Reviews By Martha's Bookshelf

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Check SFF for New releases in Sci Fi and Fantasy!

Simcha at SFF Chat has a great post of new releases to check out and add to your wish lists!

Monday, April 26, 2010

What are you reading on Mondays? April 26, 2010

This meme starts at One Person's Journey Through A World of Books!

I got to visit more new blogs last week for Friday's Blog Hop meme. That seems to work out easier for me at the end of the week. I got a couple more reviews done.
Reading was a bit slower since I had family in visiting which was very nice!

Finished:

PB: The Raindrop (The Brian D. McClure Children's Book Collection)
My 6 year old Grandson brought the book to me: "You promised to read me this one this week, Grandmom." Who could resist? He liked this one too.
Reviewing the two books for The Cadence Group.

Kindle2: The Guise of a Gentleman by Donna Hatch
I am glad I picked this - I enjoyed a bit of pirate intrigue this week!

Product Description
The widowed Elise is a perfect English lady living within the confines of society for the sake of her impressionable young son. Her quiet world is shattered when she meets the impulsive and scandalous Jared Amesbury. His roguish charm awakens her yearning for freedom and adventure. But his irrepressible grin and sea-green eyes hide a secret. A gentleman by day, a pirate by night, Jared accepts one last assignment before he can be truly free. Elise gives him hope that he, too, can find love and belonging. His hopes are crushed when his best laid plans go awry and Elise is dragged into his world of violence and deceit. She may not survive the revelation of Jared's past...or still love him when the truth is revealed.

Audible - Black Magic Sanction (Rachel Morgan, Book 8) by Kim Harrison.

I did finish this one and really liked it. I was tempted to start listening again. :)

Rachel Morgan has fought and hunted vampires, werewolves, banshees, demons,and other supernatural dangers as both witch and bounty hunter--and lived to tell the tale. But she's never faced off against her own kind . . . until now. Denounced and shunned for dealing with demons and black magic, her best hope is life imprisonment--at worst, a forced lobotomy and genetic slavery.Only her enemies are strong enough to help her win her freedom, but trust comes hard when it hinges on the unscrupulous tycoon Trent Kalamack, the demon Algaliarept, and an ex-boyfriend turned thief.

Currently reading:
PB: Traction - Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman
I am over half way. This book lays out a step by step plan for your business focus. Well done.
Reading and reviewing for YGR Reviews.
Product Description

Do you have a grip on your business, or does your business have a grip on you? Don't let common problems and frustrations run you and your business. Get a grip and gain control with the Entrepreneurial Operating System. Inside Traction, you'll learn the secrets of strengthening the Six Key Components of your business. You'll discover simple yet powerful ways to run your company that will give you and your leadership team more focus, more growth, and more enjoyment. Based on years of real-world implementation in over 100 companies, the Entrepreneurial Operating System is a practical method for achieving the business success you have always envisioned. Successful organizations are applying it every day to run profitable, frustration-free businesses -- and you can too.

PB: Green Like God: Unlocking the Divine Plan for Our Planet by Jonathan Merritt
This is moving along quickly! The author is stressing life style not following a fad. There will be a Hachette Giveaway posted soon.

Publisher's Description

In GREEN LIKE GOD, Jonathan Merritt gently and insightfully observes that the bible has a lot to say about environmental problems like unclean water, material waste, over consumption, air pollution, and global warming. In fact, Jonathan writes that "in the book of Genesis, God went green and never looked back." Relying heavily on scripture, Jonathan gives the case for green living, but not because it's trendy and hip. Rather, it's part of living rightly as a believer. It's an act of obedience to our Creator-God.

GREEN LIKE GOD is at once practical, prescriptive, and conversational in tone. The author looks at a number of trends with tips to help the reader wade into the world of creation care living. An appendix includes suggestions of things we can do. In addition, the book includes interviews with everyday Christians to tell the story of the journey to environmental stewardship among people of faith.

This is the book that Christians are longing for and need today. Written for a new generation of Christians who are struggling with how to deal with the important issue of creation-care and green living, GREEN LIKE GOD is both highly relevant and theologically sound. It will have a profound impact on how Christians live and interact with the world today.

Kindle2: Nothing chosen yet.

Audio CD/Audible - Black Hills by Dan Simmons

Just started this on my drive to the airport. Very interesting so far. Reviewing for YGR.

Description:

It is an epic tale of a Lakota Sioux named Paha Sapa ("Black Hills") whose life spans the decades of perhaps the greatest change in America's history. When Paha Sapa, a young Sioux warrior, "counts coup" on General George Armstrong Custer as Custer lies dying on the battlefield at the Little Bighorn, the legendary general's ghost enters him - and his voice will speak to him for decades to come.
Seamlessly weaving together the stories of Paha Sapa, Custer, and the American West, Dan Simmons depicts a tumultuous time in the history of both Native and white Americans. Haunted by Custer's ghost, and also by his ability to see into the memories and futures of legendary men like Sioux war-chief Crazy Horse, Paha Sapa's long life is driven by a dramatic vision he experienced as a boy in his people's sacred Black Hills.
In August of 1936, a dynamite worker on the massive Mount Rushmore project, Paha Sapa plans to silence his ghost forever and reclaim his people's legacy-on the very day FDR comes to Mount Rushmore to dedicate the Jefferson face.

