The Little Reading Nook

Battle of the Prizes: American Version

2012-02-02T07:51:00.001-05:00

I have signed up for another challenge. I know that I really should stop but I couldn't resist. Of this challenge I only have to add one additional book to my 2012 reading list.

Detail (Courtesy of Rose City Reader)

DETAILS
Chose three books that you have not read before:
One that won both the Pulitzer and the National
One that won the Pulitzer but not the National
One that won the National but not the Pulitzer
OFFICIAL RULES
The challenge runs for 13 months (I like having an extra month to finish up). Read all books between January 1, 2012 and January 31, 2013. Signing up now is the most fun, but signing up any time before the end is permitted.

My List:

The Color Purple by Alice Walker (Won both the Pulitzer and the National)
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (Pulitzer but not the National)
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (National but not the Pulitzer)

Review: That Deadman Dance by Kim Scott

2012-02-01T18:30:00.000-05:00

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Pages: 368
Genre: Fiction (Historical)
Series/Standalone: Stabdalone
Expected publication: February 28th 2012
Source: NetGalley eARC

Synopsis (Barnes and Noble):

Set in Western Australia in the first decades of the nineteenth century, That Deadman Dance is a vast, gorgeous novel about the first contact between the Aboriginal Noongar people and the new European settlers.

Bobby Wabalanginy is a young Noongar man, smart, resourceful, and eager to please. He befriends the European arrivals, joining them as they hunt whales, till the land, and establish their new colony. He is welcomed into a prosperous white family, and eventually finds himself falling in love with the daughter, Christine. But slowly-by design and by hazard-things begin to change. Not everyone is happy with how the colony is progressing. Livestock mysteriously start to disappear, crops are destroyed, there are "accidents" and injuries on both sides. As the Europeans impose ever-stricter rules and regulations in order to keep the peace, Bobby's Elders decide they must respond in kind, and Bobby is forced to take sides, inexorably drawn into a series of events that will forever change the future of his country.

That Deadman Dance is inevitably tragic, as most stories of European and native contact are. But through Bobby's life, Kim Scott exuberantly explores a moment in time when things could have been different, when black and white lived together in amazement rather than fear of the other, and when the world seemed suddenly twice as large and twice as promising. At once celebratory and heartbreaking, this novel is a unique and important contribution to the literature of native experience.

Review:

Very hard review for me to do.

I received That Deadman Dance by Kim Scott as an ARC copy from NetGalley. The first thing that attracted me was the cover. I love the cover. Then the synopsis. I like history fiction and I can honestly say that I don't ever remember reading a book about early Australia and colonization. I was instantly hooked and curious.

The plot of That Deadman Dance is about the encounters between early colonizers and the Noongar people. I don't think it is necessary to really go into the details. Most people know the story of what happened when Europeans started colonizing other nations and the effect it had on the indigenous population. This is a very similar story.

While Scott is a gifted storyteller, I wasn't able to connect with his characters. The characters all felt sort of superfical to me, like they had no depth. This was mainly because there are so many characters and Scott spends a little time telling the background of each one of them. They all had unique and interesting stories but I just didn't feel any connection with any of them. And I love a good character based story.

The main character in the story is Bobby, a Noongar boy, whom the story follows through old age. I was hoping that Scott would give more substance to Bobby, but I found that he was more of the archetype for The Fool character (his was a gifted performer in the story). There were times when I felt that Bobby character was starting to grow and deviate from The Fool character, only to fail. Even to the end, Bobby never really seemed to grasp the reality that increase number of European settlers and the rules they were imposing would mean to him and his people.

Now, the writing in That Deadman Dance is beautiful. Scott is a very gifted writer. In fact, the writing is what saved this story for me. But I will caution that it is not an easy read. This is literary fiction at its finest. I had to read this in bits and pieces and really take my time. While I did not like Scott's characters I did like his descriptions of the scenery. Even though he did not go into great details, he did give me enough information to envision the scenery in my mind. The whale hunting scenes were awesome.

Pros: Plot, Writing
Cons: Characters

Overall Recommendation:

I would recommend this with caution. That Deadman Dance is an interesting novel, but I don't think it's for people that aren't really literary fiction fans. If you like literary fiction I would recommend giving it a try.

Teaser Tuesday: January 31st

2012-01-31T06:30:00.000-05:00

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

This weeks teasers is from That Deadman Dance:

There had always been a particular rhythm to their visits, and now this new pulse, at first feeble, began it accompaniment. More sails were noted, and more things detected: a cairn of stones, for instance, and within it - once the stones were dismantled - some markings on thin bark inside a container of glass. - page 65

I am almost finished with this one. Review should be coming sometime this week.

Don't forget to share a link to your teaser.

Mailbox Monday: January 30th

2012-01-30T06:30:00.000-05:00

In January Mailbox Monday is being hosted by At Home With Books.

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

I found five new books to fill up my Nook this week.

Free from Barnes and Nobles (now $9.99)

When her comatose husband died in the ICU while on life support, the whispers about Dr. Allison Williams began. Another death during her training puts her under suspicion. When the pattern is repeated in the hospital where she is attempting to start over, the whispers turn into a shout: “mercy killing.” What is the dark secret that keeps Allison’s lips sealed when she should be defending herself?
Despite her move to a new city, the midnight phone calls that started after her husband’s death follow Allison. Who is the woman who sobs out, “I know what you did?” What does she mean by “You’ll pay?” And what can Allison do to prevent it?

Two physicians, widowers themselves, offer support, telling Allison they know what she is going through after the death of her husband. But do they? And is it safe to trust either of them with her secret?

Free from Barnes and Nobles (now $9.99)

When nurse Hanne Abrahamsen impulsively shields Steffen Petersen from a nosy Gestapo agent, she's convinced the Lutheran pastor is involved in the Danish Underground. Nothing could be further from the truth. But truth is hard to come by in the fall of 1943, when Copenhagen is placed under Martial Law and Denmark's Jews-including Hanne-suddenly face deportation to the Nazi prison camp at Terezin, Czechoslovakia. Days darken and danger mounts. Steffen's faith deepens as he takes greater risks to protect Hanne. But are either of them willing to pay the ultimate price for their love?

Free from Barnes and Nobles

Set in Western Australia in the first decades of the nineteenth century, That Deadman Dance is a vast, gorgeous novel about the first contact between the Aboriginal Noongar people and the new European settlers.

India Butler, single and about to turn forty, travels to LA in an attempt to reinvent her life. In a world rarely illuminated by the flashbulbs of the paparazzi, she discovers the true meaning of “having it all.

Free from Barnes and Nobles

Alois is The Chicken Thief, an intelligent young man struggling to find his way in a southern African country wracked by political unrest and a crumbling economy. A chance encounter gives Alois the opportunity to make some fast money, and hopefully improve his future. However, his assignment goes horribly wrong, and he unexpectedly finds himself in the midst of a complicated and perilous struggle to rescue a war hero and transform the political landscape. Though something of an unlikely hero, Alois ultimately learns that both dreams and justice are within his grasp.
The Chicken Thief reads at a cracking pace, is dramatic and colourful, and will appeal to lovers of quality fiction. In essence a political thriller, it is particularly topical and poignant in light of recent events in North Africa and the Middle East. Australian author, Fiona Leonard, has travelled a fascinating road to arrive in her current home in West Africa. Her life experience has contributed to the creation of this deeply evocative novel, and the rich construction of its realistic characters, and detailed, depiction of both the environs and the political atmosphere. The Chicken Thief is a highly engaging novel, with a gripping plot and huge appeal on an international level.

$0.99 at Barnes and Nobles

Daughters of Iraq is the compelling story of three women from the same family. It is the story of emigration from Iraq to Israel as experienced by two sisters: Violet, whom we learn about through a diary she kept after being diagnosed with a critical illness, and Farida, whose personality unfolds through her relationship with her surroundings, and with herself. The third character is Noa, Violet’s daughter and a student, a young woman in her twenties who is searching for meaning. Noa embarks on a spiritual quest to the past, so that she can learn how to build her life in the present and the future.

What came into your mailbox this week?

Friday Finds: 01/27/2012

2012-01-27T07:30:00.000-05:00

Friday Finds hosted by Should Be Reading ask:

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!

There were so many interesting books that I found will reading book blogs this week. I was able
contain myself this time and narrow it down to only four books.

(Clicking on the image will take you to the books GoodReads page)

Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon Update 1

2012-01-24T17:30:00.000-05:00

It's Day 2 of the Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon hosted by The True Book Addict.

So, how am I doing?

I think that so far it is going good. I didn't have any set concert daily goals when I started the Read-a-Thon. Just a list of books that I would like to start and complete.

Since I am an one book at a time kind of time gal. I have already started The Deadman Dance by Kim Scott. I am a little on the fence about this one. It's not bad at all, the writing is good. Yet, it is not quite what I was expecting. I am reading this much faster than I thought that I would and should be finish by no later than Wednesday night (hopefully).

Again My plans are to finish:

The Deadman Dance by Kim Scott (27% complete)
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

And To Start:

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

Why Buy The Cow? Reading Challenge

2012-01-24T12:00:00.000-05:00

Isn't the name of this challenge just fabulous?

<---- And the badge to go with it?

How could I not resist this one?

Besides all the cuteness, this challenge is a great idea. Especially for those people that have a eReader that is load with free books.

I would love to say that my poor Nook is bursting at the seams with free reads that I have collected in the 2+ years that I have had it. But with all things that involve technology, it still has plenty of space (and a micro SD card just in case).

Why Buy The Cow? Reading Challenge is being hosted by of The Unread Reader.

The basics of the challenge is to read at least 12 legally obtained Free e-books. No eARC, giveaways, or library books.

Head over to the site for more details on this challenge if you are interested. I have tons of free reads on my e-reader, so I should have no problem selecting books. In fact, this challenge works well with the Self Published Challenge that I signed up for.

I don't have a planned list of books. So, I'll just update this list as I go:

Teaser Tuesdays: January 24th

2012-01-24T06:30:00.000-05:00

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

This weeks teasers is from That Deadman Dance:

Some reckoned their spear throwers had a tooth held in place with red tree gun. A human tooth, Skelly had heard; others reckoned it was from a kangaroo. "page" 90

I wonder what the spears are really made of.

Don't forget to share a link to your teaser.

Review: Who Is He To You by Monique D. Mensah

2012-01-23T12:00:00.000-05:00

Rating: 3 Stars
Pages: eBook
Genre: Fiction (Drama)
Series/Standalone: Book 1 in Malignant Mind Series
Publication Year: 2010
Source: Purchased

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Simone, a shockingly beautiful teen, is on the downward spiral of destruction as she battles incest and self-hatred; she finds cutting to be the only way to relieve her pain. Jessica lives the upscale lifestyle of a refined society matron. She strives to be the perfect wife, but without her husband, Ross, she would be nothing more than the abused stripper he rescued 16 years ago. Ryan, a fiery thirty-something, is quickly slipping into depression and prescription drug-addiction as her boyfriend, Anthony, artfully dangles the empty promise of marriage. As the shattered lives of three very different women collide, they find that they have one thing in common: they are all in a desperate fight to hang on to love. But when love involves incest, self-mutilation, drug-addiction and murder, will they continue to fight or will they find the strength to escape before it's too late? Experience their emotional journey through to the shocking end where these women will experience injury, imprisonment and even death while crafting new lives from the ashes of their ruination.

Review:

This review contains spoilers. Read at your own risk.

I was looking for what genre to classify Who Is He To You in, both B&N and Amazon have it listed under drama, which is very fitting. This is a drama filled book all three of three of the female main characters experience nothing buy drama, rarely is there a normal moment in their lives.

Before I get to the drama and the main characters, let discuss the title. For me the title Who Is He To You gave away the twist in the book (there is always the fact that I think there should be a question mark). Combine the title with other clues in the book, I knew the twist before I got to it. In fact, it frustrated me that Mensah waited so long for the big reveal, when everything fell into place. Then there were times when I wonder if the author was awry of the fact that the puzzle was so easy to piece together for me the reader and she did it intentionally. But either way, when the big reveal finally came out, I merely shrugged my shoulders. Kind of disappointed that she used the method that she did.

I have read plenty of reviews on this book and looked forward to reading it. I really wanted to get to know each of the characters and about their lives. Instead, I ended up finding out that all the characters were damaged. Not just slight imperfections, but truly emotionally, psychologically damaged. Each and everyone of them (mainly the main characters and most of the secondary characters). All of them needed counseling and probably a couple of prescriptions. It made it hard for me to root for any of them.

Simone is 14 years old, beautiful and being molested by her father. She is the character that the reader is suppose to be the most sympathetic to because of her situation and her age. At times I felt think shaking her. There is one chapter where she ignores all the warning signs (even her own misgiving) and walks straight into a dangerous situation. All I could think was that I saw this coming, she saw this coming why did she walk straight into it. Why is she surprised at the outcome? Out of all the characters I liked her the most. Even if I felt that her character was inconstant at times.

Jessica is Simone's mother and completely unaware of what is going on between Simone and her father. She has issues from her past that affect her self-esteem. She doesn't feel that she deserves the life that she has been given. Her relationship with Simone's father, Ross, is so unbalanced and she just wants to keep her family together.

The synopsis doesn't even began to fully explain the crazy mess that is Ryan. She basically is a mess. Mensah describes Ryan as a woman with an addiction, to drugs and love. Really, what seems to be the problem is that she suffers from at most a panic disorder and probably a mood disorder. I really didn't like how this was glanced or and so easily resolved. After breaking up with Anthony (aka Ross), she was able to overcome her addiction to pain killers and him in three days. Not very realistic at all.

Anthony/Ross is the most disturbed at all. He justifies his molesting of his daughter because of some Oedipus complex crap he had for his mother. He justifies his treatment of his wife because she was too willing to please. And his affair with Ryan was because he was his father's son.

I did like the plot. I liked how Mensah gave the reader background on Anthony/Ross and how he became the man that became. She did the same thing with Jessica which later helped justify some of the things that she was willing to do and did. I only wish that she had done the same thing with Ryan, who felt kind of incomplete.

Even though I didn't like the characters I did like the story overall. I wanted to see what happened and how it played out. The last 200 "pages" went by quickly, the action really picked up and I was on the edge of my seat to see what happen next. It didn't quite play out like I thought it would. And Mensah did end up wrapping everything up with a little bow, but I think the whole mess ended the why that it should have.

One of the biggest issue I had was with formatting. It was horrible and all over the place. I think its because I brought my copy from Barnes and Nobles for my nook and the author used Smashword as her distributor.

Someone contacted me through Goodreads and said that my the settings on my Nook may have been causing my formatting issues. I checked it out and set it to publishers default and the text size to the smallest. That solved most of the formatting issues, but it seems to have made the text to small for me to comfortably read (I don't need glasses for reading). So, if you are having a problem with formatting while reading an e-book it might be your settings.

Pros: Plot, Action, Drama
Cons: Characters

Overall Recommendation:

I would recommend this book. Monique D. Mensah is a good story teller. I have a feeling that the next books in the series will be better and I am going to read them. From what I can gather the next one can be read as a standalone. I am interested to see what Mensah thinks of next.

Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon

2012-01-23T07:30:00.000-05:00

I don't remember the last time I participated in a Read-a-Thon. It's probably something that I could quickly look up but I am being lazy. I have a perfectly good excuse too. I'm on vacation.

And what better way to spend a vacation than to spend it reading.

I am going to keep it simple with the goals. I would like to finish two books and start a third.

Books I Plan To Finish:

The Deadman Dance by Kim Scott
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Book To Start:

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

Mailbox Monday: January 23rd

2012-01-23T06:30:00.000-05:00

In January Mailbox Monday is being hosted by At Home With Books.

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Again, it has been a empty week for my physical mailbox. I will pat myself on the back for that one. I was tempted to buy a book at the airport. The cover was calling my name but I reminded strong and was able to resist temptation.

My Nook on the other hand, received three new books.

Free from Barnes and Nobles (now $8.99)

An old love letter found in the glove compartment of a young woman's inherited 1972 Volkswagen propels her to leave her life in Los Angeles and go to the small town of Capitola, California. There her dream of finding the writer of the letter leads her on an unexpected journey that changes her life forever.Claire James, age twenty-three, is ready to make it on her own. When she's fired from her job as a waitress and subsequently kicked out of her sister's home, she sees it as an opportunity to start over. But even before moving, a thirty-five-year-old love letter written to her mother keeps Claire stuck in the past. Michael Thompson, a middle-aged real estate agent, wants to keep the past where it belongs--at least until his grown daughter is married. But, then a young woman comes to town . . .

On Sale at Barnes and Nobles (now $12.99)

A storm is coming . . .
Locked behind bars for three years, Shadow did his time, quietly waiting for the magic day when he could return to Eagle Point, Indiana. A man no longer scared of what tomorrow might bring, all he wanted was to be with Laura, the wife he deeply loved, and start a new life.
But just days before his release, Laura and Shadow’s best friend are killed in an accident. With his life in pieces and nothing to keep him tethered, Shadow accepts a job from a beguiling stranger he meets on the way home, an enigmatic man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday. A trickster and rogue, Wednesday seems to know more about Shadow than Shadow does himself.
Life as Wednesday’s bodyguard, driver, and errand boy is far more interesting and dangerous than Shadow ever imagined—it is a job that takes him on a dark and strange road trip and introduces him to a host of eccentric characters whose fates are mysteriously intertwined with his own. Along the way Shadow will learn that the past never dies; that everyone, including his beloved Laura, harbors secrets; and that dreams, totems, legends, and myths are more real than we know. Ultimately, he will discover that beneath the placid surface of everyday life a storm is brewing—an epic war for the very soul of America—and that he is standing squarely in its path.

