Review - The Book of Nonsense by David Michael Slater

Title: The Book of Nonsense (Sacred Book Vol. 1)
Series:: Sacred Books
Author(s):: David Michael Slater
Genre:: Children's Book, YA
Publisher: Blooming Tree Books
Release Date: October 14th 2008
Finished: June 2009
Pages: 256
Challenges: None
Rating:









My Thoughts: This book starts out a little similar to Inkheart by Cornelia Funke: The father buys unusal and antique books and sells them to dealers. In the begining we see him with his daughter, Daphna, also a lover of books. Later we are introduced to her twin brother Dexter, who is not so fond of books. The father finds an strange book that has words of nonsense in it and tries to sell it to a local book store full of magic books. Little does he know that this is the book the store owner has been seeking for years.

The Book of Nonsense is magical and full of surprises, there is no doubt about that. I just wish the beginning wasn't so similar to another book, even though the end is very different. I am interested in seeing where the series goes.

About the Author: David Michael Slater is the author of many children's books. You can visit him at DavidMichaelSlater.com/

Review - You Wanna Go To Willard? by Linda M. Holbrook

Title: You Wanna Go to Willard?

Series:: None

Author(s):: Linda M Holbrook

Genre:: Memior, Biography

Publisher: BookSurge Publishing

Release Date: November 17th 2008

Finished: June 2009

Pages: 244

Challenges: None

Rating:

My Thoughts: I had a chance to review this book thru Boswick Communications. It is not a usual choice for me, but the book sounded very inspirational.
It is a memoir of Linda Holbrook's life growing up. It starts with her finding her path as a teenager and ends somewhere in middle age.
As I read it, in the beginning I felt some kinship with Ms. Holbrook as she dealt with self esteem issues. But as it moved on, that began to fade. There was just so much of the book that, when written out, didn't seem like such a struggle. In the end, it didn't inspire me as much as I hoped.

About the Author: This is the first book for Linda M. Holbrook, who lives in New York and has two grown sons.

Winner of RABW 6/29/09!

Congrats to Becky who said... I recommend L.M. Montgomery. I loved The Blue Castle.

I picked this because I actually have never read anything by Montgomery. I use to watch the Avonlea show that was the Disney channel I believe. The Blue Castle sounded very romantic.



To gaby317 said...
I recommend the Commoner by John Burnham Schwartz. It's the story of Empress Michiko, the first commoner to marry into the Japanese Imperial family. Haruko excels in tennis and through this meets the Crown Prince. The prince admires her greatly and she eventually agrees to marry him against her father's recommendations. Her family worried that she would be lost to them living with the restrictions and expectations of members of the Imperial family, the book covers her isolation and difficult adjustment but with great sympathy and kindness. It's a beautiful love story and I enjoyed getting to know each of the characters.I found it wonderfully written, touching and fascinating to read.

This one seem like it would be okay but didn't really catch my interest.

To Llehn who said...
I would like the recommend Mistress Of The Sun by Sandra Gulland. The book chronicles the life of Louise de la Vallière (1644–1710), mistress to Louis XIV, France's Sun King. Her meteoric rise from an impoverished background to become the king’s mistress attracted unwanted attention and her life was filled with the terrors and tragedies that accompany all internecine tales of palace intrigue. Amid rumors of black magic and sorcery, loved ones would die, and she herself would ultimately arrive at a crossroads where she would be forced to choose between her loyalty to the king and her own personal salvation. Go to http://www.amazon.com/Mistress-Sun-Novel-Sandra-Gulland/dp/0743298926/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246201517&sr=1-1 to learn more about what other people are saying about the book.

This would have been my second pick. The rumors of magic and sorcery sounds quite interesting.

Refer A Book Weekend 6/26/09!

