Authors and Publishers, I am happy to receive ARCs and published children's, middle grade, and YA books for review. When I finish it, I will review it. If you need the review posted in a certain time period, please let me know and I will move it to the top of the stack. Please note: my reviews are honest, but they are my opinion. If you don't want that, please don't ask. Email Me for reviews.
By Jessi Kirby
Publication Date: May 3rd 2011 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
from Goodreads:
From Jessi Kirby, a debut novel about confronting the past in order to move ahead.
I read once that water is a symbol for emotions. And for a while now, I've thought maybe my mother drowned in both.
Anna's life is upended when her father accepts a job transfer the summer before her junior year. It's bad enough that she has to leave her friends and her life behind, but her dad is moving them to the beach where her parents first met and fell in love- a place awash in memories that Anna would just as soon leave under the surface.
While life on the beach is pretty great, with ocean views and one adorable lifeguard in particular, there are also family secrets that were buried along the shore years ago. And the ebb and flow of the ocean's tide means that nothing- not the sea glass that she collects on the sand and not the truths behind Anna's mother's death- stays buried forever.
I actually have an ARC of this one that I'm just dying to get to! It seems like a great summer read and I am getting summer ready!
By Holly Goldberg Sloan
Publication Date: May 3rd 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Raised by an unstable father who keeps the family constantly on the move, Sam Border hasn't been in a classroom since the second grade. He's always been the rock for his younger brother Riddle, who stopped speaking long ago and instead makes sense of the world through his strange and intricate drawings. It's said that the two boys speak with one voice--and that voice is Sam's.
Then, Sam meets Emily Bell, and everything changes. The two share an immediate and intense attraction, and soon Sam and Riddle find themselves welcomed into the Bell's home. Faced with normalcy for the first time, they know it's too good to last.
Told from multiple perspectives, Holly Goldberg Sloan's debut novel offers readers fresh voices and a gripping story, with vivid glimpses into the lives of many unique characters. Beautifully written and emotionally profound, I'll Be There is a story about connections both big and small, and deftly explores the many ways that our lives are woven together.
I'm very intrigued by this one because it deals with a child who has not been in school, forced to take care of his younger brother. The fact that the younger one doesn't talk and the older one still knows how to communicate with him fascinates me.
I have never done end of the month wrap ups on my blog. Yes, others do it, yes, I read them on others' blogs, yes, it's fun to see the stats, but I just don't do it. I'm not sure why. Maybe this past month is a good reason why I don't.
March was not good to me as far as reading went. For what it's worth, April hasn't taken off with a bang either, but my plan is to remedy that before the month gets away from me. Anyway, back to March. Did I even finish a book? According to Goodreads, I did...Adventures in Nowhere, but it was at the very beginning of the month, so it's just a blur in my memory. Did I do a lot of reading? Not as much as I would have liked, but I started some books: Alice in Zombieland, Hailey Twitch and the Great Teacher Switch, and The Wilder Life. These are all good books, but they just didn't hold my attention. I've been in a reading slump before, but enough already! I want a book that will "catch" me. So, last night I started reading Hourglass while I took a bath. 2 chapters in and so far so good...let's hope it lives up to all the blogger hype. I really need to get through this one, for me, for my reading inspiration, for the love of blogging.
April is a busy work month for me, but I've got to learn to prioritize so that it doesn't consume me. For those of you with children or who are in the education industry, you know that states give standardized tests. The end of the month is the TAKS, Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, test in Math and Reading for our 3rd and 4th graders. They have been busily preparing, we have been anxiously stressing over practice test scores, etc. Once it's over, I'll be able to breathe a whole lot easier and so will my teachers.
After that, it's adoption anticipation. We went for our 2nd and final day of PRIDE training yesterday. Now, we have CPR/first aid on Friday, our home study on the 13th, psychotropic meds on the 14th and then behavior management on the 23rd. We've got almost all of our paperwork turned in, so after the 23rd, she can submit for our license and then we just wait on a phone call. My oldest step-daughter is coming over today to help me clean out and redo the middle room for a nursery and my mom's coming to go get the material for all the nursery "stuff." My grandmother and I will spend next Saturday sewing everything. It will make for a long day, but in the end, it will be so worth it. This is the material that we will be using.
