The Printed Page

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 Hourglass Door Author: Lisa Mangum Release date: May ’09

His past. Her future. Can love bring them together in time? Abby’s senior year of high school is going according to plan: good friends, cute boyfriend, and college applications in the mail. But when Dante Alexander, foreign-exchange student from Italy, steps into her life, he turns it upside down. He’s mysterious, and interesting, and unlike anyone she’s ever met before. Abby can’t deny the growing attraction she feels for him. Nor can she deny the unusual things that seem to happen when Dante is around. Soon Abby finds herself drawn into a mystery whose roots reach into sixteenth-century Florence, and she uncovers a dangerous truth that threatens not only her future but the lives of those she loves.

I don’t usually read young adult fiction but I might be making an exception to the rule for this book.

P.S. Because this is really about cover art I’ve given my Cover Attraction this week a picture frame.

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

Welcome to By the Chapter. This week’s featured book is The Reincarnationist by M.J. Rose.

Follow today’s discussion over at Amy’s blog, My Friend Amy.

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If you’ve read, or are currently reading, The Reincarnationist please share your thoughts with us.

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This week’s reading scheduling: Monday: The Printed Page Wednesday: Amy’s blog, My Friend Amy Friday: The Printed Page/Amy’s blog, My Friend Amy

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Yep, you’re not seeing things – a free eBook. Well you might be seeing things but it really is free. I absolutely love the group of publicists at Hachette who work with the book blogging community. They’re some of the best around for getting books into readers’ hands and they’ve done it again. It’s an eBook titled Serial, a terrifying tale of hitchhiking gone terribly wrong by Jack Kilborn and Blake Crouch. Serial is a horror novella. Like a deeply twisted version of an After School Special, it is the single most persuasive public service announcement on the hazards of free car rides.

The Serial eBook also contains a Q&A with Kilborn and Crouch, author bibliographies, and excerpts from their most recent and forthcoming works: Kilborn’s Afraid and Crouch’s Abandon.

Serial is located under “Book Extras” in the bottom right-hand corner. Readers can download it either as a PDF file (Amazon Kindle) or there’s also an ePub version of the book (the Sony eBook Reader format). Here’s the link: Serial eBook.

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Personal endorsement here: I read Afraid by Jack Kilborn earlier this year and loved it. His writing reminds me a lot of classic (early) Dean Koontz. If you’re the least bit squeamish than it’s not the book for you but if you have a strong stomach and enjoy good horror then I suggest you get yourself a copy. I’m not familiar with the writing of Blake Crouch but I can assure you that I’ll be checking out his work.

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.

*** Memoir ~ Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret by Steve Luxenberg (new-to-me author/FSB Associates) (Claimed by Avis)

Beth Luxenberg was an only child. Everyone knew it: her grown children, her friends, even people she’d only recently met. So when her secret emerged, her son Steve Luxenberg was bewildered. He was certain that his mother had no siblings, just as he knew that her name was Beth, and that she had raised her children, above all, to tell the truth.

By then, Beth was nearly eighty, and in fragile health. While seeing a new doctor, she had casually mentioned a disabled sister, sent away at age two. For what reason? Was she physically disabled? Mentally ill? The questions were dizzying, the answers out of reach. Beth had said she knew nothing of her sister’s fate.

Six months after Beth’s death in 1999, the secret surfaced once more. This time, it had a name: Annie.

Steve Luxenberg began digging. As he dug, he uncovered more and more. His mother’s name wasn’t Beth. His aunt hadn’t been two when she’d been hospitalized. She’d been twenty-one; his mother had been twenty-three. The sisters had grown up together. Annie had spent the rest of her life in a mental institution, while Beth had set out to hide her sister’s existence. Why?

Fiction ~ The Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama (new-to-me author/Shelf Awareness) (Claimed by Kristen)

What does an Indian man with a wealth of common sense do when his retirement becomes too monotonous for him to stand? Open a marriage bureau of course!

With a steady stream of clients to keep him busy, Mr. Ali sees his new business flourish as the indomitable Mrs. Ali and his careful assistant, Aruna, look on with vigilant eyes. There’s the man who wants a tall son-in-law because his daughter is short; the divorced woman who ends up back with her ex-husband; a salesman who can’t seem to sell himself; and a wealthy, young doctor for whom no match is ever perfect. But although his clients go away happy, little does Mr. Ali know that his esteemed Aruna hides a tragedy in her past—a misfortune that the bureau, as luck would have it, serendipitously undoes.

