No Books or Kindle allowed on vacation

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I was telling my partner how I have to review a book and post it and his response was WHEN, while we are on vacation, Your taking books????  He has been joking that I am having an affair with my Kindle but I don't think he will pleased with this for the trip, maybe I can get away with reading on the plane.

So, to be fair, we have been begging for time together, no children, no parents, no siblings, no work, no responsibility other than having fun with each other and watching the World Cup final games.  We are both fans.

So I am really considering not taking my kindle or a book, OMG.  It is only 5 days but usually I can finish 2 books while on short holidays without our 3 year old. 

We go away next Thursday, I need to finish Horns by Joe Hill, probably will on Friday and going to try and finish A Note from an Old Acquaintance before we go, July 7 is suppose to be my review date anyway. 

Plus I wanted to read To Kill a Mockingbird and have review up for July 11, the anniversary but this doesn't seem possible right now.

I am feeling a little stressed about this, that so says I am addicted to my books and blogging about them.  :-)

Do you feel my pain?  :-0

Thanks for visiting Tea Time with Marce

Teaser Tuesday - Horns by Joe Hill

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MixB of Should Be Reading. 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.wordpress.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 Horns by Joe Hill

On Kindle at 43%

But then there was that secondary shadow image, dark and featureless, which kept twitching in and out of existence.  This second version of himself was without horns - an image not of who he was but of who he had been.  It was like watching his own soul trying to pry itself free from the demon to which it was anchored.


I look forward to reading your teaser. 

Thanks for visiting Tea Time with Marce

Thoughts on my 3 star ratings & Abandoned Books

My June reading has not been good and it made me look at my ratings and the books.  All different categories, so that was good not like all YA or something.  I definitely don’t think dystopian genre is for me though.

3 = More Sugar Please

To be clear now, 3 really means I could have done without reading it, just wasn’t my cup of tea.  But that Not my Cup of Tea rating is only a 2 on my blog and I realize I abandon those books and consider trying to complete them.  I also feel a 2 is really low if I completed the book so will continue with rating 3.  I want my readers to understand it is my opinion and taste not that the book was terrible and I wouldn’t recommend to others, the 1’s and 2’s would be in that category.

What I will do is if I abandon a book for more than a month I will rate it and move on. 

This is what I need opinions on please….

I am wondering if I should give up ½ ratings.  Amazon doesn’t allow ½ ratings and LibraryThing does.  Some 3 ½’s will become 3’s and others 4’s.   I need more time to think about this, what do you think?

These are the books that weren’t my cup of tea but I know others will enjoy and if they are on your TBR list I say give them a try.  I can honestly say I probably won’t read another book by the author either.

1. Sexaholics by Pynk  (note – I abandoned for a few days then completed it)
2. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
3. Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher
4. The Prisoner's Wife by Asha Bandele
5. Uglies, Scott Westerfield

These are my 3 ½ rated books, I will put in order of my enjoyment.  They get 3 ½ because there was parts of the book I LOVED in some way.  I will definitely read more books by them.

1.  Happiness Sold Separately, Lolly Winston 3 1/2 stars
2. Such a Pretty Girl, Laura Wiess 3 1/2 stars
3. Heartsick by Chelsea Cain 3 1/2 stars
4. Push by Sapphire 3 1/2 stars
5. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk 3 1/2 stars
6. Gone by Lisa McMann 3 1/2 stars
7. The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers 3 1/2 stars
8. Halo Effect by M J Rose 3 1/2 stars

If not completed by end of year, I will rate accordingly, this is what I think will be best.  I may do a 1 year abandoned books post at the end of each year. These are the 2 books I have abandoned so far and may or may not complete.  If you have read them and feel the ending was great I should read it, please post your review in the comments.

The Pleasure Was Mine by Tommy Hays

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The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore

So my questions are:

Should I give up ½ ratings?

How do you do reviews on books you have abandoned?

