Check out Firstbook.org to find out how to donate books to children that don't have any.

From their website:

Our Story
First Book provides new books to children in need addressing one of the
most important factors affecting literacy – access to books. The inspiration for
the organization was born when Kyle Zimmer, a corporate lawyer by day and tutor
at an inner-city soup kitchen by night, discovered that the children she tutored
had no books to read.
Kyle discovered that the majority of programs reaching
low-income populations have few, if any, age-appropriate books for the children
they serve. She realized that there were millions of potential readers, future
workers, citizens and parents, who were eager to love reading and learning, but
were without the tools to do so. Spurred to action, Kyle left her day job and in
1992 founded First Book to provide new books and resources to the children who
needed them the most.
That first year, First Book delivered 12,000 books to
local communities in the Washington DC area. Now, 17 years later, First Book has
deliver more than 60 million books to programs serving children in need across
the United States and Canada.
By providing new books to children in
preschools and after-school programs, mentoring and tutoring programs, shelters
and day care centers and beyond, First Book provides resources to empower
teachers and administrators. With access to high-quality books, educational
materials and more, these caring leaders can better teach, plan curriculum and
impart a love of learning, elevating the quality of the programs and
opportunities available to children in need.
Through our innovative models,
First Book has transformed a fragmented group of programs serving the most
vulnerable children into a vibrant, centralized network numbering more than
20,000 groups serving millions of children. Through the First Book Marketplace,
First Book National Book Bank and First Book Advisory Boards, First Book
continues to expand our offerings of free and low-cost books to better meet the
needs of the programs and children we serve.
First Book envisions a world
where all children have an enriched learning environment with new books and
educational resources of their own.

Back of book reads:

Raven Black begins on New Year's Eve with a lonely outcast named Magnus Tait, who stays home waiting for visitors who never come. But the next morning the body of a murdered teenage girl is discovered nearby, and suspicion falls on Magnus. Inspector Jimmy Perez enters and investigative maze that leads deeper into the past of the Shetland Islands than anyone wants to go.

Some women are addicted to shopping; others can't get enough of champagne. But there's one thing that Lucy Lombard can't live without, and that's chocolate-rich, creamy, delicious chocolate. Sharing her passion are three other addicts: Autumn, Nadia, and Chantal. Together they form a select group known as the Chocolate Lovers' Club. Whenever there's a crisis, they meer in their sanctuary, a cafe called Chocolate Heaven, and with a cheating boyfriend, a flirtatious boss, a gambling husband, and a loveless marriage, there's always plenty to discuss. By turns hilarious and heartrending, The Chocolate Lovers' Club brings together four unforgettable women from totally different worlds united in their passion for chocolate.

From the bestselling author of Generation X and Microserfs, a smart, funny, fast paced mystery with a heartfelt American romance at its core.

Susan is a former child beatuy pageant contender. John is a hard-living movie producer. She walks away from a plane crash without so much as a scratch. He came away from a near death experience with a unique, vivid plan.

Susan refuses to spend one more day peddling herself for cheesy TV sitcom parts and takes advantage of a very weird situation to disappear. John turns his back on a hedonistic life making blockbuster action flicks. Shedding their self-made identities, each sets out on an uncharted course across the Gap-clogged, strip-mall landscape of California, searching for the thing -love- that neither has ever really known, but that they now think they just might actually, desperately want.

Assisting Susan and John are a blackmailing pageant mom, a pair of suburban eggheads, a rust-belt refugee, and a salad bar of other twentieth-century Americans who all share the dream of one day taking center stage. In Miss Wyoming, Douglas Coupland has combined the literary and the popular in a sparkling and witty caper that quietly resonates into the eternal.

From the Barnes and Noble website:

Early reads have drawn comparisons to Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and rightfully so! Setiawan's debut is magical in every sense of the word and it is the absolute perfect book to lead us (and the conversation!) into the ethereal world of summer.

Of Bees and Mist is the tale of Meridia-raised in a sepulchral house where ghosts dwell in mirrors, she spends her childhood feeling neglected and invisible. Every evening her father vanishes inside a blue mist without so much as an explanation, and her mother spends her days venomously beheading cauliflowers in the kitchen. At sixteen, desperate to escape, Meridia marries a tenderhearted young man and moves into his seemingly warm and charming family home. Little does she suspect that his parents are harboring secrets of their own. There is a grave hidden in the garden. There are two sisters groomed from birth to despise each other. And there is Eva, the formidable matriarch whose grievances swarm the air like an army of bees. In this haunting story, Setiawan takes Meridia on a tumultuous ride of hope and heartbreak as she struggles to keep her young family together and discovers long-kept secrets about her own past as well as the shocking truths about her husband's family.

