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Showing posts from April, 2010

I Wanna...Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

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Boneshaker by Cherie Priest In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born. But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead. Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history. His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, cr

I Wanna...A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

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A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson From Publishers Weekly As the title suggests, bestselling author Bryson (In a Sunburned Country) sets out to put his irrepressible stamp on all things under the sun. As he states at the outset, this is a book about life, the universe and everything, from the Big Bang to the ascendancy of Homo sapiens. "This is a book about how it happened," the author writes. "In particular how we went from there being nothing at all to there being something, and then how a little of that something turned into us, and also what happened in between and since." What follows is a brick of a volume summarizing moments both great and curious in the history of science, covering already well-trod territory in the fields of cosmology, astronomy, paleontology, geology, chemistry, physics and so on. Bryson relies on some of the best material in the history of science to have come out in recent years. This is great for Bryso

REVIEW: New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

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Synopsis In New Moon , Stephenie Meyer delivers another irresistible combination of romance and suspense with a supernatural twist. The "star-crossed" lovers theme continues as Bella and Edward find themselves facing new obstacles, including a devastating separation, the mysterious appearance of dangerous wolves roaming the forest in Forks, a terrifying threat of revenge from a female vampire and a deliciously sinister encounter with Italy's reigning royal family of vampires, the Volturi. Passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns, this vampire love saga captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite. About the Author from Barnes and Noble According to Stephenie Meyer, the idea for her sensational debut novel, Twilight , came to her in a vividly detailed dream in 2003. Over the course of three months, writing at night when her children were in bed, the young Mormon mother of three developed

What's Releasing (04-21-09 edition)

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Books available the week of 4/26/10: Burned (House of Night Series #7) by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast The highly anticipated seventh book in the New York Times and USA Today bestselling House of Night series. The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell Before Carrie Bradshaw hit the big time in the City, she was a regular girl growing up in the suburbs of Connecticut. How did she turn into one of the most-read social observers of our generation? The Carrie Diaries opens up in Carrie's senior year of high school. She and her best friends -- Walt, Lali, Maggie, and the Mouse -- are inseparable, amid the sea of Jens, Jocks and Jets. And then Sebastian Kydd comes into the picture. Sebastian is a bad boy-older, intriguing, and unpredictable. Carrie falls into the relationship that she was always supposed to have in high school-until a friend's betrayal makes her question everything. With her high school days coming to a close, Carrie will realize it's finally time to go after ever

Poetry Sunday (04-18-10 edition)

I was introduced to a portion of this poem in a recent book Best Bet by Laura Pedersen. I googled it to see it in its entirety, and found it to be one of the most beautiful poems I've recently read. The Penguin book of French poetry: 1820-1950: with prose translations by William Rees says of the poet Anna de Noailles: Anna de Noailles was an aristocrat, beautiful and gifted and a central figure in Parisian artistic life, admired and cultivated by Proust, Valery, Rostand, Cocteau and others. She was a woman of strong passions and unapologetic sensuality, expressed concretely in a neo-Romantic and technically orthodox verse that renews from the feminine point of view the century-old themes of love and loss, God in Nature, solitude and the passage of time... There is a pagan intensity in her response to her life and anticipation of death, and her commitment of her entire self to poetry excuses a certain verbosity. I will press myself with such force against life, with an embrace so f

Book Giveaways in Blogworld (04-17-10 edition)

Note: A reminder that you are free to email me about any giveaways that you are having, if you want me to blog them, and I'll be happy to try to post them even if I am not entering them. Just include a link to the giveaway, what you are giving away, how many copies are being given away, and the deadline in order to assure being included. Email me at nfmgirl AT gmail DOT com. Here is a list of some giveaways going on in Blogworld*. Please note that new giveaways that were added this week are indented in Blockquotes: Peeking Between the Pages is giving away 2 copies of The Stolen Crown. Deadline is April 17. US/Canada only. Peeking Between the Pages is giving away her gently read ARC of The Girl Who Chased the Moon. Deadline is April 17. The Review Broads are giving away 3 copies of The Pocket Therapist. Deadline is April 17. US only. In Which a Girl Reads is giving away Willow and Before I Fall to one winner! Deadline is April 17. International! Beth's Book Review Blog is g

