Contest winners...finally!

These are long overdue but I have winners for three contests. Congratulations! Emails are on the way!

The Rule of Nine by Steve Martini
erika lynn
colormeread

Lowcountry Summer by Dorothea Benton Frank
Leann Luckett
Debbie

The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith
Ann
Carol Wong
Beth

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday at The Printed Page is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Lot's of creepy books! I guess that will be the theme this week in the hammock!

Sapphique
by Catherine Fisher

For review from Penguin Group

Finn has escaped from the terrible living Prison of Incarceron, but its memory torments him, because his brother Keiro is still inside. Outside, Claudia insists he must be king, but Finn doubts even his own identity. Is he the lost prince Giles? Or are his memories no more than another construct of his imprisonment? And can you be free if your friends are still captive? Can you be free if your world is frozen in time? Can you be free if you don't even know who you are? Inside Incarceron, has the crazy sorcerer Rix really found the Glove of Sapphique, the only man the Prison ever loved. Sapphique, whose image fires Incarceron with the desire to escape its own nature. If Keiro steals the glove, will he bring destruction to the world? Inside. Outside. All seeking freedom. Like Sapphique.

Nightshade
by Andrea Cremer

For review from Penguin Group

While other teenage girls daydream about boys, Calla Tor imagines ripping out her enemies’ throats. And she wouldn’t have it any other way. Calla was born a warrior and on her eighteenth-birthday she’ll become the alpha female of the next generation of Guardian wolves. But Calla’s predestined path veers off course the moment she saves the life of a wayward hiker, a boy her own age. This human boy’s secret will turn the young pack's world upside down and forever alter the outcome of the centuries-old Witches' War that surrounds them all.

The Eternal Ones
by Kristen Miller

For review from Penguin Group

What if love refused to die?
Haven Moore can’t control her visions of a past with a boy called Ethan, and a life in New York that ended in fiery tragedy. In our present, she designs beautiful dresses for her classmates with her best friend Beau. Dressmaking keeps her sane, since she lives with her widowed and heartbroken mother in her tyrannical grandmother’s house in Snope City, a tiny town in Tennessee. Then an impossible group of coincidences conspire to force her to flee to New York, to discover who she is, and who she was.

In New York, Haven meets Iain Morrow and is swept into an epic love affair that feels both deeply fated and terribly dangerous. Iain is suspected of murdering a rock star and Haven wonders, could he have murdered her in a past life? She visits the Ouroboros Society and discovers a murky world of reincarnation that stretches across millennia. Haven must discover the secrets hidden in her past lives, and loves¸ before all is lost and the cycle begins again.

The Replacement
by Brenna Yovanoff

For review from Penguin Group

Mackie Doyle seems like everyone else in the perfect little town of Gentry, but he is living with a fatal secret - he is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now the creatures under the hill want him back, and Mackie must decide where he really belongs and what he really wants.

A month ago, Mackie might have told them to buzz off. But now, with a budding relationship with tough, wounded, beautiful Tate, Mackie has too much to lose. Will love finally make him worthy of the human world?

I'm The Vampire, That's Why
by Michele Bardsley

From PaperBack Swap

There's a new breed of soccer mom in town-with fangs.

Does drinking blood make me a bad mother? That's the question single mom Jessica Matthews faces when she wakes from a savage attack sucking on the thigh of Patrick O'Halloran, a super-hot Irish vampire who'd generously offered his femoral artery to save her from death...only to make her one of the undead.
Jessica can't rest until the beast that did this to her is caught. Meanwhile, she's having trouble committing to Patrick (in the vampire handbook, physical intimacy costs you several hundred years of being bound together) and keeping her kids in line.

Eighth Grade Bites
by Heather Brewer

From PaperBack Swap

Junior high really sucks for thirteen-year-old Vladimir Tod. Bullies harass him, the principal is dogging him, and the girl he likes prefers his best friend. Oh, and Vlad has a secret: his mother was human, but his father was a vampire. With no idea of the extent of his powers, Vlad struggles daily with his blood cravings and his enlarged fangs. When a substitute teacher begins to question him a little too closely, Vlad worries that his cover is about to be blown. But then he faces a much bigger problem: he's being hunted by a vampire killer.

