Last Day to Enter Three Great Giveaways!

Today is the final day to enter these three terrific giveaways that I am hosting:

1) When Everything Changed by Gail Collins;

2) Can God Be Trusted by Thomas D. Williams, LC ThD;

3) The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

Good Luck!

Awards

Thank you so much to Laura at Library of Clean Reads for awarding my blog this lovely award!

I now have the privilege of passing on this award to others in accordance with the following rules:

Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link. Pass the award on to no more than 15 other blogs that you enjoy. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

And so, I pass this award on to these wonderful blogs. Please check them out!

Book girl of Mur-y-Castell
The Crazy Life of a Bookoholic Mom
Sandals and Snowshoes
Layers of Thought
Wendi's Book Corner

Gold Digger Nation

Amazon Product Description. Gold Digger Nation by Hal Roback urges readers to rethink marriage and cohabitation. He articulates the horrible scenario that our Gold Digger Laws could possibly mean not only in divorce but in marriage, as well. Roback fills the book with insights and advice for anyone contemplating a more permanent relationship, as well as a heartfelt letter to sons and daughters everywhere. Provocative and informative, Gold Digger Nation is sure to make anyone think twice before signing a marriage license or a lease.

About the Author: Hal Roback is a two time victim of our family courts. He started with the intention of writing a very long letter to both his son and daughter about the ramifications of marriage in our Gold Digger Nation. This letter morphed into this book for his children, yours, and everyone contemplating marriage. Hal is a professional restaurateur, and owns a restaurant company. He is a graduate of a culinary school in New York, and holds a bachelor of science degree from Cornell University. All profits from this book and its associated products, will go to various causes committed to moving the pendulum back to the middle and making it safe to get married if one so chooses. He is a father of two, a son and a daughter, and is not married.

Review. Gold Digger Nation: Why You Should Remain Single is a book with a provocative title (and cover) that contains important information on divorce and the likelihood of marital success. Author Hal Roback, a self described two-time dupe, states,“if you are located in the Western world – you live in a Gold Digger Nation.” Gold Digger Nation is divided into two sections: 1) a fictionalized scenario of a modern marriage; and 2) a nonfiction review of the divorce laws that support “gold digging.”

According to Roback, Gold Digging is based on three elements of the judicial system: 1)property distribution; 2) spousal support or alimony; and 3)child support, also known as the “golden annuity.” In property distribution, the marital parties, regardless of the individual contribution, become equal partners in all of the assets gained during the marriage. Next spousal support, at least in Canada, can be given not as a temporary measure to assist in re-entry into the workforce, but also to maintain the same standard of living as in the marriage and as a means of compensating the spouse for “marital servitude/lost opportunity cost.” Lastly, child support is the “golden annuity” because it is based on the payee’s income, not need or historical expenses.

Overall, Gold Digger Nation raises valid arguments in certain scenarios: second marriages; short marriages; and financially divergent couples. I disagree, however, that the judicial system leads to “gold digging” in all marriages, rather I think the equity or (lack of) is dependent on the individual circumstances. That is for long time married partners with children and a stay at home spouse, it seems fair to equitably divide the property; provide some spousal support and child support. However, in the scenario presented by Roback of a second spouse who marries into wealth and the marriage is of a limited duration the unfairness of the judicial laws is readily apparent. Roback also makes a strong case that in wealthy circumstances child support based on income is much more than just supporting the child. As an aside, while Roback provides some references and support, several times while reading Gold Digger Nation I found myself wanting more factual information for the statistics and laws that proffered. For instance, Roback claims, without additional support, that nine out of ten custody battles go to the mother.

While the author’s proposed solution – refraining from marriage -- to avoid being taken for a judicial ride is extreme, knowledge of the relevant family laws is power! Gold Digger Nation is an eye-opening book of domestic law judicial inequities.


If you are interested in learning more, check out the author's site (which includes a blog) at Gold Digger Nation.



Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (October 16, 2009), 258 pages.
Review copy provided courtesy of the author.

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven

Publisher's Summary. They were young, brilliant, and bold. They set out to conquer the world. But the world had other plans for them. Bestselling author Susan Jane Gilman's new memoir is a hilarious and harrowing journey, a modern heart of darkness filled with Communist operatives, backpackers, and pancakes. In 1986, fresh out of college, Gilman and her friend Claire yearned to do something daring and original that did not involve getting a job. Inspired by a place mat at the International House of Pancakes, they decided to embark on an ambitious trip around the globe, starting in the People's Republic of China. At that point, China had been open to independent travelers for roughly ten minutes. Armed only with the collected works of Nietzsche, an astrological love guide, and an arsenal of bravado, the two friends plunged into the dusty streets of Shanghai. Unsurprisingly, they quickly found themselves in over their heads. As they ventured off the map deep into Chinese territory, they were stripped of everything familiar and forced to confront their limitations amid culture shock and government surveillance. What began as a journey full of humor, eroticism, and enlightenment grew increasingly sinister-becoming a real-life international thriller that transformed them forever. Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven is a flat-out page-turner, an astonishing true story of hubris and redemption told with Gilman's trademark compassion, lyricism, and wit.



Review. Back before the internet, cellphones, and 24 hour CNN made the world a much smaller place, two young women embarked on a grand world tour starting with post-Mao China. Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman is the author’s memorable tale of an unforgettable adventure.

In 1986, when Gilman and her friend “Claire Van Houten” toured the People’s Republic of China little was known of the region in the western world. With little to sustain them apart from enthusiasm, the pair embark on a journey of a lifetime. As Gilman declares, “deciding to travel the world together didn’t strike either of us as unreasonable. We were at that age when we still believed that genius arrived in blots of lightening and shrieks of ‘Eureka!” We still believed in love at first sight, not just with people, but with ideas – that in a single instant, you could just know.”

Unfortunately, the pair’s sense of adventure is tested by physical and emotional adversity. And the dream turns into a nightmare. Still the pair soldier on. And at the end of the tunnel, Gilman confesses “I would not be living my life the way I am today if it wasn’t for her. Claire Van Houten unleashed something in me; she set me off on a path far beyond anything I ever imagined for myself or believed I was capable of doing. In this way, back in China in 1986, she saved my life, too.”

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven ranks as one of the best books I have read this year! I literally could not put it down and had to keep reading until the conclusion. I enjoyed this book on several levels: the relationship between Gilman and Van Houten; the pair’s interactions with their fellow backpackers and the local Chinese (including communist operatives); and the depictions of a newly post-Mao China.

Page after riveting page, Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven is a story that will make you laugh and cry and sorry when the journey is over!



Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (February 8, 2010), 320 pages.
Advance Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the Publisher.

The Love Revolution Giveaway (ends 3/12)

Publisher's Summary. Joyce Meyer is not satisfied with the status quo. She believes that we each need to become a revolutionary and practice love every day. And if Joyce has her way, the revolution will spread - person by person, house by house, town by town, until the old culture of selfishness and greed gives way to a new culture of concern for others.

