Tag: Books

Silk and Stone, by Deborah Smith

7 Comments

Cover ImageFinished 9-20-09, rating 4.5/5, romance, pub. 1994

The earliest Scotch, Irish, and Dutch immigrants had been drawn to the misty, ancient mountains of western North Carolina by rumors of rubies and other precious gems mined by the Cherokees.  The rumors were more than true.  The newcomers plucked fine stones from the riverbanks, from the hillsides, from the ruts in deeply churned wagon roads.  They riddled the mountains with mine shafts, looking for more.

Chapter 2

This is a sweeping love story that spans decades.  In Pandora, North Carolina, the Cherokee and mountain people are mainly overlooked by the outside world and that’s the way they like it.  The Ravenclaws, a Cherokee family with a special connection to the mountain, are able to find things, like gems and people.  The Vanderveers are the royalty of the mountain and treat everyone with respect.  Then Alexandra enters the picture and causes an irreparable rift between these two family and changes the town of Pandora forever.

Doesn’t sound like a love story?  Well, Jake Ravenclaw and Samantha, niece to Alexandra, have a connection that started when Sam was four.  Over the years they see each other occasionally, but in secret and love blossoms.  The two agreed to be married when Sam was about five and Jake ten and they both clung to that.  Of course, neither is ordinary and both felt like outsiders, so the connection to each other was great.

This is a grand sweeping love story that is not sticky sweet at all.  First, Alexandra is a character that was filled with so much hate, maybe the best ‘bad guy’ I’ve read in quite a while.  She keeps this story grounded in manipulation and lies.  Second, there are great secondary characters that carry some of the heavy lifting in the storytelling.  And the last thing keeping this love story from sugar overload?  The fact that the prologue is written when Sam is waiting for Jake to visit her for the first time after he is released from prison and they haven’t spoken in the ten years he’s been sent away.

I loved this story and recommend it to romance lovers who like the romance, more than the hot, steamy sex and for anyone interested in the mountain culture or Cherokee traditons.

Teaser Tuesday- The Last Ember

21 Comments

teasertuesdays31Teaser Tuesdaysis a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:  Grab your current read.  Open to a random page.  Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.  BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!).  Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Cover Image

“Not every researcher,”  Jonathan said, his tone gathering conviction.  “At the academy I researched the possibility that Josephus was not a traitor to Jerusalem, but surrendered to the Romans to become a-“

“Spy?”  Mildren cut him off,

“Yes,”  Jonathan nodded.  “A spy from Jerusalem planted in the Roman court.”

page 25

Sorry I went over 2 sentences.  I tried to be good, but couldn’t help myself.  Visit MizB  for more teasers.

 

A Little Housekeeping

3 Comments

The winner of Killer Mouse by Melinda Wells is RAELENA – thanks Raelena!

The winner of Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddons is ALITAREADS- thanks Alita – it’s on the way

I haven’t received  an email with mailing addresses, so please email me your mailing addresses at stacybooks@yahoo.com.  Once you’ve done this please leave a comment so I know it should be there. I’m thinking there could be a problem with my email.   If I don’t hear from you by Wednesday I’ll draw another winner. 

And don’t forget to sign up to win one of these books by Carly PhillipsCover ImageCover ImageGo to my interview with Carly to sign up.  I’ll draw for a winner this Friday, the 25th.

While My Sister Sleeps, by Barbara Delinsky

13 Comments

Cover ImageFinished 9-17-09, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 2009

“Let’s take it step by step,” the doctor said.  First, stabilization.  Beyond that, it’s really a question of waiting.  There’s no husband listed on her tag.  Does she have kids?”

“No.”

“Well, that’s something.”

“It’s not.”  Molly was desperate.  “You don’t understand.  I can’t tell my mother Robin is lying here like this.”  Kathryn would blame her.  Instantly.  Even before she knew that it truly was Molly’s fault.  It had always been that way.  In her mother’s eyes.  Molly was five years younger and ten times more troublesome than Robin.

Chapter 1

Molly and Robin  are sisters.  They live together, work together, depend on each other.  Robin is a world class marathoner and Molly has spent her life helping Robin accomplish her running goals.  Their mother, Kathryn, is a strong-willed woman with love for Robin and little understanding for Molly.  The dad, Charlie and brother, Chris are the silent support.  When Robin has a heart attack when running the family must come to terms with the grim possibility that Robin may never fully recover.

This is the story of a family facing an unspeakable tragedy.  Robin is only 33 and her family is shell shocked.  Molly tries to figure out what Robin wants and Kathryn vents on anyone who comes her way, even the good Samaritan who saved Robin’s life.  When Molly discovers a long kept family secret and does something about it, Kathryn is horrified.

