, as well as the angels and the world they live in is told in great detail. 

    Even though the stories are thousands of years apart, they are eerily similar.  You see, the demons are on the trail of Kreios in Arabia, and there is a killer on the loose in Idaho as well.  Airel and Michael are kidnapped soon after Airel witnesses a killing while at the movies.  They are taken to an unbelievable house seemingly buried in the forest.  Airel doesn't know whether the killer has kidnapped her or saved her from being killed.  What she does know is that she is falling in love with Michael and learning about who she really is. 

    I did enjoy this story, but felt like I kind of got bogged down in the center.  The beginning grabbed me, but when it first flipped to Arabia, I kind of got lost.  I stuck with it though and am glad that I did.  The ending left me wide-eyed with - 'You can't stop there!' on my mind. 

    The second book in the series, Michael, is due out in May of this year.



    ~I received a complimentary ebook of Airel from StoneHouse Ink in exchange for my unbiased review.~


    You can find out more about Airel on Facebook and Twitter.

    Airel
    Publisher/Publication Date: StoneHouse Ink, August 2011
    ISBN: 978-0982607862
    425 pages



    a Rafflecopter giveaway




    Challenges:
    Speculative Fiction Reading
    New Authors
    Where Are You Reading?
    A to Z Reading Challenge
    YA Reading Challenge
    Immortal Challenge
    Paranormal challenge
    Paranormal Romance
    1st in a Series
    ARC Reading Challenge (So Many Precious Books, So Little Time)
    ARC Reading challenge (Eclectic Bookshelf)
    E-Book Reading Challenge (Eclectic Bookshelf)
    Ebook Reading Challenge (Workaday Reads)
    Free Reads Challenge
    Reading Romances Challenge
    Romance Reading Challenge (the bookworm)
    Speculative Romance Challenge

    Library Loot (Jan 25 - Feb 1)

    Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they've checked out from the library.  If you'd like to participate, just write up your post - feel free to steal the button - and visit the above 2 blogs to see who has the Mr. Linky this week. Don't forget to check out what others are checking out!


    Irises
    by Francisco X. Stork

    Kate is bound for college and an M.D. -- if her family will let her go.  Mary wants only to stay home and paint.  When their loving but repressive father dies, they must figure out how to support themselves and their mother, and how to get along in all their uneasy sisterhood.

    Then three young men sway their lives:  Kate's boyfriend, Simon, asks her to marry him, offering the girls some much-needed stability.  Mary is drawn to Marcos, though she fears his violent past.  And Andy tempts Kate with more than romance, recognizing her ambition because it matches his own.

    Kate and Mary each find new possibilities and darkness in their sudden freedom.  But it's their mother's life that might divide them for good -- the question of if she lives, and what's worth living for.




    The Queen of Kentucky
    by Alecia Whitaker

    Fourteen-year-old Kentucky girl Ricki Jo Winstead, who would prefer to be called Ericka, thank you very much, is eager to shed her farmer's daughter roots and fit in with the popular crowd at her small-town high school.  She trades her Bible for Seventeen magazine, buys new "sophisticated" clothes, and strikes up an unlikely flirtation with the freshman class's resident bad boy.  She's on top of the world, even though her best friend and neighbor, Luke, says he misses "plain old Ricki Jo."

    Caught between being a country girl and wannabe country club girl, Ricki Jo begins to forget who she truly is: someone who doesn't care what people think and who wouldn't let a good-looking guy walk all over her.

    After a serious incident on Luke's farm, Ricki Jo realizes that being a true friend is more important than being popular. . . and that the one boy who matters most has been next door all along. 




    Unearthly
    by Cynthia Hand

    In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees. . .

    Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel.  Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do.  Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

    Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town.  When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place -- and out of place at the same time.  Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

    As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make -- between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil.  When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?





    Saving Zoe
    by Alyson Noel

    It's been on year since the brutal murder of her older sister, Zoe, and fifteen-year-old Echo is still reeling from the aftermath.  Her parents are numb, her friends are moving on, and the awkward start to her freshman year proves she'll never live up to her sister's memory.  Until Zoe's former boyfriend Marc shows up with Zoe's diary.

