I am a certified bookaholic and am embracing my addiction. Here you will find my short book reviews and other wonderful information all about books. I will also share my love for animals and show you some of my knitting projects.
I have had a very hectic life lately. Between more hours at work, volunteering for the up-coming Vancouver International Film Festival, and seeing some of the pre-festival screenings for the media, I haven't had time for much else.
I have a backlog of posts to do here on my blog and hope to fit them in soon. However, not only is the film festival October 1-16th but we have just added a new addition to our family. A bouncing baby boy.
Meet D. J. His name is really Don Juan but we think that is a silly name for a Shetland Sheep Dog. He is 10 months old and shares my same birthday, November 9th.
The woman that had him originally bought him to breed but he has a problem with his mouth alignment which is hereditary. She place him in a home where he developed some issues so she had to take him back.
Bill and I had planned to find a dog after the film festival but D.J. needed a home now. He really is a good boy but just has a few things to deal with that Bill and I are better able to help him through with since we have experience with rescues.
The day we got him was a beautiful day for a drive, which was good since we had to drive 4 hours to Cache Creek, BC to get him. We stopped on our way home to take the photos below.
I want to apologise to all of you whose blogs I follow. My google reader has been showing 1000+ for days. I think I am going to have to clear them and start over with your new posts. There is no way I will ever be able to read what I am guessing is over 2000 posts.
After the film festival and the readers and writers festival, I will be visiting my mom in Minneapolis, MN November 7-14th. After that I hope to become a more regular commenter on your blogs again.
Elizabeth is daughter of Edward IV and niece to Richard III. When her father dies, it is her brother who is to take the crown. However, Richard III decides that the only one suitable to be King is himself. He sends both of Elizabeth's brothers to the tower to be held. Richard has his coronation and all of a sudden Elizabeth's brothers go missing and are presumed dead.
Many think that Richard III ordered their disposal . Now Elisabeth is the only living descendent to Edward IV and should be the rightful Queen. Elizabeth is horrified when Richard III proposes marriage to her. Not only is she convinced that he murdered her brothers but he is her uncle, after all!
There is much plotting and it is decided that she must marry Henry Tudor and that he must fight Richard III for the crown. The first attempt fails but eventually Richard III is killed and Henry Tudor becomes Henry VII. However, he doesn't hold up his end of the bargain to marry Elizabeth and give her a coronation to become queen of England. Eventually, due to public and private pressure he makes good and marries Elisabeth. However, he does not make her queen until after she has their first son.
The marriage itself, is loveless. Elizabeth has romantic notions that they would grow to love each other and have a passionate one. Henry doesn't seem to know what romance is and seems incapable of love. He couples with her only to produce heirs. Poor Elizabeth longs for more out of life.
This book was first published in 1953. Sourcebooks has re-published it and it is due out in the United States on October 1, 2009. I'm glad they did. Barnes has a way with words and I love some of her descriptions of the time and place. I must admit, that there are a few places that I would nod off to sleep while reading it. Some of the time that Elizabeth interacted with her mother seemed boring to me. It took me a good 50 pages to finally get drawn into the story.
That said, I am glad I stuck with it. I learned more about the period and really enjoyed it, once it got going. If you like historical fiction and are interested in this important period in English history, you will enjoy this book.
Davey is a smart kid and dreams big. He also has a gigantic head, much too big in proportion to his body. His head gets stuck in things quite often, including the school bus door. All the kids at his school make fun of him.
One night Davey has trouble falling asleep because he isn't accepted by the other kids. All of a sudden Davey gets an idea. The next day he asks the soccer coach at school to put him on the team. His big head will be an asset their.
Davey Bighead is the story of how one kid learned how to make his difference from other kids an asset. It is a cute story. I do however, wish the author would have some how worked it into the story about how kids need to learn how to accept each others differences. I think it's important to teach tolerance and I don't think that this book achieves this.
If you do decide to read this book with your children, please talk about acceptance of others with them.
Thanks to Valerie Russo of Hachette Book Group, I have up to 5 copies to give away.
