Hello there, and welcome to my book blog! I hope to become your regular book blog rest stop. I am a 40 (cough, cough) something bibliophile and busy mother of 2 girls, but somehow manage to find time to read!
Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading, and anyone can play along!! This is my alltime favourite meme. If you have a blog please leave the link to your own TT, and if you don't have a blog you can leave your TT in the comments!
I missed last week for the first time in awhile, and I really did MISS it! My TT this week is from The Lost Symbol. I have a crap load of review books to read, but many of them don't come out now until May so I have decided to take a breather from blog reading and just read for FUN! I really enjoyed The DaVinci Code, and this one is WOW. I mean Dan Brown may not be the most gifted writer in the universe, but he sure can produce an addicting book! It is taking all of my self control to not spend every second of everyday reading. I love all of the mason stuff, and the secret society stuff, and especially the Lynne McTaggart Intention Experiment and noetic sciences. This is something I have been interested in for a very long time. ANYway, without further adieu:
Langdon eyed the vast room and wondered how everything had veered so suddenly out of control tonight. "Look, I don't know how to find any ancient portal. I'm calling the police."
Mailbox Monday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Marcia over at The Printed Page. Basically we share what we either purchased or recieved in our "mailbox"!
This week I recieved the Horrid Henry Joke Book from SOURCE BOOKS, and I'm telling you, my family and I are having a RIOT reading these after supper! I also recieved 3 poster/calendars to giveaway when I post my review as part of a blog tour on April 1st!!
WOW! I am so touched by the awards I have recieved lately! THANK YOU!
Here we go:
Isn't this one purty?!
The Beautiful Blogger award comes from Mama Bookworm over at The Fiction Enthusiast, and her blog is SO CUTE! Her header is just so georgous and her whole blog just has a blubbly cheery feel to it, THANK YOU MAMA BOOKWORM!
I was also given this award from Yzhabella's Bookshelf ! Thank you SO MUCH YZHABELLA'S!!!!! You are awesome, and I love the header on your blog!!
And as if twice wasn't awesome enough, I was given this award a third time! A huge huge HUGE thank you to Tara from 25 Hour Books !
Here are the rules:
Thank & link to the person that gave you the award.
Pass this award onto 15 bloggers you've recently discovered and think are fantastic
Contact the blogs and let them know they've won.
State 7 things about yourself.
Here are 7 things about myself:
1. I have two children, one biological and one adopted from Ethiopia
3. I love chips. Like I mean I have no control. Especially when the Bachelor comes on, it's like Pavlov's dog then. Sigh.
4. I happen to think that humour makes a man very sexy. Especially the self depricating kind!
5. I'm a homebody, always been a homebody, always will be a homebody, and I'm fine with that!
6. A few months back I looked around at all of the books I have and suddenly realized that I cannot possibly read all of the books in my possession before I die. Mortality in books... it was weird.
7. I'm not a big fan of getting my hair cute, they never seem to get it right, which is why I look a LOT like Janis Joplin right now.
I now pass this award on to 15 of my blogger buddies!
And award number 3 comes to me from Calista over at Calista's Ramblings! And I am going to have to wait a bit before I pass on this award, only because passing on awards takes A LOT of time, and I have already been at it for 2 hours! ACK! So I will definately pass this award on soon, and really appreciate you all thinking of little 'ol me!
Alrighty folks....... my google friend follower may say 295, but my site feeder says 324!!! WOOT!!! Thank you sooo much and WELCOME to all of my new followers! And a GIANT thank you to all of you who have been following for some time now!!!
And as a celebration of this big milestone AND as a very sincere thank you to ALL OF YOU, here is the giveaway I am offering up to my followers!
Let me explain how it's going to work and then I'll describe the prizes after that.
Remember a little while ago how I got a "Super Secret YA novel" sent to me? Okay, well, just to make this a little more fun, once a week I am going to be posting clues as to the identity of this Super Secret Novel and if you guess the identity of the book you will recieve an additional 10 entries!!!!! When you have guessed correctly I will email you to let you know, and you will be credited all of your entries. The actual identity of the book will not be revealed until the contest end date.
