What Are You Reading Monday - April 13

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:
Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult - Fiction - audiobook - Wonderful book - I will write the review either today or tomorrow - I enjoyed every moment of this book.
Isolation by Travis Thrasher - Christian Suspense - This was great! Could hardly put it down. Review here.
Threshold by Bonnie Kozek - Mystery/Thriller (hard-boiled) - Really good - my first real go at a hard-boiled and I really liked it - review in the next few days. I received this one from Melissa at Melissa's Bookshelf and I'm thrilled she passed this one on to me.

Reading Now:

Where the Heart Cries by Cindy Woodsmall - Fiction - I'm only a few pages in, but enjoying it so far. This is my current car book.
Betrayed by P.C. and Kristen Cast - Young Adult Paranormal - House of Night Book 2 - I'm about 70 pages in and loving it.
The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb - Fiction - I have to return this to the library today but I did start it and I will finish it - just not this go round. I read about 150 pages of it and really like - will probably purchase this as it's a chunkster that is a two-week book at the library.
At the Edge by Cait London - Romantic Suspense - good book - have been switching around a little too much in my books this week and need to get back to it.

Next:
Seven up by Janet Evanovich - Mystery
Chosen by P.C. and Kristen Cast - Young Adult Paranormal

Last week was crazy with something to do every night. With this being my oldest son's week off from school, this one is a little more sane, hopefully some more time in the evening to read and enjoy.

Musing Mondays - April 13

Musing Mondays is hosted by Rebecca at Just One More Page. You can click on the link (or the picture) to see her blog and read everyone's Musing Monday post.

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about your to be read list…

How do you respond to the comments on your blog? Do you try to email individually or comment on post yourself answering the comments above? What do you think is the best way to respond to comments and do you respond to all of them? Do you feel slighted if you don't receive a response back from the blog owner? (question courtesy of Jenn)

Wow - this is such a great question since I'm fairly new to the blogging and receiving comments world. I love receiving comments but have not been sure about answering - do people come back and see if I answer, am I talking to myself. Do I email or would someone think I'm bugging them? I'm not sure and still not sure - I'm learning here and don't want to offend anyone - I read all the comments and will start figuring out a way to respond properly because I don't want to lose readers, otherwise I am just here talking to myself :)

So there is my non-answer - I'm off to read other answers and learn more about this blogging world. I honestly started this blog to keep track of books I read and review, then found the wonderful world of book bloggers and memes and all the fun to be had. Now it's a small social outlet to share with other people who love to read so I love the comments, I learn from comments so please keep commenting, and if you want a reply and I haven't feel free to bug me!

Have a great Monday!

Triple Cross by Mark T. Sullivan Giveaway!

I have an ARC of Mark T. Sullivan's Triple Cross which is coming out next Tuesday that I would love to give away!


Here's the description from Mark T. Sullivan's website:

It’s New Year’s Eve at the Jefferson Club, a luxurious private ski resort in the mountains of southwestern Montana. Seven of the world’s wealthiest men and a U.S. Senator are among the guests gathered in the ballroom of the club’s spectacular main lodge for a private party.

Expensive champagne flows and multi-billion dollar deals are getting done, when, at the stroke of midnight, a ruthless and well-armed militia attacks the club. Self-described anti-globalists, they intend to to put the wealthy patrons of the club on trial for crimes against humanity, live on the Internet for all the world to see.

As the first trial unfolds, it becomes a new-media sensation, with tens of millions of viewers who are allowed to vote as jury members. It seems harmless, funny, until one of the tycoons is convicted and put to death just as stock and bond trading opens for the New Year. The markets are rocked by the execution, and start to plummet as more of the billionaires are put on trial.

The only people who can prevent an outright market crash, stop the madness, and uncover the true reasons behind the brutal attack are Mickey Hennessy, the club’s director of security, his three fourteen-year-old children and Cheyenne O’Neil, an FBI financial crimes specialist.

Ultimately capitalism and anti-globalism collide with stunning consequences in a searing narrative that’s a lean blend of suspense, dark humor and explosive action, as well as a novel that raises compelling questions about who the real criminals are in a world where financial markets can be manipulated on an unfathomable scale and a powerful few profit at the expense of the many.

My review is here.
Author website here.

Official rules:

Entries can be made by the following (put all of your entries in one comment, I'll count them):
1. Comment for the first entry
2. Become a follower or subscribe to my blog for another entry.
3. Follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/cfulcher)
4. Tweet this or post on your blog about this contest (+1 for each)

I'll run this contest through Monday April 13 and post the winner on Tuesday.

Thanks!

Booking Through Thursday - April 9

For something different, I’m borrowing a question from … here! One of the very first questions ever at Booking Through Thursday. Back from 2005 when Laura owned the blog but, because it was so new, it didn’t get as many responses as it does now … so, why not revisit?

