March Reads

Fun Reading Facts for March 

Total books read: 9

New Authors: 5

Mystery: 2

Non-Fiction: 2

Fiction: 3

Young Adult: 2

Pages: 3054

 

Buffalo Gal by Laura Pedersen

Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer

Love and Sand by Howard M. Layton

The 13th Reality: The Hunt for Dark Infinity by James Dashner

Dancing in the Dark by Mary Jane Clark

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister

No Sanctuary by F. M. Meredith

Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger

The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Aqualusa

 

The I suck at challenges challenge – update 3(March)

I came across this one over at book-a-rama and thought I would play along. I didn't do very well with challenges last year, so I think I qualify for this one.

 

Overall Progress?

I read 7 books for challenges this month. I thought that was pretty good considering I only read 9 books. I didn't finish any challenges, although I'm over half-way in a couple.

 

Total challenges that I'm competing in as of March 1st: 10

Completed Challenges in March: 0

 

Total completed challenges in 2009: 1

20 Books in 2009 - Challenge Completed (February)

 

Challenges I read a qualifying book for in March:

The Pub Challenge

I read 3 books (The 13th Reality: The Hunt for Dark Infinity, The School of Essential Ingredients, No Sanctuary)

At the end of March I had 3/9 completed

Paranormal 2009

I read 1 books (Breaking Dawn)

At the end of March had 4/7 completed

Read-Your-Own Books

I read 1 books (Chasing Harry Winston)

At the end of March I had 8/26 completed

War Through The Generations

I read 1 books (Love and Sand)

At the end of March I had 1/5 completed

9 books for 2009

I read 1 book (The book of Chameleons)

At the end of March I had 3/9 completed

 

Progress for challenges that I didn't read a book for in March:

Series Challenge 3

At the end of March I had 4/12 completed

1st in a series challenge

At the end of March I had 0/12 completed

Chunkster Challenge

At the end of March I had 0/3 completed

TBR Challenge

At the end of March I had 2/24 completed (I'm counting my main list and alternate list since I'm going to try and read all of them)

Young Adult

At the end of March I had 3/12 completed

The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Aqualusa

Copyright: 2008
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: FictionPages: 180Challenges: 9 books for 2009 – Distance (click here to see the distance)
New-to-me author? Yes
Author's website

 

Simple Description

I wasn't sure how to describe this book, I couldn't find a good description on the author's website, so I stole the following from Amazon:

From Publishers Weekly

Lovers of stylish literary fiction will rejoice at this charming tale by Angolan writer Agualusa. The elegantly translated story is narrated by a house gecko named Eulálio, who in brief, vignette-like chapters, reminisces on his life (and past life) and observes the home of Félix Ventura, an albino Angolan who makes his living selling fabricated aristocratic pasts to newly successful citizens of the war-torn former Portuguese colony. Photojournalist José Buchmann pushes Félix's occupation into harsh reality when José looks into the past Félix has created for him, and the story shudders to a climax when Félix's allegedly fictitious history collides with reality. Eulálio is a lovable narrator, alternately sardonic and wistful; his dreams are filled with regret and powerlessness. Félix is an equally sympathetic subject, complicated by his loneliness, his fondness for prostitutes, his insistence on the honor of his trade despite its scalawag nature, and a late-blooming sweet love story. The novel's themes of identity, truth and happiness are nicely handled and span both the political and the personal. It's very touching, in a refined way. (June)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Why did I read this book?

I thought it sounded good and I was sent the book to review.

What I liked most:

Short chapters. No really, I love short chapters.

Was there something I didn't like?

I was very confused in the beginning, I didn't actually start liking the book until the end.

Do I recommend the book?

I'm not sure. As I said above, the beginning was very confusing for me. I didn't actually like the book until the end. Through most of the book I was thinking, well, this book is ok but I don't really get it. When I finished it, I changed my mind and felt like I did enjoy it. Would I read it again though? No. I do think this would be an excellent book to read with a group or in school, where you have somebody to discuss it with. On my own, I feel like I didn't understand it and "get" most of it.

 

Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Leave me a comment to let me know and I'll link it below.

Sorry, no linked reviews yet.

 

 

 

Happy Reading and thanks for stopping by……Kris

Cozy Mystery Challenge 2009

****I plan to make this a sticky post for the month of March. After March, I'll put a link on my side-bar. ****

Are you ready for the cozy mystery challenge again? I'm making some changes this year, hopefully this will work a little better for those who want to participate.

Challenge Rules:
1. The challenge runs from April 1, 2009 –September 30, 2009 (6 months)

2. The goal is to read at least 1 cozy mystery for each month, so a total of 6. You can read these all in the same month, one per month, or however you want.

3. It is ok to use books that you are already reading for other challenges, however at least 2 need to be specific for this challenge.

4. You do not need to have a blog to participate

5. You are not required to make a list of books you plan to read ahead of time, but it would be fun if you did. I do ask that you at least create a post for this challenge and link back to this post. Please also note how many books you plan to read for this challenge.

6. You must sign-up before April 1^st, so the last date to sign up is March 31^st. Update: I'm changing this one, you can sign-up anytime before September!

7. To sign up for the challenge – please use Mr. Linky below. Behind your name, please put the number of books you plan to read for this challenge in (). Example: Kris (6) If you have trouble with Mr. Linky, just leave a comment.

8. At the end of the challenge, If you have a blog, please create a wrap-up post telling others how you did and listing each of the books you read for the challenge and link them to your reviews. I will create a posting regarding the end of the challenge and ask that you sign Mr. Linky and link your wrap-up post. That made sense right? If you don't have a blog, just enter your name and the number of books you did read in (). Example: Kris (6).

