Sunday, January 31, 2010

JANUARY 31st WINNERS!

WINNERS FOR
3 GIVEAWAYS
******************

ALL WINNERS HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED
BY EMAIL AND HAVE UNTIL NOON,
FEBRUARY 2 TO REPLY WITH THE
INFORMATION OR A NEW WINNER
WILL HAVE TO BE CHOSEN!
********************************
LIVING OPRAH
BY ROBYN OKRANT
THANKS TO KELLY AND THE
HACHETTE BOOK GROUP, I
HAVE FIVE COPIES OF THIS
WONDERFUL BOOK TO GIVEAWAY!

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

#19 rubynreba

#58 Emily

#5 Sarah

#71 Birdie S.

#41 Anonymous (SusieQ)


CONGRATULATIONS!
*****************************

ABSOLUTE POWER
AUDIO BOOK
BY DAVID BALDACCI
THANKS TO ANNA AND THE
HACHETTE BOOK GROUP FOR
SPONSORING THIS GIVEAWAY,
I HAVE 3 COPIES OF THIS AUDIO
BOOK TO GIVE AWAY!

AND THE WINNERS ARE....

#14 skkorman

#34 MiscMayzee

#11 Bethie

CONGRATULATIONS!
********************************
GIVEAWAY ENDED
THE CONCISE KING

EDITED BY CLAYBORNE CARSON

THANKS TO ANNA AND THE
HACHETTE BOOK GROUP,
I
HAVE THREE COPIES OF THIS
AUDIO BOOK TO GIVEAWAY!
AND THE WINNERS ARE....

#4 Martha Lawson

#15 enyl

#20 amweeks

CONGRATULATIONS!
************************

3 GIVEAWAYS ENDED! HERE'S MY WINNERS!

WINNERS FOR
3 GIVEAWAYS
******************

ALL WINNERS HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED
BY EMAIL AND HAVE UNTIL NOON,
FEBRUARY 1 TO REPLY WITH THE
INFORMATION OR A NEW WINNER
WILL HAVE TO BE CHOSEN!
********************************
YOUTH IN REVOLT
BY C. D. PAYNE
THANKS TO JENNIFER AT
BROADWAY WITH RANDOM
HOUSE PUBLISHING,
I AM ABLE TO GIVE AWAY ONE
COPY OF THIS FUN BOOK!

AND THE WINNER IS...

#7 Rebecca O

CONGRATULATIONS!
*****************************
THE CULTURE OF EXCESS
How America Lost Self-Control
and Why We Need to Redefine Success
BY J. R. SLOSAR

THANKS TO TRACEE AND PUMP UP
YOUR BOOK PROMOTION FOR
ALLOWING ME TO GIVE AWAY
ONE COPY
OF THIS FINE BOOK!

AND THE WINNER IS....

#3 Lori Taube

CONGRATULATIONS!
********************************

A GOOD TALK
BY DANIEL MENAKER
THANKS TO ANNA AND THE
HACHETTE BOOK GROUP,
I
HAVE FIVE COPIES OF THIS
GREAT BOOK TO GIVEAWAY!
AND THE WINNERS ARE....

#9 ikkinlala

#1 Anonymous (Wendy)

#5 409cope

#7 Angie (By Book or By Crook)

#3 MiscMayzee

CONGRATULATIONS!
************************
REMEMBER...ENDING TODAY....
Click on the covers to go enter by 6 PM!

Saturday, January 30, 2010

LAST SNOW: REVIEW

LAST SNOW
BY ERIC VAN LUSTBADER

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Coming February 16th!

Jack McClure, Special Advisor and closest friend to the new President of the United States, interprets the world very differently from the rest of us. It’s his greatest liability, and his greatest asset.

An American senator, supposedly on a political trip to the Ukraine, turns up dead on the island of Capri. When the President asks him to find out how and why, Jack sets out from Moscow across Eastern Europe, following a perilous trail of diplomats, criminals, and corrupt politicians. Thrust into the midst of a global jigsaw puzzle, Jack’s unique dyslexic mind allows him to put together the pieces that others can’t even see.

Still unreconciled to the recent death of his daughter and the dissolution of his marriage, Jack takes on a personal mission along with his official one: keeping safe from harm his two unlikely, unexpected, and incompatible companions—Annika Dementieva, a rogue Russian FSB agent, and Alli Carson, the President’s daughter. As he struggles to keep both young women safe and unearth the answers he seeks, hunted by everyone from the Russian mafia to the Ukrainian police to his own NSA, Jack learns just how far up the American and Russian political ladders corruption and treachery has reached.

