What book is this? Quiz – guessing closed

24 Comments

I started making a great 2nd quiz (for Gage), it got complicated so I’m turning to my prepared rainy day quiz.  Just tell me the titles for 8 points and the authors for 2.  Tell me what they all have in common for an extra 10 🙂

You have until noon Sunday to submit your answers as a comment.  Comment will be hidden until I post the answers.  No Googling! The person with the most points this round will win a B&N gift card (total $ based on # of total participants, so please play) and a randomly selected participant will win a fun prize from me.

Answers to last week’s Clownish Quiz here.  Leaderboard here.

1.The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman  2.The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger  3.The Prophet by Michael Koryta  4.The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell  5.This is How it Ends by Kathleen MacMahon  6.As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson  7.The Absent Ones by Jussi Adler-Olsen  8.The Bird Saviors by William J. Cobb  9.Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough by Ruth Pennebaker  10.A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Sundays with Gage – Turning 2

34 Comments

Oh the difference a year makes…

There were moments that first year I wasn’t sure we’d see a 2nd birthday.  They were fleeting and mostly connected to his health scare at four months, but once the fear is there it never quite goes away.  There’s this thin layer of worry covering each bump of the head, every fever, the bouts of vomiting.  So, they sneak up on me, these quiet moments of reflection when I can truly appreciate the giant leaps Gage has made in his development.

He runs, talks some but still babbles a lot, can follow directions when he wants to, can take off his sandals and socks, can use utensils, knows his alphabet and numbers.  He loves to be outside with his sticks and rocks.  He gives welcome hugs and kisses.  He loves swings and slides and books, especially Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  He loves watching Sesame Street and Super Why.  Elmo used to be a favorite but right now he’s got a pretty big crush on Abby.    He’s outgrown library story time or at least his hyper activity has but he does love to go to the Kid Zone at the gym.  He loves to swim and dance and watch car racing (I blame this entirely on Grandpa).  We even started a class with other kids his age and so far he’s managed to behave well enough not to get us kicked out 🙂

He still has allergies which is an ever-present danger but he also has the cutest smile and laugh so that helps offset the panic that sets in when he starts picking stuff off the ground and eating it.  So far this has not caused any problems and I hope our luck continues.  He hits his head a lot, sometimes on purpose, sometimes not, which has led us to the ER twice and caused much worry the other times.  He does know how to throw a tantrum, hitting his head on the floor in anger or frustration so if any of you have any great insight or experience it would be much appreciated. He does try my patience and I have failed many a day to be the best mom I can be, but for some reason he still loves me and keeps giving me more chances to get it right 🙂  Isn’t he generous?

I look forward to seeing the changes this next year will bring, as my baby/toddler grows into a full-fledged boy.  I bet it’s going to be fun.

Film Friday- a look at The Outsiders (1983)

7 Comments

When I listened to Rob Lowe’s memoir, Stories I Only Tell My Friends, last month I was particularly entertained by his memories of making his first big movie, a movie that would launch the careers of many.  I am an 80’s movie lover, but I never read the book by S.E. Hinton or watched the movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola and I thought while the book was still fresh in my mind that I should watch it.

The most obvious place to start is the all-star cast.  They were mostly unknown – Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, C Thomas Howell and this movie made them stars.  I was particularly impressed with Patrick Swayze, even if he didn’t have a large role.  If you want to see these guys and gal as babes you should check it out.  Diane Lane looked and sounded so different to me.

The movie was okay bordering on cheesy (mainly the cheese came from the music).  A few scenes made no sense to me.  There was an abandoned church where two of them had hidden for a week, they leave for a few hours and return to find that it’s on fire and there are children in there.  Made no sense and the movie sort of lost me from there.  The movie itself, set in 1950’s Oklahoma, pits the greasers and the socs against one another, and even though there was a lot of blood there wasn’t much depth.

I do think this is more of a guy movie and probably one teens would enjoy more.  For me, the best part was knowing the behind the scenes stories from Rob Lowe.

So, have you seen it?  Am I being to hard on it?

The IT-along is finally over

16 Comments

ItFinished 10-16-12, rating 4.5/5, horror, 1090 pages, pub. 1986

IT along: The End

I am so glad that I joined in the IT-along hosted by the wonderful Jill and Christina.  I received a great clownish book and bookmark from Jill and I’ve loved reading what the other IT-alongers had to say.  Sadly, I think much of this conversation happened on Twitter and I just don’t have time for it right now so I think I missed out on some of the fun.

