Sunday, July 31, 2011

Summer Giveaway Hop


I'm taking part in the Summer Giveaway Hop hosted by I am a Reader, Not a Writer and Mary from Bookhounds.  

To enter my giveaway the only requirement is to fill out the form with your name, address and email.  If you follow this blog another way: twitter, facebook, or via a GFC/email/RSS subscription you will get another (+1) extra entry for each way you follow.  Up to 3 extra entries!

You have from now until midnight Sunday August 7th to enter.  Now, onto the prizes...the winner will receive the book of their choice from some awesome books in a variety of categories:


Literary Fiction: The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan

Fantasy: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss


Mystery: Faithful Place by Tana French

Historical Fiction: The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

YA: The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Just fill out THIS FORM and good luck!

I've got another fantastic giveaway currently running CLICK HERE to check it out!

Also, be sure to check out the hundreds of other giveaways for this hop...click here to be taken to a list of links!  I will use random.org to generate a winner once the giveaway ends and I will announce the winner shortly thereafter!

The Leftovers ARC giveaway!

Hello loyal readers!  Remember when I talked about how excited I was about getting my grubby hands on Tom Perrotta's The Leftovers?  Welp, the publisher caught wind and gave me two ARC copies!  So, of course I want to share the wealth by hosting a giveaway.  I'm keeping this giveaway super-simple...to enter, just fill out THIS FORM with your name, email address and mailing address (US only, sorry international friends)!  The giveaway ends this Friday August 5th at midnight.

For those who aren't very familiar with Tom Perrotta, he's the author of some fantastic books like: Election (movie version starring Reese Witherspoon), Little Children (movie version starring Kate Winslet), The Abstinence Teacher (currently being made into a film starring Sandra Bullock), Joe College, and The Wishbones.

And for a bit more info on The Leftovers read on:


Publisher Summary:
What if—whoosh, right now, with no explanation—a number of us simply vanished?  Would some of us collapse? Would others of us go on, one foot in front of the other, as we did before the world turned upside down?

That’s what the bewildered citizens of Mapleton, who lost many of their neighbors, friends and lovers in the event known as the Sudden Departure, have to figure out. Because nothing has been the same since it happened—not marriages, not friendships, not even the relationships between parents and children.  

Kevin Garvey, Mapleton’s new mayor, wants to speed up the healing process, to bring a sense of renewed hope and purpose to his traumatized community. Kevin’s own family has fallen apart in the wake of the disaster: his wife, Laurie, has left to join the Guilty Remnant, a homegrown cult whose members take a vow of silence; his son, Tom, is gone, too, dropping out of college to follow a sketchy prophet named Holy Wayne.  Only Kevin’s teenaged daughter, Jill, remains, and she’s definitely not the sweet “A” student she used to be.  Kevin wants to help her, but he’s distracted by his growing relationship with Nora Durst, a woman who lost her entire family on October 14th and is still reeling from the tragedy, even as she struggles to move beyond it and make a new start.

With heart, intelligence and a rare ability to illuminate the struggles inherent in ordinary lives, Tom Perrotta has written a startling, thought-provoking novel about love, connection and loss. 

I'm currently reading my copy and so far it's fantastic!  Good luck folks!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Bookish Etsy - For Austen Lovers

What a gorgeous day here in Hoosierland!  With a happy heart I bring you another Bookish Etsy post!  This one I've devoted entirely to Jane Austen inspired goodies...click on the caption to be taken to the Etsy shop :)

"I am Mr. Darcy" t-shirt
Jane Austen silhouette flask
P&P Wine Tags
I Heart Willoughby Keychain
Jane Austen Decal Silhouette
P&P Proposal Cuff

Friday, July 29, 2011

Friday Finds: Karma and The Oregon Experiment

Friday Finds is hosted by Should Be Reading and allows readers to showcase books they have discovered over the past week.  This week I found a YA book and a literary fiction novel.

Karma by Cathy Ostlere


Goodreads Summary:
On October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi is gunned down by two Sikh bodyguards. The murder sparks riots in Delhi and for three days Sikh families are targeted and killed in retribution for the Prime Minister’s death. It is into this chaos that sixteen-year-old Maya and her Sikh father, Amar, arrive from their home in Canada. India’s political instability is the backdrop and catalyst for Maya’s awakening to the world. KARMA is the story of how a young woman, straddling two cultures and enduring personal loss, learns forgiveness, acceptance and love.

The Oregon Experiment by Keith Scribner


Goodreads Summary:
Naomi and Scanlon Pratt are at the threshold of a new life. East Coast transplants in small town Oregon, Scanlon will be a professor at the university—teaching mass movements and domestic radicalism—and Naomi, a professional “nose” who lost her sense of smell, is pregnant with their first child.