It's gender neutral because we won't know if we'll be getting a boy or a girl until the phone call comes. We don't have a preference one way or the other, just a healthy baby to love. It's amazing to think that our life will change overnight and I'm trying to prepare for it in a month. Pregnant women have 9 months to do all of that...hmmm...maybe I'm crazy!
Last weekend, 2 of our granddaughters came over for a little while. They rode horses and then my husband washed down the horses before putting them up. Our youngest granddaughter had so much fun playing in the mud that when she left, she was only in her shirt and diaper. Boy, was she a mess!! This picture was taken after she had been splashing in the water. She was laughing because she thought it was so funny!
Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books. To participate, just post a picture that you, family, or a friend have taken. The amount of captioning is up to you. Pictures must be clean and appropriate for all eyes.
No April Fool's jokes for you today, just a fun Friday Fill-In. Have a great weekend!
1. I can't believe it's April already.
2. Drinks for everyone.
3. How can I get all this done in just a month?
4. Chicken soup with vegetables was the last thing I cooked.
5. Six of one half a dozen of another is a saying I use all the time.
6. Oh my gosh; nonono!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing at home, tomorrow my plans include our 2nd day of PRIDE training and Sunday, I want to clean out the middle bedroom to turn it into a baby room!
By Josephine Angelini
Publication Date: May 31st 2011 by HarperTeen
How do you defy destiny?
Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.
As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.
I'm late with my Salon post, but it's been a busy weekend and I really wanted to write about this, so I couldn't pre-write and schedule the post ahead of time.
This is a book blog and I don't often share personal information with you, but there are times when I want you to get to know me better as a person, which I think is important in the blogging community. So, I'm taking the opportunity to let you into my world a little bit today.
My husband and I embarked on an emotional journey yesterday. We started the process of adoption. Yesterday was our first training class. We will go again next Saturday, then 2 weeknights and one more Saturday to fulfill the training requirements. We will also be undergoing a home study along the way. This decision has been a long time in the making. You see, my husband has 2 children from a previous marriage and they have given us 5 beautiful grandchildren, but I've always wanted a child of my own. Unfortunately, after many years of trying, lots of doctor visits and tears, we just aren't able to do so on our own. Yes, we could go the in-vitro route, but it's expensive and not 100%. We decided just to keep trying and if it happened, it happened. Well, it hasn't, so here we are.
One of my teachers adopted a little boy last year, and she introduced me to Sans Pareil Center, who we are working with. Sans Pareil does adoption with CPS as well as private adoptions. Private is very costly, so we are going foster to adopt through CPS. Our desire is to get an infant, foster until the CPS case is closed and then officially adopt him or her. No, we don't have a gender preference. We will be happy with whatever the Lord blesses us with. We have been told that the process should go quickly, it will be emotional, sometimes stressful, but worth it in the end. I will keep you posted.
One thing I do want to share with you is One Cause. One Cause provides adoptive parents a way to raise funds for adoption related expenses in an easy way. It allows people to earn contributions while shopping online. Part of the money that is spent with everyday merchants is given back to the adopting family, from the National Adoption Foundation. I'm sharing with you, the letter I sent to friends and family.
Dear Family and Friends,
We want to share our exciting news with you! We have decided to expand our family through adoption and are busily getting ready to welcome our new child!
For us, the difficult part of this process - other than the waiting - is the expense. As some of you may know, adoption expenses include agency fees, legal fees, document preparation costs, travel expenses and more. We have been saving some, but are still seeking ways to raise more funds for our wonderful venture.
We recently learned of a program through OneCause and the National Adoption Foundation that we think will help us make our adoption dream come true. OneCause is a nontraditional fundraising program that will help us earn the funds we need through everyday opportunities, such as shopping at hundreds of name-brand merchants online or in stores and catalogs, through purchasing gift certificates, by using the OneCause credit card, or through a variety of other easy programs.
