Aloha Friday (1 of 2)

CMash September 24, 2010 9 Comments

FRIDAY

I will be blog hopping a little later today. For those who stop by, thank you. I will visit you as soon as we get back. We are making another long trek for a post op visit. While hubby is driving, after we make a visit to Dunkin Donuts for coffee, I am hoping to pass the time reading. Have a fun day hopping, will join you, when we get home. Which leads me to my Aloha Friday Question.

Hosted by An Island Life

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!

What are your plans for today?.

Friday Blog Hop

Friday Blog Hops x2 (posting 2 of 2)

CMash September 24, 2010 13 Comments

Hi and Welcome to my blog. Thank you for ~~stopping~~ hopping by!! Hope you visit for a while and check out the 2 current giveaways I am hosting. And would love if you leave a comment (link) so that I can find, visit you, and become a follower!!!! Happy Hopping Friday!!!

Hosted by Java from Never Growing Old

From Java’s site:

Are you a blogger over 40? Yeah, welcome to the club!
Please join in the fun and get to know your fellow bloggers!!

Hosted by Jennifer from CRAZY FOR BOOKS

From Jennifer’s site:
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!!
The Hop lasts Friday-Monday every week, so if you don’t have time to Hop today, come back later and join the fun! This is a weekly event! And stop back throughout the weekend to see all the new blogs that are added! We get over 200 links every week!!
Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.
If you start following someone through the Hop, leave a comment on their blog to let them know! Stop back during the week to see other blogs that are added! And, most importantly, the idea is to HAVE FUN!!
This week’s twist:
When you write reviews, do you write them as you are reading or wait until you have read the entire book?
My reviews are written as soon as I finish the book and before I start the next book. Never know when those “senior moments” are going to kick in lol. But while reading the book, I place a large lined post-it inside of the book’s cover and will jot some notes/details that I think may be important and/or will help me with the review. Because I am, and always was, a reading one book at a time person, it has carried over into writing my reviews. What kind of reviewer are you?

Booking Thru Thursday

Booking Thru Thursday (1 of 2)

CMash September 23, 2010 11 Comments

THURSDAY

http://btt2.wordpress.com/

Today’s Question:

What are you reading right now? What made you choose it? Are you enjoying it? Would you recommend it? (And, by all means, discuss everything, if you’re reading more than one thing!)
My Answer:

My current read is The Chill Of Night by James Hayman. It is a review book from Pump Up Your Book. I read and reviewed his 1st novel, The Cutting, earlier this year and gave it a 4.5/5 rating. Full of mystery and suspense and thoroughly enjoyed. So when the call went out about his latest book, I jumped at the chance to read it. I’m finding this book is equally as good so far.
Thus far with this book and his first, I would definitely recommend if you read in the genre of mystery/suspense. Both books have the same main character but each book can stand alone. Since I am a one book read person, the only thing else I am reading is the local newspaper lol.
I have been in an awful reading slump these past few weeks, it definitely isn’t the book causing it, I think it was real life interfering. Knowing that I am joining a challenge today, I tried picking it up again, and YIPPEE, I read until I fell asleep. I think my slump has come to an end.

Fall Into Reading

Fall Into Reading 2010 Challenge (2 of 2)

CMash September 23, 2010 4 Comments

I think I found something to jump start my slump!!! A Challenge!! Yesterday it kept coming up in my google reader via many of the blogs I follow, so I headed on over to Callapidder Days, I just love the blog name! I read the criteria and decided to join in.

First, I would like to thank Katrina for hosting. The following is from her blog, if you want to join in too:

Here’s a brief recap of how to be a part of Fall Into Reading 2010:

*Make a list of books you want to read (or finish reading) this fall. Your list can be as long or as short as you’d like. (Also, feel free to modify your list during the challenge if it’s not working for you.)
*Write a blog post containing your list and submit it to this post using the Mr. Linky below.
*Get reading! The challenge goes from today, September 22nd, through December 20th.
*Check out other participants’ lists and add to your own to-read-someday pile!
*Write a post about your challenge experience in December, telling us all about whether you reached your goals and how Fall Into Reading went for you. But remember: this is a low-pressure challenge that should be fun. As long as you do some reading this fall (and enjoy it!), that’s good enough for me.
*Every week (beginning next Tuesday), I’ll be posting a question relating to reading — there will be questions about your reading habits, reading memories, or current reading experiences.
Books To Complete:
1. The Chill Of Night by James Hayman
2. Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons
3. Mask Of The Betrayer by Sharon Ann Donovan
4. Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman
5. Love Always, Hobby and Jessie by Sara Robinson
  6. i know i am, but what are you? by Samantha Bee
  7. Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner
  8. Hollywood Savage by Kristin McCloy
  9. Blindman’s Bluff by Faye Kellerman
10. And One Last Thing by Molly Harper
I am hoping to add more as time goes on.