9. Prizes you ask? Of course! For each person who completes the challenge, I will send you a homemade bookmark. I know – you are overcome with excitement you can join this challenge fast enough!

That's it! If there are any problems/questions, please let me know! Please help yourself to the button I created for this post.

Interested in this challenge but not sure what a cozy mystery is? Check out this website, it should help you out.

March Coupon Savings

Total savings for the month of March: $131.77

Grocery store:
03/11 - $4.85
03/19 - $32.05
(total: $36.90)

Walgreens/Target:
03/15 - $29.87
03/22 - $3
03/22 - $10
(total: $42.87)

Books:
$3.59

Scrapbooking/Hobbies:
$1.47

Misc. House:
03/07 - $10

Rebate:
03/17 – windex rebate received $2.89
Walgreens - $34.05

I'm ready for Spring

I was creating the rotation calendar at work for the month of April, I try to put at least one clip-art on it and this is the one I found for spring - don't you just love it?

Cozy Mystery Challenge - My Mom's list

(pst...that's my Mom in the picture - pretty huh? you better say yes because I look just like her. haha!)

How many people can say that their Mom is participating in their book challenge? Not many I bet! I personally think it's really cool. Therefore, since she doesn't have a blog, I said I would create a post on my blog for her. She did comment on my challenge post, but it's more fun to have your own post, don't you think?

So here's my Mom's list:
Linda Barnes "A Trouble of Fools"
Michelle Scott "Corked by Cabernet"
Joanna Campbell Slone "Paper, Scissors, Death"
Susan Wittig Albert "Woomwood"
Laura Childs "Death by Darjeeling"
Diane Mott Davidson "The Cereal Murders"

alternate:
JoAnna Carl "The Chocolate Cat Caper"

The All-New Illustrated Guide to Gardening – Reader’s Digest

I'm not going to do my normal review for this book since I didn't actually read the entire thing. I'm also not going to count it towards my reading stats, since I didn't read the whole thing and I don't plan to. This isn't the type of book that one reads cover to cover though. 

So with that being said, I absolutely loved this book! I've been looking for a great gardening book for awhile and this one did the trick. I love flowers and want to have a beautiful garden and landscaping, but I'm very much an amateur. My Mom and my Grandma kept talking about splitting plants. I knew what they meant, but not how to do it. This book actually has pictures showing you! My Grandma talks about it with flowers. I have some Iris's in my yard and know those can be split but wasn't sure how. This book shows you how to split iris's and seems easy to follow along. My Mom has some tall grasses in her yard. I want to put them around my pool equipment since it's an eye-sore for the neighbors. My Mom said that I could help her split the grasses and take some of hers. I was like ok, but I have no idea what I'm doing. Well..now I do!

 

I basically went through this book and just read the parts that fit with what I want to do for my yard. There is a huge section on perennials, which is mostly what I'll be doing. There are pictures of the flowers, how to plant them, how to care for them etc. There's a section for annuals which I flipped through but didn't read. I also didn't read the section on trees. I did stop and read a lot of the section for ornamental grasses (since I already have plans to plant some this sprint), fruits (since I want to grow some strawberries and raspberries this year too). I also stopped and read the section on shrubs and vines. I was just going to flip through this section but then an area on vines that can be used on fences caught my eye. I've been wondering what I could do near the fence that surrounds the pool. Bingo! Vines and shrubs will be perfect! It will be attractive and yet give me some privacy from neighbors and stupid neighborhood kids who walk through my yard in the summer. I never even thought of doing this! I figured I would just have to use grasses around the fence as well but didn't want to. There are a lot of other sections to, there are 27 different chapters/sections in all. Some don't apply to me right now, but will in the future.

 

There was also a section on taking care of your garden. There were pictures on common bugs and issues with plants and how to solve it. There was also a brief section on what to try to deter dear (which are a problem for me – They already ate my tulips and I'm pissed!!). They book also demonstrates the proper way to cut back certain plants. In fact, I realized I cut back the hydrangeas incorrectly at my last house. I bet that's why they didn't bloom much after the first year. I can't wait to buy more and take care of them properly this time!

 

I think this book is awesome for anybody starting out with a garden or somebody who already has one but isn't really sure how to take care of it. There is a ton of information in this book and lots of photo's too. This is definitely the perfect book for me. In fact, you should see all the post-its I stuck in the book marking plants I want to get, etc. haha!

Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger

Copyright: 2008

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 278

Challenges: 2009 Read Your Own Books Challenge

New-to-me author? no

Author's website

 

Simple Description

Adriana, Emmy, and Leigh have been friends since college. Now they are almost 30 and trying to deal with where they are in life at that age. Adriana doesn't have a need to work (rich parents), loves guys but not long term relationships, and is beautiful. Leigh works as an editor for a publishing company. She is dating the perfect guy, or so everyone says. She isn't sure she's that in to him. Emmy has been wanting kids for a long time. She has been dating Duncan for 5 years, when he breaks up with her for his personal trainer who is much younger. The girls create a contest. Adriana is suppose to find a guy she loves and will marry within a year. Emmy is supposed to have one-night stands with some guys and "live" a little. They think Leigh is perfect and doesn't don't need to change anything about her life. Leigh isn't happy though and knows something needs to change. During this year each woman grows up a little and becomes more true to who they are.

Why did I read this book?

I really liked The Devil Wears Prada so I was wanting to read another book by this author.

What I liked most:

I liked how each woman had to make difficult decisions, but they did it. They knew they wanted to change and they went for it.

