Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas and the happiest, healthiest New Year!

 

 

Neglecting my blog

It seems that blogging has fallen towards the bottom of my list of things to do. December is always hectic and I seem to add to my own chaos. My unfinished projects are scattered about, I have shopping to finish, baking and other related tasks to do. And unbelievably (to me anyway) my oldest son will turn twenty-four tomorrow. I have a pile of really good books that I'm just itching to read but they are waiting patiently for now.

Of course these are trivial and minor inconveniences. My heart is broken after the devastation that happened in Newtown, CT. I can't even wrap my brain around it. I am so sad and overwhelmed with a feeling of helplessness. My thoughts, prayers and love go out to all.

In the meantime I will finish shopping with hubby's help. I will pick through my house clutter and make red and green cupcakes with my granddaughter. I will let my baby grandson pick ornaments off the tree. I will bake my son's favorite cinnamon coffee cake for his birthday. I will try a new recipe for Christmas breakfast for all my boys and our expanding family. And I will hold them all a bit closer and a bit longer - as much as they will let me.

Blog Tour - Horten's Incredible Illusions

Sterling Publishing is doing a blog tour of Lissa Evans second book in her Stuart Horten series. I was thrilled to participate since I loved these books!

My review Horten's Incredible Illusions (book #2)
My review Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms (book #1)




The characters are so much fun! Horten is a ten year-old boy who moves to a new town. He discovers his next door neighbors are ten year-old triplets who are junior reporters for their own newspaper and appear very odd. Before long, April becomes a good friend and a loyal and valuable sidekick. Her sister also become assets in Horten's adventures to discover the secrets of his great uncle's (Teeny Tiny Tony Horten) illusions.

Triplets -

Saturday Snapshot

 Saturday Snapshot is hosted by At Home with Books. To participate in this meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.
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Back in September I was taking photos at my mom's house on a beautiful day and I noticed dark clouds were rolling in. The sky was an interesting contrast and there were so many details. I made the photos extra large here but they still don't show how unusual it looked. I used my camera over a span of thirty minutes and the clouds went from fluffy white to dark gray. It was kind of scary when the rain finally came!

Review: Outpost by Ann Aguirre

 Salvation isn't as safe 
as  it seems...

Deuce’s whole world has changed. Down below, she was considered an adult. Now, topside in a town called Salvation, she’s a brat in need of training in the eyes of the townsfolk. She doesn’t fit in with the other girls: Deuce only knows how to fight.

To make matters worse, her Hunter partner, Fade, keeps Deuce at a distance. Her feelings for Fade haven’t changed, but he seems not to want her around anymore. Confused and lonely, she starts looking for a way out.

Deuce signs up to serve in the summer patrols—those who make sure the planters can work the fields without danger. It should be routine, but things have been changing on the surface, just as they did below ground. The Freaks have grown smarter. They’re watching. Waiting. Planning. The monsters don’t intend to let Salvation survive, and it may take a girl like Deuce to turn back the tide.
(Goodreads.com)
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Review
This is another exciting book in the Razorland series. Each one has taken place in a totally different world. The first book took place under ground in the tunnels. Most of the people never saw daylight. Now Deuce and her friends are above ground in the town of Salvation. A safe and comfortable place that embraces the old ways of the early pioneers. This is a lifestyle that is totally foreign to her but she is trying hard to fit in and do her share. It's an interesting contradiction that Deuce is considered an adult by the standards of her old life but a child in her new home. She does prove how strong and mature she is but still seeks the comfort and approval of parents, something she's never had. While many people are having a hard time accepting the new people and their differences there are some who are wise enough to realize their value. When it becomes apparent that their town in in danger, Deuce's special skills become very important to their survival.

The details are brutal and graphic but that is what has become of the world. Life is harsh and no one is truly safe. The characters are odd but interesting with definite heroes and villains and some are very unlikable (to say the least).  They are trying to, not only survive, but thrive in their community by developing relationships and rules to live by. I really liked Deuce's strength and resilience as the female lead. Other characters are also developing into stronger individuals. I've been very curious about everyone's backgrounds and the reader slowly get bits and pieces to fill in the gaps. The author writes so well and she has pulled me into the story. She has gradually built this world but there is still so much more to be revealed, so many unanswered questions. Outpost ends with another good cliff hanger and the Freaks are changing. I can't wait to read the final book in this trilogy!

