20th Century Travel

Monday, August 30, 2010

I would love to have this book, I love travel in a way that is difficult to describe to people who don't know what I am talking about. I would love to cover my whole house in these vintage travel posters. As a matter of fact I have a hard shell suitcase for the sole purpose of covering it in stickers just like they did in the old days. Having that suitcase makes me happy every time I look at it.
It you love travel too then take a look at this new collection of vintage travel posters from Taschen.

Crossed Out by Kim Baccellia

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Crossed Out by Kim Baccellia takes us into the world of Stephanie Stewart, your typical American teenager. Well, almost a typical teenager, Stephanie has one thing that sets her apart from the other kids in her school. The only problem is that one thing is a pretty big one, she sees dead people.

Sure you've heard that before right? But Stephanie doesn't just see them, it is her job to help them follow the light to the other side. For whatever reason some souls stick around after their death and it is left to Stephanie to help them figure out what they are supposed to do next.
I was seriously entertained by this story, I am intrigued by the paranormal and love a good tale. In Crossed Out Kim Baccellia takes a few seemingly normal characters and puts them seamlessly into a paranormal life. At the end I was begging for more. This book is fully complete but by the end we find out that not only does her best friend also have a special gift but her Mom has a secret as well, I can see a sequel to Crossed Out picking up on those aspects of this story.

About the Author:

Kim Baccellia has always been a sucker for the paranormal. She blames it on her families' love for such things such as having picnics at cemeteries, visiting psychics, and reading her mother's copies of the daily horoscope. She even had her own horoscope column in middle school, which was a big hit! Kim's other works include the poem, "My Father", which appears in the anthology Mind Mutations, published by The Sun Rising Press. Her essay about the adoption of her son, Finally, Our Turn, appeared in Adoptive Families magazine. Her YA multicultural fantasy, Earrings of Ixtumea, is published by Virtual Tales and available now at Amazon. A member of SCBWI, Kim is currently writing the sequel to CROSSED OUT.* She's also putting the finishing touches on an upper MG fantasy No Goddesses Allowed. She lives in Southern California with her husband and son.


*yay!!



I received Crossed Out as part of Kim Bacccellia's virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion.

Teaser Tuesday - Crossed Out by Kim Baccellia

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Today's Teaser is for Crossed Out by Kim Baccellia. I actually finished this one a little bit ago (look for the full review tomorrow) but I'm not loving what I am currently reading so I thought I would share this one with you all.

"I was waiting for this woman, who happens to be like, dead, so I could drive a cross in the ground and release her soul to Heaven." ~ page 80

and

"Her image crackled in and out like bad reception on Grams' old TV. I couldn't let her go. Not before she told me who was hurting Dylan". ~ page 159

Book Review - Liam the Leprechaun

Sunday, August 22, 2010

I recently received LIAM THE LEPRECHAUN by Charles A. Wilkinson from the author for review and was immediately taken by the illustration of little Liam on the front cover, so was my son. My son is three years old and although he loves for me to read to him I was concerned at first that Liam the Leprechaun would be too much for him, too many words and not enough pictures, so I set it on the shelf to read later on my own.
Well, I was wrong the night the book arrived when I asked my son to pick a book for bedtime he went to my book shelf and picked Liam the Leprechaun. So we read one chapter for bed and another for nap time until we finished the whole book. He loved it! He remembered the story and loved the character of Liam the littlest Leprechaun who turns out to be not so little by the end of the story.
This story imparts the virtues of believing in yourself and using the abilities you have that make you special to help others. Liam is such a lovable character, just look at the little guy, isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen? He is kind to all even through his frustrations of learning to take his problem of being so small, embracing it and turning it into an asset. Parents and little ones both will enjoy the tale of Liam the Leprechaun.

Dennis Hopper Photographs 1961-1967

Saturday, August 21, 2010

I so want to get my hands on a copy of this book, this would be so interesting to leaf through in person. I wonder if the local library has a copy? I will check it out but for now enjoy the video on the Taschen website.

Book Review - The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling

Friday, August 20, 2010

I love Harry Potter so when I got The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling from Santa Thing over at librarything I was really excited since I hadn't read it before. All I can say is if you like Harry Potter you will like this book.


From Amazon:

There is no easy way to define the experience of seeing, holding, or reading J.K. Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard, so let's just start with one word: "Whoa." The very fact of its existence (an artifact pulled straight out of a novel) is magical, not to mention the facts that only seven copies exist in all the world and each of the never-before-told tales is handwritten and illustrated by J.K. Rowling herself (and it's quite clear from the first few pages that she has some skill as an artist). Rowling's handwriting is like the familiar scrawl of a favorite aunt--it's not hard to read, but it does require attention--allowing you to take it slow and savor the mystery of each next word.

