June 16, 2012 / Leslie

Weekend Birding: Barn Swallow Nestwatch

I have been monitoring a Barn Swallow nest for Project Nestwatch, a citizen science program.

NestWatch is a nationwide monitoring program designed to track status and trends in the reproductive biology of birds, including when nesting occurs, number of eggs laid, how many eggs hatch, and how many hatchlings survive.

Barn Swallows are migratory and spend their winters in South America. In the summer months they can be found across most of North America. I discovered this nesting location last year and was excited to find that a pair of birds returned to the same place this year.

When I arrived at the nest on Monday, instead of mom sitting on the eggs, I saw three little faces looking down at me. They appear to be a little over one week old. They usually open their eyes about the fifth day.

Both of the parents bring food to the nest, mainly insects, which are caught in flight. The female spends the night with the young while the male roosts elsewhere.

Interesting Facts:

Barn Swallows once nested in caves throughout North America, but now build their nests almost exclusively on human-made structures.
Females prefer to mate with males that have the longest and most symmetrical tails and a dark red chest color.
Nests are constructed of mud by both the male and female, making up to 1,000 trips to collect it.
The killing of Barn Swallows for their feathers was one of the problems that led to the founding of the Audubon Society and the passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.

June 15, 2012 / Leslie

Read-A-Long: Rebecca

**Have you read Rebecca?**

The classic by Daphne du Maurier? Yes, of course I’m sure most of you have.

Somehow, I never got around to reading Rebecca. This book has been on my to-read list most of my life. Sheila at Book Journey hasn’t read Rebecca either and will be reading it next month. We are all invited to join her in a Read-A-Long.

Although I don’t have time to read another book next month, I am able to squeeze in the audiobook version.

The Read-A-Long

The read-a-long is open to both first timers and re-reads.

On July 17 there will be a Party with Rebecca Party with a link-up for reviews, an online discussion and giveaways. Head over to Book Journey, add your name to the linky, and join the fun.

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© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.

June 14, 2012 / Leslie

Clear Your Shelves Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Clear Your Shelves Giveaway Hop hosted by I am a Reader Not a Writer.

Since June is Audiobook Month, I am offering a choice of one of the Audiobook CDs listed below. Audio is a great way to multitask. It may take a few tries and the right book before you get accustomed to listening rather than reading. If you are not an audiobook convert, give one another try.

Also, June 25 – 29 is Audiobook Week hosted by Jen at Devourer of Books. There will be link-ups for reviews, discussion topics and prizes. I will be participating and giving away more audiobooks so be sure to stop by and check it out.

The Giveaway

Open to anyone with a US mailing address and runs through Wednesday, June 20th. Click on the book cover for my review or a description.

How to Enter

Contest is open to followers with an address in the US only, age 13 or older.
To enter, fill out the form below.
For an extra entry, tweet the giveaway. Be sure to put the URL to the tweet on the form. (Click on the time stamp link of the tweet and copy the URL that appears in the address bar.)
The deadline for entry is midnight, June 20th. I will draw one random winner who will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to respond with a mailing address and choice of book.

Before you leave, check the sidebar for some more great giveaways. Then hop over to one of the many other participating blogs. Click HERE for a list.

[Contest Has Ended]

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© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.

June 13, 2012 / Leslie

Wordless Wednesday: Spiderwort

Almost wordless: Saw pretty Spiderwort plants blooming this week while walking the nature trails.

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More Wordless Wednesday. © 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.

June 12, 2012 / Leslie

Review – Audiobook: The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan

The Lifeboat
by Charlotte Rogan
Narrated by Rebecca Gibel

Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Publish Date: April 3, 2012
Format: Audio, 7 hours | 47 minutes
Audio Listening Level: Easy
Rating: 2½ of 5

In the summer of 1914, newlyweds Grace and Henry Winter are traveling on an ocean liner across the Atlantic when a mysterious explosion rocks the ship. Henry was able to secure a place for Grace in a lifeboat, but it was now at full capacity and he was unable to join her. As the novel begins, Grace, now a widow, has finally been rescued and is facing trial for murder. This is her story of what happened during the time at sea in the lifeboat.

