What Book Is That? Quiz w/ a Special Armchair BEA Giveaway – CLOSED

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Welcome to another Tuesday quiz.  You have until noon Saturday to submit your answers as a comment.  Comment will be hidden until I post the answers.  For more details and the leaderboard, go here.

This week will still be a part of the current round of quizzes, so you will be adding $ for the round winner and be eligible for a prize BUT today, for Armchair BEA, one lucky recipient will win a $15 Barnes & Noble giftcard. On Saturday, Gage will randomly choose one quiz participant to win.  To be eligible, you only need to guess, you don’t have to get any right 😉  The guessing is the fun part!

For all of you bookish people stopping by today, see if you can identify these books.  Just tell me the title (and author for extra points) in a comment.  And for one extra entry in today’s giveaway tell me what they all have in common.  Good luck!

You can click on the photo to enlarge.

ANSWERS-1.The Chosen by Chaim Potok   2.How to Buy a Love of Reading by Tanya Egan Gibson   3.Things I Want My Daughters to Know by Elizabeth Noble   4.Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez   5.The Writing Circle by Corinne Demas   6.Murder is Binding by Lorna Barrett   7.The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett   8.The Reader by Bernhard Schlink   9.This Book is Overdue by MArilyn Johnson  10. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield   11.Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding   12.Villette by Charolotte Bronte

What do they all have in common?  They all have books on the cover!

Armchair BEA – More than you need to know

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Armchair BEA begins today and I’m excited to participate for the first time.  We’re doing a meet and greet today with some preset questions.  I hope to meet some new book buddies and see a few old friends 🙂

  1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?  Well, as you may have guessed from my so very creative blog name, I’m Stacy and I’ve got lots of books.  I’m guessing I have around 900 unread books in the house.  I’ve also got a little guy running around and I post about him every Sunday.  I started blogging in January 2008 as a way to keep track of what I was reading.  My reading is so much more consistent now that I blog about it!  I’m also an Ohio State alum so I might be obnoxious during football and/or basketball seasons.
  2. What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2012? Currently, I’m on a home state Ohio tour.  I’ll be starting The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar or Beloved by Toni Morrison this week.  As for my favorite this year, Violets of March by Sarah Jio, is one that took me too long to finally read.  Loved it.
  3. What is your favorite feature on your blog (i.e. author interviews, memes, something specific to your blog)? I love doing my Tuesday quizzes and am always looking for new participants.  I’ve been doing them for about 3 years and they are book or movie related.  I hope you’ll stop back tomorrow to give it a try.  I give away prizes every few months (details here).  I also like my 5 Word Movie Reviews because I want participation from you.  Every time you add your own 5 words $1 goes to charity (details and movie list here).
  4. Where do you see your blog in five years?  I don’t even know where I see my life in 5 years, but I think it will be interesting to see how blogging changes during that time.
  5. What literary location would you most like to visit? Why?  I would love to visit the Cemetery of Forgotten Books from The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.  A place where no book is lost to the world?  I want to go and choose my book.  I mention it a little more in my review, but there’s a better description here.

Looking forward to meeting you!

Sundays with Gage – Good babysitters are hard to find

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Good babysitters are hard to find and when you do find them, they are tough to keep!  When you live away from family babysitters become necessary.  Necessary if you want to keep your sanity and maintain a healthy marriage.  For the first year we mainly went out when my parents came to visit or we went home.  Then I found two neighbor girls to come once or twice a week for a few hours and in February I found a great babysitter who I trusted completely, but she stopped showing up last month.  And the neighbor girls couldn’t help out any more because they were both working full-time at Dairy Queen.

I was sad and back to feeling the overwhelming need for a break.  Fortunately, my prayers were answered by not one, but two new babysitters this week 🙂

When My Gym closed the manager needed to make some money before she moves back to Pennsylvania in  October.  Sign me up!  And then the daughter of a friend quit her job at Panera  and needed to make some money before she moves to Utah at the end of August.  I’ll take two, thanks!