Readers of magical-realist fiction will instantly be captivated by this richly evocative fairy tale. Of Bees and Mist takes place in a nameless town during a timeless era, where spirits and spells, witchcraft and demons, ghosts and clairvoyance-both real and imagined-are an everyday reality. Setiawan skillfully blends the real and the fantastical as he follows our heroine over a thirty year time span in which her love, courage, and sanity is tested to the limits.

To sign up for this Free Barnes and Noble First Look book click HERE.

So I know this isn't a book, but it's message was so strong, and heartwrenching that I couldn't not talk about it. Andrew Bagby touched a lot of lives in his 28 short years on earth, and one of them was the filmmaker who brought his story to our homes.

Andrew's dad has also written the story of Andrew, which sold out of it's original print in 4 weeks. It's called Dance with the Devil

I've seen this book on the sales rack everytime I go into Borders and Barnes and Noble and though it's caught my attention I haven't ever stopped to buy it. Now they've made a movie with two of my favorite actresses!
Has anyone read it? I'm definitely going to see the movie, so let me know if I should grab the book before and add it to the top of my to be read list?

I bought this novel thinking that it would be like the Stephanie Plum series. I was surprised to find out that not only is it not really like the Stephanie Plum series at all, but that it is an excellent first novel in a series. This book was a total page turner!

I cannot say enough good things about this book. Liza Lutz hit the nail on the head with balancing the mystery aspect of the novel with the other themes, family and relationships.

Parts of the book were really quite funny. I loved the trials and tribulations that the lead character Isabel always managed to get herself into. She is not a very good liar, but seems to make her lying ability even worse by piling lie upon lie. She finds herself in some of the most ridiculous situations possible.

The family business is Spellman Personal Investigations. Mom and Dad, Rae who is 14, Isabel who is 28 and David who is 30 all work for or previously worked for (David) the company.

Their once vibrant, now deadbeat uncle comes to live with them and help with the family business which throws the entire family balance into a tailspin. Ray likes to disappear on Lost Weekends and always has to be retrieved from some nasty situation by his family.

At one point in the novel the business card that Isabel uses is displayed, the number on it is real! I of course decided to call, and the number takes you to an answering service for Spellman Investigations! How fun is that?

This series is not Stephanie Plum, but it doesn't need to be. Its an excellent book, keep an eye out for more from the Spellmans.

In the announcements the following is posted:

We will be announcing and taking registrations for our next selection tomorrow,
April 30th, at 12:00 p.m.

This next book is really special, so keep
your eye out for the new First Look Board and on this announcement thread!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• 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! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
  

Holly Teaser:
“After three days of afternoon searches, after hitting eighty percent of the motels within Uncle Ray's generally agreed-upon travel perimeter, my sister and I found him shacked up with a redhead named Marla in room 3B at the Days Inn in South San Fransisco. Uncle Ray borrowed the fifty bucks I had on me, gave it to his new friend, and insisted that we driver her the fifteen miles home to Redwood City."
~ p.283, “The Spellman Files” by Lisa Lutz

Ashley Teaser:
When everything was out, and the night was once again dark the chief has a long talk with Jim. There were calls for his arrest from some of the firefighters, but, really there were no grounds.
~p.108, "Look Me In the Eye" by John Elder Robison

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Elizabeth Strout's "Olive Kitteridge" is the Pulitzer Prize Winner Fiction for 2009. Because I have so greatly adored the previous few winners I had to pick this up as soon as the winner was announced. It did not disappoint!

This book has depth! Be prepared to immerse yourself in the world created in this novel. It's not a quick read, it takes focus to get through it. I even took notes in the back few blank pages of the book.

The book is centered around Olive Kitteridge, yet most of the chapters and stories are not directly about her. Each story is about someone that was affected by her, or involved with her somehow. There are a few sections that are directly about Olive herself as well.

The characters are referenced in other chapters other than their own, so I opted to keep a chart of characters with a little blip about them and their relationships with other characters, as a reference. This came in handy! I would recommend keeping a character chart so that you can full experience the depth of the novel.

