Heat Stroke by Rachel Caine and the July Book Blowout Wrapup

This is my sixth and final book in the July Book Blowout. My goal was 8, and I didn't quite make it. I do have one more book half-read, but the way my life has gone today I won't get to it.

Heat Stroke is the second book in the Weather Wardens series. I absolutely loved the first one. This one was also good, but for unknown reasons seemed to take forever to read. I love the uniqueness of the plot on this, there isn't really another similar series (that I've heard of.) The characters, while having unique abilities, are similar to those from other series. How many strong, determined, independent heroines have you read? Regardless of this, I did enjoy the book, and will continue to read the series.

I'm not saying any more, because I don't want to give anything away to anyone who hasn't read the first on. I find series books hard to review well for this reason. However, if you're a fan of urban fantasy, go ahead and pick the first one up, they're great books.

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Mrs. S at Blue Archipelago has posted a short wrap up survey to the July Book Blowout. Here are my answers:

1. Did you discover a new author? Yes- Jossilyn Jackson and Nick Hornby

2. Where was the most unusual place you found yourself reading? In the Taco Bell drive through.

3. Did you read more than usual? Not more than I used to, but more than I have lately.

4. Did you give up anything in order to read more? Blog surfing!

5. If you won the Amazon voucher what would you spend it on? Amy Butler's In Stitches, I think. Or Keurig k-cups.

6. Would you like to see a 2009 Book Blowout? YES! Or even a winter and summer one.

Thanks Mrs. S, for hosting.

Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich

Plum Lucky is a between the numbers installment of Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. It takes place after the 13th book. You could probably read it at any point in the story and not be confused. Or skip it altogether and not miss anything. It is shorter than the numbered books, but the basic idea is the same.

In this installment, Grandma Mazur finds a bag of money. Like any respectable senior, she immediately buys an RV and heads to Atlantic City. Stephanie, Lulu, Connie and Diesel follow her. Ranger and Morelli are not in the book at all, except by phone to conveniently be busy. The whole thing takes place in about 3 days. And that pretty much sums it up. It was funny, but not the funniest of the books. I definitely missed the guys. I'm really glad I didn't pay for a hardback copy of it, as slim at it is (Thank you paperbackswap!) In fact, it's not really worth wasting a blog post on, but since I've already typed all this...

Briefly- Rebecca Eckler

Last winter I read Knocked Up by Rebecca Eckler and was unimpressed. (Review here.) I thought she was incredibly focused on the weight she gained while pregnant. I had received the book through paperbackswap though, and because I was so sure I'd love it, I'd also requested her followup Wiped! Life with a Pint-size dictator. I didn't read Knocked Up until I had both.

I pulled Wiped! out of the TBR as a potentially quick and easy read for the July Book Blowout (SO not gonna meet my goal of 8!) It turns out that she's just as annoying as a mother as she was pregnant. She's just certain that having a baby won't change her life, she'll immediately go back to her fabulous lifestyle. AND, she's just as annoying about the weight. Here's a little sample from the preface:

I was not good at being pregnant. By the end of my third trimester, I had gained forty-seven pounds (almost half my body weight), walked like a penguin, had wrist fat, couldn't see my cheekbones, and was wearing red slippers in public and asking the Fiance, "Is my ass fat?" three times a day. (Okay, three times an hour.)

That pretty much sums up Knocked Up. No mention of morning sickness, of aches and pains, of depression, or worry about being a good mom, or anything. Just HOW FAT AM I?? A brief scan of Wiped indicates the same story, now with a baby! Burn me once, shame on you, burn me twice... I have too many books waiting to be read, and I can't see myself missing this one. Off to paperbackswap it goes.

NEXT!


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The blogroll

Pirate update: He has strep throat. And amoxicillin is the devil's drug (according to him.) Fun times!

In the course of doing my giveaway, I visited a lot of new blogs. Then I looked at the people who commented on those blogs and visited some of them. What this added up to, is a Google Reader with 404 subscriptions.  I thought I'd share a few of these with you. These are by no means the best of the best, or the worst, or the funniest, or the best written. They are just some new-to-me blogs that I've enjoyed. I don't have any idea how I came to find most of them, so don't ask!

