The Printed Page

It appears I’m going to get more practice at accepting and, of course, giving awards. You can’t see me but I’m blushing big time!

Kaye – I know you’re gonna love this guy. I saw him and instantly thought of you.

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This is the 2nd time I’ve been honored with the Premio Dardos Award and it comes from Blodeuedd of Book girl of Mur-y-Castell.

The Award This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his or her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day.

The Guideline Pass the award to 15 other blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment.

Please stop by Book girl of Mur-y-Castell and check out the other wonderful bloggers she’s honored.

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The Grasshopper Award comes from Wendy at We Read.

The Award If you’ve received this award you’ll see elements of your page here on mine, you will have amazed me & you will have inspired me to find out ‘how can I do that too’. But perhaps more than that you’ll have made me smile and feel good about myself as I recognise I’m not alone if I’m reading. (Wendy – you’ll have no idea how close I’ve come to shedding tears over this one)

The Guideline Pass this on to any fellow bloggers who have taught, inspired or entertained you.

Please stop by We Read and check out the other wonderful bloggers she’s honored. 

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Damn and I thought with some time I’d get better about giving but still here I am unwilling to play favorites among my many friends and neighbors in this community. I’ve done it every time before and I intend to do it again. I know it might be getting old but I refuse to over look any of the wonderful blogs I visit throughout the week and the ones I discover on my trips through this fantastic book blogging family.

Today’s pondering:

Recently I had the pleasure of reading On the Grind: A Shane Scully Novel by Stephen J. Cannell. Admittedly I haven’t read a novel by Mr. Cannell in a long time and now I’m wondering why I stepped away from this author. Somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind I remember enjoying both his novels and TV shows immensely. On the Grind brought it back in focus. It was very entertaining from the first page to the last.

Initially I was pretty sure our main character, Shane Scully, was in some serious trouble but with the flip of a page or two things quickly turn in Shane’s favor or may be not. He’ll have to survive what just might be the longest, most deadly week of his life. Shane’s taken a new job with the City of Haven Park after his dismissal in disgrace from the LAPD. Why Haven Park? Well their hiring practices and goals are to get the undesirables no other police force would touch with a 10 foot, maybe even a 20 foot pole. If there’s a PD out there as corrupt as Haven Park I don’t want them serving and protecting my neighborhood. These officers could rival any gang and then some. Upon entering Haven Park citizens might want to think about where they park the car, where they eat and who they come into contact with. Haven Park is not the place to meet up with Officer Friendly.

This is one white-knuckle, wild ride through police corruption. As Shane gets himself into, and out of, one impossible situation after one another you, the reader, are in for page turning suspense. One moment you’re writing false faulty vehicle equipment violations and the next you’re in the middle of a gang war helped along by the fine gents of the Haven Park PD. These men have a mission and it isn’t fostering community relations. Playing by the Haven Park PD rules and saving your life don’t necessarily go hand in hand.

Shane Schully is character that Mr. Cannell has featured in many other novels. One of the great things about On the Grind is you don’t have to be familiar with Shane’s background to enjoy this book. Yes there some minor references to his past history but they certainly don’t detract from the fast-paced, adrenaline pumping police procedural. I’m thinking I need to join Shane in some of his other adventures in the world of undercover police work.

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A good book should leave you…slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it. ~William Styron, interview, Writers at Work, 1958

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Today’s pondering:

Recently I read The Hong Kong Connection by S.G. Kiner. This post has been a struggle for me. Gosh dang it I’ve rewritten and reworded it so many times that I’ve finally beat it to a pulp. Usually I write a post, read it through a couple of times, tweak here and there and call it good to go but this one is starting to the get the best of me. So for better or worse here it is.

This book is billed as a suspense thriller. It has all the appropriate elements needed to bring high-octane, seat of your pants thrills but doesn’t deliver the goods. There are corrupt government and military officials. The requisite dirty dealing, double scheming, money laundering bad boys. The knights in shining amour riding in to save the day. But it doesn’t quite reach the boiling point. I didn’t get that ‘hurry, turn the page’ feeling that usually comes along when a book has really grabbed my attention. An essential ingredient is missing from the recipe though I can’t quite place what it is. You taste the sauce, add more salt, taste again and keep tinkering. That’s what I think this book needs – some tinkering.

I can’t place my finger on it and I’m not going to stress about it. This is Ms. Kiner’s debut novel and I believe it’s a fairly decent first try. Hey I finished didn’t I? Just so you know I did if you do read it – Ms. Sloane is raped twice, assists in instituting new government stock traders legislation, is accused of killing a major character (I’m not giving his name away) and in the end earns a $20 million $$ government consulting contract. Of the $20 million $10 is to be paid by the Chinese and $10 by the US. I know there’s a sequel in the works and I’d most likely give Susanna Sloane and company another go round but honestly I’m not going to be beating down Amazon’s door to get a copy. ***

A good book should leave you…slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it. ~William Styron, interview, Writers at Work, 1958

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If you’re new to Mailbox Monday welcome! Thank you to everyone who stops by Mailbox Monday. Whether you comment or visit I appreciate your taking the time to drop in.