*The Author's Notes at the end of the book offered interesting tidbits about how the idea for the town of Salvation came about.  
Horde (book #3 coming soon!)

Thank you to Macmillan for an arc to review.

Author
Publisher

Release date: 9/4/12
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 336 (hardcover)
Type: YA fiction, post apocalyptic

I want one too!

I saw the link for this on PW ShelfTalker (11/27/12). Isn't it fantastic?? Hal Taylor is the designer who created it after his third child was born. He had run out of  lap space at story time. So clever!

Award winning Story Time Rocking Chair

Hal Taylor demonstrates the chair

Birthday boy!

It's hard to believe that a whole year has passed since this special little guy, our first grandson, came into our lives! He has brought joy beyond measure. Happy birthday, Lukey!

First photo (11/20/11)

Most recent photo at doctor appointment

First car!

First birthday cupcake!

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday (started at The Printed Page and now a traveling meme) is at BermudaOnion's Weblog this month and 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.

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Busy, busy, busy! But not really getting much accomplished... You how this time of year gets - from Halloween on it's a flurry of birthdays and holidays. Last week we had our grandson's first birthday. I thought the time went fast with my own kids but I think it's going even faster now! Then we hosted a family Thanksgiving dinner at our house and hubby cooked a delicious meal. I was in charge of clean up and I'm still doing dishes. I even got in some Black Friday shopping with a friend - from my comfy couch on the computer. I hope you had a very happy Thanksgiving week and are finding lots of bargains too.

Now I'm trying to catch up on a few things while the house is quiet. I've got great books to read, reviews to post and a giveaway or two coming up. These are some of the books that arrived over the last few weeks. It's quite an interesting mix! What books found their way to your house?

Audrey's Door by Sarah Langan
Free from Kobo (ebook)

The Giver by Lois Lowry
Free Quickie Bundle from Amazon (ebook)

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Free Quickie Bundle from Amazon (ebook)

Murder Passes the Buck by Deb Baker
Free from B&N (ebook)

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
Won from Fishmuffins of Doom (arc)

The Covenant by Beverly Lewis
Free from B&N (ebook)

Jinx by Sage Blackwood
For review from Harpercollins (arc)

My Robots by Johan Olander
For review from author (hardcover)

Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride
Free from B&N (ebook)

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!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In the Urwald you grow up fast or not at all. By the time Jinx was six he had learned to live quietly and carefully, squeezed into the spaces left by other people even though the hut he lived in with his stepparents actually belonged to him. He had inherited it after his father died of werewolves and his mother was carried off by elves.
 ~page 1(arc)
Jinx by Sage Blackwood

Thank You To Our Veterans

 

This is a little late but I still wanted to express my extreme gratitude to all who have served our country. Thank you, to you and your families, for protecting us and sacrificing so much of yourselves. Words are not enough.

Happy Veteran's Day!

Winners!

Congratulations to:

Beth Clark

Stacy Bush Putman

Tina Hall

You have all won an ebook of Haole Wood by Dee DeTarsio!

I have  sent you emails so please respond with your format choice.

Saturday Snapshot

 Saturday Snapshot is hosted by At Home with Books. To participate in this meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.
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Halloween was a strange holiday this year. Because of Superstorm Sandy, trick-or-treating in our town was moved to the weekend as a precaution. In the meantime my grandkids visited my grandmother at her assisted living facility and got a ton of candy and oohs and ahhs over how cute they looked. (They love going there and know how to work the crowds already! Grandma likes showing them off too.) There was also a party at Kmart for the kids and my granddaughter got to take her costume to preschool. It was a whole week of Halloween that kept dribbling on. Since they had so many occasions to dress up they wore different costumes. My daughter-in-law is a clever girl who saves old costumes and picks up new ones at terrific sales. They will always have plenty of supplies for playing dress up!

Woody (Toy Story) & Ariel (Little Mermaid) trick-or-treating with their great-great-grandma

Little skeletons trick-or-treating with cousins

Checking out the candy stash. I love how the clothes went flying off first thing!

