Unusual Hardware Store Shopper

Couldn't resist taking a picture of this little guy "sampling" the bird feeders. Click here for the Wordless Wednesday Headquarters.

Teaser Tuesday - The Rustlers of West Fork

Teaser Tuesdays are hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

It asks us to:

(1) Grab our current reads.

(2) Let the book fall open to a random page.

(3) Share two (or three) teaser sentences from that page somewhere between lines 7 and 12 (avoiding spoilers).

We're also supposed to share the book title and author so others can find the book themselves.


Here's my teaser for today from The Rustlers of West Fork, by Louis L'Amour:

"They don't know him." She considered what she had said,t hen added, frowning: "I shouldn't say that, for I don't know him either, not the least bit. I think that's what frightens me."

Monday Awards!

Thank you so much to two bloggers who have given me awards recently!

First, Jeanne, from Necromancy Never Pays, "splashed" me with this award during BBAW.

This award recognizes "blogs that allure, amuse, bewitch, impress or inspire you."

Here are the blogs I'd like to "splash" next:

• LJ at GypsyMama
• Steph at No One Can Own Your Soul
• Heather at Queen of Shake Shake
• Diane at Spunk on a Stick
• Janie at Sounding Forth
• VodkaMom
  

I also received an award from Tif, of Tif Talks Books.

This award is for "friendly blogging type people, who comment, host challenges, and follow my blog."

I'm passing this award on to:

• Smash at Great Books and Fresh Coffee
• Alaine at Queen of Happy Endings
• Melonie at Wandering Quail Road
• Jo-Jo at Jo-Jo Loves to Read
• Kaye at The Road Goes Ever On
• Tokemise at By Hook or By Book
  

Thank you again to Jeanne and Tif! Please check out all these great blogs (and let them know I sent ya)!

Vampire Books

Thought we could all use a laugh today!

(I had this forwarded by a friend in an e-mail, but you can also find it on ...off by heart's Tumblr page.)

The Package Deal by Izzy Rose

This week I finished The Package Deal by Izzy Rose.

Plot: This is a true story of Izzy's transition from life as a single TV producer in San Francisco to a wife and stepmom living in Austin, Texas. We meet Izzy as she's traveling to Memphis to meet her future husband's, Hank's, parents for the first time with Hank's sons, The Young One and The Tall One. We're with her through Hank's proposal and the negotiations with Hank's ex and her husband as to the plan for the blended family.

Although the plan was for all four adults, Hank's sons, and Hank's ex's new kids to all move to Austin, Izzy finds herself spending most of the first months of her marriage to Hank working to establish a home in Austin for herself, Hank, The Young One and The Tall One.

You can also check out the book trailer for The Package Deal by Izzy Rose - Book Trailer (3) from Crown Books on Vimeo.

What I Thought: I'm a big fan of chick lit, although if I read too much, they all start sounding like the same book. It also tends to close the scene at the wedding or resolution of the boy + girl storyline. OK, so you've settled down with your perfect guy ... now what. The Package Deal has the bouncy, first-person zaniness of a chick lit fiction book, but deals with more of the serious "what happens next" issues in the same fun voice.

I'm not a stepmother, so I haven't dealt with several of the challenges Izzy describes that involve becoming the instant mom of tween and teenage step-sons. If you have, and have already read this book, I'd love to hear how Izzy's stories and "Stepmom Rules" match up to your experiences. I did love the descriptions of the relationships between Izzy and the boys and how they developed over time. I could feel her frustration, while still feeling like the boys were very likable and believable "characters."

You can find out more about Izzy and the community of stepmoms that she's building at her website, Stepmother's Milk (the name's explained in the book -- and the recipe is included), which is focused on providing support for stepmoms and a place to chat about blended families.

I definitely related to Izzy's decision to move to Austin and start over after she got married. Her struggle to re-invent herself at age 35 rang true for me and my decision to move to Texas after my marriage at age 32. Her descriptions of becoming a Texas transplant and making the switch from going to an office every day to staying home all day were hilarious and well-told versions of some of the things I've been dealing with the past year.

I definitely recommend that you check Izzy out (you can also find her on Twitter) and give a big thumbs up to The Package Deal.

Bottom Line: Great book for anyone who loves the tone of chick lit, but would like a little more substance. Also great read for anyone who's gone through major life changes for a relationship.

(Thank you to Izzy Rose for giving me a copy of this book at the BlogHer '09 conference!)

Prairie Dog Nesting Instinct

Check out the finished Project Linus baby quilt at TexasRed Quilts. Click here for the Wordless Wednesday Headquarters.

Jane Austen Heroines

Whew -- after a whirlwind of BBAW, it's a Monday here of getting back to a regular schedule.

