BBAW Questions - I am a Newbie!

Book Blogger Appreciation Week was created by My Friend Amy last year to celebrate book bloggers and promote reading, writing, and everything associated.

This year BBAW will be September 14-18. If you haven't already signed up get over there and put your name down. Then take the time to nominate those blogs you have enjoyed.

Questions to help those of us who are new to connect and those who are experienced to guide us along.

1) What has been one of the highlights of blogging for you?
Getting involved in such a positive community. I had always wanted to do more than just reading(my friends and family say I have a bit of an addiction) my book. I have loved having others that share my love and aren't bored or annoyed by my desire to talk about my books. And, they have actually read or at least heard of the book. Also, I'm not gonna lie I do like getting free books. I would do it without them though.

2) What blogger has helped you out with your blog by answering questions, linking to you, or inspiring you?
Any blogger I have asked has been helpful. I have gotten help from My Friend Amy, Booking Mama, Book Journey, and My Own Little Corner of the World. Presenting Lenore also sent me a great link to her blog which answered questions for new bloggers. And, in addition, the authors and publishers have been so positive and informative.

3) What one question do you have about BBAW that someone who participated last year could answer?
What exactly am I supposed to be doing besides voting on bloggers for awards? I feel like I should be doing something more...

Giveaway - Jantsen's Gift by Pam Cope

Thanks to Anna at Hachette Book Group I have 5 copies of this awesome book to giveaway. The contest with end August 15th at 11:59 pm Central time.

Nine years ago, Pam Cope owned a cozy hair salon in the tiny town of Neosho, Missouri, and her life revolved around her son's baseball games, her daughter's dance lessons, and family trips to places like Disney World. She had never been out of the country, nor had she any desire to travel far from home.

Then, on June 16th, 1999, her life changed forever with the death of her 15-year-old son from an undiagnosed heart ailment.

Needing to get as far away as possible from everything that reminded her of her loss, she accepted a friend's invitation to travel to Vietnam, and, from the moment she stepped off the plane, everything she had been feeling since her son's death began to shift. By the time she returned home, she had a new mission: to use her pain to change the world, one small step at a time, one child at a time. Today, she is the mother of two children adopted from Vietnam. More than that, she and her husband have created a foundation called "Touch A Life," dedicated to helping desperate children in countries as far-flung as Vietnam, Cambodia and Ghana.

Pam Cope's story is on one level a moving, personal account of loss and recovery, but on a deeper level, it offers inspiration to anyone who has ever suffered great personal tragedy or those of us who dream about making a difference in the world.
Hachette Book Group

I just reviewed this book and the review can be found right below this giveaway. Trust me this is one you want to win!!!

To enter this giveway:

*For 1 entry leave a comment answering the question: Have you ever traveled abroad (or within the U.S.) to help those less fortunate? If so, where did you go and did it change you? If not, where would you go to help?

*For another entry please sign up to follow my blog publicly. If you are already a follower you get 2 entries.

*One entry for blogging about this - give me the link

*One entry for tweeting and including me @alipet813

Unfortunately, this is limited to shipping addresses U.S. and Canada only.

Good luck to all!!

Jantsen's Gift by Pam Cope

Nine years ago, Pam Cope owned a cozy hair salon in the tiny town of Neosho, Missouri, and her life revolved around her son's baseball games, her daughter's dance lessons, and family trips to places like Disney World. She had never been out of the country, nor had she any desire to travel far from home.

Then, on June 16th, 1999, her life changed forever with the death of her 15-year-old son from an undiagnosed heart ailment.

Needing to get as far away as possible from everything that reminded her of her loss, she accepted a friend's invitation to travel to Vietnam, and, from the moment she stepped off the plane, everything she had been feeling since her son's death began to shift. By the time she returned home, she had a new mission: to use her pain to change the world, one small step at a time, one child at a time. Today, she is the mother of two children adopted from Vietnam. More than that, she and her husband have created a foundation called "Touch A Life," dedicated to helping desperate children in countries as far-flung as Vietnam, Cambodia and Ghana.