 

• Picky Palate - a food blog, this one I know I found through Janssen, as I just found it today!
• Breaking the Spine - a book blog from a fellow Alabamian. No, I don't live there any more.
• Both Eyes Book Blog - a blogger who aspires to read a book a day. I think she might make it too!
• Fried Okra - a look at the Southern life. Be warned though, it has a partial feed.
• minds alive on the shelves -another book blogger
• stardustshoes- a sew-y and craft-y blog, this one is brand spankin' new to my reader as of today
• Old Red Barn Co.- she just gave away the most beautiful quilt, amazing, really.
• Grosgrain - another great blog with some gorgeous little girl clothes
• What I Wore Today- a blog about, duh, what she wore.
• Age 30- A Year of Books - books again.

This is by no means ALL the new ones I found, just a little sample.  I'd like to try and post new-to-me blogs with some regularity, since I love having new people show up here, I thought they might like new readers too.

You may or may not have noticed, but I added a partial blogroll over there to the right. It is by not a finished product! (Don't tell, but I did it at work and was in a hurry to get something up there.) If you don't see yourself, and would like to be added, let me know!

 

 

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And the winners are....

I finally had a chance to choose the winners* of my giveaways. I had 73 entries for the books spread between 20 different people.

The first name chosen was : Gina of Bitty and the Boy.** Gina wins The Polysyllabic Spree. YAY GINA!

The second name chosen was: Amanda of Life and Times of a "New" New Yorker. YAY AMANDA! This was a new blog to me, go check it out if you haven't seen it. Unfortunately Amanda also wanted the Hornby book so we'll try to work something else out. ***

For the winner of my other contest, click over to Sew What Bags!

Congratulations Gina and Amanda!


*The way I chose my winners- I entered everybody on a google spreadsheet in random order. There were 73 entries. Then I asked my spouse to pick a number between 1-73. He does not often read my blog, let alone my comments, so I'm fairly sure he didn't try to pick a specific person. Why am I explaining this?

**Because Gina happens to be a close personal friend. She is the reason ya'll were in random order.

*** Amanda, I can't seem to find your email address. Will you email me at the address in my profile?



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We went camping.

We took the boys camping yesterday and it was a mix of good and really bad. The good- the Pirate was THRILLED to go camping. We set up the tent, we had a little picnic, the weather was beautiful. We took the dog. (She broke through the hardware THREE TIMES to chase deer and squirels.













The baby slept GREAT in nature, he would later sleep from about 8pm until daybreak, even sleeping thought the Bad.






The Bad. The mattress pump conked out before we inflated the FIRST mattress. We had two. So we slept ON THE GROUND. Just as we started cooking dinner, the rain started. It rained and rained. We hid in tents and under the trees. It stopped raining, we sat around the campfire and had some smores- how great!


The boys and I settled into the tent after dark. The bug was sleeping soundly. The pirate though, the pirate was a grump. And got grumpier. By the middle of the night he was shivering and chattering and was too hot to touch. The weather was perfect for camping- not too hot, not too cold- but he was freezing. And hot. So at daybreak we got up and packed up the tent as quietly possible to come home. It's about an hours drive and the Pirate asked to go home all the way. Today he has slept more than he has been awake, and he has eaten very little. He's still pretty warm and it's not looking promising for tomorrow.













Amazingly, I think we're gonna try it again in a few weeks!

(PS. I'm having trouble placing the images. My apologies if it's all funky.)


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On link love and coffee and camping.

Over at Bookfoolery and Babble we are having a rousing discussion (ok, rousing might be too strong) in the comments section of this post about having a blogroll on your blog. Obviously, I don't have one. I haven't in a long time because it got too dang hard to keep up with. I am subscribed to hundreds and hundreds of blogs! But, I am thinking of adding one. I thought I'd start with blogs that comment on MY blog and run from there. I'm going to start from the commentors on my contest and start adding. Want a little love? Leave me a comment! Show me who my REAL friends are! (And then make a wish and forward this to 827 people and your wish will come true in the next 10 minutes!) (Ok, so I might just start adding people too, but it would really help if you'd leave a comment. K?) I noticed that blogger lets you do a list that updates and puts people with new posts at the top, has anyone tried that?

