Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Review: The Silenced




About the Book:

Jonathan Quinn never expected this. He planned for it, took every precaution possible, but he never though it would happen. But he was wrong.

Professional “cleaner” Jonathan Quinn has a new client and an odd job: find and remove the remains of a body hidden twenty years ago inside the walls of a London building now scheduled for demolition.

But Quinn and his team are being watched. Suddenly caught in the cross fire between two dangerous rivals, Quinn must unravel the identity of the body and why it still poses so great a threat even in death. Because a plot stretching from the former Soviet Union to Hong Kong, from Paris to London, from Los Angeles to Maine, is rapidly falling apart. And Quinn hasn’t been hired just to tie up loose ends — he is one.

My Review:

What can I say about this book other than it was awesome? I mean really, it had a LOT Of action! I can totally see this being made into a movie. One that I would WATCH! It's a very smart and clever action packed book, that is just fun to read! I am so glad that I was able to get my hands on it!

From page one to the very last page it's just oozing with coolness. I am probably a newb when it comes to these types of books, but I am not a full fledged fan of them! Mr. Battles has won himself over a new fan!

I highly recommend The Silenced if you want something smart and fun to read!

Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Dell (April 5, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0440245672

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Books In My Mail-Random Edition


Guess who's happy with her new stash of bookies? ME! Duh! :)


which releases today! (Galore) also came with a cute Whale pin!

and bought:

so geeked out over this one too! :)

Monday, March 28, 2011

What are you Reading? 3/28

Read Last Week:


Review
and
Review

and I finished
-Ebook (review coming soon)


This Week:

The Silenced-Brett Battles (should be reviewed by Monday or Tuesday)
and
Sing You Home-Jodi Picoult (review should be posted by Friday)

Back Up Reads (just in case)

The Emerald Atlas-John Stephens

Read-a-Long (failing miserably)


Madame Bovary-Gustave Flaubert

Sunday, March 27, 2011

The Sunday Salon for 3/27



The Sunday Salon.com

My planning for last week was a success! I read my two scheduled books AND one of my misc. books! I will continue on with this sort of planning for this week to see if it works as well again. I'm so exited and I hope I finally found a good routine for my blog! I'm kinda geeking out over the fact that I posted almost everyday last week! Yay for keeping my blog fresh!

My goals for this week are similar. Just two books are going to be planned, then the rest I have on hand are back ups!




This is what the sky looked like for us last night. We had a nice big storm come through our area. We had lots of wind, rain, and a ton of pretty lightning. My son was up and a bit nervous so we cuddled on the couch and watched tv until late into the night. So as it was sweet to get a chance to snuggle with my little buddy, it wasn't a very restful night. I'm pretty draggy this morning. So coffee is going to be my friend!


In My Mailbox This Week :


-The Baby Planner by Josie Brown

Katie Johnson may make her living consulting with new moms on the latest greatest baby gadgets no parent should be without, or which mommy meet-ups are the most socially desirable, or whether melon truly is the new black, but the success of her marriage to her husband, Alex, depends on controlling her own urges toward motherhood.

He's adamant that they stay childless. Sure, Katie understands that he's upset over the fact that his out-of-town ex-wife rarely lets him see their ten-year-old son, Peter. But living vicariously through her anxious clients and her twin sisters' precocious children only makes Katie resent his stance more deeply.

While helping a new client—Seth Harris, a high tech entrepreneur who must raise Sadie, his newborn daughter, as a single parent after the tragic death of his wife in childbirth—maneuver the bittersweet journey from mourning husband and reticent father to loving dad, Katie’s own ideals about love, marriage, and motherhood are put to the test as she learns ones very important lesson about family: How we nurture is the true nature of love.

(look for a review AND a giveaway coming soon!)

***
I Won!

The Chaos-Rachel Ward

The curse of the NUM8ERS continues in Rachel Ward's CHA0T1C, earth-shattering sequel!

Adam has more than inherited his mother's curse: When he looks in someone's eyes, he not only sees the date of their death...he feels the searing, shocking pain of it. Since Jem died, Adam has lived by the sea with his great-grandmother, Val. But when rising tides flood the coast, they return to London. The city is an alien, exciting, frightening place. Most disturbing of all, Adam can't help but clock how many people's numbers are in January 2027; how many are on New Year's Day. What chaos awaits the world? Can he and Sarah stop a catastrophe? Or are they, too, counted among the "twenty-sevens"?

