Contents of blog copyright Book Dragon's Lair 2009-2023
I've been gone a while. I started reading fanfiction to escape and I got sucked in an abyss.

I have no idea if someone else is hosting similar challenges. I just grabbed some of what I have hosted before.

Here's to a happy year of great reading
Jan2023: Not much has changed. Writing a fanfiction now O_o as well as reading but I bought 7 new books in December and hope to get those read soon. Crossing fingers about adding challenges (late!)

Thursday, July 30, 2009

A Note from the Author

I am happy to say that Wait Until Twilight has been sent to me for review. While we're waiting for me to read it, here is something from the author....

Wait Until Twilight

Sang Pak

HarperCollins
August 4, 2009
240 pages
available in print & for Kindle at amazon.com


portions of the following have been published at:
Type M for Murder and Rebecca Schiler


My name’s Sang Pak and I’m a writer. Eerily similar to an AA meeting, right? Now that my first novel is being published August 4th it’s like I’m about to put on a new pair of shoes. I just don’t know what they’ll look like or how they’ll feel. One thing I do know is I’ll be relieved, excited, concerned and generally beside myself.

I had just quit NYU grad school. I was living with my brother in Southern California and I was just walking around all day. My brother wanted me to start a business project. I was looking into it but I spent just as much time just walking around the neighborhood. Walking and sitting in a park. I’d sit there and watch as the adjacent girls primary school let out at 3. The girls didn’t use backpacks. They carried their books and trapper keepers in small suitcases they pulled along behind them. I envied the carefree aura they exuded. At the time, I felt like I was standing in the middle of two worlds at that time.
What those two worlds were I wasn’t even entirely sure of. One world seemed to consist of possibilities and hope, the other a senseless deadening of the spirit.

One thing I’ve discovered with writing and trying to get published, one has to have the tenacity and obsessive nature of an addict to be a viable writer. My problem would be constantly rewriting to the point where I’d never finish a first draft. So I made myself not reread anything I wrote. Kind of like Orpheus…if he turned back as he arose from Hades, he’d lose Eurydice. If I looked back on what I wrote, I’d lose the novel and I didn’t plan on blowing it like old Orpheus did. And I didn’t. There were times when I’d forgotten what I had written before but it didn’t matter. I wouldn’t look back. I’d just keep moving forward. By the end of the first draft, it was a very disjointed, at times random and undecipherable novel. But it didn’t matter. It’s through the editing that the novel is formed. The first draft is getting the material down.

After many revisions I had my first novel. It then took five years and three more novels before I got published. I basically reached a point where I knew I couldn’t go back. I’d taken the leap of faith and there was nothing else but to publish or perish. I’m sure others have different paths but mine was straight forward and alone. I stayed with my parents, my brother, friends as I continued writing and submitting and getting rejected. What happens is I became a better writer each time so as long as I kept going ahead, my chances of getting published continued increasing with each novel, with each revision. It ultimately was just a matter of time, at least how that’s how I felt. Fortunately it turned out to be true. If you feel it in your bones and blood, keep writing and keep submitting. You have nothing to lose.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Waiting on Wednesdays

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



Mastered by Love
Stephanie Laurens
A
Bastion Club Novel

Avon Megaleader
July 28, 2009 (found out too late to tell you the 22nd)
mass market paperback
480 pages


From the publisher - Note: Most stores will have the book on sale 28th July, but some Barnes & Noble may not put it out until August 15th.


from Stephanie Lauren's website:
"The men of the Bastion Club proved their bravery secretly fighting for their country. Now their leader faces that most dangerous mission of all: finding a bride.

As the mysterious leader of the Bastion Club known as "Dalziel," Royce Varisey, 10th Duke of Wolverstone, served his country for decades, facing dangers untold. But as the holder of one of England's most august noble titles, he must now take on that gravest duty of all: marriage.

Yet the young ladies the grandes dames would have him consider are predictably boring. Far more tempting is his castle's willful and determindedly aloof chatelaine, Minerva Chesterton. Beneath her serene facade lies a woman of smoldering sensuality, one who will fill his days with comfort and his nights with sheer pleasure. Determined to claim her, he embarks on a seduction to prove his mastery over every inch of her body...and every piece of her heart."

Need to read more? Browse Inside at HarperCollins Publishers allowed me to read three chapters online of Mastered by Love! There are sneak peeks of other titles as well as full books available.


The Untamed Bride
Stephanie Laurens
Black Cobra Quartet, book 1

Avon
Oct 27
mass market
448 pages
no cover available at HarperCollins

from the inside of Mastered by Love:
"Four ex-Guardsmen on a deadly mission from India to England, carrying vital evidence to convict a powerful fiend to the Duke of Wolverstone, aka Dalziel.

Four ladies unwittingly caught up in their dangerous journeys.

The members of the Bastion Club waiting of four English posts to assist in repelling the enemy.

The Cynsters, all six cousins and their wives, gathered for Christmas at Somersham Place, as the first ex-Guardsman and Devil Cynster's close friend draws near....

This Cynster Christmas is sure to be filled with excitement, adventure-and passion."



and just enough information to whet your appetite:

The Elusive Bride
Stephanie Laurens
Avon
mass market paperback
January 26, 2010
400 pages


Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Teaser Tuesday

MizB at Should Be Reading hosts this cool weekly event.

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to:

--Grab your current read
--Let the book open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
--You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from… that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!



"A pair of shotgun chaps hung from a nail on a wall and a Winchester stood in a rack along with a black cartridge belt and empty holster.