For Scanlon, all of this is ideal. With ample opportunity for field research, he finds a subject in Clay, a young anarchist who despises him but adores Naomi. And he also becomes involved with a local secessionist movement—and its sensuous, free-spirited leader. Naomi, though far less enchanted, discovers that Oregon offers a multitude of scents. Her nose has returned—but she isn’t pleased with everything she smells. As they welcome their newborn, their lives become increasingly intertwined with Clay’s, and they soon must decide exactly where their loyalties lie—before the world Scanlon has been dabbling in engulfs them all.

A contemporary civil war between desire and betrayal, rich in crisp, luxuriant detail, The Oregon Experiment explores a minefield of convictions and complications at once political, social, and intimately personal.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Waiting on Wednesday: Last Man in Tower

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that showcases upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week I can't wait to get my hands on Last Man in Tower by Aravind Adiga.  This sucker comes out in September - woot!


Goodreads Summary:
A tale of one man refusing to leave his home in the face of property development. Tower A is a relic from a co-operative housing society established in the 1950s. When a property developer offers to buy out the residents for eye-watering sums, the principled yet arrogant teacher is the only one to refuse the offer, determined not to surrender his sentimental attachment to his home and his right to live in it, in the name of greed. His neighbors gradually relinquish any similar qualms they might have and, in a typically blunt satirical premise take matters into their own hands, determined to seize their slice of the new Mumbai as it transforms from stinky slum to silvery skyscrapers at dizzying, almost gravity-defying speed.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Teaser Tuesday: St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading where you share a random snippet of your latest book.  This week my teaser is from the short story Z. Z.'s Sleep-Away Camp for Disordered Dreamers included in the collection titled St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell:


"Emma and I are curled together in the basket of the Thomas Edison Insomnia Balloon, our breath coming in soft quick bursts.  I am stroking Emma's cheek.  I am spooning amber gobs of soporific dough into Emma's open mouth, cadged from Zorba's medicinal larder in anticipation of just such an occassion." ---pg. 49 

Sunday, July 24, 2011

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday


Hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.  We share books that we've read over the past week and those we hope to read this week.  

Last Week:
I actually got more reading accomplished last week than I did during my read-a-thon week - ha!  Helps to finally have a weekend at home :)

  • The Restorer by Amanda Stevens...super-fun!
  • The Iron King by Julie Kagawa...fairytale-fun :)
  • The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa...trying to read the whole series so I can read the latest ARC
  • The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons...heart-wrenching epic love story (read this one thanks to The Book Garden's enthusiastic review)
This Week:
I've been reading The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan (I promise!) but the beginning, while extremely well-written, is just so slow.  I'm having a hard time reading more than about 10 pages at a go because nothing's really happening.  BUT I read some other reviews and saw that others have said the first half is slow and the second half is completely different - so I'm plugging along (plus I've seen all the rave press on this book so I know it's got to get awesome here shortly).  Besides finishing this up, I plan on reading (some of) these books:


  • Sister Mischief by Laura Goode (my childhood best friend is the author - so excited for this!!)
  • Castle Waiting by Linda Medley
  • What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
  • St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell
  • Karma by Cathy Ostlere
  • The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh


Mailbox Monday is a touring meme where book bloggers share their bookish acquisitions from the week prior.  It is hosted this month by A Sea of Books.

This week I received some great ARCs!

The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

Bookish Etsy - Jewelry

Yay for the weekend and another Bookish Etsy post!  This one I've devoted entirely to jewelry...click on the caption to be taken to the Etsy shop :)

"Persuasion" Earrings
Custom Journal Necklaces
Eyeglasses Charm Necklace
Great Gatsby Cuff
Winnie the Pooh Quote Necklace
Typewriter Key Cufflinks

Friday, July 22, 2011

Friday Hop

Book Blogger Hop

The Book Blogger Hop hosted by crazy-for-books.com.  Click on the icon above to be taken to a list of book blogs...it's enjoyable to peruse and you may just find a couple of fun blogs to follow!  This week's question:

What’s the ONE GENRE that you wish you could get into, but just can’t?

Hmm, I really do love quite a variety of genres (which makes it really difficult to keep my TBR list numbers low) but one genre that just doesn't get me very excited is Westerns.  I really do want to get into these types of books but when I see a Western on my TBR list I tend to guiltily skip over it to the next title.  I know that The Brothers Sisters by Patrick DeWitt is supposed to be great, yet my ARC copy sits abandoned on the bookshelf.  Also, I've heard Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry is just amazing but it also remains unread.  I don't understand my hesitation because I've read (and loved) several Cormac McCarthy novels!  Maybe this next year I'll finally get around to reading another Western, have my socks knocked off and go on a Western binge!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Review Catch-Up: Anna and the French Kiss, The Restorer, and The Iron King

Here are some super-shorty reviews of recent reads!

