Hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page http://printedpage.us/
Is it just me?  I look forward to the mail being delivered to see if I received any books, the heck with the other mail like bills, flyers, catalogs, etc.  There are priorities in life lol.  I want to see THOSE books!!!  Its like Christmas morning opening up those envelopes to see what new book I will get to read !!  And this week was a good one.  I received these:

Death Of A Cure by Steven H. Jackson (Rating 3 1/2)
Published by Telemachus Press, LLC
ISBN: 978-0-9841083-0-5
At the request of Yorkshire Publishing, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis: (portion from book’s back cover) Death Of A Cure is a novel of mystery, suspense, and action. The murder of one good many by a respected colleague is more than a crushing personal deception, it is an unequaled violation of the trust of thousands afflicted by a horrible disease.
  In a first person account, the brother of the murdered man, a military surgeon born to wealth and accustomed to success, is thrust into the rose of homicide investigator. Quickly, discovering that his skills as a detective are frustratingly insufficient, he calls upon a woman from his past for help. Together they unravel layers of evil and organized deception revealing that the rue work of this healthcare charity has little to do with curing the terrible disease born by a trusting constituency.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: Within the first four (4) pages of this book, the mystery begins and had this reader wondering “who is it”. The author has the unique writing style of using the more difficult use of first (1st person) perspective throughout the entire story line. I was, however, a bit disappointed after those first four pages. The next 1/3 of this book was a mix of extreme detailed events that bordered on boredom for this reader. Once getting past that portion, the mystery began again. The author also had the ability to convey, with his words, certain graphic situations within the story line. I also found that even with the large cast of characters, it was easy to see who the “who is it” was. It was a good read but this reader, and this is my opinion only, found it lacked a consistent page turning mystery novel.
  Rating: 3 1/2 stars 

Death Of A Cure by Steven H. Jackson (Rating 3 1/2)
Published by Telemachus Press, LLC
ISBN: 978-0-9841083-0-5
At the request of Yorkshire Publishing, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis: (portion from book’s back cover) Death Of A Cure is a novel of mystery, suspense, and action. The murder of one good many by a respected colleague is more than a crushing personal deception, it is an unequaled violation of the trust of thousands afflicted by a horrible disease.
  In a first person account, the brother of the murdered man, a military surgeon born to wealth and accustomed to success, is thrust into the rose of homicide investigator. Quickly, discovering that his skills as a detective are frustratingly insufficient, he calls upon a woman from his past for help. Together they unravel layers of evil and organized deception revealing that the rue work of this healthcare charity has little to do with curing the terrible disease born by a trusting constituency.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: Within the first four (4) pages of this book, the mystery begins and had this reader wondering “who is it”. The author has the unique writing style of using the more difficult use of first (1st person) perspective throughout the entire story line. I was, however, a bit disappointed after those first four pages. The next 1/3 of this book was a mix of extreme detailed events that bordered on boredom for this reader. Once getting past that portion, the mystery began again. The author also had the ability to convey, with his words, certain graphic situations within the story line. I also found that even with the large cast of characters, it was easy to see who the “who is it” was. It was a good read but this reader, and this is my opinion only, found it lacked a consistent page turning mystery novel.
  Rating: 3 1/2 stars 

Hosted by Kayla at The Eclectic Element http://www.theeclecticelement.blogspot.com/
Slapdash Sunday is a day for your proverbial week ‘leftovers.’ Is there something you wanted to say, but just forgot? Is there something you want to write about, but isn’t worth a whole page? Do you have a random thought, funny or otherwise that needs to be written down?
That is what Slapdash Sunday is for!
One item on my Saturday Blog-To-Do list is to update my Challenge progress meters, which got me to thinking and is going to be the topic of today’s Slapdash Sunday.

     Many of my Challenge meters are not progressing.  First let me say that this is my 1st year of Challenges.  I signed up for most of the challenges when I was a newbie and first went “public” with my blog.  They looked like fun and at the time, I wanted to join in and participate in this great world of book blogging.  However, all this was before I was encouraged to start accepting requests for reviews that some of my blogging mentors thought I was ready for.
     So today’s thoughts are regarding this situation.  I know I am way behind, a whole month behind, due to my surgeries and hospitalizations.  Hoping that I can play catch up but thinking, believing, know for sure that I will probably, definitely not complete the 100+ challenge.  When it comes to requests, I feel that I should read and review them first.  As of today there are 10 books with more coming that I know of.  I have noticed on the experienced blogger sites that they have more challenges than I do and are making great progress.
     My questions for discussion are these:  Do you alternate between books that are “requested reviews” and books for your challenges?  Do you feel that the “requests” take priority?  How long do you think is adequate from the time of receiving a “request” to finish reading and reviewing it?  What was the longest time span that you had from the book being delivered and actually writing your review?  Have you ever not completed the challenges you signed up for? 
What are your thoughts on this topic? Let’s have a Slapdash !!!!!

