Free Books for March

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Leave a comment, tell me which book or puzzle you want and I’ll get it to you for FREE either by mail or personally if I’ll see you soon.  The first one to request each book or puzzle wins.  Once you’ve ‘won’ I can get your shipping address if I need it.  Also, you can come back and get a free book every month if you want.  These have all been read a few times.

1. Soft Landing Hoyle Jigsaw Puzzle.  1020 pieces.  Measures 18″ x 26″.  I bought this at a yard sale and it had been done once or twice before, but the pieces are all there and it’s a fun puzzle.  for Dawn

2. Storm Rider by Cassie Edwards.  Romance.  340 pages.  Pub. 2002.  Review here.  for Linda H.

3. A Night to Remember by Walter Lord.  First person account of the sinking of the Titanic.  If you watched the movie and want a different perspective, try this.  209 pages.  Pub. 1955.  Review here.  for sheere

4. The Carriage House by Carla Neggers.  Romantic Suspense.  376 pages.  Review here.  for Veens

Walking San Francisco

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We arrived home this morning at about 1 am after almost a week in San Francisco.  First, I have to mention our flights out and back.  Last Saturday morning we’re in the plane on the runway for takeoff and the pilot drives back to where we boarded and tells us that on the way to the runway he accidentally drove through a snow pile and just wants to make sure everything is okay.  And then 10 minutes later comes back and tells us he’s completely ruined the engine and they’ll have to find us another plane.  Seriously, shouldn’t a 737 be able to handle a little snow?  We switched planes and it was all good.  Then on the way back we were in the plane and a light came on, didn’t come on, whatever, and we had to get off the plane and wait.  And wait.  Four hours later we were good to go.  During that time we were able to meet a wonderful family Noel and Maura and their two kids Will and Ellie.  They made the wait easier to take.  So my advice?  If you need to get someplace on time don’t fly with us!

We stayed at The Palace downtown…

Jason’s conference was being held here and it is beautiful hotel.  Our taxi driver from the airport told us that we came just in time for the Chinese New Year parade that evening.  This is second only to the one in China (so the local news told us) and lasted a long time.  I can’t remember the last time I saw a parade…

We took the required trip to Alcatraz and learned so much about it’s history.  I didn’t know (or remember) that it had only been in use as a prison for 30 years. 

The ferry ride there was only 10 minutes and provided some lovely views of the city.

I had my fish ‘n chips at Fisherman’s Wharf, hiked up the hill to Coit Tower, overworked my short legs through the hills od Nob Hill & Russian Hill, saw the famous painted houses and spent quite a bit of time in Chinatown.  I went to the Fortune Cookie Factory where I saw the women making the fortune cookies and had some fresh off the line.  I love fortune cookies so I brought a big bag home.

I spent Monday at Golden Gate Park and my favorite place on this trip was there.  I loved the  Japanese Tea Garden.  It is peaceful and beautiful and I could have spent all day there with my camera and book.

There was a wonderful tea house near the entrance where I stopped on my way out for a nice cup of jasmine tea.

So, there you have it.  A wonderful week in beautiful San Francisco.  I was unconnected all week long.  Not one email or blog or website.  I’m feeling refreshed.  Even if I am looking outside my window at huge mounds of snow.

War, Peace, and Loss

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So, Max wasn’t as thrilled with the reading this week.  There was some war and a duel, but he had issues when a  mom died before she got to know her child.  See  Max doesn’t even know if his mom is still alive or where she is.  He thought the story was good, but that it needed more battles.  Of course, Max is a boy so that is to be expected.

Molly and I read the first two parts of Volume II.  We’re a little slow this week because Molly lost her grandmother and I refused to take this huge thing on vacation.  But, even though it was only 120 pages a lot happened.  I’m just going to cover my four people and you can check out Molly’s post as she covers the rest of the story with her four peeps.

