Tree Swing Reading

Aren't they cute?

 

Fall Things Giveaway Part 3: Books with "Fall" in them

Fall makes me think of...

The giveaways for this theme are about a random series of books related only because they are about things that make me think of fall/autumn!

For this theme I have a bunch of fall things in my mind listed below.

1. leaves

2. apples

3. the election

4. football (American)

5. thanksgiving

6. harvest

7. books with the word "fall" in them

8. books with the word "autumn" in them

I had other words, but couldn't think of books to use to relate to them! :)

RULES FOR ENTERING will be:

a. Post a comment to the blog entries of the books you would like to win AND answer the question that goes with it.

Today's question: If you could go trick or treating, what would be your favorite candy to get in your treat bag?  Mine is Take 5 and Heath bars.  I always buy of mix of candy that has one of those in it so I can pick them out for myself!

b. Enter on or before the date specified. Claim your prize, if you win, within 10 days of being notified or I will redraw. (In other words, let me know you want the book and where it should be sent, should you find out your name was drawn.)

Today's book winner will be drawn on Nov. 10.

c. Check back for the next fall theme word giveaway!

Books with the word "fall" in them is today's fall word.  And the book is: The Fall of Candy Corn by Debbie Viguie.

Description:

Halloween time at The Zone means monsters, mazes, and plenty of candy corn. Candace is shy about telling friends at church that she's working as a maze monster. However, when she discovers her youth group has planned an outing to the park, her embarrassment quickly turns to stage fright!
Will Candace survive the shift from cotton candy to candy corn? Fall is in the air, and without completely knowing why, Candace Thompson has signed up to continue what was supposed to be a short-term summer job at the local theme park. Working with Kurt doesn't hurt, but a surprising kink involving her youth group, as well as the shock of an unexpected setback, threaten to be more painful. Candace's autumn holds as many surprises as her summer as her rousing romp through the seasons continues.

My Review:

A really "sweet" book...get it?  Perfect for teen girls or, well, those of us who aren't teens anymore too.  I am enjoying Candace's journey of discovery and the many adventures she ends up in.

The giveaways for this theme are about a random series of books related only because they are about things that make me think of fall/autumn!

For this theme I have a bunch of fall things in my mind listed below.

1. leaves

2. apples

3. the election

4. football (American)

5. thanksgiving

6. harvest

7. books with the word "fall" in them

8. books with the word "autumn" in them

I had other words, but couldn't think of books to use to relate to them! :)

RULES FOR ENTERING will be:

a. Post a comment to the blog entries of the books you would like to win AND answer the question that goes with it.

Today's question: If you could go trick or treating, what would be your favorite candy to get in your treat bag?  Mine is Take 5 and Heath bars.  I always buy of mix of candy that has one of those in it so I can pick them out for myself!

b. Enter on or before the date specified. Claim your prize, if you win, within 10 days of being notified or I will redraw. (In other words, let me know you want the book and where it should be sent, should you find out your name was drawn.)

Today's book winner will be drawn on Nov. 10.

c. Check back for the next fall theme word giveaway!

Books with the word "fall" in them is today's fall word.  And the book is: The Fall of Candy Corn by Debbie Viguie.

Description:

Halloween time at The Zone means monsters, mazes, and plenty of candy corn. Candace is shy about telling friends at church that she's working as a maze monster. However, when she discovers her youth group has planned an outing to the park, her embarrassment quickly turns to stage fright!
Will Candace survive the shift from cotton candy to candy corn? Fall is in the air, and without completely knowing why, Candace Thompson has signed up to continue what was supposed to be a short-term summer job at the local theme park. Working with Kurt doesn't hurt, but a surprising kink involving her youth group, as well as the shock of an unexpected setback, threaten to be more painful. Candace's autumn holds as many surprises as her summer as her rousing romp through the seasons continues.

My Review:

A really "sweet" book...get it?  Perfect for teen girls or, well, those of us who aren't teens anymore too.  I am enjoying Candace's journey of discovery and the many adventures she ends up in.

FIRST Blog Tour: Forsaken

It is time for the FIRST Blog Tour! On the FIRST day of every month we feature an author and his/her latest book's FIRST chapter!