The book is a revolutionaries' manual, a hands-on primer for bringing the Golden Rule to life in the twenty-first century. Meyer starts out by giving some stunning statistics. Right now...210,000 children will die this week because of poverty; 640 million children do not have adequate shelter; every day, 3,000 children are abducted into the sex-trafficking industry; every day, 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes. She goes on to say that although crisis is global, the solution is local. We can't solve the world's problems, but that isn't a reason to remain idle.

LOVE REVOLUTION focuses on personal behavior on the local scale. It's not just a call to action; it is a call to being: being the person who goes out of your way to encourage someone who's out of hope; being the one who smiles at a stranger; being the one who is willing to do something for nothing. The paradox: when we do something for nothing, what we often get is something far greater.

Giveaway Rules: Today I am giving away FIVE copies of this fabulous book.

First Entry: Comment with your email address in the body of the comment (you can list it as mary123 (at) yahoo(dot)com). If you do not list your email address your entry will not count.

Extra Entry: Sign up to follow my blog (or let me know that you are a current follower). NOTE: This extra entry MUST be left in a separate comment or it will not count.

The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.
You must be 18 years of age or older.
NO P.O. Boxes for the winner’s mailing address.

Giveaway ends March 12th. Good Luck!

Alphatudes

Amazon Product Description. Alphatudes reveals that gratitude is the unexpected, simple secret of living a joyful life. In a world obsessed with negativity, we must deliberately choose to focus on the positive. Alphatudes uses your earliest grade school victory the ABCs to help you achieve a sustainable shift in thinking that leads to contentment, optimism and peace of mind. An alphatude is defined as: a person, place or thing for which one alphabetically expresses gratitude. Filled with vibrant illustrations, Alphatudes takes you on an inspiring 26-step journey where you ll discover how to: heighten your awareness of life s daily gifts; attract opportunities with a positive mind-set; find blessings in difficult situations; and become free from worry, negativity and resentment.

Review. Sometimes when one has so much, as most Americans do, it is easy to forget that and focus only on what one lacks. In Alphatudes: The Alphabet of Gratitude, author Michele Wahlder teaches the reader to alphabetically count the abundance of riches that make up an “ordinary life.” An alphatude is defined as “a person, place or thing for which one alphabetically expresses gratitude.”

Alphatudes “utilizes the ABC’s as an easy and methodical structure for developing a sustainable consciousness of gratitude.” Each alphatude is introduced with an illustration and inspirational passage, followed by a brief essay and concludes with a prayer. The alphatudes themselves are largely the intangibles that provide true meaning and enrichment: Dreams; Forgiveness; Hope; Kindness; Music; Passion and more. Given the book’s structure it is best savored an alphatude or two at a time.

Alphatudes is a beautiful book that would make a great gift for a friend (or for you)!


Publisher: Life Possibilities Publishing (January 15, 2010), 128 pages.
Advance review copy provided courtesy of the publisher.

Mailbox Monday-- February 22nd

Thanks to host Marcia at The Printed Page I'm participating in the Mailbox Monday round up. This week I received the following advance review copies:

1) Admit One by Emmett James: Amazon Product Description. Set in Croydon, South London, in the 1980s, Admit One details how self-deprecating writer Emmett James escaped from the pains of adolescence by going to the cinema. Through wry wit and observation, the writer reflects, obsesses, and rages about film and its correlation to our pasts. Life soon imitates art, and the narrator finds that his true calling is in transcendence from one side of the screen to the other. He decides to leave England for the only place where he can realize his dream of becoming an actor--Hollywood.

We follow the narrator on his numerous adventures: as he jumps from forgery to pornography to crashing the Academy Awards under the alias of a nominated writer. All the while, the films that inspired each tale contextualize this humorous collection of stories. The narrator ultimately provides a unique insight into the fascinating industry of film, eventually himself stumbling into the biggest box-office grossing film of all time.

Thanks to the publicist.

2) Cardboard: A Woman Left for Dead by Fiona Place. Amazon Product Description. A woman left for dead is a fictionalized account of one woman's life-threatening eating disorder and her eventual hard-won recovery. Author Fiona Place has created Lucy, a narrator who is capable of taking the reader inside the dark and puzzling experience of anorexia nervosa. A university student, Lucy falls ill while on a coach trip in Europe. Ashen, thin and with a thready heartbeat, she cannot cannot understand what is wrong with her. The tour leader decides she is homesick. And lying on her bed, she is left to fend for herself. Alone in her tiny hotel room Lucy wonders what she should do? Is she really sick or just homesick? Reluctantly, she decides to fly to an English speaking country. And to her embarrassment is taken off the plane in a wheelchair. Lucy is now a patient. And unknowingly enters into a dynamic and powerful struggle over the ownership of her life's narrative. Hospitalized she undergoes a range of treatments - some harsh, some ineffective, others insightful and intelligent. Cleverly observed, Lucy invites the reader to make sense of what it means to be ill. To understand why eating has become impossible. And as she fleshes out her journey towards recovery, demands her distress be understood. Demands it be put into her own words. When it was first published Cardboard was recognized as a compelling portrait and one of the first books to understand the importance of the role of narrative in the recovery process. Similarly today when much of the focus on eating disorders concerns decoding the genetics and biology of the condition, this prize-winning novel continues to provide an understanding of the individual's affective experience and the socio-cultural context in which it occurs. A must read for any one interested in the big questions: Who am I? What do I want? "An intellectual and psychological tour de force." Liz Ferrier "One of the best novels ever to be published in Australia." Amanda Lohrey.

Thanks to the author.

3) Alphatudes by Michele Wahlder. Amazon Product Description. Alphatudes reveals that gratitude is the unexpected, simple secret of living a joyful life. In a world obsessed with negativity, we must deliberately choose to focus on the positive. Alphatudes uses your earliest grade school victory the ABCs to help you achieve a sustainable shift in thinking that leads to contentment, optimism and peace of mind. An alphatude is defined as: a person, place or thing for which one alphabetically expresses gratitude. Filled with vibrant illustrations, Alphatudes takes you on an inspiring 26-step journey where you ll discover how to: heighten your awareness of life s daily gifts; attract opportunities with a positive mind-set; find blessings in difficult situations; and become free from worry, negativity and resentment.

Thanks to the Cadence Group.

4) The Overnight Socialite by Birdie Clark. Publisher's Weekly Description. Clark (Because She Can) moves the Pygmalion myth to Manhattan, adds a dash of Thelma and Louise and proves what goes around, comes around to those born to the manor or trailer park. Professor Higgins is recast as suave bachelor Wyatt Hayes IV, the sleekest lion in the pride, who picks down-on-her-luck fashion designer wannabe Lucy Jo Ellis to make over into the toast of the town. The deal is eventually struck—makeover and a shot at well-born fashion contacts for a gentleman's bet that masks a lucrative and career-saving book deal. Along the way, these perfectly matched antagonists battle mean-as-a-snake society snoots and their own misguided ambitions to find happiness and each other. (And, it should be said, the Rain in Spain remix is pretty great: The snow in Gstaad puts Aspen's to shame! the newly svelte and prepped Lucy proclaims.) Yes, of course the ending's no surprise, but the rollicking, smart-aleck fun along the way is worth the price of admission. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Thanks to FSB Associates.

