Well-Read with MUCH to be Said!
The Babies
We got 3 baby silkie chickens yesterday for our self-sufficient home. They are SUPER cute and cuddly. They are currently in a brooder now until they get a little bit bigger and then they will be moving to the coop that hubby is building for them.
Lulu, the black one, was the first named and she was named by the Hubs. I named the second one Bacon, and Carli named the third (the white one) Molly after the Bubble Guppies.
Who else has chickens? Any advice?
This is The Sunday Salon meme; dedicated to chatting about your literary ventures of the week.
It’s too much.
My brain stops working, unable to differentiate between the different people and places. The same thing happens with science-fiction/fantasy novels. If there are too many made up words and names and places, it’s overwhelming. Not to many, of course, but to me.
Damn ADD. It seriously sucks big time. (And no, I am not taking anything for it. Not yet.)
But then the reads become forced and it almost feels like homework. Gah! Plus, these kinds of reads always make me feel like the biggest idiot (which I know that I am not.) Because of this, over the past week, I am only about 8% into A Game of Thrones. Forgive me if it takes me a long time.
So that leads me to wonder — does anyone else have difficulty with fantasy novels and their over abundance of new words, new names, and new places? If so, do you just have to push through or do you give up on it all together?
To check out other blogs that participate in The Sunday Salon:
I honestly thought no one would find the book that I was having trouble finding, based on its age and vauge description. For one, the 50s was a while ago and even though my Dad grew up with the book, he still doesn’t remember it. All of the sudden, just a few days later I receive this text message from my Mother-in-Law:
Tada!!!
Could this possibly be it?? I immediately went on a web search for the book Two Men and a Tree by Arthur I. Gates. (How could it be such a simple title?!) Was it really that easy?
Now, if I could just find a synopsis on the book. Maybe I could even find someone else talking about this book. If I could find just some verification that this was the correct book then maybe I could say, with certainty, that THIS was the book. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find an actual synopsis anywhere. All I know is that the book was created for beginner readers by MacMillan Readers in the 1950′s (according to amazon)
.
Oddly though, which I didn’t anticipate, the book has two covers. The one that immediately comes up on the search didn’t look like what I had remembered. But, as it’s been about 20+ years since I’ve read the book myself, maybe my memory of the book wasn’t 100%.
I figured I would see if I could find if there was a copy somewhere that I could purchase (without breaking the bank). Then, I found this:
A different cover.
At the moment I saw this version of the book cover, I knew it. This was the book I have been looking for, for many years. I have found it at last.
Thank you to my Mother-in-Law and to Susan for finding this book for me. I cannot wait to read it to my girls. 
Blogger Meme: Friday Firsts 
I try to tweet about all participants, so don’t forget to include your Twitter username if you want to be notified of your tweet mention! The first line can make or break a reader’s interest. Just how well did the author pull you in to the story with their first sentence? To participate in this weekly book meme is extremely easy.
That’s it
Here is my Friday Firsts: Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (ISBN: 978-0553386790) 720 pages.
“We should start back,” Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them. “The wildlings are dead.”
Fantasy is not my normal genre. I get overwhelmed easily by names I’ve never heard of and lands I have never heard of. In fact, I have started this book a few times, but am finally getting into the groove of reading this novel (which I am enjoying.)
The first sentence definitely drew me in. It caused me to wonder, “Just why are the wildlings dead?”
Synopsis: (Taken from Amazon.com)
Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens.
Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.
Here is the first volume in George R. R. Martin’s magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords. As a whole, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Magic, mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill these pages and transport us to a world unlike any we have ever experienced. Already hailed as a classic, George R. R. Martin’s stunning series is destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction.
I hope this will be a regular thing over the summer and not just a one time thing!
Click HERE to participate in Wordless Wednesdays.
Carli in Our Home Garden
If you have participated in Wordless Wednesday on your blog, please fill out the link collection below.
STOP
Dear Authors,
Hi. I wanted to thank you in advance for thinking about me when you want your book reviewed. I am glad that my opinion matters. But, if you don’t hear back from me, it’s probably for a variety of reasons. Let’s take the example below. (I have posted the email in whole, minus names.)