It looked like Pete had just left and would be back soon, though the room smelled of a place left unused and uninhabited for too long and dust lay thick everywhere."

pg 89, The Man from Nowhere

Sunday, July 26, 2009

July's Book Report

Total titles/bindings: 52 (I didn't list ebooks under 100 pages)


Total pages read: 10,651
average read per day: 343.58
Page total for books under 100 pages: 327


library books: 6


New-to-me (print) fiction: A Magical Christmas, A Historical Christmas Present, The Time Traveler's Wife, A Wallflower Christmas, Faeries Gone Wild, Firefly Lane, A Horse named Dragon, A Circle of Souls, Slave to Sensation, Scandal in Spring, Secrets of a Summer Night, Just One Wish, The Man from Nowhere, The Library Card, Mastered by Love,


New non-fiction:


Re-reads: Home for the Holidays, Merry Christmas, Baby!, The Cat Who Went into the Closet, Green Rider, The Cat Who Loved Christmas, Are you there God? It's Me, Margaret, James and the Giant Peach


electronic titles (new & re-reads): Straight from the Hip, Visions in Heat, Caressed by Ice, Mine to Possess, Hostage to Pleasure, Branded by Fire, Nowhere Diner: Finding Love, Deviations: Domination, Dangerous Obsession, Time to Do, Reunion, Grey's Awakening, Illegal Moves, The Nest

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Just One Wish



Just One Wish
Janette Rallison

Putnam Juvenile
March 5, 2009
hardcover
272 pages
ages 12 and up

amazon.com's sales rank as of 7-25: #77,443 in Books

from the publisher:
Seventeen-year-old Annika Truman knows about the power of positive thinking. With a little brother who has cancer, it’s all she ever hears about. And in order to help Jeremy, she will go to the ends of the earth (or at least as far as Hollywood) to help him believe he can survive his upcoming surgery.

But Annika’s plan to convince Jeremy that a magic genie will grant him any wish throws her a curve ball when he unexpectedly wishes that his television idol would visit him. Annika suddenly finds herself in the desperate predicament of getting access to a hunky star actor and convincing him to come home with her. Piece of cake, right?

Janette Rallison’s proven talent for laugh-out-loud humor, teen romance, and deep-hearted storytelling shines in a novel that will have readers laughing and crying at the same time.


I added a book to my wish list and this came up as one of those "people who have stuff similar to your wish list also liked". Well the cover of this one couldn't have been more different then the one I was looking at so I checked it out. What did I think? Well...I think it is written for a younger, young adult audience. For someone who believes that it is possible to bluff their way onto a movie studio lot. But I also think we should all read it just to restore our sense of wonder and maybe reset our priorities. I cried but not a lot. I wanted to shake Annika and Madison, yell at Steve and the parents. Sometimes I wanted to yell at Jeremy then hug him close.

sigh, and I didn't want it to end just yet.

This is a quick, fun read and if you read young adult you should enjoy it. I checked Just One Wish out of the library and will try the author's other stuff but don't think I'll be purchasing any of her titles at this time.

and just as an FYI, Annika lives in Henderson, which is outside of Las Vegas so "all the way to Hollywood" really isn't that far.

Friday, July 24, 2009

The Wallflowers...

a series by Stephanie Laurens

All are mass market paperback published by Avon, 384 or 400 pages and listed at HarperCollins.com as 18 and up. I've listed what the publisher has to say about each book later.



A Wallflower Christmas is a "bonus book". It isn't necessary for the series, only a chance to revisit the characters. I must say I'm disappointed about the cover, there are four wallflowers.

St. Martin's Press
October 2008
hardcover
224 pages



In a strange quirk of fate, I read this series almost completely backwards. Did it diminish my enjoyment? NO. True, there were plot points that should have been a mystery for a bit that I already knew the answer to but come on, these are boy meet girl, happy-ever-after books. We already know how things will end and after a chapter, or two, or pages even, we know the 'who' of the couple. So what's special about these specific books.

I enjoyed the interaction of the girls, between themselves and the men they fall in love with. I like how real they are. How utterly stupid the men can be. I laughed and cried because the journey, not the end, is why we read these kinds of books. The first book is set in London, 1841 and the fourth, I think, is two or three years later.

I believe the 18+ and would not share with my MIL but do recommend the series to anyone who reads Regency Romance in general and as a starting point if you haven't tried the sub-genre yet.

I own A Wallflower Christmas but used the library because of budget constraints for the rest. They are on my wish list ;-)

now for more details....


Secrets of a Summer Night
Wallflowers, book 1


Avon
October 2004
Pages: 384



from the publisher:
Four young ladies enter London society with one common goal: they must use their feminine wit and wiles to find a husband.So a daring husband-hunting scheme is born.

Annabelle Peyton, determined to save her family from disaster, decides to use her beauty and wit to tempt a suitable nobleman into making an offer of marriage. But Annabelle's most intriguing—and persistent—admirer, wealthy, powerful Simon Hunt, has made it clear that while he will introduce her to irresistible pleasure he will not offer marriage. Annabelle is determined to resist his unthinkable proposition . . . but it is impossible in the face of such skillful seduction.

Her friends, looking to help, conspire to entice a more suitable gentleman to offer for Annabelle, for only then will she be safe from Simon—and her own longings. But on one summer night, Annabelle succumbs to Simon's passionate embrace and tempting kisses . . . and she discovers that love is the most dangerous game of all.



It Happened One Autumn
Wallflowers, book 2

Avon
September 27, 2005
Pages: 400




from the publisher:
Four young ladies enter London society with one necessary goal: they must use their feminine wit and wiles to find a husband. So they band together, and a daring husband-hunting scheme is born.

It Happened at the Ball...

Where beautiful but bold Lillian Bowman quickly learned that her independent American ways weren't entirely "the thing." And the most disapproving of all was insufferable, snobbish, and impossible Marcus, Lord Westcliff, London's most eligible aristocrat.

It Happened in the Garden…

When Marcus shockingly -- and dangerously–swept her into his arms. Lillian was overcome with a consuming passion for a man she didn't even like. Time stood still; it was as if no one else existed…thank goodness they weren't caught very nearly in the act!

It Happened One Autumn...

Marcus was a man in charge of his own emotions, a bedrock of stability. But with Lillian, every touch was exquisite torture, every kiss an enticement for more. Yet how could he consider taking a woman so blatantly unsuitable…as his bride?


Devil in Winter
Wallflowers, book 3

Avon
February 28, 2006
Pages: 384





from the publisher
A devil's bargain

Easily the shyest Wallflower, Evangeline Jenner stands to become the wealthiest, once her inheritance comes due. Because she must first escape the clutches of her unscrupulous relatives, Evie has approached the rake Viscount St. Vincent with a most outrageous proposition: marriage!

Sebastian's reputation is so dangerous that thirty seconds alone with him will ruin any maiden's good name. Still, this bewitching chit appeared, unchaperoned, on his doorstep to offer her hand. Certainly an aristocrat with a fine eye for beauty could do far worse.

