Overcrowding!

I really hate to do this but I just hafta! I had to weed through some of my books. It was hard to do but it is really getting outta control. I have well over 800 books and not counting the books I get for my girls! People give them to me, I find them , swap/trade them, and buy them. They are everywhere. I don't even include my text books from school. These I keep as references. The above pic is not mine but it really could be. I have really no where to put them. I have one very large wall bookcase in my living room and then I got a 2 shelf one, a headboard, and a tall skinny one in my bedroom. They are all front to back and piled everywhere! I truly believe it is an addiction!

So I went through a lot of my books and got "rid" of a few of them. I left some in the hallway of where I live and these are for the taking. They weren't the best books but I knew I had no other home for them. I put many of them up on Goodreads swap and many of them already went and I just give them to people that I know would enjoy them or just to take them off of my hands. Many of these books I knew I would never read or I have read and thought it was OK or I hated it!

My husband is proud but I think he is addicted too. He doesn't read them but I think he buys me more books than I do myself! Oh well, stay tuned to my GR Swap list and maybe you will find something there! http://www.goodreads.com/swap/user/1334924-donna?tab=available

The Wishing Trees - John Shors

Genre: Fiction

Format: Trade Paperback

Source: Won an autographerd copy from TNBBC & author

ISBN: 9780451231130

Rating 4/5 Stars

I would love to have given this book more stars but I was held off by it's sadness. This novel is beautifully written and brought many tears to my eyes but it was also very hard to read at some points.

This story is about a father and his young daughter, Mattie going to many different parts of the world as a request from their recently deceased Wife/Mother. She sands them to these places where, Ian, the dad, and her has been before their child Mattie was born. She wants them to connect and grow together. She gives them each letters to open whenever they get to each country. In these letters she writes so sad and it was hard to read.

I love how Mattie and Ian grow together and of how she is an artist and he a simple man. They grow together in such a beautiful way. Mattie is such a Strong girl and forced to grow up so fast due to the dealings of her mother's death. I really could go on about this book but I really would like to thank John Shors, the author for giving away his great novel and to chatting with us as we read along. I truly believe he is such a great person and well as a gifted writer.

The reason why I gave this book such a rating was, not only the sadness. but because it was very touching to read such writing coming from a male. I can only explain it by telling others to read it and they will totally get it.

The Art of Devotion - Samantha Bruce-Benjamin

Genre: Fiction
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 378
ISBN: 9781439153949
Rating 3.5 Stars

I was one of the lucky ones who received this book for free from the author on The Next Best Book Club (TNBBC). This book not only has one of the most beautiful covers I have ever saw but it s filled will poetry, drama, scandals, twists, turns, and just plain ol' creepy-remarkable. It is told in 4 different voices; Sophie, who is the mother of Adora and Sebastian, Adora, who is the main center of attention who everyone seems to love but is crazy in her own poetic way, Miranda who I did feel sorry for in the beginning but grew to seriously hate her, she was the mother of Gigi and the former lover of Sebastian, and then the last voice was of Gigi who used to stay at the home of Adora on a Mediterranean island every summer. It gets confusing in the beginning to remember who is who and who does what but after the 30 or so pages you start to get the hang of it. There is so much melodramatic tragedies and so much scandal that it is amazing. No characters are really likable but I like that about the story. I rooted for no one. The closest person that I liked was Gigi only because I felt bad for her to be trapped in such a world with such people who really only cared about themselves or who were obsessed with something that they could not control.

There is so much going on in this book that it would take me all day to try to explain but it was a good read. This is definitely what people may call a good "beach read". I recall many times when I was reading this that my mouth was hanging open and people on the subway probably thought I was crazy or just plain ol' slow. I think that in every "chapter" I felt like "OH MY GOD, REALLY???" and I think that causes for a good book. I gave it 3.5 stars only because of being so much drama and no happy moments. I know that there were times when I wished for something and then when it happened I was mad. I never, or very rarely, do I give 5 stars and 4 stars bring it very close to 5 so I think 3.5 is a very good rating and I would recommend it to others.

Goodreads

I am sure you are all well aware that I am an active member of Goodreads aka GR. I have my own GR group called Everyone's Choice. Please feel free to join in on the discussions and/or simply create your own. There we do Book Challenges of all sorts. If you have tried it yet, I highly recommend it. I have use Shelfari and LibraryThing but GR is better by far.

I have also won 9 books from the site so far. They have the contests that you enter and what you have to do, besides enter, is put it in a folder (or bookshelf) and name it First Reads and by entering in the contest you are required to post your review as soon as you finish it. The more you do this the more you win. It is a great way to spread the word of new books and also it is great for the authors and publishing companies to hear reviews before the are officially released to the public. I love to see which books I win. They are so random! Here is a list of what I've won thus far

1- Hummingbirds: A Novel by Joshua Gaylord

2- Eating Animals by Jonathan Safon Foer

3- Courage of Fear by Barbara Foyer

4- Paulo Coelho: A Warrior's Life - The Authorized Biography by Fernando Morais

5- Truly, Madly by Heather Webber

6- Sleep No More by Susan Crandall

7- The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

8- The River in Winter by Matt Dean (to be read)

9- Heavy Metal Pulp: Pleasure Model: Netherworld Book One by Christopher Rowley (to be read)

I always mark them ARC's (even if they are not) when I review them here so that people now that it may not be released yet.

I hope this helps and I hope you join my group. It is very comfy and cozy!