Hi readers! As of the afternoon of November 4, I will be on my way to Honduras. I will pop in with Morning Meanderings as I am able (internet-wise) but I also have guest bloggers here each day around 11:40 am central time chatting up books and movies with you. Please stop in and see what they have to say about the best of the best this year. 😀
See you all soon!
Sheila
Tag: Book Stuff
They’re Creepy And They’re Spooky…. What SPOOKTACULAR books this way come??
October. As the leaves are quickly separating from the trees, and the nights are starting to release the chill of pending fall… I find myself, like many of you, thinking of a little something spooky to cuddle up with in the evenings.
What scares you?
Here are a few that I would love to get the opportunity to read:
In 1987, Bohjalian purchased a Victorian house, only to discover a mysterious sealed door in the basement. But it wasn’t until 2009, when pilot Sully Sullenberger was forced to (successfully) land his plane on the Hudson River, that Bohjalian had the second thread he needed for The Night Strangers’ terrifying plot. His protagonist, Chip Linton, is a pilot who lives to tell the tale of his emergency landing on Lake Champlain. But Flight 1611 ends up with 39 casualties among the 40-odd passengers and crew. Thirty-nine just happens to be the same number of bolts that seal shut a hidden door in the basement of the new house Chip and his lawyer wife Emily move to with their twin daughters Garnet and Hallie. This retreat to the mountains of northern New Hampshire is an attempt by Chip to come to terms with the crash. However, peace doesn’t come easily.
While Chip goes about refurbishing the house (discovering the boarded-up door and random weapons hidden in nooks and crannies in the process), Emily and the twins realize this small White Mountain village is populated with numerous greenhouses and self-proclaimed herbalists. As Chip’s grief slowly descends into a type of madness, Emily begins to question why the town is so obsessed with teaching her daughters the tricks of the plants.
The basic premise, that of an amnesia victim suffering from debilitating short-term memory loss, has been thoroughly mined in print (James Hilton’s Random Harvest, G.H. Ephron’s Amnesia) and cinema (50 First Dates, Memento). Where Watson diverges from the formula is in his exhaustive exploration of one woman’s spiral into paranoia. Does Christine have a happy marriage, or is it a total sham? Does she have a son, and if so, did he die in Iraq, or is that just a figment of her overworked imagination? And what’s up with her doctor, anyway? From early on, it is clear that her husband is not being entirely truthful with her, but to what end—Christine’s well-being or something darker? On the sly, Christine begins keeping a journal, documenting the inconsistencies in the stories she is told by those she thought she could trust, leading to a showdown of epic proportions.
My name is Amelia Gray. I’m a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. In order to protect myself from the parasitic nature of the dead, I’ve always held fast to the rules passed down from my father. But now a haunted police detective has entered my world and everything is changing, including the rules that have always kept me safe.
It started with the discovery of a young woman’s brutalized body in an old Charleston graveyard I’ve been hired to restore. The clues to the killer—and to his other victims—lie in the headstone symbolism that only I can interpret. Devlin needs my help, but his ghosts shadow his every move, feeding off his warmth, sustaining their presence with his energy. To warn him would be to invite them into my life. I’ve vowed to keep my distance, but the pull of his magnetism grows ever stronger even as the symbols lead me closer to the killer and to the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next.
For 10-year-old Beau Jackson, the annual late August trek from his home in Richmond, Virginia, to his grandmother’s ancestral property on a Georgia peninsula known as Gull Island is a dismal one. For two weeks, Beau will have to deal with his constantly arguing parents as well as his alcoholic aunt and uncle, swarms of mosquitoes, unbearable humidity—and his weird cousin Sumter Monroe.
But this summer proves to be different from past vacations. Sumter, always a little strange, is downright disturbing. Obsessed with a decrepit shack at the edge of the property, Sumter makes it his own personal clubhouse and names it Neverland, a place where grown-ups are forbidden and an old human skull is worshipped as a destroying god. Compelled to Neverland to escape the dysfunction and alcohol-fueled fights inside Grammy Weenie’s house (ironically called The Retreat), Beau and his older twin sisters Missy and Nonie enter Sumter’s dark sanctuary and become entangled in a web of evil that includes thievery, animal sacrifices, blood drinking, demon worship and, quite possibly, facilitating the beginning of the end of the world.
