Author: Cindy

(Review) Alfred Zector, Book Collector

Posted on by Cindy


TITLE: Alfred Zector, Book Collector
AUTHOR: Kelly DiPucchio
ILLUSTRATOR:Macky Pamintuan
PUB DATE: April 2010
PUBLISHER: Harper Collins
PAGES: 32 Hardcover Kids book

SOURCE: I actually borrowed this book from the library on a recent visit.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
In his warm, weathered house, stuffed in crannies and nooks, were heaps, rows, and stacks of beloved bound books.

The only thing that brings Alfred Zector joy is collecting books. And so he sets out on a mission to collect every last one, until his home on the hill is stretched at the seams with books big and small. But what happens when the rest of the townspeople have nothing left to read? In this clever rhyming story, Alfred Zector discovers what it means to find true joy in a good book.

MY THOUGHTS:
This book called out to me one day on a recent visit to my local library. I think all us book lovers really need to read this one as its something that we can all relate to.

The story is about a boy named Alfred Zector who is a book collector and he has books all over his house (like we all know we do as I can relate to this) in every nook and cranny. He was a shy boy that was always trying to fit in but never could. He found comfort and companionship in books.

As he grew older so did his piles of books (like us). With spacing running out he was starting to put books in his cupboards, fridge etc. Alfred thought that he would be happy after one more book but he wasn’t he needed more. Sound familiar?

His obession with books grew and grew but he was still never happy and he resorted to trading his shiny bike for a book because he had taken all the books that the town had. He was happy he had all the books but wasn’t really happy and decided that he must read them all and that he did. What he didn’t realize was that the town was uphappy.

When he finally read all the books in his house. He sat back to think. He was a tired old man now and was housebond. He realized that his once joyful life was now filled with doom and that basically the books were the death of him and felt that there was something missing from his life. So being housebond and blocked in from his books his only way out was by the chimney. It was then that it hit him about what was missing.

My favorite quote in the book was:

“The best kinds of books are the books that are shared.”

I have to agree with that quote and I can honestly say I do share my books and pass them on. I have to say that I think I am like Alfred with his way of thinking about just getting that one more book but that never ends with just one more right?

Looking around I don’t think my house is like his but I do have full to capacity book cases and piles of books and I should stop buying because at this rate I will never get to read them all in my life time but I just can’t help myself.

Don’t forget to check out the author and illustrator’s websites.
Kelly DiPucchio’s website
Macky Pamintuan’s website

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.

Holiday Spirit

Posted on by Cindy

For some reason I just noticed that this time next month I will be celebrating my 40th birthday. Its hard to believe as it honestly just feels like yesterday I was turning 30.

I also realized how fast Christmas is approaching with all the holiday commericals on tv and the huge publi sac (weekly flyers/advertising) was much thicker this week then last week.

This week I happened to notice that the Secret Santa sign ups are being posted and I decided that I was going to take part. I love getting things in the mail, other then bills and its nice to give back and share the love within the blogging community.


Last year was the first time I took part in the holiday swap and I had alot of fun doing it. You can click on here to see what I got.

The Holiday Swap form is posted and you have until November 14th to sign up.


This one I found via an email from Avis. If giving a gift is out of your budget this year why not take part in a Christmas Card Exchange? Sign ups close on November 11th. I have done Christmas card exchanges in the past and always had a ton of fun doing them.

To find out more info head on over to the Book Bloggers Holiday Card Exchange.

I discovered Jamie’s blog The Broke and The Bookish from her weekly meme Top Ten Tuesday that I occassionally take part in. When I saw this I decided that I was going to take part.

This is what I am taking part in this holiday season, what about you?

Do you know of any other exchanges happening? If so leave it in my comments.