Thanks for visiting Tea Time with Marce

Booking Through Thursday - Reading Reviews

Go over to BTT to participate - http://btt2.wordpress.com/

Do you read book reviews? Do you let them change your mind about reading/not reading a particular book?

My main reason to have started blogging was in order to read book reviews, comment and add to my TBR list. It is the best way to find similar taste between bloggers also. Before blogging I didn't really read reviews because I wasn't that open to what I would read. I was a Mary Higgins Clark fan and pretty much that was it :-0 shocking I know.

Have I allowed reviews to change my mind, Absolutely. The most recent - I put Numbers by Rachel Ward on my Wishlist and was so excited by the concept, couldn't wait for it to be released, then numerous reviews have been kind of iffy and bloggers disappointed, so I deleted that one from my LibraryThing listing.

There are to many great books to go into one expecting it not to be great, I choose my books hoping for them all to be great not just 'ok'. Of course there are reviews you read that you have to make your own judgment on if you will try it because we are all so different, that is what is great about blogging.

I find Amazon does a great job on sending me recommendations according to what I rate also and I enjoy the variety of reviews there.

I appreciate all comments.

Thanks for visiting Tea Time with Marce

Review - The Murderer's Daughters on Kindle

My Review – 3 1/2 More Sugar Please

When I first read the summary of this story I was completely intrigued, I love a good dysfunctional family story and also multiple voices telling the story. I enjoyed the emotional journey of the girls growing up and how they dealt with the fact that their father destroyed his life and their life. Lulu pretended her parents died in a car crash while holding on to guilt and Merry visited her father in jail and suffered silently. BUT, I have to say this one was a little choppy to me, I was disappointed, it felt like to much was going on but not enough detail or detail and you was wondering why the author was giving it. The story was in 3 parts and just didn’t flow for me. It was over 37 years, as children, young adults and then as mom and aunt.

Part 1 – the incident, you meet the mom, dad and sisters and the in-laws. Everyone deals with death differently, in my mind, no right or wrong but of course a lot of hurt and inappropriate comments. The girls heard whispers of ‘they are the murderer’s daughters’.

Part 2 – I loved it, felt kind of Grey’s Anatomy like with the emotional chaos.

Part 3 – I really enjoyed parts and not quite others and then just didn’t feel like the ending touched me in anyway.

I would be interested to see how Randy Susan Meyers grows as an author, this was a good try in my opinion.

NOTE – I haven’t been happy with my June reading, sigh. I picked up Horns by Joe Hill (son of Stephen King) and I am loving it, only on Chapter 8 so hopefully a good ending to the month.

Extended Book Summary

A beautifully written, compulsively readable debut that deals with the aftermath of a shocking act of violence that leaves two young sisters with nothing but each other—in the tradition of White Oleander, this haunting novel is a testament to the power of family and the ties that bind us together, even as they threaten to tear us apart

Mama was “no macaroni-necklace-wearing kind of mother.” She was a lipstick and perfume-wearing mother, a flirt whose estranged husband still hungered for her. After Mama threw him out, she warned the girls to never let Daddy in the house, an admonition that tears at ten-year-old Lulu whenever she thinks about the day she opened the door for her drunken father, and watched as he killed her mother, stabbed her five-year-old sister Merry and tried to take his own life.

Effectively orphaned by their mother’s death and father’s imprisonment, Lulu and Merry, unwanted by family members and abandoned to a terrifying group home, spend their young lives carrying more than just the visible scars from the tragedy. Even as their plan to be taken in by a well-to-do foster family succeeds, they come to learn they’ll never really belong anywhere or to anyone—that all they have to hold onto is each other.

As they grow into women, Lulu holds fast to her anger, denies her father’s existence and forces Merry into a web of lies about his death that eventually ensnares her own husband and daughters. Merry, certain their safety rests on placating her needy father, dutifully visits him, seeking his approval and love at the expense of her own relationships. As they strive to carve lives of their own, the specter of their father, unrepentant and manipulative even from behind bars, haunts them. And when they learn he’s about to be paroled, the house of cards they’ve built their lives on teeters on the brink of collapse.