But Evie's proposal comes with a condition: no lovemaking after their wedding night. She will never become just another of the dashing libertine's callously discarded broken hearts -- which means Sebastian will simply have to work harder at his seductions...or perhaps surrender his own heart for the very first time in the name of true love.




Scandal in Spring
Wallflowers, book 4


Avon
July 25, 2006
Pages: 384




from the publisher:
After spending three London seasons searching for a husband, Daisy Bowman's father has told her in no uncertain terms that she must find a husband. Now. And if Daisy can't snare an appropriate suitor, she will marry the man he chooses—the ruthless and aloof Matthew Swift.

Daisy is horrified. A Bowman never admits defeat, and she decides to do whatever it takes to marry someone . . . anyone . . . other than Matthew. But she doesn't count on Matthew's unexpected charm . . . or the blazing sensuality that soon flares beyond both their control. And Daisy discovers that the man she has always hated just might turn out to be the man of her dreams.

But right at the moment of sweet surrender, a scandalous secret is uncovered . . . one that could destroy both Matthew and a love more passionate and irresistible than Daisy's wildest fantasies.






Wallflower Christmas
bonus book 5

St. Martin's Press
hardcover
224 pages




from the publisher:
The Wallflowers are four young ladies in London who banded together in their wild and wickedly wonderful searches for true love. Now happily married, they join together once again to help one of the world’s most notorious rogues realize that happiness might be right under the mistletoe.…

It’s Christmastime in London and Rafe Bowman has arrived from America for his arranged meeting with Natalie Blandford, the very proper and beautiful daughter of Lady and Lord Blandford. His chiseled good looks and imposing physique are sure to impress the lady in waiting and, if it weren’t for his shocking American ways and wild reputation, her hand would already be guaranteed. Before the courtship can begin, Rafe realizes he must learn the rules of London society. But when four former Wallflowers try their hand at matchmaking, no one knows what will happen. And winning a bride turns out to be more complicated than Rafe Bowman anticipated, especially for a man accustomed to getting anything he wants. However, Christmas works in the most unexpected ways, changing a cynic to a romantic and inspiring passion in the most timid of hearts.

A Wallflower Christmas takes a trip to Victorian London, under the mistletoe, and on a journey of the heart. With her trademark charm, sensuality, and unforgettable characters, there’s no one like Lisa Kleypas to make you believe in the magic of Christmas.

Friday Finds

A Weekly Event hosted by mizb at Should be Reading

The idea is to share, every Friday, about books that you’ve recently discovered (never heard of before) that sound really good!

Every Friday, those who have blogs will write a post at their own blog, and then come back and leave others a link to follow on that week’s “Friday Finds” post here at Should Be Reading. For those who don’t blog, you can just tell us about your “Friday Finds” in a comment on that week’s post. )

Let’s try to keep this clean… that’s all I ask, okay?

Last Night in Montreal
Emily St. John Mandel

Unbridled Books
June 2, 2009 (hardcover)
256 pages

I found this one at Books on the Nightstand, Ann went on a literary vacation (non-work related reading) and shared with us what she read. I read what amazon had to say and you'll notice it isn't posted here. Go ahead and read it but.....
from Ann:
Last Night in Montreal is the kind of novel that you want to read in one sitting. I made the mistake of starting it late at night, so it took me two sessions to finish. It's the kind of book that grabs you from the first chapter, and you know immediately that the rest of the day is spoken for. You want to cancel your plans, let the family forage for food, order takeout for dinner.

Author Emily Mandel opens the novel with Eli, who is telling the story of his girlfriend's disappearance. Lilia awoke one morning, showered, and went out to get the newspaper--and then never returned. It feels incredibly intimate in the telling, and I felt the heartbreak come through in a way that usually happens after I've "known" a character through hundreds of pages.

I don't want to say too much, because when I picked up the book, I had no idea what it was about. I'm not sure if knowing would have slanted my perception, so I'm going to just dance around the plot, which is wholly original, and surprising, and tightly constructed. But Mandel's writing is the true star. It's literary but accessible, precise and yet not at all cold. I described the opening as intimate, and it's the word that keeps popping back into my mind as I think about the novel. The other word I have settled on is "haunting."
Amazon.com's sales rank on July 9: #109,653 in books
#55 in books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Canadian > Women Writers



The author of this one commented on my bookblog page

A Circle of Souls
Preetham Granadhi


Cedar Fort
June 15, 2009 (per amazon.com)
352 pages
paperback (5.5x8.5)

(publisher's site says release date is "2009-06-05" AND "Availability: Pre-Order Today! Available August 2009!")

from cedarfort.com
The sleepy town of Newbury, Connecticut, is shocked when a little girl is found brutally murdered. The town s top detective, perplexed by a complete lack of leads, calls in FBI agent Leia Bines, an expert in cases involving children.

Meanwhile, Dr. Peter Gram, a psychiatrist at Newbury's hospital, searches desperately for the cause of seven-year-old Naya Hastings devastating nightmares. Afraid that she might hurt herself in the midst of a torturous episode, Naya's parents have turned to the bright young doctor as their only hope.

The situations confronting Leia and Peter converge when Naya begins drawing chilling images of murder after being bombarded by the disturbing images in her dreams. Amazingly, her sketches are the only clues to the crime that has panicked Newbury residents. Against her better judgment, Leia explores the clues in Naya's crude drawings, only to set off an alarming chain of events.

In this stunning psychological thriller, innocence gives way to evil, and trust lies forgotten in a web of deceit, fear, and murder.
Amazon.com's sales rank on 7-10: #316,453 in Books

I'm crossing my fingers that he sends me a review copy but I put it on my wish list, just in case. ;-) ~happy dance~ received!


being sent to me for review....

Benny & Shrimp: A Novel
Katarina Mazetti

Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Release Date: July 28, 2009
Pages: 224
paperback (7.6x5 inches)

"
Two middle-aged misfits and a love that should not be as complicated as it seems

It started in a cemetery, where they begrudgingly share a bench. "Shrimp," the childless young widow and librarian with a sharp intellect and a home so tidy that her jam jars are in alphabetical order, meets Benny, the gentle, overworked milk farmer who fears becoming the village's Old Bachelor. Both driven by an enormous longing and loudly ticking biological clocks, they can't escape the powerful attraction between them.

