What I'm Reading 12/29/11

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. With it being the holiday season, I have been busy and did have time to post anything before Christmas. I'll try to update again soon with a post of the stuff I got for Christmas. So I hope everyone had a good Christmas and hope your New Year will be wonderful as well.

Now onto what I'm currently reading . . .

This book is about Tria, who has been accepted at a school for the Magically Gifted. I know this sort of sounds like Harry Potter, but I think the only thing that this book and Harry Potter has in common is that the main character has magical powers and she goes to a school for magical peoples, but it ends there.

I found this book at my library and decided to give it a try. So far, it is really a wonderful book and has me hooked. Once I finish I might try and post a review for this book since I am really enjoying it.

Book Review: Coyote Christmas: A Lakota Story

Coyote Christmas: A Lakota Story by S.D. Nelson

Rating: Five Stars


Times may have changed, but Coyote has not. He is up to his old tricks again and on Christmas Eve, Coyote finds himself hungry. Coyote decides to dress up as Santa Claus and trick a family into giving him a free meal. But in the end, Coyote's trick turns into a gift for the family who fed him.

Coyote is the infamous trickster of Native American tales. He is often selfish, greedy, needy and can be naughty, but in a funny way. Tales of Coyote are used to teach children what they aren't supposed to do.
This was a wonderfully told story. Coyote is the same as always and the story is just good. And of course, in the end Coyote makes a bit of a fool of himself.
It was a delightful book. I really enjoyed it.

Book Review: The Reindeer Keeper

The Reindeer Keeper by Barbara Briggs Ward

Rating: Five Stars


Abbey and her husband Steve move into the farmhouse that was given to her father after he passes away.
There is a barn full of animals and a little man named Thomas who takes care of them all, including the Reindeer. Abbey and Steve are looking forward to Christmas with their children, who are coming home for the holiday. It turns out, Christmas is the most wonderful it has ever been and Abbey learns a lot from living in the farmhouse and the reindeer keeper Thomas.

I won this book in a giveaway from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer. It is the story of a family coming together, forgiveness and magic.
There is so, so much I want to say about this book. The characters were likeable, flawed, but generally tried their best to do good. They were easy to relate to. This book brought tears to my eyes more than once and I felt everything the characters felt: love, sadness, joy and pain.
It was beautifully written, wonderful in every way and truly makes you believe in Santa Claus, wonder and magic. Believing in those things aren't just for children, it's okay for adults to believe too, and that is what the characters in the book learn. Believe in magic, in the wonder of it all. Life is precious, cherish every moment and love.

I love this book. Although sad, it was beautiful and I just wonder why this wasn't a bestseller? It is wonderful! More people should know about this book and read it. I highly recommend this book. It definitely great to read at Christmas time.

What I'm Reading 12/5/11

First of all, I want to say thank you to I Am A Reader, Not A Writer for the wonderful giveaway that I won the book from that I'm currently reading. Check out her blog here:

The Reindeer Keeper by Barbara Briggs Ward.

Book description: Abbey senses something special about the little man tending to the reindeer who, along with a century-old farmhouse, a barn full of animals, and fields abounding in woods and pasture, was a gift to Abbey from a stranger. Abbey and her husband, Steve, move in just before the holidays. They have been together since the '60s, eloping when Steve returned from Vietnam. Now with Abbey's cancer in remission, they're looking forward to their boys coming home for Christmas.

Turns out this Christmas proves to be more magical than anticipated as Abbey realizes an understanding never thought possible through the rekindling of a belief rooted in childhood. Of course it's who delivers this gift on Christmas Eve that gives Abbey and Steve the strength to face their greatest challenge.

I am happy to have won this book and although I am only about 30 pages in, I am really enjoying it. I got it in the mail on Monday and figured I would read it before Christmas. Once I finish it, I'll try to write a review and post it on here.

Dreamcatchers & Feather Hair Clips

Since all I've been posting about is books on here, I thought I'd blog about something different.

