The Passage by Justin Cronin Makes Its Landing...

Just Released Today!

June 8th, 2010

The Most Anticipated Book of the summer is finally here! The "It" book! Have you picked up your copy?! You have heard of The Passage by Justin Cronin, right?! If not, here's the blurb from the publisher...

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

There has been so much buzz about this book for the past 6 months. It was the book with the biggest buzz at BookExpo this year. What a great campaign by Random House & Ballantine Books to get the word out... and now let's open the pages and see just how good it is...

I missed out on getting a copy at BEA this year, but through the beauty of technology The Passage arrived on my Kindle early this morning. I've already dived in to sample it (how could I resist!) even though I'm in the middle of another book... Has anyone read The Passage yet?! What did YOU think?! I'll let you know what I think as soon as I turn that last page...

*P.S. This book is the first book in a TRILOGY!

Raven Stole The Moon by Garth Stein... A Review

Raven Stole The Moon by Garth Stein...

And Garth Stole my Attention!

A Tale of Grief, Devotion, Redemption, and Timeless Mystery...

When a grieving mother goes to the remote Alaskan town where her young son drowned, she discovers that the truth about her son's death is shrouded in legend...

Back of the Book...When Jenna Rosen abandons her comfortable Seattle life to visit Wrangell, Alaska, it's a wrenching return to her past. Long ago the home of her Native American grandmother, Wrangell is located near the Thunder Bay resort, where Jenna's young son, Bobby, disappeared two years before. His body was never recovered, and Jenna is determined to lay to rest the aching mystery of his death.

But the spectacular town provides little comfort beyond the steady and tender affections of Eddie, a local fisherman. And then whispers of ancient legends begin to suggest a frightening new possibility about Bobby's fate. Soon, Jenna must sift through the beliefs of her ancestors, the Tlingit--who still tell of powerful, menacing forces at work in the Alaskan wilderness.

The beliefs are shared by Dr. David Livingstone, a Tlingit shaman, who warns Jenna about the danger of disturbing the legendary kushtaka--soul stealing predators that stalk a netherworld between land and sea, the living and the dead. But Jenna is desperate for answers, and she appeals to both Livingstone and Eddie to help her sort fact from myth, and face the unthinkable possibilities head-on.

Armed with nothing but a mother's ferocious protective instincts, Jenna's quest for the truth about her son--and the strength of her beliefs--is about to pull her into a terrifying and life-changing abyss....

Garth Stein is an amazing writer. Each sentence is like a piece of poetry. The images his writing creates are powerful, but it's his ability to get to the raw underlying emotions of his characters that what will hook you. Garth knows people. His characters are authentic and believable. And he is able to easily transfer the emotions of his characters to the page. You can feel the pain of a mother who has lost her child, the frustration of a man who doesn't believe in anything but the mighty dollar, and he makes you believe in the connection of your soul to something other than what is explainable. Raven Stole The Moon is such a wonderful mix of fiction with rich Native American folklore of the Tlingit Indians. Garth slowly guides us from life in Seattle to the beautiful Alaskan wilderness. He weaves the story of Jenna Rosen seeking answers to her sons death and attaining some peace with it all, with the legends of her ancestors the Tlingit effortlessly. (The Tlingit are also the ancestors of Garth, as his mother is a native of Alaska and she descends from Tlingit Indians) There are plenty of interesting characters to flush out the story including Jenna's distraught husband, the shaman hired to deal with evil spirits, and a detective hired to bring Jenna back home. Raven Stole The Moon is a heart-wrenching, sad, yet wonderful read. If you loved Garth's book The Art of Racing in the Rain, you will enjoy this book too! (If you haven't read The Art of Racing in the Rain YOU SHOULD!)

Would you like to read an excerpt? Here's a link to Raven Stole The Moon at Harper Collins. And you can read all about Garth and his books at Garth Stein's website! I want to thank Sarah from Terra Communications for sending me a copy of Raven Stole The Moon! It was wonderful! Raven Stole The Moon is available now from your favorite bookstore! Raven Stole The Moon is actually Garth's debut novel originally published in 1998! We're all very lucky that it's been re-released by Harper Collins!

