Month: October 2009

Books Bought # 22

Posted on by Cindy


Books Bought is a meme that I am hosting show casing the books I have bought recently. I just checked and its been almost a month since I bought books. I am really impressed that I have held off that long.

Anyways, there is no picture this week of what I bought because for some reason nothing wants to add to my blogger. Plus I am starting to feel a little sick.

So here is what I bought this week. What goodies did you buy if any?
For Michael I bought:
-Thomas’ Milkshake Muddle (found this at Dollarama for $1)
-Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

For Me:
-Precious Moments: Gift treasury (found this at Dollarama for $2. I love precious moments)
-Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn (this was on the bargain table)
-Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (he is coming to town in Nov)
-City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (she is also coming to town in Nov)
-City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Evening Out…

Posted on by Cindy

For the past month I have been super excited for last night (Oct 8th). Kelley Armstrong the author of two YA books THE SUMMONING & THE AWAKENING, and several adult novels was coming to my local Chapters bookstore for a reading, Q&A and signing.

Last month I won BITTEN from Random House Canada via TWITTER and I was excited and then really excited when I heard that Kelley was coming to town.

I mentioned this to both Donna and Linda. To my surprise they both wanted to go with me. So we planned this as an evening out.

When Donna and I first walked in we saw a section with chairs so I went to grab us three seats. Donna went off to pick up a few of Kelley’s books to get signed and I was looking around and what did I spot?


Yes the seats were next to the calendar display. I had to snap that picture. Is that a sign or not?

Just before Kelley came out I looked around to see there was quite the crowd behind us. I am sure Kelley was pleasantly surprised and it ranged from the young to the old.

This is Kelley and she is just about to read from her brand new book Frostbitten. She was telling the audience that the title Frostbitten was submitted by her as a joke and they accepted the title for it.

Donna got to ask a question and she got this tshirt. Kelley was telling everyone before the Q&A that she bribes the audience to ask questions and if you are picked you get some goodies ie tshirts, bags and USB drives with a bunch of goodies on it.

After that was book signing time. I got my two books signed THE SUMMONING & THE AWAKENING. Kelley noticed that I had a bunch of post-its attached to the side of the book and was asking if those were all the pages with errors on them and I laughed and said no they are parts of the book that I enjoyed and wanted to mark them so I knew where they were when I wrote my reviews.

The book marks she was giving away were really nice. Thanks Kelley for the bookmarks.

Kelley graciously posed for tons of pictures with her fans.

You can’t see in the picture above but this was when Donna was getting her books signed. You can check Linda’s blog this weekend for her review of the event and her pictures. I think Donna is going to be doing a write up too.

Another highlight of the evening was meeting another local blogger. Earlier in the day I spoke with Lucy-Enchanted by Josephine on twitter and she mentioned that she would be in the area and might stop by.

I kept an eye out for her that evening. Just as we were about to leave Lucy walks in and we got to chat with her briefly. She is truly a delight to speak with and looking forward to getting the chance to meet up with her again and to talk a little longer. Perhaps she will come to a local meet up one day.

In the above picture (L-R) Me, Lucy and Linda.

That was our evening out and I think the next time we go to another author signing for Donna and I will be in two weeks when we go to our local library to see Claire Holden Rothman talk about her book THE HEART SPECIALIST and then the following week we will be going to see Bill Haugland talk about his book MOBILE 9.

Then in November, Scott Westerfeld, Cassandra Clare and Holly Black will be coming to our local chapters and all three of us have agreed that we will be attending this one. I already have UGLIES (Scott’s book), CITY OF BONES BK 1 & CITY OF ASHES BK2 of The Mortal Instruments in my hands to read before then and hoping to be able to get those signed.

I just wanted to point out because it was brought to my attention that Donna is mentioned but not shown in any pictures. The reason that Donna isn’t in the pictures is because she doesn’t like to have it taken. I respect her decision and thats why there is no pictures of her.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

The Summoning Review

Posted on by Cindy


PUB DATE: July 2008

ABOUT THE BOOK:

After years of frequent moves following her mother’s death, Chloe Saunders’s life is finally settling down. She is attending art school, pursuing her dreams of becoming a director, making friends, meeting boys. Her biggest concern is that she’s not developing as fast as her friends are. But when puberty does hit, it brings more than hormone surges. Chloe starts seeing ghosts–everywhere, demanding her attention. After she suffers a breakdown, her devoted aunt Lauren gets her into a highly recommended group home.

At first, Lyle House seems a pretty okay place, except for Chloe’s small problem of fearing she might be facing a lifetime of mental illness. But as she gradually gets to know the other kids at the home–charming Simon and his ominous, unsmiling brother Derek, obnoxious Tori, and Rae, who has a “thing” for fire–Chloe begins to realize that there is something that binds them all together, and it isn’t your usual “problem kid” behaviour. And together they discover that Lyle House is not your usual group home either.

