Last Day for the $50 Novica Giveaway

You don't want to miss this giveaway, so enter here. Good luck!

The Broom of the System Giveway Ends Today

Make sure you have an entry in here.

Winners!

Congrats to the Oil winners!

aisleb
cenya2
theluckyladybug

Backseat Saints (ends 11/13)

Publisher's Summary. Rose Mae Lolley is a fierce and dirty girl, long-suppressed under flowery skirts and bow-trimmed ballet flats. As "Mrs. Ro Grandee" she's trapped in a marriage that's thick with love and sick with abuse. Her true self has been bound in the chains of marital bliss in rural Texas, letting "Ro" make eggs, iron shirts, and take her punches. She seems doomed to spend the rest of her life battered outside by her husband and inside by her former self, until fate throws her in the path of an airport gypsy---one who shares her past and knows her future. The tarot cards foretell that Rose's beautiful, abusive husband is going to kill her. Unless she kills him first.

Hot-blooded Rose Mae escapes from under Ro's perky compliance and emerges with a gun and a plan to beat the hand she's been dealt. Following messages that her long-missing mother has left hidden for her in graffiti and behind paintings, Rose and her dog Gretel set out from Amarillo, TX back to her hometown of Fruiton, AL, and then on to California, unearthing a host of family secrets as she goes. Running for her life, she realizes that she must face her past in order to overcome her fate---death by marriage---and become a girl who is strong enough to save herself from the one who loves her best.

BACKSEAT SAINTS will dazzle readers with a fresh and heartwrenching portrayal of the lengths a mother will go to right the wrongs she's created, and how far a daughter will go to escape the demands of forgiveness. With the seed of a minor character from her popular best-seller, GODS IN ALABAMA, Jackson has built a whole new story full of her trademark sly wit, endearingly off-kilter characters, and utterly riveting plot twists.

Giveaway Rules. Today I am giving away THREE copies of this engaging audiobook!

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 November 13th . Good Luck!

Mailbox Monday -- October 25th

The reason why I love Mondays -- Mailbox Monday hosted this month by She Reads and Reads. Below are the following advance review copies that I received this week:

1) The Distant Hours by Kate Morton. Publisher's Summary. A long lost letter arrives in the post and Edie Burchill finds herself on a journey to Milderhurst Castle, a great but moldering old house, where the Blythe spinsters live and where her mother was billeted 50 years before as a 13 year old child during WW II. The elder Blythe sisters are twins and have spent most of their lives looking after the third and youngest sister, Juniper, who hasn't been the same since her fiance jilted her in 1941.

Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother's past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in 'the distant hours' of the past has been waiting a long time for someone to find it.

Morton once again enthralls readers with an atmospheric story featuring unforgettable characters beset by love and circumstance and haunted by memory, that reminds us of the rich power of storytelling.

2) Day After Night by Anita Diamant. Publisher's Summary. Just as she gave voice to the silent women of the Hebrew Bible in The Red Tent, Anita Diamant creates a cast of breathtakingly vivid characters—young women who escaped to Israel from Nazi Europe—in this intensely dramatic novel.

Day After Night is based on the extraordinary true story of the October 1945 rescue of more than two hundred prisoners from the Atlit internment camp, a prison for "illegal" immigrants run by the British military near the Mediterranean coast south of Haifa. The story is told through the eyes of four young women at the camp who survived the Holocaust: Shayndel, a Polish Zionist; Leonie, a Parisian beauty; Tedi, a hidden Dutch Jew; and Zorah, a concentration camp survivor. Haunted by unspeakable memories and losses, afraid to hope, the four of them find salvation in the bonds of friendship and shared experience even as they confront the challenge of re-creating themselves in a strange new country.

Diamant's triumphant novel is an unforgettable story of tragedy and redemption that reimagines a singular moment in history with stunning eloquence.

3) Substitute Me by Lori Tharps. Publisher's Summary. Zora Anderson is a 30-year-old African American middle class, college educated woman, trained as a chef, looking for a job. As fate would have it, Kate and Craig, a married couple, aspiring professionals with a young child are looking for a nanny.

