Author: CMash

An avid reader for many years. Married for 31 years with 2 fantastic adult sons who I am so very proud of with great gfs. Am disabled. Found this wonderful community of book blogging in approximately December 2009 and have loved every minute of it. Am now a reviewer for authors, publishers, publicists, etc. And am also a partner in a Virtual PR tour company, Partners In Crime Tours for authors of novels of mystery, suspense and crime (www.Partnersincrimetours.net)

Teaser Tuesday

TUESDAY
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Hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
*Grab your current read
*Open to a random page
*Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
*BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
*Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

“Maybe she destroyed some records before she died,” I suggested as I flipped through the pages.  She never would have wanted us to know about this.”  I came to a page that was completely obliterated by a black marker.

GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE "ART & MADNESS" ENDED

APRIL 25th to MAY 12th, 2011
ART & MADNESS
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by ANNE ROIPHE
SYNOPSIS:
  Luminous and intensely personal, Art and Madness recounts the lost years of Anne Roiphe’s twenties, when the soon-to-be-critically-acclaimed author put her dreams of becoming a writer on hold to devote herself to the magnetic but coercive male artists of the period.

  Coming of age in the 1950s, Roiphe, the granddaughter of Jewish immigrants, grew up on Park Avenue and had an adolescence defined by privilege, petticoats, and social rules. At Smith College her classmates wore fraternity pins on their cashmere sweaters and knit argyle socks for their boyfriends during lectures. Young women were expected to give up personal freedom for devotion to home and children. Instead, Roiphe chose Beckett, Proust, Sartre, and Mann as her heroes and sought out the chaos of New York’s White Horse Tavern and West End Bar.
  She was unmoored and uncertain, “waiting for a wisp of truth, a feather’s brush of beauty, a moment of insight.” Salvation came in the form of a brilliant playwright whom she married and worked to support, even after he left her alone on their honeymoon and later pawned her family silver, china, and pearls. Her near-religious belief in the power of art induced her to overlook his infidelity and alcoholism, and to dutifully type his manuscripts in place of writing her own.
  During an era that idolized its male writers, she became, sometimes with her young child in tow, one of the girls draped across the sofa at parties with George Plimpton, Terry Southern, Doc Humes, Norman Mailer, Peter Matthiessen, and William Styron. In the Hamptons she socialized with Larry Rivers, Jack Gelber and other painters and sculptors. “Moderation for most of us is a most unnatural condition . . . . I preferred to burn out like a brilliant firecracker.” But while she was playing the muse reality beckoned, forcing her to confront the notion that any sacrifice was worth making for art.
  Art and Madness recounts the fascinating evolution of a time when art and alcohol and rebellion caused collateral damage and sometimes produced extraordinary work. In clear-sighted, perceptive, and unabashed prose, Roiphe shares with astonishing honesty the tumultuous adventure of self-discovery that finally led to her redemption.

THANKS TO LIZ AND THE KIND
PEOPLE FROM DOUBLEDAY
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I HAVE TWO (2) COPIES OF THIS
INSPIRING MEMOIR TO GIVE AWAY.
HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO WIN.
Photobucket
*ALL COMMENTS TO BE SEPARATE*
AND INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN
*LEAVE COMMENT: WHAT THOUGHT
COMES TO MIND WHEN YOU HEAR 1950s?*
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*EXTRA ENTRIES*

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU PUBLICLY FOLLOW THIS
  BLOG (IF NOT, GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT ON RIGHT SIDE).

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK.

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER.

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT TO LET ME KNOW THAT YOU THAT
  YOU RETWEETED THIS GIVEAWAY (LEAVE LINK).

*REMEMBER TO INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS FOR ALL ENTRIES.

