Mailbox Monday (Feb 13, 2012)

 Mailbox Monday will be hosted in February at Metroreader.  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! 

Agony of the Leaves

by Laura Childs

In the latest novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Scones and Bones, Indigo Tea Shop Owner Theodosia Browning finds herself in hot water when a body surfaces at the grand opening of Charleston's Neptune Aquarium. . .

The opening of the aquarium is a major Charleston event, and Theodosia has been hired to cater tea, scones, and sandwiches for the private party to honor dignitaries and big-buck donors.  Things are going swimmingly until Theodosia escapes the party for a momentary rest, only to discover the body of a man entangled in a net, drowned in one of the aquarium's state-of-the-art tanks.

To make matters worse, the victim is Theodosia's former boyfriend Parker Scully.  The EMTs on the scene think Parker's drowning was an accident, but when Theodosia notices what look like defensive wounds on his hands she realizes that someone wanted Parker dead.  The local police aren't keen on hearing her theory -- especially because of her ties to the victim -- so Theodosia knows that if she wants Parker's killer brouight to justice, she'll have to jump into the deep end and start her own investigation. . .

White Horse

by Alex Adams

The world has ended, but her journey has just begun.

Thirty-year-old Zoe leads an ordinary life until the end of the world arrives.  She is cleaning cages and floors at Pope Pharmaceuticals when the President of the United States announces that human beings are no longer a viable species.  When Zoe realizes that everyone she loves is disappearing, she starts running.  Scared and alone in a shockingly changed world, she embarks on a remarkable journey of survival and redemption.  Along the way, Zoe comes to see that humans are defined not by their genetic code, but rather by their actions and choices.  White Horse offers hope for a broken world, where love can lead to the most unexpected places.

Restoration

by Olaf Olafsson

Having grown up in an exclusive circle of wealthy British ex-pats in Florence in the 1920s, Alice shocks everyone when she marries Claudio, the son of a minor landowner, and moves to San Martino, a crumbling villa in Tuscany.  Settling into their new paradise, husband and wife begin to build their future, restoring San Martino and giving birth to a son.

But as time passes, Alice grows lonely, a restlessness that leads her into the heady social swirl of wartime Rome and a reckless affair that will have devastating consequences.  While she spends time with her lover in Rome, Alice's young son falls ill and dies, widening the emotional chasm between her and her husband -- and leaving her vulnerable to the machinations of a nefarious art dealer who ensnares her in a dangerous and deadly scheme.

Returning to San Martino, Alice yearns for forgiveness.  But before she can begin to make amends, Claudio disappears, and the encroaching fighting threatens to destroy everything they have built.  Caught between loyalists and resisters, cruel German forces and Allied troops, Alice valiantly struggles to survive, hoping the life and love she lost can one day be restored.

Sarai

by Jill Eileen Smith

He promised her his heart.  She promised him a son.  But how long must they wait?

When Abram finally requests the hand of his beautiful half sister Sarai, she asks one thing -- that he promise never to take another wife as long as she lives.  Even Sarai's father thinks the demand is restrictive and agrees to the union only if she makes a promise in return -- to give Abram a son and heir.  Certain she can easily do that, Sarai agrees.

But as the years stretch on and Sarai's womb remains empty, she becomes desperate to fulfill her end of the bargain, lest Abram decide that he will not fulfill his.  To what lengths will Sarai go in her quest to bear a son?  And how long will Abram's patience last?

Combining in-depth research and vivid storytelling, Jill Eileen Smith brings to life the beautiful and inscrutable Sarai in this remarkable story of love, jealousy, and undaunted faith.

What books came home to you last week?

The Hunger Games Read-a-long (Feb 12 - Mar 23)

I have never had much success with read-a-longs - but I am going to try another one.  This is a movie that I really want to see, and I like to read the book before I see the movie - otherwise, I don't have as much incentive to read the book because I already know what happens!

Here's the information that you need to know:
1. The reading officially begins February 12 and the Read Along will conclude on March 23, 2012. To sign up please create a sign up post and link to that post at Not Your Momma's Book Blog.

2. Each week on Sunday please post a discussion post of what you have read so far (your thoughts, feelings, etc. about what you've read of the book so far), there will be a couple of discussion questions posted on each Sunday to provide some inspiration if you need it. NOTE: If you read ahead please do NOT post your discussion post early to prevent spoilers.

3. Visit host blog on Sundays and link up your discussion post.

4. At the end of the Read-a-long there will be a prize!

5. If you have any questions you can email host at notyourmothersbookblog@yahoo.com. Please put "The Hunger Games Read Along" in the subject line.

The Reading Schedule:

Part 1 "Tributes"

Chapters 1-4 (1, 2, 3 & 4).....February 12-19

Chapters 5-9 ......February 19-26

Part 2 "The Games"
Chapters 10-14.....February 26-March 4
Chapters 15-18.....March 4-March 11

Part 3 "The Victor"

Chapter 19-22....March 11-March 18
Chapters 23-27.....March 18-March 23

Read-to-me Picture Book Challenge

Finally, a challenge were I can keep track of all those books that I read with my son! This challenge is being hosted by There's a Book.