Pam Cope's story is on one level a moving, personal account of loss and recovery, but on a deeper level, it offers inspiration to anyone who has ever suffered great personal tragedy or those of us who dream about making a difference in the world.
Hachette Book Group

Wow! Wow! Wow! That is how I felt about this novel. It touched me so deeply, and when I finished I had "that feeling" in my chest. The feeling of completeness and hope and a bit of yearning for more.

Pam Cope was a woman that those on the outside thought had it all. She grew up in a wonderful family, married a wonderful man, and had wonderful children -a boy and a girl-one adopted. However, on the inside she always felt like her life wasn't complete. She could never quite place it, and felt guilty that her "perfect" life wasn't enough.

Fast forward several years and perfection turns to tragedy. Pam's son Jantsen dies suddenly from an unrealized heart defect. This part of the novel is told with such clarity and reflection of the incidence that I sobbed. I felt my heart breaking while reading it. I am not exaggerating when I say it made me feel like my heart was ripped to shreds. A couple of years ago my son was sick and I thought he had died in my living room (it was only a febrile seizure, but I didn't know at the time). Those moments of my life were the scariest and the most traumatic thing that had ever happened to me. While reading this section of Pam's novel I was taken back to that time. I felt it all over again and I wept for her and for the fear and pain I had felt in my past. I kept thinking that she had that coupled with sadness and the actual loss of a son. I can't even fathom it. When she spoke of her depression and not wanting to go on I was feeling it with her while reading.

Unable to cope with the loss of her son over the holidays Pam decided to travel to Vietnam. She had been interested since friends had adopted a child from the country and thought it would be a chance to get away from the sadness. She also had money from a trust set up after Jantsen's death that she wanted to donate to a worthy cause and thought this might be it. Pam, her husband Randy and her daughter Crista made the trip that changed their lives in November 2000.

This trip to Vietnam changed the Cope family forever. In this trip Pam found the piece of herself that had been missing and the family found a son to bring home and love.

The rest of the novel focuses on the family's different journeys to improve the lives of children in other countries. They travel to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Ghana. They develop homes, education centers,medical treatment and safety for hundreds of children. Children sold into slavery, children orphaned by poverty and illness, and children who feel life has nothing to offer them. It is a touching story of what faith and asking for help can do. They adopt another daughter along the way and many friends become involved in the foundation they developed and others adopt children.

Each chapter after Jantsen's death begins with a short letter to him from Pam. As the novel progresses you can see the growth she has gone through. You don't see the sadness completely leave and she never stops loving or missing him, but she picks herself back up and lives again through his memory.

This isn't to suggest that the trip to Vietnam took away all the depression and longing for her son. This was a long process. It involved a hospitalization for her depression, and a confrontation with her faith. In this novel, Pam Cope realizes that although she has attended and been active in church she has never really known God and begins an actual relationship with him. Her faith in God led her through many difficult days.

Jantsen's Gift tells of Pam's life, but it also provides facts about the lives of the children she is helping and the states of their countries. It was very educational.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone and everyone. Warning: when you are done reading you will begin to question what you are doing in your life to help the less fortunate. You may even want to start planning your first trip abroad.

For more information on Pam's foundation Touch A Life please visit www.touchalifekids.org

Thursday Thunks - these questions are questionable

A Bunch Of Stupid Questions By Kimber

Welcome to the July 30th version of Thursday Thunks!

(which we always seem to post on Wednesday)
Where we make you think a little bit before you blog!

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by

Kimber, the number 14 and the color of life. (2 questions by Ber, figure out which 2.)

