Mailbox Monday (Feb 20, 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! 

For review:

You're Already Amazing

Embracing Who You Are, Becoming All God Created You to Be

by Holley Gerth

Pssst . . . pull up a chair and I'll tell you a secret.  You'd better lean in close for this one.

Ready?

You don't have to do more, be more, have more.

I'm sure there are security alarms going off somewhere.  You should probably hide this book when your in-laws come over.

But it's true.

It's the kind of true that will change your life, set you free, and make you wake up smiling for the first time in a long time.  I know because that's what it did for me. . .

So watch out, sister.  If you keep reading you just might be next.

With this heart-to-heart message, Holley Gerth invites you to embrace one very important truth -- that you truly are already amazing.  Like a trusted friend, Holley gently shows you how to forget the lies and expectations the world feeds you and instead believe that God loves you and has bigger plans for your life than you've even imagined.



For review:

Frantic

by Mike Dellosso

Can a deranged serial killer be stopped before it's too late?

For gas station attendant Marny Toogood it's just another day on the job when an urgent message from a young girl in the backseat of a car draws him into a daring rescue attempt.  Now on the run with the girl and her brother, Marny begins to realize he must conquer his own past and surrender all to Christ.

As they face kidnapping, underground cults, and other evils, can Marny trust the simple faith of a child and stand his ground against a power so twisted?





For review: 

The Good Father

by Noah Hawley

As the chief of rheumatology at Columbia Presbyterian, Dr. Paul Allen's specialty is diagnosing patients with conflicting symptoms, patients other doctors have given up on.  He lives a contented life in Westport, Connecticut, with his second wife and their twin sons -- a life hard-won after a failed marriage that produced a son named Daniel.

In the gripping opening scene of this compulsively readable novel, Dr. Allen is home with his family when a televised news report announces that the Democratic candidate for president has been shot at a rally.  Daniel is accused of pulling the trigger, sending the Allen family down a harrowing path of no return.

Daniel Allen has always been a good kid -- a decent student, popular -- but, as a child of divorce used to shuttling back and forth between parents, he is also something of a drifter.  Which may be why, at the age of nineteen, he quietly drops out of Vassar and begins an aimless journey across the United States, during which he sheds his former skin and eventually even changes his name to Carter Allen Cash.

Who is ultimately to blame when a child turns out to be far from what his parents ever expected?  How long can a parent punish himself for the events of the past?  When does a parent let go?

This absorbing novel unflinchingly defines the responsibilities -- and limitations -- of being a parent and examines our capacity to provide our children with unconditional love in the face of an unthinkable situation.





For review: 

What Dies in Summer

by Tom Wright

"I did what I did, and that's on me."  From that tantalizing first sentence, Tom Wright sweeps us up in a tale of lost innocence.  Jim has a touch of the Sight.  It's nothing too spooky and generally useless, at least until the summer his cousin L.A. moves in with him and their grandmother.  When Jim and L.A. discover the body of a girl, brutally raped and murdered in a field, an investigation begins that will put both their lives in danger.  In the spirit of The Lovely Bones and The Little Friend, What Dies in Summer is a novel that casts its spell on the very first page and leaves an indelible mark.



Purchased for a read-along:

The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts.  The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games.  But Katniss has been close to dead before -- and survival, for her, is second nature.  Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender.  But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.



Paperback Swap: 



The Awakening

by Kelley Armstrong

If you had met me a few weeks ago, you probably would have described me as an average teenage girl -- someone normal.  Now my life has changed forever and I'm as far away from normal as it gets.  A living science experiment -- not only can I see ghosts, but I was genetically altered by a sinister organization called the Edison Group.  What does that mean?   For starters, I'm a teenage necromancer whose powers are out of control; I raise the dead without even trying.  Trust me, that is not a power you want to have.  Ever.

Now I'm running for my life with three of my supernatural friends -- a charming sorcerer, a cynical werewolf, and a disgruntled witch -- and we have to find someone who can help us before the Edison Group finds us first.  Or die trying.



A Place to Die by Dorothy James (Book Review and Blog Tour)

Title: A Place to Die
Author: Dorothy James
Publisher: Author Solutions

About the book: Eleanor and Franz Fabian arrive from New York to spend Christmas with Franzs mother in her sedate retirement home in the Vienna Woods. Their expectations are low: at best, boredom, at worst, run-of-the-mill family friction. But when the wealthy, charming Herr Graf is found dead in his apartment with an ugly head wound, the Fabians are thrust into a homicide investigation.

