Monday, May 31, 2010

Book Blab Jr.

Hello all,
Wellll, after months of blogging, my 10 year old daughter comes up to me and says, "Hey Mom?  I was wondering, do you think I could do a book blog called Book Blab for Kids?"  I thought about it for a second, and then I said, "TOTALLY! What a great idea!"  Her blog is actually another blog under my account, but with her as an author, so it is totally safe.  And she was given VERY STRICT orders to not say ANYTHING other than her first name and age.  SO, without further a do,  click here to check her out!  And if you want to show your support, I know she would be THRILLED if she could have a few followers!!! 


She will be doing reviews for books for kids in the range of 7 to 12 year olds.  She will be reviewing books she has already read, but if you all have any suggestions you can just leave a comment for her (which I am moderating first) and we can pick it up at the library for her to read.

I am very proud of her for wanting to do this as a fun hobby.  I really am!  I wonder if there are any other kid book bloggers out there!  If you know of any, maybe you could send their link our way!

Hvae a great day everyone!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

TEASER TUESDAY, REVIEW OF "THE HELP", and why my Kindle makes me kinda cranky

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading and anyone can play!  If you have a TT you can either leave the link to your blog or you can just add your TT directly in my comments.

  • Grab your current read
  • Flip to a random page
  • Select 2 teaser sentences from somewhere on that page
  • Please DO NOT include any SPOILERS!
  • And last but not least, don't forget the name of the book and the author!
My teaser is from the book I mentioned the other day, which also happens to be my second read from my Kindle, The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff:

"According to the St. George Register,on a clear night last June, at some time between eleven and half-past, my mom--who isn't anything like this--tiptoed down to the basement of the house I grew up in with a Big Boy .44 Magnum in her hands.  AT the foot of the stairs she knocked on the door to my Dad's den."

So far I am loving this book, it is not AT ALL what I expected, and I personally love it when that happens.  I am curious what the script will be like, from what my husband says (he's working on it as well) the main character is a bit different in a way I won't mention as it may be considered a spoiler.  But since it is for Lifetime, it's possible that they may not want to open up that can 'o worms.  I'll make sure to write about it when I review it, I would like to have it read in the next few days so I can read the script without spoiling the story for myself!

REVIEW OF THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett


Hardcover: 464 pages

Publisher: GP Putnam And Sons; 1 edition (Feb 10 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399155341
(Kindle version)

The Help was just exactly what I hoped it would be.  I am a HUGE fan of books about interracial relations, even before I became an adoptive parent of a child of different skin color than my own I was always interested in the topic.  Two of my favourite books were Cane River and The Book of Negroes, and although The Help is not set in slavery times it is set during the Civil Rights movement and therefore a fascinating take from the maids points of view as well as the white folk who hired them. 

The narrative is told from several different perspective, Skeeter, a white young adult who has always dreamed of being a writer, she finally sees her chance when an big time editor challanges her to write a book of stories of at least a dozen colored maids in the employ of their white families in Jackson Mississippi.  The thing I didn't realize is that at the time the violence that was brewing among the cultures was ultra disturbing.  People were getting their tongues cut out and hung and tortured and of course killed, just for trying to bring equality to America.  I mean I knew things like this happened but to read about it, and especially from the black community perspective was very powerful. Tension mounts as the women attempt to tell their stories in extreme secrecy at the expense of getting fired, ostricised or worse.  Along with these storylines is Skeeter's coming-of-age, which is a nice addition to the book, we were all single young women once, with or without a controlling mother so her journey is very relatable.

The relationship between the maids and the white children they love as their own was the most touching to me, including Skeeter, who's own childhood maid disappeared under mysterious circumstances.  These woman absolutely loved these kids, and the kids loved them hard right back.  In some cases the maid was the only parental figure these children had!  In the arms of their maid they would feel loved, cherished and important to someone.  And the stories Abileen tells her young charge are very moving, she is determined to not let the current underlying the waters in Jacksonville tow her precious Baby Girl under. 

"Soon as I walk into her nursery, Mae Mobley smile at me, reach out her fat little arms.
     "You already up, Baby Girl?  Why you didn't holler for me?"
       She laugh, dance a little happy jig waiting on me to get her out.  I give her a good hug.  I reckon she don't get too many good hugs like this after I go home.  Ever so often, I come to work and find her bawling in her crib, Miss Leefolt busy on the sewing machine rolling her eyes like it's a stray cat stuck in the screen door.  See, Miss Leefolt, she dress up nice ever day.  Always got her makeup no, got a carport, double-door Frigidaire with the built-in icebox.  You see her in the Jitney 14 grocery, you never think she go and leave her baby crying in her crib like that.  But the help always know." 

