Wednesday, June 8, 2011

BEA and BBC (Book Blogger Expo) New York City- Edition # 1

Many of you are probably wondering why it has taken me so long to post about my first trip ever to New York City, the BEA and the BBC.  Well, the last day I was there, my feet swelled and by morning, flight day, I had to stuff my feet into my shoes. My legs blew up like balloons on the flight home and my husband and I spent the evening in the emergency room of the hospital because I have a high risk for blood clots. That had never happened to me before. They gave me blood thinners as a precaution but it turned out I didn’t have a clot, thank goodness. I had never had my feet or leg blow up like that. I seriously wondered if I put a pin in them if they would pop. LOL! It was much better for two days and now it came back again but not as bad.  I have had to keep my legs elevated this entire time, which hasn’t been very conducive to blogging. 

Now that I have explained my absence and how I have fallen behind in my blogging, lets get to the fun stuff!

I spent nine days in New York City.  Like I said above, I had never been there before, so I wanted to get some sightseeing in.  I was able to go  four days before the BEA started because I had a free place to stay, thanks to Allen, my brother's best friend.  Seriously, I cannot thank him enough!  I wish I would have taken pictures of his place!  OMG, so much nicer than any hotel.  He has traveled all over the world and has an art collection to show for it.  I thought I was living in a museum.  His place was stunning and quite spacious for a New York City zip code. 


My 19 year old niece, Rachel went with me.  She had been there a couple times before with her parents, so she was my tour guide for the first couple days.  Thanks to her, I didn't get totally lost on the subways.
 Rachel and Teddy in Times Square

On our  first day, we spent the morning in line to get discount tickets to plays.  We then walked around Wall Street and saw "Ground Zero".  I was very excited when I saw a street vendor with pretzels because I wanted to make a point of buying a pretzel off of a street vendor in NYC.  Crazy, I know!  It was so big that I could only eat a quarter of it but I enjoyed every bit.  Rachel refuse to help me out so I had to toss what I couldn't eat.  It was a bargain though, for $2.00.  We also went to Filene's Basement where I got a bargain on a new pair of walking shoes.

On day two I decided to go have brunch on my own since Rachel didn't want to go.  Before the trip I was given all kinds of recommendations for vegan friendly restaurants.  I went to Curly's Vegetarian Lunch.  It turned out that they are not strictly vegetarian but mostly.  They claim on their menu that they can make any of their items vegan.  I had the lumberjack breakfast, which included vegan pancakes, scrambled tofu, curly fries, and fresh fruit.  To be honest, it was nothing spectacular, in fact I didn't like the scrambled tofu at all.  I just skiped the toru and ate about a third of the rest of the plate.

After brunch I met up with Rachel and we saw the musical, Billy Elliot together.  It took me about a half hour to get into it but then I really enjoyed it.  Then we went our separate ways again. We had heard that some theaters had rush tickets at a discount so I walked around from theater to theater inquiring.  The play I really wanted to see Good People only had rush for students.  But then I asked about Bengal Tiger with Robin Williams.  They have a draw nightly for 21 tickets.  I got lucky and won!  Rush tickets were only $27 and they were for the front row!  I found myself face to face with Robin Williams and all the actors.  The play was great.  It was a serious play that took place in Baghdad.