Fiction ~ Valeria’s Last Stand by Marc Fitten (new-to-me author/Shelf Awareness) (Claimed by Mary)

In the small hamlet of Zivatar, 68-year-old Valeria is known by all as a cantankerous woman, quick to criticize everything from the produce at the market to the mayor’s lofty ambitions to lure foreign investors to the town. But a chance encounter one day with the elderly local potter—a man Valeria has known for years but never noticed—changes everything. The widower potter falls just as hard for Valeria, despite his relationship with Ibolya, the owner of the village’s only tavern. Unaccustomed to being smitten, Valeria tries to maintain her normal routine, but the village is in an uproar over this unlikely love triangle. The arrival of a traveling chimney sweep intent on bilking the townspeople sends another ripple through what was once a placid village.

Fiction ~ Sima’s Undergarments for Women by Ilana Stanger-Ross (new-to-me author). From my good friend Kathy at Bermuda Onion. Thanks Kathy! (eBook – not available for Read It Forward)

Nestled in a tight-knit Brooklyn community, 65-year-old Sima Goldner’s discount lingerie shop is a prime business in her orthodox Jewish neighborhood, and, more importantly, it is also a haven for the many women who frequent her small basement store. Discontented with her marriage to a bumbling, retired schoolteacher named Lev, Sima pours herself into her business and her varied customers, many of whom use the privacy of her shop as a forum to ruminate about their relationships, families, and lives. Sima’s everyday routine is indelibly changed with the arrival of the young, vibrant Timna, an attractive Israeli expatriate who applies to work as a seamstress. As the relationship between Sima and Timna evolves, Sima finds herself confronting the realities of her infertility and the complexities of her past, long shrouded in shame and adolescent regret. Backdropped by the shop’s colorful patrons, Stanger-Ross’ engaging novel follows Sima as she struggles to find balance in navigating her newfound relationship with Timna while exploring the intense depths of personal reconciliation and redemption.

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Read It Forward details

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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.

Welcome to By the Chapter. This week’s featured book is The Reincarnationist by M.J. Rose. Sharing hosting duties with me this week is Amy from My Friend Amy.

The format of BTC is changing to 3 days a week with this edition  - Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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If you’re not familiar with The Reincarnationist here’s a little background on the book from Amazon:

After a bomb explosion nearly kills photojournalist Josh Ryder, he begins experiencing flashbacks—or, perhaps, memories—of events that seem to have happened to him 1,600 years earlier, in another life. Convinced these episodes aren’t figments of his imagination, he enlists the aid of the Phoenix Foundation, a group that specializes in past-life research. Later, when he becomes involved in the unearthing of an ancient tomb—and experiences a connection with its long-buried resident—Josh realizes he has a chance to right a wrong that happened a millennium and a half ago, not to mention an opportunity to solve a series of modern-day murders.

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Honestly I was little hesitant to read this book. I’d attempted to read Sheet Music by this author when it first came out and DNF’d it. Usually I won’t go back to an author I’ve DNF’d but when Amazon offered it as a free book for the Kindle last October promoting her newest release The Memorist I thought what the heck. The storyline blurb captured my attention and I really wasn’t sure it was the same author. Having a time limit in which to download the free version I figured I didn’t have anything to lose.

Am I glad I took advantage of that offer. So far I’m loving it. I got right into story. I read a third of the book in my first setting. For most people reincarnation isn’t a common topic of conversation and it hasn’t cropped up much in my reading. It’s a very intriguing concept as a plot device in this storyline. Josh not only thinks he might be reincarnated but he’s destined to save a Vestal Virgin. These ladies don’t pop up in daily conversation either. One of the tasks of the Vestal Virgins was to care for sacred objects in the temple’s sanctuary. In the case of The Reincarnationist those would be Memory Stones. Now whether or not the Memory Stones are a figment of the author’s imagination or real Josh and a whole lot of other people would really like to get their hands on these priceless artifacts of ancient history. A Vestal Virgin’s final resting place is uncovered, people are murdered, the Memory Stones are missing and Josh is smack in the middle of everything both in the here and now and time past. This story appears to be loaded with multi-layered mysteries.

