Welcome to A Circle of Books.

Please visit Toni/CoolpinkOne (ME!!) at my new blog:

WWW.THE SOAPYVIOLINIST.BLOGSPOT.COM

Hello and welcome to my book blog. This blog is dedicated to books everywhere and the people who write and read them. Thank you for stopping by.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

New Book - Mother of the Believers, by Kamran Pasha

New Book

Mother of the Believers, by Kamran Pasha


Here is an excerpt for you to enjoy.

Mecca -- AD 613
by Kamran Pasha,
Author of Mother of the Believers: A Novel of the Birth of Islam

I was born in blood, and its terrible taint would follow me all my life.

My mother, Umm Ruman, cried out in agony as the contractions increased in severity. The midwife, a stout woman from the tribe of Bani Nawfal named Amal, leaned closer to examine the pregnant woman's abdomen. And then she saw it. The line of blood that was running down her patient's thigh.

Amal looked over to the young girl standing nervously to the side of the wooden birthing chair where her stepmother was struggling to bring forth life.

"Asma," she said in a soft voice, trying to mask the fear that was growing in her chest. "Get your father."

Your mother, Abdallah, was no more than ten years old at the time, and she paled at Amal's words. Asma knew what they meant. So did Umm Ruman.

"I am dying," Umm Ruman gasped, her teeth grinding against the pain. She had known something was wrong the moment her water broke. It had been dark and mottled with blood, and the subsequent horror of the contractions was far beyond anything she had experienced at the birth of her son, Abdal Kaaba, so many years before.

At the age of thirty-eight, she had known that she was too old to bear another child safely and had greeted the news of her pregnancy with trepidation. In the Days of Ignorance before the Revelation, perhaps she would have turned to Amal or the other midwives of Mecca for their secret draft that was said to poison the womb. But the Messenger of God had made it clear to his small band of followers that the life of a child was sacred, despite the many pagan Arab customs to the contrary. She had sworn an oath of allegiance to his hand, and she would not go against his teachings, even if they meant her demise. Unlike most of her neighbors and friends still clinging to the old ways, Umm Ruman no longer feared death. But she grieved to think that her child, the first to be born into the new faith of Islam, might not survive to see the sunrise.

Amal took her hand and squeezed it gently.

"Do not despair. We will get through this together." Her voice was kind, but Umm Ruman could see in the stern lines around her mouth that Amal had reached her professional conclusion. The end was nigh for mother and child.

Umm Ruman managed to turn her head to her stepdaughter, Asma, who stood frozen at her side, tears welling in her dark eyes.

"Go. Bring Abu Bakr to me," she said, her voice growing faint. She stroked the girl's still plump cheeks. "If I die before you return, tell him my last request was that the Prophet pray at my funeral."

Asma shook her head, refusing to face that possibility. "You can't die! I won't let you!"

The girl was not of Umm Ruman's flesh, but the bond between them was as strong as that of any mother and daughter. Perhaps stronger, for Asma had chosen her over her actual mother, Qutaila, who had refused to accept the new faith. Abu Bakr had divorced his first wife, for it was forbidden for a believer to share a bed with an idol worshiper. The proud Qutaila had left their home in a furious rage, vowing to return to her tribe, but Asma had refused to go with her. The girl had chosen the Straight Path, the way of the Messenger and her father, Abu Bakr. That had been three years ago, and Asma had not seen her mother since. Umm Ruman had felt sorry for the abandoned child, still too young to understand the enormity of her choice, and had raised the girl as her own.

She wondered what would happen to Asma once she was gone. Abu Bakr would likely look for a new wife, but there were only a handful of believers, and the Message was spreading slowly because of the need for secrecy. If the pagan leaders of Mecca learned the truth of what the Prophet was teaching, their wrath would be kindled, and the tiny community the believers had founded in the shadows would be exposed and destroyed. In all likelihood, Asma would be alone, without any foster mother to guide her through the journey of womanhood. The girl was past due for her cycles, which usually began at the age off ten or eleven for those born under the harsh Arabian sun. The menstrual flow would erupt any day now, but Umm Ruman would not be there to comfort her through the shock of first blood.

