Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. If you'd like to join in, stop by Marcia's and leave a link - or just browse through the comments to see what new books have been showing up.
Here are the names of the latest winners from recent giveaways. Congratulations, Everyone!
Thank you to everybody for stopping by, visiting my blog, and entering these giveaways. If you weren't one of the lucky ones in this round of giveaways (and, of course, even if you were!), try, try again! I've posted several new giveaways on my sidebar, and there will be more listed this week.In the meantime, be sure and check out Hachette Book Group's contest page for links to lots more giveaways on lots more blogs. Good luck!
"Of the two hundred and fifty-odd trips which I made as a guide to the summit of this great old peak, the trip with Harriet is the one I like best to recall."
Enos Mills (from the Author's Note at the back of HIGH AS A HAWK.)
Description (from the publisher): Eight-year-old Harriet is determined to climb to the top of Longs Peak in Colorado. To get there, she'll have to overcome steep slopes, a freezing blizzard, and what her wise trail guide calls "surprises." But she simply must try both for herself and for the mother she has lost. If she succeeds, she will spread her wings and fly . . . high as a hawk.
Based on the historic 1905 ascent by the youngest person ever to climb Longs Peak, the highest mountain in Colorado, this book combines T. A. Barron's powerful, poetic writing with Ted Lewin's magnificent, evocative paintings. Together, they make a truly inspiring journey.
An author's note describes how the ascent encouraged guide Enos Mills to pursue his dream of creating the Rocky Mountain National Park.
My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars - Wonderful story - Beautifully illustrated - Enthusiastically recommended.
My Thoughts: Never underestimate the power of a good book. A few weeks ago, I was alone in the house with E-6 (my 6 y.o. niece) and she was pitching a major fit. She just wanted her parents (who were both at work) and nothing less would appease her. Fortunately, I had recently been to the library and had a few "new" books. I picked up HIGH AS A HAWK and declared "I'm just going to sit here and read this book. You can listen if you want to, but you don't have to." Then I started to read aloud. Within just a few sentences, the crying had stopped and E-6 was at my elbow. I pretended not to notice and kept on reading. Soon, she climbed onto the arm of the chair and then into my lap and, together, we kept reading.
HIGH AS HAWK is based on the true story of Harriet Peters who, in 1905 at the age of 8, became the youngest person ever to have climbed to the 14,255-foot-high summit of Longs Peak in what is now Rocky Mountain National Park. She did it in fulfillment of her mother's dream to make the climb with Enos Mills, a mountain guide whose love of the area inspired his campaign to have it declared a national park. Unfortunately, Harriet's mother passed away just a short time before she was to make her dream come true.
When author T.A. Baron was researching the life of Enos Mills, he found an old letter from Harriet mixed in with those from some of America's most famous historical figures such as Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir and even Helen Keller. Mr. Baron dug deeper to discover just why Enos Mills would have preserved a letter from a little girl. The result is this fictionalized account of the historic event.
Telling the story from Harriet's point of view, Mr. Baron's prose is economic and eloquent at the same time. The little expedition consisting of Harriet, her "pa," and Mr. Mills, sets out before dawn. As the sun rises and the light changes, Baron uses beautifully descriptive phrases that sound realistic coming from the mouth of an 8 year old in 1905. The mountain "looked pinker than a ripened peach. And big, too." The peak "glowed bright, with golden light dripping down its sides like honey." The beauty of her surroundings and her commitment to fulfilling her mother's dream give Harriet the strength to make the long and difficult climb. And it is arduous. Her father has to drop out because of a persistent cough long before Harriet and Mr. Mills traverse steep woods, open meadows, fields of boulders, and sit out a mountain snowstorm. Little Harriet pushes on despite her throbbing knees and badly blistered foot. Her tenacity so inspires Mr. Mills that when she is about to give up, he tricks her into climbing just a few more yards to the summit, where finally, she spreads her arms wide and glories in being high as a hawk.
