So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

No One's a Mystery by Elizabeth Tallent is about a 18 year old girl. She is pushed down on to the floor of her boyfriend's truck by her boyfriend, Jack because he sees his wife's Cadillac in the distance. The floor is filthy and the car stunk of stale cigarettes. They had been sharing a bottle of Tequila. Rosanne Cash is in the tape deck singing, "Nobody's into Me, no one's a mystery.

Once the wife passes, the girl is allowed back up on the seat and they talk about the birthday present Jack gave her for her 18th birthday. He said, "I know what you'll be writing in that diary." He goes on to say how first she will write how much she loves him but in the future will write how she doesn't understand what she ever saw in him. Of course, she disagrees.

This is a very short story at less then 3 pages but it says a lot. It is well written and entertaining but with quite a bit of symbolism. For instance, I am pretty sure the diary represents the future. Also Rosanne Cash was the perfect one to be playing in the back round. I was able to clearly visualize the whole story.

Highly recommended! You can read it here: No One's a Mystery by Elizabeth Tallent

5/5

Also reviewed by:

The Book Mine Set

A Striped Armchair

Remember to go to back to The Book Mine Set next Monday for Short Story Monday.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 11:23 PM 11 comments    

Labels: Short Story Read in 2009

Keyomi

Ann Diana Dinh

Ikkinlala

Congratulations! I emailed all three of you,Please contact me within 3 days to claim your prize.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:42 PM 2 comments    

Labels: My 2009 Giveaways

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, came in second with 4.

Be sure to look at the comments for more favorites. I added quite a few to my TBR!

The 3 winners of the Latino Book Month Giveaway are:

Annie

Belinda

S.M.D.

Congratulations! I emailed all three of you,

Please contact me within 3 days to claim your prize.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:08 PM 4 comments    

Labels: My 2009 Giveaways

Thanks to all of you who entered! I wish that I could send copies of these books to each of you! A special thanks to those of you who follow my blog or became followers! I hope you enjoy my blog!

Before I announce the winner, I want to tell you who the top fictional moms were:

Kitty from That 70's Show was number one with 5 people selecting her.

Marmee came in second with 4 people

To see everybody's favorites, see the comments.

The 3 winners of the Mother's Day Giveaway are:

Quelleheure4

Janel

Jessica

Congratulations! I emailed all three of you, Please contact me within 3 days to claim your prize.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:45 PM 2 comments    

Labels: My 2009 Giveaways

As usual, be sure to check back at this post throughout the week for links to more book giveaways!

My Giveaways:

I am giving away up to 5 copies of OBAMA'S BLACKBERRY by Kasper Hausner. Enter by June 5th, here.

I am giving away up to five copies of THE LINK by Colin Tudge. Enter by June 5th, here.


I am also giving away five copies of The Night Gardener By George Pelecanos. Enter by June 12th, here.

I will also be announcing a giveaway this week, in celebration of my now over 200 followers! Stay tuned..


New offerings (if you do enter any of these lovely giveaways, please let them know that Teddy sent you):


Wendy of Musings of a Bookish Kitty is giving away a signed copy of No One You Know by Michelle Richmond. Enter by June 6th, here.

Arleigh of Historical-Fiction is giving away her gently used copy of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Enter by June 7th, here.


Dar of Peeking Between the Covers is giving away 3 copies of Mating Rituals of the North American WASP by Lauren Lipton. Enter by June 14th, here.


Reading with Monie is giving away 3 copies of Priceless Memories by Bob Barker and Digby Diehl. Enter by June 9th, here. Don't forget to spay or neuter your pets everybody!


Anna of Diary of an Eccentric's giving away 5 copies of Mating Rituals of the North American WASP by Lauren Lipton. Enter by June 3rd, here.


Brimful Curiosities is giving away Before You Were Here by Mi Amor. Enter by June 1st, here. She is also giving away 3 copies of Mating Rituals of the North American WASP by Lauren Lipton. Enter by June 8th, here.


J. Kaye's Book Blog is giving away the Audio Book A LONG STONE'S THROW, autographed by the author, Alphie McCourt. Enter by June 26th, here. She is giving away tons of other books as well, so go visit her blog.