She ran her hand through Asma's brown curls, hoping to bequeath a soft memory with her touch that would comfort the child in the days to come. And then a shock of pain tore through Umm Ruman's womb and she screamed.

Asma broke free of her stepmother's grasp. She fell back, stumbling over one of the bricks that the midwife had placed at Umm Ruman's swollen feet. As Amal searched desperately through her midwife's stores for a salve to ease her patient's agony, the girl turned and ran in search of her father.

Umm Ruman closed her eyes and said silent prayer even as her body burned from within.

As her uterus contracted with increasing urgency, she could feel the baby shifting, preparing to emerge into the world. A process that in all likelihood would lead to her death, and possibly the baby's as well.

It was the beginning of the end, she thought sadly.

Umm Ruman was right. But in ways she could not have expected.

The above is an excerpt from the book Mother of the Believers: A Novel of the Birth of Islam by Kamran Pasha. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

Copyright © 2009 Kamran Pasha, author of Mother of the Believers: A Novel of the Birth of Islam

Author Bio
Kamran Pasha, author of Mother of the Believers: A Novel of the Birth of Islam, is an acclaimed Hollywood screenwriter and television producer. Born in Pakistan, he came to the United States at the age of three, growing up in Brooklyn, New York.

Learn more about Mother of the Believers: A Novel of the Birth of Islam at www.kamranpasha.com


Tuesday, April 28, 2009

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming -Giveaway!



Valerie from Hachette Books is offering 5 copies of this book. ( I personally can not wait to read this one).

Winners to be announced on 5/8/2009 (So you can leave comments up until midnight on 5/7)

To Enter

1. Leave a Comment on this post for one entry. (I need a way to contact you if you win, please leave your email).
2. Add to your side bar, twitter, or blog about the contest for five entries.

Rules:
No P.O. Boxes
US and Canada Only.

Check out the authors website

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Follow Me, By Joanna Scott - Blog Tour - April 27th, 2009


Follow Me, By Joanna Scott
Category: FICTION
Format: HARDCOVER BOOK
Publish Date :4/22/2009
Price: $24.99/$27.99
ISBN :9780316051651
Pages: 432
Size: 6" x 9-1/4"


I'd like to introduce Follow Me by Joanna Scott.

Thank you Miriam from Hachette for my review copy and Hosting this tour.


Book Description:
On a summer day in 1946 Sally Werner, the precocious young daughter of hardscrabble Pennsylvania farmers, secretly accepts her cousin's invitation to ride his new motorcycle. Like so much of what follows in Sally's life, it's an impulsive decision with dramatic and far-reaching consequences. Soon she abandons her home to begin a daring journey of self-creation, the truth of which she entrusts only with her granddaughter and namesake, six decades later. But when young Sally's father--a man she has never known--enters her life and offers another story altogether, she must uncover the truth of her grandmother's secret history.

Boldly rendered and beautifully told, in FOLLOW ME Joanna Scott has crafted a paean to the American tradition of re-invention and a sweeping saga of timeless and tender storytelling.


About the Author:
Joanna Scott is the author of nine books, including The Manikin, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Various Antidotes and Arrogance, which were both finalists for the PEN/Faulkner Award; and the critically acclaimed Make Believe, Tourmaline, and Liberation. A recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Lannan Award, she lives with her family in upstate New York.

My Review: Coming soon!!! I confess to being only 175 pages into the book. I will be featuring my full review later this week. So I will say so far into the book I am enjoying the story and the writing is very captivating at times. I am on the fence as to what is going to happen in the story and whether as of yet I can sympathize and relate to Sally. I am so eager to hear what others are saying. And one thing I can say for sure is that I know I will finish this book because I have to know where it is going and what is going to happen. That is a good thing right?

Click here to see all the blog tour participants. Visit a few each day and see what everyone is talking about!

