It's the Friday 56

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Here's mine this week:

Buy		Read

Page 56 Sentence 5: On one of his American Concert tours, the Polish pianist Ignace Paderewski received a visit from an ambitious young woman who told the famous musician that she, too, had enormous musical talent. After much prompting, she persuaded him to let her perform for him. Paderewski then sat through her bumbling, mediocre performance, trying to hide his boredom.


Ironically this passage seems to have little to do with the book when it's all by itself.....

Winners: Girls in Trucks

Thank you for everyone that entered my first ever giveaway! There were 36 total entries from 24 different entrants!

The 5 Winners Are:
1) Bobbie
2) Kristi
3) EZPiecestoo
4) Pam
5) Shauna

I just sent out emails to all winners requesting you address.

Any addresses I do not have by Sunday will be re-drawn.

I used Random.org's Random Sequence Generator to draw the winners.

Again thank you for entering and congratulations!

Don't forget about mt other two giveaways for Testimony by Anita Sherve and Made in the USA by Billie Letts

Ok, one of the five winners did not respond so the new winner will be itsJUSTme-wendy. I have sent you an email, please respond by 11:59pm on May 6th or I will draw another winner.

Review: Pure Heart by Rita Hsu Syers

I won the opportunity to review this book from LibraryThing's Member Giveaway program.



I give this one 4 out of 5 stars!

As I started this book I didn't think I was going to like it. The first chapter is written from a dog's perspective. But as I kept reading the perspective changed, actually it changed quite frequently throughout the book. This allows you to connect with so many of the characters on a deeper level.

This story is about a dog with special powers to heal, and who ultimately will save the world from a horrible demoness that is to be released from the depths of hell. As Jack's owners realize his ability, and the ultimate reason he was sent to this earth strange things are happening in their town.

This book was fairly well written. The story was enticing and kept me reading. I also felt that the character development was great. There were a few two-dimensional characters, but all of the main characters were well-rounded. Again, as with so many books lately, I really connected with Jack, Maeve, Maggie, and Clancy.

While I had a general idea of how this story would play out there was much that I didn't see coming. It was action packed and kept me turning the page. Even though the conflict had been solved I didn't want this one to end. Although I'm pretty sure this is part of a series so I will absolutely be picking up the next one.

Find out more about this book here.
Find out more about Author Rita Hsu Syers here.

Giveaway: Made in the USA by Billie Letts

Hachette has allowed me to host another giveaway!

This one is for Made in the USA by Billie Letts.

Full Description

The bestselling author of WHERE THE HEART IS returns with a heartrending tale of two children in search of a place to call home.


Lutie McFee's history has taught her to avoid attachments...to people, to places, and to almost everything. With her mother long dead and her father long gone to find his fortune in Las Vegas, 15-year-old Lutie lives in the god-forsaken town of Spearfish, South Dakota with her twelve-year-old brother, Fate, and Floy Satterfield, the 300-pound ex-girlfriend of her father. While Lutie shoplifts for kicks, Fate spends most of his time reading, watching weird TV shows and worrying about global warming and the endangerment of pandas. As if their life is not dismal enough, one day, while shopping in their local Wal-Mart, Floy keels over and the two motherless kids are suddenly faced with the choice of becoming wards of the state or hightailing it out of town in Floy's old Pontiac. Choosing the latter, they head off to Las Vegas in search of a father who has no known address, no phone number and, clearly, no interest in the kids he left behind.

MADE IN THE U.S.A. is the alternately heartbreaking and life-affirming story of two gutsy children who must discover how cruel, unfair and frightening the world is before they come to a place they can finally call home.



5 copies will be given away!

To enter please leave a comment with your email address so I can contact you if you are the winner!

Extra Entries:

* Become a follower, just mention it in your comment (if you are already a follower let me know, you get an entry for that too!)
* Post a link to my blog (Leave me the link so I know where to look)
* Mention this giveaway (with link) on another site (again let me know where you mentioned it) This can be a blog, myspace, facebook, twitter... Anyplace you'd like.

The not so fun stuff:
Only US and Canada please
No P.O. Boxes
Contest ends on May 8th at 11:59pm
Winners will be notified by email on May 9th

Review: The Noticer by Andy Andrews

Thank you to Thomas Nelson Publishing for letting me read and review this one!



Touching, Thought-Provoking, and Inspirational.




If I had to sum this book up in three words those are what they would be, but thankfully I'm not restricted to three words :-)

This story follows Jones and Andy. Jones is the Noticer, because he notices things that other people can't see. Through the book he comes into peoples lives at the right time, helps them gain a little perspective on the situation they are in, then moves on to help someone else.

I loved this book. Not only was it a quick read (3 hours) but I couldn't put it down. Andy Andrews writes with compassion for his characters (probably because he is one of them). Jones has a way to know exactly what each person he comes in contact needs in order to help them change their lives around. Jones' perspective on life seems so simple, yet many of us fail to see things from his perspective in our own lives.

I became so attached to this story that I cried quite a few times. I think I became attached to each character that Jones helped. And each time he helped someone he simply chalked it up to the person just needed a little perspective.

I normally don't post passages from the books I read but I think this one is worth mentioning: "Most people think it takes a long time to change. It doesn't.Change is immediate! Instantaneous! It may take a long time to decide to change... but change happens in a heartbeat!"

I think everyone should read this. It kind of makes you think about times when you've been in a bad way and what it took or would take to help you get out of it.

There is also a project going called The Noticer Project. The project simply asks you to publicly notice 5 people who have made a difference in your life.

Again I really loved this one. I hope you all get a chance to read it!

For more information, or to buy The Noticer please click here.