Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Monday, May 24, 2010

Friday, May 21, 2010

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Monday, May 10, 2010

Review Littlest Red Riding Hood reviewed by Alexis

By    Monday, May 10, 2010 // No comments
Title: Littlest Red Riding Hood
Author:









Alexis's Thoughts:

Not my typical book but Alexis says "It's gweat" and no gweat isn't a typo it's how she sounded saying it. It's a very colorful picture book about a little mouse who was dressed as red riding hood and took food to Grandma for a picnic the wolf smelled the food and was hungry so he tried to trick them. In the end all three got a nice picnic. It was cute for a kids book and Alexis definitely enjoyed the story to say the least. So if your looking for a good book check out this one. Alexis gives it 5 stars.
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It's Monday what are you reading?

By    Monday, May 10, 2010 // No comments
This was started by Shella over on One Person's Journey through Books where bloggers put up what they have read, reviewed, and our planning to read. So here goes:

Read last week:
The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall
The Cat who read backwards
The Cat who ate Modern Danish
Witch and Wizard

This week I plan to read:

The Cat who turned off and on
The Coven
Marked
The Host
Should be an interesting week with books.



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Saturday, May 8, 2010

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Friday, April 23, 2010

Review Breaking Dawn by: Stephenie Meyer

By    Friday, April 23, 2010 // No comments
Title: Breaking Dawn
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Pages: 756
Series: Twilight #4
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchase

Description:

To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to a werewolf Jacob Black, she has endured a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife to reach the ultimate turning point. her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fate of two tribes hangs.

Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating and unfathomable consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life - first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse - seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed...forever?

The astonishing, breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.

My Thoughts: 
 
So I finished up Breaking Dawn today, wow can we say alot of pages :) I really think it was a good story. I think some people have trouble identifying with it, if you haven't been married, or gotten pregnant or even had a baby. I think if you have done any of those then you know that you will protect those you love more than anything else in the world. I was glad to see that Jacob was finally able to move on after Bella. And that Bella found the strength she never knew she had. I was a tad concerned with Alice's disappearance but glad it was explained in such a way we can understand it. And very very very glad Bella was able to have her forever with Edward! Overall a 5 star book in my opinion.

I am going to pre-order The 2nd Life of Bree Tanner. And I will be reviewing it here.
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Thursday, April 22, 2010

Review Eclipse by: Stephenie Meyer

By    Thursday, April 22, 2010 // No comments
Title: Eclipse
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Pages: 629
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchase

Description:

As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob - knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

Readers captivated by Twilight and New Moon will eagerly devour Eclipse, the much-anticipated third book in Stephenie Meyer's riveting vampire love saga.

My Thoughts: 

I thought this book was very good as we open the story we find ourselves still dealing with the Jacob-Edward love triangle. Centering around Bella and who she will choose. Meanwhile the Cullens and La Push are dealing with a string of murders in Seattle. It becomes evident that there is an army brewing.

There is alot more action in this book, along with some tough decisions on Bella's part. I enjoyed this as I have enjoyed the whole Twilight series. The conflict Bella goes through with dealing with who she loves more. You also learn that Edward through Jacob can see the pain he caused Bella in New Moon. I will definitely keep this set of books around cause they are ones I could reread. On to Breaking Dawn...
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Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Twilight Saga

By    Tuesday, April 20, 2010 // No comments
I've been spending my day reading. So today I finished Twilight, read New Moon and have now moved on to Eclipse. I liked Twilight alot as it set up alot. New Moon not the Jacob aspect as much, would've been nice if he was a good friend of hers, and not a werewolf, I am so far liking Eclipse. So it shall be interesting how these last two books play out.

After these are read I will be finishing some books I started on goodreads, so be sure to check out my reading list.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

The Cat Who Books

By    Wednesday, April 14, 2010 // No comments
I have loved this series since my aunt first handed me one of them for me to read.  They are great little reas about Qwilleran and his companions Coco, and Yumyum.  They are really cute fun books with a touch of mystery.  The author Lilian Jackson Braun was born in 1913 and wrote these later in life.  No one knows what has happened to her.  But you can always pick up a Cat Who Book and feel the love she put into the characters.  They will definitely sit in my collection for years to come.  I am hoping someday to introduce my young girls to the cat who when they are older.  Has anyone read these?

