Book News and Dog Costumes

I've read quite a few books lately but have been bad about posting reviews.  I'm not in a reading slump, but I am in a review slump.  Oh well, not going to beat myself up over it.

First some pictures of Emma, the lovely model in my header.  For Halloween she couldn't decide between her tiger and princess costumes.

 
She went with the tiger costume. 

Books Read in October (15 total) 

Miracle Dog:  How Quentin Survived the Gas Chamber to Speak for Animals on Death Row ~ Randy Grim (5/5)
Choosing to See:  A Journey of Struggle and Hope ~ Mary Beth Chapman (4.5/5)
Hey Pancakes! ~ Tamson Weston
It Couldn't Be Worse ~ Vlasta Van Kampen
The Gendarme ~ Mark Mustian (2.5/5)
A Prayer for the Dying ~ Stewart O'Nan (3/5)
The Power of Little Words ~ John Beckley (3.5/5)
The Everything Creative Writing Book ~ Wendy Burt-Thomas (4/5)
Ape House ~ Sara Gruen (4.5/5)
Nicole Brown Simpson:  The Private Diary of a Life Interrupted ~ Faye Resnick (4/5)
Woe is I:  The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English ~ Patricia O'Conner
Shattered:  The True Story of a Mother's Love, A Husband's Betrayal, and a Cold-Blooded Texas Murder ~ Kathyrn Casey (5/5)
Operating Room Confidential:  What Reallly Goes on When You Go Under ~ Paul Whang, MD (4/5)
Without a Word:  How a Boy's Unspoken Love Changed Everything ~ Jill Kelly (5/5)
Pukka:  The Pup After Merle ~ Ted Kerasote (4/5)

Gave up on:

A Small Furry Prayer:  Dog Rescue and the Meaning of Life - gave up after 211 pages (78 to go) - that's probably my record for pages read of a book I finallly gave up.  Didn't hold my interest.

The Widower's Tale by Julia Glass - gave up after 87 pages.  I enjoyed the writing, but not enough was happening in the story.

So far in November I've read:

Oogy:  The Dog Only a Family Could Love ~ Larry Levin (4.5/5)
Dogtown:  Tales of Rescue, Rehabilitation and Redemption ~ Stefan Bechtel (4.5/5)

At the library waiting to be picked up:

The Wave:  In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean ~ Susan Casey
84, Charing Cross Road ~ Helen Hanff
Words Fail Me:  What Everyone Who Write Should Know About Writing ~ Patricia O'Conner
The Lost Dogs:  Michael Vick's Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption ~ Jim Gorant

My husband is reading Matterhorn, so I'll read that when he's finished. 

My theme lately?  Animals, Murders (true crime) and reference books (writing and grammar).

Do you have a reading theme going on lately?

Where Did J. Kaye's Book Blog Go?

Tell me, am I out of the loop? What happened to Home Girls Book Blog (AKA J. Kaye's Book Blog)? I know J. Kaye isn't doing it anymore, but that's all I know.

That's it. Just wondering :)

My son has a basketball tournament in Lawrence, Kansas, this weekend so I won't be around for a few days; unfortunately I don't have a laptop. I ordered a 3G iPad, but a delivery date hasn't been announced. Waiting patiently.

Also, I want to tell all my blogging friends how much I appreciate you and your comments.


Have a great weekend everyone.

P.S. I'm reading a book right now called Making Toast and I'm disappointed in it so far. Darn.

Did You Know About This? / April Challenge

Does everyone know about Book Page.com?  I love this site!  There are so many places to go and things to do and books to read and authors to meet.

You can even sign up for a Book a Day which emails you a new book review every day.  I get great recommendations from this.  Go ahead, look at the book in my in-box today. Yummmy.  Add to my list.  Check.

I'm trying hard not to join any challenges this year because that was my New Year's Resolution.  But Sheila from One Person's Journey Through a World of Books is seriously testing my resolve with her new April Challenge.  And I was fine and able to control myself until I saw her post today, where she mentions her own challenge and who will benefit -  Wild and Free, a wildlife rehabilitation organization. Did she HAVE to post all the pictures of the sweet animals they help?  I mean, really.  Sheila wants me to fail at my resolution.  I just know it.  She knows how much I love animals and how I'm' probably going to give in and join the challenge in order to help a cause near and dear to my own heart - the Animal Protective Association of Missouri (APA).  My problem?  I don't know what to give up for the challenge!  I don't drink (well, maybe a glass of wine here and there), don't smoke, and don't cuss.  I don't buy Starbucks but once in a blue moon.  I do like candy but rarely eat it.  So what's a girl to do?  Or not do, I should say.

Anyone else participating?

And can someone tell me what happened to Blogger's spellcheck with the new editing program?  I can't live without it.

Authors Comments on Your Reviews

I think it's fun when authors comment on a review I wrote. Of course they probably only comment when the reviews are favorable, but it's still neat to know that they search for, and read, blogger reviews. I suppose if that was my livelihood I too would be searching all over to see if everyone liked my book!

Here's a comment I just received from the author of Saving Cinnamon, which I loved.

Hi Lynne, Just saw your wonderful review of my book, SAVING CINNAMON. I am honored to receive a 5/5 rating. So glad you enjoyed Cinnamon's story and thank you for recommending me to your readers! Best wishes!

Christine Sullivan

In my review I mentioned that she, Christine, needed to be my friend; I felt that we would hit it off because we both love animals so much. Funny... in her comment she didn't mention anything about being my friend. Now why is that? lol

David Works, the author of a book I read called Gone in a Heartbeat wrote to thank me for my kind words in a review I had written. In the book he told how his family was gunned down in a church parking lot. Two of his daughters were killed and he was critically wounded. It was an awful story, but I loved the book. And I loved that he commented on my blog.

What about you? Have you had authors comment on your reviews?