Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'?

Words Move Me – Giveaway of Sony Reader Pocket Edition

trish — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:59:38 +0000

Oh, do I have a giveaway for you.

I was approached by Digital Influence Group, a company that has teamed up with SONY Electronics Inc. to generate awareness around a new website called words move me. To generate awareness and excitement for words move me, they’re giving away a SONY Reader Pocket Edition to one of you.

Words move me is about connecting readers with the emotions they felt while reading a certain book. If I want to read an inspiring book, I can search that term and see what it brings up. (By the way, I DID search that term because I always want to be inspired, and found this: “I discovered Arty when I learned to read. He was a little fish who didn’t follow the crowd. When others swam this way, Arty swam that way. He also wanted to make a big splash in life. Arty inspired me to follow my heart, even when I had to swim alone.” The book is Arty the Smarty by Faith McNulty. That book sounds like a keeper. )

If you search “wow”, you’ll find this: “With little interest in literature, I was assigned One Hundred Years of Solitude. Wow! It ignited a passion for literature, unlocked my own creativity and opened my world to non-Western works leading to life enriching cultural exploration and adventures.” Doesn’t that make you smile? To know that One Hundred Years of Solitude opened up the world of books to someone? Doesn’t that make you want to go read the book if you haven’t?

If you search “hopeful”, you’ll find this about A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith: “Since age 13, this has been my touchstone. The story of Francie Nolan growing up passionate, creative, hopeful-despite poverty and tragedy in the concrete in a Brooklyn tenement. It still thrills my heart. I even named my firstborn daughter Francie Nolan.” I don’t know about you, but I’ve just moved that book to the top of my teetering TBR pile.

I’ve had lots of emotional reactions to books. In fact, you could say that’s how I choose which books to keep! I went through my books and came up with several that I wanted to document how they’d made me feel. You can check them out in this cool widget.

SO! I’m sure you want to know how to win the SONY Reader Pocket Edition, right?

I’m going to make this really easy on you. Here’s the deets:

How to Enter:

Answer this question in the comments section: What is the one book that you’re never able to forget and what was the emotion that that book inspired?

Rules/Information:

One entry per person.
Any entry that does not follow the rules will be disqualified.
This contest starts on Monday, November 16, 2009 and goes through midnight PST Friday, November 20, 2009.
Winner will be announced on Monday, November 23, 2009.

Disclaimers:

SONY has empowered me to participate in this campaign and I have been compensated with a SONY Reader Pocket Edition™ valued at $199.99 (I got the pink one).
No purchase necessary to win. Odds of winning are not increased by a purchase.

Originally published by Trish for Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Words Move Me – Giveaway of Sony Reader Pocket Edition

Sometimes You Just Gotta Cry (Or, Let’s Talk Sad Movies)

trish — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:31:59 +0000

Warning: This post may be unsavory to anyone of the male persuasion.

I’m generally a happy and optimistic person, if a bit on the prickly side when someone calls me on the phone and expects me to know who it is without them saying their name, particularly when I only see them in passing and have never spoken to them on the phone.

I digress.

(and notice how I digress IN THE FIRST SENTENCE. Having a conversation with me is kind of like having to play connect the dots with your eyes closed.)

ANYway, while I AM generally happy and optimistic, sometimes I just need to cry. Sometimes emotions get pent up because you can’t always tap into an emotion right when you feel it. And where are those emotions supposed to go? My emotions don’t just evaporate. My emotions ferment and fester and get nice and ripe until I have a complete meltdown over something insignificant.

I’ve learned over the years that when I’m feeling the need to cry but don’t know the reason and don’t really have an outlet, I can rent a sad movie, cry my eyes out, and get on with my life. If I do this, I don’t have meltdowns, I don’t blow things out of proportion, and I don’t get unusually sad. I get on with my life in a productive way.

It used to be that when I needed a good sob, I’d watch Hope Floats (because that first scene can make me cry every. single. time.) and be done with it.

Lately…meh…I don’t really feel like watching Hope Floats. I’ve seen it a dozen times, and I just need something different.