Booking Thru Thursday

Booking Thru Thursday (1 of 2)

CMash September 23, 2010 11 Comments

THURSDAY

http://btt2.wordpress.com/

Today’s Question:

What are you reading right now? What made you choose it? Are you enjoying it? Would you recommend it? (And, by all means, discuss everything, if you’re reading more than one thing!)
My Answer:

My current read is The Chill Of Night by James Hayman. It is a review book from Pump Up Your Book. I read and reviewed his 1st novel, The Cutting, earlier this year and gave it a 4.5/5 rating. Full of mystery and suspense and thoroughly enjoyed. So when the call went out about his latest book, I jumped at the chance to read it. I’m finding this book is equally as good so far.
Thus far with this book and his first, I would definitely recommend if you read in the genre of mystery/suspense. Both books have the same main character but each book can stand alone. Since I am a one book read person, the only thing else I am reading is the local newspaper lol.
I have been in an awful reading slump these past few weeks, it definitely isn’t the book causing it, I think it was real life interfering. Knowing that I am joining a challenge today, I tried picking it up again, and YIPPEE, I read until I fell asleep. I think my slump has come to an end.

Fall Into Reading

Fall Into Reading 2010 Challenge (2 of 2)

CMash September 23, 2010 4 Comments

I think I found something to jump start my slump!!! A Challenge!! Yesterday it kept coming up in my google reader via many of the blogs I follow, so I headed on over to Callapidder Days, I just love the blog name! I read the criteria and decided to join in.

First, I would like to thank Katrina for hosting. The following is from her blog, if you want to join in too:

Here’s a brief recap of how to be a part of Fall Into Reading 2010:

*Make a list of books you want to read (or finish reading) this fall. Your list can be as long or as short as you’d like. (Also, feel free to modify your list during the challenge if it’s not working for you.)
*Write a blog post containing your list and submit it to this post using the Mr. Linky below.
*Get reading! The challenge goes from today, September 22nd, through December 20th.
*Check out other participants’ lists and add to your own to-read-someday pile!
*Write a post about your challenge experience in December, telling us all about whether you reached your goals and how Fall Into Reading went for you. But remember: this is a low-pressure challenge that should be fun. As long as you do some reading this fall (and enjoy it!), that’s good enough for me.
*Every week (beginning next Tuesday), I’ll be posting a question relating to reading — there will be questions about your reading habits, reading memories, or current reading experiences.
Books To Complete:
1. The Chill Of Night by James Hayman
2. Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons
3. Mask Of The Betrayer by Sharon Ann Donovan
4. Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman
5. Love Always, Hobby and Jessie by Sara Robinson
  6. i know i am, but what are you? by Samantha Bee
  7. Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner
  8. Hollywood Savage by Kristin McCloy
  9. Blindman’s Bluff by Faye Kellerman
10. And One Last Thing by Molly Harper
I am hoping to add more as time goes on.

Doubleday Giveaway

Giveaway "The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise" 09/22 to 09/29

CMash September 22, 2010 Leave a Comment

THE TOWER, THE ZOO and THE TORTOISE

by Julia Stuart

September 22nd to September 29th

Synopsis (borrowed from Barnes & Noble)
Brimming with charm and whimsy, this exquisite novel set in the Tower of London has the transportive qualities and delightful magic of the contemporary classics Chocolat and Amélie.
Balthazar Jones has lived in the Tower of London with his loving wife, Hebe, and his 120-year-old pet tortoise for the past eight years. That’s right, he is a Beefeater (they really do live there). It’s no easy job living and working in the tourist attraction in present-day London.
Among the eccentric characters who call the Tower’s maze of ancient buildings and spiral staircases home are the Tower’s Rack & Ruin barmaid, Ruby Dore, who just found out she’s pregnant; portly Valerie Jennings, who is falling for ticket inspector Arthur Catnip; the lifelong bachelor Reverend Septimus Drew, who secretly pens a series of principled erotica; and the philandering Ravenmaster, aiming to avenge the death of one of his insufferable ravens.
When Balthazar is tasked with setting up an elaborate menagerie within the Tower walls to house the many exotic animals gifted to the Queen, life at the Tower gets all the more interesting. Penguins escape, giraffes are stolen, and the Komodo dragon sends innocent people running for their lives. Balthazar is in charge and things are not exactly running smoothly. Then Hebe decides to leave him and his beloved tortoise “runs” away.
Filled with the humor and heart that calls to mind the delightful novels of Alexander McCall Smith, and the charm and beauty of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise is a magical, wholly original novel whose irresistible characters will stay with you long after you turn the stunning last page.

THANKS TO LIZ, JUDY AND THE

FANTASTIC PEOPLE AT DOUBLEDAY