Rules of Refer A Book Weekend: To play all you have to do is recommend a book that you liked and post in the comments. Tell me why you liked the book or link to your review. I will pick a recommendation, then add it to my TBR pile and the person who recommended the book will get to win a book from this Pile of Free Books that I reviewed.I usually post the Refer A Book Weekend post at 12pm EST after I am done work. Each week I will post a new post for you to comment in. The winner will not be picked until Monday so you have the weekend to recommend.


Hint: I am looking for a good historical fiction.

Review - Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

Title: Breaking Dawn

Series:: Twilight Series

Author(s):: Stephenie Meyer

Genre:: Teen Book, Series

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Release Date: August 2nd 2008

Finished: June 2009

Pages: 754 pages

Challenges: None

Rating:

My Thoughts: First let me say, I can't believe how much this book is hated. I was completely unspoiled before I read this, but I had heard people hated and wanted to return the book. I absolutly loved it. There were so many things I didn't see coming. I don't like spoiling anything so I will try to make this spoilerless.

The story takes place as Edward and Bella are getting ready to marry. They go on there honeymoon and comeback to Forks with something extra. Something that is going to kill Bella.
I love the new character, Renessme. I kinda hope Meyer writes a book about her someday. I can't pinpoint what I really loved about this book, but the more I think about it, the more I think the writing was good and the mystery within the story better. I wish there was more of the series to read.

About the Author: Stephenie Meyer is the author of 4 Teen Books and 1 Sci Fi book (all of which we have reviewed here). Visit her at http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/index.html

Interview With Author Crystal Storm

Interview Questions for Crystal Storm

What are your favorite books and authors to read? Dean Koontz, Dan Brown, Matthew Reilly, Thomas Harris, Karen Marie Monning. Funny thing, I’m just recently getting into reading science fiction which is pretty amusing considering that’s what genre my book ended up falling into. I’ve the Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov sitting on my shelf, waiting to get read.

Can you tell me a little about what got you started in writing? I noticed you have a roleplaying game connected to your book, did that have anything to do with it? I started writing before I started roleplaying. I think roleplay just became a natural extension of that creative endeavor. There wasn’t one thing that got me started writing either, I just did it. Meant to be and all that. I’ve always been a story-teller. I think the roleplay though, has really helped improve my writing. I’ve been doing that almost every day, for the last ten years. It means I’m always writing something, which is great. Keeps me fresh, keeps my mind humming, and helps combat writers block. A few snippets from the book are actually roleplayed scenes between myself and other really fantastic writers.

Have you played a lot of RPGs? Does that influence your approach to writing? I have played in a few of them. All txt based online and free form. I’ve been RPing for the last ten years, and I think it does show in my writing especially with character views. You’ll notice in my book that you’re not just getting the mindset of one character, you delve into the point of view from all of them.

Do you have any tips for a writer starting out? First things first, write an awesome novel. Dream big, and don’t let it go. This is going to be a long term process. It’s going to take a lot of work, pull you out of your box, and be very businesslike at times. But, I don’t know if there’s any greater feeling for a writer then seeing your book in someone else’s hands, watching their face while they enjoy something you created.

You just released a new book called Synarchy. Could you tell us a little about it? In their quest to dominate the world, a powerful crime family, the Terenzio’s, discover who the real players are that control the planet, and just how far they’re willing to go to keep their hold on humanity. Because of sheer arrogance, and the fact that they may be the only ones who can, Terenzio decides to fight back. Now, they’ve got until December 21st, 2012, to stop a sinister, centuries old plan, and give Earth a choice it was never given before. You can get a copy on Amazon, or from now until the summer solstice, I’m offering personalized autograph copies. See the books website at www.synarchynovel.com for more details.

The synopsis talks about bloodlines, 2012, dark secrets and betrayal... How do those themes fit together in this book? Book One is about the discovery of certain mind blowing, life altering secrets, and how that knowledge has split a family in two; the betrayal. Then, once you know what do you do about it? Why do you choose that path? To top it all off your on a deadline, and someone is going to be proven right on or before December 21st, 2012. I think Synarchy puts forth the opposing views on those questions and leaves it up to the reader who’s the good guy and who’s the bad guy.

