Review: Tarnished Knight by Shiloh Walker

Book Blurb: The mind forgets, but the body remembers. Everything.

Grimm’s Circle, Book 4

One look at Jack Wallace and Perci knows he’s going to be trouble. Even surrounded by soul stealers, he’s a one-man wrecking crew. What does he need Grimm training for? He’s already hell on earth, a warrior bent on destruction. And something…more.

He’s too strong and fast to be a mere mortal. Even covered in blood, he makes her forget she’s only here to do a job and get out. It’s twisted. Sick. She hasn’t felt this alive in three centuries.

Born with a natural talent for killing unnatural things, Jack has always known things he shouldn’t. The fact that Perci is one of them glows all over her. Giving him an unholy urge to see just how far he can push her before don’t touch me melts into touch me there.

When they come together, it isn’t careful or cautious. It’s heaven and hell, exposing all their raw and wounded places to healing heat, resurrecting memories of a destined love from the distant past. But the evil that destroyed them once before has tracked them here, threatening their second and last chance at forever. Demanding a sacrifice no one—Grimm or human—should ever be asked to make…

Warning: Dark, sexy, a little bit scary—this fairy tale is only for grownups and is best saved for bedtime.


***Warning: Mild Spoilers Below***


My Thoughts:  Ok, first a confession. Prior to reading this book, I had read only one book by Ms. Walker. Actually, I tried to read a book, Through the Veil, but I couldn't even finish it. A friend had recommended it so I got it from my library and once I started it, had zero interest in it. Then some acquaintances at Goodreads suggested the Grimm series and when I looked it up, it sounded right up my alley. Then, last week, when I was logged into Twitter, Ms Walker tweeted that she was looking for some people to review Tarnished Knight, provided that they could read it and get the review up before it's release tomorrow, the 26th. (Yes, I know, I squeaked in under the wire). I eagerly responded and to my surprise I was one of the reviewers that she picked. I was surprised because my blog is so new, so small, and not at all well known. Still, I was very happy.

      I'm still happy. I really enjoyed this book. Walker has taken Grimm's fairy tales, updated them, and given them her own spin. I've always loved fairy tales, and I'm a sucker for a well-done update. Many readers don't realize or have forgotten that the original fairy tales were not in the least "child friendly" as we in this century would define it. They were bloody, gory, sometimes erotic tales that were usually meant as cautionary tales. Ms Walker has kept that spirit.

     The Grimm are supernatural beings,who fight demons and who, some of them anyway, were humans in  a prior life. Walker takes a fairy tale, tweaks it, and brings those characters into her world, making them Grimm. For this book she has used Rapunzel, or more accurately, an older lesser known version, called Persinette. I wasn't familiar with it but it has commonalities with some versions of Rapunzel that I've read.

     Perci, AKA Persinette survived her fairy tale, as did her husband, and they became Grimm. They did not, however, get an HEA. Enter Jack, who is not  Grimm but who has some of their abilities and is aware of their existence. Perci is emotionally broken and her pain feels very real. She is smart, sexy, and strong in some ways while weak in others. Jack is also not emotionally whole. Together, sparks fly but they connect emotionally as well as sexually. The story is sexy and fast paced, the characters well-written and believable. I hadn't read the preceding stories which was not a problem; Ms Walker does a very nice job of keeping it a stand alone story while smoothly working in series details and background without doing the dreaded info dump.

I enjoyed this story very much and will be adding the others to my TBR pile.

Publisher: Samhain


Release Date: 10/26/2010


This book was received as a PDF from the author.

Bea

MIA for a while

Unfortunately, my laptop has developed problems and I am unable to use it. My computer access, as well as internet access, is utterly dependent on my local library. They have almost a dozen computers with internet access available to the public. However, they are not, of course, open 24 hours, 7 days week, and the computers have a one-hour time limit. So, barring one post that I had previously written and have set to publish this coming Monday, the 25th, and a review that I hope I can get written and posted this weekend by stalking the library computers, there will be no new posts until I get my laptop fixed. I don't know when that will be.