*P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld... A Review

Sometimes Beauty isn't just Skin Deep...

What could be more important to a teenager raging with hormones, acne, and all the awkwardness that the teenage years are filled with?... Fitting in maybe?... Welcome to the world of Tally Youngblood, where at age 16 you are turned pretty and everything is wonderful... or so you would think...

Scott Westerfeld has created a future filled with Hoverboards, Interface rings and crash bracelets... Uglies is a future that is different, but strangely recognizable and believable.

Uglies is set in the future after society picked itself up after almost total annihilation and created a world where the errors of the past would never be part of the future... The world was different back then when the "Rusties" built the cities they lived in from metal, oil was the main source of fuel, and they lived like 'animals' among the trees and open lands. The new society was better... Everyone was beautiful, life was easier, food was plentiful. The children were protected by checkpoints and curfews, invisible barriers and finally by becoming 'Pretty'. In Uglies you're considered 'Ugly' until at the age of 16 EVERYONE goes thru a surgical procedure to conform to what society deems 'Pretty'... acceptable. From a "Littlie", you are taught that you are ugly... because your features are not perfect, your lips might be too thin, your hair might be frizzy, or you might not be curvy enough. Talk about helping a teenager's self esteem! But there is an answer, and that answer happens at age 16, when you are made drop dead gorgeous. There are parties every night, you are accepted by everyone, and life is easy... But what if you like being who you are? What if you don't want to be like everyone else? Is happiness really just a pretty face?

Tally Youngblood is 15 waiting for her birthday to become Pretty. Her best friend Peris, who she has grown up with, already became pretty and she is lonely and desperate to join him in New Pretty Town, where he lives now. As she sneaks over to New Pretty Town to talk to Peris, causes an amazing bit of trouble, and tries to get back over the river to where the Uglies live, she meets Shay... and all Tally knows about life and her future is turned upside down...

Tally is young, adventurous, and full of life. Shay is her equal in all of that, except she looks at becoming a Pretty differently... She questions societies forcing this conformity and looks at the values that the Pretty's have as shallow... But their friendship blossoms with late night adventures and mischief... Until one day Shay tells Tally there is another choice besides becoming Pretty... there is another place... The Smokes...

Friendship & Love, Loyalty & Betrayal, Regret and Redemption are all words I think of in describing this story. What makes a person beautiful? What are the important things in life? What is special about being your own person? This YA story touches on all these important questions and will make you sit back and think. As the story unfolds, Scott Westerfeld creates a history we can follow, shows us how things aren't always quite what they seem on the surface and what an amazing adventure life is, especially when Tally looks outside the box to see a world she could never have imagined and one in which the "authorities" take great measure to try and destroy. The friendship between Tally and Shay is believable & wonderful! There is plenty of action and thrills as Tally makes a journey to find her true self! Scott Westerfeld has created a world you can step inside and explore. You'll be turning those pages to find out what happens next! The characters are rich and the writing is compelling. This is a YA novel, but adults will enjoy reading it as well. I know I really enjoyed reading it! There is a cliff hanger at the end of the story, but the book stands on its own and you will enjoy it even if you don't read any further. The Uglies is a 4 book series... (originally it was suppose to be a trilogy, but there was one more story in Scott!)... I just ordered the rest of the series... and I can't wait! If you were ever went through the angst of being a teenager and had a BFF you will appreciate Uglies!

I read this as part of my DystopYA Reading Challenge. Dystopian fiction is generally fiction about a world that is attempting to be perfect but contains a fatal flaw, and you'll soon find out what that flaw is in Uglies!

Have you read this series yet? What did you think? Do you think being 'Pretty' is the answer to societies problems? Share your thoughts! I'd love to read them! Follow this link to Chapter One! And Scott Westerfeld has written a great selection of discussion questions for Uglies! Here is the Link! The questions illustrate what a thought provoking book this really is...

*P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!