How much of the story is personal drama (love/betrayal) compared to thriils/action? Was that a balance you aimed for? I did aim for that balance. Book One really delves into a lot of history behind these characters, and why everything is happening. But, I didn’t just want it to be a really interesting history lesson, lol. So, it does have some action. Not nearly as much as Book two will have, but I think it does all right. The readers will let me know if I’ve hit my goal.

In the synopsis you say that humanity has been kept prisoner. How so? That’s a loaded question, lol. It’s going to be difficult for me to summarize my answer but I’ll give it a shot. Humanity has been lead to believe that life is very mundane, systematic process. You wake up, you go to work, you come home, you spend time with your family, you go to bed, you do it all again the next day. And in a nutshell that’s it. That’s what you’re stuck with for approximately the next 80 years, then you die, and what happens after that depends on your belief system. But, what if life wasn’t that mundane? What if some of the fantastical things you watch on TV are possible? What if the people you trusted, the very ones that have you locked in this repetitive system knew that you had far more potential than you remembered, and were purposefully keeping that knowledge to themselves? In that way, I believe humanity has been kept prisoner, from the fantastical, awesome nature of what we as individuals are really capable of.

Do you have a favorite part in the book? Yes I do. There is a scene between Stefano and his second wife, a flash back that I particularly love.

Do you think anything will really happen in 2012? I think it’s already happening and that once we get to 2012, we can look forward to the end of life as we know it and the start of something else, a lot more fun.

I want to thank you Shannon, for giving me the opportunity to swing by your awesome blog and chat with you and your readers! I really hope they enjoy Synarchy as much as I did writing it. To learn more about the book, myself, my podcasts and all the other crazy things I’ve got going on visit www.synarchynovel.com

Review - The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

Title: The Last Olympian
Series:: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Author(s):: Rick Riordan
Genre:: Young Adult Book
Publisher: Disney Hyperion Books for Children
Release Date: May 5th 2009
Finished: May 2009
Pages: 381
Challenges: None
Rating:









My Thoughts: I started reading this series when the last book came out, The Battle at the Labyrinth, and I consider that the best of the run even after reading this one. This is a good book, but something was missing, even though it is action packed.

I liked the parts that tell you about the characters' backgrounds and history. The legends and myths were interesting, and the first couple books had more of that. There was a good amount of backstory in this book, but I still wanted more.

I think followers of Harry Potter will enjoy these books because of all the magic and legends. The world created in this series is not as defined as Potter's, but has it's own charm.


About the Author: Rick Riordan is the author of several adult mystery books and a number of children stories, including 4 earlier books from the Percy Jackson series. You can visit him at Rick Riordan.com

Summer of Hitchcock - North by Northwest

Amy at My Friend Amy has an event going on called The Summer of Hitchcock. Watch the Hitchcock movies listed here every week and then write about them. I thought it sounded like fun because the only Hitchcock movie I remember is Psycho and parts of The Birds.







I am behind on my posts. I watched North by Northwest the first week of the Summer of Hitchcock and I was surprised how much I liked it. This one was probably was the one I was most excited about. As soon as Amy posted about the Summer of Hitchcock I was interested.

My favorite scene was probably where the main character was drunk and trying to tell his story to the police.

The main thing my husband and me were surprised was that these movies stand the test of time and are still good.



"Also, here's a little meme you can do for Summer of Hitchcock...feel free to put your responses on your blog and leave a link in Mister Linky. Just include in parentheses that it's the meme and not a review of North by Northwest."

1) What film are you most looking forward to watching this summer?
2) How many Alfred Hitchcock films have you seen before?
3) Which one is your favorite?
4) Is there one you don't like?
5) Is there one you wish was on the list but isn't?


1) I am looking forward to all but Psycho. I have watched that one enough times that I don't think I need to see again for a while.

2) I have seen Psycho and The Birds and now North by Northwest.

