Children's Book Week Giveaway Hop (May 7 - 13)

Children's Book Week Giveaway Hop

May 7 - May 13

Hosted by 

KidLitFrenzy, Classic Children's Books, 

Mymcbooks & I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

What is Children's Book Week?

Established in 1919, Children's Book Week is the longest-running literacy initiative in the country. Each year, books for young people and the joy of reading are feted for a full week with author and illustrator appearances, storytelling, parties, and other book-related events at schools, libraries, bookstores, museums, and homes from coast to coast!

For more information please visit: http://www.bookweekonline.com/

I will be giving away the following two children's books to one winner -

 Shark vs Train by Chris Barton and 
Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein.  This giveaway is for U.S. only and will end at midnight CST on May 13th.  Winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and will be emailed.  They will have 48 hours to respond to the email or a new winner will be chosen. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Night Sky by Jolene Perry (Book Review)

Title: Night Sky
Author: Jolene Perry
Publisher: Tribute Books


About the book: Girl I’ve loved, girl I’m falling for. Now that they’re both in view, the problem is clear.

After losing Sarah, the friend he’s loved, to some other guy, Jameson meets Sky. Her Native American roots, fluid movements, and need for brutal honesty become addictive fast. This is good. Jameson needs distraction – his dad leaves for another woman, his mom’s walking around like a zombie, and Sarah’s new boyfriend can’t keep his hands off of her.

As he spends time with Sky and learns about her village, her totems, and her friends with drums - she's way more than distraction. Jameson's falling for her fast.

But Sky’s need for honesty somehow doesn’t extend to her life story – and Jameson just may need more than his new girl to keep him distracted from the disaster of his senior year.

About the author: Jolene grew up in Wasilla, Alaska. She graduated from Southern Utah University with a degree in political science and French, which she used to teach math to middle schoolers.

After living in Washington, Utah and Las Vegas, she now resides in Alaska with her husband, and two children. Aside from writing, Jolene sews, plays the guitar, sings when forced, and spends as much time outside as possible.

She is also the author of The Next Door Boys and the upcoming Knee Deep.

You can connect with Jolene on Facebook, Twitter, her website, her blog, and on Goodreads.

My thoughts:  This was a very gentle coming-of-age story for Jameson, or Jay, as most of his friends called him.  Now I don't mean gentle in the way that means there was no conflict.  I don't think you can really have a  coming-of-age story without conflict, and some of the things that Jay deals with are some pretty weighty issues.  I mean gentle in that it flowed smoothly from the beginning of the story.  I became invested in the characters pretty quickly, and liked the interaction between Jay and Sky.

What really made Night Sky interesting for me though, was that it was a romance, from a guy's perspective. Jameson was actually able to be sensitive and have real feelings without being too sappy. I liked the way that he stepped up for his mom when she was hurting, and recognized that she might need some extra help with his dad gone. He also tried to be loyal to his friend Sarah, even when she and her new boyfriend Eric were practically in his face a lot. 

And then there was Sky.  She is a neighbor's granddaughter from Alaska, whom Jay meets quite by chance.  She is a freshman at the local college, but hits it off almost immediately with Jameson.  The only things she asks of him is for complete honesty.  The problem with complete honesty is that it means you have to be completely honest with yourself as well.  

I enjoyed this book.  It wasn't a heavy read even though it dealt with some heavy subjects. I think the focus though was on how we get through the bad stuff and come out on the other end, which gave it a very positive spin. 

~I received a complimentary ecopy of this book from Tribute Books in exchange for my unbiased review.~

Night Sky

Publisher/Publication Date: Tribute Books, March 2012

ISBN: 9780983741862
ISBN: 9781466052338

247 pages

Buy Night Sky for:

Kindle

Nook

or on Smashwords

Wordless Wednesday

My beautiful girls - daughter and granddaughter.  

Celebrate "The Month of Mom" with Gone Reading!

