Bloggiesta: Accomplished So Far

"The idea behind Bloggiesta is to spend four days working on perfecting your blog and connecting with other bloggers who are doing the same thing. Spread the word and get all your friends to come and fiesta with us!"

Thursday/Friday Accomplished Tasks:

• Back up the blog

• Done and done, this is always the easiest thing and I ALWAYS forget.

• Update my "Reviews by Author" Tab
• I have been avoiding this task since June and I did a lot of reviewing over the summer for the Crazy for Summer Read-a-thon which was followed by ARC August, so there were a lot of additions. I am feeling great that this is done now. 

• Update my TBR spreadsheet
• I starting doing this task and am very close to finishing :)  

• Clean up my inbox 
• I used the wonderful Mini Challenge here -> Clean Up Your Email from Aloi at Guiltless Reading

• Visit as many Bloggiesta blogs as possible (IF NOT ALL) to cheer people on :) 
• DONE! unless more people join - Up to #69 on the Linky. Some were harder to find, some weren't even Bloggiesta Links, and some were duplicates BUT I love going through to all the people and commenting.

 

Recent Reads: Chickadees, Bumbelbeez, Pussy Willow Trees and Two-And-A-Half by Jeffrey Politsky

Chickadees, Bumbelbeez, Pussy Willow Trees and Two-And-A-Half: A Children's Book of Adventure by Jeffrey Politsky

 

Format: Ebook
Source: From the Author and Book Publicity Services in exchange for an honest review.

Rating:


 


 

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Children love to explore; it’s intuitive. And they tend to struggle when asked to confine their activities and behaviors to our adult-imposed rules and paths. Chickadees, Bumbelbeez, Pussy-Willow Trees and Two-And-A-Half is a vibrantly and exceptionally well-illustrated adventure book meant to inspire children to follow their urges to explore and to appreciate diversity. The book starts off when “One day a little brown monkey with dazzling olive green eyes, a friendly smile, and a long curly tail asked his father if there was more to the life than just hanging around with other monkeys and eating bananas.” Before long he meets a lovely grey cat and a majestic blue pelican each on their own quests. Together, they explore a foreign island and when their journey takes them into a private swath of land, they befriend a local dog who takes them further than they ever imagined.

Chickadees, Bumbelbeez, Pussy-Willow Trees and Two-And-A-Half emphasizes several significant values, which help us subsist and ultimately thrive: learning through independent exploration, the need for friendship, the importance of respect and tolerance for other cultures, languages, and lifestyle diversity, along with a healthy understanding of the powers of mother nature.

I have been reading more and more books for young readers and have been really enjoying them. So many are unique and have great themes for our youth. I think this is one of them. Chickadees... was a long book for the young reader - I think parents having to read it over and over may not like that, but who knows, I could be wrong. With that length comes a lot of adventure for a monkey, cat, and pelican who all meet and become friends while exploring and discovering diversity on a small island. 

 The book was entertaining although long-winded and the vibrant illustrations and animals will be great draws for children listening or reading the book. My only issues (reading the ebook) were that sometimes the darker and textured looking backgrounds made it hard to read where some of the text was placed. This is not the case for all the pages but quite a few of them.

Politsky explores diversity, curiosity and respect for those different than you, all great things to talk to children about. I think this would be a fun book for younger readers and parents.

My favorite thing about the book though has to do with purchases it - 50% of the proceeds will be going to medical research, that is a great cause. 

About the Author:

Dr. Jeffrey Politsky grew up in Toronto, Canada. He obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Toronto and his medical degree at the University of Western Ontario before moving to Vancouver for his residency training in Neurology. He moved to Boston in the late 1990’s to complete his epilepsy fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and has lived in the United States ever since. Today, Dr. and Mrs. Politsky live in New Jersey with their two children and two giant schnauzers. While he has written numerous articles and chapters related to the neurologic sciences, Chickadees, Bumbelbeez, Pussy-Willow Trees and Two-And-A-Half is Dr. Politsky’s first serious non-academic venture.

Dr. Politsky began writing Chickadees, Bumbelbeez, Pussy-Willow Trees and Two-And-A-Half on Formantera, one of the Balearic Islands in the western Mediterranean Sea off of the east coast of Spain.

