Mailbox Monday and Library Loot

Thanks to Marcia at The Printed Page for hosting Mailbox Monday. I got a few in the mail this week. One Hundred Butterflies by Harold Feinstein (from the publisher) Bear Portraits by Jill Greenberg (from the publisher) The Possibility of Everything by Hope Edelman (from publicist) Dark Time: Mortal Path by Dakota Banks (won at Wordsmithonia. Thanks!) I picked up a couple at the library this past week,too, one for me, one for Amber. Library Loot is co-hosted by Eva and Marg. The Widow by Carla Neggers Quest for the Tree Kangaroo by Sy Montgomery Saturday, my mom, brother and sister-in law went to the Book Loft. I got one for me and a couple of Christmas presents for folks. Murder for Christmas edited by Thomas Godfrey Finally, my mom got me a book for my birthday, which is today. Road Dogs by Elmore Leonard (signed by the author) What books found their way to your house this week?...
Read More

Mailbox Monday and Library Loot

Thanks to Marcia at The Printed Page for hosting Mailbox Monday. I got one book in the mail this week, which I won in a giveaway. Whom God Would Destroy by Commander Pants (Thanks, Michele!) I picked up a couple of seasonal childrens books at the library this past week,too. Library Loot is co-hosted by Eva and Marg. Strega Nona's Harvest by Tomie dePaola Thank You, Sarah by Laurie Halse Anderson What books found their way to your house?...
Read More

ShapeShifter: The Demo Tapes–Year 1 by Susan Helene Gottfried

Shapeshifter : The Demo Tapes -- Year 1 by Susan Helene Gottfried This is a collection of short pieces that were originally published at the author's blog between April 2006 and March 2007. I didn't start reading the West of Mars - Meet and Greet until early this year, but have come to adore Trevor and his band Shapeshifter. I was delighted to read this book, because I missed all of these the first time around. As a teenager, and even now to be honest, I was a fan of  the big hair, hard rock bands. This was like peeking into their world, seeing all the fun and disasters that happen behind the scenes. Even though ShapeShifter is fictional, these glimpses into the characters' lives are funny and occasionally touching.  I fell in love with Trevor, Mitchell, Kerri and the rest. I have to admit to having a few favorite bits, like Green Hair Week, simply because I was at a loss...
Read More

Teaser Tuesday

Grab your current read. Let the book fall open to a random page. Share with us two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page. You also need to share the title of the book that you're getting your "teaser" from...that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given. Please avoid spoilers! My teaser: "Stick with me," Trevor said, nodding firmly. "I've got lots to teach the three of you." -pg 14, ShapeShifter: The Demo Tapes—Year 1 by Susan Helen Gottfried Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Play along. My copy was provided by the author for review....
Read More

K is for Kissing

Vicki of Reading At The Beach hosts A-Z Wednesday. Today's letter is K. I'm going back to one I read in April 2008. The description is from Goodreads.com, because I don't remember the book well enough to summarize is on my own. Kissing in Manhattan by David Schickler David Schickler's debut seems at first to be a lot of fun: a gaggle of young Manhattanites with fancy jobs and fine educations chase each other around town, falling in love or not. In a series of linked stories, Schickler gives us a perverted heiress; a bumbling schoolteacher whose teenage student proposes marriage to him; a bad comic who finds his métier in off-off-Broadway theater. The writing is cool and a bit willfully naive: "Rally McWilliams was profoundly lonely," begins the title story. "She wanted to believe that she had a soul mate, a future spouse gestating somewhere in Nepal or the Australian Outback. But in Manhattan, where Rally lived, all she found were guys." The...
Read More

I is for I

Vicki of Reading At The Beach hosts A-Z Wednesday. Today's letter is I. I read this novel in the summer of 2007. I don't remember many of the details, but I do remember loving it. It's not actually on my shelf anymore, but I still wanted to share it. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain wants to become a writer. Trouble is, she's the daughter of a once-famous author with a severe case of writer's block. Her family--beautiful sister Rose, brooding father James, ethereal stepmother Topaz--is barely scraping by in a crumbling English castle they leased when times were good. Now there's very little furniture, hardly any food, and just a few pages of notebook paper left to write on. Bravely making the best of things, Cassandra gets hold of a journal and begins her literary apprenticeship by refusing to face the facts. She writes, "I have just remarked to Rose that our situation is really rather romantic, two...
Read More