1. You are in an enclosed space with a group of friends. Elevator, auto, small room, etc.. You fart and it really stinks. Do you take credit for it or do you play along with the questioning of who did it?
If you are in an elevator then nobody will even talk about it. We will all hold our breath until the doors open and then exit as quickly as possible. Any other location depends on who I am with. Family I take credit. All others I question. LOL

2. You are locked in a room sitting at a desk with just a piece of paper and a purple crayon. What do you draw?
I most likely doodle my name, my kids' names, my man's name, and then I doodle flowers. That's what I do in meetings so I assume it is what I would do then as well. Oh wait...i am locked in the room?? I am too busy hyperventilating to draw!

3. Do you ever pee in the shower?
Umm...yes, when I get in the warm water I j ust can't help it

4. Have you bought, sold or got rid of something on Craigslist?
yes, both. I have sold old kids stuff and I have bought a patio table and Ipod touch...whatever looks good and is priced right

5. You are in a convenience store. In the line in front of you is a drunk guy trying to purchase more alcohol. The cashier tells him they cannot sell it to him because he is obviously already intoxicated. He gets belligerent. The cashier is scared. What do you do?
Just watch...what am I supposed to do? If it gets out of hand I will call 911.

6. While shopping for produce, do you "sample" before you buy (i.e. grapes)?
My store usually has samples out. If not i will on occasion. Didn't all of us sample the candy that used to be for sale in the bins at the grocery store? I remember getting in trouble for that.

7. You are walking down the street and there is a toddler sitting on a bench by themselves in front of a store - do you just keep walking?
Um, NO what dumba$$ keeps walking?? I wait and watch the situationfor awhile. If no one shows up I will talk to the child. This just happened at the mall the other day and I finally saw the dad go after the baby that had wandered very far away. Then I made a comment to him to let him know someone had noticed.

8. Have you looked up an old friend and/or lover online?
Sure, curiosity killed the cat...thank goodness I ain't a kitty

9. You are nearly in a car/auto accident. Do you freak out, follow the person who nearly caused it & talk to them or just keep going?
I probably raise my hands in a WTH gesture and then keep driving. People are crazy!!!

The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos

From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Pelecanos (Drama City) delivers a dignified, character-driven epic that succeeds as both literary novel and page-turner. In 1985, the body of a 14-year-old girl turns up in a Washington, D.C., park, the latest in a series of murders by a killer the media dub "The Night Gardener." T.C. Cook, the aging detective on the case, works with a quiet, almost monomaniacal, focus. Also involved are two young uniformed cops, Gus Ramone, who's diligent, conscientious and unimpressed by heroics, and Dan "Doc" Holiday, an adrenaline junkie who's decidedly less straight. Fast forward 20 years. Detective Ramone, now married with kids of his own, investigates the murder of one of his teenage son's friends. The homicide closely resembles the earlier unsolved Night Gardener murders. Holiday, now an alcoholic chauffeur and bodyguard, follows the case on his own and tracks down Cook, long retired but still obsessed with the original murders. While the three work together toward a suspenseful ending, Pelecanos emphasizes the fallacy of "solving" a murder and explores the ripple effects of violent crime on society. (Aug.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


I finished this book about a week ago and it has taken me a moment to write what I have been thinking. I have been busy, but I also had a hard time writing the review. First off, let me say that while reading this book I was suffering from a headache that lasted about 2 weeks and is still on and off. So, it took me longer to read The Night Gardener and it was more difficult for me to concentrate. With that being said, I want to let you know up front that I enjoyed this novel.

The writing style was a bit different to me. I think that -combined with my headache- gave me a hard time. It has less flow and more hard edges. I don't think that is really the wording I want, but I can't think of another one. This is the first sentence, "The crime scene was in the low 30s around E, on the edge of Fort Dupont Park, in a neighborhood known as Greenway, in the 6th District section of Southeast D.C." Ok, not bad writing and it is a great description, but I think I read it 4 times. Until I got into his writing style I found myself looking at previous paragraphs and realizing I had missed something. After I got used to it, it flowed okay and I was able to really get into the story.