I am having some withdrawal anxiety; I have become amazing connected, and dependent on, my computer and the internet. Thank goodness I have some net access via my cell, or I'd be utterly insane by now. (No comments from the peanut gallery :P)

My apologies to you all and I will try to be back soon. The one advantage? I'm getting more reading done. :)

Bea

Review: Harvest Moon by Krista D Ball

Book Blurb: 

Cursed, abused, and desperate to know her future, Dancing Cat sneaks a glimpse inside her tribe’s Sacred Bundle, a powerful source of spirit magic. Instead of the future, she sees her most powerful ancestor, Small Tree and incurs her wrath. Small Tree strips Dancing Cat of everything —her home, her identity, even her gender – and drops her in the middle of enemy lands.

Injured, and in a strange, new body, she is befriended by Bearclaw who is on a spirit quest. He offers her assistance and asks for nothing in return; a kindness Dancing Cat had forgotten existed. She struggles to weave a path around the obstacles of friendship, identity, and longing in order to survive her eventual return home to face even further punishment. 

 And she does it while wearing someone else's skin.

My Thoughts: 

I was pulled into this story right from the beginning. I really enjoyed it and hope that Ball writes more stories with these characters.

It's told in first person narrative and moves right along. The setting appears to be an American Indian, sometime after the appearance of the Europeans. The setting is part of the story, almost another character.

Dancing Cat, through circumstances not of her doing, is living on the edges of  her tribe, barely tolerated even by her own family. She has been given a new name, "Cursed One", and is allowed barely enough food to survive. She is frustrated, lonely, starving for both food and human kindness, and considering a desperate course of action. Uncertain what she should do, she "borrows" her tribe's sacred bundle, seeking answers. 

What she gets is something she could never have imagined. There's a small hint for the readers, but I only caught on a re-read. The story takes twists and turns, but also takes it's time before arriving at at a sweet ending. I actually found myself tearing up. Writing short-form is hard to do well, and Ball has nailed it. The balance of detail and character development is just right. She reveals details slowly, she doesn't rush, and there's no info dump, yet the story isn't padded; it's as long as it needs to be. 

Harvest Moon is a delightful blend of history, romance, and fantasy. I didn't put it down until it was done, and I really want to see more of Dancing Cat and Bearclaw. 

Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing

Format: ebook

The PDF was received from the author for review.

Review: Tracking the Tempest by Nicole Peeler

Book Blurb: Valentine's Day is fast approaching, and Ryu - Jane's bloodsucking boyfriend - can't let a major holiday go by without getting all gratuitous. An overwhelming dose of boyfriend interference and a last-minute ticket to Boston later, and Jane's life is thrown off course. Ryu's well-intentioned plans create mayhem, and Jane winds up embroiled in an investigation involving a spree of gruesome killings. All the evidence points towards another Halfling, much to Jane's surprise.

My Thoughts: OMG, I loved this book. It was awesome. Do not, however, read this book if you are having trouble breathing. I was recovering from an asthma flare while reading it and laughed so hard that I could barely breathe. But there's more to the story than humor. Peeler mixes humor, romance, bawdiness, action, mystery, and mythology into the perfect confection. I enjoyed the first book, but Peeler took it up several notches with this story.

     This one takes place several months after the first book, right around Valentine's Day. Jane has been training, learning how to use her magic and developing defensive skills. Ryu surprises Jane with a trip to his home in Boston for the holiday. The trip is an eye-opener in many ways. Jane and Ryu learn more about each other, for better and for worse. We still get to peek into Jane's mind and see her often hilarious, breathtaking (in my case), thoughts. Jane is snarky, hilarious, observant, and willing to fight for what matters to her. On a side note, I follow Ms. Peeler on Twitter, and Jane comes by her bawdiness, her snark, and her humor quite naturally.

     The trip however is not all fun and games. Ryu's job as an investigator interrupts their time together. A halfling is on the loose and committing gruesome murders. As they learn more about him, Jane finds herself torn. Even as she's appalled by the murders, the more she learns about him, the more sympathetic she is to him. Their investigation is complicated by the presence of an investigative team sent by a rival at the fae court. During the course of the book, Jane comes to understand that this new life of hers has it's downside and that magic is not a cure-all for everything or a guarantee that her life will be better.

