May Madness Book Giveaway #2: Testimony by Anita Shreve

- Ambrosia 34 Comments


BOOK INFORMATION: Testimony By Anita Shreve

At a New England boarding school, a sex scandal is about to break. Even more shocking than the sexual acts themselves is the fact that they were caught on videotape. A Pandora’s box of revelations, the tape triggers a chorus of voices–those of the men, women, teenagers, and parents involved in the scandal–that details the ways in which lives can be derailed or destroyed in one foolish moment.

Writing with a pace and intensity surpassing even her own greatest work, Anita Shreve delivers in TESTIMONY a gripping emotional drama with the impact of a thriller. No one more compellingly explores the dark impulses that sway the lives of seeming innocents, the needs and fears that drive ordinary men and women into intolerable dilemmas, and the ways in which our best intentions can lead to our worst transgressions.

PRAISE FOR TESTIMONY:

“Shreve, consummate craftsman and frequent provocateur, is on fire in her latest novel, a mesmerizing read centering on a sex scandal at a prestigious Vermont prep school….Shreve views all of the characters, even the most flawed, with a good deal of compassion, revealing the heartbreaking consequences of a single reckless act.”— Joanne Wilkinson, Booklist (starred review)

Anita Shreve is the critically acclaimed author of fourteen novels, including Body Surfing, The Pilot’s Wife, which was a selection of Oprah’s Book Club, and The Weight of Water, which was a finalist for England’s Orange Prize. She lives in Massachusetts.

Thanks to Hatchette book Group we have 5, yes 5 copies to giveaway. So we will have 5 winners for this great book! Do not miss out on this one!

*US and CANADA ENTRIES ONLY please*

So here is how to Win this book. The first thing you need to do. And this is required to particpate.Is Comment! This give away will be open til the 22nd of May.

And some other ways to get entries:
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Create a post on your blog advertising the contest and linking back to us here at Fire & Ice for the contest. make sure you post the link to your post in the comments. (1 entry)

Book Review: The Perfect Waltz by Anne Gracie

- Ambrosia 2 Comments

Hope Merridew dreamed of dancing the perfect waltz with the perfect man — and he’s not the tough, dark stranger who has come to London to court another woman. Only how can she resist him?
Sebastian has his own demons: a dark past to come to terms with and two desperately needy little sisters to care for. For their sake he must resist Miss Hope Merridew — but can he?

The Perfect Waltz is not a typical romance novel in some ways, and in many ways it is. The difference in this novel and so many others is that it deals with some difficult subjects. Our wonderful hero Sebastian has two sisters; his sisters were kidnapped before he could protect them properly. You see Sebastian didn’t start out as a rich man in ton society, he married into it. Due to what happened to his sisters they are a hard pair to deal with, they run off governesses one straps a knife to her thigh the other doesn’t talk. What is he to do? Find the perfect wife, of course. Ah, yes this is where we find it is a typical romance novel.

But fate and Sebastian will find themselves at odds, he wants a sensible, older, do good wife who will be able to handle his sisters. Fate wants him to have a lively, fun, chipper young woman. Sebastian of course rails against this. He won’t list to his friend who tries to tell him that Miss Hope Merridew is probably the best match he could find because hope has suffered too. Hope suffered under the brutish hand of her grandfather who was abusive. Truly what better woman than that to help care for some battered children?

The story is written well, and over all I enjoyed it better than the first one. It still has a few small moments where it drags, but over all I did enjoy it. I liked the subject matter, and I liked that it was not afraid to go into deeper topics. The nice thing about this book as well is that it is a stand a lone there are some references to The Perfect Rake, but not many. You will still be able to know what’s going on. And enjoy getting to know Hope Merridew. If you’re looking for a historical romance, I recommend this one.

48 Hour Book Challenge

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I am excited this will be my first read-a-thon type Challenge.I missed the 24 hour one. But I plan on taking part in that the next time is comes around. Til than I have this challenge. And here are the rules. Sign up and take part of you want to. It should be fun.

June 5–7, 2009, with the check-in day on Monday, June 8th.

Here are the basic guidelines:

The weekend is June 5–7, 2009. Read and blog for any 48-hour period within the Friday-to-Monday-morning window. Start no sooner than 7:00 a.m. on Friday the fifth and end no later than 7:00 a.m. Monday. So, go from 7:00 p.m. Friday to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday… or maybe 7:00 a.m. Saturday to 7:00 a.m. Monday works better for you. But the 48 hours do need to be in a row. Edited to add: But during that 48-hour period you may still have gaps of time in which you can’t read, and that’s fine. In the middle of the three different challenge weekends I’ve had to go to work, attend a ballet recital, and drive for a Girl Scout event. You can certainly work around the other events in your weekend.

