Cindy

Armchair BEA 2014/ More Then Just Words #4

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Cindy

More Than Just Words
There are so many mediums that feature more than just words and enhance a story in a multitude of ways. Examples may include graphic novels and comics, audiobooks, or even multimedia novels. On this day, we will be talking about those books and formats that move beyond just the words and use other ways to experience a story. Which books stand out to you in these different formats?

I have been thinking about this all morning and I am stumped.

I have tried but could never get into audio books and that is because for me personally after listening to one it would become background noise and I would forget I was listening to it and would go about and do other things until I came back into the room and would be like oh yea I was listening to that and start all over again.

Growing up I would read comic books and my sister would always be so gracious and send me a ton. I loved reading them when I was younger but as I go older as did she they stopped coming and I never bought them because they are expensive for a hour read right?

Now since having a 11 year old son he loves reading graphic novels and mangas. The only ones I have made it a point to buy are these

He has the complete collection to date with these twos because these are his favorites.

I have bought a few other ones but he has never really enjoyed them so he always makes it a point in the summer to borrow as many manga’s and graphic novels from our local library.

As for me I have read a few manga’s but nothing ever really stood out for me as a favorite.

Do you have any favorite graphic novels or manga’s we should read?

Armchair BEA 2014/ Author Interaction #3

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Cindy

Welcome to day 2 in Armchair BEA. Did everyone have a crazy day yesterday? I literally didn’t leave my computer apart from getting food, drinks, going to the bathroom and then picking up my son at the bus stop.

Today’s topic is:

Author Interaction
Let’s talk interacting with authors IRL (in real life) or online. This is your opportunity to talk about your favorite author readings that you have attended. Or, you can feature your favorite author fan moment (i.e., an author sent you a tweet or commented on your blog). Maybe you even want to share how your interactions have changed since becoming a blogger or share your own tips that you have learned along the way when interacting with authors as a blogger.

I think one of the best things about being a reader or blogger is being able to interact with authors both in real life and online. We all want to have some kind of connection with the author and the book.

I don’t ever recall a time when I met an author were I was in total shock of meeting them. I have always gone in with the mentality of they are human too. They do the same things I do. I don’t know if that’s because I hold authors in a different light then I do with celebrities. Perhaps I have met more authors then celebrities. I don’t know. Does that make sense?

Living in Canada especially Quebec we don’t get alot of the big name authors like Toronto does which is really crap because Toronto gets some totally amazing ones especially as of late but when they do come I try to get out to attend along with some local bloggers I know.

I usually don’t have a lot of fan girl moments during my blogging years but I have to tell you I still get very excited when an author leaves me a comment on a post or quickly sends me an email. I mean how can you not get excited? The author has not only visited your blog but they took the time out to comment or email as well. How thrilling is that?

The only other time I have literally squealed with delight was when I went to the Lesley Livingston signing (click on this text to see my write up) and we were talking and she made the comment about knowing my blog. To actually hear an author say that to me was so well worth blogging. It just goes to show you never know who is watching you.

I think the only tip I can truly offer you the reader is authors are human. They eat, sleep, watch tv, read, listen to music etc. They are just like you and I. There is no need to fear them, they don’t bite at least I don’t think they do 🙂 and alot of the time you will be surprised at how approachable they really are. They love talking to their readers.

Armchair BEA 2014 Introductions #1

Posted on May 27, 2014May 12, 2014 by Cindy

Welcome to the first day of Armchair BEA. In previous years Armchair BEA has always kicked off with an introduction and this year its no exception. I am going to a point to reach out and comment more on blogs. So if you are visiting from the Armchair BEA link please let me know so that I can go and read your replies.

I hope you enjoy reading my replies. I had a lot of fun picking out 5 questions to reply too.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging? Where in the world are you blogging from?
Describe your blog in just one sentence. Then, list your social details — Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. — so we can connect more online.
Spread the love by naming your favorite blogs/bloggers (doesn’t necessarily have to be book blogs/bloggers).
If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 3 books would you bring? Why? What 3 non-book items would you bring? Why?
What does your favorite/ideal reading space look like?