I've been avoiding caffeine for several months now because the Bug doesn't sleep so well when I have caffeine. Every morning I have one little tiny cup of coffee and that's it. I *thought* I was drinking caffeinated coffee, but this morning I looked and it turns out it's decaf. I haven't been having any caffeine at all! The obvious response to this is to immediately run out and GET coffee. I had a small vanilla iced coffee from McDonalds. AND I AM WIRED. Can you tell?

We are taking the boys camping this weekend. Just one night in a campground with bathrooms and showers, but still camping. In a tent. On the ground. Should be a total blast. The Pirate is beyond thrilled. We're making smores and cooking hotdogs and burgers. Someone will bring a ton of cookies and snacks. Someone else will have the watermelon. We'll have beer. Anyone have any good suggestions for camping with kids and babies?

Did you enter my contest yet? What about this one? Go go, do it now!

ANOTHER contest!

The blog world is just full of 'em!

 

Stephanie at The Written Word is giving away a copy of The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton. Contest ends Monday, July 28th so hurry over and add your name.

A celebratory giveaway!!

Two weeks ago I debuted my new look. I fully intended to celebrate with a giveaway, but haven't been able to get it in order until today. So. What am I giving away? On this blog, I have two books to give away:

The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby (my review)












and Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich (review to come)













How do you win these?
There will be two winners.

1) Leave a comment on this post for 1 entry. Please note which you would prefer as the first name I draw gets their first choice.
2) Post about it on your blog for 3 more.
3) Subscribe to my feed for 3 more. (Honor system here, leave a comment if you are a subscriber or are subscribing now!)
4) Visit Sew What Bags and leave a comment on that contest for one more entry on this contest.

What contest am I talking about? I'm giving away this bag:


So be sure to stop by Sew What Bags after leaving your comment here!

Both contests close on July 27. Winners will be announced on Monday. U.S. and Canada addresses only.

Recent sewing-

I've been busy sewing little gifts lately, that I haven't been able to post here yet. Finally today is the last of the unveiling so I can (Happy Birthday, Brianna!)

First, a little jewelry bag. It's the same pattern as all the wedding bags I made a month or so ago, but this one is black with little red cherries on it. The fabric is Mary Englebreit cherries, so if you are familiar with her stuff, that's what it looks like. The inside is red with little diamonds:

I made some gifts for my brother's wife, who is expecting a baby next month. This will be my mother's 7th (biological) grandchild and the first girl. I made a small tote bag, a ton of burp cloths, and this cool little carry-all blanket. The blanket has loops on the corners to carry toys in- it all comes together with a carbiner to fasten on your stroller. Stunt baby not included.

Last (and I may have posted this one before), I made myself an awesome purse. It's pretty big, holds tons of crap (all of which I NEED) and is awfully cute.

More pictures of all of these at Sew What Bags.

More giveaways...

Sometimes I worry that my blog is becoming just another path to a giveaway some place else. I understand the need to enter though, so many generous bloggers are giving away such great stuff. I plan to give some stuff away myself, if I can ever find the time to think my giveaway through, and I'm planning to ask people to post about it on THEIR blogs. So, without more rambling, two more giveaways:

First this adorably cute little dress at Grosgrain (follow that link to enter, enter by Monday!):

Then, at Old Red Barn Co. she is giving away a spectacular quilt. I would never ever ever be able to give it up if I made it, it's that pretty.

I mean really, could you?

I won! I won!

Last week, Literary Feline gave away some books in honor of her 10 year anniversary. I was lucky enough to win one of those books, Sex Wars by Marge Piercy.

Just a few days after that, she announced a giveaway of 14 books from Hachette Book Group. You still have time to run over and put your name in for that one!

The same day I won that book, I won a book from the Georgette Heyer give away at Books N' Border Collies.

It's been a good week.

TBR Day: gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson

"THERE ARE GODS in Alabama: Jack Daniel's, high school quarterbacks, trucks, big tits, and also Jesus."