A NetGalley Review Copy

Set in Western Australia in the first decades of the nineteenth century, That Deadman Dance is a vast, gorgeous novel about the first contact between the Aboriginal Noongar people and the new European settlers.

Bobby Wabalanginy is a young Noongar man, smart, resourceful, and eager to please. He befriends the European arrivals, joining them as they hunt whales, till the land, and establish their new colony. He is welcomed into a prosperous white family, and eventually finds himself falling in love with the daughter, Christine. But slowly-by design and by hazard-things begin to change. Not everyone is happy with how the colony is progressing. Livestock mysteriously start to disappear, crops are destroyed, there are "accidents" and injuries on both sides. As the Europeans impose ever-stricter rules and regulations in order to keep the peace, Bobby's Elders decide they must respond in kind, and Bobby is forced to take sides, inexorably drawn into a series of events that will forever change the future of his country.

That Deadman Dance is inevitably tragic, as most stories of European and native contact are. But through Bobby's life, Kim Scott exuberantly explores a moment in time when things could have been different, when black and white lived together in amazement rather than fear of the other, and when the world seemed suddenly twice as large and twice as promising. At once celebratory and heartbreaking, this novel is a unique and important contribution to the literature of native experience.

What came into your mailbox this week?

Friday Finds: 01/20/2012

2012-01-20T06:30:00.000-05:00

Friday Finds hosted by Should Be Reading ask:

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!

The web is a dangerous place for a reader. I have been trying to control how many books I add to my virtual tbr list but this week it was just to hard to weed some on new finds out. I got it down to 10. Normally, I like to add 5 or less.

Teaser Tuesday: 01/17/2012

2012-01-17T06:30:00.000-05:00

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

This weeks teasers is from Who Is He To You by Monique D. Mensah:

She had packed as if they were staying for two weeks with one suitcase with enough clothes for her to change three times a day and another with the shoes to match. A third bag held her toiletries and hair care items.

She sound pretty high maintenance to me.

Don't forget to share a link to your teaser.

Mailbox Monday: January 16th

2012-01-16T06:30:00.000-05:00

In January Mailbox Monday is being hosted by At Home With Books.

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

This week my mailbox has been empty. But I did manage to find three books to download into my Nook. All three were free at the time.

Leah Thornton’s life, like her Southern Living home, has great curb appeal. But a paralyzing encounter with a can of frozen apple juice in the supermarket shatters the façade, forcing her to admit that all is not as it appears. When her best friend gets in Leah’s face about her refusal to deal with her life, Leah is forced to make an agonizing decision. Can she sacrifice what she wants to get what she needs? Joy, sadness, and pain converge, testing Leah’s commitment to her marriage, her motherhood, and her faith.

If he had only answered that last phone call from the World Trade Center . . .Minutes before two jumbo jets changed U.S. history, New York police officer Austin Finley ignored the call from his brother, who’d been bugging him for days. Trying to live with his one regret causes hatred and bitterness to consume Austin, and when counselor Mercy Samara recommends desk duty, Austin resigns. Haunted by her own memories of 9/11, Mercy takes a job as a school counselor in Baltimore. When Austin, now an EMT, responds to an emergency at Mercy’s school, both are stunned and wary.Finally their common—and painful—memories turn suspicion into friendship, then romance.But hard questions linger: Can they truly move beyond their past harsh judgments and harsh words? Will their past finally bring them closer or—as the tenth anniversary of 9/11 draws near—drive them farther apart?

This powerful new novel by O. H. Bennett tells the story of a makeshift family struggling to stay together as life wears away at their bonds of blood and love. At the center of the family is Gail Neighbors, the hardworking single mother of two sons, Mason and Tyler. Mason, the older, grew up without knowing his father, a feckless gambler and womanizer. Tyler, the younger, sings in the church choir and enjoys a close relationship with his father, Dan, who left Gail a few years before still spends plenty of time at the house. To make ends meet, Gail has taken in two boarders: Annie, an elderly woman with a diminishing grip on reality, and Jackie, the 20-year-old single mother of baby Cole, who can't fully accept her overwhelming new responsibilities. Creatures Here Below renders with tremendous richness and care the realities of a black teenaged male whose life is taking a turn toward the worse.

TSS: 01/15/2012

2012-01-15T18:30:00.000-05:00

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them, and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....

It has been a while since I have participated in The Sunday Salon. I don't even know where to start.

Nothing much happen this week for me reading wise. It has been very slow. After taking a long break from reading and blogging I am trying to find my footing. It's still a work in progress.

Book Club

At the end of last year I started a book club on Meetup. There aren't to many book clubs in the Miami area. If there are I haven't been able to find them. I have only seen two active ones and both of them are outside my traveling distant. The one that I could go to and try to a attend every few months, meets up on a Wednesday night. Which is hard for me because of work, distance and the bus ride.

That being said. I started my own, near to my house that meets once a month on Saturday. This month was our first official meeting and we talked about Wench (review). It was a lively meeting and I really enjoyed myself. If you haven't tried a book club I highly suggest that you do. It was a great way to spend an Saturday.

One of the things that I learned from the book club is to write my reviews before the meeting. After I got back I tried to write the review for Wench and I didn't go so well. My thoughts were scattered because there were so many talking points brought up. My review suffered because of it.

Challenges

This year I aim to read fifty books. The good thing about GoodReads is that there is a little widget that will track how many books you have read. So, far I am on track. Hopefully, I can keep it up.

I signed up for The Unread Book Challenge 2012. Basically it is a challenge to that encourages the reading of books that are already owned. In my initial post, I claimed that I own 57 books but that doesn't include my digit collection. Only books in which I own a physical hard copy.

That got me thinking, I really should include my whole collection both digital and physical. If I do (and I will) that means I have currently a total 518 books. Which stuns me, most of the books on my Nook where free and a good number of them are classics. But oh my word. I have some reading to do.

Blog Appearance

I got tried of the old blog template so I tried to change it. But couldn't find one that I liked. So, I went back to basics until something catches my eye.

Anyone know a good website for free blogger templates.

That's it for me now.

See you next Sunday,
MoniqueReads

Free Classic e-Books

2012-01-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

This morning I was browsing Barnes and Noble for classics. I don't know why but it may have something to do with book buying being an addiction. Now that I own a Nook, I seem to have an urge to see fill it up with books. Even though I know that it will be almost impossible for me to read all of them.

During my search I found that Barnes and Noble is offering ten of Barnes and Noble Classic NookBooks for free. I already own all of them but thought that I should pass the news on to others. Clicking on the pictures should take you to the appreciate B&N book page.

I don't know how long these books are going to be free. So get them ASAP.

Wench: A Novel by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

2012-01-14T20:00:00.000-05:00

Rating: 3.5 Stars
Pages: 290 (Hardcover)
Genre: Historical Fiction
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Publication Year: 2010
Source: Miami-Dade Public Library

Synopsis (Goodreads):

wench \'wench\ n. from Middle English "wenchel," 1 a: a girl, maid, young woman; a female child.

Tawawa House in many respects is like any other American resort before the Civil War. Situated in Ohio, this idyllic retreat is particularly nice in the summer when the Southern humidity is too much to bear. The main building, with its luxurious finishes, is loftier than the white cottages that flank it, but then again, the smaller structures are better positioned to catch any breeze that may come off the pond. And they provide more privacy, which best suits the needs of the Southern white men who vacation there every summer with their black, enslaved mistresses. It's their open secret.

Lizzie, Reenie, and Sweet are regulars at Tawawa House. They have become friends over the years as they reunite and share developments in their own lives and on their respective plantations. They don't bother too much with questions of freedom, though the resort is situated in free territory–but when truth-telling Mawu comes to the resort and starts talking of running away, things change.

To run is to leave behind everything these women value most–friends and families still down South–and for some it also means escaping from the emotional and psychological bonds that bind them to their masters. When a fire on the resort sets off a string of tragedies, the women of Tawawa House soon learn that triumph and dehumanization are inseparable and that love exists even in the most inhuman, brutal of circumstances–all while they are bearing witness to the end of an era.

Review:

I probably should have written this review before I discussed it with my book club. Now I am having a hard time figuring out where to start.

Dolen Perkins-Valdez debut novel Wench takes a different route then most narratives surrounding slavery. While it is like the traditional slave tale, Wench does deal with the harden facts of slavery, beatings, escape, oppression, fear, uncertain. But Perkins-Valdez takes Wench a step further and dives into the relationship and experience of slave women (wenches) and their masters.

The main character, Lizzie, this is primarily her story and how her interactions with the three women change her own views on her enslavement and the relationship she has with her master, Drayle. When the story first started I did not like Lizzie, her actions infuriated me and made her unlikable. I was ready to write her off and I even state the book down for week, not sure if I could continue. But her character did learn for the actions and I had hope for her. She seemed to gain strength and grow. I was rooting for her. Then she disappointed me once again.

I think my main problem with Lizzie was that she was to malleable. She seemed so ready to believe anything and everything that Drayle had to tell her. No matter what the circumstance. Her character seemed to want to believe the best in him. Lizzie continued to accept all his offers of appeasement even when they directly conflicted her desire for freedom for herself and her children.

The other characters were minor. They were more consistent and as a reader I knew what to expect from them.

Wench was original in the fact that Perkins-Valdez set most of the at Tawawan House. Which is a hotel where Southern men would take their slave women for the summer without their wives. I liked this, it offered a different view into historical events. Something that I had never considered before: masters taking their favorite female slaves on vacation with them.

One of the most problematic issues I had with this novel was that I got the feeling that was stuff left out. Like the author was constrained to a limit amount of space and had to get her story out in that space. There were several scenes that I had to read a couple of times to understand what was going on. The details weren't there and it made it hard to follow. This would have been a better novel if the details would have been flushed out more.

Pros: characters, story line, historical point of view
Cons: lack of details, confusing scenes

Overall Recommendation:

One of the questions asked at my book club meeting was if I would read another book by Dolen Perkins-Valdez. I answered yes with a reservations. For a first novel it was overall good but I had a feeling that the author was holding back on some of the deals that I felt would have made this a more consistent read. With more space and less restraint I think Wench would have been a better novel.

Mailbox Monday: 01/09/12

2012-01-09T07:30:00.000-05:00

In January Mailbox Monday is being hosted by At Home With Books.

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Thanks to Barnes and Nobles After Holiday Sale, this Monday saw 6 books enter my house this week. A couple of them are new finds to me but a couple I have been waiting to read for some time.

Self-Published Reading Challenge

2012-01-07T07:30:00.000-05:00

Even though I have not done much reading this year, I have kept up with whats going on in publishing a little. One of the things that I have been excited about and want to explore more is the growing Self-Published Movement.

I have read some romance by self-published authors and for the most part they have been okay. I think for this challenge I am going to explore a little more.

This challenged is sponsored by Workday Reads.

Challenge Guidelines:

This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012.
Anyone can join, you don't need to be a blogger. If you don't have a blog, feel free to sign-up in the comments. You can post reviews to any book site (i.e. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Goodreads, etc).
Any genre, length or format of book counts, as long as it is self-published by the author.
You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2012, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.
Levels:
Sentence - 5 books
Paragraph- 10 books
Page - 25 books
Chapter - 50 books
Short Story - 75 books
Novel - 100 books
Series - 150 books

My goal is Paragraph. I don't have a list of books yet. I will add them as the year goes on.

Who Is He To You by Monique D. Mensah

Friday Finds: 01/06/2011

2012-01-06T07:30:00.000-05:00

Friday Finds hosted by Should Be Reading ask:

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!

There are some many great books out there I always try to limit myself to three. This week it was a bit hard because there are some great books on the market that have caught my interest. But I have narrowed it down to three finds from this week plus a book that I saved from 6 months ago.

From The Musing of a Book Addict:

A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison

When a tsunami rages through their coastal town in India, 17-year-old Ahalya Ghai and her 15-year-old sister Sita are left orphaned and homeless. With almost everyone they know suddenly erased from the face of the earth, the girls set out for the convent where they attend school. They are abducted almost immediately and sold to a Mumbai brothel owner, beginning a hellish descent into the bowels of the sex trade. Halfway across the world, Washington, D.C., attorney Thomas Clarke faces his own personal and professional crisis-and makes the fateful decision to pursue a pro bono sabbatical working in India for an NGO that prosecutes the subcontinent's human traffickers. There, his conscience awakens as he sees firsthand the horrors of the trade in human flesh, and the corrupt judicial system that fosters it. Learning of the fate of Ahalya and Sita, Clarke makes it his personal mission to rescue them, setting the stage for a riveting showdown with an international network of ruthless criminals.

Now, this is not a book that I would normally selected. It is outside of my preferred reading genres. But the cover, subject matter and the review won me over.

From I.O.U Sex:

South Beach Cinderella by Sharon Potts

Somewhere over the rainbow ... is a giant dumpster. At least, that's how things appear to Frankie Wunder when she discovers her husband's been cheating on her and there are no fairy tale endings on her horizon. But Frankie, a successful South Beach realtor, isn't prepared to leave her future up to the wave of anyone's wand. Determined to find a man who meets her criteria for the perfect husband and father of the child she desperately wants, Frankie goes on a diet, assembles a list of prospective candidates, and immerses herself in the South Beach dating scene. But is a man who's rich, successful, and willing to take care of her what Frankie really wants? As she works her way through a deceitful doctor, a lecherous lawyer, and a rakish real estate executive--the men most South Beach Cinderellas would gladly lose a slipper to--Frankie realizes her dream men are nightmares and her true Prince Charming is nothing like the guy in the fairy tale.

This is a find courtesy of Teaser Tuesday. The two sentences that I read made me laugh out loud. So, I just had to add it to my list.

From Brown Girl Book Speak:

Soul Kiss by Shay Youngblood

Left in the care of her elderly aunts, Mariah grows up in a state of unfulfilled longing, waiting for her mother's return. A cool relationship develops with her aunts, and the young girl grows to love the soft Faith and the stern Merleen amidst cello lessons and garden weedings. Her mother's eroticized nurturing has given way to bisexual murmurings in Mariah: She smokes cigarettes with and discovers a concupiscent attraction to her "girly-girl" friend Joy, yet also gives herself over to a young Latino ballplayer named Jesus Miguel Monteverde (though her interest in him seems to derive from hopes of becoming pregnant, "to have an angel in my arms," she confesses). Mariah is constantly longing for something to stir, as hope comes and goes for her mother's return. A curious, rebellious wanderlust steers the girl, causing her to board a bus to Los Angeles to find her father, Matisse, when the longing becomes too great. He is the hero of her imagination, a prince of images painted from her mother's descriptions. In California, however, reality asserts itself; Matisse, who loves his daughter dearly, is too tempted by lingering evidence of his former wife that he sees in Mariah to be her proper guardian, and thus her second parent fails her.

This book has been waiting to be added to Mt. TBR since last year. Hopefully it won't take me another year to read it.

All blurbs are from GoodReads

1% Well-Read Challenge

2012-01-04T07:30:00.000-05:00

I am not sure if this challenge exist anymore, my link is outdated and I can't find it on the original host site. But I plan to continue it anyways.

The Original Rules:
The goal of this challenge is to read 13 books in 13 months from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die combined list. ~~The challenge official runs from April 1, 2010 through April 31, 2011~~.

I have decided to do this challenge a little different. I am still working with the 1001 BYMRBYD list from 2008. I only plan to read 10 books. I will read more if time premits.

Planned Books:

The Color Purple By Alice Walker

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bonte

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bonte

Native Son by Richard Wright

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desia

Teaser Tuesdays: 1/03/2012

2012-01-03T07:30:00.000-05:00

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

My Teaser From Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Polly's master never wrote passes for his slaves. He would beat a slave for even asking for one, according to Polly.

A very short teaser. Please post a link to your teaser. I am interested to see what you are reading.

UnRead Book Challenge 2012

2012-01-02T07:30:00.000-05:00

Sponsored by The Hopeful Librarian, this is the prefect challenge for me. I have books everywhere mainly because I have yet to buy bookcases. They are mostly in bags and books. Which is a problem, you know what they say: Out of sight, out of mind.

The Basic Rules:

Count every book you finish in 2012 that you own but haven’t read yet. (If you have a small TBR stack, you may want to include books you own and have been meaning to reread, but just haven’t gotten to, due to library books, review copies, giveaways, and other new books. If I did that, though, it’d be a five-year challenge, so this part is purely optional.) Here’s the catch, though – books you add to the stack throughout 2012 count as part of your total of unread books. Yes, that means it’s entirely possible to read nothing but books you already own and never make it past 10% read. But remember, we’re trying to decrease the size of the stack, not let it metastasize all over your bookshelves like some kind of fascinating but ultimately dangerous literary cancer.

After counting all my books I have a total of 57. That doesn't include the books that I am waiting for that I brought during B&N after Christmas sale.

New Year Blogging Resolution

2012-01-01T13:59:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

As you can probably tell I have been kind of absent from the book blogging scene. I did make a half hearted attempt to revive this blog over the summer. Which did not go as planned.

