Sunday, February 28, 2010

Captured By the Indians, Achates McNeil, and Mexico by T.C. Boyle

 
 
My love affair with reading T.C. Boyle has not diminished.  This guy is a master wordsmith.  I just read 3 more short stories in his 'After the Plague' collection.  Generally, I find short story collections rather uneven but not with this collection.  So far I have read 7 out of 16 stories ande have enjoyed everyone.  That's not to say that some didn't stand out more than others but they were all very good.  Not a bad one in the bunch and all with the deeper meaning that seems to be Boyle's specialty.  He delves into social issues and explores all sides.  All this with complete plots and excellent character developmenmt, all in each of his short stories.

I'm not going to do my normal review of each of the 3 stories I read this time.  Instead I am going to an interesting link from Penguin Books.  It's a reader's guide to 'After the Plague' and has an interview with T.C. Boyle. Here.

Like I said in previous weeks, if you haven't read anything by . T. Coraghessan Boyle, what are you waiting for? Go now, be sure to start with Chicxulub, here.

If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays or just find out about some great short stories, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story reviews. Come join in the fun!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:56 PM 6 comments  

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Winner: American Rust by Philipp Meyer


Thanks again to Lisa Munley of TLC Book Tours for making this giveaway possible.

Thanks to everyone who entered and especially to my followers/ subscribers!

The winner is:
 
Kate 

Congratulations! I emailed you, please contact me within 3 days to claim your prize.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:31 PM 3 comments  

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Saturday, February 27, 2010

100 Mile Fitness Challege (I'm aiming for 66 Miles)

 
Week 8 (7 for me) February 19-25.
Friday-2 Biking
Saturday-0
Sunday-2 Biking
Monday-0
Tuesday-0
Wednesday-0
Thursday-0

Total this week:4
Total for challenge: 49

My back went out this week and I have been going to my chiropractor.  I had to lay off the bike.  Hopefully, I'll be able to do some biking or walking  next week.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:21 PM 5 comments  

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Winners: The Crazy School By Cornelia Read

Thanks again to Valerie Russo of Hachette Booksfor making this giveaway possible.

Thanks to everyone who entered and especially to my followers/ subscribers!

The 3 winners are:
Edna
E.J,
Nicola

Congratulations! I emailed you, please contact me within 3 days to claim your prize.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:07 PM 5 comments  

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Book of Fires by Jane Borodale

It's the year 1752 and poor Agnes Trussel, a teenager living in the rural country side of Sussex, in in trouble. She is pregnant. What is she to do? Now that the boy has had his way with her all he does is laugh and make jokes at her expense. If she tells her parents, they will force the two teenagers to marry. She can't bear the thought of that.

Agnes comes up with a plan when she happens to find a neighbor dead whith come coins spead out in front of her. The coins are no use to a dead woman, so Agnes takes them and plans her escape to London. 

Agnes has never been in London before and finds it a dirty and scarry place but she knows that she must find a way to survive. She happens upon a house that has a sign for help wanted. She knocks on the door and the man tells her that he already found somebody. However, he gives her a second look and thinks that perhaps he could use her after all. Mr. Blacklock makes fireworks and takes on Agnes as his apprentice.

As the weeks pass Agnes settles into her new life and is happy. However, she knows that she cannot conceal her pregnancy forever. Little does she know, but Mr. Blacklock has some secrets of his own.

It took me awhile to get into this book and to care for Agnes or the other characters. They just didn't have much depth to them. The story itself wasn't very beleavable. For instance, in her last triemester she tries to con a man in to marrying her and pass off the baby as his. At 7 months pregnant, I don't think so. It was very funny to me but it wasn't written to be funny. 

That said, Borodale does a good job capturing 18th century life in the city and country side. I also found the pyrotechnics aspect interesting. Fireworks didn't have all of the variety of colors that they have today. They were just silver and white. Borodale certainly did her reaserch on time and place. This is Jane Borodale's first novel and she shows a lot of promise.