Review: Benjamin Pratt & The Keepers of the School by Andrew Clements

One secret mission.
One secret society.
One chance to save their
school from total destruction.

Benjamin Pratt’s school is about to become the site of a new amusement park. It sounds like a dream come true! But lately, Ben has been wonder if he’s going to like an amusement park in the middle of his town—with all the buses and traffic and eight dollar slices of pizza. It’s going to change everything. And, Ben is not so big on all the new changes in his life, like how his dad has moved out and started living in the marina on what used to be the "family” sailboat. Maybe it would be nice if the school just stayed as it is. He likes the school. Loves it, actually. It’s over 200 years old and sits right on the harbor. The playground has ocean breezes and the classrooms have million dollar views…MILLION DOLLAR views. And after a chance—and final—run-in with the school janitor, Ben starts to discover that these MILLION DOLLAR views have a lot to do with the deal to sell the school property. But, as much as the town wants to believe it, the school does not belong to the local government. It belongs to the CHILDREN and these children have the right to defend it! Don’t think Ben, his friend Jill (and the tag-along Robert) can ruin a multimillion dollar real estate deal? Then you don’t know the history and the power of the Keepers of the School. A suspenseful six book series, book one, We the Children, starts the battle on land and on sea. It’s a race to keep the school from turning into a ticket booth and these kids are about to discover just how threatening a little knowledge can be.

I was thrilled to discover a new series by the author of Frindle (a favorite at our house) and was lucky enough to receive an ARC. Chapter One does dive into the drama and immediately grabs your attention. Benjamin is a very likable, smart young man who is already struggling with his own personal problems and now he must fight to save his school from demolition. Although this was a task thrust upon him he realizes the importance and the urgency and uses old fashioned detective work to begin deciphering clues left by a secret group sworn to protect it.

An interesting mystery starts in this first book but isn't resolved by the end and will carry over to the rest of the series. I enjoyed following the clues along with the characters although many of the sailing references were lost on me. Fortunately that doesn't matter! This is a story that adults will enjoy too. I look forward to following the adventure.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for providing an ARC of this book.

Author's website

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release date: 4/6/10
Price/format: $14.99/hardcover
Type: Middle grade fiction
Age: 7-10, grades 2-5

So, I was just wondering…

I can’t remember a time I didn’t like to read. I always have a book with me in case I can catch a few extra minutes to myself. I have to read when I get up in the morning and before I go to sleep at night. I have a book or magazine in the car in case I’m stuck waiting somewhere. And I always have a book if I’m the passenger. I have an uncle who used to read while driving but that’s another story. I’m very grateful to be alive after the one and only time I witnessed it!

When I was a kid, I could read anytime, anywhere, but when I was pregnant with my first child that all changed. It must have been the hormones raging through my expanding body that did me in (I still blame that for a lot of things and my youngest kid is 17), but I couldn’t read in a car or any other vehicle without becoming ill and staying ill the whole trip. I hated it! That’s improved over the years but I have to do it carefully to be able to enjoy a book while traveling. I have to spend the first 20 minutes getting used to the motion and then it’s usually OK to give it a try. If the road is too twisty or I already have a headache then forget it. Some of my best reading time has been while riding so it’s always worth the risk to see if I’ll be able to do it. Sounds so daring and dangerous doesn’t it? Reading while riding… woooo… Maybe Tom Cruise could make an action film about it. Wow. I am getting old.