I used to watch Beaches, because there’s this one scene where Bette Midler is yelling at Barbara Hershey that would make me cry and cry and cry…but I’ve now seen it a dozen times.

Kind of related to this whole subject, I saw City of Angels when it first came out, and I’ve never been so depressed over a movie. I’ve never seen it again, because while sad movies can be good, I’d rather not finish the movie thinking that the world is a terrible horrible place.

A couple of months ago I rented P.S. I Love You, having a vague idea of what it was about, and sobbed the length of the film.

I’ve been feeling the need to watch a sad movie lately, to adjust my inner balance. I’ve rented P.S. I Love You for the weekend. My husband is playing poker with his buddies tonight, and I have nowhere to go tomorrow, so I can watch the movie tonight and not worry about having puffy eyes tomorrow. I’m going to cry out all of my pent up frustrations so I can start with a fresh, clean bottle with which to start bottling things up again.

(I’m hoping against hope that it’s these pent up feelings that are giving me nightmares again. Two nights ago I had a dream that I saw a woman take her child (5 years old?) to a window, hold him out of the window (the child had wanted to hang out of the window, but still!), and ended up dropping him. The child hit a bench with about half of his body. Obviously, he died. I need to do something so I have more pleasant dreams!)

Now that you know how *I* deal with feelings and emotions that can’t be dealt with in the moment, how do you deal with those emotions that pile on and pile on until you could explode?

Or! What movies make you cry? (You get -1 point if you mention Steel Magnolias.)

Originally published by Trish for Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Sometimes You Just Gotta Cry (Or, Let’s Talk Sad Movies)

Review – The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson

trish — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:09:10 +0000

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

by Mary E. Pearson

265 pages

Published April 29, 2008

Fiction, young adult

You can hear me blather on about The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson OR you can take my word for it that you should just drop everything and go read this book. I’d seen this book around and I was all, Mmhm, looks like a good book, I’ll pick it up later blah blah blah. But then finally, FINALLY, someone convinced me to go read it RIGHT THAT MOMENT. Hopefully I will do the same with you.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox takes place in the future when medicine is more advanced. Jenna Fox wakes up from an accident and doesn’t know where she is, doesn’t know what happened, and can’t even remember who she is. She has to rely on home movies her parents made from when she was a child until not long before the accident.

But what’s weird about this whole thing is Jenna has no friends and she’s not allowed to venture outside of the house.

WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON??!!

And it is from there that greatness is achieved in this book.

And it wasn’t just that it was a great story, though it really was a great story and really well written. I have no beef with either of those elements. It had great themes and it made me think and I think I tried to make out with the book. Err, scratch that last part.

How far would you go for someone you love? What are the pressures and expectations that parents put on their children? What kind of pressures do kids put on themselves? When does medicine go from helpful to harmful? When can someone make a choice for someone else? How far will a parent go for a child?

But with all the scenes, the birthdays, the lessons, the practices, the ordinary events that should have been left alone, what I remember most are Jenna’s eyes, flickering, hesitations, an urgent trying. That’s what I remember most from the discs, a desperation to stay on the pedestal. I see that in her eyes as much as I see their color. And now, in the passing of just a few weeks, I see things in faces I didn’t see before. I see Jenna, smiling laughing, chattering. And falling. When you are perfect, is there anywhere else to go? I ache for her like she is someone else. She is. I am not the perfect Jenna Fox anymore.

I loved this book, and I hope you go out and read it RIGHT NOW.

Rating: 95 out of 100

Mary E. Pearson’s website

Other reviews:

Book source: I checked this book out from the library.

And one more thing? If you click on one of the The Adoration of Jenna Fox links and buy something from Amazon, I’ll make a commission! Mwahahahaha!! Maybe with the pennies I make I’ll be able to call someone who cares.

You can thank the FTC for this disclosure!

Originally published by Trish for Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Review – The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson

What Are You Doing Here? Part 4

trish — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:46:54 +0000

can you eat crisco raw – Heck yes! It’s even better with some brown sugar on it. Don’t ask me how I know that.

i know this much is true. i loffed it – “I loffed it”? Is this the new version of lurve? I kinda like it. Sounds very…foreign and sophisticated.