Winners!

Here are the confirmed winners for the following giveaways:

Corked Winners:

rsgrandinetti
seknobloch
jeffintennessee
pbclark
anjamie4

My Paper Chase Winners:

s.mickelson
pumpkinlady430
dlsmith44
bgcchs
abstoner

Congrats to the Winners!

Winter Reading

Snow, Snow, Snow! While the novelty of the area’s historic snow falls have been fun, one can only shovel (or play in) but so much snow. As an often snowbound reader this winter, I would like to recommend the following weather appropriate titles:

1) The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck;
2) Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
3) Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin
4) The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare
5) A Rose in Winter by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
6) Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell
7) Winter in the Blood by James Welch and Louise Edrich
8) A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons
9) Winter Moon by Dean Koontz
10) The Winter of Her Discontent by Kathryn Miller Haines

Pour a cup of hot cider, pull up a chair and snuggle in for a cold winter's night read!

The Lovely Bones Giveaway (ends 2/28)

Publisher's Summary. Once in a generation a novel comes along that taps a vein of universal human experience, resonating with readers of all ages. THE LOVELY BONES is such a book -- a #1 bestseller celebrated at once for its artistry, for its luminous clarity of emotion, and for its astonishing power to lay claim to the hearts of millions of readers around the world.

"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973."

So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her -- her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling. Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, THE LOVELY BONES succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy.

The major motion picture version of THE LOVELY BONES, directed by Peter Jackson and starring Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, and Saoirse Ronan is scheduled for release on December 11, 2009.

Giveaway Rules: Today I am giving away FIVE copies of this fabulous book.

First Entry: Comment with your email address in the body of the comment (you can list it as mary123 (at) yahoo(dot)com). If you do not list your email address your entry will not count.

Extra Entry: Sign up to follow my blog (or let me know that you are a current follower). NOTE: This extra entry MUST be left in a separate comment or it will not count.

The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.
You must be 18 years of age or older.
NO P.O. Boxes for the winner’s mailing address.

Giveaway ends February 28th. Good Luck!

Start Over Finish Rich

Amazon Product Description. Let 2010 Set You on the Path to Wealth. Believe it or not, recessions make millionaires! Will you be one? In Start Over, Finish Rich, America's best-loved financial expert, David Bach, explains that 2010 will be the best opportunity for building wealth we have seen in decades. And, as the economy recovers, you must be set up to recover with it. Bach's easy, take-action plan will show you how.

Start Over, Finish Rich supplies the ten crucial moves you must make in 2010 to get back on track and recapture your dreams of a richer future. Learn how to:

* Get out of debt
* Fix your credit
* Rebuild your 401k plan
* Improve your 529 Plan
* Take smart risks
* Reorganize your financial life for the high tech age
* Update your real estate plan
* Change your thinking about money
* Recommit to wealth

As Bach says, "A recession is a terrible thing to waste—so don't waste this one! Use it instead to get rich." Read Start Over, Finish Rich and let David Bach put you and your family back on the path to financial freedom.

Review. No one likes to start over – especially in mid-life – but for many, given shrinking 401Ks, foreclosed upon real estate, and job losses, hitting the reboot button it is the only option. In his most personal book yet, David Bach’s Start Over, Finish Rich provides a step—by–step- plan for getting back on track financially. As Bach notes, “the journey of falling down and getting up again happens to ALL OF US. And the fruit of life, the true blessings, often comes when we get back up again.”

Start Over, Finish Rich is a financial planning book that wants to be more than just an informative read. The table of contents aptly conveys the roadmap to recovery: Recommit to Wealth; Find Your Money; Deal with Your Credit Card Debt; Fix and Protect Your Credit Score; Rebuild Your Emergency Savings; Re-energize Your Retirement Plan; Make it Automatic; Rebuild with Real Estate; Rebuild Your College Fund (and Restructure Your Student Loan); 25 Ways to Save $5,000; Find Your Power – Give to Others; and A Final Word: My Personal “Start Over” Story. In addition, each chapter ends with a “To Do in 2010” checklist to stir the reader to action.

Starting Over isn’t fun, but with Bach’s expert guidance, we can still finish rich!



Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (December 29, 2009), 224 pages.
Advance Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the Publisher and smile.ly.

Can God Be Trusted Giveaway (ends 2/28 )

Publisher's Summary. Father Williams explores the most common obstacles that prevent people from trusting God, including personal betrayals, unfulfilled expectations, and seemingly unanswered prayers. He then explains what is reasonable to expect from God and offers practical tips for ways to grow in trust.

Williams is becoming a revered voice in the Christian community for his insightful writings on issues that really matter to Christians. In this new book, Father Williams will help readers understand, not only how to trust God in spite of doubts and confusion, but to truly know God can be trusted.


Giveaway Rules: Today I am giving away FIVE copies of this inspirational book.

First Entry: Comment with your email address in the body of the comment (you can list it as mary123 (at) yahoo(dot)com). If you do not list your email address your entry will not count.

Extra Entry: Sign up to follow my blog (or let me know that you are a current follower). NOTE: This extra entry MUST be left in a separate comment or it will not count.

The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.
You must be 18 years of age or older.
NO P.O. Boxes for the winner’s mailing address.

Giveaway ends 2/28. Good Luck!

In the President's Secret Service

Publisher's Sumamry. Never before has a journalist penetrated the wall of secrecy that surrounds the U.S. Secret Service, that elite corps of agents who pledge to take a bullet to protect the president and his family. After conducting exclusive interviews with more than one hundred current and former Secret Service agents, bestselling author and award-winning reporter Ronald Kessler reveals their secrets for the first time.

Secret Service agents, acting as human surveillance cameras, observe everything that goes on behind the scenes in the president’s inner circle. Kessler reveals what they have seen, providing startling, previously untold stories about the presidents, from John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson to George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as well as about their families, Cabinet officers, and White House aides.

Kessler portrays the dangers that agents face and how they carry out their missions–from how they are trained to how they spot and assess potential threats. With fly-on-the-wall perspective, he captures the drama and tension that characterize agents’ lives.

In this headline-grabbing book, Kessler discloses assassination attempts that have never before been revealed. He shares inside accounts of past assaults that have put the Secret Service to the test, including a heroic gun battle that took down the would-be assassins of Harry S. Truman, the devastating day that John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas, and the swift actions that saved Ronald Reagan after he was shot.

While Secret Service agents are brave and dedicated, Kessler exposes how Secret Service management in recent years has betrayed its mission by cutting corners, risking the assassination of President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and their families. Given the lax standards, “It’s a miracle we have not had a successful assassination,” a current agent says.

Since an assassination jeopardizes democracy itself, few agencies are as important as the Secret Service–nor is any other subject as tantalizing as the inner sanctum of the White House. Only tight-lipped Secret Service agents know the real story, and Ronald Kessler is the only journalist to have won their trust.