Photobucket
*U.S.  RESIDENTS ONLY*
*NO P.O. BOXES*
**HONOR SYSTEM**
ONE WINNING BOOK PER HOUSEHOLD
PLEASE NOTIFY ME IF YOU HAVE
WON THIS BOOK FROM ANOTHER
SITE, SO THAT SOMEONE ELSE MAY
HAVE THE CHANCE TO WIN
AND READ THIS BOOK.
THANK YOU.
alcohol
*GIVEAWAY ENDS MAY 12th AT 6PM EST*
WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN BY RANDOM.ORG
AND NOTIFIED VIA EMAIL AND WILL
AND WILL HAVE 48 HOURS TO RESPOND
OR ANOTHER NAME WILL BE CHOSEN
Photobucket
DISCLAIMER / RULES

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
ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
I am not responsible for lost or damaged books that are shipped
from agents. I reserve the right to disqualify/delete any entries
if rules of giveaway are not followed

Monday Memes

MONDAY
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Hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading
This week’s question:
Do the members of your family read? Do you think it was passed down to you? ((or, if you want you can answer this: Who do you think influenced you as a reader?))

My answer:
Unfortunately, not one family member reads.  However, my Mom takes full responsibility for me always having a book in hand.  As she tells it, she would give me a book when trying to “potty train” me or when I was in my “playpen” in front of the TV (this was in the 50s when these upbringing rituals were not taboo.  As for my sons, I don’t know where I went wrong.  I would read to them EVERY night and many times during the day.  We would take walks to the library, had them signed-up for “library school” classes before they went to Kindergarten and anytime we were at a mall, we HAD to stop in the book store and we all got to pick out a book.  When they were younger, they had a few sets of series (can’t remember the title) that they HAD to read, which they did, until they entered HS and reading for enjoyment stopped.  That is why when I found this community of book blogging I was so excited that I found people that loved books as much as me and that I finally could discuss books that I had read and see what other’s thought on the same book.

Photobucket
April is being hosted by Amy from Passages to the Past
Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia of A girl and her books and is now on tour.
According to Marcia, “Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.”

First I would like to thank Amy for hosting this month and doing such a wonderful job.  Thank you Amy!!
                                                                    Saturday  04/23

For review from The Cadence Group

GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE "ART & MADNESS" ENDED

APRIL 25th to MAY 12th, 2011
ART & MADNESS
Photobucket
by ANNE ROIPHE
SYNOPSIS:
  Luminous and intensely personal, Art and Madness recounts the lost years of Anne Roiphe’s twenties, when the soon-to-be-critically-acclaimed author put her dreams of becoming a writer on hold to devote herself to the magnetic but coercive male artists of the period.

  Coming of age in the 1950s, Roiphe, the granddaughter of Jewish immigrants, grew up on Park Avenue and had an adolescence defined by privilege, petticoats, and social rules. At Smith College her classmates wore fraternity pins on their cashmere sweaters and knit argyle socks for their boyfriends during lectures. Young women were expected to give up personal freedom for devotion to home and children. Instead, Roiphe chose Beckett, Proust, Sartre, and Mann as her heroes and sought out the chaos of New York’s White Horse Tavern and West End Bar.
  She was unmoored and uncertain, “waiting for a wisp of truth, a feather’s brush of beauty, a moment of insight.” Salvation came in the form of a brilliant playwright whom she married and worked to support, even after he left her alone on their honeymoon and later pawned her family silver, china, and pearls. Her near-religious belief in the power of art induced her to overlook his infidelity and alcoholism, and to dutifully type his manuscripts in place of writing her own.
  During an era that idolized its male writers, she became, sometimes with her young child in tow, one of the girls draped across the sofa at parties with George Plimpton, Terry Southern, Doc Humes, Norman Mailer, Peter Matthiessen, and William Styron. In the Hamptons she socialized with Larry Rivers, Jack Gelber and other painters and sculptors. “Moderation for most of us is a most unnatural condition . . . . I preferred to burn out like a brilliant firecracker.” But while she was playing the muse reality beckoned, forcing her to confront the notion that any sacrifice was worth making for art.
  Art and Madness recounts the fascinating evolution of a time when art and alcohol and rebellion caused collateral damage and sometimes produced extraordinary work. In clear-sighted, perceptive, and unabashed prose, Roiphe shares with astonishing honesty the tumultuous adventure of self-discovery that finally led to her redemption.