But how will she learn to accept that he falls asleep at the opera and has a house full of his mother's cross-stitch? And how could he ever feel at home in her minimalist apartment, bare as a dentist's waiting room?

An international sensation now available for the first time in the United States, this quirky, humorous, completely readable novel breathes new life into the age-old conundrum that is love. "


Amazon.com Sales Rank: #620,821 in Books

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Counting Stars


Counting Stars
Michele Paige Holmes

Publisher: Covenant Communications
Release: January 2007
format: paperback (9 x 5.8)
pages: 388

This is Christian Fiction. More specifically LDS fiction, the "Mormons" and you need to know a couple of things when you read this book. "Mormons" do NOT believe that prayer will heal you. It isn't that simple. The prayers are for the doctors to know what to do, for help to endure the pain, for peace within the family, for greater faith that everything will be okay. The prayers may be for acceptance of the Lord's will - even if it's death.

That said, in a perfect world, an LDS girl & an LDS boy would fall in love and marry. It would happen in what is called a Temple for it is the greatest commitment and the strongest bond - that of eternity. And they would live happily ever after. But we don't live in a perfect world and neither does Jane.

from the back cover:
Jane was hoping for a date-maybe even a boyfriend. What she wasn't expecting was Paul Bryant's completely original and sincere pick-up line: Hi. I'm Paul. I have terminal cancer. My wife was killed in a car accident, and I'm looking for a woman to raise my children.

It was never Jane's plan to fall in love with a dying man and his two infants. But her seemingly simple decision to date someone outside her faith leads to one complication after another. With the stakes this high, is choosing to help Paul a choice to be alone forever?

And how can Paul feel so confident that this woman - who's never managed to keep a checking account for more than six months - should be the one to raise his children?

How can something that seems so unbelievably insane feel so completely right?

Sometimes love is found in the least likely places, and the greatest blessing are discovered while counting the stars.

Granted, it has been several months since I read this book but I still remember laughing and crying and feeling like part of the family. I wanted to shake Paul and then let him cry on my shoulder, if he'd let me. There were parts that I thought were unrelated and they threw me for a bit but they were mostly their own chapter and it all makes sense in the end.

I have several people I want to loan this to but it will be hard to let it go.

Amazon.com's sales rank as of July 19: #111,769 in Books

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Going back to the Library...

...unfinished



I've only had the book for three weeks but I didn't start it soon enough to finished and someone else wants it so I can't renew, grrr!

I know "John" is important but what is the connection to Ty and HOW did Sam see that he had binoculars?

Random Reading Challenge

Hosted at Caribou's Mom


This will be a strange one for me now that I'm reading from lists. Rules, levels and sign-ups are here. Challenge runs from August 1, 2009 to July 31, 2010 and I'm going for Level II...

Level II:

You really want to break away from all those lists, but you do still have a responsibility to your reading groups, other challenges and all those review books. Six books is too little, but twelve is too much. Stretch a little and read nine books for the challenge.


because I really need another challenge! LOL


Book 1: I needed to read a review book so I lined them up, counted them up and had my son pick a number. Worked out great - the book fit a challenge too!

1. Water Witch

12-14: I thought this ended much sooner, there's still I chance I can complete this!

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Waiting on Wednesday

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



Bad Moon Rising
Sherrilyn Kenyon
A Dark-Hunter Novel

St. Martin's Press
August 4
352 pages
hardcover

This is #14 in the Dark-Hunter series

amazon.com's product description:

A stunning and suspenseful new landscape emerges in the thrilling Dark-Hunter world—a world where nothing will ever be the same again. . .

Fang Kattalakis isn't just a wolf. He is the brother of two of the most powerful members of the Omegrion: the ruling council that enforces the laws of the Were-Hunters. And when war erupts among the lycanthropes, sides must be chosen. Enemies are forced into shaky alliances. And when the woman Fang loves is accused of betraying her people, her only hope is that Fang believes in her. Yet in order to save her, Fang must break the law of his people and the faith of his brothers. That breech could very well spell the end of both their races and change their world forever.

The war is on and time is running out...

Amazon.com's Sales Rank on June 24: #895 in books
#7 in books > Romance > Fantasy, Futuristic & Ghost
#11 in books > Romance > Gothic
#27 in books > Romance > Contemporary



Dark Slayer
Christine Feehan
A
Carpathian Novel

Berkley
September 1
416 pages
hardcover

This is #17 in the Dark series (per amazon)


amazon.com's product description:
A rumor has persisted in the vampire world of a dark slayer — a woman — who travels with a wolf pack and who destroys any vampire who crosses her path. Mysterious, elusive and seemingly impossible to kill, she is the one hunter who strikes terror into the hearts of the undead.

She is Ivory Malinov. Her only brethren, the wolves. Long ago betrayed by her people, abandoned by her family, and cast out by everyone she held dear, Ivory has lived centuries without companionship or love. She has sustained her sanity by preparing for one purpose — to destroy her greatest enemy. Until the night she picks up the scent of a man, her unexpected salvation. Her lifemate. The curse of all Carpathian women.

He is Razvan. Branded a criminal, detested and feared, he is a dragonseeker borne of one of the greatest Carpathian lineages, only to be raised as its most despised — and captive — enemy. Fleeing from his lifetime of imprisonment, Razvan now seeks the dawn to end his terrible existence. Instead he has found his deliverance in the Dark Slayer.

In spirit, in flesh and blood, in love, and in war, Ivory and Razvan are made for each other.

For as long as they dare to live.

Amazon.com's Sales Rank on June 24: #767 in books
#20 in books > Romance > Vampires
#52 in books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

New Books in the house

In the mail on the 21st, from Christianbook.com

A Carol for Christmas
One Christmas Angel
New Hampshire Weddings
San Diego
Forever Christmas
The Judge Who Stole Christmas
Kiss the Cook Bride
Lone Star Christmas
On This Day
A Mile in My Flip-Flops (the only full price book!)
Dear Granny
A Christmas Carol (the Dickens story for $.79!)
Crazy About My Wife
Just Cookies Cookbook

I expect clean and Happy Ever Afters. Eleven romance novels, and if you take out the only one that was full price, the rest were less then $2.50 each!