3)I enjoy North by Northwest a lot.

4) I am tired of Psycho. I don't remember The Birds that well so that will be interesting to see again.

5) I was kinda hoping that some his earlier movie would be on the list just because I have my dad's set of Hitchcock movies but they are all older. Oh well maybe they are not as good.

Review - Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman

Title: Blueberry Girl
Series:: none
















Author(s):: Neil Gaiman
Genre:: Children's Book, Picture Book
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: March 10th 2009
Finished: May 2009
Pages: 32
Challenges: None
Rating:









My Thoughts:
This book attracted me not only because of it's artwork, but also because of the author, Neil Gaiman. This did not look like Gaiman's usual work. It was written for singer Tori Amos' daughter as poem and prayer.

What I liked most about the book was the flow of the prose; it really is beautiful. I think this would be a great babyshower gift for a mother having a girl.

About the Author: Neil Gaiman has written many books and comic books for children and adult. A few of his books have been made into movies, including Stardust (and he's one of my husband's favorite authors). Check out his offical website and blog Neil Gaiman.com

Winner Of Signed Book Giveaway The Bored Book

And the Winner(who is picked by a random number generator) is number 3

MJ who said... It sounds great. I think my kindergarten kids would love it.

Congrats MJ! I will contact you soon.

Tomorrow I will announce the new Mystery Signed Book Giveaway. So watch Twitter tomorrow as I Tweet about the next book .

Bloggiesta - Finish Line

Well i didn't get as much done as I hoped. I only got 4 reviews done and nothing else. I didn't get to any challenges either ...boooo!

I guess I will try harder next time.

Bloggiesta - Things to do

Okay I guess I should have posted this with my first post but here it is anyway. Things I needs to do.

1. I have about 8 books to review:
When You Are Engulfed In Flames
The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 5)

"You Wanna Go To Willard
Blueberry Girl
Breaking Dawn (Twilight, #4)
The Book of Nonsense (Sacred Books: Volume 1)
The Book Thief
The Off Season

2.Work on some odds and ends like, mailing books , writing emails

3. try some of the mini challeges.

Bloggiesta!

There will be no Refer A Book Weekend this weekend because I participating in Maw Book's Bloggiesta Event.
Below is the info on the event.

Are you ready to party again?! So, we’ve had the 24 Hour Read-a-thon, 48 Hour Book Challenge and the Mystery Read-a-thon recently and if you’re like me then you still have piles of books laying around and blog posts to be written. My official count of unreviewed books is sitting at around 25. That’s not counting the 5+ author interviews and let’s not even mention that I haven’t done my weekly reader spotlight for almost two months now. What’s worse is that I’m writing my posts on a day to day basis when ideally I’d love to have a lot of posts finished as rainy day backups.

So, I intend to sit down and tackle all of my book reviews, interviews, emails and bloggy housekeeping but thought it would be a lot more fun if I had some company. When I put some feelers out via Twitter I got a great response and people were eager to start right away.

So, it’s with a little fear and trepidation that I announce the first edition of the Bloggiesta! The Bloggiesta will focus on blog content, improving/cleaning up your blog or working on your social network profiles. I’m pretty open on what you can do during the bloggiesta but reading actually won’t count! I know, I know. The point is to catch up instead of adding another book to the “to be reviewed” pile.

Actual blog content is what I’m really aiming for with some technical/housekeeping bloggy stuff mixed in for good measure.

What to do during the Bloggiesta?