On Sunday we went to Times Square again, to try to get rush tickets to see Wicked.  There were about 200 people there and they only drew 12 names.  I really wanted to get a ticket for Rachel to see it but there were not even discount tickets to be had and I wouldn't pay full price.  They was a fun market there, where some of the streets were blocked off so we went shopping.  We got five tee shirts for $20.00 and some other gifts and then we ran into the Naked Cowboy.
Then we went to a create your own burger place.  You choose the patty and the toppings.  I was in luck, they had a veggie burger.  We also shared just a few fries.  LOL!
On Monday I went to get my BEA badge and then took the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty.  I wanted to take the boat ride to the statue and Ellis Island but I didn't have 3 hours to wait in line.  It was a grey sky day and a bit foggy so the photos didn't turn out very good.
After that, I made it just in time for the Random House Tea.  When you walk into the lobby of Random House, you are greeted by many first editions of their books.  That was very cool.  Once inside the room for the Tea, I ran into my friend, Amy of The Girl From the Ghetto.  
Soon after that, an author in attendence saw my name badge and acted like I was a rock star.  It was Ellen Meropol, author of House Arrest.  I had given the book a 4.5/5.  She was so kind and gracious. 
Lisa See was there and talked about her new book, Dreams of Joy.  After we were all given copies to have her sign.  After, it was time to grab our swag bags.  They had a table full of books and canvas bags and you just took what you wanted.  Of course for me, I felt like a kid in a candy store!  I only took books that were on my TBR, which just happened to be most of them. LOL!  I then put my bag down to visit with others in attendence.  When it was time to go, I realized that someone had taken off with my bag by mistake.  I felt bad for them, because they ended up with a Lisa See signed to Teddy.  LOL!  I was also crushed because I was so excited to have met her.  All of a sudden she reappeared and I had her practically by herself!

I was also invited to replace the swag bag!


On Tuesday, the BEA officially started.  I will write about it more in my next post.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:33 PM 7 comments  

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Monday, June 6, 2011

The Beautiful One Has Come by Suzanne Kamata


This collection of short stories focuses on Japanese culture and life.  Last month I reviewed the first story in this collection, Havana by Suzanne Kamata. I said, " The writing is bright and poetic and the character development was excellent for such a short story.  I can tell already, that Suzanne Kamata is a true artist of the short story."

Let me tell you, I did not judge too soon!  It is rare to have a even 4 star collection of shorts. I give this collection a solid 4!

Most of the stories took place in Japan but had American Expats in them.  Many of them women, married to Japanese men.  This made for quite a comparison between the cultures, especially on how each culture deals with family tragedy. 

From about the middle of the book up until the end, the stories dealt with premature labor and babies.  Also what could happen as the babies grow up. They almost seemed connected.  They weren't really connected but I wish they had been.  I found my self a bit confused, at first thinking a story was a continuation of the one before but figuring out that it wasn't.  They just had the same them that carried information forward.  That is the only qualm I had with this collection.

Suzanne Kamata knows how to weave a short story with well developed plot, characters, and a conclusion that is not abrupt.  She is a true artist of the short story!

4/5

Thanks to Shelf Awareness and Nancy of Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing for the electronic galley.

Did you review this book?  Please leave your link in the comments.

If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays, 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 review. Come join in the fun and add to my short story TBR!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:50 PM 3 comments  

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Friday, June 3, 2011

Giveaway: To Be Sung to Underwater by Tom McNeal

Thanks to Anna Balasi of Hachette Book Group, I am giving away two copies of To Be Sung to Underwater.


Book Description:

Judith Whitman always believed in the kind of love that "picks you up in Akron and sets you down in Rio." Long ago, she once experienced that love. Willy Blunt was a carpenter with a dry wit and a steadfast sense of honor. Marrying him seemed like a natural thing to promise. But Willy Blunt was not a person you could pick up in Nebraska and transport to Stanford. When Judith left home, she didn't look back.

Twenty years later, Judith's marriage is hazy with secrets. In her hand is what may be the phone number for the man who believed she meant it when she said she loved him. If she called, what would he say?

TO BE SUNG UNDERWATER is the epic love story of a woman trying to remember, and the man who could not even begin to forget.

See the Trailor:


Tom McNeal Bio:

Tom McNeal was born in Santa Ana, California, where his father and grandfather raised oranges. He spent part of every summer at the Nebraska farm where his mother was born and raised, and after earning a BA in English at UC Berkeley and an MFA in Creative Writing at UC Irvine, he taught school in the town that was the inspiration for his first novel, Goodnight, Nebraska. Tom has been a Wallace Stegner Fellow and a Jones Lecturer at Stanford University, and his short stories have been widely anthologized.
Visit McNealBooks.com

To Enter:
Leave a comment with your email address, so I can contact you if you win.

