Tuesday Teasers- September 22nd 2009

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!


MY TEASER-

"Lead rested in his chest and an invisible fist squeezed his throat, but he didn't hesitate. He was many things, but not a coward."

From page 21 of Causing Havoc by Lori Foster

Take A Chance Challenge

I have found this challenge through a group I am in on Shelfari. I know it is late in the year but I just got back into my reading and blogging Groove again. I'm going to take a stab at this one. It looks like it will be fun!!

TAKE A CHANCE CHALLENGE

• The challenge will run from June 1, 2009 through November 30, 2009 (6 months)
• One winner will be drawn on December 1, 2009 and will receive a grand prize of $25 worth of books from Amazon (any books you choose!)
• Each completed task earns you one entry into the drawing for the grand prize.
• To earn an extra entry, blog or Tweet about this challenge and let me know in the comment section.
• To earn 5 extra entries, complete all 10 challenges.
• The total number of entries that can be earned is 16 (10 for each challenge, 5 for completing all tasks and 1 for blogging/tweeting about the challenge).
  
• You can join the challenge anytime before the November 30 deadline but only tasks completed by November 30, 2009 will be counted as entries.
• To have your entries count, you must publish them on your blog and link up that post in the appropriate challenge page found here.
  
• All participants must sign up in Mr. Linky below so I can keep track of everyone who is participating.

I hope I've covered all the bases. As this is my first attempt at a challenge, if I'm missing something critical, let me know! Also, I've created a button for the challenge that you can use if you would like (code is in my left column). So now, without further ado, here are the 10 challenges for you to work on.

1. Random Book Selection. Go to the library. Position yourself in a section such as Fiction, Non-Fiction, Mystery, Children (whatever section you want). Then write down random directions for yourself (for example, third row, second shelf, fifth book from right). Follow your directions and see what book you find. Check that book out of the library, read it and then write about it. (If you prefer, you can do the same at a bookstore and buy the book!)
2. Random Word. Go to this random word generator and generate a random word. Find a book with this word in the title. Read the book and write about it.
3. Birth Year Book. Find a book that was published or copyrighted in the year of your birth. Read the book and write about it.
4. Judge A Book By Its Cover. Pick out a book based SOLELY on the cover. First, write about what you expect the book to be about based on the cover art. Then read the book and write about how the book was different from and/or similar to what the cover art led you to expect.
   
5. Phoning An Author. Pick a random last name out of the phone book. Find an author with the same last name and read a book by them. Write about it. (I'm flexible ... if the first random name you pick is Xprxyrsss, you can pick again!)
   
6. Public Spying. Find someone who is reading a book in public. Find out what book they are reading and then read the same book. Write about it.
7. Random Bestseller. Go to Random.org and, using the True Random Number Generator, enter the number 1950 for the min. and 2008 for the max. and then hit generate. Then go to this site and find the year that Random.org generated for you and click on it. Then find the bestseller list for the week that would contain your birthday for that year. Choose one of the bestsellers from the list that comes up, read it and write about it.
8. Lit Riff (inspired by the book Lit Riffs by Matthew Miele.) Choose a song and then write a brief story that is inspired by or further explains the lyrics of the song.
9. Poetic Review. Write a book review in three different forms of verse: haiku, limerick and free verse. (You can pick any book you want to write about.)
10. Movie/Book Comparison. Find a book that you haven't read that has a movie based on it that you haven't seen. Read the book and watch the movie within a few days of each other. Write about your reactions to both the book and the movie and compare the two.

Romeo Romeo by Robin Kaye

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 383 pp
Isbn: 9781402213397
Published: November 2008
Challenge This covers #2 Read a debut author or one with less then 4 books published for the Fall 2009 Romance Reading Challenge.

First Sentence or two: Rosalie Ronaldi made a successful escape from the insane asylum. Okay, so it wasn't a real insane asylum; it was her parent's Bay Ridge home. But most days it could pass for the Sicilian version of Bellevue.

