Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, totally worn out and screaming,
"WOO HOO, what a ride!"

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

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!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I did my teaser a bit differently this week but these were too fun not to share!
 "In 1997, I picked up a discarded grocery list at a St. Louis supermarket. I found it to be a fascinating glimpse into a stranger’s life and decided to pick them up whenever I found one. In 2000, I posted my collection of about 40 lists to the web. By 2004 I had about 500. In early 2006 I started working on a book about these lost lists and by the time it was published in May 2007, there were 1,600 lists on the site (with thousands more yet to be scanned and posted). Now there are more than 3,000.
The book features about 300 of the best: The funniest, the weirdest, the saddest, the strangest, the unhealthiest and more. Simply put, it is a strange, fascinating and hilarious look at other peoples’ discarded grocery lists." ~Bill Keaggy
  Milk Eggs Vodka: Grocery Lists Lost And Found by Bill Keaggy
www.milkeggsvodka.com
www.grocerylists.org

Review: Shelter by Harlan Coben






Mickey Bolitar's year 
can't get much worse. 





 

After witnessing his father's death and sending his mom to rehab, he's forced to live with his estranged uncle Myron and switch high schools.
A new school comes with new friends and new enemies, and lucky for Mickey, it also comes with a great new girlfriend, Ashley. For a while, it seems like Mickey's train-wreck of a life is finally improving - until Ashley vanishes without a trace. Unwilling to let another person walk out of his life, Mickey follows Ashley's trail into a seedy underworld that reveals that this seemingly sweet, shy girl isn't who she claimed to be. And neither was Mickey's father. Soon, Mickey learns about a conspiracy so shocking that it makes high school drama seem like a luxury - and leaves him questioning everything about the life he thought he knew.
First introduced to readers in Harlan Coben's latest adult novel, Live Wire, Mickey Bolitar is as quick-witted and clever as his uncle Myron, and eager to go to any length to save the people he cares about. With this new series, Coben introduces an entirely new generation of fans to the masterful plotting and wry humor that have made him an award-winning, internationally bestselling, and beloved author.


Review
I'm a big fan of Harlan Coben's past novels. His books have so much action and suspense they are hard to put down. He is so good at throwing a curve ball in the story too and I always wonder when it's coming. This is his debut into young adult fiction and I was excited to read it. I have to say that I was kind of disappointed though. I thought it was age appropriate but I was expecting it to have the same intensity as Coben's adult novels.

This book was well written and had a good mystery. The characters were interesting at first but they didn't seem to develop much. Some of them had odd behavior too. I liked Mickey but he didn't act like a teenager. He was suppose to be a high school sophomore but he was too mature and too calm under pressure.

The story was interesting enough that I expect to try the next book in the series to see what happens. I am curious about the cliffhangers. If I don't care for that book than I think I will stick with Coben's other novels because I really like this author.

Thank you to LibraryThing Early Reviewers for an ARC to review.

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Release date: 9/6/11
Pages: 288
Price/format: $18.99 /hardcover
Type: thriller YA series

Monday, January 23, 2012

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday (started at The Printed Page and now a traveling meme) is at At Home With Books 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.

I'm still spending way too much time looking for ebooks but there are so many good deals that it's addicting! My 88 year-old great-aunt fell and broke her leg last week and had to have surgery (The same surgeon who operated on my son's broken leg 3 weeks earlier. We are providing way too much service for this doctor!) and has spent several days in the hospital. She has a lot of memory problems so we are staying close and spending many hours there. She is a tiny little thing but she's a fighter and is improving and so is my son. I thought I would get in lots of reading time at the hospital but that hasn't really happened. I hope you all had a terrific week, got lots of goodies and found plenty of reading time! And please be careful so you don't fall and break any bones yourself!!
Lost Days - free Amazon ebook
Hollowland - free Amazon ebook










Samantha Moon: Four Novels -99c/set B&N ebooks
Happy Hour Of The Damned - Paperback Swap
Full Dark, No Stars - 50c at library















Saturday, January 21, 2012

Beautiful!

Here is a very clever idea for DIY storybook paper roses from 100 Layer Cake.
I know it's painful to imagine doing that to a book but old sheet music and magazines are also options for making these flower petals. Just click on the link for easy to follow directions!



Tuesday, January 17, 2012

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!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Joanna explained to her daughters that living in a static house, one that never changed, was stifling and suffocating, and that changing your environment was even more important than changing your clothes. It was summer, hence the walls should be yellow.
~page 27
Witches Of East End by Melissa De La Cruz

Thursday, January 12, 2012

I would love to visit this bookstore!

                   Uploaded by on Jan 9, 2012
"After organizing our bookshelf almost a year ago (http://youtu.be/zhRT-PM7vpA), my wife and I (Sean Ohlenkamp) decided to take it to the next level. We spent many sleepless nights moving, stacking, and animating books at Type bookstore in Toronto (883 Queen Street West, (416) 366-8973)."

