Thrust onto Egypt’s most powerful throne at the age of nine, King Tut’s reign was fiercely debated from the outset. Behind the palace’s veil of prosperity, bitter rivalries and jealousy flourished among the Boy King’s most trusted advisors, and after only nine years, King Tut suddenly perished, his name purged from Egyptian history. To this day, his death remains shrouded in controversy.
The keys to an unsolved mystery
Enchanted by the ruler’s tragic story and hoping to unlock the answers to the 3,000 year-old mystery, Howard
King Tut
Carter made it his life’s mission to uncover the pharaoh’s hidden tomb. He began his search in 1907, but encountered countless setbacks and dead-ends before he finally, uncovered the long-lost crypt.
The clues point to murder
Now, in The Murder of King Tut, James Patterson and Martin Dugard dig through stacks of evidence–X-rays, Carter’s files, forensic clues, and stories told through the ages–to arrive at their own account of King Tut’s life and death. The result is an exhilarating true crime tale of intrigue, passion, and betrayal that casts fresh light on the oldest mystery of all.
I listened to this audio over the past week. At first I found it a bit hard to follow the back and forth of Tut’s time (1300 BC) to Howard Carter’s time (1920) … to the occasional James Patterson time (current) where he fills us in on his progress and thoughts on the book.
Once I was able to pick up this flow…. I really started to enjoy the audio. The historical value of the story of Tutankhamen was fascinating to me. I had flashbacks to my experience when I first seen the movie Titanic and suddenly I couldnt get enough of Titanic related facts. Now here I am again in that place except now it is King Tut.
I have always been fascinated with movies the likes of Tomb Raider, National Treasure, and Raiders Of The Lost Ark. Being an archeologist would be an incredible job and the adventures of searching and finding the treasures of the past makes my heart beat a little faster.
I really enjoyed learning more about King Tut in this non fiction dig back into the days of Egyptian tombs, pyramids, and Pharoahs ruling the land. While I knew King Tut had been a young Pharoah – I had not realized how young or that he had married his sister! (oops – have I said too much?)
The excavation of Tut's Tomb
The sections on Howard Carter (the man who inNovember 26, 1922, discovered King Tut’s tomb) were equally as interesting. I even enjoyed the take directly from James Patterson himself on how this book came to be and his onw exensive research into the history and the mystery that surrounds Tut. James also shares some of his personal rules in writing that to me, were note worthy.
If you enjoy historical fiction/non fiction I think you will find a lot of value in this audio. For me the adventure had just begun as I am now following up on more information on Howard Carter and his amazing discovery of the boy King. James Patterson takes this piece of history and breathes life into it. I recommend taking it in.
Thanks to Hachette Audio, I have three copies of this audio to use for a giveaway! Enter here!
I received my review audio from Hachette Audio Group
SO here we are … another year down. For me this is a great time to look over the last 6 months of my blogging journey. I started blogging (seriously book blogging) the first week of June 2009. From that date on it has been a wonderful whirlwind of:
I have connected with people from all over the world.
been introduced to books I may not have ever encountered
Spoke with publishers and authors
fed my passion for writing
I have given a lot of thought how I would wrap up my year. Do I post my favorite reads over the past year? Make resolutions for 2010? How about a bit of both…. walk with me down memory lane:
Dragon House will always hold special memories for me. Not only was this a fantastic read, this was my first book sent directly from the author.
Pope Joan was another read that really was incredible. Author Donna Woolfolk Cross is fantastic and she and I communicated back and forth for a few months while they were filming the movie for this book. This was all new to me…. chatting with authors?
The Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy was such a fun read. It was great to participate on Kay’s 2.0 Blog and chat with ehr on Twitter as well. This book is not available to the public yet but I have pom poms ready to go to cheer like crazy when it does. YA look out in 2010!
The Help by Katherine Stockett is a great example of the power of book bloggers. As I watched this book gather steam through the blogs I purchased it and never looked back from page one to the very end. This book holds a high place in my 2009 reading favorites.
Jantsen’s Gift touched me deeply and author Pam Cope and I talked for over an hour on the phone as I interviewed her and shared our common interest in helping children all over the world.
Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins were books I would have never dreamed I would have enjoyed…. I mean seriously…. fighting to the death? Yet… I read them because of the wonderful bloggers I had come to trust and I LOVED these books. I cant wait for book three!
The Book Thief caused me to really put a new author on my radar that was reason for applause. A book told from the perspective of death…. if you havent read this – read it.
And this list is not by any means inclusive to everything I have read and loved this past year – just some that stick out in my mind as what I would say to someone who asked what book I would recommend.
As for resolutions for this blog…
I am excited to really take a close look at the challenges I will be doing this year and keep way better track then I did this past year.
There will be more author interviews
Word Shakers will get the kinks worked out and we will move ahead
I want to better at keeping track of the challenges I am in…. (I still have clean up to do on the ones I am completing – so behind! (My challenge post should be up later today)
Pondering Moments will be a mid week meme that will stem from book related questions and/or topics…. I am hoping to get more involved in a weekly discussion as I really enjoy talking all things bookish.
