Notes/Announcements

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A winner has been picked for The Curse of Akkad by Peter Christie Giveaway!

Don't forget about the chat with Melanie Wells tomorrow (July 16.)

July 20-25 is Camping Week!

If you haven't already noticed, I post a whole bunch of reviews and other posts all at once so when you see new posts, you may have to check the next page or two to see all the new ones.

Camping Week: Day One

Well it's day one of camping week which means I'm off to camp today. I'm running a Girl Guide camp and dragging my two kids with me. We're sleeping in a cabin but I've slept in tents many times. I love camping but am not fond of winter camping or fishing (especially since I don't eat fish.) I'm not a backpacker, I'm a family camper.

So check out today's book review and then below it, find some camping links. Then be sure to come back tomorrow!

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P.J. Funnybunny Camps Out by Marilyn Sadler
Stars: ****

This book is part of the Step into Reading series from Random House and is a Step 1 Book for Preschool to Grade 1.

The story is about P.J. Funnybunny and his friends when they decide to go camping. When P.J.’s sister and friend ask to come along, they are told camping is not for girls! Well the boys have a hard time and all throughout keep remarking that it’s a good thing the girls aren’t with them. Then while they are in their tent, they hear a noise and when they investigate it, it’s two ghosts! They jump up and run all the way home and tell P.J.’s mother what happened. The girls know the truth about what happened though, because they were the ghosts!

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Camping Links

Camping Info http://www.camping.com/

About Camping http://camping.about.com/

GORP Camping Guide http://gorp.away.com/gorp/activity/camp.htm

ezine articles: Camping http://ezinearticles.com/?cat=Travel-and-Leisure:Camping
Love the Outdoors http://www.lovetheoutdoors.com/index.htm

Love As A Way of Life by Gary Chapman

Stars: *****

This book review is part of a Blog Tour by Water Brook Multnomah.

Summary: The author of the perennial bestseller The Five Love Languages examines how a lifestyle of love can lead to deeper satisfaction in relationships and life goals. Eye-opening self tests, practical ideas for building daily habits of love, and inspiring examples guide readers in putting love to work in their daily interactions.

Although I haven't read The Five Love Languages I do know about them. Knowing this book was by the same author, I was excited to read this book. I'm glad I got the opportunity to review this book, it's awesome!

According to the author, in order to live a love filled life, you need to nurture the following seven qualities first: kindness, patience, forgiveness, courtesy, humility, generosity and honesty. I definitely think we all need a little more of these qualities in our life.

After each chapter (which is devoted to one of the qualities) there is some questions for self reflection and some activities to try to help develop yourself in that skill. Also at the end of the book are some discussion questions to use with a group.

This book is actually Christian Non-fiction although you would barely know it. God is only mentioned once or twice and while the discussion guide is full of bible passages, the book itself is not. Now for some people perhaps that's not a good thing but for me (a non-Christian) it is.

I found the book very easy to follow, very straightforward and very helpful. Along with the reflective questions there is a short quiz at the beginning of the chapter so you can have a general idea of where you are before you read more about that quality.

I really enjoyed this book and am doing the reflective questions and some of the activities. This is a self help book that can really help if you try.

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Interview with The Author:
1. Describe some of the everyday situations that can be changed if a person has a foundation of love.
When love becomes the focus of ones life it will change every encounter we have with people. In the family, the husband is thinking, “what can I do before I leave for work that would be helpful for my wife?” Such thinking may lead him to take the trash out, put his breakfast plates in the dishwasher or feed the baby while his wife takes a shower.
In the workplace, employees are asking, “on my break, what might I do that would help someone else?” They will also make time to listen to a co-worker who seems to be having a hard time with a personal issue.
At the bank, post office, or cafeteria, the lover will look people in the eye and smile, perhaps opening the door to a conversation. They will express interest in what is going on in the lives of those they encounter.
The focus is not on “it’s all about me.” But, rather on “It is all about others.”

2. What is the take-away message of Love as a Way of Life?
Love as a Way of Life is designed to help the person who sincerely wants to make a positive impact in the world. I believe that is ‘most of us.’ Our biggest problem is that we don’t know how and we keep getting tripped up by our own selfish ambitions. The purpose of the book is to help us break free from the prison of selfishness and come to experience the satisfaction of truly loving others as a way of life. It is little acts of love that build up to a lifestyle of service.

3. Why do you need a foundation of love before you start figuring out our love languages?
The five love languages give information on the most effective way to express love in a meaningful way to a particular person. But, if you are not a loving person – don’t have the heart or will to focus on others – the information is of little value. Most of us must make a conscious change of focus from self to others if we are going to genuinely, and consistently enrich the lives of others. Love as a Way of Life is designed to help people make that change.