Book Description:
President of the United States Donald Vanderdamp is having a hell of a time getting his nominees appointed to the Supreme Court. After one nominee is rejected for insufficiently appreciating To Kill A Mockingbird, the president chooses someone so beloved by voters that the Senate won't have the guts to reject her -- Judge Pepper Cartwright, the star of the nation's most popular reality show, Courtroom Six.
Will Pepper, a straight-talking Texan, survive a confirmation battle in the Senate? Will becoming one of the most powerful women in the world ruin her love life? And even if she can make it to the Supreme Court, how will she get along with her eight highly skeptical colleagues, including a floundering Chief Justice who, after legalizing gay marriage, learns that his wife has left him for another woman.
Soon, Pepper finds herself in the middle of a constitutional crisis, a presidential reelection campaign that the president is determined to lose, and oral arguments of a romantic nature. Supreme Courtship is another classic Christopher Buckley comedy about the Washington institutions most deserving of ridicule.
The number of entrants to this giveaway will determine how many copies of this book I will giveaway:
1-10 entrants= 1
11-20 entrants= 2
21-30 entrants= 3
31-40 entrants=4
41 or more entrants=5
Here are the rules:
1. For one entry, leave a comment on what your favorite book, movie, or play courtroom drama or comedy is. You must do this to be entered! Please be sure to include your email address (if it isn't available in your profile), so that I can contact you if you win. If I can't find your email either in the comments or your profile, you will be disqualified!
2. For two more entries, post about this giveaway on your blog and leave link to your blog post in the comments. You will also get an entry for each person who tells me that they learned about this giveaway from you.
3. For another 5 more entries: Become a Follower of my blog or subscribe to my blog through Google Reader or other subscription service. If you are already a subscriber or follower you still get the five extra entries! Please do not comment that you are a follower five times! I will give you the extra entries myself. I will delete any extra entries that you make as it will just confuse me when I go to pick the winners.
The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only. The winner’s mailing address: NO P.O. Boxes. Only one entry per household/IP address.
This giveaway will end on Thursday October 15th 11:59 P.M. E.S.T. The winners will be notified by email, so remember to include your email address in the comments, if it isn't available in your profile! Winners must respond within three days or will be disqualified.
The number of entrants to this giveaway will determine how many copies of this book I will giveaway:
1-10 entrants= 1 11-20 entrants= 2 21-30 entrants= 3 31-40 entrants=4 41 or more entrants=5
Here are the rules:
1. For one entry, leave a comment on what your favorite hispanic author or book is. If you have not read any, then leave a comment one of your favorite books of all time is. You must do this to be entered! . Please be sure to include your email address (if it isn't available in your profile), so that I can contact you if you win. If I can't find your email either in the comments or your profile, you will be disqualified!
2. For two more entries, post about this giveaway on your blog and leave link to your blog post in the comments. You will also get an entry for each person who tells me that they learned about this giveaway from you.
3. For another 5 more entries: Become a Follower of my blog or subscribe to my blog through Google Reader or other subscription service. If you are already a subscriber or follower you still get the five extra entries! Please do not comment that you are a follower five times! I will give you the extra entries myself. I will delete any extra entries that you make as it will just confuse me when I go to pick the winners.
The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.
The winner’s mailing address: NO P.O. Boxes.
Only one entry per household/IP address.
This giveaway will end on Thursday October 15th 11:59 P.M. E.S.T. The winners will be notified by email, so remember to include your email address in the comments, if it isn't available in your profile! Winners must respond within three days or will be disqualified.
Norman Ollestad grew up on the beaches of Topanga Beach in California.His father, also Norman, or Senior Ollestad, taught him how to surf and ski at a very young age and expected him to excel in both.Much to Norman's horror, his father would take him off trail downhill skiing the were quite dangerous.No matter how many time he pleaded with his father not to take him on the treacherous hills and the largest waves, his father made him do it.Norman didn't have much choice and he did like making his father proud.
