In My Mailbox (52)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme run by Kristi at The Story Siren which explores the books that have been delivered to our mailbox or doorstep or directly into our hot little hands.

For Review:

Borrowing Abby Grace by Kelly Green (e-book)

Girl Steals Guy (Borrowing Abby Grace) by Kelly Green (e-book)

The Bards of Bone Plain by Patricia McKillip

Gifted:

Major Crush (Romantic Comedies (Mass Market)) by Jennifer Echols (e-book)

Sophie & Carter by Chelsea Fine (e-book)

Her and Me and You by Lauren Strasnick

The "No Book-Buying November" is still going on. Five days in and I'm staying strong. I did go to the bookstore twice in the past too days just to check out what's new on the shelves. So this week all of the books I received were gifted to me through Random Acts of Kindness or are for review.

I'd like to thank Penguin, Kelly Green and Backlit Fiction for the review books and Lisa, Alyssa, and Temara for the Random Acts of Kindness!

Love My Indie with author Mary Curran Hackett

Love My Indie is a feature where fellow bloggers, readers, and authors tell me about their favorite independent bookstores. I love the feeling I get when I go into an independent bookstore - like it is filled with hidden treasures just waiting for me to find them. Maybe one day I will have the chance to visit these amazing bookstores.

Showing some Indie Love today is:

Mary Curran Hackett author of Proof of Heaven

Since I not only love to read, own, and write books, but also love to buy, shop, and generally loiter in bookstores, I head to my favorite indie here in Cincinnati––Joseph-Beth Booksellers (http://www.josephbeth.com/ whenever I get the chance.

Besides shopping here, I’ve attended wonderful events and met many iconic writers, controversial politicians, famous actors, and leaders of our day. I’ve had books signed by numerous people, including but not limited to the likes of Caroline Kennedy, Anna Quindlen, Valerie Bertinelli, Sara Gruen, John Grogan, and countless others. This November alone Gregory Maguire (author of Wicked and Out of Oz), Joel Osteen, Whoopi Goldberg, Regis Philbin will be at  Jo-Beth events. There is literally something or someone for everyone.

 photos: Reading at Joseph-Beth on November 1, 2011

Here is my favorite story about Joseph-Beth though: I was sitting in the children’s section reading a book to my daughter, while my son, a preschooler at the time, was playing at the train table. Low and behold, my cell phone rings. On the other end is an agent in New York City. She loves my novel Proof of Heaven and wants to take it to publishers. I’ll forever have that memory––and Jo-Beth––close to my heart!

While I love Joseph-Beth, here are a few other indies in various parts of the U.S. where I’ve either lived or traveled, and where I have had the good fortune of being able to stock my own shelves from their inventory:

1) Kramersbooks and Afterwords Café in Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C. As a college student in D.C. I spent many Saturdays and nights with my girlfriends scanning the stacks and sipping lattes. It’s a happening place. (http://www.kramers.com/)

2) Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon. This store blew my mind the first time I stepped into it with a group of my girlfriends from college. We had had been camping and tramping around Oregon’s Diamond and Crater Lakes, and so walking into that store after sleeping in the cold woods felt like being wrapped in a cocoon, albeit an enormous one. Loved. It. (http://www.powells.com/)

3) Carmichaels Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky. I recently did a reading there for an essay I wrote for the This I Believe series. It was small, but packed with wonderful books and nestled in a wonderful area of restaurants and shops. It drew a wonderful crowd of people too! (http://www.carmichaelsbookstore.com/)

Find out more about the author at:

Mary Curran Hackett on Facebook

Harper Collins Publishers: Proof of Heaven 

Thank you Mary for sharing your favorite independent bookstores. Learning that your novel will be taken to publishers is huge. This is a great "where I was when" story. 

Proof of Heaven is available now. You can visit Joseph-Beth Booksellers online here to order a copy or visit your own independent bookstore.

I am always accepting participants in Love My Indie. Authors, readers and bloggers, if you are interested. please fill out this form.

Bout of Books Read-a-thon Recap

The Bout of Books 2.0 Read-a-thon ended on Sunday, but I just now have a chance to recap the event. The read-a-thon was a lot of fun for me. I was a co-host on Wednesday, where I  hosted the Book Spine Poetry Challenge and  a Twitter chat. I was pretty geared up for the Twitter chat all day and right as it started, there was  a "hiccup" with my account and I missed about the first 10 minutes. I tried to participate from my laptop, my i-Pad or my phone. Finally, it was all working right, but as the host, I was sweating it there for a minute (or 10). All in all, it was a good time and I got to meet some new bloggers and readers.