Audiobook Giveaway for Memoir Monday! Cleaving by Julie Powell

A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession

CONGRATULATIONS TO ASHLEY, REBECCA & MELISSA! THEY EACH WON A COPY OF THE AUDIOBOOK CLEAVING! Thank you to EVERYONE who joined in on the fun, tweeted and blogged about the giveaway!!

Julie Powell thought cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking was the craziest thing she'd ever do--until she embarked on the voyage recounted in her new memoir, CLEAVING. Her marriage challenged by an insane, irresistible love affair, Julie decides to leave town and immerse herself in a new obsession: butchery. She finds her way to Fleischer's, a butcher shop where she buries herself in the details of food. She learns how to break down a side of beef and French a rack of ribs--tough, physical work that only sometimes distracts her from thoughts of afternoon trysts. The camaraderie at Fleischer's leads Julie to search out fellow butchers around the world--from South America to Europe to Africa. At the end of her odyssey, she has learned a new art and perhaps even mastered her unruly heart.

Another great audiobook giveaway! If you enjoyed Julie's memoir Julie & Julia, find out what happens after getting through that infamous french cookbook! What's even nicer is that this audiobook is unabridged and read by the author herself! Would you like to listen to an excerpt? Here's the LINK. AND CD #9 of the audiobook has a PDF with recipes! Courtesy of Anna of Hachette Book Group I have 3 copies of the unabridged audiobook for a giveaway! Thanks Anna!

To Enter this giveaway...

*For one entry leave me a comment with your email address!

*Get an extra entry for following my blog! Just leave a comment letting me know you're a follower! ( Not a follower yet? No problem, sign up by clicking on the 'followers" button! Just let me know you became a new follower!)

*Blog or tweet about this giveaway and leave me the link.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only.(No PO boxes). The books will be shipped to the winners directly from the publisher. Contest ends 11:59pm EST on Dec. 19th. I will randomly pick the winners the next day and email them! (please check your email.. winner must reply to me within 3 days! Thanks!) Good Luck!

*P.S. There is a Kindle Ready Book available!

9 Dragons by Michael Connelly... Blog Tour & Review

All his life Harry Bosch believed he had a mission. He needed to build his life so that he was invulnerable, so nothing and no one could ever get to him....

All that changed...

LAPD Detective Harry Bosch is off the chain in the fastest, fiercest, and highest-stakes case of his life. Fortune Liquors is a small shop in a tough South L.A. neighborhood, a store Bosch has known for years. The murder of John Li, the store's owner, hits Bosch hard, and he promises Li's family that he'll find the killer.

The world Bosch steps into next is unknown territory. He brings in a detective from the Asian Gang Unit for help with translation--not just of languages but also of the cultural norms and expectations that guided Li's life. He uncovers a link to a Hong Kong triad, a lethal and far-reaching crime ring that follows many immigrants to their new lives in the U.S.

And instantly his world explodes. The one good thing in Bosch's life, the person he holds most dear, is taken from him and Bosch travels to Hong Kong in an all-or-nothing bid to regain what he's lost. In a place known as Nine Dragons, as the city's Hungry Ghosts festival burns around him, Bosch puts aside everything he knows and risks everything he has in a desperate bid to outmatch the triad's ferocity.

Today is the official release date of 9 Dragons by Michael Connelly! Detective Harry Bosch is back for his 15th appearance to enter into a culture and a country he's unfamiliar with, which makes for some great reading! Michael Connelly writes about real places and it's fascinating! Meet the Triads, a kind of Asian Mafia, whose origins date back to the seventeenth century. 113 monks in the Shaolin monastery, Buddhist monks, were killed by Manchu invaders. There were 5 remaining monks that created the secret society known as the triads with the goal of overthrowing the invaders. The goals of the triads had changed a bit over time and now while the Asian shop owners pay the extortion as a way to honor the ghosts of the slaughtered monks, the shop owner from Fortune Liquors didn't pay for some reason and that's why Harry is looking over his dead body...