• The objective of the Read to Me Challenge is to read with the kiddos in your life and/or enjoy picture books in general.  I will be reading with my 7 year old.
• Books must be ones written expressly for children ages 9 and under. Board books, early readers, picture books, etc.
• Print or eBook format is acceptable.
• Anyone can join. You don’t have to be a blogger, and you don’t have to live in the United States. Open worldwide.
• You do not have to have an blog to participate.
• You can join at anytime. Deadline to join is November 20, 2012. (Not 2011, so you still have PLENTY of time to sign up!) The challenge runs from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012.
• Choose a Level - (see challenge host for levels)  I am choosing "Observing"  which is to read 400 books with a child, with only a wrap up post each month.  I am choosing to not review these as I have a hard enough time keeping up on my adult book reviews!

1. Schnitzel's First Christmas by Hans Wilhelm
2. Garbage Trucks by Terri DeGezelle
3. Street Sweepers by Terri DeGezelle
4. Pigs (Animals Are Not Like Us) by Graham Meadows
5. Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton
6. Snow Dude by Daniel Kirk
7. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback
8. Little Toot by Harold Gramatky
9. Minerva Louise on Christmas Eve by Janet Morgan Stoeke
10. Buildings: Community Helpers by Jordan McGill
11. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
12. DK Readers: Big Machines by Karen Wallace
13. Let's Do Nothing by Tony Fucile

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey - GIVEAWAY!

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.


A big thanks to Little, Brown and Company for allowing me to giveaway 2 books to 2 of my awesome readers.  You can enter through the rafflecopter form below.  This giveaway is open to US/Canada and will end at midnight on 2/18/2012.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Last week's winners!

I have winner's to announce from the YA Giveaway Hop and the American Dervish giveaway!

The $15 Book Depository GC from the YA Giveaway Hop goes to Kathryn (cleanteenfiction@. . .)

The two winners of the American Dervish books are: Diane (kui900@. . .) and  Sandra (seknobloch@. . .)

The Legacy of Eden by Nelle Davy (Book Review)

Title: The Legacy of Eden
Author: Nelle Davy
Publisher: MIRA Books

About the Book:  "To understand what it meant to be a Hathaway you'd first have to see Aurelia."

For generations, Aurelia was the crowning glory of more than three thousand acres of Iowa farmland and golden cornfields.  The estate was a monument to matriarch Lavinia Hathaway's dream to elevate the family name -- no matter what relative or stranger she had to destroy in the process.  It was a desperation that wrought the downfall of the Hathaways -- and the once-prosperous farm.

Now the last inhabitant of the decaying old home has died -- alone.  None of the surviving members of the Hathaway family want anything to do with the farm, the land or the memories.

Especially Meredith Pincetti.  Now living in New York City, for seventeen years Lavinia's youngest grandchild has tried to forget everything about her family and her past.  But with the receipt of a pleading letter, Meredith is again thrust into conflict with the legacy that destroyed her family's once-great name.

Back at Aurelia, Meredith must confront the rise and fall of the Hathaway family. . . and her own part in their mottled history.

My thoughts:  Lavinia is the matriarch of the Hathaway family and she is bound and determined to create a legacy of land and family even if it costs her members of that family.  Her own rise to matriarch is made with calculation and scandal, but once ensconsed there, she plans on staying there.

The story goes back three generations, well really four generations, but the "family" and Aurelia begins when Lavinia marries Cal.  They take over running the farm, with Cal's sister, Piper, and begin it's prosperous rise.  Leo, Cal's other brother, upset over the way the inheritance from their father played out, has left - to never look back.  This is just the beginning of those who choose to leave, or are sent away.

Lavinia fears no one when it comes to making decisions for what she feels is best for her family.  With manipulation and cunning, she sets out to rid herself of any opposition, be it blood relation or otherwise. 

The story is told by Meredith, and it was confusing for me to follow in the beginning.  It would jump back and forth from how she heard the story, whether from her father when she was still in the womb, or from her grandmother as she lay dying, or from her own experiences. I eventually made myself a family tree so that I could keep the branches straight.

When Cal Jr. dies, the lawyers begin to look for surviving members of the Hathaway family.  Finally finding Meredith, she eventually feels she should return to Aurelia, just for those items that were her parents'.  She does not want to go, as she doesn't want to awaken any more ghosts from her past than she already has.  But go she does only to find another sister felt compelled to return as well. 

This is one of those books that needs to ruminate awhile to get the full effect. I am sure that if I were to write a review a week from now, there would be different aspects to the story that would have surfaced.  There is so much said between the lines that I think this would be a great book for a book club to discuss. 

Now, having said all that, I found the setting of Iowa a little strange.  I grew up in Iowa from 1966 - 1986, in a farming community, and I never knew of any farmer who named their farm, or went to such lengths, in a way that Lavinia did.  Maybe that was the point though. . .