Some residents and staff have surprising connections to the dead man, but who would have wanted to kill him? Inspector Buchner tracks down the murderer against a backdrop of Viennese history from the Nazi years to the present day. Witty, suspenseful, lyrical, this is a literary whodunit that will keep you guessing till the last page.


My thoughts: This was just not a good week for me to read this book.  I had numerous interuptions to my normal schedule so did not get a lot of good reading "chunks" of time.  Because of that, this book started out confusing to me with the cast of characters.  It was set at the Haus im Wald in Austria, basically on old folks home - or, as the title implies, A Place to Die.  In addition to the inhabitants of the home, there was also some visitors and the staff that all were pulled into the investigation. 

Once I was able to start to sort out the characters, the story started to move along for me.  I really liked Eleanor Fabian. She had really only come a long with her husband out of a sense of duty that she felt toward her own parents.  There was no love left between her and her husband and neither one of them could probably tell you why they were still together.  She develops a little crush on the Inspector and insinuates herself into helping with the investigation. 

There is also more than one mystery going on, and lots of buried relationships and secrets.  It was more like a Peyton Place than a retirement home! Regardless of age, passions and jealousies can still run strong.  I would read another Inspector Buchner mystery, but would prefer less personal distractions until I get immersed in the story! 

About the author:  Dorothy James was born in Wales and grew up in the South Wales Valleys. Writer, editor, and translator, she has published short stories as well as books and articles on German and Austrian literature. She has taught at universities in the U.S., England, and Germany, makes her home now in Brooklyn and often spends time in Vienna and Berlin.

She wrote A Place to Die in her attic apartment on the edge of the Vienna Woods. She has travelled far from Wales, but has not lost the Welsh love of playing with language; she writes poems for pleasure as does Chief Inspector Büchner, the whimsical Viennese detective who unravels the first mystery in this new series of novels.



~I was provided a complimentary e-copy of this book from Tribute Books in exchange for my honest review.~

There are all sorts of places where you can find out more about A Place to Die and Dorothy James.

Dorothy James' web site:
http://www.viennamysteries.com/

Dorothy James' blog:
http://www.myplaceformystery.com/

A Place to Die Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vienna-Mysteries/114871195254205?sk=wall

Dorothy James' Twitter:
http://twitter.com/valleyvoice

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186

A Place to Die blog tour site:
http://aplacetodieblogtour.blogspot.com/

A Place to Die

Publisher/Publication Date: Author Solutions, April 2010

ISBN: 9781450082709
436 pages



The Legacy of Eden by Nelle Davy - First Chapter Scavenger Hunt!

Welcome to Day 18 of The Legacy of Eden First Chapter Scavenger Hunt!  If you need to get caught up - please check out the full schedule here - otherwise, read on

I was calling for her. It was I who had offered to find her.

Oh, God, if I had never…if I had never opened that letter today, if she hadn’t told the lawyers she had wanted nothing to do with them, if Cal Jr. had never inherited the farm, if I’d done the things I’d believed I was capable of, if I hadn’t been capable of the things I’d done, if…if…if…somewhere out there, all the potential versions of my life floated on parallel planes. In one I never went out that night, in another more likely alternative, she does not put down the phone. Instead she stays on the line. We talk for a long, long time.

She listens.

She forgives me.

Do you believe in ghosts?

I didn’t until I started living with them.

Two days have passed since the letter arrived. I walk past my mother sitting in my armchair mending my pinafore, or my father at the fridge humming to himself as he scans my feeble purchases of organic whole foods.

Tomorrow's excerpt can be found here:  http://teddyrose.blogspot.com/

Unfettered ambition, familial schisms and dark secrets abound in THE LEGACY OF EDEN (MIRA Books, February 2012, $15.95 U.S./$18.95 CAN.), the masterful literary debut by Nelle Davy, in which a woman recounts her family’s deeply troubled and tragic history as she prepares to return to the once-grand estate she fled almost two decades earlier.

When New York sculptor Meredith Pincetti receives a letter from a law firm, alerting her to the death of her cousin, she is suddenly confronted by her disturbing past—a past she successfully escaped and buried seventeen years ago.

Informed that Aurelia, the once-grand Iowa estate and farm where she was raised, is to be sold at auction to settle her late cousin’s debts, Meredith resolves to return to her family homestead and collect the few possessions that belonged to her parents.

