Category: Uncategorized

I thought I’d let you know a few of the giveaways I ran across this week. As always, my current giveaway is listed on my sidebar and make sure you check out West of Mars- Win a Book! where there's always a ton of links to great contests, interviews and guest posts. Cleopatra's Daughter and The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran, at Well-Mannered Frivolity (ends September 14, International) The Treasures of Venice and The Wild Sight by Loucinda McGary, at Booking Mama (ends September 17, US and Canada) The Curse of the Good Girl by Rachel Simmons, at She Is Too Fond of Books (ends September 19, US and Canada) The Treasures of Venice and The Wild Sight by Loucinda McGary, at Drey's Library (ends September 22, US and Canada, no PO boxes) The Murder of King Tut by James Patterson and Martin Dugard, at The Tome Traveller's Weblog (ends September 24, US and Canada, no PO boxes) Not books Ozone socks, at Lipstick to Crayons (ends September 22, US...

Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey I've mentioned before that a book's setting can be just as important to me as the plot or characters. This is one of those books. The culture, history,  and landscape of Ghana are integral to the storyline. Detective Inspector Darko Dawson is from his station in Accra, the capital, to a small village to investigate the death of a female medical student. Darko's not thrilled about leaving his family, a wife he loves and a son with a medical condition, but he knows the area's native language. His aunt lives in the village and it was the last place his mother was seen before she vanished years ago. As he investigates the murder he also learns the truth behind his mother disappearance. Darko is torn between his modern sensiblities and the age-old customs that still persist, like the trokosi, girls who are given as wives to the local priest in exchange for good fortune for their families. He steps on a lot...

Yesterday, I reviewed Laced with Magic which I enjoyed a lot. I have a soft spot for paranormal romances. Today, I want to thank Barbara Bretton for taking a page in my notebook to share her thoughts on finding "your voice." Thanks so much!   The Writer’s Secret Weapon --Guest Blogger Barbara Bretton, LACED WITH MAGIC First the good news: if you’re looking for information on how to develop your author’s voice, you can stop reading right now. Your own true writer’s voice is already firmly in place and has been ever since you opened your mouth and spoke your first words. The bad news? You’ve been trained over the years to do everything in your power to suppress it. Most of us mistrust our true and genuine voice. It seems too easy, too uncomplicated. Too much like sitting across the kitchen table from your best friend and telling a story. A friend of mine named Deborah Hecht first used the Kitchen Table analogy one day at our...

My Fishing Journal by Louis Gary Lamit is a journal for children to track and record their fishing experiences. This journal is for those who want to detail their fishing trips and also save it for later in life to better recall these special times. There are 50-pages of full color sheets that are divided into categories for writing down the time, date, moon phase, weather conditions, water conditions, fishing gear, types of fish caught, fishing companions, etc. There is also a longer 100-page version that is not colored but has more sheets for older children or adults to document fishing trips. More than 75 fish types have been described in information blocks at the end of each set of facing pages so that you and your child can learn about the fish they will be encountering during their trips. I am really excited about these journals. Not only do they have places for all the details of the trips, there is...

Vicki of Reading At The Beach hosts A-Z Wednesday. Today's letter is E. This one is from my to-read list. I don't read many young adult novels, but this one sounds unique and I just love the cover.   Eyes Like Stars: Theatre Illuminata, Act I  by Lisa Mantchev All her world's a stage. Beatrice Shakespeare Smith is not an actress, yet she lives in a theater. She is not an orphan, but she has no parents. She knows every part, but has no lines of her own. Until now. Welcome to the Théâtre Illuminata, where the characters of every play ever written can be found behind the curtain. They were born to play their parts, and are bound to the Théâtre by The Book—an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of them, but they are her family—and she is about to lose them all and the only home she has ever known. Lisa Mantchev has written a debut novel that is dramatic, romantic,...

Grab your current read. Let the book fall open to a random page. Share with us two (2) "teaser" sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12. 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: The girl heading the procession, no older than fifteen or sixteen, carried a dappled black-and-white stool on her head and wore a black-and-white cloth bunched above her breasts. "This will be Togbe's fifth wife," Fiti said. -pg. 151, Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Play along....