Guess who is celebrating today?

Today, Michael turns 9 years old. Its so hard to believe how fast the time goes. Not sure what he wants to do today as he mentioned mini golfing (but its raining) or bowling so we will see.

This is the first of three cakes for Michael’s birthday. This was taken Easter weekend when I had my family over for Easter/Birthday dinner. As you can see he is a die hard Canadian (habs) fan and it was great to see my favorite bakery had this in their collection. the Kings 4 was for his team and number. I was happy they could put that on the cake.

This is the second cake. We bought this for his kid party last weekend. I was pleasantly surprised to find this in the grocery store because honestly when ever Michael picks a theme I usually end up running around trying to find the cake, decorations etc.

Happy Birthday Michael.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
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Book People Unite

The folks over at bookpeopleunite.org have brought together some of our most beloved literary characters to rally people behind the Book People Unite movement and help get books in the hands of kids who need them the most. Join the movement at bookpeopleunite.org

Starring: Pinocchio, Madeline, Greg (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), Rip Van Winkle, LeVar Burton, Three Blind Mice, Humpty Dumpty, Curious George, Big Bad Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood, Raggedy Ann & Andy, Goldilocks and the three bears, Captain Ahab, Three Pigs, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Babar the Elephant, Mr Men, Little Miss, Mr Tickle, Little Miss Chatterbox, Mr Tall, Peter (The Snowy Day), The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Black Beauty.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
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First Friends of the Library Booksale for 2012

Today I went to my first Friends Of the Library book sale today for 2012. This isn’t my local library and Dorval is the next city over from me.

Blue arrow represents I am and the black is where Dorval is.

I have to say I went in with high hopes because the last few years that I have gone I have gotten amazing finds. This year I did it alone since Tina @ Bookshipper was unable to attend.

When I walked in at 1pm the place was crowded  and from looking around they had a huge amount of books, magazines, cds, and DVDs. So I was excited. I automatically went to the back wall where they usually have the children and teen books. Well when I got to the table I was rather disappointed. They didn’t have any teen books at all and the majority of books were library books and not many personally owned books.

I did manage to find some books for Michael but not alot compared to other years. From there I went to the fiction section with hopes of finding some great books and that too was a bit disappointing since that was mainly library books and a few personally owned books.

I asked a volunteer before I started to dig into bags and boxes under the table if it was okay to do so since I wasn’t sure if the bags belonged to anyone and that too was a let down because they were dirty old paperback and smelly books.

I did manage to find some stuff which I will share with you: (I got all this for $30)

-It’s Not me, It’s You by Stephanie Wilder Taylor
-The Blue Girl by Charles De Lint (now why couldn’t this sale have been before Charles came to town?)
-GTO a graphic novel
-Postcard Killers by James Patterson
-Black Cat a graphic novel
-Bliss by Lauren Myracle
-The Prenup
-Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
-Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts (this is part of a series that I started to read)
-Hellbound Hearts by assorted authors (Kelley Armstrong is in it)
-The Living Dead 2 by assorted authors (Kelley Armstrong is in it)

-I found one Jughead double digest for Tina cause she loves Archies

-Fat Girl by Judith Moore this sounds good

These are for Michael:
-A beginner’s guide to drawing comics, caricatures and cartoon strips
-Brickbeards treasure
-The amazing Spongebobini
-Magical Pokemon how do you do journey
-Reading workbook
-Pokemon of Battle dimension The secret of the tower
-Pokemon Team Rocket Blasts off

Then I saw Season 1-2-3 of Stargate so I had to nab them. Here is where I admit that I had a huge crush on Richard Dean Anderson.

For some reason I saw the first season of Stargate but don’t recall watching the rest so what better chance to get caught up then with this?

Then I saw Dancing with the Stars cardio Dance and nabbed this one to. I currently began a diet and I think this is a great motivation.

So this is what I managed to get at the Friends of the Library sale. I know this year the selection was down from other years.

Have you been to any library sales? Have you noticed the difference in the books and selection?

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.

(Author Event) Three Amazing Authors in one Building

Tonight was the night I have been looking forward to since it was announced a little while ago on the Razorbill site. I was super excited and couldn’t wait for it. Montreal was on the tour stop on promoting Razorbill.ca

Jay Asher, Lesley Livingston and Charles de Lint were going to be in my neck of the woods tonight for a book signing. Honestly when I first saw this on the Razorbill site I have my reservations that Montreal would get enough votes to bring the authors here and apparently we did because there were coming.

Thankfully being an early bird paid off because there was give aways. I think these were suppose to be given out during the Q&A but the manager from Chapters decided he wanted to be Oprah so he gave out the prizes before hand.

I was lucky enough to get the poster that says “Read. Post. Share, talk to the bird” I love it and well be framing this one.

I razorbill tshirt as you can see its black.

Than to try and get rid of things he was offering Frisbees. I thought it was cute so I nabbed one.

Thanks Razorbill for the prizes.