Review. Living and working in the DC metro area I have seen my share of presidential motorcades, so my interest was piqued in Ronald Kessler’s In the President’s Secret Service. By interviewing current and former Secret Service agents, Kessler penetrates the wall of mystery surrounding the agency.

The Secret Service was originally created in 1865 to address the issue of widespread counterfeiting. It was not until 1902 that the Service officially assumed responsibility for presidential protection. Although the Secret Service is a dual role agency (presidential protection and financial crimes), Kessler’s book is primarily concerned with the Service’s protection role.

In the President’s Service does a good job of piercing the veil of secrecy of the various White House occupants. For instance, according to the agents, Lyndon Johnson was often drunk; Nixon rarely interacted with his wife; Ford was decent, but cheap; and Amy Carter was a terror. Although many of the presidential tidbits have been printed before reading it from the agents’ perspective elevates the stories’ credibility.

As one unnamed former agent confessed, “you just shake your head when you think of all the things you’ve heard and seen and the faith that people have in these celebrity-type people. They are probably worse than most average individuals . . . . Americans have such an idealized notion of the presidency and the virtues that go with it, honesty and so forth. In most cases, that’s the furthest thing from the truth. . . .”

Kessler also details the Secret Service’s mismanagement of its employees. Turnover is relatively high due to the Service’s lack of consideration of family issues (such as mandatory relocations) and its seriously strained budget which necessitates overtime shifts In short, the Service “fosters conditions that lead . . . experienced agents to resign [and] compromises” presidential security.

In the President’s Secret Service is a fascinating exposé of the Secret Service.


Review based on personal copy.

Mailbox Monday -- February 15th

Thanks to host Marcia at The Printed Page I'm participating in the Mailbox Monday round up. This week I received the following advance review copies:

1) Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman. Publisher's Summary. They were young, brilliant, and bold. They set out to conquer the world. But the world had other plans for them. Bestselling author Susan Jane Gilman's new memoir is a hilarious and harrowing journey, a modern heart of darkness filled with Communist operatives, backpackers, and pancakes. In 1986, fresh out of college, Gilman and her friend Claire yearned to do something daring and original that did not involve getting a job. Inspired by a place mat at the International House of Pancakes, they decided to embark on an ambitious trip around the globe, starting in the People's Republic of China. At that point, China had been open to independent travelers for roughly ten minutes. Armed only with the collected works of Nietzsche, an astrological love guide, and an arsenal of bravado, the two friends plunged into the dusty streets of Shanghai. Unsurprisingly, they quickly found themselves in over their heads. As they ventured off the map deep into Chinese territory, they were stripped of everything familiar and forced to confront their limitations amid culture shock and government surveillance. What began as a journey full of humor, eroticism, and enlightenment grew increasingly sinister-becoming a real-life international thriller that transformed them forever. Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven is a flat-out page-turner, an astonishing true story of hubris and redemption told with Gilman's trademark compassion, lyricism, and wit.

2) On the Brink by Henry M. Paulson, Jr. Publisher's Summary. When Hank Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, was appointed in 2006 to become the nation's next Secretary of the Treasury, he knew that his move from Wall Street to Washington would be daunting and challenging.

But Paulson had no idea that a year later, he would find himself at the very epicenter of the world's most cataclysmic financial crisis since the Great Depression. Major institutions including Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, AIG, Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup, among others-all steeped in rich, longstanding tradition-literally teetered at the edge of collapse. Panic ensnared international markets. Worst of all, the credit crisis spread to all parts of the U.S. economy and grew more ominous with each passing day, destroying jobs across America and undermining the financial security millions of families had spent their lifetimes building.

This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime economic nightmare. Events no one had thought possible were happening in quick succession, and people all over the globe were terrified that the continuing downward spiral would bring unprecedented chaos. All eyes turned to the United States Treasury Secretary to avert the disaster.

This, then, is Hank Paulson's first-person account. From the man who was in the very middle of this perfect economic storm, ON THE BRINK is Paulson's fast-paced retelling of the key decisions that had to be made with lightning speed. Paulson puts the reader in the room for all the intense moments as he addressed urgent market conditions, weighed critical decisions, and debated policy and economic considerations with of all the notable players-including the CEOs of top Wall Street firms as well as Ben Bernanke, Timothy Geithner, Sheila Bair, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, and then-President George W. Bush.

More than an account about numbers and credit risks gone bad, ON THE BRINK is an extraordinary story about people and politics-all brought together during the world's impending financial Armageddon.

3) Corked by Kathryn Borel. Publisher's Summary. Meet Kathryn Borel, bon vivant and undutiful daughter. Now meet her father, Philippe, former chef, eccentric genius, and wine aficionado extraordinaire. Kathryn is like her father in every way but one: she's totally ignorant when it comes to wine. And although Philippe has devoted untold parenting hours to delivering impassioned oenological orations, she has managed to remain unenlightened. But after an accident and a death, Kathryn realizes that by shutting herself off to her father's greatest passion, she will never really know him. Accordingly, she proposes a drunken father-daughter road trip. Corked is the uncensored account of their tour through the great wine regions of France. Uproarious, poignant, painfully introspective, and filled with cunning little details about wine, this is a book for any reader who has sought a connection with a complex family member or wanted to overcome the paralyzing terror of being faced with a restaurant wine list.

Thanks to Hachette Book Group.

4) Keeping the Feast by Paula Butturini. Amazon Product Description. A story of food and love, injury and healing, Keeping the Feast is the triumphant memoir of one couple's nourishment and restoration in Italy after a period of tragedy, and the extraordinary sustaining powers of food, family, and friendship.

Paula and John met in Italy, fell in love, and four years later, married in Rome. But less than a month after the wedding, tragedy struck. They had transferred from their Italian paradise to Warsaw and while reporting on an uprising in Romania, John was shot and nearly killed by sniper fire. Although he recovered from his physical wounds in less than a year, the process of healing had just begun. Unable to regain his equilibrium, he sank into a deep sadness that reverberated throughout their relationship. It was the abrupt end of what they'd known together, and the beginning of a new phase of life neither had planned for. All of a sudden, Paula was forced to reexamine her marriage, her husband, and herself.

Paula began to reconsider all of her previous assumptions about healing. She discovered that sometimes patience can be a vice, anger a virtue. That sometimes it is vital to make demands of the sick, that they show signs of getting better. And she rediscovered the importance of the most fundamental of human rituals: the daily sharing of food around the family table.

A universal story of hope and healing, Keeping the Feast is an account of one couple's triumph over tragedy and illness, and a celebration of the simple rituals of life, even during the worst life crises. Beautifully written and tremendously moving, Paula's story is a testament to the extraordinary sustaining powers of food and love, and to the stubborn belief that there is always an afterward, there is always hope.

5) Keepers of the School by Andrew Clements. Amazon Product Description. We the Children asks: Can a kid change the course of history?

6) The Eastern Stars by Mark Kurlansky. Amazon Product Description. The intriguing, inspiring history of one small, impoverished area in the Dominican Republic that has produced a staggering number of Major League Baseball talent, from an award-winning, bestselling author.

