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Sunday, December 15, 2013

Mailbox Monday December 16, 2013

Welcome to 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.
For DECEMBER: the Mailbox Monday Tour host is Gilion @ Rose City Reader

[Starting September, Bob of Beauty in Ruins will be the new back-up host for Mailbox Monday.]

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


I didn't get any review books this week but I did purchase two Kindle books.

Are your mailbox and TBR piles blooming?

Review Titles

I am so utterly behind in responding to review requests. I have to figure out how to handle this. (I need an assistant! Ha!)

Won

None this week.

Purchased

While downloading free Kindle books I came across one Christmas mystery that looked cute and a boxed paranormal romance set, each at $.99.




Silent Night (Raine Stockton Dog Mysteries)





Free

I downloaded about 32 free Kindle Titles this week, linked through Bookbub, Bookfun, Free Par-tayInspired Reads, Pixel of Ink or Kindle ebooks.

It's Monday What are You Reading? December 16, 2013

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.

I had a busy week with several closings in the office and having to drive out to doctor appointments twice. I am still waiting for results of the new biopsy but we got good news that neither my sister nor I have the mutated cancer gene. 

I only finished four books (six if you count the two novellas in Lucky Harbor.  I only posted three reviews, (squeezing the third in today), and I posted a Bookblast Giveaway and a print Giveaway. 
I also posted the regular weekly memes and posts (except the Saturday Snapshot): Mailbox Monday, Friday Pick Giveaway,  Sharing Beyond Books Comment Giveaway and Sunday Words.

I finally did a little visiting earlier today. I have to keep working on that.
Thanks as always to all the nice people who visit me.

These were last week's posts:
Finished Reading:
1. eBook/Kindle



Lady In Disguise (The Langley Sisters)
by Wendy Vella
A sweet Regency romance with a bit of sizzle.
I'll post my review this week. 
Click on book title for full description.




2. eBook/Kindle


Christmas Wishes
by Wendy Vella
I enjoyed the other book so much
I jumped straight to this one.
This is a quick Christmas delight.
I'll post a review for this one this week too.
Book Description
Publication Date: December 8, 2013
Miss Hero Appleby distrusts noblemen, especially self-indulgent rakes like Lord Caruthers, however she was desperate for money to support the orphans in her care this Christmas, so it is to him she must go. Perhaps it had been wrong of her to point out his many faults so boldly, but the man drove her to distraction and all thoughts of lady-like behaviour disappeared in his infuriating presence.

Max didn't remember much of his first meeting with the annoying Miss Appleby, thanks to the after effects of one good drink too many. But he vaguely recalled he'd promised her something, just to get her out of his house so he could suffer in peace. Unfortunately peaceful was the last word to describe her as he found out the next day. She was unlike any woman he knew - opinionated and rude certainly, but she worked selflessly to provide for children that were not even of her blood. Max had believed himself incapable of emotion yet Hero was making him feel things that he had believed were long dead. Could his long forgotten Christmas wish really come true?



3. Print


Christmas in Lucky Harbor:
Simply Irresistible/The Sweetest Thing/
Two Bonus Short Stories
by Jill Shalvis
Shalvis delivers fun conflict as usual in the novel and two short stores. 
I'll post a review with giveaway later this week.  
Click on book title for full description.



4. Audio/MP3



Title: The New Space Opera 2
Editor: Gardner Dozois, Jonathan Stahan
Author: Various
Narrator: Various
I am on the last story;
About an hour left so I'll probably done
by Monday morning.
I hope to post a review this week.
Publisher/Date: Blackstone Audio, 09/01/13
Click on book title for full description.



Line Edits/Releases:
I have several print files to upload as soon as I get cover flats and final proofs.
Enter the bi-monthly drawings at eTreasures Publishing Facebook page.
This week's giveaway link: Gift Cards for the Holidays!