“As I began pondering what makes free-form travel so interesting, I decided to try and create a story that would be appealing to youngsters. All of my back-packing adventures, like so many other travelers, had common themes: selecting a location, landing in a foreign place and feeling very foreign, attempting to understand the culture and fit in, survival, discovery, problem solving, raw happiness. I incorporated several of my own experiences in the text,” says Dr. Politsky. “I decided to weave into the story the linguistic nuances that my grandfather used when he would joke with my brother and me when we were youngsters – in essence we would ask him a question and he would answer using neologisms and in a manner that made absolutely no sense at all and then start laughing in a jolly fashion, quite amused with himself. I cherish my memory of my grandfather. His good nature and terminology stuck, much of it is incorporated in the book. In fact, some of his favorite expressions make up the book’s title.”

Dr. Politsky’s grandfather died in 1989 of complications related to multi-infarct dementia.

Tony Santiago illustrated the book with Dr. Politsky’s children and grandfather individually represented in the characters.

In 2011, Dr. Politsky’s wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is fine now; but the process was quite an ordeal. Anyone who has been through this or a similar experience understands this. Dr. Politsky sees and treats patients every day with epilepsy and related neurologic & medical conditions – in many cases illnesses appear like an unexpected storm and can turn people’s lives upside down and inside out like a tornado. By the end of 2012, Kim had been diagnosed, treated, and had achieved full physical recovery.

Fifty percent of the proceeds of the sale of each book will be donated equally to research programs dedicated to the study of dementia and memory dysfunction, and to the study of breast cancer.

To purchase a copy of the book, go to http://jumpservicesllc.com/projects.html

Readers can connect with Dr. Politsky on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.

 

Bloggiesta 2015: To Do List

"The idea behind Bloggiesta is to spend four days working on perfecting your blog and connecting with other bloggers who are doing the same thing. Spread the word and get all your friends to come and fiesta with us!"

-Join in using the Button Below-

 

Bloggiesta Fall 2015 Officially Starts THIS THURSDAY, September 17th and will run until the 20th. Get your To-Do Lists ready!

YAY it is another Bloggiesta!!! Now to do all the things I avoid normally :/

So for my list I would like to:

• Back up the blog DONE!
  
• Update my "Reviews by Author" Tab - OMG Done! Thank goodness
  
• Update my TBR spreadsheet - I do this normally but I need to clean it up.
• Clean up my inbox - used this mini challenge -
• Clean Up Your Email from Aloi at Guiltless Reading
• Participate in a Twitter Party
• Here are the deets (#bloggiesta @bloggiesta):
• Thursday September 17 at 7 pm Eastern: Words (hosted by Suey from It’s All About Books) - missed it :/
• Friday September 18 at  4 pm Eastern: Interactions (hosted by Suey from It’s All About Books)- missed it :/
• Saturday September 19 at 9 am Eastern: Visuals (hosted by Rachel Noel from Purple Owl Reviews) -- YAY I was late but I made it to this one!!
• Sunday September 20 at 3 pm Eastern: Free for All and Feedback (hosted by Jessica from The Bluestocking Society)
• Do some mini challenges - 1 down,
• Prep some reviews
• Visit as many Bloggiesta blogs as possible (IF NOT ALL) to cheer people on :) - DONE unless more people join - Up to #69 :)

Added Items:

•  Fix email subscription buttons - they are being wonky :/
• Add a search bar into Archives page.
• Remove Cecilia's page.
• Edit Review Policy Page as needed.

If I think of anything else, I will add as I go and strike trough as I complete tasks.

My "Invaluable" Bookish Wishlist

My       Book Wishlist

I was recently contacted by a very cool website - Invaluable.com, an online auction house. They asked me to build my dream literary collection of vintage books and share it with the world (ahem, internet). 

While this is a huge task, I figured I would keep it short and simple - because we all know that asking a reader to make a list of books they want is like asking someone to put a number value on infinity (can you do that? I don't know - math is icky)....anywho, here it goes...

Photos will link back to the Lots on Invaluable.com :)

 
1. First up, some Dr. Seuss - Invaluable has a few options for the rhyming author such as prints, books, and even (when I was on the site) a Thing 1 costume. Perfect if you already have Thing 2 :)

 2. Growing up I was drawn to the macabre writing styles of this famous Baltimore Poet - Edgar Allen Poe and Invaluable has this beautiful 10 volume set - they are so lovely... the books... although Invaluable's site is pretty nice too.

 3. Do you remember Little Golden Books?! I feel like as a reader - a kid reader- so many of us loved and cherished these books. My fave was the Poky Little Puppy... he was adorable.