• Write book, movie, TV, product reviews. Any reviews really.
• Write backup posts for a rainy day.
• Write that great post idea from three months back.
• Work on series posts.
• Write guest posts.
• Put out invitations for guest posts.
• Conduct and edit author interviews.
• Create template posts for your future reads (ie: title, images, linking, tags, etc,) so you can open up, write review and post without being bogged down with technicalities
• Clean up your tags, archives, books reviewed list, etc.
• Improve your blog template, clean up sidebars, add a favicon, install those plugins that you’ve been meaning to do.
• Add or edit your about me page, review policy, create landing pages (for example - an about me for Twitter readers page) or any other pages you might have.
• Any bloggy type housekeeping that you’ve been neglecting.
• Clean up and update your challenge lists. Link up your posts with hosts.
• Make sure all of your social network profiles are up to date. Brand yourself through those profiles with color scheme, images, etc.
• Go get a gravatar.
• Visit the Blogging Tips group on the Book Blogs Ning and find ways to improve your blog.
• Work on any specialized projects that you may have going.

How to play:

1. The date is Friday, June 19th beginning at 8am, Saturday the 20th and ending Sunday the 21st at 8am (8am your time, wherever you are). That is a total of 48 hours, of which you should aim high for a total of 18-24 hours spent on the challenge. (I chose both a weekday and a weekend to hopefully accommodate different needs and not take up your entire weekend. And yes, that’s only a week away!) The hours spent on the challenge do NOT need to be in a row. Use the entire 48 hour time frame and see what you can do with it. I say aim for 24 hours but really if you can only do six, twelve or eighteen that’s fine too. I just like to have something to aim for.
2. It’s your call as to how much you want to put into it. But you have to put something into it or it’s not a challenge. So stay up all night or sleep and take care of kids when you need to.
3. When you start the challenge, come back to the “starting line” post and link to your specific post about beginning the challenge which is posted on your blog. That way I’ll be able to track participants and know who’s really playing the game.
4. How many updates (if any) you want to do is up to you. Make it work for you. Personally, I plan on making a to do list and then crossing off items as I accomplish them.
5. If you are on Twitter, use the hashtag #bloggiesta to join the chatter.
6. Your final summary post needs to be posted no later than noon on Sunday, June 21st. Come back to the finish line and link to your specific summary post. Your summary should include the number of hours spent on the challenge, what you accomplished and any other experiences you’d like to add.
7. Sign the Mr. Linky now if you intend to join the challenge. That way I’ll know if it will be me, myself, and I or if I’ll have company. If you blog about the challenge, point them to this post. I’ll have a starting line post on Friday to sign in when you begin the challenge. Don’t forget to subscribe, so you’ll be notified of future bloggiesta posts.

Review - The Bored Book by David Michael Slater

Title: The Bored Book Series:: none Author(s):: David Michael Slater Genre:: Children's Book, Picture Book Publisher: Simply Read Books Release Date: October 1, 2009 Finished: May 30, 2009 Pages: 32 Challenges: None Rating: My Thoughts: Here is a picture book that is just that. Full of fun and imaginary pictures, no words. I described the first half of this picture book on Twitter as I read it, and I realized you could describe the picture differently each time. The first pages say so much about about the story: Grandpa is sitting in a chair with a book on his lap watching his grandchildren fight because they are bored. What I enjoyed most about this book was the colorful drawings. (Not all the book is in color, some of it is in detailed pencil drawings.) These pictures say so much about the adventures you can take while reading, whether you are being pushed of a plank by pirates or chased by a yeti. Books can make everything less boring. About the Author: David Michael Slater has written and published over 20 books for children, teens and adult. Visit his site at http://www.davidmichaelslater.com/

Review - The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing by Mayra Calvani and Anne K. Edwards

Title: Slippery Art of Book Reviewing
Series::none
Author(s)::Mayra Calvani and Anne K. Edwards
Genre:: Reference, Non Fiction
Publisher: Twilight Times Books
Release Date: June 15th 2008
Finished: May 11, 2009
Pages: 186
Challenges:None
Rating:









My Thoughts: I first heard of this book through J. Kaye's Book Blog. I have searched the internet and books for info on how to write good book reviews, but I never found anything as detailed as this. I was worried it would get too technical, but the book didn't. It was easy to understand and I'll probably use it frequently. I especially found the part on reviewing children books helpful. It's a small part, but has some good pointers.

