My Reading Room

Friday, June 19, 2009

Bloggiesta Starting Post

Okay - this was supposed to post automatically this morning and it wasn't supposed to be blank. So this is the start of Bloggiesta for me. I had a pre-op appointment out-of-town this morning and that is why the post was automatic. But it's all for the better since I am officially starting now. I'm not sure I will make the prescribed amount of time, but I will be working on my blog a lot tomorrow and touring around the other participants.

I need to catch up on my reviews and create some scheduled posts for next week and I need to do some organizing and cosmetic work on the blog since I am really enjoying it and plan to keep it up. So you will see more of me in the next 36 hours. I look forward to hearing how everyone else is doing also!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Giveaway - Swimsuit by James Patterson

Syd, a breathtakingly beautiful supermodel on a photo shoot in Hawaii, disappears. Fearing the worst, her parents travel to Hawaii to investigate for themselves, never expecting the horror that awaits them.

LA Times reporter Ben Hawkins is conducting his own research into the case, hoping to help the victim and get an idea for his next bestseller. With no leads and no closer to uncovering the kidnapper's identity than when he stepped off the plane, Ben gets a shocking visit that pushes him into an impossible-to-resist deal with the devil.

A heart-pounding story of fear and desire, SWIMSUIT transports readers to a chilling new territory where the collision of beauty and murder transforms paradise into a hell of unspeakable horrors.

So this is the newest James Patterson, due out on June 29th and guess what, I have two copies in hand. I haven't read this yet, but I will for review, but since I got an extra copy, I thought it would be a great time to offer this up as a giveaway.

The contest will go through Tuesday June 29th (release day) at midnight. I will draw one winner on Wednesday or Thursday.

You can enter by:

Commenting on my blog, make sure I have a way to contact you. (+1)
Become a blog follower or let me know if you are already a follower (+1)
Tell me the first James Patterson book you read (+1)
Tweet about this review and giveaway, use @cfulcher in the tweet so I can find it (you can get one additional entry for each retweet - one a day max, but that gives you quite a few days, just come back and comment here) (+1)
Follow me on Twitter (or let me know if you are a current follower) (+1)
Blog about this contest and let me know the link (sidebar or post is fine) (+1)

So there you go - 6 ways to get an entry into this contest. You can leave them in separate posts or one post, it doesn't matter, I will make sure you get your entries, just make sure to let me know what you do.

Review: Avalon High by Meg Cabot

Avalon High by Meg Cabot

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

From goodreads.com:

Avalon High seems like a typical high school, attended by typical students: There's Lance, the jock. Jennifer, the cheerleader. And Will, senior class president, quarterback, and all-around good guy.
But not everybody at Avalon High is who they appear to be ... not even, as new student Ellie is about to discover, herself. What part does she play in the drama that is unfolding? What if the bizarre chain of events and coincidences she has pieced together means -- as with the court of King Arthur -- tragedy is fast approaching Avalon High?
Worst of all, what if there's nothing she can do about it?

I was looking through my stacks of books yesterday for just a quick, fun read and I found it in my library stack. Avalon High is a young adult novel featuring Ellie, a high school junior who finds herself in a new school and in a new town while her parents are on sabbatical in Annapolis, Maryland. What she didn't expect was to be thrown into a story she was more than familiar with in the current time.

Meg Cabot writes a really good young adult story in this one, it's clean and fun. Ellie is one of those ordinary girls who doesn't expect to stick out in a new school. She figures she will join the track team and just be an ordinary girl. But that isn't what happens. Within days of starting at Avalon High she is thrust in with the most popular boy in school, his best friend and his girlfriend. But things aren't always what they seem in this popular crowd.

As Ellie tries to navigate her newfound somewhat popular status, the book develops and other questions begin to form. And all of this moves the book to it's conclusion.

Characterization isn't deep - this is more plot driven, but you do learn about Ellie. The other characters are also enjoyable, Will, Lance, Jennifer, Marco and Mr. Morton all make great characters.

All-in-all, it's a great fast-paced quick young adult read. I enjoyed it and will read more of Ms. Cabot's young adult titles (I believe I have read a lot of her adult titles). In fact I have The Princess Diaries in my library stack also. Read this one afternoon that you just want to read something quick and easy - no death, destruction or deep teenage thinking involved. And sometimes you need a book that is just that.

This book satisfies requirements for the 2009 100+ book challenge and also the 2009 Support Your Local Library Challenge.

There are actually more books in this series in the Manga format. I'll have to see about those, I haven't read any Manga, but I'm pretty open to any type of book and I really would like to learn more about Ellie, Will, Jennifer and Lance.

Meg Cabot's website
Avalon High available on IndieBound
Avalon High at amazon.com

Binding: Hardcover
Genre: Young Adult
Copyright: 2006
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 288

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Review and Giveaway - The Neighbor by Lisa Gardner

The Neighbor by Lisa Gardner

rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

From the back of the arc:

This is what happened...
It was a case guaranteed to spark a media feeding frenzy--a young mother, blond and pretty, disappears without a trace from her South Boston home, leaving behind her four-year-old daughter as the only witness and her handsome, secretive husband as the prime suspect.