I am very happy to announce my blog tour starting May 17th for [book title removed]. My email is [email removed]
I have a web site at [website removed] and I have a fan page on Facebook. I am also on twitter
@[twitter removed]
I will be very happy to have interviews if you are interested. Please let me know.
Have a wonderful week and happy reading!
[name removed]
Believe me. It is not optional. While I am not a stickler for perfect grammar (I am often grammatically incorrect), I do expect it to be readable. There is no excuse for spelling errors as we live in the digital age of spellcheck. Punctuation is not that difficult. Don’t forget periods, commas, and appropriate spacing. When I am sent jumbled emails filled with spelling, typos, and lack of punctuation I often think, “An author? Are they kidding me??!” I won’t waste my time trying to hurt my head reading it.
What kind of books does the blogger like to read? Does your book fit in that bloggers enjoyable genre’s? If not, why do you think your book would be the exception?
When you email a blogger, it is probably wise to find out what their name is. “HI” or nothing, is not acceptable. My name is Allison and it says it on my sidebar. Please use my name as it makes me feel like you took the time to actually look at my website before pitching your book. Take the extra few minutes and read a few of the blog entries and comment on them, too. Make reference to them in your emails.
I am all for supporting self-published authors as that is something that I am working on in the future (a company that will open in 2013). But when you represent yourself, it just doesn’t feel right. Hire a public relations representative to pitch for you, as they often know exactly what to say. Or, at least, make up someone and pretend to be a PR person. Having someone appear to do the pitching for you, makes your work all that more impressive.
A Title is not enough. Do not forget a professional synopsis. I don’t want to judge a book on its title alone. When you are pitching a blogger to read your book, it needs to catch their attention. A title without a description does not work.
May 15th 2012 – May 21st 2012
There was this book that I read over and over again as a child. I must have been 6-8 years old and it was a children’s chapter book. I was thinking about how much I would love to read that book again, and read it to my girls but the thought occurred to me — I do not remember the title of the book or the author.
Not the actual illustration.
What I do know is that the book belonged to my father so estimated publish date was in the 1950′s. It was a hard back chapter book, although I do not remember the color of the actual book.
The book centered around two friends, both boys. They lived close to each other on separate farms (or a large plot of land) and had a mutual appreciation for a tree that was somewhere in the middle of their properties. They loved this tree and spent a lot of time playing on and around it.
The book goes through each season and there is a threat that new construction will tear down the tree. That makes them very concerned. The book ends with the boys, now grown up and with families of their own, at a park. The tree that they loved has a fence around it, preserved.
That is pretty much what the book was about — friendship, and a single tree. I loved reading it because it showed how the tree changed through out the year. I read it so many times and loved it. I let a friend borrow it to read and she never returned it. I have asked my Dad if he can remember the title of the book, but he cannot.
If you are a book junkie — do you know the book that I am talking about? Can you please help me find out what it was called and who wrote it. I would really love to find a copy for my home.
Sheila is hosting a meme for Mondays where you list the books you have recently completed this week, books you are currently reading, and books you hope to read this week. This is one of my favorite memes (and favorite bloggers) so make sure you check it out and participate, if you can!
For some reason I can’t really 100% get into City of Ashes. I am maybe 30-40% into the book and I just haven’t been “hooked” yet. I am more than half way done (I think maybe 80%) with To the Nines. The Stephanie Plum series is definitely a guilty pleasure — hilarious, suspenseful, and at times very sexy. It is hard not to like the series (unless you’re my Mom.) For some crazy reason she wasn’t a fan. But she is a minority.
I have a hard time with deciding what books to read. What I decide today, I may not be in the mood for when I go to START a new book. Right now, I really want to read these. But when I finish To the Nines, will I pick these up or will I want to read something else?
What are YOU reading?
Katelyn, 22 months.
Nope, not going to be ashamed.
Not of breastfeeding my 2 year old, at least. I mean, why should I?
Time Magazine has posted a picture of a supermodel looking woman breastfeeding her 3 year old. While I am a bit turned off by the fact that Time did this for shock value and sales, I am more turned off by the comments on the site. Are people really that clueless?
