June brings warm weather, hot dogs on the grill, my birthday and The Host by Stephanie Meyer in the Paperback Edition. Miriam at Hachette is providing us with 3 copies of the book to giveaway! Listed below are the dates and sites participating in the blog tour. Please make sure to drop by each day and check out what content is being featured on this exciting blog tour!

A coffee table book! Being a book lover I love to collect beautiful coffee table books to display in my home. People just can't resist grabbing them and flipping through, looking at all the pictures and commenting.

Its almost always fascinating to look into to lives of strangers. Particularly an entire life, from childhood, well into adulthood. The Visibles is exactly that, a look into multiple peoples lives.

The main character Summer Davis often wonders what her various family members are doing at any given moment. She knows that she is linked to these people on the most finite level, DNA, and feels compelled to be the caretaker in the family for that very reason.

She consistently shirks her own life plans to take care of whomever is the most needy at the time, not finding her way out of that pattern until she is well into adulthood.By this point her dreams of becoming a Geneticist seem all too far out of reach.

Summer slowly discovers the life story of her mysterious, and severely depressed father. She uncovers things about herself in the process that she never could have imagined. She also finds a way to understand the world around her and her place in it.

The story is fascinating, tragic, and altogether very real. An excellent work of American family focused fiction.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. The author Joe Meno is a creative writing Professor at Columbia College in Chicago, and his passion for the art shines in this novel. I would even say that it would be a good Pulitzer Prize contender.

The story is engaging from start to finish. It revolves around one family, each involved in their own complex lives, and ignoring their family ties. As their seemingly unachievable goals come crashing down around them, they all hit rock bottom and have to take a step back and reevaluate what they really want from life. They have to come to terms with the complexity of life, and their role in it.

Very well written, believable, clearly motivated characters make this book a must read.

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!

"Irene ran her hand down her child's arm, the looked away. There are
certain things you should never have to see in life. A crying tree
standing beside your son's grave was one. That was one."
~ p.37, “The Crying Tree” by Naseem Rakha

"Beginning that Monday, Madeline follows the cloud in her Volvo every day after work. The cloud seems to follow the same general route, stepping northeast toward the open expanse of the dark blue lake, standing in the air for an hour or more."
~p.196, "The Great Perhaps" by Joe Meno

Holly Frick has written a great novel. A great novel that's sold less than 500 copies since it's debut which has been quite a while. The male lead is not so loosely based on her ex boyfriend Spence. Of all the readers, Spence's girlfriend Cathleen is one. After finding out that Spence lied to her regarding fidelity, Cathleen gets a hold of Holly and opens a dialog trying to find out more about Spence and why he is the way he is. Spence is Holly's ex before THE ex. Her husband left her because he wanted to date, not ready for married life, or perhaps just married life with Holly.

Holly's best friend Amanda is contemplating an affair on her husband, not thinking much of the consequences for her young son. When Amanda asks Holly to meet Jack, Holly is loathe to go because she cannot condone cheating. Although she's left the Bible belt, it's never left her and she can't wrap her around things like this. Soon however Jack enters Holly's orbit in a different way.

Since being left, Holly's being seeing her friend Betsy's much younger 22 year old brother, who is not content with the status quo and wants to be more for her than her late night call. Another thing that does not sit well with Holly.

Sarah Dunn has a very unique voice and I quite enjoy it. Not the typical chick lit, because you're not expecting the happy endings with characters quite so palpable and real. The characters are not necessarily someone I'd find myself rooting for because they're not really very likable. What they are is identifiable and honest. Some seem to be caricatures of stereotypes which is also highly enjoyable.

Jamie's got it all: a great job as a news producer at one of the most influential channels in the States, an apartment in the Grid of Manhattan, three beautiful kids, a good looking successful attorney husband with the WASP pedigree traceable to the Mayflower, a housekeeper and a nanny. But look closer and you'll see not all is as it appears. Her husband is all too frequently working, and when he is at home he's ordering the staff around and throwing conniptions more befitting their two year old son Michael because his prized cufflinks don't fit properly in his two hundred dollar custom made shirts. He's not happy that he's not as rich as their friends who can go wheels up (private plane lingo) anytime they choose, and he's stuck flying first class with regular folks.