Here are a few quick links to other Blog Tours and reviews. Enjoy!

http://bermudaonion.wordpress.com/

http://luanne-abookwormsworld.blogspot.com/

http://dreyslibrary.blogspot.com/

http://jennsbookshelf.blogspot.com/

http://peekingbetweenthepages.blogspot.com/

http://www.skrishnasbooks.com/

http://literarymenagerie.blogspot.com/

http://diaryofaneccentric.blogspot.com/

http://grumpydan.blogspot.com/

Saturday, April 25, 2009

More on the Super Cheap and Easy Pizza

More on the Super Cheap and Easy Pizza...


Okay so Kaye from Pudgy Penguin Perusals recommended Martha White's crust and I just had to give it a shot. The first pizza really was so so... Maybe on the level of frozen pizza tasting. So I tried the Martha White's Mix. Oh since I was at Wal-Mart today I can give the correct prices.
Crust # 1 (Wal- Mart Brand ) is .44 cents. Crust #2 is (Martha White's Brand ) .78 cents.

So pretty much the same thing. 1/2 cup HOT water. 30 strokes instead of 20 , make a ball and THIS recipe has you brush the ball with 1 tsp oil.

So then you cover and let sit for 5 minutes.

Press into the pan. (again I used floured hands).

THIS time you poke the crust and bake for 5 minutes before topping. Then you add the toppings and bake 9-11 minutes. I did 8 minutes.

I shouldn't have been typing this post. I think that 7 minutes would have been better. I must have a HOT oven. So it is on the crispy side. Next time I am not cooking it on the bottom rack. And I am not typing the post while it cooks. (The boys are in test tasting it now).

True to my word I used more sauce and less cheese. Yep.. this crust is better.... Not to mention that it is about 1 and 1/4 inch wider all the way around. I am wondering if it is good enough to try some fancier pizza's. Maybe BBQ chicken pizza or some other California Pizza Kitchen knock offs.

Stay Tuned. I have a urging to come up with a TRES fabulous home cooked pizza. I couldn't find my old Pizza Stone. Might have to look for another one. I hear the Pampered Chef ones are wonderful.

Hum... lots to think about in this economy.. still not as good as take out... but about 15 bucks less. Multiply that by four Friday Pizza Nights and that is a whole lot of book money!

Here are the latest Super Cheap and Easy Pizza photos. (PLEASE Excuse the dirty oven... I use it a lot.. still no excuses right.. It is self cleaning... )

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Super Cheap and Easy Pizza

Super Cheap and Easy Pizza

I am home sick with a pretty bad cold. But hey! I am hungry and I am not so sick that
I can't watch a movie. (Thank you Red Box) But definitely not up to pressing garlic, mashing tomatoes. So I made a really Cheap Pizza.

A while ago I bought this packet of mix from Wal-Mart. Cheap.. 49 cent.. maybe .79? Anyway..
I thought I'd give it a shot.

You add 1/2 cup HOT water, mush it up for about 20 strokes, cover and let sit for 5 minutes.

Grease the pan. Press the dough with your hands right on the pan. I used heavily floured hands.

I added Pizza quick sauce, bagged mozzarella, and turkey pepperoni, grated Parmesan cheese, and some mixed Italian seasoning.

Now... I like homemade sauce with fresh garlic and oregano, and I usually always grate my own cheese, and fresh grated Parmesan is much better.. I know all these things... but that is a different pizza on a different day. My stuffy head really might not even appreciate a real pizza pie today.

We have a lot of french bread pizza.. I had the sauce but it is really only about 99 cents at the store..... Super Cheap and Easy Pizza requires inexpensive sauce.

The clean up... no problem...

12-17 minutes in the oven. 450... (bottom rack)

So my result was 13 minutes in 450. I think that 12 minutes would have been better... this one is a bit over done..... I could seriously attempt again.. as it only takes about 10 minutes to make.. but there is no one here to eat it.


**** added WW info.
The crust for 1/4 of a pizza is 3 WW points.
The cheese per 1/4 cup is 4 WW points.
The Pepperoni for 17 pieces is about 2 pts.


Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Summer fun in April.....All about Dex!

Dexter has some summer fun.
I have been wanting to try a video for a while... excuse my scratching weird voice... I am home sick with a cold / allergy something... So here is Dexter playing outside... oh excuse the unkept over run, need to be weeded, chopped, mowed back yard....