But as I was evaluating 2011 and trying to rate how much I enjoyed I found that I wasn't as happy with it as I should have been.

2011 for me was all about work. Work took up most of my time. When I wasn't at work I was recovering from work. I think over the whole year I read about a dozen books maybe less.

This makes me sad.

When this blog was at it peak. I was reading about a book a week and I enjoyed myself a lot. During that time I wasn't working full time but I was happier.

2012 is the year that I get that happy feeling back.

My New Year's Blogging Resolution is.....

Update more regularly.
Participate more in the book blogging community
Read 50 Books.

I still have to finish Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol which I started month ago but I am almost done.

I hope this year brings you more success and happiness than the last,

Monique

Friday Finds: July 1, 2001

2011-07-01T07:45:00.009-04:00

During Friday Finds, you're suppose to showcase any great books that you have found during the week. I do it a little different, instead of highlighting books that I have discovered during the week. I highlight books that I am adding to Mount TBR. I have discovered these books with the help of all the great book bloggers on the worldwide web.

On to this weeks finds:

The first two books are courtesy of A Book Blog. Period.

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

Description (from amazon.com):

Battle Royale, a high-octane thriller about senseless youth violence, is one of Japan's best-selling - and most controversial - novels. As part of a ruthless program by the totalitarian government, ninth-grade students are taken to a small isolated island with a map, food, and various weapons. Forced to wear special collars that explode when they break a rule, they must fight each other for three days until only one "winner" remains. The elimination contest becomes the ultimate in must-see reality television. A Japanese pulp classic available in English for the first time, Battle Royale is a potent allegory of what it means to be young and survive in today's dog-eat-dog world.

Review from A. Book Blog. Period.

Bonjour Tristess by Francoise Sagan

Descriptions (from amazon.com):

Endearing, self-absorbed, seventeen-year-old Cécile is the very essence of untroubled amorality. Freed from the stifling constraints of boarding school, she joins her father—a handsome, still-young widower with a wandering eye—for a carefree, two-month summer vacation in a beautiful villa outside of Paris with his latest mistress, Elsa. Cécile cherishes the free-spirited moments she and her father share, while plotting her own sexual adventures with a "tall and almost beautiful" law student. But the arrival of her late mother's best friend, Anne, intrudes upon a young girl's pleasures. And when a relationship begins to develop between the adults, Cécile and her lover set in motion a plan to keep them apart...with tragic, unexpected consequences.

Review from: A Book Blog. Period.

From Leafing Through Life comes a book that was reviewed way back in January.

The Financial Lives of The Poets by Jess Walter

Description (from Google Books)

What happens when small-time reporter Matthew Prior quits his job to gamble everything on a quixotic notion: a Web site devoted to financial journalism in the form of blank verse? Before long, he wakes up to find himself jobless, hobbled with debt, spying on his wife's online flirtation, and six days away from losing his home. . . . Until, one night on a desperate two a.m. run to 7-Eleven, he falls in with some local stoners, and they end up hatching the biggest—and most misbegotten—plan yet.

Review from: Leafing Through Life

From Red Adept Reviews, which reviews mostly indie author works.

The Angel & The Brown-Eyed Boy by Sandy Nathan

Description (from Google Books)

A visitor from a dying planet, Eliana's people put her where she needed to be to complete her mission . . .New York City on the eve of Armageddon, in the late 22nd century . . . perhaps Mistaken for a Russian ballet dancer, the angelic Eliana finds her destinationżthe Hermitage Academy, a famous high school for the arts. Soon she discovers that this Earth is a strange and violent place, where people live in fear, and where her very presence makes some want to protect her and others want to hurt her.It is a century after the second Russian revolution, when technology was outlawed and Tsar Yuri took over most of world, ushering in the Great Peace. For the U.S. president, Lincoln Charles, peace is doable . . . just focus on the positive, project a trustworthy image, and make sure that dissenters are taken care of quietly, permanently. Something terrible, though, is about to happen; and for Eliana, not much time remains to find the Golden Boy.

Review from: Red Adept Reviews

The last Friday Finds is a nonfiction piece that I stumbled upon from White Readers Meet Black Authors.

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

Description (from Google Books):

As the United States celebrates the nation's "triumph over race" with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of young black men in major American cities are locked behind bars or have been labeled felons for life. Although Jim Crow laws have been wiped off the books, an astounding percentage of the African American community remains trapped in a subordinate status - much like their grandparents before them.

In this incisive critique, former litigator-turned-legal-scholar Michelle Alexander provocatively argues that we have not ended racial caste in America: we have simply redesigned it. Alexander shows that, by targeting black men and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness. The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community - and all of us - to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America.

Review from: White Readers Meet Black Authors

Teaser Tuesday: June 28th

2011-06-28T07:45:00.000-04:00

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!

One of the downsides of reading ebook editions is that there are no pages to flip. So, I had to use my Nook slider Go To Page function to participate in this weeks Teaser Tuesdays.

From "page" 284 of The Raising by Laura Kasischke. Warning Strong Language.

And how she slapped him hard when he started to laugh.

Even then with his dick seven inches into her, Craig couldn't remember her name, and he'd told her that.

Mailbox Monday: June 27th

2011-06-27T07:45:00.000-04:00

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

There hasn't been many books coming into my place in the past month or so. I am trying to read some of the books that I have sitting in boxes and the ones housed on my Nook.

On Sunday, I took a trip to my local Target to return a couple of items. While browsing for stuff to by, I stopped in their book section to see what they had. I found this:

Now, I sort of have a love-hate relationship with Zane. I use to read her books and really enjoyed them but than I read Nervous and decided to give her books a rest for awhile. I couldn't even finish reading Nervous, that is how bad it was to me.

So, when I saw this in Target, I wasn't sure but the blurb intrigued me and I decided to take a chance with her once again.

Blurb from back of Book:

Waitress Brooke Alexander is in love with Patrick Sterling, one of the most prominent attorneys in Washington, D.C. On his good days, Patrick is the man of every woman's dreams. On his bad days, he's a complete nightmare...

Compassionate and honest, Damon Johnson worships the ground his wife, Carleigh, walks on, while she treats him like a trophy husband and views his life aspirations as a joke. He's beginning to wonder if he made the right decision when he asked for her hand in marriage...

When a tragic event brings Brook and Damon together, they see truths about their relationships they never wanted to accept. Sometimes two people meet by pure chance, but sometimes it's... a total eclipse of the heart.

What's in your mailbox?

Booking Through Thursday: Own or Borrow

2011-06-09T07:45:00.002-04:00

This week Booking Through Thursday ask:

All things being equal (money, space, etc), would you rather own copies of the books you read? Or borrow them?

If I had the space, money and all the other things that I needed in order to house books. I would own.

I have always had the dream of owning my own library. It dates back to when I was a kid. My grandmother was a reader and brought a lot of books. She use to have books shelved in milk crates that lined the landing of the stairs. Whenever I walked up and down the stairs all I would see is books housed in their square plastic crates. I think because of that experience I have a desire to have my own collection.

Maybe one day.

The Promises she Keeps by Erin Healy

2011-06-08T07:45:00.008-04:00

Rating: 3 Stars

Pages: 329 (Paperback)

Genre: Fiction (Christian Suspense)

Series: No

Publication Year: 2011

Source: Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists

Synopsis (From Back Cover):

Promise, a talented young singer with a terminal illness, is counting on fame to keep her memory alive after she dies. Porta is an aging sorceress and art collector in search of immortality.

When Promise inexplicably survives a series of freak accidents, Porta believes that she may hold the key to eternal life.

Enter Chase, an autistic artist who falls in love with Promise and fascinates her with his mysterious visions and drawings.

Soon, all are plunged into a confrontation over the mystery and the cost of something even greater than eternal life... eternal love.

Review:

When I received an email from Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists about review The Promises She Keeps, I was intrigued and agreed to review it. Neither the email or the back blurb prepared me for this book. First, I was expecting Christian Fiction and second I was expecting something more suspense and romance. There is some romantic love but I didn’t find it very suspenseful.

The plot revolves around Promises and how Porta quest for eternal life effects a lot of people. Some whom have never met. I liked the basic plot, it was interesting by itself. Since this was a Christian fiction novel there was a struggle between Porta's occult religious views and Chases Christian beliefs. There was some overt religious references in the books, quote from scripture and such, but it didn't distracted me from the story for the most part. Towards the end there was a section dealing with Chases twin sister, Chelsea, and his mentor, Wes, that did pull me out of the story a little.

The back cover mentions eternal love, and Chase falling in love with Promise. Chase falls in love with Promise after meeting her once. During the whole story Chase and Promise interact maybe five times and because of his autism those meetings are awkward. I don't understand how he fell in love with her but Chase is the character that I found it the hardest to connect with. I don't know if this was the authors, Erin Healy, attention but Chase fell flat for me especially since his character was so essential to the storyline.

Promises character, also didn't connect with me. I found her to be sometimes selfish and I wasn't sympathetic to her struggle, illness or desire for fame. The characters that I did like and could connect to were minor characters. Chelsea and Wes, their subplot and their feelings towards Chase grabbed me and had my attention. I also like Zack, he was one of the more three dimensional characters in the story. I think he should have been mention on the back cover, because I honestly don't see how the storyline could have progressed without him.

Healy's writing style was a little hard to get use to. The story seemed to go back and forth between realism and magical realism. I didn't find the book that engaging, in fact it took me months to finish it. I would sit it down and completely forget about for weeks at a time.

Pros: Plot

Cons: Characters, Writing

Overall Recommendation:

This book overall was just average. It was not bad enough to make me completely give it up. On the other had it was not good enough to keep my attention. I don't think I would recommend this book to anyone to read because it didn't standout enough for me. It was sort of forgettable.

Teaser Tuesday: June 07

2011-06-07T07:45:00.000-04:00

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!

This week I am reading The Promises She Keeps by Erin Healy.

From page 232:

"of course she does." Porta rested one of her hands lightly on Promise's head. In the past month, her hands had aged more than they had in the past decade. They had become loose and papery and fearful of Porta's loom birthday. Even now, they quivered. Porta hated them.

Do you participate in Teaser Tuesday? If so leave a link to you teaser.

The Sunday Salon: Beach Reading

2011-06-05T19:15:00.000-04:00

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them, and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....

It's been awhile since I have participated in The Sunday Salon. If I am honest with myself it has been a long time since I have participated in the world of books and book blogging. I have done some reading but it has been spotty and I never got around to posting my reviews or reading reviews of other bloggers.

I live in Miami now, only about a 10 minute walk from the beach. I have lived in this apartment for over a year and never once spent the day enjoying the beach and warm ocean water. One of the New Years Resolutions that I had made for myself was to go to the beach at least once a week and read. It's now June, six months into the year and this is the first time that I have kept my resolution.

I don't why it took me so long. It was such a relaxing experience. I spent two hours at the beach, just laying around and reading. I think the beach made me enjoy the book I am reading even more. Currently, I am reading The Promises She Keeps by Erin Healy. I have been trying to complete it for months and have been having a problem completing it. I don't that it is all the books fault, the majority of the blame is probably me. It's hard to balance everything, work and fun. But I am trying.

This is the view I enjoyed while reading. I don't know what took me so long to walk the five blocks to the beach, but now I am hooked. Now, I am hooked and can't wait until next Sunday.

MatchMakers 2.0 by Debora Geary

2011-06-02T00:30:00.002-04:00

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Pages: Ebook Edition (20,000 words)

Genre: Romance

Series: No

Publication Year: 2011

Source: Free From Smashword.com Courtesy of Read An Ebook Week.

Synopsis :

MICK-Guppy scientist and victim of her self-inflicted dating adventures.
MIRI-Astrology whiz and promoter of steamy sex for the greater good.
DERRICK-Data genius and life idiot.

Meet the match team at MatchMakers.com, the web 2.0 online-dating service with a personal touch.

Can Mick lead her team, find a guy, and finally win Match the Loser?

Review:

Matchmakers 2.0 is not a novel. The author, Debora Geary, calls it a Novel Nibbles which is a cutesy way for saying short story. I finished this short while enjoying the day at the beach with my sister and cousin. It was very light and entertaining, the prefect beach read.

Since Matchmakers 2.0 is a short story there is not a lot of room for the character development that I am use from novels. The story is told from the point of view of Mick, a scientist turned online matchmaker. Mick is corky and smart. I like the fact that Geary was able to develop Micks character in such a short story and makes the reader feel like they know her. It makes her more relate-able. In fact, most of the characters that were in the story were memorable and well thought out.

I found myself wishing that this was a longer piece. The problem with a lot of short stories is that ending seems rushed and Matchmakers 2.0 suffered the same fate. All the little storylines were wrapped neatly into a little bow. Which isn't bad since the genre is romance but I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been dragged out a little bit more. If there had just been a little bit more “action”.

Pros: Characters, Humor, Plot

Cons: Length

Overall Recommendation:

If you are looking for a lighthearted read for the beach, lunch break, or work commute this is the prefect choice. The characters are likeable, the story enjoyable and funny.

Where to Buy:

Amazon, Smashword, Barnes and Nobles

The Frugalist Files by Natalie P. McNeal

2011-01-02T20:30:00.000-05:00

Rating: 2.5 Stars

Pages: Ebook Edition

Genre: Self Help

Series: No

Publication Year: 2010

Source: Review Copy from NetGallery

Synopsis :

Fru·gal·is·ta [froo-guh-lee-stuh] - noun
1. A person who lives within her means and saves, but still looks good, eats well and lives fabulously.

Natalie P. McNeal opened her credit card statements in January 2008 and tallied up her loans to find that
she was a staggering five figures—$20,000!—in debt. Young, hip and gainfully (if Dilbertly) employed, Natalie loved her lifestyle of regular mani/pedis, daily take-out, shopping sprees and nights on the town. But clearly, something had to give.

And so The Frugalista Files was born. Through her Miami Herald blog, Natalie confessed her spending
habits to the world—and it turns out she wasn’t the only girl out there having trouble balancing the budget! The Frugalista Files will share the good, the bad and the ugly—how Natalie started the blog, stuck to her “no-buy month” despite a breakup that could have used some retail therapy, and ultimately discovered how to maintain her lifestyle while digging herself out of debt.

This is personal finance in peep-toe pumps—at once the inspiring story of how one woman went where no broke fashionista had gone before and your ultimate guide to living a fabulous, yet still frugal, life.

Review:

This seemed like the prefect book to start off a New Year, a book to describe how to live a fabulous life without going book. Unfortunately The Frugalista Files fulls short. This is not actually a personal finance guide, it is a look into one woman's struggle to live within her means and pay off the debt that she owes. If you a looking for a book to help you with your personal finances than look somewhere else.

The Frugalista Files is step in like blog or journal entries in month date format. I think the purpose of the format was to let readers see how McNeal struggled in her path to live frugally but most of the time it was just an overview of her day and had nothing to do with living frugally. The format made this a boring read for me. I think the book would have been better if it was done in normal chapter format. With each chapter dealing with some of the obstacles McNeal encountered in the first year of being a Frugalista.

There are a few interesting stories like her relationship with Mr. X and her co-workers. There is also a heart breaking story of her friend dying of brain cancer. These stories are few, mostly it is about her day to day life. Fear of losing her job, having people like she is broke. All done in a rather bland matter.

I didn't learn anything new from this The Frugalista Files, which is what I expect to do when I read a self help book. The only thing that might be new for some people is that bring lunch to work is cheaper than take out. Walking short distances saves gas. Ross, Marshalls, and TJ Maxx are cheaper than department stores. That's it and I already knew all those things.

Pros: A few good stories and interesting moments

Cons: No New or Insightful information, Annoying word usage (example: Heehee and LOL), Boring

Overall Recommendation:

If you are looking for a book to help you plan your finances and still live a comfortable, enjoyable life look elsewhere.

1% Well Read Challenge

2010-12-31T22:30:00.000-05:00

Again another challenge that I did in 2009. I didn't complete this one but I did pretty well with it.

Rules:

The goal of this challenge is to read 13 books in 13 months from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die combined list. The challenge official runs from April 1, 2010 through April 31, 2011.

I have decided to do this challenge a little different. I am still working with the 1001 BYMRBYD list from 2008. I also only plan to read 10 books. I will read more if time premits.

Planned Books:

The Color Purple By Alice Walker

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

Emma by Jane Austen

Native Son by Richard Wright

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desia

TBR Challenge 2011

2010-12-31T21:30:00.000-05:00

I completed the TBR Challenge in 2009 and enjoyed it very much. So, I decided to do another round.

What is the TBR Challenge?

** Pick 12 books – one for each month of the year - that you’ve been wanting to read (that have been on your “To Be Read” list) for 6 months or longer, but haven’t gotten around to.

