Review: Obama's Giveaway

Although I've already done the giveaway for this one I just sat down and read it today. And again I have to thank Anna at Hachette for letting me review this one!



This book was short and sweet. I took me less than an hour from cover to cover...

It was entertaining, it made me laugh a few times. I could only picture some of the people (which makes me realize I need to brush up on current events) but the ones I could made reading these messages even better.

I think my favorites were the 3rd one and the last one!

To get more info on Obama's Blackberry visit Hachette Book Group.

Review: Hot House Flower and the 9 Plants of Desire by Margot Berwin

I want to thank Lauren at Pantheon Books for sending me this one.



My Review:

I picked up this book only because the title sounded interesting. I didn't read any reviews on it, nor did I read through the description. They say not to judge a book by it's cover, but I did, and I'm happy.

This was a very good book. It has love, romance, lust, greed, passion, death, spirituality, and just about everything else. For a debut novel, I'd say that Margot Berwin did a great job. She's left me with high expectations for her next novel.

The story takes place in New York and Mexico, the Yucatan to be specific. As Lila, Armand, Diego, and Exley are all on the hunt for the illusive Nine Plants of Desire. Oh what a tangled web Ms. Berwin has weaved...

This story was exciting. It was pretty fast paced and it kept me wanting more. The stories behind the nine magical and mystical plants are great. Even with all that Lila went through I want to find these plants. I did do some research on some of the nine and they really do have stories just as great as they are given in this book. (I LOVE when an author does great research!)

I was captivated from the first line to the last. I will be looking for a second novel for sure!

To find out more about Hot House Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire please visit Random House's website.

While reading this I kept thinking about The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, it wasn't the same kind of story but some of the plants in this one were in that one, and it was also a good read!

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.



Page 56 Line 5: His comments stung, but I let them pass.

This book is pretty good, I'm almost done with it. If you're interested visit Random House's website for more information.

Giveaway Closed: Review and Giveaway: The Vanishing Sculptor by Donita K. Paul

First off I need to thank and appologize to Ashley at Random House for allowing me to participate in this blog tour, even though I'm a few days late with my post :-(



Summary:
Donita K. Paul’s 250,000-plus-selling DragonKeeper Chronicles series has attracted a wide spectrum of dedicated fans–and they’re sure to fall in love with the new characters and adventures in her latest superbly-crafted novel for all ages. It’s a mind-boggling fantasy that inhabits the same world as the DragonKeeper Chronicles, but in a different country and an earlier time, where the people know little of Wulder and nothing of Paladin.

In The Vanishing Sculptor, readers will meet Tipper, a young emerlindian who’s responsible for the upkeep of her family’s estate during her sculptor father’s absence. Tipper soon discovers that her actions have unbalanced the whole foundation of her world, and she must act quickly to undo the calamitous threat. But how can she save her father and her world on her own? The task is too huge for one person, so she gathers the help of some unlikely companions–including the nearly five-foot tall parrot Beccaroon–and eventually witnesses the loving care and miraculous resources of Wulder. Through Tipper’s breathtaking story, readers will discover the beauty of knowing and serving God.

My Review:
Hmmm... what to say about this one. I didn't like it, but I didn't hate it. It lied somewhere in the hazy middle. First off I'm not a huge fan of mystical books, but that's not really what I didn't like about it. It seemed to take forever for me to read it. I started it on a Friday and didn't finish it till the next Thursday, and for a 400 page YA book, that was just too long.

The story deals with quite a few things, but one of the main ideas is that of faith. The idea of Wulder and what he is capable of weaves itself throughout the entire story.

There were definitely some good things about this book. The author was very creative. I liked the character of Beccaroon very much. There were quite a few times when I laughed at his remarks. The banter between the wizard and the librarian was also fairly entertaining. The descriptions were quite well written and I could see the places that were being described as well as a good image of the characters. I actually saw Drew Barrymore as Tipper (don't know why, I don't normally associate book characters with real people). Donita Paul seems to have a great imagination and is able to portray her images quite well. I also really liked the glossary in the back. I referred to it quite often throughout the story and it did help me keep track of who was who and what part they played in the overall story.

While I did like some of the characters I didn't really connect with any of them. Tipper seemed to jump between being very level-headed and quite flighty. The rest of the characters seemed to be very eccentric and hard for me to relate to.

I guess my biggest problem would be that this was a slow read, but like I said I'm not really into this genre. Maybe for someone that likes this kind of story it would be a more enjoyable and quicker read.

For more information or to purchase The Vanishing Sculptor please visit Random House's website.

Now for the giveaway!

I have one copy to giveaway! The giveaway will end at 11:59pm on Wednesday July 8th 2009.

I will pick the winner via a random drawing. To enter please leave a comment with your email address (so I can contact you if you win).

Earn extra entries:
Follow my blog (let me know in your comment that you are following, or if you are already a follower mention that also)
Post a link to this blog on your blog (leave me the link in the comment)
Tweet about this giveaway (you can leave me your Twitter ID in your comment or send me a DM to Jennmarie68 on Twitter)

Please only US entrants, as I am mailing this one myself.

Also just a note: I am a smoker and I have pets so if you have allergies you may not want to enter. This giveaway isn't for the copy I read, so the book has never even been opened but smoke and animal hair have a way of getting into everything! I don't want to cause anyone to get sick!

Good Luck!