Friday, April 29, 2011
Aloha Friday - I Wanna Go 2 Hawaii
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| This event takes place at An Island Life Blog |
Welcome to this week’s edition of Aloha Friday. In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too.
Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!
So my question is . . .
Have you ever visited Hawaii?
No sadly have not yet but I do want to. I don't know if my butt can take the long ride in a airplane or if my nerves can either. I have done an 8hour trip to Europe but this would be longer. :-/
How To See Faeries by John Matthews and Brian Froud
Title: How To See Faeries
Authors:John Matthews and Brian Froud
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Abrahms. Harry Inc
Received: I do not own
Release Date: April 2011
Pages:81
Rating:
What is it About?
This is not a new age book on how to see faeries. This is a fantasy book with art and fun pull out and lift ups for children or adults.
My Thoughts:
This book is fun for all ages. The front cover is a hologram image and like the book is fun to look at. These are one of those book with pull tabs and lift the flaps.
I would recommend you buy through online because these are the type of books that are fun to look at, at the stores but everyone looks at them so they have some wear and tear. If you buy through online it will probably be in good shape.
You really can not go wrong with any kind of faerie book that has Froud art. If you are fan of faeries then you love the art already.
Website:
John Matthewshttp://www.hallowquest.org.uk/
Brian Froud
http://www.worldoffroud.com/
The Faerie Path by Frewin Jones
Title: The Faerie Path
Series: The Faerie Path#1
Author:Frewin Jones
Genre: Teen, Fantasy
Publisher: Eos
Received: Through a swap site
Release Date: February 2007
Pages:312
Rating:
What is it About?
Anita and her boyfriend Evan go on a romantic boat ride in England..then something strange happens ..an accident. Evan disappears and Anita grows wings or so she thought. Everything is not what it seems even in Anita’s or should I say Tania’s world.
My Thoughts:
From beginning to finish I enjoyed this book. It is a bit girly not just because of it being about Faerie but the mention of parallel between Romeo and Juliet. Evan/Elrich mentions many time that Juliet is the sun meaning Anita/Tania is his sun or so it appears at first.
So there is romance, faeries, and danger what more could a girl ask for. Not much really. I will be enjoying the next couple books from this series.
Website:
http://www.allanfrewinjones.com/Thursday, April 28, 2011
Booking Through Thursday - Movies For Sale (um...not really)
If you could see one book turned into the perfect movie–one that would capture everything you love, the characters, the look, the feel, the story–what book would you choose?
Most of the good ones I have read have been turned into pretty good movies like Charlotte's Web, Old Yeller, and Interview with A Vampire(just the ones that come to mind) The one I would like to see become a movie I missed place and haven't even finished the book yet.... Magic Kingdom for Sale by Terry Brooks. Starts out with a great mixture of fantasy and reality.... IMDB actually had this at one time up that it was going to be made a movie but I see it is not there now. Oh welll ....maybe after I find it and finish reading it they will do it. ;-)
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
WWW Wednesdays April 27th 2011
To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?
What I am Currently Reading?
Only okay some good poetry mostly stuff seems over my head though.
What I Recently Finished Reading:
Very Good Book. Recommend for all ages!
What do I think I will read next:
Not For Resale
Confuzzled Stories # 8 - "Nala, Nala, CAT DOG!"
Confuzzled Stories #8 : Nala, Nala CAT DOG!
by S.M. McGee
Jumping gracefully as a rabbit Nala the dog (also known as Cat Dog to some) springs into action ridding bushes of skunks, trash cans from raccoons and evil squirrels from whatever they do.. by barking or using her high pitches scream to stun and stupefy. Music plays as she break the scene..
“NALA. NALA, CAT DOG! CAT DOG!”
Whiny the out door cat is stuck in a circle of children all taunting and poking sticks at her. They are way to young to be out with out parental supervision. Nala must do something to save Whiny!
“NALA, NALA, CAT DOG! CAT DOG!”
Nala charges the group , cape flying in air, nipping at ankles of the small humans as they disperse. They know they are too slow for CAT DOG!