We're really excited about this program and wanted to let you know that you can participate and help us build our family by becoming a member of OneCause. There's absolutely no cost or hassle to you - just do what you do every day and we will earn credit toward our adoption costs!
Here's How You Can Help
1. Become a registered member of OneCause. Simply go to www.onecause.com and register as a OneCause member. This only takes a minute and you'll be on your way to helping us out.
2. Once you have registered, find the "Dues Crediting" field at the bottom of the online registration screen. You will see a field called "Benefiting." Enter our registered email address and your contributions will automatically begin to benefit us.
Our registered email address is: shelcows@sbcglobal.net
3. Begin shopping at hundreds of OneCause merchants online, in stores, and through catalogs. You'll earn a merchant contribution on each purchase, a percentage of which will go toward our adoption credit. Remember to begin all of your online shopping at OneCause so we earn credit!
4. Consider signing up for and using the OneCause Visa card for all of your purchases. On every purchase you make with the card - no matter where you make it - the National Adoption Foundation earns a 1% contribution, part of which goes toward our adoption. To sign up, go to visa.onecause.com or call 1-800-297-1286 and use code 28B8. Once your card arrives, be sure to activate, register your card, and start shopping!
5. Ask us about other OneCause opportunities to help us earn adoption credit!
That's all there is to it!
Please call or email us with any questions you may have regarding our situation. We are always excited and happy to talk about this wonderful adventure. When our child arrives home to us, we will contact you with our happy news. Thank you so much for helping us bring our child home.
Thank you!
Willie and Shelly Burns
Register with OneCause and help us build our family! www.onecause.com
1. Why does it always seem darker before the dawn?
2.Too much is equal to not enough, for some people.
3. My favorite breakfast includes waffles with strawberries.
4. Exposed was the last book I read that I absolutely loved.
5. I am SO glad today is Friday and it's only a 1/2 day with kids.
6. Sleep would make me feel better right now.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to possibly visiting friends who just had a baby, tomorrow my plans include PRIDE Training, for adoption and Sunday, I want to work outside!
This week I have Stuart Lutz on the blog talking about the most influential book that he has read.
Stuart Lutz has always been fascinated by the stories told by older people. Perhaps it started when he was a boy and heard his great-grandparents recount their immigrant voyage to America, their first airplane sighting, and the first time his great-grandmother could legally vote (even though she had been married four years). Also, when he was young, he was intrigued during a family trip to Charleston, South Carolina, when the tour guide pointed out the building that still housed some Confederate widows, even though the Civil War had been over for 125 years. He could not understand how that could be, until the guide explained that some young ladies married much older men who had fought in the Civil War.
Lutz’s interests in history and writing come together in The Last Leaf, an oral history book featuring the stories of almost forty survivors and eyewitnesses to historically important events. Lutz is the only person to have interviewed the last three Civil War widows (the last one died in 2008), but The Last Leaf also features the last American World War I soldier, the final living person to have flown with Amelia Earhart, the final pitcher to give up a home run to Babe Ruth in his historic 1927 season (when Ruth hit sixty home runs), the last suffragette, the final Medal of Honor winner for heroism on Pearl Harbor Day, the last person to have made design contributions to the ENIAC (the first electronic, programmable computer), the final Iwo Jima flag raiser, the last survivor of the sunken Lusitania, the final Harry Houdini stage hand, and the last employees of Thomas Edison and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Each chapter blends the narrative of the “Last Leaves” with historical background so readers can understand what occurred and the long-term importance of each event.
Lutz owns Stuart Lutz Historic Documents, Inc., a firm that sells rare letters and manuscripts (www.HistoryDocs.com). He has written for American Heritage and Civil War Times Illustrated, and appeared on National Public Radio. He has a B.A. in American History from Johns Hopkins.
My Most Influential Book
By Stuart Lutz
About fifteen years ago, I lived in Fairfield County, Connecticut. Not only is it one of the country’s wealthiest counties, it is one of the showiest too. Everyone, it seemed to me, owned a luxury car, took exotic vacations, and shopped at the local boutiques. And frugal me was driving an old Mitsubishi Colt with 140,000 miles that required bi-monthly repairs, and living in a small apartment in a woman’s subdivided house. It was easy to wonder what I was doing wrong.