I have been twittering from bed, reading and drinking tea today. I want to read reviews and posts with a more clear head so I will be catching up and stopping by your blogs soon. If I haven't visited your blog lately.... how about posting a link here... I love to see what everyone is reading and writing about.

Happy Wednesday!

Oh here is another few shots of Dex. I could write a list of many reasons I like Dex, but one of the reasons that I really love him... is that he is a part of the family. He is always interested in everything we do. Here is Dex checking out Elliott's new dinosaur, Spike. Dex is just one of the "guys" in my life. The other picture... Dex is hip on nap time.



Monday, April 20, 2009

An Article by Geraldine Brooks, Author of People of the Book

Faith
By Geraldine Brooks,
Author of People of the Book

"How come your novels always have vicars in them?"

The question came as part of the Q and A after a talk I'd given on my
second novel, March, whose protagonist is a minister with the Union
Army during the Civil War. My first novel, Year of Wonders, had
featured a clergyman leading a rural Derbyshire village through a year
of plague. My questioner had no way of knowing it, but the novel I was
just then finishing, People of the Book, also had a priest in it. And
a rabbi. And an imam. Sort of like the set up for a bad joke. I
hadn't consciously set out to write about religious people and yet
they kept popping up in my fiction like uninvited guests at a party. I
mumbled something about being attracted to stories of the past, when
religious leaders loomed so large in people's lives, shaping fates and
dictating behavior. But later I realized that answer was woefully
incomplete.

My life has been one big oscillation between the attractions and the
repulsions of faith. Raised Catholic in an old-fashioned, heady and
sensuous Baroque style (incense, Angelus bells, lace mantillas,
dripping wax and stained glass; the gleaming starburst of the
monstrance and the litanies of Mary that taught me metaphor -- Lily of
Valley, Mystic Rose, Star of the Sea) I had felt the disconnect very
early between what the prayers said and how the people around me
lived: "To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do
we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears"
was an odd sort of prayer for merry little schoolgirls growing up in
the sun-splashed, hedonistic paradise that was Sydney in the early
1970s. By the time I was a teenager I'd decided it was all a
patriarchal plot to suppress women and thwart positive social change,
buying people off with fairy tales about rewards in the next world
instead of a decent life in this one. And I hated the way religion so
often isolated people into little gnarly knots of Us and Them.

I was an atheist. So why did I pray? Whenever I heard and ambulance
siren, the little thought balloon would go up: "Please help them."
There was no recipient for this message, I knew that. Nor the other
kind: "Thank you for this" -- sunshine, seascape, flower, glass of
good wine, loaf of bread.

In 1984 I married a Jew and converted to his faith, not that he
actually had one, being an even more strident atheist than I was.
Most people were baffled by my decision: "You don't believe in God,
why would you do that?" God, I explained, had nothing to do with
it. It was all about history. Since Judaism is passed through the
maternal line (a fact I admired for its hard headed pragmatism as well
as its feminist implications) there was no way I was going to become
the end of a line of tradition that had made it through Roman
sackings, Babylonian exile, Spanish Inquisition, Russian pogrom and
Shoah. To have a child who would not be a Jew was, to me, the same
thing as adding one more loss to the toll of the Holocaust.

And I like the prayers: the mournful, sinuous melodies and the hard
plosive consonants of Hebrew words that sounded like a desert wind
slapping against a goat hair tent. They're my kind of prayers,
mostly; little noticings of the good things in life, like the bread
and wine, the first crescent of new moon, the dew on the grass in the
morning. And I felt comfortable with the fact that in synagogue, what
you bow to is not a deity, but a book.

Salman Rushdie once observed that there's a God-shaped hole in modern
life. I fill it by prayers that go wafting off to no fixed address,
and by writing novels about people who believe in a way that remains
mysterious, elusive and fascinating to me.


©2008 Geraldine Brooks

Author Bio

Geraldine Brooks is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March and
Year of Wonders and the nonfiction works Nine Parts of Desire and
Foreign Correspondence. Previously. Brooks was a correspondent for The
Wall Street Journal in Bosnia, Somalia, and the Middle East. Born and
raised in Australia, she lives on Martha's Vineyard with her husband
Tony Horwitz, their son Nathaniel, and three dogs. www.geraldinebrooks.com

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Mailbox Monday

Hosted by Marcia at the Printed Page.