To keep read-a-thons fun, I try to not have too high of expectations for myself. This time around, I wanted to read more books than the last Bout of Books, participate in more challenges and connect with bloggers and readers. And I can congratulate myself because this is exactly what happened.

I'd listed some books I wanted to read. I didn't satisfy all categories (as you can see) but I did read 5 (my goal) and started a 6th.

• One book recommended to me - Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell (recommended by Nomes at inkcrush)
  
• One book gifted to me - none
• One book I won from a giveaway - Exposed by Kimberly Marcus
• One e-book - The Ex-Games by Jennifer Echols
• One book for review -none
• One book that will fulfill one of the year-long challenges I signed up for - Exposed by Kimberly Marcus

Other Books Read:

You by Charles Benoit

V: WaveSon.nets/Losing l'Una by Stephanie Strickland

started Beauty Queens by Libby Bray (204 pages)

I participated in a few challenges:

Haiku challenge at Smitten with Reading

I wrote a haiku for Libba Bray's Beauty Queens:

Miss Teen Dream beauties

Crash landed on an island

Who will win the crown

Match the Urban Fantasy Hero(ine) to their Faithful Sidekick Challenge hosted by Jen at Not Now . . . I'm Reading 

Witchcraft in Popular Fiction - Muse's Book Journal

I was randomly selected as the winner of the Witchcraft in Popular Fiction and I selected Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough for my prize. Yay!!

Another Bout of Books Read-a-thon is already in the works (the beginning stages, that is). Amanda is hard a work getting that set up. She has even setting up a new site specifically for future read-a-thons. 

Until then, happy reading!!

 

 

November and Expectations

I have high expectations for myself during the month of November.


Like so many others, I am giving NaNoWriMo a go. I've had a story that I wanted to write for so long that I can't even remember when I first wanted to tell it. I never started it because, like most of my writing, it is inspired by true events and I felt like I was in some way betraying those closest to me by telling it. Maybe nothing will come of it, and it might just be for me but it consumes my thoughts and I MUST get it out. I HAVE TO. I don't plan to talk about too much at Actin' Up with Books, because I want to focus more on actually writing it rather than talking about writing it.


I have officially declared this month "No Book-Buying November" - I have too many books. I have too many overdue reviews that I need to right and I am running out of shelf space. I will be passing my own books along through RAK in an effort to not buy any more. I have asked Ginger at GReads! and Amanda at On a Book Bender to keep my in check. But ultimately it is up to me to keep myself in line. 

I am participating in a couple of readathons. You would think this would help alleviate the situation above, but um, no. Here's why. The first readathon: 25 Hour Read-athon hosted by 25 Hour Books starts early and I plan to read my massive stacks of magazines. Yes, in addition to having too many books, I have a lot of magazines. Now I currently only have two current subscriptions, so I don't have many new ones coming in. Thank goodness. But that is all I plan to read.

The second readathon is the Re-Readathon hosted by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner. Like the names says, it is when you reread books you have already read. I'm excited for this one because I rarely reread my books and hold on to them because I want to and now I will set aside some time to do just that.

Do I even want to take about reviews? I've been thinking about them, so yes, I need to put it out there. I HAVE NOT WRITTEN A REVIEW SINCE JULY. JULY!!! I am not proud, and yes, I am trying to shame myself here. My head is hanging low. Low, low, low. So I want to write some way overdue reviews - my thought was to do this instead of NaNoWriMo, but peer-pressure, thanks Holly, persuaded me to attempt both. I have cut back tremendously on the amount of review requests I have accepted, NetGalley requests and Galley Grabs from Simon and Schuster. It is time to get real!!

Oh let's see, what else do I plan to do this month? Oh yeah, get my butt back to the gym. Since I started blogging, my gym time has diminished to nothing. This is saying a lot because before I would go at least three or four times a week. I'm not saying that blogging has prevented me from going or cuts into my gym time. No. It is just a hobby that I like more than going to the gym and I have made any excuse that I can to not go. I need to find some balance. I guess I will try to figure that our all month long. 

If you've stayed with me up to this point, THANK YOU. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has a lot going on this month whether it is self-imposed obligations or the expectations of others. I'd like to know what you have going on this month, so please leave a comment and tell me about it.

Waiting on Wednesday - Reunited

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Reunited 

by Hilary Weisman Graham

Published by: Simon and Schuster

Publication Date: June 12, 2012

1 Concert
2,000 Miles
3 Ex-Best Friends

Alice, Summer, and Tiernan are ex-best friends.