I like that we see Jane changing and growing. In only two books, there's been more character development than some authors manage in an entire series. I like Jane, she feels like she could be a neighbor or co-worker. Ryu is more exotic, and also arrogant and condescending. While that was apparent in the first book, we really get to see it up close and personal in this book, and so does Jane.

We see many of the people from the first book, including Anyan, who is still yummy, and Caleb, of the ginormous penis. We also meet the members of Ryu's investigative team. One of the things that I like about the Jane True series is Peeler's use of mythological characters. We have not only the standby races of elves but less commonly used races such as selkies, gnomes, satyrs, and ifrits. She does a nice job of taking mythology, tweaking it to her purposes, and putting it into a contemorary story and setting.

I loved this book and I am looking forward to the next one, "Tempest's Legacy", due out in January 2011.

Publisher: Orbit Books

Release date: June 16th, 2010

This book was borrowed from my local library.

Review: One Wicked Sin by Nicola Cornick

Book Blurb:

Once the toast of the ton, Lottie Cummings is now notorious for being divorced—and without a penny. Shunned by society, the destitute beauty is lured to become a Covent Garden courtesan. But after refusing to oblige her customers, Lottie’s about to be turned out onto the streets. Until a dangerous rake saves her with a scandalous offer.

Publisher: HQN books
Release Date: October 26, 2010


This review first appeared at The Book Lovers Inc. The book was provided as an e-galley from NetGalley.

The illegitimate son of a duke, Ethan Ryder rose to the ranks of Napoleon’s most trusted cavalry officer—until his capture landed him in England as a prisoner of war. Now on parole, Ethan is planning his most audacious coup yet. But he needs to create a spectacular diversion. Having infamous Lottie as his mistress will lull everyone into thinking he’s busily bedding her instead of plotting deadly treason. Yet their business decision ignites a passionate relationship. And their unexpected bond may scandalize even these two wicked souls…

My Thoughts:    

This is the second book in a trilogy, Scandalous Women of the Ton, which I didn't realize when I picked it up. Happily, my ignorance was not detrimental to reading or enjoying the book. It pretty well stands alone, the ties between the books are fairly loose. The leads from the first book,  Whisper of Scandal, make a brief appearance at the very end of this book and the events in that book appear not to be essential to the second book. 

This book is set during the Napoleonic War and the war is important to the story. providing the motivation for much of behavior of the male lead, Ethan Ryder, and the reason that Ethan and Lottie get together. It's central to the story but I'll get back to that.

Lottie is a divorced woman, which was not a common event in England in those days, and the fact of the divorce is scandalous in itself. Add in the events that led up to her divorce and she finds herself outcast from her family and osctracized by the Ton, England's upper class society.

Lottie married at seventeen, hoping for security, freedom from financial worries, and love. Her father abandoned her family when she was six years old and her family endured severe financial difficulties as a result. She got the first two wishes but not the last. On her wedding night her new husband informs her that they will not be sleeping together, ever, but she can have affairs provided that she is discreet about it. They live like this for about 15 years and then Lottie goes too far. He kicks her out and divorces her, leaving her penniless, friendless, and homeless. She ends up working in a whore house where her she finds that both her self-confidence and her sexual skills have deserted her. She's on the verge of being fired when Ethan arrives and offers to hire her as his mistress.

Ethan is the illegitimate son of an English Duke and an Irish circus performer. He was removed from his mother's care at the age of five and taken to live with his father and stepmother. Neither his father nor stepmother ever had much use for him, but his elder (by about 3 months) half-brother is his friend. He grew up feeling an outsider, unwanted by most of his father's family and with anti-British feelings. He runs away at fifteen, tired of being slighted, ignored and treated as lesser. For reasons I was never clear on, he signed on with the French and joined their army. At nineteen he has an affair with a French aristocrat which results in a son that he leaves behind, certain that the boy's mother can give him a better life.

Fast forward 18 yeasrs and Ethan has been captured by the British, as has his son, Arland. Arland ran away when he was fifteen, just like dear old dad, and, lying about his age, joined the French army. Arland is thrown into a jail while his father is given parole in the same town as his son's jail. It's a small country town, with, as Lottie complains repeatedly, noting to do. Ethan is forbidden from seeing or having any contact with his son. As you might imagine, Arland's captivity is all the restraint necessary to hold him and, provided he meets certain conditions, he lives a fairly normal life: a room of his own at an inn, dinner with his fellow captive officers or even at the houses of some of the local gentry, the occasional authorized trip to London.

