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Mailbox Monday #156

December 19, 2011 by

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch. This month’s host is the Let Them Read Books.

Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailbox meme.

Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received this week:

1.  Lost in Timeby Melissa de la Cruz from SantaThing!

2.  Masquerade by Melissa de la Cruz from SantaThing!

3.  Thirst: The Eternal Dawn No. 3 by Christopher Pike from SantaThing!

4.  Running the Rift by Naomi Benaron unsolicited from Algonquin Books.

5.  Small Damages by Beth Kephart from the author for review.

6.  Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs from Book Blogger Holiday Swap partner Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews.

7.  Jane Austen Made Me Do It edited by Laurel Ann Nattress from Book Blogger Holiday Swap partner Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews.

8. All the Flowers in Shanghai by Duncan Jepson from Harper Collins for review.

What did you receive?

Filed Under: mailbox monday, meme Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Santa Came Early, And Twice!

December 18, 2011 by

The Holidays are nearly here, but the books are already rolling in! LibraryThing hosts SantaThing each year with its members and you can choose what level of participation between $10 and $30 and from what retailer whether Amazon or Book Depository. I love this program because you get to specify what kinds of books you’re looking for and most of the time they arrive on your doorstop by Christmas.

This year, I signed on for the $30 level, and my SantaThing got me these goodies (hat not included, that’s mine):

SantaThing 2011 Gifts

My Book Blogger Holiday Swap gifts arrived as well, and I was excited to find a new blogger to follow as well — Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews!

I got a boat load of cool goodies from a Santa ornament in a cowboy hat holding a cactus to a sparkly penguin bookmark and some bookplates.  Who can’t use more bookplates when they lend out books?  I know I can, though I probably would spend a mint to get all the bookplates I would need.  Here’s the goodies I got from Sharon!  THANK YOU!

Book Blogger Holiday Swap 2011 -- Bookplates

Book Blogger Holiday Swap 2011 -- Cowboy Santa

Book Blogger Holiday Swap 2011 -- Goodies

Oh, yes, Wiggles and I with help from Daddy will watch the little Elf grow in water!

Book Blogger Holiday Swap 2011 -- Books

Filed Under: announcements Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Some Winners…

December 18, 2011 by

Sorry for the delay in the winners announcements. I hope I don’t forget anyone. I’ve been a bit bogged down with work and other things this month.

The winner of The Unexpected Miss Bennet by Patrice Sarath was Beth Fish Reads!

 

 

 

The 2 winners of You Are My Only by Beth Kephart were Michael of Middle Grade Mafioso and Evangeline from Sugarpeach.  I am sorry for the delay in shipping these books out.  I’ve run into some issues that have precluded me from mailing them, but I hope to get them in the mail to you sometime after the holiday on Dec. 25.  Please accept my sincere apologies.

 

 

The winner of Christmas at Pemberley by Regina Jeffers was Cynthia Wong.

 

 

 

Congrats to all the winners.

Filed Under: giveaway, winners Tagged With: , , , , ,

128th Virtual Poetry Circle

December 17, 2011 by

Welcome to the 128th Virtual Poetry Circle!

Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s books suggested. Look at a line, a stanza, sentences, and images; describe what you like or don’t like; and offer an opinion. If you missed my review of her book, check it out here.

Also, sign up for the 2011 Fearless Poetry Reading Challenge because its simple; you only need to read 1 book of poetry. Please contribute to the growing list of 2011 Indie Lit Award Poetry Suggestions (please nominate 2011 Poetry), visit the stops on the National Poetry Month Blog Tour from April.

Today’s poem is J.D. McClatchy:

A Winter Without Snow

Even the sky here in Connecticut has it,
That wry look of accomplished conspiracy,
The look of those who've gotten away

With a petty but regular white collar crime.
When I pick up my shirts at the laundry,
A black woman, putting down her Daily News,

Wonders why and how much longer our luck
Will hold.  "Months now and no kiss of the witch."
The whole state overcast with such particulars.