But we see a different side of Harry in 9 Dragons... we finally meet a grown-up Maddie, his thirteen year old daughter who lives with her mother, a former FBI agent, in Hong Kong... and we see Harry race to Hong Kong to save his daughter from what appears to be the clutches of the Triad while trying to solve the murder of Mr. Li, the owner of Fortune Liquors, and someone who Harry feels saved his life a long time ago. Maddie has never complicated Harry's life. He didn't raise her, but visited her in Hong Kong and she visited him in L.A. But she made him vulnerable... She was precious to him... In 9 Dragons she disappears...

Michael Connelly was a crime reporter before beginning his novel writing and his mastery of the subject shows. His crime novels are page turners that add great characters, great locations, and realistic scenarios. 9 Dragons is no different. Tag along with Harry as he navigates L.A.'s Asian gangs,Hong Kong, his colleagues (who he doesn't really trust), and his former lover to solve the murder and save his daughter. If you're a Harry Bosch fan you won't be disappointed. If you've never met Harry, don't worry, you don't need to read the other books to enjoy this one!

Would you like to learn more about Michael Connelly? Visit his website at www.michaelconnelly.com . There you'll find his biography, information about his other books, and a gallery of photos of the real places you'll find in his books! Like to read an excerpt? Here's a link to Chapter One!

Michael Connelly is on tour now! Here's a LIST of all his signings and events. A Big Thank You to Miriam of Hachette Book Group for sending me the review copy! Thanks Miriam it was a great read!

*P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!

Today is the official start of Michael Connelly's Blog Tour for 9 Dragons! Here are the other blogs he'll be making a stop at this month...

10/13

http://booknerdextraordinaire.blogspot.com/

http://www.reviewfromhere.com/

http://justonemorepageblog.blogspot.com

http://popculturenerd.wordpress.com

10/14

http://bookrevues.blogspot.com/

http://bookseriesreviews.blogspot.com/

http://bookinwithbingo.blogspot.com

10/15

http://dreyslibrary.blogspot.com/

http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/

http://froggaritavillesbookcase.blogspot.com/

10/16

http://www.rundpinne.blogspot.com/

http://bookseriesreviews.blogspot.com/

http://mindingspot.blogspot.com

10/17

http://bridget3420.blogspot.com/

http://www.bookingmama.blogspot.com/

http://www.lovingheartmommy.com/

10/18

http://bookjourney.wordpress.com/

http://luanne-abookwormsworld.blogspot.com/

10/19

http://justanothernewblog.blogspot.com/

http://ilratb.blogspot.com/

http://booksiesblog.blogspot.com/

10/20

http://dixie-afewofmyfavoritethings.blogspot.com/

http://bermudaonion.wordpress.com

http://mandablogsabout.blogspot.com/

10/21

http://libslibrary.blogspot.com/

http://abookbloggersdiary.blogspot.com/

http://myreadingroom-crystal.blogspot.com

Giveaway & Review : Up for Renewal by Cathy Alter

Up for Renewal... Opening yourself up for change in the magazine aisle!

Hi Everyone! And the winner is.... Victoria! Congrats! I'll post all the great magazine advice titles everyone came up with soon with a link here so you can read them all! So you'll have to come back to check them all out- they are all GREAT! And a BIG Thank you to EVERYone who joined in on the fun!

Up For Renewal, What magazines taught me about love, sex, and starting over by Cathy Alter. "By age thirty-seven, Cathy Alter had made a mess of her life. With a failed marriage already under her belt, she was continuing down the path of poor decisions, one paved with a steady stream of junk food, unpaid bills, questionable friends, and highly inappropriate men. So she sat down and asked her-self what she truly wanted. A decent guy. A nicer home. More protein. When she took a closer look at her wants, she noticed something that seemed very familiar—with the addition of exclamation points, her list could easily be transformed into the cover lines on every women’s magazine: Find the love you deserve! Paint to the rescue! Eggs-actly perfect meals! ...So Cathy gave over her life to the glossies for the next twelve months, resolving to follow their advice without question. By the end of her subscriptions, she would get rid of upper-arm jiggle, crawl out of debt, host the perfect dinner party, run a mile without puking, engage in better bathtub booty, ask for a raise, and rehaul her apartment."