***

And....

The Silenced-Brett Battles (review coming poss. Monday 3/28)

-The Ice Princess-Camilla Lackberg

All in all I had a great week and hope to continue with this trend! I hope you guys all had good ones too!







Saturday, March 26, 2011

Weekend Reading

I did really awesome reading my two scheduled reads, so I feel like this is going to be something I do every week! It felt great!
I have almost finished Dead City, so that will be finished by the end of today.


What are you reading this weekend?

Friday, March 25, 2011

Review: Murder Takes the Cake





About the Book:

Since she moved back to her hometown in southern Virginia, Daphne has been having a hard time getting her new cake decorating business, Daphne’s Delectable Cakes, off the ground. It doesn’t inspire much confidence—or new orders—when Daphne sets out to deliver a spice cake with cream cheese frosting decorated with orange and red satin ribbons and a red apple—and finds her client dead.

The town is abuzz with news of Yodel Watson’s mysterious death. It seems everyone had reason to poison the town gossip. Was she murdered by the philandering pet shop owner, her church potluck nemesis, or the Save-A-Buck’s cranky produce manager-turned-bagger—or even the new cake decorator?

To help prove she’s no confectionery killer, Daphne recruits her old flame, Ben Jacobs, editor of the local newspaper, and quickly stirs up a long-hidden family scandal that just might hold the secret ingredient she needs to solve the case. But she has to act fast, before the real culprit decides that taking sweet revenge on Daphne would be icing on the cake.


My Review:
Cute! This was a really cute story. I enjoyed it very much! This is the first real "cozy" mystery that I enjoyed thoroughly. It's not a life changing book, but it is entertaining and fun! I thought Daphne was a great character and loved reading about her adventure. I wasn't even bothered by the cooking schtick that ran through this story!

It's apparently a part of a series, but that didn't keep me from being able to go with the flow and know what is going on. All in all I say it's a delightful little book, that is sure to keep mystery fans (and those just dabbling in the genre) satisfied.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Gayle Trent is a writer and editor who also pens mysteries under the pseudonym Amanda Lee. She lives in southwest Virginia with her family. Visit www.gayletrent.com and follow @GayleTrent on Twitter.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Thursday Thingies

Here are the things that have made my giggle/geek out this week! I don't have a snazzie little banner, but I'll just call this Thursday Thingies.



PhotobucketThis made me giggle...Lookit his face! *Damon squeee* (I want my Vampire Diaries back!)




Obviously I am a Buffy fan, a Spike fan to be more specific. :)

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Review: Zero Day


Goodreads.com Description:

An insidious cyber-terrorist attack threatens to destroy the Western World in this debut by a leading expert on cybersecurity

Over the Atlantic, an airliner’s controls suddenly stop reacting. In Japan, an oil tanker runs aground when its navigational system fails. And in the Midwest, a nuclear power plant nearly becomes the next Chernobyl.

At first, these computer failures seem unrelated. But Jeff Aiken, a former government analyst who saw the mistakes made before 9/11, fears that there may be a more serious attack coming. And he soon realizes that there isn’t much time if he hopes to stop an international disaster.

Zero Day presents a chilling “what if” scenario written in the vein of Richard A. Clarke and Daniel Suarez.

My Thoughts:

There is a crap ton of computer lingo in this book! I love my computer, but I don't know much about how it works. There are some very intense moments in the beginning, but unfortunately they are overwhelmed by the somewhat dull and computer-speak drenched parts. I tried to push through to the end but I just couldn't get into it. I tried to skip around to see if anything near the middle/end caught my attention, but alas this was one that I just could not finish.

I'm sorry Mr. Russinovich, you obviously know your stuff, but this wasn't my cup of tea.

To be fair and balanced, I have included links to other reviews that are more positive than mine.

Reviewed: You Gotta Read Reviews
Reviewed: My Book Retreat
Reviewed: Crystal Book Reviews

Book Details

  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books (March 15, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9780312612467

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Teaser Tuesday


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• 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 comes from the book Zero Day by Mark Russinovich




"Though the crammed apartment and the often noisy building was beginning to wear on her, Vladimir gave her the most concern. She marveled at how he'd managed to crawl out of his hole of despair and find a new life for himself with computers." pg. 169

Monday, March 21, 2011

What Are You Reading? 3/21

So going along with my Sunday post, here are the two books that I plan on reading and review this weekend!

