Teaser Tuesday - October 27

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!

At that moment, as if he felt our eyes on him, the ugly, despicable paparazzo we called Cat shot past security and sprinted around the back of the limo. His long, bleached-white hair with two-inch black roots flipped in the breeze as he ran, his gangly arms pumping. In one hand he clutched his ever-present camera.

From Last Breath by Brandilynn and Amberly Collins. I'm reading this for a FIRST Wild Card Tour for the book on Friday so look for my review then. I read the first in the series yesterday, Always Watching and it was good.

Awesome Author Challenge 2010

Alyce at At Home With Books came up with a great challenge I will be participating in in 2010. It's the Awesome Author Challenge! Here's what Alyce has to say about this challenge:

The idea behind this challenge is to read works by authors who have been recommended to you time and again, yet somehow you haven't managed to read any books by those authors. These are the authors that everyone else tells you are awesome, thus the "Awesome Author Challenge" title.
The Rules:

The challenge starts January 1, 2010 and ends December 31, 2010.

Crossover from other challenges is allowed.

Choose the level at which you would like to participate, post about it and come back and leave a link to your post in Mister Linky.

Titles and authors do not have to be predetermined, and can change at any time.

Books can come from any genre or reading level, the only requirement is that you have heard great things about the author, but haven't yet read any of their works.

The Levels:
Easy: Choose three authors and read at least one title from each author.
Moderate: Choose six authors and read at least one title from each author.
Challenging: Choose ten authors and read at least one title from each author.
Over-Achieving: Anything over ten authors.

I'm choosing Challenging and here are some of the authors I plan on trying:

1. Elizabeth Kostova - read The Swan Thieves 5/11/2010
2. Kate White - read Hush - 4/20/2010
3. Alyson Noel - read Evermore - 8/7/2010
4. Carrie Jones
5. Kate Brian - read Private 1/7/2010
6. Carrie Ryan - read The Forest of Hands and Teeth - 6/13/2010
7. Ann Brashares - read My Name Is Memory 6/3/2010
8. Nick Hornby
9. Candace Bushnell - The Carrie Diaries - 6/25/2010
10. Laurie Halse-Anderson - Fever, 1793 and Prom - May 2010

That's who I'm thinking at the moment, mostly young adult authors it seems, but young adult is so big right now and so great. I may end up going with over-achieving but we'll see. I tend to find new authors while blog hopping so that's why I may add.

Go and check out the other participants at At Home With Books and join in too!

Article: Remedy SuperStress with Chocolate by Roberta Lee M.D.

Remedy SuperStress with Chocolate
By Roberta Lee M.D.,
Author of The SuperStress Solution

If you love chocolate, you're not alone. It turns out that the average person in the United States consumes approximately 12 pounds of chocolate a year. That might sound like a lot of chocolate, but I actually recommend that my patients -- especially those who are chronically stressed or what I would describe as SuperStressed -- indulge in 1 ounce of high quality and high cocoa mass chocolate a day, and that actually adds up to well more than 12 pounds over the course of the year. Sure, chocolate is a calorie laden food (with most of the calories coming from the cocoa butter), but in my opinion, the benefits of this treat outweigh the caloric load as long as you keep the portions small. Here are the benefits:

• On a gram for gram basis, chocolate has a terrifically high concentration of antioxidants known as flavonoids. More than berries and spinach, even. Flavonoids have been shown to lower high blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease and strokes.

• Chocolate is rich in magnesium and potassium, two minerals that help promote the "relaxation response," as well as iron and zinc, which are minerals that many people don't often get enough of during the course of the day. Chocolate also contains a good amount of selenium, which enhances immune health.

• Chocolate contains several psychoactive compounds being studied and debated as responsible for the mood lift many of us experience when eating it. First, there's phenylethylamine (PEA), a natural trace amine that is a stimulant that is elevated in the brain when we are in love and is low when we are depressed. Secondly, there's theobromine, a compound that imparts energy and a sense of alertness. Finally, chocolate contains a small amount of a chemical known as N-arachidonoylethanolamine, a substance that keeps our endogenous happiness molecules -- or endorphins -- from breaking down. In other words, if we are happy, we just might stay happier longer with a little chocolate.

