Library Loot - September - Week 3

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire @ The Captive Reader and Marg @ Reading Adventures that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Review of: Motherhood is Murder by Diana Orgain

Nights out are hard to come by for new mommy Kate Connelly. So when Kate and her husband are invited to a dinner cruise hosted by her new mommy club, Roo & You, they jump at it. But when the president of the club takes a deadly spill, everyone becomes suspect-and Kate's on deck to solve the mystery. 

Review of: Dead Head by Rosemary Harris

Fugitive Mom. That’s the tabloid headline that rocks Springfield, Connecticut when one of the town’s favorite ladies is discovered to be an escaped convict. With a little help from the always game Lucy Cavanaugh, Paula is hired to find out which of her neighbors is a fugitive from the law and why the long-kept secret has finally come out.

Library Loot - September - Week 2

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire @ The Captive Reader and Marg @ Reading Adventures that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Review of: The Big Dirt Nap by Rosemary Harris

Something stinks to Paula Holliday, and it isn't just the corpse flower, titan arum, named for its off-putting fragrance. When Paula's friend Lucy asks her to tag along on an all-expense-paid junket to the Titans Hotel, it seems like a good idea. Paula even manages to squeeze a few bucks and a byline out of the local paper for writing an article on the titan arum, a rare flower that's just about to bloom and on display at the hotel. But when her friend is unavoidably detained, a would-be suitor is found with a gaping hole in his head, and the corpse flower refuses to bloom, the entire venture starts to seem less like a good idea.

Review of: Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris

Meet Paula Holliday, a transplanted media exec who trades her stilettos for garden clogs when she makes the move from the big city to the suburbs to start a gardening business. Paula can handle deer, slugs, and the occasional human pest---but she’s not prepared for the mummified body she finds while restoring the gardens at Halcyon, a local landmark.


Casual snooping turns serious when a body is impaled on a garden tool and one of Paula’s friends is arrested for the crime.


Aided by the still-hot aging rocker who owns the neighborhood greasy spoon, a wise-cracking former colleague, and a sexy Mexican laborer with a few secrets of his own, Paula digs for the truth and unearths more dirty business the town has kept buried for years.

It's Monday! What are you Reading? {September 6, 2010}

"It's Monday! What Are You Reading?"  is hosted by Shelia over at Book Journey.

What I have finished this week

"Something stinks to Paula Holliday, and it isn't just the corpse flower, titan arum, named for its off-putting fragrance. When Paula's friend Lucy asks her to tag along on an all-expense-paid junket to the Titans Hotel, it seems like a good idea. Paula even manages to squeeze a few bucks and a byline out of the local paper for writing an article on the titan arum, a rare flower that's just about to bloom and on display at the hotel." But when her friend is unavoidably detained, a would-be suitor is found with a gaping hole in his head, and the corpse flower refuses to bloom, the entire venture starts to seem less like a good idea.

Fugitive Mom. That’s the tabloid headline that rocks Springfield, Connecticut when one of the town’s favorite ladies is discovered to be an escaped convict. With a little help from the always game Lucy Cavanaugh, Paula is hired to find out which of her neighbors is a fugitive from the law and why the long-kept secret has finally come out.



Nights out are hard to come by for new mommy Kate Connelly. So when Kate and her husband are invited to a dinner cruise hosted by her new mommy club, Roo & You, they jump at it. But when the president of the club takes a deadly spill, everyone becomes suspect-and Kate's on deck to solve the mystery. 

What I am reading now

Nothing. I'm writing this in between book.

What's next?

I have no idea! :/

So what are you reading? [Comment below!]

R.I.P. Challenge V

From the host blog, Stainless Steel Droppings:

Though the weather outside ain’t frightful, this type of reading makes September and October delightful. I know that as I have gathered together books for this, the fifth annual R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge, I have felt that chill up my spine and an anticipation that was hard to put on hold until now.

There are two simple goals for the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril V Challenge:

1. Have fun reading.
2. Share that fun with others.

As I do each and every year, there are multiple levels of participation that allow you to be a part of R.I.P. Vwithout adding the burden of another commitment to your already busy lives. There is even a one book only option for those who feel that this sort of reading is not their cup of tea but want to participate all the same.