The feature author is:

James David Jordan

and his book:

Forsaken
B&H Fiction (October 1, 2008)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

James David Jordan is a business litigation attorney with the prominent Texas law firm of Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P.C. From 1998 through 2005, he served as the firm's Chairman and CEO. The Dallas Business Journal has named him one of the most influential leaders in the Dallas/Fort Worth legal community and one of the top fifteen business defense attorneys in Dallas/Fort Worth. His peers have voted him one of the Best Lawyers in America in commercial litigation.

A minister's son who grew up in the Mississippi River town of Alton, Illinois, Jim has a law degree and MBA from the University of Illinois, and a journalism degree from the University of Missouri. He lives with his wife and two teenage children in the Dallas suburbs.

Jim grew up playing sports and loves athletics of all kinds. But he especially loves baseball, the sport that is a little bit closer to God than all the others.

His first novel was Something that Lasts . Forsaken is his second novel.

Product Details:

List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: B&H Fiction (October 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0805447490
ISBN-13: 978-0805447491

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Even in high school I didn’t mind sleeping on the ground. When your father is a retired Special Forces officer, you pick up things that most girls don’t learn. As the years passed I slept in lots of places a good girl shouldn’t sleep. It’s a part of my past I don’t brag about, like ugly wallpaper that won’t come unstuck. No matter how hard I scrape, it just hangs on in big, obscene blotches. I’m twenty-nine years old now, and I’ve done my best to paint over it. But it’s still there under the surface, making everything rougher, less presentable than it should be. Though I want more than anything to be smooth and fresh and clean.


Sometimes I wonder what will happen if the paint begins to fade. Will the wallpaper show? I thought so for a long time. But I have hope now that it won’t. Simon Mason helped me find that hope. That’s why it’s important for me to tell our story. There must be others who need hope, too. There must be others who are afraid that their ugly wallpaper might bleed through.


What does sleeping on the ground have to do with a world-famous preacher like Simon Mason? The story begins twelve years ago—eleven years before I met Simon. My dad and I packed our camping gear and went fishing. It was mid-May, and the trip was a present for my seventeenth birthday. Not exactly every high school girl’s dream, but my dad wasn’t like most dads. He taught me to camp and fish and, particularly, to shoot. He had trained me in self-defense since I was nine, the year Mom fell apart and left for good. With my long legs, long arms, and Dad’s athletic genes, I could handle myself even back then. I suppose I wasn’t like most other girls.


After what happened on that fishing trip, I know I wasn’t.


Fishing with my dad didn’t mean renting a cane pole and buying bait pellets out of a dispenser at some catfish tank near an RV park. It generally meant tramping miles across a field to a glassy pond on some war buddy’s ranch, or winding through dense woods, pitching a tent, and fly fishing an icy stream far from the nearest telephone. The trips were rough, but they were the bright times of my life—and his, too. They let him forget the things that haunted him and remember how to be happy.


This particular outing was to a ranch in the Texas Panhandle, owned by a former Defense Department bigwig. The ranch bordered one of the few sizeable lakes in a corner of Texas that is brown and rocky and dry. We loaded Dad’s new Chevy pickup with cheese puffs and soft drinks—healthy eat­ing wouldn’t begin until the first fish hit the skillet—and left Dallas just before noon with the bass boat in tow. The drive was long, but we had leather interior, plenty of tunes, and time to talk. Dad and I could always talk.


The heat rose early that year, and the temperature hung in the nineties. Two hours after we left Dallas, the brand-new air conditioner in the brand-new truck rattled and clicked and dropped dead. We drove the rest of the way with the windows down while the high Texas sun tried to burn a hole through the roof.


Around five-thirty we stopped to use the bathroom at a rundown gas station somewhere southeast of Amarillo. The station was nothing but a twisted gray shack dropped in the middle of a hundred square miles of blistering hard pan. It hadn’t rained for a month in that part of Texas, and the place was so baked that even the brittle weeds rolled over on their bellies, as if preparing a last-ditch effort to drag themselves to shade.


The restroom door was on the outside of the station, iso­lated from the rest of the building. There was no hope of cool­ing off until I finished my business and got around to the little store in the front, where a rusty air conditioner chugged in the window. When I walked into the bathroom, I had to cover my nose and mouth with my hand. A mound of rotting trash leaned like a grimy snow drift against a metal garbage can in the corner. Thick, black flies zipped and bounced from floor to wall and ceiling to floor, occasionally smacking my arms and legs as if I were a bumper in a buzzing pinball machine. It was the filthiest place I’d ever been.