** OPTIONAL: Create a list of 12 “Alternates” (books you could substitute for your challenge books, given that a particular one doesn’t grab you at the time)

** Then, starting January 1, read one of these books from your list each month, ending December 31. )

Planned Books:

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

The Witching Hour by Ann Rice

Coffee Will Make You Black by April Sinclair

Ain't Gonna Be The Same Fool Twice by April Sinclair

Freshwater Road by Denise Nicholas

The Color of Family by Patrica Jones

The Hand That's Dealt by Rosalind Coats

The Fifth Vial by Michael Palmer

The Warmest December by Bernice L. McFadden

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pulman

Alternates: (9 with room to put 3 more)

The Amber Spy Glass by Philip Pulman

26a by Diana Evens

Memiors of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

The King of Colored Town by Darryl Wimberley

The Isis Papers: The Keys To The Color by Frances Cress Welsing

The Souls of Black Folks by W.E.B DuBois

Mississippi in Africa by Alan Huffman

The Naked Truth: Young Beautiful and (HIV) Positive by Marvelyn Brown

Kinky Gapach: Life, Love and Spain by Lori Tharps

It's Been So Long

2010-12-12T10:00:00.000-05:00

I really cannot believe that it has been over a year since I have written anything for this blog. This year has been busy, when it started I had plans to continue with my reading challenges and get loads of books read this year.

I completely failed.

I got a job and really found it hard to want to read after a hard days work. When I did get the time, I only wanted to do light reading. Mostly romances and a little paranormal. Nothing major and nothing big.

I miss it. I can't believe how much I miss reading.

I plan to fix this problem by next year. I am going to enter reading challenges and find the time. Maybe for an hour or so before work.

I really don't know yet but I will make it work.

Read-A-Thon: Hour 4

2009-12-05T13:54:00.003-05:00

I am excited to report that I am still going strong. I have done much better, page wise, during the last two hours than my first two hours. I was shocked when I calculated that I read 88 pages. Normally I average between 30-35 pages an hour.

I am going to take a break for a few house and will report back at around 3:30pm. In that time I hope to go to the library, write an post reviews and visit and comment on other read-a-thoners sites. But all that depends on my internet connection which is acting up.

Started: 9:oo am

Time Now: 1:34 pm

Time Elapsed: 4 hours 34 minutes

Time Spent Reading: 3 hours and 50 minutes

Current Book: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Pages: 250 out of 580

Pages Read For This Check In: 88 pages

Number of Books Read: 0

Total Pages Read: 152

Blogs Visited and Commented: 0

Reviews Completed: 0 out of 4

Read-a-Thon: Hour 2

2009-12-05T12:18:00.000-05:00

I started the Read-A-Thon about 9am, after I made some tea and had an english muffin. I think I have taken a total of two breaks in the 2 hours since it has started. So far, I am doing well.

I am currently tackling Invisble Man and will read it to for about the first half of the Read-a-Thon (if I don't finish it). I will be taking a longer break to head over to the shower and go to the library. But that is not for another couple of hours. Now on to the stats:

Started: 9:oo am

Time Now: 11:02 am

Time Elapsed: 2 hours 2 minutes

Time Spent Reading: 1 hours and 50 minutes

Current Book: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Pages: 162 out of 58

Pages Read For This Check In: 64 pages

Number of Books Read: 0

Total Pages Read: 64

Blogs Visited and Commented: 0 (internet is acting up, again).

Reviews Completed: 0 out of 4

Read.Read.READ-A-THON: Starts

2009-12-05T10:55:00.000-05:00

I missed the chance to do the Dewey Reading Challenge back in October. In fact I was on my unscheduled hiatus when the challenge was taking place. I wanted to do it and was sorry that I missed it. Luckily, Bethany (TheDredLockGirl) is hosting a read-a-thon. It started today at 9am (EST), I started at 9am but was having internet problems so I couldn't post about it.

I plan to try to read for at least two hours straight with an a break inbetween each reading session.

I am hoping to complete two books in the 24 hours:

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (already started)
Sula by Toni Morrison

With my breaks I plan to:

Catch up on review waiting to be written.
Visit other read-a-thoners.

Good luck to everyone that is participating.

The Sunday Salon: Hiatus Over

2009-11-29T21:00:00.000-05:00

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them, and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....

Unplanned Hiatus: As you might have noticed I took an unplanned hiatus. It was for several reasons. The major one is that I had been out of work of a while and starred looking (really hard) for a job. Notice that I used had... I found a job. The problem with finding a job is trying to find a way to fit in reading. I could read on the bus but for some reason I don't. Another reason that I was gone was that I was having really spotty internet connection. That problem was solved months ago, but that was on of the initial causes of my absence. The last and final reason was that I was in a reading slump. I just wasn't really interested in anything that I read. I am hoping that I am out of the slump, since I have so much to read.

Hosted Challenge: I am still hosting the Toni Morrison mini Challenge. I am hope people are participating and didn't drop out because of my absence. So, for the month of December, it looks like I will be reviewing one Toni Morrison book a week.

Current Challenges Status: Not counting the Toni Morrison Mini Challenge. I have signed up for 7 challenges this year. I still have 5 to complete. I am going to officially state in this post that I am going to fail at least one, I am bowing out of the Round The World Challenge. There is no way that I can complete it. I signed up to read 18 books, and so far I have only read 8. I will write a separate post on this fail, later in the week.

I may or may not be able to complete the 1% Well Read Challenge. I'm three books away from declaring victory, but I might have a problem getting the books The Handmaiden's Tale from the library in enough time. I am like number 4 on the list and they have 27 copies but the library here in Miami can be kind of slow at times.

With the Serial Reader Challenge, I have three more books to read in the L.A. Banks Vampire Huntress Series before I am complete. The next book is The Bitten, there is only one copy in the whole Miami-Dade, library system. I am number 4 on the hold list. I technically can declare a victory now, even with completing the VHL. I did read the Uglies Trilogy which wasn't apart of my original list. If I rearrange it a little, than I am done (the rules don't say I can't do this). I will decide latter in the month depending on if I get The Bitten.

Challenge Addiction: Now after stating that I might not complete the challenges that I signed up for, I am ready for new reading challenges. I will be repeating several challenges from last year, deleting some, and adding new ones.

The Returning Challenges:

TBR Challenge - great of getting some the books that have been sitting on my TBR pile forever off.
1% Well Read Challenge - because I love list and this is a great way to challenge myself to read outside my comfort zone.
The Pulitzer Project - a nice perpetual challenge that gets me to read prize winning books. I normal don't pay attention to awards but enjoyed most of the Pulitzers that I have read so far.

New Challenges (so far):

Read Your Own Book Challenge - this should be a great challenge to combined with the TBR Challenge. It will get me to read some of my own books instead of them just collecting dust.

All together I think that I want to do about 3 additional challenges this year. I might add one perpetual challenge (like the Orange or Nobel) and do smaller challenges that perk my interest when I see them.

Coming Up This Week (Reviews Scheduled):

Dancing With Ana by Nicole Barker

Hair Story: Untangling The Roots of Black Hair in America by Ayana D. Byrd and Lori L. Tharps

Don't Move by Margaret Mazzantini

The Impostor's Daughter by Laurie Sandell

The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips

2009-09-04T14:25:00.001-04:00

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

Pages: 287

Genre: Fiction (Historical Fiction)

Series: No

Publication Year: 2009

Synopsis (From Book Cover):

In a small Alabama coal-mining town during the summer of 1931, nine-year-old Tess Moore sits on her back porch and watches a woman toss a baby into her family's well without a word. This shocking act of violence sets in motion a chain of events that forces Tess and her older sister, Virgie, to look beyond their own door and learn the value of kindness and lending a helping hand. As Tess and Virgie try to solve the mystery of the well, an accident puts their seven-year-old brother's life in danger, revealing just what sorts of sacrifices their parents, Albert and Leta, have made in order to give their children a better life, and the power of love and compassion to provide comfort of those we love.

Review:

The Well and the Mine was a surprising read. The synopsis of the story doesn't do it justice. This is more than the story of Tess and Virgie trying to solve the mystery of the dead baby. It is about the town that they live in, the people that lived there (both black and white), the era they lived in, and the way they survived.

One of the best things about The Well and the Mine is that it is from the first person prespective of all the members of the Moore family. In each story the reader gets an view into all five members point of view. Normally this style of writing can be pretty trickly to do but Phillips made it easy to adjust to the shifting character perspectives by labeling the change. Also, when switching from perspective to perspective the themes and timeline stayed the same. The youngest member of the family, Jack, set up the beginning of each chapter by reflecting on his childhood. By presenting each members view point readers got to see not only how the events at the mine affected them at the time but also how they changed their future.

The characters were very well developed. They were all likeable and relateable. Some of the characters were reminiscent of characters in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Tess comes of as a lot like Scout, a tomboy that is just enjoying her life until something happens that shakes her would. Albert is a little like Atticus but less scholarly. All of Albert's veiw point were based more of experince. His views on race and how his children were suppose to be raised were passed on personal experince and his beliefs about good or bad. It was interesting how the incident at the well and made him question his own actions and short comings.

"Me and Virgie and Jack were supposed to be the kind of people who helped out. But we didn't give those Talbert children nothing. That pained me, not just from the guilt, but because it took something so simple and confused it. I hated that, even though I wasn't supposed to hate." - Tess

One of the most interesting things about the story (personally) was the treatment of race issues in 1931. The children (Tess, Virgie, and Jack) never really deal with race, there is one incident with Jack. Albert is the one that deals with race the most and it is this experince that makes his sections so compelling to read.

"One year we had a group of real Negroes come and perform for the grammar school near Christmastime, and they weren't nearly so funny. They didn't seem to know at all how colored folks were supposed to act" - Virgie

Pros: Writing, Characters, Plot, Style

Cons: None

Overall Recommendation:

A very enjoyable story. I would highly recommend it to anyone that enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird.

Awards:

Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Award (2009)

Other Reviews:

from my bookshelf....

Leafing Through Life

Bloody Bad

Friday Finds: September 4

2009-09-04T11:46:00.002-04:00

Haven't done Friday Finds in a long time. Which is a good thing. It means that my TBR pile has not gotten any bigger.

This weeks theme is Non-Fiction Finds. I have a total of 5 books that I have found courtsey of the book blogging world. Without further fanfare here they are:

The Weight of A Mustard Seed by Wendell Steavenson

Found at Blog.Literarily

General Kamel Sachet was a favorite of Saddam Hussein's, a hero of the Iran-Iraq war, head of the army in Kuwait City during Desert Storm, governor of the province of Maysan, and father of nine children. When author Wendell Steavenson became intrigued by his story, she began with a few questions about Sachet and his fellow Baathist loyalists: "Why had they served such a regime? How had they accommodated their own morality? How had they lived? How had they lived with themselves?" Her journey to find these answers took five years, and an accumulation of facts, opinions, fears, confessions and suspicions from Sachet's family, friends, and enemies. The result is not just a gripping account of one man's rise and fall, but a vivid and compassionate portrayal of the Iraqi people.

As Sachet rose from policeman to Special Forces officer and then General, he made more and more sacrifices to remain in Saddam's good favor. Steadfast in his loyalty to God and his President, Sachet attended military executions and endured his own imprisonment as Saddam's behavior took increasingly paranoiac and power-crazy turns. But when it came time for Sachet's sons to do their military service, he refused to let them join the "criminal" organization to which he had given his life. Kamel Sachet realized, too late, that he'd become a participant in the terror regime that had strangled his county and destroyed its people. Through his story and the stories of those around him, Wendell Steavenson shows the choices Iraqis have had to make between exile and collaboration, God and jihad. Here are the Iraqis behind the headlines and the tragedy begotten of unintended consequences. And here is the first full-length narrative from an immensely talented journalist who has already been compared by critics to Bruce Chatwin and Ryszard Kapucinksi.

Passing Strange by Martha Sandweiss

Found at Black Girl.... Lost in a Book

The secret double life of the man who mapped the American West, and the woman he loved

Clarence King is a hero of nineteenth century western history; a brilliant scientist and witty conversationalist, best-selling author and architect of the great surveys that mapped the West after the Civil War. Secretary of State John Hay named King the best and brightest of his generation. But King hid a secret from his Gilded Age cohorts and prominent family in Newport: for thirteen years he lived a double life as the celebrated white explorer, geologist and writer Clarence King and as a black Pullman porter and steel worker named James Todd. The fair blue-eyed son of a wealthy China trader passed across the color line, revealing his secret to his black common- law wife, Ada Copeland, only on his deathbed.

King lied because he wanted to and he lied because he had to. To marry his wife in a public way as the white man known as Clarence King would have created a scandal and destroyed his career. At a moment when many mixed-race Americans concealed their African heritage to seize the privileges of white America, King falsely presented himself as a black man in order to marry the woman he loved.

Noted historian of the American West Martha Sandweiss is the first writer to uncover the life that King tried so hard to conceal from the public eye. She reveals the complexity of a man who while publicly espousing a personal dream of a uniquely American race, an amalgam of white and black, hid his love for his wife, Ada, and their five biracial children. Passing Strange tells the dramatic tale of a family built along the fault lines of celebrity, class, and race from the Todd s wedding in 1888, to the 1964 death of Ada King, one of the last surviving Americans born into slavery.

War by Clara Kramer

Found at Becky's Book Review

This heart-stopping story of a young girl hiding from the Nazis is based on Clara Kramer's diary of her years surviving in an underground bunker with seventeen other people.

Clara Kramer was a typical Polish-Jewish teenager from a small town at the outbreak of the Second World War. When the Germans invaded, Clara's family was taken in by the Becks, a "Volksdeutsche" (ethnically German) family from their town. Mrs. Beck worked as Clara's family's housekeeper. Mr. Beck was known to be an alcoholic, a womanizer, and a vocal anti-Semite. But on hearing that Jewish families were being led into the woods and shot, Beck sheltered the Kramers and two other Jewish families.

Eighteen people in all lived in a bunker dug out of the Becks' basement. Fifteen-year-old Clara kept a diary during the twenty terrifying months she spent in hiding, writing down details of their unpredictable life--from the house's catching fire to Mr. Beck's affair with Clara's neighbor; from the nightly SS drinking sessions in the room above to the small pleasure of a shared Christmas carp.

Against all odds, Clara lived to tell her story, and her diary is now part of the permanent collection of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

Annie's Ghost by Steven Luxenberg

Found at Chick with Books

Beth Luxenberg was an only child. Everyone knew it: her grown children, her friends, even people she'd only recently met. So when her secret emerged, her son Steve Luxenberg was bewildered. He was certain that his mother had no siblings, just as he knew that her name was Beth, and that she had raised her children, above all, to tell the truth.
By then, Beth was nearly eighty, and in fragile health. While seeing a new doctor, she had casually mentioned a disabled sister, sent away at age two. For what reason? Was she physically disabled? Mentally ill? The questions were dizzying, the answers out of reach. Beth had said she knew nothing of her sister's fate.
Six months after Beth's death in 1999, the secret surfaced once more. This time, it had a name: Annie.

Steve Luxenberg began digging. As he dug, he uncovered more and more. His mother's name wasn't Beth. His aunt hadn't been two when she'd been hospitalized. She'd been twenty-one; his mother had been twenty-three. The sisters had grown up together. Annie had spent the rest of her life in a mental institution, while Beth had set out to hide her sister's existence. Why?
Employing his skills as a journalist while struggling to maintain his empathy as a son, Luxenberg pieces together the story of his mother's motivations, his aunt's unknown life, and the times in which they lived. His search takes him to imperial Russia and Depression-era Detroit, through the Holocaust in Ukraine and the Philippine war zone, and back to the hospitals where Annie and many others were lost to memory.

Combining the power of reportage with the intrigue of mystery, Annie's Ghosts explores the nature of self-deception and self-preservation. The result is equal parts memoir, social history, and riveting detective story.

The Known World by Edward P. Jones

Found at The Printed Page

In one of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory, Edward P. Jones, two-time National Book Award finalist, tells the story of Henry Townsend, a black farmer and former slave who falls under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Manchester County, Virginia. Making certain he never circumvents the law, Townsend runs his affairs with unusual discipline. But when death takes him unexpectedly, his widow, Caldonia, can't uphold the estate's order and chaos ensues. In a daring and ambitious novel, Jones has woven a footnote of history into an epic that takes an unflinching look at slavery in all of its moral complexities.

I would just like to note that all synopsis are from Google books except for Annie's Ghost which came from good reads.

BTT: Recent Big

2009-09-03T15:20:00.000-04:00

This week Booking Through Thursday ask:

What's the biggest book you've read recently?

(Feel free to think "big" as size, popularity or in any other way care to interpret)

I don't know what to consider recent. Does recently mean last three months, six months, year. I am going to take it as in the last year.

The top three "biggest" books according to size are all over six hundred pages. These three books have something in common, they all are considered classics. But the best part is that I enjoyed all of them. On to the books:

Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

The "biggest" books according to popularity are of course from The Twilight Series. I wish I could say that I enjoyed these books as much as I like the three classics but I didn't. I only reviewed two on this site:

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

The Vixen Manual by Karrine Steffans

2009-09-03T12:30:00.001-04:00

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Pages: 294

Genre: Self Help (Love & Romance)

Series: No

Publication Year: 2009

Synopsis (From Google Books):

Since she exploded on the scene with her two juicy and impossible-to-put-down tell-alls, readers have wanted to know even more about what makes Karrine Steffans tick. How was she able to meet all the high profile politicians, movie stars, and other celebrities that are her close acquaintances? What skills does she possess to keep men wanting more? Finally, Karrine lays it all out and explains exactly what a woman must do to win over the man of her dreams. With chapters like "Never Let Him See You Sweat,""Flirting,""Encouraging His Manhood," and "Give Him What He Wants," this hot and sexy manual is a must-have for every woman's bookshelf

Review:

Literally speaking the The Vixen Manual comes as a surprise. As someone who had try to read Steffans' first work Confessions of A Video Vixen, the expectations of her writing ability were pretty low. There are varying opinions on whether or not Steffans uses a ghost writer. It is reported that she does but she claims that she writes all her books herself. If she is to be believed there is a remarkable jump in her writing ability from the first book to her third book (The Vixen Manual). The writing in The Vixen Manual is superb, in fact, better than some people with English degrees (my roommates opinion). It's hard to believe that she wrote this book (am I just hating?). While, the writing was good, after about the first half of the books it is annoying. Steffans writing seems to take on this tone that becomes unpleasant and patornizing. The impressive writing starts to wear off. To top that off she has a tendency to repeat herself. There is very little difference in the chapters, they basically all have the same point. It became hard to want to complete the book because it became very predictable.