R.I.P. V officially runs from September 1st through October 31st. But lets go ahead and break the rules. Lets start today!!! 

I'm only going to join up at the level that requires me to read two books. I'm overlapping so many challenges right now, I want to at least have a shot at completing this challenge. =)

1. 
   

The Banned Books Reading Challenge 2010

From http://litbites.blogspot.com.

I will admit it. There are some things that I'd really love to ban (ie my 4yo busting on me in the bathroom!). But banning books!? No, thank you. So to show my disdain for censorship, I'm joining this challenge.

From the host blog, Steph Su Reads 

Goals of This Challenge:

• To bring attention to books that have been challenged or banned
• To support authors whose freedom of expression have been questioned or challenged by buying and reading their books
• To increase awareness of censorship

The best way to fight censorship is to do what these challengers rarely do, and that is to READ the books that have been challenged and educate ourselves on their content and impact on our society!


Guidelines:

• The challenge will run from September 1, 2010 to October 15, 2010.
  
• The challenge is open to any reader with an online blogging platform who'd like to participate.
• I personally will devote my attention towards mostly YA literature challenged within the last decade, but you are welcome to any books of your choosing, from challenged picture books (there are a lot of them) to frequently banned classics.
• I will make it my goal to read at least 7 challenged or banned books (one for each day of Banned Books Week), but you are welcome to read less or more. 

So I've looked at some of the lists that Steph Su links to in her sign-up post and here is my plan.

Read these to/with Reaghan

• Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola (he is from right here in Meriden, CT)
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (it was a favorite of mine growing up)

Read these myself

• The Outsiders by SE Hinton (this will be my 7th or 8th reread)
• The Terrorist by Caroline B Cooney (another CT author and an author I've read before, but not this book)
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Wrap-Up for August 2010

photo credit: http://newvoicesforresearch.blogspot.com/

Since I find myself borrowing more and more books from the library for Reaghan (my 4yo daughter) my wrap-up posts are now going to be broken down into 2 sections. Books I read/listened to myself and those that I read to or listened to with Reaghan. If I have already written and posted the review I will link the title to that review. =)

I have also added my Monthly and YTD (Year To Date) stats at the bottom of the post.

It's Monday! What are you Reading? {August 30, 2010}

"It's Monday! What Are You Reading?"  is hosted by Shelia over at Book Journey.

What I have finished this week

Meet Paula Holliday, a transplanted media exec who trades her stilettos for garden clogs when she makes the move from the big city to the suburbs to start a gardening business. Paula can handle deer, slugs, and the occasional human pest---but she’s not prepared for the mummified body she finds while restoring the gardens at Halcyon, a local landmark.

Casual snooping turns serious when a body is impaled on a garden tool and one of Paula’s friends is arrested for the crime.
Aided by the still-hot aging rocker who owns the neighborhood greasy spoon, a wise-cracking former colleague, and a sexy Mexican laborer with a few secrets of his own, Paula digs for the truth and unearths more dirty business the town has kept buried for years.

What I am reading now

"Something stinks to Paula Holliday, and it isn't just the corpse flower, titan arum, named for its off-putting fragrance. When Paula's friend Lucy asks her to tag along on an all-expense-paid junket to the Titans Hotel, it seems like a good idea. Paula even manages to squeeze a few bucks and a byline out of the local paper for writing an article on the titan arum, a rare flower that's just about to bloom and on display at the hotel." But when her friend is unavoidably detained, a would-be suitor is found with a gaping hole in his head, and the corpse flower refuses to bloom, the entire venture starts to seem less like a good idea.

What's next?

Fugitive Mom. That’s the tabloid headline that rocks Springfield, Connecticut when one of the town’s favorite ladies is discovered to be an escaped convict. With a little help from the always game Lucy Cavanaugh, Paula is hired to find out which of her neighbors is a fugitive from the law and why the long-kept secret has finally come out.

So what are you reading? [Comment below!]

"It's Monday! What Are You Reading?"  is hosted by Shelia over at Book Journey.