The stories are so real, its small town America! All of the people in the town know each other, they know each others secrets and have crossed each others paths on many occasions. Their lives are intertwined whether they like it or not.

The mothers and fathers desire so greatly to have their children in their arms forever. They want the best for their families and can't understand their children's need to run away all the time. They resign to the fact that all children hate their parents, but have a hard time understanding why.

Spouses find themselves having their needs fulfilled by people they never expected to want or need. They wonder how their relationships have gotten to the places that they are today. They wonder who they have become and why they should need another person to complete them.

The book deals with issues such as anorexia, divorce, aging, disaster, marriage, family and love.

The relationships are complex, and the writing is introspective. This is by far the best book I have read in 2009.

I stumbled across this article today listing 10 of the best sites for book lovers. While I have heard of some of them, I haven't heard of all. Some of them look quite interesting! 

One of my favorite things about taking a flight is the Hudson News stand that always has a good book just waiting for me. The only problem is, I end up spending 3 times what I would have if I had planned ahead.

I have a list of books that I rely on for last minute travel. I tend to grab anything Janet Evanovich. I have read Carly Phillips in flight as well. I made the mistake of reading David Sedaris on a plane once, I had to put it away because I was disturbing other passengers with my non-stop laughter. I would like to know if anyone else has books that they frequently read on planes? Here is my standard criteria for in flight novels.

• Short in length - I don't want to be overwhelmed by the length. If its less than 300 pages I can finish most of it in the course of an average flight.


• Light and funny - It should be funny, but not so funny that I bother other passengers, and I shouldn't feel like I need a dictionary next to me to get through the book.


• Nothing embarrassing about the cover - I wont read it if I am mortified that grandma sitting next to me will frown upon the racy book cover or title.


• Lightweight - A smaller paperback book is ideal, to fit inside of a carry-on or handbag.

Throughout history classes during my time in school, I was told of slavery, and the contempt that remained towards African-Americans in the south long after slavery was abolished. I was told of segregation, and cruelty, and violence and murder. All of this struck a chord with me as wrong, but the books we were given to read were never instrumental in evoking the rage and sadness these events merited. The acts themselves, and the paragraphs they elicited in our history books sufficed in that regard. Then I read Martha Taylor's In the Land of Cotton. I couldn't put this book down for a second. I read it from start to finish with very little interruption. The book reads as a novel, and so is thoroughly captivating in that regard, but then I realized that it's not fiction at all. It's Ms. Taylor's life story growing up during the Civil Rights Movement.

The book begins in 1956 with a young Martha telling of her life in Tennessee, where she lives with her affluent grandparents while her parents and younger sister reside in Arkansas. Her parents move to Tennessee and she moves back in with them into a suburb with identical housing, much different than the world she inhabits with her grandparents. One thing they both have in common, however, is their disdain for and distrust of the African-American neighbors. As you'll find within the first few chapters, that distrust and disdain should have been held for someone far closer to home.

Martha's father has always had trouble holding down a job, but after finding a job he hires Lucy to be a caretaker for Martha and her sister, while he and his wife are at work. Lucy quickly becomes a confidante to Martha, and Martha doesn't see her as the maid or the nanny but as a friend, and later as part of her family. Martha and Jimmy, a friend in the neighborhood, like to explore as a means to escape their home lives, and one day Martha finds a road and eventually convinces Jimmy to explore with her. It isn't long before Martha is going alone, and she finds the road leads to Lucy's home and family.

Although hesitant at first to let Martha stay and visit for obvious reasons, eventually she's welcomed with open arms by Lucy, Lucy's mother,Mammy Grace, and the patriarch of the family, Uncle Jesse. One person she develops a close kinship with immediately is Lucy's nephew Silas. Martha being there isn't always smooth sailing as told in one heartbreaking incident. Eventually, the friendship between Silas and Martha develops into more, much to the the dismay of all involved, including Silas who knows he has no place in Martha's world during the height of the Civil Rights movement, in the south no less. Martha's family moves to Texas, and reeling from the amount of loss in his life, Silas moves to Chicago. They keep in touch mainly through Martha's weekly calls to Lucy, but eventually find their way back into the other's life. After all, they've never left each other's hearts.