~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Meryl L. Moss Media in exchange for my unbiased review.~

There is currently a scavenger hunt going on for excerpts of The Legacy of Eden.  You can find all the information here.  Please come back and visit me on the 18th, when I will have my own excerpt posted here!

The Legacy of Eden

Publisher/Publication Date: MIRA Books, Feb 2012

ISBN: 978-0-7783-2955-8

368 pages

Challenges:

New Authors
Where Are You Reading?
Find the Cover/Coversuch
ARC Reading Challenges (2)
Free Reads Challenge
Harlequin Silhoutte Challenge

January Challenge Update Page

Here is the monthly update for all my reading challenges:

Miscellaneous Challenges:
Excellence in Reading  - 2 books (off of list of 60)
Speculative Fiction Challenge - 3/6
New Author Challenge - 5/15

Library Centered Challenges:
Dewey Decimal Challenge 0/5
Non-Fiction (Non-Memoir) Challenge 0/5
Library Challenge 1/12
Around the Stacks Challenge 1/20 Genres

Location Specific Challenges:
Reading the Winter Olympics 0/15
Southern Literature Challenge 0/4
Where Are You Reading Challenge 5/50 states

Title and Cover Specific Challenges:
Antonym Reading Challenge
Find the Cover/Coversuch 4/17
Read Your Name Challenge 0/8
What's in a Name Challenge 1/6
Color Coded Reading Challenge 0/9
Rainbow Reading Challenge 1/12
A to Z Reading Challenge 5/26

Prizewinners or Lists Reading Challenges:
1001 Books to Read 0/5
Alex Awards Challenge 0/3
Reading the Awards 0/5
That's What You Think Challenge 0/6

Cozy, Mystery and Suspense Reading Challenges:
Cruisin Thru the Cozies 0/6
Cozy Mystery Challenge 0/6
Mystery and Suspense challenge 1/12

YA Reading Challenges:
YA Reading Challenge 3/12
YA Contemporary Challenge 1/?
YA Audiobook Challenge 0/12
Just Contemporary Reading Challenge 0/6
Completely Contemp Challenge 0/3

Dystopian and Paranormal challenges:
Vampire Reading Challenge 0/5
Paranormal Romance Reading Challenge 2/5
Paranormal (No Vamps) Reading Challenge 3/5
Witches and Witchcraft 0/5
Immortal Challenge 1/?
Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic 0/12
Read Dystopia Challenge 0/3
The Dystopia Challenge 0/5

Series Reading Challenges:
TV Addict Reading Challenge 0/4
1st in a Series Challenge 3/6
Welcome to Cedar Cove Challenge 0/12
The Dark Tower Reading Challenge 0/8
Stephani Plum Reading Challenge 0/?
Sookie Stackhouse Challenge 0/4
Rizzoli and Isles Reading Challenge 0/9
Kinsey Millhone Reading Challenge 0/?
Dean Koontz Reading Challenge 0/3

TBR Reading Challenges:
Mount TBR Challenge 0/12
Unread Book Challenge 1/?
TBR Pile Challenge 1/10
Read Your Own Books Challenge 0/5
Off the Shelf Challenge 1/5
Free Reads Challenge 5/5
Ebook Challenge 3/10
Ebook Reading Challenge 3/10
Books Won Challenge 0/3
ARC Reading Challenge (The Eclectic Bookshelf) 4/21
ARC Reading Challenge (So Many Precious Books) 4/24

Romance Reading Challenges:
Speculative Romance Challenge 2/6
Romantic Suspense Challenge 0/4
Romance Reading Challenge (Eclectic Bookshelf) 2/?
Romance Reading Challenge (the bookworm) 4/5
Reading Romances Challenge 2/?
Harlequin Silhoutte Reading Challenge 0/6

It's Monday! What are you reading? (Feb 6, 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:

Family Storms by V.C. Andrews  - I haven't given up on this yet, always seems like something else needs to be finished first!

The Legacy of Eden by Nelle Davy - I was supposed to finish this Sunday, but I forgot we were having company for Super Bowl!

Books up this week:
What Happened to Hannah by Mary Kay McComas
Defending Jacob by William Landay
A Place to Die by Dorothy James

Bathroom Book:

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Books finished since last post:

Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

The Jerk Magnet by Melody Carlson

Lovesick by Spencer Seidel

Books Reviewed since last post:
More Than Words Can Say by Robert Barclay
In Search of the Rose Notes by Emily Arsenault
Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink
Lovesick by Spencer Seidel
The Jerk Magnet by Melody Carlson

Children's Books reviewed since last post:
Read some, but didn't get them reviewed

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

Mailbox Monday (Feb 6, 2012)

 Mailbox Monday will be hosted in February at Metroreader.  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! 

May the Road Rise Up to Meet You

by Peter Troy

 

An engrossing American epic told from four distinct perspectives, spanning the first major wave of Irish immigration to New York through the end of the Civil War.