Looking back, it was an apt spot to begin the filthiest night of my life.


I had just leaned over the rust-ringed sink to inspect my teeth in the sole remaining corner of a shattered mirror when someone pounded on the door.


“Just a minute!” I turned on the faucet. A soupy liquid dribbled out, followed by the steamy smell of rotten eggs. I turned off the faucet, pulled my sport bottle from the holster on my hip, and squirted water on my face and in my mouth. I wiped my face on the sleeve of my T-shirt.


My blue-jean cutoffs were short and tight, and I pried free a tube of lotion that was wedged into my front pocket. I raised one foot at a time to the edge of the toilet seat and did my best to brush the dust from my legs. Then I spread the lotion over them. The ride may have turned me into a dust ball, but I was determined at least to be a soft dust ball with a coconut scent. Before leaving I took one last look in my little corner of mir­ror. The hair was auburn, the dust was beige. I gave the hair a shake, sending tiny flecks floating through a slash of light that cut the room diagonally from a hole in the roof. Someone pounded on the door again. I turned away from the mirror.


“Okay, okay, I’m coming!”


When I pulled open the door and stepped into the light, I shaded my eyes and blinked to clear away the spots. All that I could think about was the little air conditioner in the front window and how great it would feel when I got inside. That’s probably why I was completely unprepared when a man’s hand reached from beside the door and clamped hard onto my wrist.

Review:

Well, I have to give you my thoughts on this book later as I am still reading it.  :)  It's very good so far!  But here's a great review from Quiverfull Family.  You really should check it out!

Busy, busy, busy

Does anyone else have kids who watch (or watched in my case) Veggie Tales?  Remember that song "Busy, busy, dreadfully busy" from one of the videos?  That's the song running through my head these days.  Life is so busy sometimes, you know?

And just because I can, I'm going to tell you my "busy" list:

• Working on my final project for my "HTML/CSS" class--making a five-page website from scratch.  Fun, but a lot of work! The perfectionist in me is making me crazy!

• Making a baby quilt for a friend whose baby is due mid-November.

• Crocheting a prayer shawl for a friend who is having surgery in mid-November.

• Gearing up for my holiday craft sale.

• Must still carve a pumpkin with my girls before Friday. :)

• Must read books for blog tours and my "fall things" theme! :)

• Oh yeah, and there's all the regular meals to make, laundry, errands, running kids here and there, exercising, and so on that's part of life...

You get the idea...

We're all busy I know.  But sometimes I just feel better talking about it. Gotta keep it in perspective!

Fall Things Giveaway: Part 2 (Election)

Fall makes me think of...

The giveaways for this theme are about a random series of books related only because they are about things that make me think of fall/autumn!

For this theme I have a bunch of fall things in my mind listed below.

1. leaves

2. apples

3. the election

4. football (American)

5. thanksgiving

6. harvest

7. books with the word "fall" in them

8. books with the word "autumn" in them

I had other words, but couldn't think of books to use to relate to them! :)

RULES FOR ENTERING will be:

a. Post a comment to the blog entries of the books you would like to win AND answer the question that goes with it.

Today's question: Nothing about the election...I'm afraid of politics!  I will vote, I just don't like all the arguing about it.  So instead we'll talk about pie...something else I think about in the fall.  What's your favorite kind of pie?  Mine is this rich and creamy eggnog pie that my mother-in-law makes this time of year.  YUM!

b. Enter on or before the date specified. Claim your prize, if you win, within 10 days of being notified or I will redraw. (In other words, let me know you want the book and where it should be sent, should you find out your name was drawn.)

Today's book winner will be drawn on Nov. 8.

c. Check back for the next fall theme word giveaway!

ELECTION is today's fall word.  And the book is: The Election by Jerome Teel

Description: 

They seek ultimate power.

Nothing can stand in their way.

Ed Burke has waited a lifetime to become president of the United States.

He's not about to let his nemesis, Mac Foster, stop him now...especially when he's sold his soul for the Oval Office.