Jamie, in turn, has lost the love she used to feel for him and has been planning and putting off their divorce for three years now, thinking the love will work itself back into their marriage, if only he'd put in more effort. Namely, spending time with their children. When nine year old Dylan has a meltdown during a basketball game in front of everyone in school, sobbing under the basketball court, Jamie has had enough and takes her friends' advice to find a many for Dylan. She knows Dylan needs the fatherly figure in his life and since Phillip isn't around to be there for him in that capacity, she'll find someone to spend time with him and someone with whom he can develop a bond.

Enter Peter, as she's strolling through the park. She sees him working with several children in a human chess game and asks him to consent to an interview. Having developed a software system that will help children in public schools with their tutoring and waiting on his backers to come through, Peter decides the hours and salary benefit him too greatly to pass up, this way he can still work on the kinks in his software.

Dylan and Peter immediately bond, and Gracie and Michael take an immediate shine to him as well. It seems Jamie may be bonding with him also, much to Phillip's disapproval and dismay, who's already not terribly pleased with someone doing the things he should be doing with Dylan.

The book started out great, very fast paced and fun. I didn't anticipate a meaningful novel at all, and in that I wasn't to be disappointed. The initial storyline was cute, and flowed nicely. However, when the kids fell more to the wayside to make more room for the storyline of Jamie's crush and the potential to become more than a crush in the middle of the book, the story hit an ebb that it didn't really recover well from. I felt like the book was really stumbling through by then, and it didn't hold my attention quite as well as I would have hoped. The sex scenes were cheesy as all get out and while I felt like the book was a little bit too long, I definitely wasn't happy with the ending. It just kind of came out of nowhere and then tied up too quickly.

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!

"This was all code for Phillip really wishing he's married Susannah-or
someone like her-instead. Phillip and Susannah shared a tight kinship, seeing as
they both had ancestors traceable to the Mayflower-although every hard-core WASP
in the Grid claims the same thing."
~ p.236, “The Manny” by Holly Peterson

"I could just see it. Caughlin Rancher headline: 'Yoga Class
Evacuated after Jory Michaels Fumigates the Place with Cabbage Soup Gas; Three
People Hospitalized.' "
~p.126, "My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters" by Sydney
Salter

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!

I just finished reading the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, Dead Until Dark. I have to admit that I had no interest in this book until I finished the Twilight series and wanted more vamps. While this series is very different from the Twilight series, it is excellent in its own right.

The series is geared towards adults, so there are some - make that many - explicit scenes in the novel. I wouldn't suggest giving this book to a Twihard teen in search of a vampire fix.

The vampires in this book are part of the community. They drink synthetic blood to keep the general public feeling safe. Everyone seems to know that they still nibble here and there. There is a community of "Fang Bangers" that will do anything to be the sacrificial lamb. The hot vampire club Fangtasia is where the fangbangers go to see and be seen. They are often times covered in scars from all the times they have allowed themselves to be bitten.

When a vampire named Bill walks into Merlottes Bar in small town Louisiana, he turns heads. Sookie is a waitress at the bar and is fascinated with the mysterious creature. She is also wildly attracted to him, mostly because she can't hear his thoughts the way she can hear everyone else's. Listening to other peoples thoughts against your will is no way to live and she is known to be crazy in the town for her mysterious gift.

Fangbangers start turning up dead, people are pointing fingers at vampire Bill right away. Soon enough they start pointing fingers at Jason, Sookies brother who likes to cavort with fangbangers and make videos. When Sookies life is the one being threatened she has no idea who to trust, or how to stay alive.

This book was very exciting. Action packed from start to finish. I can't wait to see how it compares to the show!