If you didn't know already, last month was Native American heritage month. And as an American Indian, I decided to share my heritage and other Native American related stuff with people on my Xanga blog.

One thing I shared was some of the Dreamcatchers and Feather Hair Clips I've made. I am Cherokee and although making Dreamcatchers isn't a Cherokee tradition, but they are something that have become associated with Native American culture in general. And Feather Hair Clips just look nice and are becoming very popular.

I've recently started making Dreamcatchers, Feather Hair Clips and I plan to make other Native crafts as well.




And of course, everything I make is for sale. I've been trying to sell online as well as get my crafts into local stores where I live. I'll be putting my crafts into the local library's book store as soon as I sign the contract. So I'm pretty excited about that.

Anyway, that is what I've been making. I also plan to make some Leather Hair Wraps and some necklaces. I'll post some pictures of those when I do.

What I'm Reading 11/22/11

src="http://toyxplosion.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Dork-Diaries-3-Tales-from-a-Not-So-Talented-Pop-Star.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> I finally got my hands on the third book in this series. I love the first two books and I know I'll love this one too.

A Sudden Wild Magic by Diana Wynne Jones is actually one of her adult novels. I started it a few days ago and I like it so far. It is different than her other books though, but I'm sure I'll like it.

Disappointing Reads

Lately there have been three books that have been disappointing reads for me. All three books were ones I have been looking forward to reading and when I finally got my hands on them, excited to read them, they were all rather disappointing.

The first book was Dreamland Lake by Richard Peck. It sounded like a wonderful mystery book. I found it over the summer through my library's website and I finally borrowed it a few weeks ago. I couldn't wait to read it. It sounded so good, so much like my type of book. But when I got it and finally it, it was just kind of boring. I couldn't get into the story or relate to the characters and it wasn't a great mystery like I'd thought it would be.

The next book was Among The Ghosts by Amber Benson. I love ghost books and this one caught my eye. It wasn't a bad book. It was definitely interesting at parts, good at parts, and not so good at other parts, if that makes sense. It just wasn't as good as I thought it would be.

And the last one, the one I finished earlier this morning was House Made of Dawn N. Scott Momday. The author is a American Indian and I've been making it a point to read books about American Indians and books written by Native authors. I'm Cherokee myself and I've been trying to learn what I can from books and trying to find some new authors to read that are Native. Anyway, this is a book I've been wanting to read for awhile, another that I have been very excited to read. I've heard and read many good things about this book.
I do not think this is a bad book. In fact, I think N. Scott Momaday is a wonderful writer. The way he describes things is quite beautiful, but I had a problem getting into the story. I'm not sure what it was. It seems to be written in the same way that Love Medicine was (Another book by a Native author). And while the writing in both books is beautiful and very well-written, it is sort of off putting. Sometimes it is even confusing and that is what made it hard for me to get into either of those books. But perhaps, at a later time, I will try to re-read House Made of Dawn.

Recent Buys

The other day I went to the library and my library has a small bookstore. They sell used books, but all the books are in very good condition and most of the time look brand new. The books are always very, very good prices. I think the most I ever paid for a book there is $4. Anyway, on my most recent trip to the library I just had to visit their bookstore, and as always, I found at least a few books to buy.

I'm not into really romance books. In fact, I've only ever read one and it was many years ago. But the reason I bought Mrs. Miracle is because I saw the commercial on TV for the movie and I've really been wanting to watch the movie. So I thought I would give the book a chance and see if I like it. I also figured it would be a great book to read for Christmas.

I bought this just because I love the movie and the book by Cornelia Funke. I'm not expecting it to be as good as Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. I know it won't be, but I just wanted it basically because I like Inkheart the movie, the actors in the movie and the really wonderful book that it's based on it.

What I'm Reading 11/17/11

Yesterday I started reading The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright. It is about a 12 year old named Amy who goes to stay with her aunt for awhile. She finds a dollhouse in the attic and is fascintated by it. It is exactly like the house she is staying in with her aunt.
But strange things begin to happen in the dollhouse that Amy can't explain. Doors open and close, sometimes there is even a strange light. Amy feels the dollhouse is trying to tell her something. . .

