What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share your FRIDAY FINDS! This weekly event is hosted by Should Be Reading.
Getting out of the noisy city for the peaceful country has a lot of appeal for me. So this book went on my list.
The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love
by Kristin Kimball
Single, thirtysomething, working as a writer in New York City, Kristin Kimball was living life as an adventure. But she was beginning to feel a sense of longing for a family and for home. When she interviewed a dynamic young farmer, her world changed. Kristin knew nothing about growing vegetables, let alone raising pigs and cattle and driving horses. But on an impulse, smitten, if not yet in love, she shed her city self and moved to five hundred acres near Lake Champlain to start a new farm with him.
I love time travel stories. This one caught my eye on goodreads.
Selected Shorts and Other Methods of Time Travel
by David Goodberg
In 2051, commercial time travel became a global reality. Opportunities abounded for curious history buffs, futurists, and corrupt entrepreneurs. Selected Shorts and Other Methods of Time Travel is a spellbinding collection of 37 illustrated tales that explore time travel tourism and its repercussions.
Contest now closed.
Kathy at I Am A Reader Not A Writer is hosting the Blog Hop Gratitude Giveaway. It will run through through midnight November 28th.
Over 175 blogs are participating and each will be giving away books or book related items to their followers. I will be giving away your choice of one of the three books listed below.
Entry is easy, just be a follower or become a new follower. Fill out the entry form, tell me how you follow and which book you would like to win. US and Canada addresses only. I’ll use random.org to choose a winner on November 29th. Comments are welcome but you must fill out the form to win. That’s it!
Ah-Choo! The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold by Jennifer Ackerman. In Ah-Choo!, Jennifer Ackerman explains what, exactly, a cold is, how it works, and whether it’s really possible to “fight one off.”
The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise by Julia Stuart. Brimming with charm and whimsy, this exquisite novel set in the Tower of London has the transportive qualities and delightful magic of the contemporary classics Chocolat and Amélie.
Molly Fox’s Birthday by Deirdre Madden. It is the height of summer, and celebrated actor Molly Fox has loaned her house in Dublin to a friend while she is away performing in New York.
While are here you might want to enter some of other giveaways I have listed in the sidebar. Then hop over to one of the many other blogs participating in the Gratitude Giveaway Hop.
Links to all the blogs in the Hop below the fold. Read more…
Carol M and Aik
Each of you has won a copy of The Wave by Susan Casey. Your books will be sent by the publisher once I receive your mailing information
Mailbox Monday is touring through blogs. For the month of November it will be hosted by Knitting and Sundries. Next month the tour moves to Let Them Read Books where it will be hosted for the month of December.
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.
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New books that came into my home last week:
How Music Works by John Powell. From Hachette books for review and giveaway.
What makes a musical note different from any other sound? How can you tell if you have perfect pitch? Why do 10 violins sound only twice as loud as one? Do your Bob Dylan albums sound better on CD or vinyl? John Powell, a scientist and musician, answers these questions and many more in HOW MUSIC WORKS, an intriguing and original guide to acoustics.
A Widow’s Story: A Memoir by Joyce Carol Oates. An ARC from the publisher for review.
In 2008 Joyce Carol Oates lost the husband—Raymond Smith—to whom she’d been married for 48 years. Her recollections of those harrowing early days of widowhood provide a glimpse of Oates as a teacher of writers and as caretaker of the literary magazine she and her husband kept in print for so long.
Getting Over Going Under: 5 Things you Must Know before Anesthesia by Barry Friedberg M.D. From the author for review.
This book outlines how you can have your anesthesiologist more effectively keep you or your loved ones sedated and comfortable using 21st century care and it also reveals the shortcomings of 20th century anesthesia. It details the reasons for patient discomfort and worrisome side effects and how they can be eliminated. If you or a loved one are facing surgery of any kind, this book will assist you in assuring the safest and best possible outcome with your anesthesia experience.
Chronicle Books is an independent publisher of distinctive books and gifts with fine art titles in design, art, architecture, and photography.
In celebration of the holidays, they are offering one lucky blogger the opportunity to win their choice of Chronicle books valued at up to $500. In addition, one lucky reader will win the same books. Contest rules below.
Here’s the list of books I’ve chosen. Click on the title for more information about each book. Then leave your comment to enter to win.
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- The Life & Love of Trees by Lewis Blackwell $50.00
- Bird Songs Bible – The Complete, Illustrated Reference for North American Birds $125.00
- Birds – Illustrations by Jeffrey Fisher $16.95
- Nature’s Pharmacy Deck – 50 Healing Plants by The NY Botanical Garden $13.95
- Nests – Fifty Nests and the Birds that Built Them by Sharon Beals $29.95
- Flour – Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe by Joanne Chang $35.00
- D.I.Y. Delicious – Recipes and Ideas for Simple Food from Scratch by Vanessa Barrington $24.95
- The Venetian’s Wife – An illustrated novel by Nick Bantock $22.95
- Sightings – Extraordinary Encounters with Ordinary Birds by Sam Keen $14.95
- The Country Cooking of Ireland by Colman Andrews and Christopher Hirsheimer $50.00
- Cooking for Two – Perfect Meals for Pairs by Jessica Strand $19.95
- Graphic Design for Nondesigners by Tony Seddon $22.95
- Garden Anywhere by Alys Fowler $24.95
- 1000 Designs for the Garden by Geraldine and Ian Rudge $30.00
- Yellow Owl Woodlands Notepad Set byChristine Schmidt $12.95
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For your chance to win these books, a $495 value, leave a comment. Be sure to include your email address so Chronicle can contact you if you win. Enter by midnight EST December 12th. Open to US residents only. Contest rules here. That’s it! Happy Haul-idays.
For a week or two in early autumn and early spring the White-crowned sparrow visits my suburban Chicago backyard. I look forward to his visit in spring, not so much in autumn as I know winter will soon follow.
This is a migratory native North American sparrow that spends it’s summers mainly in Canada and winters in the mid to southern United States and Mexico. Larger than the House Sparrow, it can usually be found scratching around on the ground for seeds.
I took this photo Halloween weekend, the same weekend he arrived last year. I sometimes wonder if the same birds visit every year.
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I’m participating in Saturday Snapshots this weekend. Head on over to At Home With Books to see more great photos.
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Weekend Birding is cross-posted on LadyMin’s Garden.
The Book Blogger Hop, a weekly event hosted by Jen at Crazy For Books, is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word!
Post about the Hop on your blog. Spread the word about the book party! The Hop lasts Friday through Monday. If you don’t have time to Hop today, come back later and join the fun! Each week there is a new discussion question for your post. This week’s question is:
“If you find a book that looks interesting but is part of a series, do you always start with the first title?”
I like to start with the first book in a series but I don’t always do it. If it’s a recurring character but the stories are not connected I will try a book out of order.
I recently read my first Reacher thriller, 61 Hours, by Lee Child. This is the 14th book in the series and I’m sure I missed a lot of background and previous character development, but the story did stand alone and I was able to enjoy it. I also jumped into Sue Grafton’s alphabet murder books half way through the alphabet at L is for Lawless. I loved the book and proceeded to go back and start with the first book, A is for Alibi.
If the story itself is a series I absolutely must read the books from the beginning. I recently had the opportunity to review an ARC of Antiphon by Ken Scholes, book three of a five book science fiction/fantasy epic. Books one and two went to the top of my list and I read them first. Good thing, too. I would have been lost without the background.
Under My Apple Tree 