Thank you to Book Page and Goodreads for these suggestions
That’s just to name a few. How about you? Any “scare-awesome” reads coming up?DO any of these appeal to you or do you have others on your radar? Or maybe you skip the spooky all together…
Oh and in answer to what scares me….
dolls.
Dolls have always creeped me out.
There I said it. 😛
Congratulations! You are magical! (POTTERMORE)
Yes…. I admit it. I have been intrigued by Pottermore and what it may entail. Having been a HUGE JK Rowling fan and of course due to the Harry Potter books… I have followed much Potter activity through the years. Pottermore is no exception.
Give me a little challenge and a mystery behind it (what is Pottermore?) (Why do I want to be in it early?) and I am IN. At least I will try….
Only 7 days to enter and I come in under the wire on day 6. Every time I went on the site, day or night… registration was always closed. CLOSED.
GAH.
Then this morning I thought I would check it out and the clue was there… I had a chance!!!! And then I knew the answer and entered it like 8 times…. and…
nothing.
I thought I was doing it wrong. I re-read the clues, knowing full well that gate may close any time… ANYTIME!!! I was doing it right, but maybe due to heavy activity it would not let me in…
and then…
it did.
I am in.
Totally Harry Potter geaked out.
Life…
is grand.
😛
Your Pottermore account
Welcome and thank you for registering for Pottermore by J.K. Rowling – the magical new online experience based around the Harry Potter books.
A million registrants are going to be granted early entry into Pottermore to help give it the finishing touches, and the exciting news is that if you validate your account quickly, you could be one of the lucky few selected. Please be quick because places are going to be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis*.
This is the last day to get in on the pre- group for Pottermore. I have no idea what I am getting into… but it sounds like fun! 😀
The Best Book Club Picks Mid Way Through 2011
Top Book Club Books in June 2011
The following are the most popular book club books during June based on votes from readers and leaders of more than 30,000 book clubs registered at Bookmovement.com:
1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
2. Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
3. Cutting for Stone: A Novel by Abraham Verghese
4. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
5. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
6. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel by Jamie Ford
7. The Paris Wife: A Novel by Paula McLain
8. Little Bee: A Novel by Chris Cleave
9. Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen
10. Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel by Jeannette Walls
Top two risers:
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin (New at #24)
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (New at #30)
[Many thanks to Bookmovement.com!]
I have read on my own #1 and #5. With my book club I have read: #2, #3, #6, #8, and #9.
How about you? Have you or your book group read any of these books? Do you have a favorite out of this group?
Morning Meanderings… Diana Galbaldon – OUTLANDER and a visitor from the Navy
Good Morning!
I slept in my own bed for the first time in three days last night and it was NICE. It was actually good just to be home, and for the most part I was home most of yesterday.
Catching up on my e mail reading I noticed that Diana Galbaldon’s Outlander was re-released in hard cover yesterday. This is a series that I have heard so much good about and have yet to read. As I am looking at this lovely book I am thinking now may be the time to do so.
I think I am having book envy. 😛
Have you read this series? Do you want to?
On a fun note – both boys were home last night for dinner. We had Honduras Lasagna, and strawberry shortcake for dessert and sat on the deck and talked for hours. It was a good time. I made sure we captured a couple of pics of Brad and I before he heads back to the Navy next week.
E Reader – YAY or NAY?
Two years ago you would not have caught me with an e reader.
No way.
No how.
Not a chance.
I am from the school of a book is a book. I want to touch it. Smell it. Feel its weight in my hand. Enjoy how it looks on my shelf…. or in a stack… or haphazardly tossed on the coffee table, the couch or the lawn chair. A book… is not only a book… it is home decor… it is art with reading glasses on top… or perhaps a coffee cup. A book tells you something about the owner…. they love adventure…. facts… fantasy…. knowing more about whatever…..
One year ago I was curious… but under the radar curious.
I still teased the one girl in my book club who had a Kindle. I gave her all the reasons listed above about the love of 
books. BOOKS. Not electronics. Yet…. I inquired at the gym when I would see people on the tread mills or ellipticals with the e reader while I had one hand holding open my book.
