Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.” —Groucho Marx

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Walk With Me Down Memory Lane

It's another day in the life of Grandma Beth!   I love kids!   For us oldies out there, we remember a golden man who coined the phrase, Kids Say the Darndest things!   It was Mr Art Linkletter, of course.   I am sure he is the fore father of all the emails that circulate the responses of children to a variety of questions and the corresponding hilarious answers!   It's been awhile since I've thought of him.   God rest his soul.

My own grandchildren tend to keep me laughing and I guess that is why I have made the trip back to reminisce with Art.   I want to share what my twelve year old had to say the other night in the car.   We had spent several hours at my mother's home with all four grandchildren.  The boys are like stair steps, ages 10, 11, and 12 and they had brought their hand held electronic devices with them so they could play video games, while we adults played cards.  On the way home I heard the eldest grandson tell his cousin, "I'm taking my ear buds out.  I'm going to shut my eyes to rest them;  I won't hear you."   Being Grandma, I wanted to clarify what I had just heard.   His response to me was, "  whadya say Grandma, I didn't hear you?"   To which I replied, "Huh, you must be right, You had your eyes closed and couldn't hear me?"  Who Knew?
Hunh?  The only thing I can't do when my eyes are shut, is read!!!

Keep your peepers open friends... You  never know
                                     what you might miss out on!

Friday, June 29, 2012

Feature and Follow Friday PJV #3

   HAPPY FEATURE FOLLOW FRIDAY.....

RULES

To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:
    • (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
    • (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers
    • Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
    • Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say “hi” in your comments and that they are now following you.
    • If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn’t have GFC (Google Friends Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed
    • Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don’t just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don’t say “HI”
    • If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love…and the followers
    • If you’re new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog! 
    • This is a Blog Hop!
    • Q: Birthday Wishes — Blow out the candles and imagine what character could pop out of your cake…who is it and what book are they from??

      I would have to answer, Westry Green from the Bungalow by Sarah Jio.   To carry a torch for someone as long as he did is heart captivating....oh for a man so morally sound, so caring and also so handsome...Yep it would be Westry!

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Sarah Jio's The Bungalow Review

I read Sarah's The Violets of March and knew, she was an author I would follow...forever!  That was her first book and The Bungalow was her second novel.  I was not disappointed in this book one bit.   In fact, sometimes a second book doesn't measure up to the joy you found in the first book.   That was not the case here.   I think The Bungalow actually surpassed the first.   I was so impressed with the story.

Again it took a couple of chapters to cement my interest, but once it happened, I was hooked.   The Story took place during WWII on the tropical island of Bora-Bora.   Two thousand soldiers stationed there and forty-five nurses.   It's a story full of self sacrificing men and women doing horrific work under tremendous stress.   The island had its own way of changing a person.  Anne Calloway felt a calling to go with her friend Kitty Morgan to serve their country and provide nursing care to the injured soldiers.  But there was much time for other activities as well.   Gerard Godfrey, Anne's fiance' back home, waited for her and then felt the call to sign up for action himself....a bit stuffy at first, then patriotic and always faithful and loving of Anne.   Anne tried to remain loving and faithful, but she hadn't reckoned on Westry, or betrayal , murder, such sadness and sorrow as they encountered on the island.

This book took me to the tropics and the war.  I felt the pain and suffering and I shed tears.  But despite all the turmoil of the war,  Anne lived to find justice and redemption and love.  This book  is  enthralling!   And I absolutely rate it as excellent!!

Now I have to reserve her next Novel, Blackberry Winter, to be released September 25, 2012.
I am just booking my life away!!!!

And I'm lovin it!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Greatest Clicks- A Dog Photographer's Best Shots by Mark J Asher

What a delight to get a free kindle copy of this lovely dog book through Pixel of Ink.  Although it was a short book and mostly pictures, I smiled more than once during this 91 page tribute to beautiful dogs!      You can tell the author loves and values dogs and the comforts they provide to their people!    Whether they were dressed for a shot or in the more natural settings the photos are sure to warm your heart.

 Here's another photo sure to warm your heart, our dog Max, going for a car ride.   Tell me he doesn't know what the arm rest is for.   Apparently he has paid attenttion to his people!!  Our Max is a seven year old chow, lab mix and he is pretty awesome too.