Then it was time for Jay, Lesley and Charles to make their appearances. The crowd was small but the ones who came out cheered them out.

This is Jay talking about his books Thirteen Reasons and The Future of Us. Both are fantastic books. If you haven’t read them you really should.

Did you know both books have been optioned for movies?

You should check out Jay’s blog http://jayasher.blogspot.ca/

Next it was Lesley Livingston’s turn to talk about her books: Wonderous Strange, Darklight, Tempestuous and Once Every Never.

OMG Lesley was super funny. She had the crowd laughing the whole time. If you ever get the chance to meet her you must she is amazing.

http://lesleylivingston.com/

Lastly to speak was Charles de Lint about his books. I have to admit that I am not a sci fi person but he made them sound like books I want to read.

I am looking forward to reading Under My Skin very soon.

http://www.sfsite.com/charlesdelint/index.html

The authors did a Q&A after wards and so many great questions were asked from what are you working on now, Authors that inspire them and so much more. I was trying to think of something to ask but nothing was coming to mind.

Guess what Lesley showed us?

Starling was so pretty. I can’t wait to read it when it comes out. I really hope that Lesley will come back to Montreal for more signings. (hint hint)

So after Q&A it was time to get our books signed. In a way I am so happy there wasn’t alot of people there because it allowed us time to talk to the authors a little bit and not feel overly rushed.

I wish I would have gotten to speak with Charles a little bit more while he was signing my book but he was speaking with someone else.

And no Kathy (bermudaonion) I didn’t mysteriously grow. I am standing on the stage beside Charles. He was very gracious posing for pictures with us.

I managed to find an anthology of short stories on the bargain table a few weeks ago at Chapters called Vampires The Recent Undead and I picked it up when I noticed Charles and a short story in it. He graciously signed the chapter for me. He also was handing out book marks as well.

He also graciously signed my copy of Under My Skin. This is his newest book and from what he said about it, it sounds really good. I am hoping to get to this very soon.

I love looking at authors signatures don’t you?

I was looking forward to talking to Jay and meeting him. I actually tweeted just before he went to Vancouver to let him know I was going to be at the Montreal stop and he tweeted back.

He was so much fun to talk to even though it was very brief.

I am so happy he made it to Montreal and hope he comes back. Hmm perhaps when the movie is released? Hint hint

Jay graciously signed my copy of Thirteen Reasons Why. I really enjoyed the book so I am happy to have it signed. Have you read it? What did you think of it?

Jay also signed my copy of The Future of Us. This was another book I enjoyed and if you haven’t read it yet you should.

Then last but certainly not least is:

Firstly I have to thank Jay Asher for taking this picture of Lesley and I. Thank You.

As you might notice I am a little red in the face and that was because just before taking this picture I got all fan girl on Lesley. She told me she has seen my blog and I was like “OMG really?” To hear that from an author was truly amazing and it makes blogging that much more fun now because you never know who is peeking in on you.

I truly loved how Lesley had different colored pens to sign for her books and I loved it.

Lesley graciously signed all my books and I am super excited to have them all signed now.

I love how each one is different.

I am looking forward to her other books that are coming out and will be coming out.

I have to say Lesley truly made my day/evening. Please feel free to stop by and take over my blog anytime you want Lesley.

I just want to send out a huge thank you to Razorbill and Penguin for organizing this amazing tour and bringing such fantastic authors to Montreal.

If you haven’t read any of these books you really should. They are all truly amazing authors and go and see them if you have the chance.

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.

(Give Away) Viking Sandals

I was looking around the site and I found these sandles above. They look so comfy don’t they?   I will have to check these out the next time I am out because I am always looking for a sturdy reliable sandle that will last a while.

(Please note that I am not responsible for this give away and I am only hosting it on my blog. I did not recieve anything in regards to compensation for posting this. I just wanted to share this give away with my readers.)
Prize: 1 pair of Viking sandals (the value is $64.99)

Open to Canada only, excluding Quebec. Contest closes on April 23rd at 12:01am. (Sorry to all my Quebec readers.)

Thank you to Viking Sandals (www.vikingsandals.com) and Influential Media (www.influential-media.com) for hosting this giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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.

(Review & Tour) Portal

Title: Portal :Portal Chronicles
Author: Imogen Rose
Pages: 344
Publisher: self published
Pub Date: January 2010

Source: I recieved a ebook for review from Bewitching Book Tours for my participation in the tour.

Blurb:

Come Find Me Two Years Ago…

Six words that propelled ice hockey playing tomboy, Arizona, into an alternate dimension.

She suddenly found herself in the past. In one moment she went from being an ice hockey playing teenager in New Jersey to a glamorous cheerleader in California. She found herself transported from a happy life with her dad, Dillard, to a new, strange one living with her mother whom she hates. Apparently it’s a life she’s always lived in.

Everyone knows her as Arizona Darley, but she isn’t. She is Arizona Stevens.