In the last six hours...
But from the moment Dectective Sergeant D.D. Warren arrives at the Joneses' snug little bungalow, she senses something off about the wholesome illusion the couple worked so hard to create.

Of the world as I knew it...
With the clock ticking on the life of a missing woman and the media firestorm building, Jason Jones seems more intent on destroying evidence and isolating his daughter than searching for his "beloved" wife. Is the perfect husband trying to hide his guilt--or just trying to hide? And will the only witness to the crime be the killer's next victim?

Wow! That is the main word that comes to mind at the end of this book. I have read several of Lisa Gardner's books before and they were good, but this one really kept me hanging on, wondering what would happen next and exactly what the heck was going on.

The book starts with the normal night for Sandy Jones, but then something happens. Throughout the book you are given her perspective and memories, but you never quite figure out what is going on. You learn about her marriage, is Jason the one who has abducted her? There are definitely secrets. Is it the sex offender down the street? Is it someone else? It seems like there are several likely suspects as Sandy's "normal" looking life unfolds before your eyes.

It's quite a thrill-ride that keeps you guessing. As it jumps from person-to-person I enjoyed getting the different perspectives. We get the perspective of Sandy and Aidan Brewster, but then it's third person for the others. An interesting combination in this book. And we can't forget Detective D.D. Warren who is the featured police detective in this book. She's trying to stay one step ahead of this case and she's mired down in all the possibilities. But this book is truly less about the police investigation and more about the people involved. There are lots of secrets that are revealed slowly that make this book hard to put down. I didn't see the middle or the ending coming and that makes it a great book to me. And the best thing was it all seemed plausible - no crazy out of left field conclusion for this book - no it makes perfect sense.

If you pick this book up plan on several hours of uninterrupted reading because you will get sucked in to this book.

Binding: Hardcover
On-sale Date: 6/16/2009
Publisher: Bantam
Pages: 368

Also I would like to give away my copy which is an arc. I will open the contest today through next Wednesday June 24th. Please enter by:

Commenting on my blog, make sure I have a way to contact you. (+1)
Become a blog follower or let me know if you are already a follower (+1)
Tell me any other Lisa Gardner books you have read and enjoyed (+1)
Tweet about this review and giveaway, use @cfulcher in the tweet so I can find it (+1)
Follow me on Twitter (or let me know if you are a current follower) (+1)
Blog about this contest and let me know the link (sidebar or post is fine) (+1)

Fragment by Warren Fahy Winner

The winner is: Luvdaylilies.

I have emailed the winner for her address. Thanks to everyone for entering. Come back and check the blog for other contests and reviews.

The review for Fragment can be found here (and I gave it 5 out of 5 stars).

Waiting on Wednesday - June 17

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My "can't-wait-to-read" selection for this week is:

The release date is August 11, 2009 and here is a description:

That's what Tim Blake finds himself asking when his daughter Sydney vanishes into thin air. At the hotel where she was supposedly working, no one has ever heard of her. Even her closest friends can't tell him what Sydney was really doing in the weeks before her disappearance. Now as the days pass without a word, Tim is forced to face not only the fact that Sydney is missing but that the daughter he's loved and nurtured, the daughter he thought he knew as well as anyone, is a virtual stranger.

As he retraces Sydney's steps, searching for clues to her secret life, Tim discovers that the suburban Connecticut town he always thought of as perfectly ordinary has a darker side. But what he doesn't know is just how dark. Because while he's out searching for his daughter, questioning everyone who might have known her, someone is watching him.

For Tim isn't the only one who'll do anything to find Syd. Whatever trouble she's in, there's a lot more on the way.and it's following in Tim's footsteps. The closer Tim comes to the truth, the closer he comes to every parent's worst nightmare.and the kind of evil only a parent's love has a chance in hell of stopping.

It sounds so good - it was also my Friday Find for last week.

So what are you waiting on. Come post here so everyone can add to their tbr piles (and you can also comment here - I love comments).

Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge

Welcome to the Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge!

Beth at Beth Fish Reads is hosting a year-long catch up on Sookie Stackhouse books challenge. Go here to sign up. Here are the rules:

Here's your chance to catch up on Sookie and all her friends -- living and undead, fully human and not.

It's easy, it's fun, it's for you! And you have an entire year to complete the challenge.

The Rules:

1. Between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2010, catch up on Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire series. No matter if you're starting with book 1 or book 8, you have a year to read all about Sookie. Read Sookie in print, listen to the audio, read an eBook -- format is not an issue.

2. Sign up using Mr. Linky. Put your name in the top box. For the bottom box, please use the URL that links specifically to your blog post about this challenge, not to your blog's home page.

3. After July 4, I'll create a post with another Mr. Linky where you can link your reviews so everyone can read them track your progress.

4. If you don't have a blog and want to join in, sign up in the comments here. Later, let us know about your progress by leaving comments on the review link page.