Middle-Grade Book Challenge (failed)

Linda Ellen (aka Bambi) has moved her blog. http://betterwithbooks.blogspot.com/

While I technically have until the end of the month to complete this challenge, I already have the rest of the month planned out and there are no MG books on the immediate horizon. So I am conceding defeat.

I only managed to read 5 Middle-Grade books since the start of this challenge. Here is my list and links to reviews of the ones I posted reviews for (3 out of the 5).

1. The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall {borrowed from the library - my review}
2. Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery {borrowed from the library}
3. The Magic Warble by Victoria Simcox {received from the author - my review}
   
4. Anne of Avonlea by LM Montgomery {borrowed from the library - my review}
5. The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall  {borrowed from the library}

It's Monday! What are you reading? {August 9, 2010}

"It's Monday! What Are You Reading?"  is hosted by Shelia over at Book Journey.

Top 5 Male (book) Crushes

{photo credit: istockphoto.com}

Earlier today I read this post by Bobbie @ 'Til We Read Again. So I started thinking about who would be in my top 5. I don't know if I could rank them, like Bobbie did, so mine are in no particular order.

• Garion {Wiki} from David Eddings' The Belgariad and The Malloreon series'.
• Norman Rhodes {Wiki} from Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swenson Mysteries series.
• Keirnan Fitzgerald from Loucinda McGary's The Treasures of Venice.
• Dale "Barbie" Barbara {Wiki} from Stephen King's Under the Dome.
• #1 This one I can rank! Ron Weasley {Wiki} from JK Rowling's Harry Potter series.

Who makes your list?

Also I have changed the look of my blog. Come check it out and let me know what you think!

Library Loot #10 (w00t! double digits!)

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire @ The Captive Reader and Marg @ Reading Adventures that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Review of: Blue Nude by Elizabeth Rosner

Once a prominent painter, Danzig now shares his wisdom and technique with students at San Francisco's Art Institute—yet his own canvases remain empty. When he meets Israeli-born Merav, the beautiful new model for his class, he senses she may reignite his artistic passion. Merav moved to California to escape the danger and violence of the Middle East, yet she cannot outrun her fears about the past. As the characters challenge one another, Rosner lyrically uncovers their disparate upbringings, their creative awakenings, and their similarly painful, often catastrophic, love lives to propel them toward reconciliation, redemption, and ultimately revival.

Review of: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon--when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach--an "outlander"--in a Scotland torn by war and raiding Highland clans in the year of Our Lord...1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into intrigues and dangers that may threaten her life...and shatter her heart. For here she meets James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, and becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire...and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

Wrap-Up for July 2010

photo credit: i love typography

Since I find myself borrowing more and more books from the library for Reaghan (my 4yo daughter) my wrap-up posts are now going to be broken down into 2 sections. Books I read/listened to myself and those that I read to or listened to with Reaghan. If I have already written and posted the review I will link the title to that review. =)

I have also added my Monthly and YTD (Year To Date) stats at the bottom of the post.

It's Monday! What are you reading? {August 2, 2010}

What are you reading Monday  is hosted by Shelia over at Book Journey.

To Kill a Mockingbird Challenge

(from the host blog: Hope is the Word) In honor of the 50th anniversary of the publication of one of my favorite novels of all time, I am hosting the To Kill a Mockingbird reading challenge here at Hope Is the Word during the month of August.  I am super excited about this endeavor because I believe the last time I read this novel was when I taught it during my short-lived career as a high school teacher.  I am even more excited about the prospect of enticing those who have never read this wonderful story to do it this year! 

I plan to listen to the audiobook version. I have read the book about 6 times and seen the movie another 3, maybe 4 times.

If I can find the movie, my favorite video store chain recently closed all but 1 or 2 of its stores in the state, I will also watch the movie, gladly, again. {Gregory Peck in TKM... totally swoon-worthy.}

Read-Aloud Thursday #2 1/2

Hope Is the Word is the home of Read Aloud Thursday, which is a weekly meme in which bloggers share their families’ read-alouds of the week.