Backcover:
Rosalie Ronaldi doesn't have a domestic bone in her body... All she cares about is her career, so she survives on take-out and dirty martinis, keeps her shoes under the dining room table, her bras on the shower curtain rod, and her clothes on the couch... Nick Romeo is every woman's fantasy-tall, dark, handsome, rich,really good in bed, and he loves to cook and clean... He says he wants an independant woman, but when he meets Rosalie, all he wants to do is take care of her. Before too long, he's cleaned up her apartment, stocked her refridgerator, and adopted her dog... So what's the problem? Just a little matter of mistaken identity, corporate theft, a hidden past in juvenile detention and one big nosy Italian family too close for comfort...

Random Thoughts -These characters were so REALISTIC. No need to get your imagination to bend some of the rules for you to feel this is believable. This book was easy to read and enjoyable. I loved the Italian families. This was great fun to read and to dream of my very own Romeo. (et um.... Don't tell Peevie!)

Favorite Scene - One of my favorite scenes was the family dinner Rosalie went to with out Nick and got a suprise. Also the scene where Joey proposed to her. Be still my heart is all I can say. LMAO

Favorite Quotes- I want to share Rosalie's dating rules.
1. Always meet the guy in a public place in case he turns out to be a psycho.
2. Never sleep with the guy on the first date, no matter what, even if her hormones told her to hurry the hell up, they wanted a cigarette.
3. If you fight on the first date, don't make a second.
____________________________________________________________
(Rosalie's Mom on the phone to her)
"......ungrateful, puttana of a daughter. I thank God my sainted mother is dead, God rest her soul, because if she saw what you've become, it would have killed her. As it is, she's rolling over in her grave."
___________________________________________________________
(Cousin Vin to Nick)
"What do I look like, the freaking Barefoot Contessa? I hear she lives in the Hamptons; you want I should give you directions? Oh, right, you know how to get there. You got a freakin' house out there. So why are you here buggin me?"

Rating - 5 Stars
Author's Website

BBAW Reading Meme September 16th

Wednesday September 16
Reading Meme
We encourage you to be creative with this! Please choose one or two questions to answer or try to answer all the questions in five words or less. Or choose a picture to answer a question! Brevity is the goal of today!

Do you snack while you read? Sometimes. If so, favorite reading snack? Usually Cookies
Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of
writing in books horrify you? NO WRITING IN BOOKS ZOMG The only time that would be acceptable to me is if it was a college book. Then I can abide by the writing in the margins and stuff.
How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? I usually use a big colorful paperclip. I occasionally dog ear for saving favorite scenes or quotes I want to put in my reviews.
Laying the book flat open? I usually hold it open. If it's a hard back then lay it flat.
Fiction, Non-fiction, or both? 99% of the time it's fiction for me. I excel at escapism.
Hard copy or audiobooks? I am always intrigued by audiobooks but still have yet to make myself try one. Hardcopy all the way.
Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you
able to put a book down at any point? I can put a book down at any point. If I know it's gonna be down for long time then I try to aim for the end of a chapter.
If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away? No to lazy for that. I do however dog ear it and look that word up later.
What are you currently reading? Romeo Romeo by Robin Kaye
What is the last book you bought? I actually bought 3. Mastered by Love by Stephanie Laruens, In the Master's Bed by Blythe Gifford, and With Seduction in Mind by Laura Lee Guhrke

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can
you read more than one at a time? I mostly need to just concentrate on one book at a time or will get confused and or lose interest in one or more.
Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read? In the morning in my quiet living room. I have one side of the couch I love to sit at just under the outside windows. I find it peaceful.
Do you prefer series books or stand alone books? I love them both. Although I do need the stand alones in between series for a break in the writing and storytelling styles.
Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over? Halfway to the Grave by Jeanine Frost. I can't say enough about her and that series. I also tend to recommend Lynsay Sands and Sandra Hill a lot. GREAT authors and most of their stories make me giggle at one point or another. I LOVE that.
How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?) I am not really organized at this time. Which is really odd since I have over 300 DVD's and I insist that all go in alphabetically or I am irked. I may have to rectify this ....which is exciting because I love "playing librian" as I call it.