Zora seems perfect. She's an enthusiastic caretaker, a competent house keeper, a great cook. And she wants the job, despite the fact that she won't let her African American parents and brother know anything about this new career move. They expect much more from her than to use all that good education to do what so many Blacks have dreamed of not doing: working for White folks. Working as an au pair in Paris, France no less, was one thing, they could accept that. Being a servant to a couple not much older nor more educated, is yet another. Every adult character involved in this tangled web is hiding something: the husband is hiding his desire to turn a passion for comic books into a business from his wife, the wife is hiding her professional ambitions from her husband, the nanny is hiding her job from her family and maybe her motivations for staying on her job from herself.

Memorable characters, real-life tensions and concerns and the charming—in a hip kind of way—modern-day Park Slope, Fort Greene, Brooklyn setting make for an un-put-down-able read.

4) The Dressmaker by Posie Graeme-Evans. Publisher's Summary. Ellen Gowan is the only surviving child of a scholarly village minister and a charming girl disowned by her family when she married for love. Growing up in rural Norfolk, Ellen's childhood was poor but blessed with affection. Resilience, spirit, and one great talent will carry her far from such humble beginnings. In time, she will become the witty, celebrated, and very beautiful Madame Ellen, dressmaker to the nobility of England, the Great Six Hundred.

Yet Ellen has secrets. At fifteen she falls for Raoul de Valentin, the dangerous descendant of French aristocrats. Raoul marries Ellen for her brilliance as a designer but abandons his wife when she becomes pregnant. Determined that she and her daughter will survive, Ellen begins her long climb to success. Toiling first in a clothing sweat shop, she later opens her own salon in fashionable Berkeley Square though she tells the world – and her daughter - she's a widow. One single dress, a ballgown created for the enigmatic Countess of Hawksmoor, the leader of London society, transforms Ellen's fortunes, and as the years pass, business thrives. But then Raoul de Valentin returns and threatens to destroy all that Ellen has achieved.

In The Dressmaker, the romance of Jane Austen, the social commentary of Charles Dickens and the very contemporary voice of Posie Graeme-Evans combine to plunge the reader deep into the opulent, sinister world of teeming Victorian England. And if the beautiful Madame Ellen is not quite what she seems, the strength of her will sees her through to the truth, and love, at last.

All of these thanks to Simon and Schuster!

Winners!

Congrats to the confirmed winners of the War giveaway:
janetfaye
tbranco
susanbillietaylor

Final Day to Win A Copy of Oil

Today is the last day to enter to win a copy of this insightful book, so be sure to get your entry in here.

30-Day Method Giveaway (ends 11/7)

Publisher's Summary. Did you know muscles get bored, just like people do? And did you also know that there's a 9 out of 10 chance that you're working the wrong muscles when you exercise? With TRACY ANDERSON'S 30-DAY METHOD you don't have to worry--her unique workout will help you drop the weight and shrink your body in just 30 days.

Based on ten years of scientific research and experience getting not just herself, but A-list stars and everyday people, red carpet ready, Anderson has developed a unique 30-day diet and workout routine that reshapes the body and defies genetics to tone the muscles and drop the pounds. While most people incorrectly target their major muscle groups, like the bicep or hamstring, the focus should be on the smaller accessory muscles that can create a long, lean, balanced look--instead of bulked up look. Anderson's program is composed of a groundbreaking three-tiered approach, including a mat workout and cardio routine targeting the all-important accessory muscles, and an exclusive 30-day meal plan, complete with dozens of delicious recipes.

This comprehensive kick-start program is unlike any other workout on the market and it leaves no chance for anything but terrific, fast results!

Giveaway Rules. Today I am giving away TWO copies of this comprehensive book.

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 Entries: Sign up to follow my blog (or let me know that you are a current follower); follow me on twitter (DCMetroreader) and on Facebook (Metroreader). NOTE: These extra entries MUST be left in a separate comment or 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 November 7th . Good Luck!

