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Showing posts from August, 2010

Christian Fiction Review: Love, Charleston by Beth Webb Hart

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Love, Charleston by Beth Webb Hart Copyright 2010 Thomas Nelson Publishers 314 pages ISBN: 978-1-59554-201-4 Fiction/Christian/General From the publisher : Charleston's past is full of romance. Does Anne's future hold the same? Charleston's Anne Brumley has long dreamed of love while ringing the bells at St. Michael's, but those dreams are beginning to fade. Her sister Alisha and cousin Della encourage the thirty-six year old to move somewhere new for a fresh start. Widower Roy Summerall has happily ministered to the country folks of Church of the Good Shepherd for years. So why would the Lord call him and his daughter away to Charleston--the city that Roy remembers from his childhood as pretentious and superficial? Surely the refined congregation of St. Michael's won't accept a reverend with a red neck and a simple faith. Meanwhile, Anne's sister, Alisha, struggles with her husband's ambition, which seems to be taking him further from their dreams of a

Note From a Collector!

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Since there's been such a great response to my " Note From a Book Collector "and " Note From a Postcard Collector " posts I think I'm just going to make this a regular thing! I'm going to try to post every other week if I'm not too busy. This week I decided to share a cute framed print that I have in my dining room. It's not really my print but my mother's but I love it so much I wanted to share it. I love ANY print or picture that features animals especially if they're getting into mischief. This picture hung in my great grandfather's home for many years and before he passed on he left a note on the back that my mother was to get this picture since she always liked it so much. I'm not sure of the age but I know it's old. I don't recall seeing a print like this anywhere. It's called "Three Little Rascals." Click photos to enlarge (sorry for the flash glare.) I have more pictures of different prints to share o

YA Fiction review: Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, Book 3) by Suzanne Collins

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Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, Book 3) by Suzanne Collins Copyright 2010 Scholastic Press 400 pages ISBN: 978-0439023511 YA fiction From Goodreads : My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead. Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding. It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans -- except Katniss. The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future

Special Giveaway: God and Dog by Wendy Francisco

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Thanks to Anna Balasi @ Hachette Book Group I have TWO copies of God and Dog by Wendy Francisco to give away to two lucky winners! GOD AND DOG is a phenomenon. First appearing on YouTube, the video of Wendy Francisco's charming animated illustrations and moving song tells of the unconditional love of both God and Dog. With over 2 million YouTube viewings to date, Francisco's story appeals to all ages, to animal enthusiasts, to people of religious persuasions, and especially to anyone who has been loved by a dog. Now in book format, Wendy's touching narrative will be expanded on through additional lyrics, illustrations, photographs and some of the powerful mail that is continually being sent to Francisco. Giveaway Rules: -Only to US Residents AND for the first time on my blog, Canadian residents too! -No P.O. Boxes, please. -Winners will be subject to the one copy per household rule, which means that if you win the same title in two or more

Cold Weather is Around the Corner, Get Your Snuggie Alternative Now :-P

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see more dog and puppy pictures

First Wild Card Blog Tour + My Review: The Berenstain Bears and A Job Well Done by Jan and Mike Berenstain

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It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card authors are: Jan & Mike Berenstain and the book: The Berenstain Bears and A Job Well Done Zonderkidz (April 9, 2010) ***Special thanks to Krista Ocier of Zondervan for sending me a review copy.*** ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Stan and Jan Berenstain introduced the first Berenstain Bear books in 1962. Mike Berenstain grew up watching his parents work together to write about and draw these lovable bears. Eventually he started drawing and writing about them t

YA Fiction Review: Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 1) by Maggie Stiefvater

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Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 1) by Maggie Stiefvater Copyright 2009 Scholastic Press 392 pages ISBN: 9780545123266 Fiction From Goodreads : For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human ... until the cold makes him shift back again. Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever. My Review: I'll admit I didn't like werewolves. After reading the Twilight series I have always been Team Edward. Don't get me wrong, a muscley Jacob Black as played by Taylor Lautner is nothing to frown at but I guess I like my heroes to be

Note From a Postcard Collector!