This Week:
Planned review on Weds. 23rd
Planned review on Friday 25th

Ongoing (plan on reading in chunks til finished)
I have this book scheduled for review on April 2nd

Read-a-Long
Still reading for The Lost Entwife's read-a-long (Wanna catch up completely too!)

On My Nook
This is really very good!! I love Zombies!!!


A brief explanation of these selections. It LOOKS like I have a lot, but the first two are my top priority, then of course the read-a-long comes next, and then if I have any time/mental-power left then the rest get read!

So what are you reading?

Sunday, March 20, 2011

The Sunday Salon for 3/20

The Sunday Salon.com

As you all can see I took a few days off from blogging. I did not however take a break from reading! In fact, I have spent a LOT more time reading lately than I have in a while. Unfortunately, I've been going through yet another case of Book ADD. I've got three books going all at once, so you can imagine my brain is a big mushy puddle of word-goo.

So after giving it much thought, earlier today I whipped out my planner and PLANNED!! *cue Law and Order sound*

I have planned out my reading for this month and next month! I have dates that reviews are going to be posted, and baring extreme illness/lack of internet/zombie apocalypse they shall be posted on that date! Sounds lame, but this is the push I think I need. I have so many awesome books just stacked on my desk that I just feel so guilty and lazy for not zipping through them like I know I can and should. This will put the fire under my tushie and get me more organized.

I have also decided on a few weekly memes to commit to doing each week. I'll stick with these for now:
  • What Are You Reading? -Monday
  • Tuesday Teasers-Tuesday
  • Mailbox Saturday-Saturday
  • Sunday Salon-Sunday
I think this should help me keep my blog in good shape and current. So go me!

Well that is all for now! Look out for Monday! My son is back to school and I am going to get MUCH more reading done (woot!) Can't believe it's Spring already! I'll be sitting on my porch with a glass of lemonade and a book soon!

Here is a list of all the other participants of The Sunday Salon:



Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Book Spotlight: Letters From Home


About the Book:

In the midst of World War II, a Midwestern infantryman falls deeply in love through a yearlong letter exchange, unaware that the girl he’s writing to is not the one replying. Woven around this tenuous thread are three female friends whose journeys toward independence take unexpected turns as a result of romance, tragedy, and deception, their repercussions heightened by an era of the unknown.

Inspired by a true account, LETTERS FROM HOME is a story of hope and connection, of sacrifices made in love and war – and the chance encounters that change us forever.


About the Author:

Kristina McMorris lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two sons. Her foray into fiction began in the fall of 2006 as a result of interviewing her grandmother for the biographical section of a self-published cookbook intended as a holiday gift for the family. Inspired by her grandparents’ wartime courtship, Kristina penned her first novel, a WWII love story titled Letters from Home. This award-winning debut is scheduled for release in trade paperback from Kensington Books (2-22-11; U.S.) and Avon/HarperCollins (5-5-11; U.K.). The condensed book rights have been sold to Reader’s Digest, and the film rights are represented by the prestigious Creative Artists Agency of Los Angeles.

Prior to her literary career, Kristina acted in numerous independent films and major motion pictures. She began hosting an Emmy-award winning television show at age nine, and most recently served as the six-year host of the WB’s weekly program Weddings Portland Style. Adding to her diverse résumé, McMorris is a professional emcee, literary workshop presenter, and former owner of a wedding/event planning business. Her previous writing background includes being a contributing writer for Portland Bride & Groom magazine and ten years of directing public relations for an international conglomerate. A portion of Kristina’s sales proceeds from Letters from Home will benefit United Through Reading®, a nonprofit organization that video records deployed U.S. military personnel reading bedtime stories for their children. She is currently working on her next novel.

You can visit her website at www.kristinamcmorris.com.

My Review:
Okay now my OFFICIAL review of this book!

I loved it. That pretty much summed it up. It's touching, it's beautifully written, and it is full of great characters! I honestly have a hard time believing that Kristina McMorris isn't a seasoned veteran writer! Seriously, this was great storytelling! To use a cliched phrase, "I gobbled this book up!" This is definitely a book you want to read slowly and savor every single word.

