REVIEW: Up Dog and Up Cat by H.J. Hutchins

Up Dog

by

H.J. Hutchins

Published by:  Annick Press

Source:  Netgalley

This is an adorable book for very early readers.  There are maybe 2 words on each page, and the word "up" is on every page.  The pictures are so cute, but I would have added more color.  Children love color.

Up Cat

by

H.J. Hutchins

Published by:  Annick Press

Source:  Netgalley

Another cute book for the early readers.  The cat gets into all kinds of mischief throughout the book.  There may be a couple of words that an early reader can't read, but there are very few.  There could have been more color in this book also.    The words are large and easy to read.  

I would recommend these 2 books for very early readers.  They're very cute, even just to look at the pages.

REVIEW: The Color of Snow by Brenda Stanley

The Color of Snow
By:  Brenda Stanley
Publisher:  Tribute Books
Released:  June 1, 2012
Source:  publisher in exchange for an honest review


Brenda's Bio:  Brenda Stanley is the former news anchor at her NBC affiliate KPVI in Eastern Iadho. Her writing has been recognized by the Scripps Howard Foundation, the Hearst Journalism Awards, the Idaho Press Club and the Society for Professional Journalists. She is a graduate of Dixie College in St. George, Utah, and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Brenda lived for two years in Ballard, Utah, within the Fort Duchesne reservation where the novel is set. She and her husband live on a small ranch near the Snake River with their horses and dogs.

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Summary:  Can a troubled young girl reenter society after living in isolation?

When a beautiful 16-year-old girl named Sophie is found sequestered in a cage-like room in a rundown house in the desolate hills of Arbon Valley, Idaho, the entire community is shocked to learn she is the legendary Callidora--a baby girl who was kidnapped from her crib almost seventeen years ago and canonized in missing posters with portraits of what the fabled girl might resemble. Authorities soon learn that the cage was there to protect people from Sophie, because her biological father believes she is cursed.

Sophie is discovered after the man she knows as Papa, shoots and injures Damien, a young man who is trying to rescue her. Now, unsocialized and thrust into the world, and into a family she has never met, Sophie must decide whether she should accept her Papa’s claims that she is cursed and he was only trying to protect others, or trust the new people in her life who have their own agendas. Guided by a wise cousin, Sophie realizes that her most heartbreaking challenge is to decide if her love for Damien will destroy him like her Papa claims, or free her from past demons that haunt her mind.

My Thoughts:  Wow, I think this is one of the best books I've read this year.  I laughed, cried, and got really pissed off!

     This book changes from past to present, but not too fast.  This story is told by Sophie, or Callidora, her birth name.  It is the story of her life as she lives with a curse that was put on her family.  Stolen by her father at 2 days old, Sophie is hidden away for years from her mother;'s family and society as a whole and also to avoid hurting anyone with the curse.  It tells how and why she is kept out of the public eye, and also how she tries to forge friendships along the way.

     You know a book is good when you feel and display the same emotions as the characters in the book.  There were a few parts that really pissed me off asking myself, "Hasn't this girl been through enough?"  It was one of those books that kept me awake until 4am.  The only thing negative I have to say about this book is that it could have been more descriptive.  I wasn't really seeing the faces or bodies or clothes the characters were wearing.  The same with the landscape.  I was halfway through the book before I could picture in my mind what this one landscape looked like.  But, as I said, that was the only negative throughout the whole book for me.  What made me sad was the fact that Sophie doesn't realize how much she is loved.

**IMPORTANT**

There  are sensitive situations in this book.  I don';t want to give this away but, in my opinion, this book would be best suited for ages 18+.

I give total and complete praise for Brenda Stanley!!

1/2

Feature and Follow Friday

This weekly post is hosted by 

Parajunkee

and 

Alison Can Read

Q: What book do you think would make a great Halloween movie? Please explain in graphic detail of goriness…

My answer:

I think I would have to say Nightshade.

For the simple fact that Jacob wasn't enough werewolf for me. lol  I'm on a huge werewolf kick right now and this is the first book that I thought of.