Was there something I didn't like?

Sometimes the bickering between the three got on my nerves. That was probably more an issue with me and not the book though.

Do I recommend the book?

I do. I don't think it was as good as The Devil Wears Prada, but I still thought it was a really good story.

 

Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Leave me a comment to let me know and I'll link it below.

Sorry, no linked reviews yet.

 

 Happy Reading and thanks for stopping by……Kris

Non-Fiction Five Challenge

The Non-fiction five challenge is being hosted by Trish's Reading Nook this year.  Click here to go to the specific post regarding the challenge. 

I've participated in this the last two years (I think it's been two years, I know I did last year for sure).   I haven't done too well with this in the past, but I'm hoping to do very well this year and am excited to see it as a challenge again.

The rules as listed on Trish's blog:

The Rules (unchanged from previous years)

1. Read 5 non-fiction books during the months of May - September, 2009 (please link your reviews on Mister Linky each month; Mister Linky can be found each month on this blog)

2. Read at least one non-fiction book that is different from your other choices (i.e.: 4 memoirs and 1 self-help)

3. If interested, please sign up below with the link to your NFF Challenge post (all choices do not need to be posted and may change at any time)

I do have some books that I'll plan to read, but since that never goes well, I'm not going to list them. haha!  You'll just have to visit each month to see how I do.

No Sanctuary by F. M. Meredith

Copyright:2009

Publisher: Oak Tree Press

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 182

Challenges: The Pub Challenge

New-to-me author? yes

Author's website

Simple Description

Officer Stacey Wilbur is on patrol one night when she spots a car that had crashed into a tree. She immediately calls for assistance and checks to see if the driver is dead. Unfortunately, she is. However, there is too much blood for this to be just a traffic accident. When help arrives, they find that the woman driver had been shot. They also find out that the woman was the wife of a local minister, a very prominent minister. Stacey is asked to help the detectives with the murder investigation. There seem to be a lot of people who could have wanted the women killed, including her own husband and the wife of another minister in town. While doing this is also asked to help out in another case, one where she has to dress up like a prostitute.

Why did I read this book?

I enjoy a good mystery and this one sounded good. I noticed on the cover it says that it's a Dark oak mystery, but I can't find anywhere a listing that shows the series in order. So I'm not sure if it's the 2^nd or further along. Either way I was able to read the book without feeling like I was missing something but not having started with the first.

What I liked most:

I really liked Stacey and her parents. She is a young widow with a young child. She lives with her parents and they help take care of her son. They sound like the sweetest parents. They understand the demands of her job and don't mind taking care of their grandson whenever it's needed. How lucky is that?

Was there something I didn't like?

As I was reading it I noticed a couple of errors. I was like well, ok, the editor should have caught those because they were pretty obvious, but what can I do? Well, I was looking at the authors website and found that somebody did notify her of the errors. She notified the publishing company and got them corrected! Yeah! She is also hosting a contest to those who have copies of the book from before the errors were corrected and find the errors. To read more about it, click here. Unfortunately I'm too lazy to find the error's again, or I would join myself.

Do I recommend the book?

I do. I thought this was a good story. I really liked Stacey and hope to read more about her and her love interested (another cop).

Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Leave me a comment to let me know and I'll link it below.

Bookworms ballroom

Happy Reading and thanks for stopping by……Kris

Cake Recipe from The School of Essential Ingredients

Oh yes..that's right...the recipe. Thank you so much EricaB for posting a comment with a link to the recipe (and due to your first name and last name initial - are you by chance the author?)

Anyway, the recipe was give to Booking Mama in a guest post by the author and so now I have it and I'm going to share it with you. For the original post, please click here.

Do you think anybody would mind if I just re-posted it here? I hope not because I'm going to. I'll remove it if asked though. So here it is:

Carl and Helen’s Cake
2 2/3 cups sifted cake flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
3 tsp vanilla extract
4 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 3 8" cake pans. Separate eggs, set aside.Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.Beat butter until soft. Add sugar; beat several minutes (until fluffy!). Add one egg yolk at a time, beating after.Add flour mixture alternately with milk. Flour-milk-flour-milk-flour. Beat egg whites. When peaks are soft, add sugar. Beat until peaks are stiff, but don't overbeat!

Cook 20-25 minutes. Cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting:
1 cup unsalted butter
4 cups confectioner's sugar (plus more if necessary)
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla

Beat butter until soft. Add sugar gradually, along with vanilla and milk/whipping cream.


I actually made a cake over the weekend.(cake, frosting, and filling all from scratch! Think: chocolate cake, cheesecake icing filling, whipping cream icing on top and sides, oreo's crumbled and sticking to the sides. oh yeah.....). As luck would have it, I have some whipping cream left over. I believe enough for this recipe. So you know what that means? Before the whipping cream goes bad I'm going to be making this cake. I'll be sure to share how it works out with all of you.

I think the only thing I'm going to mess with the first time around, adding almond extract to the icing. I love almond extract. Yum yum yum. I have no idea how much to add, so it will be an experiment. I wish you all lived in STL and then I could make a cake and have you all over.