 

Four unique voices; two parallel love stories; one sweeping novel rich in the history of nineteenth-century America.  This beautiful debut about survival, love, faith, and family, primarily set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, skillfully braids together the stories of four unforgettable characters whose experiences speak to the diversity of our heritage.

 

Ethan McOwen is an Irish immigrant whose endurance is tested in Brooklyn and the Five Points at the height of its urban destitution; he is among the first to join the famed Irish Brigade and becomes a celebrated war photographer.  Marcella, a society girl, defies her father to become a passionate abolitionist.  Mary and Micah are slaves of varying circumstances, who form an instant connection and embark on a tumultuous path to freedom.  The two eventually plot a clandestine escape on a cold Christmas Eve, but things will not go as planned. . .

 

War eventually brings these characters together, changing the course of their individual lives.  Interspersed with letters, jounrals, and dreams, and written in richly textured historical detail, including vivid and poignantly rendered senes on the battlefield, May the Road Rise Up to Meet You is a captivating and quintessential American saga.

 

 

 

Losing Clementine

by Ashley Ream

 

She's got the wit and sharp tongue of Dorothy Parker, the talent of Picasso, and an ex-husband who still wants her.  But all that isn't enough to keep Clementine alive, and in thirty days she's going to turn out the lights of her life for good.

 

With the month she has left, renowned artist Clementine Pritchard will attempt to tie up loose ends -- from coming to terms with the family tragedy that left her without a mother and sister to traveling south of the border to secure tranquilizers to finding the father who abandoned her.  Settling accounts also means coming face-to-face with the reasons she can't go on -- and the truth hidden at its core.  What she doesn't count on, though, is that in losing Clementine, she may actually find her.

 

A wonderfully entertaining and poignant novel featuring a deeply flawed and irresistible character, Losing Clementine is a bold debut from a promising new voice.

 

 

Picture the Dead

by Adele Griffin

 

Jennie feels the tingling presence of something unnatural in the house now that Will is dead.

 

Her heart aches without him, and she still doesn't know how he really died.  It seems that everywhere she turns, someone is hiding yet another clue.  As Jennie seeks the truth, she finds herself drawn ever deeper into a series of tricks and lies, secrets and betrayals, and begins to wonder if she had ever really known Will at all.

 

 

The Lost Saints of Tennessee

by Amy Franklin-Willis

 

 

With enormous heart and agility, Amy Franklin-Willis mines the fault lines in one Southern working-class family.  Driven by the soulful voices of forty-two-year-old Ezekiel Cooper and his mother, Lillian, The Lost Saints of Tennessee journeys from the 1940s to the 1980s as it follows Zeke's evolution from annointed son, to honorable sibling, to unhinged middle-aged man.

 

After Zeke loses his twin brother in a mysterious drowning and his wife to divorce, he throws his two treasured possessions -- a copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and his dead brother's ancient dog -- into his truck, and skips town to escape his grief.  Zeke leaves behind two adolescent daughters and his estranged mother, who reveals her own side of the Cooper family story in a spirited voice stricken by guilt over old sins, desperate that her family isn't beyond repair.  When Zeke finds refuge with cousins in Virginia horse country, severe weather, a surprising inheritance, and a new romance converge, leading Zeke to a crossroads where he must decide the fate of his family.

 

 

Being Lara

by Lola Jaye

 

From the time she was five years old, Lara Reid knew she was an alien.  Her dark complexion and kinky hair -- so unlike her fair-skinned mother's and father's -- were proof that she was different. At eight she learned the word "adopted."  But the tale of a far-off orphanage in Nigeria was little more than another bedtime story.

 

Now Lara is thirty and a strange woman in a blue-and-black head tie is staring at her as she blows out the candles on her birthday cake.  And though the woman is a stranger, Lara senses that she has known her for her entire life.  She is her long-lost birth mother, Yomi, arrived from Africa.

 

Thanks to her steely reserve, Lara has never fully opened herself to anyone, not even her boyfriend, and she is determined not to allow Yomi's sudden appearance to change her life in any way.  But some things can't be controlled, no matter how hard we try, and soon Lara's life is turning upside down, filled with dangerously unfamiliar emotions that take her completely by surprise.

 

Torn in conflicting directions, desperate to flee, Lara knows she must face the truth about her past and the lives of her mothers if she hopes to find peace, understanding, and acceptance of who she is -- and what it means to be Lara.

 

 

Common English Bible

 

What is special about the CEB?

 

It’s easier to read and understand. For many, reading the Bible and then truly grasping what it means can be a challenge. Yet the Bible is meant for everyone. The Common English Bible is a new translation of the Bible in a language that readers naturally speak and communicate—a common language.

To keep scripture relevant, and integrated into worship. Cultural and religious settings have changed dramatically. Changes in worship impact the words we use in our churches. And language is changing even faster because of the digital revolution. Combined with huge cultural shifts underway, these changes are so enormous that a completely new translation of the Bible is required.

 

 

The Pioneer Woman

by Ree Drummond

 

That's when I saw him -- the cowboy -- across the smoky room.