Hi everyone, my name is Cindy. I am a stay at home mom and a Canadian (Quebec) blogger. I have been blogging since August 2008. I always use to journal what I read as a way to keep track of the books I read and what I thought of them. It wasn’t until August of 2008 when my son was going to school for the first time that I stumbled upon some blogs and I realized that I could use a blog to keep track of the books that I read, share my thoughts on them and build friendships with other book lovers that are out there. Up to that time I really didn’t have anyone to talk to about books or authors or attend author signings with. I thought it would be nice to meet some book lovers locally and world wide.

If I had to describe my blog in one word I would have to say eclectic.

If you want to follow me on my other social media please feel free and let me know and I will follow back:

Twitter
Instagram (I am still getting use to this)
Pinterest (I am still getting use to this)
Facebook (this is the one that is associated with my blog only)

These are the kinds of questions that make me squirm a bit because I hate saying these are my favorite and bloggers. So I will list a few bloggers and their blogs that I enjoy reading.

This is a really hard question for me and I just had to include this, I wonder how many other bloggers will be answering this one? Did you ask this one?

If I was stranded on a deserted island the three books (I wish I could say my iPad since I have the kindle, kobo, etc on their with tons of books) I would want to bring would be:

Wuthering Heights as I could read this over and over again
Extracted as I think I could read this over and over again
The Land of Stories is another one I think I could read over and over again

The three non bookish items I would want to bring would be:

a sharp knife (to cut things with)
sunscreen because I burn easily
a friend so that I wouldn’t be alone and we could share the books

Finally the last question is what would my ideal reading spot look like and I have to say it changes all the time but currently I would have to say something like this:

Its going to be a room with big windows and an amazing view of the ocean or mountains. With tons of books and big comfy chairs to curl up in. You can check out my pinterest board (here) to see a few other of my favorite looks.

Thanks for stopping by I look forward to reading all your replies to these questions so don’t forget to leave your blog links in the comments.

Tour & Review/ To Sleep…Perchance to Die

Posted on May 27, 2014May 27, 2014 by Cindy

To Sleep... Perchance to Die by Donald Grippo
Format: Hardcover
Published by Turn the Page Publishing on 2014-06-01
Pages: 232
Goodreads
Genres: Fiction, General, Medical, Romance, Suspense, Thrillers

Tangled lives, tainted love, and a Shakespearean twist lead to deception, betrayal, and murder. In this sexy, psychological thriller, Eurasian beauty Mai Faca plots to marry Jake Warden, a successful oral surgeon forbidden to her because of family honor.

In an unheard-of scheme, fellow surgeon, Bret Manley, falls victim to Mai's seduction as she and Jake play a cruel trick to be together. Jake acts with surgical precision to clear the path to Mai's happiness, threatening lives including his own. In a wake of turmoil and destruction, Bret's uncle and well-known criminal attorney Hubie Santos attempts to find out if a surgeon would use his knowledge to kill.

I received this book for free from publisher/pr firm in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I just want to thank Laura from iRead Book Tour for allowing me to be a part of the book tour.

When I first heard about To Sleep…Perchance to Die I wanted to read it and then when I got it and started to read it, I knew I had to read it.

With an intro like this, how could you not want to read it:

She’s dead. Everything’s changed. How could it have happened?

You want to find out who is dead, how is it going to change, how did it happen and mostly who did it. Right? I knew I sure did.

To Sleep…Perchance to Die is a psychological thriller and its been awhile since I read this genre and I really enjoyed it. It was a super quick read that literally had me flipping the pages. Will this cause me to pick up more and read? I don’t know but I have to say it has pecked my interest in the genre again.

As I was reading I kept wondering who the girl was that was killed, who did it & why and who killed her. You start off with a bang and as you read you will find out the answers to the questions.