In the town of San Pedro in the Dominican Republic, baseball is not just a way of life. It's the way of life. By the year 2008, seventy-nine boys and men from San Pedro have gone on to play in the Major Leagues-that means one in six Dominican Republicans who have played in the Majors have come from one tiny, impoverished region. Manny Alexander, Sammy Sosa, Tony Fernandez, and legions of other San Pedro players who came up in the sugar mill teams flocked to the United States, looking for opportunity, wealth, and a better life.

Because of the sugar industry, and the influxes of migrant workers from across the Caribbean to work in the cane fields and factories, San Pedro is one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the Dominican Republic. A multitude of languages are spoken there, and a variety of skin colors populate the community; but the one constant is sugar and baseball. The history of players from San Pedro is also a chronicle of racism in baseball, changing social mores in sports and in the Dominican Republic, and the personal stories of the many men who sought freedom from poverty through playing ball. The story of baseball in San Pedro is also that of the Caribbean in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and on a broader level opens a window into our country's history.

As with Kurlansky's Cod and Salt, this small story, rich with anecdote and detail, becomes much larger than ever imagined. Kurlansky reveals two countries' love affair with a sport and the remarkable journey of San Pedro and its baseball players. In his distinctive style, he follows common threads and discovers wider meanings about place, identity, and, above all, baseball.


Thanks to the publicists via Shelf Awareness.

7) Veracity by Laura Bynum. Publisher's Weekly Summary. n this emotionally gripping first novel, Harper Adams, a Monitor capable of reading people's emotions, identifies enemies of the Confederation of the Willing, a nasty dystopian state reminiscent of 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale. Like everyone else, she has a slate implanted in her neck, primed to execute her if she utters one of the many words that have been outlawed or Red-Listed by the government. Pushed to revolt when her daughter's name, Veracity, is Red-Listed, Harper is recruited by the resistance and becomes their secret weapon. Bynum makes her protagonist's emotional turmoil painfully believable and creates a number of other interesting and thorny characters, but her plot is occasionally incoherent. Though the cartoonishly powerful Confederacy is never entirely convincing as a workable totalitarian state, its opponents also seem too quixotic and undermanned to fight it as successfully as they do. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

8) Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninger. Amazon Product Description. From the day Cobb and Mary meet kayaking on Maine's Allagash River and fall deeply in love, the two approach life with the same sense of adventure they use to conquer the river's treacherous rapids. But rivers do not let go so easily...and neither does their love. So when Mary's life takes the cruelest turn, she vows to face those rough waters on her own terms and asks Cobb to promise, when the time comes, to help her return to their beloved river for one final journey.

Set against the rugged wilderness of Maine, the exotic islands of Indonesia, the sweeping panoramas of Yellowstone National Park, and the tranquil villages of rural New England, Eternal on the Water is at once heartbreaking and uplifting -- a timeless, beautifully rendered story of true love's power. .

Thanks to Simon & Schuster.

9) The Leap by Rick Smith. Publisher's Weekly Summary. From Publishers Weekly
Smith (The Five Patterns of Extraordinary Careers) examines the commonalities among individuals who transcended their dull day jobs to launch truly extraordinary careers. He is most taken with identifying what precipitated their leap into authentic and meaningful work, interviewing hundreds of people to craft replicable steps that everyone can use to initiate a personal and professional evolution and achieve remarkable success without taking reckless and unnecessary risks. His examples of highly profitable leaps include Sara Blakely, who went from a fax machine sales person to the owner of SPANX, a highly successful women's clothing line; Frances Hesselbein, who went from a stay-at-home mom to the executive director of Girl Scouts of America; and Brad Margus, who channeled his feelings of futility over the rare and terminal disease his two sons inherited to become a genetics expert on the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council. Smith's book—a lively readable romp—motivates without preaching and gently coaxes readers to overcome innate fears and to use their greatest passions to bring about fulfillment. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Thanks to the author.

10) Shanghai Girls by Lisa See. Amazon Product Description. Book Description
For readers of the phenomenal bestsellers Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Peony in Love--a stunning new novel from Lisa See about two sisters who leave Shanghai to find new lives in 1930s Los Angeles.

May and Pearl, two sisters living in Shanghai in the mid-1930s, are beautiful, sophisticated, and well-educated, but their family is on the verge of bankruptcy. Hoping to improve their social standing, May and Pearl’s parents arrange for their daughters to marry “Gold Mountain men” who have come from Los Angeles to find brides.

But when the sisters leave China and arrive at Angel’s Island (the Ellis Island of the West)--where they are detained, interrogated, and humiliated for months--they feel the harsh reality of leaving home. And when May discovers she’s pregnant the situation becomes even more desperate. The sisters make a pact that no one can ever know.

A novel about two sisters, two cultures, and the struggle to find a new life in America while bound to the old, Shanghai Girls is a fresh, fascinating adventure from beloved and bestselling author Lisa See.

Thanks to Random House.

11) Live a Life You Love by Dr. Susan Biali, M.D. Amazon Product Description. Product Description

The promise of Live A Life You Love is simple: being true to your most authentic self and following essential principles of wellness will make you happy, healthy, and passionately in love with life.

With insights drawn from her own personal transformation from a depressed medical doctor to a joyful and fulfilled flamenco dancer, writer, speaker, and life coach, Dr. Susan Biali’s seven-step plan will help you discover (or re-discover) the hopes, passions, and talents that make up the real you.

Even if your dreams have faded, or you worry they are unrealistic, Dr. Biali will teach you how to reach that creative, hopeful place and work towards making those dreams a reality. Along the way, you’ll also learn how to maximize your physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.

You will learn how to:

•Begin making YOU a priority

•Understand your body’s language

•Choose foods that slow aging, boost health, and improve energy

•Improve your most important relationships

•Balance your life and find time for what counts

•Turn this knowledge into action today.

Thanks to the Publicist.

12) Start Over Finish Rich by David Bach. Amazon Product Description. Product Description
Let 2010 Set You on the Path to Wealth.

Believe it or not, recessions make millionaires! Will you be one? In Start Over, Finish Rich, America's best-loved financial expert, David Bach, explains that 2010 will be the best opportunity for building wealth we have seen in decades. And, as the economy recovers, you must be set up to recover with it. Bach's easy, take-action plan will show you how.

Start Over, Finish Rich supplies the ten crucial moves you must make in 2010 to get back on track and recapture your dreams of a richer future. Learn how to:

* Get out of debt
* Fix your credit
* Rebuild your 401k plan
* Improve your 529 Plan
* Take smart risks
* Reorganize your financial life for the high tech age
* Update your real estate plan
* Change your thinking about money
* Recommit to wealth

As Bach says, "A recession is a terrible thing to waste—so don't waste this one! Use it instead to get rich." Read Start Over, Finish Rich and let David Bach put you and your family back on the path to financial freedom.

Thanks to Smile.ly.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's to a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Winners!

