Friday Fill-Ins – June 5 ’09

Time for another Friday Fill-In!

1. There’s no place like home.

2. My favorite thing for dinner lately has been Garlic Shrimp and Steak (not mixed together!)

3. The neighbors favorite sounds when someone pulls up is bark! bark! bark!

4. A nice long walk at the beach when the sun goes down will cure any ailment.

5. I need some good news.

6. When all is said and done, it all boils down to how much strength you have left.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to recuperating from my horrid trip to the Smokies, tomorrow my plans include catching up on tours and Sunday, I want to make progress with my tours!

Teaser Tuesday – The Obama Revolution

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to:

Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

Please avoid spoilers!

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

My two (2) “teaser” sentences for today:

“As long as Obama could get his message across – without it being distorted on the nightly news or in fear-mongering robocalls – we knew that we would win on hope and change. We also knew that we had to be Obama’s messengers.”

– Page 68 of  The Obama Revolution by Alan Kennedy-Shaffer

Booking Through Thursday – April 9, ’09

For something different, I’m borrowing a question from … here! One of the very first questions ever at Booking Through Thursday. Back from 2005 when Laura owned the blog but, because it was so new, it didn’t get as many responses as it does now … so, why not revisit?

Here’s the question:

Some people read one book at a time. Some people have a number of them on the go at any given time, perhaps a reading in bed book, a breakfast table book, a bathroom book, and so on, which leads me to…

1. Are you currently reading more than one book?
2. If so, how many books are you currently reading?
3. Is this normal for you?
4. Where do you keep your current reads?

1. Oh Lordy yes! If there weren’t such a thing as bookmarks, I don’t know what I’d do. I’m reading Equality: The Quest for the Happy Marriage by Tim Kellis, The Obama Revolution by Alan Kennedy-Shaffer, and several more, just don’t have them here by the computer.

2. Hmm…I’d say about five.

3. LOL, yes, this is normal. A bad habit which comes from trying to do a million things at one time.

4. I usually keep them here by the computer but some are left downstairs having not made it upstairs.

Booking Through Thursday

If you’re anything like me, there are songs that you love because of their lyrics; writers you admire because their songs have depth, meaning, or just a sheer playfulness that has nothing to do with the tunes. So, today’s question? What songs … either specific songs, or songs in general by a specific group or writer … have words that you love? Why? And … do the tunes that go with the fantastic lyrics live up to them? You don’t have to restrict yourself to modern songsters, either … anyone who wants to pick Gilbert & Sullivan, for example, is just fine with me. Lerner & Loewe? Steven Sondheim? Barenaked Ladies? Fountains of Wayne? The Beatles? Anyone at all…

I’ve always been a fan of the Beatles. Listen to the words. James Taylor. My son gave me a “best of” James Taylor CD at Christmas – one of my favorite gifts! I love what Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young did about the Vietnam War – their songs reflected the times. Songs that move me, they’re the best ones of all.

The Sunday Salon

My Sunday Salon post today is about deadlines. Not only authors have them, but reviewers have them, too.

I was reading Sandi Kahn Shelton’s blog post yesterday about deadlines and something dawned on me. She had written about facing a Jan. 31 deadline to get her latest book revised and to her editor and hated the fact that now she can’t do the normal things – like clean or eat or anything for the next few weeks so that she can fulfill her obligation to her editor.

It made me realize that when a reviewer is sent a book for review by a certain time, isn’t that putting them on the spot? Think about it…a reviewer receives a book and if they read it at their leisure, wouldn’t that make them really be able to concentrate and not merely skim to meet their deadline?

And as CEO of a virtual book tour company, I am always on deadline to get books to these reviewers so they can have a reasonable amount of time to review and if I’m late, isn’t that putting a burden on them and if they have to skim, how good will that review actually be?

I imagine deadlines are just meant to be, but how do you pace yourself to meet them without procrastinating until the very minute as a lot of us do?

Speaking of which, I have tours to get out the door by Monday and I’m playing in blogs!

Musing Mondays: On-the-Go

Today’s question asks:

Do you take a book with you? Do you take whatever book you’re currently reading, or do you have a special on-the-go book? And do you have a preference for a these types of book (paperback, hardback; short stories; poetry etc)?

Great question as usual! On the go is usually the only time I have to read and it’s usually the latest book that’s come in for review. I took it to work with me last weekend but I couldn’t even open the cover, drat it. So my preference is paperback or hardback, and whatever the latest one that’s come in for review.

Nine-year-old publishes with Harper Collins

Is this the cutest little boy you’ve ever seen your entire life?

Thanks to Breeni Books for posting a video on her blog about it. I found this other one on YouTube because I couldn’t figure out how to post that particular video on this wordpress blog, but you need to watch this. He is the cutest thing!

Musing Mondays: When women stop reading, will the novel be dead?

This week’s MUSING MONDAYS post…

I recently read an article (here), that I found through BiblioAddict’s blog, that talked of “why women read more than men“. In it, author Ian McEwan is quoted saying:

“When women stop reading, the novel will be dead.”

Do you believe this to be true? Why, or why not?

Nah, I don’t think so, but I do know that women make up for a good portion of today’s readers.  As for what that article said about the women taking the free book and not the men, it depends on where you are, I think.  Let’s just say, it was a nonpartisan environment where men and women were equally presented, it’s the nature of the beast for women to be friendlier to the stranger with the free book than men, I think.

Wonderful List of Memes

I wanted to refer back to this list of memes that Callista over at SMS Book Reviews gave me at the Book Blogs Ning social network of which I’m a member, so I’m adding it to my right hand sidebar under “Favorite Posts” just in case some of you out there might want to refer to it.

It’s a wonderful list of memes (thank you, Callista!).  I’ve joined a couple of them and am working my way down until I’ve joined them all, but they’re a wonderful way to network, not to mention giving you ideas for blog posts throughout the week.  Remember, you want higher rankings in the search engines, you must keep those posts coming!

Here they are and don’t forget to stop in on Callista at Book Blogs Ning social network and thank her!

Mailbox Monday – share the books that showed up in your mail every week.

Musing Mondays – Muse about books on your blog every monday

Poetry Friday – post poetry or links to poetry every friday

Sunday Salon – sort of a mini readathon. Make time to read on Sunday, then post about it and visit others

Thursdays Thoughts – she posts a topic with a couple of questions and you answer her on your blog for a chance to win prizes

Tuesday Thingers is for Library Thing users (although I don’t see why non users couldn’t answer the questions)

Where Are You? – Once a week post where you are according to the book you are reading (the books setting)

Write on Wednesday – for those looking to hone their writing skills

Musing Mondays

MUSING MONDAYS today asks… How has your reading changed over the years? Have you started reading more “meaty” books (books with more substance)? Or, have you gone to more “fluffy” reads? Perhaps you’ve done neither, and you’ve just always read the same type of thing! If that’s the case, why? Are you willing to step out of your reading ‘comfort zone’ and try something new? What would you recommend to someone who needed to “branch out”?

Interesting topic! First time playing Monday Musings so this should be interesting…

Here’s my non-uneducated response (think about that). The truth of the matter is lately my reading has gone to shorter works, and the reason for this is that I’ve been so darn busy I don’t have time to get into the “meatier” novels. I’ll read practically anything you put in front of me, but those shorter works are going to be pulled out of the TBR pile sooner than the longer ones and the longer ones tend to not get read in a few – errrr – lots of incidences.

I love substance, I love meat, and I envy those who can sit down to a 400 page novel and enjoy it without feeling rushed. I think I need a vacation. ;o)