Book Embargo

The Center of Everything is a novel by Laura Moriarty. A short description and review of the book from a review website,

Evelyn Bucknow is a girl who lives with her single, welfare mother in a small town in Kansas during the 1980s. Her mother, who acknowledges her share of mistakes while she continues to make them, is often scorned and ridiculed by family and neighbors. Evelyn attends a fundamentalist church with her conservative grandparents in the search for answers until she’s put off by their narrow views and treatment of others who believe differently. A trip to the state science fair opens her eyes to the options given to those with more privilege in life. Laura Moriarity’s debut novel could have been a predictable, sentimental novel, but she never lets Evelyn become cliché or act like an adult in a teenager’s body. The Center of Everything is a story about the evolution of a girl into a woman as she tries to make sense of the world around her. It’s received warm praise from most reviewers. The Denver Post says, “Moriarty has crafted a book that clearly hits but does not bludgeon the important points that span eight years, painting a picture that is lively and endearing.”

And another review, this one from The NYT,

”The Center of Everything” takes its title from geography both physical and spiritual. At the beginning of the book Evelyn envisions herself and her hometown as central to the universe; not for nothing, she reasons, was the apocalyptic television drama ”The Day After” set nearby. By the time it is over, she is also interested in places like the Galapagos Islands, just as Darwin was. And she learns to measure other kinds of distance as well: the distance from promise to disappointment, from freedom to encumbrance, from a married man’s seductive gaze to the baby’s toys on the floor of his car.

In the end, as Ms. Moriarty eloquently illustrates in a warm, beguiling book full of hard-won wisdom, these are the dimensions that anyone must grow up to understand.

Now onto the cool stuff. We got an advance, BUT they were creative, and sent it in a little bag! You can see the advance inside the bag too.

Very cute, original, nice idea! The Center of Everything is available now so go check it out at your local independent bookshop.

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For this post, I am going to re-write the promotional letter we got from Bantam Dell Publishing. (You can see the letter to the side there!)

Millions turn to horoscopes for guidance in our personal lives, for advice on love, work and money- but what about our health? Now, for the first time, a fitness maverick and an acclaimed astrologer combine their expertise to create ZODIACTION, the utterly unique sign-by-sign guide that shows how the wisdom of the starts can help each one of us to achieve a heavenly body.

ZODIACTION integrates what the stars say about your personality and tendencies while outlining a real, achievable fitness goal. ZODIACTION features 12 customized diet and fitness regimens and 175 high-quality black-and-white phots, along with step by step instructions.

Learn:
-The top three foods Aries should stock up on
-Why a Taurus will get good mileage out of a treadmill
-Why a Gemini should steer clear of candy
-Why Cancer should stick to noncompetitive workout buddies
-What makes Leo queen of the gym
-What type of massage will send a Virgo straight to heaven
-How Libra can achieve inner peace
-The peak hours for Scorpio to exercise
-Why Sagittarius’s legs are her most important feature
-Why Capricorn is a cardio all-star
-What kind of personal trainer makes Aquarius jump for joy
-Why Pisces prefers swimming and self-defense

This summer let the stars help you get your mind and body in shape, and with the ZODIACTION DVD debuting six months after publication, sales are sure to ignite! Look for the book to go on sale in trade paperback in May 2007.

Honestly, I looked through the book. I like my Gemini workouts… I might just try it!

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Here is another Blog Roll. No Sheep is Zach, who is married to Sara. Small world eh? Unlike Sara who blogs about the baby and mother-dom, Zach blogs about computer stuff, comic book stuff, and other hilarious stuff worthy of a mention.

One of my favorite blog posts of Zach’s is that of the random baby kittens. Sara brought home three abandoned kittens that she had found. Regardless of how cute they are, and yeah they were WICKED cute, my favorite part is that this completely random blog post about baby kittens is one of his top hit posts. People comment asking if any of the kittens are available. (Mind you the post was from 2005… people STILL comment asking… hehe)

So Zach has completely random things like the kittens, hilarious things like Will Ferrell being chewed out by a two year old and worth while things like how to do things in java.. and C++ and other things I don’t understand but that comp-geeks DO understand.

Definitely a worthwhile blog to add to your own blog-roll! Check him out!

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Feel like you just aren’t doing your part to help the Earth? Do you wish there was just a LITTLE bit more you could do that would not change your routine too much but that might do some good?
Have no fear, a new website is here! The Ideal Bite. And now, a blurb!

Head over to the site to see the video collage that they put together.