For Emerson, a century ago and farther north,
Where the country has an ode's jagged edges,
It was "frolic architecture."  Frozen blue-

Print of extravagance, shapes of a shared life
Left knee-deep in transcendental drifts:
The isolate forms of snow are its hardest fact.

Down here, the plain tercets of provision do,
Their picket snow-fence peeling, gritty,
Holding nothing back, nothing in, nothing at all.

Down here, we've come to prefer the raw material
Of everyday and this year have kept an eye
On it, shriveling but still recognizable--

A sight that disappoints even as it adds
A clearing second guess to winter.  It's
As if, in the third year of a "relocation"

To a promising notch way out on the Sunbelt,
You've grown used to the prefab housing,
The quick turnover in neighbors, the constant

Smell of factory smoke--like Plato's cave,
You sometimes think--and the stumpy trees
That summer slighted and winter just ignores,

And all the snow that never falls is now
Back home and mixed up with other piercing
Memories of childhood days you were kept in

With a Negro schoolmate, of later storms
Through which you drove and drove for hours
Without ever seeing where you were going.

Or as if you've cheated on a cold sickly wife.
Not in some overheated turnpike motel room
With an old flame, herself the mother of two,

Who looks steamy in summer-weight slacks
And a parrot-green pullover.  Not her.
Not anyone.  But every day after lunch

You go off by yourself, deep in a brown study,
Not doing much of anything for an hour or two,
Just staring out the window, or at a patch

On the wall where a picture had hung for ages,
A woman with planets in her hair, the gravity
Of perfection in her features--oh! her hair

The lengthening shadow of the galaxy's sweep.
As a young man you used to stand outside
On warm nights and watch her through the trees.

You remember how she disappeared in winter,
Obscured by snow that fell blindly on the heart,
On the house, on a world of possibilities.

What do you think?

Filed Under: virtual poetry circle Tagged With:

2012 Challenges

December 16, 2011 by

I’m still working on finishing up my 2011 challenges, which I absolutely went overboard on.  But in the meantime, while I’m preparing for the holiday festivities and finishing up challenges and making the Best of list, I wanted to get out there with two challenges I will definitely be participating in.

Ok, yes, they are challenges I have a hand in creating, but that’s just half the fun.

First, I’ll be signing up for the Wade level (4-10 books) in the WWI Reading Challenge at War Through the Generations.  I know one of the books will be A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway since it is the book that we selected for the mid-year read-a-long.

I hope you’ll consider joining us in the new year for some reading about The Great War.

Second, I’ll be joining my own Fearless Poetry Exploration challenge by reading and reviewing books as usual.  But I also hope to make the National Poetry Month blog tour even better and bigger than it has been in the past.  Also, I hope to get some more discussion going during the Virtual Poetry Circles on Saturdays.

I hope you’ll consider joining too, since there are so many more options for those concerned about reviewing poetry books.  There are new ways to participate.

Also, as an aside, I hope you’ll get your nominations in for the Indie Lit Awards in the poetry category and the others.  You have until Dec. 31, 2011, to nominate up to 5 books published this year.

Finally, I’ll be joining the Finishing the Series Challenge over at Socrates’ Book Reviews.

I’m going to be ambitious and finish 2 series of books and I’m shooting for James Patterson’s Alex Cross series and the Sookie Stackhouse series.  For the Sookie series, these are the ones I have left to read:

  1. Dead as a Doornail (Book #5)
  2. Definitely Dead (Book #6)
  3. All Together Dead (Book #7)
  4. From Dead to Worse (Book #8)
  5. Dead and Gone (Book #9)
  6. Dead in the Family (Book #10)
  7. Dead Reckoning (Book #11)
  8. Deadlocked (Book #12) – expected publication: May 1, 2012

However, I may change my mind about what series to finish since I have started quite a few and not finished them.

 

***Update 1/5/12***

Since I’ll be reading more from my own books this year, I want to sign up again for the Ireland Reading Challenge.  This level has changed since last year, but I’m still sticking with the Shamrock Level, which is now 4 books.