I can't say that the book lives up to the title, it doesn't tell you how to find, seduce and keep the man you want. Mainly Steffans repeats the same on message over and over again; respect and love yourself. That is it. There are no exciting new sex tips (she does advice women to be more sexually adventurous). There is no advice on where to find the sort of man that you are looking for. In fact, the information isn't that different from anything that can't be found in online article or Cosmo. At times the information seemed like common sense. Steffans does encourge women to work on themselves and achieve their goals. While some of the messages she delievers are okay, there were a few that seemed sort of off. In what she calls "The New Dating Game", she advices women to date more than one man at a time, to rank them and tell them where they stand. That is sort of degrading. What woman worth her grain of salt would stay with a man that told her she was number 3 out of 5 on his list of females. There isn't anything wrong with dating one than one person at a time (if there is no sex involoved). There is nothing wrong with ranking people that you are dating, as long as you don't tell them. That is disrespectful. She contradicts herself by saying that it is okay to sleep with more than one person at a time (but remember to be safe) and then stating that beware of your behavoir so you don't come off as a slut. Doesn't these two things sort of contradict themselves. Another issue is that she plays into the Superwoman sterotype. In her message there is the feeling that a woman should be all things to her man and that if she doesn't an he leaves than it is her fault. A woman should be able to work, cook, clean, raise children, and look hot at all times. This is unrealistic and potentially exhuasting course. Not anywhere in her book does it say anyting about forming a partnership and finding out a way to split the responisblitiy to the house, kids, and careers together. The woman sort of becomes the work horse and the man has to be feel and be treated like king all the time.

If you are reading this book to get the freaky sex tips this is not the book. There are about a total of two diagrams showing different sexual positions. But that is all.

It is a interesting read at first, but quickly losses it appeal.

Pros: Writing, Advice

Cons: Repetitive, Advice

Overall Recommendation:

I am not normally a "Self Help" book reader. While I do like some of what Steffans some of it gets the side eye. There are better relationship books out there but it is not a bad start.

As a sidenote my roommate started to read this book and abandoned it. In the first five chapters is claimed she could have written it herself. Also, she is spectual on whether Steffans wrote the book herself. But we both are trying not to be judgment or "hate ".

Other Reviews:

Sew Transformed

Toni Morrison Mini Challenge Starts Today

2009-09-01T12:00:00.000-04:00

Today is the official start date for the Toni Morrison Mini Challenge. The challenge is really simple read four books (no re-reads) by Toni Morrison. That is just one book for the last four months of the year.

So far, three people have signed up already. I am really excited because this is the first challenge that I have host and hopefully not the last.

My planned reads for the challenge:

Sula

Song of Solomon

Tar Baby

Jazz

Have your read any of Morrison's books? If so which?

Have you joined the challenge?

What are you planning to read for the challenge?

September Forecast

2009-09-01T07:30:00.003-04:00

September is going to be extra busy month reading since I didn't complete the books that I set aside for August. I am going to try to sit aside at least two to three hours a day to read.

Hopefully I can make myself read more on the weekends.

I really wise the weather here in Miami was nicer so that I could sit outside in the backyard and read. Oh well.

Reading Now (Started in July):

The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips

Read in August But Not Yet Reviewed:

The Vixen Manuals by Karrine Steffans

Plans to Read in September:

Hair Story: Untangling The Roots of Black Hair in America by Ayana D. Byrd and Lori L. Thraps

Don't Move: A Novel by Margaret Mazzantini

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Lolita by Vladmir Naboko

The Bitten by LA Banks

The Forbidden by LA Banks

The Damed by LA Banks

The Club Dumas by Arthuro Perez-Reverte

The Hand That's Dealt by Rosalind Coats

The Color of Family by Patrica Jones

Freshwater Road by Denise Nichols

Sula by Toni Morrison

Do you have your monthly reading planned out or do you just decide as you go along?

What do you plan to read this month?

August Wrap-Up

2009-08-31T12:30:00.000-04:00

I did horribly this month. I don't know why. Actually I do, I spent way to much time watching television when I could have been reading. I am going to have to do better this month if I want to complete my reading challenges and personal goals.

Read & Reviewed in August:

The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan

Holes by Louis Sachar

Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler

Imago by Octavia E. Butler

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Read But Not Reviewed in August:

The Vixen Manual by Karrine Steffans

Planned To Read But Did Not:

Hair Story: Untangling The Roots of Black Hair in America by Ayana D. Byrd and Lori L. Thraps

Don't Move: A Novel by Margaret Mazzantini

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Lolita by Vladmir Naboko

Completed Challenges for 2009:

The Pulitzer Project * - Completed 5 out of 5 Books (100%)

TBR Challenge - Completed 15 out of 12 Books (125%)

Challenges Still in Process:

Round The World - Completed 7 out of 18 Books (39%)

Through The Decades '09 - Completed 7 out of 9 Books (78%)

1% Well Read - Completed 7 out of 10 Books (70%)

Serial Reader - Completed 12 out of 15 Books (80%)

Library Challenge - Completed 23 out of 25 Books (92%)

*I had a goal to read 5 out of the 82 Pulitzer Prize winning books for this year. I still have 77 books to go. But since this is a perpetual challenge, I am not in a rush.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

2009-08-29T16:30:00.001-04:00

Narrator: Robert Whitfield

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Length: 14 hours and 32 minutes

Genre: Fiction (Classic)

Series: No

Publication Date: 1897

Synopsis (From Amazon.com):

When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes horrifying discoveries about his client and his castle. Soon afterwards, a number of disturbing incidents unfold in England: an unmanned ship is wrecked at Whitby; strange puncture marks appear on a young woman's neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the imminent arrival of his 'Master'. In the ensuing battle of wits between the sinister Count Dracula and a determined group of adversaries, Bram Stoker created a masterpiece of the horror genre.

Review:

Apparently there is a lot of misrepresentation on what exactly is Bram Stoker's Dracula. I was under the impress that this was a more bloody, horror filled book than it really was. In fact, Dracula is more of a collection of diary entries, newspaper clippings, and letters describing the events in the story. It's not scary or gory.

The narrator Robert Whitfield was great at doing the voices for all the male characters. When Whitfield did the voice of the none English characters, his talent really stood out. It at times seemed that a different person was reading those parts. The female voices were all done in the same manner, where it was hard to distinguish one from the other.

The audiobook version of Dracula was hard to focus to for a large portion of the story. At the end it was easier to focus and get caught up in what was happening but not at the beginning.

Pros: Narrator, plot, characters

Cons: Hard to follow

Overall Recommendation:

I think the audiobook version is a great way to read Dracula. It makes the writing easier to digest.

Challenges:

1% Well Read (7 out of 10 Books)

TBR Challenge (15 out of 12 Books)

Imago by Octavia E. Butler

2009-08-18T16:00:00.001-04:00

Rating:3 out of 5 Stars
Pages: 264
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Xenogenesis (Book 3 out of 3)
Publication Date: 1989

Synopsis (From Inside Cover):

The alien Oankali have saved a doomed Earth and dying humanity – as part of a “trade”; because Oankali survival requires constant genetic exchange. We are their new mating stock; and the children are Constructs, trans-species hybrids destined for the stars. Loving, gentle, wise with the legacy of a thousand such trades, the Oankali have anticipated and provided for every objectios, resistance, contingency... except this.

Except Jodahs. One of many construct children born to Lilith Lyapo. But not a son. Nor a daughter. Jodahs is a human-ooloi. Ooloi – the Oankali third gender essential to breed humans and aliens, makes and females. Utter alien, shapeshifting, the essence of Oankali: ooloi sort and mix genes withing their bodies; ooloi heal the sick and repair the maimed. And more. For ooloi can survive with food, water, air... but not with quenching and absolute physical need – to love. To touch. To taste – and to change – all other forms of life.

Yet a single flawed ooloi can endanger a world... cause cancer and sores with every glancing caress... mutate the ground it walks on... breed disease in the very air it breathes... bur in unloved agony... and project that pain on every organism near it.

Nor daring to risk the trade the Oankali want Jodahs to return to their ship and face eternity as a quarantined biology experiment. Unless he – unless it – can control the change to ooloi adulthood, live as a genderless human, and master powers and passion beyond even alien comprehension.

Jodahs' family flee into jungle exile, a small, caring band of humans, aliens, and hybrids on a desperate quest of self-discovery. Here they must raise the child who will either become the final link between all that is human and all that is not... or grow into a mad, living pestilence. And beyond strength, beyond will, beyond endurance, Jodahs himself must find something the Oankali's wondrous science can never provide...

A miracle.

Review:

Imago is the last book in the Xenogenesis series and the most disappointing. While reading the book, the thought kept occurring that the series could have ended at book two and been perfectly complete. Imago at times feels like an afterthought, a way to keep things going.

There is nothing wrong with the writing style. Butler is an excellent writer, quickly engrossing the reader in the world that she has created. She was able to keep that up in Imago, the pages just seemed to fly by. The first difference that the reader will notice is that this story is told through the perspective of Jodahs, the genderless hybrid. It seems forced and the feelings that Jodahs' express are flat.

Unfortunately, the characters lacked the same feel as they did in the first two books (Dawn and Adulthood Rites). There was a loss of connection between what Jodah was feeling and the response that I felt. I didn't really care. I just wanted to see what the outcome was. Jodahs observation about his able to shapeshift were interesting, but his observation about humans not. The observation about humans and there nature were part of the beauty of the first two books, a beauty that was not continued in the final book of the series.

Another problem with this books is that the ending was bland. It was just sort of a quick wrap up, something to conclude the story. But it opened the possibility to another book, and as this is the end of the series, it was satisfying at all.

Pros: Writing, Theme
Cons: Characters, Conclusion

Overall Recommendation:

Personally, I think that readers can stop at book two and be done with the series and still be satisfied. Book 3 is more of an afterthought and could be skipped. But it is a quick read and Butler writing is always engaging.

Challenges:
Series Challenge (12 out of 15 books)
Library Challenge (23 out of 25 books)

If you have a review of this book or any other book reviewed on my site. Post a link to that review in the comment section so, I can link back to you.

Teaser Tuesday: August 18

2009-08-18T09:15:00.002-04:00

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

This week I am actually reading two books and listening to a third (Dracula). So, I am going to post teasers from the two books that I am reading and the one that I am listening to.

The Well and The Mine by Gin Phillips: page 191

"Baked apple," he said, and held it up. The juice running down his fingers, and I could smell it. My biscuits weren't quite as tasty then.

The Vixen Manual by Karrine Steffans: page 141

I can just hear it now: "That's it? That's all your gonna give us?" Yes, girls, that's all I can give you, and here's a great example as to way.

Dracula by Bram Stoker: page 198

"Can you tell me why the tortoise lives more long than generations of men; why the elephant goes on and on till he have seen dynasties; and why the parrot never die only of bite of cat or dog or other complaint? Can you tell me why men believe in all ages and places that there are some few who live on always if they be permit; that there are men and women who cannot die?"

My favorite of the three is, of course, the Dracula quote. Isn't that lovely. I haven't gotten to that section in the audiobook yet. But I can't wait to hear it with the accent.

Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler

2009-08-17T15:00:00.001-04:00

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

Pages: 277

Genre: Science Fiction

Series: Xenogensis Series (Book 2 of 3)

Publication Date: 1988

Synopsis (From back of book) Contains Spoilers:

The Oankali aliens have saved Earth. For a price. Oankali survival requires constant genetic exchange...and we are their new mating stock. The resisters reject the Oankali to live free in the wilds, a last generation of sterile humans sinking into savagery and suicide, stealing and mutilating half-alien hybrid babies to claim as their own. Akin is a hybrid, an Oankali construct infant, his body a bridge between worlds. He looks human, but can remember the womb, taste molecular structure, and kill with a toxic touch...

Kidnapped from his Oankali home, Akin is thrust into a resisters' society of desperation, violence, need – pride. He can understand his captors only by becoming less alien. He can help the resisters only by becoming more alien. Akin can defend human beings only by becoming Oankali.

And if Akin tries to save humanity, the humans will kill him.

Review:

Note: It is impossible to review this book with spoiling some of the first book. Be aware this review may and does contain what spoilers. But if you have already read the synopsis than some of the first books is already spoiled. On to the review.

In Adulthood Rites, Butler picks what where she left off. It is about 30 years after Dawn and Lilith has bore and contains to have alien hybrid (constructs) children. Adulthood Rites is the story of one of those children. Told in a limited third person narrative, Adulthood Rites is the look into the struggles that the Akin (Lilith's only human born constructs male child) and the humans resisters that now inhibit the earth. As in the first book (Dawn), Butler contains to explore the theme of what it means to be human and the contradictions that are inherent in humanity. Even though the story is in third person, the reader only gets to see the world through Akin's senses. This position allows readers not only to connect with the human resisters but also evaluate aspects of humanity that lead the Oankali make humans resist sterile. Through Akin, readers get to see how humans make choices that lead to violence, rage, despair, and sorrow. But they also get to see that for most people the idea of the future and progress, mainly through children, is what makes up want to achieve greater heights. Butler is able to do all this expertly in a simple narrative that is less than three hundred pages.

Pros: Writing, Characters, Plot

Cons: N/A

Overall Recommendation:

This book in my opinion is better than Dawn. It could just be because I like the outcome more in this book than the other. But I would recommend this book to anyone that has read the first. But it is important that the books are read in order, so of the important themes and events are needed to make the story make flow accurately.

Challenges:

TBR Challenge (14 out of 12 Books)

Series Challenge (11 out of 15 Books)

If you have a review of this book or any other book reviewed on my site. Post a link to that review in the comment section.

Mailbox Monday: August 17

2009-08-17T08:30:00.002-04:00

The last two weeks have been kind of slow with the amount of books coming in. Which is good, since I have so many books that I have no yet started or completed.

The first book I received has been getting a lot of attention and great reviews. I was lucky enough to win a copy (sorry forgot which site I won it from). The second is an ARC, the author requested that I do a review.

On to the books:

The Sunday Salon: Back Again

2009-08-16T14:00:00.000-04:00

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them, and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....

After being gone for about a week I am back. I didn't go anywhere but took a week away from blogging. I ave been reading. In fact I have read three books. Two of which I still need to review. I have never had books lined up to be read. I think this will be the last time this happens.

The Pulitzer Project: One of the perpetual challenges that I am doing is reading the Pulitzer's. I have only read five of them but since this challenge has no official start and stop date, I am going to take it easy. As I have stated in a previous Sunday Salon, I have become a list person. In the spirit of making list I have created a spreadsheet for this challenge. It is based and works just like the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list. In fact I borrowed ~~most~~ all of the formulas from it. You can get it from Google Documents, here.

Hosted Challenge: I have announced that I am hosting a Toni Morrison Mini Challenge. The challenge starts in September and last til the end of the year. I haven't even started to plan what books I am going to read. But I still have a few weeks. You can sign up here.

Staying Opened Minded: I won a copy of The Vixen Manual: How To Find, Seduce & Keep The Man You Want by Karrine Steffans a couple of weeks ago from Books Soulmate. If you don't know who Karrine Steffans is her is a brief introduction. She use to be a video model for mostly rap/hip hop videos. She has slept with numerous men in both music and spots. She wrote a book about her exploits and named names. Anyways, once upon a time I tried to read her first book Confessions of a Video Vixen but the writing was bad and atmosphere of the book was bad, so I abandoned it about halfway through and vowed to never pick up another one of her books. Then she came out with this and it perked my interest. Why? Because I wanted to know what she has to say about finding a man and if her advice is good and sound. I am trying to be opened minded but knowing her background it is hard. I am only on the second chapter and so far it's okay but I am only on page 11. I have find something that I disagree with but I'll save that for the review or another post. It's hard to stay open minded when reading a relationship advice book by a woman whose nickname use to be Superhead, sex advice maybe, relationship advice I don't know.

Coming Up This Week (Reviews Scheduled):

Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler

Imago Octavia E. Butler

The Vixen Manual by Karrine Steffans

The Well and The Mine by Gin Phillips

Hair Story by Ayana D. Byrd

Holes by Louis Sachar

2009-08-15T15:40:00.000-04:00

Rating: 3 stars

Pages: 231

Genre: Fiction (Juvenille)

Series: No

Publication Date: 1988

Synopsis (From back of book):

Stanley Yelnats is under a curs. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnatses. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention cent, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day, digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes.

It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried under a dried-up lake? Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment - and redemption.