Where Did That Come From? Sept. 16th 2009

Omar the Tent Maker

So today my mother, a.k.a. "The Newsbuffer", and I were discussing Big Brother the season finally. I have it taped and she didn't want to give anything away but she hinted that Julie Chen the host, who is VERY pregnant and about to POP, kinda shocked her. Julie is usually so impeccably dressed and always so Cute, even pregnant. She always makes things look easy and neat. The Newsbuffer tells me that her outfit for the first time ever during her whole pregnancy finally looked like one made by "Omar the Tent Maker." Well I feel for ya Mrs. Chen. We all know what its like to get to the last stages of pregnancy and not give a "HOOT" what we look like at that point in time. For all we know she was in early stages of labor. *shrugs
While my Mom is telling me this, my brain stops on "Omar the Tent Maker." I begin to wonder if there really was an Omar? Was he a famous tent maker? Was this fictitious Omar famously known for his tent designs? I got myself to googling.

There was in fact an "Omar the Tent Maker". Although he was a fictitious character in a Movie of the same title. The movie was put December 1922 and was a "Silent" Picture. A little side note, according to Imbd, Boris Karloff played Imam Mowaffak. Say that 3x's fast.

Movie Details
his film about Omar Khayyam, author of The Rubaiyat, was adapted from the stage play by Richard Walton Tully with mixed results. It shows Omar (Guy Bates Post, who also played the role on stage) as a student in love with Shireen (Virginia Brown Faire), the daughter of his teacher. The couple marry in... secret, but the Shah (Noah Beery) has heard of Shireen's beauty and carries her off to his native land. When she turns down his advances, she is imprisoned. Shireen gives birth while she is locked up and the Shah orders that both she and the baby girl be thrown off a cliff. They are saved, and the child is handed over to Omar, but Shireen is sold into slavery. It takes seventeen years for Omar and Shireen to be reunited. During that time, their daughter grows up (to be played by Patsy Ruth Miller), and falls in love with a Christian slave. Those who bought tickets to this picture hoping for The Rubaiyat were disappointed, as only a few snatches of poetry appeared in the title cards. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Starring Guy Bates Post, Virginia Brown Faire, Nigel de Brulier,

Director James Young

Released By First National

This has been another edition of Where Did That Come From? Hope you enjoyed it. Any and all comments are welcome.

Flapper by Joshua Zeitz

Genre: Non-Fiction (Very Rare for me)
Pages: 291 pp
Isbn: 9781400080540
Published: February 2007
Challenge: This does not cover a challenge at this time. Was pure pleasure and my interest.

First Sentence or two: On May 22, 1915, amid a flurry of cameras and a battery of outstretched hands, most bearing autograph books and pens, Eugenia Kelly, the young heiress to a sizable New York banking fortune, pushed past waves of idle celebrity watchers and slowly wound her way up the marble staircase at the Yorkville Magistrate's Court, on Manhattan's fashionable Upper East Side.

Synopsis: Blithely flinging aside the Victorian manners that kept her disapproving mother corseted, the New Woman of the 1920s puffed cigarettes, snuck gin, hiked her hemlines, danced the Charleston, and necked in roadsters. More important, she earned her own keep, controlled her own destiny, and secured liberties that modern women take for granted. Her newfound freedom heralded a radical change in American culture.

Whisking us from the Alabama country club where Zelda Sayre first caught the eye of F. Scott Fitzgerald to Muncie, Indiana, where would-be flappers begged their mothers for silk stockings, to the Manhattan speakeasies where patrons partied till daybreak, historian Joshua Zeitz brings the era to exhilarating life. This is the story of America’s first sexual revolution, its first merchants of cool, its first celebrities, and its most sparkling advertisement for the right to pursue happiness.

The men and women who made the flapper were a diverse lot.

There was Coco Chanel, the French orphan who redefined the feminine form and silhouette, helping to free women from the torturous corsets and crinolines that had served as tools of social control.

Three thousand miles away, Lois Long, the daughter of a Connecticut clergyman, christened herself “Lipstick” and gave New Yorker readers a thrilling entrée into Manhattan’s extravagant Jazz Age nightlife.