The week before last:

Follow Me, By Joanna Scott (Hachette)
Admission, by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Hachette)

Last week:

Royal Blood by Rona Sharon (FSB Associates)
Mother of the Believers, Kamran Pasha (FSB Associates)
A Worthy Legacy, Tomi Akinyanmi (author) (I have a feeling this is a really special book - Blog Tour in July)
How I got to Be Whoever It Is I Am, Charles Grodin ( Marcia at the printed page - THANK YOU)

Everyone have a good week. Those that did the readathon....well I bet this is a long Monday for you. Sorry no pics of my books this week. (Better to post without than to miss a week again).

I look forward to the Follow Me Blog Tour April 27th.

I have to say between Tax Week, Easter, Work, and my Grandson's 3rd birthday, I was unable to keep up with a lot of commenting, posting, reading and even knitting which is my safe haven. Here's looking to a more reasonable schedule, with more time for books!

Cheers!

Update.. I actually finished a book and wrote a review today. It felt good. I hope this ends my plateau / funk /or whatever.

People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks

Add Image
To start I would like to say that this book review is made possible by Julie from FSB Associates. Thank you Julie for the review copy and support to review the book.

My Review:
The book is fantastic. For some reason I am having trouble writing a review for it. I think it is because the book is so well written and so well researched that I think any review is just going to pale in comparison. So I won't try to get fancy. I simply love this book because it is about a book and the passion of the people who risk their lives to save it.

Hannah is a rare book expert and she is in charge of conserving and analyzing the Sarajevo Haggadah. It is a manuscript that has been saved from the 1400's. The book opens as she arrives heavily guarded and escorted to "meet" the famed book and then she begins her examinations of the book. For me this was extremely interesting. She takes a hair, an insect wing and a stain from the book to be evaluated and for the rest of the book she is analyzing and discovering data which reveals some of the possible history of the book. (I might suggest this is not before bed reading, but I am in no way saying it is boring).

The book goes from 1996 to the past, 1800, 1600's, and the 1400's. There is never any confusion as each section is beautiful labeled and quoted. I know sometimes readers don't like to switch back and forth, but I don't think this will bother anyone. These sections are beautiful and even heart wrenching.

There is powerful History of the book being described to us. Powerful segments. I found myself wanting more of these sections as I bonded with the characters and wanted to know more.

The book has a thickness to it... meaning it has heavy parts. Religious oppression, anti-Semitism, slavery, and rape. The book travels through centuries with rich Jewish, Catholic, Christian, and Muslim heritage and cultural depictions. I read the book in sections for weeks. Just a little at a time but I plowed through almost 200 pages in one day and I would just put the book in my lap for a few minutes and think about it. I am pretty sure I will pause over the next few weeks and think more about it.

There are mini themes in the book such as a mother-daughter / family issue. Hannah is not without a man issue in her life either, so there is plenty of story to go with the fascinating story of the book. I did not find it distracting from the main theme. I enjoyed it and found it necessary to break up some of the realities of the history of mankind.

I haven't read a lot of reviews on it for I wanted to form my own thoughts. But I think I did hear mention that it might remind someone oftThe DaVinci Code and I have to say that I would agree, but the writing is so much more intelligent. And I don't mean to say that I didn't ADORE AND LOVE The DaVinci Code because I loved that book.

To hear more of the book and please visit the Authors website here. There are a lot of cool tools and stuff to read there.

Readers guide and map

A conversation with Geraldine about People of the Book

Read B&N editor-in-chief's interview with Geraldine Brooks

Geraldine's essay detailing the WWar II history of the Sarajevo Haggadah, “The Book of Exodus: A double rescue in wartime Sarajevo”, appeared in the New Yorker Dec 3, 2007

Download a printer friendly version of the readers guide

Schedule for signings and presentations

Hear Geraldine read an except from her book on NPR

ISBN-10:
067001821X
ISBN-13:
978-0670018215

Friday, April 17, 2009

I Got Spammed!!!