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I have bloggers block so I'm posting this a day early. I'll try to think of something interesting to post Friday and who knows I might share some more of my "finds." In keeping with last Friday's post, Note From a Book Collector and at Carrie's (from In the Hammock Blog ) request ;-) I'm going to share some of my very favorite postcards. Most are used so they have neat messages and a lot of them have local postmarks! They are dated 1909-1912. If you're not familiar with postcards here's a link to a helpful site. This is a cute baseball themed postcard. The postcard on the left is very patriotic, it even incorporates the famous "cherry tree" theme! The postcard on the right is an Easter card from overseas. A very pretty "Happy Birthday" greeting is on the top and a Christmas themed card featuring a pretty kitty. If you click on the picture you will see it says "There is a woman in the case." (Sorry for the glare from

Litfuse Blog Tour + My Review: Love Finds You in Victory Heights, Washington by Tricia Goyer and Ocieanna Fleiss

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Love Finds You in Victory Heights, Washington by Tricia Goyer and Ocieanna Fleiss Copyright 2010 Summerside Press 341 pages ISBN: 978-1-60936-000-9 Fiction/General/Romance From the publisher : The Second World War has stolen Rosalie’s fiancé from her. But rather than wallow, Rosalie throws herself into her work at the Boeing plant in Victory Heights, shooting rivets into the B-17 bombers that will destroy the enemy. A local reporter dubs her “Seattle's Own Rosie the Riveter,” and her story lends inspiration to women across the country. While Rosalie’s strong arms can bear the weight of this new responsibility, her heart cannot handle the intense feelings that begin to surface for Kenny, the handsome reporter. Fear of a second heartbreak is a powerful opponent—but will it claim victory over love? My Review: Summerside Press publishes some great faith-based romances and Tricia Goyer and Ocieanna Fleiss are two terrific authors I've been introduced to through Summeride's Love

First Wild Card Blog Tour + My Review: Misadventures in Travel, A Missionary's Experience in Brazil by Paula Edwards

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It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: Paula Edwards and the book: Misadventures in Travel: A Missionary's Experience in Brazil Hannibal Books (June 1, 2010) ***Special thanks to Jennifer Nelson, PR Specialist, Hannibal Books for sending me a review copy.*** ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Paula Edwards, a native of the piney hills of north Louisiana, received her bachelor's and master's degrees in music from Louisiana Tec

Winner!!!

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I always enter everyone's name in the list randomizer @ random.org and whichever name the randomizer chooses as NUMBER ONE is the winner! Sooooo the lucky winner for this week's drawing of A Tailor-Made Bride by Karen Witemeyer is... List Randomizer There were 16 items in your list. Here they are in random order: 1.casey 2.joy 3.carrie 4.barbarajan 5.janice 6.amber s 7.michelle 8.emma 9.ashley 10.juju 11.julie 12.maureen 13.linda kish 14.theresa 15.merry 16.sara Timestamp: 2010-08-14 04:21:06 UTC Casey has been sent an email for her mailing address info if she doesn't respond within 48 hours another winner will be drawn. Thank you all so much for your continued interest and support of my blog. Look for more giveaways soon!

Romance Review: Captured by Desire by Kira Morgan

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Captured by Desire by Kira Morgan Copyright 2010 Forever Romance/Hachette Book Group 384 pages ISBN: 9780446548182 Historical Romance From the publisher : In 16th century Scotland, young Miss Florie Gilder runs away from her drunken foster father to find her real father and her noble heritage. Along the way, she is accused of theft, becomes a fugitive hiding in a forest, and is accidentally wounded by a handsome local huntsman. The huntsman--a Robin-Hood figure who poaches wild game from the landowner's estate to feed the starving poor--carries the beautiful maiden to a church where she is guaranteed 40 days of sanctuary from the law. During that time, he learns her true story, falls in love with her, and helps her in her quest, at the risk of his own life. My Review: I'm a huge fan of Highlander romance and going in I thought that this was going to be one of those types of reads with a sweet Scottish lass and a big strong Highland hero. As far as the heroine, Florie, yeah s

Note from a Book Collector

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I love books, (that's pretty much a given right)? Well I also happen to love history and that in itself lends to my other hobbies of antiquing, yard saling, and thrift store shopping looking for pieces from our countries past. I don't think I've ever spent over $20 on a object but still I have a rather eclectic mix including glassware, postcards and of course, books. A lot of these books probably aren't the kind of books that you're thinking of but rather, old school primers. I didn't have a particular fascination with them but after finding a cool looking grammar book at a local auction from a local publisher I started to collect. Here's one of my favorites not because of the cover or the condition (which is awful), but what's written inside by one of it's many users. I love "old stuff" that looks like it has lived a long, full life. When I purchased the book I didn't even realize it was written in but once I brought it home and browse

