What's in a Name Challenge 4

Hurray!!! I finished the What's in a Name Challenge for 2011!!!

Here's my wrap-up:

1. Number -- The Thirteenth Chime by Emma Michaels 1/29/11

2. Jewel or gem -- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling 1/6/11

3. Size -- Little Princes by Conor Grennan 10/24/11

4. Travel/movement -- Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks 5/16/11

5. Evil -- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling 1/20/11

6. Life Stage -- Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf 4/28/11

I can't believe I finished the whole thing!

Little Princes by Conor Grennan

Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book WAS amazing! It was so easy to read and this is a great story. Conor Grennan went to Nepal to work with the orphans at the Little Princes orphanage and never expected to become so involved with them. His descriptions of the children were so wonderful I could see them jumping around and hanging all over him. I fell in love with them as I read his book. He was so courageous to take on this mission -- to find the families of the children who were taken away to Kathmandu and left there. Their families thought they were sending them away to a better life and an education, but the man they sent them off with kept them in a home and charge tourists to come see them. Anyway, Conor helped many of the families find out about their children and some of them even came to get them and take them back home. It was a very inspiring book and, as I said, very very easy to read. It just flowed from one page to the next. It was great!






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SPOOKTACULAR Giveaway Hop

The SPOOKTACULAR Giveaway Hop is here!!! This hop is hosted by Kathy at I Am A Reader Not A Writer and Rhianna at The Diary of a Bookworm. The hop lasts from 12:01 AM on October 24th through 11:59 PM on October 31st.

What is a giveaway hop, you say?


Simple - Each participating blog hosts a giveaway and then we link up together allowing our followers to hop easily from one giveaway to another. There are over 400 blogs involved in this hop! Each blog hosts their own giveaway...it has to be book-related, but it can be books, swag, amazon or barnes & noble gift cards, etc. I am giving away a copy of:

Embrace the Highland Warrior

by Anita Clenney

The book will be sent direct from the publisher to you! Check it out here and come back and read my review. This is the 2nd book in the series. My review of the first book, Awaken the Highland Warrior is here.

All you have to do is fill in the form to the right and leave me a comment (I love comments, doesn't everyone?). I will contact the winner by November 2nd to get your mailing address so I can give it to the publisher. I apologize to our international friends, but I can only mail to addresses in the USA and Canada. 

After you are done entering my giveaway, check out some of these other blogs:

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Atonement by Ian McEwan


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book has been on my shelf the longest. I bought it because it is a classic. I really like the way it was written. The story was intriguing and the characters very well-developed. You get to know each of the main characters by experiencing their lives. And the threads were all woven together at the end providing two possible endings to their story. My favorite character was Briony. She began as a precocious child dreaming of becoming an author who witnessed events that changed the rest of her life and the lives of her sister, Cecilia, and the son of their servant, Robbie. The three lives took completely separate paths different from those that had been planned. They spanned the years of World War II with Cecilia becoming a nurse and eventually Briony following in her footsteps. Robbie went to prison and then enlisted in the infantry deployed in France. The way McEwan wrote about their experiences was superb. You could really feel what they were feeling. And the ending was satisfying. I realize why it is considered a classic and McEwan is considered by Esquire "our era's Jane Austen."






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Another Challenge for Fall 2011

I'm doing really well on my challenges this year, so I set out to find this one -- Fall Into Reading 2011. It is sponsored by Callipidder Days and started September 23rd. It lasts until December 21st -- FALL. I'm going to be reading anyway -- there's no question about that -- so I might as well join a challenge and keep me sparked up. Here's the list I will be working on this Fall:

1. "One Day" by David Nicolls -- finished 9/27/11
2. "Atonement" by Ian McEwan -- finished 10/16/11 
3. "Embrace the Highland Warrior" by Anita Clenney -- finished 11/2/11
4. "Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal" by Conor Grennan -- finished 10/24/11
5. "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern 11/3/11
6. "The Map of Time" by Felix J. Palma 11/30/11
7. "My Heart Remembers" by Kim Vogel Sawyer 11/12/11
8. "8: The Previuosly Untold Story of the Previously Unknown 8th Dwarf" by Michael Mullin 11/15/11
9. "The Magi" by Kevin Turner 11/16/11
10. "Dreams Unleashed" 2nd edition by Linda Hawley 11/8/11
11. "The Quiet Little Woman" by Louisa May Alcott 12/2/11
12. "This Year It Will Be Different" by Maeve Binchy 12/9/11

Wow! That's some list. I better get off the computer and start reading.

I've updated this list to the ones I actually read. I did pretty well, in my humble opinion. Hope you did too!

Book Blogger Hop 9/30 - 10/3

It's time for the Book Blogger Hop again! Crazy-for-Books hosts this Hop every weekend. Aren't sure if you are a book blogger??? Here’s HER take: Do you have a blog? Do you blog about books/authors? Do you write book reviews on your blog? Do you rave about books and authors on your blog? Is your blog content primarily about books? Then you are most likely considered a book blogger! So, if you've decided you ARE a book blogger and would like to hop with us, go on over to Crazy-for-Books and link up! But come right back!

Every week we answer a question to help us get to know each other better. This week's question is:

“In honor of Banned Books Week, what is your favorite “banned or frequently challenged book”?”

Click here for 2010-11 list in PDF format. You can also click HERE to view past years and choose from any of those titles!

I find I've read several Banned Books on the 2010-2011 list. My two favorites are:

I couldn't put either of them down. The first was very suspenseful and AWESOME. It didn't give me nightmares, but I'm not 14. The second was "gritty" but AWESOME as well! I wouldn't have liked it if there was too much sex in it. Yes, there was some, but it didn't take away from the story.

Can't wait to read your comments!