Gone Reading is having a giveaway to celebrate moms through Mother's Day on May 13th.  They are giving away $100 worth of merchandise plus an additional $25 giftcard from Amazon.  If you are not familiar with Gone Reading, they donate 100% of their profit after taxes to fund new libraries and reading-related charities like READ Global and Ethiopia Reads.  I just placed an order with them myself and can't wait to get my package!

They are counting down the days to Mother's Day with some great gift ideas, such as:

The Reading Woman Boxed Notecards

To enter this giveaway and check out their other products - just visit Gone Reading today!

Spring Fling Giveaway Hop (May 1 - May 7)

Welcome to the Spring Fling Giveaway Hop, hosted by I am a Reader, Not a Writer and Eve's Fan Garden. 

One reader of Books and Needlepoint will get to pick two of any of the following audiobooks:

What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell

Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman

Cleaving by Julie Powell

I am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne

Cemetery Dance by Preston and Child

Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan

Marriage and Other Acts of Charity by Kate Braetrup

The War Lovers by Evan Thomas

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

Absolute Power by David Baldacci

Innocent by Scott Turow

Cheating Death by Sanjay Gupta

The Art of Choosing by Sheena Iyengar

Cross Country by James Patterson

The 9th Judgment by James Patterson

The Way Home by George Pelecanos

The Juror by George Dawes Green

Black Hills by Dan Simmons

This giveaway is for US only and will end at midnight on May 7 EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Go enter some more giveaways!

Kitchen Aid Mania Giveaway (April 29 - May 9)

WELCOME TO THE KITCHEN AID MANIA GIVEAWAY!

I don't know about you, but I know that I could use a new mixer!  I am still using the hand held one that my mother gave me when I left for college in 1984!   Speak up if you have one older that that!

Well, even if you don't, you can still enter the giveaway for a white KitchenAid KSM150PSWH Artisan Series 5-Quart Mixer to one lucky reader! This is a perfect Mother's Day gift to every one who loves baking or simply just being in the kitchen! This was made possible by Bay Area Mommy, American Family and some of the most awesome bloggers!

What you would win:

KitchenAid KSM150PSWH Artisan Series 5-Quart Mixer 

- Retail Value: $349.99 

- Color: White 

- 325-watt mixer with 10 speeds; 5-quart stainless steel bowl 

- Tilt-back head for easy access to mixture 

- 1 piece pouring shield with large chute for adding ingredients 

- Includes flat beater, dough hook, and wire whip 

- Measures 14 by 8-2/3 inches by 14 inches; 

1-year warranty 

Giveaway will run from April 29 at 12AM EST to May 9 at 11:59PM EST. Open to the US only. Must be at least 18 years old to be eligible.

For whatever reason I cannot get the rafflecopter to load - so until I can get it fixed please visit Bay Area Mommy here to sign up. 

Mailbox Monday (April 30, 2012)

 Mailbox Monday will be hosted in April by Cindy at Cindy's Love of  Books.  I got some more nice wins this week and a couple of review books.  Come on in and take a look!


Review books first:

The First Warm Evening of the Year
by Jamie M. Saul


"The first time I saw Marian Ballantine she looked like a burst of bittersweet among the winter branches. . ."


And so begins a tale of love lost and found, the rekindling of a passion for life that two people discover with each other, and the complex dynamics of family and friendship.


Geoffrey Tremont is untroubled by his neat, contented bachelor life in bustling New York City, filled with sophisticated friends, an undemanding lover devoted to her own career, and his wise brother, a psychiatrist who is the only one who sees and understands him completely -- just the way Geoffrey wants it.  On an ordinary day, Geoffrey arrives home to find a letter awaiting him with a postmark from an unfamiliar town: Shady Grove, New York.  An old friend has named him the executor of her estate.  Twenty years ago, in college, Geoffrey and Laura Welles had been each other's confidant; as their lives diverged, they went their separate ways.  Now, she's reached out of the past to ask him a final favor.  Laura's death has also brought her brother, Simon, to Geoffrey's doorstep.  With his sister gone, Simon has no one but her old friend Geoffrey with whom to settle past grievances.