3/5 

Thanks to Yen Cheong, Assistant Director of Publicity of Viking and Penguin Books for this book.

Also reviewed by:

A Girl Walks into a Bookstore

Posted by Teddy Rose at 4:16 PM 5 comments  

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Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Winners: When Will There Be Good News? By Kate Atkinson

Thanks again  to Valerie Russo of Hachette Books for making this giveaway possible!

Thanks to everyone who entered and especially to my followers/ subscribers!

The 3 Winners are:
 
Sharon
Linda H.
Amy

Congratulations! I emailed you, please contact me within 3 days to claim your prize.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:43 PM 4 comments  

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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Challenge Completed: China Challenge

 
Thanks to Jennie of Biblio File for hosting this challenge to learn more about China.

For this challenge, I only had to read one book.  This is what I read:

Our Hart: Elegy for a Concubine by Lloyd Lofthouse

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:35 PM 2 comments  

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Challenge Completed: What an Animal II

 

Thanks to Kristi from Passion For The Page for hosting this challenge!

I dedicated my  participation of this challenge in memory of my cat, Tina. She was with me for 19 years and died  December 2008. I miss herso much!

Please show your support by clicking on this link and donating free pet food (that's right, no cost to you, just the time it takes to click.) Here's the link or you can click on the picture of Tina. Once there, you can also subscribe to get a daily email reminder to click to donate free food.

Please leave a comment to let me know you donated food. Thanks!!

The books I read to complete the challenge were:

1.The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:25 PM 3 comments  

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Admit One: My Life in Film by Emmett James

This is the memoir of the actor, Emmett James. As a young boy, growing up in a lower class London neighbourhood he recalled his earliest experiences with the cinema. He use to go with his mother and older brother. He usually fell asleep but mange to wake up for the best parts. He enjoyed these family outings, in fact, they are his fondest memories from his childhood. He really liked to observe how his mother and brother watched movies.

The chapters each start with a film that James had seen but the writing within each chapter had very little to do with the mentioned film. This memoir is much more the memoir of Emmett James, actor, rather than his connection to film. He talked about his rough childhood and how he got into acting.

From the description of the book, I expected this to be about how he related to the films he saw and what impact they had on him. This was not the case and I was therefore disappointed. James writing was okay and there were a few laugh out loud moments but there were some boring parts as well. In a book of only 192 pages I really didn't expect to be bored at all.

At this point in his life, James is not a big star. His biggest part was one of the crew members in James Cameron’s “Titanic”. So far, that seems like the high point of his career. My point is that I don't quite get why James chose to write a memoir this point in his life. Perhaps he would have had more to tell with more life experience. 

As I said above, there were some funny moments . I especially enjoyed the 'Star Wars' chapter. James shared the impact the movie and marketing of the movie had on him. He wanted a Star Wars toy for Christmas and asked Santa for it.

2.5/5

Thanks to Lisa Roe Online Publicist for the signed copy of this book.


Also reviewed by:

The Tome Traveller's Weblog

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:09 PM 2 comments  

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Monday, February 22, 2010

Mailbox Monday

 
Visit Marcia every Monday at The Printed Page to share what arrives in your mailbox each week.

Here's what I received in my mailbox last week:  




Thanks To Anna Balasi of Hachette Books for digging up a copy of this for me.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:41 PM 4 comments  

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Crash by Mayra Calvani, Illustrated by Anna Pylypachuk

 
 
This week I read a children's book for Short Story Monday.  I received this book quite sometime ago from the author and decided I was over due in reading and reviewing it.

Marcelo was celebrating his fifth birthday and his parents gave him a box with holes to open.  The box shook and there was a yelp inside.  He opened it up and out jumped a golden retriever puppy.  His parents told him that it was his puppy so he should name him.  He wanted to choose a name that reflected the puppy's personality so he waited to get to know him better.  

Marcelo and the puppy did everything together and Marcelo did a good job taking care of him.  They became best friends fast.  It took quite some time for Marcelo to think of a name for his new friend but finally the puppy did something that gave Marcelo an idea for the name.