Up for Renewal was funny & charming! And I really enjoyed it! With Cathy's life so out of control it didn't seem such a stretch to let all the magazines screaming advice on the rack to take over her life, so that's what she did- for one year she followed the advice from these magazines without question and the result was a funny, unbelievably honest look at how she changed her life with the flip of a page.

Each month was a different 'goal'. She started out slow & easy - eating healthier was her first month. She wasn't overweight, but had a lot of bad habits including junk food. So brown bagging it to work would be healthier and save her some money. Real Simple magazine had an tutorial on sandwich wrapping (an actual tutorial!?) and which was the best wrap to use... then she tackles "keep fear from running your life" , fashion month, sex month, cooking month and in the middle of all this change she finds a "healthy" relationship and begins to apply her new found magazine advice to her relationship with Karl - from moving in together to dealing with his mother. Some of her 'experiments' were a riot! And some were very heartwarming. Her sarcasm and wit make for a great story. She is the real "Bridget Jones Diary"!

Along the way, she questioned whether these women's magazines were really designed to make women feel bad about themselves by always making us feel like we'd never have the perfect "_____" (you fill in the blank), but ultimately her verdict was that these magazines "were just the vehicles (ambulances during some months) she took to the road to self-discovery." She, like each of us, is the person who ultimately makes the positive changes in our own life.

It's funny that since I've read this book I really pay attention to all the magazine covers to see what advice they are offering 'this month'... Do you ever buy a magazine for the advice on the cover? When you don't subscribe to a magazine, isn't that the reason why you buy one off the stand- something in that issue is calling your name. Advice, recipes, paint choice it's all there! If you'd like to learn more about Cathy Alters and her book Up for Renewal, check out her Home Page! Would you like to read the first chapter? Here's the Excerpt!

Now about the giveaway! Courtesy of Minjae O., Cathy Alters PR consultant, I had the privilege of receiving a copy of Up for Renewal for review! PLUS, Minjae generously sent me another copy so I could give it away to one of my readers! Since I'm sending it along to one lucky person, I am opening this giveaway up to my international readers too! So if I can mail a book to you thru the post office you are eligible to enter!

To Enter this Giveaway...

*For one entry leave me a comment with your email address!

*For another entry, follow my blog and leave a comment to let me know you just became a follower. (if you already are a follower you will get an extra entry!)

*For another entry Blog or tweet about this giveaway and leave me the link.

*For a bonus entry write your own magazine advice headline and leave it in a comment! (Such as... "Make your skin glow with mayonnaise and water") Remember we're having fun here, don't be shy!

This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian residents, plus anywhere I can mail a book thru the post office! (No P.O. Boxes, please) Contest ends 11:59 pm EST on Sept. 5th. I'll randomly pick the winner the next day and email that person. Please check your email... winner must reply to me!

Good luck everyone!

*P.S. Not part of the giveaway, but just wanted to let my Kindle readers know, this book is Kindle Ready!

The Sunday Salon with "Books with Buzz"

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them, and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....

My reading week started out with a bit of a panic-NO INTERNET! Actually sporadic internet. I decided to try out my local Borders HotSpot (WiFi internet connection) and see how it worked. Actually it was pretty easy, and for $6.00 I could get online for an hour, or for about $8.00 I could buy a 24 hour pass and access away! Of course I'm sure that the management may have found it a bit odd that I was dressed in my pajamas and demanding to get my money's worth at midnight while sitting in the coffee shop for the past 12 hours! I opted to test it out with a hourly pass. After arriving with my laptop, having it already turned on, the first site I tried to connect to lead me to a T-Mobile popup that gave simple instructions on how to sign up for an account and log in to access the internet. Other options were available for other internet providers, but not knowing how to access my AT & T WiFi I just opted for the T-Mobile. I was good to go! During the week we determined that it was probably a faulty modem and after my DH went to buy a new modem and spent the morning hooking it up, we are now back to normal! But, at least we know that Borders is a good option just in case. Then yesterday morning in my email, Barnes & Noble made an announcement that they had FREE WiFi available at most of their stores. My local B&N was listed, but since last being there, there were only a few chairs to be had for sitting down.... I guess a low bookshelf may work out to put my laptop on.... Anyone ever use a HotSpot? I would love to know where you found one!