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Goodreads Summary:
Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?


My Thoughts:
  • Read it all in one sitting
  • While it's a really cute love story - that's not the best part of the book.  The best part is the quirky and fun writing...a bit like that of John Green.
  • For me personally, I loved that Anna is a movie-blogging wannabe film critic...I know the feeling :)
  • 4/5 stars

The Restorer by Amanda Stevens


Goodreads Summary:

My name is Amelia Gray. I'm a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. In order to protect myself from the parasitic nature of the dead, I've always held fast to the rules passed down from my father. But now a haunted police detective has entered my world and everything is changing, including the rules that have always kept me safe.

It started with the discovery of a young woman's brutalized body in an old Charleston graveyard I've been hired to restore. The clues to the killer—and to his other victims—lie in the headstone symbolism that only I can interpret. Devlin needs my help, but his ghosts shadow his every move, feeding off his warmth, sustaining their presence with his energy. To warn him would be to invite them into my life. I've vowed to keep my distance, but the pull of his magnetism grows ever stronger even as the symbols lead me closer to the killer and to the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next.

My Thoughts:
  • Super-fun...read it in a flash!
  • Love Amelia and her unique profession of cemetery restoration.
  • Devlin is one sexy and mysterious dude
  • The book left me wanting much more...good thing it's just the first book of a new series (the sequel, The Kingdom, is expected to be out April 2012)!
  • 4/5 stars

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa


Goodreads Summary:
Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home. 


When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change. 


But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.


My Thoughts:
  • Another fast read :)
  • If you're a lover of fairytales this is right up your alley!
  • I'm not totally in love with the characters yet...but there are plenty of sequels allowing me to get to know them better.
  • 3.5/5 stars

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Teaser Tuesday: The Last Werewolf


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading where you share a random snippet of your latest book.  This week my teaser is from The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan:


"Mailer famously labelled writing the spooky art.  He was right.  There's a lot of frontal lobe blather, a lot of pencil-sharpening and knuckle-cracking and drafting and chat, but the big decisions are made in the locked subconscious, decisions not just on the writing but on the conditions for writing: I resolve on the one story I've never told and lo!  Here I sit, holed up in a house that means nothing to me, bone-certain no other place will do." 
--pgs. 47-48

Monday, July 18, 2011

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday


Hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.  We share books that we've read over the past week and those we hope to read this week.  

Last Week:
Despite taking part of a read-a-thon, I really didn't get as much reading accomplished as I'd like.  If I do another read-a-thon, I need to make sure that I'm in a spot where taking a brief respite from my life is do-able.  Last week, it really wasn't...hence my lackluster results.  Anyways, I read:
This Week:
I checked out some more fantastic books from the library and can't wait to get started on them.  Hopefully I'll finish:



Mailbox Monday is a touring meme where book bloggers share their bookish acquisitions from the week prior.  It is hosted this month by A Sea of Books.

This week I received a bunch of ARCs (love it when that happens)!

From Netgalley:

The Man in the Rockefeller Suit by Mark Seal


White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey


Goodreads Giveaway courtesy of Algonquin Books:

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan (already read and loved this one!  My review)

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Bookish Etsy - Artwork

Yay for the weekend and another Bookish Etsy post!  This one I've devoted entirely to artwork...click on the caption to be taken to the Etsy shop :)
Poe Excerpt
Brackets for Bookworms
"The Sweet Life" Print
"I think I'm in love" print
Library Ladies Print
Hanging Bookmobile

Friday, July 15, 2011

Book Blogger Hop

Book Blogger Hop

The Book Blogger Hop hosted by crazy-for-books.com.  Click on the icon above to be taken to a list of book blogs...it's enjoyable to peruse and you may just find a couple of fun blogs to follow!  This week's question:

 How/Where do you get your books? Do you buy them or go to the library? Is there a certain website you use like paperbackswap?

Welp, I try to use the library as often as possible for the majority of my reading.  I live in a tiny little bungalow which is already overflowing with books so I attempt to keep my buying to a minimum.

When I do purchase books I either use half.com (for cheapness factor...I don't mind gently used books) or I buy books from the amazing independent store in town called Boxcar Books which is a non-profit volunteer-run little gem!


What about you guys?  Where do you buy your books?