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister

Copyright: 2009
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 256
Challenges: The Pub Challenge
New-to-me author? Yes
Author's website

Simple Description
Lillian is a chef at her own restaurant and offers cooking classes on Monday night. This most recent class is a mix of single adults, a married woman, and a married couple. Each person in the class, including the teacher, gets their own section of this story. Mixed in with their stories we learn what is going on in cooking class. You learn about how Lillian ended up being a chef and how cooking has always been a part of her life. Next we learn about Claire. She is married with two small children. She loves her husband and her kids, but just doesn't feel like herself anymore. We also learn about Carl and Helen. They are a married couple and Helen had an affair at one point. You get to read about what happened from each view and how they were able to get past it. Tom is another class member. His wife passed away and he is still grieving. There are several other students, but I'm not going to talk about each one. Each story is interesting and captivating in its own way. The author weaves each characters story into the different meals that are cooked. The food descriptions are wonderful. There is one section where the class bakes a cake and I wanted to do nothing else but bake a cake right along with them. In fact, I did bake a cake on Sunday. I thought of the book and the cake descriptions the entire time.

Why did I read this book?

I admit that I was offered a copy to review. It sounded like a great book, so I gave it a try. I'm soo glad I did.

What I liked most:
I loved the food and cooking descriptions mixed in with the characters stories. I'm not a cook. I don't enjoy cooking. Yet I loved reading about how to cook etc, even if the meals too longer. Of course, I do love to bake. So the description of making the cake was wonderful. I even tried some of the things that were mentioned.

Also I have a new favorite quote which I also used in the header for my blog. I've never used a zester, but I do love shoes. "She felt about her zester the way some women do about a pair of spiky red shoes----a frivolous splurge, good only for parties, but oh so lovely." Pg. 25

Was there something I didn't like?
It was too short. Ok, I mean that's not really a complaint, but it was a shorter story and it was so good that I would have loved to keep reading it.

Do I recommend the book?
Absolutely! I think a lot of people will enjoy this book.

OH..and you know what else? I wish there had been recipes in the book. After I read the bit about the cake, I flipped to the back to see if there was a recipe and was disapointed. I would have loved to make that cake with directions on how to make it just like Lillian.

This book has also been reviewed by:
Redlady's Reading Room
Lesa's Book Critiques
Bermudaonion
Peeking Between the Pages
Diary of an Eccentric

Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Leave me a comment to let me know and I'll link it above

Happy Reading and thanks for stopping by……Kris

New heading photo with quote

I put a new heading photo, complete with new quote on my blog. If you get the time take a peak and let me know what you think! I think I have the quote a bit to bold and big, but I'm too lazy to fix it. Maybe this weekend.

The quote is from my current read, The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister. So far I'm not very far into the book but really enjoying it. The quote stuck out because while I'm not much of a cook (although I love to bake), I do love shoes. haha!

Booking Through Thursday - Worst Book You've Ever Read

How about, “What’s the worst ‘best’ book you’ve ever read — the one everyone says is so great, but you can’t figure out why?”

For me, it would be A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. In fact, I don't even count it as one I've read, I didn't finish it. I didn't even get half-way through it. I thought the kid was rather annoying to be honest. I just didn't get it at all.

Techie Help – Tech speak

I'm sure several of you have experienced this scenario. You ask somebody for help with the computer, and they say a term and you have no idea what it is. Or they tell you to go to a specific area…and you don't know how to get there. In my case, I'm usually the only telling somebody to go somewhere or calling something by a term they are unfamiliar with. So I compiled a list of common terms and common areas of the pc that can help you in the future. All of these are ones that I have users get confused by all the time, so if you already know them…give yourself a pat on the back..and if you didn't know that's what it meant…you aren't alone. If you have any questions or want a better explanation…leave a comment. Or maybe you thought of a term that you want me to explain..leave a comment or email me. Hope you enjoy this and maybe it will help you a bit. (and just so you know..I'm still working on an excel techie help. I just knew I haven't posted any techie help in awhile and this was faster for me to create….but fear not…one day you will get an excel one)

Browser – a browser is basically the program you use to get to the internet. The most common ones are Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. If somebody tells you to open up a browser they just want you to open up an internet screen and if you are asked to close all browsers, that means close all open internet screens.

Control Panel – the control panel is a place that you might not go to often in your daily laps around the computer, but in a support position, it's a place I'm always telling people to go to. Depending on what version of Windows you use (sorry mac users – I can't help you here) depends on how you get to it. For Windows 2000 or if you are using XP but have it looking like 2000 – you click on Start, then settings, then control panel. For Windows XP and Vista – you click on start and then control panel. If you are using Windows XP, if you are asked to click on something but don't see it listed, look towards the left side. If you have an option that says "switch to classic view" click on that. Vista users – I don't use vista although I do support it. I know the control panel looks different and some items were renamed but since I don't have easy access to a vista pc, I can't cover it here.

Hard/cold reboot vs soft reboot – If you are asked to do a soft reboot, this usually means that you need to go to start and then select shut down and either shutdown or restart (depending on what they are asking you to do). If you are asked to do a hard or cold reboot, that usually means you have lost control of your computer and need to hold in the power button to turn it off. I usually ask users to hold in the power button until the pc turns off, to which they say they tried that and it never turned off. So of course my response is to ask them to hold in the power button until the pc turns off. No kidding. It might seem like it takes a long time to actually turn off, but just keep holding in the power button, it will eventually turn off. It is then recommended that you wait at least 30 seconds before turning it back on. Also, make sure you are turning the computer off and not the monitor. We get a lot of calls where the person turns off the monitor and not the computer, which doesn't help.

Taskbar – The taskbar is the bar that has the start button and displays all open programs/files. The default location is the bottom of your pc but it can be moved.

Desktop – The desktop is what you see when you don't have any windows open or all or minimized. When you first turn on your pc and you see all your icons – you are looking at your desktop.