FOLLOWER APPRECIATION GIVEAWAY

I've been trying to think of a way to purge some of these books I have laying around.  Then I saw that Heather at Red Headed Bookworm was having a follower appreciation giveaway.  I asked if I could steal her idea and she was happy to oblige.

So this is what I'm going to do.  Every month I'll pick 4 books for the winner to choose 1 from.  There may be some of the same books or they may be completely different.  They may have been read by me already or they may be brand new, never opened.  I am sorry to my international people but this will be US only.  I'll be offering gift cards in future giveaways that you will be able to enter for.

So, without further ado, here are the choices for this month:

The Technologists 

by Matthew Pearl

Goodreads Summary:

The acclaimed author of The Dante Club reinvigorates the historical thriller. Matthew Pearl’s spellbinding new novel transports readers to tumultuous nineteenth-century Boston, where the word “technology” represents a bold and frightening new concept. The fight for the future will hinge on . . .
 
THE TECHNOLOGISTS

The Good Father

by Noah Hawley

Goodreads Summary:

An intense, psychological novel about one doctor's suspense-filled quest to unlock the mind of a suspected political assassin: his twenty-year old son.

Born to Darkness

by Suzanne Brockmann

Goodreads Summary:

As the New York Times bestselling author of the Troubleshooters series and a “superstar of romantic suspense” (USA Today), Suzanne Brockmann has an acclaimed history of taking readers’ breath away with her novels of hot passion and high adventure. Now she takes her talent for sexy, action-packed storytelling in a thrilling new direction: forward—into a future, both fantastic and frightening, that only the brilliant Brockmann could envision.

Thieftaker

by D.B. Jackson

Goodreads Summary:

Boston, 1767: In D.B. Jackson's Thieftaker, revolution is brewing as the British Crown imposes increasingly onerous taxes on the colonies, and intrigue swirls around firebrands like Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty. But for Ethan Kaille, a thieftaker who makes his living by conjuring spells that help him solve crimes, politics is for others…until he is asked to recover a necklace worn by the murdered daughter of a prominent family.

Suddenly, he faces another conjurer of enormous power, someone unknown, who is part of a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of power in the turbulent colony. His adversary has already killed—and not for his own gain, but in the service of his powerful masters, people for whom others are mere pawns in a game of politics and power. Ethan is in way over his head, and he knows it. Already a man with a dark past, he can ill afford to fail, lest his livelihood be forfeit. But he can't stop now, for his magic has marked him, so he must fight the odds, even though he seems hopelessly overmatched, his doom seeming certain at the spectral hands of one he cannot even see.

The winner may choose 1 title from the above choices.  US only.  The giveaway will end on 10/21/12 at 11:59pm.

Again, thank you so much for following!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A HUGE Thanks to Viari Rose

I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to html, but Viari Rose came to my rescue and made my button for me!  I'm so grateful to you!  Thanks again!

Need help with my site please

I am so technically challenged.  I would like to put a button on my site with the html code so others can grab the button.  I have no idea how to do this.  I have an image, I just don't know how to add the html code and box to the website.  Am I even making sense? lol  Does anyone know how to do this?  I would be so appreciative.

Lauren

My review is featured on Edelweiss!!

If I weren't disabled, I would be jumping up and down right now.  I am a huge fan of Jennifer McMahon's books.  As I was browsing the review copies one day, I saw that her new book(due out in 2013) was available for download.  I read the book within record time and sent in my review of the book.  I was just informed that my review is featured on Edelweiss under the title's name.  It is probably not a big deal, but for a tiny little book blogger like me, it's huge!!  Here's the link:

http://edelweiss.abovethetreeline.com/ProductDetailPage.aspx?sequence=2&group=search&keywords=the+one+I+left+behind&searchContext=&searchOrgID=&searchCatalogID=&searchMailingID=&sku=006212255X

Thanks for looking!!

How do you heat your house?

We rent a small house that uses oil for heating.  I just spent $500 on oil that MIGHT get us to December.  I wish the landlord would allow us to put in a wood burning stove or something of the sort to offset the amount of oil we use.  My sister heats her whole house with a wood burning stove.  One tank of oil will last her the whole winter and then some.  How do you heat your home?  Did you install a wood burning stove or something of the sort?  How much did you pay for it?