About the Author: Mayra Calvani is the author of 4 published books. Visit her site at Mayra Calvani.com.
Anne K. Edwards is the author of 3 published books and one ezine. Visit her at Mystery Fiction.net

Winner of RABW 6/16/09!

The winner is .... Sherrie who said...Hi!
I recommend "Are you there God? It's me, Margaret" by Judy Blume. You can see my review at my place, Just Books.
http://sherriesbooks.blogspot.com/2009/06/are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret.html Have a great weekend!

You know I have never read any Judy Blume I was more into Beverly Cleary. So I think I will give this one a shot.




To Susieqtpie who said...I would like to recommend "B as in Beauty" by by Alberto Ferreras! IT wasn't anything like I expected! It was a fun book with a great theme threading through it! I've spoken to the author- he is on twitter- and asked him to write more about this character and others in the book! So time will tell!!!

Sounds almost like an Ugly Betty episode sounded okay maybe for another time.

To Book Bird Dog who said...Hi, I recommend Purple Hibiscus by an award winning Nigerian author, whose book i have reviewed on my blog, www.bookbirddog.blogspot.com
The novel features a 15 year old girl in Nigeria who tries to make sense of her father's strict home and religious rules while being exposed to another world by her aunt, a university professor.

This one didn't really grab me. Sorry.


To Llehn who said...

I'd like to recommend Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. Here's a blurb on the book :

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.

I haven't read this one yet but I have friends who have and they told me that if I only read one book this year this is the one. Here's the review up at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Shiver-Maggie-Stiefvater/dp/0545123267/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244907659&sr=1-1

The catch is the book is only released in August.

I have heard of this one before it sounds like a good one. The title always throws me off and I think it is another book. Maybe next time.

Refer A Book Weekend 6/12/09

Rules of Refer A Book Weekend: To play all you have to do is recommend a book that you liked and post in the comments. Tell me why you liked the book or link to your review. I will pick a recommendation, then add it to my TBR pile and the person who recommended the book will get to win a book from this Pile of Free Books that I reviewed.I usually post the Refer A Book Weekend post at 12pm EST after I am done work. Each week I will post a new post for you to comment in. The winner will not be picked until Monday so you have the weekend to recommend.


Hint: Can't really think of a subject in particular that I am interested in the moment. Give me Anything.

Interview with Georgia Evans AKA Rosemary Laurey

Interview Georgia Evans AKA Rosemary Laurey

What are your favorite books and authors to read?

Auto buys for me are Charlaine Harris's Sookie series, Chelsea Quin Yarbro's eternal Count Sainte Germaine books, Catherine Asaro and Anita Burgh. Also really enjoy Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville series, and Tanya Huff's Blood Series. Have never lost my taste fro Josephine Tey, Agatha Christie, Frank Yerby and Goergette Heyer and almost every year I reread Forever Amber and M M Kaye's Far Pavillions. Two truly Epic novels.


Do you have a routine when you write?

Depends at which point in the book. Towards the end I write like crazy for long periods. Otherwise actually writing is 3-4 hours per day. This doesn't include the business or promo side of writing.

Do you have any tips for a writer starting out?

WRITE. WRITE. WRITE Finish the book/story and SEND IT OUT. Also develop a thick skin as rejection is part of the business.


You just released a new book, the first in a series, called Bloody Good. Can you tell us something about it?

Bloody Good is the first in a Trilogy set in Surrey in South East England in the autumn of 1940. Just after the fall of France and when the fear of invasion was at its height. The Germans have dropped a nest of vampire spies on Surrey around the village of Brytewood. However they picked the wrong village. Some of the inhabitants of Brytewood are not ordinary countryfolk. They posses various and varied paranormal abilities that they will marshall to defeat the enemy among them.
Bloody Good takes place during September, Bloody Awful, October and Bloody Right, November.


What made writing about vampire nazis appealing?

Well, my editor wanted a WW2 book and suggested the vamps be the villains.


What folklore stories are you drawing from?