THANKS TO LIZ AND THE KIND
PEOPLE FROM DOUBLEDAY
Photobucket
I HAVE TWO (2) COPIES OF THIS
INSPIRING MEMOIR TO GIVE AWAY.
HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO WIN.
Photobucket
*ALL COMMENTS TO BE SEPARATE*
AND INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN
*LEAVE COMMENT: WHAT THOUGHT
COMES TO MIND WHEN YOU HEAR 1950s?*
Photobucket
*EXTRA ENTRIES*

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU PUBLICLY FOLLOW THIS
  BLOG (IF NOT, GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT ON RIGHT SIDE).

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK.

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT IF YOU FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER.

*LEAVE SEPARATE COMMENT TO LET ME KNOW THAT YOU THAT
  YOU RETWEETED THIS GIVEAWAY (LEAVE LINK).

*REMEMBER TO INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS FOR ALL ENTRIES.

Photobucket
*U.S.  RESIDENTS ONLY*
*NO P.O. BOXES*
**HONOR SYSTEM**
ONE WINNING BOOK PER HOUSEHOLD
PLEASE NOTIFY ME IF YOU HAVE
WON THIS BOOK FROM ANOTHER
SITE, SO THAT SOMEONE ELSE MAY
HAVE THE CHANCE TO WIN
AND READ THIS BOOK.
THANK YOU.
alcohol
*GIVEAWAY ENDS MAY 12th AT 6PM EST*
WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN BY RANDOM.ORG
AND NOTIFIED VIA EMAIL AND WILL
AND WILL HAVE 48 HOURS TO RESPOND
OR ANOTHER NAME WILL BE CHOSEN
Photobucket
DISCLAIMER / RULES

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
ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
I am not responsible for lost or damaged books that are shipped
from agents. I reserve the right to disqualify/delete any entries
if rules of giveaway are not followed

Monday Memes

MONDAY
Photobucket
Hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading
This week’s question:
Do the members of your family read? Do you think it was passed down to you? ((or, if you want you can answer this: Who do you think influenced you as a reader?))

My answer:
Unfortunately, not one family member reads.  However, my Mom takes full responsibility for me always having a book in hand.  As she tells it, she would give me a book when trying to “potty train” me or when I was in my “playpen” in front of the TV (this was in the 50s when these upbringing rituals were not taboo.  As for my sons, I don’t know where I went wrong.  I would read to them EVERY night and many times during the day.  We would take walks to the library, had them signed-up for “library school” classes before they went to Kindergarten and anytime we were at a mall, we HAD to stop in the book store and we all got to pick out a book.  When they were younger, they had a few sets of series (can’t remember the title) that they HAD to read, which they did, until they entered HS and reading for enjoyment stopped.  That is why when I found this community of book blogging I was so excited that I found people that loved books as much as me and that I finally could discuss books that I had read and see what other’s thought on the same book.

Photobucket
April is being hosted by Amy from Passages to the Past
Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia of A girl and her books and is now on tour.
According to Marcia, “Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.”

First I would like to thank Amy for hosting this month and doing such a wonderful job.  Thank you Amy!!
                                                                    Saturday  04/23

For review from The Cadence Group

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter to you and your family!!  I am guessing that most everyone will be visiting with family and friends today, I know those are our plans. so Sunday’s Shining Star is taking a little break.

Due to holidays, this weekly event will return on May 15th with getting to know another one of our blogging peers.  And since we will have missed 3 weeks of our “coffee and gab session”, make sure you put plenty of time aside because I am sure we will have a lot of catching up to do!!!  Plus, Jeff, Lori’s (Dollycas’s Thoughts) hubby asked for some time off…..Men!!!  lol.

Hope you have a wonderful day!!!!!

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter to you and your family!!  I am guessing that most everyone will be visiting with family and friends today, I know those are our plans. so Sunday’s Shining Star is taking a little break.

Due to holidays, this weekly event will return on May 15th with getting to know another one of our blogging peers.  And since we will have missed 3 weeks of our “coffee and gab session”, make sure you put plenty of time aside because I am sure we will have a lot of catching up to do!!!  Plus, Jeff, Lori’s (Dollycas’s Thoughts) hubby asked for some time off…..Men!!!  lol.

Hope you have a wonderful day!!!!!