My blog had a bunch of comments from some Ed guy... I guess it got spammed. It takes time to remove all of these stupid posts. I enabled the word verification until I can figure out what to do... I hope this doesn't deter anyone from commenting.

What a pain. Can you tell I am bummed?

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Testimony - Anita Shreve - Hachette Giveaway!


Hachette Book Giveaway - Five Copies - Enter Today!!!
NOTE: Giveaway is going to be on May 7th!! Sorry for any confusion. (That is what I get for trying to stay on top of things on my day off. I got a little post happy!!) ENJOY EVERYONE.


BOOK INFORMATION: Testimony By Anita Shreve


At a New England boarding school, a sex scandal is about to break. Even more shocking than the sexual acts themselves is the fact that they were caught on videotape. A Pandora's box of revelations, the tape triggers a chorus of voices--those of the men, women, teenagers, and parents involved in the scandal--that details the ways in which lives can be derailed or destroyed in one foolish moment.

Writing with a pace and intensity surpassing even her own greatest work, Anita Shreve delivers in TESTIMONY a gripping emotional drama with the impact of a thriller. No one more compellingly explores the dark impulses that sway the lives of seeming innocents, the needs and fears that drive ordinary men and women into intolerable dilemmas, and the ways in which our best intentions can lead to our worst transgressions.

Thanks to Valerie at Hachette. A Circle of Books is giving away 5 copies of this awesome book. I have heard great things about this one and can't wait to review it with the lucky winners.

Rules:
Leave a comment on this blog to get one random entry.
Blog about this giveaway and get five random entries.
USA and CANADA Only. Will not ship to P.O. Boxes.


Winners will be announced 5/7/2009 ( so I need comments by 5/6/2009 at midnight) - Random Drawing.

Good Luck Everyone!

Winners - How Not To Look Old


How Not to Look Old, By Charla Krupp:

Janel - Check out her blog Here. Congrats!
Desert Rose- Check out her blog Here. Congrats!
Beckie -Congrats!
Alyce - Check out her blog Here. Congrats!
Diana D - Congrats!

Congrats to the winners!!

Thank you Anna from Hachette for the awesome giveaway.

I will be sending out emails.. but you can beat me to the punch if you read this before I email. Feel free to email me your snail mail address. Take care. I look forward to reading this one also.

The Winners - Girls in Trucks, Katie Crouch


And the winners are:

Ti - Check out her blog here.
Felicia - (goes to show you that sometimes it just takes one entry)
Lucy (makeup girl21) - (goes to show you that sometimes it just takes one entry)
Serena- Check out her blog here.
Annie (the blogless one :) - (goes to show you that sometimes it just takes one entry)

Thank you Valerie at Hachette for this awesome giveaway!

I really enjoy getting to know everyone through your comments and from entering the contests. Keep em' coming. I will be emailing y'all soon for your snail mail.. but if you read this first feel free to send your info in advance.

I can't wait to sink my teeth into this book!! Thank you Valerie for my own review copy.


Book Description:
Sarah Walters, the narrator of GIRLS IN TRUCKS, is a reluctant Camellia Society debutante. She has always felt ill-fitted to the rococo ways of Southern womanhood and family, and is anxious to shake the bonds of her youth. Still, she follows the traditional path laid out for her. This is Charleston, and in this beautiful, dark, segregated town, established rules and manners mean everything.

But as Sarah grows older, she finds that her Camellia lessons fail her, particularly as she goes to college, moves North, and navigates love and life in New York. There, Sarah and her group of displaced deb sisters try to define themselves within the realities of modern life. Heartbreak, addiction, disappointing jobs and death fail to live up to the hazy, happy future promised to them by their Camellia mothers and sisters.

When some unexpected bumps in the road--an unplanned birth, a family death--lead Sarah back home, she's forced to take another long look at the fading empire of her youth. It takes a strange turn of events to finally ground Sarah enough to make some serious choices. And only then does she realize that as much as she tried to deny it, where she comes from will always affect where she ends up. The motto of her girlhood cotillion society, "Once a Camellia, always a Camellia," may turn out to have more wisdom and pull to it than she ever could have guessed.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Winner Kitty Norville Series!


