Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Aloha!!!

Happy Wednesday all! 

Well, I booked my August trip to Hawaii this afternoon and am SOOOOO EXCITED!  I have been there the last three years and am hooked.  It is an absolutely gorgeous place and I can't wait to visit again!   This year I am extending my trip a little and doing a conference for one week followed by an additional week of pure vacation!  Beaches, sun, ocean, and relaxation!  Time to get the beach reads ready!!! 

Aloha!
Mahalo!


Books Are Life,
Heather

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Teaser Tuesday

This weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading is a fun way to check out what your fellow book bloggers are reading. Here are the rules:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from the page. PLEASE DON'T INCLUDE SPOILERS!
  • Share the author and title of the book so that others can add it to their TBR list if they want.

My tease:

"You trust him?"
"Completely.  He keys in on aggressive behavior and can read body language better than any human I know."




Buzz Off by Hannah Reed  (A Queen Bee Mystery)




Books Are Life,
Heather

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Cozy Review: Farm Fresh Murder (A Farmer's Market Mystery #1)

Title:  Farm Fresh Murder (A Farmer's Market Mystery #1)
Author: Paige Shelton
Pages:  304
Publisher:  Berkley
ISBN:  9780425233870

Synopsis (from bookcover):  Becca Robins leads a simple life, making jams and preserves on her very own farm.  But when there's a murder in her quaint little town, she goes from making jam to being in one . . .

Becca is late for her stall time at Bailey's Farmers' Market.  By the time she arrives, the normally lush and lively market has turned into a crime scene, with a murdered peach vendor as the featured item of the day.

Cranky old Abner Justen sells wildflowers and is like a father to Becca.  It seems he's also te number one suspect, seen arguing with the victim just days before.  as Becca seeks the truth, she comes to realize that life in the friendly farmers' market is filled with bushels of secrets and deceit.  To preserve her own life, she'll have to sniff out he murderer before he spoils the market for everyone. 

My thoughts:  A great debut in another great cozy series.  The author introduces us to Becca Robins, another strong, absolultey no nonsense sleuth who sets forth to clear her friend's name, save her sister's reputation, and save the farmer's market she loves! 

Set in a quaint, small community, the reader has a chance to really begin to know the characters in this town.  Becca's twin sister, Allison, manages the local Bailey's Farmer's Market.  Becca is the jam lady!  She lives on and runs her own farm where she makes her homemade preserves and jams to sell at Bailey's. 

I am hoping that many of the characters return in the second book and that the author gives us a better glimpse into the lives of Becca and Allison. 

The second in the series . . . . Fruit of All Evil was released March 1, 2011!  It's already on my list. 

Happy reading!

My rating:  :-)  :-)  :-)  :-)  Liked it!

And remembers,
Books Are Life,
Heather

Cozy Review - Roast Mortem (Coffeehouse Mystery #9)

Title:  Roast Mortem (Coffeehouse Mystery #9)
Author:  Cleo Coyle
Pages:  316
Publisher:  Penguin Group
ISBN:  9780425234594


Synopsis (from Goodreads.com):  After local firefighters pull Clare out of a blazing cafĂ©, she happily comes to their rescue by teaching them the finer points of operating their newly donated espresso machine. But matters really heat up when somebody is torching cafes around the city and firefighters begin to die in suspicious ways...


Believing the two events are related, Clare investigates, staking out a five-borough bake sale and sniffing out clues in the pizza ovens of Brooklyn. When her detective boyfriend, Mike Quinn, is pulled into the fire of a false accusation, Clare is desperate to put out the flames. But will she be able to come to Mike's rescue before someone tries to extinguish her?


My thoughts:
Cleo Coyle returns with her 9th installment in the Coffeehouse Mystery series - another great book in a great series!  In this book, the author pays tribute to the firefighters and heroes of September 11, 2001.


Clare, the owner of the Village Blend, finds herself being rescued from a burning cafe owned by one of her ex-mother-in-laws friends, Enzo.  Many believe it may be an accident, but Clare has her suspcions from the very beginning that it may be arson?  Soon, cafes all around town are being torched.  Clare is of course on the case.