I mentioned this conundrum to my uncle, who was then a top executive for one of the country’s most prestigious financial firms. “Most Americans,” he explained to me, “are so far in credit card debt that they will never get out, or they two weeks away from living on the street [his forecast is being proven by today’s foreclosure crisis].” I was momentarily puzzled by what he said, and I responded with, “Perhaps for the little guy, but these people who drive Mercedes, they can’t be two weeks away from foreclosure.” “They frequently are,” he replied. “People who make big money usually spend big money. Or they skip contributing to their retirement funds so that they have no accumulated wealth. I read recently that the average luxury car buyer only makes something like forty or fifty thousand dollars a year. It’s hard to get ahead financially when the price of your car equals your annual salary.”
Soon thereafter, I received a package from my uncle containing The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William D. Danko. The book is an academic, yet easily readable, study of people who have at least a million dollars in wealth, excluding the value of their homes. The people profiled include business owners worth seven figures, or others who have frugally saved over a million dollars in their retirement accounts. Stanley and Danko emphasize several characteristics the millionaires generally share, including frugality, a desire for financial independence, self-employment, and an emphasis on saving, investing, and budgeting. The authors define “underaccumulators of wealth” and “prodigious accumulators of wealth,” and introduced me to one of my favorite phrases, “big hat, no cattle.” The Millionaire Next Door is the most influential book I have read in the past two decades for a few reasons. First, it is my desire to be financially independent. Recent news stories state that the Social Security trust will be exhausted in 2037, about the time I can first collect. If there is not going to be Social Security, then I need to be a “prodigious accumulator of wealth” to retire.
Second, the book showed that the frugality that I learned from my parents is the lifestyle that I want to have. I am just not a Mercedes or BMW person. Instead, I am delighted to drive my seven-year old Toyota with 146,000 miles or my fifteen year old Acura with 206,000 clicks; I prefer them to the slavery of new car payments or a lease. Yet my frugality does not mean all self-denial; my wife and I have twice traveled to Hawaii and Ireland; we just do it in the off-season when rates are cheaper.
I re-read The Millionaire Next Door at least once a year for continued inspiration. But my page-flipping is only the theoretical. As for the actual practice of becoming financially independent, I think of the book once a month when I deposit my hard-earned, hard-saved check into my retirement accounts.
To conclude, I own a business that buys and sells historic documents and letters. I have a client who made a fortune on Wall Street and collects papers related to early financial history. About fifteen years ago, he bought at auction one of the first known American stock certificates for almost $40,000. Subsequently, I bought the letter that should accompany the aforementioned stock, and I sold it to him for nearly $10,000. I met this gentleman at a New England hotel to show him the letter. When we finished our business, we walked out to the parking lot, and he got into a beat-up Buick that looked like it belonged in the local demolition derby. Yet he had spent nearly $50,000 on two sheets of paper. He was living proof of the millionaire next door.
About The Millionaire Next Door: The bestselling The Millionaire Next Door identifies seven common traits that show up again and again among those who have accumulated wealth. Most of the truly wealthy in this country don't live in Beverly Hills or on Park Avenue-they live next door. This new edition, the first since 1998, includes a new foreword for the twenty-first century by Dr. Thomas J. Stanley.
About The Last Leaf: When we read about famous historical events, we may wonder about the firsthand experiences of the people directly involved. What insights could be gained if we could talk to someone who remembered the Civil War, or the battle to win the vote for women, or Thomas Edison's struggles to create the first electric light bulb? Amazingly, many of these experiences are still preserved in living memory by the final survivors of important, world-changing events.
In this unique oral history book, author and historic document specialist Stuart Lutz records the stories told to him personally by people who witnessed many of history's most famous events. Among many others, Lutz interviewed:
-the final three Civil War widows (one Union and two Confederate)
-the final pitcher to surrender a home run to Babe Ruth
-the last suffragette
-the last living person to fly with Amelia Earhart
-the final American World War I soldier
-the last surviving employees of Thomas Edison, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Harry Houdini.