With a first line like that, how can this NOT be a great book? I first put gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson on my PBS wishlist some time last summer. I wanted to read it for Maggie's Southern Literature Challenge. Well, I failed the challenge and I never read the book either. I did, however, add it to my list of books I was DEFINITELY going to read in 2008. I started reading it on Sunday, at the tail end of a perfect day spent on the back deck. From start to finish, I felt no urge to dip into any other book.



I've been reading Joshilyn Jackson's blog for a while. I knew she was funny, but I guess I just didn't expect her humor to carry over to the book so well. She has quite the way with words, and knows just how to turn a phrase to evoke a perfect picture. For example, her blog is called Faster Than Kudzu. Now, if you're not from the South this will mean nothing to do, but if you are from the South you know, that's FAST. There are trees under those vines.
Here's a little snippet from a recent blog post:

"WHAT RADICAL DOOM IS LIKELY TO HAPPEN IF WE PUT UP A PIER IN THE PLACE
WHERE A PIER HAS STOOD FOR HALF A CENTURY?

My patented radical Doom-meter needle barely moved. It didn’t even get
past diddly into SQUAT territory."

Here's Publisher's Weekly summary of the book, stolen from Amazon.com:

From Publishers WeeklyArlene Fleet, the refreshingly imperfect heroine of
Jackson's frank, appealing debut, launches her story with a list of the title's
deities: "high school quarterbacks, trucks, big tits, and also Jesus." The first
god, also a date rapist by the name of Jim Beverly, she left dead in her
hometown of Possett, Ala., but the last she embraces wholeheartedly when high
school graduation allows her to flee the South, the murder and her slutty
reputation for a new life in Chicago. Upon leaving home, Arlene makes a bargain
with God, promising to forgo sex, lies and a return home if he keeps Jim's body
hidden. After nine years in Chicago as a truth-telling celibate, an unexpected
visitor from home (in search of Jim Beverly) leads her to believe that God is
slipping on his end of the deal. As Arlene heads for the Deep South with her
African-American boyfriend, Burr, in tow, her secrets unfold in unsurprising but
satisfying flashbacks. Jackson brings levity to familiar themes with a spirited
take on the clichés of redneck Southern living: the Wal-Mart culture, the subtle
and overt racism and the indignant religion. The novel concludes with a final,
dramatic disclosure, though the payoff isn't the plot twist but rather Jackson's
genuine affection for the people and places of Dixie. Copyright © Reed Business
Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Now doesn't that sound good? Now imagine you're from Alabama, lived there for the first 27 years of your life, and have now been living in South Dakota for the past 6 years? Doesn't it sound great? Well, it is. The story alternates between the present and the past and hits both perfectly. Somehow she manages to tell you what happened and still keep you in suspense about.. what happened. The characters are great including the character of Alabama itself. I loved so many of the scenes with Burr and her family, Jackson totally nails the old home racism. Arlene has promised God she won't lie and some of the ways she gets around that are amazing. (Yes, I realize the author had plenty of time to think of creative ways of NOT lying. I'm still impressed.)


If you want a sneak peak, you can follow this link and read the first chapter at Amazon.com. I recommend that you do, and then, buy the book and read the rest. This is such a great debut book, once again I am amazed at what authors seem to have in their heads, just waiting to be written into a book. I have her second book (Between, Georgia ) sitting on my shelves, and I think I might just read it next!

You can see the other TBR Day participants here.

This is my fourth book for the July Book Blowout.

The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn

The Lost Duke of Wyndham is the first book in Julia Quinn's new two book series. The sequel will be released later this year. If I had to choose one word to describe this book it would be "likable." The characters were all so likable. Even the mean old lady was likable.

Jack Audley discovers he is the long-lost son of a Wyndham. He has no interest in becoming the Duke. Grace Eversleigh is the companion to the dowager Duchess. There is never really any question as to if he's the real duke. There's no question that they aren't of the same class and shouldn't marry if he is the Duke.