A couple of blurbs of love,

Ideal Bite has come along at the right time, with the right attitude. Relevant tips and insight on how to live a green life, without giving up style or creature comforts.
-Kim Hoffman, San Francisco, CA

Thanks for your service, I love getting a fun, funky email daily that provides a helpful (low effort) tip for making my personal life and the greater world better. I’ve been sending them to all my friends who have signed up as well!
-Michelle Laplin, Chapel Hill, NC

And because I have a corgi (Stewart), and they have a corgi (Cricket), here is a picture of their pup.

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My friend Sara has a very fun website. She worked in children protective services, and has since has a child of her own. Her early blog posts refer to her work in CPS, and then phased into her pregnancy and now into a weekly report on her son’s development. Her son is one of the highlights of my life as well. He is delightful and pretty much any “baby info” I know is because of him.

From her blog post on Xander’s realization that his mom really WAS the best,

Yesterday I was later than usual picking him up, and by the time I got in the car to go get him, I was surprised at how much I missed my boy, and how excited I was to see him. When I got there, he was indeed crying while one of the women held him. As soon as Xander heard my voice, he turned towards me. Although I was still pretty cold from being outside, I picked him up and gave him a big hug. He immediately started to smile and giggle. I took him into another room to get him buckled into his car seat, and continued to kiss his face and talk to him, and the giggling continued. Even when I buckled him in (which he usually hates) he laughed at me.

If you have any interest in babies and especially if you just want actual information on pregnancy, check out Sara’s blog, and read through her back entries. Definitely worth it!!

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Wanted to make sure you all saw the HP5 trailer!!!

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I found a new Science Fiction/Fantasy Author! Catherine Asaro writes both “hard core” science fiction (actual science plus space, etc) and fantasy novels. What I think is most impressive is thta she is also a Physicist, PLUS a ballerina, in addition to those “easy jobs” of mother and wife. From her official website,

Catherine Asaro was born in Oakland, California and grew up in El Cerrito, just north of Berkeley. She received her Ph.D. in Chemical Physics and MA in Physics, both from Harvard, and a BS with Highest Honors in Chemistry from UCLA. Among the places she has done research are the University of Toronto in Canada, the Max Planck Institut für Astrophysik in Germany, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Her research involved using quantum theory to describe the behavior of atoms and molecules. Catherine was a physics professor until 1990, when she established Molecudyne Research, which she currently runs.

Not too surprising, the series that I have started by Catherine is on the more “romantic fantasy” side of the genre. I have read Charmed Sphere. This book is about Chime, a mage of unknown strength and quantities, and what happens when that strength is put to the test!

What was the use of being a powerful mage if you couldn’t learn the spells?

Once Chime had been the most promising mage in the land, feted and celebrated for her potential and future role in the kingdom. Then Iris, her young competitor, made a stunning leap in skill and turned Chime’s world upside down.

Now no longer the most powerful, no longer promised to a prince - and still unable to harness her magic properly - Chime was set adrift. As was the new king’s cousin - and former heir - Lord Muller. Yet when the neighboring kingdom threatened war, Muller and Chime were tasked with uncovering the plot. Both were flawed, yet unwilling to accept a lesser destiny than they had once known.

Could this quest be the opportunity for redemption - or would it lead them to their deaths?

That is from Charmed Sphere. The second, Misted Cliffs, and the third The Dawn star, involve Chime’s daughter Melody. From, The Dawn Star,

High in the Misted Cliffs lives a magic unlike any other.

With no teacher to guide her, no mentor to discourage her from the impossible, Mel Dawnfield pushed her magic to its limits—and surpassed them. Only to find that her powers aren’t enough to halt burgeoning rebellion within her husband’s fledgling realm—or a plot devised to strike at the very heart of Mel’s family.

The lines have been drawn.

Mel’s mage strength has become greater than any power ever known, but dare she forge her spells into weapons to protect her people, her husband? For her magic might transform the brutality of war into the birth pangs of a peaceful empire…unless it proves the death blow to her world.

All of the reviews I have read have said basically to read Asaro. I add my voice to that. Her writing is amazing and highly enjoyable (and all this from ONE book!) Check her out and have no fear that I will be starting her other books in short order!

All of Asaro’s works are available for order. Call your local independent bookshop and see if they can get one in for you!!

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Here is a romance novelist that I do hope you have heard of.

A list of her Simon and Schuster books are here and through the Harper Collins page here is another list of books. The bio from her SimonSays site gives this bit of information.

Johanna Lindsey is one of the most popular authors of romantic fiction, with more than sixty million copies of her novels sold. World renowned for her novels of “first-rate romance” (New York Daily News), Lindsey is the author of forty-three previous bestselling novels, many of which have been #1 New York Times bestsellers. Lindsey lives in Maine with her family.