I went to lunch with my Mom on the 21st and she wanted to stop at Wal-Mart - I just had to go through their books ;-) found five but only brought two home.

Murder Under a Mystic Moon by Yasmine Galenorn (new author, great cover)
The Man from Nowhere (a Ralph Compton novel by Joseph A. West)

In the mail today from amazon:

Nothing but Ghosts
The Autobiography of Santa Claus
The Great Santa Search
Tanks, Dad


oh, man, this doesn't count the books from Friends of the Library or books checked out!

WOO HOO Another Award

A big thank you to Shellie at Layers of Thought. she has awarded me the ...
This is not a say-thank-you-pick-ten-more-and-pass-it-along award. Nooo, this is a meme, and here are the rules:
If you accept it, you are to list seven favorite things and nominate seven bloggers for the award.

My Favorite Things
1. reading
2. rain on the roof when I'm cozy inside
3. family
4. kittens
5. chocolate
6. bunnies
7. the beach

I'll get back to you on this one..... edited to add:

My Nominees
1.
2. Marg at Reading Adventures
3. J.Kaye at J. Kaye's Book Blog
4. Melissa at Melissa's Bookshelf
5. Wendy at Musings of a Bookish Kitty
6. Nely at All About {n}
7. Rebecca at Lost in Books

now, to remember to tell them!

Wings

I own Wings by Aprilynne Pike. This isn't it. I was at the library to pick up Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. and this book was nearby. Wings caught my eye since I bought it and dang it, didn't think to get it from the library but the author was different. I wondered how different the stories were....


Wings
E. D. Baker

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Release Date: Aparil 29, 2008

format: hardcover
pages: 320
reading level: ages 9 - 12

Isn't she cute? Those cute freckles got her in trouble at school because they sparkled. She felt compelled to dance during the full moon but when she did, fireflies came to dance with her. And her ears? Don't even talk about her ears. The first time Tamisin sees a goblin, she's eleven and it only gets worse from there. Tamisin was the strangest girl in school.

From the back cover:
What if wings suddenly sprouted from your back? Tamisin wiggled her shoulders again and the clumps began to unfurl, growing stiffer as they dried. Although they had been dragging on the muscles of her back, they began to grow lighter and stretch out until she could see what they were. Smooth and supple, they were sapphire blue veined with violet and shimmered in the light. When fully dry, they were longer than her arm span and reached from behind her head to her thighs.

Tamisin laughed in spite of herself. "Tamisin Warner, the strangest girl in school, has wings!"

I know this is fantasy but what Tamisin goes through feels real, the kids all act real. The bullies, popular/mean girls, the betrayal. Never mind the strange people, it all felt very real and I'm going to put this one on my wish list hoping someone will buy it for me so I can re-read it.

edit: Nely thought this sounded cute, and it is, but I think I should tell you that there are some scary scenes. Especially when Tamisin crosses over to wherever faeries are from.

Teaser Tuesday-twofer

MizB at Should Be Reading hosts this cool weekly event.

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to:

--Grab your current read
--Let the book open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
--You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from… that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

~first off, Baxter is a dog~
"On the eastern side of Elephant Rock, Baxter found the distal phalange of a right index finger. It was a much harder find, given the size of the body part. Baxter was highly gifted when it came to the game of Smell-and-Find."

so it isn't somewhere between lines 7 and 12, it got your attention didn't it?

pg 69 of A Circle of Souls by Preetham Grandhi


and a second one:

"God must have known I couldn't live without you, Paul. Find our babies a mother. You know who their father should be. I'll be waiting.

I love you,
Tami"

pg 6 of Counting Stars by Michele Paige Holmes

Monday, July 20, 2009

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.


Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
Judy Blume


Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
copyright: 1970
format: hardcover
pages: 149


Another banned or challenged book that I didn't think I'd ever be rereading but still enjoyed. My library copy had this same girl but it wasn't '3 books in 1'

Margaret moved on the Tuesday before Labor Day. She came home from camp and found out that their New York apartment had been rented to another family and they now owned a house in New Jersey. She had been left out of the decision completely. Her father commutes to Manhattan, Margaret now goes to public school and her mother has a yard.

"I think we left the city because of my grandmother" Oh yeah, when grandma finally shows up she brings food because New Jersey may have deli, etc. but it's "not like what you get in New York" and leaves with a "just because I can't drop in everyday" Everyday? Yikes! I'd move too.

I laughed and I cried and I remembered.

We've all read the book. Do you remember what it felt like to find out you weren't the only one? Read it again as an adult. What a difference!

As for the challenging: Margaret talks to God but doesn't go to church. She and her friends opening talk about their periods (or lack thereof), their changing bodies, find out what a boy looks like naked, and check out a Playboy together. I think the biggest problem some may have is that Margaret and her mother TALK about these things. Margaret may be embarrassed but she still knows her mom with calmly answer her questions.

When I was her age, this wasn't something you talked about. I didn't make that mistake with my daughter.

Judy Blume has written for the pre-teen, young adult and adult. She's still a name that makes my mom cringe but I think it was Forever that she's thinking off....

James and the Giant Peach

James and the Giant Peach
Roald Dahl, author
Quentin Blake, illustrator

This edition -
publisher: Puffin Books
release date: August 16, 2007
format: paperback
pages: 160


I'll admit that this is not what I thought I'd be reading this year but I needed a banned or challenged book and James and the Giant Peach is short ;-) The book may have been banned from school and/or public libraries across the USA but as of July 18, Amazon.com's sales rank is 2,268. It is #1 when looking for Roald Dahl and #52 in humorous children's books. How can this be? When books are removed from libraries parents must buy them.

A personal note about censorship. I don't really mind that you don't allow your child to read specific books just don't tell me MY CHILD, or myself, can't read a specific book. There is a place for every book and I can see why some might be upset about some of them but really now. Just tell your child not to check it out at the library. It is not the teacher or the librarian's job – or the School Board - to monitor for you. I myself am guilty of censorship. I asked my kids not to check out "The Stupids" or any of the books in the series. Why? It was a word that we did not allow to be spoken in our home. I didn't want my kids reading it throughout the whole book. Did I make a big deal out of? No. Did I demand the books be removed from the library? No. I think it helps that I was a volunteer in the library, and had access to the books to read myself and to question the librarian. The Goosebumps series was one of my favorites and I recommended them to many fifth grade boys - you know, the one that only checked out a magazine because their teacher said they had to get something. No one ever told me it was bad that their child was reading a book. Here’s the thing, if your child’s school librarian won’t talk to you about the books that your child has access too, maybe you need to volunteer and find out for yourself. All of us want our tax dollars to purchase the best books but find out what your school administration thinks are “best books”.