Everyone is very likable. Jack is great. Grace is nice and sweet. Thomas, the original Duke, is perfect (which is great because the sequel is about him!) The woman who was to be the Duchess is perfectly happy not to be. I liked them all. The problem with the book is that there's really no reason that they fell in love that I could see. Don't get me wrong, it was a sweet little book, it just wasn't very romantic and it wasn't a keeper. My other complaint is that it was very modern. The setting is historical, but the conversations and ideas aren't. I'm a little disappointed not to love it more, Julia Quinn is my favorite romance author and the only one I still read with regularity. This won't stop me from reading the sequel, I suspect that it will have a plot line much more to my liking.

This is my third book for the July Book Blowout.

Getting to know me

It's pretty early on Sunday but I want to continue my posting streak. Since nothing interesting has happened yet, here's a little meme. I've seen it all over the blog world, most recently at A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore.

What were you doing five years ago? I'd been in South Dakota for almost a year and at my current employer for about 6 months.

Five snacks I enjoy in a perfect, non-weight-gaining world: Ice cream, chocolate, ice cream, chocolate, ice cream.

Five things I would do if I were a billionaire: Pay off my debt (duh), hire a maid, travel all of Europe, buy my mom a house, have more children.

Five (non-academic) jobs that I have had: Waitress, grocery store bakery, bookstore, receptionist/secretary at a museum, loan officer.

Five Habits: Biting my nails, leaving my shoes all over the living room, coffee in the morning, always taking a book everywhere, watching an episode of Friends on my lunch break.

Five places I have lived: Sheffield, AL, Mobile, AL (for high school), Auburn, AL (for college), Hunstville, AL, and Rapid City, SD. (pretty boring, huh?)

Five people I want to get to know better (and who should consider themselves tagged!): I'm too lazy to see who hasn't been tagged, but I KNOW Bitty and the Boy hasn't done it.

The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

The Polysyllabic Spree is the first of two collections of essays that Nick Hornby wrote for The Believer. The second collection is called Housekeeping vs. the Dirt. Like most book bloggers, I have a seemingly endless list of books about books that I want to read one day. I requested this one from Paperbackswap, and unlike most books I get from there, I jumped right into it. It's a slim little book, only 14 short essays, but it did take me a while to read as I kept getting distracted by books with plots.

Hornby begins each essay with a list of books bought that month and books read. For me, this was the most interesting part. Some months he only bought 3 or 4 books! How is that possible?* If it wasn't just another thing for me to forget to keep track of, I'd love to do the same. For a while last year I tried to keep with with it in my Monday Math segment. I stopped doing that when it became obvious that I was never gonna catch up. I'd start it up again**,*** but I've developed an annoyance of some the weekly things going around- Monday Math, Tuesday Twofers, books about lemurs on Friday! I admit to being inconsistent though, I still like Thursday Thirteens and The Sunday Salon and a few others that float around. Sue me. I CAN see the convienence of them though, makes it very easy to have something to blog about each day, and I can certainly appreciate that! Uh, where was I?

Hornby then talks about what he read in a very conversational manner, nothing formal at all to the essays. It's quite a lot like talking to a friend about what he's reading. He goes into some detail about how one book led to another and why he read that one next. This is exactly the kind of book talk that I love. If I could have a book club that just talked about books, and didn't even READ any, I'd be in heaven.

On Thursday I was reading blogs and one of them mentioned that Hornby has a blog. GREAT! But the very first post I read, the one he posted THAT DAY, says that he has now given up the column for The Believer. Just when I find him! Fortunately, I still have Housekeeping vs. the Dirt to look forward to, if paperbackswap ever comes through for me. If you're a book lover, I recommend you pick it up.****

*Later in the book he admits that he doesn't list everything he buys. This makes much more sense!
** Reading through a couple of them, I really do want to start doing it again, but now I've admitted my annoyance and it seems a little hypocritical to do so.
*** Should those ** go before or after the comma? I never could do commas right.
**** OR you could WIN it, if someone were to be giving it away, sometime later this weekend? Or maybe next week if the weekend turns out to be too much fun? (Or too tiring. Zzzzzz. Sleep baby sleep!)

(This is book two for the July Book Blowout.)

3 months old!