The memoir is told in alternating chapters, one chapter about his life growing up in a broken family and his adventures with his dad and then a chapter about the horrific plane crash he was in with his father and his father's girl friend Sandra.
Norman's parents divorced when he was quite young and he lived with his mom and her boyfriend, Nick.Nick was an alcoholic and was physically and mentally abusive to both Norman and his mother.His mother usually chose Nick over the well being of her son, despite his abuse.
Norman really wanted to be a "normal" kid, with normal parents.He didn't get to play with other kids very often because his father brought him all over to either practice or compete in sports.He was glad to be away from Nick during those times but also terrified of what hill or wave his father would make him concur next.
This book read very much like a novel.Norman Ollestad has a great talent for writing and I had trouble putting this book down.I do question how true some of his memories are.Many sounded exaggerated to me.I'm not convinced that Ollestad did this intentionally but maybe his memories of the events were bigger than the actual events.After all, he was only 11 years old when he was in the plane crash.
If you like memoirs or even adventure fiction, you are sure to enjoy this compelling book!
Iris Rhodes is a successful writer in Chicago.She has been trying to heal old wounds between her father and herself, as he lies dying in a hospital.Her father is a Vietnam vet and has been trying to fight his demons by working on a very important project.He is opening up a center for street children in Vietnam. It is one way he feels he can contribute to Vietnam's healing.Right before her father dies, Iris has made the decision to go to Vietnam to see her dad's project through to completion.
Iris decides to enlist the help of her childhood friend, Noah.He is a wounded veteran of the Iraq war and his leg has been amputated.Noah is finding it difficult to come to terms with what has happened to him and others in Iraq.His stump causes him a lot of pain, especially when his artificial leg is attached.He has turned to alcohol and pain medication to numb the pain and memories.Iris is hoping that the trip will help him come to terms with himself.
Qui is grandmother and caregiver to Tam, a beautiful little girl who is dying of Leukemiabecause Qui couldn't get the money to see a doctor.She finally does get the money but, the cancer has spread into the bones and there is no way to cure it.Qui carries Tam back and forth from their little shanty to the market everyday, where they sell books to scrounge up enough money to eat.Qui often goes without eating and gives Tam all the food, since there is so little.
The story also follows two street children.A little girl, Mai and her friend, a little boy, Minh.An opium addict, Loc cut off one of Minh hands to keep him "loyal".Minh plays Connect Four with tourists for a dollar a game.Mai and him must pay Loc $5.00 per day or pay the consequences.Often that means that they don't get to eat.They sleep together in a basket under a bridge.They want to escape the life that they are living.
Once Iris and Noah arrive at the Center, they meet a young woman, Thien.Thien has been helping Iris's father with the Center.The three of them quickly make friends and get to work.Noah works on making a playground for the kids to play.He hauls around heavy dirt and boards, which cause his stump great pain.He drinks while he works.Both Iris and Noah find inspiration from the poor Vietnamese people, which has profound effect.
Eventually the center is near completion and the first people to live there are Qui and Tam.I'm not going to say anymore due to spoilers.My keyboard is locked on that.
I was so excited when I received an email from John Shors asking if I would review his new book!He has also written two other books, Beneath a Marble Sky and Beside a Burning Sea.Both are historical fiction. I haven't read Beside a Burning Sea yet but I cannot recommend Beneath a Marble Sky highly enough!It is a must for historical fiction fans.I couldn't wait to read his new book.
This book is a departure from his other two books, as it is not historical fiction.It is however, a present day story that packs a punch!John Shors does a excellent job tying all of the stories of the different characters together.He weaves the story together like a beautiful tapestry.He makes a point about what life is like for the millions of street children living in Vietnam.He pulls at your heart strings and is not very subtle.I even felt a bit manipulated but the story works.There is a little something for everyone in this book, a budding romance, drama, and suspense.I recommend this book.
4/5
Mr. Shors is donating part of the proceeds of this novel to Blue Dragon Children's Fund. They work with street children in Vietnam and hope to open a center, like the one in the book.
Posts