You can also earn extra entries for:
Posting the contest in your sidebar (you can use my button if you like!) 5 entries
Tweeting about it! 1 extra entry
Putting the contest in the actual BODY of a post! 5 entries
The GRAND PRIZE winner which will be chosen by Random.org will win: $50 credit from Book Depository PLUS a release copy of the Super Secret YA novel PLUS a book of their choice from my ARC/book pile! If we reach 400 Followers that amount goes up to $75, and if we reach 500 followers by the end of the contest than the GRAND PRIZE will be $100 worth of books from the Book Depository, and therefore this contest in INTERNATIONAL as well! Once the grand prize winner has been announced, then that person will send me their list of books they would like to order from Book Depository!
There will be a second and third place drawing as well, and those folks will each win a choice of one book from my stack of ARC's and novels.
As the contest evolves I will add more books for the winners to choose from!
Here's how to enter:
• Fill out the form to enter
• watch for the clue each week
• take a guess to earn an additional 5 points! (I will supply another form for your guesses to keep them confidential!)
• anyone who correctly guesses the title of the Super Secret YA novel will earn a whopping 10 entries! Once you have correctly identified the name of the book I will email you to let you know and all of your extra entries will be added. The name of the book will not be made PUBLIC until the release date which is also the end of the contest on MAY 4th!
• This contest is international!
• You MUST be a follower to enter with google reader or feed burner.
• Contest ends at midnight MST, May 4th 2010.
HERE IS YOUR FIRST CLUE:
The Super Secret YA novel main character is a male.
She is so right when she says that every week most of us find new blogs and follow, but this is a great way to share our newest finds! There are so many fantastic book bloggers out there, and I want to read and follow as many of them as I can!
(DISCLAIMER: Anytime I can use an image of Gerard Butler I will do so...that man is just toooooo yummy, seriously people!)
It's Teaser Tuesday time agaaaaaain! This is my favourite weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading, and ANYONE can play along! If you have a blog and a TT just give us a link in the comments, if you do not have a blog you can still participate, just give us your TT in the comments!
Grab your current read
flip to a random page
select two teaser sentences from anywhere on that page
do not include any SPOILERS!
But please DO include the book name and author so we can all add it to our TBR piles!
My teaser today is from the ARC "Mistress of Rome" by Kate Quinn (available for purchse April 6, 2010):
That would be to tempt God, who doesn't like to take second place in any human heart. But Arius's sword-roughened hand slipped through my hair as if to feel my thoughts on his fingers, and then he caught me up so hard and close that I had no time for any thoughts at all.
SWOON!
Just a little aside to this TT today, this book is an ARC that was sent to me, and I have to admit when I saw the cover I kind of rolled my eyes... just a little. Then when I started reading I felt frustrated at first because it is a historical fiction but the language is EXTREMELY modern and just did not have authenticity to it at all. But I quickly let that go and just immersed myself in the novel.... AND I LOVE IT!! I literally cannot put it down. If you are like me and have read a lot of historical fiction, and if that is your preferred genre (as it is mine) just put aside any preconcieved idea of any historical type language and enjoy this book for all its glorious juiciness!
MAILBOX MONDAY is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Marcia over at The Printed Page.
You can visit her blog for more MM, and you can add your links right here as well! If you do not have a blog, you can still share your loot from the last week! Just leave it in the comments.
Last week I was VERY EXCITED to recieve "Heresy" by S. Parris. Is this not a GEORGOUS cover??!!!
England is rife with conspiracies to assassinate Elizabeth I and return the country to Rome—plots that foment in places like the fiercely papist University of Oxford. Giordano Bruno—renegade monk, poet, scientist, and magician—arrives in London, fleeing the Roman Inquisition. Bruno believes that the Earth orbits the sun, and this alone could have him burned at the stake, but he also seeks a lost book of ancient truth, which he believes will end the Wars of Religion.
Bruno is recruited by Elizabeth's spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, and sent undercover to Oxford, but his mission is thrown off course by a series of grisly murders. Bruno suspects that the murderer is trying to send a message— but what and to whom? Stalking the killer through the shadowy cloisters of the colleges and back streets of Oxford, he soon learns that sometimes eventhe wisest men cannot tell truth from heresy.
Hey Book Blabbers! I am SUPER EXCITED to announce that Monica Holloway the author of the FANTASTIC book "Cowboy and Wills" (you can read my rave review here) is very generously offering up THREE SIGNED COPIES of her book to THREE LUCKY WINNERS!!!!! This contest is open WORLDWIDE!
PLUS ---
Stay tuned for my interview with Monica earlier in the week! If you have read the book already and have any questions you would like me to ask Monica, just email them to me at circlebooks(at)shaw(dot)ca and I'll see if I can add it!