This is book is really good. I've read 100 pages already. It's a page turner and I'm loving it.

What I'm Reading 11/15/11

I finished Cirque Du Freak: Vampire Mountain yesterday and started reading Cirque Du Freak: Trials of Death.

In Trials of Death Darren must undergo five trials to prove himself as a vampire. If he fails, it could mean death.

Vampire Mountain was really good, but I'll wait to write a review until I finish the whole series. But I will say the series is addictive. I always get hooked right away when I begin reading one of these books and I end up reading them very quickly. They are definitely pages turners.

What I'm Reading 11/12/11

What I'm reading right now is Cirque Du Freak: Vampire Mountain by Darren Shan. It is the fourth book in the series.

I'm not too far in yet, only about 4 chapters in. But I'm hooked already and it always happens with these books. I've read that some people think that the writing is too simple, but simple or not, these books are good!

The fourth book deals with Darren having to journey to Vampire Mountain to have meeting with the vampire princes.

As much as I enjoyed the other three books, I'm sure I'll enjoy this one just as much and I'll be finished reading it in no time.

Snow Already?

It snowed here yesterday. It has never snowed in October before. Here, in Pennsylvania, the earliest it snows is in November and it's usually in late November and we don't get much snow.
So I wasn't too happy yesterday when I saw the snow falling. I was supposed to go on a ghost tour to a haunted library, but it was cancelled due to the snow. I was really looking forward to it, too. But at least today the snow is melting.

Anyway, I went to the library on Thursday to pick up some books I had on hold. I'm currently reading The Ghosts of Mercy Manor by Betty Ren Wright.
I love it so far; I was hooked from the first page. Which makes me happy because the book I just finished reading before starting this one, was quite disappointing.

November 1st Middletown library is having another book sale and I will most definitely be going. Hopefully I'll find some good books.

Just wanted to write a quick entry. I'll try to blog some more when I have the time.

Read-A-Thon: Second and Final Update

I was able to read two more books for the Read-A-Thon. Here they are:

Nancy Drew #1: The Demon of River Heights by Stefan Petrucha - Nancy Drew is acting in a monster movie. One of the film students says that the monster is real. Nancy, of course, doesn't believe that, but when the film students go missing, it does make her wonder. . . .

I thought this was a pretty good graphic novel. I liked the storyline and the artwork.

Casebusters 1: The Statue Walks at Night by Joan Lowery Nixon - Sean and Brian are brothers. Their dad is a private investigator and when he is hired by the museum to find missing sketches, Sean and Brian decide to do some of their own investigating.

This book is for younger readers, but as always, Joan Lowery Nixon does a wonderful job. This book is the start of a series and I'm sure children would enjoy this. I liked it, it is a good mystery for younger readers. Afterall, everyone needs a good mystery and if you're reading Joan Lowery Nixon, you've found one of the best mystery writers there is.

For the Read-A-Thon, I was also able to do a few of the challenges. I did the creep me out challenge, Read in Pictures challenge and the Zombie Apocalypse challenge. This was my first Read-A-Thon and I've had fun.

Read-A-Thon Challenge: Read in Pictures

This is a challenge for the Read-A-Thon. The challenge is to post pictures that describe something you've read in a book or books that you have read for the Read-A-Thon. I'll list three books, as I couldn't find good pictures for all the books I've read.



Ghosthunters and the Totally Moldy Baroness! by Cornelia Funke
In book number 3 of the Ghosthunters series, the ghosthuners are called to rid a haunted castle of a ghost.




It's Halloween by Jack Prelutsky
Although this is a poetry book, the poems and illustrations tell a story of children who dress up and go out trick or treating on Halloween.



Scary, Scary Halloween by Eve Bunting
The story of this book is about a mother cat and her kittens hiding on Halloween waitng for the monsters (children in costumes) to be done roaming for the night.

