What I Love About J

Alyce of At Home with Books tagged me for a meme where you list ten things that you love that start with a letter that is randomly assigned to you. I got the letter J.

The way the meme works is that if you want to get tagged you leave a comment letting me know that you want to participate, and then I assign you a random letter. Here are ten very random people, places or things I love that start with the letter J:

Jesus

June evenings – they are so magical, especially around the summer solstice.

James T. (that’s my dad).

Jim Carrey’s performance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It’s one of my favorite movies and I think its criminal he was snubbed by Oscar.

J songs on my iPod: Josephine, Juarez and Jackie’s Strength – three excellent songs by Tori Amos, Just like Heaven by The Cure, Jackson by Johnny Cash and June Carter, July, July by the Decemberists and Jaded by Maggi, Pierce and E.J.

Japanese food especially (crack) sushi (but not all the pickled side dishes they like to serve).

Jumping Cat Monastery on Inle Lake in Burma. The monks have taught cats to jump through hoops and it is seriously cute.

The Jenneweins (Daniel's family).

Jasper Fforde. He’s the author of the Thursday Next series which I love and the upcoming Shades of Grey which I am really looking forward to. Plus I met him in person and he’s super witty and nice.

Juice - especially grape, tomato, guanabana, and pineapple.

So who wants to go next?

Book Review: Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne

Celeste Harris loves to eat chocolate cookies. But she hates being called a cow by teen mean queen Lively, that she looks like a watermelon in the Peach Monstrosity of a bridesmaid’s dress she has to wear for her cousin’s wedding, and that her Aunt signed her up to model in the Miss Husky Peach pageant for plus-sized girls. Is it time to "just say no" to junk food?

Let me say right off the bat that I loved Celeste. She completely charmed me with her matter-of-fact voice and her sweet personality. She’s an underdog, but not a complete social outcast and her road to self acceptance is filled with the kind of middle school drama that’s completely relatable.

I was also impressed by the way debut author Erin Dionne handled the sensitive issue of weight loss. Celeste knows that she’s chubby and she is hurt by her classmates’ taunting, but dieting is not really on her radar. A diet ad with a bikini clad woman gives her the idea to try to lose the Husky Peach modeling gig by losing weight so they won’t want her anymore. The desire to eat healthier starts with her and at her friend’s gentle urging, she also becomes more physically active. It all comes off as totally natural and that is quite a feat.

There are many laugh-out-loud scenes – the diet drink fiasco being a particular favorite of mine – and I just had so much fun reading this.

Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies comes out in hardcover tomorrow.

Waiting On Wednesday (19) Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Check out this amazing cover. Crazy Beautiful is a contemporary tale about a boy with hooks for hands and a gorgeous girl who meet on their first day at a new school. A hot romance with with an Edward Scissorhands meets Captain Hook vibe maybe? I can't wait to find out.

Here's what Lisa McMann (author of Wake and Fade) had to say:

"Lauren Baratz-Logsted doesn't write icky, gooey love. She writes stark, broken, gorgeous love. When you need a retreat, when you need to feel something, or when you just need a breather from your own freaky life, this is the love story you'll run to. Crazy Beautiful has two hearts, one soul. I can't wait to read it again."

Crazy Beautiful is coming out in September 2009.

UPDATE: Tempting Persephone did some digging and found the publisher's summary so go read it on her blog - it's hot!

And here's an interview Katie of Katie's Bookshelf did with Lauren that tells us a bit more about the book, including that it has a lot in common with the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale.

Library Thing Tuesday (39) + first ever Emmy video!

Today's question: Do you post links to your reviews? Here on Library Thing, or anywhere else? How else do you like to promote your site?

I do sometimes post links to my reviews, but I am not systematic or consistent.

As far as posting links on LT, If it's a ARC, I might post a link in the "Penny for your Thoughts" thread in ARC Junkies or if it's YA I might post a link in the Read YA lit "What are you reading?" thread for the current month. I haven't done this much lately though.

I usually post my links at Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books. After posting my links, I click on at least 3 of other bloggers links and comment on their reviews.

Very rarely, I'll tweet a link to a book review on twitter, but I do see other bloggers do this frequently. It works. I click on them!

**************************************

On Sunday, it snowed and Emmy wanted to go out and play in it. Watch this video to see her reaction and hear lots of meowing (happy Sharonanne?). Be warned that there is a lot of street noise - sounds like a street car might be going past.