Thanks for visiting Tea Time with Marce

Author Guest Post by Bill Walker, A Note from an Old Acquaintance

I would like to thank Bill Walker for coming over to Tea Time with Marce. Please enjoy.....

I'll start off this post by asking a silly question: Is setting really that important? I mean couldn't most books work just about anywhere? Okay, that was two questions, but even though the answer seems obvious, many writers often consider setting in a lesser light than their human characters. Yet, one would never even think to set a book like Gone With The Wind in Brooklyn, would they? For that book the setting was as important as any of the human characters. I'd even go so far as to say the setting in GWTW is a character, a living breathing part of the book.

For my novel, A Note from an Old Acquaintance, Boston is an integral part of the story. I used it because I spent many years living there and am intimately familiar with it. It was a natural choice because it goes back to that hoary old piece of writing advice: "Write what you know." And while it's true many fine books are written by authors who conduct exhaustive research, there is no substitute for having "been there and done that."

So, how does one make one's settings more vivid without overdoing it? My best advice is to use just a few choice words to describe the room. This isn't the 19th century, where readers expected to be told every little agonizing measurement and detail. Instead, what contemporary writers do is weave those choice words into the narrative as they go along. Modern readers are far more visual and sophisticated and will fill in the spaces in their minds. In that sense, writing has become more cinematic. The other important part of setting is mood, the "feel" of the place. What is the atmosphere like in that room you're writing about? Here are a couple of examples:

Sherry wanted to cry when she first saw the inn's romantic attic room. It smelled of cinnamon and roses, mixed with the salty tang of the sea air billowing the homespun curtains. Late afternoon sun pooled on the scuffed slatted floor where dust motes swirled in the golden light; and the quilt-covered four-poster bed, nestled into the only corner of the room that was truly square, sagged in the middle, like an old swaybacked nag. She smiled, wondering how many honeymooners had spent their days and nights in it? Sherry squeezed her new husband's hand, knowing the island's rustic charms would have to wait a few days while they gave that saggy old bed a workout it would never soon forget.

Or this:

The single bare bulb cast a weak, jaundiced light around Mr. Hammond's basement, a light that did nothing to dispel the shadows or his fear. Jimmy tried the ropes again, but only succeeded in tightening the knot, something the old man had told him would happen. His tears had long-since dried, and his eyes felt puffy and gritty. But that wasn't the worst part. It was the crumbling moss-coated brick walls that seemed to close in on him and the hard dirt floor darkened by his urine. He could smell it now, the sting of ammonia tickling his nose. There was another smell, too. It came from the dark-red effluence congealing on the porcelain mortician's table with the drain in the center. All that was left of his buddy, Paul. Tears leaked from his eyes again and his nose began to run. He should have left the old man alone. He should have tried to earn money some other way. Now, he was going to end up like Paul...like the corpse of that dead rat rotting in the corner.

Both of these passages give very different impressions of the setting without going into too much detail. It's those kinds of images you want to convey to enhance whatever setting you choose. Done with care and finesse, proper setting can be a powerful force that together with plot and character will propel your story along in the readers mind and keep them turning those pages. And that's what all writers want.

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Book Summary

Brian Weller is a haunted man. It's been two years since the tragic accident that left his three-year-old son dead and his wife in an irreversible coma. A popular author of mega- selling thrillers, Brian's life has reached a crossroads: his new book is stalled, his wife's prognosis is dire, and he teeters on the brink of despair. Everything changes the morning an e- mail arrives from Boston artist Joanna Richman. Her heartfelt note brings back all the poignant memories: the night their eyes met, the fiery passion of their short- lived affair, and the agonizing moment he was forced to leave Joanna forever. Now, fifteen years later, the guilt and anger threaten to overwhelm him. Vowing to make things right, Brian arranges a book- signing tour that will take him back to Boston. He is eager to see Joanna again, but remains unsure where their reunion will lead. One thing is certain: the forces that tore their love asunder will stop at nothing to keep them apart. Filled with tender romance and taut suspense, A Note from an Old Acquaintance is an unforgettable story about fate, honor, and the power of true love.

