I would like to explain how this came to fruition. Hubby and I were having a discussion about the old days, (for the young’ens reading this..a little history lesson) but before the dark age. When Sundays were special and had traditions and rituals. Sunday mornings Church, come home to a big gravy (sauce) cooking on the stove, a big Sunday dinner, then either off to visit relatives/friends or wait for relatives/friends to drop by. We would spend the afternoon sitting around the table, talking, catching up, having coffee, pizza, calzones, etc etc, dessert. And now, how sad, all those traditions are gone. And then I got to thinking, why not have something similar here on my blog. This past year, I have met so many amazing and wonderful people (some I now call friends) through blogging, and how I am in awe of what they do and accomplish. How much respect I have for them, for their honesty, integrity, credibility and so enjoy when a bit of their personality shines through. So every Sunday, here at my place, the coffee will be on, the dessert is on the table and friends will be stopping by. And I will be rolling out the red carpet for my Sunday Shining Star Blogger guest.

I was told when I first found this community of book blogging that “book bloggers were the nicest bloggers there are” and I have never forgotten those words. And over the past year, I have truly met the nicest people. I also believe, even though we live behind a screen, a bit of our personality shines through. That is one of the reasons I am having so much fun with this weekly event, and hoping you are too, because we are getting to know those “nicest bloggers” around and about bloggyland a little bit better.

Hi everyone!!  I’m so glad our Sunday sessions are back because I honestly missed our weekly “gab sessions”.  I know that they say, at least here in New England that it is Spring but I haven’t seen many signs of it, but then that gives us more time to sit around visiting instead of being outdoors enjoying the weather.  However,  the “boys”Jeff (Lori’s hubby aka Dollycas’s Thoughts) and Steve (my hubby) might be late in delivering the pastry as I overheard something about a round of golf!!!

Today, I have the pleasure of introducing a newbie to our community.  She contacted me not that long ago with so much enthusiasm and many questions (which I love) and has put together a beautiful blog.  I am excited to get to know her and hope you do too.  Today our guest is REBECCA from CONFESSIONS OF A PAGE TURNER.

Awww, thank you so much, Cheryl!! I can’t believe how kind and welcoming the book blogging community has been…I’m so honored to be a part of it! I’m thrilled that you have so graciously agreed to mentor me…I’m sure I will have questions along the way! I will definitely be keeping up with your blog frequently as well :).

When and why did you start blogging?
A dear friend of mine began a personal blog when her first baby was born, and urged me to create a personal blog of my own. Once I did, I realized how much fun blogging could be and started wondering what other kind of blogs were out there. As soon as I did some searching, I realized that there was this incredible book blogging community out there, sharing about their love of literature and I knew right away that I wanted to be a part of it! It has taken me awhile to get started because I was such a novice when it came to technology and computer lingo. But fortunately, after a lot of determination and devotion, I think I’ve started a blog that will be interesting and a lot of fun not only for me, but for my followers as well!

Name of blog?
I wanted something that was unique and catchy! Confessions of a Page Turner just popped into my head one day and was approved by the hubby! 🙂 It’s kind of a play on words…My “confessions” on the books which I read, but also the page turner’s (books) themselves who are divulging their secrets and lessons to us. It also sounded kinda girly, and I’m all girl!

Content of blog?
Books, books, and more wonderful books! With some movie reviews thrown in now and then for good measure.

Genres?
When it comes to books, I like a little bit of everything. Variety is the spice of life so they say! I do of course have my favorites, which are fantasy and historical fiction. My love of fantasy began when my dad read The Hobbit out loud to my sister and I when we were little and ever since then, it’s had a place in my heart. I also still cry sometimes over the fact that there will be no more Harry Potter books haha! I really think my blog will have a little bit for everyone, though. Look for reviews on everything from YA to mystery to non-fiction.

Advice for new bloggers?
Well, I’m a newbie myself, but what I’ve learned so far is that you just have to have patience. I started out as a total novice not even really being sure what a blog was! Now, I’m getting lots of great feedback on my very own blog and reviews! Also, reach out to other more established bloggers. It never hurts to ask questions and you will be amazed at how friendly and eager to help many bloggers are!

Things to know about me:

1. I was born and grew up in Ohio…It really is the heartland of America. Filled with quaint towns, and people who are the salt of the Earth. And yes, there is more than just cornfields there! 🙂

2. My husband is a medical resident and we are currently living in Oklahoma while he finishes his residency. We hope to relocate soon so he can set up his practice in either Maine or New Hampshire…I’m excited about living near the sea and seeing that incredible New England fall foliage you always hear about!

3. I’m an aspiring writer! I’m currently at work on two books. My dream is that maybe one day someone will be reviewing my books!

4. I like sparkly things.

5. Hubby and I have two “literary” dogs, Zeddicus and Atlas. Zedd or Zeddy as he likes to be called is named after the wizard in Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series. Atlas is named after the book, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.

6. I adore the scent of roses.

7. I think I might be addicted to chai tea!

8. I watch the pbs version of Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea once a year…it’s like comfort food for the soul!