Okay, so these were my thoughts halfway through.  I was so glad to throw the book across the room in celebration of being finished.  Not because I hated it but because this has really been a (too) long journey for me.  I get very little time to read and this book sucked all of that time down the storm drain.  A drain where IT was waiting with ITs web of horror.  A few nights I heard things in the house that in hindsight were not murderers coming to taunt me and my family, but at the time were a very real concern.  This may have been caused by Pennywise or it may have been the Diet Coke I thought was a good idea to drink at 10 pm.  Who can know for sure?  Okay, instead of a synopsis (you can find that here) I’ll give you a few of my SPOILERISH thoughts on IT.

*I love that Stephen King doesn’t shy away from the ugly side of human nature.  This book was not PC and I thought it was refreshing and it elevated the storytelling.

*I love fortune cookies, but King may have ruined them for me.

*The Loser’s Club was awesome and the bond of friendship they shared (if not their fate) made me want to be a part of their posse.  Not that I could have performed in either of the finales.  One, I am not a fan of orgies and two, I am ridiculously grossed out by spiders.

*After all of the grotesque deaths in this book, Tom really needed his due.  Why couldn’t IT start eating his appendages?  Why didn’t Beverly get to take an axe to him?  Either of these things would have helped the ending.

*Bill and Beverly.  Did we need to go there?  No.  We did not.

*I think I’m in the minority in liking the Interludes.  I think that they added a much needed layer to the city of Derry.  Some of it was dry, but for me at least, the end was richer for it.

*I did love the alternating past/present storylines at the end.  I knew I wanted to finish this book as close to the read-along date as I could and the last several hundred pages made it easy for me to pick up the book in spare moments.

“How old were they?  11, 12?  Entirely too young to excuse the group sex in the tunnels.  If that had happened earlier in the book I may not have finished it.

*I do think that King could use some editing, but I was so drawn into his world that I was okay with his excessive description.  It’s this lack of editing (and the gratuitous sex) that led me to not give this a perfect rating.

*After spending almost two months with the Loser’s Club from Derry, Maine, I am surprised that I will miss them.

I had a well-worn used copy of the paperback on my shelf which led me to join in the IT-along and it was worth it.

IT’s a Clownish Quiz – guessing closed

16 Comments

Coming up with an IT quiz that lots of people could participate in was just too hard, so I came up with a quiz full of clowns, circuses and carnivals.  Really, the opposite of It, but too bad 🙂

You have until noon Sunday to submit your answers as a comment.  Comment will be hidden until I post the answers.  No Googling! The person with the most points this round will win a B&N gift card (total $ based on # of total participants, so please play) and a randomly selected participant will win a fun prize from me.

1. The main characters of this book about circus life were played by these two stars on the big screen  Like Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

2. Ray Bradbury wrote a classic about carnivals.  What’s the title of this good vs. evil tale? Something Wicked This Way Comes

3. The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy about the Barnum & Bailey tent fire of 1944 was written by what author, a book blogger fave these days?  Stewart O’Nan

4. The World’s Thinnest Man is working in PT Barnum’s American Museum in this 2010 novel.  The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno by Ellen Bryson

5. The Binewskis are one odd family of carnies in this 1989 novel, a National Book Award Nominee.  Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

6. If you’re looking to visit the circus during the day this is not the story for you.  The Night Circus by Ellen Bryson

7. First published in 1984 this Dean Koontz book has a girl who joined a traveling carnival and ended up killing her own child.  Twenty-five years later the carnival is coming back.  The Funhouse

8. The subtitle of this book is, The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived.  Madoc by Ralph Helfer

9. “All ready to put up the tents for my circus

I think I will call it the Circus McGurkus

The Circus McGurkus!The World’s Greatest Show

On the face of the earth, or wherever you go!”

Name that book or author.  If I Ran the Circus by Dr. Seuss

10. And this one sounds the closest to IT.  “You have two days to pass your audition. You better pass it, feller. You’re joining the circus. Ain’t that the best news you ever got?” Delivered by a trio of psychotic clowns, this ultimatum plunges Jamie into the horrific alternate universe that is the centuries-old.”  The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott

Answers to last week’s Mystery Writers Quiz here.  Leaderboard here.

And I want to thank Nise once again for her great Michigan Authors quiz.  She got 100 big ones and you can too if you want to try and stump your fellow bookies.