The wide-ranging stories involve humor (the 1920 Olympic medalist who stole the original Olympic flag), tragedy (the last survivor of the 1915 Lusitania sinking), heroism (the final Medal of Honor recipient for actions on Pearl Harbor Day), and eyewitnesses to great events (one of the last scientists at the first nuclear chain reaction, and the final Iwo Jima flag raiser).
In more than three-dozen chapters, Lutz blends background information in a lively narrative with the words of the interviewees, so that readers not familiar with the historical episodes described can understand what occurred and the long-term significance of the events.
Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme started by Marcia at The Printed Page. You can read all about it at the Mailbox Monday blog. Well, the mailbox has gone on tour. This month's host is I'm Booking It.
I love this meme because it lets me take a peek into other bloggers' mailboxes and find out what they received over the last week. I will warn you, it does lead to more books as you will find many that you want because of others mailboxes. If you'd like to join in on the fun, post about your books and link up!
I had a rather large mailbox this week and I'm not sure why because I haven't been requesting as many books lately due to lack of time to read. Many of these were unrequested, just sent from the publisher, and I'm thankful. I also have some packages at the post office that I hope will be delivered today. Work has been so busy lately that I can't seem to get out of there in time to get to the post office before it closes. Hopefully the mailman will be nice and deliver my packages so that I can put them in next week's mailbox. This week is Spring Break, so I'm hoping to get a lot of reading in. You may not see me online very much, but know I'm around...I'm just catching up on some reading.
Show Time by Sue Stauffacher, from Random House Children's Books
White Cat and Red Glove (ARC) by Holly Black, from Margaret K. McElderry - both of these came packaged together, from the publisher. I read and enjoyed White Cat, so I'm anxious to see what's in store in Red Glove.
Go, Dog Go! by P.D. Eastman, from Random House Children's Books
Baby's First Book, The Poky Little Puppy, Baby Farm Animals (not pictured), and Home for a Bunny (not pictured) by Little Golden Books, from Random House Children's Books - these four titles are in Random House's new padded board book format for babies, the all-new Golden Baby line. I gave 2 of these to my nephew for his birthday and he is enjoying them.
So Shelly by Ty Roth, from Delacorte Books for Young Readers - I have been waiting on this one, so I'm excited to get to read it now.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to dinner out, tomorrow my plans include my nephew's 2nd birthday party and Sunday, I want to rest!
from Goodreads Gripping and suspenseful, this powerful, no-holds-barred novel by an exciting new talent goes deep inside a young boy's mind. Thirteen-year-old Robbie is locked in a room with nothing but a desk, a chair, a piece of paper, and a pencil. He's starving, but all they'll give him is water. He is sure he's in a nuthouse or a prison. Actually, he's at Great Oaks School, aka the End of the Line. Kept in solitary confinement, Robbie must earn points for food, a bed, even bathroom privileges. He must learn to listen carefully, to follow the rules, and to accept and admit the truth: he is a murderer. Robbie's first-person account of his struggles at the school—at times horrifying, at times hilarious—alternates with flashbacks to the events that led to his incarceration. Ultimately he must confront the question: which is worse—that he wanted to kill his friend Ryan or that he killed him by accident?
Just the cover had me, but the synopsis hooked me! The cover is different than anything I've seen in YA in a while, and the story, well I have one word for you, WOW! I'd love to read this one before April, but I guess I'll have to wait; it's not that long, right? I'm glad to see more male main characters in YA. There haven't been many lately, but I'm starting to see more and more and I'm glad. Yes, I can connect with female leads since I'm a female, but it's great to read stories from the male POV as well. Looking forward to this one!!
Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme started by Marcia at The Printed Page. You can read all about it at the Mailbox Monday blog. Well, the mailbox has gone on tour. This month's host is I'm Booking It.
I love this meme because it lets me take a peek into other bloggers' mailboxes and find out what they received over the last week. I will warn you, it does lead to more books as you will find many that you want because of others mailboxes. If you'd like to join in on the fun, post about your books and link up!