MT THOUGHTS:
This is the first book in the Darkest Power trilogy. Book 3 The Reckoning is scheduled to be released May, 2010. I am so excited to read it and hoping it will answer a few questions that I have about the series. This is also Kelley’s first Young Adult novel. She is well known for her adult fantasy books.

When I was on twitter one day Random House Canada was doing a give away of Kelley’s first book Bitten and I was lucky enough to win it. I admitted to the rep that I have never read anything by Kelley before but I would love to. I love to discover new authors.

I quickly discovered that Kelley is a Canadian author (she lives in Southern Ontario) and I was really excited to read her book after discovering that. Then I discovered that Kelley would be coming to my local Chapters October 8th for a book signing (reading and a Q&A also) for her lastest book Frostbitten. So I rushed out to buy The Summoning in hopes of getting it signed as Bitten was already signed. (Check tomorrow for photos and info from the signing)

The Summoning is not like her adult books. There is more of a magical element to it with a twist in it. I would recommend this book to any young adult because there is no sex and what violence there is its toned down for the purpose of it being a YA book.

I was really surprised when I started to read the book at how fast I was sucked into it. As I was reading it I realized that I was having a hard time to put it down. I ended up reading this over a two day span. The first day I stayed up late reading it and thankfully the next day M. was sick so he stayed home from school and I was able to finish reading it.

The whole book had me sitting on the edge of me seat. (I love books like that.) Wondering what was going to happen and then when I got to the end I was like OMG (okay thats not really what I said but you know what I mean.) it can’t end like that! Major cliff hanger. (Just a note if you are going to read it then I suggest you buy/get book two The Awakening at the same time.)

The Summoning is told in first person by a 15 year old girl named Chloe. In the first part of the book we discover that Chloe sees ghosts. At first she thinks she is loosing her mind and when one day at school she seems a ghost she freaks out. She fights off the teachers who are trying to help her. She is carted off to the hospital where her aunt Lauren gets her into The Lyle House so that they can help her get better.

Its at Lyle House where the drs diagnose Chloe with schizophrenia. (Having a family member with schizophrenia I am so what familiar with it and I didn’t know that they saw ghosts I just thought it was people/images) So Chloe is given medication to control it but she still sees ghosts.

Lyle House also has other teens that are similar to Chloe and are labelled with mental health problems. They all know they don’t have mental health problems but something else. Unsure of what it is exactly. Some feel that if they take the medication it will make them better.

Derek, one of the kids in with Chloe convinces her she is in danger and that she should escape with his brother Simon so that they can look for his dad. His dad will know what to do. Chloe and Derek manage to leave one night to scope it out and to plan. When the weekend approaches Derek informs them that they need to leave that night.

When they are set to go Derek goes missing and Chloe stays back to look for him and when she finds him she is surprised at what she sees but not shocked. Will Chloe and Derek be able to leave before they are caught?

On the run the leave Lyle House and run to the factories that are close by. As they are leaving the factory Chloe cuts herself on broken glass. When the girls and boys must separate to throw the employees of their trails. Rae manages to convince Chloe she needs medical attention so they leave when its save to go to aunt Lauren’s.

When they get to her aunts Chloe realizes who she can and can’t trust and is shocked to discover the one person she thought she could trust in facts betrays her.

While I was looking around for images of the book I discovered this one. I personally like the top cover better.

This book was provided for review by myself. I bought this book to read and review.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

FTC Rules About Blogging & Disclosure

Posted on by Cindy


This has been the talk on twitter yesterday (Mon Oct 5th) and on a few blog posts that I saw on my blog reader.

An Article on MSNBC website that states that bloggers have to disclose if they have received a product for free or have been paid for reviewing products. This is something that I know we’ll all want to pay attention to, especially since the fines can reach up to $11,000 per violation.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33177160/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

The law will start being enforced on December 1st.

I am not sure how this will play out for me and my fellow Canadian bloggers.

Anyways, I just wanted to put it out there that I don’t get paid for reviews. My only compensation I receive is the books I receive from publishers and/or authors and I do make a note of that in my reviews. So all my reviews are 100% my thoughts and opinions and my opinions are not swayed by the way I receive my book.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Thanksgiving at The Inn Review

Posted on by Cindy

PUB DATE: October 1, 2009

Thanks to Harrison at Bancroft Press for sending me this finished book to read and review for Cindy’s Love of Books. Thank You.
Thanksgiving at the Inn is a story about three generations of Heath Wellingtons. Heath Wellington III is a boy who is basically having a really hard life for a kid. His mother has left the family, his father is an alcoholic and is trying to get his book published but all he gets is rejection letters. Then to top it off Heath gets suspended from school because they think he cheated and the worse thing is that his father believes the school. From my perception Heath II (Heath’s father) basically is a mean dad who could care less about this son. Its pretty evident in the book the way Heath is treated by his dad.

