Mailbox Monday January 10

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists! Mailbox Monday was started by Marcia at the Printed Page. Mailbox Monday is now on tour and this month's host is Rose City Reader. Thank you for hosting this month!

I received one book last week. This book sounds heartwarming and I can't wait to read it. This book is expected to be released on January 18th from Algonquin Books.



Blind Your Ponies by Stanley Gordon West

from the back of the book

Hope is hard to come by in the hard-luck town of Willow Creek. Sam Pickett and five young men are about to change that.

Sam Pickett never expected to settle in this dried-up shell of a town on the western edge of the world. He's come here to hide from the violence and madness that have shattered his life, but what he finds is what he least expects. There's a spirit that endures in Willow Cree, Montana. It seems that every inhabitant of this forgotten outpost has a story, a reason for taking a detour to this place--or a reason for staying.

As the coach of the hapless high school basketball team (zero wins, ninety-three losses), Sam can't help but be moved by the bravery he witnesses in the everyday lives of people--including his own young players--bearing their sorrows and broken dreams. How do they carry on, believing in a future that seems to be based on the flimsiest of promises? Drawing on the strength of the boys on the team, sharing the hope they display despite insurmountable odds, Sam finally begins to see a future worth living.

Author Stanley Gordon West has filled the town of Willow Creek with characters so vividly cast that they become real as relatives, and their stories--so full of humor and passion, loss and determination--illuminate a path into the human heart.

What books made their way into your home?

Angel Song

Angel Song by Sheila Walsh & Kathryn Cushman
summary from the back of the book

Angels eagerly watch over Ann Fletcher’s every move. She just doesn’t know it yet.

Ann Fletcher has returned to Charleston to see her younger sister Sarah receive her master’s degree. But she soon finds herself riding in the back of an ambulance, watching helplessly as Sarah fights for her life. As they race to the hospital, Sarah talks to someone who is not there...and hums a melody Ann has never heard before.

That unfamiliar, unearthly beautiful melody keeps finding Ann--first in the hospital chapel, then in her dreams, and finally in Sarah’s empty house.

Two neighbors have a profound effect on Ann. Ethan McKinney lends her a shoulder to lean on. And as a carpenter, he volunteers to help Ann get the Fletcher family home into shape for selling. His strong presence is a pleasing distraction. Ann’s twelve-year-old neighbor, Keith, has Down Syndrome and the guile to believe he can actually see and hear angels. In fact, he insists they are looking out for her in ways she’s never imagined.

God begins to reveal himself to Ann--both in her newfound friends and through supernatural events. As she discovers the very real presence of angels around her, will she finally open her heart to receive God’s healing love?

My Thoughts

This story was both sad and heartwarming at the same time. After Ann Fletcher loses her sister, Sarah in an accident, she begins to be haunted by a tune that she hears. As Ann readies Sarah's home, the home they both grew up in, to be sold she meets a carpenter, and her neighbors, Tammy and her son, Keith who has Down Syndrome. Keith draws pictures of Ann with angels in them. This disturbs her at first but then she begins to look forward to the pictures. Do the tune and the pictures have something to do with each other? Will she listen to the angels and open her heart to God? This story is lovely but it is a bit predictable. I didn't find that to be a bad thing. This book did cause me to think about angels and the role they may play in our lives. If you are a fan of christian fiction I think you will enjoy this book.

This book was sent to me as part of the Booksneeze Program with Thomas Nelson Publishers for my honest opinion.

Waiting on Wednesday January 5

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

I have been anxiously awaiting the next Jodi Picoult book. I love how she tells a story and I am always eager to get to the end to see what twist she will weave into the end. If you click on the title it will take you to a trailer for the new book. I can't wait to read this one!



Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

Hardcover, 480 pages
Expected publication: March 1st 2011 by Atria (first published 2011)
ISBN1439102724 (ISBN13: 9781439102725)

Summary borrowed from Goodreads
Zoe Baxter has spent ten years trying to get pregnant, and after multiple miscarriages and infertility issues, it looks like her dream is about to come true – she is seven months pregnant. But a terrible turn of events leads to a nightmare – one that takes away the baby she has already fallen for; and breaks apart her marriage to Max. In the aftermath, she throws herself into her career as a music therapist – using music clinically to soothe burn victims in a hospital; to help Alzheimer’s patients connect with the present; to provide solace for hospice patients. When Vanessa – a guidance counselor -- asks her to work with a suicidal teen, their relationship moves from business to friendship and then, to Zoe’s surprise, blossoms into love. When Zoe allows herself to start thinking of having a family, again, she remembers that there are still frozen embryos that were never used by herself and Max.