...stepping off my soapbox....

James and the Giant Peach starts by telling us how wonderful James’ life was by the sea. He "lived peacefully with his mother and father in a beautiful house beside the sea. There were always plenty of other children for him to play with...It was the perfect life for a small boy."

When he was four, his parents went shopping in London were they were “eaten by an enormous angry rhinoceros which had escaped from the London Zoo”. Eaten mind you, not just killed. Leaving him to be sent to live with his aunts. So James becomes the drudge. Two aunts, many chores, no children to play with, very little play time, no toys, no leaving the garden, sometimes no food. And he meets a man with magic. And the songs?

A Gnu and a Gnocerous surely you'll see And that gnormous and gnorrible Gnat Whose sting when it stings you goes in at the knee and comes out through the top of your hat.

Yes, I can see where people would complain, it sounds just like a Disney movie. (by the way, that was sarcasm)


Mr. Dahl's first stories were written for his own children. Can you see him in a comfortable chair with his children and maybe a neighbor or two sitting on the floor in front of him? I'm sure he slapped his hands on the chair and bounced, just a bit, when the peach ran over James' aunts leaving them "ironned out upon the grass as flat and thin and lifeless as a couple of paper dolls cut out of a picture book."

Mr. Dahl died in 1990. The edition that I have was published in 2007. That is the extent of his popularity. May it live on forever.


Puffin books by Roald Dahl

The BFG
Boy: Tales of Childhood
Charlie and the Chocolate Factor
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Danny the Champion of the World
Dirty Beasts
The Enormous Crocodile
Esio Trot
Fantastic Mr. Fox
George's Marvelous Medicine
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
Going Solo
James and the Giant Peach
The Magic Finger
Matilda
The Minpins
Roald Dahls Revolting Rhymes
The Twits
The Vicar of Nibbeswicke
The Witches
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More

recognize any favorites?

He also wrote adult novels, the only one I own is My Uncle Oswald, picked up because of the cover (legs!) and purchased because I thought it would be funny - "Uncle Oswald makes Casanova look like Winnie the Pooh"

A Note from the Author

I am happy to say that The Lie: A Novel is "in the mail" for me to review AND a second book is being sent for a giveaway! While we're waiting, here is an article from the author....


Finding Rita Hayworth

By Fredrica Wagman,
Author of The Lie: A Novel

My fascination with Rita Hayworth began when I was very young because my mother was so enthralled with Rita Hayworth herself that she named me Rita, and although she polished my name off with the name Fredrica in the middle, it was the name Rita that profoundly connected me to my mother -- to my childhood and to that exquisite creature who ruled the sliver screen for all my growing years.

People do things like that. Pick the name of presidents and movie stars whom they admire for their newborn babies, hoping, preposterously, that the name of the famous person they admire will evoke the same magic on some poor unsuspecting little child.

I use the word "poor" because the child in full innocence sallies forth into life burdened with a name and a namesake she knows nothing about. In this case, what glowed in my mother's esteem couldn't be denied -- Rita Hayworth was a goddess, worshiped by men and women alike. She was the quintessential pin-up girl of World War II. She was the epitome of glamour and elegance. One of her five husbands was a prince and the others were iconic movie stars themselves. She had everything -- she was gorgeous; she had astounding beauty. She had children and wealth and jewels and clothes and incredible fame so that all-in-all she was a living breathing testimonial of immensely enviable success. But that wasn't all she had. She also had a secret. Buried deep within her was the knowledge of a terrible tragedy, the effects of which she bore silently her whole life; she was the victim of severe abuse -- physical, emotional and sexual, vested on her by her father while her lackluster, impoverished mother turned a blind eye to the devastation that was her daughter's fate.

The research that went into writing The Lie, dealt extensively with understanding the lives and struggles of many famous movie stars, a fascinating subject itself -- what makes them, what drives them -- but I settled finally on Rita Hayworth, not only because our names are the same, and not only because my mother thought "she was the most exquisite thing that ever lived or breathed," but because her story was the most clear-cut and the most brutal.

She was born Margarita Consuelo, the granddaughter of a great and famous flamenco dancer, so great and so famous that he was part of the court of the King of Spain. His son, Rita Hayworth's father came to this country speaking no English and earning his meager living, paltry as it was, by giving dancing lessons with his young, exquisite daughter as his partner. Fred Astaire, speaking once of Rita Hayworth said she was the best partner he ever danced with, and that statement included all his partners -- even the remarkable Ginger Rodgers. In the days of prohibition, because this country was dry with no liquor being sold, Rita's father took his young, beautiful and extremely talented daughter to Mexico, frequenting cheap night clubs and filthy dance halls where the liquor was flowing so they could eek out a bit of money on which to live by dancing for "tips". Things were so bad at times that Rita was forced by her father to catch fish off of wooden piers, often kneeling for hours in order to catch them with her bare hands and if that day she caught nothing, her father would beat her within an inch of her life, all the while introducing her as his wife and using her sexually.

This is not an unusual story. Neither for movies stars nor for the vast throngs who watch them. It is a common secret tragedy for men as well as for women, and as fascinated as I am with what makes movie stars tick -- their stories and struggles, I am even more concerned with the subject of childhood sexual abuse -- how to bring it out of the darkness and into the light for the millions of people like Rita Hayworth who have been so deeply scarred.

©2009 Fredrica Wagman, author of The Lie: A Novel

Author Bio
Fredrica Wagman, author of The Lie: A Novel, is the author of six previous novels. She has four grown children and lives with her husband in New York City.

For more information please visit www.fredricawagman.com

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Slave to Sensation

seen on another blog, most likely at J. Kaye's Book Blog, and requested from the local library.