Of course, there's also ample consumer-proven evidence that chocolate tastes good, and that eating it can provide a little respite -- an oasis of pleasure and calm -- from our otherwise hectic days! And to me, that's what's so special about this sweet treat. I find chocolate has the ability to enhance sensory recruitment in every way. It's so inexpensive to have a piece of chocolate and it's so pleasurable, that if that's something you like and that's part of what living well is about, I say: go for it. The ideal cocoa mass is 75% or more -- this will be clear on the label and is most often found in dark chocolate -- and the ideal portion is 1 ounce (about 1/3 of an average bar or roughly the size of the palm of a woman's hand). Doctor's orders!

To reduce stress, and avoid SuperStress, try this today: Simple as it sounds; focused breathing -- during which you think about your breath as you inhale and exhale -- is a very effective stress-management technique. A slow, full breath triggers physical and cognitive changes that promote relaxation. Deep breathing helps release tension and anxiety and is a great energizer because the deeper the breath, the more your body is flooded with life-fueling oxygen. A full breath begins with the diaphragm pushing downward so that the stomach extends out. As your lungs fill with air, your chest expands. When you exhale, the reverse occurs -- your chest settles first and then your stomach. When anxiety strikes or you find yourself focusing on negative thoughts, immediately exhale through your mouth. Now, open your lungs, and breathe in through your nose, drawing in a fresh, cleansing air to the count of four. Exhale again slowly to the count of five. Repeat four times.

Copyright © 2009 Roberta Lee M.D., author of The SuperStress Solution

Author Bio
Roberta Lee, M.D., author of The SuperStress Solution, is vice chair of the Department of Integrative Medicine, director of Continuing Medical Education, and co-director of the Fellowship in Integrative Medicine at Beth Israel's Continuum Center for Health and Healing at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. Dr. Lee attended George Washington University Medical School and is one of the four graduates in the first class from the Program of Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona conducted by Andrew Weil, M.D.

For more information please visit www.superstresssolution.com

I'll be getting a review copy of this book and really look forward to reading it.

Review Copy Arrival: To Desire a Devil by Elizabeth Hoyt

To Desire a Devil by Elizabeth Hoyt

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Release Date: November 1, 2009
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 384

I received this from this book from Anna Balasi from Hachette for a book tour date in November.

About the Book:

NOTHING IS MORE INTOXICATING-
Reynaud St. Aubyn has spent the last seven years in hellish captivity. Now half mad with fever he bursts into his ancestral home and demands his due. Can this wild-looking man truly be the last earl's heir, thought murdered by Indians years ago?


OR DANGEROUS-
Beatrice Corning, the niece of the present earl, is a proper English miss. But she has a secret: No real man has ever excited her more than the handsome youth in the portrait in her uncle's home. Suddenly, that very man is here, in the flesh-and luring her into his bed.


THAN SURRENDERING TO A DEVIL.
Only Beatrice can see past Reynaud's savagery to the noble man inside. For his part, Reynaud is drawn to this lovely lady, even as he is suspicious of her loyalty to her uncle. But can Beatrice's love tame a man who will stop at nothing to regain his title-even if it means sacrificing her innocence?

Musing Mondays - Oct 26

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about note taking…

Do you take notes while reading – either for your reviews or for yourself? How/where do you make these notes (on the page, post-its, scrap paper, notebooks etc)?

I sometimes take notes, mainly about the characters and if anything important happens that I want to make note of in my review. I also will write down quotes from time-to-time but often forget to use them in my review.

I use cute notebooks that I pick up here and there (mainly the dollar store and Dollar General). They are usually colorful and different and I tend to have several of them going at one time because I want to start using a new one.

