Sarah's Quilt by Nancy E. Turner hosted by Indu

In These Is My Words, Sarah Agnes Prine told the spellbinding story of an extraordinary pioneer woman and her struggle to make a home in the Arizona Territories. Now, in this mesmerizing sequel, Sarah's Quilt, a three-year drought has made Sarah desperate for water. And just when it seems that life couldn't get worse, she learns that her brother and his family are trapped in the Great San Francisco Earthquake. A heartwarming blend of stubbornness and compassion, Sarah Agnes Prine will once again capture the hearts of readers everywhere. ~ Amazon review

"Getting out of bed is a good way to leave your troubles behind."

"A clock only turns one direction"

"A nice girl should never go anywhere without a loaded gun and a big knife."

— Nancy E. Turner (Sarah's Quilt: A Novel of Sarah Agnes Prine and the Arizona Territories, 1906)

About the Author

Nancy Elaine Turner was born in Dallas, Texas and grew up in Southern California and Arizona. She began writing fiction as an assignment for a class at Pima Community College and completed a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts Studies from the University of Arizona in 1999

with a triple major in Creative Writing, Music, and Studio Art. She lives in Tucson with her husband and Snickers, a dog rescued by F.A.I.R. She has two married children and four grandchildren. She also enjoys the outdoors, theater, movies, and antiques.

"Writing historical fiction is much like working on a term paper every day. My story is never far from my mind. I create characters by mingling traits of people. I love all my characters, too, especially those with complexity that makes them seem all the more real. I believe the locale of a story can be as much a part of the book as a character, and I use settings I know well enough to describe in detail."

~ Authors website

Lost Symbol by Dan Brown Hosted by Ariane

The Lost Symbol begins with an ancient ritual, a shadowy enclave, and of course, a secret. Readers know they are in Dan Brown territory when, by the end of the first chapter, a secret within a secret is revealed. ~Amazon review

The Lost Symbol is a sequel to Dan Brown's, The Da Vinci Code. The novel features Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, who also appears in Angels and Demons as well. It is set in Washington D.C., and the story takes place over a 12-hour period. Brown released Lost Symbol on 9/15/09, 9+15+09=33. The significance of the number 33 and the Freemasons are central and key to the story. Brown even placed secret symbols in the artwork of The Da Vinci Code hard back cover relating to The Lost Symbol.

~Play The Lost Symbol Game

~Bizarre Facts

Q: ARE THERE ANY PARALLELS BETWEEN YOUR NEW NOVEL AND THE DA VINCI CODE?

A: There are parallels between it and all my other books. I'm back in the same world of symbols, secret societies, art, and history. ~Dan Brown Web site

These is My Words by Nancy Turner

Book #59 Hosted by Ariane

Inspired by the true story of the author's pioneering great-grandmother, this mesmerizing saga tells of the emotional, intellectual, and romantic awakening of a spirited young woman of the late 19th century in the American West.~Goodreads review

These is My Words is the story of Sarah Prine, a sixteen year old girl, who endures hardship, love and adventure in the Arizona Territory in the 1880's. Sarah's Quilt, the 2nd in the series challenges Sarah after three years of drought that have devastated her ranch. The Star Garden is the 3rd in the series that begins with a stagecoach accident that introduces three strangers who will change her life.

"A nice girl should never go anywhere without a loaded gun and a big knife."

~Sarah Agnes Prine

Sarah is the 2nd from the right ~From Nancy E. Turner

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Book #58 Hosted by Kate
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (originally titled "Men Who Hate Women") is a translated Swedish book and the 1st in a series called “The Millenium Trilogy”. The other two book are titled, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. There is a 4th book which is in "negotiations". Larsson's partner of 30 years, Eva Gabrielsson, has the authors laptop with the manuscript of the 4th novel (she has said was a planned 10 book series) in a "safe place". She will not turn it over to the estate unless she get guarantees that the rights to the books are distributed "as he would have wished". Stieg never left a will and his brother and father were actually suprised that the estate reverted to the family. Gabrielsson says Larsson's father and brother were eager to cash in on the sudden success of the books, but is hoping that her rights will prevail in the end. ~Support Eva website

About the Book
The book has two story lines. The first is the mystery into the possible murder of Harriet Vanger, a member of the prominent Vanger family, who disappeared from a gathering on the remote family owned island in Sweden. The second is that of a disgraced financial journalist sentenced to jail for libeling a shady businessman. Stieg Larsson blends these two stories together through the characters of Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, an unorthodox investigator.