Extra Entries:  (please leave a separate comment for each, for instance you you are a follower, leave 3 comments that you are a follower).

+3 Old or new follower of this blog.
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+ 3 for following my Premier Virtual Author Book Tours
+4 for filling out the  Tour Host Interest Form (please do this if you have a book blog and you are serious about wanting to be a tour host)
+1 for each comment on a book review I have done. (Be sure to tell me which ones).
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+1 for clicking to give free books at The Literacy Site (tell me you did it). ( Up to 1 time per day)

That's 31 or more possible entries!
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
 
Winners will be subject to the one copy per household rule, which means that if you win the same title in two or more contests, you will receive only one copy of the book.

This giveaway will end on Saturday, June 18th,11:59 P.M. E.S.T. The winners will be notified by email. Winners must respond within TWO days or will be disqualified.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:01 AM 87 comments  

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Thursday, June 2, 2011

Winner: Going Cowboy Trouble and Make Mine a Bad Boy by Katie Lane

Thanks again to Brianne Beers of Hachette Book Group for making this giveaway possible.


The winner is:

PoCoCat (already won)
Jessica

Congratulations!  Please respond to the email I sent you within 2 days to claim your books.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:02 PM 1 comments  

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Winners: The Bond by Wayne Pacelle

Thanks again to Chelsey Emmelhainz of Harper Collins for making this giveaway possible.

The Winners are:

AmandaSue
 Margie
Bethie

Congratulations!  Please respond to my email within two days to claim your book.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 8:52 PM 4 comments  

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Winners: Georgette Grab Bag Giveaway

Thanks to Sourcebooks for making this giveaway possible.  Without further ado, I will announce the winners.

The winners are:

Mariee
Jasmyn

Congratulations!  Please respond to the email I sent each of you within 2 days to claim your surprise prize.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 8:37 PM 0 comments  

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Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Giveaway and Catherine de Medici and Her Father-in-Law Francois I By C.W. Gortner

I would like to welcome C.W. Gortner to So Many Precious Books, So Little Time.  His book, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici is a precious book to me.  See my review here.

Without further ado, please welcome C.W. Gortner.

A Father’s Love:  Catherine de Medici and Francois I
“I had loved François as I had loved no other man; loved him for his excesses and his foibles, for his grandeur and his weakness; but most of all, I had loved him because he had loved me. But I did not cry, not a single tear. I now had a purpose, nebulous as it might be: I would be queen. I could almost hear François laughing, his spirit alive, full of mirth at what we’d contrived to achieve. I knew then that he would never truly die; it was his final gift, one that he had ensured I would carry for the rest of my days.


In me, he had bequeathed his immortal love of France.”


— Excerpt from The Confessions of Catherine de Medici © C.W. Gortner 2010.

Among the many misconceptions about Catherine de Medici, surely one of the saddest is that she was an amoral woman without a heart, who ruthlessly eliminated anyone who stood in her way. Some even went so far as to say, she did not know how to love.


However, it is not too surprising, given her background and the unfortunate circumstances in which she rose to power. In truth, Catherine has been the target of a smear campaign that began in her lifetime; of Italian birth, she came to France while a teenager to wed King Francois I’s second son, who later became Henri II. She was used as a pawn in an elaborate stratagem between Francois and Catherine’s uncle, Pope Clement VII, each of whom sought revenge against the Hapsburg emperor, Charles V. Catherine claimed noble French blood through her mother but this was secondary to the overriding xenophobia that many Frenchmen held toward Italians. The venal corruption of Rome, coupled with France’s incessant incursions to claim Milan—a chimerical obsession that wreaked havoc on both lands—had conspired to create a court that paid outward homage to the art of Italy while privately disregarding the country as anything other than a lost possession. François himself yearned to own Italy to such an extent that most of his artistic pursuits were centered on recreating the brilliance of that country’s Renaissance in his immediate environment. He imported Italian artists, including Leonardo da Vinci; what he could not import, he bartered for, stole, or paid outrageous sums to own.