Everything about this book is perfect. The heroine is admirable and inspiring; I'm in awe of T.A. Barron's writing, which is spare (for this is a children's picture book) yet so evocative I don't believe illustrations are even necessary. And yet, we are treated to the most gorgeous, color-saturated illustrations of Ted Lewin. It is amazing to me how realistic and detailed watercolor can be in the hands of a true artist. If it's not clear enough how much I love this book, let me point out that my review copy came from the library, but I'll be purchasing one of my own to add to my Keeper Shelf. Find a copy of HIGH AS A HAWK -- and don't wait until you have a crying six-year-old on your hands. Although . . . if you want to test the book's power . . . ;)
About the author(from the publisher): T.A. Barron is the award-winning author of fantasy novels such asThe Lost Years of Merlinepic—soon to be a major motion picture. He serves on a variety of environmental and educational boards including The Nature Conservancy and The Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, and is the founder of a national award for heroic children. Following a life-changing decision to leave a successful business career to write full-time in 1990, Barron has written seventeen books, but is happiest when on the mountain trails with his wife, Currie, and their five children.
About the illustrator (from the publisher): Ted Lewin grew up in an old frame house in Buffalo, New York, with two brothers, one sister, two parents, a lion, an iguana, a chimpanzee, and an assortment of more conventional pets. The lion was given to his older brother, Don, while he was traveling as a professional wrestler, and he shipped it home. The family kept Sheba in the basement fruit cellar until Don returned and their mother convinced him to give it to the Buffalo zoo.
Ted always knew he wanted to be an illustrator. As a child he copied the work of illustrators and painters he admired, including N.C. Wyeth, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Velázquez, and Goya. When it came time to go to art school (Pratt), he needed to earn money to finance his education. So, following in his brother’s footsteps, he took a summer job as a wrestler—the beginning of a 15-year part-time career that eventually inspired his autobiographical bookI Was a Teenage Professional Wrestler.
Ted’s career as an artist began with illustrations for adventure magazines, and it’s only over the last several years that he has devoted his time to writing and illustrating children’s books. “I’m having more fun doing this than anything I’ve ever done before,” he says. He is an avid traveler, and many of his books are inspired by trips to such places as the Amazon River, the Sahara Desert, Botswana, Egypt, Lapland, and India.
Ted and his wife Betsy live in Brooklyn, New York, where they share their home with two cats, Slick and Chopper. Click here to visit his website.
I used to call this feature "Lookalikes" and then I'd add a relevant subtitle. But, I've come up with a new title debuting today: Ditto Doubles. It finally occured to me (duh!), that since Alea of Pop Culture Junkie fame calls this feature "Lookalikes" on her blog, that it might seem to some that I had, um, shall we say "duplicated" her idea. I don't know where the idea for these sort of posts originated, but I certainly recognize Alea as a master of this art and, I, well, I am only a humble grasshopper.
I'd also like to give a tip of the hat to some other bloggers who must have photographic memories because they expose these kinds of replications with far more frequency and ease than I. So, if you like this sort of thing, check out "Similar Covers" at She Reads and Reads; "Cover Deja-Vu" at A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore; "Copycat Covers" at Fresh Ink Books. If you know of other blogs that run these sorts of features, please let me know, and I'll add them to this list as well as my rounds.
For today's consideration, I offer you:
I went a little crazy trying to figure this one out. When I saw HIDDEN WIVES in Shelf Awareness on April 27th, I knew I'd seen that sad little girl somewhere before. I hunted around with no results, but it just kept eating away at me. I got so desperate to solve this puzzle, that I started hunting though old Mailbox Monday posts all over Blogworld! Talk about looking for a needle in a haystack! I tried to forget about it, but I just couldn't. And then one day while I was adding another title to my online wishlist, I remembered the Anna Salter novel, TRUTH CATCHER, which has been on my wishlist for, um, let's just say, far too long!
So, puzzle solved and two more books to work into my reading schedule!
Here's the lowdown on these two titles.
HIDDEN WIVES
by Claire Avery Description(from the publisher): Fifteen-year-old Sara and her beautiful sister, Rachel, are too young to legally drive a car—but are approaching spinsterhood in Utah’s secret polygamist Blood of the Lamb community. Having long since reached the “age of preparedness,” they will soon be married off to much older men chosen by the hidden sect’s revered Prophet.