Prince Andrei – Andrei was presumed dead, but did finally return home just in time for his wife’s labor.  She dies while giving birth to a son and that on top of his dislike of the army lead him on a downward spiral that isn’t completely evident until his friend Pierre comes to visit.  Andrei is depressed and he and Pierre argued purpose and philosophy until we see a glimmer at the end that maybe Andrei is not completely lost, “The meeting with Pierre marked an epoch for Prince Andrei, from which began what, while outwardly the same, was in his inner world a new life.”  He took a job working with his father in the Russian militia. What he lost – a wife and position in the army

Vaska Denisov – I wouldn’t call Denisov a major player, he’s more of a good friend to the big guys.  He travels home with Nikolai and while there he falls for 15-year-old Natasha and asks her to marry him.  She says no and so he leaves.  We next see him when he and Rostov are back on the battlefield and I loved this quote from the book, “(Denisov) lived in luxury, because the soldiers of his squadron loved him.”  And because he also loved them he does something heroic, gets himself court marshalled and then shot in the leg.  We leave him in the hospital where he has become obsessed with his case. What he lost – Good will of superiors and good health

Princess Maria – She is relieved when Andrei returns home because she had never quite given up hope.  She becomes a mother of sorts to the baby when Liza dies and she also fills her days helping spiritual wanderers as much as she can.  She is concerned about Andrei and begs Pierre to make him travel, but Pierre leaves Andrei home.  Because her father is now working for the Russian militia she is able to have more freedom.  What she lost – A beloved sister-in-law

Natasha – Only 15 and she seems to be a bit of a boy-crazy flirt.  She enjoys the attention of Denisov, but had no thoughts of accepting his marriage proposal.  What she lost – A potential husband

I’ve enjoyed this week’s reading more than the first two and it was action packed.  Head on over to Molly’s and see what trouble Pierre and Nikolai have gotten themselves into.

My Monthly Movie Thoughts and open invitation

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These are the movies I’ve watched this month and I’ve given each one a grade and 5 words to describe it.  There are two ways to actively participate.  One, if you’ve seen any of the movies leave me your 1-5 words in the comments and I’ll add them to the post.  Or, if you are feeling ambitious and want to do this on your own blog leave me a link in the comments and I’ll add it to the bottom of the post.   Of course,  you can just browse and enjoy too 🙂

(2009. Cast- Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt)  Grade A

Quirky Charming Original Un-Love Story. 

Enchanting, lovely, hilarious, romantic realism. (Nolatari)
Quirky, end was really fantastic!  (Heather)

This whole movie is charming.  (Tony)

(1993. Cast- Johnny Depp, Aidan Quinn, Mary Stuart Masterson)  Grade B+

Two Misfits. Sweet Love Story.

Sweet, quirky, plus Johnny Depp! (Stephanie)

Adorable. Depp at his sweetest. (Nolatari)

Touching Cute Early Depp Vehicle (Beth)
Johnny Depp, disarmingly charming role. (Michelle)

Depp, one of his best!  (Heather)

 

(2010. Cast- Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams) Grade B

Gritty. Troubling. Insanity. Prison. Surprising.

 Book and movie both great  (Heather)

Leo is crazy, right?  Right???  (Tony)

(2009. Cast- Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Jason Bateman, Robin Wright Penn) Grade B

 Journalism & Politics on Trial. Lies.

 Good enough. Series is better. (Nolatari)

I enjoyed the political intrigue.  (Heather)

Politics as usual, poor guy.  (Tony)

(1986. Cast- William Peterson, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Dennis Farina) Grade B

Hannibal Lecktor. Grissom Before Grissom.

Unsatisfying once you see Hopkins.  (Tony)

(1980. Cast- Brooke Shields, Christopher Atkins) Grade C+

Childlike Innocence.  Escapism. Campy Fun.

Mostly for Teen Age Boys (Beth)

We Have a Quiz Winner!

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I want to thank you all for playing along with my new quiz format.  It’s so much fun playing book games with you 🙂  The final results are here.   The next round will begin March 9th.  On to the winners…

Jennifer of Rayment’s Rants & Ramblings has won my First Quiz Series!!!  Out of a possible 300 points over 3 weeks Jennifer earned 235 points.  Since this was a trial run of my Quizzes that are worth something the prize will be an easy one.  Jennifer gets her pick of one of the books in Tuesday’s quiz.  Congratulations, Jennifer!!!

And because Scout was jealous that Max was helping with the blog yesterday she wanted to help me pick the winner today…

So, the randomly chosen winner from the rest of the participants and the next winner is Cee Cee of Book Splurge!!  To make this easy on me (can you tell that I’m hours aways from vacation?) Cee Cee will get second choice of a book from Tuesday’s quiz. Congratulations Cee Cee!!!