Men and Dogs

Publisher's Summary. When Hannah Legare was 11, her father went on a fishing trip in the Charleston harbor and never came back. And while most of the town and her family accepted Buzz's disappearance, Hannah remained steadfastly convinced of his imminent return.

Twenty years later Hannah's new life in San Francisco is unraveling. Her marriage is on the rocks, her business is bankrupt. After a disastrous attempt to win back her husband, she ends up back at her mother's home to "rest up", where she is once again sucked into the mystery of her missing father. Suspecting that those closest are keeping secrets--including Palmer, her emotionally closed, well-mannered brother and Warren, the beautiful boyfriend she left behind--Hannah sets out on an uproarious, dangerous quest that will test the whole family's concepts of loyalty and faith.

Review. Nothing good ever happens in an instant. Think about: tragic accidents, medical misfortunes; devastating break ups – these all occur in an instant. They are the “before and after” moments. The events that require that all that succeed the instant in question be reflected through the prism of before and after.

For Hannah Legare, in Men and Dogs by Katie Crouch, her before and after moment occurs at age eleven when her father took his boat out to go fishing and never came back. Even though his body was never found and there was no indication that he committed suicide he was presumed dead. Hannah, however, has never accepted this conclusion because she needs answers. She has spent her adult life looking for remnants of her father in the faces of strangers and leaving men, either physically or emotionally, before they can leave her.

Flash forward twenty years, Hannah is thirty five and a mess: her marriage is falling apart and her business is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. When Hannah is sent home to Charleston by her husband Jon, after her latest infidelity and drunken attempt to win him back, she makes one last attempt to find the answers she so desperately needs. In a parallel story, her emotionally distant, gay, brother Palmer is also haunted by his father’s death and, although not searching, needs a few answers of his own. Rounding out the cast are Hannah’s pleasant, but superficial mother and stepfather, Daisy and Will Dewitt, and her old high school boyfriend, Warren Myers and his mother Virginia. Hannah turns to each character seeking clues to her father’s disappearance. Because for her going back is the best way to move forward.

I listened to Men and Dogs on an audio book and found the story to build slowly, but eventually drew me in. The narrator of the audio book perfectly captured how I imagined the character in question would speak. This was particularly important as the novel is more character driven as opposed to plot oriented. Crouch does an excellent job of crafting rich characters with a deft mixture of humor and poignancy so that they are imperfect, but always interesting. The only criticism I have is that the ending seemed a little haphazard and unsatisfying.

For a rich Southern story, Men and Dogs fills the prescription.





Advance review copy provided courtesy of Hachette Book Group.

Winners

Here are the confirmed winners of the GoD and Dog Giveway:

rhoneygtn
headlessfowl

Congrats to the winners!

Hitch 22 Audiobook Giveaway (ends 11/6)

Publisher's Summary. Over the course of his 60 years, Christopher Hitchens has been a citizen of both the United States and the United Kingdom. He has been both a socialist opposed to the war in Vietnam and a supporter of the U.S. war against Islamic extremism in Iraq. He has been both a foreign correspondent in some of the world's most dangerous places and a legendary bon vivant with an unquenchable thirst for alcohol and literature. He is a fervent atheist, raised as a Christian, by a mother whose Jewish heritage was not revealed to him until her suicide.

In other words, Christopher Hitchens contains multitudes. He sees all sides of an argument. And he believes the personal is political.

This is the story of his life, lived large.

Giveaway Rules. Today I am giving away THREE copies of this engaging audiobook!

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 Entries: Sign up to follow my blog (or let me know that you are a current follower); follow me on twitter (DCMetroreader) and on Facebook (Metroreader). NOTE: These extra entries MUST be left in a separate comment or 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.
Publisher will only send one copy per household (so if you've won this on another site you are not eligible for this giveaway).

Giveaway ends November 6th . Good Luck!