As Sara, chosen to become her uncle’s fifth wife, grows more distraught over her impending incestuous marriage, she begins to scrutinize the faith she has followed blindly her entire life. But for Rachel, who will be married to one of the many powerful community leaders vying for her hand, disobeying the Prophet means eternal damnation. Her friendship with the newest member of the community, the young and handsome Luke, starts as an attempt to save his agnostic soul, but ends with the pair falling helplessly in love. When Rachel is forbidden to see him, her absolute faith in the Prophet is severely tested.
When Rachel’s future husband is finally announced, violence erupts, and the girls must find the strength to escape the only life they have ever know…before it’s too late.
Claire Avery has woven a stunning tale that could be ripped from today’s headlines. Shocking and empowering,Hidden Wives is a page-turning debut that will stay with the reader.
TRUTH CATCHER by Anna Salter Description (from Barnes & Noble): Forensic psychologist Breeze Copens has a gift. She not only hears the truth, she also sees it, through the rare psychological condition synethesia. So she knows when Daryl Collins—a born-again but remorseless con jailed in Seattle for armed robbery—is lying. What she doesn't know is the identity of a little girl in a blue dress with yellow daisies who appears suddenly in her line of vision during her interview with Daryl. And Daryl isn't telling.
A heart stopping thriller, its twists unexpected, its suspense mounting as the steely Breeze attempts to make hard evidence of her intuition, Truth Catcher sets the lovely, red-haired forensic expert on an increasingly treacherous course. Matching wits with devious and deviant criminal minds, Breeze tracks her quarry fearlessly, only to discover, chillingly, in Edgar nominee Anna Salter's compelling fifth novel, that she's the prey.
Description(from the publisher): Whenever Therese Borchard was weathering a personal storm, and help was nowhere to be found, her one guiding light was the question, "What would a therapist say?" The result was a sort of therapy scrapbook for rough days--a quick reference for anyone who needs a dose of encouragement, support and tried and true ways to cope.
THE POCKET THERAPIST is a compact and accessible guide filled with techniques and advice to help combat everything from addictive behavior to negative thinking.
Therese Borchard is the author of hit daily blog "Beyond Blue" on Beliefnet.com, one of the most popular columns on the site. Her blog appears weekly on The Huffington Post, and she is becoming a top go-to expert in pop psychology. Her work has recently been cited in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
About the author(from the publisher): Her work has been featured in salon.com, Psychology Today, Real Simple, Redbook, Parenting, More and Ladies Home Journal.
Borchard writes a syndicated column for the Catholic News Service and is a regular guest on Sirius Satellite Radio.
She is the author ofI Love Being a Mom(a Target selection) and co-author ofI Like Being Catholic.
She resides in Annapolis, Maryland with her husband and two young children.
RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:
• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com
• You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!
• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.
• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.
• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.
• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.
• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address. Hachette is unable to deliver to P.O. Boxes.
• Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, May 30, 2010.
• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name.
Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, didn't expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love.
Featuring one of the most unusual love triangles in literature,THE HOST is a riveting and unforgettable novel about the persistence of love and the essence of what it means to be human.
THE HOST debuted at #1 on The New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list and remained there for more than a year. Meyer’s first adult novel was not only a huge commercial success with more than 2 million copies sold, it also brought a whole new audience of readers to Stephenie Meyer. Featuring one of the most unusual love triangles in literature,THE HOST, appeals to rabid Twilight Saga fans and readers of classic literary suspense alike.
Movie rights toTHE HOST have been optioned by Nick Wechsler and Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz, the team that produced the film of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Andrew Niccol of Gattaca and The Truman Show will write the script and direct.
• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com
• You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!
• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.
• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.
• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.
• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.
• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address. Hachette is unable to deliver to P.O. Boxes.
• Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, May 28, 2010.
• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name.
Description(from the publisher): Paddy Meehan is no stranger to murder--as a reporter she lives at crime scenes--but nothing has prepared her for this visit from the police. Her former boyfriend and fellow journalist Terry Patterson has been found hooded and shot through the head. Paddy knows she will be of little help--she had not seen Terry in more than six months. So she is bewildered to learn that in his will he has left her his house and several suitcases full of notes. Drawn into a maze of secrets and lies, Paddy begins making connections to Terry's murder that no one else has seen, and soon finds herself trapped in the most important--and dangerous--story of her career.
