Bloggy Break

Hey everyone! I've been a little distant lately - and I've decided to take a little bloggy break! I've scheduled a few upcoming posts, but other than that I am not going to post any reviews for awhile. What started out as a fun hobby began to stress me out way too much, along with pretty much everything else in my life right now...rough times over here :(

Also, I haven't been in the mood for reading lately and I feel absolutely guilty/depressed over it! So I'm taking a stress-free, guilt-free blogging break! I will still be reading blogs of course, just not posting much. I don't know how long this will be, but I'll be back eventually. I may even blog sporatically. Thanks for all your support!

{Alicia}

What's In Your Handbag?

Do you always have a book in your handbag? If you can't leave home without something to read, then "What's In Your Handbag?" is the post for you! Every Friday, I will be posting what book is currently in my purse. I would love to know what books are in your handbag this week, so leave a comment below telling me - or if you post it on your site, leave the link in the comments so I can go read about it!

So first of all, I have to apologize for missing last weeks "What's In Your Handbag?" I was super sick and super lazy!

This week, I am finally reading The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks! I usually read his books the minute they come out, but I've been so preoccupied that I didn't have time! I can always count on Nicholas Sparks to give me a book that is easy to read and will make me cry at the end! I'm really looking forward to seeing how this book pans out, I do have to admit that I am skeptical, but only because this book was written with Miley Cyrus as the main character and I just don't know if I can separate the two....or if I can forgive Nicholas Sparks for such blasphemy!

So readers, what's in your handbag?

{Alicia}

Awards!

So first of all I have to apologize for being so MIA lately! Some of you may know that my sister had a baby girl, Lily, almost a month ago and this means that I have been over to her house every day for the past 3 weeks -- she is probably sick of me! Anyways, that means I have been seriously slacking on the reading (oops). It also doesn't help that I was majorly sick last week (don't worry, I didn't infect Lily!) so instead of being lazy and reading, I laid on the couch and had many Ghost Whisperer marathons....do not judge me!

What was the point of this post again?! Oh yes - I want to give a huge thank you to some awesome people for giving me some great awards!

First I want to thank Bookalicious (sorry, so late posting this) and Kath over at Bookworm Nation for the Let's Be Friends Award! Blogs that receive the Let’s Be Friends Award are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers.

Thank you to Book Chick City for the Who Love's You Baby! Award - so cute, right? This award is designed with one purpose in mind: pass this on to bloggers who have awarded you in the past!

So, I'm not going to tag anyone for these awards because my brain is fried! But if you are reading this blog, then I love you and we can be friends hehe! Thanks again ladies!

{Alicia}

Review Policy

My Review Policy (Updated September 2010)


First of all, thank you for visiting my site.  It truly means a lot to me,


Review Copies:  I am happy to accept review copies.  I am happy to consider all requests and will let you know within 48 hours if I will accept a review copy.  You can e-mail me at adw7984(at)gmail(dot)com.  


Accepting a review copy does not mean you will get a positive review.


Due to my current schedule, I am unable to do reviews within a month and would prefer around 3 months notice for review copies.  If the author/publisher wants a review done by a certain date, you must let me know about this beforehand otherwise I will post a review no later than 3 months after receiving the book.  This does not apply to any book tours I am participating in.


If I receive a book in the mail without any correspondence, it will go to the bottom of my pile and may not get reviewed or read.


If I am unable to finish a book, I will not provide a review.


Book Tours:  I love book tours and will be happy to consider participating in any book tours that are available to me.

September 10, 2009: The Weight of Silence

Book: The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf

Product Description:

It happens quietly one August morning. As dawn's shimmering light drenches the humid Iowa air, two families awaken to find their little girls have gone missing in the night.

Seven-year-old Calli Clark is sweet, gentle, a dreamer who suffers from selective mutism brought on by tragedy that pulled her deep into silence as a toddler.

Calli's mother, Antonia, tried to be the best mother she could within the confines of marriage to a mostly absent, often angry husband. Now, though she denies that her husband could be involved in the possible abductions, she fears her decision to stay in her marriage has cost her more than her daughter's voice.

Petra Gregory is Calli's best friend, her soul mate and her voice. But neither Petra nor Calli has been heard from since their disappearance was discovered. Desperate to find his child, Martin Gregory is forced to confront a side of himself he did not know existed beneath his intellectual, professorial demeanor.

Now these families are tied by the question of what happened to their children. And the answer is trapped in the silence of unspoken family secrets. -- from Amazon.com

My Thoughts: I actually had never heard of this book, but I saw it on display at Border's and the cover grabbed my attention. I read the summary and was sold right away! So, after I shopped for awhile, I went to check out and the cashier was raving over this book! I was so eager to read it right away, because usually no one ever comments on the books I buy. I was not disappointed!

Right from the prologue, I was deeply enthralled in the story of Calli and Petra. I was so worried about Petra - what had happened in those woods to make Calli speak her first words in four years? And so the suspense began, as I read on I had no idea what had really happened in those woods. The only thing I knew for certain was that Calli's father, drunkenly took her into the woods because she won't speak. Her father was an alcoholic, and a mean one at that. So, I was worried about Petra and Calli the whole time - because I didn't know what would happen, but the prologue suggested that something would happen to Petra. So when she got out of her bed to go examine the noise - I almost screamed at her to go back!

I really enjoyed the different points of view given in this novel. It made the story quick-paced, and also gave you an inside look at the lives of these people. Marriages aren't as perfect as they seem and Antonia Clark knows this better than anyone. Her husband caused a lot of pain for their family, but did he do the unthinkable? I sure thought so - and by no means is he innocent! He deserved his ending. I hope I didn't give too much away! Anyways, the ending of the book is a bit shocking as far as the whodunnit aspect. I read the whole book thinking one thing and never even entertained the possibility that maybe someone else did it. And yes, in the end Calli gets her voice back - but the real story is why did she lose her voice to begin with?