I don’t have a planned set of reads, but I’d like to read Dubliners this year, so that’s definitely on the list of books.

 

 

I love this challenge.  I can use books from other challenges, and I’m always reading new-to-me authors.  I just adore this one, and I always seem to surpass my goal on this one.  This year, I’m still signing up for 25 authors, but I’ll be sure to meet and exceed that goal.

 

Which reading challenges are you joining?

Filed Under: challenges, Fearless Poetry Exploration Reading Challenge, Finishing the Series Reading Challenge, Ireland Challenge, New Authors Challenge, WWI Reading Challenge 2012 Tagged With: , , , ,

Henry Tilney’s Diary by Amanda Grange

December 15, 2011 by

Henry Tilney’s Diary by Amanda Grange provides readers with the inner thoughts and past of Northanger Abbey‘s hero.  Like his sister Eleanor, Henry has a passion for the written word, which mirrors Austen’s homage to readers in the original novel.  Grange steeps her prose in Gothic tales of secret passages and story telling between brother and sister and between Henry Tilney and Catherine Morland.  Drawing inspiration from Mrs. Radcliff and her novels, A Sicilian Romance and The Mysteries of Udolpho.

Unlike Austen’s version, Tilney reads Gothic novels for pleasure, a pleasure he shares with his sister, and while he remains very logical in his thinking about finding a wife, he is soon swept up by the charms of Catherine.  His requirements in a wife are listed on more than one occasion with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor.

“‘When I marry – if I marry – my wife must love to read.  I shall make it the one condition.  Her dowry is unimportant, her family is irrelevant, but she must be a lover of novels, or else no wedding can take place!'” (page 63)

Although he does say that she must love novels, he also realizes that a love of novels can go too far, and in that way Grange has paralleled the character development of Catherine in the original Northanger Abbey.  Through diary entries, readers come to know Tilney more intimately as he worries for his brother and his sister and grows increasingly concerned about his father’s seeming change of heart where money and titles are concerned.  Tilney grows from a younger son into a man of his own means and career, but he is still loyal to his family despite his budding feelings for Catherine.

Another winner from Grange that builds upon the character arcs and complex story lines left behind by Austen.  Her Tilney is a kind, gentle man with a clear vision of how his life should be, and while he remains loyal to his family, his heart guides his move.  His frank nature and his compassion bloom in Grange’s hands.  Austinites and those looking for a well-paced romance with Gothic highlights will enjoy Henry Tilney’s Diary.

I’d like to see Grange tackle a few more villains in her diary series of books!

About the Author:

Amanda Grange was born in Yorkshire and spent her teenage years reading Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer whilst also finding time to study music at Nottingham University. She has had sixteen novels published including six Jane Austen retellings, which look at events from the heroes’ points of view.

If you haven’t entered the giveaway to win you’re own copy, please check out the guest post.

Filed Under: fiction, giveaway, Penguin, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2011, review copy, reviews Tagged With: ,

2012 Fearless Poetry Exploration Challenge

December 14, 2011 by

2012 Fearless Poetry

Since there was some interest this year in reading poetry, at least one poetry book, for a reading challenge. I’ve decided to renew the challenge for 2012.

Rules:

1. Create a post on your blog stating your intention to read poetry in 2012 and sign up in Mr. Linky. If you don’t have a blog, simply leave a comment about reading poetry in 2012.

2. Choose one of the following options to complete the challenge:

a. Read and review up to 2 books of poetry throughout 2012 and leave the full link to each review in Mr. Linky.

b. Participate in at least 3 Virtual Poetry Circles throughout the year.

c. Sign up to feature poetry on your blog for April’s National Poetry Month as part of Savvy Verse & Wit’s Blog Tour.

d. Or some combination of the above.

3. Complete your goals between Jan. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2012.

Thanks for making poetry part of your reading, and I look forward to your reviews.

