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Sunday, November 4, 2012

Mailbox Monday November 5, 2012

Welcome to Mailbox Monday.
FOR OCTOBER: the Mailbox Monday Tour host is (updated) Mailbox Monday!

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs.  This Meme started with Marcia at A Girl and Her Books (fka The Printed Page) but is now hosted at Mailbox Monday and through various blog hosts.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists. 


I added more books this week - I think my book garden is becoming a forest.
How are your mailbox and TBR piles doing?

Review Titles
I received five review titles:

His Love Endures Forever by Beth Wiseman
Thomas Nelson (New request)
for Review and Giveaway



by Michael Wallace







Audio DVD from HighBridge Audio (through Audibook Jukebox)
The Crooked Wreath by Christina Brandt


From Hachette
by Kate Brady



and


 


by Dee Davis


Wins

No wins in this week.






Purchased
None


Free
Picked up 13 titles through Novel Seniors Partay

I picked up more free titles on Kindle.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? November 5, 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.

The reading this week was good although I only finished three books. (I am midway on three others.)  I posted four reviews.  I also posted a book feature, an ARC Giveaway, and a review  with free download book.  Plus, I posted the regular Friday Pick Giveaway, Saturday Sharing Beyond Books Comment Giveaway and Sunday Words.

I didn't get to visit too much earlier in the week so I did most of the visiting Friday and a bit more on Saturday.
Thanks again to all the nice people who visit me.

These were last week's posts:
  • Book Review (Download Currently Free!: The Wicked Wager by Anya Wylde; Historical Romance; my rating 4.25. Ends 11/5.
  • Audio Book Review: Outer Diverse by Nina Munteanu; Science Fiction; my rating 4.5.
Finished Reading:

1. eBook/Kindle



The Wicked Wager ( A Regency Murder Mystery & Romance )
by Anya Wylde

This is a fun read. My review post is linked above. The Kindle version is Free through 11/5.



2. Audio
 


Outer Diverse
by Nina Munteanu

 Very good action and world building.
Review is linked above. Reviewed for Iambic Audiobooks through AudioBook Jukebox. 



3. eBook/Kindle



Holiday Affair
by Annie Seaton

This is a nice contemporary romance.
Reviewing for the Publisher; Review and Giveaway to post 11/7
.






Line Edits: Print Release of Death to the Undead by Pembroke Sinclair and
eBook Release of :

The Way She Makes Me Feel by Pembroke Sinclair.
Drake Steng had it all: a professional football career, money, and looks. Finding women wasn't a problem, having a relationship was. He thought he found true love when he was 12, but as a boy, how was he to know? He never had the courage to find out, and she slipped from his grasp. When Evie walks back into his life years later, he gets a second chance to discover true love, but are Evie and Drake fated to be together or will he lose his courage and lose her again?


Currently reading:
1. Print



Enslaved (Eternal Guardians)
by Elisabeth Naughton

I am over two thirds through this paranormal romance.
Reviewing for Sourcebooks.
Release Date: November 6, 2012 | Series: Eternal Guardians



2. eBook/Kindle


Extraordinary Rendition
by Paul Batista
I am 25% into this and it is somewhat alarming and very engaging.
Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2012
When Ali Hussein, suspected terrorist and alleged banker for Al Qaeda, is finally transported from Guantanamo Bay to the US mainland to stand trial, many are stunned when Byron Carlos Johnson, a pre-eminent lawyer and son of a high-profile diplomat, volunteers to represent him. On principle, Johnson thought he was merely defending a man unjustly captured through Rendition and water-boarded illegally. But Johnson soon learns that there is much more at stake than one man’s civil rights.Hussein’s intimate knowledge of key financial transactions could lead to the capture of—or the unabated funding of—the world’s most dangerous terror cells. This makes Hussein the target of corrupt US intelligence forces on one side, and ruthless international terrorists on the other. And, it puts Byron Carlos Johnson squarely in the crosshairs of both. Pulled irresistibly by forces he can and cannot see, Johnson enters a lethal maze of espionage, manipulation, legal traps and murder. But when his life, his love, and his acclaimed principles are on the line, Johnson may have one gambit left that can save them all; a play that even his confidants could not have anticipated. He must become the hunter among hunters in the deadliest game.Written by no-holds-barred-attorney Paul Batista, Extraordinary Rendition excels not only as an action thriller, but as a sophisticated legal procedural as well. Batista’s keen legal mind and feel for suspense bleed onto every the page. Smart. Fast. Heart-pounding. A legal thriller of the highest order.



