Archive for April, 2009
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Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
With the kids on spring break this week, I didn’t get a whole lot of reading done. I reviewed one book (Shanghai Girls) and read another one (Foreign Tongue- not yet reviewed), but that was it.
I did, however, have a blast with my girls! We couldn’t go away (dad had [...]
Jokesters
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
L: Mom, you’re smart. You’ll be able to get this. It’s a 6th grade joke.
Me: Ok.
L: Take the F out of way.
Me: (thinking for a sec). There IS no F in way. (The lightbulb comes on) Hey! Wait a minute!
L & K: Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! Get it? Get [...]
Book Review: The Shortest Investment Book Ever
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
Chances are that if you have a job you have the opportunity to participate in a defined contribution retirement plan, most commonly called a 401-K plan (or if your employer is not-for-profit a 403-B plan). In many cases your employer will match some or maybe even all of the funds [...]
Ready, Set, READ!
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
The 24 hour Read-a-Thon is in full swing! Hour 3 is just beginning. I’m participating as a cheerleader, so please note my unusually sunny and cheery tone! Go, readers, go.. YOU CAN DO IT! Give me an R! Give me an E! Give me an A! Give me a D! [...]
The Farwalker’s Quest
Submitted by Book Nut
by Joni Sensel
ages: 10+
Review copy received from the publisher
First sentence: “Zeke’s tree wouldn’t speak to him.”
I knew a bit of what to expect with this book, thanks to Charlotte and Becky, but I didn’t expect to be unable to put the book down. I was thoroughly captivated by the world that Sensel [...]
Shakespeare and the Letter B
Submitted by Book Nut
For fun, in honor of the Renaissance Faire that’s in town today (even though we’re not going, sigh)… and because only Patrick Stewart could pull this off so well.
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Rating 3.00 out of 5
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BoB Round 1 Commentary
Submitted by Book Nut
I was going to wait until Sunday to put this up, but I figured why not get it out there in time for Friday’s Peanut Gallery posts? Here’s my take on the matches this week:
Match 1, Octavian Nothing, Vol. II vs. Ways to Live Forever. Winner: Octavian Nothing. I really have no [...]
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
Submitted by Book Nut
by Anne Fadiman
ages: adult
First sentence: “If Lia Lee had been born in the highlands of northwest Laos, where her parents and twelve of her brothers and sisters were born, her mother would have squatted on the floor of the house that her father had build from ax-hewn planks attached with bamboo and [...]
Review: Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See is the tale of two sisters. The book opens in Shanghai in 1937, where Pearl and May are “beautiful girls” who model for an artist and whose faces appear on calendars and advertisements selling everything from soap to cigarettes. They make money, but it all [...]
The Winston Breen Puzzle Party Tour (with Giveaways!)
Submitted by Book Nut
I don’t often go in for these — press release announcements, yes, but solving puzzles (I’m terrible at it) even more — but I thought it’d be fun to pass along the party invite for those of you who are better at puzzles than I am.
From the email:
The new Winston [...]
Susan Boyle’s Dream
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
For those of you who have ever judged a book by it’s cover.. for those who’ve ever been surprised by a person who far exceeded your expectations based on nothing but what you saw on the outside.. I invite you to spend a couple of minutes watching this. I wish [...]
Library Loot #14
Submitted by Book Nut
So, I only picked up the holds… but, man, it was a HUGE pile. I apologized to the librarian, and she said, “Don’t worry. It’s my pleasure.” I wondered what she thought when she actually saw the pile.
For A/K:
Monkey and Me, Emily Gravett
Cinderella, Paul Galdone
Just in Case, Yuyi Morales
Dream Dancer, Jill [...]
Book Review: Lords Of Corruption by Kyle Mills
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
Today’s book is a genuine page-turner. Published by Vanguard Press last month, Kyle Mills’ Lords Of Corruption is a novel set in Africa. Josh Hagarty is a young man with a troubled past, but a seemingly bright future. A recent MBA graduate who also has a bachelor’s degree in engineering, [...]
Fire and Hemlock
Submitted by Book Nut
by Diana Wynne Jones
ages: 12+
First sentence: “Polly sighed and laid her book face down on her bed.”
A while back, I asked for suggestions for fairy tale adaptations. Mostly because I wanted something new to read for the Once Upon a Time challenge, and (having read many of them), I was [...]
Teaser Tuesday 4/14/09
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
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” [...]
Teaser Tuesday, April 14
Submitted by Book Nut
Teaser Tuesday, April 14
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, [...]
Writer’s Guide To Places
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
I don’t normally post on Tuesdays anymore, but I recently came across a great resource book for my friends who write fiction and decided to go ahead and share it with you today. The Writer’s Guide To Places by Don Prues and Jack Heffron is a unique resource book that [...]
Bedtime Conversation
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
K: Tickle me, Mom!
Me: { tickle, tickle }
K: (suddenly serious) Mom, if I ever get cancer, I want the kind Cade and Collin’s dad has.
Me: Oooooooookaaaaaaaaay
K: I’m not saying I want to have cancer, but if I had to have it, I think he has the best kind.
Me: Why is [...]
Nim’s Island
Submitted by Book Nut
by Wendy Orr/Illustrated by Kerry Millard
ages: 8-10
First sentence: “In a palm tree, on an island, in the middle of the wide blue sea, was a girl.”
I should, in the interest of full disclosure, admit that I picked this book up (which C bought at a book fair a while ago) only because [...]
Librdone’s First Ever ContestLibrdone’s First Ever Contest
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
In the fourth grade I won my school’s annual English Essay Contest. I only vaguely recall that my topic was “why I love Louisiana” or some such. Or perhaps it was “my favorite foods”. What I recall much more clearly is that the essays in that contest were numbered so [...]
An Embarrassment of Riches
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
I have been terrible about acknowledging blog awards in the past. I love to get them, and I’m always very flattered and grateful, but I don’t always follow through and post about them or hand them out to others. (I really stink at updating my blog roll too, but that’s [...]
Let the BoB begin
Submitted by Book Nut
Tomorrow, the Battle of the (Kids) books will begin. (YAY!) Abby (and others) helpfully alerted me to this (really cool) idea, and I’ve been following along on their blog. They’ve been introducing this week’s judges, and have put up a popular opinion poll so the rest of us can choose who [...]
Inkdeath
Submitted by Book Nut
by Cornelia Funke
ages: 12+
First sentence: “Moonlight fell on Elinor’s bathrobe, her nightdress, her bare feet, and the dog lying in front of them.”
I fell in love with Inkheart when I read it more than three years ago. I thought it was a brilliant concept, and I loved the story. I called it [...]
The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry
Submitted by Book Nut
Love, Laughter and Tears at the World’s Most Famous Cooking School
by Kathleen Flinn
age: adult
First sentence: “As a little girl, while other children played house, I played restaurant.”
When, at age 36, Kathleen Flinn’s mid-level corporate job was eliminated, she was faced with a choice: get another mid-level corporate job somewhere, or… pursue a [...]
Book Clubs- What are you reading?
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
I’m always looking for discussable books to present to my book club, so it’s endlessly interesting to me to find out what other clubs are reading these days. I asked some blogger friends what their clubs were reading, and thought I’d share the answers here:
Meg Waite Clayton, author of The [...]