Introducing Thursday: New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

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The Twilight Saga: New Moon by Stephenie Meyer I felt like I was trapped in one of those terrifying nightmares, the one where you have to run, run till your lungs burst, but you can't make your body move fast enough. My legs seemed to move slower and slower as I fought my way through the callous crowd, but the hands on the huge clock tower didn't slow. With relentless, uncaring force, they turned inexorably toward the end-- the end of everything.

What's Releasing (04-14-10 edition)

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Books available the week of 4/19/10: Deliver Us From Evil by David Baldacci Evan Waller is a monster. He has built a fortune from his willingness to buy and sell anything . . . and anyone. In search of new opportunities, Waller has just begun a new business venture: one that could lead to millions of deaths all over the globe. On Waller's trail is Shaw, the mysterious operative from The Whole Truth , who must prevent Waller from closing his latest deal. Shaw's one chance to bring him down will come in the most unlikely of places: a serene, bucolic village in Provence. But Waller's depravity and ruthlessness go deeper than Shaw knows. And now, there is someone else pursuing Waller in Provence-Reggie Campion, an agent for a secret vigilante group headquartered in a musty old English estate-and she has an agenda of her own. Hunting the same man and unaware of each other's mission, Shaw and Reggie will be caught in a deadly duel of nerve and wits. Hitchcockian in

REVIEW: Best Bet by Laura Pedersen

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Synopsis Since Hallie's father died and left behind ten children, money at the Palmer household is tighter than ever. And just when Hallie thought she was graduating from college, it turns out she's four credits short. A professor needs one more student for a project that will take her around the world, only longtime boyfriend Craig has another proposition for Hallie. Thus begins Hallie's great odyssey, for the first time she ventures outside the safety of Cosgrove County and the sixty-mile radius in which she's functioned for her entire life. But somehow, escaping home doesn't translate into leaving behind all of her problems, and, unfortunately, not all can be solved by putting her superior gambling skills to work. Eventually, it's time to return home to all the good people who are great at driving each other crazy. Hallie must finally face the biggest decision of her life. Humorous and heartfelt, Best Bet underscores the importance of friends, fa

I Wanna...Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin and Catharine Johnson

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How can we give animals the best life— for them? What does an animal need to be happy? In her groundbreaking, best-selling book Animals in Translation, Temple Grandin drew on her own experience with autism as well as her experience as an animal scientist to deliver extraordinary insights into how animals think, act, and feel. Now she builds on those insights to show us how to give our animals the best and happiest life— on their terms, not ours. Knowing what causes animals physical pain is usually easy, but pinpointing emotional distress is much harder. Drawing on the latest research and her own work, Grandin identifies the core emotional needs of animals and then explains how to fulfill the specific needs of dogs and cats, horses, farm animals, zoo animals, and even wildlife. Whether it’s how to make the healthiest environment for the dog you must leave alone most of the day, how to keep pigs from being bored, or how to know if the lion pacing in the zoo is miserable or just exercisin

What's Releasing (04-07-10 edition)

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Books available the week of 4/12: Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel Fate takes many forms. . . . When Henry receives a letter from an elderly taxidermist, it poses a puzzle that he cannot resist. As he is pulled further into the world of this strange and calculating man, Henry becomes increasingly involved with the lives of a donkey and a howler monkey—named Beatrice and Virgil —and the epic journey they undertake together. With all the spirit and originality that made Life of Pi so beloved, this brilliant new novel takes the reader on a haunting odyssey. On the way Martel asks profound questions about life and art, truth and deception, responsibility and complicity. The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker FBI Special agent Brad Raines is facing his toughest case yet. A Denver serial killer has killed four beautiful young women, leaving a bridal veil at each crime scene, and he's picking up his pace. Unable to crack the case, Raines appeals for help from a most unusual source: resid

