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| Alice in her orange Halloween collar |
Sunday, October 31, 2010
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Happy Halloween from Alice and me and my family! Hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday!
Also, here are a couple of great LOL Cat Halloween pics. Enjoy!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
CAT THURSDAY (HALLOWEEN)
Happy Halloween from Cat Thursday!
Pumpkin brain-eating Zombie cats! LOL is all I have to say about this one. =OD
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
BLOG TOUR, 10/26/10...CALL ME KATE: MEETING THE MOLLY MAGUIRES BY MOLLY ROE
finished reading on October 26, 2010
My thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book. It was a relatively short read and entertaining. Reading Call Me Kate took me back to the days of my girlhood when I read the Little House books and Anne of Green Gables. Katie McCafferty is exactly the type of heroine in the tradition of Laura Ingalls and Anne Shirley. A young girl with a lot of spunk and character who cares deeply about others. The plot of the book includes an important historical event, the forcing of Irish mine workers into the draft to fight in the Civil War. Most of these men were mine workers and the main breadwinners in their families. To leave to fight in the war would mean devastation for their families. The Irish who were opposed to the draft were referred to as Molly Maguires and were blamed for many bad deeds, including voter fraud, draft riots, violence at the mines and even murder. Katie is a fictional character who finds herself in the midst of all the political strife and finds a way to stop potential bloodshed, at least temporarily. Ms. Roe has written a wonderful story for tweens and young adults who are fans of great stories with strong heroines and important historical events.
Side note: This was the first ebook I read on my Sony Reader and I have to say that I really enjoyed the experience. While I still will always be loyal to print books, I will still enjoy free reads on my Reader!
About the book:
*Mom's Choice Award Winner in young adult historical fiction category
*4 1/2-star rating at Amazon.com
Fourteen-year-old Katie McCafferty risks job, family, and eventually her very life to rescue a lifelong friend. Disguised as a draft resister, Katie infiltrates a secret Irish organization to prevent bloodshed. Tragedies challenge her strength and ingenuity, and she faces a crisis of conscience. Can Katie balance her sense of justice with the law?
Call Me Kate is suitable for readers from eleven to adult. The story is dramatic and adventuresome, yet expressive of daily life in the patches of the hard coal region during the Civil War era. This novel will appeal to readers of the Dear America series, as well as more mature readers who will enjoy the story’s rich context and drama.
"Call Me Kate is a fascinating look at the time period of the early drafts for the Civil War. It focuses on a specific area of the country and the conflict that arose among the different classes and ethnicities. I got a brief history lesson on a time period that I wasn’t very familiar with. For anyone interested in getting some history with their fiction, Call Me Kate is a good book to add to your choices." - TeensReadToo.com
" The politics of the time, the history of how hard the struggle was for many poor families, is absolutely inspirational. The writer did a wonderful job bringing us back to the past, and making us understand that bigotry – in any form – can only harm. I am always so thankful when a writer comes out with a story that teaches something more than “unrequited love with a supernatural being.” Don’t get me wrong, those are fun, too. But this is a great story that will teach something and be fun at the same time." - BookPleasures.com
Thanks to Nicole at Tribute Books for allowing me to read this book and participate in the tour.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
MAILBOX MONDAY
(Click titles for book descriptions from Goodreads)
In the mail:
Won:
I won Bella's (A Girl Reads a Book) $45 CSN stores giveaway...woot! Check out what I ordered:
Bought:
ordered from BetterWorldBooks...bargain bin sale--5 books for $15
from library sale (less than $20 for all these plus 4 VHS movies and a Christmas CD!):
Monday, October 25, 2010
IT'S MONDAY...WHAT ARE YOU READING?
I am so swamped with books to read, I don't know if I'm coming or going! And I'm still so behind...I have never completely caught up since my long illness over the summer. Anyway, I am getting a lot of reading done because I'm reading so much right now so that's a plus anyway. I'm about ten reviews behind and I need to get caught up before I start NaNoWriMo next week. I'm going to take a cue from Martha at Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf and only give my Goodreads rating and a short thought or two on books from my TBR list, at least until I catch up on review books. Review books will have a full review, of course.
Finished over the past week:
Echoes from the Macabre by Daphne Du Maurier
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
The Wedding Gift by Kathleen McKenna
In Progress:
Dracula in Love by Karen Essex (I am ALMOST finished!)
Orlando by Virginia Woolf (reading for Literature by Women book club on Barnes & Noble...may not finish because I'm SO behind in the reading!)