FREE BLOGGER OPP

  

  FREE Blogger Opportunity! We will be giving away $200, in their Have it your way event! How will this work? Whatever the winner wants, the winner will get! Kindle Fire, PayPal Cash, Amazing, Wal-Mart, Target! Who cares, they get just what they want! Blogger get FREE Facebook llink with the option to purchase additional links! About the event

• Prize: Whatever you want up to $200 (shipping included) Do you want a Kindle Fire? Maybe an iPod, hummm maybe gift card to Target, oh wait Paypal cash? We don't care we want you to have it your way! So let the games begin, and let's have some fun with this one!
We're celebrating the lunch of Pink Ninja Media and we would love for your to join us!
• November 5, 2012 and end on December 5, 2012
• FREE Facebook Link - With Announcement Post
• Winner will receive $200 anything they want - if they choose a product shipping is included in the $200.
• Additional links will be $2 - Daily Votes $3 - Paid links will be moved up on Rafflecopter.
• Sign up HERE

The Smallest Book You've Read?

I'm wondering how small of a book you've ever read and then reviewed.  I just found 2 books and they can't be more than 10 pages each.  I think the smallest I've read and reviewed is like 50 or 60 pages.  So, what's the smallest book you've read?

REVIEW: Island of Lost Girls

Island of Lost Girls 

Author:  Jennifer McMahon

Published by:  William Morrow Paperbacks

Published:  April 22, 2008

Source:  Bought

Island of Lost Girls is about a girl that is kidnapped by someone dressed as a rabbit.  Rhonda has just come home from college and is reuniting with her first love Peter.  Everything goes horribly wrong when Rhonda witnesses the kidnapping.  Throughout the book, Rhonda does everything she can to help find the little girl.

Island of Lost Girls is the 5th book I've read by Jennifer McMahon.  It is definitely one of my favorites.  The book, like all of Jennifer's books, switches from past to present.  Other books switch constantly and I get confused, but this one was perfect.  It was quite a surprise who the criminal winds up to be at the end.  I got a sense of the characters pretty early on in the book.  It is told in Rhonda's point of view and there were times when I became Rhonda in my mind.  That's when I know the book was written well.  One thing I didn't like were the nicknames.  Rhonda was Ronnie, and the kidnapped girl, Ernestine, was Ernie.  Yuck!  I don't like to write about the plot very often because then I would have to take notes and I wouldn't enjoy the book as much.  I like to tell more about how I felt while reading it and how I related to the characters.  I really have to say again, you really need to read at least one of Jennifer's books.

Kindle Paperwhite

Okay, I'm a little infatuated with Kindles.  My husband surprised me with a Kindle keyboard when they first came out and it was my prized possession.  I downloaded books like crazy and I loved it.  Then the Kindle fire came out and I desperately needed  it.  My husband bought it when we got our tax return. It was the awesomest thing.  I downloaded even more books onto this one and carried it everywhere I went.  I let my kids download some games and they too loved it.  But lately, I'm not liking it so much.    I like to read at night and could read for hours.  But when I read from the fire, the battery only lasts a few hours.  And that's with the wifi off.  And since it's a touchscreen, I'm forever wiping the screen clean.  My eyes get weary when I'm looking at the screen for a long time and it lights up the whole room when the lights are off.  So now I'm looking at the Kindle paperwhite.  The lit screen is totally new and doesn't cause eye weariness.  The battery can last for up to 8 weeks on one charge when it is used for 30 minutes per day.  Yeah, who reads for only 30 minutes? lol  I have money saved up on my Amazon account, but they're saying I won't get it until mid November. We called around to different stores and they haven't even gotten a shipment yet.  So do I preorder one on Amazon and wait over a month or do I keep an eye out for stores that have them?  I'm like a kid in a candy store when it comes to these things. lol  Does anyone have one yet?  What are your thoughts?

Welcome October!!

I look forward to October and November.  They are my favorite months.  The leaves are falling, pumpkins get picked, the breeze picks up, and the cozy sweaters come out.  I woke up this morning and froze.  I had only a sheet on and windows were open.  5:30am is probably the coldest time of the day.  What is your favorite part about autumn or what is your favorite season?