I don't know if it's my insane love of everything related to coffee, but I really enjoy these Coffeehouse mysteries.  I do find myself wishing this one would have been set more in the Village Blend.  The characters spent more time out and about in the city and the firehouse than in the coffee shop.  I felt like it was a little disconnected from the actual cafe and lost that feeling I love about the Coffeehouse Mysteries.  I love imagining what the interior of the cafe looks like and the wonderful smell that would come when opening up the door of the Village Blend to smell the fresh roasted coffee!


And as always, the author includes coffee-roasting tips and great recipes at the end! 


Overall, a really good read.  Relaxing, renewing, and I am already looking forward to the next one . . . Murder  By Mocha release date August 2, 2011!!!!

Happy reading!

My Rating:  :-)  :-)  :-)  :-)  Liked it!

And remember,
Books Are Life,
Heather

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Theme Thursdays 3/24/11

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:


-A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday's)

-Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading

-Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post

-It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don't necessarily need to have the word)

Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have "They kissed so gently" or "Their lips touched each other" or "The smooch was so passionate"

This will give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

This week's theme is - BUILDING



"The greenhouse was half as long as a football field and probably not quite as wide.  There were rows and rows of flowers that seemed to be planted in tables."       - Farm Fresh Murder by Paige Shelton

Books Are Life,
Heather

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tuesday Top Ten


Top Ten Bookish Pet Peeves

Brought to you by Broke and Bookish

I have so been enjoying reading people's posts on this, they are hilarious and oh so true, so true!!

1.  People interrupting you when you are reading to talk.  This used to happen to me all of the time over my lunch break.  There must be some kind of draw between me picking up my book and people wanting to talk to me.  As soon as people see you are reading they interrupt to engage in discussion, like it somehow makes them uncomfortable that you are reading.  Isn't simply holding a book a sign to people that I want to read?  I guess not :)

2.  Borrowing people your books and getting them back all beat up.  I treat my books very well and hate getting them back with the spines all broken and pages bent up.  Why oh why do you have to be rough on books?

3.  Long sections in the middle of a book that serves no purpose but to fill pages.  My favorite example is Mount Dragon by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preseton.  There was literallyl 150 pages in the middle of the book where the characters were riding through the desert on horses - ugh!  Why?

4.  People who say "Oh I wish I had all that time to read".  I figure if you really like to read you can find some time in your day to get it done - even if it is a small amount of time.  We are all busy and find time to do those things we value and like.

5.  Books that are overhyped.  Like with movies, the more press and hype they get and the more people tell me I'm going to love them, the more I end up disliking them.

6.  People who look down on the type of book genre you read.  In my opinion, reading is good!  I don't care what you read as long as you read.  I like to read cozy mysteries or psychological thrillers, they are no less than classics or great non-fiction.  Just read!

7.  Those that think that reading means you are being antisocial.  I'm not reading because I want to avoid you, ignore you, or don't want to talk to you.  I am just reading because I really like reading.  

8.  Reading a series book out of order.  I hate it when I read a great book with great characters and find out it was not the first book in the series.  I really only like to read books in order.  

9.  Books that are completely mangled in their movie form.  I try not to see a movie that is based on a book before I finish the book.  I really want to form my own ideas and mental images of what the characters are like and not be influenced by what someone else thinks.  

10. Books that end weakly and that leave you wondering where did that come from!  You all know what I'm talking about. 


Loved this topic,

Books Are Life,
Heather


Tyndale Press and Book Club Newsletter

Tyndale Book Club E-Newsletter

I just discovered this posted at  Crazy For Books and thought you might want to know!

"In honor of Tyndale launching its new book club enewsletter we’re running a 30 day giveaway on our website. The Book Club Hub Newsletter will be an email newsletter geared towards people who are in or are running book clubs. It will feature suggestions, discussion guides and great ideas for your book clubs. You can see a preview by clicking here.

To enter the giveaway you just need to visit the contest page and click on the book you’d like to sign up to win. You can even go back and sign up for both books. Each day is a new giveaway so you can return to the site each day and try to win. Every few days the books change, so check back!"

As a bonus, bloggers can win! Here's how:
1. Visit the page and sign up to win one or both of the free books daily
2. Post about this giveaway and about the Book Club Hub Newsletter on your blog.
3. Fill out this form with the address of your blog post.
4. Shake at least two people’s hands today and tell them about the contest.

The first 100 people to fill out this form will win a free copy of The Holy Bible Mosaic: NLT!
Good luck!

Open to U.S. residents.


Books Are Life,
Heather