Molly was a great character, sort of a good friend who has no idea how great she really is.  Her mother expected her to support Robin in her lofty goals and she always felt like a disappointment.  Which leads to Kathryn, who I really wanted to shake for most of this book.  I did become less frustrated with her as the story continued, but she was not a feel good character.  I liked Charlie, but Chris and his troubles were really my least favorite parts of the book.  He had way too many excuses to not try to make his marriage work.

There was a lot going on in this book and it was a fast and thought provoking read.  The characters were all well drawn and the secrecy, favoritism, and medical issues all made for an engrossing read.  It was also the story of personal growth and the full circle of life.  I really enjoyed it.

The State of my Blog

12 Comments

image

For today’s BBAW assignment we are asked It’s time to show off!  Tell us and this is really important, in 50 words or less what you love best about your blog!  And then in 50 words or less where you want your blog to be by the next BBAW!  Okay, let’s give it a try…

Love my Commenters, Monday Quizzes, Author Interviews, and Movie Reviews.  Love the challenges I’ve joined and Teaser Tuesdays and Monday Movie Meme.

Want to work on the quality of my book reviews and my HTML knowledge.  Want to read more books! 

I really appreciate all of the bloggers I’ve met!

Exactly 50 words 🙂

A Worthy Legacy, by Tomi Akinyanmi

10 Comments

Cover ImageFinished 9-13-09, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 2008

Know this: that you needn’t wait for others to try out something new in which you believe.  Be the very first at anything you can, and do not let frustrations or defeats hinder you; only then will you have a sense of accomplishment

On Using Our Initiative

This is the story of a wise old grandfather, his impending death and his final words for his family that have come to be with him in his final hours.  He wants to leave his family with the wisdom of his years and the granddaughter, our narrator, takes them all to heart.

Let me start by saying how personal this felt to me.  The narrator had a special relationship with her grandfather, as I did, and her description of his death left a tear or two in my eyes because my grandfather died in much the same way.  Surrounded by his family who were all there to tell him it was okay.  I had my hands on my grandfather’s pillow when he drew his last breath and it was a defining moment for me at an age when I could fully appreciate the beauty in his passing.  Although he passed on no grand  words on the meaning of life, his life, well lived, was testament enough.  I could write a whole post on this, but I think I ‘ll go back to the review.

There is little story here and at first I was disappointed, but there was such honesty in the wisdom of the grandfather that I quickly became involved.  I could post  wonderful quotes from every chapter in the book, but that would ruin it for you, so I won’t.  He covers all of the things you’d expect like time, happiness, power, character…but my favorite was the one page on fears. 

I thought this was a wonderful and short read at around 100 pages.  I obviously identified with the story and the advice given was heartfelt and thought provoking.  This is not the book if you are looking for a story, but if you are willing to be drawn into the thoughtfulness of words left behind by someone facing death then you should give it a try.  I am positive I will pick it up and read it again in the future.

BBAW TBR Pile

24 Comments

The assignment is to show our TBR piles.  Regular readers and those that read my interview with Marjorie yesterday will have seen the photo I took in May with 380 books

book problem 09 2

Since May I’ve read 17 and given away 3, BUT I’ve gained these

 tbr may-sept 09

So, here’s the fun part, I have acquired 2 of one of these books and the first one to guess it WINS IT!  Although some of these books are used the winning book is brand new.  I’ll give one clue every hour or so, so come back and guess until someone wins…

12:15 clue – book is written by a woman

1:30 clue – written by a New York Times Bestselling author

Leave a comment with your guess and I’ll let you know when someone gets it right.  Don’t worry the 1:15 clue will be a little more helpful!  But it doesn’t hurt to take a shot right?

GUESSING CLOSED!  ALITAREADS WINS OFF SEASON BY ANNE RIVERS SIDDONS!  Thanks for playing along.

Travel Writing, by Peter Ferry

4 Comments

Cover ImageFinished 9-11-09, rating 3/5, fiction, pub. 2009

See, I think that’s Pete’s problem,” said Carolyn.  “He knew what was going to happen.  You know what I mean?  He could see it happen before it happened, and then it happened.”  (Of course I now know that even if for a moment I could see what was going to happen to Lisa Kim, I had no idea what had already happened to her and would not for a long time.)

Chapter 1

 High school teacher Pete Ferry (you may notice the similarity with the author’s name) sees a woman driving erratically one night and watches in horror as she crashes and dies.  The police say it’s an accident, but Pete is not convinced.  His guilt at not having stopped her fuels his obsession with finding out everything about that night and the victim, Lisa Kim. Pete’s distraction takes it toll on his relationship with his girlfriend of many years and he can’t seem to work up enough energy to save it.

Of course, this may all be a lie, a story.  Pete is telling this story to his students so they see how a great story is pieced together, with truth and lies.  What is real and what isn’t?  Or is it all a dream?

This clever concept was interesting, and it mostly worked.  I guess I had more of an issue with Pete.  I didn’t ever quite warm up to him or understand his motivations.  And if I was to take his character at face value I guess I didn’t really like him much. 

