Random Stuff #2

Another week gone by and another chance for my weekly post filled with some randomness. This is the little random things that is not big enough for a post of their own but still worth talking about.  BUT BE WARNED, these posts might contain really silly stuff :)

1.  Saw SALT with Angelina Jolie this past week.  You can say what you want about her but she is one of the most beautiful women in the world in my opinion.  Even when the movie started and she had blond hair (blond hair!) she was still beautiful.  I enjoyed this action drama but hubby got up halfway to get us some tea and cookies.  Not a good sign when he watches a movie.  I think there was too little action for his taste.  We did guess who the baddy was early on but these days we expect that the writers are trying to fool us and always start  for looking for signs early on :)

2. Oh, the joys of potty training!  Poor little Roxy is just not getting it.  I can't remember having such a struggle with SPUD. I know it has only been two weeks but really - shouldn't she be getting it right some of the time?  I have now begun taking her outside every time she wakes up but still she has "accidents".  Don't know if it is really accidents - she seems to have quite a stubborn personality!  Maybe she just wants ro show me who is boss.  :)

3.  I have started a new cross stitch  project (shhh, don't tell hubby it's ANOTHER new start). It is something that doesn't have color changes and will just be a relaxing experience.  It is called The Bramble and The Rose.  Here is what it looks like:

 
4.  I think I have at last figured twitter out.  Well at least I got myself signed up and have made my first few tweets :)  I am sure there is a million things I don't know yet but at least I have started.

New giveaway's are posted on my BLOG CANDY tab.  Check it out here.  There are some wonderful books up for grabs.

I got the opportunity to host my first ever giveaway earlier this week.  yay!!  Please take a look and please enter  - you can find it here.

Blog Hop and Follow my Book Blog Friday

Hi and Welcome to my blog. If you are here for the first time on the BLOG HOP, I hope you enjoy your stay :)  My book reviews cover a wide variety of books, so I hope you will take a look around.  I also have a wonderful GIVEAWAY running for a change to win PEARLS IN THE SAND, so check that out here.  More competitions can be found on my BLOG CANDY tab at the top of the page.

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read! So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPIN.  (If you click on the logo, you will get to the site with the "Mr Linky")

This week's question:   Post a link to a favorite post or book review that you have written in the past three months.
This is a easy question for me this week.  My favorite review has to be the one I did for WILDTHORN - I just loved this book.  You can find it here.  It was such a simple book but just touched me in a strange way :)







To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list (the Mr Linky is on Parajunkee's blog)
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers - http://readingangel002.blogspot.com
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thingie (again on Parajunkee's blog).
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can.
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!  

Parajunkee's question for the week:  eBook or Print
I live in South Africa, so it is really hard finding the book you want sometimes, so this was an easy choice for me.  LOVE my kindle :)  And buying with one click is way too easy for me :)

Happy Follow Friday!

*********

GIVEAWAY for Pearl in the Sand by Tessa Afshar

Can a Canaanite harlot who has made her livelihood by looking desirable to men make a fitting wife for one of the leaders of Israel? Shockingly, the Bible's answer is yes. At the age of fifteen Rahab is forced into prostitution by her beloved father. In her years as a courtesan, she learns to mistrust men and hate herself. Into the emotional turmoil of her world walks Salmone, a respected leader of Judah. Through the tribulations of a stormy relationship, Rahab and Salmone learn the true source of one another's worth in God and find healing from fear and rejection.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

As this is my first book giveaway , I will keep the rules simple:

1.) There will be three winners, U.S and Canadian entries only (sorry). These will be sent out directly from the publisher.

2.) You must be follower of this blog.

3.) You must leave a comment on this post with an e-mail address where I can contact you.

4.) Deadline for this giveaway is: Sunday September 19th.  I will draw winners on the 20th of September 2010.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

+5 for being an old follower

+3 for being a new follower

+5 for spreading the word about this giveaway - posting to any other social media sites like your blog,

Twitter, Facebook or other social media sites (remember to leave your links)

Good luck!

 

Book Review: Perfect ONE-DISH Dinners by Pam Anderson

Title: Perfect ONE-DISH Dinners
Author: Pam Anderson
Genre: Cookbook
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date: 20 September 2010

Blurb:

In Perfect One-Dish Dinners, the New York Times best-selling author Pam Anderson shares her secret for having people over without breaking stride: Ma ...more

In Perfect One-Dish Dinners, the New York Times best-selling author Pam Anderson shares her secret for having people over without breaking stride: Make just one dish. Instead of a parade of offerings, she focuses attention on a single main course—a rustic tart, paella,grilled platter, or homey stew. Perfect One-Dish Dinners showcases about forty such meals, perfect for every season and occasion, all designed to wow guests, calm the cook, and relieve the dishwasher at the end of the night.

Stews for All Seasons

Worldly Casseroles

Roasting Pan Complete 

Big Summer Salads and Grilled Platters

But that’s not all. If the cook wants to make something extra, Pam provides a compatible appetizer, salad, and dessert for every one dish. And as a special bonus, she throws in “nearly instant” alternatives for each—more than 200 mixable, matchable recipes. Whether for a book group, church get together, birthday party, or family supper, Perfect One-Dish Dinners makes easy, shareable meals perfectly doable.  