As she struggles to find answers she is certain of one thing- that her mother Olivia, a brilliant physicist, is somehow responsible…

PORTAL is the story of the repercussions of Olivia Darley’s attempt at creating a perfect world for herself and her children. Arizona’s quest for answers threatens to undermine the seemingly perfect world that her mother has so carefully constructed.

PORTAL is the first book of the Portal Chronicles. Fans of time travel, romance, and the supernatural will enjoy Arizona’s quest for answers.

Meet Imogen Rose

Imogen Rose is the author of the bestselling YA series, the Portal Chronicles. She was born in a small town in Sweden and moved to London in her twenties. After obtaining a PhD in immunology from Imperial College, she moved with her family to New Jersey, where she’s been based for the past ten years.

For as long as she can remember, Imogen has dreamt stories. Stories that continued from night to night, from dream to dream. So, even as a child, going to bed was never an issue, just an anticipation of the story to come.

PORTAL, Imogen’s first novel, would have remained in her imagination, to be shared only with her daughter, Lauren, had her eight-year-old not insisted that she write it down. In the course of a month, Imogen typed while Lauren waited eagerly by the printer for the pages to appear, and a novel took shape.

The warm reception PORTAL received encouraged her to continue with the story and the Portal Chronicles. The Bonfire Chronicles is Imogen’s new YA paranormal series.

Imogen is a self-confessed Hermès addict who enjoys shopping, traveling, watching movies and playing with her dog, Tallulah.

Photobucket

Bewitching Book Tours is fantastic with the selection of books they have on tour and I have managed to find some pretty good ones recently. What is nice about the books they have on tour is that they aren’t something I would probably pick up on my own since I don’t read alot of ebooks but from the ones I do find I always seem to enjoy them and this one was no exception. They are always the little hidden gem books which I love.

I really enjoyed it and this is the first book in a series. The other books in the series are: Equilibrium (2)Quantum (3) and Momentum (4). The fifth book Fusion is scheduled to release this summer.

I have to say that I was surprised that I enjoyed the book because its a sci fi romance and if you know me you know I don’t read sci fi. I think it was the storyline, the characters and the fact that there was time traveling and a alternative dimensions that drew me into the book and there was always something happening that kept my interest.

The book is told in alternating points of view.

The story begins with the main character, Arizona’s mother (Olivia)seventeen years ago. She is at a bar and meets a mysterious man in black. This mysterious man has got her mother infatuated with him. Hasn’t that happen to us all at one point?

Here is where the book got really good and I had to read more because her mother was told to find him “Two years ago”. What does that mean and is that supposed to mean anything?

Well of course it does because during the novel the mystery of those three words are slowly unraveled. I enjoyed how it was slowly raveled. It was enough to keep you interested in the book.

As for Arizona she is thrown from one world to the next without any recognition of she could be in one place one minute and then in another place the next moment. At first Arizona believes she is dreaming and I have to say Imogen describes it like it is a dream world. For Arizona she travels from the present to the past.

Now for the romance part of the book. Arizona finds herself a boyfriend. They had a cute relationship and he seemed like a sweet guy for her but the only thing I didn’t like was that he was very protective of her and I thought at times it was a little too much.

I had a love/hate relationship with Olivia and it showed when I would mutter under my breath at her. She made so many bad mistakes and you could see over the course of the book all that she is done and yes we are all human and we make mistakes but sometimes we need to think long term before doing anything.

Thanks Bewitching Book Tours for allowing me to be on this book tour.

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.

A Super Proud Mom

If  you are a friend on my facebook page, you know by now that I am a hockey mom. I have to admit at times I honestly thought that they were expecting alot out of the kids. When Michael was initially signed up I figured since they were 7-8-9 year olds that we would have practices on the weekend and games here and there, well low and behold that wasn’t the case.

Reality quickly set in when we had weekend practices and 7am (yes you read that right) and before long there was 4pm practices during the week. Thankfully I am a stay at home mom so after school practices were never an issue.

If you are a facebook friend you will know that I kept everyone up to date on the games (I apologize for those who might have gotten annoyed with my constant updates) and I am proud to say that Michael’s team played 18 games (won 14, lost 2 and tied 2) this past season. That is a huge accomplishment considering half the team are brand new players having not played before this year and Michael is included in this.

They played amazing and they ended up not only being number one in our city (our little town we live in) but number one in the whole Novice C under our hockey league. In doing so that qualified us to play in regionals. They made it all the way to semi finals before loosing (and they took it really hard), and they made it all the way to the play offs coming in second.

This past month we took part in a tournament and we were hoping that we could end the season with a bang. We won both the games so that brought us to the finals and guess what?

They won the tournament so they went out with a bang.

Michael was also the Assistant Captain in this game. A roll he has played before. What was nice was that no one was always a captain or the assistant. All the kids had a turn being in each position.

Michael ended the season with 5 goals total and I am not sure how many assists he got and will only find that out on April 28th at the team party. He played amazing. I am super proud of him and yes I was even crying today.

Way to go Kings!

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.