Welcome new visitors and old friends to day one of Armchair BEA, a virtual convention for book bloggers who are unable to attend Book Expo America and the Book Blogger Convention in New York this week. There is a full agenda of events lined up for us for the week. Today’s topic is “Introduce yourself and your blog”.
My name is Leslie and I’ve been blogging at Under My Apple Tree for several years. I work full time as a tax consultant in downtown Chicago and live in the suburbs. A lot of my reading is done on my daily train commute.
The name of my blog has nothing to do with books. I started it as a place to record thoughts and comments and due to a lack of much of either I converted it into a book blog. There really is an apple tree that inspired the name. I planted it in my backyard about 15 years ago. It is now fairly large, makes a nice amount of shade and is a good place to sit on a summer day. Also the name Under My Apple Tree was available on WordPress.
Here’s a photo of me doing a few of my favorite things: drinking coffee and reading. That was Angels and Demons that I was so engrossed in. In additions to thrillers I enjoy contemporary and historical fiction, mysteries, science and speculative fiction and narrative non-fiction. I also like cookbooks, photography books and anything about birding. I’m a fairly eclectic reader and will give most books a chance if the subject interests me.
In addition to reading I also enjoy gardening, cooking, bird watching and photography. I can often be found stalking birds with my camera, photographing wildlife, flowers and nature scenes. I have a weekly feature called Weekend Birding which I post on Saturdays. I showcase photos of a different bird each week.
I also have a garden blog, LadyMin’s Garden which will become more active now that the weather is warming up and I am planting again. Gardening is my therapy and I can spend hours digging, planting and weeding all the while listening to an audio book.
Are you participating in Armchair BEA this week? Let me know so I can stop by and visit.
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. This month’s host is Mari @ Mari Reads.
I received two books last week. One for review and one was a contest win.
From Random House for review:
French Lessons
by Ellen Sussman
A single day in Paris changes the lives of three Americans as they each set off to explore the city with a French tutor, learning about language, love, and loss as their lives intersect in surprising ways. As they meet with their tutors—Josie with Nico, a sensitive poet; Riley with Phillippe, a shameless flirt; and Jeremy with the consummately beautiful Chantal—each succumbs to unexpected passion and unpredictable adventures. Yet as they traverse Paris’s grand boulevards and intimate, winding streets, they uncover surprising secrets about one another—and come to understand long-buried truths about themselves.
A win from Atria Books:
Warm Bodies
by Isaac Marion
A zombie who yearns for a better life ends up falling in love—with a human—in this astonishingly original debut novel.
R is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He doesn’t enjoy killing people; he enjoys riding escalators and listening to Frank Sinatra. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.
Not just another zombie novel, Warm Bodies is funny, scary, and deeply moving
Last month I was working in my yard when I saw a large bird fly overhead. It was a Great Blue Heron, a large bluish gray bird with an S-shaped neck, long legs and shaggy feathers on their neck and back.
There is a heron rookery along the river near my house. I am amazed how they build their nests in colonies high in the trees. I counted over 20 nests. I watched one of them fly into the nest in the center of the photo. (Click photo for a larger view.) With my binoculars I could see 3 chicks.
Several of the birds were fishing in the river. I watched one catch and swallow a fish; swallowed it whole. Although they eat primarily fish, they will also eat small rodents.
This bird was just roosting on a branch and taking in some sun. I like this shot because it shows off his neck feathers.
I couldn’t get any closer to them because the entrance to the woods on the other side of the river was closed for construction for a few weeks. I’ll be going back soon to hopefully get some photos of the chicks when they leave the nest.
I link up my bird photos on Saturday Snapshot hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.
Darkship Thieves
by Sarah A. Hoyt
Read by: Kymberly Dakin
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Baen (Audio Edition by Audible Frontiers)
Publish Date: January 2010
Format: Audio | 14 Hours and 23 min
Rating: 5 of 5
This is another book that I picked up for the Women of SciFi online book club. Despite reading a lot of science fiction I had not heard of this book and it’s doubtful I would have chosen it if it wasn’t on the reading list. The cover has beautiful artwork, but it doesn’t lead me to think the book is science fiction but instead screams fantasy. It’s not fantasy, it’s a space opera; there are no monsters, no one floating in space and for the most part everyone is wearing clothes. The book does span genres and while it definitely is scifi, it’s also a light romance and at times quirky and humorous.
Athena Hera Sinistra is on a routine trip with her father on his spaceship when an apparent mutiny takes place. She wakes in the middle of the night to find a stranger in her room. Outwitting the invaders she escapes in a lifepod seeking help. Unfortunately she heads right into the Powertree Ring, a dangerous area in space where the energy supply for Earth is produced. While trying to navigate the Powertrees she crashes into another ship hiding in the ring stealing power. The pilot of that ship, Kit, rescues her and brings her on board his ship. She soon finds out that he is from the colony of Eden, home to genetically enhanced descendents of earth that fled the planet years ago. Kit brings her back to Eden as a sort of half prisoner half guest. She wants to return to Earth and will do whatever it takes to accomplish that.
