BOOK PREVIEW: What Do You Want to Do Before You Die? by The Buried LIfe

The trailer for a new book that just made it onto my Wish List...


Published by Artisan, it goes on sale March 27th.

Teaser Tuesday (03-13-12 edition)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
  
• Open to a random page
  
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Today's Teaser:

"I want you to have these," he said. He opened the brass lock and pushed back the well-oiled lid. The guns gleamed in their red velvet beds; the finely chased engraving on the silver action bore no tarnish, no smudge.


-- Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Mailbox Monday (03-12-12 edition)

 Image licensed from bigstockphoto.com

Copyright stands

Mailbox Monday is now hosted monthly by a different blog. Here is the official blog of Mailbox Monday.  Here's what I've gotten over the last few weeks:

The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen
Received for review from Henry Holt Publishing

A mesmerizing debut about a young girl whose steadfast belief and imagination bring everything she once held dear into treacherous balance. 

In Grace McCleen's harrowing, powerful debut, she introduces an unforgettable heroine in ten-year-old Judith McPherson, a young believer who sees the world with the clear Eyes of Faith. Persecuted at school for her beliefs and struggling with her distant, devout father at home, young Judith finds solace and connection in a model in miniature of the Promised Land that she has constructed in her room from collected discarded scraps—the Land of Decoration. Where others might see rubbish, Judith sees possibility and divinity in even the strangest traces left behind. As ominous forces disrupt the peace in her and Father's modest lives—a strike threatens her father's factory job, and the taunting at school slips into dangerous territory—Judith makes a miracle in the Land of Decoration that solidifies her blossoming convictions. She is God's chosen instrument. But the heady consequences of her newfound power are difficult to control and may threaten the very foundations of her world. With its intensely taut storytelling and crystalline prose, The Land of Decoration is a gripping, psychologically complex story of good and evil, belonging and isolation, which casts new and startling light on how far we'll go to protect the things we love most.

Getaway by Lisa Brackmann
Provided for review from Soho Press through Netgalley (e-book)

Michelle Mason tells herself she’s on vacation. A brief stay in the Mexican resort town of Puerto Vallarta. It’s a chance to figure out her next move after the unexpected death of her banker husband, who’s left behind a scandal and a pile of debt. The trip was already paid for, and it beats crashing in her sister’s spare room. When a good-looking man named Daniel approaches her on the beach, the margaritas have kicked in and she decides: why not?

But the date doesn’t go as either of them planned. An assault on Daniel in her hotel room, switched cell phones and an encounter with a “friend” of Daniel’s named Gary gets Michelle enmeshed in a covert operation involving drug runners, goons, and venture capitalists. Michelle already knows she’s caught in a dangerous trap. But she quickly finds that running is not an option. If she’s not careful, she’ll end up buried in the town dump, with the rest of the trash. Now she needs to fight smart if she wants to survive her vacation.

Auraria by Tim Westover
Received for review from Q&W Publishers

Water spirits, moon maidens, haunted pianos, headless revenants, and an invincible terrapin that lives under the mountains. None of these distract James Holtzclaw from his employer’s mission: to turn the fading gold-rush town of Auraria, GA, into a first-class resort and drown its fortunes below a man-made lake. But when Auraria’s peculiar people and problematic ghosts collide with his own rival ambitions, Holtzclaw must decide what he will save and what will be washed away.

Taking its inspiration from a real Georgia ghost town, Auraria is steeped in the folklore of the Southern Appalachians, where the tensions of natural, supernatural and artificial are still alive. 

They all look so good! I can't wait to get through them. I think Land of Decoration is coming up next!

Little Free Libraries

What a great idea! I saw this on the news this morning. This project was the brainchild of Todd Bol and Rick Brooks, who first met in 2009 while exploring the benefits of green practices in small businesses.

They started with the very first "one room schoolhouse" seen to the left, and since then people around the country have built their own Little Free Libraries.

The idea is basically "take a book, leave a book". These are little libraries that belong to the community.

Their mission is:

• To promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide.
• To build a sense of community as we share skills, creativity and wisdom across generations.
• To build more than 2,510 libraries around the world--more than Andrew Carnegie!

Here are some of the libraries created by individuals across the country...

I'd love to have something like this in my area, but would worry about how to deal with our inclement weather. I live in south Florida, and we can have regular fierce rain storms!

They tell you how to order a library (they range $100-600 in cost), or how to build your own.

Like them on Facebook, and check out the map to see whether there is one near you.

Check out the Little Free Library website. Maybe you can do one in your area?

Book Giveaways in Blogworld (03-10-12 edition)

NOTE: A reminder that you are free to email me about any giveaways that you are having, if you want me to blog them, and I'll be happy to try to post them even if I am not entering them. Just include a link to the giveaway, what you are giving away, how many copies are being given away, and the deadline in order to assure being included. Email me at nfmgirl AT gmail DOT com.

Here is a list of some giveaways going on in Blogworld*. Please note that new giveaways that were added this week are indented in Blockquotes:

Mike Draper in Guilford is giving away Bleed for Me. Deadline is March 12th. US/Canada only.

Peeking Between the Pages is giving away An Invisible Thread. Deadline is March 17th. US/Canada only. 

Peeking Between the Pages is giving away The White Pearl. Deadline is March 31st. US/Canada only.

Peeking Between the Pages is giving away The Turning of Anne Merrick and a Revolutionary Survival Kit. Deadline is March 31st. US only.

Peeking Between the Pages is giving away Another Piece of My Heart. Deadline is March 31st. US only.

Stiletto Storytime is giving away Enchantments. Deadline is March 31st. US/Canada only.

Bookfever is giving away your choice of book from The Book Depository (up to $15 value). Deadline is March 31st. International!

2 Kids and Tired Books is giving away Cruising Attitude. Deadline is April 4th. US/Canada only. 

Peeking Between the Pages is giving away Losing Clementine. Deadline is April 7th. International!

Berkley-Jove gives away a selection of their previously released books every month!

After Midnight Fantasies has regular monthly romance giveaways!

Bookbitch has regular monthly thriller giveaways!

Elizabeth Lowell has a monthly giveaway!

Bookreporter has monthly giveaways!

Author Carla Neggers has a monthly giveaway!

Author James Patterson has regular giveaways!
 
*Courtesy Note: Please keep in mind the many, many hours of work that goes into me compiling this list each week (when I'm on top of it). Please be courteous and thoughtful, and do not steal my text. Either recreate your own list, or link to this list and direct your readers here for giveaway information. Thank you so much for your consideration!