Read-A-Thon Update #1

So, this is what I've read so far:

Zen Ghost by Jon J. Muth - This is about three kids who are going trick or treating, but their friend Stillwater tells them afterwards to meet him at the stone wall because he is taking them to a storyteller.

This was a wonderful book. Not scary, but a good read with a story that leaves you wondering. The illustrations are also beautiful.

Ghosts of Hershey and Vinicity by Christopher E. Wolf - This is true ghost stories of Hershey Pennsylvania and nearby cities/towns. It was a good book and has some interesting stories. I enjoyed it.

Scary, Scary Halloween by Eve Bunting - This is a really fun book. I don't care if it's a picture book. I liked it a lot.

It's Halloween by Jack Prelutsky - A fun book of Halloween poems. This was great. Jack Prelutsky is a wonderful poet.

Halloween Program Sourcebook - this book has a chapter on the history of Halloween and many stories, poems, plays and more for Halloween. I liked it, but it wasn't as great as I had hoped. I did enjoy quite a few of the poems though.

Ghosthunters and the Totally Moldy Baroness! by Cornelia Funke - Let me just say, I love this series. The first two books are great and so is this one. The books have to do with an odd group of ghosthunters. In this book they are called to Gloomsburg Castle to get rid of a terrible ghost. Once they get there, the ghosthunters find out just out terrible the ghost is. This one was so much fun like the others. I love it.

That's all I've read for now, but I'll have to figure out what else to read. Hopefully I'll have another update soon.

Wonderfully Wicked Read-A-Thon!!!!

The Read-A-Thon is about to start soon. I have some books ready to read and hopefully I can do some of the challenges. I'm looking forward to it.

While I'm on here, I might as well blog about a book I've read recently. Well, it is actually a series. Over the Summer I read the first few books in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and loved them. Well, not too long ago I happend upon another series like Diary of a Wimpy Kid. It is called Dork Diaries. I suppose it can be considered a girl version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but there is, I think, a big difference between Greg from Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Nikki from Dork Diaries. Greg is can be very selfish and often only thinks of himself and what he wants. But this, of course, is one of the things that makes the books funny. Nikki can be selfish at times, but not as bad as Greg. She thinks about others a lot and the second book in the series proves that.

Dork Diaries so far has three books in the series, with another expected to be published in 2012. I've read the first two books so far and the third is on the top of my to-read list. I haven't been able to get it from the library yet; the third book always seem to be out or on hold for someone.
But I think if people like Diary of a Wimpy Kid they will also like Dork Diaries. Nikki is a great character and the book is just so funny. I recommend it to everyone.

Wonderfully Wicked Read-a-Thon!

I'm doing a Read-a-Thon this month that starts the 21st and ends the 23rd. I'm excited. I've never done a Read-a-Thon before and I've already decided on some books I'm going to read. Since this is basically a Halloween Read-a-Thon, I've picked some some books that have to do with Halloween, or ghosts and other creepy things. I know I didn't have to, but this is October and I love Halloween so I'm going to be reading some Halloween type books this month.

Can't wait for the Read-a-Thon.

The World Lost One Of It's Brightest Stars

Yesterday I came online and found e-mails from the Diana Wynne Jones club I joined. I wondered why there were so many. There were at least five or more. I thought, perhaps another new book was announced. But, no . . . . It was not a new book.

I opened the first e-mail, scrolled down and laid my eyes on the first message. Maybe it shouldn't have come as a shock. Maybe I should have expected it. But, from the day she was diagnosed with lung cancer I prayed for her and only thought positive things, like that she would get better. I even sent her a letter, letting her know that I'm sending her positive thoughts and well wishes. Telling her also how much she has inspired me.
But, it did come as a shock to me. Diana passed away. She was 76 and yet, I believe she was still too young to die. I know she had probably lived a life of adventure, did many things and lived life the way she wanted to. Diana had a wonderful imagination, even after being diagnosed her imagination was still wonderful.
Diana was diagnosed in 2009 with lung cancer and in 2010 Enchanted Glass was released. The book was wonderful, the story, the characters and everything was what I had come to know and love about her writing. Even with lung cancer, Diana still had her imagination and gift for words.