This is a delightful children's book.  The illustrator, Anna Pylypchuk is only 16 years old but she really helped the story come to life.  It was well written and would be a great book to read and discuss with your child.  Pets are a lot of responsibility and parents should tell their children what is involved in having a pet.  This book touches of some of that responsibility.  I don't agree with giving a pet as a gift though.  A pet is a living being and the entire family should be in on picking out the right dog. 

Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:48 PM 2 comments  

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Saturday, February 20, 2010

Giveaway: WORST CASE By James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge-Audiobook

 
Thanks To Anna Balasi of Hachette Books, I have up to 3 copies of this audiobook up for grabs. 

Book Description:

One by one, children of New York's wealthiest are taken hostage. But the criminal doesn't crave money or power--he only wants to ask the elite if they know the price others pay for their luxurious lifestyles. And, if they don't, he corrects their ignorance--by killing them.

To Detective Michael Bennett, it becomes clear that these murders are linked and must be part of a greater, more public demonstration. With the city thrown into chaos, he is forced to team up with FBI agent Emily Parker, and the two set out to capture the killer before he begins his most public lesson yet--a deadly message for the entire city to witness.

From the bestselling author who brought you the Alex Cross novels comes James Patterson's most action-packed series yet. With the heart-pounding suspense that only Patterson delivers, WORST CASE will leave you gasping for breath until the very end.

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

Here are the rules:

1. For one entry, leave a comment.  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.

Sorry, the giveaway is only open US and Canadian residents only.

The winner’s mailing address: NO P.O. Boxes.

Only one entry per household/IP address.

This giveaway will end on Friday, March 5th at 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.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:48 PM 27 comments  

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Giveaway: Black Hills by Dan Simmons-Audiobook

Thanks To Anna Balasi of Hachette Books, I have up to 3 copies of this audiobook up for grabs. 

Book Description:

When Paha Sapa, a young Sioux warrior, "counts coup" on General George Armstrong Custer as Custer lies dying on the battlefield at the Little Bighorn, the legendary general's ghost enters him - and his voice will speak to him for the rest of his event-filled life.

Seamlessly weaving together the stories of Paha Sapa, Custer, and the American West, Dan Simmons depicts a tumultuous time in the history of both Native and white Americans. Haunted by Custer's ghost, and also by his ability to see into the memories and futures of legendary men like Sioux war-chief Crazy Horse, Paha Sapa's long life is driven by a dramatic vision he experienced as a boy in his people's sacred Black Hills. In August of 1936, a dynamite worker on the massive Mount Rushmore project, Paha Sapa plans to silence his ghost forever and reclaim his people's legacy-on the very day FDR comes to Mount Rushmore to dedicate the Jefferson face.

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

Here are the rules:

1. For one entry, leave a comment.  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.

Sorry, the giveaway is only open US and Canadian residents only.

The winner’s mailing address: NO P.O. Boxes.

Only one entry per household/IP address.

This giveaway will end on Friday, March 5th at 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.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:40 PM 28 comments  

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Friday, February 19, 2010

Giveaway: American Rust by Philipp Meyer

 
Thanks to Lisa Munley of TLC Book Tours, I am giving away one copy of this outstanding book.  In my opinion, it is a must read! See my review, here.

Here are the rules:

1. For one entry, leave a comment.  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 a second entry, leave a comment on my review of American Rust, here.  Come back here and let me know that you did it.

2. For a third entry, 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.

Sorry, the giveaway is only open US and Canadian residents only.

The winner’s mailing address: NO P.O. Boxes.

Only one entry per household/IP address.