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Review Witch and Wizard by: James Patterson

By    Sunday, April 11, 2010 // No comments

Title: Witch and Wizard
Author: James Patterson
Series: Witch and Wizard #1
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Pages: 314
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchase

Description:


EVERYTHING. CHANGES. NOW.
Imagine you wake up and the world around you-life as you know it-has changed in an instant. That's what has happened to Whit Allgood and his sister, Whisty. They went to sleep as normal teenagers, and woke up as wanted criminals. Accused of holding incredible powers they'd never dreamed possible. And now, just how different they are-special, even-if just beginning to be revealed in a strange new world.

It begins...now.



My Review:

OMG Can we say an awesome read? I thoroughly enjoyed this book with all the action and parts of the story changing. Great book wouldn't even think of it as a young adult but as I have been seeing the young adults love this book. James Patterson has really hit on something with this book. Take the time to check out through Amazon sites. Lots of action and adventure. Definitely a 5 cup book!
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Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Spring Is Here

By    Tuesday, April 06, 2010 // No comments
Quick, Healthy, Springtime Dishes -- Featuring Herbs!
By Lidia Matticchio Bastianich,
Author of Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes

The use of fresh herbs has exploded in the American kitchen today. I recall that as a young apprentice in Italy -- at my great-aunt's apron strings -- for every herb we had in the garden, there seemed to be a pot on the stove to match.

Some herbs were better to cook with while others were better added at the end to a finished dish. For example, rosemary, bay leaves and thyme are mostly used for long cooking where their oils are extracted slowly out of their leaves. Sage, oregano and marjoram need very little cooking time, and herbs such as basil, parsley and mint are great to toss in raw at the end -- just enough to release their refreshing aromas.

If you have small children a wonderful way to introduce them to the enticing aromas of herbs is to gently crush the herbs in your hands and let them smell. I did this with my grandchildren when they were very small and it's a great way to get them excited about the world of herbs and food at an early age.

In fact, once you get your small children excited about herbs, introduce them to your own dishes. Here I'm sharing some of the quickest, and most child-friendly. Enjoy!

HERB PESTO
Makes 1 ½ cups

* 1 cup packed fresh Italian parsley leaves
* ½ cup packed fresh basil leaves
* ½ cup packed mixed fresh sage, thyme, and marjoram leaves
* 4 garlic cloves, peeled
* 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
* Salt

Wash the herb leaves in cool water and dry them thoroughly, preferably in a salad spinner. Combine the herbs and garlic in a blender and blend on low speed, slowly adding the oil while the machine is running, until the pesto is smooth and all the oil is incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Keep in a sealed jar in the refrigerator and use as needed. Pesto will keep refrigerated for up to 4 weeks or it may be frozen for up to 3 months. Make sure there is a thin film of oil over the pesto to keep its flavor and color bright.

HERB FRITTATA
Serves 2 as an appetizer, 1 as a lunch dish
From "Lidia's Family Table" (Alfred A. Knopf, 2004)

* 2 large eggs
* 2 tablespoons milk
* ¼ teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
* 1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
* 1 teaspoon butter
* 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

Whisk the eggs, milk, salt, and fresh herbs until just blended together.

Heat the butter and oil in the small frying pan until it just starts to sizzle, then pour in the eggs and turn the heat down very low. Cook gently for 3 to 4 minutes. The eggs will start to puff up and sizzle at the edges. Lift a corner of the frittata with a spatula, and check to see if the bottom has browned in splotches. When it has, flip the frittata over by giving the pan a firm, quick shake up and over toward you so that the egg mass dislodges and flips over in one piece. Or, if that unnerves you, turn the frittata over with a spatula. Cook the second side for 1 ½ to 2 minutes, again checking to see if the bottom has browned to your liking. Serve right away, or let cool to room temperature and cut the frittata in wedges.

BAKED FISH WITH SAVORY BREAD CRUMBS
Serves 6

Landlocked Umbria does not have a seafood cuisine. But its mountain lakes, rivers, and streams abound in freshwater fish, like the tasty tench. This simple preparation is one I found in Umbria, and it is excellent for fillets of our sweet-water varieties, such as carp or whitefish, or even light ocean-fish fillets like sole.