4. When did you realize the need for this book?
I first recognized the need for Love as a Way of Life when in a counseling session a husband said to me, “I’ll tell you right now, if it is going to take my washing dishes, and doing the laundry for my wife to feel loved, you can forget that.” I had just explained to him the concept of the five love languages and that his wife’s primary love language was ‘acts of service’ and that these acts would deeply communicate his love to her. I realized that he lacked the will to meet his wife’s need for love. He was locked into his own perception of what his role was to be and it did not include washing dishes and doing laundry. I knew at that moment that there was something more foundational than simply knowing a person’s love language.


5. What are the seven characteristics of lasting love?
I view love not as a single entity, but as a cluster of traits, which if developed will enhance all of life. These traits are:
Kindness: discovering the joy of helping others
Patience: accepting the imperfections of others
Forgiveness: finding freedom from the grip of anger
Courtesy: treating others as friends
Humility: stepping down so someone else can step up
Generosity: giving your time, money, and abilities to others
Honesty: caring enough to tell the truth

6. Why do you think it’s so hard for people to embrace these characteristics?
All of us have some of these characteristics to some degree. Most people see love as being better than hate. But most of us are comfortable to live somewhere between love and hate in a lifestyle that is fundamentally focused on self. We feel good when we are making money, accumulating things, gaining status, but in time these things do not ultimately satisfy what I call the ‘true self’. The true self longs to make the world a better place to live. To do something to help those less fortunate than we.

However, we all suffer from the malady of being ego-centric. I call this the ‘false self’. It is that part of man that pulls him to focus on self-preservation and a self-centered lifestyle. This is not all bad. Indeed we must meet our own physical and emotional needs in order to continue life. It is when we never get beyond this self focus, that life becomes a ‘dog eat dog’ world where everyone is out for self even at the expense of others. Such a life never brings long-term satisfaction. However it is often later in life that people discover the emptiness of selfish living. I’m hoping that Love as a Way of Life will help people discover the satisfaction of developing the ‘true self’ earlier in life.

Gary D. Chapman

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Buy the book here.

Author Bio: Gary Chapman is the author of twenty-five books, including the New York Times bestseller The Five Love Languages, with more than 4 million copies in print. His daily radio program, A Love Language Minute, is broadcast on more than 100 stations nationwide. Chapman, a graduate of Moody Bible Institute, Wheaton College, Wake-Forest University, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, serves on the pastoral staff at Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Summer of Changes by Ann Alma

Stars: ***1/2

I read this book for the Book Awards and Canadian Book Challenges.
It won the Silver Birch Regional Award.

This was a pretty good book. The premise was interesting, and a subject not often written about as far as I’ve seen. Annekke’s mother has Schizophrenia and she is back living with her after a few years in foster care when suddenly her mom starts acting strange again. (etc.?)

The book is the start of a series entitled Summer of Changes although reading the synopsis of the second book, it doesn’t sound all that interesting.

Announcing... Camping Week

From July 20-25 I'll be camping so in honour of that, I thought I'd hold a Camping Week. If I had thought of this sooner and had the time, I would have reviewed 5 books about camping, one for each day. However I don't have time for that so instead, each day there will be a review of a picture book about camping. Since I'll be camping that week, I'll set up the posts to go out automatically. If I get a chance, I'll include some tips, info or links as well.

So check back July 20-25 for a new post each day.

2nd Canadian Book Challenge, Eh?

I thought I had signed up for this challenge but apparentl;y not yet!

I JUST finished the first Canadian Book Challenge and want to do better this year. Now that I do review books, I'm reading more Canadian Books but I do want to read some longer books, perhaps some of the ones I didn't get to before. I only have a few ideas, not a whole list yet. But I have until July 1/09 to read 13 Canadian books.

1. The Secret World of OG by Pierre Berton
2. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
3. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Yellowknife by Steve Zipp

Stars: ***1/2

I received a copy of this book for review from the author for the Canadian Book Challenge. He is giving away review copies for the 2nd Canadian Book Challenge too. Check out his blog and email him if you are interested.

First of all I'd like to thank Steve Zipp for the review copy and apologize for waiting until the very last minute to read it and even longer to review it.

First I want to comment on the book cover, which is white. I don't recall ever reading a book with a white cover before. It looked really attractive but got dirty really easy. I read while eating a LOT.

Okay now onto the story. Yellowknife is very different from all the other books I've read. First of all it's about life in the North which I haven't had the opportunity to read much about. Second there are a LOT of characters in it, which became a little confusing at times, although it wasn't as confusing as I expected it to be. It was kind of neat in a way to read about the lives of a bunch of individuals and then how many of them ended up intersecting.

Although it was a bit of a difficult read and it wasn't really my thing, it was still a pretty good book and I recommend it to anyone wanting to know more about life in the North of Canada.