Ethan and Lottie reach an agreement: Lottie will be Ethan's very visible, notorious mistress and Ethan will provide her with a cottage, a brand new, fashionable wardrobe, and a generous allowance. You may have already guessed that Ethan wants Lottie for more than her talents in the bedroom; she provides cover while he plots escape. Lottie wants nothing more than to return to the Ton and be rich.

I enjoyed watching the two of them negotiate their arrangement, get to know each other, and learn each others boundaries. Both are emotionally shut off, believing themselves unworthy of being loved and incapable of giving love. Cornick develops their emotional relationship over time and we see into both Lottie's and Ethan's hearts and minds. She does use a couple of cliches that particularly irritated me: the first time that Lottie and Ethan have sex, Lottie falls in love and Ethan discovers that he has tender feelings for his new mistress. That was some incredible sex! Another device that I found irritating was the number of problems between them that could have been solved or prevented by talking, communicating with each other. Now, to some extent, that's to be expected, given their experiences and the arrangement between them. Still, it did get irritating.

There were twists and turns that I didn't see coming, and a few that I saw right off, but overall the story is well plotted and there is some well-done characterization. The story ultimately sucked it in and kept me engaged.

Review: Feed by Mira Grant

Book Blurb: 

“Alive or dead, the truth won't rest. My name is Georgia Mason, and I am begging you. Rise up while you can.” The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we had created something new, something terrible. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.

Now, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives – the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.

My Thoughts:

I don't consider myself a zombie fan, it's never been a genre that interested me. But, the author, who also writes (lighter) urban fantasy involving the fey,  under the name of Seanan McGuire, is one whose writing that I enjoy and I had heard good buzz about the book.  Combine that with the above blurb, which piqued my interest, and I had to check it out. It's the first book of The Newsflesh Trilogy.

The beginning of the book starts out fast with a close encounter between a group of zombies and the two main leads, brother and sister, Shaun and Georgia Mason. Then it becomes one slow, long info dump that gives the background needed for the story. We meet their parents, their business partner and friend, Buffy, the computer geek and fiction writer, and learn about the virus which turns people into zombies, and some of the resulting social, political, and cultural changes. The book is set in the USA, but occasionally references other parts of the world and how they were affected.

The book picks up the pace when Georgia, Shaun and Buffy are chosen to be the official, resident bloggers for one of the candidates in the race to determine party candidates for the US presidential election. It's a bold strategy for the candidate to have bloggers (who are considered respectable journalists in this world) living with, and following him, daily on the campaign trail. What follows is an inside look at an election campaign complete with betrayal, intrigue, medicine, politics, and life in general.

Grant takes a while to establish her world and is occasionally stingy about revealing information but overall, the book is a solid, fascinating read, well worth the reader's patience. It's an intriguing mix of science fiction, sociology, current events, action, horror and politics. One note: hardcore zombie fans may wish there were more zombie appearances but it was just right for me.

Publisher: Orbit Books


Format: Paperback


This book was purchased with the reviewer's own funds.

Redraw: NEW WINNERS!!

Well, I didn't hear back from either of the winners for "Speak" so I did a re-draw. The new winners are squinto and Ekta. Email me at baconnors at gmail dot com with your info. Don't forget, you have 48 hours to contact me to claim your prizes.

Saturday's Winner for BANNED BOOK WEEK CELEBRATION

Banned Book Week is over now, here on the East Coast anyway, and I have one final winner. Thanks to everyone who entered and who has supported the freedom to choose what they read.

The last winner is:  -Melissa-

Send me an email within 48 hours with your choice of a book, and your mailing addy and name.

Congratulations!!!!!

SPEAK Winners!!!!

Ok, Banned Book Week is officially over here on the East Coast, and winners have been chosen. As promised, there are 2 winners. Each one wins a copy of "Speak" and any one book from the ALA's list of banned books. The latter can't cost more than $10US. Look around on The Book Depository and send me an email with a link to your choice, and your mailing address and name. If I don't hear from you within 48 hours, then I draw a new winner.