Catherine was one of his finest acquisitions. Bought along with the promise of several Italian duchies, she was never considered French; her paternal ancestry as a Medici, a banking family that had made its fortune in commerce and the papacy, branded her a parvenu. Prejudice against her because of her nationality haunted her throughout her life. Italians were despised as Machiavellian experts in intrigue and the black arts; Catherine’s natural inclination toward her fellow countrymen was thus often used against her and helped seed her black legend. And when her uncle Clement VII died without releasing the duchies promised to François in her dowry, the king was said to mutter about his then-barren daughter-in-law: “I took her naked as a babe.”


Rumor ran like wildfire that François would annul his son’s marriage to Catherine and banish her. History tells us, she herself fell to her knees before the king to implore mercy, even as she acknowledged her unworthiness. Whether or not he ever intended to rid himself of her cannot be known; what is certain is that François protected Catherine for years afterwards, until she managed to bear Henri the all-important son required of her. And in those years, she and François developed a love that mirrored that of a beloved father and his daughter, a relationship that dominated Catherine’s youth, seeing as she’d never known parental love, having lost both her parents while still a babe. 


Francois and Catherine shared more than a mutual adoration for Italy; in Catherine, Francois found the personification of everything he most admired about that patchwork nation of city states which had eluded his capture. She had spirit and grace; and, if not a beauty in the traditional sense, she had more important qualities for her king: she was superbly well educated in the Italian Renaissance style, literate in several languages, with an innate passion for art. Whether it was painting, architecture, sculpture, or writing, Catherine’s fine-tuned sensibilities proved perfect fodder for François’s extravagances. He often consulted her on his plans for refurbishment of his many chateaux – he was forever remodeling—and whenever a new artist from Italy made it to his court—and they came by the hundreds, lured by his generosity and addiction to novelty— he had Catherine greet them first. Official court documents of the time are peppered with references to an aspiring artist making his way into the king’s pocket through the ‘good graces of Madame la Dauphine.’ Indeed, with her keen appreciation for the arts and keener sense of patronage, Catherine was an ideal mechanism for obtaining royal approval to set up shop. And besides childbearing, here was one area where she could excel – even as she battled the private specter of Diane de Poitiers, her husband’s lifelong mistress who would soon overshadow her years as queen.


François’s death in 1547 devastated Catherine. She was twenty-eight; the king only fifty-two. He’d battled illness for years, the result of a lifetime of profligate indiscretion, so his death did not come as a surprise. But he had been her champion, her guardian and mentor for sixteen years. She had worked hard to win his favor and in return he rewarded her with that singular affection and loyalty for which he is famous. While Henry VIII comes down to us as a tyrant in a perpetual bad humor, François has been enshrined as the personification of bonhomie, always with an eye for a pretty blueprint, a pretty painting, and a pretty smile.


And through him, Catherine learned an invaluable lesson that she plied, often relentlessly, throughout her life: When in doubt, throw a party. For those who eat well at your table are less likely to stab you in the back.  


Thank you so much for spending this time with me. To find out more about The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, as well as special features about me and my work, please visit: www.cwgortner.com

Thanks you so much for joining us today, C.W and shedding some light on the relationship between Catherine de Medici and Francois I. 

Thanks to Amy of Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and C.W. Gortner, I am giving away a copy of Catherine de Medici to one of my lucky U.S. readers.

To Enter:
Leave a comment about this guest post, with your email address, so I can contact you if you win.

Extra Entries:  (please leave a separate comment for each, for instance you you are a follower, leave 3 comments that you are a follower).