 

I'll never forget that night.  It was like a romance novel, an old Broadway musical, and a John Wayne Western rolled into one.  Out for a quick drink with friends, I wasn't looking to meet anyone, let alone a tall, rugged cowboy who lived on a cattle ranch miles away from my cultured, corporate hometown.  But before I knew it, I'd been struck with a lightning bolt. . . and I was completely powerless to stop it.

 

This isn't just my love story; it's a universal tale of passion, romance, and all-encompassing love that sweeps us off our feet.

 

It's the story of a cowboy.  And Wranglers.  And chaps.

 

And the girl who fell in love with them.

What books came home to you this week?

Guest Post: Nelle Davy author of The Legacy of Eden

Imagination has no boundaries – it is a vast landscape without maps or limitations. I know the old axiom is ‘write what you know’ but why should it be? Why should female writers confine themselves to the domestic and the minutiae of life, while their male counterparts explore fresh new terrain? I decided when I started writing that I would do only one thing and that was write the kind of book I would read and I would not limit myself. Of course it is difficult taking on the voice and culture of another country that is not your own but that is what a library and research is for. I spent a lot of time doing research about America and Iowa in particular (I read a lot of Bill Bryson who described what it was like to grow up in Iowa and I found his anecdotes – particularly his description of the state fair really invaluable). I was also lucky that I had an agent in America who could look over my first draft and say to me ‘an American would not say this or do this’ about small things that I would never have thought over. But these were small changes really, by that point I had already captured (or hope I have) the American voice. Mostly I found it really exciting to do something so challenging. I think that is the beauty of fiction, that you can escape – and I really did – to a different time and completely different place. The ironic thing is I have been to lots of places in America where I could have set the book (Pennsylvania for starters) but I chose a state I had never even seen. I guess I just like to be difficult.

Nelle Davy was born in Grenada in 1984 and was raised in London within an Anglo-Caribbean family. She studied English with creative writing at the University of Warwick and then undertook a master of philosophy degree in creative writing at Trinity College Dublin. She currently lives in London with her husband, where she works in publishing. THE LEGACY OF EDEN is her first novel and she is currently working on her second.

Thank you Ms. Davy for being a guest here today!  I hope that everyone comes back tomorrow for my review and a giveaway of The Legacy of Eden.  This book is currently on tour with a scavenger hunt - please check out this link to see all the blogs participating!

About the book: "To understand what it meant to be a Hathaway you'd first have to see Aurelia." For generations, a grand estate house was the crowning glory of over three thousand acres of Iowa farm land and golden corn fields. Named Aurelia, it was a monument to matriarch Lavinia Hathaway's dream to elevate the family name - no matter what relative or stranger she had to destroy in the process. It was a desperation that wrought the downfall of the Hathaways - and the once prosperous farm. Now the last inhabitant of the decaying old home has died - alone. None of the surviving members of the Hathaway dynasty want anything to do with the house, the land or the memories. Especially Meredith Pincetti. Now living in New York City, for seventeen years Lavinia's youngest grandchild has tried to forget everything about her family and her past. But with the receipt of a pleading letter, Meredith is again thrust into conflict with the legacy which destroyed her family's once-great name. Back at Aurelia, Meredith must confront the rise and fall of the Hathaway family...and her own part in their mottled history.

The Jerk Magnet by Melody Carlson (Book Review)

Title: The Jerk Magnet
Author: Melody Carlson
Publisher: Revell

About the book:  When Chelsea Martin's future stepmother helps her transform from gawky and geeky into the hottest girl at her new school, Chelsea is pretty sure it's the best thing that ever happened to her.  But her hot new look has a downside.  She's attracting lots of guys who all have one thing in common: they're jerks.  Oh, and stealing the attention of all the guys in school doesn't exactly make her BFF material for the girls.

Finally a great guy catches her eye.  But he's the only one around who doesn't give her a second glance.  Can Chelsea come up with a plan to get his attention?  Or will her new image ruin everything?

Available January 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

My thoughts:  This book does a real good job of getting to the heart of how easily we judge people -- and even though this is a YA book, I don't just mean teenagers here.  Chelsea's new stepmom helps her transform from a wallflower into a rose, but she isn't equipped to deal with the attention that it garners.  Still being the insecure person on the inside, she either doesn't trust the friendships she is making or she gets too caught up in keeping the outside appearances and always feels like she is 'acting' so no one will know who she used to be, or really still is inside.

She eventually comes clean with her next door neighbor and new friend Janelle.  She has been attending some youth group functions with Janelle and rededicates herself to God (she had accepted Christ when she was much younger, but due to the death of her mom and some changes with friends, she didn't ever grow in Christ.)  So now she is trying to fit in with her new looks and new friends and is learning to trust in God to be her friend through it all. 

There is one guy though, Nicholas, who is a strong Christian, seems like a nice guy, and Chelsea has developed a crush on him.  For some reason, though, Nicholas won't give her the time of day.  She can't figure out what she might have done to make him dislike her so. Well, Janelle comes up with a great social experiment for her and Chelsea to try out at a fall church camp.  While they sort of knew what the results would be, to actually live it and then be able to share it with their peers was an eye opener for all involved.