Her Wikipedia entry gives a full list of her books. The joy of Wikipedia is that it refutes my earlier post on how there is never a list of romance novels and their series/order. Wikipedia seperates her titles into series AND has a second list of all of her titles seperated by location. VERY COOL. Here is an image of about twenty covers.

And now, here are some of my favorites!

A stand alone set in Medievel times, serfs and the like, When Love Awaits. Just so great. A great US Western would be Angel. Angel is complete with Elephant and cougar. It is fabulous.

For series:
Regency era lovers: Malory Family Saga Series
01. Love Only Once (1985)
02. Tender Rebel (1988)
03. Gentle Rogue (1990)
04. The Magic Of You (1993)
05. Say You Love Me (1996)
06. The Present (1998)
07. A Loving Scoundrel (2004)
08. Captive of My Desires (2006)

For futuristic Space lovers,
Ly-San-Ter Family Saga Series
01. Warrior’s Woman (1990)
02. Keeper Of The Heart (1993)
03. Heart Of A Warrior (2001)

The Joy of Russia, Cardinia’s Royal Family Series
01. Once A Princess (1991)
02. You Belong To Me (1994)
(I really wish she would write more of this series.)

And I adore the Sherring Cross series, set in England and Scotland,
Sherring Cross Series
01. Man Of My Dreams (1992)
02. Love Me Forever (1995)
03. The Pursuit (2002)

I would honestly NOT recommend “A Pirate’s Love.” A woman is kidnapped, there is a lot of sex… but it is the whole forced/raped type… quite a few times, and then even though he lies to her, has kidnapped her and raped her… she still loves him. Yeah, not so into that. It is one of her early ones (1978) so we will forgive her.

Take the time to check her out. There is enough variety for any romance lover!!

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The fourth confirmed author for our summer events at the Innisfree Bookshop is Ann Hood. This novel is about a woman who loses her five year old daughter and is kept from drowning in grief by her “Knitting Circle.”

This is from Ann’s website about The Knitting Circle. I think it is just so beautiful and I want to make sure you read it!

HE KNITTING CIRCLE:

This novel is very special to me. A few years ago I was afraid I would never be able to write again. For my entire life, reading and writing were ways to work out what I felt, what I worried about, what I feared, what I hoped for. Then on April 18, 2002, my five year old daughter Grace died suddenly from a virulent form of strep. As an added insult, when I lost Grace I also lost my ability to use words. I couldn’t read and I couldn’t write. Letters didn’t come together to make words; sentences did not make sense. I couldn’t concentrate. I couldn’t focus.

Almost two years later, the literary journal Tin House sent out a request to writers for submissions for their theme issue on Lying. That night-I was unable to sleep well and was often up walking around the house at all hours-an essay came to me fully developed on the lies about grief. I sat down and wrote it and Tin House published it.

That essay opened the door back to writing for me. During that time when I wasn’t reading or writing, I learned how to knit. Knitting, I believe, saved my life. But it also introduced me to a new world of yarn and colors and textures and of people. Sitting in various knitting circles, I slowly learned that knitting had rescued other women too. Bad marriages, illness, addiction-knitting gave comfort and even hope through life’s trials.

Once I began to write again, a novel about women in a knitting circle began to take shape. The old adage: Write what you know is true, but I like the writer Grace Paley’s version even better: Write what you don’t know about what you know. With that in mind, I began to read books about knitting history, knitting poetry, knitting everything! I gave my protagonist, Mary, the loss of her only child, and then surrounded her with women who, while teaching her to knit, also tell her their own stories of love and loss and recovery.

The women in this fictitious knitting circle became as real to me as those strangers I sat knitting with after I lost Grace. Each of their stories is told in their own voice and each story moves Mary along in her grieving process.

This novel is important to me as a writer, as a woman, as a mother, and as a knitter. I hope you find comfort and hope-and even knitting tips!-as you read THE KNITTING CIRCLE.

It is in stores now. Our signing for Ann is Saturday August 4th from 2:00-4:00 pm. We hope to see you there!

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This Blog belongs to my boyfriend. Call Blog started out when he was still in college, and though it is RARELY updated these days, when it is, Justin finds really interesting subjects to blog about. Sometimes it is the random photos he takes.

Other times, it is on living in a Domed house. His blog is definitely one to keep on your blog roll, and hopefully, without too much nagging, he will get back into the blogging thick of it to delight you regularly once more!!

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