In doing so, Meredith recalls the spectacular rise and disastrous fall of the Hathaway family beginning with her grandfather, Cal’s, dreams and ending with his utter disappointments. We experience her grandmother, Lavinia’s, iron will and ceaseless machinations to ensure that her vision of Aurelia comes to pass. As Aurelia thrives, becoming the largest farm in the county, behind the veneer things are crumbling. Dissipation, brutality and betrayal find fertile ground in the next generation of Hathaways. Seemingly idyllic childhoods precede the exile and return of Hathaways from multiple generations—including Meredith.

And, as Meredith returns to Aurelia, she is forced to confront her own role in her family’s tortured fall from grace. What part did she play in the events that took place during her adolescence two decades earlier? How does her festering relationship with her sisters mirror similar connections between her father’s and grandfather’s siblings? What secrets did she leave behind when she fled Iowa for New York?

Though founded and overseen by male Hathaways, it is the women—Lavinia and her sister-in-law, Piper; Julia, Cal’s daughter from his first marriage; Meredith and her sisters, Claudia and Ava—who play pivotal roles in shaping the events that occur at Aurelia. And, ultimately, it is they who reveal its unspeakable secrets.

You can read my review of The Legacy of Eden here.

THE LEGACY OF EDEN is available wherever books are sold, and at www.MIRABooks.com.

Random Acts of Kindness Giveaway Hop (Feb 17 - 21)

Did you know that today (Feb 17th) is Random Acts of Kindness Day?  Neither did I!  Read For Your Future and I Am A Reader, Not A Writer decided to host a giveaway hop to celebrate, so of course I wanted to celebrate with them!

My hop runs through the 21st and my giveaway is INTERNATIONAL!  I have decided to giveaway a book up to $15.00 from Book Depository.  So as long as they ship to your country, you can enter easily through the rafflecopter form below.




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Be sure to check out all the other great giveaways!

Voices of the Dead by Peter Leonard (Blog Tour and Giveaway!)

Title: Voices of the Dead
Author: Peter Leonard

Publisher: The Story Plant

About the Book: The year is 1971. The place is Detroit. Harry Levin, a scrap metal dealer and Holocaust survivor, has just learned that his daughter was killed in a car accident. Traveling to Washington, DC to claim the body, he learns that the accident was caused by a German diplomat who was driving drunk. This is only the beginning of the horror for Harry, though, as he discovers that the diplomat will never face charges he has already been released and granted immunity. Enraged and aggrieved, Harry discovers the identity of his daughter’s killer, follows him to Munich, and hunts him down. What Harry finds out about the diplomat and his plans will explode his life and the lives of everyone around him.

Brimming with action and dark humor, Voices of the Dead, firmly positions Peter Leonard as a writer ever suspense fan needs to read.

My thoughts: Since I started blogging I have began reading the introductions and acknowledgements a lot more.  In the introduction to this book, Elmore Leonard states about Peter Leonard's writing "...no long-winded parts of it overwritten, no show-off descriptions that say, "Hey, look at my writing,"  so I was thinking about this as I read the book.  I have to agree with that statement and I found it refreshing.  Much of the book is set in Germany and surrounding locations and I think some writers would have spent some time describing the countryside, but this is not one of them, and it is not missed.  But enough about what the book wasn't.

What it was was a great page-turning suspense novel.  You are introduced to the main characters immediately and the ball gets rolling within the first few pages.  Slowly you begin to see how the characters are intertwined and to what extent.  You can't help but feel sympathy for Harry, upon learning that his daughter was killed by a drunk driver.  And imagine his outrage when he finds out that nothing is going to be done about it!  Though not really in his nature, he takes it upon himself to track the killer down, not really knowing what he will do if he finds him. 

Well, he finds him and suddenly past and present come together in ways no one can imagine.  While in Munich he meets Cordell, a recently discharged serviceman who also happens to be from Detroit.  I loved Cordell and found myself laughing at some of his thoughts and interactions with Harry. 

The book moves along very quickly, and I think the majority of it takes place in about two weeks time.  Sometimes I would get some of the characters mixed up, but would soon be back on the right track.  The author wraps it up satisfactorily, but in my mind, leaves some wiggle room - maybe for another book?

I was provided a complimentary PDF of this book from Partners in Crime Tours, as well as the excerpt below for your enjoyment:

Hess found out the woman lived on P Street in Georgetown, not far from the consulate. He told the ambassador he was having dinner with potential clients, and wanted to drive himself. It was unorthodox, but plausible. He had been issued one of the embassy’s Mercedes sedans. He stopped at a bookstore and bought a map of the area, and located P Street. He drove there and saw the Goldman residence, a federal-style brick townhouse.