Mailbox Monday -- October 18th

 The reason why I love Mondays -- Mailbox Monday hosted this month by She Reads and Reads. Below are the following advance review copies that I received this week:

1) Five Ingredient Fix by Claire Robinson. Publisher's Summary.  Claire Robinson, the hot new Food Network star of 5 Ingredient Fix and Food Network Challenge, helps people get dinner on the table with little fuss and a few great ingredients. The quest for simple, affordable, and fresh, mouthwatering food is over. 5 INGREDIENT FIX helps put delicious and sophisticated meals on the table in a snap. With people struggling to simplify, streamline, and budget, the Food Network's Claire Robinson is here to help. Cooking doesn't have to be complicated to be impressive; simplifying the process with fewer ingredients saves time, frustration, and ultimately, money.

Thanks to Hachette Book Group!

2) Must You Go? by Antonia Fraser.  Publisher's Summary.  In this exquisite memoir, Antonia Fraser recounts the life she shared with the internationally renowned dramatist. In essence, it is a love story and a marvelously insightful account of their years together, beginning with their initial meeting when Fraser was the wife of a member of Parliament and mother of six, and Pinter was married to a distinguished actress. Over the years, they experienced much joy, a shared devotion to their work, crises and laughter, and, in the end, great courage and love as Pinter battled the illness to which he eventually suc­cumbed on Christmas Eve 2008.

Must You Go? is based on Fraser’s recollections and on the diaries she has kept since October 1968. She shares Pinter’s own revelations about his past, as well as observations by his friends. Fraser’s diaries—written by a biographer living with a creative artist and observing the process firsthand—also pro­vide a unique insight into his writing.

Harold Pinter and Antonia Fraser lived together from August 1975 until his death thirty-three years later. “O! call back yesterday, bid time return,” cries one of the courtiers to Richard II. This is Antonia Fraser’s uniquely compelling way of doing so.

3) My Reading Life by Pat Conroy.  Publisher's Summary.  Pat Conroy, the beloved American storyteller, is also a vora­cious reader. He has for years kept a notebook in which he notes words or phrases, just from a love of language. But read­ing for him is not simply a pleasure to be enjoyed in off-hours or a source of inspiration for his own writing. It would hardly be an exaggeration to claim that reading has saved his life, and if not his life then surely his sanity.

In My Reading Life, Conroy revisits a life of passionate reading. He includes wonderful anecdotes from his school days, mov­ing accounts of how reading pulled him through dark times, and even lists of books that particularly influenced him at vari­ous stages of his life, including grammar school, high school, and college. Readers will be enchanted with his ruminations on reading and books, and want to own and share this perfect gift book for the holidays. And, come graduation time, My Reading Life will establish itself as a perennial favorite, as did Dr. Seuss’s Oh, the Places You’ll Go! 

Thanks to Random House!

Twenty Nine

Publisher's Summary. What if you closed your eyes, blew out the candles, and your wish came true?

Ellie Jerome is a young-at-heart seventy-five-year-old who feels she has more in common with her twenty-nine-year-old granddaughter, Lucy, than her fifty-five-year-old daughter, Barbara. Ellie’s done everything she can to stay young, and the last thing she wants is to celebrate another birthday. So when she finds herself confronted with a cake full of candles, Ellie wishes more than anything that she could be twenty-nine again, just for one day. But who expects a wish like that to come true?

29 is the story of three generations of women and how one magical day shakes up everything they know about each other. While Ellie finds that the life of a twenty-something is not as carefree as she expected, the sheer joy of being young again prompts her to consider living her life all over. Does she dare stay young for more than this day, even if it means leaving everyone she loves behind?

Fresh, funny, and delightful, 29 is an enchanting adventure about families, love, and the real lessons of youth.

Review. If you could be 29 again would you do it and if so what would you do differently? Would you find the experience liberating or would you long to return to your current situation? In 29 by Adena Halpern, Ellie Jerome the grandmother-heroine is faced with exactly that scenario.