Blog Question

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As you know from my sidebar I review mostly Christian fiction on this blog and from the feedback you gave me on my poll a few months ago it's going to stay mostly Christian fiction. I do however like young adult fiction, a few general market romances and even some non-fiction. I won't be overloading the blog with those types of reviews but in the upcoming weeks I'll be featuring a few reviews (only 3 in total) from those categories. I know that some of you only like Christian fiction and some are open to all types of fiction but wouldn't be interested in reading a review of say, a memoir. Soooo what I want to know is would it be helpful if I gave the type of review in the title of my blog post? For example, I just reviewed a young adult fiction book and posted this as the title " Young Adult Fiction Review : Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols . " I did this to be helpful to you, my beautiful blog readers! Is this at all helpful? What do you think? Thank you

Waiting on Wednesday: Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy, Book 6) by Richelle Mead

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Jill over @ Breaking the Spine hosts a weekly meme that features one book that you can't wait to be released! Be sure to visit Jill's site to see what she and other readers can't wait to get their hands on. This week my pick is Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead! I loved the first 5 books in the Vampire Academy series so I'm uber excited for the final book...I want to see how it ends! BTW I'm Team Dimitri ;-) Murder. Love. Jealousy. And the ultimate sacrifice. Now, with Rose on trial for her life and Lissa first in line for the Royal Throne, nothing will ever be the same between them. Pre-Order HERE ! If you love paranormal/vampire romance this is a terrific series. *Shhhh* don't tell but I think I like it better than the Twilight series!

Young Adult Fiction Review: Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

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Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols Copyright 2009 MTV Books 245 pages ISBN: 978-1-4165-7173-5 Fiction From the publisher : HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO? All Meg has ever wanted is to get away. Away from high school. Away from her backwater town. Away from her parents who seem determined to keep her imprisoned in their dead-end lives. But one crazy evening involving a dare and forbidden railroad tracks, she goes way too far...and almost doesn't make it back. John made a choice to stay. To enforce the rules. To serve and protect. He has nothing but contempt for what he sees as childish rebellion, and he wants to teach Meg a lesson she won't soon forget. But Meg pushes him to the limit by questioning everything he learned at the police academy. And when he pushes back, demanding to know why she won't be tied down, they will drive each other to the edge -- and over.... My Review: When looking for a new author to read I stumbled across Jennifer Echols and her 2009 release, Going Too Far .

My Review: Autumn's Promise (Seasons of Sugarcreek, Book 3) by Shelley Shepard Gray

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Autumn's Promise (Seasons of Sugarcreek, Book 3) by Shelley Shepard Gray Copyright 2010 Avon Inspire 320 pages ISBN:9780062006783 Christian fiction/Romance From the publisher : Some promises are meant to be broken. . . . Until Robert Miller met Lilly Allen, his world had been dark. A widower after only two years of marriage, he'd been living in a haze, feeling that, at twenty-four, his life was already over. But thanks to his friendship with Lilly, he now has new reasons to wake up each day. He knows his connection to her doesn't make sense. She's only nineteen, with a past the whole town talks about. Even more, she's not Amish, like Robert. A marriage between the two of them could never happen. Lilly's heart is drawn to Robert, not to his faith. No matter how much she admires his quiet strength and dependability, she doesn't think she could ever give up her independence and reliance on the modern world. Is their love doomed before it even begins? My Review

Mailbox Monday!

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This month Chick Loves Lit is hosting Mailbox Monday . This is the chance for you to showcase all the great reads that you have received during the past week. Also it gives you an opportunity to check out what great books others received too! Be sure you stop by the Chick Loves Lit site...you never know, you might get some ideas for your wishlist! I just came back from a weekend trip to the mountains near my home to find 4 books waiting for me! Here they are! Love Finds You in Deadwood, South Dakota by Tracey Cross Copyright 2010 Summerside Press 320 pages ISBN: 9781609360030 Fiction/General/Romance Courting Emma (Little Hickman Creek, Book 3) by Sharlene MacLaren Copyright 2008 Whitaker House Publishers 382 pages ISBN: 9781603740203 Fiction/Romance The Vigilante's Bride by Yvonne Harris Copyright 2010 Bethany House Publishers 304 pages ISBN: 9780764208041 Historical Fiction Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols Copyright 2009 MTV 245 pages ISBN: 9781416571735 Young Adult fiction