Here are the confirmed winners for the following giveaways:

Seven
kakihararocks
mia
jason
shopgurl101
sharonaquilino

Career Comeback
simplystacieblog
spynaert
mordacious
rhoneygtn
skstigger

Liar in Your Life
wandanamgreb
linna.hsu
augustlily06

True Compass
spoiledtyro6
bookstorylori
cenya2

End the Fed
chocolateandcroissants
minsthins
mannasweeps

Congrats to the winners!

Salute to a Thoughtful Disclaimer!

As a memoir reader, I don’t expect a verbatim transcript of conversations or an exact recount of events. Time has a way of shading one’s memories of discussions and events. I do, however, expect that the author has been faithful to the essence of the depicted conversations and events (identifying names and details not withstanding). That is, a memoir should not be fiction cloaked in the wrappings of the non-fiction label.

Recently, I have started to pay careful attention to the disclaimers in memoirs. Disclaimers are interesting reading. One author’s disclaimer of “composite” characters was a deal breaker for me. While I appreciated the author’s disclosure, I consider made up characters to exist solely in the realm of fiction. In contrast, author Julie Powell’s disclaimer in Cleaving beautifully described the shadings in her memoir:

"It’s the memoirist’s privilege to tell her version of a many-faceted story; and any one facet may necessarily be incomplete, fractured or polished to a sheen that the original stuff of experience didn’t possess. Cleaving is a book that is faithful to my heart, but occasionally fuzzy on the odd physical detail. Other participants in the events recounted in these pages undoubtedly remember things differently; from them and from the reader, I ask for a bit of patience and understanding."

For an artful disclaimer that respects her readers, I salute you Julie Powell!

Last Day to Enter Two Great Giveaways

Today is the final day to enter these two terrific giveaways that I am hosting:

1) Corked by Kathryn Borel; and

2) My Paper Chase by Harold Evans.


Good Luck!

101 Glam Girl Ways to an Ultra Chic Lifestyle

Amazon Product Description. Every girl dreams of living a glamourous jet-set lifestyle, weather in the lap of luxury or on a tight budget. Dawn Del Russo Author of 101 Glam Girl Ways to an Ultra Chic Lifestyle provides quick cheeky tips to living that swank life. Put together simply each one-liner is illustrated by Barbara Ann Scarrillo with charming, fashionable sketches sure to delight. Indulge in this fabulous quick read. Dawn Del Russo, high profile fashion stylist has been featured in print like US Weekly, Life and Style, InStyle, Glamour, Real Simple, and on Fox 5 NY for her style advice. Del Russo is also a contributing writer for multiple online publications. She has a keen sense of style and trends and is dedicated to helping women find their inner beauty, and confidence starting from the style on the outside. 101 Glam Girl Ways to and Ultra Chic Lifestyle is every women's secret guide to breezing through life glamourously.


Review. “Dream your dream, live your life, and look glamorous doing it”
Dawn Del Russo

Little things really do make a difference. 101 Glam Girl Ways to an Ultra Chic Lifestyle by Dawn Del Russo is packed with suggestions on living a more beautiful life. Each page contains a tidbit on how to live a more glamorous life such as: have a massage; buy fresh cut flowers; make a vision board, and much more.

101 Glam Girl Ways to an Ultra Chic Lifestyle is a beautifully illustrated guide to enjoying life to the fullest!







Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (October 8, 2009), 110 pages.
Advance review copy provided courtesy of the publisher.

When Everything Changed Giveaway (ends 2/28)

Publisher's Summary. Picking up where her previous successful, and highly lauded book, America's Women, left off, Gail Collins recounts the sea change women have experienced since 1960. A comprehensive mix of oral history and Collins's keen research, this is the definitive book about five crucial decades of progress, told with the down-to-earth, amusing, and agenda-free tone this beloved New York Times columnist is known for. The interviews with women who have lived through these transformative years include an advertising executive in the 60s who was not allowed to attend board meetings that took place in the all-male dining room; and an airline stewardess who remembered being required to bend over to light her passengers' cigars on the men-only 'Executive Flight' from New York to Chicago.

We, too, may have forgotten the enormous strides made by women since 1960--and the rare setbacks. "Hell yes, we have a quota [7%]" said a medical school dean in 1961. "We do keep women out, when we can." At a pre-graduation party at Barnard College, "they handed corsages to the girls who were engaged and lemons to those who weren't." In 1960, two-thirds of women 18-60 surveyed by Gallup didn't approve of the idea of a female president. Until 1972, no woman ran in the Boston Marathon, the year when Title IX passed, requiring parity for boys and girls in school athletic programs (and also the year after Nixon vetoed the childcare legislation passed by congress). What happened during the past fifty years--a period that led to the first woman's winning a Presidential Primary--and why? The cataclysmic change in the lives of American women is a story Gail Collins seems to have been born to tell.

Giveaway Rules: Today I am giving away FIVE copies of this fabulous book.

First Entry: Comment with your email address in the body of the comment (you can list it as mary123 (at) yahoo(dot)com). If you do not list your email address your entry will not count.

Extra Entry: Sign up to follow my blog (or let me know that you are a current follower). NOTE: This extra entry MUST be left in a separate comment or it will not count.

The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.
You must be 18 years of age or older.
NO P.O. Boxes for the winner’s mailing address.

Giveaway ends 2/28 Good Luck!

Career Comeback

Publisher's Summary. Unfortunately, getting older can be a career killer. That's what entertainment journalist Lisa Johnson Mandell discovered when she sent out a resume that made her sound like an aged veteran. Her new career makeover guide-expanded from the Wall Street Journal article about revamping her "older" image to land her dream job-acknowledges that experience matters, but looking and acting up-to-date matter just as much. Mandell provides ten strategies for putting a youthful spin on resumes, Web pages, and personal presentation.


Review. Unemployment abounds for all job seekers, but those over 40 face additional age related barriers. In Career Comeback, author Lisa Johnson Mandell, a 49 year old entertainment journalist, shares how she successfully “botoxed her resume” to a new job. As Johnson Mandell confesses, “my own career comeback plan involved finding my niche, branding myself, freshening up my image from head to toe, rabid social networking, and age proofing my resume so that my over-forty status would not be readily apparent.”

Career Comeback walks the reader through the necessary steps to become an “ageless” job seeker. Johnson Mandell is a talented writer who makes a serious subject fun such as including a “How Hip Are You” quiz (hint if you don’t know what Huffpo and DS are you probably need a pop culture refresher course) and “12 Items You Need to Throw Away Now” (who knew that nude panty hose was passé?) . And for the short of cash job seekers, she details a “One-Day Career Comeback for $50 or Less.”

Career Comeback is an informative and surprisingly fun read!



Publisher: Springboard Press (January 7, 2010), 256 pages.
Advance Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the Publisher.

Mailbox Monday -- February 8th!

Thanks to host Marcia at The Printed Page I'm participating in the Mailbox Monday round up. This week I received the following advance review copies:

1) The Postmistress by Sarah Blake. Publisher's Summary. Those who carry the truth sometimes bear a terrible burden...

Filled with stunning parallels to today's world, The Postmistress is a sweeping novel about the loss of innocence of two extraordinary women-and of two countries torn apart by war.