This is for the entire set of books in the Kitty Norville series!

Thank you to Miriam from Hachette for the books for this awesome giveaway.

Kitty and the Midnight Hour
Kitty Goes to Washington
Kitty Takes a Holiday
Kitty and the Silver Bullet
Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand
Kitty Raises Hell

and the winner is MonieG!!!!!!!


Monday, April 13, 2009

The Monday After

Good Morning everyone!

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend. I was very busy and so I am a bit behind. (shock shock.. ha!) I will be announcing the Kitty Books winner tonight or tomorrow. Please forgive the delay.

I did get a couple books that I want to feature on Mailbox Monday also.

I am still reading Geraldine Brooks, People of the Book, however I haven't picked up a book for two days.. bummer... I feel out of sorts and out of touch.

I look forward to catching up on posts.. awards... and all the good book stuff soon.

Goals this week:
Finish and Post a review for People of the Book.
Start, read, and post a Review for The Triumph of Deborah.
Catch up on all the news in blog land.

PS. If you have a post or feature that you want me to read or catch my attention.... feel free to post a link here so I can check it out!!!!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Giveawy - How Not to Look Old, Charla Krupp


Hi there folks!
Time for another Giveaway.
How about something a little different. I say "I can use all the tips I can get!"

I have five copies to offer thank you to Anna at Hachette.

Rules:
US and Canada Only
No P.O. Boxes

Leave a comment here to get entered in a random drawing on April 15th, 2009.
Good Luck Everyone!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Mailbox Monday - April 6th 2009

Hosted by Marcia at the Printed Page.


This week in my mailbox I got:

Drood, Dan Simmons Audio from Anna at Hachette Books



And

Girls in Trucks, Katie Crouch from Valerie at Hachette Books.



At the Library I got:
The Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Stein (audio - playaway)
The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, Ann Budd
Dog Training for Dummies
Cesar's Way, Cesar Millan

Happy Week to Everyone.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Reminiscing - 100th post

Reminiscing - 100th post.

Yay. It is the 100th Post for A Circle of Books. I thought about what to write and I was going to write and link about all the people and blogs that I have met since I started A Circle of Books, but I got a headache and mostly it was fear of leaving someone out. Like those awards that are so hard to bestow upon others.

I did take the time to mull over what I like best about blogging. I love linking up on blog tours. I love getting books to preview and review. I love blog hopping to see what everyone is saying about the next book, author, event. I love to get on twitter and watch all the book talk and get that little bit of personal insight into so many blog authors.

I wanted to take time now to direct my focus on reviews. Ideally for me I would like to review minimum four books a month. Ideally eight. I would like to have 2 giveaways each month and I would like to have super fun ones around blog tour time. Like the Paddy giveaway. I can't describe the amount of fun it was to craft him knowing that he was going to travel to a book friend.

I wanted to take time to note some of my favorite reads since I started the blog.

Most recently Galway Bay touched my heart. I will not forget about the struggles of the family and I haven't looked at a potato the same since.

Drood had a big impact on me. It was mesmerizing. I always have a connection to the books that I read with my son also.

The Twilight Series was awesome for me. Me, at 43 reading a vampire love saga.. Who knew? I still have the final book to read and I can not wait!

Anyway.. I just wanted to reminisce a little and make note of 100 posts.

I have a giveaway to post tomorrow. I was supposed to post already but wanted to say something on my 100th post..besides just a giveaway post.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Drood, Dan Simmons Audio - Hachette Giveaway - WINNERS!!!

Thank you Anna from Hachette Books for another awesome giveaway.
The winners of Drood on Audio CD's are:

Dar - Peeking Between the Pages
Jo-Jo - Jo Jo Loves to Read
Jess - Barney's Book Blog

Congrats and Thank you everyone for the tweets, comments, and support.
If you want to email me your Mailing addresses I can email it to Hachette ASAP. Otherwise I will email you all tomorrow.

I am so Looking forward to reviewing this audio.... I can't get enough of Drood.