justin bieber

I guess I'm a little late jumping (or "falling") into this reading challenge, which means I won't be eligible for the prizes being awarded at the end of the challenge. However I need a little focus for my reading, so I am joining in anyway. This is one of my favorite challenges after all! This challenge runs from September 22 through December 20, 2010. There are no rules regarding how many books you have to read, or any such thing. It's simply a time to enjoy some reading! So here is my list of books. I don't really expect to get through all of these books (I've said before what a slow reader I am), but it will help me to stay focused on what I need to read the remainder of this year. The dates in parentheses are the dates by which I want to review the books: Queen's Pawn by Christy English, 400 pages (October 15, 2010) Falling Home by Karen White, 352 pages  (November 15, 2010) Vixen by Jillian Larkin, 421 pages (November 30, 2010)  Purgatory Inn by...

Sarah Johnson of Historical Novels Review will be stopping over by literary publicist Stephanie Barko's blog on Monday, October 4 to do a guest blog post addressing how she selects titles for review. Stephanie says, " The post will be especially useful for writers who are trying to figure out what it takes to get reviewed and for historical fiction writers and readers." Sarah will be inviting visitors to comment on what they look for in historical fiction, and a winning commenter will be randomly selected from those who respond to her question by midnight PDT, and will win a signed copy of John Pipkin's award-winning historical Woodsburner (Random House). Set against the backdrop of a devastating forest fire that Henry David Thoreau accidentally set in 1844, John Pipkin's novel brilliantly illuminates the mind of the young philosopher at a formative moment in his life and in the life of the young nation. The Thoreau of Woodsburner is a lost soul, resigned t...

Books that are releasing the week of 10/5/10: Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld The behemoth is the fiercest creature in the British navy. It can swallow enemy battleships with one bite. The Darwinists will need it, now that they are at war with the Clanker powers. Deryn is a girl posing as a boy in the British Air Service, and Alek is the heir to an empire posing as a commoner. Finally together aboard the airship Leviathan, they hope to bring the war to a halt. But when disaster strikes the Leviathan's peacekeeping mission, they find themselves alone and hunted in enemy territory. Alek and Deryn will need great skill, new allies, and brave hearts to face what's ahead. Also available this week: The Reversal (Harry Bosch Series #16 and Mickey Haller Series #3) by Michael Connelly Crave (Fallen Angel's Series #2) by J.R. Ward Promise Me by Richard Evans Sugar and Spice (L.A. Candy Series #3) by Lauren Conrad Styx's Storm (Breed Series) by Lora Leigh Thirst No. 3: The Etern...

Synopsis On a moonless Texas night in 1895, an ambitious young landowner suffers the loss of “the only woman he’s ever been fond of” when his wife dies during childbirth with the couple’s fourth boy, Karel. From an early age Karel proves so talented on horseback that his father enlists him to ride in acreage-staked horseraces against his neighbors. But Karel is forever haunted by thoughts of the mother he never knew, by the bloodshot blame in his father’s eyes, and permanently marked by the yoke he and his brothers are forced to wear to plow the family fields. Confident only in the saddle, Karel is certain that the horse “wants the whip the same way he wants his pop’s strap . . . the closest he ever gets to his father’s touch.” In the winter of 1910, Karel rides in the ultimate high-stakes race against a powerful Spanish patriarch and his alluring daughters. Hanging in the balance are his father’s fortune, his brother’s futures, and his own fate. Fourteen years later, with the stake of...

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: Once Upon a Review is having a MEGA birthday giveaway! Deadline is September 25. International! Bookin' with Bingo is giving away 3 copies of Gilded Lily. Deadline is September 25. US only. Finding My Muse is giving away The Disappearance. Deadline is September 25. International! Looksie Lovitz Books is giving away an ARC of The Scorch Trials. Deadline is September 25. US only. A Hen's Nest is part of the Smart Chicks Kick It Tour. Deadline is September 25...

Books that are releasing the week of 9/28/10: Torment by Lauren Kate Hell on earth. That’s what it’s like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel. It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts—immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans. At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn’t told her everything. He’s hiding something—something dangerous. What if Daniel’s version of the past isn’t actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else? The second novel in the addictive FALLEN series . . . where love never dies. Fall of Giants by Ken Follett Ken Follett's World Without End was a glob...

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: Paperback Dolls is giving away a copy of Dust. Deadline is September 18. US only. Bookin' with Bingo is giving away 2 copies of Last Night at Chateau Marmont. Deadline is September 18. US only. Ellz Readz is giving away $120 to CSN Stores. Deadline is September 18. US/Canada only. Jo-Jo Loves to Read is giving away Oogy. Deadline is September 18. US/Canada only. Bookin' with Bingo is giving away a copy of Edge of Winter. Deadline is September 18. US only. A...

