Archive for June, 2009
« Previous EntriesJune Jacket Flap-a-thon
Submitted by Book Nut
I read 27 books this month (the 48 Hour Challenge helped…), which is nearly double my “usual” monthly total. Sometimes, I feel like I’m insane for reading SO much (not as many as some… I know that…). Other times — like this past weekend, when I was talking to the wife of [...]
Teaser Tuesdays: June 30, 2009
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” [...]
Book Review: Waiter Rant: Thanks for the tip–Confessions of a cynical waiter by The Waiter
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
Alan brought home a book that totally fascinated me. Waiter Rant: Thanks for the tip–Confessions of a cynical waiter by The Waiter. The author keeps his identity a secret for multiple reasons and doesn’t reveal it in the book. Nor does he name the restaurant for which he works. Still [...]
Review: Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
Still Alice by Lisa Genova is the heartbreaking and terrifying story of 50 year old Alice Howland, a brilliant Harvard professor, wife, and mother of three who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s.
I can’t read about any disease, however unlikely or impossible, without starting to feel like I have it [...]
Nation
Submitted by Book Nut
by Terry Pratchett
ages: 12+
First sentence: “Imo set out one day to catch some fish, but there was no sea.”
Mau is just a boy in the Nation — an island in the Pelagic Ocean — he’s off on Boy’s Island, in between souls, when the wave hits and wipes out his island. Left [...]
Book to Movie Friday: Jane Austen Book Club
Submitted by Book Nut
I was looking for something light and fluffy the other night, and I lit upon this one searching in the Netflix instant play (can I tell you how much I love Netflix? I LOVE Netflix. A whole lot.). I remembered liking the book well enough, and I figured that while the movie [...]
Ink Exchange
Submitted by Book Nut
by Melissa Marr
ages: 14+
First sentence: “Irial watched the girl stroll up the street; she was a bundle of terror and fury.”
Leslie has not had an easy life. With a deadbeat dad who drinks away everything she can earn, and a druggie brother who actually sold her body for drugs, things are not [...]
RIP Michael Jackson
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
The King of Pop 1958-2009
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Rating 3.00 out of 5
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Review: The Local News by Miriam Gershow
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
Miriam Gershow’s debut novel, The Local News, is an excellent story narrated by 15 year old Lydia Pasternak, whose older brother Danny has mysteriously gone missing after shooting hoops with a couple of friends at the local elementary school.
Lydia doesn’t exactly miss her brother right away. Her feelings are complicated. [...]
Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener’s Bones
Submitted by Book Nut
by Brandon Sanderson
ages: 10+
First sentence: “So, there I was, slumped in my chair, waiting in a drab airport terminal, munching absently on a bag of stale potato chips.”
I enjoyed the first one in this series enough that I should have jumped at the chance to read the second, especially after Becky’s and [...]
Library Loot #24
Submitted by Book Nut
Things I love about my library:
1. They catch books that we own that have mysteriously *cough* ended up in the library pile and get them back to me.
2. They commiserate with A, whose experiencing a bit of a loss because we got rid of our cats.
3. They chat with me about the [...]
That Summer
Submitted by Book Nut
by Sarah Dessen
ages: 13+
First sentence: “It’s funny how one summer can change everything.”
I figured the best way to tackle the Sarah Dessen Challenge is to start at the beginning and work my way through to her most current one (Lock and Key excepted, of course.) And since this was her first book, [...]
For Fun
Submitted by Book Nut
There’s a why do you blog survey that I saw over at things mean a lot (which I will probably — maybe — do), but first, I had to copy Nymeth’s wordle idea…
I really like mine.
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Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]
From Books to Babies: How I Stumbled Upon the Biggest Decision of my Life
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
Please welcome Miriam Gershow, author of The Local News, who has written this guest post as part of a TLC Book Tour! Check back tomorrow for my review of this excellent debut novel!
For years, whenever anyone asked my mother when I planned to have children, she quoted a line I [...]
Book Review: The Best Skillet Recipes by the editors of Cook’s Illustrated
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
The Best Skillet Recipes is a book compiled by the editors of Cook’s Illustrated magazine. They also do the America’s Test Kitchen PBS TV show. All of the recipes have been tested and are reputed to be the best versions of classic one skillet recipes. Everything from Glazed Chicken Breasts [...]
The Talisman Ring
Submitted by Book Nut
by Georgette Heyer
ages: 13+
First sentence: “Sir Tristram Shield, arriving at Lavenham Court in the wintry dusk, was informed at the door that his great-uncle was very weak, not expected to live many more days out.
For about a year now, I’ve seen reviews of Georgette Heyer’s books floating around the book blogs, and [...]
Geeky Challenges
Submitted by Book Nut
This week’s geek (it’s been a while, but there hasn’t been one I’ve felt an urge to participate in… sorry…) asks us about Reading Challenges:
Reading Challenges: a help or a hurt? Do you find that the reading challenges keep you organized and goal-oriented? Or, do you find that as you near the [...]
Girl Force
Submitted by Book Nut
A Girl’s Guidebook for the Body and Soul
by Nikki Goldstein
ages: it’s meant for teenage girls, but can go as young as 9/10
Review copy sent to me by the publisher
When this book came in the mail, it was snatched out of the pile almost immediately. My two oldest daughters — M, age 12, [...]
Tales from Outer Suburbia
Submitted by Book Nut
by Shaun Tan
ages: 11+
First sentence: “When I was a kid, there was a big water buffalo living in the vacant lot at the end of our street, the one with the grass no one ever mowed.”
Someone — Tricia? Andi? Heather? — wrote in a review I read recently that one doesn’t read [...]
Book Review: New Orleans Classic Gumbos & Soups by Kit Wohl
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
I regret that I have not been nearly as faithful as planned about updating my Amazon store. The store is up and running at libdrone.com but I have failed to add every book to it that I’ve reviewed. I do however, love the little selection that I am offering and [...]
Review: Beach Trip by Cathy Holton
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
You might think Beach Trip by Cathy Holton would be a light, fun, summertime romp, based on the cover and the description, but it really isn’t that. I’d call it women’s fiction, which to me means it’s a bit more serious than chick lit, and a lot less fluffy than [...]
Keturah and Lord Death
Submitted by Book Nut
by Martine Leavitt
ages: 12+
First sentence: “I was sixteen years old the day I was lost in the forest, sixteen the day I met my death.”
I’m trying to get a handle on this book. I really liked it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s one of those books that’s really hard to sum [...]
This Made Me Laugh
Submitted by BOOKS ON THE BRAIN
This pic was snapped as the band was setting up to perform at my sister in law’s surprise birthday party. The name kills me! Can anyone guess what kind of music they play? We weren’t able to attend the party (we live on the wrong side of the country) but [...]
Library Loot #23
Submitted by Book Nut
M is off to camp this week, and I didn’t have any holds to pick up (there are books on hold; they just haven’t come in), so it’s a really really small week.
For A/K:
Rosie’s Ballet Slippers, by Susan Hampshire/illus. by Maria Teresa Meloni
Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy, by David Soman and Jacky [...]
Where did the Round-Ups go?
Submitted by The Thin Red Line
You may have noticed that since the re-launch on May 23rd I am no longer publishing any of my children’s book or cookbook ’roundups’ where I feature three to five books in the given category. These roundup posts were a huge part of this site for the first two years. [...]