 4. This particular lot had a collection of other books in it, but the one that stood out to me was by the queen of mystery, Agatha Christie. When my mom realized I was an avid teen reader, she bought me a copy of Body in the Library, I loved that book and devoured most of Christie's works... if you haven't read any, you should.










5. Collections are never complete unless they have a coy of Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass in them. So much of reading is about being taken out of the real world and thrown into fantastic, mysterious, unbelievable places with crazy people and characters - Carroll does that and more. This is certainly a classic and an early edition is indeed on my list :)


These are just a few of the offerings at Invaluable. They also have art, collectibles, antiques and other fabulous stuff to look at and bid on to your hearts content.

Building the Book Pile #153

Welcome to Building the Book Pile!  A Weekly meme inspired by Stacking the Shelves

Hello Readers, Bloggers, and Awesome people! 


...and it's just about Fall.... ALL THE PUMPKIN things GO!

This past week just dragged on - Monday, the holiday we did nothing but lay around after friends being in town and a BBQ on Sunday night. Then the work week just seemed like it too forever :/. Nothing exciting at work which was good I guess. This weekend we...got some used bicycles and rode around a bit, washed the cars, and I bought a bunch of Halloween decorations. But mostly we just hung out :)

What's Happening?! 

How was your week ? Let me know in the comments.

  Giveaways Going on This Week!

Woohoo! Finally Some Giveaways!

 

Coming up on the Blog...

 My 'Invaluable' Bookish Wishlist 
Recent Reads: The Dragon of the Month Club by Iain Reading (MG)
Bloggiesta 2015: To Do List
Bloggiesta Posts :)
 

      

Books Received this Week

Physical Books

Never Said by Carol Lynch Williams from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for a review

Last-But-Not-Least Lola and the Wild Chicken (Lola #2) by Christine Pakkala from Boyd Mills Press in exchange for a review
Last-But-Not-Least Lola and the Cupcake Queens (Lola #3) by Christine Pakkala from Boyd Mills Press in exchange for a review

Library Books 

Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman

Have you missed anything lately?  

• Recent Reads: The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott (YA/ Adult)- 3 stars
• Recent Reads: The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot (YA)- 4 stars
• Early Reader Review: Hoodoo by Ronald L. Smith (MG)   - 3 stars
• Early Reader Review w/ Giveaway: The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray (Adult) - 5 stars
• Cover Reveal: Sugar Skulls (New Adult)

Comment and leave me a link to your Round-up/ STS/ Weekly...anything, post and I will happily stop by and say hello!

 Happy Reading!

Cover Reveal: Sugar Skulls by Lisa Mantchev and Gleen Dallas

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Sugar Skull by Glenn Dallas & Lisa Mantchev
Published by: Skyscape
Publication date: November 10th 2015
Genres: Dystopia, New Adult, Science Fiction

About the Book:

Welcome to Cyrene, a city where energy is currency and music is the lifeblood of its young citizens. Everyone lives on the grid, and the residents of the world’s largest playground are encouraged to pursue every physical and emotional pleasure imaginable.

Vee is the lead singer of the Sugar Skulls, an all-girl band that is Corporate’s newest pet project. Micah haunts the city like a ghost after an overdose of a deadly illegal street drug knocks him off the grid. When Micah and Vee forge an immediate, undeniable connection, their troubled worlds collide.
Trading concert stages for Cyrene’s rooftops and back alleys, they have to evade vicious thugs and Vee’s possessive manager as they unravel the mysteries connected to their dark pasts. And before the curtain falls, Micah and Vee will bring the city to its knees in their desperate bid for love, home, and a future together.

If strings ran up my spine, she just plucked the high E, a fierce vibration that shakes me to my core.
She looks away, and quakes subside into mere tremors. Propping myself up against the bar, I abandon my drink to process the last few seconds.
All these months, there’s been nothing. But just now? I felt it. I feel it. I pulse with life, lightning dancing across my skin as she batters the crowd with furious verses.
But I’m stuck on that first gasp.
One note. One word. She laid me low and resurrected me in one fell swoop.
Who is this girl?

About the Authors:

When not working on puzzles for Penny Press or writing about them for PuzzleNation, Glenn Dallas is an author of short stories and at least half of one novel. After appearing in the acknowledgments of several outstanding novels, he looks forward to returning the favor in the future.

Lisa Mantchev is the acclaimed author of Ticker and the Théâtre Illuminata series, which includes Eyes Like Stars, nominated for a Mythopoeic Award and the Andre Norton Award. She has also published numerous short stories in magazines, including Strange Horizons, Clarkesworld, Weird Tales, and Fantasy. She lives on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State with her husband, children, and horde of furry animals. Visit her online at www.lisamantchev.com.