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What I love most is the alternating story line as it builds in intensity. With each event that transports Josh back 1,600 years you get another puzzle piece. Taking each piece you being to build a bridge between present day and ancient history. And sometimes Josh’s regression intersects with real time. They blend together such as when Josh is being pursued and Julius shows him where to hide. Chills! 

The setting is another enjoyable aspect of this book. I’ve always wanted to travel to Rome and experience the ruins and history first hand. Not having had that opportunity reading about it is the next best thing. I can envision what Sabina’s tomb looked like. One can feel the cold tile floor and see the beautiful wall paintings. You’re there in the grove where Sabina and Julius carry out their illicit love affair. Rome is burning, churches are being destroyed and priests persecuted for their dark practices.

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And for those of you who haven’t stopped by before – yes I’m reading this on my Kindle and yes I love my Kindle.

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If you’ve read, or are currently reading, The Reincarnationist please share your thoughts with us.

*** This week’s reading scheduling: Monday: The Printed Page Wednesday: Amy from My Friend Amy Friday: The Printed Page/Amy from My Friend Amy

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Many of you have asked about my blog redesign, the steps I took and the theme design software I’m using. I will do my best to answer though I can’t speak to the technical aspects because my brother took care of the behind-the-scenes movement for me. There is no doubt without his help this move would not have gone as smoothly as it did.

Starting out My first foray into the world of blogging started at Blogger. I jumped in feet first and signed up for the school of hard knocks. I didn’t have anyone in my immediate world who blogged. For the longest time I felt like I was dog paddling, in circles. As much as I liked Blogger I found my frustration level growing. Soon I jumped ship to WordPress where I set up a free blog and have been very happy since last July.

The first move At the same time as I jumped to WP my brother began prodding me to buy a domain name. I couldn’t see the need but obvisiously he knew what was coming. I found WP very easy to use and loved the options I had with my free blog. Soon though changes were in the air, again, and I bought my domain name from GoDaddy. I was able to continue to using my free WP blog with my brand new domain name. Nice but now I wanted more. I kept seeing all these really cool themes for WP but couldn’t figure out how to get them to mine. The only way would be moving away from a free WP blog and to self-hosting. Yikes! I didn’t want to start over and watch all my vested time and hard work go bye-bye. My brother assured me that I could take my blog with me. OK I was breathing again.

The second move So I’m a big girl, I can do this. Really I can do this! Just remember to breath, big deep breathes. My brother suggested going with Host Gator hosting because they have this cool program that would import my existing WP free blog plus that’s where his blog is hosted. Well I’m an easy sell. Anything that makes my life easy makes his life easier. I mean the mastermind behind my move would have to be able to fix any issues. So I bought a year of hosting service and here I am back in business. He imported my blog and I use WP 2.7.1. What’s nice is everything on the backend looks the same and works the same. I didn’t have to adjust to learning a new blog software. I can’t tell you what was actually involved in the move because I didn’t have anything to do with that part. That’s where the big brother took over. He got me from one home to another.

The ‘Look’ So now that I’m self-hosted I wasn’t going to waste any time finding the ‘look’. You know the one, the one that screams ‘look at me’. I spent hours surfing websites browsing hundreds, if not thousands, of free WP themes. I wanted to find the perfect one. There are plenty of really nice themes out there, really nice but nothing suited to a book blog. If you’re into cars, gambling, fashion, what have you then there’s most likely a theme for you but not something that stood out for book blogs. I now had the power to change but nothing to show for it.

So off to surf the web again. Ah ha software that will let me build my own theme. Just maybe this would be the ticket. Now I don’t have an ‘artistic’ eye and I can’t draw or paint but I figured if I could point and click that sooner or later I’d get something accomplished. So I downloaded the trial version of Artisteer. I could take it for a test drive and see if it met my needs. Could I really ‘design’ a theme that I was happy with? Would it export/import easily? Would it ‘fit’ my blog layout and the way I blog? Yes, yes and yes!  You don’t have to know anything about HTML or CSS to use Artisteer. It literally is point and click. It’s just that easy.