This giveaway will end on Sunday, February 28th at 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.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:30 AM 50 comments  

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Thursday, February 18, 2010

100 Mile Fitness Challege (I'm aiming for 66 Miles)

 
Week 7 (6 for me) February 13-18.
Friday-2 Biking
Saturday-4 walking
Sunday-0
Monday-2 biking
Tuesday-1 walking
Wednesday-0
Thursday-0

Total this week:9
Total for challenge: 45

Saturday my husband and I took the skytrain to downtown to see some of the Olympic pavilions.  Boy did we walk!  Just to get to them and back was a walk.  Unfortunately,  we didn't see much.  A lot of the pavilions were closed to the public.  The one's that we open and didn't have huge ,and I mean huge, line-ups were pretty much just selling liquor.  The walking was great though and taking in the atmosphere was good too.  We ended the day with dinner and the free concert with WILCO.  We love WILCO and didn't even have to stand in line.  Our friend lives in a hi-rise building facing the concert stage.  We sat in her cozy living room, sipping tea.  How lucky is that?

Do you want to join the challenge?  It's not too late!  Go to 100 Mile Fitness Challenge.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:04 PM 7 comments  

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American Rust by Philipp Meyer


American Rust is set in Buell, Pennsylvania. The steel mill, which was the main source of employment closed in 1987. 


Isaac and Poe are best friends and recent high school graduates. Isaac wants to go on to college but is worried about leaving is disabled father alone to fend for himself. Poe doesn't really have any aspirations. Isaac finally decides to go to school after all and steals $4000 from his father to help him get there. He tells Poe of his plan. To save money he will walk, hop trains, and hitch-hike to Berkley, California. 

Isaac talks Poe into walking with him to the abandoned steel mill and hang out with him one more time before he leaves the town for good. They start a fire inside but all of a sudden some men show up. Isaac is scarred and wants to leave, but as usual, Poe need to show how tough he is. Isaac makes an excuse to leave and hopes for Poe to follow but he doesn't. While outside Isaac hears Poe and goes back inside to see the men beating Poe and threatening him with a knife. Isaac throws something at the head of one of the men and the man goes down. It leaves Poe enough time to make his escape.   

This one act changed the lives of Isaac,Poe, and the town forever. 

I want to thank Lisa Munley of TLC Book Tours for getting me to read this book. I was sent a copy of this it before it originally came out. Because I had not requested it, I put it at the back of my advance reader copy pile. I read some great reviews and wanted to read it but just didn't get to it. Then Lisa contacted me and said that she noticed it was on my TBR and that she was organizing a book tour for it. She gave me the little push I needed to finally read it. Now that I have, I can't believe I waited for so long!

This book has been compared to the great John Steinbeck. In my opinion a very hard standard for any other writers to achieve. I am a huge Steinbeck fan. That said, I must say that I agree that there are many elements that live up to the Steinbeck standard. There's a well written and developed story of gut wrenching consequences, a great character studies that are oh, so well drawn out. Meyer is no Steinbeck but he does come close. I give my highest praise to Philipp Meyer and his debut novel, American Rust. 

Yes, a debut author that we can compare to Steinbeck. I look forward to reading more by Philipp Meyer, can he continue to live up to the Steinbeck standard? Time will tell.

5/5

Be sure to look for my giveaway of this book tomorrow!

Philipp Meyer’s Other TLC Book Tours Tour Stops:

Tuesday, January 12th: The Blue Stocking Society
Monday, January 18th: Literary Feline
Tuesday, January 19th: Book Club Classics!
Wednesday, January 20th: A Circle of Books
Thursday, January 21st: One Person’s Journey Through a World of Books
Tuesday, January 26th: Luxury Reading
Thursday, January 28th: Ready When You Are, CB
Tuesday, February 2nd: Rough Edges
Thursday, February 4th: Bibliophile by the Sea
Tuesday, February 9th: Becky’s Book Reviews
Thursday, February 11th: The 3 R’s Blog
Friday, February 12th: Beth Fish Reads
Monday, February 15th: Bibliofreak
Tuesday, February 16th: Books on the Brain
Monday, February 22nd: Lit and Life
Thursday, February 25th: Steph and Tony Investigate

Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:30 AM 20 comments  

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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Winners: Absolute Power by David Baldacci- Audiobook

Thanks to Anna of Hachette Books for making this giveaway possible!