About the author(from the publisher): Denise Mina is the author of The Dead Hour, Field of Blood, Deception, and the Garnethill trilogy, the first installment of which won her the John Creasey Memorial Prize for best first crime novel. She lives in Glasgow.
RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:
• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com
• You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!
• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.
• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.
• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.
• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.
• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address. Hachette is unable to deliver to P.O. Boxes.
• Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, May 21, 2010.
• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name. I use Random.org to determine winners.
Publisher: Back Bay Books Category: Fiction Format: Trade Paperback Publish Date: 4/12/2010 Price: $13.99/$16.99 ISBN: 9780316036115 Pages: 224 Size: 5-1/2" x 8-1/4"
Description(from the publisher):
Early one summer morning, Matthew Bishop kisses his still-sleeping wife Marissa, gets dressed and eases his truck through Milwaukee, bound for the highway. His wife, pregnant with their first child, has asked him to find the antique cradle taken years before by her mother Caroline when she abandoned Marissa, never to contact her daughter again. Soon to be a mother herself, Marissa now dreams of nothing else but bringing her baby home to the cradle she herself slept in. His wife does not know-does not want to know-where her mother lives, but Matt has an address for Caroline's sister near by and with any luck, he will be home in time for dinner.
Only as Matt tries to track down his wife's mother, he discovers that Caroline, upon leaving Marissa, has led a life increasingly plagued by impulse and irrationality, a mysterious life that grows more inexplicable with each new lead Matt gains, and door he enters. As hours turn into days and Caroline's trail takes Matt from Wisconsin to Minnesota, Illinois, and beyond in search of the cradle, Matt makes a discovery that will forever change Marissa's life, and faces a decision that will challenge everything he has ever known.
Elegant and astonishing, Patrick Somerville tells the story of one man's journey into the heart of marriage, parenthood, and what it means to be a family. Confirming the arrival of an exuberantly talented new writer,THE CRADLE is an uniquely imaginative debut novel that radiates with wisdom and wonder.
Patrick Somerville grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and later earned his MFA in creative writing from Cornell University. He is the author of the story collection Trouble (Vintage, 2006), and his writing has appeared in One Story, Epoch and Best American Nonrequired Reading. He lives with his wife in Chicago, and is currently the Blattner Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at Northwestern University. This is his first novel.
RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:
• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com
• You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!
• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.
• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.
• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.
• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.
• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address. Hachette is unable to deliver to P.O. Boxes.
• Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Saturday, May 22, 2010.
• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name. I use Random.org to determine the winners.
An international bestseller and publishing phenomenon,Every House Needs a Balcony—dubbed the “Israeli Kite Runner” by The Bookseller—is the story of one family, one home, and the surprising arc of one woman’s life, from the poverty of her youth, to the glowing love and painful losses of her adult years. If you enjoy the novels of Dalia Sofer (The Septembers of Shiraz), Amos Oz (My Michael, A Tale of Love and Darkness), and A.B. Yehoshua (Mr Mani), you’ll find much to love in Rina Frank’s beautiful and bittersweetEvery House Needs a Balcony.
Description(from the publisher): Hailed as the "Israeli Kite Runner" (The Bookseller), this international bestseller and publishing phenomenon is the bittersweet story of one family, one home, and the surprising arc of one woman's life, from the poverty of her youth to the glowing love and painful losses of her adult years.
Braiding together past and present,Every House Needs a Balconytells the story of a young Jewish girl—a child of Romanian immigrants—who lives with her family in the poverty-stricken heart of 1950s Haifa, Israel. Eight-year-old Rina, her older sister, and their parents inhabit a cramped apartment with a narrow balcony that becomes an intimate shared stage on which the joys and dramas of the building's daily life are played out. It is also a vantage point from which Rina witnesses the emergence of a strange new country, born from the ashes of World War II. Later, after years of living abroad with her wealthy Spanish husband in Barcelona, Rina, longing for the simple life she has missed, returns to the Haifa of her boisterous youth, a move that soothes her soul but ultimately endangers her marriage.
Beautifully told, rich with questions of identity, love, and survival,Every House Needs a Balcony is an unforgettable social and historical portrait of a neighborhood and a nation. Steeped in the colors and smells, laughter and tears, of Rina Frank's own childhood memories, it is a heartbreaking tale about the deepest meanings of home.