One of my favourite parts of the book is the way that Abilieen talks.  I absolutely hands-down LOOVE it.  Sometimes it made me laugh.  One of her expressions is "Law."  As in "Lord" or "LAWD", but she just says, "Law."  Damn clever, that Kathryn Stockett, if you ask me.

"  I watch her through the window, stomping off toward her house.  Miss Hilly ain't somebody to mess with.  Law, maybe I should a just kept it to myself."

See?

ANYway, a GREAT read and I highly recommend it to ANYONE.  Oh, except for one part that made me slightly cranky.  In a I-can't-believe-she-went-THERE kind of cranky.  It is pretty disgusting, but instead of spoiling it and making your all cranky before you read it, I'll just give a hint for anyone who knows of what I speak, it is the PIE SECTION. 

Too much.

Is all I have to say.

Now that I have read an entire book on my Kindle and I'm no to number 2, I feel like I can say a few things pro and con about the thing. 

PROS:

A)  It's super handy.  I have a great case and lug the thing around, and I don't have to worry about getting my prestine books all scratched or God forbid accidentilly FOLDED on any pages or covers.  Most of my books look brand new, and I am pretty anal about the whole thing.  My house in general looks like a truck stop, but my books?  The Vatican. 

B)  It's light weight and there is ZERO EYE STRAIN.  I mean ZERO.  This was my biggest worry, and I can tell you right now crossing my bloggy heart that you can read this book FOR HOURS and it will not strain your cute little eyes one IOTA.

C)  You can buy a book within 60 seconds.  Okay this is kind of a pro AND a con really.  Depending on which side of the wallet you are sitting on.  For me, a self confessed book-o-holic and serious impulse control dabilitated human, this actually is as HUGE pro.  There have been times where I have literally screeched my tires just before the bookstore closes and run in to buy something.  For my husband, not so much.  CLICK CLICK and I have just purchased a 12 dollar book. 

CONS:

A)  It is not a physical book.  Now I don't mean this in the way I thought I would before owning it.  What I mean is, sometimes I just need to flip thru the book to check something, get sense of what is happening or not happening.  Take the 19th wife, for example, each chapter has a weird name so I was totally confused as to what the hey was going on.  Example:  Chapter 3 or 4 is called, "The 19th Wife: Chapter One"... uh, wha?  And then another chapter is called IV.  The Origins of Love THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF CHAUNCY G. WEBB... and another chapter is a quote from Wikipedia.  So without the physical book in front of me it was a bit tricky to try to "flip" around the sections to get an overall sense of what was going on.

B)  If you need to exit your book for any reason, like to check the table of contents, and you forget to bookmark it, you're hooped.

C)  If you want to find a quote or to find a part like, "Hey, what was that part I read?  What did that mean?"  It is a total pain in the rear to try to find it.

D)  I have no idea what page I'm on, or how many pages I have left to read.  Now granted it tells me what percentage of book I have done, but for my book brain I just can't seem to grasp it.  It is actually more relevant near the end, cuz at the end of The Help I had no idea if I was on my LAST page as it said I was at 99%, and so when I hit "Next Page" and there was nothing, I thought, "Oh, okay that is the end I guess." And had to re-read the last few sentences in a total new frame of mind like, "Okay... the END." 

So all in all, I totally love it. 

For more Teaser Tuesdays click here.

Monday, May 17, 2010

MAILBOX MONDAY

Mailbox Monday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Marcia over at The Printed Page.

This week I went out and bought Geneen Roth's new book.  I have two of her others, plus her CD set "When Food is Love and love is Food".  So I was thrilled when I happened to see a teeny tiny bit of her on Oprah (I'm bummed I missed pretty much the entire interview.)  and saw that she had a new book out. 



Women Food and God:


An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything

The way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive. No matter how sophisticated or wise or enlightened you believe you are, how you eat tells all. The world is on your plate. When you begin to understand what prompts you to use food as a way to numb or distract yourself, the process takes you deeper into realms of spirit and to the bright center of your own life. Rather than getting rid of or instantly changing your conflicted relationship with food, Women Food and God is about welcoming what is already here, and contacting the part of yourself that is already whole—divinity itself.


I'll let you know how it is, but from the beginning it is just what the doctor ordered!  :0)










Saturday, May 15, 2010

Back to work on a film adaptation!

Good morning everyone!  Once again I have been a deliquent blogger.....gack!  I have been very busy working on training my dog for film work, and in the mean time my husband and I are both going to be working on the film adaptation of "The 19th Wife" by David Ebershoff.  We will be shooting for a month sometime in June.  I have no idea who will be in it, but it is a movie for the Lifetime Network. 