Thanks to everyone who entered and especially to my followers/ subscribers!

The 3 Winners are:
Lenore
Wanda
Jo-Jo (already won it)
JustPeachy

Congratulations! I emailed you, please contact me within 3 days to claim your prize.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:34 PM 0 comments  

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Monday, February 15, 2010

Termination Dust and Killing Babies by T.C. Boyle

 

 
I still can't seem to get enough T.C. Boyle, so for this week I read two more short stories from his collection, 'After the Plague.'

The first story I read was 'Termination Dust'. The travel agency Ned and his partner, Peter own in Alaska organized a fund raiser. 107 women "of all ages, shapes, and sizes," came from Los Angeles to be auctioned off as dates to the highest bidder. It is said that in Alaska, there are two men for every one woman.

Ned fell instantly for Jordy and enjoyed conversing with her, until Bud came and interrupted. The three of them sat down and ate together with Ned trying to be civil to Bud for Jordy's sake. After dinner the bidding begun and soon Jordy was being auctioned off. There was a bidding war between Ned and Bud but Bud won. Ned just couldn't go any higher and he couldn't figure out where Bud got that kind of money from.

The next morning Ned went to find Jordy but she had left the hotel. A friend of hers told Ned that Jordy went with Bud to his cabin and that she would be back in time to catch the plane the next day. Ned knew that there was no way that Bud would get her back in time, if at all. Ned drove all day with urgency to rescue Jordy from the lying and manipulative Bud.

This is another demonstration of T.C. Boyle's fertile imagination and excellent writing skill. I recommend this story.

The next story I read was 'Killing Babies'. When Rick gets out of rehab in California he goes to live and work with his brother, Phillip in Detroit. He must keep out of trouble for the next 6 months or face jail time. Phillip is a doctor who lives with his wife and children in a really nice house.

Rick and Phillip have never been close but Rick decides he will make the best of the situation. He is to work at Phillip's clinic as an entry level lab technician. Mostly menial tasks such as cleaning test tubes and taking out garbage, etc. 

When Rick and Phillip drive up to the clinic the first day there are a bunch of protectors outside. It turns out that abortions are performed at the clinic. None of the workers inside the clinic, including Phillip want to talk about the protesters with Rick. On another day, the protesters are outside Phillips house. 

I won't say anymore for risk of giving out spoilers. This story has the far reaching consequences that I have come to expect from the expert writing of Boyle. I highly recommend it no matter what side of the abortion issue you are on.

Like I said last week, if you haven't read anything by . T. Coraghessan Boyle, what are you waiting for? Go now, be sure to start with Chicxulub, here.

If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays or just find out about some great short stories, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story reviews. Come join in the fun!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:00 PM 4 comments  

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Mailbox Monday

 
Visit Marcia every Monday at The Printed Page to share what arrives in your mailbox each week.

Here's what I received in my mailbox last week:  




Thanks to the author, Gabriele Wills for this book.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 8:31 PM 6 comments  

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Saturday, February 13, 2010

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë




When I thought about historical books that I could post about for the letter "e", I immediately thought of Jane Eyre.  How could I not think of it?  It's a historical classic by a Brontë sister, no less.

I believe I have seen every film version of this book ever made, all very good.  I fell in love with the story at a very young age.  However I didn't read until my adult years.  I read it with my Classics Club on Yahoo, before my days of blogging.  We had a great discussion of it, which really add to my enjoyment of it.

I won't bore you with writing about the story, seeing as most of you know it.  If you don't know it, what planet are you from.  It's a classic that should be read, so read it.  I would love to hear your thought on it.  Do you think it should be considered a classic?

Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:26 PM 6 comments  

Friday, February 12, 2010

!00 Mile Fitness Challege (I'm aiming for 66 Miles)

 
Week 6 (5 for me) February 6-12
Friday-2
Saturday-0
Sunday-2
Monday-0
Tuesday-2
Wednesday-0
Thursday-2

Total this week: 8
Total for challenge: 36

Do you want to join the challenge?  It's not too late!  Go to 100 Mile Fitness Challenge.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:21 PM 4 comments  

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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Our Hart: Elegy for a Concubine by Lloyd Lofthouse

Last year, I had the opportunity to review the award winning 'My Splendid Concubine' by Lloyd Lofthouse. I really enjoyed it and told Lloyd that I would love to review his sequel. Luckily, he took me up on and my offer.

'Our Hart' is the continuation of the fictionalized account of the real person, Robert Hart. In 'My Splendid Concubine' he was an interpreter for the British Consulate in China. He fell in love with two concubines, Ayaou and her younger sister Shao-mei. At the end of the book, Shao-mei, was killed by someone out to get revenge on Robert.

In 'our Hart', Robert and Ayaou grieve over Shao-mei and Robert tries to better protect Ayaou. As his career grows, so does his family. Ayaou has children and their eunuch servant, Guan-Jiah becomes a surrogate uncle for the children. Robert became the deputy commissioner of customs for the Ch’ing dynasty in his late 20's. and it kept him away from his family for long stretches at a time. He was indispensible to the dynasty and work for them in to his senior year. They fondly referred to him as "Our Hart".

Our Hart is the story of Robert's lifelong career in China and his relationship with Ayaou and his lifetime servant, Guan-Jiah. Lloyd Lofthouse does a great job pacing the story and keeping the reader engaged. I thought the story got a bit repetitive with Ayaou's whining and questioning Robert's love but other than that it was a great story. Note, that I read an uncorrected proof, so perhaps some of Ayaou's whining was reduced. 

Though 'Our Hart' could be read as a standalone book, I highly recommend that you read 'My Splendid Concubine' first, as it gives you quite a bit of background that makes 'Our Hart' a richer read. I highly recommend both of these books to historical fiction lovers who are interested in Chinese culture.

If you are interested in learning more about the books, Robert Hart, and China, Lloyd Lofthouse has a blog with some great links to explore.  It is called, Learning China.

4/5

Thanks to Paula Krapf and Penny Sansevieri of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. and Lloyd Lofthouse for a copy of this book.

Also reviewed by:

Posted by Teddy Rose at 8:59 PM 11 comments  

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Monday, February 8, 2010

Winners: The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris

Thanks to Anna of Hachette Books for making this giveaway possible!

Thanks to everyone who entered and especially to my followers/ subscribers!

The 3 Winners are:
Sandy Jay
Tina (already won)
BelindaM
Amy

Congratulations! I emailed you, please contact me within 3 days to claim your prize.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:21 PM 4 comments  

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Winners: The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova-Audiobook

 
Thanks again to Anna Balasi of Hachette Books for making this giveaway possible!

Thanks to everyone who entered and especially to my followers/ subscribers!

The 3 winners are:

Sara
Cheli
Sandy Jay

Congratulations! I emailed you, please contact me within 3 days to claim your prize.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 8:44 PM 1 comments  

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Mailbox Monday

 
Visit Marcia every Monday at The Printed Page to share what arrives in your mailbox each week.
 
Here's what I received in my mailbox last week:  





Thanks to Kevin Howell of Penguin Group (USA)

Posted by Teddy Rose at 6:04 PM 12 comments  

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Sunday, February 7, 2010

Nighttime in the Pool by T. C. Boyle

 
 
As many of you know, I have become an overnight fan of Mr. T. Coraghessan Boyle. It started when I read his short story, Chicxulub. Then, last week I reviewed She Wasn't Soft, from his short story collection, 'After the Plague'.

This week I read 'Nighttime in the Pool', which appeared in the New Yorker, here.

The story opened with two couples traveling in Belize and Guatemala, on the cheap. They traveled on the regular buses and were staying away from the all inclusive spots. They even stayed in a cheap hotel across from an insane asylum, "where day and night the inmates pressed their faces against the iron bars and moaned and shook and shouted unintelligibly?"'