Old stories I heard as a child, plus more recent study of British folklore, and a whole lot of writerly imagination.


How did the folklore and war come together for you?

There are all sorts of stories about the Downs. (and the rest of the country for that matter) I pulled some of them together with the stories I heard about the War, and a lot of research.


Do you have a favorite part in the book?

Really hard to say. I think in each book, the point I love the most is where the hero and heroine become totally aware of each other's abilities. And realise they love each other despite, (maybe because of!) the fur, claws, scales, magic etc.


Lots of stories draw on English folklore. Do they get it right?
Often

Do you think any of the folklore creatures actually existed?

Hard to say. I grew up totally believing in Fairies and Pixies- but maybe that was naivete. There was an old woman in the village who everyone said was a witch. but maybe because she had a reputation for keeping cricket and tennis balls that landed over her fence. And who's to day dragons don;t exist. There's one on the Welsh flag after all. :-)


Thank you for the interview. If you like you can visit this author website to learn more about her and her books. Go to Brytewood or Rosemary Laurey Offical Site

Creativity Today #2 - Ritual

This Week's Exercise was to create a ritual and do something to make the day feel special this
exercise will last the first three days. The Ritual was to drink a cup of tea in the morning and
cup at night. When you drink it say "I have always dreamed of _______." Fill in the blank with
what ever you want to be when you grow up. And then think through the reasons you may or may not
be able too.

My Morning

The Tea: Scotish Breakfast Tea (no milk, no sugar)

"I have always dreamed of becoming a singer"

I don't talk about this on much because it is not as domiant as it use to be. I find very hard to
sing in front of people. I use to be in chorus in middle school and high school but when standing
next to someone and I had to sing wasn't going to happen so I mostly mouthed the words. I actually
tried out for a play in highschool I went to sing the song I suppose to which was Happy Birthday I
got so nervous my voice cracked really bad throughtout the tryout. So i guess biggest thing is the
fear of not doing well.


My Evening

The Tea: Scotish Breakfast Tea (w/milk & sugar)

"I always dreamed of becoming famous"

Yeah I am that shallow but some ways I think everyone thinks about being famous. I just want to be
known for doing something good or something that inspires people. It's a wish. I have always
been the dreamer.

Tomorrow: More tea?

Review - Michael Recycle Meets Littrebug Doug by Ellie Bethel and Alexandra Columbo

Title: Michael Recycle Meets Doug Litterbug
Series:: Michael Recycle
Author(s)::Ellie Bethel and Alexandra Columbo
Genre:: Children Book , Picture Book
Publisher:Worthwhile Books
Release Date: March 29th 2009
Finished: May 5th 2009
Pages: 32
Challenges:
Rating:









My Thoughts: In this sequel to Michael Recycle, he meets Litterbug Doug, a kid who doesn't want to be clean or recycle. Basically Michael Recycle is the good guy, and Litterbug Doug is the bad guy. The good guy reforms the bad guy, and all is well. I felt like I had heard this story before, and the prose in some areas didn't work for me. I haven't read the first Michael Recycle, so I don't know how that one reads, but I had hoped for more originality considering the subject of the book.

About the Author: I could not find anything on the authors. Let me know if any one has any other info and I will add it here.

Winner of Refer A Book Weekend 6/8/09!

Congrats to NotNessie who said...Try the Pendergast series by Preston and Child. Or, if you like YA, read The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong!
I picked The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong. I read one of her short stories in a anthology book and it was pretty good.

To Kylee who said...I'd like to recommend Shadow Hunt by Anne Logston. I read it a couple of years ago and I really liked it.
This one reminded me of the D& D games I have played with my husband which I get bored of quickly. It could be interesting though.

To Meaghan who said...I really enjoyed Desperation by Stephen King.
This one was made into a movie wasn't it. The description of it seems to remind me of a movie that came out and it looked really good. But whether it is watching or reading Stephen King he is a little to dark and creepy for me right now.

