Wicked Wednesday #4

May 6, 2009 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

Wicked Wednesday a place to be wicked to other book readers and make them get those TBR piles growing. The concept is simple. Pick a book or two and tell s about them. If its one you read tell us what you liked. If its one you found tell us about that to. Than leave a comment to let us know where to find your Wicked Wednesday titles. Make sure to link back in your posts for other people to follow Wicked Wednesday.

My selection for this week is a book I wouldn’t have picked up myself. But it was suggested to me, and I will be reading it at some point. I hope you might as well.

He had drawn the curtains tightly around his soul…
could he trust that glimmer of hope quietly beckoning to him?

Ben Buckley has never gotten over the loss of his wife. More bewildering than the mystery surrounding her death is the radical change that occurred in her shortly beforehand–a “conversion,” she had called it. Baffled, angry, and still feeling guilty for the way he’d withdrawn from her during those final weeks, Ben now lives behind the protective walls of severed relationships and rigid routines.

An unlikely young woman knocks on the door of his narrow world. Her simple honesty and childlike faith are incomprehensible to him, but in spite of his misgivings Ben finds himself on a journey he never would have begun on his own.

May Madness Book Giveaway #1: Made in the U.S.A by Billie Letts

May 6, 2009 - Ambrosia 43 Comments

Alright reader’s I am getting started with Hatchette and I am *hope* I am doing their giveaway Guidelines correctly. They are VERY generous with giveaway’s and thanks to them I will be able to bring you some wonderful titles. So first up..

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

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 15th of May.

And some other ways to get entries:
Follow this blog (1 entry)
Put our Button on your blog (1 entry)
Put is in your blog roll (1 entry)
Join the feeder service (1 entry)
Follow me on facebook (1 entry follow the FB link on the sidebar)
Follow me on Twitter (1 entry Follow twitter link on sidebar)
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)

Teaser Tuesday #11

May 5, 2009 - Ambrosia 3 Comments

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to: Grab your current read.Let the book fall open to a random page.Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!Please avoid spoilers!

Dipping her head politely, she walked across the green, passed the coal merchant, and rounded the butchers shop. Behind it, she turned down narrow Milk Lane, which housed the old haberdashery-and stopped midstride. ~ pg 151 The Apothecary’s Daughter by Julie Klassen

Musing Monday #10 – TBR Pile

May 4, 2009 - Ambrosia 4 Comments

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about your tbr pile…

How many books (roughly) are in your tbr pile? Is this in increasing number or does it stay stable? Do you ever experience tbr anxiety in the face of this pile? (question courtesy of Wendy)

Stable? Stable? Nope no way no how. The number always increases. Just when I think I am decreasing it, I order more books. I have roughly, 608 currently in the pile. And it does grow weekly, I would say daily but that’s not accurate it does depend on the week. Sometimes it is daily, sometimes a few a week. I very often do experience anxiety when I look at my pile. I wonder if I will ever read them all. But than I remind myself about the time when I was a child, and I had my worst day ever. That was the day I realized I would never be able to read all the books in the world. I came to terms with that. So maybe I won’t ever read all of my TBR (cause it keeps growing) but it sure will be fun to try.

I feel flushed with Awards. Thank you.

May 4, 2009 - Ambrosia 1 Comment

Alright, I have been a bit behind because I was sick. But I was blessed to be given two more awards recently.

Sara @ Subjective Beauty gave me the Queen of all things Awww-sum Award. Thank you Sara. And the rules of acceptance are as follows.

To accept and pass this award on I must list 7 awesome things about myself and then list 7 awesome people I’d like to pass this award on to.

1.I am good with history.

2.I am fairly organized when it comes to my challenges.

3.I am an animal lover.

4. I can cook a mean pot of sketti sauce.

5.I look good in a bodice and hoop skirt.

6.I listen.

7.I feel I can write fairly well.

And I was also given The lovely Blog award by the wonderful Bookish mom. THANK YOU so much.

Here is what goes with the Award:

1) Accept the award, post it on your

blog together with the name of the person

who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs

that you’ve newly discovered.

3) Remember to contact the bloggers to let them

know they have been chosen for this award.

In light of I am a bit delayed on this. And I love all of my readers so much I pass Both of these awards on to ALL of you!

