Zora Hurston And The Strange Case Of Ruby McCollum by C. Arthur Ellis - Book Trailer

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

I love Zora Neale Hurston, I have to find this book somewhere, maybe the library?!

Book Review - Logan and the Magic Fish by Otto Scamfer

Friday, March 26, 2010

I received a digital version of Logan And The Magic Fish by Otto Scamfer from the author for review. It is a children's book so I opened the PDF with my son sitting on my lap. The illustrations are brilliant, with enough detail to be interesting but clear cut and colorful so they appeal to even the youngest readers.

Logan and the Magic Fish is the story of what happens when Logan makes a magical catch on a late season fishing trip. The large orange fish offers to grant Logan 3 wishes if he will just release him back into Blue Lake. After making his 3 wishes Logan hurries home only to find his life hasn't changed at all. Frustrated and angry Logan returns to the lake to confront the magic fish. His doubts are laid to rest as the magic fish explains to him that with food to eat and a warm bed to sleep in he is already a rich boy, with family and friends who love him and want to spend time with him he is already popular and that happiness can only truly be recognized and enjoyed if your life has some sadness.

I really enjoyed this book, each moment I was really with Logan and that is hard to accomplish in a children's picture book. With my son's blonde hair and prospects of fishing with his grandfather this coming summer I think it was easy for me to see him as Logan. I only hope that my son can learn the valuable lessons that Logan at such a young age. Reading a wonderful story like Logan and the Magic Fish will give him a head start.

Currently "Reading":
Book - The Adventures of Doctor Who. Omnibus comprising: Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks; Doctor Who and the Revenge of the Cybermen; Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster by Terrance Dicks
E-Book - The Man Upstairs & Other Stories - From the Manor Wodehouse Collection, a selection from the early works of P. G. Wodehouse by P.G. Wodehouse
Audio - Count Karlstein by Philip Pullman

The books I am currently reading have wonderfully long titles, do they not?

My favorite from the Wonderfully Weird Book Videos

Thursday, March 25, 2010

I came upon the article at Huffington Post, 5 wonderfully weird book videos. The above video is my favorite because even though I still don't really know what the book is about this video was the most polished while the others where just plain WEIRD and if I'm still not going to know anything about the book I should at least be properly entertained. You can see all the other wonderfully weird videos here.

Currently "Reading":
Book - The Adventures of Doctor Who. Omnibus comprising: Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks; Doctor Who and the Revenge of the Cybermen; Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster by Terrance Dicks
E-Book - Logan And The Magic Fish by Otto Scamfer
Audio - Count Karlstein by Philip Pullman

Book Review - Doctor Who: The Pirate Loop by Simon Guerrier

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

I love these Doctor Who novels so much I have been getting them back-to-back from the library and just devouring them. My most recent novel is Doctor Who: The Pirate Loop by Simon Guerrier. I really liked this one, actually I think it's my favorite of the Doctor and Martha books I have read. This is the first one I would love to see as part of the series, maybe in a different form now that David Tennant has moved on from The Doctor and Martha probably isn't coming back as the new Doctor's companion but still. It's also the first one I truly wanted to be a part of, the rest of them are fun reads and I love the characters but I never really wanted to be part of the story until The Pirate Loop.

Description from Amazon:

"The Doctor's been everywhere and everywhen in the whole of the universe and seems to know all the answers. But ask him what happened to the Starship Brillant and he hasn't the first idea. Did it fall into a sun or black hole? Was it shot down in the first moments of the galactic war? And what's this about a secret experimental drive? The Doctor is skittish. But if Martha is so keen to find out he'll land the TARDIS on the Brilliant, a few day before it vanishes. Then they can see for themselves... Soon the Doctor learns the awful truth. And Martha learns that you need to be careful what you wish for. She certainly wasn't hoping for mayhem, death, and badger-faced space pirates!"

You can't hate anything that has "badger-faced space pirates" and they forgot to mention regenerating hors dourves. Also this satisfies one of my requirements for my Doctor Who Reading Challenge and the Time Travel Reading Challenge, double header again.

Currently "Reading":
Book - The Adventures of Doctor Who. Omnibus comprising: Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks; Doctor Who and the Revenge of the Cybermen; Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster by Terrance Dicks
E-Book - Logan And The Magic Fish by Otto Scamfer
Audio - Count Karlstein by Philip Pullman

What's On Your Nightstand - March

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

I can't believe I actually remembered to do this on the right day this month, yay me! Oh my goodness what is on my nightstand? Well, since I didn't do this last month it's harder for me to tick off the books I read because there isn't a straight list to go from but I finished a couple Doctor Who novels and Part of Me: Stories of a Louisiana Family by Kimberly Willis Holt I know for sure and other things but I just can't think of them all right now, I could of course look back on my own blog but then again so could you...