Reaghan and I have been reading aloud since my last of these posts back in March. We have not been reading aloud together this week however. I developed an infection in my jaw/cheek/under my chin. I had to have a tooth pulled yesterday and the infection is in the process of resolving (fingers crossed). As I write this I have only been on the antibiotic for just over 12 hours. So next week, or the week after at the latest, you will be seeing "Read-Aloud Thursday #3 on my blog.

Library Loot #9

Library Loot is a weekly event hosted by Marg @ Reading Adventures that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Review of: Dead as a Doornail (sookie Stackhouse, Book 5) by Charlaine Harris

 "Sookie Stackhouse is a cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She's pretty and well-mannered and has only a few close friends - which isn't surprising, since not many people can appreciate Sookie's abilities as a mind reader. It's not a quality that has the guys beating down her door - unless they're vampires, werewolves, or other supernatural beings. And now some of them aren't just friendly - they're family." "When Sookie sees her brother Jason's eyes start to change, she knows he's about to turn into a werepanther for the first time - a transformation he embraces more readily than most shapeshifters she's known. But her concern for her brother becomes cold fear when a sniper sets his deadly sights on the local changeling population - and Jason's new panther brethren suspect he may be the shooter." Now, Sookie has until the next full moon to find out who's behind the attacks - unless the killer decides to find her first.

Review of: Club Dead (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 3) by Charlaine Harris

 Things between cocktail waitress Sookie and her vampire boyfriend Bill seem to be going excellently (apart from the small matter of him being undead) until he leaves town for a while. A long while. Bill's sinister boss Eric has an idea of where to find him, whisking her off to Jackson, Mississippi to mingle with the under-underworld at Club Dead. When she finally catches up with the errant vampire, he is in big trouble and caught in an act of serious betrayal. This raises serious doubts as to whether she should save him or start sharpening a few stakes of her own ...

Wrap up for March 2010

Since I find myself borrowing more and more books from the library for Reaghan (my 3yo daughter) my wrap-up posts are now going to be broken down into 2 sections. Books I read/listened to myself and those that I read to or listened to with Reaghan. If I have already written and posted the review I will link the title to that review. =)

I have also added my Monthly and YTD (Year To Date) stats at the bottom of the post.

Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1) by Charlaine Harris

Sookie Stackhouse is a cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana, but she keeps to herself and doesn't date much because of her "disability" to read minds. When she meets Bill, Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's the type of guy she's waited for all of her life, but he has a disability, too--he's a vampire with a bad reputation. When one of Sookie's coworkers is killed, she fears she's next.

Review of: Marked (House of Night, Book 1)

The House of Night series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampyres have always existed. In this first book in the series, Zoey enters the House of Night, a school where, after having undergone the Change, she will train to become an adult vampire--that is, if she makes it through the Change. Not all of those who are chosen do. It’s tough to begin a new life, away from her parents and friends, and on top of that, Zoey finds she is no average fledgling. She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx. But she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers. When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school's most elite club, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny--with a little help from her new vampyre friends.

Review of: An Earl to Enchant

Young Miss Arianna Sweet, in grave danger after her father's death, rushes to his old friend Lady Elder—but her protectress has passed away, and now Arianna must rely on Lady Elder's dashing grandson, Lord Morgandale. Having watched his cousins surrender their freedom to two beautiful young ladies (A Duke To Die For, A Marquis To Marry) Morgandale is determined to elude the parson's mousetrap. But can he save the lady without losing his heart?

Key Lime Pie Murder (Book 9) by Joanne Fluke

The yummy [ninth] small-town cozy from Fluke (after 2006's Cherry Cheesecake Murder) finds sometime sleuth Hannah Swensen, owner of the Cookie Jar in Lake Eden, Minn., judging the baking contest at the Tri-County Fair. When one of her fellow judges, home economics teacher Willa Sunquist, is murdered, Hannah determines to sniff out the killer. Was it a man from Willa's mysterious past? Or a student she flunked? Fluke has developed a charming supporting cast—Hannah's besotted (and slightly spineless) two suitors, her overbearing but likable mother, her endearing sisters and her levelheaded business partner all feel like friends by the time the murder is solved. The dozens of tempting recipes Fluke includes are an added treat. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review of: Anne of Avonlea by LM Montgomery