Claudia Duval has lived a rough life. And finally, things have turned around for her after meeting the wealthy Hudson Kinney. But is all what it seems?

When a prominent citizen is murdered in Jackson, Tennessee, attorney Jake Reed doesn't want to know the truth. He just wants to get his client off. But as he investigates, he uncovers a sinister scheme. A scheme that would undermine the very democracy of America...and the freedom of the entire world...

My Thoughts:

An intriguing read, especially right now.  In some ways when I read a book about someone "buying" the election, I have to keep reminding myself that it's fiction and not going to happen and in other ways, I have to just keep praying for our country and its future and hope that it never happens.  Lots of twists and turns in the storyline and lots of interesting characters to follow.  Very exciting read!

The giveaways for this theme are about a random series of books related only because they are about things that make me think of fall/autumn!

For this theme I have a bunch of fall things in my mind listed below.

1. leaves

2. apples

3. the election

4. football (American)

5. thanksgiving

6. harvest

7. books with the word "fall" in them

8. books with the word "autumn" in them

I had other words, but couldn't think of books to use to relate to them! :)

RULES FOR ENTERING will be:

a. Post a comment to the blog entries of the books you would like to win AND answer the question that goes with it.

Today's question: Nothing about the election...I'm afraid of politics!  I will vote, I just don't like all the arguing about it.  So instead we'll talk about pie...something else I think about in the fall.  What's your favorite kind of pie?  Mine is this rich and creamy eggnog pie that my mother-in-law makes this time of year.  YUM!

b. Enter on or before the date specified. Claim your prize, if you win, within 10 days of being notified or I will redraw. (In other words, let me know you want the book and where it should be sent, should you find out your name was drawn.)

Today's book winner will be drawn on Nov. 8.

c. Check back for the next fall theme word giveaway!

ELECTION is today's fall word.  And the book is: The Election by Jerome Teel

Description: 

They seek ultimate power.

Nothing can stand in their way.

Ed Burke has waited a lifetime to become president of the United States.

He's not about to let his nemesis, Mac Foster, stop him now...especially when he's sold his soul for the Oval Office.

Claudia Duval has lived a rough life. And finally, things have turned around for her after meeting the wealthy Hudson Kinney. But is all what it seems?

When a prominent citizen is murdered in Jackson, Tennessee, attorney Jake Reed doesn't want to know the truth. He just wants to get his client off. But as he investigates, he uncovers a sinister scheme. A scheme that would undermine the very democracy of America...and the freedom of the entire world...

My Thoughts:

An intriguing read, especially right now.  In some ways when I read a book about someone "buying" the election, I have to keep reminding myself that it's fiction and not going to happen and in other ways, I have to just keep praying for our country and its future and hope that it never happens.  Lots of twists and turns in the storyline and lots of interesting characters to follow.  Very exciting read!

Fall Things Giveaway: Part 1 (football)

Fall makes me think of...

The giveaways for this theme are about a random series of books related only because they are about things that make me think of fall/autumn!

For this theme I have a bunch of fall things in my mind listed below.

1. leaves

2. apples

3. the election

4. football (American)

5. thanksgiving

6. harvest

7. books with the word "fall" in them

8. books with the word "autumn" in them

I had other words, but couldn't think of books to use to relate to them! :)

RULES FOR ENTERING will be:

a. Post a comment to the blog entries of the books you would like to win AND answer the question that goes with it.

Today's question: Do you watch (American) football?  Are you a "huge" fan of any specific team? (I would say I am a Packer fan. It's hard to live in Wisconsin without being a Packer fan. I also like the Univ. of Wis. Badgers. I also play fantasy football with my famliy and have the only undefeated team in our league! I enjoy watching football very much!)

b. Enter on or before the date specified. Claim your prize, if you win, within 10 days of being notified or I will redraw. (In other words, let me know you want the book and where it should be sent, should you find out your name was drawn.)

Today's book winner will be drawn on Nov. 6.

c. Check back for the next fall theme word giveaway!

FOOTBALL is today's fall word.  And the book is:

Nancy Moser's John 3:16.