Ellie Jerome was raised in an era when women did what was expected. She has lived a full, respectable, life as a wife of lawyer (the now deceased Howard), mother of an adult daughter (Barbara) and grandmother of a fashion designer (Lucy), but on her 75th birthday she feels like she has missed something in life. In particular, Ellie muses:

“What would my life have been like if I had married someone I was in love with? What kind of person would I have become if I had married my soul mate? If I’d had the choice all those years ago, if my mother hadn’t stood in the way and told me to marry Howard. If I’d married with my heart, would my life have been any better? What would my daughter have been like as a result? Would Barbara been more independent?

Although Ellie has the body and the thoughts of a 75 year old, she shares a similar free spiritedness with her twenty five year old her granddaughter Lucy. So when the birthday cake is brought out Ellie wishes to be twenty nine again just for one day and “go crazy.” The next morning, Ellie’s wish is granted with story following her memorable day.

In 29, Halpern has crafted a sweet story with a message and engaging characters. I especially enjoyed the antics of Barbara and Frida (Ellie’s 75 year old best friend) who are in hot pursuit of the 29 year old Ellie, but seem to meet every disaster along the way. In the reader’s guide at the back of the novel, Halpern states that she was inspired by The-Out-of-Towners in writing this part of the plot. As for Ellie’s storyline, Halpern confesses to being influenced by Roman Holiday. With cinematic inspirations as these, it is no wonder that 29 is such an entertaining novel!

29 is a light, humorous, book that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but nevertheless manages to make some rather profound statements about life.




Publisher: Touchstone; Original edition (June 15, 2010), 288 pages.
Advance Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the Publisher.

Last Day to Enter to Win God and Dog

So make sure to get your entry in here.

Winners!

Lots of winners to announce at Metroreader. 


Ah-Choo Winners:
lizzi0915
je2kids
jgoffice

Innocent Winners:
pbclark
ruthiekb72
aisleb

Congrats to the winners!

The Broom of the Systen Giveaway (ends 10/30 )

Publisher's Summary. The "dazzling, exhilarating" (San Francisco Chronicle) debut novel from the bestselling author of Infinite Jest, available for the first time as an audiobook.

At the center of The Broom of the System is the betwitching (and also bewildered) heroine, Lenore Stonecipher Beadsman. The year is 1990 and the place is a slightly altered Cleveland, Ohio, which sits on the edge of a suburban wasteland-the Great Ohio Desert. Lenore works as a switchboard attendant at a publishing firm, and in addition to her mind-numbing job, she has a few other problems. Her great-grandmother, a one-time student of Wittgenstein, has disappeared with twenty-five other inmates of the Shaker Heights Nursing Home. Her beau (and boss), editor-in-chief Rick Vigorous, is insanely jealous. And her cockatiel, Vlad the Impaler, has suddenly started spouting a mixture of psychobabble, Auden, and the King James Bible, which may propel him to stardom on a Christian fundamentalist television program.

Fiercely intelligent and entertaining, this debut novel from one of the most innovative writers of our generation explores the paradoxes of language, storytelling, and reality.

Giveaway Rules. Today I am giving away THREE copies of this entertaining audiobook!

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 October 30th. Good Luck!

Mailbox Monday -- October 11th

The reason why I love Mondays -- Mailbox Monday hosted this month by She Reads and Reads. Below are the following advance review copies that I received this week:


1) Running the Books by Avi Steinberg.  Publisher's Summary.   Avi Steinberg is stumped. After defecting from yeshiva to Harvard, he has only a senior thesis essay on Bugs Bunny to show for his effort. While his friends and classmates advance in the world, he remains stuck at a crossroads, unable to meet the lofty expectations of his Orthodox Jewish upbringing. And his romantic existence as a freelance obituary writer just isn’t cutting it. Seeking direction—and dental insurance—Steinberg takes a job as a librarian in a tough Boston prison.