“giving a dutch oven” – *snicker* Umm, I won’t give you instructions on how to give one, nor will you find any stories about giving dutch ovens. I don’t give them because the payback I would receive would not be worth it. (Apparently, there’s a bunch of people who actually don’t know what a dutch oven is, so I’ll go ahead and tell you: it’s when you’re in bed, someone farts, and then that someone pulls the covers over your head, trapping you with their stink. Charming, huh?)

how to be a book blogger – that’s way more involved than I want to get into right now. BUT! If you want to start a book blog, you’re welcome to email me at trish(at)heylady(dot)net. I don’t bite, and I answer all my emails.

co-workers always turns on ac – I KNOW. So does mine, and I think it’s ridiculous that I’m bundled up but she’s wearing long sleeves. I mean, seriously?

granny eats granpa – There is no good answer to this.

hairless butt – Hmm. When have I ever talked about this? Oh, that’s right. NEVER.

sexy grannys.org – My eyes! My eyes are burning!

let me introduce you to my little friend – I think the phrase is, “Say hello to my leettle fren.” (Sorry, I’m horrible at writing out diction, or whatever it’s called. But I found the video clip for you!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gy-Cq75BWY

where do i poop when there is no bathroo – erm…your pants?

recipe for oreogasms – I HAVE NO IDEA BUT WOULD LOVE THE RECIPE. Oreogasms? Heck yes! Sign me up.

semen-based recipes – I can only hope you’re looking for the silly book that has recipes featuring semen. I hope I hope I hope.

can’t find internet explorer icon – sounds like a personal problem.

Originally published by Trish for Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

What Are You Doing Here? Part 4

Review – Night Runner by Max Turner

trish — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:20:04 +0000

Night Runner

by Max Turner

272 pages

Published September 1, 2009

Young adult – urban fantasy

Night Runner by Max Turner is about Zack Thomson, a 15-year-old boy who lives in a mental ward because both his parents are dead. He has a sun allergy as well as a myriad of food allergies, requiring him to drink a special liquid diet that has all the vitamins and proteins he needs in it. His life is turned upside down when this homeless looking guy crashes into the mental ward and tells Zack to run. Actually, they have a slightly longer conversation than that, and Zack sees this guy get shot a bunch of times, then break of the ambulance that’s taking him to the hospital.

Zack, not quite knowing why he should run, doesn’t do anything. Lo and behold his long lost uncle shows up and confirms he’s in danger and that he should, in fact, run. Zack ends up running from a creature that killed his dad and is more powerful than anything he ever imagined existed.

Basically, this is a vampire story. And I know, the market is saturated with vampire stories, but a well-told story is a well-told story. Right?

The story was told pretty well, but I did have a few problems. Zack’s friend Charlie was a little too…oh, I don’t know the word. But when Charlie found out that Zach is a vampire, he was like, Oh. Huh. Okay. And it’s like, REALLY?! Is that REALLY his reaction? He finds out his friend’s a vampire and he’s not at least a little wigged out? I mean, I know there’s people who would have that reaction, but frankly, those people probably don’t have two brain cells to rub together anyway.

It turns out that Zack never went to school, and I was like, Oh, come on. I know this book takes place in Canada, and despite the fact that a kid growing up in a MENTAL WARD is a bit contrived, I’m hard pressed to believe that the woman who was watching out for him was like, Meh, I don’t think Zack needs an education. That’s soo 20th century.

And don’t even get me started on Zack’s love interest.

But then you get to the end, and the ending is actually pretty dang good! And even though the ending was good, I didn’t want to have to wade through the other 225 pages to get there.

And I totally get that this is a young adult book, and probably many young adult readers aren’t as critical as I am, but I’m a firm believer that a great book will transcend age and genre preferences, so I can’t give this book a pass just because I’m an adult and it’s aimed at young readers. With that said, I do think this series (from the ending, I’m sure it’ll be a series) has promise. The first book isn’t necessarily the best, so I’m hopeful that the story will get even better.