Filed Under: challenges Tagged With:

Guest Post: The Home of Visual Imagination by Amanda Grange

December 13, 2011 by

Amanda Grange is one of the most well-known writers of Austenesque retellings from Mr. Darcy’s Diary to her latest Henry Tilney’s Diary.  Henry Tilney is one of the main characters in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, which is the novelist’s sarcastic take on the Gothic novel and its frivolity.

Grange’s diary series of books focus on the heroes of Austen’s novels, though there is one about a villain Wickham.  In all of these diary books, Grange gives readers an inside look into the thoughts and pasts of Austen’s male characters, and she does it all while keeping with Austen’s vision and wit.

Today, I’ve got an inside peek into Grange’s writing space and habits.  Please give her a warm welcome and stay tuned for a giveaway.

I do a lot of my writing in my head before I commit anything to paper. When I’m writing my Jane Austen retellings, I start by rereading the original novel. If it’s a nice day, I do this outside, often going to a nearby stately home or formal garden so that I can soak up the elegant, leisurely atmosphere of days gone by. As I read, I let my mind wander over all the questions that occur to me. What was Henry like as a child and young man? What kind of relationship did he have with his parents and siblings? What was life like for him when his mother died? When did he discover a love for Gothic novels? Where did he read them?

I have a very visual imagination, and as I ask the questions, I build pictures in my mind. This is easier if I’m somewhere spacious and elegant, as I can look around and imagine the characters walking round a corner or sitting in an arbour.

Sometimes I will start writing longhand, on a large notepad, and I often do this out of doors if the weather is good. I’ve written quite a few scenes sitting on the bench in the photo, which is at a nearby stately home. Then, once I’m in full flow I move onto the computer. My study is very plain, because once I get down to the actual business of writing, I don’t like distractions. The walls are a neutral colour without any pictures and there is no furniture apart from essential office furniture. My desk is large because I’m an untidy worker and I need space for all my notes, as well as my research books. I start off in an organised fashion, making neat notes in a word document, but I soon resort to scribbling things down on any piece of paper that comes to hand – an envelope, a copy of the Radio Times, anything. If I’m out, I make notes in a notebook I keep in my handbag, except when I forget it, which is often. Then I will scribble ideas down on an old receipt, train ticket or in fact anything that can be written on. I end up with a jumble of papers on my desk and I daren’t throw anything away in case it turns out to be vital.

Once the book is finished, I throw everything away with a great sense of freedom and tidy my study, which remains pristine until I start the next book. I always say I will take a break before starting the next book, but in fact I get itchy fingers and it’s usually only a week or so before I’m raring to go again.

Thanks for sharing your writing space with us. To enter for 1 copy of Henry Tilney’s Diary by Amanda Grange:

1. Leave a comment on this post about what Austen villain you’d like to see write a diary.

2. Blog, Tweet (@SavvyVerseWit), or Facebook the giveaway for up to 3 more entries.

3. Follow this blog and let me know for another entry.

Deadline Dec. 20, 2011, at 11:59PM EST. US/Canada only

Filed Under: giveaway, guest post Tagged With: , ,

Mailbox Monday #156

December 12, 2011 by

Mailbox Mondays has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch. This month’s host is the Let Them Read Books.

Bloggers share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received this week:

1.  50 Simple Soups for the Slow Cooker by Lynn Alley, which I purchased.

2.  Compulsively Mr. Darcy by Nina Benneton, which I received for review in February from Sourcebooks.

What did you receive?

Filed Under: mailbox monday, meme Tagged With: , , ,

127th Virtual Poetry Circle

December 10, 2011 by

Welcome to the 127th Virtual Poetry Circle!

Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s books suggested. Look at a line, a stanza, sentences, and images; describe what you like or don’t like; and offer an opinion. If you missed my review of her book, check it out here.

Also, sign up for the 2011 Fearless Poetry Reading Challenge because its simple; you only need to read 1 book of poetry. Please contribute to the growing list of 2011 Indie Lit Award Poetry Suggestions (please nominate 2011 Poetry), visit the stops on the National Poetry Month Blog Tour from April.