This is a great book for any YA - boy or girl (though the boys may be a little bored with it.)  I think the message would relate to both sexes, and is one that we all need to be reminded of occassionally.

~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell Blog Tours in exchange for my unbiased review.~

The Jerk Magnet

Publisher/Publication Date: Revell, Jan 2012

ISBN: 978-0-8007-1962-3

217 pages

Challenges:

Where Are You Reading?

A to Z Reading Challenge

Completely Contemp Challenge

Just Contemporary Challenge

YA Contemporary Challenge

YA Reading Challenge

ARC Reading Challenge (2)

Free Reads Challenge



Scavenger Hunt Blog Tour: Lovesick by Spencer Seidel

Title: Lovesick
Author: Spencer Seidel
Publisher: Publishing Works, Inc.


About the book:  “‘He’s got a knife!’ Jimmy said after seeing the glint of a blade in the kid’s hand. Jimmy brought his gun up and squared it at the kid.”

A murder rocks Portland, Maine after police discover an incoherent teen sitting in a pool of blood late one night. Paul Ducharme is found with a murder weapon in one hand, the dead body of his best friend in the other, and no clue how he got to the Eastern Promenade Trail.

A teenage love triangle gone wrong brings Spencer Seidel back with a vengeance in LOVESICK (PublishingWorks; $14.95; June 2012), the follow up to his breakout novel Dead of Wynter. Seidel deftly illustrates the trying relationship amid a friend and love interest – each with their own desires, issues and shocking agendas.

Wendy, the girl of Paul’s dreams, has been missing for weeks. Her boyfriend Lee has been murdered–apparently by Paul. It’s an open and shut case–or so most of Portland thinks.

When forensic psychologist Dr. Lisa Boyers is asked to interview Paul, who claims to forget the events leading up to the murder, she reluctantly agrees. In her jailhouse interviews, Lisa helps Paul to recover his memories, but the murder’s circumstances force her to recall her own troubled past.

Media attention mounts. Reporters stream into Portland. All eyes turn to Lisa. She seems intent on exonerating the “brutal teen killer” but quickly finds herself the focus of an over-zealous reporter with a knack for digging up dirty secrets. But the killer who has Lisa in the crosshairs already knows them all.

My thoughts:  I read this book in one sitting!  I had to know who had done it!  The story is told by Paul and he is relating his history with Wendy and Lee to Dr. Lisa Boyers.  She has been hired by an attorney to help evaluate Paul and see if she can get him to remember the events leading up to the night he is found with Lee's body.  Because he is the one telling the story, it is told in chunks as they only have a couple of hours a day to meet.

There is plenty going on in between those times though!  Lisa's past, which she has never effectively dealt with on a personal level, begins to rear it's head.  Between the media hype that this case has created and reconnecting with Rudy Swaner, the attorney who hired her, she was bound to have to deal with some of the events from her past.  She didn't realize when she took the case though, how much she had in common with Wendy.

This was a fast-paced book that at times was predictable, still had a twist at the end that I didn't see coming.  I very much enjoyed Dead of Wynter last year, and really enjoyed this one as well.  Spencer Seidel is definitely going to be an author I keep my eye out for.

Scavenger Hunt!  I didn't realize I was the start of the Scavenger Hunt!   You can read the excerpt below and find the next blog listed at the end - or to get the full list all at once - check out this link.



Here is an excerpt from Lovesick:

Patrolman Jimmy Preece would tell the story for the rest of his life. On his first night out as a rookie cop on the streets of Portland, Maine, he and his partner, a ten-year veteran of Portland PD, discovered a grisly killing on the Eastern Promenade, next to the 295 overpass.

It was a murder that would make headlines throughout the Northeast, especially after what happened to that shrink in the weeks afterward. Murder in Portland is not unheard of, but it is unusual.

At the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in Vassalboro, Jimmy had learned that Cumberland County has only one or two murders a year.

That stat offers little comfort to the families of the victims, something the cadets don’t always learn at the academy. Murder isn’t a statistic. In real life, it’s a dead family member. It’s a tragedy. http://beasbooknook.blogspot.com/

Q&A

1. When and why did you begin writing?

 In some sense, I feel like I’ve always been a writer. The compulsion began when I was about six or so, after reading books like The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. But it wasn’t until years later, after I’d more-or-less given up on a career as a musician, that I began to write fiction seriously. That was in my mid-twenties. I’m not so sure as to the why of it. It’s just something I feel like I need to do.

2. Do you have a specific writing style?

A couple of reviews called my writing “lyrical” and/or “flowing,” which is hugely flattering. Having a nearly 25-year background in music, I’m conscious of cadences in writing, particularly in dialogue. I think that could be considered a style, but I’m always working to get better, to evolve.

3. How did you come up with the title?

Ugh. Titles. I hate coming up with titles. Lovesick began as “The Streets of Portland,” which I knew was terrible. When I was about a quarter of the way through my first draft, I was brainstorming on titles using the word “love.” It then just popped into my head. Lovesick is a kind of twisted love story, so it seemed like a perfect fit to me.

4. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

No. Or perhaps I should say that none was intended. I don’t write with an agenda, so anything that pops up will likely be because of some psychological quirk of mine. And there are, ahem, many of those.

5. If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Sol Stein, although I suppose he’s more well known as an editor. He wrote a wonderful book on the craft of writing called “Stein On Writing.” I keep some typed-up notes from that book handy to read every now and again. He’s a mentor I’ve never met.

Lovesick
Publisher/Publication Date: Publishing Works, June 2012
ISBN: 978-1-935557-51-7
378 pages

Challenges:
Where Are You Reading
A to Z Reading Challenge
Mystery and Suspense Reading Challenge
ARC Reading Challenge (2)
Free Reads Challenge
Reading Romances Challenge (3)
Romantic Suspense Reading Challenge

February Frenzy iPad 2 and Cash giveaway is finally here!!!!

Welcome to the February Frenzy iPad 2 and Cash giveaway!

Bay Area Mommy and Swagbucks has teamed up with 60 wonderful bloggers to give you a chance to win the following prizes!
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Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink (Book Review)

Title: Prophecy of the Sisters
Author: Michelle Zink
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

About the Book: An ancient prophecy divides two sisters -- One good . . . One evil . . . Who will prevail?

Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe have just become orphans.  They have also become enemies.  As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other, the girls find themselves entangled in a mystery that involves a tattoo-like mark, their parents' deaths, a boy, a book, and a lifetime of secrets.

Lia and Alice don't know whom they can trust.  They just know they can't trust each other.

My thoughts:  This is a YA book and so was an easy read.  I enjoyed the storyline of the two sisters - one which is destined to be the Gate for which the Souls will be able to cross back over to earth.  The other sister is the Guardian,  who is to keep the Souls from getting through.  You get to learn all about the Prophecy and slowly learn the roles that each sister plays.

The story begins with the unexplained death of their father.  It isn't until he dies that the strange tatoo appears on Lia's wrist. Unfortunately because their mother had died when they were young, and now their father was gone, no one had explained anything about the prophecy to them or the role they were to play in it.  Lia soon meets Sonya and Luisa, two girls who live in the same village, who have similar tatoos on their wrists.  While they have both heard the prophecy, Sonya is the one who seems to perceive that it actually contains some significance.  Together with Lia they set out to discover everything they can about the prophecy and what their parts in it are going to be.

This is book one in a trilogy.  Book 2 is Guardian of the Gate, and book 3 is Circle of Fire. I hope to continue on in this trilogy soon.

Prophecy of the Sisters
Publisher/Publication Date: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Aug 2009
ISBN: 978-0-316-027427
352 pages

Challenges:
Speculative Fiction Challenge
New Authors
Around the Stacks
Library Challenge
Find the Cover/Coversuch
YA Reading Challenge
1st in a series
Paranormal (No Vamps) Challenge

In Search of the Rose Notes by Emily Arsenault (Book Review)

Title: In Search of the Rose Notes
Author: Emily Arsenault
Publisher:  William Morrow

About the Book: Eleven-year-olds Nora and Charlotte were best friends.  When their teenage babysitter, Rose, disappeared under mysterious circumstances, the girls decided to "investigate."  But their search -- aided by paranormal theories and techniques gleaned from old Time-Life books -- went nowhere.

Years later, Nora, now in her late twenties, is drawn back to her old neighborhood -- and to her estranged friend -- when Rose's remains are finally discovered.  Upset over their earlier failure to solve the possible murder, Charlotte is adamant that they join forces and try again.  But Nora was the last known person to see Rose alive, and she's not ready to revisit her troubled adolescence and the events surrounding the disappearance -- or face the disturbing secrets that are already beginning to reemerge.

My thoughts:  This one has been on my TBR list since the middle of last year.  I am glad that I finally got the chance to read it.  I loved all the references to the Time Life Books - Mysteries of the Unknown - (Yes, I am a geek and have part of this set myself in the basement) I loved those books, but I digress. 

The prologue gives you a glimpse into the life of Nora and Charlotte as eleven-year-olds.  Their babysitter, Rose, has disappeared and they are trying to figure out what they can do to uncover clues to find her.  The story then jumps to the present and is told in flashbacks. 

It has been about 16 years Since Nora and Charlotte were friends.  They had drifted apart after Rose disappeared and went in totally different directions in high school.  Nora has moved away and gotten married, and Charlotte is living in the same house she grew up in and is teaching English at her old high school.  She calls Nora out of the blue to tell her that some local kids have found some remains and think they are Rose's. 

Nora has avoided Waverly since graduation.  She had been labeled as the last one to see Rose alive and didn't like to relive those days.  Her high school years had been rough and she felt like she had been invisible there.  In spite of all this, Nora feels herself drawn back to Waverly to find out if Rose really had been found. 