With Simon in tow, Geoffrey travels up to Laura's hometown -- the place she chose to live her final years -- where he meets Marian Ballantine.  A widow living in the shadow of an idyllic marriage, and now grieving the loss of her best friend, Marian knows a lot about Geoffrey, Laura often spoke of him, she tells him, and though he's flattered, he's also thrown off balance.  From the moment he first sees her, Geoffrey instinctively knows this attractive, plainspoken woman has the power to upend his cool, compartmentalized life.  What Marian knows is that life comes with no guarantees, no promises of lasting happiness, and although she finds herself unsettled by this persistent, compelling man, she's unwilling to trade her hard-won, quotidian existence for an indefinite future.  Faced with the decision to embrace the unknown or retreat to the safety of the familiar, they will both have to discover the courage it takes to tumble into the abyss of love.

The Big, Fun, Sexy, Sex Book
by Lisa Rinner and Ian Kerner, PH.D.


Just say O!


- Have flannel pj's replaced your silky negligees?
- Are you more likely to nod off cuddling the remote -- instead of your partner?
- Are you too tired for sex?
- Is foreplay becoming "boreplay"?


Sure, being comfortable in your relationship is great.  You can finish each other's sentences, love your partner's extra ten pounds, and know just the right buttons to push in bed (or at least think you do). But too much comfort can strip your sex life of the XXX rating and render your love life . . . lifeless.


New York Times bestselling author and nationally recognized sex counselor Ian Kerner and vivacious television personality Lisa Rinna, who spoke candidly about rediscovering her own lost libido in her New York Times bestseller Rinnavation, are on a mission to help you get from "no-go" to the Big O.


Mind-blowing sex is just pages away!  Turn down the lights and cozy up under the sheets with this intimate bedside guide to igniting your mojo.  Overflowing with candid advice, tips, techniques, personal revelations, sexercises, and even a ten-step plan guaranteed to rejuvenate your relationship and keep you and your partner coming back for more, The Big, Fun, Sexy Sex Book proves that knowledge isn't just power -- it's also pleasure!


Now, let's have some fun!

My Cross to Bear
by Gregg Allman


The definitive story of a man who has seen it all, and a band that lived to tell the tale.


As one of the greatest rock icons of all time, Gregg Allman has lived it all and then some.  For almost fifty years, he's been creating some of the most recognizable songs in American rock, but never before has he paused to reflect on the long road he's traveled.  Now, he tells the unflinching story of his life, laying bare the unvarnished truth about his wild ride that has spanned across the years.


The story begins simply: with Gregg and his older brother, Duane, growing up in the South, raising hell with their guitars, and drifting from one band to another.  But all that changed when Duane and Gregg came together with four other men to forge something new -- a unique sound shaped by soul, rock, and blues and brimming with experimentation; a sound not just of a band, but of a family.


Bringing to life the carefree early days of the Allman Brothers Band, Gregg holds nothing back -- from run-ins with the law to meeting girls on the road, from jamming at the Fillmore East to experimenting with drugs.  Along the way, he goes behind the scenes of some of the greatest rock music ever recorded, without shying away from the infamous and painful deaths of his brother, Duane, and Allman Brothers bassist Berry Oakley.  Speaking for the first time about the profound impact that his brother's death had on him, Gregg offers a tribute to Duane that only a younger brother could write, showing how, to this day, he still confronts the grief of losing his big brother, even as Duane continues to guide and inspire him.


Setting the record straight about the band's struggles in the face of death, Gregg shows how the decision to persevere came with a heavy price.  While the rock and roll excesses of drugs, alcohol, and personality clashes led to a series of breakups that culminated with the band's permanent reunion in 1989, Gregg fought his own battle with substance abuse, going to rehab no less than eleven times and floating through a string of failed marriages, including his tabloid-frenzied relationship with Cher, before finally cleaning up once and for all.