* 2 pounds whitefish fillets
* ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
* 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* Juice of a large lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
* ½ cup white wine
* 6 plump garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
* ½ cup fine dry bread crumbs
* Zest of a large lemon (about 2 teaspoons)
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
* ½ teaspoon dried oregano
* ¼ teaspoon peperoncino flakes, or to taste, chopped fine
* Fresh lemon slices, for serving

Recommended equipment: A 4-quart shallow rectangular baking dish; a heavy-bottomed skillet or saute pan, 12-inch diameter or larger, with a cover.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Lightly salt the fish on both sides, using about ¼ teaspoon salt in all. Pour 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, the lemon juice, white wine, and another ¼ teaspoon salt into the baking dish, and whisk together well. Drop in the garlic cloves, and stir with the dressing. Lay the fillets in the dish, turn and swish them in the dressing so both sides are thoroughly moistened, and arrange them, skin side down, in one layer.

Toss the bread crumbs in a bowl with the lemon zest, parsley, oregano, chopped peperoncino, and the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt. Drizzle with the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil, and toss the crumbs well until evenly moistened with oil.

Spoon the seasoned bread crumbs on top of the fillets in a light, even layer. Bake, uncovered, until the crumbs are crisp and golden and the fish is cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Lift the fish out with a spatula, and set on a warm platter to serve family-style, or on individual plates. Spoon over it the juices left in the baking dish, and serve right away, with lemon slices on the side.

© 2010 Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, authors of Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes
Author Bio:
Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, coauthor of Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipe, is the author of five previous books, four of them accompanied by nationally syndicated public television series. She is the owner of the New York City restaurant Felidia (among others), and she lectures on and demonstrates Italian cooking throughout the country. She lives on Long Island, and can be reached at her Web site, www.LidiasItaly.com.

The Third Rail

By    Tuesday, April 06, 2010 // No comments
The Third Rail
By Michael Harvey
Published by Knopf
April 2010; $24.95US/$29.95CAN; 978-0-307-27250-8

A woman is shot as she waits for her train to work. An hour later, a second woman is gunned down as she rides an elevated train through the Loop. Two hours after that, a church becomes the target of a chemical weapons attack. The city of Chicago is under siege, and Michael Kelly, cynical cop turned private investigator, just happens to be on the scene when all hell breaks loose.

Kelly is initially drawn into the case by the killers themselves, then tasked by Chicago's mayor and the FBI to hunt down the bad guys and, all things being equal, put a bullet in them. Kelly, of course, has other ideas. As he gets closer to the truth, his instincts lead him to a retired cop, a shady train company, and an unnerving link to his own past. Meanwhile, Kelly's girlfriend, Rachel Swenson, becomes a pawn in a much larger game, while a weapon that could kill millions ticks away quietly in the very belly of the city.

The Third Rail is stylish, sophisticated, edge-of-your-seat suspense from a new modern master.

Author Bio
Michael Harvey is the author of two other Michael Kelly books, The Chicago Way and The Fifth Floor, as well as a journalist and documentary producer. His work has won numerous national and international awards, including multiple Emmy Awards and an Academy Award nomination. Mr. Harvey earned a law degree from Duke University, a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University, and a bachelor's degree in classical languages from Holy Cross College. Additional information can be found at www.michaelharveybooks.com .

Become a fan of Michael Harvey on Facebook and follow him on Twitter: @thechicagoway .
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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Dawn of the Dreadfuls