Find Lisa Online

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Find Glenn Online

Website

Twitter

Early Reader Review w/ Giveaway!: The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray by Robert Schnakenberg

The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray: A Critical Appreciation of the World's Finest Actor by Robert Schnakenberg
Publisher: Quirk Books
Publication Date:  September 15, 2015

 

Format: Paperback ARC
Source: Won from Quirk Books during Armchair BEA :)

Rating:
 


 


Goodreads Synopsis: 

He’s the sort of actor who can do Hamlet and Charlie’s Angels in the same year. He shuns managers and agents and once agreed to voice the part of Garfield because he mistakenly believed it was a Coen brothers film. Bill Murray’s extraordinary career is rich with fascinating anecdotes, contradictions, and mystery, from his early success on Saturday Night Live and the biggest blockbusters of the 1980s (Caddyshack, Stripes, Tootsie, Ghostbusters) to his reinvention as a hipster icon in the early 21st century (in films like Lost in Translation and Moonrise Kingdom). And now you can get your fill of Bill: part biography, part critical appreciation, part love letter, and all fun, The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray chronicles every single Murray performance in loving detail, relating all the milestones, yarns, and controversy in the life of this beloved but enigmatic performer. These pages are packed with color film stills and behind-the-scenes photography.

 Review: 
The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray is just that, it is a wonderfully comprehensive collection of Bill Murray and all things remotely related to Bill Murray. Upon seeing this book, one might think it a long winded ode to Murray and while it kind of is it is done surprisingly well. The Big Bad Book is organized alphabetically not chronologically and is full of pictures, interesting tidbits of info, and even movie ratings. It is the Murray bible for this generation and it will sit perfectly on my shelf with my Bill Murray coloring book (yes that does exist, and yes I really own it- it is epic as well).

Since I was blessed with an advanced copy of this book, I am missing out a little bit, my copy lacks full color photos and I believe the final version will have a more complete list of references but I still absolutely loved reading through this collection.

Did you know that Bill Murray was bitten multiple times by the groundhog in Groundhog Day while filming? Did you know that that he thinks Con Air was funny? These are just a few of the weird and insightful blurbs Schnakenberg shares about the elusive, crazy fun actor.

The alphabetical medley is surprisingly easy to read through or jump from here to there in, it is cross referenced for your reading amusement and it has marvelous Murray quotes embedded throughout as full pages and as details in subjects and they cover just about all things in life (including, but not limited to, the importance of Cinnebon and pickles).

How can you not love Bill Murray and this book? (If you have an answer just know ... Murray "really hates critics").

This book would be wonderful in the Murray fan collection or just as a random coffee table book to amuse you and your visitors. Bottom line?  Go buy it!

Prize! 

A Paperback ARC of The Big Bag Book of Bill Murray!
Note: Since this is an ARC it is black and white not in full color like the final copy will be.

 

 Rules!

You must be 13 or older or have a parents permission to enter. 

US ONLY please - sorry I am shipping out of pocket :/

Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Early Reader Review: Hoodoo by Ronald L. Smith

Hoodoo by Ronald L. Smith
Publisher: Clarion Books
Publication Date:  September 1, 2015

 

Format: Paperback ARC
Source: HMH Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this book in no way alters my opinion or review.

Rating:
 


 


Goodreads Synopsis: 

Twelve-year-old Hoodoo Hatcher was born into a family with a rich tradition of practicing folk magic: hoodoo, as most people call it. But even though his name is Hoodoo, he can't seem to cast a simple spell.       

Then a mysterious man called the Stranger comes to town, and Hoodoo starts dreaming of the dead rising from their graves. Even worse, he soon learns the Stranger is looking for a boy. Not just any boy. A boy named Hoodoo. The entire town is at risk from the Stranger’s black magic, and only Hoodoo can defeat him. He’ll just need to learn how to conjure first.       

Set amid the swamps, red soil, and sweltering heat of small town Alabama in the 1930s, Hoodoo is infused with a big dose of creepiness leavened with gentle humor.  

 Review: 

Hoodoo’s premise is a fun one with ancient magic, mysterious people, and a young boy that has to save his family from evil. It seemed like a book that I would love, and don’t get me wrong I did enjoy it, but not as much as I thought I would.