9. My favorite quote is: Life is the greatest fairytale of all by Hans Christian Anderson

10. I’m the proud aunt of a new baby girl, Adeline Frances!

Rebecca, welcome to the wonderful world of book blogging.  I am sure you are going to meet fantastic and create fabulous friendships.  I am also sure, now that you have been introduced into this neighborhood, and told us that your dream of being an aspiring writer, there will be a line of bloggers who would love to review your books.  You are right, ask questions, they will be answered.  The best advice my mentor gave me was just that.  Thank you for sharing with us today and being my guest.  I believe that you are a rising Shining Star in the awesome world of book blogging.

As usual, we have 10-exclusive gift bags to give away during the party! Below are details.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc.
Meryl Moss/meryl@mediamuscle.com
Sarah Hausman/sarah@mediamuscle.com
203-226-0199
“A grueling, gripping demonstration of melodrama’s darker side.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Relentless and disturbing, Stevens’ dark, mesmerizing character study follows a twisted path from victimhood toward self-empowerment. Sure to leave readers looking over their shoulders for a smiling stranger.”
—Booklist (starred review)

“While this may be a stretch, the ‘what would I do’ aspect of the reading experience may make this a match for some Jodi Picoult readers as well. Highly recommended.”
—Library Journal (starred review)

“Stevens’s impressive debut, a thriller set on Vancouver Island, pulsates with suspense that gets a power boost from the jaw-dropping but credible closing twist.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

STILL MISSING
A Novel
By Chevy Stevens
  A missing young woman, a frightening abductor, a sealed-up remote cabin, and an honest, frank voice trying to sort out a situation that would destroy anyone: Chevy Stevens’ STILL MISSING is a page turner in the truest sense of the word. STILL MISSING (St. Martin’s Press; Paperback May 24, 2011) is that rare debut find—a shocking, visceral, brutal and beautifully crafted novel.
  On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a thirty-two year old realtor, had three goals—sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever-patient boyfriend. The open house she hosts is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she’s about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all. She couldn’t be further from the truth.
  Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent as the captive of psychopath in a remote mountain cabin, which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist, is a second narrative recounting events following her escape. This includes her struggle to piece her shattered life back together as well as the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor. Through this, Annie and the reader, discover that the truth doesn’t always set you free.

CHEVY STEVENS grew up on a ranch on Vancouver Island and still calls the island home. For most of her adult life she worked in sales, first as a rep for a giftware company and then as a realtor. STILL MISSING is her first novel.
You can see my review here.

And also on May 24th is:

Author Kresley Cole will be hosting an EXCLUSIVE revealing of the cover of her latest novel, LOTHAIRE at 9:00am on her Facebook page.

To be one of the first to see…..Like Kresley Cole’s official fan page to get the first look at the cover for LOTHAIRE: http://www.facebook.com/KresleyCole?v=app_190322544333196

LOTHAIRE goes on sale January 10th, 2012 !!!!!

Simon & Schuster
Ayelet Gruenspecht
Associate Publicist
Gallery Books Publicity
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

From Danielle’s blog:
We all leave our “footprint” on the world, in one way or another. We each, individually, do something or are someone that makes the world a little better just by being here. I created this weekly meme to get to know the blogging community I love just a bit better. To know what makes them tick, outside of books, that is. Each week I will post a question to be answered in the following week’s “A Bit of Me(Me)”. Check back each Saturday to get the info for next week’s post and link up with your current post right here.
This week’s question:  Name three truths and one lie that not many people may know about you. (You can choose when to share the lie out of the bunch!)

2.  When in 2nd grade, my family was involved in a “sting operation” for the good guys.

3.  When in HS, I had the lead in a musical. 

4.  I am afraid of being in water above my head.

Which one do you think is the false statement about me? 
I was going to let you wait until Monday for the lie, however, I changed my mind.  Scroll down and I will tell.

The lie is ….I did NOT have the lead in a HS musical…I can’t sing a tune, not even in the shower.  For that matter, I can’t even hum  lol. Did you guess right?

As usual, we have 10-exclusive gift bags to give away during the party! Below are details.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc.
Meryl Moss/meryl@mediamuscle.com
Sarah Hausman/sarah@mediamuscle.com
203-226-0199
“A grueling, gripping demonstration of melodrama’s darker side.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Relentless and disturbing, Stevens’ dark, mesmerizing character study follows a twisted path from victimhood toward self-empowerment. Sure to leave readers looking over their shoulders for a smiling stranger.”
—Booklist (starred review)

“While this may be a stretch, the ‘what would I do’ aspect of the reading experience may make this a match for some Jodi Picoult readers as well. Highly recommended.”
—Library Journal (starred review)

“Stevens’s impressive debut, a thriller set on Vancouver Island, pulsates with suspense that gets a power boost from the jaw-dropping but credible closing twist.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

STILL MISSING
A Novel
By Chevy Stevens
  A missing young woman, a frightening abductor, a sealed-up remote cabin, and an honest, frank voice trying to sort out a situation that would destroy anyone: Chevy Stevens’ STILL MISSING is a page turner in the truest sense of the word. STILL MISSING (St. Martin’s Press; Paperback May 24, 2011) is that rare debut find—a shocking, visceral, brutal and beautifully crafted novel.
  On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a thirty-two year old realtor, had three goals—sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever-patient boyfriend. The open house she hosts is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she’s about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all. She couldn’t be further from the truth.
  Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent as the captive of psychopath in a remote mountain cabin, which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist, is a second narrative recounting events following her escape. This includes her struggle to piece her shattered life back together as well as the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor. Through this, Annie and the reader, discover that the truth doesn’t always set you free.