While I'm tidying things behind the scenes, I thought you might enjoy this:

Take the Quiz here!

Back to regular programming tomorrow!

BBAW Goals Post

Today's BBAW challenge is to write, in 50 words or less, what I like best about my blog right now and where I would like my blog to be a year from now. Phew! I'll give it a try:

I started my blog, in earnest, about a year ago and I've been very happy to meet so many other bloggers and some great authors.

By next year, I want to post reviews more regularly and attend a book-based conference to meet more bloggers in person.

What about you, what are your online goals?

BBAW Book Discovery

Today's BBAW challenge is to blog about a book I've read only because I discovered it on another blog.

One of the books that immediately comes to mind for me in response to this challenge is Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells. I think I originally read about this book at SciFiGuy's blog, but also saw it discussed on several other blogs. (Some of the other reviews are linked in my review. If you have reviewed this book, too, and would like me to update the list, just let me know.)

I really enjoyed this book and am not sure I would have sought it out (science fiction's not always on display at the Wal-Mart here in town) without those online reviews. Even more, I know withou the book blogging community, I wouldn't have made online connections with the author, Jaye Wells, who also writes a blog and is on Twitter. (You should check her out. She's lots of fun & also a Texas gal!)

I love being introduced to new authors and books by friends. Even more, I am amazed by the way the online community can make the one-way communication from author to reader into a conversation among readers and between authors and readers.

The Sound of a Happy Prairie Dog

Check out the progress on the tiny Project Linus baby quilt at TexasRed Quilts. Click here for the Wordless Wednesday Headquarters.

BBAW Interview with Tokemise of By Hook or By Book

Welcome to Day 2 of Book Blogger Appreciation Week!

Today we're doing interview swaps, to better get to know other book bloggers. My interview buddy is Tokemise (aka Tobi) from By Hook or By Book, a new book blogger from Maryland.

Tobi, please tell us about yourself:

I am a happily married (20 years!) stay at home mother of four. Ages: 17, 15, 6, 4. I homeschool but not for religious reasons. I live in Maryland. Books and reading are my passion. I read all the time and anywhere. Just like Thomas Jefferson said: "I can't live without books."

You talked on your blog about how your oldest daughter loves reading, too, and is in a book club. Do you and your daughter ever read the same books?

Since she has been a teen we have read several of the same books. The last one being Living Dead Girl, which I didn't like very much. We actually have a bookclub with her, her boyfriend and my son. Sometimes my husband will even join in by listening to the audio book version of books we read.

You have several online book challenges displayed on your page (and seem to be doing much better than I did with the very few I tried out this year). What's been your favorite reading challenge so far?

I am addicted to the reading challenges and I have entered alot of them this fall. Ten to be exact. I picked these particular challenges so I could expand my horizons and read outside my comfort zone so they are all really cool but right now I am in the middle of the RIP Challenge and I am really enjoying that. My past favorite was Beowulf on the Beach which I read two classics for: Middlemarch and To The Lighthouse.

I saw that you were participating in a science fiction challenge, too. I love trying to get new people to try out that genre. How have you been enjoying your introduction?

This is one of the challenges I joined because I never read Sci-Fi and I thought I should give it a chance. I haven't started yet with this but I just picked up Fahrenheit 451 today at the library and will be starting it soon. For many years I have heard about this books but I never realized it had to do with books! That's the first new thing I've learned from this challenge.

What has been your favorite give-away that you've done so far?

I totally loved Nefertiti by Michelle Moran. I won a signed hardcover copy of the UK edition from Jennifer at Literate Housewife.

(TR - By the way, Michelle Moran wrote a post today for BBAW about how much she's enjoyed working with book bloggers.)

This has been your first year of book blogging, right? What's been your favorite book of those you've read this year?

It's hard to pick just one but I'll go with Dragon House. Here is the link to my review of it: Dragon House Review.

I know all of us book addicts have lots of favorites. Who's your all-time favorite author or authors?

This is a really difficult question. I have several: Dan Brown, Anne Rice (her older stuff), and most recently Michelle Moran.

(TR - I haven't read any Michelle Moran, but suddenly feel an Amazon shopping spree coming on -- or at least a trip to the library!)

I know we all have different reasons why we blog and what we hope to see happen with our online spaces. What are your goals or hopes for your blog?

This question has been giving me some trouble lately. My goal for my blog is to talk about books and have a record of my feelings and thoughts after I have read them. I really started it for my own self and hoped some people might read it and talk about books with me. My hope is that more people might start reading it and liking it and find some info. or just some fun on my blog. Right now I don't have very many readers but big thanks to the ones I do have.

What are you most excited about with BBAW this year?