So I was just wondering, do you like to read in the car? Can you read while you’re in the car? What are some handy tricks you or others use to help you enjoy a book while traveling in these summer months? As readers, we have been known to go to extremes to accomplish our dreams! *smirk*

Yep, I’m getting sooo old.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading and asks you to :

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3 . Share 2 "teaser" sentences also citing the title of the book and the author and in that way people can have great recommendations if they like the "teaser".
4. Please avoid spoilers!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Happy birthday? My pig-farmer boyfriend was in absentia, the county sheriff was the current cause of some very naughty thoughts, my drunk sister-in-law was passed out at my kitchen table, and my dead mother had sent me balloons. What else could a girl want?

~page 13
Lowcountry Summer by Dorothea Benton Frank

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday at The Printed Page is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

I've got two weeks to catch up on and have lots of goodies! I hope you had a wonderful week too!

Private
by James Patterson

For review from Hatchette

Former Marine and CIA agent Jack Morgan inherits his father's renowned security and detective business--along with a case load that tests him to the breaking point. Getting to the bottom of an NFL gambling scandal and an unsolved LAPD investigation into 18 school girl slayings would be enough. On top of all that, Morgan takes on solving the horrific murder of his best friend's wife. As Morgan fights the urge to exact brutal revenge on that killer, he has to navigate a workplace imbroglio that could blow the roof off his elite agency. And it's an especially explosive situation . . . because the love affair is his own.

Think of a Number
by John Verdon

For review from Crown Publishing Group

Arriving in the mail over a period of weeks are taunting letters that end with a simple declaration, “Think of any number…picture it…now see how well I know your secrets.” Amazingly, those who comply find that the letter writer has predicted their random choice exactly. For Dave Gurney, just retired as the NYPD’s top homicide investigator and forging a new life with his wife, Madeleine, in upstate New York, the letters are oddities that begin as a diverting puzzle but quickly ignite a massive serial murder investigation.

What police are confronted with is a completely baffling killer, one who is fond of rhymes filled with threats and warnings, whose attention to detail is unprecedented, and who has an uncanny knack for disappearing into thin air. Even more disturbing, the scale of his ambition seems to widen as events unfold.

Brought in as an investigative consultant, Dave Gurney soon accomplishes deductive breakthroughs that leave local police in awe. Yet, even as he matches wits with his seemingly clairvoyant opponent, Gurney’s tragedy-marred past rises up to haunt him, his marriage approaches a dangerous precipice, and finally, a dark, cold fear builds that he’s met an adversary who can’t be stopped.

In the end, fighting to keep his bearings amid a whirlwind of menace and destruction, Gurney sees the truth of what he’s become – what we all become when guilty memories fester – and how his wife Madeleine’s clear-eyed advice may be the only answer that makes sense.

A work that defies easy labels -- at once a propulsive masterpiece of suspense and an absorbing immersion in the lives of characters so real we seem to hear their heartbeats – Think of a Number is a novel you’ll not soon forget.

Crescendo
by Becca Fitzpatrick
For review from Simon & Schuster

The sequel to the New York Times Best selling phenomenon, Hush, Hush!

Nora should have know her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away and Nora can't figure out if it's for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home.

The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father's death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn't answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even imagine?

Lobsterland
by Susan Carlton

Win from the author - autographed, plus extra goodies!

Tourists may think life on an island off the coast of Maine is quaint, but Charlotte knows better. She’s tired of her island prison (it has a real name, but she calls it “Bleak”), and she’s sure that a life in the great anywhere-else is heaps better than one that revolves around catching a ferry to the mainland. She even has the perfect solution: boarding school. But who will take care of the siblets? Will clinically crazy Mom or organic-obsessed Dad be able to hold things together without her there? And is Charlotte ready to leave love-of-her-life Noah behind? Susan Carlton has created a remarkably vivid, strong character in Charlotte; her intelligence, charm, and bitingly sarcastic wit are sure to win over anyone who has ever wanted more than Bleak.