Then one day his father gets word that Senior (his dad) has died. Junior (Heath’s dad) and Heath prepare to go to the funeral. Heath has no memory of his grandfather and he feels bad about it.

His father and Heath go visit the lawyer and they discover they stand to inherit the whole estate which makes Junior extremely happy and basically in his head has the money spent until the lawyer burst the bubble and tells him that there is a catch to the deal and if he doesn’t go through with it everything will be lost. What could this catch possible be?

One of the catches is that they have to stay for three months managing Seniors bed and breakfast inn called Sleeping Inn which is located in Massachusett’s. This is the home that Junior grew up in and hasn’t been back there in eight years.

Being back, Junior discovers how hard it is to be there because every where he turns he hears praises for Senior. Mean while Heath is having a hard time too because he can’t remember his grandfather.

At Sleeping Inn there is a quirky bunch of people staying there such as:

–Winsted (Preacher) He is a old man from Jamaica. With a colorful past that will shock the reader. Apart from Heath he was my favorite character. I loved reading his conversations I could almost hear him speaking when I was reading it. Loved the way he spoke.

-Mrs Farrel is a elderly lady who appears to be giving away her late husbands fortune. Apparently before he died he scammed his employees and took their money and put it in an off shore account. Did you she really discover this money or is she hoping to one day?

– Sally (Mustang Sally) is the big muscle guy covered in tattoos. He is a grease monkey who is working trying to get enough money to get his father’s garage back up and running. Heath discovers that Sally is really an children’s author/illustrator that does something that surprises Heath.
A few other characters in the book that weren’t mentioned alot was Carter who is a Harvard Grad and a news junkie. Then there is Savannah who we discover was Junior’s high school sweetheart. She has a daughter who has autism.
I enjoyed reading the book and couldn’t help but wish that Heath would get a Thanksgiving that he could be thankful for. I was happy when push came to shove and Heath stood up to his father. The father needed a wake up call and it was Heath that gave it too him. It took a near fatal accident to wake Junior up to make him appreciate what was near and dear to him and what should matter more to him then himself.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

One year ago today………..

Posted on by Cindy

This time last year (actually at the exact time this is going to post) I got to meet some local book bloggers for the first time Tina and Avis at a local tea Shop in Verdun with Donna. (So, if this was last year we would all be sitting down drinking tea and hot chocolates.)

What a year it has been from talking about our love of books, sharing books, anything book related and just life in general. I have learned so much from everyone this past year and formed a great friendship with them all.

During this past year Donna and I managed to get Tina out to our end of the Island and we took part in the yearly library sale, then stumbled upon a yard sale with proceeds going to Rosie’s Adoptations and then we went for breakfast at The Den, which Tina loved.

Hopefully with Donna’s store opening up soon we will be able to get Avis out here. Linda will be coming out this way Oct 8th to take part in the Kelley Armstrong book signing at Chapters with Donna and I.

Two months ago we added a new blogger to our group Linda and what a great addition she is to our group.

I see some great things happening to our group and perhaps we will make our first official road trip in May to NYC.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

School Days Lunches Review

Posted on by Cindy

PUB DATE: August 2006

I recently bought this one on of my journeys to Chapters with Donna.

I normally don’t buy alot of cookbooks because of their price but when I happened to pass by the bargain books I spotted this cookbook on sale for $6.99 (-10% discount with iRewards card) Which would normally sell for about $16. So that alone was a deal in itself.

With Michael in school its hard to pack lunches because the school he goes to has a no peanut policy so I can’t send him to school with a peanut butter sandwich or anything that contains peanuts.

Within a month he is tired of sandwiches, tomato pizzas and wraps so I am always trying to come up with new ideas so when I saw this I had to pick it up. Praying there would be some great suggestions that I could put in his lunches.

I love Company’s Coming cookbooks because the recipes are simple, easy to do and always has great pictures. There is well over a 120 recipes in the book.

So far I have managed to make: Hot Apple Cider (which is very similar to what I have at our monthly meet ups), tomato Beef Stew, Taco Chip Salad, Salami Cheese Sub, Taco Cheese Swirls and Oodles of noodles.

Michael didn’t really like the Hot Apple Cider, but then again I really made that for myself, and he did love everything else I made. Thankfully Michael isn’t a fussy child when it comes to food. He loves to try new things and doesn’t really care for left overs.

What is great about this cookbook is not only is it good for school buts its also good for lunches and dinners at home. There are so many more recipes in the book that I can’t wait to try some more out.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.