Mailbox Monday
Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their home last week.
Mailbox Monday is currently on tour, hosted by a different blog each month. The July host is BookNAround.
A purchase using a gift card won from Suko’s Notebook (Thanks!):
What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World
by Jon Young
Birds are the sentries—and our key to understanding the world beyond our front door. Unwitting humans create a zone of disturbance that scatters the wildlife. Respectful humans who heed the birds acquire an awareness that radically changes the dynamic. We are welcome in their habitat. The birds don’t fly away. The larger animals don’t race off. No longer hapless intruders, we now find, see, and engage the deer, the fox, the red-shouldered hawk—even the elusive, whispering wren.
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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.
Share what you read last week and what you are currently reading.
Another slow reading week for me. Maybe it’s all those migrating birds to watch and long walks in the pleasant autumn weather plus a busy weekend.
I’m almost finished listening to The Little Stranger, only a couple of hours left. This is part of the RIP Readalong at The Estella Society. I’m still reading The Last Policeman and should finish it up this week.
Reading/Listening This Week:
Coming up next is some psychological suspense, Innocent Victims, for RIP VII and I’ll be listening to Cascade and Roots of the Olive Tree.
Giveaway
Last week I posted my review and giveaway of Where’d You Go, Bernadette, a sharply funny, enjoyable read.
The giveaway is open for entry until Sunday, September 16th for readers with a US or Canadian mailing address. (Sorry International folks, the publisher is mailing the books.)
What Are You Reading?
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© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Liene and Stephanie W.
have each won a copy of …
Malice of Fortune
by Michael Ennis
Thanks to everyone who stopped by and entered the contest.
Check the sidebar for more giveaways.
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© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Last week I had the opportunity to go on a birding field trip to a nearby State Park followed by brunch and some bird conversation. This was a small, experienced group of birders so I was hoping to see birds I don’t usually find on my solitary walks.
One of the tricks to locating birds in the field is to know their call. I still need work in that area but the people I was with were able to identify elusive birds by their sound. One of those birds was the Sora, a water bird found in freshwater marshes. It likes to hide among the cattails, making it very difficult to observe or photograph.
We were standing on a bridge over the wetlands when we heard the Sora’s distinctive call. Everyone ran to the railing trying to locate the bird. Suddenly it poked it’s head out of the grass and one of the group spotted it, but the bird soon moved back into the cattails.
We continued listening for the sound, which is a very distinctive, descending whinny call. Eventually the Sora came out into the open again for a few minutes. Most of us threw caution to the wind and climbed the fence along the bridge to get a good look and take a few photos. I should have taken a some pictures of everyone climbing the fence because it was quite a site to see, but in my excitement over finding an elusive bird, I stayed up on the fence watching the Sora and shooting pictures as long as possible.
There must have been a tasty morsel of food in that green water to entice him out for a minute or so allowing me to get a great shot.
The Sora can be found across most of North America in the summer and they migrate to the southern US and Mexico in the winter. They are a common bird, but live and breed in shallow wetlands with lots of emergent vegetation. Their greatest threat is the destruction of the freshwater marshes and are rarely seen in populated areas.
Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.
© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
The Autumn 2012 edition of Bloggiesta will be happening September 28th through the 30th. This is one of my favorite events and I will definitely be participating.
While I am happy with the current look and feel of my blog, there are always new things to learn and new ideas to try out. One of my year-end goals is to move to self-hosting, something I wanted to work on during this past Spring Bloggiesta, but ran out of time.
What is Bloggiesta?
Bloggiesta is a blogathon created by Natasha of Maw Books. The purpose is to spend the weekend working on your blog while getting new ideas, networking and learning from other bloggers. There are also fun mini-challenges to take part in. The level of commitment is open. Do as much or as little as you want. All types of blogs are welcome to participate.
What to Expect
If you decide to participate, here’s what you can expect:
• to create a to do list to share on your blog and link up with other participants
• to participate in several mini challenges and learn something new
• to connect with other participants through blog hopping or twitter
• to make new blogging friends
• to come away at the end of the three days with a spiffed up blog!
How to Participate
Bloggiesta is hosted by It’s All About Books and There’s a Book. Head over to the sign up page and add your name to Mr. Linky.
What about you? Are you going to Bloggiesta?
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© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
by Maria Semple
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Publish Date: August 14, 2012
Format: Hardcover | 336 pages
Rating: 4½ of 5
“Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she’s a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she’s a disgrace; to design mavens, she’s a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom. When Bernadette disappears, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence–creating a compulsively readable and touching novel.”
Where’d You Go, Bernadette is a fast-paced, fun, satirical look at the stereotypical Seattle culture. This is not your average humorous novel. It is quite original and in many ways defies description.
Bernadette is on the verge of a breakdown, rarely leaves her house, dislikes interacting with people, and uses an internet assistant as a virtual secretary. After a series of run-ins with her neighbors, Bee’s school and her ever growing anxiety over a trip to Antarctica, Bernadette disappears.
The story is told from the point-of-view of daughter Bee using some narrative but mostly a vast assortment of documents — anything and everything: emails, faxes, press releases, doctor bills, reports, notes, articles. While this sounds random, it’s not; it’s woven together seamlessly as we read through correspondence from one person to the next, the story falling into place. The characters are well-drawn and memorable. I’m still laughing about the virtual internet assistant, Manjula.
Although the title implies that Bernadette is missing, she doesn’t disappear until almost the end. The story is a build-up to that point and told after-the-fact by Bee, which I didn’t realize when I first started reading the book. To say much more about the plot would be a spoiler. It’s very enjoyable the way it evolves and the technique of using correspondence works well. It’s fast and fun and may even have you laughing out loud.
If you would like a chance to win a copy of your own, the publisher has generously offered three copies to give away to my readers.
Giveaway Information
- Contest is open to those with an address in the US or Canada (No PO boxes).
- To enter fill out the form below. For an extra entry, tweet or blog the giveaway prior to 9/15.
- The deadline for entry is Sunday, September 16th. I will draw three random winners who will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to respond with a mailing address. One winner per household.
[Contest has ended]
Winners: Debbie, Amy and Lee
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Source: Review copy.
© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Almost wordless: This was one of those accidental shots. I was looking for Song Sparrows in the prairie when a beautiful butterfly landed in front of me. The sky was a perfect backdrop. But no birds that day.
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More Wordless Wednesday. © 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
It’s September, and that means it’s time for one of my favorite reading events, R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril, hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings.
The event runs from September 1st through October 31st. There are two simple goals for R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril VII
1. Have fun reading.
2. Share that fun with others.
Reading categories to choose from are: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Dark Fantasy, Gothic, Horror, and Supernatural.
Peril the Second:
I’m participating in Peril the Second:
Read two books of any length that you believe fit within the challenge categories.
Peril the Group Read:
My first book is The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
and is part of the first Group Read hosted by Heather and Andi of The Estella Society. The second group read begins October 1st and is The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings.
Books Read:
- The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters.
- The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters.
- In the Tall Grass by Stephen King and Joe Hill
Are you joining in on the fun?
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© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Under My Apple Tree 