It's going by so fast! He's definitely chunked up from the 6lb baby I brought home from the hospital. He's so smiley and happy all the time, loves watching us and his big brother. He WAS sleeping really well until the last two nights, so I'm assuming they are aberrations and he'll go back to his 10 to 5 ways. He's still sleeping with us, but we're going to start transitioning him to the crib soon. He's awake for more and more of the day and wants to sit up and see everything that's going on around him. He's very close to being able to sit in the Bumbo chair without my worrying about his neck strength. (He can sit in it for 5 or 10 minutes at a time now.)

The Pirate finally seems to be settling in to being a brother and it's such a relief. (Do not ask how he was demonstrating his unhappiness and lack of control. It was not pretty.) This morning I got in the shower and the Bug was unhappy about it, but what are you gonna do? When I got out of the shower I found that the Pirate had woken up and got into bed with him and was snuggling him to calm him down. It was the first time the Pirate has ever gotten out of bed and not come looking for me first. It was amazingly sweet.

Life as a parent of two is good.

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

Bridget Jones's Diary was first published when I was in college- in 1996 I think, I don't have the book here to check. It was a huge hit and became a bigger movie. I often see it listed as the beginning of chick lit and Bridget as a favorite chick lit character. (But don't ask for cites, I am too lazy to find them.) I have a vague memory of reading it then, but my records don't seem to back me up, so perhaps I skimmed it. Reading it now, it is entirely possible that I wasn't interested. Bridget was 30 and single, smoked and drank. All things that did not apply to me. However, it comes up often enough on the internet that I thought perhaps I should read it to refresh my memory.

Bridget is single and in search of a man. She worries about her weight, she wants to quit smoking, she has the stereotypical gay best friend. Her mother is an embarrassment to her and her married friends (the Smug Marrieds) want to fix her up. As the title would suggest, the book is formatted as a diary and covered one year from New Year's to New Year's.

While I am a fan of chick lit, I was not overly impressed with Bridget Jones's Diary. The diary format (which I usually LOVE) was clunky to me with phrases like "get up straight away when wake up in mornings" and then entire sections written in third person that no real person would put in their diary. Some of the situations she found herself in were funny, but many of them were contrived (really, who puts pans of uncooked food on the kitchen floor? And if you did, would you REALLY step in them?) Bridget herself is easy enough to like but her two female friends (Sharon and Jude) were incredibly annoying. I can see how this became the beginning of chicklit as it has every stereotype in it. (Feminist friend, gay friend, feng shui friend, mom is who finding herself after years of marriage, sucky job, bad habits, unattainable man, bad boy boss/bad office relationship.) It has been compared to Pride & Prejudice, and indeed the male lead is named Mark Darcy, but I think it's an awfully big stretch. Besides the fact that they don't like each other in the beginning (which frankly is the basis for every other romance novel written) I don't see many similarities. There are a few conversations at the end that could be similar, but Mr. Darcy isn't really a central character until near the end.

I didn't really dislike the book, but it would never go on a favorites list. I'm glad I read it, since it does hold a important spot in chick lit, and it's really fast and easy to read.

This books fills the "New Classic" portion of Trish's Classics Challenge.

It's Tuesday: Where are you?

Every Tuesday raidergirl3 (what's the 3 for anyway?) at an adventure in reading asks where our reading is taking us this week. This time, I decided to answer in a post. Since I generally read more than one book at a time, this makes me a very confused traveler. Julia Quinn and I are in historic England, but we're about to take a trip to Ireland to verify a marriage. Harry Dresden and I are just getting started on a new case in Chicago, this one involving the Shroud of Turin. Nick Hornby is telling where *he's* been lately (ok, where he was several years ago) in The Polysyllabic Spree.

Lately I've been wanting to read everything that crosses my path. I've firmly resisted starting anything new since I finished Bridget Jones's Diary two nights ago. The most seductive have been Love Walked In (probably cause I just got Belong to Me from Paperbackswap) and gods in Alabama (because her blog is so dang funny.) And Plum Lucky. And I still need to read one form my TBR list (scroll down) for this month.

So where are you this week? Be sure to let raidergirl know too, as it's really her question to start with!