To gaby317 who said...I enjoyed R.F. Delderfield's To Serve Them All of My Days. Its lead character is a Welsh soldier who is recovering from shell shock from having been in France in WWI. He takes on the job of schoolmaster in a posh boarding school in England because he loves History, learning and teaching. It spans about 20 or so years of his career during volatile times in England. It's very well done, touching, and so hard to put down!
I wasn't interested in this one to much because I have trouble with books about war but then again the only one I can think of that sound a little similar(and I mean very little) is Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut

Creativity Today #1

I am going to start a new ...well not event exactly . Just a little post that tells about me and what I am doing with my writing and creativity. Along with all the book I am reading there is one book that I have been working with to expand my creativity and help me write.
It's called the Creativity Book by Eric Maisel .
(click the image to see about the book)

The book has a year's worth of inspiration and guidance. I bought this book a while ago and everytime I started I would get stuck on the first weeks excerise because it was so hard. The first exercise was to write your autobiography in 2500 words. I would always get stuck around 800 words. This time I decided not to give up though. So what if it has been maybe 3 months since started the autobiography and it was only suppose to take a week. I got to 2500 words! Woo HOo!

I thought about posting the exercise here but it kind of came out like journal entry so it is a little more personal and long. 4 pages! That would be a lot to post and I don't think everyone is that interested in me.

But what I can post is the second exercise which was to list 5 things that are stopping me from writing or being creative.

Five Obstacles

1. Fear of not finishing
2. Fear that I am not good enough
3. Laziness
4. Fear of writing something too true

5. Lack of will power

Well that is what I did today. Did you do anything creative today? Let me know in the comments.

Tomorrow - Exercise 1 Week 2: Tea anyone?

Refer A Book Weekend 6/5/09!

Rules of Refer A Book Weekend: To play all you have to do is recommend a book that you liked and post in the comments. Tell me why you liked the book or link to your review. I will pick a recommendation, then add it to my TBR pile and the person who recommended the book will get to win a book from this Pile of Free Books that I reviewed.I usually post the Refer A Book Weekend post at 12pm EST after I am done work. Each week I will post a new post for you to comment in. The winner will not be picked until Monday so you have the weekend to recommend.


Hint: Looking for some good Paranormal Fiction. Or anything else you can think of.

Signed Book Giveaway #7 The Bored Book by David Michael Slater

Here it is! Mystery Giveaway Book #7 . It is called The Bored Book and is written by David Michael Slater and illustrated by Doug Keith. This book is just signed by the illustrator. It is a picture book with out words and is very imaginative with well done illustrations.


I have now scheduled the giveaway to last only two weeks now because I have a lot of signed books to giveaway.

To Enter into the Giveaway you may post in the comments below. And please put your email address with your comment. Giveaway will end June 18th 2009 on a Thursday.

Mystery Signed Book Giveaway #7

I will start Tweets about the new Signed Book Giveaway soon. Probably about 7 pm EST time. Every 15 min I will post about another page in the book. That's right page. This one up is a children's book it is one I collected from BEA and is signed by the illustrator. The book is 32 Pages long so that means 16 tweets on twitter about the book.

If you like you can make comments in this post which book it may be.

One more hint this book doesn't have words it is all illustration.

So follow me on Twitter if you would like to see what happens in this book. You can follow post under hash tag #MysteryBookGiveaway.

Edit: 7:30 pm The hash tag isn't working for some reason. I am not sure if there is something else I have to do or what. I will keep post under it though.

Winner of Signed Book Giveaway Meeting Mr. Wrong

And the winner of a signed copy of Meeting Mr. Wrong by Stephanie Snowe was choosen by random number generator and is gaby317 who said...
Count me in! This sounds great!

Gaby I will email you tomorrow or if you like you may email me before at lavenderagate@yahoo.com

The next signed book contest will be announced tomorrow and there will be tweets on twitter at confuzzledbooks.

and because I have so many signed books to give away contest will now be every two weeks!