Did they like it? Oh yes was the consistent answer.
I stared reading up on them on-line, on blogs… pros/cons….. and then….
which one?
Obviously there was Kindle…. and then Nook… and a Sony Reader….
I made lists of what features I liked and in the end….
I asked for a NOOK for Christmas, and received the NOOK Color (as my hubby the over achiever thought that would be better even though I still have had no use really for the color…)
My final decision on wanting an e reader was mainly for travel. For years I had packed 6 – 10 books in my carry on for a vacation, lugging them both ways and usually bringing a few more home than what I left with. Heavy, bulky….. you know….
So when the NOOK arrived prettily under the tree I was quick to set it up….but not so quick to read on it. The draw of my shelves filled with books always won out over the reader.
Until…
BEA – New York, the end of May. I was going to go E Reader or bust. I allowed myself one real book for the trip…. and sNOOKie (Wha…. you don’t name your toys?) sNOOKie was loaded with a few book choices to draw me too it. And on the plane, after starting with the old stand by book…. I put it down and read Delirium in its entirety on the NOOK.
Feedback:
On the plane I loved that I could set it on the tray table and read it without holding it open. I thought I would miss that but soon discovered once into the story I was thrilled not to have to hold the book. It saved my place without a book mark. It was light weight and east to travel with. It scored high applause from me.
Now that I am in an arm cast… I love that I do not have to fight to hold a book open. LOVE IT.
Tomorrow I am road tripping to St Cloud to chat with the NOOK representative. There is a lot I still need to learn about the NOOK that I have not tried yet. I want to know more about the online access (have hardly used that). I still don’t get the color purpose although my friend Angie said it is fantastic for kids books and the pictures move.
Will I ever go 100% E Reader? No. My books are all I stated above and I need to be surrounded by them. Some people have blankets or nicknacks…. I have books. Tomato, tomahto….
My questions to you:
1. Have you gone E Reader yet? Why or why not?
2. What E Reader would you choose (or have you chosen) and why?
3. What ways would you primarily find an E Reader useful in your lifestyle?
What Do You Look For In A Book Review?
As a lover of all things BOOKISH, I love love LOVE to read book reviews by book bloggers. Many of the books I read I have discovered by reading a review on a blog about said book. I appreciate a warm and honest review, and like to know how that book made the reviewer feel…. be it emotionally charged, angry, sad, happy, ready to do battle – whatever… books and emotions to me go hand in hand and I like to know how the reader feels when immersed in a book.
While the above is what I enjoy, I absolutely am turned off by reviews that tell me the book from start to end – the beginning, the big plot line, the solution and the ending… really, why do I need to read the book now? I do not care if the review is long (although there is clearly such a thing as too long..) as long as it is interesting, or short, as long as it gives me a feel for the book. I enjoy knowing a bit about the author, a bit about the history of the book, and really like the reviews that go the bit extra with perhaps a definition of something in the book along with a picture of that said word and its meaning.
As a reviewer, I want to write a good honest review that will cause my readers to know if this book is a good fit for them. For those of us that do review, we know this is not always as easy as gushing out “I loved it” as much as I love those reviews, there are also the ones that we have to say….. hmmmm…. not so much loving it here.
Here is my question(s) today:
1. As a reader, what do you like to see in a review of a book you may be interested in? What do you not like to see in a review?
2. As a reviewer (for those of us who are), what do you like to be sure are in your own reviews you write?
Who Do You Write Your Book Reviews For?
I remember when I first started book reviewing, just about two years ago. Shortly after that day, just as I was getting into my groove, someone on another blog mentioned that really book bloggers write their reviews for other book bloggers.
At the time I heartily disagreed. In fact I was a little put off about the statement – it sounded so self-serving and made me visualize a circle of people reviewing books, posting about books, and then reading books they seen that other book bloggers reviewed and then reading those books… starting the circle over again.
No, I thought. I write about books for the masses… for the book lovers everywhere that want an honest opinion on a book.
*Pause here for dramatic effect.*
I write reviews for anyone looking on-line for thoughts about a particular book or a particular genre….