Currently Reading:

The Adventures of Doctor Who. Omnibus by Terrance Dicks - Dr. Who challenge and Time Travel challenge 3 books in 1, yay!
The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith - What's in a Name challenge and I've always wanted to try a book by this author
Difficult People: Flash Fictions by Jim Stallings - short stories challenge not loving it but great for the bathroom
The Man Upstairs and Other Stories by P.G. Wodehouse - short stories challenge and I love Wodehouse


What's Next:

Dark Continent and Other Stories by Laura Kalpakian - working on my short stories challenge
Talk to Me Like I'm Someone You Love: Relationship Repair in a Flash by Nancy Dreyfus Psy. - book I received for review can't wait to get started on it, looks good.
Also, any other Doctor Who novels I can get from the library as well as probably a bunch of other little books because I plan to take part in Dewey's Read-A-Thon again this time around which will take place April 10th.

from looking at my list of currentlyr eading and what I'll be reading soon I can see I will be knocking a lot of books off of my challenges, that's good news because I have another challenge starting up in May. So the only way I am going to finish them all is to keep at it.

The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn Iggulden, Hal Iggulden Book Trailer

Sunday, March 21, 2010

I really hope my son loves to read when he's older as much as he loves to listen to me read to him now. I can't wait to introduce him to this book

Yes, You’re Pregnant, But What about Me? by Kevin Nealon Book Trailer

Saturday, March 20, 2010

I love a book with a good sense of humor and I love Kevin Nealon, it's a win/win

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly illustrated by Jeremy Holmes Book Trailer

Sunday, March 14, 2010

I stumbled upon this book trailer. It's a retelling of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly but with kind of dark Tim Burton-esc illustrations. Looks good tome.

There Was An Old Lady from Jeremy Holmes on Vimeo.

Book Cover Design Video

Saturday, March 13, 2010

This is an interesting little video for those who like books and are interested in how they are made.






Currently "Reading":
Book - Admit One: My Life in Film by Emmett James
E-Book - Logan And The Magic Fish by Otto Scamfer
Audio - Count Karlstein by Philip Pullman

Admit One: My Life In Film by Emmett James

Friday, March 12, 2010

Admit One: My Life In Film is the autobiography through film of Emmet James. The author lets us in on the events of his childhood and eventually his adulthood by taking us along with him to the memorable films he has seen or been a part of.

Each chapter is a movie title such as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom & The Karate Kid. James uses the film to tell us about his life. With a perfect blend of wit and honesty together with crafty storytelling he lets us into his life simply by telling us about his surroundings during his trip to the theater and the experience of watching each movie at that particular time in his life.

As the book goes on we move from James' childhood in England to his life as a struggling actor in America. Each new film/chapter giving us a further glimpse into his life such as the chapter titled Green Card in which all that is written is "Life imitates art. Enough said."

Admit One is my kind of book, it is true life written with a flair usually reserved for fiction. Emmett James is not afraid to let us into his world, he might be brash at times but it's worth the possibility of bristling someone's hairs for the multiple times I found myself laughing out loud.

I don't want to dwell on any negatives but I will say this directly to Mr. James himself. I can't stand Steven Seagal as much as the next guy but maybe, I'm just saying, you shouldn't put an open letter of denigration to the man in very beginning of your book. Let the people get to know you first then lay on the hate for Mr. Seagal. That is all.


I love books and authors who go out of their way to connect with their readers.
Follow Admit One author Emmett James on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/AdmitOneBook
Or Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/AdmitOneBook

Book Review - Snowglobe 7, Doctor Who Novel by Mike Tucker

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The Doctor Who novels are just as good as the television series. The Doctor lends himself perfectly to the crossover novel because he has so many wonderful adventures that simply can't all be packed into the television show so why not put them in a book, this is why I started the Doctor Who reading challenge to get into the books behind The Doctor.
I randomly picked Doctor Who: Snowglobe 7 from my local library but it turned out to be a perfect choice. See my husband spent two weeks in Dubai last month and Snowglobe 7 is set in Dubai. Turns out with global warming and such the earth is getting hotter and humans have built these snowglobes to preserve the arctic then moved them all around the globe. Two of them end up in Dubai, they were all supposed to be used for research but over time they have to give in to tourism to get enough money to stay afloat.
Inside one of the few snowglobes still used strictly for research an ancient and deadly alien is uncovered in the ice. This is where The Doctor and Martha come in to save the day. It's classic Doctor and it is great.
Also on a side note there is a real snowglobe type thing in Dubai. Inside one of their huge malls there is a ski slope. Hubby saw it but did not go skiing. I am sure that the author knew about the ski mall in Dubai before writing this book but wouldn't it be crazy if it were the other way around?