+3 Old or new follower of this blog.
+3 Old or new follower on Twitter ().
+2 Tweet about this Giveaway and post the link in the comments (Up to 1 time per day) 
+3 Be my friend on Facebook (Teddy Rose).
+3 "Like" the post about this giveaway on Facebook
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+3 Be my friend on Goodreads (Teddy).
+3 for Joining my Books Won Reading Challenge (be sure to follow the rules and then let me know you joined here.)
+ 3 for following my Premier Virtual Author Book Tours
+4 for filling out the  Tour Host Interest Form (please do this if you have a book blog and you are serious about wanting to be a tour host)
+2 for each comment on a book review I have done. (Be sure to tell me which ones).
+1 for clicking to give free food at The Animal Rescue Site (tell me you did it).( Up to 1 time per day)
+1 for clicking to give free books at The Literacy Site (tell me you did it). ( Up to 1 time per day)

That's 35 or more possible entries! 

Sorry, this giveaway is only open to the U.S.A.

The winner's mailing address: No P.O. Boxes
Only one entry per household/IP address

Winners will be subject to the one copy per household rule, which means that if you win the same title in two or more contests, you will receive only one copy of the book.

This giveaway will end on Wednesday June 15th, 11:59 P.M. E.S.T. The winners will be notified by email. Winners must respond within TWO days or will be disqualified.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:01 PM 112 comments  

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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Giveaway: The Beauty Chorus by Kate Lord Brown

Thanks to Devon Pool of McArthur and Company, I am giving away one copy of The Beauty Chorus to one of my Canadian readers.  See my review, here.  

Book Description:

New Year's Eve, 1940: Evie Chase, the beautiful debutante daughter of a rich and adoring RAF commander, listens wistfully to the swing music drifting out from the ballroom, unable to join in the fun. With bombs falling nightly in London, she is determined that the coming year will bring a lot more than dances, picnics and tennis matches. She is determined to make a difference to the war effort.

5th January, 1941: Evie curses her fashionable heels as they skid on the frozen ground of her local airfield. She is here to join the ATA, the civilian pilots who ferry Tiger Moths and Spitfires to bases across war-torn Britain. Two other women wait nervously to join up: Stella Grainger, a forlorn young mother who has returned from Singapore without her baby boy and Megan Jones, an idealistic teenager who has never left her Welsh village. Billeted together in a tiny cottage in a sleepy country village, Evie, Stella and Megan must learn to live and work together. Brave, beautiful and fiercely independent, these women soon move beyond their different backgrounds as they find romance, confront loss, and forge friendships that will last a lifetime.

To Enter:
Leave a comment with your email address, so I can contact you if you win.

Extra Entries:  (please leave a separate comment for each, for instance you you are a follower, leave 3 comments that you are a follower).

+3 Old or new follower of this blog.
+3 Old or new follower on Twitter ().
+2 Tweet about this Giveaway (Up to 1 time per day) 
+3 Be my friend on Facebook (Teddy Rose).
+3 "Like" the post about this giveaway on Facebook
+3 Be my friend on Goodreads (Teddy).
+3 for Joining my Books Won Reading Challenge (be sure to follow the rules and then let me know you joined here.)
+ 3 for following my Premier Virtual Author Book Tours
+4 for filling out the  Tour Host Interest Form (please do this if you have a book blog and you are serious about wanting to be a tour host)
+2 for each comment on a book review I have done. (Be sure to tell me which ones).
+1 for clicking to give free food at The Animal Rescue Site (tell me you did it).( Up to 1 time per day)
+1 for clicking to give free books at The Literacy Site (tell me you did it). ( Up to 1 time per day)

That's 31 or more possible entries! Sorry, this giveaway is only open to Canada.
The winner's mailing address: No P.O. Boxes

Winners will be subject to the one copy per household rule, which means that if you win the same title in two or more contests, you will receive only one copy of the book.

This giveaway will end on Tuesday  June 14th, 11:59 P.M. E.S.T. The winners will be notified by email. Winners must respond within TWO days or will be disqualified.

 

Posted by Teddy Rose at 1:27 PM 42 comments  

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Different Lives by Kate Lord Brown, author of The Beauty Chorus

When I was asked to be a tour host for Kate Lord Brown and her book, The Beauty Chorus, I jumped at the chance. I wondered how the woman of the ATA decided to go from their sheltered lives to the ATA. Today, Kate is here to give me her answer. Please welcome Kate Lord Brown to So Many Precious Books, So Little time.
 