God gave me these breasts for a purpose. When I had my children, my body made exactly what they needed. It is what they are intended for, what they were made for, and with no other true purpose. They were not designed to be showcased on a magazine, or gawked at on tv.
They were made for this. For my children.
It’s not gross or “nasty” and I definitely should not be ashamed of myself. In fact, I feel empowered. I am doing this!
For many months Kate grew and thrived on my breast alone. Prior to the breast, she spent 9 months developing within my body. My body was the source of growth, development, and comfort. And even so, after she was born, my role was not over. My body’s design was meant to continue helping my daughter thrive and grow and it was my job, as a mother, to afford her that right. It didn’t matter how often I had to nurse, or that it hurt in the beginning, or the countless times I’ve had clogged ducts. What mattered was her and the importance my milk was and is for her.
What I do find “gross” and “nasty” is society’s (mainly America) view on breastfeeding and their lack of understanding of the nutritional and emotional aspects of nursing your baby, rather than formula feeding them. But the disadvantages of formula feeding is the least of my concerns. I do, though, feel the need to educate on the matter of extended breastfeeding.
For information on extended breastfeeding please check out:
I want Mother’s to feel empowered. Feel empowered by your choices, knowing that you have all the facts (and that you truly understand them), and you are making the best choice for your baby (first and foremost), and then for you and your family.
Breastfeeding is recommended for at least 1 year, and longer if needed. There is no time limit put on breastfeeding, except by the ignorant and what is the benefit of letting ignorance rule our choices?
In many other countries extended breastfeeding is incredibly common. While it is true that as a first world country we have access to clean water, but why continue on past 1 year supplementing with artificial milk or cow’s breast milk. Not only are you paying for something that is artificial but drinking breastmilk from a cow is, instead, recommended? What could be more perfect than the milk from a mother’s breast, that was made for a human child?
Look at the numbers in the table that UNICEF had supplied for us. It’s not abnormal .. at all. Why should it be treated as such?
Yesterday I posted the above photo and while many liked, commented, and supported — there was one who wore her ignorance on her sleeve and posted an incredibly nasty comment. (I’ll let you read for yourself, but you may want to expand the image.)
Soon after Rosa (who is pregnant and has two other children) posted this, she unfriended me and blocked me (as show on the image.) Did not even give me the time to respond (which to me is a form of cowardliness.) No matter how many times I told her my child eats, she insisted I was starving her.
But we know Kate’s food issues, and her diet is limited to some fruits (in various forms), Corn Chex, Kix, and breastmilk. If you look at the picture above, you can see that she clearly is not starving. While her diet is different, so is she, and my breastmilk is helping to provide safe proteins and fats for her until she outgrows her food protein intolerances.
Rosa knew that and still she felt the need to make it look as if I was a horrible mother for still breastfeeding my child (who does have special food needs). I can’t just get over how another mother is that clueless about the natural way to feed a young child.
But, I am not going to let her get to me. She didn’t get to me. I posted the picture on Facebook, and I am posting this picture on my blog because I am an extended breastfeeder. I know the benefits and I listen to my child’s physical and emotional needs. So what? I will not be bullied into being ashamed. No nursing mother should.
Isaiah 66:10-13
“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her; that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.” For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem..
Blogger Meme: Friday Firsts I try to tweet about all participants, so don’t forget to include your Twitter username if you want to be notified of your tweet mention! The first line can make or break a reader’s interest. Just how well did the author pull you in to the story with their first sentence? To participate in this weekly book meme is extremely easy.
That’s it
Here is my Friday Firsts: To the Nines by Janet Evanovich (ISBN: 978-0312991463) 352 pages.
My name is Stephanie Plum and I was born and raised in the Chambersburg section of Trenton, where the top male activities are scarfing pastries and pork rinds and growing love handles. The pastry and pork rind scarfing I’ve seen firsthand.
You have to love Janet Evanovich. She really catches you from the beginning so it makes starting the novels easy peasy, which is great because I do not like starting novels. I expected to be caught from the very first sentence.
Synopsis: (Taken from Amazon.com)
Stephanie Plum’s got rent to pay, people shooting at her, and psychos wanting her dead every day of the week (much to the dismay of her mother, her family, the men in her life, the guy who slices meat at the deli…oh, the list goes on). An ordinary person would cave under the pressure.