Currently reading:
1. eBook/Kindle
 

The Innkeeper of Bethlehem–The Story of Santa Claus 
by Scott Roloff
I am a third into this and so far it is an interesting fictionalized rendition of the birth and childhood of Jesus.
Reviewing for the author.
Book Description
Publication Date: September 28, 2013
A Christmas book for children, families, and anyone who has ever wondered how Santa Claus came to be. This book will permit you and your family to enjoy Santa Claus and the other secular customs of Christmas within the Christian celebration of Jesus’s birth. For little children, Santa Claus becomes a real person delivering presents to them from Jesus. Each Christmas season, reading a chapter a night will become a holiday tradition for the entire family.
[Description continues at link.]



2. eBook/Kindle
 


The Wanderers
by Cheryl Mahoney
I picked this title to read.
It is written by a blog friend author.
Book Description
Publication Date: November 13, 2013
Any wandering adventurer hoping to survive needs rules—and Jasper has many. There’s Rule #2: Never make plans; Rule #20: Never make a Good Fairy angry; and the surprisingly challenging Rule #18: Always travel alone.

The talking cat breaks Rule #18 badly enough. The witch’s daughter, desperate to escape her horrible mother, is even worse. Between them, they up-end Jasper’s previously simple life (when all he had to worry about was an occasional giant or dragon), and prove that sometimes, rules are no help at all.

You might recognize the countryside and you may think you know what to expect. But whether it’s a refined ogre, a youngest son in need of lots of questing help or a very dangerous Good Fairy, things here rarely go quite as the Brothers Grimm would tell it.

You’ve strayed beyond the tales…



3.eBook/Kindle


Silver-White (The Great North Woods Pack #1)
by Shawn Underhill
I featured this in BookBlast and it sounded interesting.
Book Description
Publication Date: December 18, 2012
“The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”
~ Robert Frost

*Evie’s family has been holding out on her …
Big time.
On an unexpected visit to her grandparents’ house in New Hampshire’s secluded North Woods, the sixteen-year-old literally runs into the truth of the long-hidden family secrets, and finds herself thrust without warning into the clandestine world of the Great North Pack—a wild and exhilarating world of rugged beauty, heart-pounding adventures, and long nights running under a sea of stars … but as she’s set to discover, a world also fraught with potential dangers lurking in the shadows.



I am really lagging but still listening to The Listener's Bible NIV read by Max McLean. [Reading and listening on MP3.] I have been remiss and not keeping up with daily reading with my DH.

Line Edits: I will still be finalizing four print releases/waiting for more cover flats.

I want to keep enjoying adding stories from my own TBR. :-) I have added a few titles to my current line up for December.
I didn't get caught up last week but my backlog for review is now four books and I hope to post four or five this week and then I'll be up to date again.

December Scheduled- done

NetGalley:
  couple requests pending

Authors
   The Wanderers by Cheryl Mahoney - blog friend author (reading)
   Christmas on Main Street Anthology  - picked up at Kindle
   The Innkeeper of Bethlehem–The Story of Santa Claus by Scott Roloff  (reading)

AudioBook Jukebox 
    more being requested

From TBR Collection - Angel Christmas Anthology
Won Book - Carving Angels by Diane Stringam Tolley
Free Kindle/Nook or Smashwords: TBD

A Month of Winners!

I apologize to all these winners - I have been late in picking the winners and although I have listed them in the right sidebar I have not posted the a Winners post for November Giveaways.
So here are the Winners to bring us up-to-date.
{Note- Friday Pick and Sharing Beyond Books Winners are announced each week and listed in the sidebar too so they are not included in winner link listing - you can check those winners by clicking on Friday Pick link or Sharing Beyond Books link found on the right sidebar.}


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Giveaway Ended November 8, 2013


Giveaway: No Escape
WINNER: Texas Book Lover







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Giveaway Ended November 15, 2013


Accidentally in Love With...A God?
Winners: 
Entry #74 Amber H.
Entry #22 Meghan S.





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Giveaways Ended November 15, 2013


Giveaway: The Last Christian by David Gregory, 
Two Copies US - Print: Becky W and Vicki W
International - Digital: Mary P and Djamel E





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Giveaway Ended November 22, 2013

Giveaway: Lady Jenny's Christmas Portrait  

Winner: Martha L






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ARC Giveaway: To Have and To Hold

Winner: Di








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Giveaways Ended November 29 , 2013

 

Giveaway Accidentally Married to...A Vampire?