Back in middle school, the three girls were inseparable. They were also the number one fans of the rock band Level3.

But when the band broke up, so did their friendship. Summer ran with the popular crowd, Tiernan was a rebellious wild-child, and Alice spent high school with her nose buried in books.

Now, just as the girls are about to graduate, Level3 announces a one-time-only reunion show.

Even though the concert’s 2000 miles away, Alice buys three tickets on impulse. And as it turns out, Summer and Tiernan have their own reasons for wanting to get out of town. Good thing Alice’s graduation gift (a pea-green 1976 VW camper van know as the Pea Pod) is just the vehicle to get them there.

But on the long drive cross-country, the girls hit more than a few bumps in the road. Will their friendship get an encore or is the show really over? (from Goodreads)

I found out about Reunited a few weeks ago at Emily's blog Red House Books. I love learning about new books from other bloggers. This books sounds great - music, fangirls, high drama and road trips. It doesn't come out until June 2012 but it should make for a fantastic summer read!

Random Acts of Kindness - November Sign Up

Thank you Vanessa and Isalys of Books Soulmates for once again hosting Random Acts of Kindness! RAK is a fun opportunity to grant some wishes, share your books, and connect with other bloggers and readers. I like having the opportunity to give someone a gift of a book and hopefully make their day!

This month I am doing something a little different (well maybe not so different). I have imposed a book-buying ban for the month of November and this includes RAKs too. So I will be sharing books from my own shelves. If you have ever read any of my TBR or bookshelf posts, you will know there are plenty to choose from. Four of the seven books I sent out were my own that I passed along. So if any of my readers are signing up, please let me know in the comments and I will see if I have any books on my shelves that I can pass along. And if anyone wants to send me a RAK, my wishlist can be found HERE

If you haven't ever signed up for Random Acts of Kindness, but have been thinking about it, do it,  it's easy. Here are the guidelines/rules as outlined by Book Soulmates:

COMPLETE RULES RE-CAP:
Please read carefully & follow all rules!  Thank you!

• Please sign-up each month that you can participate (and by participate, we mean give as well as receive).
• Show off your participation by grabbing our RAK button (code is in the right sidebar).
• Create a wish list (on Amazon, Goodreads, or your blog etc) and post it in the Google Doc located in each R.A.K post for the month.
• If you choose to do a R.A.K for someone, check out their wish list and contact that blogger directly for their information.
• Once you receive a RAK, send us an our new email to [rakbybooksoulmates @ gmail . com] so that we can update the Google Doc. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU SEND EMAILS TO THIS ADDRESS!
• E-book participation is limited to files being gifted directly to a person from the e-book store. Amazon's Kindle Store is set up to allow this, as well as the Kobo store and we believe Barnes & Noble with Nook as well.
• At the end of the month, SHOW US YOUR R.A.K by making a "RAK Wrap-Up" post.  This post should include who you SENT gifts to as well who you RECEIVED gifts from :)

OPEN TO EVERYONE including all our International brethren!

Remember, there's always the Book Depository and they offer FREE shipping!

Easy peezy!!

Links you will need:

• Sign up for November [HERE]
• See who else is participating [HERE]
• If you have any questions regarding RAK, please contact us via the following: rakbybooksoulmates @ gmail . com

 

Spotlight On: Proof of Heaven by Mary Curran Hackett

Proof of Heaven
by Mary Curran Hackett
Published by Harper Collins
Publication Date: November 1, 2011











 
A mother’s faith, a child’s courage, a doctor’s dedication—a moving and thought-provoking tale of hope, love, and family.

He might be young, but Colm already recognizes the truth: that he’s sick and not getting better. His mother, Cathleen, fiercely believes her faith will protect her ailing son, but Colm is not so sure. With a wisdom far beyond his years, Colm has come to terms with his probable fate, but he does have one special wish. He wants to meet his father who abandoned his beloved mother before Colm was born. 

But the quest to find the dying boy’s missing parent soon becomes a powerful journey of emotional discovery—a test of belief and an anxious search for proof of heaven. 

A magnificent debut novel, Mary Curran Hackett’s Proof of Heaven is a beautiful and unforgettable exploration of the power of love and the monumental questions of life, death, and the afterlife. (from Goodreads)


This book sounds like it is going to rip my heart to pieces. I always think this is a compliment by the way. I love books that bring me to emotional brink, whether that is happy or sad and this book will probably do just that. I wanted to read this one because it a step away from all of the young adult literature I have read recently. Proof of Heaven is out today, so check it out and come back on Friday for Love My Indie where Mary Curran Hackett shares her favorite independent bookstores.