Meanwhile, Max has found peace at the bottom of a bottle – until he is redeemed by an evangelical church, whose charismatic pastor – Clive Lincoln – has vowed to fight the “homosexual agenda” that has threatened traditional family values in America. But this mission becomes personal for Max, when Zoe and her same-sex partner say they want permission to raise his unborn child.

SING YOU HOME explores what it means to be gay in today’s world, and how reproductive science has outstripped the legal system. Are embryos people or property? What challenges do same-sex couples face when it comes to marriage and adoption? What happens when religion and sexual orientation – two issues that are supposed to be justice-blind – enter the courtroom? And most importantly, what constitutes a “traditional family” in today’s day and age?

What book are you waiting on?

ARC Reading Challenge 2011

This was another challenge I did last year and enjoyed. I went for the Bronze level and made the Gold Level. I am once again going for the Bronze level and will move up as I read. This is hosted by Teddy Rose at So Many Books, So Little Time. Read below for what Teddy has to say about her challenge!

"I hope all of you ARC Readers will join me again in 2011 for the ARC Reading Challenge. I welcome old and new participants. I don't know about you, but my ARC pile is way too big. That is why I am making one big change to this challenge. For 2011 you don't have to list all of the ARCs that you have. That's right, no more "wall of shame." LOL! Although you can list them if you want to.

Note: I use the term "ARC" loosely,any book a publisher or author gives you with the expectation that you review it, counts for this challenge.

The Levels

Level Bronze: .a. All of us who have or will have less than 12 ARCS must read all of the ARCS we have. Note, that if you have 11 ARC's and then receive a 12th one you will be bumped up to catagory b.

b. All of us who have or will have 12 or more than 12 ARCS must read and review at least 12.

Level Silver: Read 24 ARCS

Level Gold: Read 25 ARCS

Level Platinum: Read 30 or more ARCS


Rules:

* To sign up, leave a direct link to your blog post about this challenge. Please leave a comment as well.

* You don't have to make a list of which ARC's you plan to read, but you can if you want.

* If you choose a lower level, you can always change it to a higher level if you like. However, you cannot go from a higher level back down to a lower level.

* Crossovers with other challenges are allowed and Audio-books and ebooks are allowed as long as they are ARC's.

* Read the books and review them on your blog. If you don't have a blog, you can post your review on sites like Powells, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.

* Please subscribe to my blog, as I will be doing a monthly post with MR Linky. Please add your reviews for each month in MR Linky in the monthly post. For your Name, please use this format Name: (Your Name, Book Title and Author's Name) for example: (Teddy, Obsessive Reading by Helen Reader). Please be sure to use the direct link to your review, not just to your blog. Then please leave a comment.

* HAVE FUN!"

Reading From My Shelves Challenge 2011

I participated in this challenge last year and didn't do so well. My goal this year is to clear some books out that I have been wanting to read but haven't gotten to yet so I am once again going to give this a try.

It is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea

I am going to shoot for 20 books this year. I will list them as I read them because I hope to read more of what I feel like reading in the New Year.

Here are the details if you are interested:

* Challenge runs from January 1 - December 31, 2011.
* Read books from your own shelves, and then pass the books on to someone else: a friend, relative, the library, used book store, swap them, just as long as the book leaves your house once it has been read.
* Decide on your goal (12 is the minimum - no maximum). Cross over books are allowed.
* Grab the button and do a post about the challenge.
* Keep a running list of the books you've read and passed on.
* Leave a comment with a link to your post and you are entered (no Mr. Linky).
* Have Fun and GOOD LUCK!

Mailbox Monday January 3

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. (Library books don’t count, but eBooks & audiobooks do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists! Mailbox Monday was started by Marcia at the Printed Page. Mailbox Monday is now on tour and this month's host is Rose City Reader. Thank you for hosting this month!

I hope everyone had a nice holiday. It sure is hard to get back into the swing of things here this morning. The tree is down, the presents are put away and school started back up today. I still need to sign up for reading challenges for the year. Hopefully that will be done today or tomorrow. I received one book for review this past week. I love Southern Fiction so when I saw this book being offered on Librarything Early Reviewers I signed up for a chance to win it. I thumbed through it and see there are recipes and discussion questions in the back of the book. Looks like my kind of book!



Hungry for Happiness by James Villas

Thank you to Librarything Early Reviewers Group and Kensington Publishing

No resolutions made here except I hope to read more. Did you make any resolutions?

I am off to check out the other mailbox posts. What wonderful books made their way into your home?

Happy New Year 2011

I want to wish every one of my blog readers, followers, and lurkers a very Happy New Year! My wish for you all is a happy, healthy new year full of great joy!