I thought it was original and I liked the alternating storylines and flashbacks.  It’s a solid debut that will keep you guessing to the end.  I liked it enough to try this author again.

I received this book from the pubisher.

BBAW Interview with Marjorie of PaperTigers

15 Comments

imageimage

I was paired with Marjorie of PaperTigers.  I’ll let her tell you a little about herself and her blog, but I think you’ll really enjoy stopping by the PaperTigers blog.  It is fun and easy to use for recommendations and fun features.  Here’s Marjorie…

1.  How did your blog get its start and focus?

PaperTigers is part of Pacific Rim Voices, which aims to promote tolerance and multi-cultural understanding through books.  PaperTigers focuses on children’s and YA books and we publish a web-based magazine, with regular issues on a given theme throughout the year.  The blog, which we started in May 2007, was and is a great way to complement the website by expanding on current features there, as well as providing space to go beyond it!  It also means we can draw together news and events from around the world and take an active part in the vibrant Kidlitosphere.

2.  Can you tell us a little about the contributors?

There are currently four of us: Aline in San Francisco, Corinne in Vancouver, Sally in Winnipeg and me in a rural corner of the UK.  We are all parents with, needless to say, a passion for books  We haven’t all met each other in person yet – so this November will be very special, as the whole PaperTigers team is meeting up for a few days in San Francisco… You can find out more about us here… http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/about-us/

3. What is your favorite feature of the blog?

Yikes – that’s really hard to answer!  But I think what I love most is that our blog brings together so many different voices – not just in what we write ourselves but by focusing on the riches on offer from such a diverse range of writers and illustrators, and indeed those elsewhere who write about them.  I am forever having to add another book to my To Be Read list – and Corinne’s monthly ‘Calendar of Events’ http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/category/calendar-of-events/  is a veritable mine of information!

Of our own regular features, I love our Around the World in 100 Bookshelves, (http://www.papertigers.org/wordpress/category/reading-the-world/around-the-world-in-100-bookshelves/ )where parents send in photographs of their children’s bookshelves.  We’re at Number 13 so far and they’ve come from Canada, Hong Kong, India, the Philippines, Sweden, and the UK… Our second bimonthly draw takes place TODAY! (ie Sept. 15th!)

4. With the focus on children and young adult books, what are a few of your favorites so far this year?

Sticking to books that were actually published this year, three of my favorite picture-books have been Allen Say’s Erika-San (Houghton Mifflin, 2009), Etsuko Watanabe’s My Japan (Kane/Miller, 2009) and Ambellin Kwaymullina’s Caterpillar and Butterfly (Fremantle Press, 2009).  Then there’s Grace Lin’s beautifully illustrated middle-reader, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Little, Brown and Company, 2009); and I was bowled over by the YA-adult The Holy Tortilla and a Pot of Beans: A Feast of Short Fictionby Carmen Tafolla (Wings Press, 2009).

5. What is the best part of the book blogging community?

There are just so many fabulous book blogs out there – and it really is a community, sharing ideas, pooling resources.  I love the way we come together for regular features like Poetry Friday.  There are some very generous people putting a lot of energy into initiatives like Carnivals, Literacy Roundups, the Cybils – and indeed BBAW.  It is so easy to get drawn into following link after link, from blog to blog – and that To Be Read list is constantly being replenished!

6.  Have you always loved reading?  Have a favorite book growing up?

Yes, I was a total bookworm and read everywhere.  My bedroom was in our attic and I had a great system of juuuuustholding down my light switch without it clicking so that my Mum would think I was asleep when she turned off the stair nightlight to check on me – then I’d carry on reading until 2 or 3 in the morning… I can’t do that anymore!

Hmmm, favorites… I swallowed Enid Blyton whole then went on to the Anne books – and once I start Anne of Green Gables I still just have to carry on until I’ve read them all; the same with Little Women and the Little House… books.  As I got older, I started going back in time so that by the time I was 14, I was revelling in Walter Scott.  My friends thought I was very strange!  But my Mum gave me a key piece of advice, which was to skip the first couple of chapters and go back to them later… I recommend it!

7. Are you a book buyer, downloader, or borrower?

A buyer and a borrower – we’re lucky in our very small town that we have a library and a bookshop!  And I love second-hand bookshops – I never know what I’m going to find and I can’t help it, I always come out with something…

8.  I love quotes.  Do you have a favorite?

 My current favorite, which I came across when researching my article (http://www.papertigers.org/personalViews/archiveViews/MCoughlan3.html)for our current issue of PaperTigers, was said by a six-year-old child in Hong Kong: “When I hear some lovely music, I feel that I can fly”.

And one I have above my desk:  “Things are getting bad – please send chocolate!”

9.  If you were trapped in the life of one fictional character who would you choose?

Elizabeth Bennet…

I’m so glad that I was paired with such a wonderful blogger.  Thanks, Marjorie!