Address bar in Internet explorer or any browser – This is one that people use all the time, but don't always know what it's called. I often have to give somebody the exact address to a website and ask them to type it into their address bar but most type it into a search field. The address bar sometimes says address by it, but not always. If you don't see an address bar, you can go to the toolbars section of your browser and activate it. If you know the exact webaddress you want to go to, such as my blog http://notenoughbooks.blogspot.com/, instead of typing it into a search field and hitting on search, just type it into the address bar. It's less work and you get the exact page you want.

URL – The URL is also called an address or web address. It's the address for a website. Again, using my blog as an example, my URL is http://notenoughbooks.blogspot.com/ . I normally call this an address or web address because people understand that better, but if you see URL, you now know what it is. Of course, if you have ever signed up for a challenge or something else using Mr. Linky, you probably already know this since it requires a URL.

Task manager – Good old task manager. This can be a very useful tool. I'm not going to get into great detail. Basically, it will show you what programs are currently open, if they are not responding, etc. You can get to task manager a couple of different ways. The most common way is to do ctrl+alt+del on your keyboard. Then select the option for task manager. If you click on the applications tab, you will see all the programs currently open/running on your pc. If the status of any of them is not responding, you can click on the task and then click on "end task" at the bottom. This is handy when a program stops responding and your pc is frozen. You can usually get task manager to come up and by ending the task that is causing the problems, you save yourself from having to shut down the pc. To close out of task manager, just click on the "x" in the top right. Now, if you click on the processes tab, you can see a list of processes that are running and how much of the cpu they are using. If you click on cpu twice, you will normally get system idle process at the top with a rather large number, mine currently shows 97. The next listing is for winword (or word) and it shows about 05. What that tells you is that I'm using word but not doing anything major so it's not using a lot of resources, system idle means that most of my pc is just idle – not doing anything. This is pretty common. I actually had a co-worker, seriously – somebody on the helpdesk – look at her task manager one day and want to know what the system idle process was and why it was so high. I asked if she was currently doing anything on her pc, she said no, I stated that her system was idle, so that was correct. She didn't get it. I think she's still confused. If you aren't doing anything…say you are just sitting there looking at your pc, you're idle. So even if you have programs open on your pc, if the programs aren't running (such as doing a virus scan) or you aren't typing or actively using the programs, your system will be idle. It's just sitting there.

Dancing in the Dark by Mary Jane Clark

Copyright:2005
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 339
Challenges:
New-to-me author? Yes
Author's website

Simple Description

I took the following from Amazon.com:

In Clark's latest KEY News mystery (after Hide Yourself Away, etc.), correspondent Diane Mayfield heads to the quaint New Jersey beach town of Ocean Grove, not for a much-needed vacation but because even the sunniest of resorts has its newsworthy, hidden darkness. When Leslie Patterson, a young Ocean Grove woman reported missing for three days, is rescued virtually unharmed and claims she was kidnapped, police, friends and family believe her disappearance was a hoax and a cry for attention. Diane's producer Joel Malcolm sees the pseudo-kidnapping as grist for his "Girls Who Cry Wolf" feature and sends Diane to cover it for the network's Dateline-style Hourglass program. But the feature story becomes hard news when a second young woman is kidnapped and found dead. Suddenly, victim number one's story becomes credible, and the police, Diane, and her news crew start to take the investigation seriously as multiple Ocean Grove residents have motive and opportunity to have committed the crimes. Clark's latest competent showing will intrigue her eager fans, if not more discerning mystery readers.

Why did I read this book?

I belong to a book group online and Mary Jane Clark was the author of the month. I have never read anything by her, although several have told me I would like her work. So I decided to buddy read this book with a couple other group members.

What I liked most:

I thought it was a good mystery. I knew who I wanted the bad person to be, but really didn't know who it was until the very end.

Was there something I didn't like?

I'm picky about the format of the books I read. So this is something that bothered me a bit, just to the point where several times I just wished they did it different, but it's probably something that won't bother others. There were a lot of chapters in this book (which I love – I hate really long chapters). What bothered me was that sometimes new chapters were started on the same page that another chapter ended. I prefer new chapters to be on a new page. See, that's it. No biggy, it's not even something about the writing or the book.

Do I recommend the book?

I really do. This was a great mystery book. The story kept me interested and I really liked the aspect with the veteran. The author had a veteran in this book who was having issues after serving in the war. It wasn't the main issue with the book, but a real one. It was something that is of interest to me so it stuck out.

And..I didn't put my own simple description because I'm just in a funk and not up to much. I'm not really reading emails, not reading google reader, etc. you get the idea. I'm not motivated to do much of anything. Hopefully I'll be back into the swing of things soon and the next review will have my own description.

Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Leave me a comment to let me know and I'll link it below.

Also Reviewed by:

Confessions of a Book Addict

Happy Reading and thanks for stopping by……Kris

The 13th Reality: The Hunt for Dark Infinity by James Dashner

Copyright: 2009

Publisher: Shadow Mountain

Genre: Young Adult

Pages: 433

Challenges: The Pub Challenge

New-to-me author? No

Author's website

 

Simple Description

Tick, Paul, and Sofia are all hanging out at Tick's house when they are summed by Master George. It appears there is something going on with the realities that is cause for concern. When the three go to the cemetara to be whisked away, Mr. Chu, Tick's science teacher, shows up and convinces them to put some kind of device on their arms. T hey are then winked away, but not where they thought they were going. The are sent to this reality where the buildings are all built below the ground. There they are chased by metaspides and then winked away to a desert. There they encounter a long cylindrical pipe that has a hidden door. Once inside they press a button hat starts yet another challenge where they are afraid for their lives. The three can't believe that Master George is behind this, but if he isn't, then who is?

