Posts

Showing posts from February, 2011

Mailbox Monday (2/28/11 edition)

Image
Image licensed from bigstockphoto.com Copyright stands Mailbox Monday is brought to us by The Printed Page .   Here is what I received this week: The Eternal Ones by Kristen Miller Won from Between the Covers Haven Moore canÕt control her visions of a past with a boy called Ethan and a life in New York that ended in fiery tragedy. In our present, she designs beautiful dresses for her classmates with her best friend Beau. Dressmaking keeps her sane, since she lives with her widowed and heartbroken mother in her tyrannical grandmotherÕs house in Snope City, a tiny town in Tennessee. Then an impossible group of coincidences conspire to force her to flee to New York, to discover who she is, and who she was. In New York, Haven meets Iain Morrow and is swept into an epic love affair that feels both deeply fated and terribly dangerous. Iain is suspected of murdering a rock star and Haven wonders, could he have murdered her in a past life? She visits the Ouroboros Society and disc

GIVEAWAY (Secondhand Sunday): Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure and Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country by Allan Richard Shickman

Image
After amassing a large number of books, I have decided that it is time to clean the shelves. In my attempt to do so, I am passing on some books that I've previously read, so that someone else may enjoy them. The following books have been gently read: Genre/Age Range: Adventure/Young Adult Zan-Gah, seeking his lost twin brother in a savage prehistoric world, encounters adventure, suffering, conflict, captivity, and final victory. In three years hero passes from an uncertain boyhood to a tried and proven manhood and a position of leadership among his people. Themes include survival, brotherhood, cultures, gender roles, psychological trauma, and nature's wonders and terrors. This is the electronic version of Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure, which has been awarded Mom's Choice Gold Medal for Series, the Eric Hoffer Notable Book Award, and was a finalist for ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year. The prehistoric saga continues as Zan-Gah and his disturbed twin brother, Da

Book Giveaways in Blogworld (02-26-11 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: The Babbling Bookworm is giving away a signed copy of Matched and a signed Breathless tour poster. Deadline is March 1. Book is US only, poster is International! Chrissy's World of Books is giving away $40 worth of books from The Book Depository. Deadline is March 1. International! The Bookish Type is having a big blogovers

I Wanna...Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

Image
In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn't want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.

Introducing...Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

Image
Introducing books through the first paragraph or so... The story goes that even after the Return they tried to keep the roller coasters going. They said it reminded them of the before time. When they didn't have to worry about people rising from the dead, when they didn't have to build fences and walls and barriers to protect themselves from the masses of Mudo constantly seeking human flesh. When the living weren't forever hunted. They said it made them feel normal. -- The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

REVIEW: Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

Image
Synopsis The classic apocalyptic novel that stunned the world. About the Author from HarperCollins Publishers "Pat Frank" was the lifelong nickname adopted by the American writer, newspaperman, and government consultant, who was born Harry Hart Frank (1908-1964), and who is remembered today almost exclusively for his post-apocalyptic novel Alas, Babylon . Before the publication of his first novel Mr. Adam launched his second career as novelist and independent writer, Frank spent many years as a journalist and information handler for several newspapers, agencies, and government bureaus. His fiction and nonfiction books, stories, and articles made good use of his years of experience observing government and military bureaucracy and its malfunctions, and the threat of nuclear proliferation and annihilation. After the success of Alas, Babylon , Frank concentrated on writing for magazines and journals, putting his beliefs and concerns to political use, and advising va

What's Releasing? (2/23/11 edition)

Image
Available for release the week of February 28th: Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult Every life has a soundtrack. All you have to do is listen. Music has set the tone for most of Zoe Baxter’s life. There’s the melody that reminds her of the summer she spent rubbing baby oil on her stomach in pursuit of the perfect tan. A dance beat that makes her think of using a fake ID to slip into a nightclub. A dirge that marked the years she spent trying to get pregnant.  For better or for worse, music is the language of memory. It is also the language of love. In the aftermath of a series of personal tragedies, Zoe throws herself into her career as a music therapist. When an unexpected friendship slowly blossoms into love, she makes plans for a new life, but to her shock and inevitable rage, some people—even those she loves and trusts most—don’t want that to happen.  Sing You Home is about identity, love, marriage, and parenthood. It’s about people wanting to do the right thing for the gr

Mailbox Monday (2/21/11 edition)

Image
Image licensed from bigstockphoto.com Copyright stands Mailbox Monday is brought to us by The Printed Page .   Here are some of  the books I've received in the last few weeks: The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards Won from BookTrib The highly anticipated new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter   With revelations that prove as captivating as the deceptions at the heart of her bestselling phenomenon The Memory Keeper's Daughter , Kim Edwards now gives us the story of a woman's homecoming, a family secret, and the old house that holds the key to the true legacy of a family.  At a crossroads in her life, Lucy Jarrett returns home from Japan, only to find herself haunted by her father's unresolved death a decade ago. Old longings stirred up by Keegan Fall, a local glass artist who was once her passionate first love, lead her into the unexpected. Late one night, as she paces the hallways of her family's rambling la

I Wanna...Matched by Ally Condie

Image
Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow. -- Matched by Ally Condie

REVIEW: Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan (audiobook)