So Many Books, So Little Time is giving away one copy of Mating Rituals of the North American WASP by Lauren Lipton. Enter by June 3rd, here.


Valorie of Morbid Romantic is giving away 5 copies of Testimony by Anita Shreve. Enter by June 7th, here. She is also giving away 5 copies of Mating Rituals of the North American WASP by Lauren Lipton. Enter by June 7th, here.


Marie of The Burton Review is giving away 3 copies of Mating Rituals of the North American WASP by Lauren Lipton. Enter by June 18th, here.


NotNessie of Today's Adventure is having a Clean Out the Bookbox Giveaway. It looks like there is something in there for just about everyone's tastes. Enter by June 34, here.


Amy of Chic Book Chick is giving away April and Oliver by Tess Callahan. I'm not sure of the deadline but my guess is around June 4th. Enter here.

Blodeuedd of Book girl of Mur-y-Castell is giving away The Taming of The Duke by Eloisa James and The Loner's Guarded Heart by Michelle Douglas. Enter by June 14th, here.


Below are giveaways that I announced in previous weeks. There is still time to enter (if you do enter any of these lovely giveaways, please let them know that Teddy sent you):

Kristi of Books and Needlepoint is giving away 3 copies of the audiobook Way Home by George Pelecanos . Enter by June 5th, here. She is also giving away 3 copies of the audio book The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith. Enter by June 15th, here. Also, 3 copies of the audiobook Cemetery Dance by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. Enter by June 15th, here. Also, 3 copies of the audiobook The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly. Enter by June 15th, here.

Amy of Passages to the Past is giving away Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross. Enter by June 8th, here.


Dar of Peeking Between the Pages is giving away 2 copies of Sea Changes by Gail Graham. Enter by June 10th, here.


Michele at Reader's Respite is giving away The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister. Enter by June 3rd, here.


Ali of Worducopia is giving away 5 copies each of 3 health realted books: The N.D.D. Book: How Nutrition Deficit Disorder Affects Your Child's Learning, Behavior, and Health, and What You Can Do about It by Dr. William Sears. The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide by Elisabeth Hasselbeck . If Your Kid Eats This Book, Everything Will Still Be Okay by Lara Zibner. She will be drawing one book every Sunday for the next five weeks. Enter here.


NotNessie of Todays Adventure is giving away her gently used copy of Sea Changes by Gail Graham. Deadline is June 7th. Enter here.


Wanda of A Season to Read is celebrating her 100th post by hosting a giveaway of a favorite book of hers. She bought a brand new copy of Shelf Monkey by Corey Redekop to give away. Deadline is June 7th. Enter here.


Visit West of Mars Win a Book to find out about even more Giveaways!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 5:00 PM 8 comments    

Labels: Giveaways Galore

I did this challenge in memory of Robbie (he's the cutie one in the photo with my husband Bill).

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 Robbie. 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!!

Here's a list of what I read for the challenge (click on the titles to read my reviews):

1. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

2. Bark Up the Right Tree by Jessie & Ruth Tschudin

3. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

4. Dear John by Norma L. Betz

5.Amos's Sweater by Janet Lunn

6.Finklehopper Frog Cheers by Irene Livingson

Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:01 PM 8 comments    

Labels: 2009 Completed Challenges

This challenge ends on Sunday, so I finished just in the nick of time!

Here is the 10 books I read and their awards:


Governor General's Award:
1. Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje

Pulitzer Prize:
2. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

PEN / Faulkner Award for Fiction:
3. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

Alex Award:
4. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

2004 Original Voices Award:
5. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize:
6. The Golden Age by Tahmima Anam

The Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Medal:
7. Amos's Sweater by Janet Lunn

The Childrens Book Council- Children's Choice Award:
8. Finklehopper Frog Cheers by Irene Livingson

The Canadian Council for the Arts Governor General's Literary Award:
9.The Party by Barbara Reid

1972 Canadian Library Association Book of the Year Award for Children:
10.Mary of Mile 18 by Ann Blades

Posted by Teddy Rose at 11:04 PM 9 comments    

Labels: 2009 Completed Challenges

Here are more treasures that I found by Canadian Authors:



Pigs by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Matchenko: When I went to the library and told the librarian that I wanted to be introduced to some Canadian Children's books her first recommendation was anything by Robert Munsch. She said he was a must.