The prison library counter, his new post, attracts con men, minor prophets, ghosts, and an assortment of quirky regulars searching for the perfect book and a connection to the outside world. There’s an anxious pimp who solicits Steinberg’s help in writing a memoir. A passionate gangster who dreams of hosting a cooking show titled Thug Sizzle. A disgruntled officer who instigates a major feud over a Post-it note. A doomed ex-stripper who asks Steinberg to orchestrate a reunion with her estranged son, himself an inmate. Over time, Steinberg is drawn into the accidental community of outcasts that has formed among his bookshelves — a drama he recounts with heartbreak and humor. But when the struggles of the prison library — between life and death, love and loyalty — become personal, Steinberg is forced to take sides.

Running the Books is a trenchant exploration of prison culture and an entertaining tale of one young man’s earnest attempt to find his place in the world while trying not to get fired in the process.

2) The False Friend by Myla Goldberg.  Publisher's Summary.  Leaders of a mercurial clique of girls, Celia and Djuna reigned mercilessly over their three followers. One after­noon, they decided to walk home along a forbidden road. Djuna disappeared, and for twenty years Celia blocked out how it happened.

The lie Celia told to conceal her misdeed became the accepted truth: everyone assumed Djuna had been abducted, though neither she nor her abductor was ever found. Celia’s unconscious avoidance of this has meant that while she and her longtime boyfriend, Huck, are professionally successful, they’ve been unable to move forward, their relationship falling into a rut that threatens to bury them both.

Celia returns to her hometown to confess the truth, but her family and childhood friends don’t believe her. Huck wants to be supportive, but his love can’t blind him to all that contra­dicts Celia’s version of the past.

Celia’s desperate search to understand what happened to Djuna has powerful consequences. A deeply resonant and emotionally charged story, The False Friend explores the adults that children become—leading us to question the truths that we accept or reject, as well as the lies to which we succumb.

Thanks to Random House!

3) Chosen by Chandra Hoffman.  Publisher's Summary.  It all begins with a fantasy: the caseworker in her "signing paperwork" charcoal suit standing alongside beaming parents cradling their adopted newborn, set against a fluorescent-lit delivery-room backdrop. It's this blissful picture that keeps Chloe Pinter, director of the Chosen Child's domestic-adoption program, happy while juggling the high demands of her boss and the incessant needs of both adoptive and biological parents.

But the very job that offers her refuge from her turbulent personal life and Portland's winter rains soon becomes a battleground involving three very different couples: the Novas, well-off college sweethearts who suffered fertility problems but are now expecting their own baby; the McAdoos, a wealthy husband and desperate wife for whom adoption is a last chance; and Jason and Penny, an impoverished couple who have nothing—except the baby everyone wants. When a child goes missing, dreams dissolve into nightmares, and everyone is forced to examine what he or she really wants and where it all went wrong.
Told from alternating points of view, Chosen reveals the desperate nature of desire across social backgrounds and how far people will go to get the one thing they think will be the answer.

Thanks to Kelly & Hall Book Publicity.  

Last Day to Win Two Great Audiobooks

Be sure to get your entry in for Innocent here and War here.

Good Luck!

Ah-Choo

Publisher's Summary. Some colds are like mice, timid and annoying; others like dragons, accompanied by body aches and deep misery. In AH-CHOO!, Jennifer Ackerman explains what, exactly, a cold is, how it works, and whether it's really possible to "fight one off." Scientists call this the Golden Age of the Common Cold because Americans suffer up to a billion colds each year, resulting in 40 million days of missed work and school and 100 million doctor visits. They've also learned over the past decade much more about what cold viruses are, what they do to the human body, and how symptoms can be addressed. In this ode to the odious cold, Ackerman sifts through the chatter about treatments-what works, what doesn't, and what can't hurt. She dispels myths, such as susceptibility to colds reflects a weakened immune system. And she tracks current research, including work at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, a world-renowned center of cold research studies, where the search for a cure continues.


