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Thursday, February 24, 2011

What Are You Giving Away this Thursday? Link-Up Your BOOK Giveaways 2/24-3/2

If you have a BOOK-RELATED giveaway going on your blog/site please list it below - this means books (paper or eBook), bookmarks, book swag, booklights, eReaders and other things that are directly related to book reading.

If you have ANY OTHER TYPE of giveaway feel free to link the on my mommy blog giveaway linky: The Busy Woman's Guide to Surviving Motherhood.

Please link DIRECTLY to the book giveaway and not just to your blog's homepage.
Please keep your listings Family Friendly (if the item itself is adult in nature please include ADULT in your listing)

Please use this format:
Your Name: Blog Title (abbr ok) Item Description How many Avail End Date
Your URL: a direct link to the giveaway

EXAMPLE:
Your Name: OPAAT Said The Spider by Earl Van Gilder ends 2/7
Your URL: http://sapphirereads.blogspot.com/2011/01/interiew-and-giveaway-said-spider-by.html



After you use the link please leave a comment, letting me know you were here (I just love comments, this is totally not required! LOL)

Monday, February 21, 2011

Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare


City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (Book 1 of the Mortal Instruments Series)

Book Description: When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder — much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Clary knows she should call the police, but it's hard to explain a murder when the body disappears into thin air and the murderers are invisible to everyone but Clary.About the Author: Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Teheran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father's backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old. Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called "The Beautiful Cassandra" based on the eponymous Jane Austen short story (and from which she later took her current pen name).

Equally startled by her ability to see them, the murderers explain themselves as Shadowhunters: a secret tribe of warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. Within twenty-four hours, Clary's mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque demon.
But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know....


After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina's world travels and Britney Spears' wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favourite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never to have to write about Paris Hilton again.
Cassie's first professional writing sale was a short story called "The Girl's Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord" in a Baen anthology of humor fantasy. Cassie hates working at home alone because she always gets distracted by reality TV shows and the antics of her two cats, so she usually sets out to write in local coffee shops and restaurants. She likes to work in the company of her friends, who see that she sticks to her deadlines.


Here's What I Think: This was the book select for my IRL book club and I was hopefully to get engaged by it. It did not disappoint. The book does not dillydally in getting to the juicy part of the story. It is filled with imaginative characters and an intense storyline. Though it is definitely a YA selections (not much language or sexual situation) I would call it a cross between True Blood (because Clary is thrust into a world that she was born into but shielded from by a good intentioned family member) and The Hollows (because she has a means to combat the Demons, but just has a lot of learn). My fave character is Jace. He is so determined to be the big strong arrogant man but can't get past his heart of gold, no matter how hard he tries. The plot of this book lends itself easily to being a series without being redundant. I have already started the second in the series and I am enjoying the energy and pace of the story immensely.
Disclaimer: I was in no way compensated to publish this post.
If you are an author or publisher and would like an honest review of your title, please contact me at polsen11atcomcastdotnet

Thursday, February 17, 2011

What Are You Giving Away this Thursday? Link-Up Your BOOK Giveaways 2/17-2/23

If you have a BOOK-RELATED giveaway going on your blog/site please list it below - this means books (paper or eBook), bookmarks, book swag, booklights, eReaders and other things that are directly related to book reading.

If you have ANY OTHER TYPE of giveaway feel free to link the on my mommy blog giveaway linky: The Busy Woman's Guide to Surviving Motherhood.

Please link DIRECTLY to the book giveaway and not just to your blog's homepage.
Please keep your listings Family Friendly (if the item itself is adult in nature please include ADULT in your listing)

Please use this format:
Your Name: Blog Title (abbr ok) Item Description How many Avail End Date
Your URL: a direct link to the giveaway

EXAMPLE:
Your Name: OPAAT Said The Spider by Earl Van Gilder ends 2/7
Your URL: http://sapphirereads.blogspot.com/2011/01/interiew-and-giveaway-said-spider-by.html



After you use the link please leave a comment, letting me know you were here (I just love comments, this is totally not required! LOL)

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Whatcha Reading Wednesdays - February 16, 2011


This week's Whatcha Reading Wednesday works like this:
Go to the page you are currently reading and type in the very next full sentence.
You can participate by leaving your WRW teaser in a comment below, or you can make a post on your own blog and link back to this post in the linky below. Feel free to use the WRW graphic, just please be sure to link back to Busy Moms Who Love to Read.

