Teaser & Review of Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper

Teaser Tuesday

On Kindle from Chapter 2

Everybody uses words to express themselves. Except me. And I bet most people don’t realize the real power of words. But I do.


Description

Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always. And there's no delete button. She's the smartest kid in her whole school—but no one knows it. Most people—her teachers and doctors included—don't think she's capable of learning, and up until recently her school days consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows . . . but she can't, because Melody can't talk. She can't walk. She can't write. Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind—that is, until she discovers something that will allow her to speak for the first time ever. At last Melody has a voice . . . but not everyone around her is ready to hear it. Get ready to meet a girl whose voice you'll never, ever forget.


My Review

Amazon sent this one as a recommendation and the summary reminded me of my all time favourite Dibs, In Search of Self. This one gets 5 stars, a motivating story of hope and how you look at yourself and all those around us that are different.

Melody is eleven years old and has Cerebral Palsy and has a photographic memory, so she is brilliant, but unfortunately no one knows it accept her mom. Her mom is a true advocate for Melody beyond just being her mom and showing her love. She had to fight Doctors, teachers, people in general, those that you think will have the Melody’s future in mind just wrote her off, but even if she didn’t, Melody would have made her voice heard eventually. All the characters were so true, you loved many and wanted to shout at others but the whole time enjoying Melody, not feeling sorry for her as a handicapped child even though your heart broke at times, but Melody’s was also.

Out of My Mind is told from the view point of Melody, so we get to hear the genuine, honest voice, the attitude, the love, the sadness and the hard part of just growing up. You fall in love with her spirit immediately, she is like normal children and the book was remarkable on making sure you looked her as an individual, not a handicapped or learning disabled child.

This is a very motivating, touching story which I loved. I would recommend it to anyone especially children, teachers and parents that have interactions with mentally challenged, learning disabled children. If we took the time to appreciate and find the strength in others, life would be happier and more fulfilling.

I love walking away from a book feeling good.

I give it a 5 – Tea Time Perfection

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I confess....... Love my Kindle more than books

So friends......... I must confess I am in LOVE with my Kindle. My partner tells me I am having an affair on him, lol

When I read a book now I actually miss my Kindle and wish I was reading on it instead of holding the book. WOW, can you believe it.

I totally thought I would never give up the joy of holding and reading a real book but I'm there. The Kindle has allowed me to venture out of my norm and try different genre's, etc that I would not have bought to try. Some of favourites this year, the Wake trilogy, Verse novels by Lisa Schroder, The Wednesday Letters.

The best part is I am a mood reader so the idea of saying I want to read "this" and being able to download and start reading it immeidately is a magical feeling.

I personally think Kindle prices are good and would be willing to pay $15 for a brand new book when the hardcover is over $20. I have to say I do love a hardcover and this is why the price is not an issue for me. Plus I have downloaded 4 free books of interest. So $9.99 being the norm is great, no complaints from me.

And my personal Bonus - The built in Dictionary, WOW, I never would stop reading to look up a word but with it right there it was to easy for me not to use. And now while reading a book and it happens I am immediately irritated that I can't use the feature.

I definitely still miss the cover of the book but now that I am blogging I have my current read on my sidebar and that is good enough for me. I also feel like I read faster on my Kindle.

So that is my confession blogging friends, you can shoot me if you want :-) I'm guilty as charged and extremely happy about it.

If it wasn't for Book Depository I would have gave up buying books anyway because Bermuda is WAY to expensive.

This is my initial review on the Kindle if interested. http://teawithmarce.blogspot.com/search?q=review+kindle&updated-max=2010-03-11T10%3A44%3A00-04%3A00&max-results=20





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Review - Twisted by Andrea Kane

TwistedPublished August 2009

New York Times bestselling novelist Andrea Kane leads you down a dark and twisted alleyway, littered with drugs, kidnapping and murder. Navigating expertly between the mind of a deranged serial killer and the FBI special agents racing to end his lethal spree, Kane delivers a complex, unforgettable story based on extensive research with the FBI and its Crisis Negotiation and Behavioral Analysis Units.

My Review

What a beautiful but edgy thriller. Andrea Kane is amazing with her pace, every page keeps you captivated, and every chapter matters, as you read, it makes you feel like you are a part of the dangerous and shocking investigation. This was my first by Andrea Kane, glad to have found a new author I thoroughly enjoyed.