And now.... since this contest will more than likely bring our follower total to 300 or more, I am going to begin THE BIG.... MAMMOTH.... GIVEAWAY!!!!!
When we hit 300 followers I am going to officially announce the big giveaway... so STAAAY TUUUUNED!!
But back to the "Cowboy and Wills" giveaway! This contest is international and ends on March 31st, midnight Mountain Time. You must be a follower to enter, and you must leave a way for me to contact you. If you do NOT feel comfortable leaving your email address in the comments, that's FINE, just leave a comment that you want to be entered and then EMAIL ME your email address at circlebooks(at)shaw(dot)ca. ONLY ONE ENTRY PER PERSON... this rule is strictly enforced by a cattle prod (to quote Ree Drummond from Pioneer Woman!).
I am telling you... you all WILL LOVE THIS BOOK!! It will warm the cockles of your heart (whatever a "cockle"is) and make you laugh, cry and want to hug your neighbor. Monica is even going to SIGN THE COPIES and PERSONALLY mail them to each winner! Cuz she's awesome like that.
GOOD LUCK! And don't forget to stay tuned for A) the 300 follower giveaway announcement, and B) my interview with Monica and C) my interview with my friend and 1st assistant director on the Ken Follet's "Pillars of the Earth" vlog interview which is coming soon!!!!
Publisher: Pocket; Original edition (February 16, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1439168334
First of all I would like to send a HUGE THANK YOU to Anneliese at Simon and Schuster Canada for sending me this book to review!
Eternal on the Water is a love story. It is a beautifully told tale of a man, Jonathan Cobb, who meets the love of his life while embarking on a trip of a lifetime; kayaking Maine's Allagash River retracing the steps of author Henry David Thoreau.
There are several reasons why I really liked this story. For one thing, the way that Cobb and Mary meet and fall in love is very realistic. Now that being said I should add that my husband and I met in very much the same way, and we fell in love in a matter of hours, and eloped only 8 months later. But I digress... The prologue, which I will not summarize so as not to spoil it for you, is very enticing, and keeps you reading so you can figure out just what exactly happened there.
Here is the summary from the jacket: From the day Cobb and Mary meet kayaking on Maine's Allagash River and fall deeply in love, the two approach life with the same sense of adventure they use to conquer the river's treacherous rapids. But rivers do not let go so easily...and neither does their love. So when Mary's life takes the cruelest turn, she vows to face those rough waters on her own terms and asks Cobb to promise, when the time comes, to help her return to their beloved river for one final journey.
Set against the rugged wilderness of Maine, the exotic islands of Indonesia, the sweeping panoramas of Yellowstone National Park, and the tranquil villages of rural New England, Eternal on the Water is at once heartbreaking and uplifting -- a timeless, beautifully rendered story of true love's power.
Monninger has a great way of setting the scene. You can really feel, see, hear and smell exactly where they are in the story. And considering that the setting is in Maine and then later Indonesia? You can't go wrong on atmosphere. There were a few sections in the middle which were a bit draggy, but these were very few, so hardly worth mentioning, but I do because they were... you follow me?
This was a very relaxing and heartfelt read, with a gentle story that pulls you along and leaves you with melancholy feeling... the best kind of melancholy. It begs to ask- what would you do for someone you love? What would I do, indeed.
Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment (Oct 6 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416595031
First of all I would like to thank the publicist for Monica Holloway for sending me a copy of this book! And not only that, I will say right of the bat that this is one of those books that I hope to do justice with my review!
Right on the cover of Cowboy and Wills it says "A Love Story", and you better believe this is one, from the first page all the way to the last. After reading a largely self absorbed and depressing as hell memoir last week, I was very reluctant to pick up another memoir about a family who may or may not be struggling. But because I was sent this book before Christmas, I knew I needed to get it read, so with a little apprehension I opened the book and started reading.
"The day after Wills was diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder, I took him for a ride to Ben's Fish Store in Sherman Oaks to buy a large freshwater aquarium. We picked up all the equipment; a ten-gallon tank, a filter, multicolored rocks to spread on the bottom, an imitation pirate ship made out of clay, tacky neon plastic plants, a large rock with a hole in the middle for the fish to swim through, fish food, a small green plastic net, a special siphon with a clear hose on the end to clean the tank, and replacement filters. It totaled $462.84 -- a high price that I could barely afford to squeeze onto my overextended Visa. I didn't care; my three-year-old had autism."