Passing Strange
by Daniel Waters

For review from Non-Fiction Books

Karen DeSonne always passed as a normal (if pale) teenager; with her friends, with her family, and at school. Passing cost her the love of her life. And now that Karen’s dead, she’s still passing—this time, as alive. Karen DeSonne just happens to be an extremely human-like zombie. Meanwhile, Karen’s dead friends have been fingered in a high-profile murder, causing a new round of antizombie regulations that have forced them into hiding. Karen soon learns that the “murder” that destroyed their non-life was a hoax, staged by Pete Martinsburg and his bioist zealots. Obtaining enough evidence to expose the fraud and prove her friends’ innocence means doing the unthinkable: becoming Pete’s girlfriend. Karen’s only hope is that the enemy never realizes who she really is—because the consequences would be worse than death.

Technical difficulties

I mentioned (yelled from the rooftops) that we finally got high speed internet at our house. We are loving it! Since we had to change our email address we needed to make adjustments on our computers as well. Unfortunately, something went wrong when changes were being made to my laptop and now my email is a mess. Ugh. When my last laptop was damaged and I lost everything very suddenly I started carefully rebuilding the things that hadn't been saved. I had most addresses written down in a notebook as well but there were a few new ones that I hadn't done yet. I'm paying for that now. There were also some conversation threads that I can't retrieve.

If you've tried to email me at my old address or if I haven't replied to an old message I'm very sorry for the inconvenience. It may be among the ones I've lost and now I can't reply. Please feel free to send me another note here or in an email at any time. And if you're a new contact that I've met recently I would appreciate a note as well just in case that was also lost.

Thanks so much for your help and understanding. Just when one thing improves another thing implodes... I'm trying to get back on track here though. I've got winners to announce, more contests to come and several reviews ready to post. You've been warned so watch out, here I come!

wrights5@hughes.net

New email address

Since we changed to high speed internet (which we are loving by the way!) we also had to change our email address. I updated it on my profile and on my review policy but I wanted to make a note of it here too. There have been a few glitches but we are trying to get that worked out. If you need to contact me the new address is

wrights5[at]hughes[dot]net

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading and asks you to :

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3 . Share 2 "teaser" sentences also citing the title of the book and the author and in that way people can have great recommendations if they like the "teaser".
4. Please avoid spoilers!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Don't Die," he whispered. "I'll save you." It was a foolhardy promise and one there was no way to keep, but it hardened him, swelled in him, beat like his heart in his chest, and he knew he would try.

~page 17
Salt by Maurice Gee

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday at The Printed Page is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Another quiet week but that's a good thing. I have plenty of reviews to catch up on. I hope you had a bountiful week and a happy holiday!

Halfway to the Grave
by Jeaniene Frost

PaperBack Swap

Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father—the one responsible for ruining her mother's life. Then she's captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unholy partnership.

In exchange for finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. She's amazed she doesn't end up as his dinner—are there actually good vampires? Pretty soon Bones will have her convinced that being half-dead doesn't have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her newfound status as kick-ass demon hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side . . . and Bones is turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat.

Island of the Sequined Love Nun
by Christopher Moore

PaperBack Swap

Tucker Case is a defrocked pilot for the Mary Jean Cosmetics Corporation who lost his job, totaled his boss' plane, and nearly demolished his manhood during a drunken airborne sexual liaison. Now he is running for his life from Mary Jean's goons toward the only employment opportunity left for him: piloting shady secret missions for an unscrupulous medical missionary and a sexy, naturally blond High Priestess on a remote Micronesian island hell, whose one-time cannibalistic residents have not completely abandoned their culinary past.

We finally took the plunge!

No, not that plunge. I've been happily, mostly (just kidding dear sweet hubby!), married for almost 24 years. We just got high speed internet!! (Hey, it's still a major commitment) We had enough of the dial-up connection out here in the boonies and we've been checking around for awhile. We found a good deal and had it hooked up a few days ago.

Woo hoo! We went from a painfully slow process that tied up the phone lines and phone cords to high speed, wireless with up to five computers able to use it at once! Well, you all may be used to it but it's pretty exciting for us. Of course that gives me fewer excuses for not getting stuff done on my blog...

Independence Day