At sixteen Anne is grown up. . . almost. Her gray eyes shine like evening stars, but her red hair is still as peppery as her temper. In the years since she arrived at Green Gables as a freckle-faced orphan, she has earned the love of the people of Avonlea and a reputation for getting into scrapes. But when Anne begins her job as the new schoolteacher, the real test of her character begins. Along with teaching the three Rs, she is learning how complicated life can be when she meddles in someone else's romance, finds two new orphans at Green Gables, and wonders about the strange behavior of the very handsome Gilbert Blythe. As Anne enters womanhood, her adventures touch the heart and the funny bone.

Review of: Mr Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattillo

Claire Prescott is a sensible woman who believes in facts and figures, not fairy tales. But when she agrees to present a paper to a summer symposium at Oxford on her ailing sister's behalf, Claire finds herself thrown into an adventure with a gaggle of Jane Austen-loving women all on the lookout for their Mr. Darcy. Claire isn't looking for Mr. Anyone. She's been dating Neil -- a nice if a bit negligent -- sports fanatic. But when a tall, dark and dashing stranger crosses her path, will the staid Claire suddenly discover her inner romantic heroine? Her chance meeting with a mysterious woman who claims to have an early version of Austen's Pride and Prejudice -- in which Lizzie ends up with someone other than Fitzwilliam Darcy -- leads to an astounding discovery about the venerated author's own struggle to find the right hero for Lizzie Bennett. Neil's unexpected arrival in Oxford complicates Claire's journey to finding her own romantic lead.

Book Blogger Hop

Book Blogger Hop

Jen over at Crazy For Books has started something that I found out about from Lori @ Lori's Reading Corner.

Here is what Jen has to say:

Hey book bloggers!  Every day I seem to find another book blog that I start following.  In the spirit of the Friday Follow, I thought it would be cool to do a Book Blog Hop to give us all bookies a chance to connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on!

Now, I follow a lot of blogs and I haven't seen this feature yet, so if someone else is doing a Book Blog Hop, please let me know!!  I don't want to step on any toes or anything!

So, if you'd like to participate, just repost this, sign MckLinky below, and check out other blogs in MckLinky!  Let's connect and make new book bloggy friends!!

I'll try to make a nifty graphic to go along with this, but give me another week to get that done!  :)

So, pop on over!

Read Aloud Thursday #2

Hope Is the Word is the home of Read Aloud Thursday, which is a weekly meme in which bloggers share their families’ read-alouds of the week.

Library Loot #8

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva @ A Striped Armchair and Marg @ Reading Adventures that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Wrap up for February 2010

Since I find myself borrowing more and more books from the library for Reaghan (my 3yo daughter) my wrap-up posts are now going to be broken down into 2 sections. Books I read/listened to myself and those that I read to or listened to with Reaghan. If I have already written and posted the review I will link the title to that review. =)

I have also added my Monthly and YTD (Year To Date) stats at the bottom of the post.

Review of: The Yellow House by Patricia Falvey

THE YELLOW HOUSE delves into the passion and politics of Northern Ireland at the beginning of the 20 century. Eileen O'Neill's family is torn apart by religious intolerance and secrets from the past. Determined to reclaim her ancestral home and reunite her family, Eileen begins working at the local mill, saving her money and holding fast to her dream. As war is declared on a local and global scale, Eileen cannot separate the politics from the very personal impact the conflict has had on her own life. She is soon torn between two men, each drawing her to one extreme. One is a charismatic and passionate political activist determined to win Irish independence from Great Britain at any cost, who appeals to her warrior's soul. The other is the wealthy and handsome black sheep of the pacifist family who owns the mill where she works, and whose persistent attention becomes impossible for her to ignore.

Library Loot #7

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva @ A Striped Armchair and Marg @ Reading Adventures that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Marg has the Mr Linky for this week.

Read Aloud Thursday #1

Hope Is the Word is the home of Read Aloud Thursday, which is a weekly meme in which bloggers share their families’ read-alouds of the week.