3. Audio
 

Emily Goes to Exeter: The Traveling Matchmaker, Book One 
Author: Marion Chesney (M.C. Beaton)
Narrator: Helen Lisanti
I am about a third into this and
enjoying the sweet, adventurous Miss Pym.

Reviewing for AudioGo 

through AudioBook Jukebox.
Book Description
Publication Date: April 15, 2010
A dead employer’s legacy of five thousand pounds allows spinster Hannah Pym to resign from housekeeping and find adventure travelling the English countryside by stagecoach. But adventure soon finds Miss Pym in the form of Miss Emily Freemantle, a spoilt violet-eyed beauty fleeing an arranged marriage to a rake she has never met. What the girl’s darkly handsome betrothed boards their stage, Miss Pym is certain Emily was rash to bolt from this aristocratic catch! And so as soon as the travellers repair to an inn, Miss Pym begins her matchmaking… and although Lord Ranger Harley complains he’ll not marry an ungrateful minx, Miss Pym suspects once she’s marshalled the couple into sharing intimate household chores, all romantic knots will be untangled!



I hope to start another before the end of the week but I haven't decided which yet.


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 Titus and Philenmon.

Line Edits: I am working on releases of several children titles and a poetry collection format this week.


I have 20 or so titles planned for November. Three have been read and two of those posted. That leaves me working on 18 to post during the month. I really do intend to get smaller lists going into December!

Review to post:
Review with Giveaway: Trouble with Cowboys by Denise Hunter

Scheduled for November

11/6 BookBlast - Secrets of the Red Box by Vickie Hall
11/6 Victoria Alexander Live Chat Event 6pm -
Event registration: www.amarketingexpert.com/author-events-live-with-victoria-alexander
11/7 Holiday Affair by Annie Seaton - Review and Giveaway (Entangled Publishing)
11/8 Extraordinary Rendition by Paul Batista - Review, Guest Post and Giveaway (Blue Dot Literary)
11/12 Clear Your Shelf Giveaway Hop
11/15 Secrets of the Red Box by Vickie Hall Review and (BookBlast) Giveaway Links
11/15 Gratitude Giveaway Hop
11/20 Guardians of Stone (The Relic Seekers) by Anita Clenney - Review and Interview
11/27 Five Days of Fear by David Kovach - Review (TLC Tour)
11/28 BookBlast - First Time: The Legend of Garison Fitch by Samuel Ben White

Unscheduled for November
Sourcebooks
Enslaved by Elisabeth Naughton
Untamed (The Amoveo Legend) by Sara Humphreys

Hachette
Where Angels Rest by Kate Brady

Thomas Nelson
His Love Endures Forever (A Land of Canaan Novel) by Beth Wiseman

AudioBook Jukebox

Emily Goes to Exeter: The Traveling Matchmaker, Book One by Marion Chesney (M.C.Beaton)
A Brew to a Kill: A Coffeehouse Mystery by Cleo Coyle
The Crooked Wreath by Christina Brandt

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

Authors
Shards of Ashley (Book 5 of Family Heirloom Series) by Karen Weisner
A Lady By Any Other Name by Jennifer Kitchens

I'd like to read at least one "Won"/TBR book and one free Kindle book.:-)
Older Won Book:  Missing by Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen
Kindle Read - TBD

Others in line up if time permits
Double Danger (An A-Tac Novel) by Dee Davis (Nov/early Dec)
The Blessed and the Damned (Righteous Series #4) by Michael Wallace
Won TBR: The Shifters of 2040, a Shifter Dystopia by Ami Rebecca Blackwelder - carry forward