And now, the winners:

Ashley

Maddie M



CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Thanks to everyone who entered and posted. You're the best. :)

Friday's Winner. Today is the last day to enter!!!

Friday's winner is whateveramber. Send me an email with your info. Congratulations :)

Today is the last day for both of my giveaways.  I appreciate everyone who has entered, who has read and commented, and I really appreciate everyone who has spread the word about banned books and done something to support banned books.

Thursday's Winner!!

Banned Book Week is almost over, it ends tomorrow night, and so does the giveaway. I'm curious, what have you been doing to spread the word and celebrate this week? Have you talked it up amongst your family, friends, and co-workers? Have you talked it up on facebook, twitter, or any other social network? Gone and supported a community event? What was your contribution this past week to the freedom of speech?

And, before I forget, Thursday's winner is Leanne. You know the drill. :P Congrats!

Review: The Third Secret by Tara Taylor Quinn

Book Blurb: He did the crime. He’s done the time.

Rick Thomas stole drug-cartel evidence from a government facility. And spent three years in a federal prison.
Attorney Erin Morgan has a rule: never defend the bad guys. But Rick Thomas, quiet and self-assured, doesn’t seem bad. That’s why she agrees to defend him against what he swears is a trumped-up murder charge. She’s ignoring her experience and listening to her instincts instead.

But psychologist and expert witness Kelly Chapman is listening to her instincts, too. And they’re saying that Rick Thomas is lying to Erin. That he’s keeping secrets. That he’s a dangerous man. And that, despite everything, maybe he’s one of the good guys.

My Thoughts: The Third Secret is the third book in Quinn's series, The Chapman Files. Each book is connected by Dr Kelly Chapman, who plays a supporting role in each of the books. Like James Patterson's The Womens Murder Club, each book is numbered and the number figures into the story in some way.

In The Third Secret, Chapman offers advice and support when an acquaintance of hers, Erin Morgan, calls her with self-doubts about her work and the choices she's made in her life. Erin worries that she's taking cases for the wrong reasons, seeking only the win and no longer caring about guilt or innocence. She is a defense attorney in small town Temple, Michigan and she tries to only take cases where she believes that the accused is truly innocent. A recent case where the accused turned out to be both guilty and unapologetic has her questioning herself.

Additionally, Erin worries that her life has become stagnant. Four years ago, her fiance, a firefighter, was killed saving a child from a fire. Since then, she has withdrawn somewhat from the world while becoming more enmeshed with her late fiance's family. An only child whose parents are dead, Erin has found a replacement family, even attending Sunday church services with them.

Rick Thomas has only lived in Temple for a year, supporting himself as as handyman. Before that, though he keeps it quiet, he was a covert special agent for the US Government. He was part of a three man team who answered only to their sergeant, known as Sarge. An op they did several years went wrong and Thomas went to prison. The team he worked for was so secret, so deeply underground, that the government disavowed all knowledge of  them. While working as part of the team, Rick and the other men had aliases although after the team broke up when Rick was sent to jail, they were careful to use their original, real names.

Erin and Rick meet when he is arrested for murdering a local Homeland Security officer. It was never clear to me why a small town that wasn't on any international border, needed such an officer other than as a story device to get Rick arrested. The HS officer's death is a crucial point to the story; Rick is convinced that it has something to do with his past as a government agent and it turns out that he is correct.


Erin and Rick both find themselves attracted to each other right from the moment they meet but they resist it. Rick is concerned with proving his innocence; he also has little experience with women beyond one night stands and paid companions. Erin worries that she's letting her attraction to Rick affect her decision to defend him. She believes that Rick is not telling her everything, withholding vital information. She is of course right.

 Although Rick comes across at times as emotionally stunted, it is more a matter of keeping himself tightly in control. For years he had to watch his step and not show any vulnerabilities, in his former line of work that would have been dangerous. The one area where he allows himself any emotion is when he visits his childhood friend, Steve Miller. Steve was injured when he fell off of a roof, a roof that Rick dared him to climb. The fall left him with the brain of a five year old. Rick has taken responsibility for Steve's care, partly because of a guilty conscience and partly because Steve's father, now dead, could never deal with Steve's condition and would have abandoned him.

