W...W...W...Wednesdays 3/23/11

W...W...W...Wednesdays are hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

What are you currently reading?

• Currently I am reading The Chinese Conspiracy by John Mariotti.  It was sent to me as a complimentary copy for review purposes.  It is a cyber thriller where world domination doesn't take place on the fields of war but within computers worldwide.  Using worms, viruses, trojan horses and the like, one group of cyber terrorists plan to gain control using the very technology we all rely upon.  "What happens when nothing works?"  Fascinating!
• Cooking From the Garden (NetGalley) is another I am reading.  I just want to cook everything in this book!

What did you recently finish reading?

I finished reading and posted reviews for:

•  Nana: The Four Crystals by Guillermo Romano.
• The Day Before the Berlin Wall by T.H.E. Hill

You may read my reviews by clicking on the title of the book.
 
What do you think you'll read next?

I have a few titles from NetGalley that I must read.  Next on my list of hard copy books are:  21st Century Great Global Depression by Orest Andrew Harrison and Hot Leaders Cool Facilitators: Learning to Lead One Meeting at a Time by Bart R. Wendell, PH.D..  I think I'll throw in some fiction to lighten things up a little.  Perhaps one of my NetGalley titles or an Agatha Christie book or perhaps Hounds of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for my Vintage Mystery Challenge.  That sounds exciting!

What are you up to this week?  Reading anything good, relaxing, funny, stimulating, or inspiring?  Tell us!  Please comment below and remember to link up with MizB at Should Be Reading too.  Happy Reading!

Tyndale Press Contest and Newsletter

Tyndale Book Club E-Newsletter

I just discovered this posted at  Crazy For Books and thought you might want to know!

"In honor of Tyndale launching its new book club enewsletter we’re running a 30 day giveaway on our website. The Book Club Hub Newsletter will be an email newsletter geared towards people who are in or are running book clubs. It will feature suggestions, discussion guides and great ideas for your book clubs. You can see a preview by clicking here.

To enter the giveaway you just need to visit the contest page and click on the book you’d like to sign up to win. You can even go back and sign up for both books. Each day is a new giveaway so you can return to the site each day and try to win. Every few days the books change, so check back!"

As a bonus, bloggers can win! Here's how:

1. Visit the page and sign up to win one or both of the free books daily

2. Post about this giveaway and about the Book Club Hub Newsletter on your blog.

3. Fill out this form with the address of your blog post.

4. Shake at least two people’s hands today and tell them about the contest.

The first 100 people to fill out this form will win a free copy of The Holy Bible Mosaic: NLT!

Good luck!

Open to U.S. residents.

Dead by Midnight new book by Carolyn Hart

Carolyn Hart is one of my absolute favourite authors.  She has written several "cozy mysteries" including the Annie and Max Darling series, Death on Demand, of which she has a new one.  The latest in this cozy series is Dead By Midnight as announced by Harper Collins Publishing.  I just received the press release and am excited to share the good news!!

Here's a tease by way of a synopsis to get you going:

Solving puzzles comes naturally to Annie Darling, cheerful owner of the Death on Demand mystery bookstore on the lovely sea island of Broward's Rock. Annie is aided and abetted by her admiring husband, Max, who runs an unusual business that offers help to people in trouble.

A recent death appears to be suicide, but Annie suspects murder. To solve the case, she unravels the mystery of a towel hidden at midnight in a gazebo, the lack of fingerprints on a crystal mug, blood on a teenager's blue shirt, and the secret of a lovers' tryst.

Annie believes she has set the perfect trap for a merciless killer until her cell phone rings and Death whispers in her ear.



This is a must acquire for me!!

Dead by Midnight

A Death on Demand Mystery
By Carolyn Hart
On Sale: 3/29/2011

Formats: Hardcover, E-Book, Large Print
Pre-order with Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Borders.  Coming soon to a store near you.