Each character is painstakingly developed and brought to life within the pages of this book. Not a single one of them seemed like bit players in the story. I thoroughly enjoyed the fine details that McMorris used to create a bond between the reader and the characters. It was simply delightful!

To sum up my review. I loved it. I LOVED it. This was one of my favorites of the year so far. I cannot wait to see what else Kristina McMorris is cooking up! Definitely read this book!

Monday, March 14, 2011

What Are You Reading?

Read Last Week:

(both e-books)

Reading This Week:
blog tour-17th
- e-book

Book Club Read:

-The Lost Entwife's Read-a-Long

Review: Bumped

About:
When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents are forced to pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society.

Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and had never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend Zen, who is way too short for the job.

Harmony has spent her whole life in religious Goodside, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to bring Melody back to Goodside and convince her that “pregging” for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.

When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.


My Thoughts:
After hearing all the hype that this book has gotten, I had to check it out for myself. The concept was interesting and definitely something that should have been awesome. I have to admit, that I wasn't all that impressed. It was a good book. It was an intriguing concept, but I didn't see what was the BIG deal.

I couldn't help but wonder about the parents, other than Melody's money hungry parents. I honestly cannot see every family (seemingly) just accepting the fact that they are going to basically whore out their daughter's uterus for money. It just seemed like every grown up was cool with it, except for the "churchy" people. Now maybe it would have been more interesting to me if there was a balance.
I do understand the concept. The fertility issues would make SOME people accept this practice but I highly doubt EVERYONE would be cool with 11 year old girls walking around with fake bumps, or real ones.

I liked the book. I just didn't LOVE the book. I feel like I might be in the minority.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Quick Review: Heat Wave

From Goodreads:
A New York real estate tycoon plunges to his death on a Manhattan sidewalk. A trophy wife with a past survives a narrow escape from a brazen attack. Mobsters and moguls with no shortage of reasons to kill trot out their alibis. And then, in the suffocating grip of a record heat wave, comes another shocking murder and a sharp turn in a tense journey into the dirty little secrets of the wealthy. Secrets that prove to be fatal. Secrets that lay hidden in the dark until one NYPD detective shines a light.

Mystery sensation Richard Castle, blockbuster author of the wildly best-selling Derrick Storm novels, introduces his newest character, NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat. Tough, sexy, professional, Nikki Heat carries a passion for justice as she leads one of New York City's top homicide squads. She's hit with an unexpected challenge when the commissioner assigns superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook to ride along with her to research an article on New York's Finest. Pulitzer Prize-winning Rook is as much a handful as he is handsome. His wise-cracking and meddling aren't her only problems. As she works to unravel the secrets of the murdered real estate tycoon, she must also confront the spark between them. The one called heat


My review:
I love me some Castle! That show is the ONLY good thing about Mondays! So of course I had to get my hands on this book! Now since I'm a huge fan of the show I was very hopeful the book would be great!
I really liked it! I thought it was just like an episode of the show, except with different names, cursing, and some sex thrown in. Now I am a BIG Beckett and Castle 'shipper so I just WISHED that the show had some of the latter in it! Grrr at the show for taking it's sweet time hooking them up!

Anyhoodle, back to the book. I loved it! It was funny, actiony, and very clever. The pacing was good, even though the book was short it was packed with good stuff. If you love the show I think you'll love the book!

I have one last thing to say about the book:
PhotobucketWell done!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Quick Review: Flip This Zombie

About the Book:
The Zombie Apocalypse has been good to Sarah and David. Their marriage is better than ever. They communicate well, share responsibilities, and now, they're starting a business. ZombieBusters-for all your zombie extermination needs.

There are lots of zombies and that means lots of customers...Except one of them doesn't want the zombies dead, he wants them alive and ready for experimentation. Mad scientists make for difficult clients and this time, Sarah and David might have bitten off more than they can chew.

My Review:
Those that "know" me know that I am a big old sucker for Zombies, so when I read this description I had to read it! The book was awesome and I cannot wait for more! I mean seriously how cool is it that it's about a husband and wife Zombie killing team? They went from sparring with each other (pre apocalypse) to sparring with the zombies (post).

The plot was fun, if not slightly clichéd. I enjoyed the interaction between Sarah and David. They were very colorfully written and definitely believable. There wasn't any lack of zombie fun either! I even enjoyed the parts that weren't zombie related! I especially liked seeing the survivor camps and seeing how the people react and respond to each other.