I asked myself exactly that question – how did these women go from their somewhat sheltered lives and join the Air Transport Auxiliary? They did an incredibly dangerous job, flying anything anywhere across war-torn Britain, ferrying everything from Spitfires to huge bombers to the fighter squadrons. They flew without radios, without arms. The bravery and modesty of these women just blew me away – when you speak to surviving veterans, they say they were just ‘doing their job’. These were the women that inspired ‘The Beauty Chorus’.

I think crucially, they also say that it was the most extraordinary time of their lives. If you think back to wartime, it was a unique opportunity for women to fly – and after the war many of them had to go back to ‘real’ life – there just wasn’t much chance for women to fly commercially. So, you had women joining from all over the world. In all 166 women joined the ATA, and they had pilots from 28 countries. Women came from Canada, the US, from as far away as Asia (like the character Stella). You had debutante party girls who had been part of the privileged pre-war flying scene like Evie, and you had young inexperienced girls like Megan who could fly a plane but not drive a car.

Can you imagine how thrilling and terrifying it must have been to join a boat bound for England, having to avoid the Nazi attacks on boat convoys on the way over, and then finding yourself flying these incredibly powerful planes? The women came from all walks of life, and the only thing they had in common was wanting to ‘do their bit’ for the Allied war effort, and their love of flying. The true story of their skill and bravery blew me away, and The Beauty Chorus I hope pays testament to this. They were amazing women, and it was a privilege uncovering their story. It was a remarkable time when women worked alongside men on equal terms and for equal pay – and I hope Evie, Stella and Megan reflect the strength and bravery of the real Spitfire girls.

KLB

Kate studied Philosophy at Durham University, and Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art. She is currently taking a Masters degree. She worked as an art consultant, curating collections for palaces and embassies in Europe and the Middle East, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She was a finalist in UK ITV’s the People’s Author competition in 2009. Her debut novel ‘The Beauty Chorus’ is published by Atlantic in 2011.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:01 AM 8 comments  

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Monday, May 30, 2011

The Beauty Chorus by Kate Lord Brown

It is New Years Eve, 1940 and Evie Chase is determined to make a difference in the war effort.  On January 5th, 1941 she enlists  in the ATA to ferry  across WWII Britain.   Her father is a wealthy RAF commander and is not happy with her decision and takes away her allowance, but Evie sticks to her principals and moves into a mice infested cottage with two other new members of the ATA, Stella and Megan.

Stella is the mother of a baby boy but has left him with her parents in law.  She is trying to sort out her feelings regarding her "dead" husband.  Megan is a teenagers from a Welsh village, who has left for the first time.

Together the three woman train together and live together and become fast friends and allies.  Once they start ferrying planes, Evie meets a pilot from the U.S.A. and falls in love.  They are engaged to be married when tragedy strikes and her fiancé is killed in combat.  Stella and Megan also find love.  

Beau is the trainer of the three woman and one of their commanders.  He and Evie mix together like cats and dogs most of the time.  He is also engages to a rich girl that he grew up with but the relationship is quite rocky.  He was burned badly in combat and she called off the engagement.  She abandoned him when he needed her most and then when he was better, came back  and begged forgiveness.  Can he forgive and does he want to?

Despite the fact that just about everything that happened in this book was totally predictable, I did enjoy it.  I knew nothing about the ATA and learned about its history.  The characters were well thought out and three dimensional.  You could call this book a character study.  That is it's true strength.  I would have liked a bit more plot and surprise.  I knew what was going to happen with each character well before it happened with only a couple of exceptions.  

This is Kate Lord Browns first book and a good attempt.  I am looking forward to seeing how she grows with her writing.  If you like character studies and want to learn more about the ATA in WWII, this is a book for you.

3/5

Thanks to Devon Pool of McArthur and Company and to Net Galley for this book.  Please watch for a guest post from Kate Lord Brown tomorrow.

Did you review this book?  Please post the link in the comments.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 4:21 PM 6 comments  

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