By    Wednesday, March 24, 2010 // No comments
Chapter 1
by Steve Hockensmith,
Author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls
Walking out in the middle of a funeral would be, of course, bad form. So attempting to walk out on one's own was beyond the pale.
When the service began, Mr. Ford was as well behaved as any corpse could be expected to be. In fact, he lay stretched out on the bier looking almost as stiff and expressionless in death as he had in life, and Oscar Bennet, gazing upon his not-so-dearly departed neighbor, could but think to himself, You lucky sod.
It was Mr. Bennet who longed to escape the church then, and the black oblivion of death seemed infinitely preferable to the torments he was suffering. At the pulpit, the Reverend Mr. Cummings was reading (and reading and reading and reading) from the Book of Common Prayer with all the verve and passion of a man mumbling in his sleep, while the pews were filled with statues -- the good people of Meryton, Hertfordshire, competing to see who could remain motionless the longest while wearing the most somber look of solemnity.
This contest had long since been forfeited by one party in particular: Mr. Bennet's. Mrs. Bennet couldn't resist sharing her (insufficiently) whispered appraisal of the casket's handles and plaque. ("Brass? For shame! Why, Mrs. Morrison had gold last week, and her people don't have two guineas to rub together.") Lydia and Kitty, the youngest of the Bennets' five daughters, were ever erupting into titters for reasons known only to themselves. Meanwhile, the middle daughter, fourteen-year-old Mary, insisted on loudly shushing her giggling sisters no matter how many times her reproaches were ignored, for she considered herself second only to the Reverend Mr. Cummings -- and perhaps Christ Himself -- as Meryton's foremost arbiter of virtue.
At least the Bennets' eldest, Jane, was as serene and sweet countenanced as ever, even if her dress was a trifle heavy on décolletage for a funeral. ("Display, my dear, display!" Mrs. Bennet had harped at her that morning. "Lord Lumpley might be there!") And, of course, Mr. Bennet knew he need fear no embarrassment from Elizabeth, second to Jane in age and beauty but first in spirit and wit. He leaned forward to look down the pew at her, his favorite -- and found her gaping at the front of the church, a look of horror on her face.
Mr. Bennet followed her line of sight. What he saw was a luxury, hard won and now so easily taken for granted: a man about to be buried with his head still on his shoulders.
That head, though -- wasn't there more of a loll to the left to it now? Weren't the lips drawn more taut, and the eyelids less so? In fact, weren't those eyes even now beginning to --
Yes. Yes, they were.
Mr. Bennet felt an icy cold inside him where there should have been fire, and his tingling fingers fumbled for the hilt of a sword that wasn't there.
Mr. Ford sat up and opened his eyes.
The first person to leap into action was Mrs. Bennet. Unfortunately, the action she leapt to was shrieking loud enough to wake the dead (presuming any in the vicinity were still sleeping) and wrapping herself around her husband with force sufficient to snap a man with less back-bone in two.
"Get a hold of yourself, woman!" Mr. Bennet said.
She merely maintained her hold on him, though, her redoubled howls sparking Kitty and Lydia to similar hysterics.
At the front of the church, Mrs. Ford staggered to her feet and started toward the bier.
"Martin!" she cried. "Martin, my beloved, you're alive!"
"I think not, Madam!" Mr. Bennet called out (while placing a firm hand over his wife's mouth)."If someone would restrain the lady, please!" Most of the congregation was busy screeching or fleeing or both at once, yet a few hardy souls managed to grab Mrs. Ford before she could shower her newly returned husband with kisses.
"Thank you!" Mr. Bennet said. He spent the next moments trying to disentangle himself from his wife's clutches. When he found he couldn't, he simply stepped sideways into the aisle, dragging her with him.
"I will be walking that way, Mrs. Bennet." He jerked his head at Mr. Ford, who was struggling to haul himself out of his casket. "If you choose to join me, so be it."
Mrs. Bennet let go and, after carefully checking to make sure Jane was still behind her, swooned backward into her eldest daughter's arms.
"Get her out of here," Mr. Bennet told Jane. "Lydia and Kitty, as well."
He turned his attention then to the next two girls down the pew: Elizabeth and Mary. The latter was deep in conversation with her younger sisters.
"The dreadfuls have returned!" Kitty screamed.
"Calm yourself, sister," Mary said, her voice dead. She was either keeping a cool head or had retreated into catatonia, it was hard to tell which. "We should not be hasty in our judgments."
"Hasty? Hasty?" Lydia pointed at the very undead Mr. Ford. "He's sitting up in his coffin!"
Mary stared back at her blankly. "We don't know he's a dreadful, though.
But Elizabeth did know. Mr. Bennet could see it in her eyes -- because now she was staring at him.
She didn't grasp the whole truth of it. How could she, when he'd been forced to keep it from her for so long? Yet this much would be obvious to a clear-thinking, level-headed girl like her: The dreadfuls had returned, and there was more to be done about it than scream. More her father intended to do.
What she couldn't have guessed -- couldn't have possibly dreamed -- was that she herself would be part of the doing.
"Elizabeth," Mr. Bennet said. "Mary. If you would come with me, please."
And he turned away and started toward the altar. Toward the zombie.
The above is an excerpt from the book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.
Copyright © 2010 Steve Hockensmith, author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls
Author Bio
Steve Hockensmith is an award-winning novelist and reporter. His debut mystery, Holmes on the Range, was a finalist for the Edgar, Shamus, and Anthony awards. Critics have hailed the novel and its sequels as "hilarious" (Entertainment Weekly), "dazzling" (The Boston Globe), "clever" (The New York Times), "uproarious" (Publisher's Weekly), "wonderfully entertaining" (Booklist), and "quirky and original" (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). He lives in Alameda, California, with his wife and two children.
For more information, please visit www.QuirkClassics.com .