Teaser Tuesday (04-06-10 edition)

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading . Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current read Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS ! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Today's Teaser: The stars began to fade in the darkness, to the point where he could no longer look directly at them; only the larger planets held the light. If only he could jump from his bed onto one of those planets where people didn't torment each other. Could there be such a place? -- Hunter by Campbell Jefferys (page 26)

CHALLENGE: Read, Remember, Recommend Fiction Reading Challenge

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In celebration of the April 1st, 2010 release date of the Read, Remember, Recommend reading journal, Bibliobabe is hosting a new reading challenge. Dates: April 1st, 2010 to April 1st, 2011 Details: Check out all the amazing books (thousands!) mentioned in Read, Remember, Recommend and plan your attack. Books do not need to be decided upon in advance. All books must be mentioned in the journal lists. Write a challenge sign-up post on your blog. In that post provide a link to the Read, Remember, Recommend Fiction Reading Challenge post. Please feel free to use the Read, Remember, Recommend Fiction Reading Challenge button in your post. If you do not have a blog, introduce yourself in a comment below. Add your name and the direct link to the sign-up post in the Mister Linky list below . Each time you read and review a book as part of this challenge, share this with other challenge participants by adding a direct link to your book review to the list in a comment at this

My bookcase can kick your bookcase's butt and make it cry...

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I just picked up this bookcase from a neighbor of my mother. She had picked up 8 or 9 of these things at one point, and just didn't have room for this one anymore. No wonder! This thing is HUGE! It's a monster of a bookcase. It stands 95 inches tall. Yep, 95 inches! That's just a hair under 8 feet tall! I will actually need a step ladder to reach the top shelf! When I stand in front of the bookcase, I am eye level with the bottom of the second shelf down-- and I'm about 5'5"! I had planned on probably putting this out in the garage for additional storage. However after getting it home we found that it is too tall for the garage! So today it got moved into the entryway. The only place that it will fit in my house is in the living room, which has vaulted ceilings. This baby should go a long way towards helping me organize my books. I was finally able to start unpacking the books that have been stashed in the garage since I moved in 1 1/2 years ago. And look at th

Poetry Sunday (04-04-10 edition)

TO THE VIRGINS, TO MAKE MUCH OF TIME by Robert Herrick (1591-1674) Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old time is still a-flying: And this same flower that smiles to-day To-morrow will be dying. The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, The higher he's a-getting, The sooner will his race be run, And nearer he's to setting. That age is best which is the first, When youth and blood are warmer; But being spent, the worse, and worst Times still succeed the former. Then be not coy, but use your time, And while ye may go marry: For having lost but once your prime You may for ever tarry.

I Wanna...Almost Meatless by Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond

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We all know that eating less meat is healthier, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly, but how do we cut back without sacrificing flavor or resorting to a carb-heavy diet? For today’s health-, budget-, and eco-conscious omnivores, Almost Meatless offers ingenious ideas for creating delicious, nutritionally balanced meals in which meat is an enhancement rather than the centerpiece. From all-American comfort food to global favorites, you’ll find more than 60 satisfying, easy-to-prepare main dish recipes that go light on the meat... Almost Meatless also presents guidelines for buying poultry, meat, seafood, and other animal products responsibly, to ensure the best quality, flavor, and value. No matter what your reasons are for reducing your meat consumption, you’ll discover versatile cooking solutions that maximize flavor while minimizing your grocery bill.

Introducing...Best Bet by Laura Pedersen

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The good news is that I've had only one roommate this past semester. The bad news is that she plays Enya night and day. At this point, it's questionable what's going to happen first-- graduation from college or drowning myself in the Orinoco Flow. -- Best Bet by Laura Pedersen

REVIEW: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

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Synopsis About three things I was absolutely positive: First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him–and I didn’t know how dominant that part might be–that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him. Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Isabella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Isabella, the person Edward holds most dear. The lovers find themselves balanced precariously on the point of a knife -- between desire and danger. Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite. About the Author Bio