Hess went to a restaurant and had dinner and a couple drinks. At ten o’clock he drove back, parked around the corner on 32nd Street between two other vehicles so the license plate was not visible to anyone driving by. He walked to the Goldmans’, stood next to a tree in front of the three-storey townhouse. There were lights on the first floor. He walked to the front door and rang the buzzer. He could hear footsteps and voices inside. A light over the door went on. Hess stood in the open so whoever it was would see he was well dressed. The door opened, a man standing there, assumed he was Dr. Mitchell Goldman, dark hair, big nose, mid-forties, top of the shirt unbuttoned, exposing a gold chain and a five-pointed star. Hess smiled. “My car is on the fritz. May I use your phone to call a tow truck?”

Dr. Goldman stared at him with concern.

“I am staying just down the street at the consulate,” Hess said, smiling. Now the door opened and he stepped into the elegant foyer, chandelier overhead, marble floor.

“Mitch, who is it?” a woman said from a big open room to his right.

Dr. Goldman looked in her direction. “Guy’s having car trouble, wants to use the phone.”

“It’s ten o’clock at night.”

“He’ll just be a minute,” the dentist said.

Hess could see the woman sitting on a couch, watching television.

“The phone’s in here.” The dentist started to move.

Hess drew the Luger from the pocket of his suit jacket,and aimed it at Goldman.

The dentist put his hands up. “Whoa. Easy.”

“Who is in the house?”

“Just the two of us.”

“Are you expecting anyone?”

He shook his head.

“Tell her to come in here,” Hess said.

“What do you want? You want money?” He took his wallet out and handed it to him. “There’s eight hundred dollars in there.”

“Call her,” Hess said.

“Hon, come here, will you?”

“I’m watching ‘All in the Family.’ Can you wait till the commercial?”

Hess could hear people laughing on the television.

“Just for a minute,” the dentist said.

Hess saw her stand up and step around a low table in front of the couch, moving across the room, still looking back at the television. She turned her head as she entered the foyer and saw him holding the gun. Her hair looked darker in the dim light but he had only seen her briefly that day.

“Oh-my-god,” she said, hands going up to her face.

“We’re reasonable people,” the dentist said. “Tell us what you want.”

“The pleasure of your company,” Hess said. “Where is the cellar?”
(from Voices of the Dead by Peter Leonard

Author Bio: Peter Leonard’s debut novel, QUIVER, was published to international acclaim in 2008 (“A spectacular debut...you will be holding your breath until the final page.”– The New York Sun). It was followed by TRUST ME in 2009 (“TRUST ME is fast, sly and full of twists.” – Carl Hiaasen, New York Times bestselling author). The Story Plant will publish Leonard’s newest novel, ALL HE SAW WAS THE GIRL, in the spring of 2012.

 

 

You can find out more about Peter Leonard and his books at http://peterleonardbooks.com/ and also at The Story Plant.

Now for the giveaway!  I get to giveaway one copy of Peter Leonard's newest book - All He Saw Was the Girl. To enter the giveaway, please fill out rafflecopter below - US only - ends March 1, 2012.

 About this book - Rome: McCabe and Chip, two American exchange students, are about to become embroiled with a violent street gang, a beautiful Italian girl and a flawed kidnapping plan.Detroit: Sharon Vanelli's affair with Joey Palermo, a Mafia enforcer, is about to be discovered by her husband, Ray, a secret service agent.Brilliantly plotted and shot through with wry humour, All He Saw Was the Girl takes place as these two narratives converge in the backstreets of Italy's oldest city. A thrilling ride, it once again displays Peter Leonard's genius for exploring the wrong turns that life can take.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Voices of the Dead
Publisher/Publication Date: The Story Plant, Jan 2012
ISBN: 9781611880328
320 pages

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's Monday! What are you reading? (Feb 13, 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:

A Place to Die by Dorothy James

Voices of the Dead by Peter Leonard

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Books up this week:
Not in the Heart by Chris Fabry

Audio Book:
Graceling by Kristin Cashmore

Bathroom Book:

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

Books finished since last post:

What Happened to Hannah by Mary Kay McComas

Books Reviewed since last post:
None

Children's Books read and/or reviewed since last post:
Schnitzel's First Christmas by Hans Wilhelm
Garbage Trucks by Terri DeGezelle
Street Sweepers by Terri DeGezelle

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

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@. . .)