Monday, March 22, 2010

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Pride and Prejuidice and Zombies

By    Saturday, March 20, 2010 // No comments

Do you approve of the story being added with Zombies?  Would you find yourself reading this book?  

I got the book not that long ago while I know many struggle through Pride and Prejudice, they aren't fond of Jane Austen's writing style I wonder if people will tolerate a book that throws zombies into the mix? 
I myself have found that this book isn't too bad when Zombies are thrown in.  I definitely give the writers of this an applause as it must be hard to go through Ms. Austen's book to add things without stripping away the classic story.
So share your thoughts on the subject.  I am very curious if others are interested in this type of book or not.
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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

By    Wednesday, March 17, 2010 // No comments

So you spoke and I opened the book and am glad I did I like how you learn more about the Childhood of the Owens sisters as opposed to the movie where it seemed to skim over it.  I am definitely seeing that I will love this book.  I have always been a fan of Alice Hoffman her books just read so well like a good friend when your together.

Friday, March 12, 2010

New Moon Winner

By    Friday, March 12, 2010 // 3 comments

Well with the night winding down I am ending the New Moon giveaway.  We want to take this time to thank everyone who joined and entered the contest and to remind people to check out Wicked Giveaway and Spring Giveaway 2 as well.  We will have more contests and giveaways.  And without further adieu, our winner is E. J. Stevens I will be contacting you so I can send you this great book

Review The Sun and The Moon by: Brian D. McClure

By    Friday, March 12, 2010 // No comments

 Title: The Sun and The Moon
Author: Brian D. McClure
Publisher: Universal Flag Publishing
Pages: 36
Format: Hardcover
Source: The Cadence Group

Description:

Though the uplifting rhymes and profound messages of acceptance, respect and understanding, author Brian D. McClure educates and entertains children, parents and grandparents in the story of The Sun and the Moon whom one day walk out on their responsibilities as they argue like humans. This action causes unseen harm to the Earth and all inhabitants. Eventually the Sun and the Moon remember some deep hidden truths that allow them to once again share their gifts. This entertaining story reveals the unseen effects of fear and anger on others. It encourages children and adults to take a closer look at their behavior in each new day. The Sun and the Moon like the other seven books in The Brian D. McClure Children's book series offer universal life lessons that empower, teach and educate the whole family.

My Thoughts:

This was a cute book about how anger and harsh words can impact everyone even the sun and the moon. It also showed that when people fight they have a global affect. Things are impacted whenever two people fight and that is never more true then when the sun and moon fight and the sun quits. With this happening the earth gets impacted as do the people on Earth which creates an ice age. The pictures in this book are beautiful and breathtaking. I would definitely recommend this story for grade school aged children as there are hard words, Parents of preschoolers could read this to them but I found with my four year old daughter that it would have to be done in parts as she looses patience and wants to do other things. But it is a great story. Worth the purchase.
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Monday, March 1, 2010