The two couples could hardly wait until they arrived in Mexico, where they "would spring for a real hotel a little luxury by way of compensation for all the rough--but illuminating--living." When they arrived at the more luxurious hotel in Mexico, they were so excited to find out there was a swimming pool. "Here was a chance to shed some of the grit of the road." 

There was very little light at the pool and the water felt funny, but that didn't stop one of the men from going in and doing a couple of laps. They next morning the man went to the pool and "made some overlapping discoveries".

This is a very short story of only one page. Too short you say, for anything of substance? Not true, good stories can come in tiny packages. Believe it or not Boyle did it again. This time he developed an entire story only one page in length. If you haven't read anything by . T. Coraghessan Boyle, what are you waiting for? Go now, be sure to start with Chicxulub, here.

If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays or just find out about some great short stories, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story reviews. Come join in the fun!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:53 PM 10 comments  

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Thursday, February 4, 2010

100 Mile Fitness- Update

Week 5 (4 for me) January 29-February 5
Friday-0
Saturday-0
Sunday-2
Monday-2
Tuesday-
Wednesday-2
Thursday-1

Total this week: 7
Total for challenge: 28

Okay, I'm not the type of person who goes around complaining about ailments.  However, I decided to mention that I have Fibromyalgia and it has been very active lately.  That is why, from the beginning of the challenge I said that I didn't think I would be able to really make the 100 mile goal.

I joined to motivate myself to exercise more and I am.  Any miles that I do at this point are more miles than I was doing before.  I really want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement.

I don't want to go around complaining about my aches and pains, in fact I find that counter-productive in feeling better.  I just wanted you to know why I am pretty happy with how I am doing with the challenge so far.
 
Do you want to join the challenge?  It's not too late!  Go to 100 Mile Fitness Challenge.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:24 PM 5 comments  

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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Giveaway: The Crazy School By Cornelia Read

 
Thanks to Valerie Russo of Hachette Books, I giving away up to 3 copies of this book.
 Description:
From the acclaimed author of A FIELD OF DARKNESS comes another compelling novel featuring the acerbic and memorable voice of ex-debutante Madeline Dare.

Madeline Dare has finally escaped rust-belt Syracuse, New York, for the lush BerkshireMountains in Massachusetts. After her husband's job offer falls through, Maddie signs on as a teacher at the SantangeloAcademy, a boarding school for disturbed teenagers. Behind the academy's ornate gates, she discovers a disturbing realm where students and teachers alike must submit to the founder's bizarre therapeutic regimen. From day one, Maddie feels uneasy about smooth-talking Dr. Santangelo but when she questions his methods, she's appalled to find that her fellow teachers would rather turn on each other than stand up for themselves, much less protect the students in their care. A chilling event confirms Maddie's worst suspicions, then hints at an even darker secret history, one that twines through the academy's very heart. Cut off from the outside world, Maddie must join forces with a small band of the school's most violently rebellious students-kids whose troubled grip on reality may well prove to be her only chance of salvation.
About Author:

Cornelia Read grew up in New York, California, and Hawaii. She describes herself as a reformed debutante who currently lives in Berkeley. This is her second novel. Her website is www.corneliaread.com.

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

Here are the rules:

1. For one entry, leave a comment.  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.

Sorry, the giveaway is only open US and Canadian residents only.

The winner’s mailing address: NO P.O. Boxes.

Only one entry per household/IP address.

This giveaway will end on Friday, February 26th at 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.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:02 PM 58 comments  

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Giveaway: Will There Be Good News? By Kate Atkinson

 
Thanks to Valerie Russo of Hachette Books, I giving away up to 3 copies of this book.

Description:

On a hot summer day, Joanna Mason's family slowly wanders home along a country lane. A moment later, Joanna's life is changed forever...

On a dark night thirty years later, ex-detective Jackson Brodie finds himself on a train that is both crowded and late. Lost in his thoughts, he suddenly hears a shocking sound...