Meanwhile, Erin finds herself at odds with her former fiance's parents when she tries to help their teenage daughter with an important decision. She comes to realize that she has used them as a crutch while at the same time realizing that her inclusion into the family was not as deep or as strong as she believed. At times, this subplot felt very soap opera-ish but it did allow us to see Erin's interactions with other people.

Dr. Kelly Chapman makes brief appearances during the book, both professionally as a psychologist and expert witness, and also as Erin's friend. She worries that Rick is lying to Erin and will hurt her. We also see glimpses of Kelly's personal life and her struggles to be a parent to a young teenage girl that she recently gained custody of.

Over the course of the book, Quinn slowly peels away the layers of Rick and Erin's personalities and behavior. She doesn't rush things along, but slowly develops the story and the characters. I really liked that neither Erin nor Rick rush into a relationship or affair but go slowly. There is one moment when they come very close to having sex but Erin pulls back, reminding both herself and Rick that engaging in sex would be unethical since she's his defense attorney.

The pace really picks up in the last third of the book when Rick discovers who set him up for murder and also killed his former teammates.Both Erin and Steve find themselves in danger though their shared adventure helps to bring them closer. At one point, Erin vows that if they survive, but Rick doesn't, she will take care of Steve and gain custody of him. I figured out very early on who was responsible for framing Rick but I was completely wrong about the why. Quinn does a nice job of slowly unraveling the facts and making it all believable though there were parts that stretched incredulity at times.

Publisher: Mira
Release Date: November 1st, 2010

Wednesday's Winner

The winner for Wednesday's draw is Kristina Barnes :) As usual, email me with your name, mailing addy, and of course, your book selection.

And, if you haven't won yet, enter again. The giveaway runs through midnight EST of Saturday October 2nd, which is also when Banned Book Week ends.

CafePress was running a tee shirt sale and I treated myself to several, including one that says "I read Banned Books" and then lists a dozen or so titles. I will try to get a pic up in the next day or so.

More Winners!

First, my apologies. I completely spaced out yesterday about needing to choose a winner for Monday. **blush** So today, we have two winners, one for Monday  and one for Tusday.

Monday's winner is Kulsuma.

Tusday's winner is Kai@Amaterasureads.


Please send me an email with your mailing address, name and the book that you want.

Thanks everyone, and sorry for the delay.

Remember, if your name wasn't chosen, you can keep entering until the contest is over.

Sunday Giveaway Winner

The winner for Sunday's giveaway in the Celebration of Banned Book Week is The Itzel Library. Please send me your mailing addy, a name for mailing and the book you want. If I don't hear from you in 48 hours I will draw a new winner.

Congrats!

WINNER! The winner of the giveaway for Saturday 9/25/2010

We have a winner for the first day of my book-a-day Banned Book Week giveaway. The lucky winner is xlacrimax. You have 48 hours to email with your mailing addy and name and the book that you want from the list in the giveaway post. I will order it from Book Depository and they will send it to you.

A couple of notes: there were several people who didn't follow the directions on how to enter. I went ahead and entered them this time but starting today and for the rest of the giveaway, if you don't follow the directions, then you will not be entered.

However, since each day is a different giveaway, you can enter every day if you want. If you win something, you are no longer eligible to enter this giveaway. This giveaway runs through midnight EST of October 2nd, 2010.

Spread the word! Bring your friends along! Fight censorship and possibly win a book. :)

A Giveaway in Celebration of Banned Book Week

The American Library Association keeps track of books throughout the US that have been banned or challenged from public libraries and schools. The ALA supports freedom of speech and the right to read and battles censorship. Every year they devote a week to celebrating and promoting banned books. They help organize events and encourage libraries and book stores to have events and/or  displays involving banned books. For more information, click here.

This year Banned Book Week is Saturday September 25th through Saturday October 2nd. The ALA has a page just for BBW. My effort to encourage reading in general and support for all books will be to do giveaways. I have chosen books from the ALA's list of banned and challenged books and each day of BBW,  I will giveaway one of those books. A total of eight books will be given away, one for each day of BBW. To enter, just reply to this post.