Both of these are short termers, but I’ve come the realization that babysitters are a fairly nomadic lot, moving in and out of your life whether you want them to or not!

If you have family close that wants to spend time with your kid and give you a much needed break, thank your lucky stars.  You are blessed!

Don of the Dead by Casey Daniels

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Don of the Dead (Pepper Martin Series #1)Don of the Dead, Finished 6-2-12, rating 3.25/5, 325 pages, pub. 2006

Book 1 of the Pepper Martin series.

Casey Daniels was one of the authors who spoke at the Ohioana Book Festival last month and I was surprised that I didn’t know about her series set in Lake View Cemetery here in Cleveland.  If you remember my post from last week, I think this cemetery is so beautiful and for all of its history it is a tourist attraction (and yes I know that seems weird).  Here’s another picture of the cemetery I took last weekend…

Idyllic, right?  Anyway, Daniels talked about her Pepper Martin series that spends most of its time in Lake View Cemetery.  I bought the book and this will be the third stop on my Ohio tour.

Pepper Martin is an ex-rich girl who now has to fend for herself and find a job.  Doctor Daddy is in federal prison for fraud and her prince charming dumped her.  Pepper finds a job as a tour guide for Lake View Cemetery and one night after she hits her head she finds that not all souls are resting in peace.  Gus Scarpetti, head of the mob, has been dead 30 years and he thinks it’s high time that someone finds out who offed him.  That someone is Pepper.  Pepper sees dead people.

Okay, I hate to start with what I didn’t like first, but since it was a problem for the first half of the book I must start here.  Pepper is not only beautiful, but she can make men do what she wants just by flashing her awesome boobs at them.  Seriously, everyone that Pepper came in contact with admired her perfect 36C breasts and she used it to her advantage in every situation possible.  It was her only way of obtaining information.  She didn’t seem to have much else going for her and it’s hard to like someone like that, especially when she’s 30 and should have developed some personality over the years.

Here’s what I did like.  I thought the mystery, when it finally became the focus of the book, was good.  After the so-so first half I was prepared to do some skimming in the second, but I became engrossed in the mystery of who killed Gus, probably because Gus is the best character/ghost in the story.  A mob boss has many enemies and surprisingly, after 30 years many of them are still around.  When I found out who did the deed I was surprised and satisfied.

Since we all know Pepper is beautiful she does meet two hot men and tries to keep them both interested.  There was a tease near the end about one of them that almost has me wanting to read the next book to find out more.  But ultimately, although Pepper ceased to annoy me by the end I’m not in any rush to spend more time with her.  Casey Daniels said in her talk that Pepper matures as the series progresses, so I won’t write her off just yet.  I’m just not in a hurry to read the next one.

May’s 5 Word Movie Reviews – Join in and Win $ for Charity

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Every time you add 5 words of your own to one of my reviews then you donate $1 to charity.  What charity, you ask?  The charity is chosen by the person who has the most reviews once we reach 100. (Last charity here)  PLEASE leave a clear 5 word comment so I can give credit for it.

You can add reviews to any of my past movie posts AND see who is in the contributing lead here.

The Avengers, 2012. (Cast-Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson)                                Grade B+

Mindless superhero fun. Yummy cast.

The Hulk steals the show. (Jenners)
The best super-hero movie ever! (Heather)
Maybe my favorite superhero movie…ever! (Kay) (Yes, I allowed 6 words, but only for Kay and only this once!)
 Hot bods save the day (Teddyree)
Good for quips, at least.  (Tony)

Dark Shadows, 2012 Cast-Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bohnam Carter Grade C

Stupidly entertaining vampire. Too long.

Not bad but not great. (Jenners)

Ughh rather watch paint dry (Teddyree)

Funny in parts…lost its way.  (Heather)

 

The Chang-Up, 2011 (Cast-Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman)    Grade D–

What were they thinking? Asinine.