    At first Echo's not interested, doubting there's anything in there she doesn't already know.  But when curiosity prevails, she starts reading, becoming so immersed in her sister's secret world, their lives begin to blur, forcing Echo to uncover the truth behind Zoe's life so that she can start to rebuild her own.

    Prepare to laugh your heart out and cry your eyes out in this highly addictive tale as Alyson Noel tackles the complicated relationship between two sisters and shows how the bond can endure long after one of them is gone. 


    Tuesday, January 24, 2012

    Come Back to Me by Melissa Foster (Book Review)

    Author: Melissa Foster
    Publisher: Greenforge Books

    About the Book: Tess Johnson has it all: her handsome photographer husband Beau, a thriving business, and a newly discovered pregnancy. When Beau accepts an overseas photography assignment, Tess decides to wait to reveal her secret—only she’s never given the chance. Beau’s helicopter crashes in the desert.

    Tess struggles with the news of Beau’s death and tries to put her life back together. Alone and dealing with a pregnancy that only reminds her of what she has lost, Tess is adrift in a world of failed plans and fallen expectations. When a new client appears offering more than just a new project, Tess must confront the circumstances of her life head on.

    Meanwhile, two Iraqi women who are fleeing honor killings find Beau barely alive in the middle of the desert, his body ravaged by the crash. Suha, a doctor, and Samira, a widow and mother of three young children, nurse him back to health in a makeshift tent. Beau bonds with the women and children, and together, with the help of an underground organization, they continue their dangerous escape.

    What happens next is a test of loyalties, strength, and love.


    My thoughts: I pretty much read this book in one sitting, and that doesn't happen very often with me.  I was very much caught up in the storyline and there were times when I was actually holding my breath, waiting to see what would happen.  Tess, Beau, Alice, Kevin, Louie, Samira and her family - these are all real people, with real lives - not sugar-coated characters in a book.  Life is messy.  Relationships are messy.  Sometimes we are not in control of what happens in our life, but somehow have to work with what is left when the dust settles.  Melissa Foster makes her characters dig down deep, through the pain and the reality, and swim through it all back to the surface. 

    All through out the book, just the way that relationships were forming and situations were evolving, I knew that someone would probably be hurt in the end.  I did not know how it could resolve itself so that everyone would be happy.  Even coming to that conclusion, I definitely did not see this ending coming.  My advice to you?  Keep a box of kleenexes handy!  

    ~I received a complimentary ebook from the author in exchange for my review.~

    You can connect with Melissa in many places - on her blog, website, facebook, goodreads, and at WoMen's Literary Cafe.





    Publisher/Publication Date: Greenforge Books, Nov 1, 2011
    ISBN: 978-0984716517
    316 pages


    Challenges:
    Where Are You Reading?
    A to Z Reading Challenge
    ARC Reading Challenge (So Many Precious Books, So Little Time)
    ARC Reading Challenge (The Eclectic Bookshelf)
    Free Reads (Bookish Ardour)
    Ebook Challenge (Workaday Reads)
    E-book Reading Challenge (The Eclectic Bookshelf)
    Find the Cover/Coversuch
    Romance Reading Challenge (the bookworm)
    Romance Reading Challenge (The Eclectic bookshelf)

    Sunday, January 22, 2012

    A Winter's Respite Readathon (Jan 23 - 29) #WintersRespite



    It's time for another Read-a-thon!  A Winter's Respite Read-a-thon is being hosted by The True Book Addict and is starting tomorrow, Jan 23.  It will run through next Sunday, Jan 29.  Tomorrow is my full day of work so I am posting tonight with the hopes of being able to spend some time reading tomorrow night.  She is going to have some mini-challenges and there will be a giveaway for everyone who signs in at the beginning and does a wrap up at the end - but mostly it will just be a week of laid back reading.  You will already be reading right? So why not sign up!?   Oh - and you don't need a blog to participate - you can sign up through Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, etc.  so go check it out!