What I know is this - every single parent out there can relate to this paragraph. In the wake of devestating news the urge to run out and buy something so ordinary, so down-to-earth, so "normal", is very strong. It's like a message to the parents mind and the childs that, "Hey, we're okay, this is okay, life is still normal." But soon after the initial shock wears off about the diagnosis, the reality of what is now their new "normal" begins to sink in.
Autism is not a fad.
Autism is not a buzz word.
Autism is a disorder that affects many children and the families that love them. My great-nephew is on the spectrum, and one of my very dear dear friends has a son who is now 13 and is autistic as well. These two young men are two of the finest most loving and brilliant young men I know. And when I see them, my immediate thought is never "autism", it is "Oh, there you are!" They are incredible human beings who we could all learn a lot from. Like most kids!
Monica Holloway is very much like any mother out there. Here is why I adore her. She is tenacious, but fragile, she is funny, but cautious, she is loving and firm. In short, she is REAL. I love her. Sometimes she uses the word "shit", isn't that fantastic? I have been scouring the book trying to find the quote, maybe by the end of the post I will have, something about being the "shittiest mom in the universe". Believe me, when you read it you will -- A) laugh and B) RELATE.
When Monica finds out her son has autism she quickly begins dealing with the situation in the way many of us would, she starts to buy stuff. In her case it was animals. A LOT of them. First it started with the fish, then hermit crabs, then frogs, then hamsters, a rabbit, and all the while Wills is begging her and her husband Michael for a puppy. Knowing that may just be too much to handle, she keeps buying smaller critters. Meanwhile, Michael is largely absent, but not in a way you might expect. He is a television writer and is across the country working, but very much as present as he can be on the weekends when he's home and via the phone. I have to say, Michael is amazing. They both are. There are many statistics about married couples and the toll autism takes on their relationship, and a large percentage of people end up divorced as they make their way through the maze of treatments and stress of daily life. This couple does not, and their marriage is a beautiful thing to witness, even if it is on the pages of a book.
Wills starts preschool, and it goes fairly well. But then kindergarten is looming around the corner. At this point Wills has a very difficult time in social situations, cannot use a public restroom (this will take years to accomplish), and is very disturbed by any loud noises, among other things. After searching for school after school they finally find one that celebrates every single child and that will nurture Wills in a way that no other school could. Monica arranges a playdate with one of the parents from the school, and here's what happens:
"Wasn't it crazy trying to get into a school?" I asked, letting my guard down. "CCS was the only school we applied to, and we got right in." She shruggeed, looking out at the two boys, who were jumping up and down in the trampoline. "We applied everywhere," I said, squeezing my sandwich into an unrecognizable ball of dough. "But Children's Community School was our first choice." "Well, that worked out." She smiled with unbelievably perfect teeth. "Nicholas was kicked out of every preschool I enrolled him in, but now he's doing so well that CCS let him in without my saying a word about it. They observed him and he was accepted." Her left leg, which was crossed over her right, bounced up and down, her flip-flops and manicured toenails distractingly adorable. "What was 'it'?" I asked. "If you don't mind me asking." "Nicholas used to have autism," she said, nonchalantly. My head jerked up and my crystal cut glass of lemonade hit the kitchen table with a thud. "But I cured him." What were the odds that the first family we met at CCS had dealt with autism? And she cured him? How does a person cure autism? Had my head been up my ass all these years? Had I missed the "Big Cure" segment on NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw? "Yeah, he used to be autistic but not anymore." She shrugged her shoulders. Did she actually have the audacity to repeat it? She REPEATED IT? I didn't know what to say. "Wills is autistic," I said, hoping it would help rein in her bravado or, at the very least, implore her to enlighten me. Any of us who'd been through it knew that you couldn't cure autism. But here she was right in front of me, adorable, chesty, and confident. "Oh, you can cure him. You just need to change his diet." Her right eyebrown arched and her brown eyes popped with enthusiasm, realizing that a possible recruit was sitting across from her in denim cropped pants. She meant well, she must have meant well, so why did I feel like kicking her teeth in?
After weeks of Wills having a brutal time in school, Monica finally realizes that maybe a puppy could help him adjust to his new life in a new school. Little did she know it was not only exactly what Wills needed, but what her whole entire family needed.