The books should be about fifth-grade level and up. Adult books are fine, especially if any adult book bloggers want to play. If you are generally a picture book blogger, consider this a good time to get caught up on all those wonderful books you’ve been hearing about. Two graphic novels can be included in the reading. I’m not trying to discriminate, I’m just trying to make sure that the number of books and page counts mean the same thing to everyone.

It’s your call as to how much you want to put into it. If you want to skip sleep and showers to do this, go for it. If you want to be a bit more laid back, fine. But you have to put something into it or it’s not a challenge.

The length of the reviews are not an issue. You can write a sentence, paragraph, or a full-length review. The time spend reviewing counts in your total time.

On your blog, state when you are starting the challenge with a specific entry on that day. This makes it easier to track the participants. Write your final summary on Monday, and for one day, we’ll all be on the same page, so to speak.

Your final summary needs to clearly include the number of books read, the approximate hours you spent reading/reviewing, and any other comments you want to make on the experience. It needs to be posted no later than noon on Monday, June 8th.

Musing Monday #11

- Ambrosia 1 Comment

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about boys and reading…

Have you ever finished a book, then turned around and immediately re-read it? Why? What book(s)? (question courtesy of MizB)

Yes I have. When I was a teenager I read The Black Stallion by Walter Farley, the problem is I read it very slowly because for some reason I had trouble getting into it. I think it took like 4 months to read. By the end of the book I was completely hooked so I turned right around and re-read it. I don’t think I have done that since however.

Quotable Sunday #8

- Ambrosia 2 Comments
Welcome to Quotable Sunday! I can’t wait to get around and read your quotes today. The rules of course are never changing but in case this is your first time joining in, I would like to welcome you and let you know the basics:~Post one or more of your favorite quotes on your blog in a post.~Come back here and link your post in the mister linky below(on http://www.juststopscreaming.com/ ).~Check back throughout the day and go read some awesome comments and leave some luv!
In honor of today being Mother’s Day I chose some Quote’s for the occasion.

There never was a woman like her. She was gentle as a dove and brave as a lioness… The memory of my mother and her teachings were, after all, the only capital I had to start life with, and on that capital I have made my way.
– Andrew Jackson, U.S. President

My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.
– George Washington, U.S. President

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.
– Sophia Loren, Women and Beauty

Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own.
– Aristotle


Book Review: The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie

- Ambrosia 1 Comment

Book Description:
She ran from a brute…
Fleeing the harsh guardianship of her grandfather, Prudence Merridew escapes with her beautiful younger sisters to London. One of them must marry—and fast. To act as her sisters’ chaperone, Prudence invents a secret engagement to a reclusive duke… But when the duke arrives unexpectedly in London, she needs his help to avert disaster.

…into the arms of a rake
Aristocratic Gideon, handsome, rakish and with a strong frivolous streak, casually hijacks Prudence’s game, awarding himself a stolen kiss or three along the way. Used to managing sisters and elderly men, Prudence is completely out of her depth with a charming, devious and utterly irresistible rake. And her plot goes terribly—if deliciously—awry…

The Perfect Rake started out as a fantastic novel, it is a fun and light hearted romance that fits perfectly in the genre. I don’t mind saying that I am a little bit addicted to your bodice rippers, while I try to go with some that go against the grain lightly I still love the formula and the happily ever after. Which with The Perfect Rake you do get. However, the story ends up being a little lack luster.

About midway through this book it drags, and you will get a little tired of the Hero and Heroine. It becomes a point where the hero is just TO perfect, to sweet. He sets himself up like a martyr and it gets a little bit old. Over all the characters are likeable, and they aren’t absolutely horrible. But I think around page 180 or so I wanted to club our hero Gideon over the head with a cup of raffia. I mean is supposed to be a rake, it would have been a bit nicer if he acted a little bit more like a rake.

But all is not lost, the book may not be perfect but it’s not a failure either. Over all the characters are likeable, and there are some rather amusing moments between Gideon and Prudence. So if you don’t mind a little bit of melodrama, and a slight drag in the center, you will enjoy the book. And for me while it wasn’t perfect, It did make me want to continue on and read the next book in the series.

Friday Finds #10

- Ambrosia 5 Comments

My Friday Find for today is, Made in the U.S.A by Billie Letts. And wonder if all Wonders, I am doing a give away for it if you want to sign up! Just got to the Giveaway Post.