And the Winner is.........

Thanks again to Teri Coyne for giving this book to my winner, who is:

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Book Quoter - http://bookquotes-bookquotes.blogspot.com/

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I used Random.org and #2 came up.

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Thanks for visiting Tea Time with Marce

Review - Sexaholics by Pynk

Summary

Miki, Valencia, Teela Raye, and Brandi share one thing...they are all addicted to sex. United through Sexaholics Anonymous, these women try to recover from their dependence on wild, spontaneous, and even sometimes, dangerous sex. From girl on girl, to sex in public, they have done it all! Led by Dr. Rachel Cummings, each woman takes the first step to recovery by sharing her biggest sexual act with the group. SEXAHOLICS takes readers through the outrageous experiences of four women on their long path to success.

My Review

So I wanted something light and easy to read cause it was the start of World Cup. I got much more than I bargained for OMG this was XXX rated, porn in a book. And when watching porn you don't get through it all, right....

The story started with the women in Sexaholics Anonymous and they shared their over the top incident. Jaw dropping is what this was, wowsa. As much as I love sex I don't read it and I know why, it is the ulitmate mood read. It was perfect at first then it just became to hardcore and I set it aside. I came back to it and in the end I enjoyed how it was wrapped up, showing consequences and the history that assisted with the women becoming sex addicts.

I thought it was interesting that God was mentioned often, having faith to get through the addiction. This didn't bother me but I know others will not enjoy it. My favourite, The Serenity Prayer was used often also, God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Sex Anonymous lived by the 12 step program.

The book started out with the Women's Mottoes - CAUTION this is XXX rated, I will slightly edit, so its R rated, but felt I will share because if you enjoy you may choose to read it.

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Miki - Variety is the true spice of life.

Valencia - Girls just wanna have fun and 'have as much girl on girl fun as humanly possible.

Teela - Take my man, please, as long as I can watch.

Brandi - Hit it and quit it, but never go back twice.

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I give it 3 stars, very hard to rate friends but those that enjoy this genre I think you would give it a 5.

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Thanks for visiting Tea Time with Marce

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NOTE - check out my Giveaway for The Last Bridge, ends Saturday.
http://teawithmarce.blogspot.com/2010/06/giveaway-last-bridge-by-teri-coyne.html

If Reading was an Image - This is mine

I saw this post over on Random Ramblings and wanted to participate. Go over to participate and to read Jillian's response and see her image. http://randombookishramblings.blogspot.com/2010/06/if-reading-was-image.html

Simon at Stuck in a Book challenges his readers to choose a picture that sums up their reading tastes in books. The catch is, we can NOT use photos that have images of books, reading, and/or literary characters.

Dark Corners - An Oil Painting

This was perfect for me. I love variety and I believe this painting will get numerous statements on what the beholder feels when looking at it.

My reading taste would consist of thrillers, psychological mysteries, suspense, adult fiction, emotional sad stories that sometimes have a glimmer of hope. I found this image from google by putting in glimmer of light. I love books that make me have a reaction, good or bad and somtimes put me on the edge of my seat. I even think the shadow could be looked at as a ghost, could be her demons or could be an angel going to take care of her. And what is she looking at? This feeling in books is why I love to read, what is next, I have to know, let me guess, oh I was wrong, yes I knew it, etc....

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This is what the artist wrote under the painting and immediately I knew this is my choice.