Today’s poem is from Robert Graves:

The Shivering Beggar

Near Clapham village, where fields began,  
Saint Edward met a beggar man.  
It was Christmas morning, the church bells tolled,  
The old man trembled for the fierce cold.  
  
Saint Edward cried, "It is monstrous sin
A beggar to lie in rags so thin!  
An old gray-beard and the frost so keen:  
I shall give him my fur-lined gaberdine."  
  
He stripped off his gaberdine of scarlet  
And wrapped it round the aged varlet,  
Who clutched at the folds with a muttered curse,  
Quaking and chattering seven times worse.  
  
Said Edward, "Sir, it would seem you freeze  
Most bitter at your extremities.  
Here are gloves and shoes and stockings also,
That warm upon your way you may go."  
  
The man took stocking and shoe and glove,  
Blaspheming Christ our Saviour’s love,  
Yet seemed to find but little relief,  
Shaking and shivering like a leaf.  
  
Said the saint again, "I have no great riches,  
Yet take this tunic, take these breeches,  
My shirt and my vest, take everything,  
And give due thanks to Jesus the King."  
  
The saint stood naked upon the snow  
Long miles from where he was lodged at Bowe,  
Praying, "O God! my faith, it grows faint!  
This would try the temper of any saint.  
  
"Make clean my heart, Almighty, I pray,  
And drive these sinful thoughts away.    
Make clean my heart if it be Thy will,  
This damned old rascal’s shivering still!"  
  
He stooped, he touched the beggar man’s shoulder;  
He asked him did the frost nip colder?  
"Frost!" said the beggar, "no, stupid lad!
’Tis the palsy makes me shiver so bad."

What do you think?

Filed Under: virtual poetry circle Tagged With:

2011 Book Buying Guide for Savvy Buyers

December 9, 2011 by

With the continued pressures on everyone’s finances, it is hard to pick the perfect gift for your loved ones on a budget.  But I’ve always been of the mind to give gifts that keep on giving throughout the year and maybe even the rest of their lives.  OK, perhaps that’s a bit dramatic, but remember when your dad would buy your mom those baking dishes or mixers for the holidays? He was really ensuring that more delicious desserts were coming his way or maybe that’s just my dad.

For friends, I’m always trying to find the perfect book, especially since some of my friends are big readers and have extensive collections of books like me.  But even for those who are not big readers, there are a ton of bookish gifts you can purchase that are made by some crafty people.

First, for those in your life that love art and illustrations, I recommend The Conference of the Birds by Peter Sis, which I reviewed this year, because not only is the artwork stunning, but it makes readers think about the meaning behind the Sufi poem he is illustrating.  The pages of this book are vivid and textured, the symbols will have the owner staring in wonder.

Second, for those who love photography, I recommend Believing Is Seeing by Errol Morris (my review) because it will have them rethinking the photos they see in the newspapers, magazines, and on television.  Where are the photos actually taken; were they staged; how many takes were there to get that shot?  The book raises these questions and more about the purpose of photography and the context behind the photos we see.

Third, for those sick of the vampire/Twilight craze but who want the paranormal and the decadent with a few twinges of horror, I recommend The Taker by Alma Katsu (my review) , which is an excellent debut and the first in a series, so you know there will be more about these immortals and their debauchery.  And for those who enjoy a good coming-of-age novel with fairy-tale like qualities, you should buy them The Girl in the Garden by Kamala Nair (my review) since it reminded me of The Secret Garden in many ways.

For the trivia lovers in the house or family or among your friends, mental_floss: The Book: The Greatest Lists in the History of Listory (my review) needs to be in their collection with its lists of titles for famous books that didn’t pass muster and fashion no-nos of presidents, among others.  You know this trivia book has made it under the tree of my favorite trivia champions (ok, they’ve gone to the big tourney in Atlantic City, but I think they placed 3rd — that’s still better than me).

For the Jane Austen and women’s fiction readers, I have two excellent recommendations:  Jane Austen Made Me Do It edited by Laurel Ann Nattress (my review) that is a collection of Jane Austen inspired short stories that are set in the Regency period and modern times and To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell (my review), which is a novel that will have you laughing but also is a little more serious than her previous novels.