    I hope to read and/or finish the following books:
    Family Storms by VC Andrews
    Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink
    In Search of Rose Notes by Emily Arsenault
    Come Back to Me by Melissa Foster
    Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees

    It's Monday! What are you reading? (Jan 23, 2012)



    What are you reading on Mondays is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey - 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! 


    Currently reading:




    Books up this week:




    Bathroom Book:

     


    Books finished since last post:





    Children's Books reviewed since last post:
    Millions of Cats by Wanda Ga'g
    Never Smile at a Monkey by Steve Jenkins
    Memoirs of a Goldfish by Devin Scillian





     
    Until next week ----  Ready - Set - Read!


    Mailbox Monday! (Jan 23, 2012)


     Mailbox Monday will be hosted in January by Alyce at At Home With Books.  In My Mailbox is hosted Sundays at The Story Siren. Please visit these posts and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week! 

    The Starboard Sea
    by Amber Dermont

    After the suicide of his friend and sailing partner, Jason Prosper transfers to a New England boarding school to finish his senior year.  Here - amidst the stock market collapse of 1987, the abuses of class privilege, the mutability of sexual desire, and the risks of competitive sailing -- Jason must navigate the depths of his emotions, while finding his moral center, forgiving himself, and accepting the gift of love.


    The Snow Child
    by Eowyn Ivey


    Homesteaders Jack and Mabel have carved out a quiet life of hard work and routine for themselves in the wilderness that is 1920s Alaska, both still deeply longing for the child it's now impossible for them to have.  Yet their love for each other is strong, and in a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they play together, building a child out of snow.  The next morning the snow child is gone -- but a trail of tiny footsteps remains.  For weeks following, they both catch glimpses of a blond little girl alone in the woods but neither dares mention it to the other, afraid that long-buried hopes have overruled common sense.

    Then the little girl, who calls herself Faina, shows up on their doorstep.  Small and fair, she seems truly magical: she hunts with a red fox at her side, she leaves blizzards in her wake, and somehow she manages to survive alone in the harsh Alaskan wilderness.  As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand Faina, they come to love her as their own.  But in this beautiful, violent place, things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform them all.

    Eowyn Ivey's enchanting, mesmerizing debut is the story of a couple whose longing for a child is so intense that they may have imagined her into existence.  As dazzling as the snowy Alaskan landscape in which it is set, The Snow Child shines with imaginative power, immersing the reader in a place both faraway and familiar, a tale both universal and brilliantly unique. 

    Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef
    by Gabrielle Hamilton

    Before Gabrielle Hamilton opened her acclaimed New York restaurant Prune, she spent twenty hard-living years trying to find purpose and meaning in her life.  Blood, Bones and Butter follows an unconventional journey through the many kitchens Hamilton has inhabited through the years:  the rural kitchen of her childhood, where her adored mother stood over the six-burner with an oily wooden spoon in hand; the kitchens of France, Greece, and Turkey, where she was often fed by complete strangers and learned the essence of hospitality; Hamilton's own kitchen at Prune, with its many unexpected challenges; and the kitchen of her Italian mother-in-law, who serves as the link between Hamilton's idyllic past and her own future family -- the result of a prickly marriage that nonetheless yields lasting dividends.  By turns epic and intimate, Gabrielle Hamilton's story is told with uncommon honesty, grit, humor, and passion.


    What books came home to you this week?

    Saturday, January 21, 2012

    American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar - Rafflecopter Giveaway!


    American Dervish
    by Ayad Akhtar

    Hayat Shah is a young American in love for the first time. His normal life of school, baseball, and video games had previously been distinguished only by his Pakistani heritage and by the frequent chill between his parents, who fight over things he is too young to understand. Then Mina arrives, and everything changes.