Some might find it silly, but I felt her death on a personal level. It felt as if I had lost a best friend, someone who knew me inside and out. Of course, I never met her and didn't know her personally. It felt as if I did, though and I suppose in a way I did know Diana. It was through her writing I and many others knew her.
She is like a close friend that I never met, never even talked to, but I knew her and she knew me and it was all through her writing. That is what I also said on my Xanga blog, but I have been reading other fans blogs that are mourning Diana as well and I have found a better way to explain it. This blogger got it right with this quote:
“The best moments in reading are when you come across something, a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things, which you had thought special and particular to you. And now, here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out, and taken yours.”

The blogger had said that hand for her was Diana Wynne Jones and I feel exactly the same. However, I didn't grow up reading her books, which makes me sad now because I wish I did. I've been a fan for two years and in that two years Diana has taught and inspired me more than anyone else.

Diana was a beautiful person, inside and out. She loved her fans, even helped other writers and her books were one-of-a-kind.
I'm grateful to Diana because after reading her books I became to write again and now I'm very happy because again I am doing what I love. I thank her for that and I will continue to write and make it my career like I've always wanted. I will become an author.

Diana's passing was a great loss to her family, friends, fans and to writing. There will never be another writer like her. And I mourn her passing with great sadness.

Diana, may you rest in peace and thank you for inspiring me to write again. Thank you for writing, for sharing your words and stories with the world to read. I will miss you.

Book Signing

Today I will be going to my local library for a book signing.

Maria V. Snyder will be there. She is the author of Poison Study and many other books.
I've never read any of her books and don't have any, but I've been looking at her books for awhile and thinking about reading one of them. All her books will be for sale at the library so I'm going to buy Poison Study to get signed.

She will also be doing a talk before the book signing. I think it will be interesting to hear what she talks about. And I'm sure I will enjoy her book.

I'm excited about going. I've never been to a book signing before. I wanted to go to a book fest last year and get a book signed by Jeff Markowitz - I read his first book and it was so good - but that didn't work out because we had car problems. However, I do have books that are signed by the author, but some of them I've won from Goodreads and others are ghost books that I bought in Gettysburg that were already signed. One book I bought from a library book sale and came home and saw it was signed. I was excited about that and I'm excited to have other books that are signed by the author.
But, I think that actually going to a book signing and being there when the book you bought is being signed is probably an exciting experience. Being able to talk to the author and everything. So, I am very excited for this.

If I have time later, I will write a post about the book signing.

Well, better get to bed.

2011: A Year Of Coming Good

I haven't updated since October. I've actually been really busy. I was delivering phone books in November and plus a lot of other things. I was usually out almost all day and when I'd come home I'd be tired. It wasn't really bad though, I enjoyed being busy for once. And for now, things have slowed down a bit. Well, as far as being out almost every day. But, I have been busy at home. Cleaning and getting rid of things I don't need. It's been good. No. It's been great these past few months, or should I say, past year. I've really changed in a lot of ways and it was all for the good. I'm happier now, a lot happier. There is so many good things that happened in 2010 that I could probably write a book about it.
But, I am looking forward to the coming good that I know will happen this year. I'm excited about it and look forward to more good change.

And what have I been up to? Lots of things.
Like, writing (of course), reading and trying to find ways to make money.

I'm still writing my book and I'm writing the last chapter now. Once done I will begin the second book and start editing the first. I find it exciting that soon the first one will be finished and I see that it belongs me all the closer to being a famous author. I'm just all the more closer to having an agent and signing with Random House.
And I know I'm a dreamer. But, that's ok! I know my dreams will come true.

Also I changed my layout on here again. New year, new layout! And I really like it too.

Well, this year I will do my best to blog on here more. Hopefully in a few days I will have time to write something.