Teaser Tuesday 3/22/11

 Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here's mine this week:

"Horns honking, the crunch of metal on metal and the screams of the injured created a cacaphony of chaos.

All over Manhattan similar scenes were evident, because somehow all the traffic lights in the bulk of Manhattan had switched to green at one time." ~ vii Prologue, The Chinese Conspiracy.

And this is the prologue of a book about a conspiracy to control computers all over the world to gain ultimate power using viruses, worms, trojans and more.  Makes for an exciting read!

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Please take a moment to introduce yourself and your teaser and then stop by Should Be Reading to join the linky. Have a great day!


Do you have your tease ready?  Share a bit here or your link to your tease.  Be sure to link up with Miz B at
Should Be Reading too!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 3/21/11

Holy Cow!  It's the 21st already!  Where has the time gone?  I've spent a lot of it reading, cooking, cleaning, the usual, but it seems like time is whirring away, out of control!  So let's get down to It's Monday, What Are You Reading, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Right now I am reading The Chinese Conspiracy by John Mariotti.  It's all about some nasty people who devised worms, viruses, and trojans that shut down computers worldwide.  Suddenly in New York traffic lights all over are green!  Imagine the chaos and it's not limited to New York. This is their attempt at world domination.  If you've never had a virus, consider yourself lucky and read this book.  If you have, you can educate yourself while reading this!  Fascinating action/drama!! (I'm on page 84 so far).

I have several e-books from NetGalley to read.  I'm not sure where to start on those.  I've ventured a look through a cookbook, Cooking From the Garden.  That will be a fun review to do!!  Something from my TBR pile will likely find its way to the forefront this week too.

What are you reading?  Anything fun and exciting?  I love to see what others are reading.  You can leave your comments here and remember to link up with Book Journey too!

In My Mailbox (Just Received) 3/21/11

In My Mailbox was started by The Story Siren.

The idea behind IMM was not only to put new books on your radar but to also encourage blogger interaction. IMM explores the weekly contents of my mailbox and books bought.

Anyone can participate in IMM and you are not limited to only sharing books that arrive via your mailbox. You can also share books that you've bought or books that you've gotten at the library.

Last week, in my mailbox, I received one book The Millenium Diet: The Practical Guide for Rapid Weight Loss by Mark Davis. M.D. I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for a review.

"Lose thirty pounds in five weeks utilizing this unique diet plan that works with your body's physiology to maximize weight loss.  The Millenium Diet is a physician conceived program to cause rapid weight loss in a short  period of time.  No other program on the market today is designed for expeditious weight loss at the levels achieved by this diet.  Diet histories of thousands of people were studied.  Certain common foods and food groups were noted to cause most of their weight gain.  When these foods were eliminated or reduced in portion size the dramatic weight loss that occurred caused this program to come into existence.  The Millenium Diet is safe, effective and adaptable to most lifestyles.  The book is packed full of information every dieter should know and is now available to anyone interested in a quick weight loss program."

I bought Beastly by Alex Flinn for my daughter to read and so far she is enjoying the story. 

"LOVE IS NEVER UGLY"



"I AM A BEAST.  A BEAST!  Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright.  I am a monster.

    You think I'm talking fairy tales?  No way.  The place is New York City.  The time is now.  It's no deformity, no disease.  And I'll stay this way forever--ruined--unless I can break the spell.

     Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me.  Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night?  I'll tell you.  I'll tel you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life.  And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly...BEASTLY."

Sizzle by Julie Garwood.  I bought this novel.

"Lyra Prescott, a Los Angeles film student, is closing in on graduation and dives into work on her final filmmaking assignment:  a documentary transformed by a twist of fate into a real-life horror film. While working on her project, a rash of mysterious incidents convince Lyra that she's trapped in a sinister scenario headed for a violent ending.  Running scared, she turns to her best friend, Sidney Buchanan, whose connection brings devilishly handsome FBI agent Sam Kincaid into Lyra's life.  As the noose of intrigue tightens, the passion between Lyra and Sam escalates with dangerous intensity.  With the rugged FBI agent beside her, Lyra must learn to let down her defenses and follow her heart--even if that leads to deadly peril."