To link up and see other people's answers for this week's Musing Monday head over to Just One More Page.

Review: Love You To Death by Shannon K. Butcher

Love You to Death by Shannon K. Butcher


My rating: 5.0/5.0

Wow - can I just say that I thought this book was amazing. A wonderfully great romantic suspense and it delivers on both genres romance and suspense quite well.


Elise is a independent world-traveling reporter. No, she doesn't make a lot of money but she enjoys what she does. She doesn't have attachments now except for her flighty sister, Ashley. When Elise hasn't heard from Ashely in several days she gets worried. Worried enough to have Elise rushing to her sister's home from half-way across the world. Elise shows up there in the middle of the night and proceeds to break in to check on her sister, only shortly after she breaks in, a strong and powerful male overpowers her.

That strong male is Trent, an ex-cop who has a lot of baggage and is currently by Elise's sister's description "the hot lawn guy". Elise has to agree, Trent is hot but he doesn't seem to want to help her track down Ashley, he wants her to rely on the police. Elise needs to do this herself since it seems the police aren't interested. Finally it's too much for Trent, and his cop background takes over, but as Elise gets closer to the truth, it seems she's in more danger and Trent is in danger of falling for Elise.

Wow - the sexual tension in this one is amazing. I like the interplay between Elise and Trent as they got to know each other. The romance builds wonderfully and I can easily see and believe how they fall for each other. It's a steamy read. Add in some great suspense. You know from the beginning who the killer/kidnapper is, but there are several threads that take the whole book to unwind and the end is still very surprising. The killer is very creepy and he gives me the willies just thinking about him, but that makes him an excellent bad guy character.

Well-plotted and executed, this is a wonderful book for romantic suspense lovers out there. I actually hope there will be another book to follow this as I am interested in what happens between two of the characters at the end.

Challenges:
100+ Book Challenge
Fall Into Reading Challenge 2009

What Are You Reading Monday - October 26

Come post weekly and see what others are reading too just so you can add to your tbr - I always do! For more information see J.Kaye's Book Blog and join in!

Books Completed Last Week:

• See Mom Run: Side-Splitting Essays from the World's Most Hilarious Blogging Moms by Beth Feldman (review)
• Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly (review - book tour)
• Dingos Before Dinnertime (audiobook with DS)
• City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (library)
• Love You To Death by Shannon Butcher (review)
• The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson (library)
• Spinning Forward by Terri Dulong (review)
  

Reading Now:

• Purity in Death by J.D. Robb (audiobook)
• Always Watching by Brandilynn and Amberly Collins (library)
  
• Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough (review)
• Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis (audiobook with DS)
• Sex, Drugs and Gefilte Fish: A Heebe Storytelling Collection (review)
  

Reviews Completed Last Week

• The Last Word by Kathy Herman
• Hell's Gate by Stephen Frey
• The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
• Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly
• See Mom Run: Side-Splitting Essays from the World's Most Hilarious Blogging Moms by Beth Feldman
• Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
• Magic Treehouse books #17-24
• Would I Lie To You by Cecily von Ziegesar
  

Next:

• The Maze Runner by James Dasher (review)
• Breaking the Bank by (review)
  
• Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (review)
  
• The Well-Behaved Child by (review)
  
• Love Your Body, Love Your Life by (review)
• Last Breath by Brandilynn and Amberly Collins
  

Reviews to do:

• Only In Your Dreams by Cecily von Ziegesar
• Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning
• Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Relentless by Dean Koontz
• Hunted by P.C. and Kristin Cast
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
• True Colors by Kristen Hannah

Summary -
A great week for reading and my blog. With the read-a-thon coming, I spent the week working on catching up my reviews (and keeping my review commitments). I'm thrilled. I still have several reviews to do, but I am pretty much caught up on my October books , except for the ones read over the weekend, but I'll get them done early this week - yay! Now this week to work on my September books that didn't get reviewed and getting some more review books read. The read-a-thon was a blast and I only made it 15 hours - next year I want to try for longer.