Review:

Holes is a great tale about a boy who is going through a bad situation growing, finding inner strength, and friendship. The main character Stanley Yelnats, is the perfect material for bullies and has been unlucky most of his life. Yet, while serving a sentence at Camp Green Lake he is able to make a group of friends, kind of. The group of friends aren't really friends they are boys who he shares a tent with. They all develop an understanding and a sort of ranking system. Each one knows their place. Stanley is able to bond with one boy, Zero, they learn how to share their strength for mutual benefit. Stanley is an interesting character because he is so much so like the normal average everyday kid. Zeros character on the other hand is more mysterious. He is different, quite and reserved. All the characters primary characters of the story are well develop.

The story was not as humorous as described. There were moments that caused a laugh and some that caused a smile. Since this book is more juvenile fiction, those reaction were expected. While the story was not humorous it was entertaining. Sachar did a good job with developing not only the characters but the background story. The background story of Stanely's no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather is entertaining. The way that story later ties in with other background stories makes the book complete. So, while the reader gets to a glimpse into Stanley's time at Camp Green Lake, they also get to know a little bit of his history and the history of the area where the camp is located. The history of the camps location is the most interesting story of the book. At times it is better and more attention getting than Stanley's story.

Sachar writing is very appreciate for the genre. For advance readers the book is rather quick to read but it is a page turner.

Pros: History, Characters, Plot,

Cons: Not that funny

Overall Recommendation:

Great book for juvenile readers probably wouldn't recommend for adults.

Challenges:

TBR Challenge (13 out of 12 Books)

Library Challenge (22 out of 25 Books)

Other Reviews:

Passion For The Pages

If you have a review of this book or any other book reviewed on my site. Post a link to that review in the comment section so, I can link back to you.

Friday Finds: August 7

2009-08-07T19:45:00.000-04:00

This Friday I will spotlight books that I have books that I have came across while browsing The Happy Nappy Bookseller. The Happy Nappy Bookseller is a great place to find books contain people as color as the main character. The site is mostly young adult books. But it is a great place to too if you are looking for something to read.

Because I have so many books starred from THe Happy Nappy Bookseller I used random.org to decided how many books to include in this Friday Find. It didn't help much because it chose 7 books.

Marcelo In the Real World by Francisco X. Stork

Tales From Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan

The Fold by An Na

Leaving Glorytown: One Boy's Struggle Under Castro by Eduardo F. Calcines

Gringolandia by Lyn Miller-Lachmann

A Strong Right Arm: The Story of Mamie "Peanut" Johnson by Michelle Y. Green

Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins

TBR Challenge Completed

2009-08-03T21:30:00.000-04:00

I am excited to say that I have completed the TBR Challenge. I did sort of cheat a little and change some of my books. But all the books that I read were on my virtual TBR pile. So, it works it self out. I plan to continue with the challenge but I won't update my list.

It feels nice to have one more challenge completed.

The Top 3 Books:

1) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

2) Beloved by Toni Morrison

3) Thirteen Reason Why by Jay Asher

Worse Book:

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

Complete List:The Awakening by LA Banks (Review)
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (Review)Beloved by Toni Morrison (Review)To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Review)Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston (Review)
When Chickhenheads Come Home to Roost by Joan Morgan (Review)
New Moon By Stephenie Meyer (Review)The Hunted by LA Banks (Review)
Dawn by Octavia Butler (Review)The Bonesetter's Daughter (Review)Chocolat by Joanne Harris (Review)
Thirteen Reason Why by Jay Asher (Review)

Mailbox Monday: August 3

2009-08-03T12:50:00.001-04:00

I didn't realize how long it has been since I have done a Mailbox Monday. I have had 6 books come in since the last time I did this meme.

The books that I received are:

From Bookmooch

From Librarything Early Reviewer Program

From Author (ARC):

From Giveaway:

The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan

2009-08-01T21:00:00.002-04:00

Rating: 3.5 stars

Pages: 368

Genre: Fiction (Chinese-American)

Series: No

Publication Date: 2001

Synopsis (From Google Books):

Ruth Young and her widowed mother, LuLing, have always had a tumultuous relationship. Now, before she succumbs to forgetfulness, LuLing gives Ruth some of her writings, which reveal a side of LuLing that Ruth has never known. . . .

In a remote mountain village where ghosts and tradition rule, LuLing grows up in the care of her mute Precious Auntie as the family endures a curse laid upon a relative known as the bonesetter. When headstrong LuLing rejects the marriage proposal of the coffinmaker, a shocking series of events are set in motion–all of which lead back to Ruth and LuLing in modern San Francisco. The truth that Ruth learns from her mother’s past will forever change her perception of family, love, and forgiveness.

Review:

Amy Tan has a gift of writing about the mother and daughter experience. One that transcends race or culture. The Bonesetter's Daughter is about the experience of a daughter coming to terms with her mother's illness and past. Just like the characters in The Joy Luck Club Ruth and her mother LuLing have a difficult relationship. Mostly do to the fact that the mother grow up in China and her daughter was raised in America. It is also a story of a daughter learning to appreciate her mother and culture a little more.

The Bonesetter's Daughter is a lot like The Joy Luck Club. It has fewer main characters. But Ruth and LuLing's relationship is almost exactly like that between the mothers and daughters featured in The Joy Luck Club. There is friction because Ruth does not understand her mother. Her mother is from China and after moving to America held on to a lot of her Chinese Culture. LuLing has been in the United States for almost 50 years yet doesn't speak or understand English that well. LuLing is also secretive of her past. All these situations lead to a very strained relationship that leave both Ruth and LuLing feeling unappreciated and misunderstood by one another.

The story is told from two points of view. The first person point of view is told by LuLing when she is describing her experience in China. The third person point of view in current times. It is the first person point of view that is the most catching. LuLing voice is powerful. The imagery and language that Tan uses to describe what she (LuLing) went through was fantastic. It expressed not only what the character was going through but the myths and beliefs that are part of Chinese culture. The strength in the story lies in the first person narrative of LuLings story.

The one major draw back with the story is that there are a lot of similarities between The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter's Daughter. Ruth and LuLing's characters and circumstances could have been switched with any of the mother-daughter pairs in The Joy Luck Club and they would not have been out of place. It makes theme and relationship between them appear recycled and therefore the outcome is not a surprise.

Also, there has been criticism online that Tan has a tendency to use stereotypes in her writing. I noticed that in this novel but that could be because I was looking for it.

Pros: Imagery, Storyline, Characters

Cons: Formula, Stereotypes, Predictable

Overall Recommendation:

Highly recommended with a precaution: If you have read The Joy Luck Club (or maybe any of her others works) the style and formula are easy noticeable and takes away some of the impact of the story.

Challenges:

TBR Challenge (12 out of 12 Books)

Other Reviews:

Katrina Reads

If you have a review of this book or any other book reviewed on my site. Post a link to that review in the comment section so, I can link back to you.

Toni Morrison Mini Challenge

2009-08-01T19:30:00.001-04:00

I have decided to host my very first challenge. Since this is my first challenge, I have decided to get a feel of hosting a challenge by doing a mini challenge.

Hello and Welcome to the Toni Morrison Mini Challenge. This is a short term mini-challenge that last only four months (September 2009 - December 2009). That focuses is to read four fictional novels written by Toni Morrison.

Guidelines:

1) Anyone can join you don't have to have a website to participate.

2) Sign up for the mini-challenge using Mr. Linky below.

3) You can use books that are being used other challenges (see rules 4 and 7)

3) Read 4 novels writen by Toni Morrison

4) You also have the option of listening using audiobooks. But only 2 audiobooks count.

5) Only adult (or young adult) fiction novels count (non of her non-fiction or children's fiction count)

6) All 4 novels have to be new to you novels (no re-reads).

7) Challenge begins September 1, 2009 and end December 31, 2009

8) You can join anytime now and December 31, 2009.

9) Only books read between September 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009 count (once again no

re-reads)

List of Novels (from Wiki):

The Bluest Eye (1970, ISBN 0-452-28706-5)
Sula (1974, ISBN 1-4000-3343-8)
Song of Solomon (1977, ISBN 1-4000-3342-x)
Tar Baby (1981, ISBN 1-4000-3344-6)
Beloved (1987, ISBN 1-4000-3341-1)
Jazz (1992, ISBN 1-4000-7621-8)
Paradise (1999, ISBN 0-679-43374-0)
Love (2003, ISBN 0-375-40944-0)
A Mercy (2008, ISBN 978-0-307-2463-7)

Smaller Challenge Badge:

August Forcast

2009-08-01T17:30:00.002-04:00

Since actually setting goal and announcing them here worked so well in the month of July. I am going to keep this up. August promises to be packed. I set down and loot a really good look at my reading this year and so far I am falling way behind. I set a goal for myself to read 60 books and so far I have only read 26 of the ones on my list. I figure I would have to read 8 books a month to get through all the books that I set out to read this year. Not counting the ones ARC copies, books won, or books read for PBT. So, much reading so little time.

Read in July but need to Review:

None

Reading Now:

The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan

Plan to Read In July(in Order, from goal reading list):

Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler

Imago by Octavia E. Butler

Hair Story: Untangling The Roots of Black Hair in America by Ayana D. Byrd and Lori L. Thraps

Don't Move: A Novel by Margaret Mazzantini

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov

Dracula by Bram Stoker

ACR Books:

The Well and the Mine: A Novel by Gin Phillips

Books Won:

Vixen Manual by Karinne Stephens

PBT (Group at Shelfari):

The Bonesetter's by Amy Tan

Q&A by Vikas Swarup

A Long Way Gone: Memoir of a Boy Solider by Ishmael Beah

The Girl with no Shadow by Joanne Harris

When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson

Yes, folks that is 14 books this month. I don't think I have ever read 14 books in one month in my life. That averages out to 3.5 books per week. Wish me luck.

July Wrap Up

2009-07-31T22:30:00.001-04:00

I did good this month. I read and reviewed almost every book that I set out to read this month. I could have read more, if I hadn't took such longs breaks. I think I only read about 20 days out of this month. Here is a view of how the month went for me.

Read in July:

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

The Secret Holocaust Diaries by Nonna Bannister

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Chocolat by Joanne Hariss

Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

Planned To Read But Did Not:

Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler

Completed Challenges for 2009:

The Pulitzer Project * - Completed 5 out of 5 Books (100%)

Challenges Still in Process:

Round The World - Completed 7 out of 18 Books (39%)

Through The Decades '09 - Completed 7 out of 9 Books (78%)

1% Well Read - Completed 6 out of 10 Books (60%)

Serial Reader - Completed 10 out of 15 Books (67%)

TBR Challenge - Completed 11 out of 12 Books (92%)

Library Challenge - Completed 21 out of 25 Books (81%)

*I had a goal to read 5 out of the 82 Pulitzer Prize winning books for this year. I still have 77 books to go. But since this is a perpetual challenge, I am not in a rush.

Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence

2009-07-31T21:58:00.002-04:00

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Pages: 654
Genre: Fiction (Classic)
Series: No
Publication Date: 1913

Synopsis (From Google Books):

Lawrence's first major novel was also the first in the English language to explore ordinary working-class life from the inside. No writer before or since has written so well about the intimacies enforced by a tightly knit mining community and by a family where feelings are never hidden for long.
When the marriage between Walter Morel and his sensitive, high-minded wife begins to break down, the bitterness of their frustration seeps into their children's lives. Their second son, Paul, craves the warmth of family and community, but knows that he must sacrifice everything in the struggle for independence if he is not to repeat his parents' failure.
Lawrence's powerful description of Paul's single-minded efforts to define himself sexually and emotionally through relationships with two women -- the innocent, old-fashioned Miriam Leivers and the experienced, provocatively modern Clara Dawes -- makes this a novel as much for the beginning of the twenty-first century as it was for the beginning of the twentieth.

Review:

It is always difficult to write a review on a book that was just okay. Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence was just okay. The books is not a page turner. It doesn't make you want to just read and read until you get to the end. But it is easy to lose yourself in the pages and not notice the time go by. It's like Steinbeck's East of Eden in that perceptive (or East of Eden is like Sons and Lovers).

Sons and Lovers is a nice example of a character based storyline. There really is not plot. The story is a look in the life of Paul Morel. The story begins when his parents meet. Lawrence describes the circumstance of Paul's up bring and how he becomes the man he is.

The story mostly surrounds the complex relationship Paul has with his mother. They have a strong interdependent bond. The back of the copy of the book that I read called it Oedipus complex. But (for me) it seemed more like Paul was a mamas boy. They both provided each other with something that was initial missing in there lives. Paul provided comfort, understanding, and a listening ear to his mother. She provided him with a sense of direction. There was never the since that Paul wanted to get rid of his but rather that his father couldn't (or wouldn't) provide his mother with what she needed, so instead he did it.

There is also the relationships that Paul develops with two women, Clara and Miriam. Like the relationship with his mother, the relationships he has with these women are also based on co-dependency. With Miriam it is emotion and with Clara it is sexual. Paul seems to know this and the women seem to know this, yet they continue on with these relationships. It is a little frustrating. There is never the since that Paul is developing as a person, that any of the central characters are developing as people (except Clara, a little). They all seem to just go on and on with the same patterns of behavior. It gets a little tidiest after awhile.

The writing is great. Like a lot of classics Lawrence is good at giving details, sometimes to much detail. As stated earlier this book is not a page turner. It is really easy to put down and forget. Yet, it is also just as easy to pick up and finish were you started off from. The pages seem to pass by quickly and it never feels labor intensive.

Pros: Character based, Writing, Relationships
Cons: A lot of descriptions, Character based, Relationship

Overall Recommendation:

Sons and Lovers is a great example of a character based novel. It would not be the first classic that I would recommend if asked but it would be someone in the middle of the list.

Challenges:

Through The Decades (7 out of 9 Books)
1% Well Read (6 out of 10 Books)

Library Challenge (21 out of 25 Books)

If you have a review of this book or any other book reviewed on my site. Post a link to that review in the comment section so, I can link back to you.

Friday Finds: July 31

2009-07-31T09:15:00.000-04:00

This Friday I will spotlight books that I have books that I have came have been sitting in my Google Reader since Janurary of this year. Its amazing how many book blogs I subscribe to and the amount of books I find out from them. There are a total of 16 books on my virtual wish list (or my one step away from the TBR list, list). But this week I will only pick three of them. The others will have to wait for another opportunity.

Life as We Knew itBy Susan Beth Pfeffer

Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove. Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all--hope--in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

Passenger By Ronald Damien Malfi

A man wakes up on a Baltimore City bus with no memory of who he is, where he is going, or what has happened to him. His head is recently shaved. His clothes appear new. And written on the palm of one hand is an addressżPASSENGER is a haunting journey of discovery, where the protagonist stumbles through Baltimoreżs crumbling streets and a collection of strangely wonderful characters in search of his identity. Yet the more he tries to uncover the mystery of his past, the more he learns it has been hidden from him for a reason.

Swish: My Quest to be The Gayest Person Ever by Joel Defner

Joel Derfner is gayer than you.

Don’t feel too bad about it, though, because he has made being gayer than you his life’s work. At summer day camp, when he was six, Derfner tried to sign up for needlepoint and flower arranging, but the camp counselors wouldn’t let him, because, they said, those activities were for girls only. Derfner, just to be contrary, embarked that very day on a solemn and sacred quest: to become the gayest person ever. Along the way he has become a fierce knitter, an even fiercer musical theater composer, and so totally the fiercest step aerobics instructor (just ask him—he’ll tell you himself).

In Swish, Derfner takes his readers on a flamboyant adventure along the glitter-strewn road from fabulous to divine. Whether he’s confronting the demons of his past at a GLBT summer camp, using the Internet to “meet” men—many, many men—or plunging headfirst (and nearly naked) into the shady world of go-go dancing, he reveals himself with every gayer-than-thou flourish to be not just a stylish explorer but also a fearless one. So fearless, in fact, that when he sneaks into a conference for people who want to cure themselves of their homosexuality, he turns the experience into one of the most fascinating, deeply moving chapters of the book. Derfner, like King Arthur, Christopher Columbus, and Indiana Jones—but with a better haircut and a much deeper commitment to fad diets—is a hero destined for legend.

Written with wicked humor and keen insight, Swish is at once a hilarious look at contemporary ideas about gay culture and a poignant exploration of identity that will speak to all readers—gay, straight, and in between.

I forgot to note where in the book blogging websphere I found these books. Sorry.

Recent Funny: Booking Through Thursday

2009-07-30T13:10:00.002-04:00

This week Booking Through Thursday ask:

What's the funniest book you've read recently?

This is going to be an easy and short BTT response.

The funniest book that I have read recently is Catch-22 by Joseph Heller during the winter last year. It has been awhile since I have read a funny book. But I am a list person and funny books are not on my planned list of books to read this year.

I really enjoyed Catch-22. In fact, I did much of my reading on a bus and felt silly sitting on the bus with a book in my lap and a big smile on my face. Much of the time I spent reading this book I was either fighting to keep my face neutral or not to laugh out right. Next time I read a funny book I'll do it in the privacy of my own home. I would hate to be known as a "bus crazy".

Library Loot: July 29

2009-07-29T18:25:00.000-04:00

Over at Shelfari there is a group called Play Book Tag. This months games over at PBT is called the amazing race. Where there are teams of two and the teams compete to read books based tagged a certain nation (if that makes since). My neighborhood library is really small and limited in the amount of books that they have. So, I decided to go downtown to the Main Library. I love big libraries they are so much fun and so quite.