Here's what came into my house, via the mailbox, this week:
Last but not least, I received Arranged by Catherine McKenzie, from Cindy's Love of Books. This is a signed copy that I won on Cindy's blog. I loved finding the surprise bookmarks tucked inside the book along with a sweet note from Cindy. The Anne Geddes bookmark is my favorite! Thanks, Cindy; I love my blogging friends!
I've been MIA pretty much all week this week and I apologize. It's that time of year, and I didn't want this to happen, but I wasn't prepared. That is a problem I'm going to remedy for the upcoming week.
This past week was a busy one for me personally, but not a very productive reading week. Our 4th graders took the TAKS Writing test on Tuesday, so the first part of my week was spent focused on that. I had to do all the prep work on Monday, test all day Tuesday, and then pack up and turn in tests on Wednesday. It takes a lot of focus and the actual testing day tired me out; it's exhausting to prepare for a state test. The students are glad it's behind us, and now we start to prepare for Math and Reading that will be given at the end of April.
The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo started this past week as well. If you've followed my blog for awhile, you know that I volunteer for this 3 week long event. My work days are scattered throughout the show and during the week are at night, so I'm up late and don't get much sleep on these nights. I enjoy it though. It's so fun to see all the people coming off the buses to enjoy the show and then hear about their experiences as they load the bus to go back home. I'm on a committee called Rodeo Express, and we are in charge of the buses that take patrons back and forth from specific park and rides to the stadium. This is my 11th year and I'm so glad to be a part of this yearly event in Houston. It does take a lot of my time though, so there goes my evening reading.
Oh well, the Read-A-Thon is coming up, so I will be able to catch up then. Have you signed up yet? You really should. The Read-A-Thon is so much fun whether you participate as a reader or a cheerleader. I'm anxiously awaiting this event so that I can catch up on my reading. Won't you join us? There are already 102 readers signed up.
So, what did I read this week? It's sad to say that I am still working on Adventures in Nowhere. I've been 2 weeks on this one, and I should have been finished by now. It seems like when I finish a really good book, I have a hard time completing my next one. It's very frustrating! Exposed is what I read before this; you can read my review here. My goal is to finish it this week so that I can start on the mounting TBR pile that is developing. I'm hoping this week is better than last.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing in my chair while watching tv with my husband, tomorrow my plans include a trip to Trinity for a baby shower and some reading in the evening and Sunday, I want to read after I work the rodeo all day!
Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme started by Marcia at The Printed Page. You can read all about it at the Mailbox Monday blog. Well, the mailbox has gone on tour. This month's host is Library of Clean Reads.
I love this meme because it lets me take a peek into other bloggers' mailboxes and find out what they received over the last week. I will warn you, it does lead to more books as you will find many that you want because of others mailboxes. If you'd like to join in on the fun, post about your books and link up!
Thanks to my mail lady not wanting to drive to my gate and drop some packages, I have 2 or 3 waiting for me at the post office. Therefore, I'm posting this late on Sunday because I will probably be updating it on Monday afternoon or posting an addendum to this mailbox.
The small square package on the bottom right has 3 little books in it that are excerpts of the three I received from Algonquin. It's a great marketing tool!
My husband took this picture of the elephants at the Houston Zoo this past week. He is a concrete superintendent and his company does all the concrete work at the zoo. This past week he worked on a new sidewalk around the elephant's habitat. In this picture are 3 females (the large ones in the back), 1 young male and 1 young female (the 2 little ones in the middle). The dark one on the left is 45 years old.
He has come home with some funny stories about the elephants!
Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books. To participate, just post a picture that you, family, or a friend have taken. The amount of captioning is up to you. Pictures must be clean and appropriate for all eyes.
A graduate of the Christian Writer’s Guild’s Apprentice Course, Lisa Lickel was a top ten finisher in the first Operation: First Novel contest. She has written and produced for radio theater and performed live. Her works have been released in national syndication on FreeQuincy.podcast. She freelances for local newspapers and writes short stories, book reviews, devotionals and magazine articles which have appeared in Writer’s Digest, You Can Write for Children, and Harpstring. She holds a bachelors of science in history and RECES.
Lickel’s novels include The Gold Standard, Healing Grace, and Meander Scar.