In the vein of Eric Van Lustbader’s latest bestselling Jason Bourne novels, Lustbader takes us on an international adventure in this powerful page-turner that will keep you reading through the night.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Eric Van Lustbader was born and raised in New York City. He is the author of numerous bestselling thrillers, including The Ninja and The Bourne Legacy. His books have been translated into over twenty languages. He lives in Manhattan and on the South Fork of Long Island with his wife, Victoria.

REVIEW:


Last Snow
is a taut thriller by Eric Van Lustbader, the best-selling author who took over the Jason Bourne series, with The Bourne Deception. Last Snow is the followup to Van Lustbader’s First Daughter and features several of the same characters, beginning with its colorful protagonist, Jack McClure, President Edward Carson, his wife Lyn and daughter Alli, best friend of McClure’s deceased daughter Emma. This book finds McClure in Russia on assignment as presidential confidante and protector of Alli. A detour to save a stunning blonde from an untimely demise leads McClure and Alli on a tense trip through the former Soviet Union, where their wits somehow keep them alive, in a land where nothing is as it seems to be and no one is to be trusted. Van Lustbader weaves an intriguing tale which will be interesting to both thriller devotees as well as casual readers. I could not put this book down and recommend it highly to anyone looking for a danger-filled novel full of spies, counter spies, and the fate of the world at hand.
ORDER YOUR COPY NOW!
COMING FEBRUARY 16!
WIN A COPY FROM THE PUBLISHER
TOR/FORGE'S BLOG!
CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

THE 8TH CONFESSION: REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
THE 8th CONFESSION

BY JAMES PATTERSON
AND MAXINE PAETRO


ABOUT THE BOOK:

As San Francisco's most glamorous millionaires mingle at the party of the year, someone is watching--waiting for a chance to take vengeance on Isa and Ethan Bailey, the city's most celebrated couple. Finally, the killer pinpoints the ideal moment, and it's the perfect murder. Not a trace of evidence is left behind in their glamorous home.

As Detective Lindsay Boxer investigates the high-profile murder, someone else is found brutally executed--a preacher with a message of hope for the homeless. His death nearly falls through the cracks, but when reporter Cindy Thomas hears about it, she knows the story could be huge. Probing deeper into the victim's history, she discovers he may not have been quite as saintly as everyone thought.

As the hunt for two criminals tests the limits of the Women's Murder Club, Lindsay sees sparks fly between Cindy and her partner, Detective Rich Conklin. The Women's Murder Club now faces its toughest challenge: will love destroy all that four friends have built? The exhilarating new chapter in the Women's Murder Club series, The 8th Confession serves up a double dose of speed-charged twists and shocking revelations as only James Patterson can. And remember, this is the only Murder Club episode of the year.



ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

The subject of a recent Time magazine feature called, "The Man Who Can't Miss," James Patterson is the bestselling author of the past year, bar none, with more than 16 million books sold in North America alone. In 2007, one of every 15 hardcover fiction books sold was a Patterson title. In total, James's books have sold an estimated 150 million copies worldwide. He is the first author to have #1 new titles simultaneously on The New York Times adult and children's lists and is the only author to have five new hardcover novels debut at #1 on the list in one year — a record-breaking feat he’s accomplished every year since 2005. To date, James Patterson has had nineteen consecutive #1 New York Times Bestselling Novels, and holds the New York Times record for most bestselling titles by a single author (40 total).

Patterson is a champion of reading and the founder of the PageTurner awards, which seek to spread the excitement and joy of books and reading in the United States. James's first foray into family fiction, the critically acclaimed Maximum Ride series, debuted on the New York Times list at #1 and remained there for 12 straight weeks. The series has so far made appearances on The New York Times bestsellers lists 87 times, proving that kids of all ages love page turners.

Patterson is the creator of the #1 new detective series of the past dozen years, featuring "Alex Cross" and including the Hollywood-adapted "Along Came a Spider" and "Kiss the Girls," starring Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman. He is also the creator of the #1 new detective series of the past five years, featuring Lindsay Boxer and the other members of the Women's Murder Club, from which the ABC television drama series is adapted. He has authored books behind six films on the Hollywood fast-track, including the upcoming Maximum Ride movie from Avi Arad, the producer of X-Men and Spiderman. Most recently, New Regency Pictures has optioned The Dangerous Days of Daniel X, James’s newest family Pageturner due out in July of 2008.