After I got the four books that I was looking for I decided to read some of Sons and Lovers. I sat outside by a fountain and read. Even though I am Miami, it was not sunny. It was cloudy and looked like it was going to rain. But it was hot and sitting by the fountain was relaxing. I headed back into the library when it started to rain to finish up the chapter that I was reading. I hate rain.

But anywho. My Loot is:

Q&A by Vikas Swarup for the country India

Will There be Good News by Kate Atkinson for country Scotland

Girl with No Shadow by Joanne Harris (sequel to Chocolat) for country France

Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah continent Africa

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

2009-07-28T12:12:00.000-04:00

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Pages: 248
Genre: Science Fictions
Series: Xenogenesis Series
Publication Date: 1987

Synopsis (From Back of Book):

Lilith Iyapo is in the remote Andes, mourning the death of her husband and son, when nuclear war destroys the world. Centuries later, she revives, held captive aboard a starship.

Miraculously powerful and hideously grotesque galactic beings, the Oankali have rescued the planet and the war's victims out of an irresistible need to heal and a greater need to change all they touch. For the Oankali survive by merging genetically with primitive people - without their permission.

Lilith's children will inherit the Earth and stars. But they will be more - and other -than human.

Review:

Dawn is a rather simple book. At least the writing is but the simplicity in the writing magnifies the talent of Butler. As someone who normally would never normally read a book catogorized as science fiction, the fact that Butler was able to trap my attention and make the story more about space aliens and a destroyed earth, shows her talent.

Dawn is more than a story about the Oankali preparing humans to return to other in order to procreate a new species but more about what it means to be human and the vastness of human experience and personality. When the story first opens the reader learn that the Oankali have chosen Lilith to train other humans and prepare for the return to Earth. The illusion of the given that Lilith is chosen because of her strength. But as the story progress one thinks that maybe Lilith is chosen because she is easily manipulated and take things at face value.

The beauty about the characters in Dawn is that readers do not become connected with them but see them as players in a movie. As a detached the reader is able to pick out bits and pieces of themselves from each character and question how would they act in the same situation.

Butler not only questions human nature but she also question how we function in society. Earth was destroyed by a nuclear war, when the story was written in the 1980's the US's major advisory was the Russia. The conflict transcends the eighties and is prevalent for issues the world face today (replace Russia with North Korea or Iran or both).

Human beings are more alike than different-dame sure more alike than we like to admit. I wonder if the same thing wouldn't have happened eventually, no matter which two cultures gained the ability to wipe one another out along with the rest of the world. pg. 133

There is no real conclusion in this book but Butler ends the first book and prepares the reader for the next one.

Pros: Writing, Character, Question
Cons: None

Overall Recommendation:

This is a great story to read for both science fictions readers and those that normally do not read the the genre.

Challenges:

Series Challenge (10 out of 15 Books)

TBR Challenge (11 out of 12 Books)

If you have a review of this book or any other book reviewed on my site. Post a link to that review in the comment section so, I can link back to you.

Friday Finds: July 24

2009-07-24T18:29:00.001-04:00

This Friday I will spot light books that I have books that I have came across while reading the book blog Devourer of Books one of the many blogs I follow via Google Reader. I have about a total of 8 books tagged in my GReader from this site, so I used Random.org to determine how many to add to my virtual TBR list over at Shelfari. This Friday's total finds will be 5.

The Grift by Debra Ginsberg

What happens when a pseudo psychic suddenly gets the real gift?

Marina Marks has been on the grift as a psychic since she was a child, forced into the business by a junkie mother who was always desperate for her next fix—and willing to use her solemn dark-haired daughter to peddle an extra buck. As an adult, Marina has earned a handsome living preying on the dreams and fears of her clients. She doesn’t believe there is such a thing as psychic ability, but she does believe in intuition. Her gift is the ability to gain the trust of her clients and subtly raise her fees as they become more attached to her and her readings.

But when Marina moves her “intuitive counseling” business out of muggy, cloying Florida to the milder environs of southern California, her past follows her. As she takes on new clients—a trophy wife desperate to bear a child, a gay man involved with a closeted psychiatrist, and a philandering businessman who’s smitten with her—a former client resurfaces in an eerie way. Suddenly, Marina is in love for the first time, but it is a romance whose roots lie deep in her past and threaten her efforts to reinvent herself.

As Marina’s life gets more and more entangled with those of her clients, she makes a startling discovery: she suddenly has the actual ability to see the future. After predicting a murder exactly as it happens, she becomes the sole suspect. Now she’s the desperate one—desperate to clear her name and to discover the meaning behind her visions.

Tears Of The Desert:A Memoir of Survival in Darfur by Halima Bashir

Like the single white eyelash that graces her row of dark lashes–seen by her people as a mark of good fortune–Halima Bashir’s story stands out. Tears of the Desert is the first memoir ever written by a woman caught up in the war in Darfur. It is a survivor’s tale of a conflicted country, a resilient people, and the uncompromising spirit of a young woman who refused to be silenced.

Born into the Zaghawa tribe in the Sudanese desert, Halima was doted on by her father, a cattle herder, and kept in line by her formidable grandmother. A politically astute man, Halima’s father saw to it that his daughter received a good education away from their rural surroundings. Halima excelled in her studies and exams, surpassing even the privileged Arab girls who looked down their noses at the black Africans. With her love of learning and her father’s support, Halima went on to study medicine, and at twenty-four became her village’s first formal doctor.

Yet not even the symbol of good luck that dotted her eye could protect her from the encroaching conflict that would consume her land. Janjaweed Arab militias started savagely assaulting the Zaghawa, often with the backing of the Sudanese military. Then, in early 2004, the Janjaweed attacked Bashir’s village and surrounding areas, raping forty-two schoolgirls and their teachers. Bashir, who treated the traumatized victims, some as young as eight years old, could no longer remain quiet. But breaking her silence ignited a horrifying turn of events.

In this harrowing and heartbreaking account, Halima Bashir sheds light on the hundreds of thousands of innocent lives being eradicated by what is fast becoming one of the most terrifying genocides of the twenty-first century. Raw and riveting, Tears of the Desert is more than just a memoir–it is Halima Bashir’s global call to action.

Wintergirls By Laurie Halse Anderson

“Dead girl walking,” the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secret,” the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.
Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit.
In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the multiple-award-winning Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery.

Hotel On The Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

In the opening pages of Jamie Ford's stunning debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle's Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol. This simple act takes old Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the war, when young Henry's world is a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who is obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American. While "scholar shipping" at the exclusive Rainier Elementary, where the white kids ignore him, Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese American student. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship - and innocent love - that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. And after Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war will end, and that their promise to each other will be kept. Forty years later, Henry Lee is certain that the parasol belonged to Keiko. In the hotel's dark dusty basement he begins looking for signs of the Okabe family's belongings and for a long-lost object whose value he cannot begin to measure. Now a widower, Henry is still trying to find his voice - words that might explain the actions of his nationalistic father; words that might bridge the gap between him and his modern, Chinese American son; words that might help him confront the choices he made many years ago. Set during one of the most conflicted and volatile times in American history, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is an extraordinary story of commitment and enduring hope. In Henry and Keiko, Jamie Ford has created an unforgettable duo whose story teaches us of the power of forgiveness and the human heart.

Water Ghosts by Shawna Yang Ryan

A mesmerizing story of a community of Chinese immigrants in a small California town in 1928, weaving history and mythology around the lives of the townspeople and the ghosts who haunt them

Locke, CA, 1928 Three bedraggled Chinese women suddenly appear out of the mist one afternoon in a small Chinese farming town on the Sacramento River, and their arrival throws the community into confusion. Two of the women are unknown to the townspeople, while the third is the long-lost wife of Richard Fong, the handsome manager of the local gambling parlor, who had left her behind in China many years earlier and had not yet returned for her.

Richards wifes unexpected arrival complicates his life in no small waynot least with two prostitutes at the local brothel he frequents. One, the beautiful young Chloe, depends on him but has eyes for someone else, someone even more forbiddenthe local preachers daughter. The other, Poppy, the psychic madam of the brothel, is desperately in love with him, and she begins to sink into despair as he grows further and further away from her.

As the lives of the townspeople become inextricably intertwined with the newly arrived women, Poppys premonitions begin to foretell a deep unhappiness for all involved. And when a flood threatens the livelihood of the entire town, the frightening power of these mysterious women who arrived in the mist will be revealed.

Shawna Yang Ryans melodic first novel is a passionate, sophisticated intertwining of fact and fiction that examines mingling cultures, modern myths, and forgotten history. Locke 1928 beautifully chronicles separation and betrayal, loneliness and longing, and what happens when a Chinese ghost story begins to come true.

Winner: The Secret Holocaust Diaries by Nonna Bannister

2009-07-19T07:59:00.005-04:00

Sandra (From Musing of A Book Addict)

To claim your prize, please email me at thelittlereadingnook at gmail dot com

The Sunday Salon: Laziness

2009-07-19T07:50:00.000-04:00

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them, and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....

Lazy: This week I have been somewhat lazy. I have only done one review and that was for an audiobook. I haven't really been reading Sons and Lovers, and am only one page 100 (out of 400). I did start Dawn by Octavia Butler and that held my interest for about a day. I don't know what is wrong with me. Nothing is truly catching my interest. I had a goal to read 60 books this year but I don't think that I will make it. Since I am only on book 24. Blah.

Blog Improvements: I have finally added something to the about me sidebar thingy. It has been empty since I started this blog. Now I need a new avatar. The one that I am using now is kind of lame. I also have added a review policy. I don't know if anyone is going to contact me to review books, but I thought that it would be a good idea to have one anyways. I ~~sort of~~ stole pieces of it from other places on the web. I will change it if needed.

First Giveaway: Is official over. It was fun to do. Hopefully, I will be able to have more in the future.

Friday Finds: July 17

2009-07-17T09:00:00.001-04:00

This Friday Finds is dealing with the theme: books by and/or about African American.

One of the things that I love about book blogs is that I get to read reviews about a wide variety of books. Because of this I have been introduced to books that I would never have heard about, especially those by and/or about African American. This week I have picked out 6 books. Some are fiction, some are non-fiction, one is a graphic novel, and one is a young adult novel.

From The Happy Nappy Book Seller.

Mare'sWar by Tanita S. Davis

Meet Mare, a grandmother with flair and a fascinating past.

Octavia and Tali are dreading the road trip their parents are forcing them to take with their grandmother over the summer. After all, Mare isn’t your typical grandmother. She drives a red sports car, wears stiletto shoes, flippy wigs, and push-up bras, and insists that she’s too young to be called Grandma. But somewhere on the road, Octavia and Tali discover there’s more to Mare than what you see. She was once a willful teenager who escaped her less-than-perfect life in the deep South and lied about her age to join the African American battalion of the Women’s Army Corps during World War II.

Told in alternating chapters, half of which follow Mare through her experiences as a WAC member and half of which follow Mare and her granddaughters on the road in the present day, this novel introduces a larger-than-life character who will stay with readers long after they finish reading.

From White Readers Meet Black Authors

Rather We Got Casinos and Other Black Thoughts by Larry Wilmore

Within these pages are the musings, the revelations, the ruminations, and the reflections of the incomparable Larry Wilmore. Here, collected for the first time, all in one place, are his Black Thoughts. From why black weathermen make him feel happy (or sad) and why brothas don't see UFOs to his search for Black Jesus or his quest to replace "African-American" with "chocolate," Wilmore has finally relented, agreeing to share his unique (black) perspective. Soon, you too will have the ability to find racism in everything. Bring back the Shetland Negro and do away with Black History Month! After all, can twenty-eight days of trivia really make up for centuries of oppression? In Wilmore's own words, "I'd rather we got casinos!

Life is Short but Wide by J. California Cooper

Beloved writer J. California Cooper has won a legion of loyal fans and much critical acclaim for her powerful storytelling gifts. In language both spare and direct yet wondrously lyrical, LIFE IS SHORT BUT WIDE is an irresistible story of family that proves no matter who you are or what you do, you are never too old to chase your dreams.

Like the small towns J. California Cooper has so vividly portrayed in her previous novels and story collections, Wideland, Oklahoma, is home to ordinary Americans struggling to raise families, eke out a living, and fulfill their dreams. In the early twentieth century, Irene and Val fall in love in Wideland. While carving out a home for themselves, they also allow neighbors Bertha and Joseph to build a house and live on their land. The next generation brings two girls for Irene and Val, and a daughter for Bertha and Joseph. As the families cope with the hardships that come with changing times and fortunes, and people are born and pass away, the characters learn the importance of living one’s life boldly and squeezing out every possible moment of joy.
Cooper brilliantly captures the cadences of the South and draws a picture of American life at once down-to-earth and heartwarming in this-as her wise narrator will tell you-“strange, sad, kind’a beautiful, life story.” It is a story about love that leads to the ultimate realization that whoever you are, and whatever you do, life is short, but it is also wide.

From Black Girl Lost... In A Book

Now The Hell Will Start by Brendan I. Koerner

A true story of murder, love, and headhunters, Now the Hell Will Start tells the remarkable tale of Herman Perry, a budding Romeo from the streets of Washington, D.C., who wound up going native in the Indo-Burmese jungle-not because he yearned for adventure, but rather to escape the greatest manhunt conducted by the United States Army during World War II. An African American G.I. assigned to a segregated labor battalion, Perry was shipped to South Asia in 1943, enduring unspeakable hardships while sailing around the globe. He was one of thousands of black soldiers dispatched to build the Ledo Road, a highway meant to appease China's conniving dictator, Chiang Kai-shek. Stretching from the thickly forested mountains of northeast India across the tiger-infested vales of Burma, the road was a lethal nightmare, beset by monsoons, malaria, and insects that chewed men's flesh to pulp. Perry could not endure the jungle's brutality, nor the racist treatment meted out by his white officers. He found solace in opium and marijuana, which further warped his fraying psyche. Finally, on March 5, 1944, he broke down-an emotional collapse that ended with him shooting an unarmed white lieutenant. So began Perry's flight through the Indo-Burmese wilderness, one of the planet's most hostile realms. While the military police combed the brothels of Calcutta, Perry trekked through the jungle, eventually stumbling upon a village festooned with polished human skulls. It was here, amid a tribe of elaborately tattooed headhunters, that Herman Perry would find bliss-and would marry the chief 's fourteen-year-old daughter. Starting off with nothing more than a ten-word snippet culled from an obscure bibliography, Brendan I. Koerner spent nearly five years chasing Perry's ghost-a pursuit that eventually led him to the remotest corners of India and Burma, where drug runners and ethnic militias now hold sway. Along the way, Koerner uncovered the forgotten story of the Ledo Road's black G.I.s, for whom Jim Crow was as virulent an enemy as the Japanese. Many of these troops revered the elusive Perry as a folk hero-whom they named the Jungle King. Sweeping from North Carolina's Depression-era cotton fields all the way to the Himalayas, Now the Hell Will Start is an epic saga of hubris, cruelty, and redemption. Yet it is also an exhilarating thriller, a cat-and-mouse yarn that dazzles and haunts.

From She Is Too Fond Of Books

Do I Distrub The Universe?: From The Projects To Prep School by Charlise Lyles

Charlise Lyles was born in 1959, on the cusp of a new era for African-Americans. She came of age as the words of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy stirred blacks and whites to right the racial wrongs of the past, although their individual voices had been silenced. In this vivid memoir, Lyles describes how the programs and policies that emerged from the civil rights movement affected her and her family. Lyles watched as race riots and a river burned in Cleveland. When the ashes cooled, her family was one of the first to move into Cleveland's King-Kennedy Homes public housing project in 1969. Through the eyes of childhood and adolescence, Lyles portrays their years there against a backdrop of weekly black militant demonstrations, the rise and fall of Cleveland's first black mayor, and mounting violence and despair. At the same time, she traces her ascent from "the slow class" to an elite suburban prep school, showing how programs from Head Start to A Better Chance could open doors for those with the good fortune to find them and the courage to go through. Finally, Do I Dare Disturb the Universe? shares Lyles's search for her long absent father, a quest that culminates in confusion and enlightenment, anger and love. Do I Dare Disturb the Universe? shows how the triumphs and failures of the civil rights era converged in Lyles's life while drawing a compelling portrait of the girl she was and the woman she became.

From Worducopia

Incognergo by Mat Johnson

Writer Mat Johnson (HELLBLAZER: PAPA MIDNITE), winner of the prestigious Hurston-Wright Legacy Award for fiction, constructs a fearless graphic novel that is both a page-turning mystery and a disturbing exploration of race and self-image in America, masterfully illustrated with rich period detail by Warren Pleece (THE INVISIBLES, HELLBLAZER). In the early 20th Century, when lynchings were commonplace throughout the American South, a few courageous reporters from the North risked their lives to expose these atrocities. They were African-American men who, due to their light skin color, could pass among the white folks. They called this dangerous assignment going incognegro. Zane Pinchback, a reporter for the New York-based New Holland Herald, barely escapes with his life after his latest incognegro story goes bad. But when he returns to the sanctuary of Harlem, hes sent to investigate the arrest of his own brother, charged with the brutal murder of a white woman in Mississippi. With a lynch mob already swarming, Zane must stay incognegro long enough to uncover the truth behind the murder in order to save his brotherand himself. He finds that the answers are buried beneath layers of shifting identities, forbidden passions and secrets that run far deeper than skin color.