The story - very good. Mr. Pelecanos did an excellent job with this mystery. It wasn't until the very last paragraph that you knew the complete story. As he wove his tale you kept getting sucked into every little bit. I wanted to know what had happened to the children and I wanted to know why. I also wanted to know if the current crime was a coincidence or another serial killing. Each fact could be used to pull you both directions. Mr. Pelecanos also writes with much realism. There is no sugarcoating. He highlights racism, family life, poverty, and the police. Sometimes you might be a little tired of his sexual innuendos or homophobic put downs, but they were there to make the story accurate. Let's be honest - this world is full of good cops, bad cops, racists, inequality, and a lot of other crap. I don't think you can write a story of low income families and racially tense areas without putting it in.

The characters were very well developed. Each had a very distinct personality. Gus Ramone was a family man who just wanted to do his job and keep everyone safe. Gus Holiday was an ex-cop with an alcohol addiction who made some bad choices in his past. Cook was the retired cop who never let go of the one case that had evaded him. These characters interacted with personalities intact. They showed their dislike and they attempted to work around it.

On top of being a good mystery, the characters and the realism create a novel that touches on life's inequity and how each person copes with it differently. It gives you enough background of each character to see where they made the choice to live their current life. Some turn to addictions, some turn to family, and some bury themselves in a job to avoid it all.

I would definitely read another one of George Pelecanos novels. Has anyone else read his other work? If so, let me know what you thought. Also, if you read this novel did you like it?

Thursday Thunks...I thunk I'm gonna like this

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

It's the July 23rd version and I can't think of a catchy title

Welcome to the July 23rd version of Thursday Thunks!

(which we always seem to post on Wednesday)
Where we make you think a little bit before you blog!

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by

Berleen, the number 22 and the color of the last road kill you saw.

1. You walk into a store and the cashier is being held up by a robber. The robber's accomplice is dead on the floor at your feet with a shotgun laying next to him. The robber does not see you, but the cashier does - what do you do?
Hmmm....I really want to say that I will pick up the gun and shot the m'fer, but I would probably back out of the store slowly and call 911

2. We go to an ice cream shop for an ice cream cone. You say you are buying and I am going to stay in the car. You ask me what I want and I say "surprise me", what kind of ice cream cone am I going to get?
I would get you whatever I know you like...I wouldn't agree to surprise you without knowing some things...do you like fruity flavors, how about chocolate...are you allergic to nuts..buying ice cream is serious and I don't want to mess that up or I might feel bad and then have to give you mine

3. You have a dream that your co-worker, friend or whoever is hit by a garbage truck after they back into a ladder with a black cat on it. The next day you see that person standing by a ladder with a black cat on it and there is a garbage truck driving down the road.... what do you do?
Is this even a question? I would tell them to move the opposite way I saw them going in the dream. I want to at least say I tried to save them. wait you said "whoever" that answer could be different if I dislike you. LOL

4. What is the most money you've won on a lottery or scratch off ticket?
I rarely play so I think it was $2. Why is it that when you don't even play you still dream of winning big?

5. A neighbor kid down the street comes to your door and offers to wash all of your windows outside for $10 - do you have him do it?
Again, why are we questioning this uh yeah!!

6. Go to Google Images. Type in the name of the last movie you saw. Post the first picture that comes up.
7. Your local animal shelter calls you and says there are 3 dogs that need an immediate foster home for 3 days. If you do not accept, the dogs are put down that day. Do you take them in?
I'm a sucker yes I would

8. What is the messiest room in your home?
My bedroom. We have all of the laundry in there

9. Have you ever been to a wedding that participated in a strange tradition that you had never heard of?
nope

10. Name one sport that you just don't get.
that sport on the olympics with the brooms and the discs on ice...what is that called?

11. What was the last email that came into your inbox about?
my giveaway for the book A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand

12. Have you ever purchased anything from a sex shop? Extra points if you tell us what it was....
yes. on my 30th birthday I was sent on a scavenger hunt. I had to purchase a candy cane stripped "massager". The worst part is that the previous clue had been to lead me to money to pay for it, but when I got there someone had taken the $20 and left a penny. Had to pay for that "massager" myself

13. Go back to that Google Images link... type in the last food item that you ate. Post the 2nd picture it comes up with.