About the author(from the publisher): The author of three novels, Rina Frank was born in Wadi Salib, the poorest neighborhood in Haifa. She worked as a technical architect, marketing director, and television producer with Israel's Channel 2 before founding her own production company, Matan TV Production.Every House Needs a Balcony is her first novel. She lives in Tel Aviv.
Description(from the publisher): APOLOGIZE, APOLOGIZE! takes us into the perversely charmed world of the Flanagans and their son, Collie (who has the questionable good fortune to be named after a breed of dog). Coming of age on Martha's Vineyard, he struggles to find his place within his wildly wealthy, hyper-articulate, resolutely crazy Irish-Catholic family: a philandering father, incorrigible brother, pigeon-racing uncle, radical activist mother, and domineering media mogul grandfather (accused of being a murderer by Collie's mother).
1) Throughout this account of Collie Flanagan’s life (so far), he appears to be the only conventional—or perhaps even sane—member of his family. However, the novel is told from his perspective. Do you feel like you can trust what he’s saying?
2) What do you think of Collie’s mother? Does she seem to have lived a life of passion, or is she defined only by her rebellion against her aristocratic roots?
3) Should Collie have gone in after Bingo and the others, knowing as he did that there was no hope?
4) In one interview, Elizabeth Kelly referred to Bingo as “representative of full-blown adolescence, but in all its glory,” and as something of a heroic character as well. What do you make of him?
5) Elizabeth Kelly has clearly had a lot of fun creating the hilarious and often manic characters at the heart of this novel. How did you react to the various Flanagan family blowouts? Did you more often cringe or laugh out loud?
6) Talk about the role of money in this novel: who has it and who doesn’t; how it can be a motivator, or stunt one’s ambitions; how it insulates the Flanagans, yet forces them into the limelight; and so on.
7) “Dignity is the last refuge of scoundrels,” Collie’s father was known to say, and he certainly was one to put himself into undignified positions, despite his charm and sharp clothes. What do you make of him as a man, and as a father?
8) Who is your favorite character in this novel, and why?
9) Collie and Bingo have a relationship that’s not always straightforward, yet at its heart is a strong sibling love. What does each expect, and receive (or not), from the other?
10) What was Collie hoping to achieve in El Salvador? Did he change as a result of his experiences there?
11) What are Collie Flanagan’s personal strengths? Were there small events that stood out for you as monumental in terms of proving his character?
12) More than any other member of the Flanagans, Collie has a close—if complex—relationship with his grandfather, Peregrine Lowell. Why is that so? How has their relationship developed by the end of the novel?
13) The Flanagans inhabit a world of elite privilege, yet are so self-absorbed you can’t help but wonder whether they’d even notice if the rest of humanity ceased to exist. Does Collie rise above all that, or is he just like the rest of them?
14) Collie’s father has a knack for showing up wildly drunk for even the most staid of events, including the funerals held for his wife and son. Talk about how his disappearances and arrivals function in the novel.
15) Whenever anyone talks to Collie about the events of the day Bingo and his mother died, they always get the details wrong. What is Kelly saying about living up to the expectations of others in this novel? Should Collie have stood up for himself more often?
16) The Flanagans are a wild and wildly humorous bunch, and even their seemingly unwarranted jabs at Collie are terrific. Discuss the role of cutting humor and over-the-top judgment in the novel.
17) At the end of the novel, Collie appears to have come to terms with his family, or at least seems to have achieved some measure of peace. What does the future hold for Collie Flanagan?
RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:
• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com
• You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!
• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.
• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.
• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.
• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.
• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address. Hachette is unable to deliver to P.O. Boxes.
• Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, May 7, 2010.
• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name. I use Random.org's sequence generator to determine winners.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish memehosted by Miz B. of Should Be Reading.
Want to play along? Here's what to do:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE 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, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
My teaser:
"Ansley headed to her grandmother's house to experiment. Luckily Vivian would be out for the next few hours so she wouldn't have to answer any questions about why she was making two hundred cupcakes."