Jake and Brett are pretty successful oral and maxillofacial surgeons. They both are very attractive men (if these two guys are anything like the surgeon I had when I had to have oral surgery then yea I can image how attractive they are.) Jake is married but not happyily. One rainy day he decides to take the Circle Line Ferry in NYC (another reason why I love the book) and he meets a girl by the name of Mia and he knows instantly that she plans on killing herself. He saves her from doing it. They talk and he discovers that she has a very abusive boyfriend.

She tells him they can never be together because it would dishonor her family since he is Jewish and that he is still married. So they secretly see each other.

Jake is so in love with this woman and will do anything for her but how far will Jake take it?

I think from the very beginning that Mia knew what she was doing and she managed to manipulate the situation to work to her advantage. I have to say in the very beginning I liked her but that quickly changed. She will do anything no matter what it is to get what she wants.

I want to go on and on about the book but if I do I will end up spoiling it. I really enjoyed the book.

This is Donald’s debut novel and I have to say if his first one was this great I can’t wait to read future books by him.

Thanks again Laura for allowing me to be a part of this tour. The book is great and I think if you like psychological thrillers then I am sure you will love this.

Meet the Author:

Donald R. Grippo, DDS practiced oral and maxillofacial surgery in northeastern Connecticut for more than thirty years. On a daily basis, he encountered patient’s fear of undergoing oral surgery and associated anesthesia. To help allay such fear he wrote A Guide to the Guy or Gal Who Takes Your Teeth Out, a series of short stories dealing with the treatment of typical oral surgical problems. His resume includes working as a dentist at the Tennessee State Prison outside of Nashville and as a guard at the Hartford State Jail on Syms Street in Hartford.

Website: www.dongrippo.com
Twitter: @DonaldGrippo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dongrippo

Book Tour Schedule

May 12 – Back Porchervations – review
May 13 – Number The Stars – review
May 14 – Elizabeth McKenna Romance Author – book spotlight
May 14 – A Blue Million Books – book spotlight
May 15 – Being Tilly’s Mummy – review / giveaway
May 16 – Bound 4 Escape – review
May 19 – Everything Distils Into Reading – review
May 20 – She is Too Fond of Books – book spotlight
May 21 – Library of Clean Reads – author interview
May 22 – Psychotic State Book Reviews – review
May 26 – Morphys’ Book Blog – review / giveaway
May 27 – Cindy’s Love of Books – review
May 28 – Like a Bump on a Blog – review
May 29 – Lady in Read – review / giveaway
June 2 – All Things Bookie – author interview
June 3 – Reviews by Molly – review / giveaway
June 4 – A Mama’s Corner of the World – review
June 5 – Pinky’s Favorite Reads – review / author interview
June 6 – Christa Reads and Writes – review
June 9 – I’m A Voracious Reader – review
June 10 – Genuine Jenn – review
June 11 – Hello, my name is Alice – book spotlight
June 12 – Hello, my name is Alice – author interview / giveaway
June 13 – Making my Mark – review / giveaway
June 14 – Genuine Jenn – giveaway / author interview
June 16 – Deal Sharing Aunt – review
June 20 – Mary’s Cup of Tea – review / giveaway

Armchair BEA 2014/ Literature #2

Posted on May 26, 2014May 27, 2014 by Cindy

Literature
What do you think of when you think of literature? Classics, contemporary, genre, or something else entirely? We are leaving this one up to you to come up with and share the literature that you want to chat about the most. Feel free to share a list of your favorites, break down your favorite genre, feature your favorite authors, and be creative about all things literature in general.

Growing up when ever I heard of literature I thought of the classic books such as Wuthering Heights, To Kill a Mockingbird and all those books you would see on class reading lists. It wasn’t until I actually got into blogging that I realized that literature was all books in all kinds of genres.

Literature can mean something different to someone else as we all have different opinions but I think personally if you read a book that just takes your breathe away and makes you want to read it many times over again then you should consider that literature.

So today I thought I would share with you my top 5 favorite books of all time that I can literally read over and over again.

