Pray For Oklahoma
The people of Oklahoma desperately need your help right now. I have listed several ways to help.
Shelter for Displaced Oklahomans:
University of Oklahoma (Norman)
Opening up available student housing at no cost. Call 405-325-2511
Oklahoma Baptist University (Shawnee)
Opening up available student housing at no cost. Call 405-275-2850 & 405-878-2402
Journey Church (I-35 & Tecumseh Road-Norman)
Opening up housing and offering meals. Call 405-217-8700 or email help@journeychurch.tv
St. Andrews Church (SW 119th & S. May)
Monetary Donations:
Salvation Army: Text STORM to 80888
American Red Cross: Text REDCROSS to 90999
Other Donations:
DIAPERS
Bottled Water
Formula and bottles
Toiletries
Cell phone chargers
Non-perishable food items
Dog and cat food
Clothes: clean or new
Shoes
Drop offs:
Most local churches
Local television stations
As always your thoughts and prayors are needed!
It’s Monday! What are you reading?
Welcome to It’s Monday! What Are You Reading! This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from! Hosted by Book Journey.
My life has been really crazy lately and I haven’t read much. I’ve been doing lots of mommy duty with dance rehearsals and recital and softball practices and games. With that said, here’s what I’m reading this week.
In the tradition of Kate Mosse, a swiftly-paced mystery that stretches from modern London to Tudor England
In modern-day London, architectural historian and recovering alcoholic Annie Kendall hopes to turn her life around and restart her career by locating several long-missing pieces of ancient Judaica. Geoff Harris, an investigative reporter, is soon drawn into her quest, both by romantic interest and suspicions about the head of the Shalom Foundation, the organization sponsoring her work. He’s also a dead ringer for the ghost of a monk Annie believes she has seen at the flat she is subletting in Bristol House.
In 1535, Tudor London is a very different city, one in which monks are being executed by Henry VIII and Jews are banished. In this treacherous environment of religious persecution, Dom Justin, a Carthusian monk, and a goldsmith known as the Jew of Holborn must navigate a shadowy world of intrigue involving Thomas Cromwell, Jewish treasure, and sexual secrets. Their struggles shed light on the mysteries Annie and Geoff aim to puzzle out—at their own peril.
This riveting dual-period narrative seamlessly blends a haunting supernatural thriller with vivid historical fiction. Beverly Swerling, widely acclaimed for her City of Dreams series, delivers a bewitching and epic story of a historian and a monk, half a millennium apart, whose destinies are on a collision course.
The Cross and the Dragon by Kim Rendfeld
Song of Roland, Roncevaux, Charlemagne, romance, medieval, France, Spain A tale of love in an era of war and blood feuds. Francia, 778: Alda has never forgotten Ganelon’s. vow of vengeance when she married his rival, Hruodland. Yet the jilted suitor’s malice is nothing compared to Alda’s premonition of disaster for her beloved, battle-scarred husband. Although the army invading Hispania is the largest ever and King Charles has never lost a war, Alda cannot shake her anxiety. Determined to keep Hruodland from harm, even if it exposes her to danger, Alda gives him a charmed dragon amulet. Is its magic enough to keep Alda’s worst fears from coming true. and protect her from Ganelon? Inspired by legend and painstakingly researched, The Cross and the Dragon is a story of tenderness, sacrifice, lies, and revenge in the early years of Charlemagne’s reign, told by a fresh, new voice in historical fiction. “Kim Rendfeld has an addictive style of writing. The strong characterization, held my interest, and I took particular pleasure in the originality of the setting. The Cross and the Dragon is a book I truly enjoyed reading.” Roberta Gellis, author of the Roselynde Chronicles “This sweeping epic [is told in an] elegant, convincing manner. The author gives us, realistic and likeable characters, making it a pleasure to dive in to a multi-layered tale.” Publishers Weekly
What are you reading this week?
Barefoot Saturday: SALE, SALE, SALE
Everything at Barefoot Books is 20% off with the code PEACE at checkout! Now, the question is what do I get? Well, I have a couple of suggestions for you.
The Girl with a Brave Heart
“Taken altogether, the book is a heartwarming vindication of good-heartedness, something that doesn’t always get celebrated in a girlhood culture of snark.” -The New York Times
Also featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Publisher’s Weekly and more! Please see our Press & Awards page for more stellar reviews of this book.
Ages 4 to 10 years
Written By: Rita Jahanforuz
Illustrated By: Vali Mintzi
A Hole in the Bottom of the Sea
Discover amazing and fascinating sea creatures in the hole in the bottom of the sea! Based on the traditional cumulative song, each verse introduces a new creature and its place in the food chain, with the shark chasing the eel, who chases the squid, who chases the snail. Enhanced CD includes video animation and audio singalong.
Retold By: Jessica Law
Illustrated By: Jill McDonald
Sung By: The Flannery Brothers
Don’t these books look wonderful?!
Book Blogger Hop (15) & FF Friday
The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer from Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012.
Luckily, Billy from The Coffee-Addicted Writer has relaunched the Book Blogger Hop. Each week the hop will start on Friday and end on Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt just like before. The hop’s purpose will remain the same as it will give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.
Q: What is your guilty pleasure read?
A: Urban Fantasy and paranormal romance. Sometimes when I’ve read several very serious/literary books, I just need some good UF and supernatural fiction!
The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!
Q: School is out! What is your favorite summer reading book?
A: I really don’t have one. My family and I are going to Disney World in June and I will load up my Kindle with all kinds of good books. I’m so behind on my TBR list, I know won’t have any trouble finding a good book to read.
HFVBT: Review of Cascade by Maryanne O’Hara
Cascade by Maryanne O’Hara
Published by Penguin Books
Published on April 30, 2013
384 pages
Historical Fiction
Received from HFVBT in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis:
During the 1930s in a small town fighting for its survival, a conflicted new wife seeks to reconcile her artistic ambitions with the binding promises she has made.
Fans of Richard Russo, Amor Towles, Sebastian Barry, and Paula McLain will devour this transporting novel about the eternal tug between our duties and our desires, set during in New York City and New England during the Depression and New Deal eras.
It’s 1935, and Desdemona Hart Spaulding has sacrificed her plans to work as an artist in New York to care for her bankrupt, ailing father in Cascade, Massachusetts. When he dies, Dez finds herself caught in a marriage of convenience, bound to the promise she made to save her father’s Shakespeare Theater, even as her town may be flooded to create a reservoir for Boston. When she falls for artist Jacob Solomon, she sees a chance to escape and realize her New York ambitions, but is it morally possible to set herself free?
Cascade is a poignant novel about a woman trying to escape the sphere of domesticity to live her life as she always intended. So many people faced desperate situations during the Great Depression and Maryanne O’Hara captured that desperation with such texture and detail. Desdemona’s own desperation runs throughout the book.
Desdemona, or Dez, is a wonderful character. She sacrificed her life in the art world to save her father’s dreams and marries just for financial security. Her claustrophobia sets in very quickly where she continues to dream and fixate on water and drowning. Her home town of Cascade faces total destruction to make way for a new reservoir and she feels trapped. Her only outlet is her art and Jacob. I can’t image what it would be like to be a woman artist in the 1930s. Your opportunities would be so limited. You are expected to marry and have children. A woman’s place is in the home. Dez’s struggle with domesticity is a continuing theme in the book.
At heart, Dez is an artist. That is the only way she can survive. At times, she is very self-absorbed but I think that is a common characteristic for any artistic person. Her husband could not understand that about her. Her world could not revolve around him. She has to live through her art. She can make some serious bad decisions. But she is very human and trying to find her place in the world.
Bigotry is also a running theme through this book. World War II is about to begin and there is huge back lash against the Jewish community. When Dez falls in love with Jacob she sees firsthand how people are treated even though they’ve done nothing wrong. Her feelings of guilt are strong on how Jacob is treated.
I found Cascade to be very emotional book and I highly recommend it.
About the Author
Maryanne O’Hara was the longtime associate fiction editor at the award-winning literary journal Ploughshares. She received her MFA from Emerson College fifteen years ago, and wrote short fiction that was widely published before committing to the long form. She lives on a river near Boston.
www.maryanneohara.com
Virtual Book Tour Schedule
Monday, April 29 Review & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages
Tuesday, April 30 Feature & Giveaway at Passages to the Past
Wednesday, May 1 Review & Giveaway at Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews
Thursday, May 2 Review & Giveaway at Flashlight Commentary
Friday, May 3 Review at Tiny Library
Wednesday, May 8 Review & Giveaway at Confessions of an Avid Reader
Thursday, May 9 Review at A Bookish Affair Review & Giveaway at The Relentless Reader
Friday, May 10 Guest Post & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair
Monday, May 13 Review at Write Meg
Tuesday, May 14 Review at Kinx’s Book Nook Review & Giveaway at Bippity Boppity Book
Wednesday, May 15 Review at Raging Bibliomania
Thursday, May 16 Review & Giveaway at Ageless Pages Reviews
Friday, May 17 Review & Giveaway at The Blue Stocking Society
Monday, May 20 Review at Amused By Books Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book!
Tuesday, May 21 Interview & Giveaway at Oh, For the Hook of a Book!
Wednesday, May 22 Review & Giveaway at The Worm Hole
Thursday, May 23 Review at A Book Geek
Friday, May 24 Review & Giveaway at The Picky Girl
Monday, May 27 Review & Giveaway at The Novel Life
Tuesday, May 28 Review & Giveaway at Always with a Book Review, Guest Post & Giveaway at The Lit Bitch
Wednesday, May 29 Review at Turning the Pages
Thursday, May 30 Guest Post at The Novel Life
Friday, May 31 Interview & Giveaway at Cheryl’s Book Nook
Monday, June 3 Review at Words and Peace
Tuesday, June 4 Review at Historical Tapestry & Adventures of an Intrepid Reader Giveaway at Words and Peace
Wednesday, June 5 Review & Giveaway at A Chick Who Reads
Thursday, June 6 Review at The Little Reader Library
Friday, June 7 Review at A Novel Review
Review: Where Are The Dinos?
Where Are The Dinos?
Written by Julia Dweck
Illustrated by Bob Ostrom
Published by KiteReaders
Published on March 28, 2013
Children’s Book
Received from the author in exchange for an honest review
“I wonder why, I wonder how …
Where are all the dinos now?”Boys and girls will delight in this fast-paced rhyming adventure chock-full of hilarious questions from a very persistent young visitor at the zoo.
“What do dinos find in shops?
Polka-dot tricera-tops?”The laughs keep coming in this charming adventure full of dino-mite humor and fun. It’s the perfect good time read that kids will enjoy reading over and over again.
I read Where Are the Dinos? to my five year old daughter on my Kindle Fire and we really enjoyed it. This book has an easy flow to it and it’s really fun to read. The colors of the illustrations really pop on the screen. I think we read it at least four times in a row.
My daughter’s favorite line, where she giggled the most, is:
Where do dinos hear at night?
Are their parties dino-mite?
This little book is fun to read snuggled up on the coach. You will hear lots of giggles as you read which is a wonderful thing when reading a book to a child.
Kid Lit Giveaway Hop
In honor of Children’s Book Week, I’m participating in the Kid’s Lit Giveaway Hop hosted by Mother Daughter Book Reviews. I love children’s books, especially ones published by Barefoot Books. If you didn’t already know, I’m a Barefoot Books Ambassador and I want to share my love for these wonderful books with you. To do that, I’m giving away a Barefoot Books chapter book entitled The Adventures of Odysseus. I hope you love it as much as I do!
The Adventures of Odysseus
As Odysseus fights to find his way back home after the long and brutal Trojan War, he has to endure harrowing ordeals and adventures, and come to terms with devastating losses. Storytellers Hugh Lupton and Daniel Morden’s graphic retelling breathes new life into this great classic.
Paperback chapter book now part of the Barefoot Books Young Fiction line.
Winner of the NAPPA Gold Award
Ages 8 and up
Retold By: Daniel Morden, Hugh Lupton
Illustrated By: Christina Balit
To enter please fill out the rafflecopter form below. Good luck and happy reading!
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Book Blogger Hop (14) & FF Friday
The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer from Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012.
Luckily, Billy from The Coffee-Addicted Writer has relaunched the Book Blogger Hop. Each week the hop will start on Friday and end on Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt just like before. The hop’s purpose will remain the same as it will give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.
Q: What was the last book you re-read? Or what book would like to re-read?
A:
The last book I re-read was The Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. I’m a huge fan of the All Soul’s Trilogy!
The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!
Q: Happy Mother’s Day! Who is your favorite mother from fiction?
A: Molly Weasley from the Harry Potter Series. She is ferociously protective of her children. Her words to her Bellatrix Lestrange were amazing!
Why I Love to Read: Graphic Novels
Why I Love to Read
Graphic Novels
Have you ever read a graphic novel? You really should try one. I read my first one during last year’s Banned Book Week. I wanted to read some completely different so I chose The Color of Earth and it was amazing. In my uneducated mind, I thought graphic novels were more like comic books. Man, was I wrong! I loved every page and I couldn’t put it down.
The Color of Earth completely opened me up to a whole new book world. Another great discovery is First Second Books, a graphic novels publisher located in New York. First Second published Color of Earth plus so many others. Graphic novels come in so many different genres, from memoirs to historical fiction to kids lit. I love looking through their catalog to find a new treasure.
The reason I love graphic novels so much is that it gives so much texture and richness to a story. In my mind, this is what is going on in the author’s mind. It’s his/her vision of the characters and story. It helps me visualize the appearance of a character and the tone of the story. There are many times while I’m reading that I get overcome and feel totally immersed in the book. It’s a great feeling. Sometimes I can get bogged down in an overly wordy book. However, when I pick up a graphic novel, I can very easily get lost in the illustrations.
My eight year old has also found the pleasure of reading a graphic novel. Before she read one, she had a hard time finding anything she really wanted to read. I think she would get overwhelmed with chapter books. She needed something that stimulated her mind visually. Finally, she discovered Bad Kitty, Bone, Baby Mouse and Lunch Lady. She loves them and plows right through them.
I’m not saying that all I’m going to read now are graphic novels. For me, it is a nice change from the more traditional novel. Most graphic novels are a pretty quick read and sometimes I really need that. I think the other side of my brain needs that visual stimulation.
Here is a list of graphic novels that I love:
- The Color of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa
- The Color of Water by Kim Dong Hwa
- The Color of Heaven by Kim Dong Hwa
- Relish by Lucy Knisley
- French Milk by Lucy Knisley
- Templar by Jordan Mechner, LeUyen Pham & Alex Puvilland
Review: Templar
Templar by Jordan Mechner, LeUyen Pham, Alex Puvilland
Published by First Second
To be published in July 2013
480 pages
Graphic novel/Historical fiction
Received from the publisher in exchange for a honest review
Synopsis:
Martin is one of a handful of Templar Knights to escape when the king of France and the pope conspire to destroy the noble order. The pope and king aim to frame the Templars for heresy, execute all of them, and make off with their legendary treasure. That’s the plan, anyway, but Martin and several other surviving knights mount a counter-campaign to regain the lost treasure of the Knights Templar.
With gorgeous illustrations by LeUyen Pham and Alexander Puvilland and lust coloring from Hilary Sycamore, this 480-page, full-color, hardcover graphic novel by Jordan Mechner is itself a treasure.
It is going to be very difficult to find the words to describe how many I love this book; but, I’m going to try. Everything about this book is amazing. From the story, to the characters, and to the powerful images, this is a perfect book. I found it to be incredibly rich in historical detail, both in the story and the illustrations. From the first page of the forward where Jordan Mechner compares the Knights Templar to Jedi Knights, I knew I was hooked.. After reading that, I could not put it down!
The story in Templar is very intense and fast-paced. You are watching men who have been tortured and forced to renounce everything they believe trying to survive with their honor. Mechner, Pham and Puvilland were able to capture the absolute horror of the demise of the Knights Templar. The illustrations powerfully depicted how the knights were forced to confess their alleged crimes through torture. The images are subtle but at the same time horrifying.
Throughout Templar, these surviving knights are struggling to redeem themselves to their beloved Order. The main character, Martin, continued to see ghostly, fallen knights that would lead him to his salvation. I found those images very powerful.
Templar is not all violence and gore. There is humor and a bit of romance as well. There were many times I was laughing at loud at some of the antics of the knights. I liked the use of humor to lessen some of foulness surrounding the characters. Along with the romance, there is a bit of a love triangle which also lessens the dark storyline. It is a very bittersweet love story.
Templar is such a unique read. I had never seen historical fiction in the graphic novel format. It was a truly amazing reading experience. I loved every page!
May Selection
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