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Thursday, June 25, 2009
This, That and The Everything Austen Reading Challenge
5:15 PM
I've been posting like mad lately so that you won't miss me too much while I'm gone on vacation. The fam and I are headed to Utah tomorrow - it's our favorite place to spend the 4th of July. I'll be reading books and email, but I won't be posting until I return in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, here are a few things to keep you busy (including 2 new giveaways!):
- You may have noticed on my review of If I Have A Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince? by Melissa Kantor that I launched a new feature called If this were a movie, it would be rated ... I know a lot of readers wish books came with a rating system similar to that used on movies. This is my completely subjective version. If you disagree with my evaluation, feel free to let me know. Hopefully, this will be a valuable tool.
- If you're an adoptee, an adoptive parent, someone considering adoption, or if you are just interested in the topic, you might want to check out Adoptive Famiiles magazine's list of the best books about adoption. You can find the list here, or check out the magazine's bookstore here. They have some great recommendations.
- If you haven't read the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris (and I haven't), here's your chance. Melissa at Melissa's Bookshelf is giving away a set of the first 7 books. Go here to enter. Contest ends July 5 at 8 p.m. EST.
- Lisa at Online Publicist is doing a series of BEA (Book Expo America) giveaways. Currently, she has 2 children's books up for grabs. For more info, click here. Contest ends June 26, so hurry on over and check it out.
- Nymeth has a fun contest going on over at Things Mean A Lot. The winner gets a copy of any YA sci fi/fantasy book he/she chooses. Woo hoo. Contest ends Sunday, so get on over there and enter.
- Stephanie at Stephanie's Written Word is hosting a reading challenge. You may remember how I got myself in waaaay over my head with challenges last year - so much so that I unentered all of them and swore off challenges. Well, this one is just a little too tantalizing. So, I'm going to enter her Everything Austen Challenge. You have to choose 6 Austen-themed things to do between July 1 and January 1, 2010. The challenge includes prizes (woo hoo!). Here's my list:
1. Read Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen
2. Read Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattilo
3. Read Austenland by Shannon Hale
4. Read Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
5. Watch Pride & Prejudice (BBC version)
6. Re-watch Pride & Prejudice (2005)
I'm really excited about this one. Emphasis on one, as in this is the one and only challenge I'm doing this year (not counting My Light & Fluffy Fluke-A-Thon, of course).
Okay, about the giveaway ... I have two books up for grabs. I described each contest in the following posts. Hopefully, it all makes sense. Both contests end on July 10 and are open worldwide. Good luck
Have a wonderful 4th, everybody! I'll catch you all when I get back.
Gone On Vacation Giveaway #1
5:10 PM
Hachette Book Group sent me several non-fiction books, one of which does not appeal to me at all. Since I'm not a Garth Brooks fan (although I used to know all the words to "I've Got Friends in Low Places"), and I don't have any interest in country music, The Garth Factor by Patsi Bale Cox just isn't for me. If you're a Garth fan, I'd love to pass this brand new hardcover on to you. All you have to do is make a comment on this post, and you'll be entered into the giveaway. Blog about it for an extra entry. I'll choose a winner on July 10. Good luck!
Here's the blurb from the front jacket cover:
Since his debut in 1990, country music icon Garth Brooks has sold over 128 million albums and has been certified by the RIAA as the #1 selling artist in U.S. history. But Garth had more than his share of controversy. Throughout his unprecedented rise he has been denounced as a media and market manipulator, a country music poseur, and a megalomaniac. Others claim he is simply a brilliant businessman and marketing strategist. Either way, his record-breaking success has had a revolutionary effect on the music industry.
Examining his career within the context of music history, author and industry insider Patsi Bale Cox goes behind closed doors at the labels and delves into the inner sanctum of the Nashville music community. The Garth Factor paints a portrait of how Brooks broke into the tight-knit country music community, his dealings with songwriters and label heads, and his relationships with fellow country stars, including how his friendship with Trisha Yearwood developed into love and marriage. The choices behind the making of each album, from songwriting through recording and marketing, will be shared by those who know him best. Garth's controversial and groundbreaking videos will also be examined as well as the true story behind his "alter ego" Chris Gaines. Finally, the book will cover the reasons behind Garth's retirement, and what he has been up to since.
A portrait of not just a hugely successful artist, but also a key period in American music history, The Garth Factor reveals an in-depth look at the industry that earned Nashville the nickname "Music City."
(Book image from Barnes & Noble)
Here's the blurb from the front jacket cover:
Since his debut in 1990, country music icon Garth Brooks has sold over 128 million albums and has been certified by the RIAA as the #1 selling artist in U.S. history. But Garth had more than his share of controversy. Throughout his unprecedented rise he has been denounced as a media and market manipulator, a country music poseur, and a megalomaniac. Others claim he is simply a brilliant businessman and marketing strategist. Either way, his record-breaking success has had a revolutionary effect on the music industry.
Examining his career within the context of music history, author and industry insider Patsi Bale Cox goes behind closed doors at the labels and delves into the inner sanctum of the Nashville music community. The Garth Factor paints a portrait of how Brooks broke into the tight-knit country music community, his dealings with songwriters and label heads, and his relationships with fellow country stars, including how his friendship with Trisha Yearwood developed into love and marriage. The choices behind the making of each album, from songwriting through recording and marketing, will be shared by those who know him best. Garth's controversial and groundbreaking videos will also be examined as well as the true story behind his "alter ego" Chris Gaines. Finally, the book will cover the reasons behind Garth's retirement, and what he has been up to since.
A portrait of not just a hugely successful artist, but also a key period in American music history, The Garth Factor reveals an in-depth look at the industry that earned Nashville the nickname "Music City."