Enter COWBOY. One of the cutest little golden retriever pups you will ever see. Wills and Cowboy immediately became inseperable, and the biggest miracle of all was what Wills could accomplish with Cowboy by his side. Suddenly the bubbles in the bathtub which literally hurt Wills skin were tolerable and even fun! Who wouldn't want to have a bath with a six month old puppy! He could talk to other kids with Cowboy in his arms! The entire world was opening up for Wills, and all through the help of this incredible animal. You would think that a book like this would be extremely heavy. I assure you it is not. Monica has a way of making many situations funny. Here is what she tells us when one of the many doggie poop episodes comes into view:
At six months old, Cowboy pooped with the fierceness of a miner, eyes fixed on the pear tree near the fence, ass barely hovering above the ground as foaming tan goop swirled out of her. A solid poop was cause for celebration; a Carvel foamer, not so much.
And her artistry with words will have tears streaming down your face. After years of having to share their bed with their growing son, he finally was able to sleep in his very own room, with a very large furry gold dog cuddled up with him on his bed. This was the first night:
Soon Cowboy was licking Wills's face and pushing herself against his stomach, settling in for a long night. Wills didn't look so sure. "Stay here, Mommy," he said, sniffing back tears. "I'm not going anywhere," I told him, lying on the floor. He reached his hand down and patted my arm. Then he wrapped it around Cowboy. I lay there, looking up at the ceiling fan with the glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to the bottom of every paddle. When it turned, each glowing star blurred into a solid circle, and it looked like Saturn was twirling above us. I'd put those up so many years ago, I'd forgotten they were even there. Later that night, Michael and I snuck quietly into Wills's room to find him sound asleep in the bed we'd ordered for him four years earlier, his freckled cheeks rosy from the heat of Cowboy wrapped around him like a sarong. "What if he's too hot?" I worried, realizing exactly what this moment meant---Wills was separating from me. I'd imagined I'd be giddy, relieved, happy for all of us, but I was overcome by a sense of grief I hadn't expected. "If he gets too hot, he'll wake up," Michael assured me. Cowboy lifted her head as if to say, I've got him. You guys get a life. As Wills gains social skills, friends, and confidence, Cowboy's health begins to decline. Suddenly the focus is not just on Wills but also on his beloved Cowboy, and trying to find out what exactly is wrong with her.
Monica's book is beautiful, heartwarming, heart breaking, and powerful. If you have anyone in your life that is affected by autism, if you love reading stories about the awesome power of mans relationship with his dog, than this book is for you. If you are a parent, then this book is for you. If you are a human being who believes in love and the triumph of the human spirit, then this book is for you. Basically anyone with a pulse should read this book. You will LOVE IT.
RATING: 5/5 and if I could give it more stars I would!
For more information about Monica Holloway and her extraordinary family click here.
You can also find her on Facebook here
For more information on autism click here.
Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB from Should Be Reading, and anyone can play along! If you have a blog please post the link to your TT and if you do not have a blog you can leave your teaser in the comments!
Grab your current read
flip to a random page
select two teaser sentences from somewhere on that page
please do not include any SPOILERS!
Also, don't forget to include the author and name of your book so we can add it to our morbidly obese TBR piles!
My teaser is from the absolutely hands-down stunner of a book, "Cowboy and Wills" by Monica Holloway. (PS I JUST literally finished this book this very second, and I just have to say WOW. If you have ever read one of those dog stories that have your heart soaring and then bawling your head off, this book is for you. Review will be posted tomorrow.)
A bit of backstory: Wills is autistic and Cowboy is his incredible dog that helped him to connect and show the world what an amazing incredible young man he was! This teaser is taken after Monica, Wills' mother, finds out that Cowboy is very sick and the doctor's do not know what is wrong with her. She is reflecting on the time that Wills was stung by bees and was having an allergic reaction and Cowboy was sounding the alarm. Now she needed to help Cowboy, but didn't know what she needed.
"That day in the woods, I was counting every second it took to get back down that mountain trail, my only solace in the abject terror that Will's throat would close this time was Cowboy, who led the way barking the alarm.
That was only two weeks ago, and now she something from the backpack -- only I had no idea what it was.
Last week I recieved a book called "Hemingway Deadlights" by Michael Atkinson from Dana at Kaye Publishing... THANK YOU, DANA!!
Here is the blurb from Amazon.ca:
It is 1956 and Hemingway has spent much of the year at his home in Key West, hiding from tourists and autograph hunters. But a friend’s sudden death rouses Papa from his idyll. To say that the cause of death is suspicious is to put it lightly. It’s not every day that a part-time smuggler is impaled on a harpoon. A witty, literate, and action-filled debut, Hemingway Deadlights catches the famed author in his later years, battling to solve the injustices in a flawed world.
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