 I am beyond excited to finally be working again, and even as I type these words I can hear my two children fighting over what to watch on TV (and since they are 3 and 10 it makes for very interesting and ear splitting arguing) it just makes me even more excited to be with grown-ups for awhile.  I won't be working with animals, I'll be doing my regular thing of 3rd Assistant Directing, which means I'll be co-ordinating the actors work day along with a bunch of other production stuff I have to do.  It has been a looong time since I have been able to work, and my parents have generously offered to move our girls into thier house for the duration of filming (except on weekends when they come home).

The book looks really good, and I may pick it up in the next day or so just to read it for my own interests as I love historical fiction.  And actually, I just found out it is Kindle ready, so I'll just buy it on that!  WOOT! 

The winners of my contest have all contacted me, and my grand prize winner managed to order 6 books with her 50 bucks!!!  Fantastic!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

AND THE WINNER IS...................


The winner of Book Blabs very first ever MEGA GIVEAWAY and the GRAND PRIZE WINNER OF a $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!  (see list below

After many entries and TONS of guesses about the indentity of the Super Secret YA novel, and 13 correct guesses the winner is:





GRAND PRIZE WINNER:
SPAV FROM FICTION KINGDOM!!!

The second place winner may choose one selection from my ARC/book pile and I will ship it to you, and the 2nd place winner is:   

2ND PLACE WINNER:
KATE FROM I just wanna sit here and read!

And the third place winner who also gets to choose a book from the list below is:

3RD PLACE WINNER:
KRISTINE FROM Maidenveil!

CONGRATULATIONS to all of the winners, and thank you SO MUCH to everyone who entered the contest!!!!!!!!!! 

Now... for the BIG REVEAL....... the identity of the SUPER SECRET YA NOVEL IS...........


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------





I thought it might be fun to tell you guys some of the guesses that we had, they were all VERY VERY GOOD!  (These are the GUESSES and NOT the list of books for winners to choose from!)

I found a few in there that I would DEFINATELY pick up!  Especially the first one The Prince of Mist, it is a GEORGOUS looking book with a great premise.

Now, HERE is the list of books I have on offer for all three winners to choose from! 
• Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (SIGNED ARC)

• Saving a Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan
• Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup
• The Sign for Drowning by Rachel Stolzman
• Falling Apart in One Piece by Stacy Morrison (ARC)
• The 13th Hour by Richard Dotsch (ARC)
• Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
 Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninger
• The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory
• A Brief History of the Future by Jacques Attali
• The Fourth Part of the World by Toby Lester (ARC)
• River Thieves by Michael Crummey
• Dewey The Small-Town Library Cat who Touched the world by Vicki Myron
• The Glass Castle by jeannette Walls (hardcover)
  • And a gently used copy of White Cat by Holly Black as well. 
The winners MUST EMAIL ME BY FRIDAY MAY 7TH , 2010 in order to claim your prizes!  You must email me your snail mail addresses, and the SPAV please visit Book Depository.com and select your $50 dollars worth of books, please do not exceed this amount as all of the prizes are coming out of my own pocket, including the White Cat that I will be ordering for you and the shipping of the books from my house.  I can't WAIT to see which ones you have selected!  All winners can contact me at circlebooks@shaw.ca

REVIEW OF WHITE CAT COMING TOMORROW! 

Thanks again to all who entered and followed along for the clues!

Monday, May 3, 2010

MAILBOX MONDAY AND WINNER OF MISTRESS OF ROME CONTEST!


Mailbox Monday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Marcia over at The Printed Page. 

I have not posted a MM in about 4 weeks, so I do have a few to share! 

A HUGE thank you to Paul over at Source Books for review copies of:

(Blurb from Source Books)
Picture the Dead is written by two-time National Book Award finalist Adele Griffin with illustrations throughout by Lisa Brown, who pens an “illustrated, two-panel book review” in the San Francisco Chronicle (she’s also married to Lemony Snickett)! This book has received glowing reviews from Michael Chabon (The Adventures of Cavalier and Klay), Brian Selznick (The Invention of Hugo Cabaret), Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles), and Judy Blundell (National Book Award Winner for Best YA Novel in 2009!)—all New York Times Best Sellers. Set against the backdrop of the Civil War, this richly illustrated paranormal mystery is reminiscent of a Cold Mountain for the Young Adult audience. To find out more, or to read the first chapters, check out the landing page on TeenFire (http://teenfire.ning.com/group/PictureTheDead) or visit www.PictureTheDead.com!