In the Land of Cotton by Martha A. Taylor SLAVERY IS MORE THAN CHAINS AND SHACKLES SLAVERY IS A STATE OF MIND Immerse yourself in this highly anticipated political docu-drama set in the Deep South amidst the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement. Martha was a young white girl living in the Deep South, inundated with the racist sentiments of the times. But Martha's natural curiosity and generous heart led her to question this racial divide. When she discovered a primitive Negro family living deep in the woods near her house, everyone's life changed forever. Take the journey of a lifetime alongside Martha as she forges relationships that lead to self discovery and a clearer understanding of the world around her. In the Land of Cotton provides an outstanding snapshot of life in the South during those troubled times - a snapshot everyone should take a close look at, regardless of era or color. The year was 1956.

Image licensed from bigstockphoto.com Copyright stands Mailbox Monday is brought to us by The Printed Page . Here are just some of the books I've received over the last few weeks: Follow Me by Joanna Scott Won from Readaholic On a summer day in 1946 Sally Werner, the precocious young daughter of hardscrabble Pennsylvania farmers, secretly accepts her cousin's invitation to ride his new motorcycle. Like so much of what follows in Sally's life, it's an impulsive decision with dramatic and far-reaching consequences. Soon she abandons her home to begin a daring journey of self-creation, the truth of which she entrusts only with her granddaughter and namesake, six decades later. But when young Sally's father--a man she has never known--enters her life and offers another story altogether, she must uncover the truth of her grandmother's secret history. Boldly rendered and beautifully told, in FOLLOW ME Joanna Scott has crafted a paean to the American t...

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher Incarceron is a prison unlike any other: Its inmates live not only in cells, but also in metal forests, dilapidated cities, and unbounded wilderness. The prison has been sealed for centuries, and only one man, legend says, has ever escaped. Finn, a seventeen-year-old prisoner, can’t remember his childhood and believes he came from Outside Incarceron. He’s going to escape, even though most inmates don’t believe that Outside even exists. And then Finn finds a crystal key and through it, a girl named Claudia. Claudia claims to live Outside—her father is the Warden of Incarceron and she’s doomed to an arranged marriage. If she helps Finn escape, she will need his help in return. But they don’t realize that there is more to Incarceron than meets the eye. Escape will take their greatest courage and cost far more than they know. Because Incarceron is alive.

If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska by Heather Lende Tiny Haines, Alaska, is ninety miles north of Juneau, accessible mainly by water or air—and only when the weather is good. There’s no traffic light and no mail delivery; people can vanish without a trace, and funerals are community affairs. Heather Lende posts both the obituaries and the social column for the local newspaper. If anyone knows the goings-on in this close-knit town—from births to weddings to funerals—she does. Whether contemplating the mysterious death of eccentric Speedy Joe, who never took off his hat—not even for a haircut; researching the details of a one-legged lady gold miner’s adventurous life; observing the Chilkat Bald Eagle Festival; or ice skating in the shadow of glacier-studded mountains, Lende’s warm, folksy style brings us inside her busy life.We meet her husband, Chip, who owns the local lumber yard, their five children, and a colorful assortment of friends and neighbo...

Introducing a book through its first chapter or so... My mother died the day I was born. I now know that this was in no way unusual, but for the first years of my life, I felt quite singled out by the hand of God. She was a great loss to me, my first loss, though I never knew her. My nurse often told me that I have her bright eyes. -- The Queen's Pawn by Christy English

Well, the Summer Break Reading Challenge hosted by KarinLibrarian has ended. Surprise, surprise! I actually satisfied my goal to read 4 books! The Good Son by Michael Gruber (I just started reading this one) Rooms by James L. Rubart The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell Under a Million Shadows by Andrea Busfield Thanks for the challenge!

Synopsis A moving tale of the triumph of the human spirit amidst heartbreaking tragedy, told through the eyes of a charming, impish, and wickedly observant Afghan boy The Taliban have withdrawn from Kabul’s streets, but the long shadows of their regime remain. In his short life, eleven-year-old Fawad has known more grief than most: his father and brother have been killed, his sister has been abducted, and Fawad and his mother, Mariya, must rely on the charity of parsimonious relatives to eke out a hand-to-mouth existence. Ever the optimist, Fawad hopes for a better life, and his dream is realized when Mariya finds a position as a housekeeper for a charismatic Western woman, Georgie, and her two foreign friends. The world of aid workers and journalists is a new one for Fawad, and living with the trio offers endless curiosities—including Georgie’s destructive relationship with the powerful Afghan warlord Haji Khan, whose exploits are legendary. Fawad grows resentful and wor...

Available the week of 9/7/10: No Mercy by Sherrilyn Kenyon In New Orleans, immortal Amazon warrior Samia is about to learn that there’s a worse evil coming to slaughter mankind than she’s ever faced before. Ape House by Sara Gruen Sam, Bonzi, Lola, Mbongo, Jelani, and Makena are no ordinary apes. These bonobos, like others of their species, are capable of reason and carrying on deep relationships—but unlike most bonobos, they also know American Sign Language. Isabel Duncan, a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, doesn’t understand people, but animals she gets—especially the bonobos. Isabel feels more comfortable in their world than she’s ever felt among humans . . . until she meets John Thigpen, a very married reporter who braves the ever-present animal rights protesters outside the lab to see what’s really going on inside. When an explosion rocks the lab, severely injuring Isabel and “liberating” the apes, John’s human interest piece turns into the story of a lifeti...