Zan-Gah And The Beautiful Country by Allan Richard Shickman
Title: Zan-Gah And The Beautiful Country
Series: Prehistoric Series: Zan- Gah #2
Author: Allan Richard Shickman
Genre:Young Adult, Juvenile Fiction
Publisher: Earthshaker Books
Received: From Publisher for Review Purposes
Release Date: September 2009
Pages: 151
Rating:
What is it About?
Zan-Gah twin brother Dael goes through more troubled times. Hoping to to ease Dael of his pain the tribe move to the beautiful country in hopes of happier times.
My Thoughts:
From an ending so hopeful in the first book this second book starts off so dark and painful for Dael and reader. You feel so bad for what he has been through even when he does his worst. You just want things to get better for him.
Description wise this story is beautifully written, story wise was action packed although I feel that the way we were reintroduced to the characters could have been done better. I still enjoyed the story even though so much darker then first and I am wondering what comes of the third.
Website:
http://www.zan-gah.com
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Teaser Tuesday : Zan-Gah and the Beautiful County by Allan R. Shickman
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Title: Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country Page: 82
Quote: " Every morning they saw the same doe drinking or grazing on the lake's far side and the broad winged egrets cast their reflections when they flew low over the still water's surface. Who could fail to rejoice at the sight of unfamiliar, brightly colored birds and the sweet and varied sounds of their mating calls?"
Monday, April 25, 2011
Books to Talk About - The Answer by Allison Wynn
Today I would like to take some time and post about a book that I have not read yet but I think would spark discuss. The book is called The Answer by Allison Wynn.
From Press Release
"...Wynn’s accessible narrative begins with Eric McPhearson stopping off at his favorite coffee shop for a pick-me-up before work. He is an angry man. His marriage is non-existent; his career seems on the rocks. While sipping his coffee, he spots and starts reading a stranger’s journal left on a table.
What he reads in the fine, leather bound journal suddenly silences all the anger inside him. He undergoes a breakthrough in his troubled marriage and his work, and he begins to live a happier, more peaceful existence.
Like Eric, the readers of The Answer will begin to explore the roots of the conflicts they’re experiencing in their relationships, and through the book’s simple, resonating message begin to make peace with those relationships. While that is sometimes easier said than done, Wynn acknowledges, her process does work and does restore the power of choice to create changes in one’s life.
Allison Wynn has spent thirty years as a professional in leadership effectiveness, personal empowerment coaching and family and relationship development. The two questions she’s been asked the most, she writes, are “How do I deal with anger in either myself or others?” and “How do I create a more peaceful life?”
This guide was written from her experience in helping others to find a practical way to answer those questions..."
I think those are good questions at the end there... How do you deal with anger in myself or others?...Then How can you create a peaceful life?
My answers: With anger in myself I have in previous time let it build until I burst and something bad happens. Then there is blame and guilt and anger at myself for not voicing what I felt in the first place.
If someone is angry with me I am usually very sensitive about it I again blame myself feelings of fault and guilt. They get angry with me I get angry with me.
How do I create a peaceful life ...well trying to deal with issue straight forward now and not waiting until I burst and hurt someone or myself.
How would you answer these questions and what are your thoughts on the book? Post in the comments!!
Mailbox Monday April 24th- Catching up!
This event use to to be held by the printed page but when I looked it up in NovelChallege Group in Yahoo. It does not exist or so it says . My bookmarks are not updated and I have not done this in some time but thought I would post what I have received most lately.
The Kid Who Ran For President by Dan Gutman
Title: The Kid Who Ran For President
Series:
Author: Dan Gutman
Genre: Young Adult, Juvenile Fiction
Publisher: Scholastic
Received: Bought at used book store
Release Date: Oct. 2000
Pages: 156
Rating:
*
What is it About?
Judson Moon is a charismatic kid with a friend who has very high expectations, of Judson. His friend want him to run for president of the YOU-nited States. So he does and people in the United States are nuts, for Judson!
My Thoughts:
Judson Moon is charismatic, and funny at times but if you are looking for a book that teaches your kid somethings except politicians full of lies.
I was hoping for much more then a moral story from this book other then what I received from the book. I think there could have been so much more added to educate children about the Constitution or Congress. Instead it is a book about a goofball kid who want to be honest, which is fine and good. I was just hopeful for more educational with fun and not moral with fun or could have had both.
This book also has a sequel which if I mention the title ruins this book.