That first day I spent about 4 hours just playing around with themes. With Artisteer you have control over almost every aspect of the blog theme, down to the littlest detail. I didn’t realize just how many choices I had. After spending 4 hours putting Artisteer through it’s paces I decided to buy. It wasn’t really that expensive and if I got even one theme out of it then I’d made my money back. Besides I wanted the theme I’d spent all afternoon creating w/o the Artisteer watermark. The current theme you see here at The Printed Page is my first stab at designing a theme. While I’m very happy with it there are changes I’d make knowing what I’ve learned over the last week or two. And the nice thing about owning this theme is I can make changes, export it again and there they’ll be. There are more themes in the works and I’m thinking I’ll debut a new one every month. So be looking something just about the 1st of June.   

Another advantage to self-hosting is I now have access to plugins. I couldn’t use plugins on my free WP blog and I found this limiting. Now I can use them and I love the ones I’m currently using. I just added a really nice ‘Subscribe’ plugin at the top of the side bar. Also the ‘I am reading’ is a plugin. And my blog posts also have a ‘Share/Save’ plugin.

So there’s my saga for what it’s worth.

Welcome to By the Chapter. This week’s featured book is Mother of the Believers: A Novel of the Birth of Islam by Kamran Pasha. I’d like to thank Nicole for sharing hosting duties with me this week.

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If you’re not familiar with Mother of the Believers: A Novel of the Birth of Islam here’s a little background on the book from 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.

Pardoned by her husband after a divine revelation clears her name, Aisha earns the reluctant respect of Muslim men when their settlement in Medina is attacked and she becomes a pivotal player on the battlefield. Muhammad’s religious movement sweeps through Arabia and unifies the warring tribes, transforming him from prophet to statesman. But soon after the height of her husband’s triumph—the conquest of the holy city of Mecca—Muhammad falls ill and dies in Aisha’s arms.

A widow at age nineteen, Aisha fights to create a role for herself in the new Muslim empire—becoming an advisor to the Caliph of Islam, a legislator advocating for the rights of women and minorities, a teacher, and ultimately a warrior and military commander. She soon becomes one of the most powerful women in the Middle East, but her passionate nature leads to tragedy when her opposition to the Caliph plunges the Islamic world into civil war. The women of Islam view her as a hero, but Aisha is filled with uncertainty and regret whenever she considers her legacy.

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I finished Mother of the Believers and enjoyed it. But as Nicole pointed out in her post yesterday she doesn’t feel like she really knows Aisha or much about the daily lives of Muslims. In that respect I have agree with her. We really don’t know much about our characters beyond their relationships to the Prophet. At times I felt like Nicole. I, too, wanted to know more about these people beyond their interaction with the Prophet. I wanted to delve into the nitty, gritty personal aspects of these characters. Really get to know them, what made them tick. But the more I thought about it the more I think that wasn’t the point of this story. I believe the point of the Mother of the Believers is to bring Islam and the story of its beginnings to a wider audience. I was ignorant of how far reaching Islam was in its early years uniting multitudes of people, bringing together diverse cultures. While a bit more depth of character would have been appreciated I really did get a lot out of the history. Mother of the Believers has spurred me to spend time researching Islam. It has sparked an interest beyond what the media has been spoon feeding the public over the past several years.

This book is chalk full of historical detail of the early days of Islam. The reader is right there at the beginning when it is still in its infancy. There are just a handful of believers when we pick up the story. Already this very young religion is meeting hard line resistance. It’s a radical change in religious thinking. Current religious practices in Mecca were the worship of idols and lesser gods. Islam means the total surrender of oneself to God (God in Islam). You don’t just do a 180° in thinking and expect that everyone will fall into line. Islam was viewed as threat to Mecca and its inhabitants. The Muslims flee for their lives and this odyssey continues as the followers of Islam settle in Medina eventually establishing it as their base of power. As much as Islam is touted as being based on peace it is rife with warfare. Many battles are fought, some are won and some are lost. What a reader has to be able to do is take this violent history mesh it with the teachings of the Prophet and the Qur’an, as quoted, and draw their own conclusions of peace.