I will be ordering the Hbooks from Book Depository so as long as you live in a country where they ship, you can enter this giveaway. Each day I will use random.org to pick the previous day's winner and post their name here on my blog. Once the winner's name is announced, they have 48 hours to contact me with their name, mailing address and the book they want. All books are paperback only. You can enter every day but only win once. If the winner fails to contact me within 48 hours, I will choose a new winner. I am not responsible for any books that are lost or damaged in shipping. Email me at baconnorsATgmailDOTcom with your info and put "BBW Giveaway" in the subject line so your email doesn't get deleted as spam.

LIST OF BOOKS FOR GIVEAWAY:  Paperback editions only

Any book from the Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey

Any book from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Any book from the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman

Any book from the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer

Any book from the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead

"A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle

"Beloved" by Toni Morrison

"Blood and Chocolate" by Annette Curtis Klause

"Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson

"The Call of the Wild" by Jack London

"The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger

"The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier

"The Color Purple" by Alice Walker

"The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank

"Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley

"Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell

"Hamlet" by William Shakespeare

"Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou 

"In the Night Kitchen" by Maurice Sendak

"Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George

"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

"My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult

"Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck

"Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

Review: ABC is for Circus by Patrick Hruby

Book Blurb: ABC IS FOR CIRCUS celebrates the colorful and festive world of the circus through each letter of the alphabet. Young children will enjoy memorizing letters and words like A is for Acrobats, B is for Big Top, and C is for Calliope in this imaginative chunky board book. ABC IS FOR CIRCUS is an awesome addition to our artist-centric line of ABC books and is sure to delight and audience of children and adults alike.

Los Angeles-based illustrator Patrick Hruby grew up in a log cabin within an Idaho forest. As a young boy he dreamt of running away to join the circus and become a trapeze artist. Eventually, however, he grew up to study math and physics before attending the renowned Art Center College of Design and pursuing a career as an illustrator. His interest in the geometry of nature is central to his work. Influenced by artists and designers such as Charley Harper, Paul Rand, and Mary Blair, Hruby has gone on to develop his own stunning and modern aesthetic. Hruby's clients include The New York Times Magazine, Playboy Jazz Festival, Varsity Pictures, and Brand New School. CMYK Magazine recently named him one of their Top 100 New Creatives.


My thoughts:  ABC is for Circus has gorgeous artwork: the colors are luminous and the shapes are fluid. Hruby has an exquisite eye for detail. If the book was meant to be an art book, it would succeed wonderfully. Unfortunately, it's designed and marketed as a children's alphabet book.

The target age group is 1-3 year olds,  but developmentally, the book fails to meet their needs. The pictures are overly busy, with too much detail. Some of the pictures are so stylized that the item intended to represent the letter is barely recognizable. Hruby does do a nice job of using both familiar and unfamiliar items but again, some are so stylized that the page fails to adequately represent the letter. The calliope especially is a mess, a gorgeous mess,  but few children will make the connection between the item depicted and the real item if they have seen one. Moreover, it is standard, and developmentally beneficial, to include both the lowercase and uppercase form of each letter but Hruby uses only uppercase. All of the text is uppercase only.

Some children will undoubtedly enjoy the book, it is pleasing to look at but as an alphabet book, it fails.

NOTE: I have taught toddlers for 17 years and am a trained early childhood educator. This review is written from the perspective of an educator.

Publisher: AMMO Books
Release Date: 11/15/2010 

This book was provided by NetGalley as an eARC.

Review: 1022 Evergreen Place by Debbie Macomber

Book Blurb: Dear Reader: 

Guess what? I’m falling in love! With Mack McAfee. 

My baby daughter, Noelle, and I have been living next door to Mack since the spring. I’m still a little wary about our relationship, since I haven’t always made good decisions when it comes to men. My baby’s father, David Rhodes, is testament to that. I’m so worried he might sue for custody. 

In the meantime, the World War II letters I found are a wonderful distraction. Both Mack and I are trying to learn what happened to the soldier who wrote them and the woman he loved. 

Come by sometime for a glass of iced tea and I’ll show you the letters. Plus I’ll tell you the latest about Grace and Olivia, my brother Linc and his wife, Lori (who tied the knot about 5 minutes after they met!), and all our other mutual friends. Oh, and maybe Mack can join us… 

- Mary Jo Wyse

My Thoughts: 

While she's not one of my favorite authors,  I've read some Debbie Macomber book over the years. She has a homey, cozy style which can occasionally become cloying. This book mostly manages to avoid that.  It does have other problems, which I'll get to in a minute.