He is the author of novels — from The Thomas Berryman Number (1976) to Honeymoon (2005) — that have won awards including the Edgar, the BCA Mystery Guild's Thriller of the Year, the International Thriller of the Year award, and the Reader’s Digest Reader’s Choice Award.

One of Forbes magazine's Celebrity 100, James appeared as a guest star on the popular FOX TV show "The Simpsons" in March, 2007.

Maxine Paetro collaborates with best-selling author James Patterson, co-writing The 4th of July, The 5th Horseman, The 6th Target, the 7th Heaven and the 8th Confession, just released in April 2009. All are New York Times #1 best-sellers in the Women's Murder Club Series.

Patterson/Paetro collaboration, New York Times #1 bestsellerSwimsuit, was released on June 27, 2009. A first-class thriller, Swimsuit has been called "This generation's Silence of the Lambs."

The 9th Judgment, the next entry into the Women's Murder Club series, is slated for publication in 2010.

Before working with James Patterson, Paetro authored three novels; Manshare, Babydreams, and Windfall, published between 1986 and 1991. She also wrote the biography, Dream Lovers, the Magnificent, Shattered Lives of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee by Their Son, Dodd Darin in 1993.

Her first book, How to Put Your Book Together and Get a Job in Advertising, was published for the first time in 1979 and is still in print today. W.W. Norton is bringing out a newly revised edition in Aug. 2010.

From 1975 through 1987 Paetro was EVP creative department manager at several large New York City advertising agencies. Her garden, Broccoli Hall, has been featured in national magazines including House & Garden, Victoria Magazine, Country Gardens, Country Homes and is on the Garden Conservancy Open Days Program.

Paetro is married to surety bond executive, John A. Duffy, founder and CEO of consulting company, Manhattan Bridge, LLC.

REVIEW:

The Women’s Murder Club is back again with more of the four fierce gal pals that make THE 8
th CONFESSION another fast paced remarkable read. James Patterson teams up again with Maxine Paetro to involve Lindsay, Claire, Yuki, and Cindy in two murder cases, and a couple of romances as well. When Cindy Thomas, top notch crime reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle, finds a homeless man, known only to those in the area as “Bagman Jesus”, viciously murdered, she is relieved that her good friend Lindsay is assigned to handle the case. However, her relief will be short lived as she finds herself doing much of the investigating when progress on the case isn’t coming fast enough for her to make her deadlines, no pun intended!

San Francisco Police Department Homicide Detective Lindsay Boxer, and her partner, Rich Conklin, are immediately involved in trying to find out who this Bagman really is and just who it is that wanted him dead. At the same time, they have been assigned a very high profile case when several wealthy and well known area citizens are found dead with no cause of death being established. Claire Washburn, the medical examiner, is as perplexed as Lindsay when all the autopsy reports show nothing and the toxicology reports come back negative. Yuki Castellano, who is with the DA’s office, finds herself prosecuting the very tough case of the homeless murder so that when the four friends meet up, there is more than enough to talk about…and they haven’t even touched on all that is going on in their personal lives!

All of this spins into a story that leads amazingly into a web as one thing seems to weave into the other and all the women wind up in one way or another working on some part of the same case. On the side stories of personal lives, Lindsay is still with Joe and would seem to be satisfied with that until she finds out that her partner, Rich, is now involved with her friend Cindy. Having put off Rich’s advances over time and with her long time relationship with Joe, Lindsay has no reason to resent them this affair but it does bother her, more than she wants to admit. Perhaps her fear of commitment and liking the idea of their being another choice for her out there is what makes Lindsay not care for the twosome of Rich and Cindy. What she does about this and how the other players respond can only be found out by reading the book. And as if that isn’t enough, Yuki finds herself a doctor which should be good news until a twist at the end makes for an unusual to say the least romantic mystery of its own.

As for the two murders Lindsay is involved with, they seem to get your attention from the first chapter and don’t let go which is much the reason Patterson is as popular as he is. One more chapter, the reader will say, and before you know it, one more becomes two and three and poof! ---another Patterson novel is finished!

However, before this one does finish, the reader will find out maybe more than they wanted to know about the gritty streets of San Francisco and what happens when a seemingly good guy on the streets turns out to be the polar opposite of what they first thought. When the rich and famous are no longer safe even in their own bedrooms and die a painful death that springs from the warped mind of a second generation serial killer, then you know you have to keep reading to find out just who it is that is slithering about their homes and killing them. Who knows what will happen next with Lindsay and her crew?!