Everything I love about a book was included – great story line, passion from the characters, on the edge of your seat with suspense from the dangerous feeling of what will happen next and I didn’t figure out the killer, I totally had the wrong person. The Serial Killer speaks throughout the book and just leaves a chilling feeling on you, sick twisted mind, at the end you completely understand how Kane chose “Twisted” as the title. The main character Sloan, an ex FBI agent is employed as a consultant now and is hired to find a childhood friend. Sloan is surprised by who she has to work with...... Derek, an ex lover , who is a FBI agent that becomes in charge of the investigation. This meeting was the start of the intense dynamics between them, a great romance, not too much to take away from the thriller, but their relationship was captivating, I loved how they interacted, in and out of the bedroom.

When all starts to connect you are so excited to be a part of it (really it makes you feel like you are there. GREAT GREAT READ!!!!! Highly recommend.

My only issue is I felt it was raced to wrap up at the end. I can totally see this as a movie, it gave me the same feeling ‘Silence of the Lambs’ gave me when I watched it, and that is a all time favourite movie.

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I give it a 4 1/2 Great to the Last Drop

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Have you read any of her work? Recommendations please.......

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NOTE - This was my first review in Oct when I began blogging, no followers then so I decided to repost when I realised the next book was out, I totally missed that.

Drawn in Blood Published September 2009

New York Times bestselling author Andrea Kane returns with an amazing new FBI thriller, one that takes us into the high-profile—and high stakes—world of art crime. There, nothing is as it seems: friends become traitors, lovers become strangers . . . and the battle lines are Drawn in Blood.

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Review - Dead Game by Jennifer Chase on Kindle

My Review

I love a good serial killer story, this one could have got 5 from me if it gave gruesome details and had me on the edge of my seat, but it didn’t. I think this is a perfect read for those that enjoy a thriller but want the G rated version. The concept of the story made me think of the movies Saw, so I was excited to read it but without the details I felt cheated. The good thing is I loved the characters, so much so that I will go back and read Jennifer Chase’s first novel Compulsion, so I can understand where Emily Stone began and why she went into hiding. Dead Game was definitely a standalone though.

Emily Stone is a phantom detective, she breaks unsolved crimes and gives the police department all what is needed to arrest serial killers, specifically pedophiles . She is passionate about her work and great at it. No one knows who she is and many think it is an urban legend that someone is assisting the police.

Here is a teaser “The despicable child pedophiles and murderers that walked freely among society, with their thoughts of killing the innocent in order to feel alive, made her potentially callous nature come alive with hatred and disgust.”

Emily gets pulled into a different kind of investigation, searching for the new serial killer that has a voyeuristic style, he likes to watch his victims die a slow death and records the death in order to watch over and over simultaneously. There is one connection which they call the EagleEye – and when the video game is over, it means you’re dead. Behind the techy game is a social community for serial killers, just creepy and sick but again, I’m weird I guess because I wanted the details.

So this was a good thriller, I think those that don’t like the gruesome details or don’t want to be afraid will love this one. I definitely enjoyed it just wanted more.

I give it a 4 – Good to the last drop

The 1st in the series - Compulsion Summary

Compulsion is her debut suspense thriller novel about a woman named Emily Stone, who tracks down child serial killers on the West coast. She uses her police background and natural ability to get inside the criminal mind in order to gather detailed, on-the-scene evidence. In doing so, she stealthily tracks down the most deplorable pedophiles and serial killers. Then, she anonymously sends her information to the police detective in charge of the case, and another monster is swiftly taken off the streets. Her secret identity is imperative not only for her protection, but to ensure that her hunt will continue uninterrupted. But, when two brazen serial killers are terrorizing women right in Emily’s hometown, she gets too close to the action. She becomes the hunted and must rely on help from a handsome local police detective.

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Teaser Tuesday - Dead Game by Jennifer Chase

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MixB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can playTeaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MixB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following and go here to participate: http://shouldbereading.workpress.com/

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) 'teaser' sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser is from Dead Game - An Emily Stone Novel by Jennifer Chase

Cover is on my sidebar.

64% on Kindle

His desire grew to feel their terror, to witness their last attempt to beg for their dwindling life, and ultimately feel the life slowly dissipate, transferring into his soul. That thought made his nights sleepless, and activated the lost, restless souls of his past victims to prowl around behind him.

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Review - 13th Hour, a Thriller in Reverse

12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-13^th Hour

You are not mistaken, as you turn to the next page and find Chapter 12.

The Chapters in this book are in reverse order and are to be read that way for reason that will become evident upon your journey.