Five people looking for a reason to keep living are about to find it in the last place they expect... In my usual "big cast" style comes a story of what happens when one man puts his faith on the line and holds up a John 3:16 sign at a sporting event. Roman Paulson's life revolves around his son, Billy, a University of Nebraska football hero with a promising life ahead of him. But when Billy's coach encroaches on Roman's relationship with his son, Roman fears he'll lose Billy forever. Roman isn't the only one whose world turns upside down. He's one of five unsuspecting people whose lives intersect on a bright fall day.

If you would like to read the first chapter of John 3:16, go HERE

My Review:

 feel like Mikey on those old Life Cereal commercials--"He liked it, he really liked it!"  Remember those?  Anyway, I liked it!  I really liked it!  This book really took me in and kept me interested all the way through.  It was like six degrees of separation between its characters as they are become linked one way or another.  And through tragedy, they all end up changed.

Moser follows five different people's lives (and does a good job keeping the storyline running clearly between them):

Maya: the overly driven saleswoman who is desperate to have a baby and is caught using unethical sales methods at work in order to get the money for fertility treatments.  How will she react to being fired?

Roman: her boss who taught her the techniques but pretends he didn't. Father to football star Billy and devistated by his loss.  How will he recover?

Peter: Billy's roomate and friend who is torn between his wild girlfriend Lianne and his family expectations. What will he do with his future?

Lianne: seemingly wild and unaffected by life, but secretly hurting from the secrets her parents kept from her.  How will she react when more secrets are discovered?

and Velvet: running from her past, only to have it come and smack her in the face unexpectedly when her daughter that she gave up for adoption shows up to work for her and the baby's father shows up in town too.  Will she keep running from her past or own the secrets?

A great book with a wonderful reminder of how God can speak to us through both little subtle signs and big glaring slaps in the face.  I couldn't put it down!

Winners of "You Make the Call" giveaway Part II

Here are the winners from the "You Make the Call" giveaway part II.

Thanks for entering!

Ladies of History series by Nancy Moser: Southeast Country Wife

Until We Reach Home by Lynn Austin: Amandasue

Havah by Tosca Lee: Lovedandamazed

Sisters of the Quilt series by Cindy Woodsmall: Gail

Stepping Into the Sunlight by Sharon Hinck: Tara R.

Safe Harbor series by Sally John and Gary Smalley: Sunny

Unpretty by Sharon Carter Rogers: Vadersmom

Try Dying and Try Darkness by James Scott Bell: Jenna

Field of Blood by Eric Wilson: Icedream

Sushi Series by Camy Tang: Darby

French Twist Series by Sandra Byrd: Adayla

Noble Legacy Series by Susan May Warren: Lori Barnes

Congratulations winners!

Book winners from the random book giveaway

Thanks for entering this contest!  Here are the winners:

The Sisterchicks Go Brit goes to Robin

Deeper Waters (I have 2 copies) goes to MJ and Sandy

Hood and Scarlet go to Ruby

A Passion Most Pure and A Passion Redeemed go to sweetpeas

Ruthless Trust goes to Kelly

Congrats!

Fall Things Giveaway: Part 1

Fall makes me think of...

The giveaways for this theme will be about a random series of books related only because they are about things that make me think of fall/autumn!

For this theme I have a bunch of fall things in my mind listed below. Watch for these giveaways to start Sunday!

1. leaves

2. apples

3. the election

4. football

5. thanksgiving

6. harvest

7. books with the word "fall" in them

8. books with the word "autumn" in them

I had other words, but couldn't think of books to use to relate to them! :)

RULES FOR ENTERING will be:

a. Post a comment to the blog entries of the books you would like to win AND answer the question that goes with it.

The question will be here.

b. Enter on or before the date specified. Claim your prize, if you win, within 10 days of being notified or I will redraw. (In other words, let me know you want the book and where it should be sent, should you find out your name was drawn.)

c. Check back for the next fall theme word giveaway!

Speaking of fall...

Speaking of fall...

when I tallied up the votes for what you all want for the next giveaway, I get close to a tie between the alphabet soup one and the fall-themed one; so I will be doing a brief fall one and then an alphabet soup one.  Stay tuned for more information coming soon!

So, I know I asked this before, but I need help coming up with the things you think of when you think of autumn.  Post a comment with a few of your favorite things about fall.

Let me get you started: pumpkins, leaves, football, apple cider, what else?