Check out other (and more indepth) reviews of this book for the challenge:

August

Guatami Tripathy
Raidergirl

Booklogged

Corey Redekop
Geranium Cats

What an Animal!

Read six books from July 1 to June 30 which:
have an animal in the title of the book, OR
an animal on the cover of the book, OR
an animal that plays a major role in the book, OR
a main character that is or turns into an animal (define
that however you'd like)

1. Little Lions, Bull Baiters and Hunting Hounds by Jeff Crosby and Shelley Ann Jackson

2. Working like a Dog by Gena K. Gorrell

3. How Smart are Animals? by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent

4.

5.

6.

The ARC Reading Challenge

From June 21 to September 21

Here are the rules:

1. Make a list of all of the ARC's that you currently have and/or are on their way to you.
2. If you have:
1-3 ARC's then pick at least one to read and review for this challenge. 4-6 ARC's then pick at least two to read and review for this challenge.
7-9 ARC's then pick at least three to read and review for this challenge.
10 or more Arc's then pick at least 4 to read and review for this challenge.
3. Crossovers with other challenges are allowed.
4. List the books that you plan to read for this challenge (you can change it at any time, as long as the books you change are also ARCs). You can read the books on your list in any order.
5. Read the books and review them on your blog. If you don't have a blog, you can post your review on sites like Amazon. Leave a comment on the post about the challenge with a link to each of your reviews.

I was told that any books you were sent to review, even ones who have already been published are okay for this challenge.

My Review Books (as of July 9, 2008):

1. What Your Mother Never Told You by Richard M. Dudum
2. The Gatherer by Jerry Bayne
3. Knife on Skin at 7:30 by Farhan Ansari
4. The Jungle Effect by Daphne Miller, M.D.
5. The Lifestyle Fitness Program by Debi Silber
6. Just Tell Me What to Say by Betsy Brown Braun
7. Release Your Brilliance by Simon T. Bailey
8. Equality by Tim Kellis
9. Jackfish the Vanishing Village by Sarah Felix Burns
10. Pact of the Wolves by Nina Blazon/Translated by Sue Innes
11. Fractured Souls by T.A. Ridgell
12. African Psycho by Alain Mabanckou
13. The Strand Prohecy by J.B.B Winner
14. I Quit by Linda Joy Allan
15. The Tiniest Tiger by Joanne McGonagle

So the 4 I'm currently putting as my challenge books are:

• African Psycho by Alain Mabanckou
• Jackfish the Vanishing Village by Sarah Felix Burns
• The Lifestyle Fitness Program by Debi Silber
• What Your Mother Never Told You by Richard M. Dudum

However this may change, this is just what I'm aiming for.

A Daring Book Challenge

I am finally ready to sign up for my own challenge! LOL.

Find all the info on it here but basically it's a challenge to read books from the book list at the back of The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz.

I'm doing Tract 2 (9 Books in 12 Months) and the Ongoing challenge.

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
Matilda by Roald Dahl
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
Messenger by Lois Lowry
BFG by Roald Dahl

I'll be posting the full list of books and what I've already read next week.

Canadian Book Challenge Wrap-Up

Well I'm 8 days late in reporting that I finished but I did finish on time, honest! I just barely finished though, at like 11:45pm June 30.

Here is the final list of books I read and my thoughts on the challenge:

1. Yellowknife by Steve Zipp
2. The Library Book: The Story of Libraries from Camels to Computers by Maureen Sawa
3. Super Crocs and Monster Wings by Claire Eamer
4. The Curse of Akkad by Peter Christie
5. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
6. The Boy From Earth by Richard Scimger
7. There Will be Wolves by Karleen Bradford
8. Walking a Thin Line by Sylvia McNicoll
9. fake id by Hazel Edwards
10. Summer of Changes by Ann Alma
11. Smart-opedia by Maple Tree Press
12. Wonder Kids by Charis Cotter
13. Swimming in the Monsoon Sea by Peter Robinson

Favourite Book: The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
Least Favourite Book: Yellowknife by Steve Zipp

I really enjoyed the challenge but I just was too rushed at the end to read the books I really wanted to. I ended up having to pick some short books I'd never heard of just to finish in time.

Press Release: Psychological Thriller Author to Chat About What Lies Between the Line

WHO: Melanie Wells, author of the critically acclaimed Dylan Foster series – “When the Day of Evil Comes,” “The Soul Hunter” and the newly-released “My Soul to Keep.” (See my review here.) Wells will join the family-friendly online bookstore, Abunga.com, to discuss her insights on the fiction series, writing, building story lines and using one’s creativity and imagination to shape character development.

WHAT: “Authors at Abunga” Chat with Melanie WellsWells’ Dylan Foster trilogy is packed with both humor and suspense. Each thriller tracks the mayhem surrounding Wells’ unlikely heroine, college psychology professor Dylan Foster. Wells, who is also a psychotherapist and accomplished musician, will provide insights into her writing style, how stories are created, and where characters come from.