Finally I want to thank all of you that stop in and read my thoughts on books, crazy life moments that I share over a cup of coffee, and the day to day support. I so appreciate all of you. This past 6 months for many of you I have went from knowing you by a blog name – to a first name…. and that is pretty awesome.
May you all have a wonderful and safe New Years Eve!
Can you resist the allure of Edward’s myriad charms—his ochre eyes and tousled hair, the cadence of his speech, his chiseled alabaster skin, and his gratuitous charm? Will you hunt surreptitiously and tolerate the ceaseless deluge in Forks to evade the sun and uphold the facade? Join Edward and Bella as you learn more than 600 vocabulary words to improve your score on the *SAT, ACT®, GED®, and SSAT® exams!
Use this workbook side-by-side with your own copy of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight!
• Each chapter of the workbook gives you eight words taken from Twilight, with page references for you to read the words in the context of your favorite novel
• Define the words on your own before turning back to the workbook for their actual definitions
• At the end of each section you’ll take SAT, ACT, GED, and SSAT drills and quizzes to review and integrate what you’ve learned
• Plus, you’ll learn synonyms, Latin word parts, and memorization tools throughout the workbook
Honestly? I think this is brilliant! What a clever way Brain Leaf has put together here to learn great vocabulary words and actually make learning fun. Right from page 1 you have the words from the book Twilight with the page number provided to look it up. AT this stage of the book you are to write down what the word might mean. Flip to the next page and the definitions are there so you can see how you did. From there you move on to synonyms for each word, choosing analogies, and sentence completion. I had a wonderful time going through this workbook page by page and seeing what I did and did not know.
“Did I learn from this book?“ I would think would be a question you may be asking. The answer is yes. Even words that I thought I had a good grasp on, I discovered in a few cases I did not quite hold their correct meaning. When I read Twilight I did not notice the words that were put into use but now as I see how they are used in Defining Twilight, I am even more impressed with Stephanie Meyer’s work.
For a person who is a lover of words… this was a great exercise for me and I would think if you have a YA in your life who is a fan of Twilight, this is a great companion read that could be very beneficial.
About Brian Leaf
Brian Leaf, M.A., is the author of six books, including Defining Twilight and the four-book SAT and ACT test-prep series McGraw-Hill’s Top 50 Skills. He is Director of the New Leaf Learning Center in Massachusetts, and has provided SAT, ACT, GED, SSAT, and GRE preparation to thousands of students from throughout the United States.
Good Morning! It took two days but I am thrilled to say that I have my house back in order and I have book shelves! YES! I said it out loud and there was a happy dance. Here they are the finished product and I am so glad to be clutter free! 🙂
(Seriously… this will be the last babbling about these shelves… after this post I will return to my regular scheduled Morning Meanderings)
Oh wow! These are the first books I put up there…. congratulations to author Randy Alcorn who took up this corner!
Here is the other side of the room. I love it…. its better than I even pictured it!
I still have space ! Yes! The step in this picture belonged to my Great Grandmother. I have had it in the basement for years but now I think I am going to paint it and maybe put some cool book quotes on the steps to use in this room.
One close up of the shelf in action. 🙂
Ok enough about the shelves…. what are you reading today?
It is people like Austin Gutwein who inspire me to be a better person. ~ Sheila
Only God could weave a story that would captivate people all over the world, bring thousands of people from seventeen countries to a free-throw line, raise over a million dollars in international AIDS relief, and build a school and medical clinic in Zambia.
And only God do it through the hands of a nine-year-old boy.
What an amazing story of what a difference one person can make! Austin’ story is one that made my heart sore. I love true stories of young people doing things that those two, three, or four times their age have not attempted. There is something pure int hat kind of thinking and that is what I found within this book – within Austin himself.
This past September I had the opportunity to take part in a bike ride that raised money for children with AIDS. It was one of those experiences that caused me to step away from my own life and really take a look at what is going on around me. It was life changing and I am so ready and willing to do it again. This book, Austin’s story, brings me back to that moment – a moment of seeing things that often are overlooked.
At the end of each chapter are questions to ponder, scripture to think on… and a task to do. The task could be send a card to someone you know who is ill, connecting with an old friend – all the way to putting together your own Hoops of Hope event.
I found this book to be a wonderful reminder of the power that each of us has within us. When we think there is nothing possibly that we could do – we need to remember we dont know the power of a smile to someone who is desperately hurting, we dont know the power of a kind word to a stranger, and we do not know what picking up the phone and calling that person who has been on our heart lately will not only do for that person – but for you as well.
Good Morning! By the time you read this know I have already been to the gym working off (hopefully) the wonderful Chocolates I indulged in over the weekend. 🙂
In yesterdays Meandering I was all pumped up about the book shelf that is being placed around the upper part of my reading room. Today I promised pictures. I dont have a fully finished product yet as they did not get finished, but most of them are up. I will add more pics after it is completely done and with books even on them!