"'You're a werewolf.'"City of Bones (book 1 in the Mortal Instruments Series) by Cassandra Clare - Yes, I am still reading the same book I was reading last week, it is really good, but I am still struggling with the attention span thing....

So tell me: Whatcha Reading??

Thursday, February 10, 2011

What Are You Giving Away this Thursday? Link-Up Your BOOK Giveaways 2/10-2/16

If you have a BOOK-RELATED giveaway going on your blog/site please list it below - this means books (paper or eBook), bookmarks, book swag, booklights, eReaders and other things that are directly related to book reading.

If you have ANY OTHER TYPE of giveaway feel free to link the on my mommy blog giveaway linky: The Busy Woman's Guide to Surviving Motherhood.

Please link DIRECTLY to the book giveaway and not just to your blog's homepage.
Please keep your listings Family Friendly (if the item itself is adult in nature please include ADULT in your listing)

Please use this format:
Your Name: Blog Title (abbr ok) Item Description How many Avail End Date
Your URL: a direct link to the giveaway

EXAMPLE:
Your Name: OPAAT Said The Spider by Earl Van Gilder ends 2/7
Your URL: http://sapphirereads.blogspot.com/2011/01/interiew-and-giveaway-said-spider-by.html



After you use the link please leave a comment, letting me know you were here (I just love comments, this is totally not required! LOL)

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Don't Miss Out - Kindle has Software Update Available

The one thing that I did not like about my Kindle was the lack of page numbers. It was just strange to me to not be able to see what "page" I was on. I know it gives a percentage of the book read, but it was just too hard to adjust to. Well now I don't have to! The Kindle has just announced a software update that adds pages numbers (among other features and enhancements). So if you have Version 3.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2 or 3.0.3 (you can check on your settings menu on your kindle), you can update it to version 3.1! Here are the step by step directions on how to determine which version you need to install: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=200529700#download

Keep in mind that, the process requires being connected to a PC and takes about 15 minutes when all said and done so make sure you have the time to do it start to finish.

Whatcha Reading Wednesdays - February 9, 2011


This week's Whatcha Reading Wednesday works like this:
Go to the page you are currently reading and type in the very next full sentence.
You can participate by leaving your WRW teaser in a comment below, or you can make a post on your own blog and link back to this post in the linky below. Feel free to use the WRW graphic, just please be sure to link back to Busy Moms Who Love to Read.

"Clary stifled a gasp as he rose." City of Bones (book 1 in the Mortal Instruments Series) by Cassandra Clare

So tell me: Whatcha Reading??

Friday, February 4, 2011

Review & Blog Tour Stop: The Big Show Stopper by Ken Dalton


The Big Show Stopper


by Ken Dalton



Book Description: Brady Blackstone, America's richest and favorite concert performer, dies in a tragic accident while Bear and Flo, along with thousands of northern Nevada's music lovers, look on in horror. However, before Bear can maneuver Flo back to their apartment to complete her birthday celebration, they stumble across a clue that makes them question if Brady's death was an accident. In The Big Show Stopper, Pinky, a sleazy but successful defense attorney, and Bear, a street-wise ex bartender, mix madness with mayhem as you meet Brady's less than grieving widow-a trigger-happy Carson City Cop named Ice Conner-travel in first-class luxury with Pinky as he follows a questionable lead to an exotic location and suffer with Flo in Bear's old pick up while they drive to another of America's armpit locations where they discover Brady Blackstone's killer.