In California, where orange groves gave way to studio lots and fairytale mansions, three of America’s first celebrities—Clara Bow, Colleen Moore, and Louise Brooks, Hollywood’s great flapper triumvirate—fired the imaginations of millions offilmgoers.

Dallas-born fashion artist Gordon Conway and Utah-born cartoonist John Held crafted magazine covers that captured the electricity of the social revolution sweeping the United States.

Bruce Barton and Edward Bernays, pioneers of advertising and public relations, taught big business how to harness the dreams and anxieties of a newly industrial America—and a nation of consumers was born.

Towering above all were Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, whose swift ascent and spectacular fall embodied the glamour and excess of the era that would come to an abrupt end on Black Tuesday, when the stock market collapsed and rendered the age of abundance and frivolity instantly obsolete.

With its heady cocktail of storytelling and big ideas, Flapper is a dazzling look at the women who launched the first truly modern decade.

Random Thoughts -Was this the first teen angst rebellion? I don't know if in fact it was but this is what it seemed to me. I found this book really entertaining to read. With all its facts and information Mr. Zeitz brings the pages alive in this book. Never did I find it boring or tedious to read. I felt as if I was in a well liked sociology class. To see the hows and whys some of the things came about was thoroughly interesting. If you have ever loved the period of the "Roaring 20's", or have thought you would've been a flapper, then I think you would Enjoy reading this book. It's a very rare thing for me to LOVE a non-fiction book but "Flapper" has a special place in my heart and on my bookshelf. Kudos!

Rating - 5 Stars Easily

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas

Genre: Historical Romance
Pages: 368 pp
Isbn: 9780060562519
Published: February 2006
Challenge This covers #5 Read a book borrowed from the library or a friend for the Fall 2009 Romance Reading Challenge. (Now I checked it out from the library and started to read it. I happened to be going through my own books and found that I owned a copy of this one when I didn't believe that I had. So since I had the libraries copy I count this as a library book.)

First Sentence or two: As Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent, stared at the young woman who had just barged her way into his London residence, it occurred to him that he might have tried to abduct the wrong heiress last week at Stony Cross Park.

Synopsis:

A devil's bargain

Easily the shyest Wallflower, Evangeline Jenner stands to become the wealthiest, once her inheritance comes due. Because she must first escape the clutches of her unscrupulous relatives, Evie has approached the rake Viscount St. Vincent with a most outrageous proposition: marriage!

Sebastian's reputation is so dangerous that thirty seconds alone with him will ruin any maiden's good name. Still, this bewitching chit appeared, unchaperoned, on his doorstep to offer her hand. Certainly an aristocrat with a fine eye for beauty could do far worse.

But Evie's proposal comes with a condition: no lovemaking after their wedding night. She will never become just another of the dashing libertine's callously discarded broken hearts — which means Sebastian will simply have to work harder at his seductions...or perhaps surrender his own heart for the very first time in the name of true love.

Random Thoughts -This case of opposites attracting is Fabulous! Even the bad guy needs to be loved. LOL I felt so bad for Evie. I was glad to see her take charge of her own destiny. Deep down she had some spunk. As for Sebastian, I love him. He is a tortured Hero. I don't think things would of worked out between Evie and him had she played it any other way. Nothing like telling a Man what he can't have to make him Want it that much more.

Favorite Scene - I liked the scene where Sebastian taught Evie how to play billiards. This scene was very sexy. I also highly enjoyed the wedding scene. Nothing like a Scottish blacksmith to marry you, while his daughters sing to you. LOL

Favorite Quotes- St. Vincent said in a clipped voice, "It's not a love match. It's a marriage of convenience, and there's not enough warmth between us to light a birthday candle. Get on with it , if you please. Neither of us has had a proper sleep in two days." Then the blacksmith's heavy brows lowered. "I don't like ye," he announced.
St Vincent regarede him with exasperation. "Neither does my bride-to-be. But since that's not going to stop her from marrying me, it shouldn't stop you either. Go on."

Rating - 4 Stars