Same old story: I am still working on writing more reviews!

Upcoming books:

Uncertain Magic by Laura Kindale
This is a re-release by Sourcebooks. I can do a giveaway for this ARC too at the end of April or beginning of May.

The Brothers of Gwynedd: The Legend of the First True Prince of Wales by Edith Pargeter
I am reading this as part of the first Sourcebooks Summer Reading Club! We are reading it in sections.
My review is to be posted May 18.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Blogmania! A Day of Blog Prizes!! April 30th!

MAKE SURE YOU PUT THIS ON YOUR CALENDAR!
This is Hosted by Between the Pages the Originator of Blogmania - A Twice Yearly Blog Extravaganza!

Coming - April 30, 2010

WOW! Aren’t you the lucky one! You’ve arrived at exactly the right time to explore lots of new blogs, all of which ARE GIVING AWAY A VERY SPECIAL BLOGMANIA GIVEAWAY (For One Day Only).

You literally have the chance to win hundreds of prizes. We’ve done all the work for you. No hunting or surfing for just the right blogs. Every blog you visit will have more links for you to follow, all of them with a special BLOGMANIA giveaway and just waiting for you to drop by. Each link will be set out for you to follow! Now really, isn’t this the easiest thing ever! AND SO MUCH FUN…

I know you’ll want to visit as many blogs today as you can. So, if you see something that interests you on any of our participating blogs, why not bookmark that site or become a blog follower. Later, when you have more time, you can discover all its fabulous treasures.

Remember! The special Blogmania prizes are only available for one day, April 30th. The number of prizes you can win is only limited by the number of blogs you visit.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

MY GIVEAWAY RULES: I will be keeping it simple - be a follower of my blog and make a comment when the official post* goes up on April 30th leaving your e-mail! (*Not this post.) I am still putting my Treasure Chest prize package together but it will include two packs, one International and one for US/Canada entries: an eBook choice plus Gift Card or Book Depository choice; a charm bookmark or charm key chain; swag and more!

Here are some tips how to get the most of Blogmania:

1. Be at any of the blogs participating in the Blogmania Event as early as possible on April 30th. The easiest way to find a Blogmania Blog is to look for the Blogmania Badge. I am a late entry - #122 of total #123. So you will probably want to start at In Between the Pages which is #1 or another site if you already have seen this and picked one out!

2. This is an international event, so there will be some differences in time zones. You might want to start early and stay late to catch all the blogs.

3. Each blog will have their own giveaway requirements. Read them carefully, follow through, and then move on as quickly as possible. If you run across a blog that you really like and want to spend some time exploring, copy their URL and then visit them after Blogmania is over.

4. There will be a 123 blogs for you to visit. Each one will post their number like this: This is blog #122 of 123. This will help you keep track of which blogs you’ve visited, and which ones you still need to reach. I’d suggest that you prepare a blog sheet which is numbered from 1 – 123, then mark off each numbered blog as you visit them.

5. There are all types of blogs participating in Blogmania, which means that the range of items in their giveaways are diverse. I have previewed many and they are awesome.

6. Why not contact a friend and partner up. Compare notes, share loot, or organize your own friendly neighborhood Blogmania Competition.

This is our first Blogmania Event, but it isn’t our last. Blogmania is a bi-yearly Giveaway Extravaganza. In fact, our next Blogmania Event will start September 15th, and do we have some cool stuff planned for you! So keep in touch with our Blogmania Blogs, because they will be giving sneak previews, secret codes, and who knows what else in the weeks and months ahead.

Sunday Words of Encouragment April 25, 2010

[I had to head out to the airport right after church this morning so I didn't get to post this until now.]

Our Pastor was on a brief vacation today so one of the other Pastors gave the sermon.
He asked the question: Are you pleasing God? Then reminded us that we are not perfect and we should not worry needlessly as our pleasing God is not dependent on what we do.
If you feel you are failing and not pleasing God, rebuke the devil and recognize that God still loves you, He has a plan for you. It pleased God to send His son to save us when we are sinners. Rom 5:6; 1 Sam 12:22. It pleases God to place you where you are to serve. 1 Cor 12:18. So the real question is how obedient are we to try to follow God's plan even though we are not ever going to be perfect?

This is a song that reminds us of God's sacrifice for us.

A Verse for today:
Colossians 1:10 (New International Version)

And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

We prayed today for those who are struggling with insecurities and lies from the devil saying they are not worthy. Remember (as stated in God Never Blinks) God loves us because of who He is and not because of who we are.