On the eve of the United States's entrance into World War II in 1940, Iris James, the postmistress of Franklin, a small town on Cape Cod, does the unthinkable: She doesn't deliver a letter.

In London, American radio gal Frankie Bard is working with Edward R. Murrow, reporting on the Blitz. One night in a bomb shelter, she meets a doctor from Cape Cod with a letter in his pocket, a letter Frankie vows to deliver when she returns from Germany and France, where she is to record the stories of war refugees desperately trying to escape.

The residents of Franklin think the war can't touch them- but as Frankie's radio broadcasts air, some know that the war is indeed coming. And when Frankie arrives at their doorstep, the two stories collide in a way no one could have foreseen.

The Postmistress is an unforgettable tale of the secrets we must bear, or bury. It is about what happens to love during war­time, when those we cherish leave. And how every story-of love or war-is about looking left when we should have been looking right.

Thanks to the publisher!

2) Size Eight in a Size Zero World by Meredith Cagen, Amazon Product Description. Meet Lindsay Chandler-a 32 year-old New York working wife and mother with old-fashioned values who thinks she's living a fairy tale life (she's not). Then an unexpected friendship with her upstairs neighbor (he is smart, successful, sophisticated and sexy- she's not) unleashes her passion and re-ignites her sparkle. This liaison causes her to question the way she lives her life. Yearning for a storybook ending, she decides to make changes in her life, embarking on a quest for self re-invention.

Thanks to the author!

3) 101 Glam Girl Ways to an Ultra Chic Lifestyle: A Cheeky Book with Tidbits of Advice for a Glamorous Lifestyle by Dawn Del Russo Product Description. Every girl dreams of living a glamourous jet-set lifestyle, weather in the lap of luxury or on a tight budget. Dawn Del Russo Author of 101 Glam Girl Ways to an Ultra Chic Lifestyle provides quick cheeky tips to living that swank life. Put together simply each one-liner is illustrated by Barbara Ann Scarrillo with charming, fashionable sketches sure to delight. Indulge in this fabulous quick read. Dawn Del Russo, high profile fashion stylist has been featured in print like US Weekly, Life and Style, InStyle, Glamour, Real Simple, and on Fox 5 NY for her style advice. Del Russo is also a contributing writer for multiple online publications. She has a keen sense of style and trends and is dedicated to helping women find their inner beauty, and confidence starting from the style on the outside. 101 Glam Girl Ways to and Ultra Chic Lifestyle is every women's secret guide to breezing through life glamourously.

Thanks to the author!

4) Hauling Checks by Alex Stone. Amazon Product Description. I’m a cargo pilot. In the industry, I’m known as a “Freight Dog.” I fly canceled checks and other types of high-value cargo around the country, mostly at night, in airplanes that are older than I am. Flying freight—or “work” as we call it—in small, twin-engine aircraft is a lesser known side of the aviation world. Our day starts when banker’s hours end. Thousands of flights move millions of pounds of work from city to city every night while the rest of the country is asleep.
We’re out there in the freezing rain getting de-iced when you’re laying down for bed. We’re sweeping the snow off our wings with a broom at three in the morning. That horrible thunderstorm you heard last night while you were sleeping, we were flying through it. The fog you woke up to in the early morning hours, we were landing in it.

Thanks to the author!

5) A Dance in the Woods by Janet K. Brennan. Amazon Product Description. Anna and William Benton felt secure with 3 beautiful children, a home in the desert of New Mexico, and a wonderful marriage. Then tragedy struck. Their eldest daughter Beth was admitted to a hospital with respiratory problems. Just days later, she suddenly passed away in the middle of the night plunging Anna into the depths of depression with inexplicable pain in parts of her body that she had never experienced before. To make matters worse, her military husband received orders to report for duty with his family to a small American community in the mountains of Northern Italy, resulting in the loss of their home and stability. Join the Benton family as they learn to adapt to the rigors of life in the small village of Montecchia di Crosara, Italy while Anna tries desperately to find a way to to cope with her pain.

Thanks to the publisher!

6) Gold Digger Nation by Hal Roback. Amazon Product Description. Gold Digger Nation by Hal Roback urges readers to rethink marriage and cohabitation. He articulates the horrible scenario that our Gold Digger Laws could possibly mean not only in divorce but in marriage, as well. Roback fills the book with insights and advice for anyone contemplating a more permanent relationship, as well as a heartfelt letter to sons and daughters everywhere. Provocative and informative, Gold Digger Nation is sure to make anyone think twice before signing a marriage license or a lease.

Thanks to the author!

Awards

Thanks to Vicki at Reading at the Beach for giving this award on to me!

This award is for the blogs out there that are the icing on the cake. The rules are pretty simple. Answer the following questions with Single Word answers then pass this along to 5 other bloggers.

Your Cell Phone? Motorola

Your Hair? brown

Your Mother? Unique

Your Father? Wonderful

Your Favorite Food? Pasta

Your Dream Last Night? None

Your Favorite Drink? Coke

Your Dream/Goal? Writer

What Room Are You In? Bedroom

Your Hobby? Blogging

Your Fear? Heights

Where Do You Want To Be In Six Years? Happy

Where Were You Last Night? Home

Something That You Aren’t? Athletic

Muffins? Pumpkin

Wish List Item? Kindle

Where Did You Grow Up? Maryland

Last Thing You Did? Ate

What Are You Wearing? Sweater

Your TV? DLP

Your Pets? Furry

Friends? Always

Your Life? Comfortable

Your Mood? Satisfied

Missing Someone? Yes

Vehicle? Subaru

Something You Aren’t Wearing? Socks

Your Favorite Store? Starbucks

Your Favorite Color? Black

When Was The Last Time You Laughed? Today

Last Time You Cried? Uncertain

Your Best Friend? Renee

One Place You Go To Over And Over Again? Work

Facebook? Yes

Favorite Place To Eat? Italian

I’m passing this on to:

Jo Jo Loves to Read
Carol's Notebook
Cindy's Love of Books
Bibliophile by the Sea
Booksie's Blog

Salute to Classic Opening Lines

How often have you been blown away by a novel’s opening line? Unfortunately, this occurrence is all too rare, but when it happens it is like fireworks on the Fourth of July. The opening line of Her Fearful Symmetry refreshed my memory of what a wonderful treat a stellar opening line is.

This caused me to ponder about other great starting sentences. Fortunately, thanks google, I don’t have to wonder anymore. The folks over at American Book Review of listed the 100 Best Lines from Novels. I recognized several old favorites including:

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” —Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813) (#2);

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” —Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (1877; trans. Constance Garnett) (6) and

“I am an invisible man.”—Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952) (10).

And the all time best opening line ever? Call me Ishmael. —Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851).

Check out the complete list by American Book Review when you have time. And feel free to name a few of your favorite opening lines (both included on the list and not on the list) in the comments.

And to all 100 literary icons who penned great openers I salute you!