Capturing the Allman Brothers' ongoing, triumphant resurgence as well as his own recent fight against hepatitis C, Gregg presents a story as honest as it is fascinating, providing a glimpse inside one of the most beloved and notorious bands in the history of rock music and demonstrating how, through it all, the road goes on. . . forever. 

The Body in the Boudoir
by Katherine Hall Page


It's 1990, and Faith Sibley is a single young woman leading a glamorous life in New York City.  She has good friends, a cozy apartment, and her own flourishing catering business, Have Faith.  Then, at a catering event, she meets the handsome, charming Reverend Thomas Fairchild.  A daughter and granddaughter of clergymen, Faith has sworn to avoid a parish's fishbowl existence.  But it's love at first sight, and before she knows it her life is changing drastically.


To begin with, she's beckoned north to chilly New England to visit her future residence and prospective in-laws, not all of whom welcome her with open arms.  Thankfully, back home she has her adoring great-uncle Sky to rely on, even if his much younger wife has always struck Faith as slightly odd.  For the ceremony Uncle Sky has offered up the use of his mansion on Long Island, which would be the perfect location if only the brickwork wasn't suspiciously falling off the roof.


Her path to the altar is made even rockier when Faith faces two other baffling mysteries.  Her new assistant, Francesca, appears to be hiding a family secret with roots in Italy.  Then Faith's sister, Hope, becomes a target.  Who could be plotting to derail her high-stakes financial career?


In spite of being overwhelmed by her decision to leave her home in the Big Apple and the multitude of tasks involved in getting married, Faith has no doubts about being married to her beloved Tom.  But someone out there is dead set on making sure that she doesn't reach the altar.  Before it's too late, she needs to figure out who is trying to sabotage the wedding -- by eliminating the bride!

The Hunt
by Andrew Fukuda


Don't sweat. Don't laugh. Don't draw any extra attention to yourself.  And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them.


Gene is different than the other kids at school.  He can't run as fast, he can go outside during the day and he doesn't have an unquenchable lust for blood.  Gene is human and each day is a battle to keep his secret locked away or risk being devoured by everyone around him.


When he is chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the few remaining humans, he is thrust into the fight of his life and into the orbit of a girl who makes him feel things he'd never thought possible. 






The following two books I won from Cassandra's Reviews:

Blood Noir
by Laurell K. Hamilton



Werewolf Jason Schuyler needs Anita Blake -- not as a vampire hunter, federal marshal, or necromancer, but as a friend.  He wants to pretend, just for a few days, that he's an everyday guy in an everyday relationship with a pretty woman who loves him, so he can say good-bye to his dying father.  It shouldn't be hard to keep their real identities under wraps for a few days in Jason's small hometown.


Really, by now, Anita Blake should know better.


Marmee Noir, ancient mother of all vampires, pick this weekend to make a move.  Somehow she has cut the connection that binds Anita and Jean-Claude, leaving Jean-Claude unable to sense what is happening.  Dangerous even as she sleeps, buried in darkness for a thousand years somewhere beneath the old country of Europe, Marmee Noir reaches for power.  She has attacked Anita before, but never like this.  In Anita she senses what she needs to make her enemies tremble. . . 

The Harlequin
by Laurell K. Hamilton


The Harlequin's warning to Anita Blake is presented in a gift box, left where she'd be sure to find it.  Inside, carefully wrapped in folds of pristine tissue paper, is a white mask, utterly plain.  The fact that it's white, Jean-Claude tells her, is the good news.  White means they are only being observed.


The flow of power that connects Anita Blake with Jean-Claude, vampire Master of the City, and with Richard, Ulfric of the werewolves, has been growing and changing, increasing exponentially.  Their power seems to have attracted attention, and it's a kind of attention no one would desire.  Jean-Claude and Richard need to be strong allies now.  Nathaniel and Micah need to give all their love and aid.  And Anita will need to call on Edward, whose utterly human ruthlessness in her defense makes him the right man for the job.