The goings-on of the era are highlighted extensively throughout the telling of her story, from Kennedy to Martin Luther King to Vietnam, space expeditions and Malcolm X. Before I realized this wasn't fiction, I silently applauded Ms. Taylor's research. But it wasn't research, it was something she lived through. And I think that is the key difference between this and so many other books I've read that take place in this era. Ms. Taylor opens the curtains to show us not just the world as it was then, but her world as it was then. Taking place over the course of twelve years, it's both eye opening and incredibly heart breaking. I cannot recommend picking up this book enough.

I love this idea! Lisa Occhipini crafts sculptures, mobiles and many other art pieces from old books.

The rules:

• 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! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Who could walk past this book cover and not pick it up? "Tell Me Where It Hurts" is a memoir, a day in the life of a vet. You think you know, but you have no idea. (I couldn't resist)

The stories are downright charming, at times tragic. Most of us have a pet and can identify with the relationships featured in this novel. A must for pet lovers and non-fiction lovers alike.

I read this when I was in high school originally. I recently got it back out again because I remember liking it so much the first time around. I had forgotten most of what happened in the book so re-reading it was almost like reading it for the first time.

Sylvia Avery works for the amusement park Dreamworld as security personnel, hiding anything or anyone undesirable from the public, so as to maintain the pristine image of the park.

One day instead of ushering drunks off the grounds, life is turned upside down upon the discovery of an apparent murder-suicide within the park.

As a result of her involvement in finding the bodies, she is promoted to help cover up this nasty incident before it ruins Dreamworlds image. Her boss, that she sometimes sleeps with, is trying to keep her focused on the job. She has a desire to get to the bottom of the mystery. What she finds is not only shocking, but nothing she-or I- could have ever expected.

Now she is face to face with something bigger than she, and more than just her job is on the line, her life is as well.

I love this trilogy! Julia London has written the books based on three sisters. They make appearances in each others books, but each book focuses mostly on one of the sisters. These are the best contemporary romance novels I have ever read.

The first in the series "Material Girl" revolves around Robin Lear, a spoiled brat of a girl who has her life turned upside down when her father announces he is dying and plans to make big changes while he does so.

Lear Transport Industries is the company that Robin Lear has been working for, not so much working as putzing around the office. Her father owns the company and is disgusted with how his family and his company has gotten away from him. His girls don't know the meaning of work, and he ends up doing everything himself for the company. He demotes Robin to work below her ex-boyfriend Evan Iverson, who by the way wants to win her heart back.

When things seem as though they couldn't get worse, Robin lands herself in the pokey for burning down her office -she left the coffee pot on- and meets a strapping young fellow by the name of Jake Manning. Robin has hired him to renovate her house and Jake finds himself oddly attracted and put off by this woman all at the same time. The money Jake makes doing work on Robins house helps him pay bills and raise his teenage son Cole, but he finds himself losing focus whenever he is around the Material Girl.


The second book in the series "Beauty Queen", features Rebecca Lear, the star child of the family. Rebecca was once married to a well-to-do man, with whom she had a child with. She was a socialite stay at home mom that had given up her dreams of becoming an artist to become a beauty queen and appease her father.

When Rebecca's husband decides to take a younger wife and leave her hanging she is left feeling worthless and without any marketable skills.

To support her 5 year old son she takes the only job she can get. She works for Tom Masters campaign for lieutenant Governor of Texas. Shes finally gaining some self-confidence and some much needed experience, when she finds herself going head to head with an obnoxious lawyer. Matt Parish isn't amused that he has to work with a former beauty queen with no political experience, and he lets her know that every chance he gets.

With the common goal of showing each other up, they manage to overcome some major campaign problems as well as find some common ground. The get to know each other better and find out that they have more in common than they could have ever expected.


Lastly, we have "Miss Fortune", probably my least favorite in the series. This novel revolves around Rachel Lear, a carefree student with a big heart and even bigger ambitions. Her biggest problem is a nasty habit of letting people walk all over her. As a result of this she is flat broke. To make matters worse, a tree has fallen on her house and partially across her neighbors fence, causing a broken window and a lawsuit.

Rachel curses the world while her ex-boyfriend keeps showing up at her house uninvited and her best friend Dagne keeps convincing her to try some white magic as a way to change her luck. Rachel jokingly wishes for true love with a hot man with an accent.