We Hear the Dead is written by Dianne K. Salerni who previously self-published this novel under the title High Spirits. Her efforts in self-publishing proved so successful that shortly after its release, she had sold the book to Sourcebooks and had optioned the movie rights! Roughly 160 years ago, Kate & Maggie Fox started making creepy rapping noises to convince an aunt that their home was haunted—in the hopes that she’d move out. Two years later, after news of their powers spread across the country, the Fox sisters hit New York city—“communing with spirits” in front of sold-out crowds and notable celebrities like Horace Greeley, James Fennimore Cooper and George Bancroft. Told from the first person perspective of each sister, this novel is a peak inside the lives of two of the most famous Spiritualists to ever live. We Hear the Dead reveals the secrets of the Fox sisters’ séances and their struggle to find themselves amid their deceit. For more info, check out the landing page on TeenFire (http://teenfire.ning.com/group/WeHearTheDead) or go to http://www.wehearthedead.com/


 
Thank you so much to TLC Tours for sending me this book!
Meet the Ames Girls: eleven childhood friends who formed a special bond growing up in Ames, Iowa. As young women, they moved to eight different states, yet managed to maintain an enduring friendship that would carry them through college and careers, marriage and motherhood, dating and divorce, a child’s illness and the mysterious death of one member of their group. Capturing their remarkable story, The Girls from Ames is a testament to the deep bonds of women as they experience life’s joys and challenges — and the power of friendship to triumph over heartbreak and unexpected tragedy.




 
 
WINNER OF MISTRESS OF ROME BY KATE QUINN!!!
 
CONGRATULATIONS:  ddufek!  I have emailed the winner and they have until Wednesday May 5th to respond, if they do not then I will be redrawing.  Thank you so much to all  who entered!!! 

Sunday, May 2, 2010

SUNDAY SALON


Wow.  Kay, I don't think I have ever been so neglectful of this blog ever!  So sorry!  But my  new pooch (along with my other pooch, cat AND 2 children AND husband) I really have not a lot of time for blogging or any computer shinanigans.  But I do have something cool to share... it was my  birthday a week ago today AND.......




I GOT A KINDLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat's right.  ME.  A Kindle.  And may I say?  ME LOVEY.  It is AWESOME! 

I had never seen a kindle in the "real" before, so I had little idea what to expect, but I can honestly say that it is exactly as I imagined, and the benefits are amazing in so may unexpected ways.  Don't get me wrong, I STILL LOVE physical books more than life itself, and in fact was given Chapters gift cards for my BD and bought SEVERAL non-fiction books, but the Kindle is just so handy!

For example:  you know when you are lying in bed or on your couch reading a book, and you want to, say, lay on your side?  And you go to hold the book with one hand and it is kind of tricky to keep the book open enough to actually READ the thing?  And then to turn the page you have to grab it with you other hand and.. you get my meaning.  Well, the kindle it is all one handed, you can lay or sit in any position you like and just click with your thumb to turn the page.  Done.  Finito.  I know it's not exactly physically exhausting to do it the other way, but I'm just saying, it's a bonus I hadn't realized before. 

The number one reason I love it is that I am not adding to my morbidly obese pile of books in my house.  I know all of you can relate.  In the last couple of years when I would buy a novel, I almost would feel sick coming home and putting the brand new book on my grossly over stacked shelves.  And let's face it, how many books do I ACTUALLY re-read?  There are about a dozen books that I re-read or plan on re-reading, the other several hundred books I will never ever read or pick up again.  THIS way, when I am done a book and do not want to re-read... DELETE.  The only downside I can see at this point is I can't lend my book to someone.  The book I am reading now is AWESOME and I know several of my family members would love it, but obviously will not be able to pass it on as I often do. 

Now, onto the book I am reading on the kindle as of this moment:


This book is as good as I hoped it would be.  The Kindle does not tell you what page you are on but it tells you what percentage of the book you have completed, so I am 29% through this book. I LOVE it. A MUST read! 


I have a great Mailbox Monday to share, and have to really start buckling down and getting some review reading done as I am WAAAAY behind.  I am having a very tough time getting into Heresy by S.J. Parris, so I put it down a few weeks ago, but will get it read and reviewed.  Wolf Hall I put down quite awhile ago and will pick it up sometime in the future, but it is a personal read so there is no pressure to read it.  I recieved some totally fun YA reads from Source Books which I can't wait to share with you all tomorrow, along with some WICKED giveaways upcoming for those ones!  

My SUPER SECRET YA NOVEL and MEGA GIVEAWAY ends on Tuesday, so don't forget to check back in on May 4th for the BIG REVEAL!  I have just loved reading all of your guesses to the clues, and am just thrilled at how many of you have added to your comments about loving the mystery aspect to the contest!  It has been a total blast doing it!  And I wanted to say a huge

WELCOME

to all of my new followers, and just a word to you that my lack of posting is not common for my blog, and is solely the result of welcoming our poochy and training her.  She is coming along wonderfully, and it has been so much fun learning all of the ways you can get dogs to perform for the camera, and they just LOVE the training sessions! 

ANYway, have a WONDERFUL Sunday, everyone, and HAPPY READING!