Anita Blake has the authority to pass judgment on vampires.  The Harlequin have the authority to pass judgment on her.  It is forbidden to speak of The Harlequin unless you've been contacted.


And to contacted by The Harlequin is to be under sentence of death. 






What books came home to you this week?

Winners!

Congrats to the latest Books and Needlepoint Winners!

No Strings Attached Winner of $10 Amazon GC  -  Pairee

Showers of Books Giveaway Winner - Judy Cox

A Grand Murder Winner - Suz Reads

All winners have been notified by email and have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen!

Double Reveal!

New cover for Pyxis and cover reveal for Alight! AND… Pyxis is free for Kindle for a short time!

Pyxis: The Discovery (Pyxis Series Book 1) by K.C. Neal
Pyxis is free for Amazon Kindle today and tomorrow! (April 26-27)

Pyxis on Amazon.com
Pyxis on Amazon.co.uk

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. 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 dangerous 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.

Excerpt from my review: 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).  

Read more of my review: http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/search?q=pyxis#ixzz1t70WLpT0

Alight: The Peril (Pyxis Series Book 2)
Anticipated Release Date: July 27, 2012

When Corinne learns who the second Guardian is, she must find a way to make peace with the last person in the world she wants to deal with. As she struggles, her nemesis unleashes an otherworldly evil, and a mysterious illness strikes Corinne’s friends. Faltering under the weight of her destiny, Corinne escapes to the dream world. There, she meets Zane, an Australian guy with a hot accent and a revelation that binds them together and alters the path of Corinne’s life. She throws herself into fighting for everything she loves, but just as she’s certain she will prevail, she’s robbed of what she needs most.

Connect With K.C. Neal Online                                                

                                                                                                                  

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It's Monday! What are you reading? (April 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! 

Well, the readathon was a bust for me this year.  Everytime I sat down to read I had a new interruption.  I gave up fairly early and went to bed.  I think I read more on Sunday than on Saturday! Oh well, maybe next fall!

Be sure to check out the giveaways on the top of the page!

Currently reading: 

Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected, A Memoir by Kelle Hampton

Tyler's Mountain Magic by Malcom Ater

The Get Yourself Organized Project by Kathi Lipp

Books I need to finish:  (I decided to add a new category for those books that seem to languish from week to week!)

The Priest and the Peaches by Larry Peterson

May the Road Rise Up to Meet You by Peter Troy

The Book of Lost Fragrances by M.J. Rose

Blood Orchids by Toby Neal

Upcoming books:
The Book Lover by MaryAnn McFadden
More Like Her by Liza Palmer

Bathroom Book:

The Killing Circle by Andrew Pyper

Books read and reviewed since last week:

Banana Split by Josi S. Kilpack

Titanic 2012 by Bill Walker

Books read but need to be reviewed:

Missing: The Secrets of Crittenden County, Book 1 by Shelley Shepard Gray

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

Mailbox Monday (April 23, 2012)

 Mailbox Monday will be hosted in April by Cindy at Cindy's Love of  Books.  In My Mailbox is hosted Sundays at The Story Siren.  I got some more nice wins this week and a couple of review books.  Come on in and take a look!


Review books first:




(NO PICTURE AVAILABLE)
Mind Monsters: Conquering fear, worry, guilt and other negative thoughts that work against you
by Kevin Gerald


Every day we are bombarded with negative messages—from society, the media, and even from self-talk in our own minds. Take a minute to think about these questions:
 


Do you lack peace because of your perspective? Do you focus on the problems around you? Do you have trouble recognizing the good things in your life? Do you feel despair or depression, despite your blessings?


 Answering yes to questions like these is evidence of mind monsters. Mind monsters are those negative thoughts we all battle, the creeping shadows in the corners of our minds that feed our insecurities, worries, and fears. They will steal your life…if you let them. But there is good news! You can take control. In Mind Monsters Kevin Gerald shows you how to recognize destructive thoughts, take them captive, and use biblical truths to overcome them.
 