Also of interest to me was the writing of the Qur’an. Allah’s divine revelations to the Prophet are the basis of this holy book. Some of the passages quoted in the Mother of the Believers I found most interesting in terms of their direct meaning to specific characters in this story. Based on what little I know of revelations I thought they’d be much more general in nature. Some passages directly pinpoint a certain character and behavior. Which got me thinking about how it all might relate to believers on down through the centuries. I still haven’t drawn any conclusions but I haven’t stopped mulling it over either. This leads to my thinking of revelations in general and how they affect believers of a faith. I’m not passing judgment on prophets or revelations in terms of right or wrong. I don’t have the grounding in religious philosophy to do so. To me personally it’s just that some revelations, both ancient and modern, seem a bit too convenient to time, place or event. As if they were ‘given’ to benefit a prophet, or a small group of believers, instead of benefiting the believers as a collectiveve.

Aisha. There is so much and so little we know about this favorite of the Prophet’s wives in Mother of the Believers. We know of her fierce temper and her tantrums regarding her sister-wives. She’s extremely jealous of and vengeful towards those who dare to come between her and the Prophet. She’s smart and intelligent but not always wise. She tends to act before thinking. Of all his wives she is one who is depicted as accompanying him to battle, being by his side through the struggle, his one true female confidant. But what do we know of her heart, her soul? What makes up the core of Aisha? Her story revolves around her love for the Prophet and her love of Islam. The reader is offered glimpses of the woman beneath the veil but nothing truly substantial. Because this is Aisha’s story as told by her I think we miss out on the small details that make up her daily life and those of Muslims in general. Her focus is relating these events to her nephew as she’s dying. She touches on the historically significant points of Islam but neglects those aspects of her story which draw the reader into her life. She’s an intriguing individual who I’ve been introduced to in terms of history but only with a surface knowledge of the woman herself. Because of her place in Islamic history I think you could strip her story down to being just about her and still come away with a fascinating character study.

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I found this book to be good historical fiction that held my attention throughout. I was able to become immersed in the story while at the same time educating myself without the dry history lesson. While heavier on history than character development I still think a majority of readers will enjoy a story that not many of us are acquainted with. For those of you shying away because of potential controversy I say give this book a try. I don’t think this is a story we should judge based on preconceived impressions.

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If you’ve read, or are currently reading, Mother of the Believers: A Novel of the Birth of Islam please share your thoughts with us.

*** This week’s reading scheduling: Monday: The Printed Page Tuesday: Nicole from Linus’s Blanket Wednesday: The Printed Page Thursday: Nicole from Linus’s Blanket Friday: The Printed Page/Nicole from Linus’s Blanket

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Welcome to By the Chapter. This week’s featured book is Mother of the Believers: A Novel of the Birth of Islam by Kamran Pasha.

Follow today’s discussion over at Nicole’s blog, Linus’s Blanket.

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Monday: The Printed Page Tuesday: Nicole from Linus’s Blanket Wednesday: The Printed Page Thursday: Nicole from Linus’s Blanket Friday: The Printed Page/Nicole from Linus’s Blanket

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If you’ve read, or are currently reading, Mother of the Believers: A Novel of the Birth of Islam, please stop by and share your thoughts with us.

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Thank you ladies. I’m blushing as you can see.

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Kristi at Books and Needlepoint gave me this wonderful award. I’m a bit late in getting it posted as it came in right around the time of my site redesign. Thank you Kristi.

The Guideline Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.

Please stop by Books and Needlepoint and check out the other wonderful bloggers she’s honored.

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Nicole at Obsessed with Books gave me this wonderful award. Thank you Nicole.

The Guideline Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

Please stop by Obsessed with Books and check out the other wonderful bloggers she’s honored.

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If you are a regular visitor to The Printed Page you know the drill, it hasn’t changed any. I’m still 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.

April turned out to be memoir month. Out of the 13 books I made my way through 6 were memoirs with some historical fiction and police procedurals thrown in for a change of pace.  More in-depth thoughts for most of these books can be found in my Pondering the pages posts.

Title: A Silent Ocean Away Author/website: DeVa Gantt 416 pages Publisher: Avon Publication date: October ’08 Genre: Historical fiction (romance) I enjoyed this book which is the 1st in a trilogy. I’m looking forward to reading #2 – Decision and Destiny. Be forewarned that this book ends with lots of unanswered questions. You’ll definitely need to read the next book.