For the young adults and even adults in your life looking for something different in a fun or lyrical sense, I’m recommending You Are My Only by Beth Kephart (my review) for the lyrical prose and character-driven novel that tackles child abduction in a unique way; Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington (my review) is a novel about how children cope with parents who are in the military and the world is at war; and The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston (my review) who love history, strong young women, and unusual story-telling.

Ah, for those historical fiction readers, who may be young adults, I suggest Camp Nine by Vivienne Schiffer (my review), which is a short novel about Japanese-American internment camps in the United States and the impact that had on a small community, a young girl, and race relations in America.  It is one powerful little book.

Those who are looking for a more introspective examination of the military machine and its ridiculousness should read To the End of the War by James Jones (my review) because these rough short stories gleaned from a larger unfinished and unpublished novel demonstrate the anger, frustration, and disenchantment that even soldiers from WWII felt.

You know I cannot leave you with out a great list for those poetry lovers in your life.  I’m talking about those odd ducks like me who are just itching for a new volume of poetry to read and sit with for hours.  Yes, those people.  But some of these books even can tempt the non-poetry reader with their musicality or subject matter.

  • The Penguin Anthology of 20th Century American Poetry edited by Rita Dove, which I have not reviewed because I’m still devouring it little by little (a nice holiday gift to myself).  This collection demonstrates that American poetry is NOT dead at all, but continually evolving.  While there are some poets not included because of rights and fees issues with the publisher, which Rita Dove speaks about at length in a recent copy of The Writer’s Chronicle, the volume is indeed comprehensive and enlightening about her tastes and the evolution of American poetry.
  • For the political liberal who hates Fox News in your life, best purchase Somewhere Over the Pachyderm Rainbow by Jennifer C. Wolfe (my review) because they will get a kick out of her statements about various events during the 2010 election.  I’m quite sure that this poet is no where near done, especially with the 2012 elections on the horizon and Newt Gingrich in the race with Mitt Romney (at least so far as the front runners in the Republican primary — yes I keep tabs on all politics for my own informed voting decisions).
  • The Chameleon Couch by Yusef Komunyakaa (my review) and Curses and Wishes by Carl Adamshick (my review) are two collections that will capture readers with images and rhythm.  But each of these poets often toys with meaning and word choice and surprises you at the end of the poem to make you rethink your entire perception of the poem and its meaning.
  • Finally, Beyond Scent of Sorrow by Sweta Srivastava Vikram (my review) is a collection for those environmentalists and feminists in your life, but also for those who are growing increasingly concerned about the direction humanity is headed.  There is too much violence and hatred, and while these poems point their fingers at those events, they also offer a semblance of hope that we can change and we can be redeemed.

That’s it!  It’s a long list, but when I said I had a bunch of recommendations for most everyone on your list, I was not kidding.  I have three other recommendations that are not books, but they are excellent book and non-book products for those who enjoy handmade presents, sustainable coffee, or yummy tea.  Check out the links; you may even recognize some bloggers you know.

Also, if you want to support the blog and the giveaways I hold here domestically and internationally, please think about buying through my affiliate links or clicking on the donation button in the right sidebar.

Have a happy holiday season, everyone, and buy books!

Filed Under: announcements Tagged With:

Month 4: Stephen King’s IT Read-a-Long

December 8, 2011 by

Anna and I are co-hosting the Stephen King IT Read-a-Long.  We are having discussions once per month through the end of the year about the parts we’ve read.

Each month you will have the option to answer the questions on the hosting blog or in your own post, but please go back to the monthly host to leave your discussion link.

Remember that these posts can contain spoilers.

For the first discussion of part 1, plus the following interlude, go here.

For part 2′s discussion, please visit Diary of an Eccentric.

For the discussion of part 3, go here.

The discussion for Part 4:  July of 1958 and the interlude is at Diary of an Eccentric today! Come join us.

Filed Under: Events, Stephen King's IT Read-a-Long 2011 Tagged With: , ,