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I found a few new words this week, at least words that were new to me. chinoiserie-a style of ornamentation current chiefly in the 18th century in Europe, characterized by intricate patterns and an extensive use of motifs identified as Chinese; an object decorated in this style or an example of this style. And there's the chinoiserie, a lot of it, stolen probably when my grandfather's forbears turned to privateering.  (The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry) punctilio- a fine point, particular, or detail, as of conduct, ceremony, or procedure; strictness or exactness in the observance of formalities or amenities. This is not an event to be set to one side in the interest of doctrinal punctilio. ("The Crucifix" by Thomas Howard in Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter) There were a couple of Greek words in The Turnaround by George Pelecanos that I wasn't familiar with.  malaka-  a slang word, whose literal translation is "wanker" but the usage of the term varies widely from the...

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: Alex, sitting in front of the computer screen, got out of the Post site without reading the last article in the archives. He typed "Heathrow Heights" and the word "murder" into a search engine and eventually found a site that sold partial transcripts of trials going back fifty years. -161, The Turnaround by George Pelecanos Tuesday Teaser is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Play along....

I thought I'd go ahead and share some of the giveaways I've found on various blogs this week. I'm currently holding two giveaways. The first is for I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti by Guilia Melucci. The second is for a pair of books, Bobbi Brown Living Beauty by Bobbi Brown with Marie Clare Katigbak and How Not to Look Old by Charla Krupp. Sheri, at A Novel Menagerie, has a copy of The Keeper of Light and Dust by Natasha Mostert up for grabs. Amberkatze's Book Blog has a great interview with Paula Brackston and is giving away a signed copy of her Book of Shadows. Drey's Library has a buch of giveaways going on right now. She has an interview with David Cristofano and five copies of his book, The Girl She Used to Be. She's also giving away five copies of A Lucky Child by Thomas Buergenthal. As if that's not enough, she's got an Earth Day themed giveaway and one for National...

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about your to be read list… As a follow up to last week's question, Joseph asked how you keep track of your tbr list. Do you have a paper list or on your computer? Do you take it with you when you go shopping? How do you decide what gets added to it? I keep track of my to-read list on Goodreads.com. It's slightly out of control, though, since I add just about every book I'm even remotely interested in. I tend to order most of my books on-line or put them on hold through my library's website, which makes it easy to refer to my list. When I actually go shopping at bookstores, I usually pick up whatever catches my eye, whether it's on my list or not....

I only have one word to share this week. It's from The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. amontillado- a pale, dry Spanish sherry "coming back with some sweet sherry, a dusty Armagnac, and some amontillado." See what words others found, or share your own, at Bermudaonion's Weblog....

My Little Red Bookedited by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff Published: Feb 2009 by Twelve Description: My Little Red Book is an anthology of stories about first periods, collected from women of all ages from around the world. The accounts range from light-hearted (the editor got hers while water skiing in a yellow bathing suit) to heart-stopping (a first period discovered just as one girl was about to be strip-searched by the Nazis). The contributors include well-known women writers (Meg Cabot, Erica Jong, Gloria Steinem, Cecily von Ziegesar), alongside today's teens. And while the authors differ in race, faith, or cultural background, their stories share a common bond: they are all accessible, deeply honest, and highly informative. Whatever a girl experiences or expects, she'll find stories that speak to her thoughts and feelings. Ultimately, My Little Red Book is more than a collection of stories. It is a call for a change in attitude, for a new way of seeing periods. In a time when the taboo...