GIVEAWAY
THANKS TO VALERIE AND THE HACHETTE
BOOK GROUP, I HAVE FIVE COPIES
OF THIS
SUPER BOOK TO GIVEAWAY!

THE RULES:

--U.S. AND CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE
--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
--ALL ENTRIES/COMMENTS MUST BE
SEPARATE IN ORDER TO COUNT
AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY



HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING INTERESTING YOU FIND ON JAMES PATTERSON'S WEBSITE WHEN YOU CLICK HERE. THERE ARE SOME VERY INTERESTING VIDEOS AND SO MANY OTHER THINGS TO EXPLORE.

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK I CAN FOLLOW IN THE ENTRY

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON IF YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG AND HOW. IF YOU DON'T, CHECK OUT GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT IN THE LEFT HAND COLUMN. SIGN UP AS I AM LOOKING FOR A SPECIAL #600 FOLLOWER TO GIVE AN EXCITING GIFT TO. IF YOU ARE #600, LET ME KNOW IN YOUR COMMENT!!!

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, FEBRUARY 26
GOOD LUCK

Friday, January 29, 2010

MARRIAGE AND OTHER ACTS OF CHARITY AUDIO BOOK: REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
MARRIAGE AND OTHER
ACTS OF CHARITY

AN AUDIO BOOK
WRITTEN BY KATE BRAESTRUP
READ BY KATE BRAESTRUP

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Kate Braestrup has been married and widowed, betrayed and betrothed, her personal spirituality constantly evolving along the way. How do God and love figure in our everyday lives and bonds with others? In MARRIAGE, AND OTHER ACTS OF CHARITY, she tackles these big questions with stories from her own relationships--romantic and familial, platonic and professional--much as Anne Lamott weaves her spirituality through her tales of parenthood. With the same compassion and warmth that made Here If You Need Me a New York Times bestseller, Braestrup engages readers fully, regardless of their path in life. She tells us about teaching sex education for her daughter's eighth-grade class, and the welcome embrace extended toward her adopted nephew from Africa. She introduces the essential concept that charity--the key to all relationships--is a whole-hearted selfless emotion, which is but a hint of God's immense devotion. Kate Braestrup's very human outlook gives anyone seeking to understand human relationships a fresh perspective on what it is to love and be loved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Braestrup's novel Onion was published by Viking in 1990, and she has since published a series of magazine articles in Mademoiselle, Ms., City Paper, Hope and Law and Order. She lives in Maine.



REVIEW:

Kate Braestrup is a minister and in her work, she counsels people on marriage. I have to say that I wasn't sure if this would be a book I would take to as at first look, a minister talking about making marriages work? Could that be a thrill ride or a dull read? Well, the audio book format is what saved this book for me. In the book, Kate Braestrup will have you laughing one minute and crying the next. This is HER memoir and there is much about her life and loves and what she learned about them to pass on to others.

She writes the book as a series of essays that include her two marriages (the first that ended in tragedy in case you didn't read her first book HERE IF YOU NEED ME), as well as a serious relationship between the two. She goes into details about what worked and didn't in all of her relationships. There are also the other couples' stories. There is a couple planning their wedding and on the opposite end of the spectrum is another man who finds his marriage is falling apart. She deals with how to start a marriage all the way to how to end one. In between she has advice on how to put up with things in a marriage as well as how to do things to make it better. The key she believes is in charity. She feels that when we give selflessly of ourselves, we will learn what we need to do to really love and have that love returned to us. While that is certainly something I agree with, I am not sure I needed to be told that BUT perhaps others will look at that differently.

I do think the one thing I took away most from this book is the stark reality in which she discusses that all marriages will end in one way or another. And if the marriage ends due to the death of a partner, she discusses that and shares how difficult that is and how brave people have to be to love someone to begin with when we all know that at some point this can and will happen to one of the partners. Braestrup does give us a very unique way of going on and what to do next. I thought of friends who have been through this and how this would be a good book for them to read but really even better to read, anticipate and plan for, before we lose a partner.

I enjoyed this book as an audio book as it seemed to sink in better hearing Kate read her own words to me. I don't think I would have stuck with the book if I was doing the reading even though it is entertaining in parts, it wasn't really a book I would have taken to but with the audio, it was easy to listen in parts and get something out of it with minimal effort.