Book Review: The Customer is Always Wrong ed. by Jeff Martin

The Customer is Always Wrong, a collection of essays by writers who have “done their time behind the counter and lived to tell the tale” attracted my interest because I love a good on the job anecdote and I have a slew of horrifying stories from my own time in the retail trenches (I worked at Subway where I was promoted to assistant manager after one day of work because all the other employees were perpetually stoned, for Aramark catering which was waitressing without the tips, and at a call center in customer service for an office supply company).

The essays cover a broad range of topics from brazen tulip theft to customers trying to DIY and failing miserably. There is mildly offensive venting (Deviant you, Deviant me by C.A. Conrad), a bizarre and surreal chronicle of working at a Muffin and Coffee shop (Klaus by Timothy Bracy) and an interesting look at a mystery novel author who takes entry level retail positions to research her Dead End Job series (Minimum Wage Drama by Elaine Viets).

I’d advise you to start reading from the back because that’s where all the real gems are. My absolute favorite essay is by comedian Wendy Spero (Free Spatulas) about her knife selling days. It is laugh out loud hilarious. I also really enjoyed the sweet charm of Jane Borden’s The Popsicle Shop about her after school job at a baby clothing store for society women and the beautiful truths of Fine Wine and Liquors by Becky Poole where she rhapsodizes about really getting to know her neighborhood while working at a liquor store.

The Customer is Always Wrong is out in paperback now.

January Reading in Review (including fun search words!)

My goal for January reading was to whittle down my review pile a bit and that I did. All 14 books I read last month were sent to me for review. And I only added 6 new review books to the pile. My ARC and YA challenges are going very well. And I've read one book for the LibraryThing author challenge too.

I read 9 YA novels
Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers
Hot Mess by Julie Kraut & Shallon Lester
Dust of 100 Dogs by AS King
Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith
wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison
Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
Triple Shot Bettys in Love by Jody Gehrman
The Rule of Won by Stefan Petrucha

1 Middle grade novel
I, Lorelei by Yeardley Smith

1 Short story collection
After the Fires by Ursula Pflug

2 Non-fiction books
Click by Bill Tancer
The Customer is Always Wrong Ed. by Jeff Martin (review soon)

1 Thriller
Eclipse by Richard North Patterson

Many very good books!

I also blogged more than ever before this month (due to a light work load so don't get used to it) with 40 posts.

I finally set up Google Analytics, so now I can do that fun feature where I list the keywords people typed into search engines to get to my blog.

Here are some of the most remarkable:

Fear of potato eyes. This was searched for over 10 times. Who knew so many people had the same phobia as I do?

How to make a swastika mii. Yikes! I have no idea. I just tried to make a mii of my cat.

Picture of naked man in santa cap. Well, I can't offer that, but I did talk about a picture of a naked man here. It's a funny story.

Link between 1984 and Ella Minnow Pea. The link is that they are both examples of very good dystopian fiction. If you want to more about dystopian fiction, listen to my first ever segment in a podcast here.

Where can I buy the sequel to Hunger Games? Sorry, Catching Fire does not go on sale until September 2009. I'm bummed too. But the ever enterprising Hillary from The Book Reader found a semi-summary at Barnes & Noble. Check it out!

Good parts of Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty. In my review, I contend that they are all good parts.

Book with lips in the name. Maybe you were looking for Read my Lips by Teri Brown?

Why do cats love heaters? Because heaters are warm. Right Emmy?

Goodbye Lenore. Bye! (For today - I am heading over to a super bowl party - Go Steelers!)

The Dust of 100 Dogs Deal - Contest at Reviewer X

So you know I loved The Dust of 100 Dogs by AS King right? (If you somehow missed that, please read my review in all its fangirly glory as well as my very special interview with the main character Saffron here). Well, today is its official release day and to celebrate, Reviewer X set up an amazing contest where you could win over $300 worth of gift cards and books just by sending in your receipt for D100D! Naturally, I contributed (a gift card) to the awesomeness. So buy the book, and head over to Reviewer X for all the details on how to enter. And good luck matey!

Book Review: Eclipse by Richard North Patterson

The geopolitics of oil are very complex, and even though I regularly read The Economist, I didn’t realize just how complex they are until I read Eclipse. I’ve seen firsthand the environmental damage that oil can cause on a visit to the jungle in Ecuador where I got an eye infection from swimming in a polluted lake. But if South America is bad in terms of corruption and environmental neglect, well Africa is off the charts.