To be read:
Call Me Kate: Meeting the Molly Maguires by Molly Roe (have to read this one tomorrow as I'm up for a blog tour on Tuesday) on my Sony Reader
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (have to have read by Tuesday night at 10:30 ET for TuesBookTalk on Twitter)
The Sixth Surrender by Hana Samek Norton (this one is for a book tour for Crazy Book Tours...have to have finished and mailed by Wednesday)
Let's walk a moment in my shoes...LOL!
Upcoming:
Review Books:
Down the Drain by Daniel Pyle (on my Sony Reader)
By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan
Quicksilver by Joy Spraycar
Dante's Journey by JC Marano
Adam & Eve by Sena Jeter Naslund
Captivity by Deborah Noyes
The Lucifer Code by Charles Brokaw
Once Wicked, Always Dead by T. Marie Benchley
Blood and Silk by Carol McKay
The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman
Book Club Reads for November (so far):
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (for Reading with Tequila book club on Goodreads)
Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson (for Literature by Women on Barnes & Noble)
November Must-Read:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (before movie comes out on November 19th!)
I'm not too overbooked (pardon the pun) am I?!
Wish me luck...I'm going to need it!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
NANOWRIMO AND BIRTHDAY BOOKMARK GIVEAWAY WINNERS
And now, the winner of my birthday bookmark giveaway is....drumroll please....
Angelique from Vampires & Tofu
Congratulations! I am emailing you, Angelique. Please respond within 48 hours. Thanks!
Thanks to everyone who entered and for the kind birthday wishes! You are all the best followers in the world!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
CAT THURSDAY (HALLOWEEN)
Even our Alice can be scary. Well, maybe not scary, but perhaps a little menacing! Awww, who am I kidding...she's adorable! =O)
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
MAILBOX MONDAY
Well, I didn't end up going to the library sale on Saturday after all. Why? Because they had the wrong date printed on the flyer and when I double-checked online (and called, for good measure), they said it is this Saturday. I don't mind though...something to look forward to!
(Click book titles for book descriptions at Goodreads)
In the mail:
Won:
- Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
- A Dark Horse Comics tote bag...this is going to be great for library sales
- A The Strain Trilogy wrist/sweatband...going to use it to hold my mp4 player when I walk!
- A Mark of the Demon band-aid purse container
- Two buttons
- Three temporary tattoos
- Toy Story 3 movie mini mag
- A Neil Patrick Harris Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along blog bookmark...awesome!
The Sixth Surrender by Hana Samek Norton...for a blog tour with Crazy Book Tours
None Purchased
What goodies did you get this week?
Monday, October 18, 2010
EXTREMELY LATE READ-A-THON WRAP UP POST
To wrap-up the Halloween Read-A-Thon....I managed to read one book...not too shabby considering I was extremely busy this weekend with birthday related activities.
I read:
The Wedding Gift by Kathleen McKenna (will have review up soon)
Reece did really good. He ended up throwing several Christmas books in the mix. Yeah, he's a Christmas fanatic, like me!Sleepy Hollow Sleepover by Ron Roy (A to Z Mysteries)...One chapter
If You Take A Mouse To The Movies by Laura Numeroff
The Little Snowflake by Steve Metzger
Mrs. Claus takes a Vacation by Linas Alsenas
The Abominable Snow Teacher by Lisa Passen
I also participated in a few mini-challenges and attended the fun Twitter party last night. As usual, the read-a-thon was A LOT of fun! Looking forward to the next one (hoping for one...LOL)! Thanks again to Lesley at Young Adult Books Reviewed for hosting.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
HALLOWEEN READ-A-THON UPDATE AND 2 MINI-CHALLENGES
I'm going to do all the mini-challenges in one post.
The first mini-challenge is from Jami at YA Addict and it is to share a book that scared the crap out of us. This is an easy one for me.
It is Hell House by Richard Matheson:
Dr. Lionel Barrett, the physicist, accompanied by the mediums, travel to the Belasco House in Maine, which has been abandoned and sealed since 1949 after a decade of drug addiction, alcoholism, and debauchery. For one night, Barrett and his colleagues investigate the Belasco House and learn exactly why the townfolks refer to it as the Hell House.
I was in my late thirties when I read this, but, despite my age, I still get scared...like a little girl! This book is scary in a creepy, subtle way. It had me jumpy and listening to the quiet for noises. There is also a movie from the seventies...I think it's called The Legend of Hell House. It was pretty creepy, but the book was much better, of course!
The next mini-challenge is hosted by Gaby at Oh My Books! and it is to share the costume we're wearing for Halloween or, if we're not dressing up, what we would like to wear if we were.
I've been on an Eleanor of Aquitaine kick lately so I would pick something like this (in plus size, of course)...I had to really search for one with a wimpole!
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