My thoughts: 

What beautiful photos this cookbook has!  They are sparklingly clear - almost edible. I love that in a cookbook - I want to see what the finished dish will look like.  I have been swayed by a picture more than once when the ingredients have not jumped out at me.  The recipes are mostly simple and are written in a clear, straightforward way.  There are no strange ingredients that you will have to go in search of.  I just loved how Ms Anderson gives you options to vary the recipe and also suggestions for desserts or appetizers to go with the main dish.  That is a real help in my home.

I received this book for review from the publisher.  The opinions expressed are my own and I wasn't influenced in any way.

This review was also added to GOODREADS, BOOK BLOGS and AMAZON.com.

Random Stuff #1

I thought I would start a weekly post just filled with randomness . . . little random things that is not big enough for a post of their own but still worth talking about.  BUT BE WARNED, these posts might contain really silly stuff :)

1.  First of all come do a happy dance with me!  If you have been reading my blog for a bit, you would have gotten the idea that I LOVE my kindle and eBooks in general.  You would also have noticed my personal gripe with Amazon for having to pay that dreadful $2 fee on all books (yeah, yeah, they are quivering in their boots, I know).  So imagine my joy when I got a book for $0.00.  A free book that is actually free!!  And to top it off - it's a biography!  I am now rejuivenated to try and find more.  If you are also an international kindle user and you find a similar bargain - please share!  Here is the link to Cybill Disobedience.

                            

2. I recently joined another book review community called netGALLEY. What a wonderful site! Here you can request books from the publisher for review on you web or blog sites. I requested WILDTHORN and received it the very next day. So I had the oppertunity to write my first real review - you can find it here.  All very exciting.  I hope to do many more :)

3.  Laughter is watching your six week old puppy trying to reverse out of the bath while she is having her first bath.  If only I had another pair of hands, I could have taken a photo - it was priceless.   After giving my two babies a bath, I was soaked as well but now they are just coconut-ty fresh :)  I just love pressing my nose into their necks for that "just bathed doggy smell :)

4.  The first week of the September Spectacular Challenge is also past - one book down and three more to go :)  I got my book review submitted in time, so maybe . . . hey, I have to win something someday . . . just have to keep trying.  Anyway, I seem to be super unlucky when it comes to competitions - I have never ever won anything :)

5.  Talking about give-aways, I posted two new ones on my BLOG CANDY tab.  Check it out here.  There are some wonderful books up for grabs. 

Well enough for now.  Got some blog-visiting to do :)  Have a great Sunday!

Book Blogger Hop

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read! So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPIN.  (If you click on the logo, you will get to the site with the "Mr Linky")

This week's question:  Do you judge a book by its cover?
Yep, I guess I do.  A beautiful cover will always draw my eye and I will want to know what the story is about.  If I don't care for the blurb, I won't take it further but the cover will be what draws me to click on the title.
 

Book Review: Wildthorn by Jane Eagland

Title: Wildthorn

Author: Jane Eagland

Edition: Paperback (my version was an eBook)

Genre: YA Paranormal History

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Publication date: 06 September 2010

Blurb:
Seventeen-year-old Louisa Cosgrove longs to break free from her respectable life as a Victorian doctor's daughter. But her dreams become a nightmare when Louisa is sent to Wildthorn Hall: labeled a lunatic, deprived of her liberty and even her real name. As she unravels the betrayals that led to her incarceration, she realizes there are many kinds of prison. She must be honest with herself - and others - in order to be set free. And love may be the key...

My thoughts:
 I do not usually read YA novels but sometimes a story just calls to you no matter what genre it is. And this was the case with Wildthorn. Although it is not a true story, it could just have been. Young girls in the early 1800’s had no real rights and were at the mercy of the men in their families. It was not uncommon to hear of a "troublesome" girl put in Victorian insane asylum when her family did not want to deal with her or the “problems” anymore.

Our story begins with Louisa Cosgrave's journey to be employed at Wildthorn Estate as a companion to girl her own age – or so she thinks. She soon wakes up to the reality of her betrayal when she find herself at Wildthorn, but not the estate she hoping for.  But she is expected . . . and there is no employment waiting. And they insist on calling her Lucy Childs . . .

The story alternates between the present and flashbacks of certain events in Louisa's life. Throughout the book, we are kept in the dark. Are these really Louisa’s memories or is it just Lucy's mind playing tricks on her?

The descriptions of life in the asylum was hard to read although I don't doubt for a minute that it is true to life.  I have read a few historical novels but this was the first book where young women were thought crazy when they wanted to learn.  A scary idea.

The story constantly hints at the different people that might be responsible for sending Louisa to this terrible place but I have to admit that the true culprit was a surprise to me.

I really enjoyed this book - it was a quick and entertaining read and I would recommend it highly.

I received this book for review from the publisher.  The opinions expressed are my own and I wasn't influenced in any way.

This review was also added to GOODREADS, BOOK BLOGS and AMAZON.com.