Set in a rural, swampy Louisiana parrish, the show centers around Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) and her clan, sweet grandmother Adele (Lois Smith) and air-headed brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten). Illicit love is spawned early on, when Sookie saves vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) from having his blood stolen in the parking lot of Merlotte’s diner, owned by Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) who completes what will form a complex love triangle. As tensions between Sookie’s suitors loosen or tighten, many side plots, such as her African American best friend Tara’s (Rutina Wesley) struggle with an alcoholic, Bible-thumping mother and her brother’s dangerous crush on drug addicted hippie, Amy Burley (Lizzy Caplan), keep one wondering who will succeed in this podunk place. The main tension throughout, however, is a race war waged between vampires and humans. As murders of “fang bangers” occur (human girls who let vampires bite them) and dumb policeman Andy Bellefleur (Chris Bauer) fails to find clues, one sees the metaphorical implications of vampirism and feels deeper resonance with what can be a downright trashy show. Gossip galore, especially about what kinds of babies interbreeding will produce, is rampant. One of the funniest characters is Tara’s flamboyant cousin, Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), who deals drugs, works as a fry cook, and services the local white politicians, while making sure he’s always up in everyone’s business.

The fall-out from one drunken night for one school in one town is seemingly endless. When a tape of three male students, and one younger female student falls into the hands of the headmaster, his decision on how to handle it to keep it within school walls has repercussions for many. This book covers the time leading up to that night, the event itself, the fallout for the students, and their families.

This book started out incredibly convoluted for me because it's written in alternating voices. Almost too many to keep straight. And then it alternated between first, second and third person narratives and jumped from two years ago to current many times which didn't really add much for me initially. But the story the book told outweighed the writing style and by the end, I really felt that the book was better for the writing. We're privy to the girl's accusations of rape, the boys' denials of rape, and their stories. Not to mention the girl's roommate who witnessed the initial accusation of rape. Indeed, two of the most heartbreaking voices were Silas, one of the accused, and his girlfriend Noelle. Silas has the most rigid understanding of morals, and right and wrong. And his guilt at his part, and the aftermath for him is painful to read about. The love he felt for his girlfriend was as fierce as I've read about in any book before and his heartache over the betrayal of her, and fearing the hurt he would cause was one of the most resonant aspects of the book.

Altogether, I'd very much recommend this book but I'd add that it's potentially slow going at first and even a bit frustrating initially until you're so immersed in the story that you enjoy the many different accounts.

Ladies and Gentleman (drumroll please) Bellas Novella is hosting its first ever giveaway!

Kyra Davis is continuing the fourth installment in the Sophie Katz mysteries with Lust, Loathing and a Little Lip Gloss. You can check out the excerpt here.

BN.com Editorial Review:

Publishers Weekly
In Davis's otherworldly fourth chick lit cozy to
feature San Francisco author and amateur sleuth Sophie Katz (after 2007's
Obsession, Deceit and Really Dark Chocolate), a chance meeting with her realtor
ex-husband leads Sophie to the three-bedroom Victorian of her dreams. The price
is unbelievably low, but there's a catch. The house's owner, Kane Crammer, has
stipulated Sophie must join the San Francisco Specter Society and regularly
attend séances. The deal appears harmless enough, until one of the society
members is murdered in a genuine locked-door mystery. The victim's estranged
wife hires Sophie's current lover, PI Anatoly Darinsky, to find the real killer
and eliminate her as a suspect. Sophie, unable to resist investigating on her
own, soon discovers Kane harbors ulterior motives and has no intention of
letting her buy his property. Humor, romance and an appealing, spirited
protagonist add up to an entertaining read. (June)Copyright © Reed Business
Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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:

“Suddenly the playing field was all of Manhattan, and his tools were real weapons, not merely a computerized image. As in the online version, his role in the game wouldn't start until the target successfully interpreted the qualifying clue."
~ p.67, “The Givenchy Code” by Julie Kenner

Ashley Teaser:

"Emily came over one morning to see the results. But even as she walked through, admiring the now open, loftlike space, I had a piercingly strong and sad sense that no paintings of mine would ever get made here."~p.228, "Perfection" by Julie Metz

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!

Upon first glance of this novel I pegged it to be a murder mystery fiction book. I bought it based on the cover, and didn't read the back or find out anything about it before I cracked the spine. I was shocked with what I had stumbled upon.

WARNING: Scathing review lies ahead!

Chuck Klosterman is quite the pistol. I doubt there is a single thing this man doesn't have an opinion about. He will never let someone else win a fight, he will take opponents down with his pigheaded opinions. I sure wouldn't want to date him, how exhausting would that be.

He opens with book whining about how he will never find a soul mate, no girl will ever be good enough for him. Wah wah wah! This guy is a total asshole. The book presents itself to be a study of pop culture themes. It in actuality is the diary of a whining man with strong ideas that often times make not a lot of sense and are heavily based in personal ideas.

