To Read, or Not To Read

Check out these great contests. If you have a contest you want listed email me @ loves2read54(at)yahoo(dot)com and I'll add it to the list.

The Story Snoops gives away a book every Friday http://storysnoops.com/

Whatt....more books is giving away Linger and the Sky is Everywhere
http://whatmorebooks.blogspot.com/2010/07/book-giveaway-ends-august-31-2010.html ends Aug 31

Sarah's Scribbles has ten prizes up for grabs ends Aug 31
http://sarahnfisk.blogspot.com/2010/08/end-of-summer-book-giveaway.html

Beck's Book Picks are giving away 20 signed copies of  Moon Rising by Laurie Bowler  ends Sept. 3, 2010
http://becksbookpicks.blogspot.com/2010/08/author-interview-giveaway.html

Good Coice Reading is giving away signed copies of the first three books in Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed series ends Sept. 3, 2010
http://goodchoicereading.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-boston-trip-giveaway.html

Kidsmomo is holding a Birthday Bash Book Giveaway open to kids under 18. They are giving away two p…

Title: Dracula, My Love
Author: Syrie James
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: July 20, 2010
Paperback, 427 pages
ISBN:  978-0-06-192303-6

Many have read and loved Bram Stoker’s Dracula. But questions remain. What is the true story of Dracula’s origin? What if Mina could not bring herself to record the true story of their scandalous affair—until now?


In Dracula, My Love: The Secret Journals of Mina Harker, Syrie James explores these questions and more. A vibrant dramatization, told from Mina’s point of view, brings to life the crucial parts of Stoker’s story while showcasing Mina’s sexual awakening and evolution as a woman, and revealing a secret that could destroy her life. Torn between two men—a loving husband and a dangerous lover—Mina struggles to hang on to the deep love she’s found within her marriage, even as she is inexorably drawn to Dracula himself—the vampire that everyone she knows is determined to destroy.

I picked this book because I love Dracula. It's true. …

Sunday Confessions is a weekly meme. It's a way to share a little bit about myself and to get to know my followers. This is all in good fun. So please feel free to comment. I look forward to your responses!!!!
I have not read Harry Potter. I can hear your gasps from here! LOL. It's true. I have all the Harry Potter books but I have not read them. Why? Because I love the movies.  I have a problem:   I am not a big fan of books that have been made into movies.  The books are always better and the movies, most of the time, are lacking.  I know once I read the Harry Potter books I will feel differently about the movies. Whenever I watch a movie based on a book, I can't help but compare the two. I go into the movie with certain expectations. I try to keep an open mind too, but sometimes I wonder if the directors/screen writers have even read the book they are making a movie of.  I could rant for hours on this subject, however this Sunday Confession is on books that made a good t…

Over the past few weeks I have been given a couple of awards. I think it's so double rainbow that you like my blog enough to give it an award.  I feel honored to have you all as followers and to follow you as well.  If you get a chance please visit these blogs:








Thank you to: Amanda from Another Book Junkie 
Yara Santos from Once Upon A Twilight Stephany from Stuck Between the Pages
Jackie from Housewife Blues & Chicuahua Stories Baily from IB Book Blogging

The awards come with some rules: 1. Accept the award. Post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.
2. Pay it forward to 15 other bloggers that you have newly discovered.

3. Contact those blog owners and let them know they've been chosen.

I pass both awards to these blogs:

1. The Zen Leaf
2. The Michelle Show
3. My Jane Austen Book Club
4. A Girl Reads A Book
5. Book Faery
6. I Heart Monster
7. The Naughty Book Kitties
8. The Smarty Owl
9. The Book Buff
10.  Roof Beam Reader
…

Where did the time go?  Since Sept. is right around the corner, it's time to get ready for my contest/giveaways around the blogging world post.  If you have a giveaway/contest  going on in Sept. let me know and I will help spread the word. Email me your giveaway details. Include prize, end date and a link to your giveaway. Please put Sept. Contest in the subject line.
My post will be up the first week of Sept. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. My email address is loves2read54(at)yahoo(dot)com.

As you might have read, I have had Bleak House sitting on my bookshelf for some time. I found this readalong and thought "What a great idea!" so I signed up for it. Then a couple day ago I thought "What have I done? How am I going to find time to read this?" Well, I finally found some quiet time time and I am glad I did! How did my first seven chapters of Bleak House go? Well I am glad you asked! 
I really liked the characters of Bleak House.  Esther is my favorite. My heart broke for her in the beginning. I look forward to seeing her character grow and develop more.  Mr. Skimpole is my least favorite. He drove me up the wall! Maybe it's because I know people like him in my life. People who don't take responsibility for their lives and expect other people to clean up the messes they made. GRRRRR  Anyway, Charles Dickens described London in such a way that I feel like I have been there.  In my mind I could see the streets, the fog, people walking on the sidew…