Max is really into War & Peace

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When Max heard that the boys were going to war this week he really wanted to be involved.  So, I set up a nice little reading spot by the window and let him take it all in.  He liked that there were less girly parties and gossip and more battles and strategy.  Oh, and he thought it was very cool that he got to read about Napoleon, he’d heard about that dude before.  Max is giving these two parts two paws up.

So, this week Molly and I finished Volume I by reading Parts 2 & 3.  The men went off to war to battle for Russia against the French invasion.  We do take occasional visits to the Bolkonskys at Bald Hills, and the Rostovs in Moscow, but the bulk of the action is on the battlefield involving, mainly, two key players, Prince Andrei and Prince Nikolai.

So, a little about what happened to my four characters…

Vasily Denisov I finally met him.  From now on I’ll call him Vaska Denisov because that’s what he’s called in the book.  Here’s his physical decription…”a small man with a red face, shining black eyes, and disheveled black mustaches and hair.”  He has another physical characteristic that makes him easy to identify when reading.  He “swallows his r’s” so that started looks like staghrted when he talks.  I don’t know much about him except that he gambles and seems to distinguish himself in battle.  He’s friends with Prince Andrei.

Prince Andrei Bolkonsky He wants nothing more than to distinguish himself and to impress his father, who he writes to everyday.  He places himself with the right people and becomes an adjunct to the commander-in-chief.   He has a hero complex but he smart, haughty, and connected so I expect him to go far.  He is friends with Vaska, mixed it up with Prince Nikolai and challenged him to a fight at a later time. At the end of this volume he had been wounded and Napoleon himself had saved him from the battlefield.  As the French Army leaves him with locals he is not expected to live. 

Princess Maria Bolkonsky Last week I said I felt sorry for her and I still do.  Prince Vassily Kuragin shows up at Bald Hills with his son, Prince Anatole, and tries to make a match between the two.  Much was made of her plainness and even ugliness and she grudgingly let herself hope that the handsome Prince would love her as much as she loved him at first sight.  This was not to be and betrayal left Maria convinced she would never marry.

Natasha Rostov We meet up with Natasha when the family receives a letter from her brother, Nikolai.  She admits to Sonya that she is already forgetting her boyfriend Boris now that he has gone off to war and a comment is made that she (Natasha) has a crush on Count Pierre.  Time will tell.  Oh, and we found out that she is terrible at keeping secrets!

I liked these two parts less than the first, but I think military or history buffs (like Max) would appreciate the battle descriptions more that I did.  So, how did Molly’s characters make out?  I personally think that Prince Nikola has some real issues and am unsure about this Pierre/Helene pairing.  Go on over and see what she has to say.

The Story of My Life, by Helen Keller

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The Story of My Life by Helen Keller: Book CoverFinished 2-23-10, rating 4/5, autobiography, pub. 1905

While my days at Radcliffe were still in the future, they were encircled with a halo of romance, which they have lost; but in the transition from romantic to actual I have learned many things I should never have known had I not tried the experiment.  One of them is the precious science of patience, which teaches us that we should take our education as we would take a walk in the country, leisurely, our minds hospitably open to impressions of every sort.  Such knowledge floods the soul unseen with a soundless tidal wave of deepening thought.

Chapter 20

When Helen was a year and a half old she became blind and deaf due to a fever.  She lived in her isolated world until she was 7 and a teacher came to open up a world of communication to her.  Anne Sullivan taught her manual sign language, braille, and lip-reading.  She was able to travel to special schools and teachers in Boston and New York and eventually graduated from Radcliffe with honors.  She wrote this autobiography at the age of 22.

That’s the bare bones because I think most everyone knows more than I did about Helen Keller before I read this book.  Somehow I missed the movies and any detailed stories of her life, so I was in complete awe of what this girl accomplished.  Helen had a thirst for knowledge and her love of learning and books was intense.  She attended high school and college classes and succeeded.  I felt in turn inspired and embarrassed by her.  If she could lead a productive and fulfilled life with her handicaps surely any of my small problems were not important, but these things she was able to learn and do made feel like I was wasting my days away.  Helen learned French and Latin, sign language and lip-reading, and braille and how to speak without being able to hear a thing.  How amazing is that?

I cannot even imagine her silent and dark world and yet, this book did not contain self-pity.  Things that would be scary to any child, almost drowning, almost getting hit by a train, being stuck in a tree during a thunderstorm, could only have been more frightening to Helen.  I don’t know why it took me so long to read this! 

This book was from my personal library.