Ok… ok. Now… here I am thinking these last few days is that still true? What I set out to do (books for the masses, honest reviews, book talk genre talk for everyone….) is it still true that I am writing for everyone, and not just chatting it up with other book reviewers?
Honestly, most of you who comment here are book reviewers as well. And honestly – I have grown to really love that because we truly are an incredible community of people and together we have a voice that can make a difference – and has made a difference. I like knowing my frequent commenters, even if it is virtually. I know from reading your own blogs the type of books you enjoy, injuries, sicknesses, trips, exciting news, and sometimes hardships too. I like being able to comment something to the effect that is more personal like, “glad to see you made it back from _______________”. or , “I know you will love this book as it reminded me a lot of the other book you read and loved.” And of course with the addition of BEA where I actually was able to meet many of you – well that just is too awesome for words. 😀
I have noticed that my original “for the masses” *let masses echo in your head* plan of attack, is not always accurate when I write posts like this, or about BEA (do the masses care that I am going?), or about meme’s (although I honestly wish none book bloggers would partake too as I honestly do really want to know what everyone is reading. :razz:)
I turn this question back to you….
-
as a book reviewer/blogger, who do you write your posts for?
-
Do you have a targeted audience in mind?
If you are not a book reviewer/blogger… do posts that seem to only be written for other book reviewers bug you, or (hopefully) make you feel part of the circle of books lovers?
How Do You Choose What To Read Next?
Out of the TBR’s (To Be Read) in your home…. what is the method to your madness? (Well… maybe your is not madness… but oofta (yes I said oofta – and yes I put parentheses inside parentheses) mine sure is).
I am curious as to how you choose that next read –
Are you:
AIO – All In Order – as they come in they are read – check off the list go the next… check check check (If so YOU are SO ORGANIZED! WOW!)
TBR and LL – Library Loot – a bit of the TBR mixed in for variety
ATSL – As The Spirit Leads (and honestly this is my personal favorite… I read what I want to read when I want to read it, with the exception of Book Tours)
I have heard some of you talk about your systems of organization when it comes to the TBR and seriously that impresses me… I wish I could stick to that but I tend to read as I am called to a book (at least as much as possible, unless it is a tour book or a book club read with a commitment date)
For those of you who are book reviewers, do you think we easily over commit ourselves to read books offered to us as books are so much our passion it is hard to say no?
Thank you in advance for your insight. Every Sunday I go through this…. choosing what I plan to read for the It’s Monday, What Are You Reading meme. I take into account book tours and audio choices and then try to mix in one that I have no commitment to other than the fact I want to read it. I am curious how you choose your books. 😀
What Is With Me And All The Berg Books?
If you have hung around here any amount of time you have more than likely seen the Elizabeth Berg books popping into my “To Be Read” pile. I read my first Elizabeth Berg book in January of this year, We Are All Welcome Here. The book touched and impressed me and I made a commitment that I have never done before – to read all of this authors works in 2011.
Here we are in May – and here is a list of Elizabeth Berg’s books and the ones I have read have reviews attached:
Durable Good
Talk Before Sleep
Range of Motion
The Pull of The Moon
Joy School
What We Keep
Until The Real Thing Comes Along
The Art Of Writing True
Open House
Never Change
Ordinary Life
True To Form
Say When
The Art Of Mending
The Year Of Pleasures
We Are All Welcome Here
The Handmaid and The Carpenter
Dream When You Are Feeling Blue
The Day I Ate Anything I Wanted (returned to library – ran out of time, need to check out again)
Home Safe
The Last Time I Saw You (Currently reading)
Once Upon A Time There Was You
Elizabeth Berg is a Minnesota author. She was born in 1948, and that would make her the same age as my mom. 🙂 She submitted her first poem to American Girl Magazine when she was 9 and when it was rejected, it took her 25 years before she ever submitted anything again.
FuN To KnOw
Berg hasn’t managed to get her way when it comes to titling her books, usually getting overruled by her agent and editor. She wanted to call Durable Goods The King of Wands, after a tarot card; Range of Motion would have been Telling Songs; and Open House would have been The Hotel Meatloaf. Perhaps Berg should be thankful for her handlers?
Book Journey 