    Mina is Hayat's mother's oldest friend from Pakistan. She is independent, beautiful and intelligent, and arrives on the Shah's doorstep when her disastrous marriage in Pakistan disintegrates. Even Hayat's skeptical father can't deny the liveliness and happiness that accompanies Mina into their home. Her deep spirituality brings the family's Muslim faith to life in a way that resonates with Hayat as nothing has before. Studying the Quran by Mina's side and basking in the glow of her attention, he feels an entirely new purpose mingled with a growing infatuation for his teacher.

    When Mina meets and begins dating a man, Hayat is confused by his feelings of betrayal. His growing passions, both spiritual and romantic, force him to question all that he has come to believe is true. Just as Mina finds happiness, Hayat is compelled to act -- with devastating consequences for all those he loves most.

    American Dervish is a brilliantly written, nuanced, and emotionally forceful look inside the interplay of religion and modern life. Ayad Akhtar was raised in the Midwest himself, and through Hayat Shah he shows readers vividly the powerful forces at work on young men and women growing up Muslim in America. This is an intimate, personal first novel that will stay with readers long after they turn the last page.
    


    Thanks to Hachette Books I have 2 copies of American Dervish to giveaway!  Just fill out the rafflecopter form below.  The giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada only and will end on Feb 5, 2012.  Good luck!


    a Rafflecopter giveaway

    Thursday, January 19, 2012

    Read Aloud Thursday


    I have been wanting to post for awhile about some of the books that my son and I read together, so when I found this meme I thought it would be perfect!

    Title: Millions of Cats
    Author: Wanda Ga'g
    Literary Awards: Newberry Award (1929)
    Towards challenge: Excellence in Reading
    Yes, this is an oldie but a goodie.  It is a cute story about an old man who goes looking for a cat for his wife.  He can't choose a cat so ends up bringing "Hundreds of cats, Thousands of cats, Millions and trillions and billions of cats" home instead.  His wife is a little appalled and sensibly says that they must pick one because if they try to keep them all they will eat them out of house and home. They can't choose so they ask the cats which one of them is the prettiest.  All cats think they are prettiest, so a huge squabble ensues leaving only one scrawny little cat.  This cat wasn't in the fight, because he knew that he wasn't the prettiest, but after a little food and some TLC, turns out he was wrong.

    My son told me he liked this book because it had a lot of cats in it.  I enjoyed it for the repetition of some of the phrases, the simple pictures and what I think is the subtle message about there being beauty inside of all of us. 




    At my son's school they read the Monarch Nominee books every fall and then they have an election in February to choose their favorite Monarch book.  We have been reading some of the Monarch books here at home also and this week have read the following two.

    Title: Never Smile at a Monkey
    Author: Steve Jenkins
    Literary Awards: Flicker Tale Children's Book Award for Non-fiction (2011)

    I did not like this book much at all - if I was a kid, I think it would of kind of scared me and I was glad we hadn't read it before our trip to Florida last summer!  It has all these animals in it that may not appear dangerous, but then goes on to tell what not to do to them or chances are you will die very quickly.  Like box jellyfish and stingrays and cone shells.  I didn't ask my son what he thought about it, because I didn't want him to think too hard about it!  I'm not sure that this age group needs to be introduced to these animals yet and then again, maybe I am just over protective!




    Title: Memoirs of a Goldfish
    Author: Devin Scillian


    This was a very cute book and I happen to know that it is currently my son's favorite of the Monarch nominees.  The goldfish is keeping a diary that starts out with just him, alone, swimming around his fishbowl.  By day four though, he starts to get some company, until he can't turn around without running into something or someone.  Well, that doesn't sit too well with him and he is wishing for his solo fishbowl back again, until it actually happens.  This is when the worry sets in that all of his friends need him and they won't be able to get along without him. Sort of a 'you don't know what you've got til it's gone' moment.  Eventually he finds himself in a large aquarium back with all his friends.  Oh, and this is written Day One, Day Two, Day Three, etc.  The illustrator, Tim Bowers, also did a wonderful job with the pictures of the different sea life - very colorful and animated.  I recommend this one!

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