What Book Is That? Quiz

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This is the final week  of the new and improved weekly quiz where I’ve decided to have them count for something!  While you all get adjusted this first round will last through February and there will be 2 prizes!  Check out the details HERE. 

The biggest difference is that you don’t have to be first.  Everyone gets an equal shot. You have until Thursday night to submit your guesses.  I’ll announce the big winners on Friday.

Please no copying off of other commenters!  Since this one is hard feel free to look around the web to find the books.

Want to see the leaderboard?  Answers from last week’s quiz? And please guess if you only know one or two.  You’ll still be eligible for a prize!

Each book is worth 10 points. points for the title and 5 points for the author.  These are all recent wins, so you should recognize some of them.

1.Show No Fear by Marliss Melton

2.City of Refuge by Tom Piazza

3. Try Darkness by James Scott Bell

4.How to Be a Hepburn in a Hilton World by Jordan Christy

5.Seduce Me by Robyn DeHart

6.Searching for Pemberley by Mary Lydon Simonsen

7.The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter

8.The Survivor’s Club by Ben Sherwood

9.Dying for Mercy by Mary Jane Clark

10.The Queen’s Mistake by Diane Haeger

Monday Movie Meme – I don’t get it

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Feature Presentation…MONDAY MOVIE MEME

This week’s movie topic is all about Popular Movies You Hated…

District 9 So many people (and bloggers) told me I would love this film and I convinced Jason he would too.  Um, neither of us liked it at all.  And, yes, we understood the underlying messages of the movie (we knew them going in), but we didn’t get all the hype.  After I told a friend that we didn’t care for it she asked if I realized who the guy with the flower was at the end? Yes.  Didn’t save the movie for me. 

The English Patient We watched it because it won the Oscar and I only made it to the end by sheer will.  I cannot remember anything I liked in this one.  I feel like Elaine from Seinfeld after she admits to her boss that she hated The English Patient and he fired her.  Please don’t stop reading my blog because I hated The English Patient, please?

Pulp Fiction When I saw it the first time at the theater I was unprepared for all of the violence and I hated it.  Watched it again years later and still disliked it.  I am sure I’m missing that cool Tarantino gene where I understand the genius of every movie he makes. 

Amadeus It’s been awhile since I’ve seen this one, but when Jason & I ranked the AFI’s Top 100 movies of all-time (we spent many years and watched them all) this one came in at the bottom of my list.  To be honest, I only remember that I couldn’t wait for it to end and not much else.  Many people I love really like this one, so maybe one day I’ll give it another shot.

Brokeback Mountain This one I didn’t hate, but almost as bad, I was bored.  I know it broke new ground with A list actors in a gay love story, but I just kept waiting for something to happen.  This is a problem I have with a lot of westerns.  The one saving grace for me in this movie was Heath Ledger.  He was phenomenal.

 Want to see what movies other bloggers chose?  Visit The Bumbles.  

Why not leave a comment confessing your own list.  I’d love to see it!

Deadly Caress, by Brenda Joyce

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Deadly Caress by Brenda Joyce: Book CoverFinished 2-18-10, rating 4/5, romance, pub. 2003

Book 5 in the Deadly series (Book 1) (Book 2) (Book 3) (Book 4)

Francesca Cahill and Rick Bragg are having a few problems.  Rick’s wife is back in town a determined to make a go of their marriage.  Rick’s brother, the cad Calder Hart, is determined to marry Francesca.  There’s also another killer on the loose in the streets of New York City and the Cahill house is in disarray after Evan is almost beaten to death because of his gambling debts.  Francesca’s sister, Connie is still trying to come to terms with her husband’s infidelity and in 1902, women did not leave their husbands if they cheated.

So, you know by my reviews of the first four books that I love this series, but it is not perfect.  I haven’t mentioned yet, but this series starts in January 1902 and at the end of this fifth book it is February 1902.  That is a lot to happen in such a short time.  I don’t understand why she chose to write the series this way, especially since I distrust romances when the heroine falls in love so fast.  Because I love the characters I can overlook it, but it still doesn’t make sense to me.

There was sex in this one!  And it was angry sex.  I didn’t like it.  I don’t mind a little sex, it’s to be expected in a romance, but I like it to be romantic.  I’m surprised that of the five books of this series so far, only three actually have sex in them.  It’s a nice change of pace from your typical romances.

So, the series is fun, but not perfect.  Only three left to catch up.

 This was from my personal library.