A note about the ads and Target

As you may have noticed, I decided to go ahead and put google ads on my blog. Over there ----> I may be deluding myself, but I like to think they aren't very ugly and aren't too jarring. I don't expect that people will click on them, and I don't think they'd ever pay the mortgage (or even buy my coffee) but I wanted to see just what they could do. I will never veer into the land of paid posts, even though what I'm about to say will certainly sound like it. No one asked me to post the following...

One of the ads I see today (and I don't know if we see the same ones) is for Target. I'm not asking you to click on it, but it did remind me mention Target Bookmarked. I signed up a year or so ago and they send you emails with bestsellers and new releases and stuff. They also have stuff about building a bookclub which I keep thinking I need to look into. It's all information that you can get somewhere else, but I like the format of it and kept thinking I should mention it. If you need yet ANOTHER place to recommend books to you, it's a good one.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

I finished reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson a week or so ago, and since then it has sat beside my laptop waiting for a review. Speak was an excellent book and will definitely be at or near the top of my list for the year. Speak is the story of Melinda Sordino. Mel called the cops at a party last summer and is now a social outcast. Now she has to deal with the fallout of her actions as well as dealing with why she called the cops in the first place.

The plot line of this book is dark. Mel is tormented, her grades are slipping, her parents are unsupported and distant. The only class she enjoys is art where she spends the entire year trying to draw a tree. Her best friend abandons her for the popular crowd and the popular guy. Mel stops talking. Despite all this, there are moments of great humor as well. The high school environment is captured perfectly.

The writing is terrific. The book is written as a series of very short paragraphs, sometimes only a sentence long. Some of the turns of phrase are simply breathtaking. Here's a few examples:

"Maybe I'll be an artist if I grow up." (p. 78)

"Of course I want to be a model. I want to paint my eyelids gold. I saw that on a magazine cover and it looked amazing- turned the model into sexy alien that everyone would look at but nobody dared touch." (p.82)

It's hard to say much about this book without giving it away, but if you have an interest in YA fiction you should read this. If you know a teenager or were a teenager, read this. It's so very good.

Speak has also been reviewed by one of my co-bloggers on We'd Rather Read. Be warned though, her review does contain a major spoiler. I'd recommend not reading it until after you read the book.

Not one, but two Giveaways!

Today while surfing around I found a giveaway to the cutest little dress ever and it got me to thinking- what if I have a giveaway myself to celebrate my new look? Seems like a great idea to me, what do ya'll think? Maybe TWO giveaways? Or rather, two winners in one giveaway? So stay tuned and sometime this weekend I'll post an announcement and some rules and stuff.

In the meantime, stop over and leave a comment to win the cutest dress ever, here's the link:
Grosgrain: Ice Cream Social Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Please excuse my mess...

I took the plunge on a new look. I'm still working on sprucing up the sidebars, but so far I think I like it!

What do you think? Suggestions?

2008 Wrap Up

What? The year's not over yet? As fast as time flies lately I am surprised to hear that. A few days ago the lovely Janssen posted her half-year mini review wrap up, and since it was such a great idea, I'm stealing it.

As of the end of June I have read 24 books. Here they are with links to my reviews, and with a very brief comment as to what I remember about them.

Books read in 2008:

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer- Good, but not worth all the hype. But don't say that on your blog our you'll get some nasty comments.
   
2. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger- How on earth does a person write this without being incredibly confused all the time. Excellent book.
   
3. 50 Greatest Love Letters of All Time edited by someone whose name I never went back for. Duh. Forgettable for a book I wanted forever.
   
4. Austenland by Shannon Hale. Sweet little tribute to Pride and Prejudice.
   
5. The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. Vote Obama in 2008!
   
6. Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume, Jennifer O’Connell, editor. Reminded me that I didn't really read that much Judy Blume.
   
7. Sex and Sensibility, Genevieve Fields, editor. Reminded me that I didn't have much of a single life.
   
8. Storm Front by Jim Butcher. Book 1 of Harry Dresden. I wasn't quite sold on it yet, he's kinda annoying.
   
9. Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs. AWESOME. Best new series I'm reading.
   
