Book Blogger Hop Mixed With What I'm Reading on Friday

I'm joining in the Book Blogger Hop this week.  I did forget to put how long I've been blogging in my link, so if you're visiting my blog from the hop - I have been blogging for a little over 1 year and love it.  I'm looking forward to visiting a bunch of blogs over the weekend and adding more to my google reader.  So go and check out Crazy-For_Books.com for the Mr. Linky for the Blog Hop.  


What I'm Reading on Friday Edition:

Kindle: Dangerous by Diana Palmer
For review and I'll be having a giveaway for this sometime next week (a print copy).  I only started the first few pages at lunch today and Mitch and I are without the boys tonight so we are going to enjoy a date night so I don't think I'll get much more reading on it today.  I am intrigued and a little lost with the beginning, but will withhold judgment until I read more.

Audio in the Car:  Don't Look Twice by Andrew Gross 
I started the 4th Disc today, the plot is twisting away :)

Review Book:  Never Let You Go by Erin Healy
I read some of this before bed last night and it is so good - even in the first few chapters.  I can't wait to read more.  This will be my main read until it's done.


   

Book Reviews:
Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

*****Check out my sidebar for two giveaways going on right now and there are more to come very soon!*****

Other notes for today - I worked on my blog and it has a new look, what do you think.  On the personal tv watching front, we watched 3 more episodes of Lost last night (I think we are on season 2 episode 21), but there won't be any tonight as Logan, the son who watches with us will be with Jacob at his grandparents' house.  Even our little one watches from time-to-time when he wanders in (though most of the time he is off playing in his room) and was confused last night when they called Locke, John.  He had always heard that was Locke and did not understand that wasn't his first name.  I love 5-year-olds.



ABOUT THE HOP:

In the spirit of the Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on!  This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books!  It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed!  So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPING through the list of blogs that are posted in the Linky list below!!

The Hop lasts Friday-Monday every week, so if you don't have time to Hop today, come back later and join the fun!  This is a weekly event!

Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.

Book Review: Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publish Date: January 5, 2010

Hardcover, 454 pages

My Review:
I read Bleeding Violet for the YA Bloggers Debut Book Battle, and it was a stunner.  It is so different from other YA paranormals that I have read.  Dia Reeves creates a very interesting world that borders our reality and thrusts Hanna right in the midst of it.  Hanna already doesn't fit in in the real world.  Labeled as manic-depressive and suffering from the loss of her father, she sets off to find her mother.  Hanna is labeled as crazy and suffers from hallucinations so when she sees things out of the ordinary, you are never quite sure if it is the world of Portero or Hanna's mind.  When she arrives in Portero, she finds her mother, Rosalee doesn't really want her.  But Hanna stays and as she learns more about the dangerous world of Portero and makes friends, things become even more interesting.

I have to say my favorite thing about Hanna was her style.  I love to sew, and Hanna sews.  Hanna sews all her clothes and has a magnificent eye for style (I'm a little more lacking there).  I loved the descriptions of the outfits she wears and creates.  We learn so much about her and her "tough girl" act in this book and I found her interesting throughout.  Most of the other characters are secondary, though Rosalee was key in Hanna's development along with her sometimes/maybe boyfriend, Wyatt, who I loved at times and found slightly irritating at other times.

This book is just different, that is all I can really say about it.  Different and interesting.

My Rating: 4.25/5.0

About the Book:


Love can be a dangerous thing....

Hanna simply wants to be loved. With a head plagued by hallucinations, a medicine cabinet full of pills, and a closet stuffed with frilly, violet dresses, Hanna's tired of being the outcast, the weird girl, the freak. So she runs away to Portero, Texas in search of a new home.
But Portero is a stranger town than Hanna expects. As she tries to make a place for herself, she discovers dark secrets that would terrify any normal soul. Good thing for Hanna, she's far from normal. As this crazy girl meets an even crazier town, only two things are certain: Anything can happen and no one is safe.

About the Author:

Check out Dia Reeves' website.
Follow Dia Reeves on Twitter.

FTC Information: I bought this book for my Kindle.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

 

Book Feature and Giveaway: The Last Christian by David Gregory

The Last Christian by David Gregory

Publisher: Waterbrook Press

Publish Date: May 4, 2010

Paperback,  416 pages

My review will be coming next week - this is one of the books I'm trying to play catch-up with and I'm really looking forward to reading it.


About the Book:


A.D. 2088.

Missionary daughter Abigail Caldwell emerges from the jungle for the first time in her thirty-four years, the sole survivor of a mysterious disease that killed her village. Abby goes to America, only to discover a nation where Christianity has completely died out. A curious message from her grandfather assigns her a surprising mission: re-introduce the Christian faith in America, no matter how insurmountable the odds.

But a larger threat looms. The world's leading artificial intelligence industrialist has perfected a technique for downloading the human brain into a silicon form. Brain transplants have begun, and with them comes the potential of eliminating physical death altogether—but at what expense? 

As Abby navigates a society grown more addicted to stimulating the body than nurturing the soul, she and Creighton Daniels, a historian troubled by his father's unexpected death, become unwitting targets of powerful men who will stop at nothing to further their nefarious goals. Hanging in the balance—the spiritual future of all humanity.

In this futuristic thriller, startling near-future science collides with thought-provoking theology. The Last Christian is a provocative “what if?” novel from David Gregory, best-selling author of Dinner With a Perfect Stranger.

About the Author (From the WaterBrook Multnomah site):

David Gregory is the coauthor of two nonfiction books and a frequent conference speaker. After a ten-year business career, he returned to school to study religion and communications, earning two master's degrees. David lives in Texas, where he works for a nonprofit organization.

Giveaway:
Waterbrook Press has given me 1 copy of The Last Christian to giveaway to the readers of this blog. Simply comment to enter.  Additional entries for following (rss, email, blogger, networked blogs, etc.), tweeting (1 per day), posting on your blog (sidebar is fine).  Please comment for each entry - it makes the accounting easier.   Giveaway open to US/Canada only.  Don't worry if you are first or last - I'm starting to randomize all entries before using random.org to draw a number - so it's more like drawing a name out of a hat.  Giveaway runs through June 4, 2010.


FTC Information: I received this book from Waterbrook Press for review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.