Slave to Sensation
Nalini Singh
Psy-Changelings Series, Book 1

Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: September 5, 2006
format: mass market
pages: 352


I own a iTouch with the Kindle app. This is only important for you to know because I may be purchasing, and starting, book 2 in this series soon after I finish this!

from the publisher:

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of “rehabilitation”—the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was…

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy coexistence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion—and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities—or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation…


I finished this in one night, using several tissues. I felt invested in Sascha. Haven't we all, at one time or another, felt the need to belong? Or wanted to cry because we felt different? What if you couldn't cry? Or laugh? Or enjoy chocolate? What if you felt flawed? Less than perfect? This just takes that to a different level. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

Amazon.com's sales rank as of 7-19: #8,085

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Reading Challenge: Lisa Jackson

J. Kaye is host the Lisa Jackson Reading Challenge. You need to know how many books you want to complete but the titles can change until the very end. Click over to read the rest of the rules and sign-up.

I've decided to read 7. I have hopes I'll be able to complete this one.

1. Tears of Pride
2. Mystic
3. Sail Away
4. Hot Blooded
5. Cold Blooded
6. The Night Before
7. The Morning After

and if those aren't enough, I've started a list of all her books listed on her website.

edited 12-12: Changing titles to better fit other challenges :-)

Unspoken (needed a "U" for Monthly Mixer Mele, read during Fall in Love Challenge)
Left to Die (own)
Wicked Game (own, twitter read-along)
Yesterday's Lies (needed a "Y" for Monthly Mixer Mele)




8-20: I've already messed this up. I purchased "Left to Die" but it's not on the list and I don't own 6 of them! What was I thinking?

Pages read for June

Total titles/bindings: 38 (I didn't list any title that was under 100 pages but all were single bindings)


Total pages read: 5,327
average read per day: 177.5
Page total for books under 100 pages: 943!

library books: 6


New-to-me (print) fiction: Waiting for Nick & Considering Kate (one binding), Dropped Dead Stitch, Lip Service, It happened One Autumn, Under Her Skin, Summer on Blossom Street, Thai Die, The Book of Lies, The Magical Christmas Cat


New non-fiction:


Re-reads: Bond of the Maleri'


electronic titles (new & re-reads): Never Too Late, Deep in the Valley, Adopted Son, Eye of the Beholder, Private Dicks, Cultivating Love, Bases Loaded, Str8te Boys

Friday, July 17, 2009

Tuesday Thingers

...on Friday
Tuesday Thingers is hosted by Wendi at Wendi's Book Corner.

The meme was originally created as a way to network with other bloggers and to learn about Library Thing! I may be an long-time member (well, 2006) of LT but for much of that time I had forgotten about it. Come join us at LT and in the meme - it's been fun reading everyone's answers.
This week, Wendi shares her last little bit of wisdom remotely Library Thing related from her Seattle Blogger/Author/Publicist get-together:

We actually talked about the Early Reviewers program, and one lucky attendee shared a piece of advice. She told me that the more you tag your books, the more likely you are to snag a similar Early Reviewer book! For example - if it is a historical fiction book, and you have a bunch of historical fiction tagged within your library, you are more likely to get chosen. Now, I don't actually know if this is true, but the attendee we spoke with seemed to be having a lot of luck snagging review copies!
SO. . .
Questions: Do you tag? If so, do you tag for your own purposes (make lists, sort, clouds, etc)? Do you tag to help classify a book (historical fiction, self-help, sci-fi, mystery, etc)? What is the most helpful thing for you about tagging?
Answers: I mostly tag and it's mainly to keep series together, make note of an ebook or genre. I do have 88 books untagged and saw that someone tagged donated, which would be good for me. I'll tag a book print if I also have the ebook. Don't know why I would tag hardcover. Now that I've looked at my tags, some of them don't make sense.

Now, I only have 140 books listed at LT and that is a S-M-A-L-L part of what I actually own right now, never mind library and donated books. Looks like I got another project added to my list.

As for tags and EarlyReviewers. I don't have any nonfiction tagged and that is what my first book received was! I haven't gotten the review up so we'll see if I get anything in July.

as for the most helpful thing about tags...I don't use LT often enough to know all the stuff you can do with tags. I am going to start adding books I've checked out of the library with a library tag and books I've donated with maybe WHERE they went. I think, once my daughter gets all of her stuff out of her room & I can add bookcases, it would be nice to tag where a book is located in my home.

August Reading Challenge

so I'm a nut. At least this is a choose your own and I have a lot of books I would like to get read for challenges ending in September. I'll have to ask about ebooks....

Pizza at Pizza's Book Discussion is hosting the August Reading Challenge. Join us and see how many books you can read in August. Pizza is in Australia and I'm in the USA so when does the challenge start and end? His time? That would make sense. I think I'll post a countdown clock later.

all the short stories were purchased under separate bindings Only one "book" is a short story and that is a set of four. All the other are over 100 pages
8-9: asked about ebooks, audio and short stories - reply: ebooks and audio are fine.

1. The Accidental Mother
2. Wes and Toren
3. Slow Play
4. The Trouble with Magic
5. Soldier
6. The Judge Who Stole Christmas
7. Murder Under a Mystic Moon
8. Those Who Cherish
9. Simon Says
10. True North
11. The Right Side of the Tracks
12. Call Me Sir
13. Shipscat series 1-4
14. Magic Strikes
15. Dragonspell
16. Dragonquest
17. Discipline
18. Bondage
19. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes
20. Island of the Blue dolphins
21. Wait Until Twilight
22. Tempting the Beast
23. Beside Manner
24. Forever Christmas
25. Hot Cargo
26. Room at the Inn
27. Dragonknight
28. Dragonlight
29. Pocket Pair
30. The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society
31. Dancing with Ana
32. A Soldier's Choice
33. Fit or Fat

Missed one: #34. DragonFire

Not sure I'll get all 20, we're going to a family reunion. Looks like I may hit 30!



The host of the August Reading Challenge is in Australia. The RC is for August ONLY and this way I know when to start and when to end.
update: Pizza is giving us until September 2 to post all our books. I may get a couple more in.

Friday Finds

MizB at Should be Reading hosts the weekly event Friday Finds.
The idea is to share, every Friday, about books that you’ve recently discovered (never heard of before) that sounds really good!