At the end of a long day, 16-year-old Reggie is looking forward to watching a little TV. Then a terrifying noise shatters her peaceful evening. Luckily, Reggie makes it a point to be prepared for an emergency...

These three lives come together in unexpected and deeply thrilling ways in the latest novel from Kate Atkinson, the critically acclaimed author who Harlan Coben calls "an absolute must-read."

About Author:

Kate Atkinson lives in Edinburgh. Her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, was named Whitbread Book of the Year in the U.K. in 1995, and was followed by Human Croquet, Emotionally Weird, Not the End of the World, Case Histories and One Good Turn. 

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

Here are the rules:

1. For one entry, leave a comment.  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.

Sorry, the giveaway is only open US and Canadian residents only.

The winner’s mailing address: NO P.O. Boxes.

Only one entry per household/IP address.

This giveaway will end on Friday, February 19th at 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.

Audio and Video

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:55 PM 60 comments  

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Monday, February 1, 2010

February Reviews for the Books Won Challenge

 

Here is what participants read for the challenge in January:

Kathy:
1. I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti by Giulia Melucc
2, What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell

Tina:
1.Supreme Courtship
2.True Blue
3.Simons Cat by Simon Tofield

Please post all your links in Mr. Linky for your review of books that you read in February, 2010 for this challenge. I hope everyone is enjoying their reading this month!

Please enter your name and the name of the book in this format: Name: (Your Name, Book Title and Author's Name) for example: (Teddy, Obsessive Reading by Helen Reader).

Posted by Teddy Rose at 8:02 PM 2 comments  

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February Reviews for the ARC Reading Challenge

 
 The Standings:
Here are the ARCs' that participants read for this challenge in January:

Alyce:
1.The Motion of the Ocean
2.Not My Daughter
3.American Eve

Andrea:
1.Mr, Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Patillo
2.Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
3.The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
4.Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev
5.Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
6.In A Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth
7.Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe
8.Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore
9.Captivate by Carrie Jones
10.A Match Made in High School by Kristin Walker
11.The Naughty List by Suzanne Young
12Gone by Lisa McMann 
13.Explorer X-Alpha by LM Preston
15.The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

Beth:
1. Eternal On The Water by Joseph Monninge
2.Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
3.Small Kingdoms by Anastasia Hobbe
4.Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

BookNAround:
1.The Blue Star by Tony Earley
2.The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Euland
3.Baking Cakes in Kigali

Caribousmom: 
1.Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
2.The Year of the Flood by Maragret Atwood
3.The Last Surgeon

Heather: 
1.The Dark Lanter by Gerri Brightwell
2.The Queen's Dollmaker by Christine Trent
Kool-aid Mom:
1.The Blue Notebook by James A. Levine
2.Islands Apart by Ken McAlpine
3.Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland
4.Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan

Michelle: 
1.Winter's End by Jean- Claude Mourlevat

Nicola:
1.Shades of Grey
2.Fallen by Lauren Kate
3.The King's Legacy by Jim Stovall
4.Graphic Classics: Louisa May Alcott
5.The Jungle Vampire
6.The Silver Anklet
7.Irredeemable by Mark Waid
8.The Levee by Malcolm Shuman
9.Innocent War by Susan Violante
10.Leaving Gee's Bend
11.Calamity Jack
12.The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews 
 
Teddy:
1.Sometimes we're always real same- same by Mattox Roesch
2.The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
3.O, Juliet by Robin Maxwell

Tina:
1.The Book of William
2.My Name is Will
3.The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
4.The Lovely Bones
5.Then Came the Evening
6.The Postmistress
7.Death of a Valentine
8.Fireworks over Toccoa

Please post all your links in Mr. Linky for your review of books that you read in February, 2010 for this challenge. I hope everyone is enjoying their ARC's this month!

Please enter your name and the name of the book in this format: Name: (Your Name, Book Title and Author's Name) for example: (Teddy, Obsessive Reading by Helen Reader).

Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:47 PM 6 comments  

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