Back with Master. George…he realizes that something is wrong with the three kids and sends somebody out to find them. They are found and a locator is put on Tick so that Master George can follow him from reality to reality. It appears that Reginald Chu is behind all of this. He has set up a series of challenges and if Tick makes it alive, then Tick is supposed to be his partner running Dark Infinity. If Mistress Jane kills Tick, then she gets to be Chu's partner.

Dark infinity is an invention my Reginald Chu that seems to make people go crazy. Master. George sends Sato out to get a sample of blood from an infected person. However things go horrible wrong and Sato ends up being infected. He makes it back to Mr. George in time to tell them what happened so that a cure can be found.

Why did I read this book?

I read the first in the series and really enjoyed it. Then a couple of weeks ago this one arrived in the mail. I wasn't expecting it and was excited for days, I couldn't wait to read it.

What I liked most:

I like the adventure and that it's fun. Tick, Paul, and Sofia are going out on these wild adventures that are dangerous, but sound like loads of fun at the same time.

Was there something I didn't like?

While I like all the charactors, I thought it was a bit annoying that Paul and Sofia always seemed to be going after one another. I get that it's just who they are and they clash a bit, but sometimes it got annoying.

Do I recommend the book?

Yes. I think kids will really like this one. The characters are good, the adventure is fun, and the books are well written. I wish books like this were around when I was growing up!

 

Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Leave me a comment to let me know and I'll link it below.

Sorry, no linked reviews yet.

 

 

 

Happy Reading and thanks for stopping by……Kris

Friday Fill-in #115

1. When I look to the left, I see a yucky cube wall but I made it better by hanging pictures of my family and vacations.

2. Either the kitchen, family room, or master bedroom is the room that has the best view in my home. They all have windows facing the backyard.

3. Let it work out ok.

4. Yardwork done dirt cheap! ('cuz it was me doing the work)

5. Paying taxes is a responsibility that all qualified citizens must share.

6. If you have any m&m's feel free to share with me!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading, tomorrow my plans include finishing the backsplash in the kitchen and maybe starting on the bathroom demolition and Sunday, I want to relax and do nothing but doubt that will happen!

Booking Through Thursday – movie potential

What book do you think should be made into a movie? And do you have any suggestions for the producers?

Or, What book do you think should NEVER be made into a movie?

It's hard to sit here and think of books to be made into a movie. I usually think about this after I finish reading the book.

I would like to see the first Stephanie Plum book made into a movie.

I would also like to see Anne Rice's witch series made into a series of movies. My suggestion for the producers here would be to keep true to the book. Don't include things in the first movie that didn't happen in the first book, etc.

The Bodies Left Behind by Jeffery Deaver

Confessions of a Contractor by Richard Murphy – I think this could make a good comedy

Um…wow…I can't think of any! What a hard question for me. I can't wait to see what others have answered for this one because I know I'm missing a lot.

Thursday Thunks

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by Berleen, the color puke green and the number 12345.

1. You are walking down the road and you look down. There is a bug. Do you step on it? Not if I can help it. Sure, I kill bugs in my house and when gardening, but if they are just using the same sidewalk to take a stroll, I don't.

2. What is one fantasy that you want to come true more than any other? To own my own bookstore, selling mysteries only. I already have a name for it and everything.

3. Someone knocks on your door. Do you look out the window to see who it is before you open it? Do you open it regardless of who it is? I'll try to see if I can tell who it is by looking out the window, but I open it anyway. They can just as easily look inside the window and see me.

4. Have you ever eaten Play Doh? Not that I know of.

5. What was your favorite Saturday morning cartoon as a child and why? Scooby Doo, if it was on Saturdays, we weren't allowed to really watch tv growing up.

6. Are you a "people watcher"? Absolutely!

7. I have a bowl of fruit. There are apples, oranges & pears. You help yourself to one - which one do you choose? Depending on the type of apples, it would be an apple. If it's a type I don't like, orange.

8. What is your biggest pet peeve in the blogging world? Having to enter word verifications for comments. Although one step up would be having to enter a word verification and then the owner still approves the message (what's the point of doing both?). I hate doing word verification. I would rather people just set their blogs to where they have to approve all comments instead.

9. What is one religion that you could just never see yourself joining? I don't do well with any and all organized religions – the religion itself doesn't matter (pssst – I have issues with authority). So I don't see myself ever joining one. I was raised with a specific religion but don't approve of a lot of things that come with that religion, so don't consider myself a part of it and stopped practicing it as soon as I moved out of my parents house.

10. What word do you use far too often? Fine, whatever. I know that's two words, but they go together.

11. How long do you spend in the shower? About 10-30 minutes, depends on if I have to wash my hair or shave – or both.

12. If you were to write a personal ad about yourself, what would it say? Why would I be writing a personal ad?

13. Your favorite flavor of soup is....? Tomato? Maybe? I don't really like soup.

14. You are sitting on a bench in the park and a bug walks in front of your feet.... do you squash him? Isn't this kinda like #1? I wouldn't squash the bug just for walking near me. If the bug tried to attach itself to me..that's a whole other story.

Love and Sand by Howard M. Layton

Full title: Love and Sand: An RAF Flyer's Memoir of Love, Lies, and Mayhem in the World War II Deserts of North Africa

Copyright: 2008

Publisher: Three Spires Publishing

Genre: Non-Fiction

Pages: 312

Challenges: War Through the Generations

New-to-me author? Yes

Author's website

Simple Description

Howard Layton was a member of the RAF (Royal Air Force) during WWII. He was stationed in North Africa the whole time. This story is about his time in North Africa while serving for the RAF as well as his trials of love lost and found during that time.