TWO COPIES from Hachette:
OPEN WORLDWIDE: Print for US or digital for Canada or International
WINNERS: 
Entry #101  Amber H.
Entry #63  Jossy M.


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Giveaway Ended December 6, 2013




ARC GiveawayDon't Want to Miss a Thing by Jill Mansell, 
US address

Winner: Rita






ALL WINNERS - if you have not already done so - Please fill in the Winner's Acceptance Form AND you can email me at mesreads AT gmail.com to confirm the win and I will arrange the mailing or notify the publishers.
[I ask that all winner's fill in the form as it helps me keep track of when I have completed the mail outs or notice to the publishers rather than tracking individual emails. But of course -- feel free to email me too! :-)]

Audible Book Review: The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle by Arthur Conan Doyle

This makes a delightful mystery listen for Christmas or anytime.
    UNABRIDGED
    by Arthur Conan Doyle
    Narrated by Alan Cumming 
    LENGTH    46 mins
    RELEASE DATE    12-06-12
    PUBLISHER  Audible, Inc.

Genre: Mystery, Classic
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0


Publisher's Summary
Two-time Emmy Award nominee (The Good Wife) and Audie
Award winner for best narrator Alan Cumming here narrates Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first-rate Yuletide whodunit "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle". Cumming adds his personal flair to the mystery classic and turns in an outstanding performance of the great detective Sherlock Holmes and his pal, Watson.
Public Domain (P)2012 Audible, Inc.


Review:
Holmes contemplates an abandoned hat brought to him by a local commissioner together with a fat Christmas Goose. Although Watson sees only a battered hat, Holmes deduces detailed inferences from the initials and condition of the hat. Then the commissioner bursts through the door with a blue stone found in the gullet of the goose. Holmes recognizes the gem as the famous Blue Carbuncle that was stolen a few weeks before. Now he sets out to unravel the mystery of the theft and its discovery in the goose.

Anyone who has read the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes knows the wonderful deductive reasoning that is combined with the rather snippy, snarky and subtly humorous repartee between Holmes and Watson as Holmes unwinds the mystery. The commonplace to Watson and the normal reader/listener is so much more to Holmes – because to him it is “elementary” of course! This is a quick, fun listen perfect to delight mystery lovers.

Audio Notes: The narration is perfectly fitting for a Holmes adventure -- full of dry wit and enthusiasm for the mystery! I would be glad to listen to more narration by Mr. Cumming.

I received this audio in December 2012 as a free gift with my Audible Subscription.

Sunday Words of Encouragement December 15, 2013

[As noted - I am sharing e a bit of advent messages during this beautiful season along with songs from our choir program.]

ADVENT WEEK THREE is a time of Preparation... a time to weigh the signs, consider the circumstances and prepare our hearts so that commitment can be made to the truth and not to deceiving spirits.

The four weeks of the Discerning Advent program with podcasts are shared and available online and through email at God in All Things.

Advent Candles 1Week Three :: Preparation
The Annunciation has happened and slowly word begins to spread. You can almost see the whispers in the night spreading out beyond Bethlehem town. The rumours are true. The wisemen, the magi, the sheep and the goats, all hear of the coming of the messiah. Things have begun looking clearer. The signs foretold have begun to appear. The scriptures, the history of the people, foretell Jesus’ incarnation. Hope fills hearts.
....

This morning we had our church and Christian school program. It is lovely to see the joy and light of the season in the eyes of children!

This is a wonderful adaptation of a beautiful Christmas Hymn.

A Verse for Today:
Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.


I am not particularly prepared for this Christmas season as I have left cards, decorating and even gift buying to the last ten days now. Even as I push on with those preparations, I pray that I may do the more important thing of preparing my heart to celebrate the true gift of the season:- a Godly child born to bring Salvation to those who believe.

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