WHEN: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 11 a.m. – Noon PDT / 1 – 2 p.m. CDT / 2 – 3 p.m. EDT (LIVE)At www.Abunga.com/AuthorsAtAbunga

DETAILS: Wells is the first author to be featured on the newly-created “Authors at Abunga” chats by Agunga.com. A Texas native, Wells is an accomplished musician (she’s a fiddle player) a licensed psychotherapist, and the founder and director of Dallas-based LifeWorks counseling associates (http://www.wefixbrains.com/).

Beginning with “When the Day of Evil Comes,” each of Wells’ novels weaves a gripping tale in which the quirky, likeable Dylan Foster wrestles with her own personal demon -- Peter Terry – “a spiritual and emotional stalker,” Wells says, ”Peter Terry is a compelling character who rings true for all of us. He is a metaphor for the opposition we all have in our lives. And we can all relate to Dylan, who often feels like she’s fighting forest fires with a squirt gun.”

Book Awards Wrap-Up

I finished this challenge in time, which was June 30/08. Considering I started a few months late, I think I did well! Following are the books I read, a link to their review and the award(s) they won. After that is my thoughts on the challenge.

1. Emil and Karl by Jacob Glatstein (Sydney Taylor)
2. The Sky is Falling by Kit Pearson (CLA Book of the Year Award for Children, Mr. Christie's Book Award, Geoffrey Bilson Award, Silver Pencil Award)
3. Looking at the Moon by Kit Pearson (Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Award)
4. Summer of Changes by Ann Alma (Silver Birch Regional Award) (Review coming)
5. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell (Newbery, re-read)
6. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields (Pulitzer) (888 challenge)
7. Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson (Newbery)
8. The Color Purple by Alice Walker (Pulitzer) (888 challenge)
9. The Giver by Lois Lowry (Newbery) (A to Z challenge) (re-read)
10. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (Newbery) (personal banned books challenge)
11. Sounder by William H. Armstrong (Newbery)
12.The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (Newbery)
13.Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (Newbery)
14.The Borrowers by Mary Norton (Carnegie Award)

I finished 14 books, most of which were Newbery award winners and a few only won lesser known awards. For Book Awards II I'll try to stick to more well known awards. My favourite NEW reads were Emil and Karl and The Color Purple. Thanks for a great challenge.

The Curse of Akkad by Peter Christie (and giveaway)

Stars: ***1/2

I received this book for review from Annick Press. I am also using it for the Canadian Book Challenge and Science Book Challenge.

“With the world’s eyes focused on climate change, The Curse of Akkad turns the tables by looking at how climate has changed the world.” – Press Release

This book covers the Ice Ages, Volcanoes, Droughts, El Ninos and Medieval Warm Period and how they had an effect on civilizations (including crumbling the world’s first empire, Akkad,) wars (including how Hitler and his army were unable to conquer Russia because of the extreme cold) and how it may affect us in the years to come. What is really interesting (and scary) is how the climate in one area can so severely affect other areas that are nowhere near it.

This book is aimed at 10-12 year olds but I would say more like 12-16. It would be okay for 10 year olds if they are at a high reading level and wouldn’t be too scared or upset by the thought of cannibalism, death and famine.

The reason I rated the book the way I did is because although the subject matter was very interesting and the information well researched, I think it could have been laid out differently. I had a hard time keeping focused while reading this book, especially the first 2 or 3 chapters.

GIVEAWAY!!!

I am giving away my copy of the book. I’ll be taking names until July 14/08. Contest open to residents of Canada and the US. To enter, leave a comment saying that you want to be entered. Either leave your email address or make sure I can find it through your profile or blog. If you don’t leave a way to contact you, you can’t be entered. To secure a second entry, post about this giveaway on your blog or send it to 2 friends by email and CC me a copy of the emails. Winner will be announced here and sent an email.

NOTE: Contest ends July 14 but I won’t necessarily be able to send out the book right away. It will be sent out before the end of July and I will email you to let you know when it has been sent.

CONTEST CLOSED - WINNER HAS BEEN PICKED

The winner is.... Misty! Congrats

The Boy From Earth by Richard Scrimger

Stars: ****

Tundra Books published this book but I did not receive it as a review book. I just picked it up on my own. It was read for the Canadian Book challenge.

It’s actually also the 4th in a series of which I haven’t read any of the first three. Oh well I like to do things my own way.

Although the book is not what I would normally read nor find interesting, I enjoyed it. It’s for children ages 8-12 and is in the Science Fiction genre. Apparently in the first book of the series we are introduced to an alien from Jupiter that moves into an earth boy’s nose. The next two books are more adventures with Norbert (the alien.) This book is when the human boy goes to Jupiter to help Norbert