So how do you review one of the most remarkable tomes you've ever had the pleasure of opening? You just turn each page and allow yourself to be swept away by each story. You soak up the simple tales that read like Aesop's fables and echo the themes of the series; you follow every dip and curve of Rowling's handwriting and revel in every detail that makes the book unique--a slight darkening of a letter here, a place where the writing nearly runs off the page there. You take all that and you try and bring it to life, knowing that you will never be able to do it justice. With that, let's dig in and begin at the beginning, shall we? --Daphne Durham

Book Review - A Mercy by Toni Morrison

Thursday, August 19, 2010

I found A Mercy on a shelf when visiting my husband's family in July and when I finished all the books I had brought with me I knew I had to start reading it. I love Toni Morrison but with one thing and another I just hadn't gotten around to reading her latest novel.
Even though she hadn't read it yet my Mother-in-Law let me bring it home with me when I wasn't able to finish it during the trip and I am so grateful. Just like each Toni Morrison book I have read in the past A Mercy is full of soul and a down to earth approach that is rarely found in literature. She has a wonderful way of making life experiences I have never had and could never even image having somehow approachable.
This is a tale of the women on one farm in the late 17th century, there are men and of course they come and go as men seem to do but this story is a women's story, the mistress, the slave women and the slave girls who become women.
We learn how they got where they are and where they plan to go. And as I said even though these concepts are so foreign to me Morrison has a way of breaking it all down to a point where I find myself relating to the yearning of Florens to be free and Lina to hold her child and protect her relationship with mistress and Sorrow's need to shelter and encompass her new baby.
Not just recommended but a must for anyone who enjoys Toni Morrison.

Getting ready for school

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

This year a lot of my son's friends are starting preschool. They are only 3 years old but as the second child is born into so many of the families we hang out with it seems the older child is going off to school. My son will be staying home again this year since as much as I want to we haven't had another addition to our family. All these little ones going off to school has got me thinking, what can I do know to prepare my son for next year when he really does start his school journey?

I am not a teacher and don't think I could do the best job homeschooling

my kid but in a totally laid back way my son and I have started working our way through these workbooks for preschoolers. Getting Your Preschooler Ready for Math and Getting Your Preschooler Ready to Read are perfect for doing just as the title suggests. He might not be getting the structure that a formal preschool provides but with books like this I feel like I am getting him ready for school a little bit at a time without any pressure to perform.

After we finish these two books I plan to pick up Big Preschool Workbook and Big Preschool Activity Workbook from School Zone Publishing. I don't expect him to know everything and I don't want to push him too much but at this point with school a whole year away it's too early to start the conversations about actually starting school but it isn't to early to expose him the information he will need and be learning while he is there.
So at this point in our going to school journey we are just trying to take in the new ideas and concepts that he will prepare him for the school room and we are doing that one workbook page at a time.

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the
TwitterMoms blogging program to be eligible to get a HarperCollins book
set. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”


“I wrote this blog post

Literary Pickup Lines

Friday, August 13, 2010

I stumbled across this list of 25 pickup lines to use on a bookworm the other day and want to share it with you all, they are pretty funny, if you are a bookworm that is.

My favorites:

• Naked Lunch, anyone?

it's simple and yet to the point, and

• You’re so hunky, you must be hiding a rapidly aging portrait somewhere in your attic.

I think I like this one because I am currently in the middle of The Portrait of Dorian Grey.

Check out the rest of the list, it's definitely worth the laugh.

Book Review - The Man Upstairs and Other Stories by P. G. Wodehouse

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Let me just say one thing, there is no way you could go wrong when reading a man that Douglas Adams calls the greatest comic writer ever.
Now on with my review:
The Man Upstairs & Other Stories is a collection of short stories centered on love in all it's Wodehouse glory. Full of the trademark wit that can only be found in a Wodehouse story. I didn't have any of the laugh out loud moments I did when reading the Jeeves books though that fact didn't detract from each story's lighthearted look at life's most serious love issues.
I enjoyed diving deeper into the Wodehouse repertoire through this collection of short stories.

Smoky and the Feast of Mabon Book Trailer

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

A great trailer for what is sure to be a wonderful book for children. I love stories that teach children about the circle of life, the world is organic when you accept that and go with the flow things are a lot easier.

Teaser Tuesday - Eve's Diary

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

This Week's Teaser Tuesday comes to you from Eve's Diary, Complete by Mark Twain. This has been a fun read so far.

" In this way I have saved him many embarrassments. I have no defect like this." ~ page 23

and

"When I found it could talk I felt a new interest in it, for I love to talk; I talk, all day, and in my sleep too, and I am very interesting." ~ page 19

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!