Comfort Living

Amazon Product Description. With simple tools and do-able steps, Comfort Living will guide you in creating a home that transforms the way you experience each day. No big investment of time or money is required. Filled with exercises, ToolBoxes, photographs and planning pages, this book becomes a personalized experience for each reader, customized to individual needs and wants, much like a wedding planner or baby book. Just as comfort food does more than satisfy hunger, Comfort Living realigns your surroundings so that they support your priorities and feed your soul.

Review. Have you ever wanted to redecorate your living environment, but did not know where to start? Do you also believe that only those with an unlimited budget can afford to redecorate? According to Christine Eisner, author of Comfort Living, “you already posses the power to make your home a place of refuge and comfort. No big investment of time or money is required.”

The primary idea behind Comfort Living is that with a few simple, thoughtful, changes your living environment can be both more inviting and in harmony with your values. The first part of the redecorating process is to “look inward” to discover your “treasures” – the experiences that lift you up – and identify the “obstacles” – the things that weigh you down. The next step is to streamline and declutter your environment. The final steps involve creating “campfires” that invite relaxation and rejuvenation. Each chapter/step contains exercises and space for journaling to guide you through the process.

Comfort Living is a clear plan to a more beautiful future!

Publisher: Lifestyle Design (November 15, 2009), 84 pages.
Advance Review Copy Received Courtesy of the Publisher.

The Privileges

Publisher's Summary. Smart, socially gifted, and chronically impatient, Adam and Cynthia Morey are so perfect for each other that united they become a kind of fortress against the world. In their hurry to start a new life, they marry young and have two children before Cynthia reaches the age of twenty-five. Adam is a rising star in the world of private equity and becomes his boss's protégé. With a beautiful home in the upper-class precincts of Manhattan, gorgeous children, and plenty of money, they are, by any reasonable standard, successful.

But the Moreys' standards are not the same as other people's. The future in which they have always believed for themselves and their children—a life of almost boundless privilege, in which any desire can be acted upon and any ambition made real—is still out there, but it is not arriving fast enough to suit them. As Cynthia, at home with the kids day after identical day, begins to drift, Adam is confronted with a choice that will test how much he is willing to risk to ensure his family's happiness and to recapture the sense that the only acceptable life is one of infinite possibility.

The Privileges is an odyssey of a couple touched by fortune, changed by time, and guided above all else by their epic love for each other. Lyrical, provocative, and brilliantly imagined, this is a timely meditation on wealth, family, and what it means to leave the world richer than you found it.

Review. Life is good, very, very, good for Adam and Cynthia Morey. The Moneys, oops I mean Moreys, have lots of money thanks to Adam’s hedge fund trading, both legitimate and illegitimate. They are self made multimillionaires who live in the gilded ward of Manhattan’s Upper Eastside with a little place in the “country” as in the Hamptons. The Moreys also have two children, April and Jonas, who are raised to believe that every wish is entitled to fulfillment. As Cynthia angrily declares, “what was supposed to be the point of denying them anything?” In fact, Cynthia delights in the then seven year old, April’s, designer wants (she knows to ask for Tory Burch shoes!).

To say that the Privileges is a character driven novel does not mean that the novel lacks a plotline, rather the story takes a back seat to the characters’ development. Every five years or so, the novel peeks in on the Moreys. And although time marches on, the characters follow largely predictable paths. The Moreys rarely take the time to reflect upon their actions. Nor are they particularly endearing. For instance, while the reader is repeatedly told of Adam and Cynthia’s great love, one never gains any insight into the relationship itself. That is, what drew them together and what sustains their love other than a mutual desire for money obtained through any means? In addition, while Cynthia and Adam have largely divorced their parents from their lives the reader not given a reason for this extreme behavior other than a few throw away references to growing up in modest circumstances and, in one case, a parent’s ill temper. In short, the characters’ inner lives remain shrouded in mystery.

The Privileges, by Jonathan Dee, is a beautifully written novel about unlikeable characters living unexamined lives.



Publisher: Random House (January 5, 2010), 272 pages.
Advance Review Copy Provided Coutesy of the Publisher.

Fifty Under Fifty Collectible Books

If The Man Who Loved Books Too Much inspired you to start a book collection, but you have limted funds Abe Books has an inexpensive collectible book list: 50 Collectible Books Under $50.00. Famous Children's Books like Uncle Wiggily classics by Graham Greene and contemporary authors including David Sedaris can all be had for under fifty dollars. If you collect what you love then you're sure to have fun. And who knows maybe your collection might one day be worth thousands!

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much

Publisher's Summary. What would you do for the love of a good book? For John Charles Gilkey, the answer is: go to prison.

Unrepentant book thief Gilkey has stolen a fortune in rare books from around the country. Yet unlike most thieves, who steal for profit, Gilkey steals for love—the love of books. Perhaps equally obsessive, though, is Ken Sanders, the self-appointed "bibliodick" driven to catch him. Sanders, a lifelong rare book collector and dealer turned amateur detective, will stop at nothing to catch the thief plaguing his trade.

In following both of these eccentric characters, journalist Allison Hoover Bartlett plunged deep into a world of fanatical book lust, and ultimately found herself caught between the many people interested in finding Gilkey's stolen treasure and the man who wanted to keep it hidden: the thief himself. With a mixture of suspense, insight, and humor, Bartlett has woven this cat-and-mouse chase into a narrative that not only reveals exactly how Gilkey pulled off his crimes and how Sanders eventually caught him, but also explores the romance of books, the lure to collect them, and the temptation to steal them. All collectors have stories of what first made them fall in love, and Gilkey and Sanders are no different. Bartlett puts their stories into the larger context of book passion, collection, and theft through the ages.

Immersing the reader in a rich, wide world of literary obsession, The Man Who Loved Books Too Much exposes the profound role books play in all of our lives, the reverence in which these everyday objects are still held, and the craving that makes some people willing to stop at nothing to possess the books they love.

Review. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Barlett is a fascinating true crime book about a man, John Gilkey, who “collects” rare books by stealing them. The twist in the story is that Gilkey steals the books not for profit, but for personal edifice. In hot pursuit of Gilkey is rare book dealer Ken Saunders. And rounding out this picture is the author Hoover Barlett who becomes Gilkey’s trusted confidant.

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much is an interesting read on two levels. First, as an expose into the rare book world which Hoover Barlett does an excellent job of explaining. She attends famous book fairs and speaks with various dealer victims of Gilkey’s. She also plumbs the psyches of the average book collector with whom Gilkey shares many attributes (love of the physical object and desire to collect one type of object).

Next, she probes the depth of Gilkey’s psyche as to why he continues to steal rare books when he has been repeatedly caught and imprisoned. Gilkey declares, “I like the feeling of having a book worth five or ten grand in my hands. And there’s the admiration you’re gonna get from other people.” The paradox, of course, is that Gilkey cannot display his hot books for admiration nor easily sell them if he chooses to. Gilkey never gains insight into the ultimate futility of his “collecting” nor the consequences of his actions on himself or others. Like a moth drawn to the flame Gilkey continues to steal and continues to get caught.

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much is a compelling, but ultimately somewhat sad story of an amoral thief.





Review Based on Borrowed Library Book.