What's in your mailbox?  Something exciting, I'm sure.  I'd love to see what's new.  Won't you share and link up with The Story Siren in this weekly meme? 

Just For Fun: What Kind of Book Reader Are You?

I was reading a "Just For Fun" post on Book'd Out.  It piqued my interest so I decided to do the quiz too.  To do the quiz yourself go to BlogThings and just for fun post your results linking back to me.  (as I did above)  Here are the results of mine:

You Are Realistic Fiction

You are an outgoing person and very interested in others. You have many relationships that are important to you. You are always willing to lend an ear to a friend with a problem. And you're even pretty good at giving advice!  Some may accuse you of loving drama, but you just seem to find yourself in the middle of it.  You are a true people person. You find the lives of others to be fascinating. You're up for hearing anyone's life story.

You Are a Paperback Book

You are an avid reader, and you probably buy a lot of books. And nothing beats an inexpensive paperback you can carry around.  You read whatever you feel like reading. You aren't a snob, and you aren't ashamed of your tastes.  You always have a stack of books to get through, and it seems to be constantly multiplying.  You don't mind waiting for a book you want to come out in paperback. You have plenty to read in the meantime!

You Are Fiction

You believe that life is magical, especially when you enter the world of ideas.  You are highly creative and imaginative. The real world often isn't enough for you.  You are optimistic and hopeful. You believe that we craft our own destinies. You believe that if you can dream it, you can do it. And you do a lot of dreaming.

Some of this I agree with but some not so much.  I'm a dreamer alright but I don't always seek action on those dreams.  I am not exactly outgoing either.  (see my post A Stranger's Choice).  Go ahead, give it a try.  It's all in fun.

Book Review: The Day Before the Berlin Wall: Could We Have Stopped it? An Alternate History of Cold War Espionage by T.H.E. Hill

The Day Before the Berlin Wall: Could We Have Stopped It? An Alternate History of Cold War Espionage

Author:  T.H.E. Hill

Publisher: CreateSpace

Copyright 2010

Pages: 188

Source: Review copy received in exchange for review

Genre: Adult Historical Fiction

ISBN 9781453825143

Includes:  Chronology of the Wall, Illustrations and Photographs, German/GI Glossary

Released on the 21st anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall 9 November 2010 from T.H.E. Hill, the author of Voices Under Berlin: The Tale of a Monterey Mary

(from the back cover)  "The plot is based on a "legend" that was still being told by U.S. Army soldiers in Berlin in the mid-1970s. According to the legend, we had advance knowledge of the wall, and we knew that the East-German troops who were going to build it had been told to halt construction if the Americans were to take aggressive action to stop them.

In Hill's version of the tale, a young American sergeant is the one who gets this piece of intelligence, but he is in East Berlin and has to get back to his unit to report it. The Stasi (the East German secret police) are prepared to kill to keep him from reporting it. They have killed his postmistress, and framed him for her murder. Now it is not only the Stasi, and the Vopos (the East-German "People's" Police), but also the West-Berlin municipal Polizei and the U.S. Army MPs who are after him. It's the day before construction is scheduled to start, and time is running out, so the sergeant is running as fast as he can.

The key question of the novel is "even if he is lucky enough to make it back across the border, will anybody in the West believe what he has to say and take action on it before it is too late?" History says that he either didn’t make it, or they didn't believe him, or …. You will have to read the book to find out what the third "or" is."

My Review: From the very beginning of the novel, The Day Before the Berlin Wall, I was captivated. Though this is a fictional version of a legend still shared among U.S. Army soldiers, by the book's end the reader is convinced of the truths it portrays. 