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Reference - http://www.johnslaby.com/dark_corners.htm

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These paintings are meant to convey feelings of fear and distress and are suggestive of abuse. Most of the paintings of are my models and they show a young, frail woman within a dark room. The figure is painted in realistic detail and the background is a minimalist wash of black paint over a gray ground. The overall effect is one of isolation and loneliness. In most of the paintings, there is no threatening object present. We only see the isolated figure. But the threat does appear, albeit indirectly, in "Intruder" and "Haunted". However, not all the paintings are dark, as there is some sense of hope in "Glimmer of Light" which is made manifest in "Recovery" and the final "Liberation."

What about you? If you could sum up your reading taste, or your reading life in general, through a picture, what would it be?

I enjoyed this idea, what do you think?

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NOTE - check out my Giveaway for The Last Bridge, ends Saturday.

http://teawithmarce.blogspot.com/2010/06/giveaway-last-bridge-by-teri-coyne.html

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Thanks for visiting Tea Time with Marce

Giveaway - The Last Bridge by Teri Coyne

In celebration of the paperback release of The Last Bridge, Teri Coyne has offered to give one away at Tea Time with Marce.

Here is the summary and my review

Summary from Teri Coyne's website http://www.tericoyne.com/the_last_bridge.php

For ten years, Alexandra Rucker has been on the run from her past. With a bottomless flask of bourbon and a series of meaningless jobs, Alex is struggling to forget her Ohio hometown and the rural farmhouse she once called home. But a sudden call from an old neighbor brings it all rushing back; her mother is dead. Alex is forced to return to the home and family she never intended to see again.

What Alex finds at the old farmhouse is disturbing and confusing: A suicide note, written on lilac stationary and neatly sealed in a Ziploc bag that reads "Alex, He's not who you think he is. Mom xxxooo"

One note, ten words–one for every year Alex has been gone–will completely turn her world upside down. Seeking to unravel the mystery of her mother's death, Alex must confront her past to discover who "he" might be: her tyrannical, abusive father, now in a coma after suffering a stroke just before the suicide? Her brother Jared, named after her mother's true love (who is also her father's best friend)? The town coroner, Andrew Reilly, who seems to have known her mother long before she landed on a slab in his morgue? Or Addison Watkins, Alex's first and only love?

The closer Alex gets to the truth, the harder it is for her to repress the memory and the impact of the events that sent her away so many years ago.

My review

I give this a 4 1/2 Great to the last drop

All the notes I took are in the summary from Teri's website. This is another book I wished I had kept the link from the blogger I took this recommendation from. I rememeber reading the review and saying I have to read this. I read this one for my Thriller and Suspense Challenge.

I didn't give it a 5 only because I don't think I will read it again but I did love it.

If you enjoy reading stories about families, damaged familes with a dark edge you would enjoy this. Many talk about how children act out, this is a story about how adults act out or cover up there hurt. Alex ran away from home and you couldn't blame her, a father who abused her, a mother who didn't know how to love herself so how could she show love for her children. I truly enjoy books that make me emotional, this one made me shed a tear or two.

I loved the style of writing and every other chapter was Alex in present day around her mothers funeral and then the next ten years earlier when she left. It was a perfect bland of how Alex saw her life, this added to the enjoyment of the story.

This was the opening sentence - Two days after my father had a massive stoke my mother shot herself in the head.....

Go to the books link for more info - http://www.thelastbridgenovel.com/

Giveaway Rules

1) Leave comment with your email
2) You can be put in twice if you leave a comment stating how you think adults act out


International Giveaway - Ends Saturday, June 19

For another review go over to Jo Jo Loves to read http://jo-jolovestoread.blogspot.com/2009/09/review-last-bridge-by-teri-coyne.html

Thanks for visiting Tea Time with Marce

Waiting On Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, http://breakingthespine.blogspot.com/, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.





This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:




My Formerly Hot Life - Released August 2010 but it is available on kindle now, yaaaaaaay, Love my kindle



I love Jenny McCarthy's books, author of Belly Laughs and Baby Laughs, so when I saw her review I knew I had to add it to my Wishlist.