Today you have a choice: Will you allow your mind monsters to take up residence, affecting who you are and God’s plan for your life, or will you conquer them and experience a life that is positive, abundant, joyful, and overflowing with peace?




(NO PICTURE AVAILABLE)


Listening to Africa


by Diana M. Raab


Poet Diana M. Raab travels to the heart of Africa with her family to experience the beauty and fascination of another world. During her safari, she observes the distress, the delight, and the dignity of the humans and animals who live there and parallels them with her own quest for health.

The Sausage Maker's Daughters

by AGS Johnson

The sausage maker's youngest daughter is heading for the fight of her battle-scarred life. It's the era of the counterculture and Vietnam. But twenty-four-year-old Kip Czermanksi is nowhere near her home in California. She's in a jail cell in her hometown in Wisconsin awaiting a court appearance in the mysterious death of her ex-lover, who happened to be her brother-in-law. Given her father is the small town's leading citizen; Kip isn't overly worried, at first. But the personal grudge the DA holds for all the Czermanskis is about to find a foil Kip. What follows is a wild ride through Kip's present predicament and her past. She'll come to regret leaving her life in LA, regardless of the good reason for which she returned, when family dynamics and sibling rivalries, magnified by her counterculture attitudes and feminist beliefs, lay Kip's life bare before the courtroom. Distrusting her legal team, her rebellious history well known, things both personal and legal spiral out-of-control. It doesn't look good for Kip Czermanski.

The Get Yourself Organized Project:

21 Steps to Less Mess and Stress

by Kathi Lipp

Finally, an organizational book for women who have given up trying to be Martha Stewart but still desire some semblance of order in their lives.

Most organizational books are written by and for people who are naturally structured and orderly. For the woman who is more ADD than type A, the advice sounds terrific but seldom works. These women are looking for help that takes into account their free-spirited outlook while providing tips and tricks they can easily follow to live a more organized life.

Kathi Lipp, author of The Husband Project and other "project" books, is just the author to address this need. In her inimitable style, she offers

easy and effective ways women can restore peace to their everyday lives 
simple and manageable long-term solutions for organizing any room in one's home (and keeping it that way) 
a realistic way to de-stress a busy schedule 
strategies for efficient shopping, meal preparation, cleaning, and more 

Full of helpful tips and abundant good humor, The Get Yourself Organized Project is for those who want to spend their time living and enjoying life rather than organizing their sock drawer.

Goodbye For Now


by Laurie Frankel

Sam Elliot works for an internet dating company, but he still can't get a date. So he creates an algorithm that will match you with your soul mate. Sam meets the love of his life, a coworker named Meredith, but he also gets fired when the company starts losing all their customers to Mr. and Ms. Right.

When Meredith's grandmother, Livvie, dies suddenly, Sam uses his ample free time to create a computer program that will allow Meredith to have one last conversation with her grandmother. Mining from all her correspondence—email, Facebook, Skype, texts—Sam constructs a computer simulation of Livvie who can respond to email or video chat just as if she were still alive. It's not supernatural, it's computer science.

Meredith loves it, and the couple begins to wonder if this is something that could help more people through their grief. And thus, the company RePose is born. The business takes off, but for every person who just wants to say good-bye, there is someone who can't let go. 

In the meantime, Sam and Meredith's affection for one another deepens into the kind of love that once tasted, you can't live without. But what if one of them suddenly had to? This entertaining novel, delivers a charming and bittersweet romance as well as a lump in the throat exploration of the nature of love, loss, and life (both real and computer simulated). Maybe nothing was meant to last forever, but then again, sometimes love takes on a life of its own.

The Innocents


by Francesca Segal

A smart and slyly funny tale of love, temptation, confusion, and commitment, "The Innocents" is a generous and deeply satisfying look at a close-knit society in which one young man's pre-wedding panic illuminates the universal conflict between responsibility and passion.