That was the author’s note, what an amazing way to start.

A thriller in reverse, it was action packed and every chapter/hour had suspense with cliffhangers. It was brilliant, always a consequence for Nick’s actions and decisions, I couldn’t wait for what’s next. Nick has to solve the mystery not knowing who to turn to because as he quickly learning there are corrupt cops involved and a plane crash to keep all the powers to be busy, no time for a crazy man that knows the future. And the story starts with Nick himself being suspected of murdering his own wife.

This was a thriller love story – a “what would you do if given a 2^nd chance or 12 chances to save the one you love”. Some choices caused a domino effect and were worst then losing his wife but luckily Nick had another opportunity, the power to change. Many times you ask yourself is fate reversible, Nick could have been lied to, made to look like a fool but to live without his wife was not a choice for him but putting himself and others at risk wasn’t the plan either.

I am not a huge fan of time travel but I enjoyed the hourly intervals, it was very mysterious, I definitely enjoyed this one.

4 ½ Great to the Last Drop

I am including this one in for the Thriller and Suspense Challenge

Another Review

When I read Michelle’s review on this I knew I had to read it. Go to her blog, Red Headed Book Child to read it.

http://redheadedbookchild.blogspot.com/2009/12/review-30-13th-hour-by-richard-doetsch.html

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BTT - Half way, give up or complete book

Please leave a comment and go here to participate
http://btt2.wordpress.com/2010/05/06/half/


So … you’re halfway through a book and you’re hating it. It’s boring. It’s trite. It’s badly written. But … you’ve invested all this time to reading the first half.
What do you do? Read the second half? Just to finish out the story? Find out what happens?
Or, cut your losses and dump the second half?


When it is not my cup of tea there is no way I am finishing it. I do not have time to waste and also stay up very late to read so sleep is more important than finishing a bad book.

I have wanted to know the ending so will read the last 2 chapters and feel like I finished, yes I cheated, only with 2 books though, I was bored with the characters or bored with the 5 page description before a 1 sentence reply, ugggh hate that.

When I buy a book I consider was bad I think to myself "if I finish this I just paid to punish myself" I will it just pass it on because there is always someone else that will enjoy it.

I enjoy reading approximately 1 book a week, a bad book would take me weeks to finish and probably would put me in a reading slump.

Nope, I will not punish myself.


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Let's Talk about Reading Slumps....

Do you ever getting in a reading slump? Have you figured out why?

It is hard when I find myself staring at a book and the pages might as well be blank because I just can't seem to get into the story or I am reading paragraphs over and over. I know it's not the books fault, and not that I am not enjoying the author's style of writing, I am just in a reading slump!

We all go through periods where we just can't seem to read with our usual enthusiasm right..... I think many of us get in a reading slump because we are overwhelmed with the HUGE TBR list we have, so it may not be a reading slump at all but Decisions Decisions Decisions……..

But there can be many reasons as to why a slump starts, from life is just too busy, work, school, children or even health issues.

However, when we find that great book that got us out of the slump, we are enjoying our favourite past time again.

What book would you recommend, is there 1 specific book, author, genre that will always get you out of your slump? Also do you have a favourite book that you re-read that gets you out of the slump?

So let's talk... share your experiences and how you managed to overcome.

If you choose to respond in your own blog, please include my post and link.

Mary Higgins Clark would be the author for me, she is so consistent, I have never been let down. And this is why she is my favourite author.

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The book I will re-read when I just can’t choose or need to read a
motivating story would be Dibs, In Search of Self, my all time favourite.

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And most recently it was Gods Behaving Badly, just different from my norm and funny. I have recommended this one to other bloggers to get out of their reading slump.

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& Books in Verse, this is new to me but definitely great for Reading Slumps, I recommended them here. http://teawithmarce.blogspot.com/2010/03/reviews-of-books-in-verse-for-recommend.html

Thanks for visiting Tea Time with Marce, would love for you to comment and participate.

Teaser Tuesday - The 13th Hour

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MixB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following and go here to participate: http://shouldbereading.workpress.com/

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) 'teaser' sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This thriller/suspense is told in reverse from Chapter 12. You can see cover on my sidebar.

My Teaser

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Chapter 5, Hardcover, page 167

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"How many people live in the moment? A few? How many people live for tomorrow at the sacrifice of today?" "... When tomorrow is never a guarantee."

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I am really enjoying this one so far, will have review up by end of week.

Thanks for visiting Tea Time with Marce