I enjoyed this book a lot. I had zero expectations when I started it. Initially I found Thena annoying but once Kit entered the story it took off for me. It was fast paced, entertaining and fun with lots of action. It had good guys, bad guys, lots of adventure and romance, and I even liked the ending. Thena’s early annoying behavior becomes more understandable once we learn more about her past. The mystery surrounding her and her family became predictable toward the end but it didn’t matter because I was having fun with this book. The romantic relationship between Thena and Kit works; they both grew into better people because of each other.
Part of why I enjoyed this book is for what it wasn’t. A lot of the scifi coming out today is very depressing, gloomy, dystopian and often exists in a difficult to relate to world. Thena and Kit’s world was easy to understand and not too distant from something our world could become. A lot of this book reminded me of the older science fiction works of authors like Robert A. Heinlein. The author even dedicates this book to Heinlein who also wrote books with strong female lead characters like Athena.
I listened to the audio version. The narration was good although not excellent. I can’t really detail anything specifically wrong, but I know an excellent narration when I hear one. I would have no problem listening to another book by this narrator.
I would recommend Darkship Thieves to anyone who enjoys a light, fun read with a little romance and a strong female lead character. Even if you don’t read science fiction, give this one a chance. I was excited to find out there is a sequel coming out later this year called Darkship Renegade which I am looking forward to reading.
Almost wordless.
This little cutie stopped by my feeder last night and ate for about 10 minutes. I’m pretty sure this is a female Yellow Warbler. She was enjoying the suet and got it all over her face.
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More Wordless Wednesday.
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. This month’s host is Mari @ Mari Reads.
Another eclectic week for me. I received two paper books and one audio book this week for review. I also picked up a science fiction book at a used book sale.
From Doubleday for review and giveaway:
The Russian Affair
by Michael Wallner
An intriguing love and espionage story set in Moscow in the late 1970s, in the midst of the Cold War. Anna struggles gamely through her difficult existence, doing the best she can amidst the long lines, bureaucratic inferno, and corruption and incompetence of the police state. When she meets and makes an impression on a powerful Soviet official—Alexey Bulgyakov—her life begins to look a little brighter. Alexey is married and nearly twice her age, but he turns out to be a man of infinite patience and forbearance, and gradually a strange but solid bond grows between them. Though Anna still loves her mostly absent husband and harbors no illusions about the future, she and Alexey become lovers.
From the author for review:
The Hypnotist
by M.J. Rose
Haunted by a twenty-year old murder of a beautiful young painter, Lucian Glass keeps his demons at bay through his fascinating work as a Special Agent with the FBI’s Art Crime Team. Currently investigating a crazed art collector who has begun destroying prized masterworks, Glass is thrust into a bizarre hostage negotiation that takes him undercover at the Phoenix Foundation—dedicated to the science of past life study—where, in order to maintain his cover, he agrees to submit to the treatment of a hypnotist.
An audio book from the publisher for review:
Lost in Shangri-La
by Mitchell Zuckoff
On May 13, 1945, twenty-four American servicemen and WACs boarded a transport plane for a sightseeing trip over Shangri-La, a beautiful and mysterious valley deep within the jungle-covered mountains of Dutch New Guinea. Unlike the peaceful Tibetan monks of James Hilton’s bestselling novel Lost Horizon, this Shangri-La was home to spear-carrying tribesmen, warriors rumored to be cannibals. But the pleasure tour became an unforgettable battle for survival when the plane crashed.
A purchase for The Women of SciFi online discussion group.
Mappa Mundi
by Justina Robson
In the near future, when medical nanotechnology has made it possible to map a model of the living human brain, radical psychologist Natalie Armstrong sees her work suddenly become crucial to a cutting-edge military project for creating comprehensive mind-control. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, Jude Westhorpe, FBI specialist, is tracking a cold war defector long involved in everything from gene sequencing to mind-mapping. But his investigation has begun to affect matters of national security-throwing Jude and Natalie together as partners in trouble-deep trouble from every direction.
Today is International Migratory Bird Day, a day to celebrate the migration of nearly 350 species of migratory birds who travel from Latin America, Mexico, and the Caribbean to their nesting habitats in North America during April and May. Bird Day events such as bird walks and festivals are held across North America.
Last Saturday afternoon two male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks appeared in my apple tree. I ran for the camera as I rarely see them in my backyard and in range for a photo. This is a gorgeous, boldly colored bird with a black head and black upper parts, white underparts and a rosy triangular breast patch. They have a beautiful song, similar to that of the robin.
The grosbeak is a perfect example of a migratory bird. They winter far south in the tropics and nest in mid to upper North America. That means these birds flew to my yard from South America or Mexico. They stayed here a few days resting and eating sunflower seeds and suet. By Monday evening they had moved on.
Interesting Facts:
- The females are a brown color resembling a large sparrow or finch.
- The name “grosbeak” is from the French word grosbec and means “large beak.”
- Unlike most songbird species, the female is known to sing. (The female Cardinal is another exception and also sings.)
- The male participates in incubation of the eggs, accounting for about 1/3 of the time during the day. (Most males do not sit on eggs.)
I link up my bird photos on Saturday Snapshot hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.
Under My Apple Tree 