Website: http://www.dangutman.com
Musing Monday April 25th - Family Influences
This week’s musing asks…Do the members of your family read? Do you think it was passed down to you? ((or, if you want you can answer this: Who do you think influenced you as a reader?))
I am the older of two and I am the big reader. Mom and Dad had more time to read aloud to me as a child. Not saying they didn't try with my brother who is younger I just remember it being me who read to him more often then not. He wasn't big on regular books though.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Interview with Author Charles A. Wilkinson
Questions and Answers with Author Charles A. Wilkinson
author of “Liam the Leprechaun” and “Contemplations in the Sometimes Quiet of a Hospital Room” and “The Dumb Thumb”
1. What are some of your favorite books or authors?
My favorite book is usually the one I am reading at the moment. “People of the Book” is fascinating me these days; just finished “Cutting for Stone” and “Sarah’s Key,” “The Glass Castle” before that. I am what I call a “sip reader” – when I find a really good book I stretch out the pleasure as long as I can.2. I have only read 1 of your books, Liam the Leprechaun. It seems as a “semi-retired” therapist you use ideas that stem from your experience as a therapist. Do all your books take aspects of that, or was Liam special?
I guess I write from my person, not my profession. I have always been into “being and becoming” and Liam is an embodiment of that. Same with ‘The Dumb Thumb” I wrote years ago when telling a child (a thumb sucker) that he had a dumb thumb and went on to give him a rough version of what I later put on paper. That book is long out of print but I’d love to get it back out there.
I have written pieces in the Evanston RountTable that have been therapy-related, though.
3. Does your experience as a therapist help your writing? If so, how?
My clients usually gave me more than I gave them: a sense of my own humanness, the need for truth at the core of self, and a clarity of just what a gift life is.
4. Do you have any writing rituals that keep you writing or get you started?
None that I know of. I have said that I write as if building a pyramid upside down. Start with a sentence (germ of an idea), write another sentence; rewrite the first, and so on, looking for the surprises along the way. I wish I could “dash things off” but then I would miss the fun of it – and be a slacker on the work involved. I will admit to carrying an idea inside me to let it grow and begin to become itself.
5. Do you have to believe in magical characters such as leprechauns to write about them?
I KNOW Liam, so I don’ have to believe in him. I believe in what I don’t know which offers a wide world of wonder and whimsy.
6. How did you come up with idea for Liam the Leprechaun?
I truly don’t know. He was just “there’ for a long time. Thought he was a trite take-off on “The Littlest Angel” or some such. But as I got to know him, he felt a bit different than that. You may have guessed that I believe that a story kind of gives itself to the writer as he creates it.
7. Is there a lesson or moral in all your books?
I feel shamefully didactic at times, especially in my RoundTable pieces. I work very hard at trying not to be preachy – but the teachy part usually shows itself.“Contemplations in the Sometimes Quiet of a Hospital Room” is meant to be comforting and assuring. Again, that evolved over a number of years and I thought it would be a perfect little book for hospital gift shops. But I do not do marketing very well.
8. How do you straighten yourself out after having a day or a life where you feel, as Liam did, small and unseen?
I am fortunate to have much love in my life so those days are foreign to me at this stage. Earlier on, I had my moments…
My writing feels “small and unseen” generally but I live with that. I have a website – waysiderestarea.com - and two blogs I wish others might find, but I am back to that marketing shortcoming of mine.
9. Do you have any new books coming out soon?
Not soon enough. I have another children’s ms, “The Daisy That Didn’t Die” that is looking for an illustrator and publisher; a book of prosetry, titled “Being and Becoming.” In my semi-retirement I am finding time to have such dreams.
THANK SO MUCH CHARLES!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Confuzzled Easter Picks 2011
oEaster Picks For Everyone!
Kids-
For the Young Ones:(Picture books)
These picture books are great for spring and Easter!
For the Older Children : (Juvenile Fiction)
Just Good Pick for the Season and keeping it religious!
For Adults
Religious not quite Easter but you get the point.
Kids-
For the Young Ones:(Picture books)
These picture books are great for spring and Easter!
For the Older Children : (Juvenile Fiction)
Just Good Pick for the Season and keeping it religious!
For Adults
Religious not quite Easter but you get the point.
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