Review.  According to Jennifer Ackerman, author of Ah-Choo, the average adult will suffer approximately 200 colds in a lifetime with each one occurring about twice a year.  This translates into about five years of cold symptoms and a full year in bed.   That is a lot of Kleenex tissues! 

In Ah-Choo, Ackerman investigates how colds are transmitted; the latest research developments for preventing/curing the “common” cold; and the best treatment of cold symptoms.  Unfortunately, much of the medical research detailed by Ackerman does not provide significant hope for cure, prevention, or even treatment of a cold.  Rather it appears that due to the cold’s evolving nature a cure is long way off.  Moreover, the best ways to prevent a cold are the low tech methods: engaging in frequent hand washing, refraining from touching/contaminating one’s face; and avoiding children (who are the frequent bearers of cold viruses) – which is, of course, highly impractical for parents and teachers.  As for treating a cold, a single ibuprofen (or other analgesic), rest, and maybe chicken soup are all that are recommended.  Counter intuitively, a cold victim should think twice before trying to build up his/her immune system.  One take away from Ah-Choo is that “cold symptoms do not result from the destructive effects of viruses . . .  [rather the symptoms are] in response to the presence of a virus [that] the body sets in motion.”  In other words, the immune system is battling the virus by creating the symptoms that make one miserable!

Ah-Choo does an excellent job of translating technical medical research into a highly readable format for lay readers.         

Publisher: Twelve (September 2, 2010), 256 pages.
Advance review copy provided courtesy of the publisher.

Queen Pin

Publisher's Summary. Jemeker Thompson-Hairston paid a heavy price for her involvement in the drug game. Learning from her sources of a federal investigation, Jemeker went on the run. It was love for her young son that brought her back to Los Angeles, even though she knew she would be arrested. A subsequent 12-year sentence would cost her not only her legitimate business and the fortune she'd amassed through the drug trade, but the most precious thing of all: time with her child. But not all was lost. Fortunately, while Thompson-Hairston was serving out her sentence, one pivotal moment helped her turn her life around, setting her on a path to help and inspire others like her.

Review.

Jemeker Thompson-Hairston confesses in the memoir Queen Pin that she used to be:

“A backslider.

Bitter and afraid.

A liar.

Doubting, fearful, judging, and controlling.

A gossiper.

A murderer.

A slanderer.

A complainer.

A cheater.

A thief.

A manipulator.

A lover of money and clothes.

A fighter.

A drug dealer”

Wow! 

In Queen Pin, Thompson-Hairston describes her life as the leader of successful narcotics ring in the 80’s and early 90’s which resulted in her twelve year incarceration and eventual transformation through finding religion. 

To say that the author’s life was the stuff of Hollywood movies is an understatement.  Reading Queen Pin is tantamount to reading a brisk crime novel except it is nonfiction.  The author does a good job of accepting responsibility for her actions and her redemption seems credible.  The only misgiving I had about the memoir was the lack of details, at certain points, when Thompson-Hairston discusses some of the drug deals and incidents stemming from these activities.  I suspect, however, that this is due to personal safety reasons.   

Queen Pin is an exciting, quick, read that you won’t want to put down until you finish it!

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (June 22, 2010), 224 pages.
Advance review copy provided courtesy of the publisher.

Oil Giveaway (ends 10/23 )

Publisher's Summary. A groundbreaking, in-depth, and authoritative twenty-year history of the hunt and speculation for our most vital natural resource. OIL Money, Politics, and Power in the 21st Century Twenty years ago oil cost about $7 a barrel. In 2008 the price soared to $148 and then fell to below $40. In the midst of this extraordinary volatility, the major oil conglomerates still spent over a trillion dollars in an increasingly frantic search for more. The story of oil is a story of high stakes and extreme risk.

Giveaway Rules. Today I am giving away THREE copies of this thought provoking book!

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.

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.
One copy per household only

Giveaway ends October 23rd. Good Luck!