10. In the Midnight Rain by Ruth Wind. Revisiting an old favorite- romance and blues, what more could a girl want?
    
11. Moneyball by Michael Lewis. A really interesting book about baseball. I am tempted to read his book Liar's Poker about Wall Street.
    
12. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher. Dresden book 2, I'm starting to like this wizard.
    
13. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. Two friends grow up to swap places in the world.
    
14. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher. Dresden book 3.
    
15. The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke. My first Burke and a eye opening fictional account of New Orleans during and after Katrina.
    
16. Dedication by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. High school boyfriend grows up to be a big rock star and write songs about you. Great until the end. I had such hopes.
    
17. Candy Girl by Diablo Cody. Average girl becomes a stripper for a year.
    
18. Bonk by Mary Roach. What WON'T they study about sex?
    
19. Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris. Book 2 in a series, girl sees dead people. Wonder if Harris watched The Sixth Sense when she made this one up?
    
20. Toddler edited by Jennifer Margulis. My life in book form.
    
21. 1 Dead in Attic by Chris Rose. Non-fiction account of life after Katrina. Horrifying and depressing and something everyone should read a little bit of.
    
22. Summer Knight by Jim Butcher. Book 4 of Dresden and I jumped right into book 5.
    
23. Helping Me Help Myself by Beth Lisick. Do self-help books really work? It would appear not.
    
24. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Best book I've read yet in 2008, I think. The writing is spectacular. Review to come!

So there you have it, a half year in review. What have you read so far? Have we read any of the same books so that I need to go read your review?

Some Bloggy Questions

Lately I've been pondering my blog and trying to think of ways to make it more appealing, both to myself and to you all. I've decided that I am tired of my current look and want something new, but can't find the time or energy to learn how to change it and can't find the money to pay someone. I'd like something super simple this time around, so in theory I COULD do it- right? I have an idea in my head of what I'd like, I just have no clue on how to put it onto a blog. I don't even know how to add text to a picture to make a header, perhaps this doing it myself idea isn't so good.

I've also been pondering the scope of my topics. I feel like I lost a lot of readers (or at least a lot of commentors, I have yet to figure out how many people are subscribed via Reader) when I broadened from mainly books. I've been thinking that I should go back to separate blogs for sewing and reading. What about kid topics? Should I have a THIRD blog about that? Should I just not blog about the boys? Not everyone wants to hear about kids all the time. I DO have three blogs. I could brush the dust off the two others. Or have two and just mention them sparingly? I'd really like to use a platform that has the ability to link them all under one main home page while keeping the page elements the same for each (same theme, etc.) Any suggestions? Do you (as a reader) typically follow blogs who change URLs? What if I had a giveaway of something (books? bags?) when I changed?

And, how do you feel about ads? I really don't noticed the ads in the sidebars of blogs or at the end of a post.I do dislike blog posts that seem to be a paid advertisement. My husband says I can quit my job when the blog pays the mortgage. (yeah, like that'll happen...)

So please, leave comments, let me know what you like. Do you like multiple topics? Dislike it? What do you like in the sidebars? What do you actively dislike? (No worries, there will NEVER be music on my blog!) I don't want to make changes if people don't like it. Change is hard! Help me out here.

Edited to add: A super sweet someone volunteered to help me here, so you guys gotta pony up and tell me what you like! Super sweet someone- I will email you later this morning!

July Book Blowout meme

Today is the first day of the Book Blowout! In celebration the host has given us a short meme.

1. Describe yourself in one sentence. Tired mommy who wishes she could quit her job to stay home to read and sew.

2. What book will you start the challenge with? I will be finishing up The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby, then on to The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn.

3. Where is your favourite place to read? In my home I like to read in my cushy living room chair or on the back porch in a really ugly lounge chair thing. In my dreams I'd be on the balcony of a house overlooking the ocean.

4. What is your favourite book of all time? I don't know that I've thought in terms of favorites in a long time. I love Gone with the Wind. I loved The Book Thief. A Thousand Splendid Suns. The Secret by Julie Garwood (not the Secret the self-help book.) The Little Prince.

5. Remind us all of your challenge target. 8 books.

Pop on over to the Blue Archipelago to see everyone else's answers!