About the Author
Stieg Larsson's first murder mystery has been a smash hit throughout Europe since its 2005 publication in the author's native Sweden, and has now become a bestseller in the U.S. as well. But the bitter twist in Larsson's success story is that he didn't live to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo published: he died of a heart attack just after he delivered the manuscripts for this book and the two that follow. ~Barnes and Noble

The Girl Who Played With Fire
Stieg Larsson's seething heroine, Lisbeth Salander, once again finds herself paired with journalist Mikael Blomkvist on the trail of a sinister criminal enterprise. Only this time, Lisbeth must return to the darkness of her own past (more specifically, an event coldly known as "All the Evil") if she is to stay one step ahead--and alive. The Girl Who Played with Fire is a break-out-in-a-cold-sweat thriller that crackles with stunning twists and dismisses any talk of a sophomore slump. ~Amazon Book Review

Män som hatar kvinnor
The Swedish film version of the best selling novel is now released in USA theatres.
The Los Angeles Times: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" is "a mind-bending and mesmerizing thriller that takes its time unlocking one mystery only to uncover another, all to chilling and immensely satisfying effect."
The Washington Post: "It's the rare 2 1/2 -hour film that doesn't make you look at your watch once. 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' is such a film.... like a good book, the plot is so engrossing, the characters so rich and complex, the mood of gloom mixed with glimmers of hope so all-encompassing that the thought of its actually ending never occurs to you.... For fans of the thriller genre, it's also one heck of a lot of fun."

A Hollywood remake is in the works for Stieg Larsson's international best-selling book "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb

Book #57 Hosted by Erin

It's 1964 and ten-year-old Felix is sure of a few things: the birds and the bees are puzzling, television is magical, and this is one Christmas he'll never forget.

LBJ and Lady Bird are in the White House, Meet the Beatles is on everyone's turntable, and Felix Funicello (distant cousin of the iconic Annette!) is doing his best to navigate fifth grade-easier said than done when scary movies still give you nightmares and you bear a striking resemblance to a certain adorable cartoon boy.

From the Funicello family's bus-station lunch counter to the elementary school playground (with an uproarious stop at the Pillsbury Bake-Off), Wishin' and Hopin' is a vivid slice of 1960s life, a wise and witty holiday tale that celebrates where we've been-and how far we've come. ~Barnes and Noble

About the Author

The author of the number one New York Times bestsellers She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True, Wally Lamb still contributes time as a volunteer facilitator at the York Correctional Institution. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, Christine. His third novel is The Hour I First Believed.Lamb grew up in the looming shadow of Norwich State Hospital, a sprawling facility for the mentally ill. Now closed, the institution played a part in Lamb's family history. As an adult, Lamb learned that the grandfather he had never known had been locked up in the hospital for a violent attack on his wife. He later discovered that his grandfather had died of brain cancer and wondered if illness had provoked the violence. Unsurprisingly, the themes of incarceration and mental illness play important roles in his stories. ~about the author

Reviews

"We might as well call Wally Lamb the man with the golden pen...[Wishin’ and Hopin’] will leave you laughing and thinking nostalgically about your own school days and holidays past” (BookPage )

“Both heartwarming and laugh-out-loud funny…a cast of characters that are both uproarious and unforgettable…a poignant reminder that family and friends are the greatest gift of all.” (Hartford Books Examiner )

“Lamb...proves he can be short, sweet and funny” (USA Today )

“Lamb’s vividly detailed portrait of the 1960’s and the inner workings of a Catholic schoolboy’s mind puts his first Christmas book on par with his previous three novels.” (Miami Herald )

“Wishin’ and Hopin’ from Wally Lamb reminds us of what innocence was like.” (Body and Soul )

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Book #56 Hosted by Nancy

Twilight is told by 17-year-old Bella Swan, who moves from Phoenix to the small town of Forks, Washington, to live with her dad for the remainder of high school. There, she meets Edward Cullen and his family, who possess an other-worldly and irresistible beauty and grace to which Bella is drawn. Twilight is the tale of Bella and Edward's burgeoning relationship, brimming with standard teenage drama alongside the unexpected, because, after all, Edward and his family are vampires. These undead friends have chosen to deny their urge to drink human blood, instead slaking their thirst with the blood of animals. Bella soon finds out, however, that not all vampires in her life are constrained by such scruples. ~The Book Review

Pros

• Highly entertaining, fast-paced story of romance and suspense
• Relatively clean for a teenage vampire love story
• The concept of good vampires is unusual and intriguing

Cons

• The writing can be clunky at times
• Edward's perfection can be over-the-top, even for a fictitious super-human
• At times, Edward and Bella's relationship can seem more like that of a father and daughter

About the Author

Stephenie Meyer's life changed dramatically on June 2, 2003. The stay-at-home mother of three young sons woke up from a dream featuring seemingly real characters that she could not get out of her head.

Three months later she finished her first novel, Twilight. With encouragement from her older sister (the only other person who knew she had written a book), Meyer submitted her manuscript to various literary agencies. Twilight was picked out of a slush pile at Writer's House and eventually made its way to the publishing company Little, Brown where everyone fell immediately in love with the gripping, star-crossed lovers.

Twilight was one of 2005's most talked about novels and within weeks of its release the book debuted at #5 on The New York Times bestseller list.

Stephenie lives in Arizona with her husband and three sons. ~authors website