AN AUDIO BOOK GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO ANNA AND THE
HACHETTE BOOK GROUP FOR
SPONSORING THIS GIVEAWAY,
I HAVE 3 COPIES OF THIS AUDIO
BOOK TO GIVE AWAY TO YOU!


RULES:
**U.S. AND CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY
**NO P.O. BOXES, PLEASE
**MUST INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
**ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO COUNT

HOW TO ENTER:


+1 ENTRY: GO TO KATE BRAESTRUP'S WEBSITE HERE AND READ ABOUT HER. THEN COME BACK AND TELL SOMETHING INTERESTING THAT YOU FOUND OUT ABOUT HER.

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT IF YOU ALREADY ARE A LOYAL FOLLOWER OF ANY KIND AND WHERE/HOW

+1 MORE ENTRY:
BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE WITH THE LINK

ALL ENTRIES MUST BE IN

BY 6 PM, EST, FEBRUARY 18


GOOD LUCK TO ALL!

REASONS: REVIEW, INTERVIEW, & GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
REASONS

BY TRACY FABRE

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Delphi Brent, seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident as a teenager, is ready to spend the summer with old family friends when her parents make a distressing confession: the driver of the car that nearly killed her was one of the three sons of the Laughlin family she's about to visit. They urge her to stay home and let the past be, but she resolves to go out West anyway to learn the truth about what happened the night she was struck and one of the Laughlin sons died. However, in reconnecting with the Laughlins, who operate a sprawling ranch in Colorado, Delphi learns a lot not only about brothers and families, but also about the reasons people keep secrets, and what to do with the truth once it's uncovered. She also falls in love with one of the Laughlin brothers, which wasn't part of the plan at all.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Vaguely-worded statements about "me"...

I consider myself a resident of the "mid-South", which is defined as everything from Oklahoma to upper Alabama. I've lived in various southern states and feel a pretty strong connection to Alabama, which doesn't claim me but hasn't figured out how to stop me from coming around. In fact, three of my other (also unpublished) novels are set on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay (a series of mysteries) and I hope you'll see them in print someday. I really am a "closet writer," but you can find me posting bits of fluff on Gather.com (they can't figure out how to keep me from coming around, either). Steadily writing for my own entertainment--because I just haven't been able to stop--for the last eight years, I am glad to finally get into print so I can find out whether anyone else has any interest in what I've been doing "in the privacy of my own home" all this time!


REVIEW:

In a book that grabs you and won't let go (I read it in one sitting, unusual for me) filled with well-developed characters and a wonderful, natural type of humor in her dialogue, Tracy Fabre gives us REASONS. And yet, with that description, it is interesting to note that the real theme of this book is much more serious. It is one of the responsibility and the power and destructive force that keeping secrets in our lives can have on us. Through the talent of Fabre's writing, this message is presented in a sensitive manner that shows how much she cares about her characters and her readers. The result is a book about families and what makes them tick and binds them together through triumph and through tragedy.

Delphi Brent wants to spend her summer before going off to another state to live and work, with old friends in Colorado. She hasn't seen the Laughlin's in years. When she tells her parents she wants to go and they are hesitant, the truth comes out about a hit-and-run accident that almost cost Delphi her life all those years ago. They tell her how the Laughlin boys were driving the car that hit her and drove away...something she never knew before. And so, she heads to Colorado in hopes of learning the truth about which one of these boys was behind the wheel and why they left the scene.

She also wants to understand what happened as one of the boys, the youngest, Artie, was killed in a car accident and Delphi wants to find out how, and if, he was involved in her hit and run. Delphi is sensitive and caring of the family and doesn't want to bring them any more pain and so is reluctant to come right out and ask the questions she seeks answers to. As her visit goes on, she quickly sees how her feelings about what happened in these mysteries may interfere with her future as she starts to fall for Tam, the son who is a veterinarian. She also has to contend with Bobby who she had a crush on as a young teen who is engaged to an insecure, rude, and possessive fiance, Noreen. The relationships and dialogue between all these characters is well written and especially the interaction with Tam is quite seductive to the reader.

Will Delphi ever learn the truth about her accident and who was involved? If someone she is starting to fall for is involved, will she be able to get past that? Do Noreen and Bobby actually continue their plans to wed once it is revealed it is really more of a business deal to combine properties of their ranches? Finding out the truth and what happens as a result is hard to wait to find out about. If you are the kind of reader who will jump to the ending to find out what happens, don't! It is such a good story and part of the enjoyment is the build up. If Delphi could keep the secrets, it is only right that the reader go along with her and learn about things as she does...you won't be sorry! Kudos to Tracy Fabre on this well-written, engaging book and I look forward to reading more of her work.


AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

Recently I was fortunate enough to interview Tracy Fabre and she is as delightful as she seems in her writings. Her newly revised website is a great place to find out more about her, which she is quick to tell and proud of it (and we all know what goes into making a website!), so visit her at www.tracyfabre.com when you get the chance. And now to get on with my questions...Welcome, Tracy and since we are all either reading or going to read REASONS, can you tell us what you are working on so we know what to look forward to?

SENDING RUPERT HOME will be out in March, 2010! A description of this is also on the website...can you tell I’m directing you to the website? I try to be so subtle. ;-)

Can't say I blame you as we always like to know that. In that we are all lovers of books, what have you just finished reading?

It’s more accurate to ask me what I’m currently reading, which is Pat Bertram’s mystery More Deaths Than One, Con Chapman’s baseball novel CannaCorn, and John Connolly’s The Gates. However, I did just read (and not just because I also edited it) a marvelous collection of short stories by Gregory Miller called Scaring The Crows.

Wow! I envy people who can read more than one book at a time! What books would you say have made the biggest impression on you, especially starting out?

I suppose I was most influenced by authors who made me love their characters: Stephen King, Dick Francis, Donald Westlake and Jane Donnelly. They seemed to be able to write about regular and ultimately irresistible people. King’s The Stand is a classic when it comes to a myriad of very different ‘regular people.’

I see you follow that in your writing as Delphi and Tam and the others in REASONS are so much like that. What gets you started on a new book? A character or story idea or….?

For me, this past decade, it’s been a character, someone who leaps into my head and flat-out refuses to leave until recorded in some way, but sometimes it’s a “how would an ordinary person react to a particular event in life?” In a series of three mystery novels I wrote, one key premise is that the main character is married to a man who was once suspected of having murdered his first wife: he was innocent, but how did this shadow affect his life and that of his daughter?

That makes sense to me and makes me want to check on those three mystery novels you wrote. I bet I can find them on your website! Shifting gears a little, what is something about you that you would want people to know about you that we probably don’t know?

I don’t want to be famous. I just want people to read my books!

Well, from that I can tell, you may not have a choice about the famous part because I think REASONS is going to propel you there. So with all your experience, what is your best advice to anyone, including young people, who want to be writers?

Write. That’s the single best advice anyone can give a would-be writer. Write, and decide as early as possible whether it’s writing or fame you want more, because writing can always be there for you but fame is hard to achieve and not likely to stick around.

What is something you would like to share with us about writing your favorite genre in general?

I like the mystery/romance combo but ironically, my first two published novels come across as more romance, although I think of Reasons as being as much a family study as anything else. I love to work natural humor into my writing, too – the funny things people say in the course of ordinary conversation. Not slapstick, not contrived, but natural. I feel even more strongly about the importance of believable dialogue. I want to be able to read any line aloud and know it sounds ‘real.’ Fer sher.

Natural humor is evident in REASONS and so you have certainly achieved that goal. I thank you for taking time to chat with me today and wish you the best. I know we will all be looking forward to March when SENDING RUPERT HOME comes out!

Thanks for the interview!
*****************************
THANKS TO RENEE AND MY FRIENDS AT
STIMULATING CONVERSATION FOR A
COPY OF THIS BOOK, AT NO CHARGE TO ME,
IN EXCHANGE FOR MY HONEST REVIEW

GIVEAWAY

I MYSELF AM GOING TO GIVE AWAY
TWO COPIES OF TRACY'S BOOK.
FIRST WINNER WILL GET A NEW COPY
DIRECTLY FROM AMAZON AND THE
SECOND PERSON WILL GET MY GENTLY
READ, ALMOST LIKE NEW COPY AS I
REALLY WANT TO SHARE
THIS BOOK WITH MY READERS!

THE RULES:

--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE
--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
--ALL ENTRIES/COMMENTS MUST BE
SEPARATE IN ORDER TO COUNT
AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY



HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING INTERESTING YOU FIND WHEN YOU GO TO TRACY'S WEBSITE. HERE IS THE LINK.

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK I CAN FOLLOW IN THE ENTRY

+1 SPECIAL ENTRY: BECOME A NEW GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT FOLLOWER. ONLY NEW ONES COUNT FOR THIS. I AM TRYING TO GET TO 600 MAYBE TODAY! IF YOU ARE THE 600th FOLLOWER, WRITE THAT IN YOUR COMMENT SO I KNOW WHO IT IS AND YOU WILL GET A BONUS PRIZE FROM ME!