The main character, Dieter, (one of a few of his alternate identities), is an American soldier taught in the skills of espionage.  When Dieter awakens with a nasty bump on his head and his postmistress dead, he immediately searches the room and finds the hidden papers for which he would risk all.  He is in East Germany but somehow must gain passage past the Stasi (East German Secret Police), the VoPos (East Germany's 'People's Police) and the West-Berlin Municipal Police, to enter West Berlin to share his intel.  Framed for the murder of his 'postmistress,' his photo, beside hers, is plastered all over the papers.  He is a wanted man.  Even his own Army MPs are after him.

I read this novel in a day, totally mesmerized by the story of one American soldier's attempt to pass on his intel at the risk of imprisonment or death.  T.H.E. Hill has created a page-turner that the reader won't soon forget.  The Day Before the Berlin Wall raises several questions.  Should this legend be true, why didn't the US Army prevent the building of the wall, provided they were in possession of the intel?  Was the soldier successful in passing on his information and, if he were, why did USA and Britain ignore it, allowing the wall to be built?  Who benefited from it and how?

The Day Before the Berlin Wall is a gripping tale not only for history buffs, but for lovers of stories of espionage, war, legends and unsung heroes.  It would make a fascinating and controversial movie!

Rated 5/5

Map of pre-wall Berlin (1960) is available online at:  http://www.alt-berlin.info/cgi/stp/lana.pl?nr=9
To learn more about this author, The Day Before the Berlin Wall, and his other published works see:     http://www.voicesunderberlin.com/


About the author:

T.H.E. Hill served with the U.S. Army Security Agency at Field Station Berlin in the mid-1970s, after a tour at Herzo Base in the late 1960s. He is a three-time graduate of The Defense Language Institute (DLIWC) in Monterey, California, the alumni of which are called "Monterey Marys". The Army taught him to speak Russian, Polish, and Czech; three tours in Germany taught him to speak German, and his wife taught him to speak Dutch. He has been a writer his entire adult life, but now retired from Federal Service, he writes what he wants.

Orange Prize For Fiction Long List

"The major international prize for books written by women, the UK’s Orange Prize For Fiction announced their long list of 20 nominees yesterday. Much is being made of the fact that Téa Obreht, whose novel The Tiger’s Wife was released last week to lavish attention, is, at 25, the youngest person on the list.


The prize was created in 1996 by a group of reviewers, librarians, and others in the U.K. book world, who felt that book prizes were disproportionately awarded to men. The Guardian‘s “Books Blog” yesterday addressed the question of whether the Orange Prize is still needed, pointing to recent research that women are still under-represented in literary magazines and criticism."

http://www.earlyword.com/2011/03/17/orange-prize-long-list/

TGIF (Thank Goodness It's Friday) and Weekly Recap

TGIF is a new weekly meme for Fridays hosted by GReads.  In addition to an end of week recap of posts, tgif features a question too.  Here's this week's question:

Cover Lust: Which book covers are you lusting after right now?

Lust is a strong word but I did get a new book last week that has the most amazing cover.  See for yourself:

My daughter already read it and LOVED it!!  There are some hidden items on this cover.  Can you see them?

This week's posts in the order of most recent to last:

Book Blogger Hop Friday! 3/18/11
Theme Thursday 3/17/11 - Crockery/Utensil
Book Review: Nana: The Four Crystals
 W...W...W...Wednesdays 3/16/11
A Stranger's Choice (I am excited about this new feature on My Bookshelf!)
And the Winners Are
Teaser Tuesdays! 3/15/11
Book Review: Good Returns: Making Money by Morally Responsible Investing/A> Win a Book! In My Mailbox (Just received) 3/13/11Contest Closes Tomorrow at Midnight


What covers are you lusting after?  Did you recap your week's posts?  Don't be shy, leave a comment here with your answer or a link to your post.  I'd love to see your favourite covers!  Remember to go to GReads and link up too!