Every Friday, those who have blogs will write a post at their own blog, and then come back and leave others a link to follow on that week’s “Friday Finds” post here at Should Be Reading. For those who don’t blog, you can just tell us about your “Friday Finds” in a comment on that week’s post. )

Let’s try to keep this clean… that’s all I ask, okay?

Clicked over from somebody's blog roll (sorry, don't remember where I was)....


Lourdes at Lost in Books recently (March is still recent, right?) reviewed The Savage Garden and gave it a 4.7. That's better than "a book I'd recommend" at 4.0 - it's almost a "Wow" at 5.0.



The setting is Tuscany in 1958, where a young art scholar is sent by his thesis adviser to study a Renaissance garden built by a Florentine banker in memory of his wife, who died in 1548 under mysterious circumstances.

She says it all very well so check out her post.

The Savage Garden
Mark Wills

Berkley Trade
May 6, 2008
352 pages ( 8 x 5.4 x 1 inches)

amazon.com's sales rank as of 6-28: #26,580 in Books

~amazon also has it at a bargain price under $5




I found this one at ChainReading.

"In the true spirit of storytelling, I listened to this on audio. It was a good choice--the author reads it brilliantly ... And, just a warning, I needed Kleenex at the end. I won't say if they were happy or sad tears."




This is available for audio download and on the kindle at amazon.

Publisher: Harper Paperback
Release date: February 5, 2008
pages: 576 (trade: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches)

amazon sales ranking: #13,858 in books
#49 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Family Saga

from amazon:
From Booklist
To paraphrase a World War I song, it's a long, long way to the end of Delaney's reland--in more ways than one. In 1951, Alison O'Mara cast out the "last" seanachi, a wandering storyteller who told stories from Irish history and myth to the household and neighbors in exchange for housing and food. The old man left, taking with him the family's peace, stirring up family tensions and secrets. By alternating folklore and historical stories with the story of the O'Mara family, Delaney paints a vivid portrait of the country and fits both storyteller and family into it. There's something for everyone in this book: newcomers to Irish history will relish the rich stories based on real and imagined characters, while readers familiar with tales of the old sod will plow through the stories to find out what happens with the O'Maras. Heavy publicity will ensure demand for this novel, which recalls the work of James Michener and will appeal to readers of family sagas and popular historical fiction. Ellen Loughran
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.



Being sent for me to review....

The Lie: A Novel
Fredrica Wagnar

Publisher: Zoland Books
Release Date: April 7, 2009
Pages: 224
Format: paperback ( 7.4 x 5 inches)

Ramona Smollens has a chance meeting on a park bench with an older man, Solomon Columbus. The two became lovers, and soon Ramona is leaving the home of her mother and recently deceased father for marriage and the trappings of adult life. She takes with her a dark family secret, the sort of secret one simply did not talk about, one that would stalk her as she matured into her role as wife and mother. Coming of age in 1950s America, Ramona gets her cues about a woman's role from the world around her, and about female sexuality from the silver screen. But when experience teaches her that Hollywood's ideal is in fact "the lie," truth and desire collide with a force that is deeply moving and unforgettable.


amazon's sales rank as of July 16: #1,403,663

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Waiting on Wednesday

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



Swan for the Money
Donna Andrews
A Meg Langlow Mystery

Minotaur Books
July 21
320 pages


This series has been a riot and I look forward to each one although I do purchase them in paperback. The latest I read was The Penguin Who Knew Too Much so I've got some catching up to do!

amazon.com's product description:

The brilliantly funny and talented Donna Andrews delivers another winner in the acclaimed avian-themed mystery series readers have come to love.


Meg Langslow’s eccentric parents have a new hobby: growing roses and entering them in highly competitive shows. Dad’s gardening skill and Mother’s gift for selecting and arranging the blossoms should make them an unbeatable team---and Meg is relieved they’ve taken up such a safe, gentle hobby. She even volunteers to help when the Caerphilly Garden Club sponsors its first annual rose show. But after a few hours of dealing with her parents’ competitors, Meg is worried. Rose growers are so eccentric that they make Meg’s family seem almost normal, and so competitive that they will do nearly anything to take home the show’s grand prize---making them prime suspects when Meg discovers that someone is attempting to kill the wealthy woman on whose estate the competition is being held. Of course, the intended victim had other enemies---her treatment of her farm animals had aroused the interest of several animal welfare activists, including Meg’s zoologist grandfather. Meg tries to leave the detecting to the local police and focus on protecting her parents’ chances to win the coveted Black Swan trophy, but she soon finds herself compelled to solve the crime before any more rose growers die.


It’s Swan for the Money, two for the show, three to get ready... now go, Meg, go!





and one more, mainly for my husband but I do want to read it. Some day I'm going to start at the beginning and read them all again!

The Winds of Dune
by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson

Tor Books
August 4
448 pages
hardcover

amazon.com's product description:
With their usual skill, Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson have taken ideas left behind by Frank Herbert and filled them with living characters and a true sense of wonder. Where Paul of Dune picked up the saga directly after the events of Dune, The Winds of Dune begins after the events of Dune Messiah.

Paul has walked off into the sand, blind, and is presumed dead. Jessica and Gurney are on Caladan; Alia is trying to hold the Imperial government together with Duncan; Mohiam dead at the hands of Stilgar; Irulan imprisoned. Paul’s former friend, Bronso of Ix, now seems to be leading opposition to the House of Atreides. Herbert and Anderson’s newest book in this landmark series will concentrate on these characters as well the growing battle between Jessica, and her daughter, Alia.

Amazon.com's Sales Rank on June 24: #8416 in books
#1 in books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > (H) > Herbert, Brian
#22 in books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Space Opera

Space Opera????



and just enough information to drive you mad.....

Catalyst
A Tale of the Barque Cats
Written by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
Fiction - Science Fiction | Hardcover, 240 pages | January 2010 | $26.00 | 978-0-345-51376-2 (0-345-51376-2)

As of June 22, this is ALL the information I was able to find on this book. I'm crossing my fingers that these are the same cats from her Talent series.
Disclaimer

In accordance to the FTC guidelines, I must state that I make no monetary gains from my reviews or endorsements here on Book Dragon's Lair. All books I review are either borrowed, purchased by me, given as a gift, won in some kind of contest, or received in exchange for an honest review.