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) Too Much Stuff

Posted on by Cindy


TITLE: Too Much Stuff
AUTHOR: Robert Munsch
ILLUSTRATOR: Michael Martchenko
PUB DATE: September 2010
PUBLISHER: Scholastic

SOURCE: I received Too Much Stuff from Scholastic to read and review.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Temina is excited about taking a trip on an airplane, and super-excited to include ALL of her toys and dolls on the trip as well. Until mom says: “You can bring just ONE doll.” Impossible! How is she going to pick just ONE? She hatches a top secret plan and sneaks more than one toy into the airport and onto the plane. While everyone around her gawks, Temina proudly displays her beloved companions. Word spreads quickly to other children on the plane, who feel lonely without their own dolls. Temina is happy to lend out her treasures. The flight becomes a happy memory for Temina and her family, and even more so months later when her generosity is rewarded in the most surprising way! Like Temina”s dolls bursting out of her backpack, this new story by Robert Munsch is bursting with humour and surprises at every turn, beautifully enhanced by the delightful artwork of Michael Martchenko!

MY THOUGHTS:
We love Robert Munsch books. We have read them all, I believe so we were really excited to hear about this newest book Too Much Stuff. A subject all parents can relate to.

I have to admit I cringe when I think about family vacations because I know if I let Michael dictate and pack his own bag we would probably end bringing every single toy he has (which is probably enough to fill a moving van). So far the farthest we have travelled with him was to Prince Edward Island and Chicago and both times were rough because there was stuff that he just didn’t want to leave behind.

So what I tend to do is tell him that he can only bring a back pack and the only rule is that he has to bring items that will entertain him the whole trip and that once he has packed it that I am going to go through it to check. Thankfully he is pretty good but he does try to sneak additional things in when your not looking.

Just like Temina does. In a parents eye it seems like the kids have 500 of everything but Temina knows exactly how many of each item she has and is quick to tell her mother that. As far as her mother knows Temina only has one doll and one toy with her but what the mother doesn’t know that her back pack is filled with toys and dolls.

At the airport she won’t let anyone help her carry her back pack no matter who it is even the security can’t search her bag because she is afraid they will find out what is in her back pack so instead they xray it just to be sure.

Its only once they get on the plane that her mother and everyone else knows what is in that huge back pack. Thankfully Temina isn’t selfish and willing to share her toys because before you know she is sharing them with the other kids on the plane.

This is a great story for kids to read. I loved that Temina was willing to share and it didn’t bother her that she didn’t get the toys back because she knew she would get some more from her grandmother. Then a few months later she gets a unexpected surprise in the mail. What could it be?

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.

(October) Middle Grade Book Challenge Winner

Posted on by Cindy

As I mentioned in the October Middle Grade Book Challenge sign up post, I decided I was going to run a give away each month to go along with the challenge.

What I decided to do was for every link you posted in Mr Linky that would count as one entry for you and I would put them all in a bowl at the end of the month, actually I will be announcing the winners on the first of every month. So the more middle grade books you read the more entries you get.

Without further adiou here is the first winner in the Middle Grade Book Challenge for October:

Nicola from Back to Books. Congrats Nicola I will be emailing you for your address today.

So don’t forget to share your links if you are reviewing middle grade books.

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) Alexis

Posted on by Cindy


TITLE: Alexis (My True Story of Being Seduced by an Online Predator)
AUTHOR: Alexis Singer
PUB DATE: July 2010
PUBLISHER: HCI Books
PAGES: 168

SOURCE: I received this from Tina at Bookshipper at one of our recent meet ups.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
In six words, an instant message changed Alexis forever.

After a rocky junior year of high school, Alexis Singer was lonely, stressed out, and vulnerable–the ideal target for an older man with bad intentions. When a message popped up on her computer screen one night from a message board acquaintance, she could never have known that by responding she was making a choice that would change her forever.

By posing as a friend and confidant, the man gave Alexis the attention she desperately craved and weaseled his way into her life in an unimaginable way. Within weeks, Alexis was sucked into an emotionally dependent relationship, engaging in cybersex and sending him explicit photos of herself. Somewhere along the way, she lost who she was and put her dreams for the future, relationships with friends and family, and psychological well-being on the line.

‘Not much about that first online conversation we had sticks out in my head except for his surprising interest in me. I probably would have forgotten about it if it weren’t for that. I would have dismissed him as just another creep.’