[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 November 4, 2012

I am very late with my Sunday post today. My granddaughter wanted to celebrate her 5th birthday with a Halloween theme party. Although her birthday isn't until December (when we will be away in Hawaii) my daughter had the party this afternoon. My DH supplied the Jeep and trailer for the hay ride and there were wonderful games and treats that our daughter found at Pinterest. We didn't get home until about an hour ago and then I had to sync my church notes from tablet to laptop and locate some links I want to share today.
~~~~~~~~~~
I was convicted this morning by our Sunday School lesson to share a slightly different message today. Then our Pastor's message reaffirmed that conviction.

I am certainly not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ and not ashamed to share my faith. The primary purpose of this blog is to share my love of reading through *reviewing books, *sharing through author and book features and *giving away old and new books.  I have kept sermon notes for many years and decided early in my blogging that I would share some spiritual thoughts and song videos on Sundays. This is part of my own desire to honor God through this blog as I hope that the way I live brings glory and honor to Him. If only a handful or even one person enjoys the Sunday Words  posts, or is encouraged by them now and then, that is enough. I pray the Spirit can use the seeds that might be planted and further their growth.

Today's sharing is because of our upcoming national elections. It is not intended to be a political endorsement but, as Pastor said this morning, "Do not be so concerned about being politically correct that you do not show our share your convictions."  I am sharing two links that were shared with me this morning.

Am I concerned about the direction of my nation? Yes, I am. But am I afraid? No, not really. Whatever occurs I have faith that my God is in control and Will work things out as He will. That does not give me the right to remain silent and do nothing. Of course, the most important thing I can do is pray and live a life that shares God's love with others.

With that in mind, I share these two resources today. 
First: There is a video interview discussing a correlation between blessings for those who honor and protect God's land and people, Israel, and punishments and disasters that fall on those who do not support Israel.

Second: Here is an article compiling many actions by President Obama that have been against the interests of Christians and those of Biblical Faith. I was very surprised to learn of all of this.

If you wish to skip the links, I hope you will still enjoy this worship song. The written words can be found at the original link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXnvckvpBxU&feature=related



Verses for Today:
Romans 8: 26-27 NIV
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

My prayers today are for those who have suffered loss in the North East as a result of Sandy. Also I pray for my nation this week and the elections on Tuesday.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Sharing Beyond Books #73 Comment Giveaway November 3, 2012

Welcome to another SBB!

Hello once more on Saturday Night. I hope everyone is doing well and that any friends in the Northeast came through Sandy okay. I am feeling good about moving into the final months of the year.  How about you? I didn't get my review posted today so I will probably do that tomorrow. We have Daylight Savings tonight so we 'fall back' and gain an hour.
This is the month to Give Thanks... so be thinking about something you are thankful for as I expect I will be raising the question in the next week or two.

Thank you to all who shared last week.

The majority of you would like illustrations in the re-released classics and several preferred the original classic versions. Although I agree that illustrations don't do well on eReaders, like the Kindle, I think they do fine on the tablets. I thought nrlymrtl's comment was interesting - she doesn't like illustrations if she already has an image in mind.

Most everyone would participate in the nicer and fun events of Halloween. Faith Hope and CherryTea had a great idea of dressing up and visiting the elderly to share with them. :-)

~~~~

The Winner from SBB #72 comments is: #16 bn100 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). bn100 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 #73 Questions

Q1. Carol L asks: If you could pick one female literary character and swap lives for a week, who would you choose??
I passed this question for a while as I thought it had been asked but as I reviewed the spreadsheet I did not find it. Sooo - now to answer. It is the same  female literary character I had answered I would want to visit with: If I could swap a week I would want to live a week as Eve Dallas from the "In Death" series by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts).

Q2. What are your favorite cleaning products.??
A: Ha! First this assumes I clean. Well I do... some. My favorite cleaning products are: Simple Green for the kitchen (although I still like 409 for grease and spots); Scrubbing Bubbles for the bathroom; Windex for windows; and Swifter dusters for dusting. Those are my standbys. I did recently see a blog about making your own substitutes! Several use old-fashioned white vinegar.
Image found at Crazy Town


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. Carol L asks: If you could pick one female literary character and swap lives for a week, who would you choose??

2. What are your favorite cleaning products??


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, November 9, 2012 at 10 PM central.

Winners - The Jupiter Chronicles and Loving Luke

CONGRATULATIONS TO WINNERS
Giveaways Ended November 2, 2012



Gothic text from pookatoo.com

nrlymrtl




Bison61

nrlymrtl and Bison61 Please fill in the Winner's Acceptance Form or email me at mesreads AT gmail.com to confirm the win and I will arrange the downloads and mailing.  Please reply within 72 hours!
Thank you to all who entered these giveaways.

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