"If you’ve ever hiked up your boobs just to remind yourself how they used to look, secretly hoped the wino on the corner would whistle at you like he used to, or recently realized that they are now making elevator music out of your favorite ‘classic’ tunes, you will love this book. It’s pee-in-your-pants funny and it’s all too true!"






Thanks for visiting Tea Time with Marce

Teaser Tuesday - Murderer's Daughters

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.wordpress.com/

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) 'teaser' sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE C
  AREFUL 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 Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers

1% on Kindle

Since I could take only six books per visit from the library, I had to time it right, or I'd be stuck on Sundays rereading the five Reader's Digest Condensed Books sitting on our red lacquered living room shelf.








Thanks for visiting Tea Time with Marce

Winner for To Kill a Mockingbird (Read with us)

And the Winner is Freda at Freda's Voice - http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com/

Thanks for entering Freda, I look forward to reading it with you.

Kirthi, Darlyn and Christa, I hope you still get it and read along with us.

And April, yaaaay, glad your joining in, this should be fun.

This is the old post...........

July 11, 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Harper Lees’ To Kill a Mockingbird. I am one of the few that hasn't read this and I own it so what better excuse than to read it with blogging friends.

HarperCollins is celebrating with special Golden Anniversary editions of this classic novel. They’ve published a new anthology (available June 8), Scout, Atticus, and Boo: A Celebration of 50 Years of To Kill a Mockingbird, edited by Mary McDonagh Murphy.

I saw the thread over on Capricious Reader - http://www.capriciousreader.com/

See below for what She is Too Found of Books wrote - http://www.sheistoofondofbooks.com/

To Kill a Mockingbird has impacted so many people! I’d say it has left an impression on everyone who’s read it (one of the points we’ll be discussing!). The more exposure and celebration of this great novel …. the better! I’m helping to spread the word as I join with my friends and neighbors in a re-read of the novel, live-tweeting a discussion as we view the movie “together” in our own homes, and featuring a 2-part read-along, trivia, armchair travels to the setting of the novel.

So will you join the Tea Party? Tell me if you will be re-reading or listening on audio.

NOTE - I would like to buy a copy for a blogging friend that hasn't read TKAM but would like experience the book for the 1st time with me. Join in on the fun and network with the blogs stated above and I. So if your interested write in the comment "Tea Time for To Kill a Mockingbird". I will choose the winner next Monday, June 14, so I have enough time to process through bookdepository.com

My giveaways are always international.

Thanks for visiting Tea Time with Marce

Free ebook - The Weight of Shadows by Alison Strob

Another great find and I had to share with you that the author, Alison Strob, is offering a free download of the ebook version of The Weight of Shadows for Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, and Apple iPad through June 19th. I just downloaded mine, thank you Alison Strob.

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Book Summary

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In The Weight of Shadows Ebook, by Alison Strobel, after a difficult childhood, Kim has built a successful life for herself - but she'd leave it all if it meant being rid of the guilt she harbors over a tragic mistake she made years ago. When she meets Rick, she finds everything she needs-including a way to pay for her sins every time he hits her. Kim and Rick's new neighbor, Joshua, knows more than Kim realizes about Rick, but Joshua has battles of his own to fight. Soon to intersect Kim's and Rick's lives is Debbie, who has saved countless women from abuse through the shelter she runs, but Debbie might be as desperate for love as the women she serves. Meanwhile, as Rick's wrath extends to their baby, Kim must decide if her penance is more important than protecting that innocent life and if she should dare leave Rick when he has the power to bring her hidden crime to light.

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And thanks to - Busy Moms Who Love to Read Blog, for her post and review, go over to visit.

http://busymomswholovetoread.blogspot.com/2010/06/blog-tour-stop-review-weight-of-shadows.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BusyMomsWhoLoveToRead+%28Busy+Moms+Who+Love+to+Read%29

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