Hosted by Kayla at The Eclectic Element http://www.theeclecticelement.blogspot.com/
Slapdash Sunday is a day for your proverbial week ‘leftovers.’ Is there something you wanted to say, but just forgot? Is there something you want to write about, but isn’t worth a whole page? Do you have a random thought, funny or otherwise that needs to be written down?
That is what Slapdash Sunday is for!
One item on my Saturday Blog-To-Do list is to update my Challenge progress meters, which got me to thinking and is going to be the topic of today’s Slapdash Sunday.

     Many of my Challenge meters are not progressing.  First let me say that this is my 1st year of Challenges.  I signed up for most of the challenges when I was a newbie and first went “public” with my blog.  They looked like fun and at the time, I wanted to join in and participate in this great world of book blogging.  However, all this was before I was encouraged to start accepting requests for reviews that some of my blogging mentors thought I was ready for.
     So today’s thoughts are regarding this situation.  I know I am way behind, a whole month behind, due to my surgeries and hospitalizations.  Hoping that I can play catch up but thinking, believing, know for sure that I will probably, definitely not complete the 100+ challenge.  When it comes to requests, I feel that I should read and review them first.  As of today there are 10 books with more coming that I know of.  I have noticed on the experienced blogger sites that they have more challenges than I do and are making great progress.
     My questions for discussion are these:  Do you alternate between books that are “requested reviews” and books for your challenges?  Do you feel that the “requests” take priority?  How long do you think is adequate from the time of receiving a “request” to finish reading and reviewing it?  What was the longest time span that you had from the book being delivered and actually writing your review?  Have you ever not completed the challenges you signed up for? 
What are your thoughts on this topic? Let’s have a Slapdash !!!!!

1~ post almost everyday, if not every
2~ reply to every comment that’s posted
3~ just down right LOVE blogging!
Those bloggers are the ones that make it more than worthwhile to be a follower!
Now, here are rules for this award :
Share one extraordinary thing that’s happened to you then pass this award along to 5 Xxtraordinary bloggers.
My extraordinary event/thing:
  I realize that I am truly blessed to be able to accept this award and to write this post.  I have only shared this with a few family members, friends and blogging buddies.  Not only was it scary but I am now sharing it because I feel that prayers were an extraordinary saving grace.  I had many people offering up prayers for me, including some blogging friends, before, during and after my surgeries last month, which I believe pulled me through a very critical situation.
  These complications, at times, were critical.  There were 3 incidents where I almost didn’t make it.  I went into a semi comatose state for hours and on 3 occasions my blood pressure dropped to dangerous levels, my respirations close to shutting down.  But all those prayers, I truly believe pulled me through, and allowed me to be with my family and sitting here writing typing this post.  And to those blogging buddies, a very special thank you.
And I now pass this to:

1~ post almost everyday, if not every
2~ reply to every comment that’s posted
3~ just down right LOVE blogging!
Those bloggers are the ones that make it more than worthwhile to be a follower!
Now, here are rules for this award :
Share one extraordinary thing that’s happened to you then pass this award along to 5 Xxtraordinary bloggers.
My extraordinary event/thing:
  I realize that I am truly blessed to be able to accept this award and to write this post.  I have only shared this with a few family members, friends and blogging buddies.  Not only was it scary but I am now sharing it because I feel that prayers were an extraordinary saving grace.  I had many people offering up prayers for me, including some blogging friends, before, during and after my surgeries last month, which I believe pulled me through a very critical situation.
  These complications, at times, were critical.  There were 3 incidents where I almost didn’t make it.  I went into a semi comatose state for hours and on 3 occasions my blood pressure dropped to dangerous levels, my respirations close to shutting down.  But all those prayers, I truly believe pulled me through, and allowed me to be with my family and sitting here writing typing this post.  And to those blogging buddies, a very special thank you.
And I now pass this to:

Hosted by An Island Life http://islandlife808.com/
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 is: