Review: The Lump of Coal by Lemony Snicket

Now that the holidays are officially here, the craziness has begun and we are all rush, rush, rushing everywhere. This little book is a fun break from the fray.

With his characteristic humor, Mr. Snicket has created a little leftover lump of barbeque charcoal who has been forgotten in someones backyard. Summer is over and the lump is bored, so he goes rolling out into the world. His journey is a reminder to see and appreciate the small miracles that take place every day. An appropriate message at this time of year that is delivered with the author's classic mixture of sharp wit and sweet story.

The story is accompanied by Brett Helquist's charming illustrations. He has created the cutest little grumpy-looking coal lump you have ever seen.

This book would make a wonderful gift this holiday season for anyone over the age of ten or so!

BUY BOOKS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

The Lump of Coal is published by Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-157428-3

Order The Lump of Coal from Amazon

Thanksgiving Wishes...

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

The House on Tradd Street by Karen White

Practical-minded Charleston realtor Melanie Middleton hates to admit that she can see ghosts—even to herself. But now she’s going to have to accept it. Because an old man she met only days ago has died, leaving Melanie his historic Tradd Street home, complete with housekeeper, dog—and a family of ghosts anxious to tell her something…

Enter Jack Trenholm, a gorgeous writer obsessed with unsolved mysteries. He has reason to believe that some diamonds that went missing from the Confederate Treasury a century ago are hidden in Melanie’s new home. So he decides to turn the charm on with the new tenant, only to discover that he’s suddenly the smitten one...

But it turns out that Jack’s search has caught the attention of a possibly malevolent ghostly presence. Now, Jack and Melanie must unravel a mystery of passion, heartbreak, and even murder. And they must hurry, for an evil force—either dead or alive—lies in wait...

I would like to welcome Karen White and her new book The House on Tradd Street to my stop for the Pump Up Your Book Promotion Tour! Unfortunately there was a little glitch and my review copy did not arrive until yesterday, so my review is not ready. But I am so excited to read this book! It looks fantastic and I have been reading some glowing reviews. Since I'm lacking a review for you today, here are some of my fellow blogger's reviews of this book:

Diary of an Eccentric

Cafe of Dreams

Read the first page and an extensive author bio at The 1st Page

Plus there is a great interview with the author at Diary of an Eccentric

The House on Tradd Street is published by New American Library. ISBN 978-0-451-22509-2

Visit the author's website here

~This book would make a wonderful gift~

BUY BOOKS FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

Order The House on Tradd Street from Amazon

Winners of the Cooking/Entertaining Giveaways are...

Congratulations to the winners of The Flavor Bible! They are:

Jess Bair, Gwendolyn B. of The Book Bubble, and Linda

And also to the winners of Katie Brown Celebrates! They are:

Sue A., darbyscloset, Theresa N., Candes of The World According to Candes & Janel of Janel's Jumble

I hope you all enjoy the books or use them as a fantastic holiday gift! Once I have heard back from everyone with their mailing addresses, I will send them all in to Hachette and they will send the books out to you. They ship with UPS and it usually takes a week or so. Many thanks again to Hachette Book Group for providing the books for this giveaway! Happy Holidays Everyone!

Giveaway: Look Your Best for the Holidays!

Here's another fantastic holiday giveaway from the generous people over at Hachette Book Group! To enter just leave a comment here by 11:59 pm eastern time on December 8. You must have a US or Canada mailing address (no PO Boxes). If there is no contact info in your blog id then please make sure you leave your email address.

When you leave your comment please tell me if you would prefer to receive Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual or Get Positively Beautiful. If either one is fine, please note that too. I have five copies of each book to give away. I will randomly draw ten names and do my best to give everyone their first choice. Either of these would make a great gift! Good Luck!

Review: Rogues and Rebels by Jo Field

"Book One of the Tawford Chronicles: A story of intrigue, passion and betrayal in the English Civil War"

(*****This is my One Hundredth Post!!! Yay! Wahwho!!*****)

In the autumn of 1642, Southwest England is ripped apart by civil war. Parliament has revolted against King Charles I and the populace is divided. Brothers and cousins, fathers and sons find themselves on opposing sides. Alexander Dynam leads a band of men in the service of the king. He is resourceful and courageous, an accomplished spy and a master of disguise. His men love him, he has earned their respect and they are loyal to the core. As the book opens, Alexander has been caught by Roundheads (as the forces of the Parliament are called) and is being held in a cellar. With MacGyver-like ingenuity, he escapes and in so doing makes a serious enemy of Captain James Dewett, the man held responsible for the loss of such a valuable prisoner. The consequences of his enmity will be far-reaching.

Alexander has always believed himself to be the bastard son of his guardian, Viscount Robert Westley. When he discovers that he is not Robert's son and Robert refuses to tell him the truth of his parentage it causes a bitter rift between the two. The rift is deepened by the loss of Robert's actual son, who is killed when thrown from Alexander's horse. Robert can't help but blame Alexander, who blames himself just as much. Their division is heartbreaking for Robert's sister Ellen who loves both men fiercely and can't bear to see them at odds.

Plots and intrigues hatched and carried out, skirmishes and battles, heroes and heroines who use all of their brains and courage in defense of themselves and their loved ones, cunning and sneaky villains, even a mystery satisfactorily sleuthed and solved. Jo Field brings all these and more together in this wonderful historical novel that brings alive the English past and a host of interesting and well developed characters.

I really enjoyed this engaging story. The plot was intricate and satisfying. If you are like me, you draw conclusions about a book based on the cover (Yes, I know I'm not supposed to!) But don't let the cover of this one fool you, though set against the background of war, it is far from the heart of the narrative.

The author is currently working on Book Two in this series, Secrets and Ciphers. Write faster, Jo, I can't wait to read it!

Rogues and Rebels is published by Discovered Authors. ISBN 978-1-905108-61-9

Order Rogues & Rebels from Amazon

Review: Dead Ringer by Mary Burton

In the freezing cold of a Richmond, Virginia winter a serial killer is at work. When the second woman is found, homicide detective Jacob Warwick is struck by her resemblance to the first victim. Not only that, but both dead women bear a strong resemblance to Kendall Shaw.

Kendall is a beautiful and successful television news anchor. She met Jacob the previous summer when they were both pulled into another murder investigation. (Those events are the focus of Ms. Burton's first book, I'm Watching You). They haven't seen each other since. When Jacob warns Kendall that the killer might be interested in her, she is reluctant to believe it. The theory does sound far-fetched.

Each victim is left with a necklace around her neck that bears a charm with a woman's name on it. But it's not the victim's name. As Jacob and his partner Zack Kier investigate, an unlikely connection begins to take shape and they race to stop the killer from completing his chilling plan.

Dead Ringer is a suspenseful thriller with an unexpected, twisting tale. The numerous characters are well developed and their stories weave easily into the central plot. The fast paced action kept me turning pages late into the night and I was fascinated by the outcome of the investigation. There was just enough romance between the main characters to make it interesting without overwhelming the drama of the story.

Dead Ringer is published by Zebra. ISBN 978-1-4201-0027-3

Many thanks to Dorothy Thompson at Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours for sending me this book for review!



Order Dead Ringer from Amazon

Review: Red Sea by E.A. Benedek PLUS a Guest Post by the Author!

The unthinkable has happened. Again. Four airplanes in different parts of the world are blown up in mid-flight. As soon as word comes in, Israeli operatives are forming a task force. None of their aircraft were involved but it is in Israel's best interests to keep on top of what is happening in the world of terrorism.

Israeli agent Julian Granot is part of the team, called in from retirement because of his expertise and connections. He soon convinces a young American aviation reporter, Marie Peterssen, to look into one of the service locations for aircraft video equipment. Julian suspects that terrorists have been working for the equipment shop.

As Marie is drawn further into the investigation, the trail leads her to Baghdad where she meets FBI agent Morgan Ensley. Finding their interests are in common, the two investigate the terror network in Iraq and the one man who seems to be the key to it all. The plot is far bigger than it seemed at the beginning and the lives of millions of people are on the line as all three race to stop a plot whose outcome would change the world.

To me, this book was absolutely chilling. (The echo of 9/11 never fades for me, I am constantly faced with that reality because the industry I work in lies at the heart of the events of that day.) The author has painted a scarily realistic scenario that will keep you on the edge of your seat and leave you wondering about security measures and hoping that we have sharp people on the job. It's a great read, the characters are smart and likable and the personal backgrounds are interesting.

Welcome to the author, Emily Benedek, who sent me this fascinating guest post about writing this book:

People have asked me what inspired me to write RED SEA. My inspiration was meeting a source for a Newsweek story I'd written soon after 9/11.The man was an expert in airline security, and we met several times in New York after my story had come out. Why did he want to meet me? This was a man who liked developing sources. That was his job and his habit. Also, he had some measure of trust for me because he'd made a request of me during our interview for the Newsweek story, a request I had honored.

He was a fascinating person who told amazing stories. After a few meetings, he asked me if I would consider writing a book about airline security--he was convinced at the time that Washington would not do the right thing by its air passengers. I had already written three non-fiction books and I knew what was involved. I was intrigued. So in our next meeting, I put down a tape recorder and switched it on. For the first time, he was much less open in his conversation, and I immediately snapped off the recorder. I realized right away that the kind of insider information he had would very hard to triple-verify -- what I would have to do for a non-fiction book. So I asked him if he thought it might be easier to tell his story as fiction instead. "Maybe" he said. "Maybe."

We continued to meet and I found out more about him--he had been a commando and then a commander in Israel's most elite special forces unit and an operator for Israel's security service in Europe. He was a very senior operator and a very intelligent person.

I began to create characters in my mind--of a retired Israeli commando with a heavy past, an American female journalist with something to prove,and a maverick (excuse the term) FBI agent. I had spent a year following an FBI agent for a story, so I knew something about how that agency was run. All the threats in the plot, all the operational details are correct and based on as much detailed and intensive reporting as if the book had indeed been non-fiction.

The safety of seaports has been a huge concern of American security officials--and for good reason. Millions of sea containers enter our ports every year, almost none of which get inspected. I decided to put an attempt to attack one of our seaports in the book, and then I had to find experts who could tell me what took place on ships--how they were laid out, what the threats were and how much bribery and criminality was involved in the sea trade.

I felt when I wrote RED SEA that Americans were being very naive about the threat of terrorism. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration, by using the threat for political ends, by launching a senseless war in the name of counter-terror, and by trying to abridge Americans rights, has made it much harder now to talk about terrorism. Because now Americans are frustrated, angered, and confused about it. Unfortunately, the threat remains. I tried to show how a very smart and experienced person thinks about and fights terror. And how two principled, brave people try to learn fast and help out. I also tried to show the weaknesses in the American system, which I'm afraid are accurately drawn.

I am now working on the next book--Marie, Morgan and Julian are back together again, this time trying to interfere with Iran's development of the bomb.

Thank you Emily! And my thanks, too, to TLC Book Tours for allowing me to participate in this tour! Here are the other stops that are scheduled:

E.A. Benedek’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:
Tuesday, October 21st: Jenn’s Bookshelf
Wednesday, October 22nd: Rough Edges
Monday, October 27th: Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books
Wednesday, October 29th: Michele - Only One ‘L’
Monday, November 3rd: Right Truth
Wednesday, November 5th: Dark Party Review
Monday, November 10th: The Sleepy Reader
Thursday, November 13th: Should Be Reading
Monday, November 17th: Musings of a Bookish Kitty

Red Sea is published by St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-35492-3

Order Red Sea from Amazon