She enjoys membership in local book clubs and writing groups, as well as American Christian Fiction Writers, and Wisconsin Regional Writers where she is editor-in-chief of Creative Wisconsin Magazine. She lives in a hundred and fifty-year old house and is active in local historical societies. Married to a high school biology teacher, she enjoys travel, books and collecting dragons. Visit her on the web at http://lisalickel.com/.
Both of my parents taught English at one point; my mother was also a librarian and their house is filled with books. When I was young, we visited my grandparents frequently: a two-hour drive north or a five-hour drive west. My favorite memory of those visits is the book shelf. The Pokey Little Puppy was a staple at Grandma Dhein's. The story was a treat I read at their city house. Another influential book in my life was an early Whitman Publishing book called The Star Fairies. Ethereal, fantastic, frightening, I realized later the wonder of capturing allegory.
My parents enrolled my brother and me in a children's book club. The delight of receiving three books a month, like Dr. Suess stories, and A Visit to the Zoo, and so many others is the fondest of memories. They taught me about creating rhythm and word pictures. We were also given free range when choosing from the Scholastic catalog in elementary school. The Witch of Blackbird Pond fueled my love of history and attention to detail.
When I was older, I reached for the western sagas of Zane Grey on my grandfather Duvel's shelf. He never went to high school, but kept a stock of novels and books and crossword puzzles in their farmhouse to satisfy his love of learning. My favorite, Under The Tonto Rim, is a book I kept and read often. It's a tangible family tie I hope my children will appreciate.
I began to read book reviews when I reached high school. Those reviews influenced my reading and buying choices. I discovered Anne McCaffrey, and my love of dragons, inspired first by the frontpiece of Thomas Costain's books, took shape as I started a dragon collection. Robert Heinlein, CS Lewis, and Mark Twain showed me how to create worlds, remember life, and portray characters.
When I read to my children, I saw the delight on their faces, which books were their favorites and why. My reaction, and theirs, taught me the passion of storytelling.
I didn't realize until adulthood that I'd been laying the foundation of an author's toolbox. When I took a writer's course and began selling my articles and stories, then delving into the world of novels, I paid tribute to the love of books I've been privileged to know since childhood.
My work now, mystery and adventure and romance, reflects those early stories.
About The Poky Little Puppy
One of the original 12 Little Golden Books, The Poky Little Puppy has sold nearly 15 million copies since 1942, making it one of the most popular children’s books of all time. Now this curious little puppy is ready to win the hearts and minds of a new generation of kids.
Love can heal even the deepest scars ... After seven years with no clue as to the whereabouts of Ann Ballard's missing husband, nearly everyone presumes him dead. Now forty-something, Ann is ready for her stagnant life to flow again. Then one day, a dark-haired younger man from her past shows up on her doorstep offering a river of hope in place of tears. Former neighbor Mark Roth has secretly loved Ann for years. A respected attorney, he's returned home to help Ann face down disapproving family members and the legal maneuvering of her likely deceased husband's family-while quietly winning her heart. When the hidden truth of Ann's situation turns their lives on end and another tragedy strikes, the two must come to terms with family, faith and the depths to which true love can run.
Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme started by Marcia at The Printed Page. You can read all about it at the Mailbox Monday blog. Well, the mailbox has gone on tour. This month's host is Library of Clean Reads.
I love this meme because it lets me take a peek into other bloggers' mailboxes and find out what they received over the last week. I will warn you, it does lead to more books as you will find many that you want because of others mailboxes. If you'd like to join in on the fun, post about your books and link up!
I had a pretty big week this week, so there's only one picture of all the books stacked up. This week I only had to make one trip to the post office because there was a package that wouldn't fit in the mailbox. Clicking on the book titles will take you to their Goodreads page.
1. New experiences and possibilities abound every day.
2. Around an unexpected turn on a daily walk I ran into a biker.
3. I'm looking forward to one day being a mom.
4. Kids do some things I never have imagined.
5. Try to find the good.
6. My hair is what's extraordinary about me.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to dinner out, tomorrow my plans include setting up tents to get ready for rodeo and Sunday, I want to rest!