This is an amazing debut novel from Heather Gudenkauf, and I'm looking forward to reading more from her in the future!

{Alicia}

What's In Your Handbag?

Do you always have a book in your handbag? If you can't leave home without something to read, then "What's In Your Handbag?" is the post for you! Every Friday, I will be posting what book is currently in my purse. I would love to know what books are in your handbag this week, so leave a comment below telling me - or if you post it on your site, leave the link in the comments so I can go read about it!

This week, I am reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott for the 2009 TBR Challenge. Can you believe that I have never read this book? I've always owned a copy and I still have the original, beat up copy but have never read it! So, I started it this morning and am hoping for a cozy weekend so I can do nothing but read :)

So readers, what's in your handbag?

{Alicia}

September 4, 2009: Songs for the Missing

Book: Songs for the Missing by Stewart O'Nan

Product Description:

Returning again to the theme of working-class people and their wrenching concerns, Songs for the Missing begins with the suspenseful pace of a thriller, following an Ohio community's efforts to locate a young woman who has gone missing. It soon deepens into an affecting portrait of a family trying desperately to hold onto itself and the memory of a daughter whose return becomes increasingly unlikely. Stark and honest, this is an intimate account of what happens behind the headlines of a very American tragedy. -- from Amazon.com

My Thoughts: SPOILERS ***

Wow! This book was such a gripping tale about a missing girl that I {secretly} read it while I was at work and then finished it immediately after I got home!

I honestly read this book and thought they would find her within days and that she would be alive and well, just traumatized! Most authors would make the ending nice and tidy...and happy. When she was found over a year later and was dead, I was heartbroken for the family!

It was interesting to read how the family reacted to the situation and how they were able to grow closer and also grow as individuals. Lindsay grew up more than most 16 year olds do, but unfortunately it was because of this awful situation.

One thing that bothered me was O'Nan's secrecy regarding JP and Nina - even after the cops found out everything, I still had no idea what was going on and how it affected the investigation. I wish that would have been a little clearer, but it didn't detract too much from the story.

Overall, I enjoyed this book - even though it broke my heart!

{Alicia}

September 4, 2009: Breaking Her Fall

Book: Breaking Her Fall by Stephen Goodwin
*read for the 2009 TBR Challenge

Product Description:

Just before eleven on an ordinary summer night in Washington, D.C., Tucker Jones picks up the phone, expecting to hear that his teenage daughter, Kat, is back from the movies. But the caller is another parent, a man who tells Tucker that Kat was actually at a party-and makes a shocking allegation about what happened to her there. In a blind rage, Tucker races to the party to find Kat already departed, but his full-boil interrogation of the boys still present spills over into a confrontation-and ends with one of the boys crashing into a glass tabletop. In a second, his rage turns to remorse, and he soon finds himself under arrest. Tucker could easily lose his home and his business, but he is most concerned about losing his daughter. Stephen Goodwin writes with insight and rare power about the way that passion rearranges lives.

As Tucker and Kat and everyone around them seek to repair the damages of that night, Breaking Her Fall charts their uncommonly difficult passage from despair to reconciliation and hope with extraordinary grace. -- from Amazon.com

My Thoughts: This book was actually pretty good! It's been in my pile since last year and I finally decided to read it. My first reaction to the first few pages was why is this guy calling Tucker and telling him about his daughter giving oral sex?! Seriously - he should mind his own business, I just knew it wasn't going to end well.

As we learn more about the night in question, we learn that Kat was so drunk she blacked out and then the boys lined up in the pool house. It's a frightening image and one that I imagine is quite common. As his lawyers said, it is basically rape since she has no idea what is going one.

I want to talk about the big fight. I do blame Tucker for this, even though it worked out for him in the end. He should NOT have picked up a shovel and threatened these young boys {who were not even involved, BTW}. He put himself in a bad situation, if he had not had the shovel it may have turned out differently. Also, I feel like he should have been madder at the boys who did this to Kat. I do think she needed to take some responsibility - but the fact of the matter is that she was so drunk that she basically blacked out and didn't remember anything and those three boys should be held accountable too.

I found his relationship with his children to be refreshing and loving. He was there to "catch" Kat after this night and he did everything in his power to make things normal for her again, even when it seemed her world was falling apart. It's not too often that you read about single dads, but I found this story to be gripping and heart-breaking.


{Alicia}

What's In Your Handbag?

Do you always have a book in your handbag? If you can't leave home without something to read, then "What's In Your Handbag?" is the post for you! Every Friday, I will be posting what book is currently in my purse. I would love to know what books are in your handbag this week, so leave a comment below telling me - or if you post it on your site, leave the link in the comments so I can go read about it!

So I finally have a niece, Lily! She was born Friday, August 28th at 3:52 pm at a whopping 7 pounds 4 ounces {not bad for being 2 1/2 weeks early}.

So anyways, I read about four pages of my book last Friday and decided to resume with my original book that I left at work - Breaking her Fall by Stephen Goodwin {look for my review soon}.

This Friday, I have Songs for the Missing by Stewart O'Nan in my handbag. This is the September pick for my book club and I was so excited when the book came in yesterday! I ordered a library version from Half.com - I have a mild obsession with library books that are being sold. It just seems like they have a history; these are traveling books! Plus, once you take the plastic off the front - the book looks brand new! Also - I may have smelled this book approx. 15 times {what?! it smells good!}

So readers, what's in your handbag?

{Alicia}