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Big Cozy Books furniture

I'm not affiliated with this site in any way, I just found it on line and wanted to share the photos. It looks like a wonderful idea!
Terrific seating!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who wouldn't love this wall art??


Monday, January 9, 2012

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday (started at The Printed Page and now a traveling meme) is at At Home With Books 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.

No books arrived in the mail last week but I did get more free ebooks for my Nook and way too many from the library. They are just so hard to resist!! I have some great books of my own that are sitting lonely on the shelf waiting patiently for me to read them. I really must stop taking advantage of them and spend some quality time together. I hope you had a great week at your house!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Book staircases!

I lost the link where I found this but doesn't it look like fun?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Stairs Bookshelves: What started as a space-saving strategy turned into a centerpiece of this interior redesign. The experience: complete book-overload as the London owners make their way to the loft bedroom above the main floor of their condo. Shot from virtually any perspective the result is remarkably attractive and a good reminder that a lack of space can be a great design opportunity."

(Other angles)
More clever book ideas here!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

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!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
It was bad, really bad and the longer it went on the more I wanted to beg her to stop, please stop, because my Gran would never scare me like this, would never leave me standing here in shock, lost, shaking and near tears without  opening her arms and holding me safe. This gaunt, twisted old lady with the messy hair and stone face, this silent woman hunched over in the wheelchair was a stranger, someone I didn't know, could never know...
~page 159
How It Ends by Laura Wiess 

Monday, January 2, 2012

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday (started at The Printed Page and now a traveling meme) is at At Home With Books 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.
I hope your holidays were very happy! I didn't get a single book but I didn't need any. (I didn't say I didn't want any though!) I've got plenty now plus the (small) pile from the library and all the free ebooks that keep teasing me. And now that the cold weather and snow have finally hit maybe I'll cozy up and get more of them read. I do need to take down the tree, put away the decorations and lots of other stuff but that's just not any fun. I hope you are enjoying your new goodies!


The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima
Won from Bites

Han Alister thought he had already lost everyone he loved. But when he finds his friend Rebecca Morley near death in the Spirit Mountains, Han knows that nothing matters more than saving her. The costs of his efforts are steep, but nothing can prepare him for what he soon discovers: the beautiful, mysterious girl he knew as Rebecca is none other than Raisa ana’Marianna, heir to the Queendom of the Fells. Han is hurt and betrayed. He knows he has no future with a blueblood. And, as far as he’s concerned, the princess’s family killed his own mother and sister. But if Han is to fulfill his end of an old bargain, he must do everything in his power to see Raisa crowned queen. Meanwhile, some people will stop at nothing to prevent Raisa from ascending. With each attempt on her life, she wonders how long it will be before her enemies succeed. Her heart tells her that the thief-turned-wizard Han Alister can be trusted. She wants to believe it—he’s saved her life more than once. But with danger coming at her from every direction, Raisa can only rely on her wits and her iron-hard will to survive—and even that might not be enough.The Gray Wolf Throne is an epic tale of fierce loyalty, unbearable sacrifice, and the heartless hand of fate. 


The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Story of Nonna Bannister by  Nonna Bannister (ebook)
Free from Barnes & Noble 

Nonna Bannister carried a secret almost to her Tennessee grave: the diaries she kept as a young girl experiencing the horrors of the Holocaust while learning compassion and love for her fellow human beings. Nonna's writings tell the remarkable tale of how a Russian girl, born into a family that had known wealth and privileges, was exposed to the concentration camps and learned the value of human life and the importance of forgiveness.


Hereafter by Tara Hudson (ebook)
Bought on sale from B&N

Can there truly be love after death?
Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead. With no recollection of her past life—or her actual death—she's trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.
Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.
Thrilling and evocative, with moments of pure pleasure, Hereafter is a sensation you won't want to miss.


Unearthly by Cynthia Hand (ebook) 
Bought on sale from B&N

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .
Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.
Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.
As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny? 
Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

 Succubus Blues from Richelle Mead (audio) 
Free from Audible.com 

Succubus (n.) An alluring, shape-shifting demon who seduces and pleasures mortal men. Pathetic (adj.) A succubus with great shoes and no social life. See: Georgina Kincaid.
When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants, the wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?
But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid's life is far less exotic. Her boss is a middle-management demon with a thing for John Cusack movies. Her immortal best friends haven't stopped teasing her about the time she shape-shifted into the Demon Goddess getup complete with whip and wings. And she can't have a decent date without sucking away part of the guy's life. At least there's her day job at a local bookstore--free books; all the white chocolate mochas she can drink; and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can't.
But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle's demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won't help because Georgina's about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny...