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Sunday, October 7, 2012

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? October 8, 2012

This meme starts at Book Journey!

What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

This was a good week - busy as always. 
I finished four books last week and posted four reviews with a mini review below.  I had one author interview, one promo with a giveaway link plus one author giveaway. I posted the regular Friday Pick Giveaway, Saturday Sharing Beyond Books Comment Giveaway and Sunday Words. 

I got to visit a bit last Sunday night and a little on Monday. *Sigh*
I truly appreciate all the nice people who visit me.

These were last week's posts:
  • Book Review and Giveaways: Risking it All by Suzanne Barrett; Contemporary Romance; my rating 4.25. Print - US; eBook -International. Ends 10/12
  • Q&A with Author Debra Webb; Book Review: Power by Debra Webb; Thriller; my rating 4.25.
  • Audio Book Review:  Dying for You by MaryJanice Davidson; Paranormal Comedy; my rating 4.25.
Finished Reading:

1. Audio



Dying for You
by MaryJanice Davidson
This is entertaining. Review linked above. 
Reviewed from Penguin Audio through Audiobook Jukebox



2. Print



Relentless Pursuit
by Sara Orwig
I received this for survey.
My Rating 3.5
Book Description
Publication Date: May 1, 2012 | Series: Harlequin Desire (Book 2159)
A cool million to help a withdrawn child in time for kindergarten? Widowed teacher Ava Barton is touched that the girl's guardian, Texas billionaire Will Delaney, cares so deeply. But the job includes moving into Will's mansion for the summer. And suddenly, Ava is working nights and weekends trying—unsuccessfully—to resist the gorgeous tycoon down the hall. Will wants her in his bed for June, July and August. But come fall, he'll move on. Unless she can teach him a thing or two about opening his guarded heart to love.
 

Mini Review:
I was not very interested in reading the story from the blurb. How many women really get to hang with a billionaire? It was so clear he was going to be a playboy. However Ava's down-to-earth and determined personality helped give the story more interest especially with Will’s sincere caring for his niece, Caroline. He wasn’t a complete jerk. The focus around the child, Caroline, working to pull her out of her solitude and sharing with the puppy, made the story worthwhile.

I liked that Will cared about his niece and that he was willing to recognize that Ava wasn't like other women and finally he was willing to make a commitment. I don’t read this line often but for those who do you should enjoy this especially with the child element.



3. eBook



Blades of Winter: A Novel of the Shadowstorm 
by G. T. Almasi
Spies with body modifications and lots of action.
I liked it alot and will post a review this week.
Picked up from Del Rey on NetGalley.



4. Print
 

Tears Water the Seeds of Hope
by Kim Tews
An awesome and touching story.
I will post review for Blog Tour on 10/9.




Line Edits: We released Death to the Undead by Pembroke Sinclair this week, the sequel to Life After the Undead. This is an inspirational zombie story.
Before Death to the Undead opens, tough teenager Krista’s parents are killed by the zombie horde, but she escapes to the safety of Florida. After her reunion with General Liet, a distant cousin, she moves with him to North Platte to help build a wall to keep the zombies in the West. Krista falls in love with Quinn, a survivor and fighter from the zombie-infested wildlands of the West, and together they free the garrison at North Platte from the power-hungry Liet.

Now, North Platte is free, but Liet was not the only one using the zombie apocalypse to control their people. Florida is ruled by five ruthless Families, who use intimidation and the threat of the zombie horde to coerce their populace. While trying to solidify their new relationship, Krista and Quinn hatch a desperate plan to run guns into the state and help the people revolt. When The Families label Krista and Quinn rebels and attack North Platte, Krista and Quinn run for their lives. The Families want them captured, the zombies want to eat them, and other survivors want them dead. Caught in between powerful forces, they must survive long enough to devise a new plan and put it into action, all while trying not self-destruct in the meantime.Type a description for this product here...



Currently reading:
1. Audio

 

The Aleppo Codex: A True Story of Obsession, Faith, and the Pursuit of an Ancient Bible
by Matti Friedman
This is very interesting. I am on disc 5 of 6 so I expect to finish and post the review this week. Reviewing for HighBridge Audio through AudioBook Jukebox.
Book Description
Publication Date: May 15, 2012
In an age when physical books matter less and less, here is a thrilling story about a book that meant everything. This true-life detective story unveils the journey of a sacred text—the tenth-century annotated bible known as the Aleppo Codex—from its hiding place in a Syrian synagogue to the newly founded state of Israel. Based on Matti Friedman’s independent research, documents kept secret for fifty years, and personal interviews with key players, the book proposes a new theory of what happened when the codex left Aleppo, Syria, in the late 1940s and eventually surfaced in Jerusalem, mysteriously incomplete.

The codex provides vital keys to reading biblical texts. By recounting its history, Friedman explores the once vibrant Jewish communities in Islamic lands and follows the thread into the present, uncovering difficult truths about how the manuscript was taken to Israel and how its most important pages went missing. Along the way, he raises critical questions about who owns historical treasures and the role of myth and legend in the creation of a nation.



2. eBook/Kindle



Once Upon a Remembrance (Women of Strength Time Travel)
by Grace Brannigan
I love time travel and am enjoying this,
I will post the review 
with author guest post on October 11.
Book Description
Publication Date: August 10, 2012
Once Upon a Remembrance: Book 1 Women of Strength time travel trilogy: Photographer Isabeau Remington travels to 1894 Virgina and falls in love with a man she must ultimately leave behind when she returns to her own time...but things are not always as they seem.

Modern day photographer Isabeau is pulled from the present time and thrust back into the year 1894 in Virginia. She must help save Hawk Morgan, a man threatened by a killer, a man endangered by his own erased memories. Hawk must survive in 1894 so his present day ancestor Pierce Morgan, will be alive in Isabeau's future.

Isabeau begins to fall in love with Hawk Morgan but with both their future's uncertain and a killer on the loose, neither one of them may have a tomorrow to look forward to.



3. Print
 

Everybody Loved Roger Harden (Everybody's Suspect in Georgia)
by Cecil Murphey
I will be starting this tomorrow for Ladies' Book Club on Saturday.
Book Description
Publication Date: October 10, 2011
Psychologist Julie West and Reverend James Burton arrive late for dinner on Palm Island - but just in time to discover their host, millionaire Roger Harden, murdered. Ten possible suspects share closed quarters on the secluded island, all of them with deep secrets and sufficient motive to have wanted the wealthy benefactor dead. Can Julie and Burton ignore the mysterious attraction developing between them long enough to discover who among them didn't love Roger Harden enough to let him live?



4. eBook/Kindle



Winning Mr. Wrong
by Marie Higgins
I am looking forward to reading this.
Reviewing for the Publisher, Walnut Springs Press.
Book Description
Publication Date: January 1, 2010
Whoever said the quest for love wasn't comical never met Charlene Randall. Charley is looking for a man who wants to start a family, a man who will take her to the temple. Problem is, she has never dated a man for longer than three months. When she reads an internet article called "Ten Ways to Win Your Man," she decides to try it on her new coworker, Maxwell Harrington. Max was her crush in high school, but the superstar sports anchorman doesn't even remember her.

Enter ladies' man Damien Giovianni, Charley's handsome neighbor, who agrees to help her win Max over. What follows is a hilarious tale of mishaps and misunderstandings where Charley learns that what she really needs may be right in front of her.


I am again listening to The Listener's Bible NIV read by Max McLean. [Reading and listening on my new MP3.]
Instead of studying with the Tyndall One Year Bible this year I am studying with Through the Bible in One Year by Alan B. Stringfellow. It is a Study that I used for teaching back in around 1989 so I will enjoy it again. This week the reading is 1 Thessalonians.

Line Edits: I am working on more formatting this week.



Hmmm- I have 22 books listed for October so they may not all make it, even at five a week.  I finished four titles this week so there are still 18 to go. 
.
Read - Reviews to Post:
Angels Landing by Rochelle Alers

Scheduled for October
10/9 Tears Water the Seeds of Hope by Kim Tews, Review for Great Escape Book Tours
10/9 to 10/14 Happily Ever After Giveaway Hop
10/11 Once Upon a Remembrance by Grace Brannigan with Guest Post
10/13 Everybody Loved Roger Harden by Cecil Murphey for Book Club
10/17  The Miracle Inspector by Helen Smith, Review for Pump Up Your Book Tour
10/23 The Reluctant Bachelorette by Rachel Anderson, Review for BookBlast Tour

UnScheduled for October:
Sourcebooks
Sultry with a Twist by Macy Beckett
Lady Louisa’s Christmas Knight by Grace Burrowes

Harlequin
A Tangled Affair by Fiona Brand

Thomas Nelson
The Trouble with Cowboys by Denise Hunter (Review with Giveaway)

Walnut Press
Winning Mr. Wrong by Marie Higgins

NetGalley
Uninvited by Heather Graham
Forged In Death, Book 1 of The Death Wizard Chronicles by Jim Melvin

Audiobook Jukebox
The Aleppo Codex: A True Story of Obsession, Faith, and the Pursuit of an Ancient Bible by Matti Friedman

Authors:
The Mine (Northwest Passage) by John Heldt
The Jupiter Chronicles: The Secret of the Great Red Spot by Leonardo Ramierz
Loving Luke by Suzanne Barrett
Shards of Ashley (Book 5 of Family Heirloom Series) by Karen Weisner

From the TBR shelves
A Halloween Title - TBD
I'd like to read at least one "Won"/TBR books and one free Kindle book.:-)
1 Free Kindle -TBD;
Won TBR: The Shifters of 2040, a Shifter Dystopia by Ami Rebecca Blackwelder

[To be posted - I am setting these up for interview/feature days.
These were read and ready for reviews for Authors.
Quest for Magic by Jean Hart Stewart - Read; review to be posted with interview.
Seeing for the First Time (What You See is What You Get) and To See (What You See is What You Get) by Nicole Zoltack - Both Read; setting up author interview with reviews.]

Sunday Words of Encouragement October 7, 2012

We had a nice sermon today with our Pastor continuing the series teaching on The Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is a person. He loves us and will never leave us. But we should be careful not to grieve Him. Ephesians 4:30.
How could we grieve the Spirit?
We grieve the Spirit by open and gross sin. things like theft and foul language, Eph 4:28-29;  bitterness and anger, Eph 4:31.
We grieve the Spirit by licentious thoughts and desires. Immorality can grieve the Spirit, Eph 4:18-19.
We can grieve the Spirit by neglect. Are we open to hearing His voice? Do we forget that He is always there?
We can grieve the Spirit by resistance. Sometimes we want to keep doing things the way we are accustomed to even if there is a voice telling us to change.  D0 we pray at the end of the day: “Lord, please bless what I did today”? OR do we pray as we start the day: “Lord, please guide me so all I do today will be pleasing to you and a blessing”?

Are we maturing to do as we should, yielding to the Holy Spirit?

This has good words if we remember that He 'is in this place' wherever we are!
Word of God Speak by Mercy Me.

Verses for Today
Ephesians 4:4-6 NIV
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Today I pray - Lord, renew a right Spirit in me.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

New Group of Christmas Books For Sharing Beyond Books Giveaways

12/16/13 - Looks like I need a new group to replace these so I will do a new picture and list hopefully this weekend. :-)
Here is a new group of Christmas Books for winner picks from the Sharing Beyond Book Comment Giveaways.
{This is not a giveaway post but these books are for winners to pick from.}

A Stone Creek Christmas by Linda Lael Miller SBB pick
Blackout at Christmas Anthology by Beth Cornelison, Sharron McClellan and Jennifer Morey - Nov SBB

Bring Me Home for Christmas by Robyn Carr SBB win in November 2012
Christmas in Lucky Harbor by Jill Shalvis   Chosen for SBB win in October 2012
Christmas Gold Anthology by Cheryl St. John, Elizabeth Lane and Mary Burton Christmas Hop pick
Deck the Halls by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark  

For the Love of St. Nick by Garasamo Maccagnone
Nascar Holiday 3 Anthology by Liz Allison & Wendy Etherington, Brenda Jackson, Marisa Carroll and Jean Brashear

Silent Night in Dry Creek by Janet Tronstad  SBB win in Dec 2012
Snowbird by Stef Ann Holm  Chosen for SBB win in November 2012
The Christmas Thief by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark SBB win in November 2012

The Christmas Train by David Baldacci (spine creases) SBB win Dec 2013

The Heart of Christmas Anthology Mary Balogh, Nicola Cornick, Courtney Milan (spine crease)  SBB 1/13
Twas the Bite Before Christmas by Lee Charles Kelley - SBB 9/13
With Christmas In His Heart by Gail Gaymer Martin (spine crease) SBB win in October 2012

Sharing Beyond Books #69 Comment Giveaway October 6, 2012

Welcome to another SBB!

Hello again on Saturday Night.  I was up early to man a coffee table at a women's club event this morning so I am tired tonight. :-)  I will be updating the ARC/review lists and uploading a new Christmas list as soon as I finish publishing this post so winners can check the lists.

Thank you to all who shared last week.

It looks like we don't have too many plans for the fall. Several are back in school so busy.  mamabunny13 is doing fall closing while marybelle is doing spring cleaning (on the other side of the world) and nrlymrtl sounds very busy with harvest/farm responsibilities!

Only a handful of us will be reading some horror this month. Many of you do not read horror and many indicate that you don't read seasonally - let's see about question 2 this week. *grin*
~~~~

The Winner from SBB #68 comments is: #4 Ricki There are still 5 'love' books to pick from and 1 Christmas choice (see my note above about adding more titles to that list soon). Ricki please choose a book (or GC if international) from the remaining five Love Books List for Giveaway, the new Christmas Giveaway Book list, OR pick from the Updated ARC/Review List and let me know your choice, your address and a choice of bookmarks by completing the WINNER FORM.

WEEK #69 Questions

Q1. Louisa and Mary P ask: When did you first learn to drive or get your driver's license??  
A: I know most teens are eager to get their driver's license but I guess I wasn't one of them. I had two older brothers and a sister who was only a year and a half older but we were in the same grades during high school. So they did all the driving. I had a boyfriend in college who taught me how to drive in a 57 Chevy - it was a tank. I did not get my license until I was 21 when I inherited my mother's car as she died of cancer a few months before my 21st birthday. So I had a car before I could drive. Oh yes - I failed the driving part the first time... I crossed over a yellow line. So it took me two times to get the license.

I found this image at Super Chevy.

Q2. After last week's responses I have a follow-up:   When do you start to read Christmas titles??  :-)
A:  I have started looking at Christmas titles although the only one on my list so far is Lady Louisa's Christmas Knight. I actually read my first 2012 Holiday title in June: The Bridge by Karen Kingsbury. Although that wasn't really focused on Christmas as much as a second chance romance. I do love reading Christmas stories and hope to read at least five this year. (Last year it looks like I read five from October through December.)

Thanks to those who are sending in Questions. DON'T BE SHY! Surely everyone has a Q or two you'd like to ask.  Input suggestions in this Suggested Question Form. At the end of each month I will draw from the suggestions I used the month before and that person will get a book choice or GC. I thank everyone for submitting questions but some of you others might want to get in a question or two as we have a few people submitting most of the questions so far.  Either way - it works for me. :-)  The question list is being replenished!  Thanks for sending in questions!  

Your turn to share:

1. Louisa and Mary P ask: When did you first learn to drive or get your driver's license??


2. After last week's responses I have a follow-up:   When do you start to read Christmas titles??


SBB Comment Winners can choose a selection from the remaining Valentine and "Love" books (5 left) or the new Christmas Giveaway Books. Also I have added the Updated ARC/Review List now.

SBB Rules:
a) Must be a follower.
b) Share a comment on any (or all) of the two/three questions above.
Open internationally and an international winner may get a smaller book or a $5.00 GC if I decide the mailing is too much.

I will pick a Comment winner from all comments made by Friday, October 12, 2012 at 10 PM central.

Winners of Kiss of Steel and Give a Duke a Diamond

CONGRATULATIONS 
TO WINNERS!

Giveaways Ended October 5, 2012.


Giveaway Print Copy Kiss of Steel 

bn100

Erica W and bn100 Please fill in the Winner's Acceptance Form or email me at mesreads AT gmail.com to confirm the win and I will notify the publisher and or send the books.  Please reply within 72 hours!
Thank you to all who entered these giveaways..

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