Newly engaged and unthinkingly self-satisfied, twenty-eight-year-old Adam Newman is the prize catch of Temple Fortune, a small, tight-knit Jewish suburb of London. He has been dating Rachel Gilbert since they were both sixteen and now, to the relief and happiness of the entire Gilbert family, they are finally to marry. To Adam, Rachel embodies the highest values of Temple Fortune; she is innocent, conventional, and entirely secure in her community—a place in which everyone still knows the whereabouts of their nursery school classmates. Marrying Rachel will cement Adam’s role in a warm, inclusive family he loves. 
But as the vast machinery of the wedding gathers momentum, Adam feels the first faint touches of claustrophobia, and when Rachel’s younger cousin Ellie Schneider moves home from New York, she unsettles Adam more than he’d care to admit. Ellie—beautiful, vulnerable, and fiercely independent—offers a liberation that he hadn’t known existed: a freedom from the loving interference and frustrating parochialism of North West London. Adam finds himself questioning everything, suddenly torn between security and exhilaration, tradition and independence. What might he be missing by staying close to home?

Momnesia was won from the author Lori Verni-Fogarsi in the Hoppy Easter Giveaway!

Momnesia


by Lori Verni-Fogarsi

She's smart, pretty, and runs her own business. So then why does she feel so dead inside? Between work, two kids, and a husband who finds her about as exciting as furniture shopping, this is the story of a (formerly-exciting but now way-too-typical) suburban mom who diagnoses herself with "Momnesia" and sets about finessing a new version of her old vivaciousness:

MOMNESIA (mahm-nee-zhuh) -noun-
Loss of the memory of who you used to be. Caused by pregnancy, play dates, and trying to keep the house cleaner than the Joneses.

She finds some adventure pursuing her own interests, and does make some new friends (including the battery operated variety), but still feels like nothing more than a caretaker.

In between dealing with her husband's manic-depressive behavior, drama with her friends, and some naughty Internet escapades, she keeps facing the question, "Is it that I haven't been myself? Or is it that I am being myself but just different than I used to be?" It isn't until she tosses the Invisible Rule Book altogether that she discovers life--and love--have more to offer than she ever imagined!

The next two books I won from Kathi at I am a Reader, Not a Writer from the Autism Awareness Giveaway: 

The Legend of Mickey Tussler


by Frank Nappi

Seventeen-year-old Mickey Tussler is recruited to play for a minor league affiliate of the Boston Braves. Arthur Murphy swears Mickey has the greatest arm he has ever seen, that anybody has ever seen.  And it might be true.  But Mickey's autism is prohibitive.  It keeps him sealed off from a world he scarcely understands.  Lost both in the memory of his former life with an abusive father and the challenges of a new world filled with heckling teammates, opponents and fans, there's no way Mickey can succeed.  But his inimitable talent -- one of the most gifted arms in the history of baseball -- gives him a chance. Can he survive a real life dream?  Or are the harsh realities of life too much for him?  This is the powerful underdog story of how a young man with an extraordinary gift comes of age in a harsh and competitive world.

Sophomore Campaign


by Frank Nappi

It s 1949 and eighteen-year-old pitching phenomMickey Tussler is back with the rejuvenated minorleague Brewers in the sequel to The Legend of MickeyTussler (the basis for the television movie A Milein His Shoes). Despite Mickey s proclamation thathe will never play baseball again after last season sviolent conclusion, his manager and now surrogatefather Arthur Murphy cajoles the emotionallyfragile, socially awkward boy with autism into givingit another shot. Mickey reluctantly returns to thefield and must once again cope with the violenceand hatred around him. When a young AfricanAmerican player joins the team, the entire team issubjected to racial threats and episodes of violence, one of which Mickey witnesses firsthand. Strugglingto understand such ugliness and hatred, and fearfulof reprisal should he tell anyone about what he hasseen, the boy s performance on the field suffers.Mickey now must deal with a side of human naturehe scarcely comprehends.

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