Image
Synopsis Uwem Akpan's stunning stories humanize the perils of poverty and violence so piercingly that few readers will feel they've ever encountered Africa so immediately. The eight-year-old narrator of "An Ex-Mas Feast" needs only enough money to buy books and pay fees in order to attend school. Even when his twelve-year-old sister takes to the streets to raise these meager funds, his dream can't be granted. Food comes first. His family lives in a street shanty in Nairobi, Kenya, but their way of both loving and taking advantage of each other strikes a universal chord.  In the second of his stories published in a New Yorker special fiction issue, Akpan takes us far beyond what we thought we knew about the tribal conflict in Rwanda. The story is told by a young girl, who, with her little brother, witnesses the worst possible scenario between parents. They are asked to do the previously unimaginable in order to protect their children. This singular co

REVIEW: Cheap Cabernet by Cathie Beck

Image
Synopsis I didn’t know that people come into our lives, and sometimes, if we’ re terribly lucky, we get the chance to love them, that sometimes they stay, that sometimes you can, truly, depend on them. Cathie Beck was in her late thirties and finally able to exhale after a lifetime of just trying to get by. A teenage mother harboring vivid memories of her own hardscrabble childhood, Cathie had spent years doing whatever it took to give her children the stability— or at least the illusion of it— that she’ d never had. More than that, through sheer will and determination, she had educated them and herself too. With her kids in college, Cathie was at last ready to have some fun. The only problem was that she had no idea how to do it and no friends to do it with. So she put an ad in the paper for a made-up women's group: WOW . . . Women on the Way . Eight women showed up that first night, and out of that group a friendship formed, one of those meteoric, passionate, stand-

What's Releasing? (2/16/11 edition)

Books available the week of 2/22/11: Pale Demon (Rachel Morgan Series #9) by Kim Harrison Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child This Side of the Grave: A Night Huntress Novel by Jeaniene Frost Darkest Mercy (Wicked Lovely Series #5) by Melissa Marr Flirt (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series #18) by Laurell K. Hamilton How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper When the Killing's Done by T. C. Boyle Kiss Me, Kill Me (Lucy Kincaid Series #2) by Allison Brennan The Silent Sea (Oregon Files Series #7) by Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul Deep Shadow (Doc Ford Series #17) by Randy Wayne White The Killing Edge by Heather Graham Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy Series #5) by Richelle Mead

Maggie Stiefvater reads from FOREVER

Image
Unfortunately I haven't been able to read either Shiver nor Linger by Maggie Stiefvater, but both sit on my shelf waiting patiently for my attention. From all of the good things that I've heard, I have little doubt that it will be well worth the wait, and that this book will be a great conclusion to the series. So for those of you who have been lucky enough to have fallen in love with the series, here is a video excerpt from Forever, read by author Maggie Stiefvater...

WINNERS: Follower Love Giveaway Hop

Image
Well, the hop has ended, and the winners have been drawn! The winner of the Book Depository giveaway ($15 limit) is... Shahira The winner of the Lifetime LibraryThing membership is... Stacy (Urban Fantasy Investigations) I will be emailing both of you later, or if you see this first you are welcome to email me. I'll need some things from Shahira (delivery address, book choice), and I'll be emailing Stacy the code for her free membership. Thanks so much to everyone who joined in. Thanks to Kathy at I Am a Reader, Not a Writer for the hop! Keep your eyes open for future giveaways!

I Wanna...Precious by Sandra Novack

Image
It happens on a hot summer evening, while children with peeling sunburns roam the streets playing tag and cicadas hum in the trees. Sissy’s ex-best friend goes missing while riding her bike in the park, and it casts a shadow on her family, who are already struggling to maintain a sense of normalcy. For nine-year-old Sissy, whose mother is not there when she’s needed, whose father is angry, and whose older sister is focused on seducing her high school teacher, desperate secrets seem to underlie everything. As the summer grows hotter and the missing girl is never found, the sense of foreboding builds toward one violent night when everything will change forever for Sissy’s family.

What's Releasing? (2/9/11 edition)

Image
Books being released the week of 2/14/11: In the seventh book in the bestselling series, evil scientists are still trying to convince Max that she needs to save the world, this time by providing the genetic link in speeding up the pace of evolution. Worse, they're trying to convince her that her perfect mate is Dylan, the newest addition to the flock. The problem is that, despite herself, Max is starting to believe it.  Fang travels the country collecting his own gang of evolved humans, but the two separate flocks must unite to defeat a frightening doomsday cult whose motto is Save the Planet: Kill the Humans. And this time, the true heroine, for once, might just be little Angel. The world knows Madame Tussaud as a wax artist extraordinaire . . . but who was this woman who became one of the most famous sculptresses of all time? In these pages, her tumultuous and amazing story comes to life as only Michelle Moran can tell it. The year is 1788, and a revolution is about t

GIVEAWAY: Follower Love Giveaway Hop

Image
This hop was organized by Kathy at I Am a Reader, Not a Writer . Over 200 participating blogs are offering a book related giveaway, and we are all linked up together so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another.  The hop runs from Tuesday, February 8th through Sunday, February 13th. I have 2 great giveaways for you today. There will be 2 winners. GIVEAWAY #1 : Win a book of your choice from The Book Depository (up to a $15 value)! If you should win, you will give me your book selection and mailing address, and I will have the book delivered to you. Please check here to verify that they deliver to your country. GIVEAWAY #2 : Win a LibraryThing lifetime membership ($25 value). If you are unfamiliar with them, here is a little info (from their website): LibraryThing is an online service to help people catalog their books easily. You can access your catalog from anywhere—even on your mobile phone. Because everyone catalogs together, LibraryThing also connects people with the s