Bookie Friends Favorites Challenge 2012

I'm nosy. I like to know what everyone is reading. I have found some really interesting books this way. I found been introduced to many authors I did not know through Bookie Friends. So when I came across this challenge I thought it would be a fun and easy way to find some treasures. Okay so it also legitimizes my being nosy. That is a bonus. If you would like to hop on and join in the fun, (especially if your nosy and want an excuse for it), check out the rules and sign up HERE. 

Basically the way it works is after you sign up, you put up a list, (with Links), to 5 of your favorite books. I know I have hundreds that could go on this. I promise to keep it at 5.  Add the Challenge button to your blog. 

Then you visit the blogs of the others participating and you choose at least 3 books, (it can be more), that you will read and review. They can be chosen at one time or as you go. When you make a selection you need to post it with a link back to the person who suggested it.

Then read and review. Make sure to link your review to the original post. 

Now the hard part...my 5 books. 

1. The Stoning of Soraya M. by Freidoune Sahebjam
2. Two Old Women by Velma Wallis 
3. Ghost on Black Mountain by Ann Hite
4. The Shining by Stephen King
5. Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell

The first one I am choosing is ...

 Room by Emma Donoghue from Bree at Diary of a Domestic Goddess

after which I am considering the following:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak from Jen at The Introverted Reader

Howl's Moving Castle by  Diana Wynne Jones from Jessie at Jessie's Book Place

or 

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens from I'd Rather Be At The Beach

For those who looked for my post earlier I apologize. I have been sick and also have a personal issue I am dealing with. 

Comments Always Welcome!

Savvy Diva's Take on 44 Days of Random Thoughts &Observations by Jahzara

Savvy Diva's Take On  44 Days of Random Thoughts & Observations by Jahzara

Paperback, 184 pages Published  by Jahphut

This book is being reviewed through Virtual Tours. Book was provided for review. No compensation was received for review. All opinions are my own.

The Savvy Diva's Take On 44 Days of Random Thoughts & Observations is exactly what it says. You will get to know the Savvy Diva and most likely will be able to picture her talking to you after the first few chapters.  The chapters are days of her thoughts and observations. Some are funny and some are serious. Most of them, I found, I could relate to. I like Jahzara's writing style. She talks to you as if you were with her. This brings you comfortably into her thoughts. I find this a good book to use for reflections. Jahzara talks about things most women have experienced or know someone who experienced it. Several times reading the book I was in full agreement with her. 

Day 4 If I Were A Boy... I knew reading the title of this day I was going to like it. I can remember thinking how lucky boys were when I was growing up and my mom kept telling me I couldn't do something, "because your a girl".  Which only served to make me determined that I could do it - what ever it was- no matter what. I also spent time daydreaming all the stupid stuff I would do if I was a boy. Chug a can of soda and belch way loud - got it covered.  Pee standing up - no problem. Peeing my name I haven't mastered. Climb a tree, play baseball, tell the stupidest joke on earth, spit a few times - easy peasy. So I knew I could get into this chapter. I was not disappointed. Jahzara took it to the adult level and I had a good time with it. 

Day 5 brings us to Big Love. Okay this is a first. No one knows I watch HBO's Big Love. Well no one knew. I have managed to keep it a guilty secret pleasure for all these seasons. I only watch when no one is home. I don't answer the phone unless I pause it so no one will guess what I am watching. I knew I was in trouble when I saw Day 5.  I absolutely LOVED Jahzara's take on this show. For me, part of the draw of watching this show is the WTF moments and part of the draw is the question of could I fit into a family like that? And who would I be? I could certainly handle a sister helping out with the pregnancies. I freely admit I would have welcome a sister to send my kids to when I was tired of playing referee. There were even times when I would have gladly shoved an ex to another women. Oh yes I watch and think hmm maybe there is something to this. Maybe, if I had sister wives, I wouldn't have needed the divorce.  But then reality sets in and I realize most likely someone would have ended up deceased. Since it wasn't going to be me I might have ended up with all the children. Well that takes care of that little fantasy.