So,this week there has been an interesting mix of books coming my way. First I started reading our book club read, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford and was immediately drawn in. A whirl of events puts Henry Lee facing the painful memories 40 years later of his youth and the internment camps that had separated him from his boyhood crush Keiko. Keiko was an american, but of Japanese heritage and was swept up in the ugly part of WWII, that suspected any person of Japanese heritage to be a possible saboteur. Life went on and Henry grew up, married and had a family, but never forgot Keiko. When the belongings of some of the Japanese families are found hidden in the basement of a long abandoned hotel that is going to be refurbished, memories flood Henry Lee's mind and we are taken back with him to a different era... Look for my review later in the next few weeks! From what I've read so far it is a winner!

Putting that book aside for a moment I started reading a book that Caitlin of Unbridled Books sent my way - In Hovering Flight by Joyce Hinnefeld. I want to call it a quietly beautiful book, because it is thought provoking and stirring. I started reading it and didn't stop reading it until I finished it. It begins with a daughter coming home to say goodbye to her mother dying of cancer. The mother, a famous bird artist and environmental activist, is surrounded by her best friends from college and her dear husband, Tom. In saying goodbye, we are whisked off to the beginning of Addie and Toms humble beginnings as student and college professor. We learn of a complicated life that draws everyone back to Addie in the end. And with the gentle remembrances Addie's daughter gains a better understanding of her mother and who she really was. With rich characters set in a beautiful surrounding of nature with purpose. Check out the full review this week!

Another fun book that came my way is Up For Renewal, What magazines taught me about love, sex, and starting over by Cathy Alter. Cathy is a writer whose life was out of control. She was in her 40's, with a failed marriage and a slew of poor decisions and inappropriate men behind her. She decided what she really wanted and the list looked like what every women's magazine on the rack promised- "Find the love you deserve", "Perfect meals", "Paint to the rescue"... That's when she decided that for the next year she would follow the advice she could find in these magazines without question. And this is the book about the how, why and what happened during that year! I'm looking forward to reading about how it all went! Do you think you can solve your problems with a magazine article? I also have a extra copy thanks to the publisher! That means giveaway! And since I'm going to be mailing it out myself to the lucky winner, that means I can send it as far away as I like! (Do I hear international giveaway?!)

One more book I'd like to mention with A lot of Buzz this week is When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead! A YA(young adult) novel, but being enjoyed by adults as well... 6th grader Miranda and her best friend Sal enjoy navigating the New York City neighborhoods they are familiar with. One day Sal gets into a fight and stops talking to Miranda, who is left to her own devices and begins to mysteriously get these notes delivered to her. The notes slowly begin to tell a story and a mystery, which Miranda must solve, she believes, in order to prevent a tragic death... It is now on my TBR pile!

One more thing of note this week for my Kindle friends! On Monday August 3rd between 11 am EST and Wed. Aug. 5th 10:59am EST you can download a FREE eBook copy of Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann... "It's 1974, and a man is dancing on a tightrope between the towers of the World Trade Center—risky business, but as Colum McCann reveals in Let the Great World Spin (Random House), so is simply living day to day." And the book is suppose to really depict the New York City of old remarkable well- all happening down below while the man is on the tightrope. You must belong to the Oprah bookclub to participate, but it's very easy to join and it's FREE. Here's the link for the download and to join : Oprah Book Club . Now it does not specifically say Kindle only eBook, but Oprah is a big fan of the Kindle, so I am assuming that the eBook will be able to be downloaded on the Kindle... **UPDATE: The download for this book is a PDF.

*P.S. All These Books are Kindle Ready! Click on the their titles!