autographed book

The copy of The Price of Pride by Donna Macquigg that I will be reading and reviewing for armchair interviews came today. The author was a sweet-heart and autographed it to me.

That floored me. It's such a little thing, but it made me smile.

The Obsidian Key By Eldon Thompson

This is what I am going to be submitting to HarperCollins for their firstlook deadline. I will write a real review when finished with the book.

Eldon Thompson brings his readers back to a world full of conflict and unrest. This sequel to The Crimson Sword brings us back to the kingdom of Ansalon and its young king Torin. When Torin discovers that his actions in retrieving the crimson sword, in his earlier adventures, has brought about disaturous consequenses and a frigtning new enemy he sets off to right the wrong. Eldon Thompson has crafted a story with a wonderfully detailed world and plot.

ISBN10: 006074152X
ISBN13: 9780060741525
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication Date: July 2006
Binding: Hardcover

Whoot!!!

My Drawing a Blank review has gotten posted to the armchair interview site

This is my first review published through them :)

Book recieved

I got a copy of The Woman Who is Always Tan And Has a Flat Stomach (and Other Annoying People) by Lauren Allison and Lisa Perry to read and review for armchair today.

This looks exactly like something I will enjoy after slogging through The Obsidian Key

I'm up to chapter thirteen finished in the book as of this moment. Only forty-three more to go. I am going to try like crazy to finish this in time for Monday's deadline, however the book might get a very short general review submitted to armchair this time and a more thought out one when I do finish the book.

I wish they hadn't taken so long for it to get to me, I'm enjoying this book immensly so far. However it's such a detail rich story that I am hating rushing through it like I have been.

Pauls Books

This is sad but sweet. I stumbled onto this bookcrossing bookshelf while reading the forums this morning. The original site that Pauls family put together after his death is very moving. www.paulsbooks.org It's sad that this boy died so young, but it is extremly moving how his friends and family have choosen to honor his memory.

When I was reading some of the entries in the books on his book shelf, I was getting snifley.

I'm going slightly mad

So, last week (exactly a week ago today) I received my ARC copy of The Obsidian Key to review through the HarperCollins FirstLook program. The due date for the review? The 8th of May. The date on the letter inside the book? The 12th of April...

Now normally this wouldn't be a problem, except that 1. The book is in the mid 500 page range and 2. It is a very fact intensive fantasy book. 3. I was struggling with the Drawing a Blank review until yesterday morning and finally 4. I got a spring fling box with books I would much rather be reading yesterday.

So now, I am two chapters in, the book is making my head hurt it has introduced so many characters already and I can't keep it open.

I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to send an "I really couldn't get into the book" comment off. I feel obligated to finish it and review it, but I just can't seem to keep my concentration on the book.

I really don't know what to do.

Welcome

So, over the past year or so I have been fortunate enough to be picked to do some reader reviews for the HarperCollins Publishing company through their firstlook program. I recently got involved with the armchair interviews review group. I've decided to throw together this blog to give myself someplace where I can get my reviews together and put my thoughts about the books down before completing the reviews. Kind of a sounding board as it is.

I'm going to be uploading copies of the past reviews today :) (they are backdated now with the date they were written so are now found below this post)

Book Review: Drawing a Blank by Daniel Ehrenhaft, Illustrated by Trevor Ristow

Read and reviewed for armchair interviews

Told through the eyes of seventeen year old Carleton Duane (the IV), the story takes us from a boarding school in upstate Connecticut, to New York City, to Scotland. Carleton is a rather reserved teen, who has been sent to school at a ritzy boarding school. He is artistically bent, and spends much of his time in class doodling, and drawing his comics (which are printed in the local paper under his father’s name - Carleton Duanne III –whom he has led the editor to believe he is). Carleton’s life is thrown into chaos, when he receives a late night phone call from Scotland telling him that his father has been kidnapped, and the only way to free him is to bring the “Proof” of this age old feud between two Scottish clans. There is only one problem. Carleton has always believed his father was nuts, and the feud a made up event. He has no idea what the “proof” required is. What follows is a wacky tale of Carleton’s travels to try and rescue his father.

Carleton sneaks out of school to go back home, unknowingly setting off a panic about his disappearance. He arrives home in New York City to find his apartment ransacked by someone else looking for the “proof” his mysterious caller had mentioned, and a very strange last will and testament written by his father years earlier (which refers to the feud but does not explain it at all) in a drawer usually kept locked in his father’s desk. He flies to Scotland, and is almost run over by an unmarked big black van when he arrives. On top of all this, he is rescued by a girl who might not be what or whom she seems to be.

Author Daniel Ehrenhaft and artist Trevor Ristow have collaborated their talents to make an intently humorous story. Ehrenhaft’s delightful tale is punctuated with Ristow’s drawings that illustrate how Carleton looses himself in his drawing and uses his comics to explore his emotions at the time of drawing. While this is not a graphic novel, but fiction with inserted illustrated comic pages, the comic pages scattered throughout the book might interest fans of the graphic novel genre as well.

Armchair Interviews says: Readers of this book will have a fun time reading about Carleton’s travels, and finding out how he manages to solve the mystery of who has kidnapped his father, end a feud that has lasted generations, and find the time to meet the girl of his dreams.

ISBN10: 0060752521
ISBN13: 9780060752521
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: April 2006
Binding: Hardcover