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, FEBRUARY 12



Thursday, January 28, 2010

WHO OWNS THE WORLD: REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY


GIVEAWAY ENDED
WHO OWNS THE WORLD

The Surprising Truth About
Every Piece of Land on the Planet
BY KEVIN CAHILL, ROB MCMAHON


ABOUT THE BOOK:

You don't have to be a student of geography or cartography to have an interest in the world around you, especially with globalization making our planet seem smaller than ever. Now you can IM someone in Alaska, purchase coffee beans from Timor-Leste, and visit Dubai. But what do we really know about these lands? WHO OWNS THE WORLD presents the results of the first-ever landownership survey of all 197 states and 66 territories of the world, and reveals facts both startling and eye-opening. You'll learn that: --Only 15% of the world's population lays claim to landownership, and that landownership in too few hands is probably the single greatest cause of poverty. --Queen Elizabeth II owns 1/6 of the entire land surface on earth (nearly 3 times the size of the U.S.). --The Lichtenstein royal family is wealthier than the Grimaldis of Monaco. --80% of the American population is crammed in urban areas. --The least crowded state is Alaska, with 670 acres per person. The most crowded is New Jersey, with .7 acres per person. --60% of America's population are property owners. That's behind the UK (69% homeownership). --And much, much more! With its relevance to contemporary issues and culture, WHO OWNS THE WORLD makes for fascinating reading. Both entertaining and educational, it provides cocktail party conversation for years to come and is guaranteed to change the way you view the U.S. and the world.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:


Kevin Cahill was born in the Irish Republic, and now lives in Devon, in the UK, with his wife. They have three daughters. A former army officer, Kevin has worked in the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the Irish Parliament, and the European Parliament as an adviser and researcher. He is the author of a number of books on business, trade, and landownership and was a researcher on the original Sunday Times Rich List.

Rob McMahon
is a freelance writer and editor with more than fifteen years experience in book publishing.

REVIEW:

I would probably be the last person to curl up in bed with this book--or so I thought! This is so relevant and interesting that I shocked myself. Reading this book can give you things to talk about for ages! It truly is like a 369 page encyclopedia of who owns and controls every bit of land on this planet. Cahill and McMahon explain that their purpose in writing this book was to get across the point that with only 15% of the population on earth laying claim to land, there in lies probably the greatest cause of poverty in the world. I found that following the devastating earthquake in Haiti on the heels of reading this book, started to put things in perspective and bring it into the light for me.

The book is well researched and not only explains who owns the land but also compares the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), tells about the land space, and also the populations of every country. Also, they provide a small amount of information on the history of each country as well as the religion. It has information on every state in the USA including how they were named, their population, how the state was formed, land ratio per person, and how the state is owned!

The authors' purpose to explain world poverty goes back to the fact of how few people own all the land. They contend that if there were private ownership of a very small piece of land (perhaps one-tenth of an acre in the urban areas and maybe an acre in the rural areas) given to every person on earth, then there is a good probability that we could begin to end world poverty and all the problems that come with it and as a result of it. The book even goes so far as to say that this should be a human's basic right to own land. Whether you agree or not, it is a very thought provoking idea and one that should encourage great discussion especially with all the factual information in the book to rely on.

WHO OWNS THE WORLD gives the reader the world at his fingertips and so whether you are interested in the theory explained by the authors or just want some information on one or two places, you can find it here. If you want to have a better understanding of our world geographically and a better look into the global land history, this book will provide that. The nicest part for me is the the information is presented in a very easy to follow format and includes a key to abbreviations, easy to read charts, and very detailed descriptions so you get visuals as well. I hope you will take time to take the geography quiz that is provided by the authors below. It may help you decide whether you just may need to have this book on hand and read it as well!