TBR: Booking Through Thursday

2009-07-16T11:00:00.000-04:00

This week Booking Through Thursday asks follow-up questions from last weeks Booking Through Thursday:

Do you keep all your unread books together, like books in a waiting room? Or are they scattered throughout your shelves, mingling like party-goers waiting for the host to come along?

All the unread books that I physically own are in one place, on a bookshelf in my room. I keep them there because I don't have my own place. Instead, I have housemates. So, I try to keep my stuff all in one place otherwise I would buy whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and have a big mess to clean up when I leave.

If I had my own house, then I would probably have books everywhere. When I was a kid my grandmother would keep plastic milk crates filled with books at the bottom of the staircase. I use to love looking at the books as I walked up and down the stairs. So, I probably would have books in the common rooms and the hallways, if there is space.

Thirteen Reasons Why (Audiobook) by Jay Asher

2009-07-15T21:30:00.000-04:00

Narrators: Debra Wiseman and Joel Johnstone

Rating: 4 out of 5

Length: 6 hours and 24 minutes

Genre: Young Adult

Series: No

Publication Date: 2007

Synopsis (From Th1Rteen R3asons Why Official Website):

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker--his classmate and crush--who committed suicide two weeks earlier. On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

Review:

Thirteen Reasons Why is a tell about a high school student that commits suicide and leaves behind tapes explaining why she committed the act. The tapes are sent to people that she feels has some responsibility in her decision. Suicide is a tricky subject to handle and it would seem that it would be even more tricky when handled in a young adult novel. But Asher dealt with the subject wonderful. He was able to convey all of Clay's emotions as he tried to listen to the tapes and figure out what roll he played in Hannah's death and make readers feel like they were listening to the tapes and experiencing the emotions too. With Hannah's character reader's get to see the incidents (stating in freshman year) that she felt ultimately lead to her demise.

It should be noted that since the audiobook version was used that the experience of reading the story and listening to the story could be different. But the audiobook version is excellent. The narrator's voices seem a little old for the age age of the characters (high school juniors) but as the story progresses this becomes less apparent and ultimately a benefit. Joel Johnstone's voice was able to express all the emotions that Clay felt as he listened to the tapes. The anger, frustration, worry, all were there and heartwretching. Debra Wiseman's was able to do the same. It was almost like you were listening to the characters themselves not someone just reading a story.

Ahser's also offers a lesson in Thirteen Reasons Why but he weaves it into the story. Reader's get to learn about some of the signs of suicide and how a simple act of kindness might prevent it.

Pros: Narrators, Subject, Lesson, Story

Cons: Sad

Overall Recommendation:

I would recommend this Thirteen Reasons Why to anyone. I think that it is a great novel that is able to transcend audience. Adults will appreciate it as much as young adults.

Challenges:

Library Challenge (20 out of 25 Books)

TBR Challenge (10 out of 12 Books)

Rewards (courtesy of LibraryThings):

ALA Best Books For Young Adults 2008

Florida Teens Read (2008-2009)

Commonworth Club of California Book Award (208, Silver)

Other Reviews:

Regular Rumination

LiyanaLand

Debbies's World of Books

Ramya's Bookshelf

Shut Up! I'm Reading.

Hey Lady! What'cha Readin'?

Teaser Tuesday: Sons and Lovers

2009-07-14T15:15:00.002-04:00

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

My Two Teaser Sentences (pg. 230)

She suddenly became aware of his keen blue eyes upon her, taking her all in. Instantly her broken boots and her frayed old frock hurt her.

The Sunday Salon: Starting Classics

2009-07-12T18:41:00.000-04:00

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them, and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....

Starting Classics: For some reason unknown to me, I have a problem starting classic or older reads. Right now I should be reading Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence but I can't get pass the first two sentences. I always seem to have this problem when reading classics. I get the book but when I try to open it and read it, I get stuck. I know that once I start I will pick up speed and be able to finish. But starting is the problem. Does anyone else have this problem?

Blog Improvement: My resolution to improve my blog is going well. I have decided to try out Comment Luv, instead of using Blogger's comment system. So far so good. I love how it lets me reply to comments and layers them. It makes it so much easier. I have also announced my first ever giveaway and so far the response has been good. I would like to do them more often. But hopefully I can at least try for one a month. This weeks improvements have been minor. I have added a sidebar that list books reviewed by title. Right now I am working on reference posts for my Perpetual Challenges.

Future Improvements:

Host Mini Challenge (Work In Process)
Star Rating Explanation
Review Policy
Improve About and Contact Sidebar
Try Out LinkWithin

Giveaway Reminder: Don't forget that the giveaway of The Secret Holocaust Diaries by Nonna Bannister ends on July 18, 2009. Winners will be announced on July 19, 2009

Friday Finds: July 10

2009-07-10T08:20:00.000-04:00

I have decided to try something new with my Friday Finds to spice it up a little bit.Instead of just posting random books that I have saved in my Google Reader, I will pick a theme or blog and pull finds from them (that I have already marked in the GReader).

To kick this off I have decided to spotlight J. Kaye's Book Blog. J. Kaye host numerous book challenges but also post great book reviews. I have a number of books from her site just waiting for a chance to be put on the TBR pile. Since, I have some many saved books from this site, I used a Random Number Generator to decided how many to pick this week. The total 6 books.

This week's books are:

Like Glass by Matthew Cory

What would you do if the one person you hated most Died? If the person who stole The love of your life Would never see another day? How would you feel? Would you laugh? Would you cry? This is the issue that Rob Jackson faces. This is the dilemma that Like Glass begins with. A phone call from his brother's widow begins his turmoil. A phone call from a voice he tried to forget launches the avalanche. How would you feel?

Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans by Dan Baum

The hidden history of a haunted and beloved city told through the intersecting lives of nine remarkable characters.

After Hurricane Katrina, Dan Baum moved to New Orleans to write about the city’s response to the disaster for The New Yorker. He quickly realized that Katrina was not the most interesting thing about New Orleans, not by a long shot. The most interesting question, which struck him as he watched residents struggling to return, was this: Why are New Orleanians—along with people from all over the world who continue to flock there—so devoted to a place that was, even before the storm, the most corrupt, impoverished, and violent corner of America?

Here’s the answer. Nine Lives is a multivoiced biography of this dazzling, surreal, and imperiled city through the lives of nine characters over forty years and bracketed by two epic storms: Hurricane Betsy, which transformed the city in the 1960’s, and Katrina, which nearly destroyed it. These nine lives are windows into every strata of one of the most complex and fascinating cities in the world. From outsider artists and Mardi Gras Kings to jazz-playing coroners and transsexual barkeeps, these lives are possible only in New Orleans, but the city that nurtures them is also, from the beginning, a city haunted by the possibility of disaster. All their stories converge in the storm, where some characters rise to acts of heroism and others sink to the bottom. But it is New Orleans herself—perpetually whistling past the grave yard—that is the story’s real heroine.

Nine Lives is narrated from the points of view of some of New Orleans’s most charismatic characters, but underpinning the voices of the city is an extraordinary feat of reporting that allows Baum to bring this kaleidoscopic portrait to life with brilliant color and crystalline detail. Readers will find themselves wrapped up in each of these individual dramas and delightfully immersed in the life of one of this country’s last unique places, even as its ultimate devastation looms ever closer. By resurrecting this beautiful and tragic place and portraying the extraordinary lives that could have taken root only there, Nine Lives shows us what was lost in the storm and what remains to be saved.

All The Pretty Dead Girls by John Manning

Two decades ago, at a private women’s college in upstate New York, a student was brutally attacked in her dorm room. Her assailant was never found…

They Disappear…

Sue Barlow arrives at Wilbourne College twenty years later. When a classmate disappears, Sue thinks it’s an isolated incident. But then two other girls vanish…

And Die…

As fear grows on campus, Sue begins to sense she’s being watched. And as the body count rises, she soon realizes that a twisted psychopath is summoning her to play a wicked game—a game that only will end when she dies…

Wicked Games by Nancy Bush

ONE BY ONE . . .Two decades ago, at a private women's college in upstate New York, a student was brutally attacked in her dorm room. Her assailant was never found . . .THEY DISAPPEAR . . .Sue Barlow arrives at Wilbourne College twenty years later. When a classmate disappears, Sue thinks it's an isolated incident. But then two other girls vanish . . .AND DIE . . .As fear grows on campus, Sue begins to sense she's being watched. And as the body count rises, she soon realizes that a twisted psychopath is summoning her to play a wicked game-a game that only will end when she dies . . .

Dirty Little Angels by Chris Tusa

Set in the slums of New Orleans, among clusters of crack houses and abandoned buildings, Dirty Little Angels is the story of sixteen year old Hailey Trosclair. When the Trosclair family suffers a string of financial hardships and a miscarriage, Hailey finds herself looking to God to save her family. When her prayers go unanswered, Hailey puts her faith in Moses Watkins, a failed preacher and ex-con. Fascinated by Moses's lopsided view of religion, Hailey, and her brother Cyrus, begin spending time down at an abandoned bank that Moses plans to convert into a drive-through church. Gradually, though, Moses's twisted religious beliefs become increasingly more violent, and Hailey and Cyrus soon find themselves trapped in a world of danger and fear from which there may be no escape.

Boy Toy by Barry Lyga

Josh Mendel has a secret. Unfortunately, everyone knows what it is.
Five years ago, Josh’s life changed. Drastically. And everyone in his school, his town—seems like the world—thinks they understand. But they don’t—they can’t. And now, about to graduate from high school, Josh is still trying to sort through the pieces. First there’s Rachel, the girl he thought he’d lost years ago. She’s back, and she’s determined to be part of his life, whether he wants her there or not.Then there are college decisions to make, and the toughest baseball game of his life coming up, and a coach who won’t stop pushing Josh all the way to the brink. And then there’s Eve. Her return brings with it all the memories of Josh’s past. It’s time for Josh to face the truth about what happened.
If only he knew what the truth was . . .

Chocolat: A Novel by Joanne Harris

2009-07-09T18:00:00.002-04:00

Rating: 4 out of 5
Pages: 306
Genre: Fiction
Series: No
Publication Date: 1999

Synopsis (From Back Cover):

When beautiful, unmarried Vianne Rocher sweeps into the pinched little French town of Lansquenet on the heels of the carnival and opens a gem of a chocolate shop across the square from the church, she begins to wreak havoc with the town's Lenten vows. Her uncanny ability to perceive her customer's private discontents and alleviate them with just the right confection coaxes the villagers to abandon themselves to temptation and happiness, but enrages Pere Reynaud, the local priest. Certain only a witch could stir such sinful indulgence and devise such clever cures, Reynaud pits himself against Vianne and vows to block the chocolate festival she plans for Easter Sunday, and to run her out of town forever. Witch or not (she'll never tell), Vianne soon sparks a dramatic confrontation between those who prefer the cold comforts of the church and those who revel in their newly discovered tastes for pleasure.

Review:

Chocolat is written like a fairly tale. The writing is very fluid, lyrical and romantic. Written in first person, the story is told through the view points of two very different, yet similar people. Vianne is a drifter, has been a drifter all her life. Since childhood her and her mother have traveled from place to place never settling in one stop. Now an adult she is repeating the same patterns set by her mother. Reynaud is a country priest in the town that Vianne had decided to settle, at least for the moment. Reynaud is a local boy and worry of outsiders.

Early in the story Harris sets up the tense and animosity between Reynaud and Vianne. Vianne since that Reynaud sees her as a threat and worries what pain he will inflect on her and her called. Reynaud sees Vianne and her daughter as sinners, sent to wreck havoc on his congregation. Its and interesting battle, Reynaud takes it more seriously than Vianne. Yet, the reader can feel the struggle of between the characters. Reynaud's frustration has citizens of Lansquenet welcome Viannee and her chocolate shop into there community is almost tangible. His struggle with setting an example by being pleasant but wanting to protect his sense of tradition are strong.

Vianne, on the other hand, is struggling with her past and the hopes for her child's future. She can't decide if Reynaud is an actually threat or rather a manifestation of past worries and insecurity. Readers get to see how Vianne's personality and ability to understand people draw people into her show and how bonds between her and the town are formed. Vianne and her daughter, Anouk, are very likable characters. There bond is nice written and portrayed in the story.

Chocolat, has been made into a movie and the books has a different feel. The movie (if I remember correctly) is more of a love story. The book is not a love story, its a story about change. Yet, like the movie it has a very whimsical feel. Harris does a good job of illustrating Vianne and Anouk gifts without making the story overly exaggerated. The fantasy magical aspect seems like a part of the story without making the story see make believe.

The one thing that this story lacks is a climax that does the story justice. The climax in the story is very lackluster. It almost came and went. The story was set up for this final battle between Reynaud and Vianne but that never manifested.

Pros: Writing, Characters, Plot
Cons: Climax

Overall Recommendation:

Chocolat is a good novel. The writing is excellent and the character likable. Highly recommended. But be aware that the movie does not follow the book that closely and if you are looking for a great love story this is not the night novel. Instead, try Like Water for Chocolate.

Challenges:

Library Challenge (19 out of 25 books)

Round The World Passage (7 out of 18 books)

TBR Challenge (9 out of 12 books)

Other Reviews:

A Young Lady's Book Lounge

Becky's Book Review

Cariboumam

Book Nut

It's All About Me (Time)

If you have a review of this book or any other book reviewed on my site. Post a link to that review in the comment section so, I can link back to you.

Unread: Booking Through Thursday

2009-07-09T13:00:00.000-04:00

Another Booking Through Thursday:

An idea I got from The Toddled Dredge (via K for Kat).

Here’s what she said:“So here today I present to you an Unread Books Challenge. Give me the list or take a picture of all the books you have stacked on your bedside table, hidden under the bed or standing in your shelf – the books you have not read, but keep meaning to. The books that begin to weigh on your mind. The books that make you cover your ears in conversation and say, ‘No! Don’t give me another book to read! I can’t finish the ones I have!’ “

I don't own a lot of books but I have collected a lot. I try not to buy that many books because I don't place to stay where I am for that long. But I do have a book shelf.

Currently waiting to be read is:

The Damned - LA Banks

Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe

Summer Sisters - Judy Blume

Adulthood Rites - Octavia Butler

Dawn - Octavia Bulter

The Hand That's Dealt - Rosalind Coats

My Soul To Keep - Tananarive Due

Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison

26a - Diana Evans

A Lesson Before Dying - Ernest Gaines

Water for Elephants - Sara Gruden

Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

Sapphire's Grave - Hilda Gurley- Highgate

Not Without Laughter - Langston Hughes

The Color of Family - Patricia Jordan

Cujo - Stephen King

Pet Sematary - Stephen King

Brown Girl, Brownstone - Paule Marshall

The Warmest December - Bernice L. McFadden

Mama- Terry McMillian

Sula - Toni Morrison

Fear of The Dark - Walter Mosley

Fresh Water Road - Denise Nicholas

The Bonesetter's Daugher - Amy tan

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere - ZZ Packer

The Fifth Vial - Michael Palmers

The Kingdom Keeper - Ridley Pearson

His Dark Material - Phillip Pullman

The Well and The Mine - Gia Phillips

The Witching Hour - Anne Rice

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

Coffee Will Make You Black - April Sinclair

Ain't Gonna Be the Same Fool Twice - April Sinclair

I Left My Back Door Open - April Sinclair

The Coldest Winter Ever - Sister Soulja

Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift

Flyy Girl - Omar Tyree

The Blacker The Berry - Wallace Thurman

Teaser Tuesdays: Chocolat

2009-07-07T08:56:00.002-04:00

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

My Two Teaser Sentences (pg. 145)

I try to recall my dream the face of Reynaud - his lost expression of dismay, I'm late, I'm late - he too running from or into some unimaginable fate of which I am an unwitting part. But the dream has fragmented, its pieces scattered like cards in a high wind.

Mailbox Monday & Library Loot (2 for 1)

2009-07-06T14:00:00.001-04:00

The past week has been kind of good to me with the amount of books coming in. Not so much so for those headed out. In the past week I have collected about 5 more books. Three from the library and 2 were drop off at my doorstep by the postman (and yes I know for sure I postal worker is male).

The Shelfari book group Book Chat hosted a Christmas in June. Where individuals signed up to be Secret Santa's and sent other participants books from their wish list.

The ever so generous Elf-in-training Marguerite sent me The Help and The Lovely Bones. Both of which have been on my wish list for about a year now.

From the library, I gathered the following three books. Each of which, are for challenges that I am currently in. One one of them Imago was actually on my TBR list.

What books wiggled their way into your home this week?

Giveaway: The Secret Holocaust Diaries (ARC)

2009-07-05T13:05:00.003-04:00

I am really happy to announce my first ever book giveway.

As you can see I am giving away an Advanced Reader Copy of The Secret Holocaust Diaires by Nonna Bannister. Since I have never done this before I am going to keep it really simple with the rules.

Rules:

Leaving a Comment stating that you would like to be entered into the giveaway (gets you 1 entry)

Answer the following question in the comment section (gets you 2 entries)

What did you know about the treatment of Chrisitian

prisioner of Hitler's armies during WWII?

ETA (07/08/09): This giveaway is only good to persons residing in the United States.

Giveaway Ends: July 18, 2009

Winner Annouced*: July 19, 2009

Just a note that the winner will be announced on this blog. I will not email anyone. If your name is announced than contact me with your shipping information.