MY THOUGHTS:
I think I first heard about these books was right around the time BEA was about to happen. I have to say I was and I am really curious about the books because HCI Books has decided to come out with a series of books (6 to date)actually teen authored memoirs. Each book tackles a different teen issue such as mental issues, online predators, dealing with a horrific death of a parent and an illness. I think teens will be able to relate well to these books because they are books for teens written by teens.

The first book I picked up to read was Alexis’s story. I have to say my growing up is so much different then kids today. We didn’t have the Internet then so we never had this to deal online predators like the kids do today.

Alexis is your typical teenager. She is sixteen years old and having a horrible summer, she has just finished her junior year of high school and she is stressed out (college applications) then to top it off she is still struggling about the break up with her boyfriend, Chris.

I felt for Alexis because she has so much on her plate and dealing with alot and the friends she had are no longer there as they are all drifting apart. Alexis spends alot of her time on the computer as so many kids do. Being on the computer she finds a site that has people on it that share her interest, the arts. She goes to the site and escapes from the daily grind of life. She loved that site because on there she was accepted and finally had a place and friends to fit in with.

On the site called The Board she talked and left messages. It was on there that she met her online predator. He was the popular guy but also very rude. It was a hate/hate relationship at first. He always left rude comments about Alexis. One day that changed when he IM’ed her with this message ‘yer not 18 yet, are ya?’ (pg 7).

The man behind this message was a 37 year old guy who she later found out was named Phil and he is married.

I have to say from reading the book that Alexis wasn’t stupid she knew about online predators because she has seen the shows and knew the warning signs but having someone give her the attention she craved she caved like most teens would do. I mean honestly if you are a person and feel as though the world is against you and someone magically appears and tells you just what you want to hear wouldn’t you to?

I really think that more kids should read this book because they don’t seem to realize the dangers of being online and that accepting an IM (instant message) from a complete stranger could change their lives forever.

As a parent I am always cautious when I let Michael online and I am constantly monitoring when he is on. Thankfully he is young and doesn’t really go anywhere dangerous apart from lego and web kinzs world. Although after reading this book I was talking to Michael about the computer and the dangers of the Internet, he told me some of his friends (seven year olds) are on the computer all the time and that one boy sneaks online when his parents busy doing other things (their computer is in the family room in the basement) and I have to say that scared me to hear this.

I don’t think kids/teen agers realize the dangers of the internet and that they don’t realize that there is consequences to their actions. In Alexis’s case she was struggling and having someone say all the right things to her made her feel okay even though she knew it was wrong. Her gut instinct was telling her so but she didn’t listen. Thankfully she got caught before something serious could have happened to her.

I think kids need to realize that once you put it online its out there FOREVER no matter that you delete it from your phone, camera or computer its out there and god only knows what the other person will do with that info or pics.

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.

Looking for Something?

Posted on by Cindy

Did you come to Cindy’s Love of Books looking for my regular post but all you see is the October Middle Grade Book Challenge sign up post? Did you think I wasn’t going to blog all month long? Well look no further all you have to do is scroll past it to find this months regular posts.

Enjoy!

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.

(October) Middle Grade Book Challenge

Posted on by Cindy

We are into month two of the Middle Grade Book Challenge. As you can see we have a new button for this challenge. What do you think?

Are you reading middle grade books this month? If so, which titles and from which authors?

The rules again are really simply all you have to do is commit to reading 12+ Middle Grade books and posting your review and then coming back and sharing your link in this post. You have from now until August 2011 to complete this challenge.

Just add your blog link/name to the MckLinky below. Your blog name and book titles will be fine.

Just to let everyone know I have given it some thought and I think I am going to go ahead and do a monthly giveaway. Please note it won’t be a big prize just because I will be mailing it so some ideas will be a gift card for coffee, a bookmark etc.

So the only rules are in order to qualify all you have to do is come back and link your reviews and for everyone you add for the month of October will count for one entry into the bowl.

Have fun and happy reading.

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.