I’ve heard it said that the discovery of oil in Africa was a death sentence to its people and at first I couldn’t understand why. Shouldn’t something so valuable actually raise the standard of living for the impoverished? Apparently not. Through this fictional story and its fictional tribal leader Bobby Okari, Author Richard North Patterson explains:

“Oil blackens everything it touches. It fouls the hands of the ruling class that misappropriates its profits. It stains the ambitions of the young, who in their desperation will pick up a gun, sabotage a pipeline, kidnap a foreigner to grab their pitiful share of the riches. It elevates the powerful and drowns the weak.” (p. 6)

And that’s not all. As we journey through the made-up country of Luandia (standing in for Nigeria) with lawyer Damon Pierce who is there to defend Bobby Okari from trumped up charges in a kangaroo court set up by the country’s dictator “Savior” Karama, we learn about the players in the global oil trade and how things like oil futures, oil bunkering, and arms trading muck up the picture even more. The narrative culminates in a trial so patently ludicrous in its total lack of regard for human rights and international law that it would be funny if it weren’t so galling.

In case you think all of this sounds kind of boring, it’s not. Even though there is a fair amount of necessary exposition, Patterson succeeds in making us care for his characters, lending the novel a thrilling urgency. It reminded me in some ways of John le Carre’s The Constant Gardener so if you liked that or other international geopolitical thrillers, then you should definitely check this one out.

Eclipse is out in hardcover now.

Presenting The Read Carpet Podcast!

It's here (a bit earlier than I expected)! The Read Carpet is a podcast made by an assortment of bloggers to talk about our favorite subject - YA literature. It was put together by Adele and has a rotating roster of contributers including myself and some of the most awesome bloggers around. We are planning to have two episodes a month and you'll hear from me every other episode if all goes well. This time, I discuss dystopian fiction and I even managed to record a take without Emmy meowing in the background!

Please excuse the sound on my segment (which begins at 14 min 20 seconds in). I will invest in a better microphone for next time. In case you can't or don't want to listen to audio, I will post a transcript of my segment here on my blog one week after the airdate .

Go to the official Read Carpet site where you can find the show notes and find links to all the contributing bloggers or listen to the podcast right here. It should also be available at iTunes starting tomorrow. And remember, we'd LOVE to hear your feedback. Thanks!

Powered by Podbean.com

Friday Fabulous! (3) + Custom Designed Header Contest

Exciting things I love this week:

1. First off I want to say how thrilled I am that my new header has gotten such a great response. Daniel has agreed to design a custom header for one lucky winner! Just mention in the comments that you’d like to be entered. Check out another header he designed for our friend Steve this week (and no, I don't think that is really his baby) and his daily drawings for an idea of his style. I’ll announce a winner Feb. 9th.

2. I am very excited for next week’s launch of a new YA podcast called The Read Carpet put together by the fabulous Adele. More details soon but I can tell you that it’s going to be really cool and that I contributed a segment for the first installment where I discuss dystopian fiction.

3. I have found a fellow book enthusiast in my own neighborhood who has agreed to be a guest reviewer for Presenting Lenore. Jen is a fellow American in Frankfurt and she’s going to be perusing my TBR stacks and then contributing book reviews every once in a while. Her special area of interest is international fiction.

4. New books this week: Graceling by Kristin Cashore, Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher and The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb. Thanks to my Aunt Linda for the lovely belated Christmas gift!

5. Got a few more awards from fellow bloggers this week! I’m Tink Approved! I’m a frequent visitor to Ladytink’s Movieholic & Bibliophile Blog and I love this cute graphic. Thanks! I also got the Kreativ Blogger award from fellow SCBWI member Angela. I am supposed to mention 7 things I love. And guess what? This post contains 7 this week just for that reason. Thanks for thinking of me Angela! Thao of the new book blog Serene Hours also tagged me with the Happy Tag, so this counts for that too.

6. And speaking of new book blogs, I posted some advice for new book bloggers in FAQ form this week in case you missed it. Taylor of For the Love of Books is a brand new blogger that is worth checking out and she's even having her first ever contest where she's giving away 3 copies of the must read Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (see my review here and enter her contest here).

And speaking of contests, you might also like to enter Susan's contest in honor of Black History Month or Carrie's contest to win a signed copy of Saundra Mitchell's Shadowed Summer.

Oh, and here's your personal invitation to AS King's lauch party for Dust of 100 Dogs (read my review) this weekend:

Event: D100D Weekend Online Launch Party! "Games! Prizes! Fun! "

What: Night of Mayhem

Host: The Dust of 100 Dogs

Start Time: Saturday, January 31 at 12:00pm

End Time: Sunday, February 1 at 11:00pm

Where: http://dogfact9.blogspot.com/

You know I'll be there!

7. I was scratched rather deeply on my finger by a cat yesterday (that's not the part I love). You see I tend to forget that not all cats are as gentle and loving as Emmy. Emmy is so sweet that even when she plays, she knows not to bite hard and to retract her claws so she won't hurt us. And I love that.