Each chapter is an essay with exhaustive references to a particular pop culture icon. One chapter is all about Billy Joel and how he is a part of the authors life, he rants about how nobody understands how deep Billy Joel really is, and how people need to like his less popular songs because that's where the quality lies. 

Another chapter is about The Sims, and how he is too good to play the game because he is above video games. Naturally he comes up with some ridiculous excuse as to why he should play it, research. He plays the game and details all of his Sims experiences-including talking with the creator of the game about free will-in a pointless waste of pages.

I wasted time reading this book, I wasted shelf space storing this book. Now I have wasted time writing about this book. Don't waste your time folks.

Amazon has unveiled today the Kindle DX which appears to be just a larger version of the Kindle 2. With all the hype, I am undecided as to if this is the hot new Kindle, or if its just a pointless upgrade. What do you all think?

When I was in High School I was a big fan of MTV Books. They started with "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and moved forward with one hit and then another. I wouldn't be much of a reader today had I not gotten hooked these books in High School.

As I moved on to college I kind of forgot about the Simon Says Pocket books I used to adore. While I was in the dark, over a hundred new ones came out. Some sound far too young adult for me to enjoy, but others sound downright exciting!

I found Gina Showalter's Blacklisted in the bargain bin at Borders for $3.99. I was super excited to pick it up and ended up reading it almost right away. The book only took a few hours to read, and there was never a dull moment, that is for sure.

While I don't normally jump for supernatural thrillers, I decided to give it a try. I actually really really enjoyed it!

The book opens in a time long after a war between "Outers" aka-Aliens, and humans have had a war. The humans win, but allow outers to stay put as long as they behave. There is an organization similar to the FBI or Secret Service, called A.I.R. or Alien Investigation and Removal Agency. Their primary job is to find Aliens who aren't abiding by the law and to remove them from the planet. Once they have done that they have to go inform the families of that alien that they too are no longer permitted to stay.

A lot of those aliens have to stay though, their planets have been destroyed and so they have nowhere else to go. Their big problem now is that the government will no longer supply them with Onadyn, a life saving drug that keep non-oxygen tolerant species alive. There is an underground drug ring to supply them with the drug, unfortunately humans have found a way to abuse it, so the government is "removing" anyone who is caught with the drug.

Camille, a sprightly little school girl follows her crush to a club and ends up in a major misunderstanding. She is being hunted by A.I.R. for suspected dealing of Onadyn. Her crush Erik is finally noticing her, but he has a lot of secrets, and she isn't sure if she can handle them all. Can she find true love on the Lam?

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:
“You kids get out of here, my father yells. He is in his robe, which has blown open to reveal his underwear. I run past him, through the door and down to my room, making sure each door slams as loudly as possible. I will never be able to face these people again."
~ p.39, “If I Am Missing or Dead” by Janine Latus

Ashley Teaser:
"Ponce was surprised to see how awkward Babette was - like a kid, really. She was pretty enough, but was so much of a type - blond hair, blue eyes, long legs. Ponce stopped when she realized she was describing herself."~p.28, "The Spare Wife" by Alex Witchel

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!

Jodi Picoult releases a book a year. While I'm excited to finally get my hands on a copy of this year's novel Handle With Care, I cannot wait for next year's House Rules. How amazing does this synopsis sound?
HOUSE RULES is about Jacob Hunt, a teenage boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject – in his case, forensic analysis. He’s always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do…and he’s usually right. But then one day his tutor is found dead, and the police come to question him. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger’s – not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, inappropriate affect – can look a heck of a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel -- and suddenly, Jacob finds himself accused of murder. HOUSE RULES looks at what it means to be different in our society, how autism affects a family, and how our legal system works well for people who communicate a certain way – but lousy for those who don’t.

There's an excerpt on her site now.

BorsaBella is a website offering up a ton of accessories for those of us lucky enough to have a Kindle or Kindle 2. These little bags are super cute! They would be good to keep the dust away, or to keep scratches off your Kindle when you throw it in your purse. They come with cute names like, Revolutionary Red, and Stephanie Plum, Flora Roberts, and Lord of the Greens.