Commenting....

A friend from GR advised me that some of the ads were blocking comments. THANK YOU because comments are worth way more to me than the pittance I get from adsense :X

In the upper right hand corner of a post, you'll see a comment link. Click that, an it will take you to the link that takes you to the comment box. Otherwise, if an ad is not blocking it, there will be that link in the first place.

Hope that makes sense (while I make cents har har har)

Thank you, my keen-eyed reader! xoxo

Looking Ahead to 2011

Although I said I wasn't going to make a book list for 2011--even to the point of dropping my list for 2010....

Well. What can I say? I love lists. Never as much as books. But making lists of books? *heavenly sigh*

So I compiled some books that I'm continuing, Books I've promised authors I would read and review, and even recommendations from my 15 yr old daughter JudoQueen. I'm really not leaving out my son JediBoy--we'll be working on books that he's reading for gifted. Otherwise, every book he would recommend would be Star Wars or James Cameron's Avatar LOL.

And the books I really, truly, madly and deeply want to read. I've just reigned in the number of books this time. Which allows for books to jump into my life, wins at First Reads, more requests from authors, etc.

Yo ho, yo ho, a reader's life for me...... ;)

The new list will be up January 1st! Until then, read on my friends!

The Colt--A Review

The Colt by Dawn Nelson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book is being reviewed as a part of the FirstReads Giveaway program; I was not compensated for this review with the exception of the book.

Normally, I am not a great fan of Westerns. This holds true for "The Colt". It is part of The Rancher Series, which I did not realize when I requested the book; however there was little confusion and could have been a stand-alone book.

With overtones of "The Horse Whisperer", we meet Tucker, who has been injured from trying to gentle a colt. He may never ride again. A new cook arrives at the ranch, soft-spoken Marnie. Without giving away any of the plot, there are really not many surprises or intrigue to be found within its pages.

When I approach a book, I truly want to like it. The characters within, though a bit 2 dimensional, are for the most good people. The story was not bad either--remove the sexual references and it would make a fine book for just about any age.

However, the editing was non-existent. Punctuation, especially commas, were sorely needed throughout. Contractions would have made the speech far more believeable (especially that of a cowboy's language). Scenes would jump quickly from one to the next with no break. With a top notch editor, and perhaps fleshing out some scenes, this book would easily go up a star or two.

It's easy enough to be a reviewer than a writer. I hope the author takes my suggestions in the way they were intended, and her future works are successful.

*Note--A copy of this book was sent to me for review. Disclosure provided per FTC guidelines. My review is my honest, unbiased opinion.*

View all my reviews

Reading List 2010

In the future, my reading lists will be found here, but I'm copying this year's list over here for now. Previous years can be found on Give Me Something To Sing About in the sidebar.

Books Read to date: 28
Pages read since 2010:10,643
(Part of the "Million Pages Group" on GoodReads.com)
*Favorite Books
Currently Reading

1. Complete Poetry of Maya Angelou
2. Real Vampires Have Curves~~Gerry Bartlett
3. *Official Book Club Selection~~Kathy Griffin
4. *Pug Hill~~Alison Pace
5. Sicilian Tragedee~~Ottavio Cappellani(FirstReads)
6. Exiles in America~~Christopher Bram(Library)
7. *Never Look Away~~Linwood Barclay(FirstReads)MUST READ!!!
8. The Less-Dead~~April Lurie (FirstReads)
9. Red Spikes~~Margo Lanagan(Library)
10. The Surrendered~~Chang-Rae Lee(FirstReads)
11. Ultimate Lesbian Erotica 2009~~Nicole Foster, Ed.
12. Sleeping Beauty, Indeed~~JoSelle Vanderhooft, Ed.
13. Gemma~~Meg Tilly(loan)
14. Bi Any Other Name~~Lani Ka'ahumanu et al.
15. A Bright Red Scream~~Marilee Strong
16. *Thaw~~Fiona Robyn (read @ read-thaw.blogspot.com)
17. The Margin~~Marvin Wiebener(FirstReads)
18. Diary of a Wimpy Kid #1~~Jeff Kinney
19. Bawdy Bedtime Stories~~Joan Elizabeth Lloyd
20. 100 Love Sonnets~~Pablo Neruda
21. The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
22. Talking to Girls about Duran Duran~~Rob Sheffield (FirstReads)
23. *Dracula, My Love: The Secret Diary of Mina Harker~~Syrie James (FirstReads)
24. Leaving Before it's Over~~Jean Reynolds Page(FirstReads)
25. Fairy Tale Lust~~Kristina Wright, ed.
26. It Sucked and then I Cried~~Heather B. Armstrong (Dooce.com)
27. *Little Bee--Chris Cleave~~AMAZING, should be required reading!
28. Why? Because We Still Like You--Jennifer Armstrong(FirstReads)
29. The Kid Table--Andrea Seigel (reviewed for GoodGollyMissHolly.blogspot.com)
30. *The Pain Chronicles~~Melanie Thernstrom--Another required reading!!
31. *Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D.~~Barbara Barnett
32. The Vitamin D Solution~~Michael F. Holick
33. The Ten Things to Do When Your Life Falls Apart~~Daphne Rose Kingma
34. Push~~Sapphire
35. The Truth About Santa--Gregory Mone
36. Spin the Plate~~Donna Anastasi
37. The Lexical Funk~~Daniel Clausen
38. The Colt~~Dawn Nelson (FirstReads)
39. The Cries of Vampira~~Sean H. Robertson
40. Separate Kingdoms--Valerie Laken (First Reads)

Which e-reader do you prefer?

I've begun to receive more e-books from authors to read and review--something that is not so easy on my laptop in PDF form. For one, no bookmarks. Also, it just doesn't feel like I'm reading a book. So I think I'm actually going to look for an e-reader as a way to work on expanding my "client" base. Ideally I hope this will lead to bigger and better things. I've had one author send me a hard copy, and another is on the way!

All of this is on top of the reviews I do for the GoodReads Firstreads giveaway program. You enter contests for drawings--most of the books are being distributed prior to their publication dates; some are even ARCs (advanced reader copies). They just ask that after reading the book, you review it.

So, before heading to my local electronics store to check them out, I am thinking of either the Amazon Kindle DX (for it's largest e-reader screen) or the Barnes & Noble NookColor (for the color since I do get asked to review children's books. And I do like reading them too *grin*).

I'd love to get opinions--which do you have and why? I could see someday winding up with 2 different ones but since I currently do not own a money tree in my fortress of books, it must be one.

Comment away!

Welcome! Pull up a cozy chair!

Welcome to the Bastion of Books and other works of the written word! This will be my place to post book lists, book reviews, Author Q&A's, and even neat giveaways and readathons.

My gratitude goes out to my daughter JudoQueen for helping me come up with the name :) As a mom with chronic illness and pain, I surround myself with books of all types which are a distraction, comfort and a source of entertainment. I love to have my kids crawl in bed with me with their own books. My room may look messy to some, but to me, I see columns of my fortress that is a balm to my soul.

There are but a few genre of books I don't care for, and I enjoy reading magazines and online content as well. I hope you'll feel free to join in on discussions in the comments!

More will be posted towards the end of the year. Take a look around at my other blogs, and join me at Goodreads under the name Headacheslayer.

Be well, and read well!