Mailbox Monday -- October 4th

The reason why I love Mondays -- Mailbox Monday hosted this month by She Reads and Reads. Below are the following advance review copies that I received this week:

1) 30-Day Method by Tracey Anderson. Publisher's Summary. Did you know muscles get bored, just like people do? And did you also know that there's a 9 out of 10 chance that you're working the wrong muscles when you exercise? With TRACY ANDERSON'S 30-DAY METHOD you don't have to worry--her unique workout will help you drop the weight and shrink your body in just 30 days.

Based on ten years of scientific research and experience getting not just herself, but A-list stars and everyday people, red carpet ready, Anderson has developed a unique 30-day diet and workout routine that reshapes the body and defies genetics to tone the muscles and drop the pounds. While most people incorrectly target their major muscle groups, like the bicep or hamstring, the focus should be on the smaller accessory muscles that can create a long, lean, balanced look--instead of bulked up look. Anderson's program is composed of a groundbreaking three-tiered approach, including a mat workout and cardio routine targeting the all-important accessory muscles, and an exclusive 30-day meal plan, complete with dozens of delicious recipes.

This comprehensive kick-start program is unlike any other workout on the market and it leaves no chance for anything but terrific, fast results!


Thanks to Hachette Book Group!

2) The Decaf Diet by Eugene Wells. Publisher's Summary. In The Decaf Diet, Eugene Wells explains how coffee, tea, soda, and chocolate are making a large contribution to the obesity epidemic. Wells explains how caffeine drives overeating while hindering weight loss, and in doing so he empowers readers to decide for themselves just to what extent caffeine should control their waistlines. In The Decaf Diet you will learn how caffeine makes you overeat, reduces your muscle mass, slows your metabolism, keeps your stress and insulin levels elevated, and can negatively affect thyroid function. You will also learn how to painlessly decrease or eliminate your caffeine intake for rapid weight loss, and how to reduce caffeine's fattening properties when you do have it.

Thanks to the author!

3) Broken Birds by Jeannette Katzir. Publisher's Summary. Broken Birds is the nitty gritty, raw truth story of a twelve-year-old girl (My mom), who outwits, outruns and outlasts the strongest army of the time: the Nazi war machine. Fate brings her to New York City, where opposites attract when a very war torn and pessimistic Channa finds true love in Nathan, a tall dark and very optimistic man who also survived the war. (And that’s only the first 70 pages).

Their dance is set.

They re-create a family, but Channa’s emotional foundation causes her to pass along wartime fears and trepidations to their five children and forces Nathan to constantly prove his allegiance to her. This fertile ground was ideal for perfecting submergence of feelings, hurts and a distorted view of love and family loyalties.

When Mom unexpectedly dies her children must finally confront reality . . . and the bad blood begins. When the battle finally ends and the smoke clears we are all too aware of the illusion we all seemed to share.

Broken Birds, illuminates the positives and the negatives that occur in life, love and family. The trials and tribulations of Channa and her family touch the reader and cause them to ponder their own family patterns, evaluation, dynamics and weaknesses. Is then up them to try to affect a change, while they still are able.

Thanks to the author!

4) Once Wicked Always Dead by T. Marie Benchley. Publisher's Summary. What happens when a family's darkest secrets put lives in jeopardy? How far would you go for love?
A sharp mystery that swirls with family secrets, betrayal, love and loss, Once Wicked Always Dead is a strong debut from an author with literary blood in her veins.

The story begins with Molly Madison unaware of the Sociopath who is on the loose, creating havoc with a sense of their own justice. Her life is shattered by the sudden death of her beloved parents and the revelation of her husband Phillip's affair - with another man - Molly leaves the life of country clubs and the luxury of city life in Florida and heads west to Montana, resolved to run the family ranch, and to move on with her life. Her attraction to Clayton Leatherbe, the ranch foreman, is instant, but before a romance can blossom, the ranch falls prey to sabotage by wealthy land developers determined to drive Molly out, and Clayton learns of a family secret and collides with the Sociopath that could put the ranch - and Molly's life - in jeopardy.

Thanks to Newman Communications!

Winners!

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