CHEVY STEVENS grew up on a ranch on Vancouver Island and still calls the island home. For most of her adult life she worked in sales, first as a rep for a giftware company and then as a realtor. STILL MISSING is her first novel.
You can see my review here.

And also on May 24th is:

Author Kresley Cole will be hosting an EXCLUSIVE revealing of the cover of her latest novel, LOTHAIRE at 9:00am on her Facebook page.

To be one of the first to see…..Like Kresley Cole’s official fan page to get the first look at the cover for LOTHAIRE: http://www.facebook.com/KresleyCole?v=app_190322544333196

LOTHAIRE goes on sale January 10th, 2012 !!!!!

Simon & Schuster
Ayelet Gruenspecht
Associate Publicist
Gallery Books Publicity
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

From Danielle’s blog:
We all leave our “footprint” on the world, in one way or another. We each, individually, do something or are someone that makes the world a little better just by being here. I created this weekly meme to get to know the blogging community I love just a bit better. To know what makes them tick, outside of books, that is. Each week I will post a question to be answered in the following week’s “A Bit of Me(Me)”. Check back each Saturday to get the info for next week’s post and link up with your current post right here.
This week’s question:  Name three truths and one lie that not many people may know about you. (You can choose when to share the lie out of the bunch!)

2.  When in 2nd grade, my family was involved in a “sting operation” for the good guys.

3.  When in HS, I had the lead in a musical. 

4.  I am afraid of being in water above my head.

Which one do you think is the false statement about me? 
I was going to let you wait until Monday for the lie, however, I changed my mind.  Scroll down and I will tell.

The lie is ….I did NOT have the lead in a HS musical…I can’t sing a tune, not even in the shower.  For that matter, I can’t even hum  lol. Did you guess right?

From An Island Life:
In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.
If you’d like to participate, visit An Island Life answer the question and then post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

MY QUESTION:

Summer is almost here, what are you looking forward to?

MY ANSWER:

Reading while either sitting by or in our pool….so relaxing!!!

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and find new book-related blogs that we may be missing out on! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed! So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPING through the list of blogs that are posted in the Linky list below!!
Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:
“If you were given the chance to spend one day in a fictional world (from a book), which book would it be from and what would that place be?”

MY ANSWER:
The first book that came to mind was Beachcombers by Nancy Thayer.  It was a chick lit read set in Nantucket.  The characters came to life and I would have loved to be part of their friendship and spend the summer with them on the island.

From An Island Life:
In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.
If you’d like to participate, visit An Island Life answer the question and then post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

MY QUESTION:

Summer is almost here, what are you looking forward to?

MY ANSWER:

Reading while either sitting by or in our pool….so relaxing!!!

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and find new book-related blogs that we may be missing out on! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed! So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPING through the list of blogs that are posted in the Linky list below!!
Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:
“If you were given the chance to spend one day in a fictional world (from a book), which book would it be from and what would that place be?”

MY ANSWER:
The first book that came to mind was Beachcombers by Nancy Thayer.  It was a chick lit read set in Nantucket.  The characters came to life and I would have loved to be part of their friendship and spend the summer with them on the island.

– Boy meets girl.
– Boy stalks girl.
– Girl already has a stalker.
– Boy becomes her stalker-stalker.
  We’ve seen it all before, many times, but this time it’s different. If only slightly.
  When Gomez Porter becomes a test subject in an experimental drug trial, he is asked to keep track of any strange experiences through a blog.
  What Gomez isn’t ready for, is so many of his experiences suddenly seeming strange; the antiques dealer trying to buy his old tax papers, the phone-sex salesman who hounds him day and night, the super sexy research assistant who falls for him but is unable to express herself in terms outside the realm of science.
  But when one of the trial participants turns up dead and another goes missing, Gomez begins to fear for his life.
  No longer sure who he can trust and which of his experiences are real and which merely drug induced delusions, he decides it’s time to go underground and work out a devious plan.
  Now, years later, his blogs have been recovered from a defunct server. For the first time we can find out firsthand what happened to Gomez as he takes us on a wild ride of discovery.
  Oh yeah, and there’s also a nurse with big boobs!

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Giveaway copies are supplied and shipped to winners via publisher,
agent and/or author. This blog hosts the giveaway on behalf of the
above. I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in
exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are
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I am not responsible for lost or damaged books that are shipped
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if rules of giveaway are not followed