Low and behold Flynn Oliver shows up in her life. He is a temporary transplant from England, Stateside working as a computer programmer. He has his eyes on Rachel from the moment he meets her, but she finds the situation more than a little bit curious.

When a rash of art thefts plagues the city Rachel finds out that not everyone, or everything is as it seems to be.

This novel wraps up the series in a nice little bow. I highly recommend the series.

I needed a day to process this book after finishing it. This is hands down, one of the most well-written novels I have read in a long time. The character depth is astounding! I felt as though I knew these people, that their story could have been in my family.

Jonathan Coe's highly acclaimed "The Rain Before It Falls" is an epic tale of love, loss and above all family. When Gill finds out her Aunt has passed away she is left to deal with her estate. What she finds is a series of tapes that her Aunt Rosamond had recorded with instructions that they be delivered to a girl - now a woman- named Imogen. Gill vaguely remembers Imogen from her Aunt Rosamonds 50th birthday party, but aside from that occasion knows not much about her.

Gill is unable to locate Imogen, so she and her daughters go ahead and listen to the tapes. What follows is a description of 20 photographs. How amazing! It was like looking through a photo album and having all the circumstances surrounding those photos told to you.

What unfolds is a story of inevitability. A series of events all seemingly linked, and tragic at their very core. What comes from those events is Imogen, a little girl that lost her vision in an awful accident when she was 3 years old.

This book is a must read! You will find yourself reading this book rather quickly. The emotions Coe evokes are strong, and you will be compelled to continue on.

Ok, while this is totally cheesy, I love it!

Everyone knows what a huge fan I am of the book, I wish they would make a real movie already.

Janet Evanovich introduces the clip, and asks that fans submit their own fan videos. Anyone game?

I love any book that has a kickass female lead. I saw this cover and couldn't resist. Granted, the female lead turned out to be not all the kickass, but not for lack of trying. Ladies and Gentleman, I have for you another author to watch.

I believe that this book is currently out of print. I know that the audio version is downloadable for maybe 10 bucks on itunes. I am sure you can get it secondhand as well. Just know that I won't give you my copy!

Kyra Davis writes like a pro. Her plot was engaging, exciting and well thought out. Her characters were likable, relateable and hilarious. This book is a breeze to read, but it doesn't lack depth as so many other Chick-Lit books seem to.

Sex, Murder and a Double Latte stars Sophie Katz, a thriller novelist who finds that what she has written starts coming true! When a hot Russian guy, Anatole Darinsky, starts following her around, she wonders if he is eye candy, or a homicidal maniac.

When Sophie finds that nobody believes her story, and she can't tell who is on her side the story gets really juicy. You won't figure this one out before the end, its got more than a few surprises up its sleeve.

When you finish this one, there are 2 more in the series, with a 4th to be released in June.

Janice Dickinson claims to be the first Supermodel. Carol Alt however is the true title holder. She rose to fame swiftly in the 80's creating a new legion of models, Supermodels -or Supes as they call themselves.

Carol Alt has appeared on over 700 magazine covers. The woman is a legend! When she set out to write a fictional novel about the world of modeling, she certainly had done her homework. Her portrayal of the industry seems to be spot on. I read Carol Alt's biography and found a lot of parallels between her life and the book. I would venture to say that this book is a semi-autobiographical fiction.

When Melody Ann Croft is discovered at a steakhouse, she is lured into the world of modeling, thinking it is only a summer job to make a few bucks for college. She has dreams of becoming a doctor and has no intention of giving that up. As she is morphed into Mac, a girl on the verge of becoming a Supe, she has to reevaluate her plans.

Her closest friends in the industry show their true colors and the picture painted isn't what Mac chose to see. She struggles with her family not agreeing with her decision as well. Will Mac make it big, or be stomped on in front of NYC's elite at Bryant Park?

This was an excellent read, I loved every minute of it and cannot wait for the next installment.

Author to watch!

I wasted a week on this book, that is for sure! Everything about it was great, until the last 50 pages when all the questions were answered.

The ending is ridiculous. I was actually angry that after all this build up and suspense I am left with this unbelievable ending. I suggest passing on this book. While the bulk of it is very engaging, the way it ends and how the questions are wrapped out falls short of the mark. Its like the author, Will Lavendar worked really hard on the entire book and then at the end just gave up and threw in an ending that didn't make a lot of sense