(Book image from Barnes & Noble)
Gone On Vacation Giveaway #2
5:00 PM
Occasionally, I can be a bit of an airhead. Occasionally, this works in my favor. Like now. I received an extra copy of A Sweet Disorder by Jacqueline Kolosov from Disney Publishing. Turns out, I requested it twice. Duh. The good news is I'm going to pass this beautiful hardcover on to one of my readers.I haven't read this book yet (although I plan to take it on vacation with me), but here's the blurb from the front cover flap:
After her father's death abroad, sixteen-year-old Miranda faces a broken engagement and a paltry dowry. Worse yet, she finds herself the ward of distant family relations, the Earl and Countess of Turbury, who are determined to bring her to court to marry her to the boorish Lord Seagrave for their own profit.
At Queen Elizabeth's court, Miranda soon learns that her survival is largely dependent upon knowing whom to trust. Once her exquisite sewing and embroidery skills distinguish her from the other maidens, Miranda discovers her chance to escape marriage to Lord Seagrave and establish an independent life as the queen's semastress. The smoothness of her course, however, is jeopardized by the jealousy and anger of other ladies-in-waiting and even a trusted "friend," as well as the queen's embattled history with Miranda's beautiful mother. Complicatin gher situation further is the arrival at court of Henry Raleigh,the man to whim Miranda was once promised - the man she has always loved.
Jacqueline Kolosov brings to life the intrigue and deception as well as the pageantry and high fashion of Elizabethan society in this lush second novel.
If this sounds like something you would enjoy, leave a comment on this post. Blog about it and you get an extra entry. I will draw the name of one winner on July 10. Good luck!
(Book image from GoodReads; Book courtesy of Disney/Hyperion.)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The Sitting Swing: Transcending the Need to Blame
10:06 PM
Oh, the blame game. I loathe it. One of my big pet peeves is people who can't accept responsibility for their own actions, people who always have someone (or something) else to blame for their misfortunes. So, I guess it's not surprising that I spent the first half of Irene Watson's The Sitting Swing despising the author. I mean, I felt for little Irene who grew up with parents so cold and overprotective that they damaged their daughter emotionally, socially and (on occasion) physically. However, I wanted to strangle her when she made excuses like:"This situation developed because I was a second child without a sibling to look to for example, without a parent to look to for example either, because Mom was my clear and present enemy, and Dad was around for meals and bedtime and that was about it. He wasn't any protection from the enemy, so he was, in this scenario, in the bad camp" (104-105).
Used to the stoic example of my mother, who grew up with an emotionally abusive, alcoholic father, but went on to become one of the most caring, content adults I know, I just don't buy the idea that a traumatic childhood automatically begets a miserable adulthood. Luckily, I missed Irene Watson's point completely. Her book isn't about blaming; it's about transcending the need to blame.
The Sitting Swing is Watson's story of coming to terms with her childhood, a period that left her broken-hearted and bitter. The first half of the book describes her early years in rural Canada. Living on an isolated farm in Alberta, Irene spent the majority of her time with her mother, a hard woman made even more so by the loss of her first child. Under her tutelage, Irene learned that everything she said, did or thought was wrong. Although her mother claimed to want only the best for Irene, she routinely ignored, rationalized or waved away problems Irene brought to her attention, even when they involved outright abuse. Not surprisingly, young Irene turned into an angry, rebellious young woman. Even after she married, she couldn't shake her mother's constant criticism. Years later, Irene was still so crippled by the hurts she suffered in childhood that she checked herself into a treatment center.
The second half of the book describes Avalon, and the 12-step program Irene went through there. Through the process, she learns to accept responsibility for her own reactions, stop blaming the past for her current problems, and start fulfilling her life's true purpose. Although her time at the treatment center was difficult and humiliating, it was also cathartic and illuminating. The experience allowed her to move past her childhood and become a successful author and businesswoman.
Although I found the author's story inspirational, it was told in such an odd way that I had trouble sticking with it. Her tone is conversational, making the book very readable. However, it's so casual that she tends to meander, losing focus and straying from the points she's attempting to get across. The first part of the book, in which Watson paints a portrait of her early years, is almost compulsively readable. However, once Watson comes to her marriage, the narrative stops. Before we even get a chance to know her as a newlywed, we're given a grown up Irene who's now a mother, a therapist, and a woman on the brink of divorce. She's also a woman whose turned herself in for intensive counseling because of vague childhood trauma. We see her go through Avalon and emerge as a whole, healed human being. We never really learn about her marriage, her children or her adult relationships with her parents. It's like she gives us the beginning and ending of her life story, but no middle. Without it, I felt lost, like I was missing some vital information.
My other big beef with this book is that once Watson started talking about her 12-step program, I started to lose interest. This section included very long paragraphs of dialogue from her counselors; I admit I started skimming, since all I really wanted to know was what Watson got out of the program and if it helped her patch up her life. In the end, she learns to forgive and forget, but she seems to receive no insight into what made her mother tick. Although she goes back to her childhood home and tries to get information out of an uncle, she never confronts her mother, which made the whole book seem unresolved to me. I really wanted to know what happened between her and her mother, how they related (or didn't relate) as adults and if she ever talked to her mother about the injustices she suffered as a child. Without all this, Watson's story just didn't seem complete.
All in all, I didn't love or hate this one. Some of it was engrossing, some of it wasn't. Some of it was illuminating, some of it wasn't. So, I'm ambivalent. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it.
Grade: C
If this was a movie, it would be rated: R (for language and references to sexual/adult situations, although more implied than graphic)
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