Some info:

The bestselling author of WHERE THE HEART IS returns with a heartrending tale of two children in search of a place to call home.

Lutie McFee’s history has taught her to avoid attachments…to people, to places, and to almost everything. With her mother long dead and her father long gone to find his fortune in Las Vegas, 15-year-old Lutie lives in the god-forsaken town of Spearfish, South Dakota with her twelve-year-old brother, Fate, and Floy Satterfield, the 300-pound ex-girlfriend of her father.

While Lutie shoplifts for kicks, Fate spends most of his time reading, watching weird TV shows and worrying about global warming and the endangerment of pandas. As if their life is not dismal enough, one day, while shopping in their local Wal-Mart, Floy keels over and the two motherless kids are suddenly faced with the choice of becoming wards of the state or hightailing it out of town in Floy’s old Pontiac. Choosing the latter, they head off to Las Vegas in search of a father who has no known address, no phone number and, clearly, no interest in the kids he left behind.

MADE IN THE U.S.A. is the alternately heartbreaking and life-affirming story of two gutsy children who must discover how cruel, unfair and frightening the world is before they come to a place they can finally call home.

* Includes a Reading Group Guide


Book Review: The Apothecary’s Daughter by Julie Klassen

- Ambrosia 1 Comment


Lillian Haswell, brilliant daughter of the local apothecary, yearns for more adventure and experience than life in her father’s shop and their small village provides. She also longs to know the truth behind her mother’s disappearance, which villagers whisper about but her father refuses to discuss. Opportunity comes when a distant aunt offers to educate her as a lady in London. Exposed to fashionable society and romance–as well as clues about her mother–Lilly is torn when she is summoned back to her ailing father’s bedside. Women are forbidden to work as apothecaries, so to save the family legacy, Lilly will have to make it appear as if her father is still making all the diagnoses and decisions. But the suspicious eyes of a scholarly physician and a competing apothecary are upon her. As they vie for village prominence, three men also vie for Lilly’s heart.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of this book is wow. The imagery set forth is beautiful and the prose is profound. Julie Klassen weaves a story of emotion, and beauty. Of a young woman just trying to find her way in the world. When we first come upon Lillian Haswell (Lilly) she is a daughter who wishes to do what most daughters do at some time in their life, flee home. But as the daughter of an Apothecary she isn’t sure how she will be able to do so. Enter the brother of her long missing mother Rosamond.

Lilly is given the chance to go to London and experience a season by her aunt and uncle. They will sponsor her and dress her, and al of the other wonderful things of a fine lady in London. The offer she was waiting for! Lilly takes it and spends two happy years in London, she is flirted with, courted and almost makes several matches. Until that is of course the men find out what her father does. At the end of two years however Lilly is called home to tend to her ill father.

We find a great many up’s and downs in the story of Lillian and her family. Her father Charles is a kind hearted man with some secrets in his passed, who is ailing and desperately trying to be well enough so he can continue the business. Her brother Charlie is such a loveable character, he is a bit simple, but loving and he tries hard. He finds his love in gardening.

While the story has many tender moments that will make you cry I also enjoy some of the funnier. Lily has so many suitors she doesn’t know what to do with them. Roger Bromley from London, the next baronet of her town, Roderick Marlow, Mr. Shuttelsworth, Dr.Graves and her father’s old apprentice Francis Baylor OH MY! You will not be left bored when reading this book. If you’re a woman you will feel Lilly’s plight, living in a world where she knows the knowledge, enjoys the work and is good at it. But because she is a woman she is not allowed to practice openly. Because she is a woman she is supposed to rely on men, but they are all leaning on her!

The Apothecary’s daughter is a coming of age story. You will follow the stories of everyone in the book, but mostly you stay with Lillian. She has heart ache, and confusion and happy moments too. This is a real story, and it sucks you in. You care about the characters, you love them. You begin to wish Lilly could go back to London, or should she stay home? You never know which would be better, not until the very end.


Booking Through Thursday: Graphic

- Ambrosia 4 Comments

Suggested by Vega:

Last Saturday (May 2nd) is Free Comic Book Day! In celebration of comics and graphic novels, some suggestions:

– Do you read graphic novels/comics? Why do/don’t you enjoy them?
– How would you describe the difference between “graphic novel” and “comic”? Is there a difference at all?
– Say you have a friend who’s never encountered graphic novels. Recommend some titles you consider landmark/”canonical”.

Sadly, I don’t have much to say to this weeks BTT. I don’t read graphic novels. I did used to read comics but that was a very long time ago. I mostly read the X-men comics. But once it branched into so many diffrent kinds of X-men I gave up trying to follow.

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