Saturday, November 20, 2010

A Christmas Carol Read-a-long

I found a fun read-a-long at Cyndi's blog, Dog-Eared & Bookmarked


Here is her description of the read-a-long:
Starting Wednesday, November 24th and ending on Friday, December 24th, all Five Staves of Charles Dickens Christmas classic,  A Christmas Carol will be read.

Weekly Schedule:
  1. November 24-December 1: Stave One: Marley's Ghost (pages 1-25)
  2. December 1-8: Stave Two: The First of Three Spirits (pages 28-51)
  3. December 8-15: Stave Three: The Second of Three Spirits (pages 51-81)
  4. December 15-22: Stave Four: The Last of the Spirits (pages 81-101)
  5. December 22-24: Stave Five: The End of It (pages 101-106)
The only way I could get this to fit my schedule was to start reading the last week of November. Feel free to read at your own pace, but only comment and blog your weekly responces according to this schedule. I think it will fun to start reading the week of Thanksgiving, it will put me in the the mood for Christmas.

Feel free to grab the picture badge above, just copy/paste the image location. Make sure any, and all, blog posts about this Read-a-Long be linked back to my blog (Dog-Eared and Bookmarked). Also, anyone who does not have a blog may also participate. Please leave a comment to me for each week with any thoughts you have on A Christmas Carol.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Friday Fun November 19, 2010

Book Blogger Hop

Jennifer over at Crazy for Books hosts the Book Blogger Hop.  I haven't been posting very regularly on my book blog, have reviews waiting to be posted, but thought I would join in again this week.  Here are the rules:

RULES:


Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.
1.  Enter your book blog link in the Linky List below
In your link, please state the main genre that you review:  eclectic, contemp. fiction, ya, paranormal, mystery, non-fiction, etc.

Please do not list every genre you review - if you are review a variety, please put eclectic!  The Hop gets jumbled up if the title is too long, so please limit to one genre.  I will be limiting the number of characters in the title to ensure the Hop doesn't look messy!  Thank you!

Example:  Crazy-for-Books (eclectic adult fiction) 
NOTE:   You no longer have to enter the length of time you've been blogging, but do let us know if this is your first time hopping with us! 

2. Post about the Hop on your blog.  Spread the word about the book party!  The more the merrier!  In your blog post, answer the following question (new question each week!).  If you have a suggestion for a future HOP question, click here to fill out the form!  Thanks!

 "Since Thanksgiving is coming up next week, let's use this week's Hop to share what we are most thankful for and what our holiday traditions are!"


3.  Visit other blogs in the Linky List!  Make new friends!  Follow new book bloggers!  Talk about books!  Rave about authors!  Take the time to make a quality visit!  Check out other posts and content, make a new friend!  Don't randomly follow someone if you never intend on actually following them!  No spamming please!  (Please do not leave your link and not visit other blogs - it's just not cool and not in the spirit of the Hop!)


And just as an FYI - this event is not something you should feel that you have to participate in every week.  If you want to join in and link up once a month, GREAT!  It's up to you how often you participate!

So, have fun HOPPING and enjoy your BOOK PARTY weekend!!!

To answer this week's question, I am so thankful for the family the Lord has blessed me with.  I still feel it was the Lord's leading that led me to my husband and gave me the chance for a fresh start after my divorce which was 10 years ago now.  I have 3 teenage children and 4 step children.  And I have 3 young children when I thought I would never again have the chance of having children again. I am so thankful for each of my girls (all under age 4). In each life (from conception) I have had different opportunities to see the Lord's leading, loving guidance and his almighty hand. I am so thankful for the way he has provided for us.


We really haven't established any Thanksgiving traditions yet.  We watch the Macy's parade on TV (something I grew up going to as I grew up in Queens NY).  We make a meal, but so far each year there has been a different menu.  We don't really get together with any family, mostly because of my husband's work schedule as an LPN working 12 hour night shifts.  Even if he has Thanksgiving off, he still was working the day before and needs his sleep.
Now onto The Friday 56, hosted by Freda over at Freda's Voice


Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the any sentence that grabs you.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blogor (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
*Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

My Friday 56 comes from Eye of the Beholder by Kathy Herman. This series by Kathy Herman follows the Baxter series I was reading over the summer. 

"'..The Hamilton's are nice people.  I'm glad they decided not to prosecute.'  Billy stared at him blankly. ' I do not know that word.'"