Title: A Season of Eden
Author: J.M. Warwick
Publisher: Grove Creek Publishing
Publication Date: October 20, 2008
Paperback, 248 pages
ISBN: 978-1-933963-90-7

He's my teacher. I shouldn't be alone with him. But I can't help that he's irresistible. I let the door silently close at my back. He stared at me, and a taut quiet stretched between us. "I like hearing you play," I said, moving toward him. He turned, in sync with my slow approach. He looked up at me but didn't say anything. I rested my clammy hand on the cold, slick body of the baby grand. "May I?" The muscles in his throat shifted, then he swallowed. "Eden." My knees weakened, like a soft tickling kiss had just been blown against the backs of them. "Is it okay?" I asked. His gaze held mine like two hands joined. He understood what I was really asking. "Let me stay," I said. "Please." "You're going to get me in trouble," he said.

I have…

Title: Mercy's Embrace: The Lady Must Decide
Author: Laura Hile
Publisher: Wytherngate Press
Publication Date: June 4, 2010
paperback, 208 pages
ISBN-10: 0-97288529-9-9, -13:978-0-9728529-9-9

As the news of Elizabeth Elliot's broken engagement becomes known, the storm of social disapproval descends and Elizabeth is left to wonder how she, with every claim to birth and beauty, has made such a muddle of her life. Even worse, why has dear Mr Gill suddenly become so distant? Patrick Gill has dropped many a hint that he is not the lowly clerk he has pretended to be, but Elizabeth Elliot will have none of it. His playful jest has gone too far, for him as well as for her. But her father has fled from his creditors, leaving her in disgrace. Now "Mr Gill" must force a meeting between Elizabeth and the man he truly is--Admiral McGillvary, a man she claims to despise.
Have I mentioned how much I have enjoyed this series?  This is third book in Laura Hiles's Mercy's Embra…

This is a follow up post to my Sunday Confessions.  Thank you to all the people who commented and voiced your opinions on this subject. I have lost a few followers but I've gained some as well. I am okay with that. I would rather you follow me because you like my blog and not for any other reason. Thanks for sticking with me! I promise I will not get too preachy. However I wanted to let you know about some cool book blog sites that are bringing attention to the censorship of books.

Adam from Roof Beam Reader has a Saturday Uncensored post.

 "This weekly post is meant to bring renewed attention to the still prevalently present practice (alliteration!) of challenging and censoring books - in our libraries, our schools, and elsewhere." - quote taken from Adam's blog

and

Donna from Bites is hosting Ban This!
Click on the button below to find out more info.






"As you may or may not be aware, the American Library Association's Banned Books Week is from September 25th t…

I was all set to do my Sunday Confessions post on another subject. However I came across some things this week that really ruffled my feathers: A YA author was uninvited to a book event because of the contents in her book and bloggers ragging on other bloggers about their book subject choices and/or genre choices.

It’s your purgative what you read. You should read what makes you happy. But do you have the right to make that decision for someone else? My answer is a big, fat NO. Take a second to think about this: A world where everyone reads the exact same thing and has the exact same opinions. Are you bored? I am. One thing I love about the book blogging world is visiting different blogs and seeing what they are reading. I have found some excellent books of all genres that way. Books I might not have known about otherwise. I also love reading the different opinions everyone has. You can agree or disagree on my reviews. It’s cool. We all have different opinions. It’s what makes the w…

Title: Mercy’s Embrace: So Lively A Chase.
Author: Laura Hile
Publisher: Wytherngate Press
Publication Date: November 25, 2009
Paperback, 214 pages
ISBN-10: 0-9728529-8-0


Twelve-thousand a year and an extensive estate can gild a sow's ear, or so Elizabeth Elliot has always supposed. But now that she's fallen for the dashing Patrick Gill, Elizabeth is almost ready to give up Mr. Rushworth's fortune. Painfully aware of her bruised pride and vulnerable heart, Elizabeth can only despise herself for loving so common a man. But it has never occurred to her that darling Mr. Gill guards a secret of his own--and that he might be responsible for her father's disappearance. So Lively a Chase is book 2 of Laura Hile's delightful series Mercy's Embrace: Elizabeth Elliot's story base on Jane Austen's Persuasion

This is the second part of a three part novel. Incase you missed my review of Book One So Rough A Course check it out here. I really enjoyed the second book. …

A couple years ago I watched Bleak House on PBS and LOVED it.  I bought the book with every intention of reading it for the past few years, but alas it just sat upon my shelf.  Early this week I came across The Zen Leaf blog and discovered that Amanda is doing a Bleak House readalong. I thought this would be a fun way to finally read this book. You can participate too, just sign up at the The Zen Leaf.  Here is the reading schedule:

Bleak House was originally published over the course of 19 months, in 20 installments (the last month being a double installment). Instead of spreading this out for 19 weeks, though, as that would take until Christmas, I think two installments per week would work. We would post on the following schedule:


Aug 25 - Chapters 1-7
Sept 1 - Chapters 8-13
Sept 8 - Chapters 14-19
Sept 15 - Chapters 20-25
Sept 22 - Chapters 26-32
Sept 29 - Chapters 33-38
Oct 6 - Chapters 39-46
Oct 13 - Chapters 47-53
Oct 20 - Chapters 54-59
Oct 27 - Chapters 60-67

I am so excited to have Lauren Hammond stopping by today on her blog tour. She is here promoting her latest novel Love Sucks.  Check out what Lauren has to say about her new novel:





The sun rises on the last day of your life just like any other, but nightfall lasts forever unless you are awake to it.

Love Sucks isn’t your typical vampire-romance novel. When I began writing Love Sucks, I wanted to create a character that not only I could relate to but, my readers could relate to as well. So from there, Cara Jones was born. I remember sitting down to write this and thinking from the very first paragraph, okay Lauren, You’re trapped in box, buried under the earth. How would you react? What would you do? I honestly think by putting myself in Cara shoes and feeling everything she feels, I was able to create a great, loveable character.

I wanted my readers to the same thing I did when they read Love Sucks. I wanted them to really put themselves in Cara’s shoes. I wanted them to feel everythi…

First I want to say thank you to everyone who entered this giveaway! An extra thank you to everyone who spread the word about this contest. You all ROCK!

In my contest post I said there would be FOUR winners, but I changed my mind. Instead of FOUR winners there will be EIGHT. That's right, you read that correctly there are EIGHT winners.



1. Lesley(confirmed) 2. Brittany(confirmed) 3. Elise(confirmed) 4. Lora1967 (confirmed) 5. Reena Jacobs (confirmed) 6. Amanda (confirmed) 7. Dee(Good Choice Reading) (confirmed) 8. Kelsey (confirmed) I will be contacting you be email shortly with instructions on how to claim your prize. If you didn't win this contest, check out Contest Around the Blogging World for other great giveaways.
* Don't forget to check your spam

Title: Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow
Author: Jessica Day George
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Publication Date: January 8, 2008
Harcover 328 pages
ISBN-10: 1-59990-109-9

Blessed—or cursed—with an ability to understand animals, the Lass (as she’s known to her family) has always been an oddball. And when an isbjorn (polar bear) seeks her out, and promises that her family will become rich if only the Lass will accompany him to his castle, she doesn’t hesitate. But the bear is not what he seems, nor is his castle, which is made of ice and inhabited by a silent staff of servents. Only a grueling journey on the backs of the four winds will reveal the truth: the bear is really a prince who’s been enchanted by a troll queen, and the Lass must come up with a way to free him before he’s forced to marry a troll princess.
This is the second book I have read by Jessica Day George. I have to say that I am a fan. I love her writing style. Her books are so easy to read and very entertaining. T…

I recently decided to add a new weekly feature to my blog called Sunday Confessions. I wanted to find a way to share a little about myself and learn more about my followers. Some of my topics will be book related, others not so much. This is all in good fun so please feel free to comment.

So without further ado, my first question is:

Who was your first supernatural/paranormal crush?
My first supernatural crush was Dracula played by Gary Oldman.



I was just a teenager when I first watched the movie Dracula and Gary Oldman rocked my world. I wanted to be Mina so bad. After I saw the movie I read the book. In the book Dracula is cold, cruel, and calculating. Although Gary Oldman did portray the character with some of these qualities, he was a lot more sensual. To this day my heart flutters a little every time I see him.

So now it's your turn. Who is your first supernatural/paranormal crush?

*pictures from photobucket

Title: Mercy's Embrace: So Rough A Course
Author: Laura Hile
Publisher: Wytherngate Press
Publication Date: March 21, 2009
Paperback 219 pages
ISBN: 10:0-9728529-7-2

Twenty-nine winters' revolving frosts have brought no change to Miss Elliot's matrimonial state.
Elizabeth Elliot is as beautiful as ever, yet no gentleman of proper stature has requested her hand. Lady Russell claims she is too particular, but Elizabeth begs to differ. She is not about to settle for a gentleman of no distinction like her sister Mary. Nor will she follow her heart and marry a commoner with no title but Captain--that was Anne's mistake. As for romance and the tender stirrings of the heart, why, only a simpleton would fall prey to such foolishness! But when the proud Miss Elliot encounters a pair of smiling Irish eyes in a most unsuitable man of vulgar connections, she is tempted to change her opinion. Almost. Jane Austen's beloved Persuasion provides the backdrop for this delightful romp set i…