Sexist, not funny, and bleh.  (Heather)

The Duke of Cleveland by Les Roberts

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The Duke of Cleveland (Milan Jacovich Series #6)The Duke of Cleveland, Finished 5-28-12, rating 4/5, mystery series, 257 pages, pub. 1995

Book 6 of the Milan Jacovich series (Book 1) (Book 2) (Book 3) (Book 4) (Book 5)

Les is an adopted Clevelander.  He had a successful career in Hollywood and was in Cleveland for a job when he fell in love with the city.  In 1990 he moved to Cleveland and calls it his spiritual home.  His website is here.  Les gets the city and its suburbs just right in this mystery series set in Cleveland and I highly recommend it.  This is the second stop on my Ohio tour.

They looked pretty much the way they had for a hundred years or more, solid and functional.  But like the steel mills that define the banks of the Cuyahoga River, the semideserted factories near downtown Cleveland have a terrible beauty.  They stand for an era that has practically faded from consciousness, the days when the industrial Northeast and Midwest set the pulse of America, and her immigrant sons and daughters made her sing.

Chapter 2 

Slovenian private detective Milan Jacovich is a tough middle-aged man who displays his old-fashioned morals as a shield for all to see.  Never one to turn away from a fight he’s been in a scrape or two and has always come out in one piece.  When a rich girl with nothing but attitude comes to him to find her missing boyfriend, he takes the case.  What starts as a search for loser Jeff Feldman turns into a wild goose chase for a rare piece of porcelain, which brings him, once again, into the Cleveland mob’s web.

Milan is such a real character.  He is proud of his ethnicity and he’s proud of his two sons, hoping he’s being the best dad he can be since he only sees them on weekends.

Looking at my two loves, I wondered if there was anything a parent could really do, that I could do, that would guarantee them honor and decency and whatever measure of happiness the future might hold.  Or is life simply a dangerous crapshoot?

Chapter 19

How can you not love a man who loves his boys so dearly?  This series is full of interesting characters and a real insight into the city and it’s underbelly.  The mystery, as always is top notch.

I love this series and although I recommend you read them in order (because that’s what I do) this could certainly be read as a stand alone.

This was from my personal library.

Marine Quiz – guessing closed

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Memorial Day is a time to honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country and also to thank all of the veterans and active members of the military.  Let’s see if you can identify these United States Marines.

You have until noon Sunday to submit your answers as a comment.  Comment will be hidden until I post the answers.  No Googling!

This round will last til August.  The person with the most points 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.

Have fun and Good Luck!  Last week’s Mark Ruffalo quiz here .  Leaderboard and rules here.

1.  This famous Clevelander is really best know for his comedy and now his game show hosting gig, but he did write an autobiography titled Dirty Jokes and Beer.  He served in the Marine Corp Reserve for 6 six years in the 80’s. Drew Carey

2. This author of the Bourne series also wrote under the pseudonyms Jonathan Ryder and Michael Shepherd. Robert Ludlum

3. Tom Cruise made Born on the Fourth of July a must see movie, but who was the Marine that lived and wrote it?  Ron Kovic

4. This novelist wrote Sophie’s Choice plus many others.  Although he joined the Marines at the end of WWII the Japanese surrendered before he left the US.  William Styron

5. This author of historical fiction (Exodus and Trinity to name a few) joined the Marines at 17 and served in the South Pacific.   Leon Uris

6. The lone woman on the list joined the Marines after earning a degree in history.  She writes science fiction and her book The Speed of Dark won the Nebula prize in 2003.  Elizabeth Moon

7. Which one of these actors was NOT a Marine?  Gene Hackman, Harvey Keitel, or Joe Pesci  Joe Pesci

8. This Vietnam vet wrote a biography on George Reeves while still in school and an autobiography a few years ago titled Life’s That Way.  He’s seen on TV in  Deadwood and Supernatural these days.  Jim Beaver