Hoodoo is a young boy whose family does Hoodoo (a play in Voodoo, I think) and there is a stranger in town looking for him and he is not sure why. Once he finds out, he learns that it is up to him to dispel evil and the stranger. Hoodoo was likeable enough but I never felt fully connected to him as a character – it felt like he just kept telling me things. For example, many times throughout the story, especially in the beginning he stops the story and says some like ‘BLANK is BLANK, if you didn’t know’. It is great that he is in essence defining things for younger readers but for me this really broke up the story and it kept me feeling detached from him as a character, like I wasn’t experiencing with him but watching from afar… (Hopefully that makes sense).

Overall the plot was a good one, there was just enough action to keep a reader engaged and there was mystery and a few scary bits. I think younger readers will enjoy this book for all its spooky fun.

Recent Reads: The Princess Diaries #1 by Meg Cabot

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
Series: The Princess Diaries #1
Publisher: Turtleback Books
Publication Date:  June, 2001

 

Format: Paperback
Source: Local Library

Rating:
 


 



Goodreads Synopsis: 

Mia Thermopolis is pretty sure there's nothing worse than being a five-foor-nine, flat-chested freshman, who also happens to be flunking Algebra.

Is she ever in for a surprise.

First Mom announces that she's dating Mia's Algebra teacher. Then Dad has to go and reveal that he is the crown prince of Genovia. And guess who still doesn't have a date for the Cultural Diversity Dance?

 Review: 
I have been meaning to pick up this series for a long time, and since the first adult novel in the series just came out I figured it would be a great time to start and then just keep reading. The Princess Diaries book, I am happy to say, is nothing like the movie. I am so happy when the book is so much better than the movie and in this case it really is. 

Obviously, same premise - Mia is an outcast and suddenly learns she is a princess but a lot of the movies big changes are just that. For instance, Mia's grandmother - kind os a crazy person in the books (at least so far). I really enjoyed reading this one, I flew through it. It is in the format of diary entries and so they are short excerpts of Mia's life and what is happening to her and the world as she learns about her new great responsibility. 

She is everything you think she will be in this book - nerdy, quirky, angsty, frustrated - it is every real teenager only this is tenfold because now she is a princess and she hates the thought of it. She just wants to hide and get through high school. I honestly don't blame her.

I already grabbed the next one from the library and will be jumping  in soon.


 

Recent Reads: The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott

The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott
Publisher: Wheeler Publishing
Publication Date:  December, 1997

 

Format: Hardback
Source: Local Library

Rating:
 


 


Goodreads Synopsis: 

Here at last is the book 'Jo' wrote. Generations of fans have longed to plumb that first romance, hinted at so captivatingly on the pages of Little Women, Alcott's autobiographical classic. Now after nearly one hundred fifty years spent among archived family documents, Louisa May Alcott's debut novel finally reaches its eager public.
Set in an English country manor, the story follows the turbulent fortunes of Edith Adelon, an impoverished Italian orphan whose loyalty and beauty win her the patronage of wealthy friends until a jealous rival contrives to rob her of her position. In the locket around her neck, she carries a deep secret about her natural birthright. But an even greater truth lies hidden in Edith's heart - her deep reverence for the kind and noble Lord Percy, the only friend who can save her from the deceitful, envious machinations of Lady Ida.
Reminiscent of Jane Austen in its charms, this chaste but stirringly passionate novel affirms the conquering power of both love and courtesy. For the generations who grew up alongside Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy, a rich literary inheritance is restored at last. 

 Review: 
Being an avid reader, a lot of people assume that I have read a lot of books, and that is a wonderful assumption and it is pretty much true but what they are thinking is that I have read a lot of the classic books. Anything by Jane Austin, Dickins, Orwell, Bronte... just to name a few. The true is, I have never gotten into those books, they were forced on students when I was in school and I hate reading because I have to. So I don't have a lot of knowledge when it comes to the "classics". I am fine with that. Where is this going.... well that means I have never read anything by Louisa May Alcott - nope, no Little Women... sorry.

So as part of my library summer challenge we were told to read a LMA book and I chose a nice small one to start out with. The Inheritance is a very short, almost novella style book about a family and their many friends, about class and wealth, and about humility and virtue. It was very good. It was a realistic yet romanticized portrayal of the world the characters were living in. The writing itself is always what throws me when it comes to classics - they are very verbose. I like books that throw you into a plot and run with it, not just talk about it.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I am very much happy that I have finally read something by this author but I think I will be happy returning to my modern YA and MG books for now.