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

Saturday, February 18, 2012

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.


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

Thursday, February 16, 2012

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.




a Rafflecopter giveaway



Be sure to check out all the other great giveaways!



Wednesday, February 15, 2012

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.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


a Rafflecopter giveaway







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

Monday, February 13, 2012

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:
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:




Books finished since last post:




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!


Sunday, February 12, 2012

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?

Friday, February 10, 2012

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

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

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@. . .)

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

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

Monday, February 6, 2012

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

Sunday, February 5, 2012

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:




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!


Saturday, February 4, 2012

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?

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