Pet peeves. Day 6. We could stay at Day 6 for a long time.  I know exactly how she feels when her CD is cracked open and played before she gets to listen first. And the fries thing. Oh how I related to that. What is it with people in the car who always say they don't feel like getting anything when you pull into a drive thru and then will go after your fries when you pull away? I want to break fingers over hot fries. It never fails. If I order extra fries nobody touches them. But let me take the person at their word and do not order any extra - it is a guarantee they are going to eat my fries. For real, if your hanging with me and we pull up to McD, ORDER something! Because you may get hurt going for my fries.

These are just a few days of what Jahzara writes about. I could go on and on. It is a short but fun book. You don't have to read it in order or all at once. It is the perfect book to carry with you for those odd moments waiting with nothing to do. You can read a day, share it with whoever is around you and reflect on your feelings about what you read. It also is a good book to leave out for guest in your home. 

To read an interview with the Savvy Diva please go to http://reviewfromhere.com/2011/12/09/interview-with-jahzara-the-savvy-diva/

To read the Savvy Diva's awesome blog please go here: http://jahphut.com/divablog/

Comments Always Welcome!

12 Days of Christmas with Allison Bruning

12 Days of Christmas Extravaganza is being brought to you by Peggy at Pawing Through Books, Jennifer at Books and Barks, and myself. 
Each day for the next 12 days each of our blogs will feature a different author. There will be guest posts, interviews and giveaways! So be sure to stop at each blog to join in the fun!


A special thank you to all the authors who are participating and those who have donated prizes!

Merry Christmas!

Today's guest is:

Allison Bruning

This is my character Anna Marie Turner from my book  "Calico" Book One (Children of the Shawnee series) 

December 24, 1755 - Ohio Wilderness

                Snow falls all around my tiny cabin nestled deep within the French fort. I lay bound to my bed, large with child. My only companions are the wife of the French captain and her children. Today is Christmas Eve.  I watch the snow fall outside through my window.  I wonder if we were in France, where might I be? I can only imagine the grand Christmas ball thrown at Versailles. The music floating in the air as beautiful couples twirl in rhythm. The joyfulness of the season emulating throughout the palace, the midnight mass in the cathedral, family dinner with the House of Orleans, and presents. Oh, how life at the French court is drastically different from what I have here.    

                I lean back and close my eyes. Just as the birth of Jesus brought hope to the world, this Christmas I have been given hope by my French husband. What a wonderful, most blessed gift! I found love where no love should be. I was a British lady. What British lady falls in love with French nobility when there is a war going on? Oh and the love we share is magical! I giggle like a child everything I think of it. I am so happy! Never in my life have I ever been so elated. All my life, I hadn’t been a person to my father but a tool he could use to further his own objectives. He beat, molested and raped me all my life. He forced my brother and I to have incest. But that wasn’t the worse of it all. Last winter, my father held a rifle to my brothers head and forced him to beat me to death. My poor brother. He didn’t want to do it. But I pleaded to him to kill me. For I knew if he wouldn’t father would kill us both. Alexander had complied. Thank heavens he stopped beating and stabbing me when he did. I was so close to death. Afterwards Alexander gave my torn body to François then disappeared.  Oh, what a gift François is to me. He healed me back to health, gave me a child and a new life!

                This Christmas I am grateful for the many blessings God had bestowed upon me.  I have a wonderful husband who adores me. I am large with child. Alexander and I have reunited. Our parents are dead and France protects me.  

                I hear the front door close and my husband’s voice in his office. François has returned! I rise from my bed and grab my robe. I have grown too large to wear any clothes other than my chemise. Alexander believes I carry more than one child. No meal can satisfy my ravishing appetite.   I place my robe around my large body, tied it in the front and open the door to my husband’s office.  Oh, what a sight he is to my eyes. He stirs my soul with just one glance. I stand at our door watching my husband converse with his younger brother.  The war had taken a break for Christmas Eve yet even now my husband and his brother plan their next attack. How strange it seems that the world can find peace on Christmas yet the very next day act as if nothing had transpired. I do not understand it. Have we learned nothing from Jesus’ birth? The hope of the world.

Amazon link to Calico http://www.amazon.com/Calico-Allison-Bruning/dp/0979017254/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

If you would like to a Kindle copy of Calico please leave a comment below. One copy will be given away!

When you finished here please stop by and see Jenn at http://www.booksandbarks.com/and Peggy at http://www.pawingthroughbooks.com


And be sure to enter the Rafflecopter Form to be in the big Giveaway!  ENTER HERE

Comments Always Welcome!