About the Author: Ken was born in 1938. In a turn of bad luck, the dreaded Polio virus found Ken not long after the picture on the right was taken. At the end of World War II, Ken’s family moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming for a year where he learned how to live through snow blizzards, avoid walking through the large pile of coal in the basement, and how to survive life as an Army Officer’s brat on a base called Fort Warren. By the age of sixteen, after eleven years of operations, therapy, and braces, Ken’s luck changed dramatically when he met the girl of his dreams at a party. A few years later they married, produced three wonderful children, and settled into a happy life in Southern California. In 1966, Ken, who worked as a technician for Pacific Bell, and his family left Southern California for the green hills of Sonoma County where they bought a home in Sebastopol surrounded with apple trees. A few years later, Ken and Arlene built a new home on three and a half acres. They raised cows, pigs, and learned how to build outstanding fences. While their children grew, they hosted two exchange students, Eva Reimers from Sweden, and Tanja Wuttke from Germany, both of whom are still loved members of the Dalton clan. Also during those years, Ken was promoted to management at Pacific Bell. He eventually ended up responsible for all the central offices, sixty-three, in an area that covered five counties. In 1977, Ken, Arlene, Bob Wiltermood, and his wife Norma, designed, built, and operated a 2000 case winery named Pommeraie Vineyards. They produced award winning Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. However, after Bob died, the winery was sold. Ken and Arlene moved to a hilltop in Healdsburg. With the winery gone, and time on their hands, Ken and Arlene started to perform with the Camp Rose Players. Twenty years and forty productions later, both are still acting and singing. Life was good. All Ken had to do was learn some lines and bow when the audience applauded. Then, ten years ago, in a moment of madness, Ken started to write. His first article was published in Golf Illustrated in August 1996. More golf articles followed in national and regional magazines including Golf Magazine and Fairways and Greens. After a two-year stint on the County Grand Jury, Ken felt the need to begin his first novel. Now, after a decade of struggle to learn the craft of writing, Ken has become the publishing world’s latest overnight sensation.

Here's What I Think: This book was a pretty quick read. It is part of series in that the characters remain the same but the store certainly can stand alone. The book has a unique quality of being amusing while still suspenseful.
Disclaimer: Although I did receive this book for review purposes, I was in no other way compensated to publish this post. The development and interaction of the characters is the real story in this book, even though the plot centers on the murder mystery. This was a fun weekend read and was able to keep my attention - which is always a plus!
If you are an author or publisher and would like an honest review of your title, please contact me at polsen11atcomcastdotnet

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Wondering Where I have been??

I am sure that you all have noticed that my activity on this blog has really slowed down. It has been the result of several different things. For one, my pregnancy is taking a lot out of me and I simply don't have the same energy I did before. My family is struggling financially, so I have had to focus more on actually making money to put in the bank (I started a Tupperware Business, if anyone is interested =). And lastly, I seem to be experiencing something that is very common in pregnancy, which is a loss of interest in pre-pregnancy hobbies. For some strange reason, my drive and desire to read as voraciously as I always have is waning. It is very frustrating because it confuses me but lately I have been almost "forcing" myself to read books just so that I have reviews to post. And that is just too much like school or work. I have been told by several people that experienced this that it does go away after baby is born, so I am keeping my fingers crossed, because I absolutely love to read and actually miss it. I am going to do my best to keep things interesting and posted on here and keep it up, but I wanted to share this with all the readers, so that you don't think I just jumped ship and abandoned you =).

What Are You Giving Away this Thursday? Link-Up Your BOOK Giveaways 2/3-2/9

If you have a BOOK-RELATED giveaway going on your blog/site please list it below - this means books (paper or eBook), bookmarks, book swag, booklights, eReaders and other things that are directly related to book reading.

If you have ANY OTHER TYPE of giveaway feel free to link the on my mommy blog giveaway linky: The Busy Woman's Guide to Surviving Motherhood.

Please link DIRECTLY to the book giveaway and not just to your blog's homepage.
Please keep your listings Family Friendly (if the item itself is adult in nature please include ADULT in your listing)

Please use this format:
Your Name: Blog Title (abbr ok) Item Description How many Avail End Date
Your URL: a direct link to the giveaway

EXAMPLE:
Your Name: OPAAT Said The Spider by Earl Van Gilder ends 2/7
Your URL: http://sapphirereads.blogspot.com/2011/01/interiew-and-giveaway-said-spider-by.html



After you use the link please leave a comment, letting me know you were here (I just love comments, this is totally not required! LOL)