Sundays with Gage and some birthday winners

15 Comments

First, Birthday Winners!!  Lloyd is winner #1, Tara is winner #2, Nise is winner #3.  Lloyd, if you read this before I send an email let me know which book you want from my Bouchercon stack (pic here).  (Winners randomly chosen by Jason)  Thanks for stopping by this week and leaving comments!

We went to a pumpkin festival today and I thought I’d share some pics from the morning…

It’s a beautiful fall day here.  Hope it is where you are too!

24 Hour Read-A-Thon Hour 16 Time Flies Mini-Challenge – CLOSED

50 Comments

Thanks to all of you who played! Keep reading 🙂  The first reader to get all 13 books correct is Megan (YA? Why Not?) and she will receive a $24 B&N giftcard.  The secondly winner (randomly chosen by drawing names out of a hat) is Dilatory Bibliophile and she will receive a $12 B&N giftcard.  Congratulations, readers, I’ll be in touch 🙂  I’ll be stopping by everyone who played along in the next few days to say hi.

Hi read-a-thonners!  I hope you’re all still awake and having fun.  There are two ways to play this mini-challenge…I made a fall Read-a-thon Clock (yes, it looked more like a clock in my mind ;)).  Just tell me the titles and you could win a prize, the reader with the most correct answers wins a prize. (in the event of a tie the first person to submit their answers will win)  If you get even one title correct I’ll throw your name in the drawing for a second prize.  Keep in mind that each number on the clock is correctly represented and don’t forget about the book in the center.

I’ll periodically hide the comments so don’t be worried if your answers disappear until I draw a winner at 1 AM.

(I apologize for the quality of the clock.  My camera died so I had to use my cell phone) You should be able to click on it to make it bigger.

There’s a second way to play…Make your own clock and post it on your blog.  Make sure each of the titles has something to do with time.  Make sure to leave a link in the comments.  You’ll be eligible for the second prize.

Wanna know what you’re playing for?  First prize (reader who guesses the most correct titles in my clock) will get a $24 Barnes & Noble giftcard.  The second randomly chosen winner will receive a $12 Barnes & Noble giftcard. (If you are not in the US I can do Book Depository)

If  you still want to extend your break with something bookish I do have another quiz going on with prizes.  The link is here.

Birthday Giveaway & Bouchercon Wrap-Up

15 Comments

I was all set to do a few Bouchercon posts this week but to be honest, I’m just not that motivated.  I’ll leave you with a few fun tidbits that came out of two panels.  One of my favorite panels was Mysteries & the Movies and the first question referred to the casting of Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher.  All five of the panelists agreed that they would take the best actor over a physical resemblance.

Exciting news for Chelsea Cain fans, FX is adapting the Gretchen Lowell series and each book will be a different series.  She turned down $100,000 to write the script.

On the flip side, when Robin Cook sold the rights to Sphinx it came with a deal for him to write the screenplay.  When he turned in his four page sample he was promptly fired.  He got to keep the $1 million.

There was a Family Feud game with lots of fun authors and Hank Ryan Phillipi as host.  One of the questions was, Actor Who Should Play Jack Reacher.  Survey of 100’s of mystery lovers says

1.Liam Neeson (not bad)

2.Daniel Craig (also not bad)

3.Harrison Ford (huge laugh from the crowd)

4. Tom Cruise (a few groans from the crowd)

5. Anyone but Tom Cruise (another huge laugh)

Jason got me a Nook Tablet for my birthday.  Great, another device I need to learn to use.  I’m still figuring out my iPhone.  Seriously, it is a very nice gift and I’m looking forward to reading  on it.

I brought home lots of books from Bouchercon and I’m giving 5 away to you, my favorite bookish pals.  Just leave a comment on this post and you’ll be entered.  Leave a comment on any post this week and you’ll be entered every time.  On Saturday I’ll draw 3 winners.  The first will get first choice and choose one book, the second winner will choose two books and the third winner will get the last two.  Easy, right?  Just comment all week long and you might win.

You can earn more entries by commenting on this post , guessing on my Tuesday Quiz and commenting here.

Hey, I’m 29 again! w/ a birthday giveaway

21 Comments

After last year’s milestone birthday today is a bit anticlimactic.  Jason and I will be heading out for a birthday dinner and that will be the big celebration.  Woo hoo 🙂  So, I’m pulling out the Bucket List I made last year at 40 to see how I’m doing.