Here’s the question:

Some people read one book at a time. Some people have a number of them on the go at any given time, perhaps a reading in bed book, a breakfast table book, a bathroom book, and so on, which leads me to…

1. Are you currently reading more than one book?
2. If so, how many books are you currently reading?
3. Is this normal for you?
4. Where do you keep your current reads?

To see others answers see here.

1. I am currently reading more than one book
2. I am reading 4 books at this time:

• Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult is my audiobook
  
• At the Edge by Cait London is my carry-around book
• When the Heart Cries by Cindy Woodsmall is my car book
• Threshold by Bonnie Kozek as my review book.

3. About 3 is normal - 1 audio book, 1 for the car and 1 as my carry-around.
4. As described above - one is an audiobook which is on my mp3 player or on cds in the car, the carry-around book is either in my purse or my bag - this is my main reading book usually, the other is in the car for taking breaks at work (when I have to get away from my desk), and currently the review book is being carted around too. I always have something to read with me!

I'm off to see what others do about reading whether it's one at a time or multiples!

Cover Attraction - April 8

Marcia at The Printed Page presents the Cover Attraction Meme on her blog, every week. Here is what she writes:

I’m a very visual person and love beautiful, or interesting, cover art. It entices, and invites, me to stop and take a peek instead of walking right on by.

This week my Cover Attraction is:

This cover just speaks to me. I live on the coast, so the coastal look grabs me, the soft colors, the shells, the weathered walkway and the water all just draw me in. Add in the three women and I'm very interested in the book (and the fact that I like Kristin Hannah's books).

Synopsis from Amazon.com:

True Colors is New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah’s most provocative, compelling, and heart-wrenching story yet. With the luminous writing and unforgettable characters that are her trademarks, she tells the story of three sisters whose once-solid world is broken apart by jealousy, betrayal, and the kind of passion that rarely comes along.

The Grey sisters have always been close. After their mother’s death, the girls banded together, becoming best friends. Their stern, disapproving father cares less about his children than about his reputation. To Henry Grey, appearances are everything, and years later, he still demands that his daughters reflect his standing in the community.

Winona, the oldest, needs her father’s approval most of all. An overweight bookworm who never felt at home on the sprawling horse ranch that has been in her family for three generations, she knows that she doesn’t have the qualities her father values. But as the best lawyer in town, she’s determined to someday find a way to prove her worth to him.

Aurora, the middle sister, is the family peacemaker. She brokers every dispute and tries to keep them all happy, even as she hides her own secret pain.

Vivi Ann is the undisputed star of the family. A stunningly beautiful dreamer with a heart as big as the ocean in front of her house, she is adored by all who know her. Everything comes easily for Vivi Ann, until a stranger comes to town. . . .

In a matter of moments, everything will change. The Grey sisters will be pitted against one another in ways that none could have imagined. Loyalties will be tested and secrets revealed, and a terrible, shocking crime will shatter both their family and their beloved town.

With breathtaking pace and penetrating emotional insight, True Colors is an unforgettable novel about sisters, rivalry, forgiveness, redemption---and ultimately, what it means to be a family.

So what is your cover attraction this week?

Waiting on Wednesday - April 8

Jill at Breaking the Spine hosts "Waiting On" Wednesday where everyone posts what new not-yet-published books we are anxiously awaiting. I'm new to this one also but I am looking forward to being a part of it and seeing all the wonderful new releases out there (and hoping my library will get the online card catalog back up so I can reserve books again).

My Entry for this week is:

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

This book made a lot of lists last week and now I can't wait for it to come out. Here is the description from amazon.com:

A spellbinding, beautifully written novel that moves between contemporary times and one of the most fascinating and disturbing periods in American history-the Salem witch trials.

Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie's grandmother's abandoned home near Salem, she can't refuse. As she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an ancient key within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest--to find out who this woman was and to unearth a rare artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge.

As the pieces of Deliverance's harrowing story begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the long-ago witch trials, and she begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem's dark past then she could have ever imagined.

Written with astonishing conviction and grace, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane travels seamlessly between the witch trials of the 1690s and a modern woman's story of mystery, intrigue, and revelation.

About the Author
Katherine Howe is completing a PhD in American and New England Studies, and is a descendant of Elizabeth Proctor, who survived the Salem witch trials, and Elizabeth Howe, who did not. The idea for this novel developed while Howe was studying for her doctoral qualifying exams and walking her dog through the woods between Marblehead and Salem. She lives in Massachusetts, with her husband.

So what are you waiting on this week?

Teaser Tuesday - April 7

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!

My teaser:

She'd felt his impatience, his frustration when she didn't answer his knock. Fine, let him be frustrated; she was not obligated to answer the door, not for someone who was clearly set to call her out. An argument would only leave her vulnerable.

Still. To deal with Neil, she needed to know more about him, and since he was within a few feet . . .

From At the Edge by Cait London which I am just starting.