As Grace tells the story of the days adrift in the ocean, she also thinks back on her life and how she met Henry. The entire novel was told from Grace’s perspective. We never heard from any of the other people in the lifeboat; all we know is what Grace tells us. I was never certain whether or not her version was the truth as it really was, or the truth as she wanted it to be. My biggest problem was, I didn’t like Grace. The other characters in the lifeboat, people I would have liked to know more about, weren’t very well developed and we never had a chance to hear their story. Multiple narrators would have created another level of complexity, something I would have liked to see.

The writing itself was good. The book was readable, or in my case, listenable, and the narration was pleasant enough, but I never engaged in the story. I continued listening though, hoping something exciting would happen. But instead the book merely kept me company while I was gardening. So much potential for a compelling story … and then … nothing.

Grace was too passive, too introspective. We heard a lot of her thoughts, musing, ruminations; a little too cerebral for a story about a group of people lost at sea, fearing they would die. If this was supposed to be a psychological study about what happens to people when they are stuck in unimaginable circumstances, as I thought it would be from the description, then it failed for me. In the end, many questions remained unanswered and I remain unsatisfied. The author was deliberately vague in too many areas.

An excellent premise for a novel that never came to fruition. Did I miss the boat, pun intended, on this one?

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Source: Public library.
© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.

June 11, 2012 / Leslie

Mailbox Monday and It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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 June host is Burton Book Review.

From Little, Brown for review and giveaway:

Summerland
by Elin Hilderbrand

It’s June 15th, the night of Nantucket High School graduation. Four juniors are driving home from a party when something goes horribly wrong and there is a crash.

Summerland delves into the circumstances surrounding this accident, the roots of which lie deep in the past, with the first interactions between these four friends and their parents. It’s a novel about how tragedy affects individuals, families, and the island community as a whole, and how healing can happen, in even the most devastating circumstances.

For review from Penguin:

Thy Neighbor
by Norah Vincent

Obsessed with understanding the circumstances surrounding his parents’ deaths and deranged by his relentless sorrow, Nick begins a campaign of spying on his neighbors via hidden cameras and microphones he has covertly installed in their houses. As he observes with amusement and disbelief all the strange, sad, and terrifying things that his neighbors do to themselves and to one another, and as he, in turn, learns that he is being stalked, he begins to slowly unravel the shocking truth about how and why his parents died.

A win from Soho Books:

Detour
by Andromeda Romano-Lax

Ernst Vogler is twenty-six years old in 1938 when he is sent to Rome by his employer—the Third Reich’s Sonderprojekte, which is collecting the great art of Europe and bringing it to Germany for the Führer. Vogler is to collect a famous Classical Roman marble statue, The Discus Thrower, and get it to the German border, where it will be turned over to Gestapo custody. It is a simple, three-day job. Things start to go wrong almost immediately.

For review from HarperAudio:

The Cove
by Ron Rash

Deep in the rugged Appalachians of North Carolina lies the cove, a dark, forbidding place where spirits and fetches wander, and even the light fears to travel. Or so the townsfolk of Mars Hill believe–just as they know that Laurel Shelton, the lonely young woman who lives within its shadows, is a witch. Alone except for her brother, Hank, newly returned from the trenches of France, she aches for her life to begin.

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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.

This was a busy week. While I didn’t go to BEA in New York, I did participate in Armchair BEA and spend more time than I had planned writing posts and visiting other participants. I had fun and it was a great opportunity to meet some of the other bloggers. Needless to say I didn’t get any reviews written and not a lot of reading done. On Saturday I went to LitFest, which is the Chicago Tribune’s book fair and I’ll be posting more on that later this week.

Finished Listening/Reading Last Week:

I was a little disappointed in The Lifeboat. I was expecting more action, more drama, more excitement… but got none of that. I’ll have a review up sometime this week.

Summerland was fantastic. I started reading it the minute it arrived in the mail and didn’t want to put it down. My review is scheduled for next Monday, June 18th, plus I will be hosting a giveaway for three finished copies of the book (US/Canada only).