Archive for March, 2009
« Previous EntriesReview: The Blue Notebook by James Levine
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
Is it wrong to say I loved a book about child prostitution? Maybe so, but it’s true. The Blue Notebook by James Levine is one of the most moving books I’ve ever read.
The story is about Batuk, a beautiful and imaginative young girl from rural India. Having learned to read [...]
Teaser Tuesdays - 3/31/09
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
Teaser Tuesdays~
Miz B and Teaser Tuesdays asks you to: Grab your current read. Let the book fall open to a random page. Share with us two (2) sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12. You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your [...]
Teaser Tuesday, March 31
Submitted by Book Nut
Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations [...]
March Jacket Flap-a-thon
Submitted by Book Nut
I am not coming up with anything witty to say as an introduction: I thought I’d read less because the weather was getting nicer, but I didn’t. I did, however, have the single highest number of posts in a month. (This one will be 48, Teaser Tuesday, which will go up soon [...]
Product Review: The Book Buddy
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
A while back I was asked to review a product called “The Book Buddy” by Mandy Blake from Reading Comfort, a company that specializes in reading accessories. Having never reviewed a product before, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was getting myself into. Mandy was so sweet, though, and assured [...]
Ranger’s Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan
Submitted by Book Nut
by John Flanagan
ages: 10+
First sentence: “Morgorath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, former Baron of Gorlan in the Kingdom of Araluen, looked over his bleak, rainswept domain and, for perhaps the thousandth time, cursed.”
After C and I abandoned our last book, we were fishing around for something to read next. [...]
Book Review: The Gallery of Regrettable Food
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
Continuing with last week’s food theme, today Ron reviews a book that recently caught his eye.
Being a child of the 60’s and 70’s I can easily see how modern life (and food paradigms) have changed over the years. Which is what made The Gallery of Regrettable Food by James Lileks [...]
OCOC Giveaway: All about Jane
Submitted by Book Nut
Another three-fer this week, the theme is some sort of connection to Jane Austen…
Becky liked it, as did Bookfool. (And, to be completely honest, so did I.) You know you want a chance to read this, too.
The review that made me want the book, and the place where I won it from. [...]
Book Club Wrap Up: Book Clubs as Cheap Entertainment
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
Sheri, our bartender
With our economy in the gutter, I’m looking for ways to have fun on a budget. Spring break is coming up and we have no plans to go anywhere, so we’ll be riding bikes, having picnics, going to the library, using coupons for free games of bowling, going [...]
Well-Seasoned Reader Challenge Roundup #12
Submitted by Book Nut
I’ve decided, for the sake of continuity, to extend the deadline for the challenge to April 4th, so I can keep with my Sunday roundup posts. The final reviews, finishers, and winner(s) will be announced on Sunday, April 5th.
This week’s quote is by Ruth Reichl, because Amira reminded me how much I [...]
Stealing Heaven
Submitted by Book Nut
by Elizabeth Scott
ages: 14+
First sentence: “My first memory is staring through a window into a house that isn’t mine.”
Met Danielle. She’s eighteen, and she has been stealing things her whole life. Lest you think this is because she’s some miscreant (there’s some satisfaction that comes with using that word in a sentence), [...]
Flygirl
Submitted by Book Nut
by Sherri L. Smith
ages: 12+
First sentence: “It’s a Sunday afternoon, and the phonograph player is jumping like a clown in a parade the way Jolene and I are dancing.”
Ida Mae Jones has always wanted to fly. Ever since she was put behind the wheel (is it a wheel?) of her daddy’s Jenny [...]
Review: The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson is a sweet memoir of Dickinson’s life growing up, and her life as a parent to daughter Emily, in a small town in upstate New York.
Full of humor and common sense, the book is about Amy’s life surrounded by an extended family [...]
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
Back in January I wrote about the 2009 Pierce County Reads Program. I am a bit late in noticing that our neighbors just over in Tacoma are having their own One Community, One Book program this year. And Tacoma’s chosen book is none other than Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, [...]
Book to Movie Friday: Chocolat
Submitted by Book Nut
If you’ll remember, I had issues with the book, mostly with the Reynaud-Vianne narration, as well as their conflict. I also wondered how the movie handled the situations book (in this case, I had seen the movie first, but had no recollection of it). Karma/the planets/my Netflix queue finally aligned and I [...]
The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Submitted by Book Nut
by Leo Tolstoy
ages: adult
First sentence: “On learning of Ivan Ilyich’s sudden demise and death, his former colleagues begin vying for promotion; it seems neither in life nor in death has Ivan Ilyich made any lasting impression.”
I haven’t read anything by Tolstoy in quite a long time; after finishing Anna Karenina about 12 [...]
Best Bad Book? Booking Through Thursday
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
Suggested by Janet:
The opposite of last week’s question: “What’s the best ‘worst’ book you’ve ever read — the one you like despite some negative reviews or features?”
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]
Zombie Chickens… Sounds Like a Bad Movie Title
Submitted by Book Nut
Becky, whom I love, gave me the absolutely coolest award. Ever.
The instructions (can I tell you how the “Tao of the zombie chicken” cracked me up? I completely lost it):
The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken - excellence, grace and persistence is all situations, even [...]
Review: Sonata for Miriam by Linda Olsson
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
Sonata for Miriam by Linda Olsson is about silence and loss. On the day his daughter Miriam dies, musician Adam Anker visits a War Memorial Museum in New Zealand, where he finds a photograph of a man who shares the name he was born with, Adam Lipski, and a note [...]
Library Loot #11
Submitted by Book Nut
I missed last week because it was spring break, and we actually didn’t go to the library… shock.
Back into the habit this week, though.
For A/K:
My Friend is Sad, Mo Willems
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Mo Willems (we like our Mo)
Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude, Written and Illustrated by Kevin [...]
Evernight
Submitted by Book Nut
by Claudia Gray
ages: 13+
First sentence: “The burning arrow thudded into the wall.”
The basic story: Bianca is a new student at Evernight Academy, which is not something she’s terribly excited about. But then she meets Lucas (cue dreamy music) and all of a sudden it’s not such a terrible place. Except terrible things [...]
Book Review: The Cereal Murders By Diane Mott Davidson
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
Back in 2007 I wrote a piece about Diane Mott Davidson and her series of mystery novels featuring Goldy Bear Schulz, the caterer who is married to a homicide detective in Aspen Meadow, a suburb of Denver, Colorado who just always seems to be around trouble in the form of [...]
Teaser Tuesdays - 3/24/09
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
Teaser Tuesdays~
Miz B and Teaser Tuesdays asks you to: Grab your current read. Let the book fall open to a random page. Share with us two (2) sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12. You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your [...]
The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Submitted by Book Nut
by Douglas Adams
ages: 12+ (though the older you are, the more likely you’ll get the jokes)
First sentence: “Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.”
For the Try Something New mini challenge over at Things Mean a [...]
Teaser Tuesday, March 24
Submitted by Book Nut
Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations [...]