This book is #10 in her Cedar Cove series. Cedar Cove is a small town on the ocean in Washington State. There's a set cast of characters with one new character introduced in each book. Each book has a central couple but also has multiple secondary couples and plots. Unfortunately, it's reached the point now where there are so many characters, couples, plots and subplots that you need a map and a guidebook to keep track of them all.

The nominal main couple of this book is Mack McAfee and Mary Jo Wyse. However, Macomber abandons them for chapters at a time in order to give page time to all of the other characters. The viewpoint constantly changes, shifting each chapter to a new character, told in third person present. Some people find the constant perspective shift difficult or annoying to read; it's unquestionably hard for an author to pull off. Macomber is mildly successful; again, there's so much jumping around that at times the book is a jumble.

For instance, we see two minor characters, Christie and James, early on in the book then they disappear for almost 200 pages. When they reappeared in the story, I was confused as to who they were. I had to go back and read the character guide at the beginning of the book to refresh my memory. As a result of the constant jumping, the book is overstuffed with characters and plots, it's erratic, and there is no flow to the story. Additionally, ten books in, it reads less like a romance novel and more like a soap opera. 

Macomber does a good job of creating likable, yet fallible characters.  They feel real and the situations she puts them in are fairly realistic, despite the overall soap opera feel to the book. I liked Mary Jo and could relate to her, but Mack was harder for me. When the book begins, Mack has already (in prior books) lied several times to Mary Jo and he does it again. Now, lying is not unusual in real life, but it gave me a bad impression of him that never quite went away. Naturally, Mary Jo has trust issues resulting from her relationship with her daughter's father. You see where this is going, right? They eventually work out the trust issue but then Mary Jo believes that Mack, who proposes several times in this book and did at least once prior to this book, only wants to marry her so he can be a daddy to baby Noelle. Frankly, I believed it myself at times. I was actually more intrigued by Linc and Lori's story and hope that they get their own.book.

Overall, this book was ok but had potential to be so much more. Unless you are a devoted fan of this series or her books, don't bother with this one.

Publisher: Mira

This book was provided by NetGalley as an eARC.This review originally appeared at  Book Lovers Inc.

Banned Book Week: #SpeakLoudly and a giveaway.

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read, and the importance of the First Amendment.  Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free, open access to information while drawing attention to the harm censorship causes by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

Earlier today, a professor, Dr. Wesley Scroggins, spoke out in favor of banning a YA novel, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson. Here's a summary of the book:

Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won’t talk to her, and people she doesn’t even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that’s not safe. Because there’s something she’s trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth. This extraordinary first novel has captured the imaginations of teenagers and adults across the country.



According to Dr. Scroggins,  Speak is "filthy and immoral" and, because of it's two rape scenes, it is "soft pornography". The book's author, Anderson,  had this to say, and I completely agree:  "The fact that he sees rape as sexually exciting (pornographic) is disturbing, if not horrifying."

Then there's the debate about whether sex belongs in a book and is a book porn if it contains sex. Seleste deLaney did an interesting blog post on that a few weeks ago.

To read more of Dr. Scroggins babble, go here To read Ms. Halse Anderson's response, go here. Author Jackie Kessler has a strong, eloquent post on this topic also.


I don't believe in banning books or, with a few exceptions, censoring them. I don't like every book, news article or blog post that I've read, but that's no reason to ban them. If I like it, I spread the world. If I don't, I either ignore it, or do something about it. Today, I'm doing the latter. Spread the word, support Speak and every other book that has been banned at one time or another.

I'm also going to do what another blogger, The Pirate's Bounty, suggested and donate copies of Speak to my town library and the school library. In addition, I will do a giveaway, starting now and running through October 2nd, the end of Banned Book Week. Reply to this post stating what banned book you read, and if you liked it or not. At the end of the giveaway, I will use random.org to choose 2 winners. Each winner will receive a copy of Speak  and any book from the ALA's list of banned and challenged books, up to a cost of $10US.

Please! Spread the word; don't let the narrow-minded ignorant peoples of the world win this battle.