I started my blog in March, I think so I wasn't around for BBAW last year. I'm excited just to know about it and read all the posts. I'm hoping to meet and find some new friends!

What else should we know about By Hook or By Book?

My blog is not "professional" and I am not a technical reviewer. I just talk about the books I've read, what I felt , what I thought. I don't really go into writing style, plot, etc. It's like talking to your girlfriend about books you've read. It's lite, and fun and I don't take it all too seriously. It's for fun! I hope you check it out.

It was so fun to get to meet Tokemise! You can check out my interview on her page and join the conversation about some excellent books. I can't wait to get to know her better!

Welcome to Book Blogger Appreciation Week!

All over the internet, blogs will be talking about our community this week and hopefully, introducing you to new blogs you might enjoy. Check out the BBAW award page for some recommendations. Voting is closed, but award results are being posted and you can see the top nominees in each category (ranging from Best Cultural Review Blog to Best Name, Best Commentator, Best Published Author Blog, Most Altruistic Blog and many more)!

This is my first time participating in BBAW and I'm very excited! Later this week, I'll be doing an interview swap with Tokemise from By Hook or by Book and I can't wait to find out more about her.

It's been great for me, especially during my first year of working from home, to connect with an online community like this. Everyone's been so welcoming and friendly! Plus, y'all feed into my addictions so well:

(Books I bought just from online peer pressure!)

In Memory

Labor Day Vacation

Last weekend, we went to New Mexico for Labor Day weekend. I apologize for just now getting around to writing about it (it's been that kind of week here). We spent part of the weekend checking out the Old Mesilla neighborhood.

Mesilla post office

San Albino Church (rebuilt to its present structure in 1906)

Oldest brick buildingCourthouse where Billy the Kid was tried (now gift shop)

And, of course, I couldn't stop in a new town without checking out their bookstores and some local authors' work.

In North of the Border: A Neil Hamel Mystery Neil Hamel, described on the cover as "a woman with a passion for the truth" who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, gets involved with a murder, human predators, and a Mexican lawyer with a diamond pinky ring and a slit throat.

In At Ease With the Dead Daniel Begay hires private eye, Joshua Croft to search the American Southwest in an unusual missing person case -- that is, searching for the remains of a Navajo leader that have been lost for almost 100 years.

Both of these books are published by the University of New Mexico Press. I'll check them out and let you know what I think about these unusual, Southwestern mysteries.

Prairie Dog End of Summer

End of Summer meant that my summer sandals were retired as of Labor Day weekend. Hoover, the prairie dog, was a big fan of that!

Here are the results (so far):

Click here for the Wordless Wednesday Headquarters.

Mesquite and Rainclouds

Decided to play along with Sky Watch Friday today for the first time. Go check out some other skies around the world (and have a happy holiday weekend, to those in the US)!

Another Donation Opportunity

If you happen to be a Sonic fan, here's another donation opportunity you can participate in to help encourage reading and education. Sonic restaurants are sponsoring a program called "Limeades for Learning" in the US, in connection with the organization DonorsChoose.org.

If you purchase a drink or shake at a Sonic, it should come with a sticker on the outside of the cup. The sticker will have the Limeades for Learning website (SONIC(R) Drive-In Limeades for Learning(SM)) and a code you can use to vote for one project proposed by a classroom teacher. This program will run from August 31 until October 1, 2009. Sonic has said that it will fund the projects receiving the top votes as of September 4, 11, 18, 25 and October 2. (You can also donate money directly through the Sonic or DonorsChoose.org websites.)

You can find out more about this program at the FAQ page for Limeades for Learning.

(Sonic didn't pay me to say this. I've just been addicted to their cherry limeades and diet cokes for too long not to participate when they put stickers on the side of my cups! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a 44-ounce cherry diet coke to finish.)

Nevermind, I didn't really have to go!

You can check out the progress on my Project Linus quilt at TexasRed Quilts. Click here for the Wordless Wednesday Headquarters.

Teaser Tuesday - The Package Deal part 2

Teaser Tuesdays are hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

It asks us to:

(1) Grab our current reads.

(2) Let the book fall open to a random page.

(3) Share two (or three) teaser sentences from that page somewhere between lines 7 and 12 (avoiding spoilers).

We're also supposed to share the book title and author so others can find the book themselves.

Here's my teaser for today:

"What are you guys doing here?" Hand said with alarm. "I don't understand -- how did you get here?" Hank leaned in closer to The Tall One and touched his shirt. "Why are you soaking wet?"

This is from The Package Deal by Izzy Rose. Izzy tells her humorous story of transitioning from single TV producer living in San Francisco, California, to instant stepmom of two sons living in Austin, Texas.