Title: The Hong Kong Connection, A Susanna Sloane Novel Author/website: S.G. Kiner 264 pages Publisher: Strategic Book Publishing Publication date: November ’08 Genre: Suspense/thriller I’m more thumbs down on this book than thumbs up. I really didn’t like any of the characters. I found them to very off-putting.

Title: On the Grind: A Shane Scully Novel Author/website: Stephen J. Cannell 320 pages Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Publication date: January ’09 Genre: Police procedural A quick, fast-paced, thrilling ride through police corruption.

Title: Illegal Author/website: Paul Levine 384 pages Publisher: Bantam Publication date: March ’09 Genre: Suspense/thriller A new-to-me author I would definitely read again. Loved it from start to finish.

Title: The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times Author/website: Jennifer Worth 352 pages Publisher: Penguin Publication date: April ’09 Genre: Memoir Loved it! A very interesting look at London’s East end in the 1950s thru the eyes of a midwife.

Title: How I Got to Be Whoever It Is I Am Author/website: Charles Grodin 272 pages Publisher: Springboard Press Publication date: April ’09 Genre: Memoir I DNF’d this book after 98 pages. One word: boring

Title: The Cellist of Sarajevo Author/website: Steven Galloway 256 pages Publisher: Riverhead Publication date: May ’08 Genre: Fiction Loved it! This book is a very moving look at the average person struggling to survive living in a war torn city.

Title: The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University Author/website: Kevin Roose 336 pages Publisher: Grand Central Publishing Publication date: March ’09 Genre: Memoir Loved it! A very intriguing look into the heart of the largest Christian fundamentalist university in the United States.

Title: Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival Author/website: Ollestad 288 pages Publisher: Ecco Publication date: June ’09 Genre: Memoir I really enjoyed the chapters that dealt with his mountain ordeal. I didn’t enjoy as much the chapters pertaining to his childhood but they are essential to the story.

Title: Jantsen’s Gift: A True Story of Grief, Rescue, and Grace Author/website: Pam Cope ~ Touch A Life Foundation 320 pages Publisher: Grand Central Publishing Publication date: April ’09 Genre: Memoir Loved it! A family, especially a mother’s, incredible journey through grief to bring hope and life to children and families around the world through her’s son legacy.

Title: Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption Author(s)/website: Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, Ronald Cotton, and Erin Torneo 304 pages Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Publication date: March ’09 Genre: Memoir Loved it! A true story of forgiveness – forgiving others and forgiving yourself.

Title: The Wish Maker Author/website: Ali Sethi 432 pages Publisher: Riverhead Publication date: June ’09 Genre: Fiction I DNF’d this one after reading 44 pages. It never captured my interest.

Title: A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy Author/website: Thomas Buergenthal 256 pages Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Publication date: April ’09 Loved it! While it’s tough subject matter to read about the author does a good job of relating his childhood years in death camps surviving unimangible atrocities.

Title: Royal Blood Author/website: Rona Sharon 352 pages Publisher: Kensington Publication date: April ’09 Genre: Historical fiction I DNF’d this book after reading 94 pages. I found it very tedious going.

Title: Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town Author/website: Outcasts United 320 pages Publisher: Spiegel & Grau Publication date: April ’09 Genre: Memoir Loved it! A heart warming memoir about displaced families starting over here in the States, the small town community that struggles to cope with the refugees and the game that brings them together.

Title: For the Love of Pete Author/website: Julia Harper 400 pages Publisher: Forever Publication date: January ’09 Genre: Romance/chick lit A fun beach or poolside read.

*** Favorite book: Just about any of the memoirs (I can’t pick just one) Least favorite book: Any of the DNFs

*** Genres: Historical fiction – 2 Suspense/action/thriller – 2 Police procedural – 1 Memoir – 8 Fiction – 2 Romance/chick lit – 1

Total pages – 4,146

Challenges eBook – 1 New author – 15 ARCs/Review copies – 14 ’09 Pub – 10

*** 2009 progress Total pages: 15,469 Books read: 46 DNFs: 8

Challenges eBook – 9/10 New author – 39/65 ARCs/Review copies – 39 ’09 Pub – 23/9 (Done!)