This book is a double header, it knocks off one of my required books for my Doctor Who Reading Challenge and one for my Time Travel Reading Challenge, go me!

Book Review - The Alphabet Challenge by Olga Gardner Galvin

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Like most of the encpress books I have encountered I don't love the cover of The Alphabet Challenge by Olga Gardner Galvin, I know about not judging a book by it's cover and I should not care about it at all but I just can not help myself. I will say in my defense however that although the cover of a book does give me a first impression I have learned to not let the cover of a book seal the deal, I will go on to read the book if the description looks like something I would like despite what the cover may look like.
All that being said I received this free ebook from ENC Press on Librarything's Member Giveaway. I again read it on my iPhone in bed. I love being able to read books on my phone that is a testament both to the phone and the ebook format. I love the idea of this alternative future, it's not in anyway one I want to live in but the idea is fleshed out in The Alphabet Challenge to such a degree that I can imagine us headed there very easily.

The Alphabet Challenge is available for sale from encpress.

Here is some more info on the book from the encpress website:

"Set several decades in the future, the nearly unrecognizable Manhattan is made kinder and gentler by PeopleCare, an umbrella organization of myriad victims’ rights groups whose members work their fingers to the bone to make caring, compassion, and lowest-common-denominator equality a federal law, now that they have already fought for and won their campaigns for federal prohibition on smoking and obesity, among other unhealthy things.

Enter entrepreneur Howell Langston Toland, who has learned absolutely nothing in the seven years he’d spent in jail for failure to recycle empty bottles. To cash in on the prevailing zeitgeist, he creates a new category of victimization, which encompasses the broadest audience yet. Threatened by the brazen invasion of its turf and the sudden popularity of the new cause, PeopleCare mounts a counterattack against the upstart. Toland, meanwhile, succumbs to the more natural for him entrepreneurial mode of thinking, urging his annoying followers to become self-reliant so that he may cut them loose.

Vicious politics ensue . . . "

Non-Fiction Reading Challenge

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Ok it's true I have joined way too many reading challenges but this one is with a serious purpose. Yesterday I discovered that I am far behind in my reading on books about women and equality and the struggle of women around the world. What kind of woman am I if I don't stay in touch with my sisters and their plight around the globe? Well, I was ashamed and so went to find a reading challenge that could help me shape up. That is when I stumbled on Trish's Reading Nook and her non-fiction reading challenge. I am excited to get started on this one but since the challenge doesn't officially start till May I will use that time to knock out as many books from all the other reading challenges I have signed up for so I have a clean(er) slate to get started with this one.
The rules to this one are pretty easy:

1. Read 5 non-fiction books during the months of May - September, 2010

2. Read at least one non-fiction book that is different from your other choices (i.e.: 4 memoirs and 1 self-help)

I plan to read all 5 of my non-fiction books with women as my theme, maybe current affairs maybe biographies, maybe sociology, whatever looks good at the time as long as it's about women and women's issues.

International Women's Day

Monday, March 8, 2010

It's International Women's Day. I didn't know that until Huffington Post told me which I find to be a sad situation indeed but I am over that now there is something else much worse that I am upset at myself about. The theme for this year's International Women's Day is equal rights, equal opportunity and progress for all. Here's what I'm mad at myself about, Huffington Post picked 13 essential books on equality for women and I haven't read any of them! I don't know how this can be but it is a cold hard fact I haven't read a single one of them. This is a sad sad state of affairs for a woman who calls herself a reader and a firm believer in woman's rights. This is awful and I am ashamed. I think I am going to join the non-fiction reading challenge to further motivate me to read some of these books soon. You can read the Huffington Post article here.

Book Review - The Secret of the Sacred Scarab by Fiona Ingram

Sunday, March 7, 2010

I was so happy to receive The Secret of the Sacred Scarab
by Fiona Ingram for review. I worked in a book store before I had my son who is now 3 years old and I know how hard it can be to get boys interested in reading to begin with but combine that with the hole that is the lack of quality books for boys and it's no wonder boys don't pick up a book unless they absolutely have to.
It was wonderful following two boys, Justin and Adam as they explore Egypt trying to uncover the Secret of the Sacred Scarab all the while avoiding the evil Dr. Khalid who wants the keys to the secret as much as the boys but for totally different reasons. The boys are brave and smart working their way through some tight situations full of excitement and curiosity. I look forward to keeping this on my shelf and sharing it with my son when he is old enough to enjoy it.