My second Friday 56 comes from Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer because I am once again obsessed and finding it hard to put this series down (for the third time in less than a year).

"I gritted my teeth together so I wouldn't start shouting.  I didn't want to fight with Edward too."

I just discovered another Friday meme over at A Few More Pages called:



How to participate: Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments. Include the title and the author so we know what you're reading. Then, if you feel so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line, and let us know if you liked or did not like the sentence. The link-up will be here at A Few More Pages every Friday.


So...from Eye of the Beholder by Kathy Herman:
"The tires squealed on Owen Jones's black Jaguar convertible as he turned on Half Moon Drive ad again on Barefoot Trace."
Okay, so why was he squealing tires? And should I know who this character is?  (This is the second book in the series)  The second line mentions a father son talk, so I realize I know the father from the first book.  What is going on that is frustrating Owen so much?

And from Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer:
From the Preface: "All our attempts at subterfuge had been in vain."
Knowing from the previous books that the preface holds a glimpse of a scene from with in the book I have a sense of dread and wonder what has gone wrong. Also wonder who they have been deceiving. The Volturi? The werewolves? Someone else? There is just that feeling of suspense that really got me into this book.




Friday, November 12, 2010

Friday Fun November 12, 2010

Book Blogger Hop

Jennifer over at Crazy for Books hosts the Book Blogger Hop.  I haven't been posting very regularly on my book blog, have reviews waiting to be posted, but thought I would join in again this week.  Here are the rules:

RULES:


Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.
1.  Enter your book blog link in the Linky List below
In your link, please state the main genre that you review:  eclectic, contemp. fiction, ya, paranormal, mystery, non-fiction, etc.

Please do not list every genre you review - if you are review a variety, please put eclectic!  The Hop gets jumbled up if the title is too long, so please limit to one genre.  I will be limiting the number of characters in the title to ensure the Hop doesn't look messy!  Thank you!

Example:  Crazy-for-Books (eclectic adult fiction) 
NOTE:   You no longer have to enter the length of time you've been blogging, but do let us know if this is your first time hopping with us! 

2. Post about the Hop on your blog.  Spread the word about the book party!  The more the merrier!  In your blog post, answer the following question (new question each week!).  If you have a suggestion for a future HOP question, click here to fill out the form!  Thanks!

This week's question comes from Christina who blogs at All About YA Books:
"If you find a book that looks interesting but is part of a series, do you always start with the first title?"


3.  Visit other blogs in the Linky List!  Make new friends!  Follow new book bloggers!  Talk about books!  Rave about authors!  Take the time to make a quality visit!  Check out other posts and content, make a new friend!  Don't randomly follow someone if you never intend on actually following them!  No spamming please!  (Please do not leave your link and not visit other blogs - it's just not cool and not in the spirit of the Hop!)


And just as an FYI - this event is not something you should feel that you have to participate in every week.  If you want to join in and link up once a month, GREAT!  It's up to you how often you participate!

So, have fun HOPPING and enjoy your BOOK PARTY weekend!!!

To answer this week's question, YES I most definitely start a series with the first book.  Years ago I read the Dragon Lance books by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.  I read the Legends trilogy first.  I was shocked when I discovered that the Chronicles series took place first.  There was so much I understood better after reading Chronicles.  At the same time, because I had read Legends first, I knew things that I should not have known about the future of these characters.  Ever since then I am so careful to read series in order.


Now onto The Friday 56, hosted by Freda over at Freda's Voice


Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the any sentence that grabs you.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blogor (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
*Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

My Friday 56 comes from Thanksgiving: The True Story by Penny Colman. It is a book I discovered at the library last week after Story Time while I was looking for Thanksgiving stories to share with the children.  

"Telegrams and letters poured into the White House.  How dare he change the 'hallowed traditional' date!  What would happen to all the traditional Thanksgiving Day football games?"


I was not aware that the Friday 56 is now hosted by Freda, so I was still playing by the old rules (having not linked up in several weeks) so my quote was from the fifth and surrounding sentences as I used to do.

On to Friday Finds hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading





What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS! 


The only book I have discovered this week is the above mentioned book.  I am only on page 48 and I have discovered so much about Thanksgiving that I was unaware of.  There is a chart included toward the beginning of the book that shows different claims for the first Thanksgiving.  There were many days of Thanksgiving proclaimed throughout the years way back in colonial times, but an annual National day of Thanksgiving took a while to be recognized.