Take a trip to the charming little town of Heart Lake, and meet three best friends who you’ll never forget…
Rachel, Jessica and Tiffany have money problems—major money problems. Tiffany’s whipped out the plastic one too many times, and now a mountain of debt is about to come crashing down on her. Jessica’s husband lost his job—thrusting this longtime stay-at-home mom out into the cold, cruel workforce. And Rachel’s divorce has transformed her from an upper-middle-class mom to a strapped-for-cash divorcee. What are three best friends to do?
Get financially fit, that’s what! Together, Rachel, Jessica and Tiffany start a financial support group called The Small Change Club—challenging each other to bring balance back to their checkbooks, and their lives. Even though frugality is a lot harder than they ever imagined, these women are about to learn some very important lessons: that small changes can make a big difference…and that some things in life, like good friends, are truly priceless.
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - An optimistic and happy read.
My Thoughts: First, let me say how much I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Life's waters have been a little rough for me lately, and there's nothing quite like the support of family and friends to help keep you bobbing and afloat until you reach a nice tranquil bay. In SMALL CHANGE, Sheila Roberts writes about just that - the strength and encouragement that three women friends provide to each other during difficult times, and how that friendship also helps to strengthen and renew the women's individual family relationships as well.
Our heroines, Rachel, Jessica, and Tiffany, are each experiencing financial problems in a realistic reflection of what has been happening across the U.S. in the last couple of years. It's not hard to relate to any of these women or the tough times they experience and the choices they have to make. Rachel is a single mom struggling to land a permanent job, Jessica is a not-so-empty nester who is forced back into the workplace after years of being a stay-at-home mom, and (the saucily named) Tiffany is a shopaholic whose retail therapy just perpetuates her problems.
Though their problems are serious, Roberts writes with a light touch and plenty of wit. I think I found Jessica to be the most fun character. She has to resort to some clever scheming to get her grown son up on his feet and out of the house. And her decision to audition as a lead singer for an all-girl oldies band is spunky and bold and just made me smile.
At the other end of the spectrum, Tiffany's inability to control her spending and the potential threat to her marriage is a cautionary tale. The term "shopoholic" really rather trivializes Tiffany's affliction. But this is not a heavy book, and I like the way Roberts handled Tiffany's problem. She made it serious enough that it could not be ignored, but not so devastating that recovery wasn't possible.
There's also room in this story for romance, which provides tension of another sort: how will the long-suffering Rachel react when her Prince Charming presents her with an engagement ring AND a pre-nup? I'm not giving anything away, but I loved the way Roberts resolved that issue.
Additionally, Roberts found a terrific way to weave in some basic financial tips and advice -- Rachel creates a blog! Now raise your hands if you can relate to that!
This was the first book by Sheila Roberts that I've read, but it won't be the last. It's an enjoyable and "light" read that also provides plenty of provocative material to mull over and/or discuss. I like the way Roberts focused in on real issues and created believable and empathetic characters. I don't think reading SMALL CHANGE will change your life, but its story and characters will provide a triple threat of humor, hope, and happiness against whatever hard times might be clouding your days.
About the author(from the publisher): Sheila Roberts lives in Bremerton, Washington. When she’s not speaking to women’s groups or at conferences, she can be found writing about family, friendship and other things near and dear to women’s hearts.
Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. If you'd like to join in, stop by Marcia's and leave a link - or just browse through the comments to see what new books have been showing up.
What's in your mailbox?
I have to admit, I'm pretty bowled over by the riches that I found in my mailbox this past week. I wouldn't have known where to begin except that on Friday night, I was really angry about something and seeing red. So my reading choice was obvious!
BLOOD OATH
by Christopher Farnsworth
An ARC for review from G.P. Putnam's Sons
Vampires, zombies, politicians! Oh my! I think this one is going to be BIG!
I read it over the weekend, and rate it 5 fangy stars of fun! It was a great choice for getting my mind off my troubles and provided edge-of-my-seat suspense as well as chuckles. Oh, and btw, the author is a screenwriter, and we all know what that means . . .
The other titles I received are much more serious fare and they all look so good . . .
STILL MISSING
by Chevy Stevens
an ARC for review from Macmillan
I live a stone's throw from the sea in a kookie household that includes my 3rd grade niece, "E-Girl-8" and my 6th grade nephew, "J-Boy-11". I read a wide range to books for adults and children. If you have a book you would like me to consider for a review, spotlight, or giveaway, please contact me at:
geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com
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