Rating: 72 out of 100

Other reviews:

Book source: I got this book from the fantastic Sarah at St. Martin’s Press.

And one more thing? If you click on one of the Night Runner links and buy something from Amazon, I’ll make a commission! Mwahahahaha!! Maybe with the pennies I make I’ll be able to call someone who cares.

You can thank the FTC for this disclosure!

Originally published by Trish for Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Review – Night Runner by Max Turner

Bookish business cards and wedding invitations

trish — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:44:24 +0000

Some eye candy for your weekend.

Jessica Claire, a photographer down in Orange County and who I’ve been following for a couple of years, just got married. She has a thing for locks, so her save-the-dates had a key motif, and her invitations? Well, I’ll just let you see those for yourself. You can find her full blog post here, and all images are courtesy of her.

And the invitations…

I loved loved loved my invitations, but these are making me wish I could go back and redo mine.

These next ones are from Zenadia Designs:

This really takes the cake. “The story of Nikki & Nick.”

I first saw these on lit*chick’s tumblr account:

After seeing all this bookish stuff, I wish I was newly engaged (to the same guy) and a librarian.

Originally published by Trish for Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Bookish business cards and wedding invitations

Horrible Dare Accepted and Declared Completed

trish — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:10:17 +0000

A few months ago, Chartroose from Bloody Hell, it’s a Book Barrage! came out of hibernation long enough to triple dog dare a few of her blogging buddies to a horrible dare.

How she knew it would be torturous for me to watch Sex & the City, I have no idea. But that’s what she dared me to do: watch the first season of Sex & the City.

It.

Was.

Torturous.

Fortunately, I had a friend who was all, I’ll do that with you! I jumped at that chance since she has a new baby, so I could sandwich terrible episodes of Sex & the City between hanging with my friend and holding le bebe.

Seriously, who enjoys Sex & the City? Is it the crassness that’s so great?

Is it the anorexic-ly thin Carrie Bradshaw?

Is it how truly unattractive Sarah Jessica Parker is?

Is it the fact that Carrie is a complete whackjob, and she and all her friends go through guys like it’s impossible to get sexually transmitted diseases?

Is it the fact that Carrie practically chain smokes?

Is it the fact that they all come off as pathetic and sad (except for Charlotte — I do like her) as they hump their way through New York City men?

Is it the fact that Carrie doesn’t know how to use a bra, so we are always having to see her nipples?

What is so great about this show? Please explain this to me, because I obviously don’t get it.

Originally published by Trish for Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Horrible Dare Accepted and Declared Completed

Don’t forget: TONIGHT, 6pm PST/9pm EST

trish — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:40:31 +0000

Don’t forget that Nicole from Linus’s Blanket is interviewing me tonight on Blog Talk Radio. You DO need to register with Blog Talk Radio in order to be in on the shenanigans, but it will be worth it, I promise. Here’s the deets, all nice and big and bold:

WHAT: Nicole from Linus’s Blanket is interviewing me

WHERE: On Blog Talk Radio. Don’t forget to register!

WHEN: TONIGHT, October 27, 2009 at 6pm PST/9pm EST

WHY: Because we have so much fun together. And because Nicole is awesome. And because she has scoured my blog for some dirt to bring up, and frankly, I’m a little scared at what she may have found. Believe me, there’s a reason my Archives are called “Cringe Worthy”.

Also? We’ll be discussing The Story of a Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer. So even if I bore you, you should tune in for our spoilery discussion.

Originally published by Trish for Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Don’t forget: TONIGHT, 6pm PST/9pm EST

Review – Thanksgiving at the Inn by Tim Whitney

trish — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:49:49 +0000

Thanksgiving at the Inn

by Tim Whitney

223 pages

Published October 1, 2009

Fiction

Thanksgiving at the Inn by Tim Whitney is a novella following 15-year-old Heath and his father, Junior, after they find out that Junior’s father, Senior, passed away and has left his son an inheritance. Heath and his father haven’t gotten along since his mother left, and things are even worse right now since Heath was caught cheating on a test (he wasn’t really cheating but his dad doesn’t believe him).