In the end there is also a kind of recap telling what he is up to now and also a bit about some of the people mentioned in this memoir.

Why did I read this book?

I thought this would be a good fit for the War Through the Generations challenge. I also had never read anything about what went on in North Africa during WWII, so welecomed learning about that.

What I liked most:

Normally everything you learn and hear about is what is going on in Europe, so I thought it was interesting to learn a bit about what was happening in North Africa.

Was there something I didn't like?

Well, from my short "simple description" you can probably guess that I wasn't jumping up for joy after reading this book. There was not a lot of detail about what actually as far as fighting the war goes. The majority of the book is details about what Layton did while off-duty and about his first true love and a couple of loves after that. I wanted more information about fighting or duties. In fact, the author didn't see much fighting (which is what I could gather – and is great for him!) so there just wasn't too much to really talk about. He does talk about a couple of fighting missions. He only goes into great detail with one of them.

There was also one part where he is in the ocean and can't swim back to shore. He feels he is going to die and starts thinking about his first true love, Verna. Ok, I get that, I think most of us would. However he goes on to describe sexual feelings and acts at this point. I don't know, I guess that is what happened at the time, but I thought it was out of place in this book.

Also, he tended to put direct dialogue in this book. As in, when talking about things that happened, he put quotations around what people said. This gave the impression that it was exactly what each person said. Unless he has a photographic memory or wrote down each conversation, that's just not possible. This bothered me throughout the book because the whole time I'm thinking "There is no way you remember the exact words used in this conversation!". I admit that I haven't read too many memoirs. I also admit that I haven't read any regarding a war, unless you count A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. However, I don't remember any of the other memoirs being written like this.

Do I recommend the book?

I don't know, a lot bothered me about the book, yet it was an interesting take on a WWII novel. I think I'll let you make the decision in if this would interest you or not. I went online and did a search for other reviews of this book and only found one, but the person did enjoy the book, so check out the link below for another opinion.

 

Other reviews of this book:

Puss Reboots

 

Happy Reading and thanks for stopping by……Kris

The I Suck at Challenges Challenge - Update 2

I came across this one over at book-a-rama and thought I would play along.  I didn't do very well with challenges last year, so I think I qualify for this one. 

This post is a challenge wrap-up for the month of February.

How many books did I read for challenges? 

What challenges did I read for?

Did I finish any?

How is my progress so far?

Overall I'm satisfied with how I did.  I put all the books I'm reading for challenges in one area.  So when I go to pick up a book I browse those first and select one that catches my fancy.  I don't remember which book is for which challenge, I just know it's for at least one.  I think that's why some challenges I don't even have books read for yet, I'm not focusing on one challenge at a time, etc.

Total challenges that I'm competing in as of February 1st: 11

Completed Challenges in February:

20 Books in 2009 - Challenge Completed

Challenges I read a qualifying book for in February:

Series Challenge 3

I read 1 book (Deadly Gift)

At the end of February I had 4/12 series completed

Young Adult

I read 2 books (Eclipse and Steel Trapp: The Challenge)

At the end of February I had 2/12 completed

Paranormal

I read 1 book (Eclipse)

At the end of February I had 3/7 completed

Read-Your-Own Books 

I read 2 books (The Masque of the Black Tulip and Steel Trapp: The Challenge)

At the end of February I had 7/26 completed

9 Books for 2009

I read 1 book (Vampyres of Hollywood)

At the end of February I had 2-9 completed

TBR Challenge

I read 1 book (Peppermint Twisted)

At the end of February I had 2/24 completed (I'm counting my main list and alternate list since I'm going to try and read all of them)

Progress for challenges that I didn't read a book for in February:

War Through The Generations

At the end of February I had 0/5 completed

The Pub Challenge

At the end of February I had 0/9 completed

1st in a series challenge

At the end of February I had 0/12 completed

Chunkster Challenge

At the end of February I had 0/5 completed

Friday Fill-Ins

1. Holding the door open for a co-worker was my last random act of kindness.
   
2. Another place I would rather be is Spain.
   
3. 
   I'm not good in matters of the heart.
   
4. Coffee, tea or water?
   
5. 
   High school friends often take separate paths.
   
6. Our dog reminds me that there is joy in this world.
   
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to doing a whole lot of nothing, tomorrow my plans include putting up the backsplash in the kitchen (finally) and Sunday, I want to read and scrapbook and watch tv but will probably be stuck work in the kitchen!
   

Thursday Thunk – a day late

I know, I'm rather late with this one, I'm sure you'll forgive me.

 

1. This cat- Link- scary or cute? Not scary, but not cute, just, well, ugly.
2. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes reproducing again. Good idea or don't care? I could care less. Although..if she is pregnant, it's scary that she doesn't seem to be taking care of her body..which means she's not taking care of the baby. But seeing as how I have never been pregnant, I can't say anything.
3. Do you smile at strangers when you make eye contact? Not really, I try not to make eye contact with strangers though.
4. What percentage of your sarcasm isn't really sarcasm at all? Haha! Now this is a good one, I would say about 30%
5. If you were to be a dog breed, which breed would you be? Saint Bernard.
6. Go grab the closest book. Open up to page 27. Whats the 4th sentence? The General Electric Company had transferred me to it's Ford Street, Coventry Branch, as part of a promotion.
7. When's the last time someone put one over on you, told you a story that you totally fell for when it wasn't anywhere near true? I'm don't know, which means they haven't told me it's not true yet!!!
8. Ever seen Michael Jackson in person? No and don't ever plan to….if you had shown a picture of him for #1, I would have answered "scary".
9. Do you have a gut? I'm going to say….yes.
10. What is one thing in your kitchen you have too many/too much of? Nothing, I keep thinks pretty much clutter free.
11. Ever had a colon cleansing? Nope!

Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer

Copyright: 2008
Publisher: Little Brown
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 768
Challenges: Paranormal 2009,
New-to-me author? no

I'm not going to do my normal review format for this book. In fact, I'm not going to talk about it much. As with the others, my assumption is that you have already read it, plan to read it, or know what the series is about and have no desire to read it.

So I want to say some stuff, but promise not to give away anything. There are NO spoilers.

First, I get it, it's a YA book, so let's keep the sex scenes short and with no detail other than the fact that we know it happened. However, I'm a 30 year old married woman. I wanted more detail!!!!! Do you think that if I emailed Stephanie Meyer and asked for an "adult" version of this book she would do it? Maybe if several of us emailed her? What do you think?

I read some reviews on Amazon that didn't give this book that great of ratings. I personally loved this one. It's my favorite of the 4. I thought the character development was good, the writing was good. I liked Bella the best in this book.

So that's it! See, I didn't give anything away.

Happy Reading and thanks for stopping by……Kris

Buffalo Gal by Laura Pedersen

Copyright: 2008
Publisher: Fulcrum
Genre: non-fiction (memoir)
Pages: 306
Challenges: none
New-to-me author? no


Simple Description
I took the following from the back of the book because it does a great job summing up how I feel about this novel "Combining laugh-out-loud humor with a genuine slice of social history, Buffalo Gal paints a vivid portrait of an era".

In short, this is a re-telling of what it was like growing up for the author. I loved that she included lots of info about what was going on during the time period. She included stuff about the Vietnam War and how it effected her at a young age (or didn't). She included info about when MLK Jr was killed, she include info about segregation, etc. She included info on the economy and the weather in Buffalo NY. I felt that if history teachers had portrayed history lessons in this manner I might have actually remembered some of it! Haha!

I wouldn't really say that anything exciting happened to the author. I suppose being the youngest person on the American Stock Exchanging and making enough to be a millionaire by the time she was 21 is impressive. However, most of this story is about her life up until that point. It appears that she grew up in an average town, had crazy parents (so of course her childhood was a lot more fun than mine), and grew up a bit differently than we did (lack of constant parent supervision). However this isn't a memoir about somebody who survived something horrific, no major drug addictions, etc. It's not going to be on the same page as, say, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. It's about somebody growing up what they considered a normal childhood at the time.

I took the following from the book, doesn't this just sound like tons of fun! :

"When winter arrived, Mr. Pyne made an outdoor skating rink by flooding the backyard. We'd play tag, broomball, and, if Mrs. Pyne wasn't on the lookout, we'd bowl with the frozen chickens she'd picked up on sale and store in the freezer, or play hamburger hockey using frozen beef patties as pucks." P. 84

Why did I read this book?

I have read a couple of fiction novels by the author and really enjoyed them. I know I answered a Booking Through Thursday not so long ago and said I rarely read about authors or their websites, etc, but this book caught my interest. I liked her style of writing in the other books I read and thought I would give this one a try.

What I liked most:

I liked that she weaved what was going on in the US and sometimes World into the story about her life at that time. I liked how she compared the generations too. Her parents were from the generation before the hippies, she was the generation after. She compared that a couple of times. She also compared some of her learning and growing up that was different from her parents. I find stuff like that fascinating.

Was there something I didn't like?

I admit that it took me awhile to really get into it. I wish I would have been gung-ho from the beginning but I imagine if that's the only negative I have, that's not so bad.

Do I recommend the book?

I really do. I think those who like memoirs will like this one. Have you read This Boys Life by Tobias Wolff? That memoir seemed to be about the same type, the author growing up. Nothing major happened, yet I really enjoyed it. Buffalo Gal reminded me of that memoir. Although, one major difference is that I found this one to be pretty funny. I wouldn't say I was laughing out loud a lot, maybe once, but a lot of things made me chuckle to myself.

I just had to include the image towards the left. In the back of the book I saw this. Evidently the publisher uses 100% recycled paper and shows how much was saved by doing this. I love it! I admit that I did not ask the publisher if I could copy it and put that on my blog but I truly hope they don't mind. I'm telling you all where I got it. If they happen to notice this, and don't like it, I'll remove it. But personally, I think it would only help them sell books, with being being more "Green" these days.

Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Leave me a comment to let me know and I'll link it below.

Sorry, no linked reviews yet.

Happy Reading and thanks for stopping by……Kris

February Reads

Fun Reading Facts for February:

Total books read: 9
New Authors: 3
Mystery: 4
Non-Fiction: 0
Fiction: 2
Young Adult: 3
Pages: 3069

Deadly Gift by Heather Graham
Murder Takes the Cake by Gayle Trent
Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
The Bodies Left Behind by Jeffery Deaver
The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
Steel Trapp: The Challenge by Ridley Pearson
Vampyres of Hollywood by Adrienne Barbeau and Michael Scott
Peppermint Twisted by Sammi Carter

February Coupon Savings

I'm actually on-time with this one! For the month of February I saved $124.33 by using coupons and taking advantage of rebates.




Grocery Store:
02/19 - $20.20


Books:
02/05 - $18.90
02/28 - $1.75
Total: $20.65

Scrapbooking: $13.57

Restuarant:

02/01 - $4.95

Walgreens/Target:

02/03 - $5.22

02/16 - $1.00

total: $6.22

Misc. House

02/28 - $12.60

Rebate:

$46.14