From Amazon:
"Cousins Justin and Adam are ecstatic about accompanying their aunt to Egypt. Both love adventure and know the work of James Kinnaird, an archaeologist searching for the tomb of an ancient Egyptian ruler, the Scarab King. Some dismiss the tomb as legend, but Justin and Adam believe differently.From the moment their plane lands, Justin and Adam bounce from one mysterious event to another, starting from the moment a street peddler gives Adam an ancient scarab. Dr. Khalid, head of the department of antiquities and research at the Egyptian Museum, shows excessive interest in the cousins and their relic. Then, when the boys learn that James Kinnaird is missing, they realize something sinister is afoot.Kidnapped and taken across the desert, the boys are plunged into serious danger and chased by ruthless enemies. Dr. Khalid will stop at nothing to discover the Scarab King's tomb and claim its treasures. But he has underestimated the boys' ingenuity.Join Justin and Adam as they evade their captors and unravel the secrets of the Scarab King. Relying on their wits, courage, and each other, the boys must solve the mystery of the sacred scarab and rescue James Kinnaird before time runs out. "


Currently "Reading":
Book - Admit One: My Life in Film by Emmett James
E-Book - Logan And The Magic Fish by Otto Scamfer
Audio - Count Karlstein by Philip Pullman

Book Review - Rusty by Ellen F. Feld

Saturday, March 6, 2010

I had a friend in high school who loved horses and by loved I mean LOVED HORSES. They were all over her room and last I heard she was working with a Veterinarian so I guess it worked out. As soon as I heard I was receiving this book to review I thought of her and wished we had stayed in better touch so I could pass this book on to her.
Rusty: The High-Flying Morgan Horse (Morgan Horse Series) is the third book in Ellen F. Feld's Morgan Horse Series. A cute book, well written which made it easy to get into the characters. I think a bit of it was lost on me because I don't know that much about horses and don't share my friend's LOVE of them. I think any child that is into horses boy or girl would like reading this series. These books could be the fuel that takes a spark that is a love for horses and turns it into a lifelong passion to own, preserve and care for horses in adulthood.

From The Willow Bend Publishing website:
"The third book in the popular Morgan Horse series, Rusty continues the adventures of Heather Richardson and her Morgan Horses. In this story, Frosty has her foal, a lovely gray filly. This adorable baby seems absolutely perfect, but is she? Meanwhile, Heather decides to try her luck in a new discipline and enters Rusty in several jumping competitions. Everything is going well until Heather begins to doubt herself. Will a new friend, Nicholas, be able to help Heather overcome her fears and win the Jump-Off?"




Currently "Reading":
Book - Admit One: My Life in Film by Emmett James
E-Book - Logan And The Magic Fish by Otto Scamfer
Audio - Count Karlstein by Philip Pullman

Book Review - Terror From Beyond Middle England by Sarah Crabtree

Friday, March 5, 2010

I received this ebook through a giveaway on librarything and at first I was a little scared I had gotten myself into something I wasn't going to enjoy. The title is a little more horror than I usually like and the cover is a little more...well...ugly than I would usually pick off of a shelf but as I got deeper into the story I was pleasantly surprised. In the end I found this to be a great little story. I looked forward to going to bed every night so I could cuddle into the covers with my iPhone and read some more.
Terror From Beyond Middle England by Sarah Crabtree is available for sale from encpress.

Here's more info on Terror From Beyond Middle England from the encpress website:

"What’s a thirtysomething, single, small-town temp to do to escape her dreadful life and her dysfunctional family? Our heroine, Zara, grabs a rucksack, jumps on a train going to a slightly bigger town, and falls into the arms of an intriguing young scientist called Alan. He could well be the solution to her problems — just so long as Zara’s cousin Julia’s love troubles don’t get in the way.

The adventure spirit thus unleashed, Zara develops a knack for attracting the most fascinating people, among them a coterie of queer and transsexual activists on a crusade against genetically modified foodstuffs. Not such an eccentric rallying point, as it turns out when the naughty goings-on at the lab where Alan works are uncovered. These ultimately lead to the creation of the Doomsday Globe, a pretty little knickknack that contains deadly bacteria in place of a snowstorm.

Up until this wonderful stage of her life, Zara has never had so much control over so much chaos. Life has never been so sweet as Zara and Alan fall helplessly in love. But don’t get out the sick-buckets yet: Zara’s suicidal mother doesn’t want to miss out on the fun, and Cousin Julia turns up on the doorstep pregnant and in denial. And it’s all Zara’s fault. Well, actually it isn’t, but she’s just too darned kind and competent for everybody’s good.

This is an eternal saga of human bondage made possible almost entirely by wireless technology..."