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!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 My name is Charlotte Davidson. Charley to some, Charlotte the Harlot to others, but that was mostly in middle school. I came with a decent set of curves, a healthy respect for the male anatomy, and a slightly disturbing addiction to brown edibles. Other than that - and the fact that I'd also been born the grim reaper - I was about as normal as a surly girl with a private investigator's license could be.
~page 1& 2  
Third Grave Dead Ahead (Charley Davidson #3) by Darynda Jones (hardcover)

Election Day!

I don't consider myself a political person by any means but I do care about, appreciate and love my country more all the time. When I was younger I never experienced a war or depression like my parents and grandparents had. I didn't pay much attention to government and politics and I didn't always vote. I was blissfully ignorant and didn't really realize just how lucky I was. After September 11, 2001, that changed dramatically. I had young children and remembered the fear that morning, wondering what was happening in my state and country. I felt scared and helpless. I didn't even know if I should go get my kids from school. I was glued to my TV and telephone. I was shocked that an attack like that could happen here.

Since that time I've learned a lot. I still don't care for politics or discuss them much but I do try to pay attention so I can (try to) understand the issues and make (better) informed decisions. My three sons are still young but this year are all old enough to vote. I've stayed neutral and just encouraged them to go vote but I'm afraid only one of them will. They are all employed, hard working young men but they are frustrated like so many people. I've always been a "glass is half full" kind of girl so I reminded them to count their many blessings and make a difference. Don't bitch about it if you're not going to do something about it.

Whatever happens today, I hope our country can come together, choose a good and effective leader, and work to improve our future. It takes time, focus, hard work, cooperation, compassion and sacrifice, but I know we can. I know we will. We do it all the time. I have children and grandchildren and I want them to have a chance to be blissful like I was, but not as ignorant.

And hallelujah, no more political ads! At least for a few weeks - until it's time to start campaigning for the next election. Ugh.

Contest reminder!

Just a reminder that my ebook giveaway for Haole Wood by Dee DeTarsio ends tonight, 11/4!

Happy Halloween!

Winners!

Sorry for the delay in announcing the winners. Congratulations to:

Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
Fiery Na
Beth Clark

You have each won a copy of Perfect is Overrated by Karen Bergreen!

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Lenore Keough Webb

You have won a copy of The Elves and the Shoemaker by Deanna McFadden!

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I have sent you emails so please respond with your mailing address.
*Look for more giveaways on sidebar!* 

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday (started at The Printed Page and now a traveling meme) is back at Mailbox Monday this month and 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.

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I got quite a variety of books in the last two weeks. I've cut back on the free ebooks but I still have to snag a few now and then. Especially the creepy ones for Halloween! I hope you got some goodies too and stay safe from Hurricane Sandy!

Haole Wood by Dee DeTarsio
For review and giveaway from author

The Next Always by Nora Roberts
Free from Audible.com (audio)

Vamped by Lucienne Diver
Free from B&N (ebook)

Alice In Zombieland by Nickolas Cook, Lewis Carroll
Free from B&N (ebook)

Gone With the Wind by Rodney Evans
Free from B&N (ebook)

Storms and stuff

It was a busy week of just "stuff" - doctor appointment, babysitting the grandkids, working on Halloween costumes (we made a Raggedy Anne wig), and being annoyed by a head cold that we are all sharing. We also had two days of gorgeous weather with temperatures near 80 but I feel like I wasted them. I should have been outside every second that was possible, enjoying the weather and putting away lawn furniture but I wasn't. I got a few things done but not enough.

Now we have this nasty storm heading for the east coast. We know how to handle blizzards but we don't experience much hurricane weather in western NY state. We are trying to stock up on supplies and prepare just in case we lose power for a while. Hopefully it won't be too bad and we can celebrate Halloween with lots of trick or treating. For those of you in harm's way, stay safe and take care. I'll be saying my prayers this week that Sandy fizzles out in the ocean and leaves us all alone!

My granddaughter picked out tiny pumpkins and arranged them together on the porch

My poor grandson was "forced" to try on a Halloween wig!