A Quiz from
WHO OWNS THE WORLD


Click on the Book Cover below
to go to the brief quiz and see how
you do. The quiz is based on facts
from WHO OWNS THE WORLD

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO VALERIE AND THE
HACHETTE BOOK GROUP, I HAVE

5 COPIES OF THIS GREAT
BOOK
TO GIVEAWAY!


--U.S. AND CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!
HOW TO ENTER

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS IDEA OF POVERTY BEING CAUSED BY LIMITED LAND OWNERSHIP ON EARTH

+1 MORE ENTRY: GO TO THE AUTHORS' WEBSITE FOR THE BOOK AND CHECK OUT SOME OF THE INFORMATION IN THE LEFT HAND COLUMN AND COME BACK AND TELL AN INTERESTING FACT YOU FOUND

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND THEN COME BACK AND LEAVE A LINK

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, FEBRUARY 19


GOOD LUCK!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

SLEEP LADY'S GOOD NIGHT, SLEEP TIGHT: TIPS FOR SLEEPING WELL EVERY NIGHT

THE SLEEP LADY'S
GOOD NIGHT, SLEEP TIGHT
BY KIM WEST
WITH JOANNE KENEN

See My Review HERE!

An Article I Think We
Can All Use!!!
"Good Night Sleep Tight:
Tips for Sleeping Well Every Night"


By Kim West, LCSW-C,
Author of The Sleep Lady®'s Good Night, Sleep Tight: Gentle Proven Solutions to Help Your Child Sleep Well and Wake Up Happy

Did you know that getting 7-8 hours of sleep at night can help you live longer, be thinner, think clearer and look younger? Despite these incredible benefits more then half of U.S. adults get less then 7-8 hours of sleep at night!

If you are one of the 75% of adults who report having a sleep problem, consider some of these helpful sleep tips to start to get the sleep you need and your body craves:

  • Go to bed and wake up at around the same time (and while you have young children you might want to set your bedtime earlier than usual). Even on weekends, try not to modify it by more than an hour. Routines "condition" us for sleep, psychologically and physiologically, and the conditioned response then makes it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep.
  • Give yourself plenty of time to wind down, letting your body and mind become more relaxed and ready for sleep. Listen to quiet music, take a bath, or read a book. Some people find that light stretches, meditation, creative visualization, or progressive relaxation helps.

  • If you need to catch up, rather than tinker too much with your nightly sleep schedule, take naps. But either take a short twenty- to thirty-minute nap or take a longer ninety- to hundred-minute nap so you don't wake up during a non-REM sleep cycle and feel groggy. Before I learned that, I used to set the alarm for one hour and wake up feeling lethargic and lousy, like I needed a major infusion of caffeine.

  • Make sure your bed and your bedroom are sleep friendly. Your room should be quiet, dark, and secure, and your mattress, pillows, and sheets should be comfortable. Sort out any temperature-control issues with your partner or spouse!

  • Exercise at least twenty to thirty minutes three times a week, but try to do it in the morning or during the day, not in the evening. If possible, leave at least three to four hours between strenuous exercise and sleep, and you certainly don't want to work out right before you go to bed.

  • Try to get some natural light in the afternoon. Go for a walk or sit in a sunny room, and try to get out of the house or at least briefly escape your artificially lit office cubicle.

  • Eat dinner at least three hours before going to bed.

  • Reduce your caffeine consumption (two cups maximum), and don't have any caffeine for at least six to eight hours before bedtime because it stays in your bloodstream. Caffeine doesn't just mean coffee -- it means tea, many sodas, chocolate, and some over-the-counter cold and headache remedies. We become more sensitive to caffeine as we approach our forties.

  • Nicotine is a stimulant, so if you haven't stopped smoking, poor sleep is yet another incentive.

  • Watch your alcohol consumption. Alcohol may help you fall asleep, but more than three to five glasses, even less for some individuals, fragment our sleep. We wake up more often at night and earlier in the morning.

Copyright © 2009 Kim West, LCSW-C, author of The Sleep Lady®'s Good Night, Sleep Tight: Gentle Proven Solutions to Help Your Child Sleep Well and Wake Up Happy


Author Bio

Kim West, LCSW-C, known as The Sleep Lady®, has helped thousands of tired parents gently teach their babies and children how to go to sleep and stay asleep. West has appeared on Dr. Phil, the Today Show, NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America, TLC's Bringing Home Baby, and CNN, and has been written about in a number of publications including The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Parents, Baby Talk, Parenting, the Baltimore Sun, USA Today, and the Washington Post. West hosts the sleep section of The Newborn Channel, played in maternity wards in hospitals across the country. She is the mother of two daughters and a licensed child and family therapist, practicing for over seventeen years. She lives with her family in Annapolis, Maryland.


In addition to The Sleep Lady®'s Good Night, Sleep Tight, West is also the author of 52 Sleep Secrets for Babies and the upcoming, Good Night, Sleep Tight Workbook.

Visit Kim West at www.sleeplady.com.


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