Pigs is about Megan, a little girl. Before school her father asks her to feed the pigs. He said, "but please don't open the gate. Pigs are smarter than you think." Megan goes to feed the pigs and looks at them . She said, these are the dumbest looking animals I have ever seen." She opens the gate. Boy, was that a mistake!

This is a really cute story with bright and wonderful pictures. I think this would be a lot of fun to read with children. Hmm.. I don't have any of my own and my niece is now 17 years old. Maybe I could borrow one of yours. LOL!


Mary of Mile 18 by Ann Blades: Mile 18 is a remote farming community off the Alaska Highway in northern British Columbia Canada. It is a real place but is now called Buick.

This is the story of Mary who lives in Mile 18. Mary lives on a farm with her family. It doesn't have any modern conveniences such as running water or indoor plumbing. One day when Mary arrives home from school she sees a little puppy and runs up to it. She asked her father if she could keep him but her father said, " You know the rules. Our animals must work for us, or give us food." Mary was very disappointed. However, later an incident happens. You'll have to read it to see what happens.

Ann Blades also illustrated this book. The pictures are bright and beautiful and the story is quite cute.

Bamboo by Paul Yee Illustrated by Shaoli: In a Chinese village, a small farmer, Bamboo meets and falls in love with Ming, a peasant girl. Soon after they are married, Bamboo goes to the New World to make more money. While he is gone, Jin, Ming's sister-in-law makes life miserable for her. Ming goes on anyway and tries to make the best of it. Then Bamboo's ship sinks on the way home and he is said to be dead.

There is much more to it and is a delightful story. The pictures are amazing and has a lot of detail. I just question if the story is really that good for very little children. With the adult issues going on. I recommend you read it yourself first and then decide if it's okay for your little ones.

I will have more wonderful picture books to share but this is it for now. To be continued sometime in the future.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 3:45 PM 11 comments    

Labels: Books Read in 2009, Children's Books

First settlement in New South Wales

Born in 1767 England, Daniel Rooke was a boy of great intelligence. He was exceptional with numbers and had a keen sense of curiosity about where numbers could lead him. Even though he had this intelligence or in part, due to this, he had trouble forming friendships with his peers.

Daniel was accepted to At Portsmouth Naval College on scholarship and became quite interested in astronomy. He becomes a Lieutenant in the Navy and went on a mission to take convicts to New South Wales. On the ship he took on the role of navigator and once in Australia, that of Astronomer. Part of the mission was to get to know the natives and try to befriend them so that the convicts and others could live in safety.

As Astronomer, Rooke was given permission to build an observatory away from the camp, to live and work in. After a time, some of the natives started visiting him there and he built up a friendship with a young girl named Tagaran. She taught him the native language and he kepts meticulous records about their conversations and the language. However, soon the relationship between the natives and soldiers deteriorated and Rooke had to choose between his friendship with the natives and duty.

I loved Kate Grenville's The Secret River (see my review) and was highly anticipating her next book. While I quite enjoyed it, I didn't love it like The Secret River. It took a long time for me to warm up to the character of Daniel Rooke . Once he started his relationship with the natives, I did warm up to him and loved reading about his special friendship with Tagaran. The problem was that it took well over 100 pages to lead up to this and it didn't last very long. I would have like to explore the relationship further. Also, in the last chapter when we find out that Rooke had been married, there is nothing about how that relationship came about or who his wife was. We are never introduced to his wife.

That said, I did enjoy The Lieutenant and would recommend it, especially to those interested in the first settlement in New South Wales.

3.5/5

Thanks to Deanna McFadden of Harper Collins Canada for the Advanced Readers Copy of this book.

Also review at:
ReadingAdventures

Posted by Teddy Rose at 7:07 PM 8 comments    

Labels: Australia, Books Read in 2009, Kate Grenville

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.

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 subsriber 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 Friday June 12th 11:59 PM 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! If there is no way for me to email you about winning, you will be disqualified! Winners must respond within three days or will be disquilified. Therefore, if your moving or going on a trip, etc. . please let me know.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 6:52 PM 83 comments    

Labels: My 2009 Giveaways