1. Write and publish a novel.

2. Open my own bookstore.

3. Spend a night in an English castle.

4. Visit Ireland.

5. Meet a US president.

6. Learn to start a fire without matches.

7. Learn to play the piano.

8. Raise a happy and successful son.

9. Celebrate my 50th anniversary. (14 in)

10. Make exercise a daily priority.

11. Get back to my wedding weight, just once.

12. Try a vegetarian diet for a year.

13. Drive across country.

14. Visit all 50 states. (Only counting those states where I’ve spent any significant time seeing a sight or two, I’m at 22.  I’ve driven through six others but I’m not counting them.)

15. Stay in an overnight car on a train trip.

16. Fly first class.

17. Take Gage to Italy.

18. Ride a boat down the Mississippi River.

19. Trace ancestry to when all branches entered the US.  (we’ve been here a long time so this will take many more years of research)

20. Spend a week touring Napa Valley.

21. Live somewhere warm year round.

22. Volunteer on a political campaign.

23. Sit on a jury.

24. Buy only American for 1 year.

25. Have a library with wall-to-wall built-in bookcases.

26. Write and mail 1000 letters. These can include cards if I include a personal note. (Not much of a dent with 62 this year.)

27. Be an extra in a movie.

28. Watch a play from backstage.

29. Go skiing.

30. Attend a murder mystery dinner. September 2012

31. Volunteer weekly.

32. Read all the books I own.  (I’d like to have no TBR pile just once.  I can give away books to reach this goal)

33. Start my own book club.

34. See all 4 tennis majors. (2 down, Wimbledon & Australian Open to go)

35. Give blood.

36. Sleep under the stars.

37. Have a hammock.

38. Fire a gun.

39. Make a daily goal list and use it.

40. Do a random act of kindness every day.

There is a lot or travel on here but until Gage is a bit older I don’t see that happening so I’ll have to try some of the others.  I’ve done a little research on buying American for a year, but am not ready to start yet.  It will take some planning but I may be able to give it a shot sometime this next year.  You’d think with all of the time President Obama is spending in Ohio (Romney too) I may be able to meet him before election time.  He’d definitely want to kiss Gage, right?  As for reaching my wedding weight, let’s just say I have about 45 pounds to go, BUT I did start Weight Watchers a few weeks ago and have managed to lose 5 pounds.  My goal this year is just get back to my pre-Gage weight still over 25 pounds away, but I’ve gotta start somewhere.  I do have visions of a bookstore and that may be something I put some effort into this year.  So many goals to choose from.

On to my birthday giveaway.  I brought home lots of books from Bouchercon and I’m giving 5 away to you, my favorite bookish pals.  Just leave a comment on this post and you’ll be entered.  Leave a comment on any post this week and you’ll be entered every time.  On Saturday I’ll draw 3 winners.  The first will get first choice and choose one book, the second winner will choose two books and the third winner will get the last two.  Easy, right?  Just comment all week long and you might win.

You can earn more entries by commenting on this post or guessing on my Tuesday Quiz.

Mystery Writers Choose Great Mysteries Quiz & birthday giveaway – guessing closed

30 Comments

At Bouchercon we had the opportunity to be the first readers in the US to buy the book Books To Die For – The World’s Greatest Mystery Writers on the World’s Greatest Mystery Novels.  Of the 119 contributors almost 30 were in attendance and they did a mass signing for everyone.  Let’s see if you can guess which author chose which of these 16 great works.  The autograph is from the author choosing the work.  Good Luck!

You have until noon Sunday to submit your answers as a comment.  Comment will be hidden until I post the answers.  No Googling! The person with the most points this round will win a B&N gift card (total $ based on # of total participants, so please play) and a randomly selected participant will win a fun prize from me.

To enter my birthday giveaway (details here) leave a comment with some guesses and you’ll be entered.

This is really a test to see if you can figure out signature’s but I thought you’d like to see what books they recommended too 🙂

On Beulah Height – Val McDermid, Little Sister – Michael Connelly, The Hunter – F Paul Wilson, Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned – Martyn Waites, Possession – Erin Hart, The Damned & the Destroyed – Lee Child, Rogue Male – Charlaine Harris, Bootlegger’s Daughter – Julia Spencer-Fleming, Maltese Falcon – Mark Billingham, The Postman Always Rings Twice – Joseph Finder, Ms. Smilla’s Feeling for Snow – Michael Robotham, Cover Her Face – Deborah Crombie, The Goodbye Look – Linwood Barclay, True Confessions – SJ Rozan, A is for Alibi – Meg Gardiner, A Crime on the Neighborhood – Thomas H Cook