This inheritance comes with a few strings attached. First, Junior and Heath must move in to the bed & breakfast Senior has started. Second, Junior must help with the chores. Third, Junior actually has to be nice to the people living there. This might be easy for most, but Junior’s been pissy ever since his wife left, and he’s especially angry at his father for things that happened many years ago.

There’s quite the cast of characters living at this B&B:

Winstead, an old Jamaican man who takes Heath under his wing;
Mustang Sally, a big guy with tattoos all over his body, who has a love of cars and children;
Mrs. Farrel, an elderly lady who is slowly giving away her husband’s fortune to people he cheated; and
Carter, the middle aged guy who watches lots of TV and has a couple of secrets of his own.

Thanksgiving at the Inn is a very sweet book told in third person from Heath’s point of view. The reader feels Heath’s frustration as he tries to connect with his dad but is met with sarcasm and irritability. Heath finds friends and mentors in the people living at the B&B, and a chance encounter at some railroad tracks leads him to befriending a young autistic girl.

Lots of issues are covered in this book, such as alcoholism, autism, dyslexia, parent-child relationships, family, friends, and secrets, but most issues are covered superficially. I felt like I was reading what will soon be a made-for-TV Lifetime movie. You know the kind: there’s a heartstring-pulling plot, the requisite flawed characters, the naively hopeful person about the flawed characters, and then the LOOK! It’s all better! ending. And of course I cry at those movies, it’s not like I won’t watch them, it’s just that I prefer books that go into more depth on issues this book tried to tackle.

With that said, I’ve got a few people in mind who I’ll be passing this book along to, who I know will love it!

Rating: 75 out of 100

Other reviews that liked this book more than me:

Cafe of Dreams (gave it 5/5)

Cindy’s Love of Books

Galleysmith

Melody’s Reading Corner

Life in the Thumb

A Reader’s Journal

Book source: I got this book from the fantastic folks at Bancroft Press.

And one more thing? If you click on one of the Thanksgiving at the Inn links and buy something from Amazon, I’ll make a commission! Mwahahahaha!! Maybe with the pennies I make I’ll be able to call someone who cares.

You can thank the FTC for this disclosure!

Originally published by Trish for Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Review – Thanksgiving at the Inn by Tim Whitney

Where in the World is the Read-a-thon?

trish — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:31:30 +0000

Hey everyone! I hope you’re all having fun reading. I’m busy working on the back end of the read-a-thon, making sure everything runs smoothly, so while I’m not reading right now, I WILL be reading later!

Welcome to this hour’s mini-challenge! I thought it would be fun to see where in the world all of the readers are! Even better? Pinpointing ourselves on a map!

I’ve set up a Google Map so we can do this. This map is NOT public, which means it won’t be brought up in a search engine. The only way you can find the map is by having the link. However, this blog IS public and searchable, so it’s possible that someone could stumble across this. However (again), you won’t be entering your actual street address; you’ll just pinpoint your city. I know some people are concerned with privacy and won’t want to pinpoint their location. That’s okay! You could also pick a very close city if you don’t want to get too specific or if you live in a small town.

To enter this mini-challenge, you’ll need to do two things:

1. Go to this link and enter in your location (use either your blog name or your first name or whatever name people know you by online).

a. You’ll need to be signed in to your Google account. If you don’t have a Google account, you can sign up here. You won’t need a gmail account to sign up. You can use any email for “Your current email address.”

b. If you click the link and it doesn’t have other pins in it, check the bottom of left-hand sidebar.

c. Zoom, click and drag as needed to get a closeup on your city.

d. Then, click Edit, at the top on the left.

e. Grab and place your pin, and label it appropriately, with your name and URL, for instance.

f. Click OK, then click Done on the left side (after it has saved).

2. Come back and leave a comment letting me know you pinpointed your location. It is from the comments that I will choose a winner.

The winner will receive a $25 gift card to the bookstore of their choice. This mini-challenge will end after 2 hours, at 9:59am PST.

Originally published by Trish for Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Where in the World is the Read-a-thon?