What are some of your favorites?

Armchair BEA 2014/ Twitter Party Schedule

Posted on May 25, 2014May 27, 2014 by Cindy

The Armchair BEA twitter party schedule has been posted and I thought I would share it with you.

Please make sure to follow Armchair BEA at @ArmchairBEA and use the hashtag #ArmchairBEA.

Here is the full schedule:

Mon 5/26 Evening 7pm EST

Tues. 5/27 Afternoon 4pm EST

Weds. 5/28 Morning 10 am EST

Thurs. 5/29 Morning 8am EST

Fri. 5/30 Evening 9pm EST

Sat. 5/31 Evening 7pm EST

I am hoping to make it to a few of the parties this week but it will all depend on what is going on in real life this week. I know Friday night I have a media event I am going to.

If you see me there please say hi. My twitter name is @cindyloveofbook

Have a good week everyone

Review/ Fat Boy vs The Cheerleaders

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Cindy

Fat Boy vs. the Cheerleaders by Geoff Herbach
Format: eARC
Published by Sourcebooks, Inc. on 2014-05-06
Pages: 320
Goodreads
Genres: Adolescence, Boys & Men, Humorous Stories, Social Issues, Young Adult

From Geoff Herbach, the award-winning author of the hit young adult novels Stupid Fast and Nothing Special, comes a tale that will resonate with fat kids, nerds, dorks, gamers, geeks and teen outcasts of all kinds-an authentically funny story for anyone who has suffered from teasing and bullying at the hands of the high school social hierarchy. And decided to do something about it.

Join a cast of quirky misfits as fat boy Gabe, aka Chunk, goes up against the high school cheerleading team in a battle over control of the school's soda machine. A marching band geek who drowns his dysfunctional family woes in a voracious soda habit, Gabe relishes his role as class clown, fending off harassment from students and teachers with his own brand of irreverent, self-deprecating humor. But when the cheerleading team takes over the funds previously collected by the band, Gabe will not stand for it. Something must be done.

It's geeks versus jocks in an epic battle of the beverages!

Hilarious and poignant, Fat Boy vs. The Cheerleaders will have teen boys and girls alike cheering on this underdog turned unlikely hero. Reluctant readers and fans of Chris Crutcher, K.L. Going, and Andrew Smith's Winger will love Herbach's straightforward writing style and realism.

I received this book for free from publisher/pr firm in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This is the first book I have read by Geoff Herbach and I have to say that I really enough reading this. I have been told that I really need to read the Felton Reinstein trilogy that he has out. Perhaps I will try and squeeze that in this summer.

The main character is Gabe. He is a junior in high school and is over weight. He has always been over weight. With being over weight Gabe has always been made fun, picked on and called all sorts of names. Its not just the kids at school calling him names, the gym teacher always on his case and his father & grandfather as well. This I have to say really bothered me. I think I probably could take the kids at school making fun of me but when a teacher and your parents do as well that is just brutal. How can adults do that to their own child or any child for that matter?

Fat Boy vs The Cheerleaders begins with Gabe being arrested for breaking into the soda machine. So the book is basically told in his point of view of that happened and what lead up to his arrest. He is telling his story in deposition form to a lawyer sitting at the police station. Gabe tells them everything and he holds nothing back.

There are a few things that makes Gabe happy and that is marching band, food and soda (pop). He can easily down a few cans in a day at school. Gabe thinks that all is money he is putting in the soda machine is going back into the marching band. When he discovers that its actually going into the cheerleading he isn’t happy and declares war.

Will Gabe be able to make the difference and get funding back for the school band? Will be stay on track and loose the weight?

One of the things I really enjoyed about the book was Gabe and perhaps others realized that its not cool to call other people names and that by doing so it takes away that person’s dignity. As a parent you wonder what goes on in school that your child might not be telling you. I was thankful when I was going to school that bullying wasn’t a big thing like it is today. I am sure kids got made fun of and I think if you surround yourself with really good friends they will outweigh the bad.