A bit of a banner week for me considering I’ve cut way back on my requests or offers.

Memoir ~ Jantsen’s Gift: A True Story of Grief, Rescue, and Grace by Pam Cope (new-to-me author/Hachette) (Claimed by Bonnie)

Needing to get as far away as possible from everything that reminded her of her loss, she accepted a friend’s invitation to travel to Vietnam, and, from the moment she stepped off the plane, everything she had been feeling since her son’s death began to shift. By the time she returned home, she had a new mission: to use her pain to change the world, one small step at a time, one child at a time. Today, she is the mother of two children adopted from Vietnam. More than that, she and her husband have created a foundation called “Touch A Life,” dedicated to helping desperate children in countries as far-flung as Vietnam, Cambodia and Ghana.

Memoir ~ Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town by Warren St. John (new-to-me author/Shelf Awareness) (Claimed by Renee)

Clarkston, Georgia, was a typical Southern town until it was designated a refugee settlement center in the 1990s, becoming the first American home for scores of families in flight from the world’s war zones—from Liberia and Sudan to Iraq and Afghanistan. Suddenly Clarkston’s streets were filled with women wearing the hijab, the smells of cumin and curry, and kids of all colors playing soccer in any open space they could find. The town also became home to Luma Mufleh, an American-educated Jordanian woman who founded a youth soccer team to unify Clarkston’s refugee children and keep them off the streets. These kids named themselves the Fugees.

Memoir ~ Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival by Norman Ellestad (new-to-new author/Shelf Awareness) (Claimed by Alyce)

Flying to a ski championship ceremony in February 1979, the chartered Cessna carrying Norman, his father, his father’s girlfriend, and the pilot crashed into the San Gabriel Mountains and was suspended at 8,200 feet, engulfed in a blizzard. “Dad and I were a team, and he was Superman,” Ollestad writes. But now Norman’s father was dead, and the devastated eleven-year-old had to descend the treacherous, icy mountain alone.

Historical fiction ~ Mother of the Believers: A Novel of the Birth of Islam by Kamran Pasha (new-to-me author/FSB Associates)

Deep in the desert of seventh century Arabia, a new prophet named Muhammad has arisen. After he beholds a beautiful woman in a vision and resolves to marry her, the girl’s father quickly arranges the wedding. Aisha becomes the youngest of Muhammad’s twelve wives and her feisty nature and fierce intelligence establishes her as his favorite. But when Aisha is accused of adultery by her rivals, she loses the Prophet’s favor—and must fight to prove her innocence.

Memoir ~ The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World by Jacqueline Novogratz (new-to-new author/FSB Associates)

From her first stumbling efforts as a young idealist venturing forth in Africa to the creation of the trailblazing organization she runs today, Novogratz tells gripping stories with unforgettable characters — women dancing in a Nairobi slum, unwed mothers starting a bakery, courageous survivors of the Rwandan genocide, entrepreneurs building services for the poor against impossible odds.

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What books came into your house last week? Don’t forget to leave a link to your Mailbox post or a list of books if you don’t have a blog.

I’m a very visual person and love beautiful, or interesting, cover art. It entices, and invites, me to stop and take a peek instead of walking right on by. This week’s Cover Attraction is:

Title: The Sacred Blood: A Novel Author: Michael Byrnes Release date: April ’09

From Fantastic Fiction: The dust has barely settled in the Holy Land after a terrible raid on Temple Mount when a group of archaeologists in the Judean desert stumble upon a secret room inside a cave. Its walls are covered in Egyptian hieroglyphs and other symbols, including the curious image of a dolphin wrapped around a trident. There they discover an old clay jar, also bearing this unusual symbol, and containing ancient scrolls…Meanwhile, a covert and ruthless sect called The Sons of Light are planning to turn the world upside down but they can’t do it alone. They need a very specific strain of DNA – the DNA from a human skeleton, 2,000 years old, stolen from beneath Temple Mount. When they discover that American scientist Charlotte Hennesy actually shares this DNA, the race begins to kidnap the girl and prepare for the final battle.

Same book, different covers as often happens with US and foreign releases. I pick my covers at Fantastic Fiction is which is a UK based site. I love FF and browse it often. Because it’s a UK site more often than not I’m posting covers that are released outside the US and most times I find I perfer the cover on the foreign release. This week the cover up and to the right is the foreign release and the cover to the left the is US cover. I like elments from both covers. Combine the two and I might have the perfect book cover.

The plot line of this book made it an instant wish list selection along with his first book, The Sacred Bones.

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What’s your favorite cover attraction this week? Don’t forget to leave a link to your Cover Attraction post.