But hey, she’s from Jersey.
Stephanie Plum may not be the best bounty hunter in beautiful downtown Trenton, but she’s pretty darn good at turning bad situations her way…and she always gets her man. In
To The Nines, her cousin Vinnie (who’s also her boss) has posted bail on Samuel Singh, an immigrant who becomes an illegal alien by violating his Visa and extending his stay in the United States. When the elusive Mr. Singh goes missing, Stephanie is on the case. But what she uncovers is far more sinister than anyone imagines and leads to a group of killers who give new meaning to the word “hunter…”
In a race against time that takes her from the Jersey Turnpike to the Vegas strip, Stephanie Plum is on the chase of her life.
When you’re at the book store (or shopping online for a new read) and you’re going up and down the aisles, what makes you stop and look at a book? The cover, right? Well – it does, for me! What are your thoughts when looking at some covers? Do you find yourself drawn to a book based on a well put together cover? Or does a badly created cover turn you off and make you walk right past the book, never to be picked up again?
The cover I plan on discussing this week belongs to the book The Selection by Kiera Cass
United States Cover (L) and United Kingdom Cover (R)
From the moment I saw this (US version) cover, I loved it. Maybe it’s the color, as this shade of blue is one of my favorite all time colors. The fluffy dress and the glimmer. It really pops out to me and says, “Pick me up!”
The cover tells me that this is a book about high-class living but the title, The Selection, says that maybe the girls aren’t exactly born into royalty. Will I be able to relate to this character?
The United Kingdom Cover is pretty similar. (Why is it that the same company has to create a separate cover for another country, anyway?) Sometimes the UK covers are completely different, but this time it is pretty similar. They added a touch of pink to the background (not a huge fan of) but I do like the pink they used in The Selection title. The crown also stands out more, which I like. The blue also seems a BIT toned down and so I like the blue on the United States cover, more.
So what do you think of The Selection‘s cover?
Now that you have thought about the cover, here is the synopsis (as taken from Amazon.com):
For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.
But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn’t want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.
Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she’s made for herself—and realizes that the life she’s always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.
Was it what you thought? Does the book cover affect your opinion on the synopsis? Do you want to read it more, or less?
It is that time of the year again and if you are a book blogger, hearing it is unavoidable. The Book Expo America is coming to NYC again. It is much a kin to a kid walking into a candy store. That is BEA for the majority of book lovers.
Including me.
Except I have never been and I will not be able to go this year. Again, I am missing out and it bums me out quite a bit. I cannot afford to go, myself, and to do so would require a generous sponsorship. (Or saving for.. ever?)
There are a ton of authors going to be at the 2012 Book Expo America autographing books including:
The cost is just so much for me. It would include travel, hotel, food, activities, and book allowance. This doesn’t even include the cost of doing other touristy things in New York City (which I couldn’t possibly decide in the amount of time it takes to write this blog entry but I’ll name a few.) As I have never been to NYC, of course I would have to be a typical tourist.
The rough estimate of simply attending the BEA would be:
Then there are extra activities we would like to do before we leave. (I mean, how often do I get the chance to go to NYC?)
For me, going to NYC isn’t just the Book Expo America — but its for the entire New York City experience and that cost for the total New York BEA Experience for me is around $4,600. Who has that kind of money? Not this blogger.
Going to New York City is something I have never experienced before and if I had the chance to go to Book Expo America then I would kick myself for not taking advantage of all that the city has to offer. After all, in this dream situation of actually going, who knows when I would ever be able to go again?
So, if you are one of the lucky book bloggers able to attend the BEA this year — I have one simple thing to ask you. How did you do it?
Oh.. and, “Take me with you?“
Click HERE to participate in Wordless Wednesdays.
My Girls
If you have participated in Wordless Wednesday on your blog, please fill out the link collection below.
Allison was born and raised in Central FL in the 80s. Therefore she still likes the color 'hot pink' and cheesy family sitcoms.
Currently she resides in (where else?) Central FL with her wonderful husband, Forrest, and their toddler tornado, Carli. (She's kind of cute).
Our second bundle of joy (another daughter) was born on July 13th 2010. Her name is Katelyn.
 |
