Sunday, October 30, 2011

99 - In My Mailbox

The next person to FOLLOW my blog will be #100.  I feel like wriggling in excitement and rolling around with my tongue hanging out!!  Two weeks ago, I would never have guessed it possible... 100!!!  Wow.

hahahaha  I'm thinking up "thank you" speaches for the Wonderful One Hundred that got me here.   Thanks all!  (And if I don't publish this fast, it'll be 101 or 104, which is also very "cool" but not as tidy as 100. Like my hubby's birthday this year on 11/1/11 -  very trim.)

The Story Siren hosts In My Mailbox, which I have been excited to blog about, since I seemed to attract amazing books like a magnet all week.  But she posted this awesome entry yesterday about Newbie Bloggers, which I just drank up. I can't believe it took me this long to start blogging about books, but it's harder than I imagined it could be and everyone is so much nicer than I thought they would be. No one's pounding on my door to give me ARC's, which I WISHED would happen, but I don't think I really thought would.  (If a wood chuck could chuck wood.)

My fav find of the week is Dreaming in English which I discovered in the country of Costco.  It came out in February of this year. I think what sold me was the praise on the back cover. Cathy Lamb, author of Such a Pretty Face was quoted, "I loved the compelling, sweet love story. And I loved the way Laura Fitzgerald... made me fall in love with America all over again."  The book described itself... "Tami is beginning to understand that freedom is not for the faint of heart. With so much stacked against her, and her immigration interview looming, she wonders whether she's got the right stuff." Tami's parents are still in Iran, which sounds like a significant part of Tami's happiness or lack of.  I could personally use some encouragement in the "American Dream" category. I'm not an immigrant, but being a Small Business Owner, I might as well be. Hope in America sounds refreshing.


I also picked up Linger, which I still haven't read since I finished Shiver before it came out. It was the same with Ballad. I hate leaving series hanging unfinished. NOT TO MENTION, I met Maggie Stiefvater recently and she was FUN!! I've cracked Ballad open twice and I'm totally intrigued with the texting and music.



I place holds online at the library and I requested Game of Thrones months ago. I had no idea it was such a large volume!! I am both excited and intimidated... no doubt I am in a long line of requests, so I have three weeks to finish this and turn it back in. If I love it, though, I'll just get the whole series on my Nook. E-reading books in a series altogether removes covers magically, transforming separate stories into one, glorious united saga. Or... that's how I managed Twilight, anyway. And Paksennarion... And Crown Duel.  Fun!!


One more... meandering around the internet, meeting great new blogs and bloggers, I found this gem on sale for a short time on Kindle for only $.99.  Sweet!!  The author is so artistic, her drawings are so intricate. I couldn't pass it up. Check this out!!

Memory's Wake by Selina Fenech (some pictures are "adult"-ish)

But that's not all!!!!
I got to volunteer at the kids' school for the Scholastic Book Fair.  :-D

I picked up books for the kids, too...