Thaw by Fiona Robyn

By    Monday, March 01, 2010 // No comments

Ruth's diary is the new novel by Fiona Robyn, called Thaw. She has decided to blog the novel in its entirety over the next few months, so you can read it for free.
Ruth's first entry is below, and you can continue reading tomorrow here.
*
These hands are ninety-three years old. They belong to Charlotte Marie Bradley Miller. She was so frail that her grand-daughter had to carry her onto the set to take this photo. It’s a close-up. Her emaciated arms emerge from the top corners of the photo and the background is black, maybe velvet, as if we’re being protected from seeing the strings. One wrist rests on the other, and her fingers hang loose, close together, a pair of folded wings. And you can see her insides.
The bones of her knuckles bulge out of the skin, which sags like plastic that has melted in the sun and is dripping off her, wrinkling and folding. Her veins look as though they’re stuck to the outside of her hands. They’re a colour that’s difficult to describe: blue, but also silver, green; her blood runs through them, close to the surface. The book says she died shortly after they took this picture. Did she even get to see it? Maybe it was the last beautiful thing she left in the world.
I’m trying to decide whether or not I want to carry on living. I’m giving myself three months of this journal to decide. You might think that sounds melodramatic, but I don’t think I’m alone in wondering whether it’s all worth it. I’ve seen the look in people’s eyes. Stiff suits travelling to work, morning after morning, on the cramped and humid tube. Tarted-up girls and gangs of boys reeking of aftershave, reeling on the pavements on a Friday night, trying to mop up the dreariness of their week with one desperate, fake-happy night. I’ve heard the weary grief in my dad’s voice.
So where do I start with all this? What do you want to know about me? I’m Ruth White, thirty-two years old, going on a hundred. I live alone with no boyfriend and no cat in a tiny flat in central London. In fact, I had a non-relationship with a man at work, Dan, for seven years. I’m sitting in my bedroom-cum-living room right now, looking up every so often at the thin rain slanting across a flat grey sky. I work in a city hospital lab as a microbiologist. My dad is an accountant and lives with his sensible second wife Julie, in a sensible second home. Mother finished dying when I was fourteen, three years after her first diagnosis. What else? What else is there?
Charlotte Marie Bradley Miller. I looked at her hands for twelve minutes. It was odd describing what I was seeing in words. Usually the picture just sits inside my head and I swish it around like tasting wine. I have huge books all over my flat; books you have to take in both hands to lift. I’ve had the photo habit for years. Mother bought me my first book, black and white landscapes by Ansel Adams. When she got really ill, I used to take it to bed with me and look at it for hours, concentrating on the huge trees, the still water, the never-ending skies. I suppose it helped me think about something other than what was happening. I learned to focus on one photo at a time rather than flicking from scene to scene in search of something to hold me. If I concentrate, then everything stands still. Although I use them to escape the world, I also think they bring me closer to it. I’ve still got that book. When I take it out, I handle the pages as though they might flake into dust.
Mother used to write a journal. When I was small, I sat by her bed in the early mornings on a hard chair and looked at her face as her pen spat out sentences in short bursts. I imagined what she might have been writing about; princesses dressed in star-patterned silk, talking horses, adventures with pirates. More likely she was writing about what she was going to cook for dinner and how irritating Dad’s snoring was.
I’ve always wanted to write my own journal, and this is my chance. Maybe my last chance. The idea is that every night for three months, I’ll take one of these heavy sheets of pure white paper, rough under my fingertips, and fill it up on both sides. If my suicide note is nearly a hundred pages long, then no-one can accuse me of not thinking it through. No-one can say; ‘It makes no sense; she was a polite, cheerful girl, had everything to live for’, before adding that I did keep myself to myself. It’ll all be here. I’m using a silver fountain pen with purple ink. A bit flamboyant for me, I know. I need these idiosyncratic rituals; they hold things in place. Like the way I make tea, squeezing the tea-bag three times, the exact amount of milk, seven stirs. My writing is small and neat; I’m striping the paper. I’m near the bottom of the page now. Only ninety-one more days to go before I’m allowed to make my decision. That’s it for today. It’s begun.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Angelina Jolie to play Kay Scarpetta

By    Friday, February 26, 2010 // No comments


The actress' interest in the popular series by Patricia Cornwell got the ball rolling after many years of starts and stops.




For almost two decades, Hollywood has attempted to bring Scarpetta to the big screen. Various studios have spent more than $10 million in development, and talent as disparate as actresses Demi Moore and Kristin Scott Thomas and directors Joel Schumacher and Antonia Bird have attempted to tackle books in the series. "I think she's a bit of the runaway bride," Cornwell says of her literary alter ego's relationship with Hollywood. "She flirts, but won't get married."


Thursday, January 28, 2010

J.D. Salinger Dead At Age 91

By    Thursday, January 28, 2010 // 2 comments



Jerome David Salinger died at age 91. The famous author of the Catcher in The Rye died today in his home in Cornish NH. He was best known for his one book The Catcher in The Rye which has spent many years on the banned book list. Salinger died of natural causes. Salinger was known almost as much for his hermitic lifesty
le as his only full-length novel and its emblematic protagonist, Holden Caulfield. In 1953, he withdrew to a farm in rural Cornish, New Hampshire, and limited his contact with the literary world. He hadn’t published a story since 1965.

He is survived, by his children, and his third wife. And many stories he wrote but hadn't published yet.



Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Review Dead Until Dark by: Charlaine Harris

By    Wednesday, January 27, 2010 // No comments

Title: Dead Until Dark
Author: Charlaine Harris
Publisher: Ace
Pages: 292
Series: Sookie Stackhouse #1
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchase

Description:

For years, Charlaine Harris has delighted fans with her mystery series featuring small-town waitress-turned-paranormal sleuth Sookie Stackhouse. Now, we are pleased to offer her first novel in the series in a special hardcover edition.

And with HBO launching an all-new show, True Blood, based on the Southern Vampire novels, the demand for Charlaine Harris and Sookie Stackhouse will be bigger than ever.

My Review:

This was a really good read you meet Sookie Stackhouse who is a barmaid at a local bar and you meet all the people she is friends with and related to. Meanwhile someone is murdering young women and many are being accused of the crime everyone from the attractive Jason Stackhouse, to The Vampire Bill Crompton who's got an attraction to Sookie. With many possibilities the murderer is a big whodonit. I really thought this was well written and well told.
This series also set up the television show on HBO called True Blood for anyone interested in the tv series.


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Monday, January 25, 2010

It's Monday What are you reading?

By    Monday, January 25, 2010 // No comments

In lieu of the recent death of Robert B. Parker I am breaking away from some of the normal books I pick and am planning to read the following:

Pale Kings and Princes
Hundred-Dollar Baby
The Professional

So those should keep me pretty busy for the week
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Saturday, January 23, 2010

Robert B. Parker Dies

By    Saturday, January 23, 2010 // 1 comment

Robert B. Parker
September 17, 1932 – January 18, 2010

Robert B Parker, the American crime novelist, who has died aged 77, helped revive and modernise the hard-boiled private eye genre through his Spenser series of novels.

Of Parker's 60 novels, 37 featured Spenser, a former Boston detective fired for insubordination who was dubbed by Parker's admirers as "the thinking man's private eye".
The character's first name was a permanent mystery, with his last name emphatically spelled with an "s" in the middle, rather than a "c", after Edmund Spenser, author of The Faerie Queenein the 16th century.


Robert Parker Link

We at Community Book Stop send our regards out to his family. He was a great and loved author.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Review The Time Traveler's Wife by: Audrey Nuffeneguer

By    Sunday, January 17, 2010 // No comments

Title: The Time Traveler's Wife
Author: Audrey Niffeneguer
Publisher: Hartcourt
Pages: 536
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchase

Description:

When Henry meets Clare, he is twenty-eight and she is twenty. Henry has never met Clare before; Clare has known Henry since she was six. Impossible but true, because Henry finds himself periodically displaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future. Henry and Clare's attempts to live normal lives are threatened by a force they can neither prevent nor control, making their passionate love story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable. The Time Traveler's Wife is a story of fate, hope and belief, and more than that, it's about the power of love to endure beyond the bounds of time.

My Review:
I read this book and just finished it and wow talk about many ups and downs. It is told from two points of view Clare's and Henry's. There are sad parts to it, and parts that make you laugh. As Henry has loved Clare since she was 6 years old. And she has loved him for just as long. It was a great read, and something you can put down and go back to. It was great. And for anyone thinking of checking out the movie I definitely have to recommend reading the book first. As there seems to be many differences that I found just by watching the movie trailer.

I wouldn't change one second of our life together...Clare Abshire



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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Monday, January 11, 2010

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Thaw by Fiona Robyn

By    Wednesday, January 06, 2010 // No comments
Fiona Robyn is going to blog her next novel, Thaw, starting on the 1st of March.

The novel follows 32 year old Ruth's diary over three months as she decides whether

or not to carry on living.



To help spread the word she's organising a Blogsplash, where blogs will publish the

first page of Ruth's diary simultaneously (and a link to the blog).



She's aiming to get 1000 blogs involved and€“ if you'€™d be interested in joining in,

email her at fiona@fionarobyn.com or find out more information at

http://www.fionarobyn.com/thawblogsplash.htm.


Don't forget if you contact her to mention me
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Monday, January 4, 2010

Friday, January 1, 2010

Welcome to 2010

By    Friday, January 01, 2010 // 2 comments

It's the year of the books as we move in 2010. I have many in mind to read for this year. Where to begin becomes the question as there are so many possibilities. I'm sure like many people who love books is becomes finding the one that calls to you and diving in. So I will be looking through my books to decide which one. Then I will let everyone know what it is.
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