Book Review: The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig

May 3, 2009 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

The Pink Carnation, history’s most elusive spy and England’s only hope for preventing a Napoleonic invasion, returns in Lauren Willig’s dazzling imaginative new historical romance. The Masque of the Black Tulip opens with the murder of a courier from the London War Office, his confidential dispatch for the Pink Carnation stolen. Meanwhile, the Black Tulip, France’s deadliest spy, is in England with instructions to track down and kill the Pink Carnation. Only Henrietta Uppington and Miles Dorrington know where the Pink Carnation is stationed. Using a secret code book, Henrietta has deciphered a message detailing the threat of the Black Tulip. Meanwhile, the War Office has enlisted Miles to track down the notorious French spy before he (or she) can finish the deadly mission. But what Henrietta and Miles don’t know is that while they are trying to find the Black Tulip (and possibly falling in love), the Black Tulip is watching them.

Let me start this review by saying I am sorry for the delay I have been ill. Now…to the good part. *Completed April 30th*

The Masque of the Black Tulip brings us once again into the modern day life of Eloise the grad student and Colin the Selwick descendent. And of course the past lives of Richard, Jane, Miles, Amy and Henrietta. Slipping into the pages of this book was like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes. You knew where you were, picking up precisely where you left off. But oh the places you will go.

We see more flirtations between Eloise and Colin, as you might in any good chic lit. But it remains mostly light, sarcastic and fun. They have a witty commentary all the while Eloise is flipping through Colin’s family papers. And oh what we learn in those family papers this time.

Miles is tired of being the side kick, its not that he doesn’t love his fried Richard (The Purple Gentian), he does of course. But now that Richard has been unmasked Miles would like to find his own way to help the kingdom. The problem for Miles is he happens to be very big, very broad, and very blonde. He doesn’t move with the same graceful ease as a general spy, rather he looms. And once in a place is somewhat like a bull in a china shop. But never mind he has charm! I positively love Miles; he is witty, charming and just hilarious. I found myself laughing out loud (and getting some looks) on more pages than I can count.

Miles is eventually given the job by the War Office of finding the Black Tulip, a very dangerous French spy. You really will enjoy following Miles and Henrietta as they see about catching the Black Tulip. Because Henrietta doesn’t see why Richard should have all the fun. Why should her brother be the only spy in the family? Along the way somehow the pair (separately) realise…they are in love. But the key is…will they tell one another? If you enjoy history, and a bit of fun you will love the Mask of the Black Tulip. This is one you can’t miss.

Quotable Sunday #7

May 3, 2009 - Ambrosia 8 Comments

From: http://www.juststopscreaming.com/

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!

This Week I have chosen 2 quote’s from The Masque of the Black Tulip. I am so behind on replies, and everything this week I could only ferret out two. But I think they are funny!

“Sir Percy Blakeny was running the most daring intelligence effort since Odysseus asked Agamemnon whether he thought the Trojans might like a large wooden horse.”

“They were dressed all in green – to blend in with the scenery Penelope had explained with relish – and resembled nothing so much as a troupe of lost leprechauns, or a bunch of frogs who had misplaced their lily pad.”

Payday Loan Website

May 2, 2009 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

Alright, so if you need a little extra cash you can always go the pay day loan route. Use caution of course, as you would with any system. But this website I stumbled upon while looking around looks good. They offer a nation wide program, that doesn’t require credit checks. The percentage charged on the fee is reasonable, and over all certainly seems to be one of the better payday loan places. So if you have an emergency car bill, or medical something of that nature. Head on over and give it a look. It is a promising website worth a glance.

Faxless Pay Day Loan

The Challenge Report

May 2, 2009 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

So here goes my over all update as of May 1st. I have read 15,533 pages so far this year.

And the challenges are looking like this:

Over all Challenge : 45 out of 125 WOOHOOO!

Chic Lit Challenge: added one more book to this pile of done. So I have read 3 of 6. Half done!

Dangerous Challenge: 2 more finnished on the dangerous challenge. 8 out of 12,doing good on this one!

Historical Fiction Challenge: 2 new books read on this challenge so 4 of 10. Thats progress I say.

Themed Book Challenge: 3 out of 6 done this month. Half way to getting this one done.

What’s in a Name Challenge: 2 books completed this month for this challenge. for a total of 3 out of 6, half done. I had meant to get another read, but it was pushed back to April.

Young Adult Challenge: No New Books Read for this one from last month. But I have a bunch scheduled this month. 3 of 12 books completed.

The Purple Booker

Reading is…Bigger on the inside