Anyway, this author has several dog photo books available .   Check out Mark J Asher on Amazon or Barnes and NobleI am sure they will make you smile!

Also leave a comment....I love when you speak(pun intended).  LOL

Monday, June 25, 2012

RABT Blog Hop - My Favorites!



 MY Most Anticipated Tour
As it will be my first tour with RABT, Freefall by Susan Rae.   I will post the synopsis now and my review will be posted on July 18.


  SYNOPSIS:

Synopsis: 

Freak accident, or attempted murder? Kate needs answers to her brother’s plane crash,
but can she trust undercover DEA agent “Spike” Larsen to deliver them?


Kate Reynolds’s quest to unravel the mystery of her brother’s plane crash throws her into
the turbulent wake of suave pilot/mechanic Everett Larsen. His gray gaze ignites in her a
passion as powerful as a jet stream, but it also sparks a memory—one she can’t quite reel
in. A bitter divorce has taught her to trust no man, so how can she trust Larsen?


Drawn by a cryptic message Keith left on his answering machine, Everett “Spike” Larsen
flies to Milwaukee for answers, but he is unprepared for the torrent of emotion he feels
when he sees Kate—after his wife’s death, he thought himself no longer capable of such
emotion. He is afraid to give into his feelings for Kate—afraid to love again. But when
Kate insists on helping out at her brother’s aircraft repair shop and gets too close to the
truth, he is even more afraid to lose her.




Sunday, June 24, 2012

Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00/ author CR HIATT...TOUR stop


Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00




OVERVIEW:


A prominent P.I. is gunned down - killed by a sniper - and it’s broadcasted on live TV.

Now, her daughter, along with her childhood pal, are thrust into a complex and riveting thriller forced to take on a secret club whose members call themselves The Privileged Ones - and branded with the tattoo of a devil.

Murder. Teen abductions and illegal underground parties.

They’re chased by men in ski-masks, nearly gunned down by members of a cartel, and the only way to bring down this criminal enterprise; is to crash a Mardi Gras bash and stop their private cruise ship from sailing off into the sunset.

TAGLINE:

"Their lives are in the hands of two 18-year-olds..."

Guest Post:  Meet the Main Characters:

 

AUTHOR MINI BIO:


CR HIATT is a writer of screenplays and an author of YA and adult action-mystery novels. The daughter of a military veteran, CR grew up in a small town where she became an All-American athlete. CR knew early on that she wasn't cut out for the nine to five type of job - her tendency to day dream about adventures often got in the way. But, being the daughter of a Navy Veteran she also knew one had to do what was necessary to be secure, so she disciplined herself to push those dreams aside and settled on working in the entertainment legal field. When those dreams invaded her world once again, CR finally gave in and set out to write her own adventures. The journey started after CR interviewed big city firefighters and detectives about their lives on the job; then talked with some of their victims. That resulted in several stories, and her first YA series: McSwain & Beck. The novels are works of fiction, only based on real life events, but you can't help but wonder while reading the books which parts are true. When CR isn't writing, she enjoys renovating houses, spending time outdoors, catching up on her favorite books and TV shows and most importantly, spending time at the bonfires with her family and friends.

AUTHOR CONTACT INFO:



My Review:

Who at age 18 didn't feel like they were invincible and were going to live forever?    Who wouldn't feel the weight of guilt for arguing with a parent in the AM and then losing that parent the same day?  And who wouldn't take over their mother's business as a means of support when there was no other means of support?   Fortunately Anna McSwain had taught both her daughter Sydney and her friend Cody Beck well in the mundane and safer issues of private investigation.   They had listened and learned well and were willing to takeover the business in her absence.    Two eighteen year olds were well in over their heads.  With one detective on the local police force as a trusted friend, they set out to do PI investigations.   Their first client however, hired them to investigate her brother, David Klein.   This case was directly related to Anna McSwain's death, unbeknownst to our sleuths.  There is danger, action, shootings, murder, kidnapping and human trafficing and a lot of puzzle pieces begging to be put together!

I enjoyed the book immensely.   Mysteries have become on of my favorite genres and CR Hiatt has become a new favorite author.   I loved how she kept Sydney McSwain tough and "relentless" and yet tender hearted to feel the suffering of the trafficed 16-20 year olds!