9. Which one of The Daily Show cast is a current member of the Marine Corp Reserve and has served in Liberia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan?  Rob Riggle

10. Who is this Marine and you’ll get bonus points if you can name one of his movies.  Steve McQueen

Lake View Cemetery with Gage

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Lake View Cemetery is a destination location for anyone visiting the Cleveland area.  Its 105,000+ graves sit on 285 acres, with over 700 burials still taking place each year.  Founded in  1869 when Cleveland was still one of biggest cities in the country, it is home to many recognizable people.

President James Garfield has his own monument.  He and his wife are entombed in the basement and the second story deck offers a geat view of the city.  You can see downtown in the middle and Lake Erie on the right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another notable is John D Rockefeller.   His monument is made of one piece of granite, the largest piece ever quarried for memorialization purposes.  His grave is directly in front of the memorial and his family is buried in a circle around the monument.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are many other notables buried here, Eliot Ness, Harvey Pekar, Charles Chesnutt to name a few.  I consider this a must see for anyone in the northeast Ohio area.  If  you are a history buff or a cemetery enthusiast you could spend days walking around this beautiful, park-like cemetery.

Lake View Cemetery website here.

 

Saturday Snapshot – Balloons

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To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a link over at At Home With Books. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see.

I love this meme because it’s so nice to see a more personal side to fellow blogger buddies.  This is my first time participating, but I’m sure it won’t be my last.

On Thursday night, my mom and I went to the Blossom Time Balloon Glow in the village about 10 minutes from us.  I wish we’d been able to take Gage because he’d have loved it, but it was past his bedtime and he’s still not completely over his cold. 

Ten hot air balloons inflated on a practice field and lit themselves up, to the delight of the hundreds (thousands?).  They’ll be racing them all weekend.

Be the Miracle:50 Lessons for Making the Impossible Possible, by Regina Brett

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Be the Miracle: 50 Lessons for Making the Impossible PossibleBe the Miracle by Regina Brett. Finished 5-22-12, rating 4/5, 267 pages, pub. 2012

Regina Brett is a popular Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist where she was a finalist in 2008 and 2009 for the Pulitzer Prize in commentary and has her own call-in talk show.  Her breast cancer journey inspired her first book, God Never Blinks:50 Lessons for Life’s Little Detours.  This book follows in the same vein, so that we see everyday opportunities to be a miracle, not only for ourselves but more importantly, others.  Regina was born just south of where I live and has spent her life in the Cleveland/Akron area and is the first stop on my Ohioana author tour.  I met Regina in February at a book signing.

Each of these lessons is short enough to read on a daily basis for a jump-start to your day which is how I approached it.  Since it’s been awhile since I started it I don’t remember all of the lessons and, to be honest, as much as I loved some of them others were equally as forgettable.

There were a few standouts.  Lesson 40 is titled Aim Higher and it’s about Bonnie St. John, the first African American to win Olympic medals in ski racing.  Oh, and she did it with one leg.

Bonnie often goes to hospitals to visit patients and give talks to people who are facing obstacles that seem insurmountable like hers once did.  She met one mother whose 13-year-old son had been horribly burned on his face and arms.  The mother turned to Bonnie and asked, “Will my son ever live a normal life?”

I expected Bonnie to promise, “Of course he will.”  She shocked me with her answer.

“No,” Bonnie said.  “He should aim higher.”

That’s what she did. 

And the last two chapters were the strongest.  Leave a legacy time can’t erase and If you woke up today, God isn’t through with you yet are both about taking time to reflect on life’s end game and living life to the fullest every moment of every day.

This book definitely had a Christian slant, but I didn’t feel it was preachy, just what’s important in Brett’s life.  I liked most of it and might give her first book, God Never Blinks a try.

I bought this one at the book signing in February.