14. Got any bumper stickers on your vehicle? What are they?
No, I don't like to do that

15. What meme question do you wish was never asked again?
maybe the one about my sex toys..you know my family reads this sometimes LOL

The Imposter's Daughter by Laurie Sandell

Laurie Sandell grew up in awe (and sometimes in terror) of her larger-than-life father, who told jaw-dropping tales of a privileged childhood in Buenos Aires, academic triumphs, heroism during Vietnam, friendships with Kissinger and the Pope. As a young woman, Laurie unconsciously mirrors her dad, trying on several outsized personalities (Tokyo stripper, lesbian seductress, Ambien addict). Later, she lucks into the perfect job--interviewing celebrities for a top women's magazine. Growing up with her extraordinary father has given Laurie a knack for relating to the stars. But while researching an article on her dad's life, she makes an astonishing discovery: he's not the man he says he is--not even close. Now, Laurie begins to puzzle together three decades of lies and the splintered person that resulted from them--herself.

Here was my immediate thought when I opened The Imposter's Daughter by Laurie Sandell "Holy Toledo Batman it's a comic book!!". Ok, I guess it is technically an autobiographical graphic novel, but it was my first thought. I don't know how I missed that fact, but it wasn't really publicized that way. Anyway, I am not going to lie I was disappointed - I don't usually read graphic novels. Since Hatchette Book Group had given me the book with the intent to review it, and the plot really did sound good I said to myself, "JUST READ IT!" I'm glad I did. Itwas a quick, enjoyable read.

The story begins during Laurie's childhood. Laurie not only loves her father, but is proud and enamored by all of his experiences. This is a man who has been a war hero, had friendships with famous people, and was extremely intelligent. He had degrees from NYU and Columbia and had been a professor at Stanford. As a child Laurie spent all of her time listening to his stories and working to earn his approval. As his "favorite" child she was the boss over her sisters. Unfortunately as his favorite child she was also the one that bore the brunt of his anger as she got older. He liked to tell her it was their similar personalities and because of her pride in him she liked to believe it.

When Laurie reached high school she realized her father was different than others and began to worry. She began questioning her father's stories, but then left it alone. In college she received a rude awakening when she found her father had used her identity for credit card fraud. From that point forward the relationship between Laurie and her father began to go downhill. Laurie spent many years searching to find herself. It was if learning that her father wasn't honest caused her to lose who she thought she had always been. If she had always been just like him then who exactly was she?

As an adult Laurie began an in depth search to discover exactly who and what her father was. The last half of the novel focuses on this journey. It led to family issues and personal disconnect from relationships. She also found herself with an ambien addiction and inablity to cope with life in general.

I found this to be a very easy to follow format and an interesting story. In fact, I finished it in two sittings because I couldn't seem to put the book down. I appreciated the brutal honesty of the story. This was about her father and his lies, but it was also about Laurie and her personal story of growth. She puts it all out there...every failure, embarrassment, addiction, you name it.

I found I was able to connect with Laurie, but there weren't any other characters to bond to in the novel. I felt not only anger, but sadness toward her father. He seemed to have created his fantasy world due to his upbringing. However, he had delved so deep into it that even when confronted he was never honest. Most of the other characters are only in the background...they are a product of what Laurie and her father have done.

An important note: Because she is so brutally honest and the story is in pictures you should watch where you read it. Cartoon pictures of naked women were a bit embarrassing when sitting in my work breakroom. They were done to tell the story not to be x-rated, but still not good to be in public and open to those pages.

Here is an interview with the author from Marie Claire.

I will be ending my giveaway on this book tomorrow evening (July 23rd, 2009) so be sure to enter before it is too late. It is definitely worth reading.