Being in Waverly, especially in Charlotte's house, brings to the surface all sorts of memories and feelings that she had during and after the time that Rose disappeared.  Things she saw and heard as a pre-teen, which maybe did not make sense then, begin to gel in Nora's mind.  She starts to piece together some of the things that she heard and saw.  I liked how some differences that divided her classmates in the past no longer stood between them, but at the same time it was hard to erase those lingering impressions.  

In discovering the secrets of what happened to Rose, Nora discovers some other things that had been buried and begins to better understand herself along the way.



In Search of the Rose Notes
Publisher/Publication Date: William Morrow, July 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-201232-6
369 pages


Challenges:
New Authors
Where Are You Reading?
Find the Cover/Coversuch
What's in a Name?
Rainbow Reading Challenge
A to Z Reading Challenge
Free Reads
Off the Shelf Challenge
TBR Pile
Unread Book Challenge

More Than Words Can Say by Robert Barclay (Book Review)

Title: More Than Words Can Say
Author: Robert Barclay
Publisher: William Morrow

About the Book: Though she and her grandmother had always been close, Chelsea Enright never expected to inherit her Gran's cottage in the Adirondacks.  No one had been to the cottage since Gran mysteriously closed it decades ago.  A letter accompanying the will makes it clear that this is no simple bequest.  The cottage holds secrets that go back decades -- secrets that Chelsea must uncover before she can decide whether to keep the place or sell it.

But a short trip becomes an entire summer in which she gets to know the cottage's caretakers and the rest of her neighbors -- including local doctor Brandon Yale -- who make her realize that this cottage and her family's past are not so easily put behind her.  As the truth unfolds, the repercussions will be felt far and wide. . . if Chelsea lets them.

My thoughts: While this book had a somewhat predictable outcome, I enjoyed it nonetheless.  After inheriting the cottage, Chelsea receives instructions through her Gram's lawyer, that she must visit the cottage and retrieve and read something that her Gram hid under some floorboards there before she decides to sell it.  She honors these wishes because of her close relationship with her Gram, even though she considers herself a city girl.  She is not sure what she will do with herself at a lake cottage.

Soon after arriving she meets Brandon, her next door neighbor, and an attraction develops.  From this point the story actually becomes two parallel stories. Chelsea finds under the floorboards a journal that her Grandmother kept in 1942, soon after she was married and her husband was off preparing to go to war.  As she begins to read the journal and discovers that her grandmother was a more complex woman than she ever knew, she is soon immersed in the summer of 1942.  Inherintly knowing that what her grandmother has to say will probably change her life, she invites Brandon to read the journal with her. 

As she learns of her grandmother's attraction to her lake neighbor in 1942, Chelsea and Brandon's relationship also deepens.  I particularly liked the way that the story went back and forth between 1942 and the present.  Her grandmother's name was Brooke and the neighbor's name was Greg - and even though those names aren't anything like Chelsea and Brandon, I would sometimes get confused as to who was the grandmother and granddaughter.  I think it is because I don't picture "Brooke" as living in the 1940's! Once I was able to keep the characters clear in my mind (definitely my issue - not the author's)  the story moved along very quickly. 

This was my first time reading Robert Barclay, even though he has a previous book, If Wishes Were Horses.  I will be adding him to the list of authors that I enjoy reading and his previous book has already been added to my huge TBR list!

~I received a copy of this book from William Morrow in exchange for my unbiased review.~

More Than Words Can Say

Publisher/Publication Date: William Morrow, January 2012

ISBN: 978-0-06-204119-7

400 pages

Challenges:

New Authors

Location Specific

Find the cover/coversuch

A to Z

ARC Reading Challenge (2)

Free Read Challenge

Reading Romances

Romance Reading Challenge (2)



It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Jan 30, 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:

Family Storms by V.C. Andrews  - I haven't given up on this yet, always seems like something else needs to be finished first!

Books up this week:
Lovesick by Spencer Seidel
The Legacy of Eden by Nelle Davy

Demi-Monde by Rod Rees

Archon: The Book of Raziel by Sabrina Benulis

Cancelled by Elizabeth Ann West

Bathroom Book:

Prophecy of the Sisters  by Michelle Zink - almost finished!

 

Books finished since last post:

Come Back to Me by Melissa Foster

Pyxis by K.C. Neal

In Search of the Rose Notes by Emily Arsenault

Books Reviewed since last post:
Come Back to Me by Melissa Foster
Airel by Aaron Patterson and Chris White
Pyxis by K.C. Neal

Children's Books reviewed since last post:
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Burton

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

A Winter's Respite Read-a-thon Wrap-up!

Tonight was the last night for the Read-a-thon, and while I didn't participate in any of the mini challenges, I do feel like I got some reading done this week.  I read three books this week:
Come Back to Me by Melissa Foster
Pyxis by K.C. Neal
In Search of the Rose Notes by Emily Arsenault

I made a good dent in Prophecy of the Sisters as well and should be finishing it up by tomorrow night.  I have to review In Search of the Rose Notes yet, but the other two have been reviewed as well.  I am happy with my progress this week!