Oh and how appropriate…. this post marks my 100th Morning Meandering 🙂
The last few weeks were a bit crazier than I had anticipated and I now am behind on my giveaways! So please bear with me while I catch up here in this post. On the bright side…. I have winners and lots of them!!!!
I have three winners (yes three!!!) for this wonderful audio of 9 Dragons by Michael Connelly:
Ryan
Karen K
Shawna Lewis
The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel And Pie Society was won by:
Julie H
(this was a special Christmas giveaway and Julie was notified last week and the book was sent to the person of her choice)
I have three winners for The Lovely Bones audio!
Jody
amt946
Jamie P
I have three copies of Say You Are One Of Them to give away to these winners:
Esme
Lynne
Rebecca Graham
Three copies of this audio of Permission Slips goes to these winners:
Wanda
Patricia Barraclough
Peaches
The Donate A YA Review giveaway of a $20 Amazon Gift Card for sending Reagan at Miss Remmer’s Reviews your good YA reviews for her students (which by the way – you can do anytime!)… The winner is:
Shanyn!!!
I have 5 copies of The Magician’s Book to give to these wonderful winners:
Margie
Zia
J.T. Oldfield
Winning Readings
Michelle Miller/ TheTrueBookAddict
Congratulations to all the winners!!! Please watch my Giveaway Page for great giveaways still going on and more to come as we enter into the new year!
I love board games! I have a large closet dedicated to just them…. we have played them as a family for years and enjoy the old ones as much as a new one! This past weekend, Christmas Day actually, myself, hubby Al, out son Justin ,and Kinship Partner Chance all had a fun time playing a great game of BLURT!
The beauty of this game is that it takes all of 10 seconds to learn. There are not pages and pages of rules and maneuvers…. it is simply a nice looking board game, a box of cards that hold your clues – all I had to do was add people.
I had people.
So you take turns being the reader and read a card clue something like this: *A strip of leather or cloth that goes around your waste to hold clothes up…..
Then the first person to shout (well you don’t have to shout – but you would be surprised how many do!) the correct answer wins. It sounds simple and in a way it is…. but there are harder cards, and sometimes you get so caught up in the excitement and the laughter of the game…. you forget what the word could be…. and then it really gets crazy!
This is a game that is wonderful to play with a mix of ages…. young or old… everyone really has a good time with BLURT! I know I did.
*The answer: A belt!
I received my review copy from BLURT creator and author, Tim Walsh
Oh wow – this book is like a step back in time… suddenly I was filled with wonderful memories of childhood toys and games and the friends that gathered around them! ~ Sheila
We all had a favorite toy or game growing up. Those toys usually have memories attached to them… bringing up an image to said toy can bring along with it memories of our youth, the home we played with them in as well as the people who were a part of this time.
Arranged in chronological order, this book is a delight for any one – any age. As I looked through this book I was filled with nostalgia, for games such as Candy Land, Slinky, Silly Putty…
Each game/toy has the year it was originally made, the packaging as it changed through the years, and it’s creator. I enjoyed reading this book literally page by page absorbing all the facts behind my favorites and seeing the brilliance that was behind favorites like Scrabble:
Alfred Butts
Alfred Butts was the creator of Scrabble (originally called Lexico (1931-1938) and then Criss-Cross(1938-1947). In1931 Butts made sets of this game by hand and sold them to friends and acquaintances. More significantly, he tried to license his creation with Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers and both rejected him. Butts assigned each letter a face value based on its occurrence in every day language. He gave the Q and Z 10 point values. By using this criteria there should have been more S’s in the game than Butt’s had introduced, but he correctly surmised that the game would be too unbalanced if easy points were often scored by pluralizing. He shrewdly added two blank tiles, which could be used for any letter the player wanted. By 1953, to fill the demand, 150,000 Scrabble tiles were made daily.
This book is a true treasure that I will keep on my bookshelf for reference for years to come. My whole family enjoyed looking through this book and sharing facts on our favorites and I am sure yours will too!
Thank you to J Kaye’s Blog for hosting this fun meme! Well… I will make this short and hopefully sweet. 🙂 I did not get through the books I had hoped to last week. In fact, I temporarily lost my copy of The Heretic’s Daughter and I thought that maybe I had left it at the gym. This caused me to complete the books that I did:
None of these books were overly large, and the ones I was hoping to get to this past week just didnt happen. So this is what I plan to read this week:
I am about half way through Heretic’s Daughter and 60 pages into hush hush. The Heretic’s Daughter is not moving as quickly as I had hoped and hush hush had me from Patch. (LOL)
I am listening to The Murder Of King Tut in my vehicle and while it is a bit hard to follow three different time periods, I am enjoying the story itself.
What are you reading this week? I would love to know and stop by and link up to J Kaye’s Blog!
Book Journey 