Library Girl Vacation

This library family is heading on vacation tomorrow.  I'm sure it probably already feels like I have taken a vacation from blogging.  We've had company, company, company and now I'm finally getting around to packing for tomorrow.  With everything we've had going on, I've barely had time to read much less blog about it.  I am taking three books with me on the trip but I'm not sure I'll get much reading done.  We've got people to see and places to be!  Why do I have a feeling I'm going to need a vacation when we get home just to recover from this vacation?

Anyway, to get this post back on track, here are the books I'm taking with me:






I also really need to get a review written for Dark and Stormy Knights edited by P. N. Elrod.  I'm really hoping to have that scheduled to go up on July 1, since the book comes out later in July, but it still isn't written yet so I'm not sure if that will happen.  I do have a review of Juliet by Anne Fortier scheduled for August 1 so there is that to look forward to.

When I get back, I really hope I can find a better balance with getting the stuff done that really needs to be done around the house (cleaning, laundry, meals, etc) and fun things (playing with my daughter, reading, catching up on TV & movies, etc).  The summer seems to be getting away from me though!

I hope that you are enjoying your summer and travels where ever they may take you.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links and I do earn a small percentage for each item purchased through those links. Any other referral or associate links will be noted within the post.

Book Blogger Hop 6/18/2010

Each weekend, Jennifer at Crazy-For-Books hosts the Book Blogger Hop.  The Book Blogger Hop is a great way for book lovers and book bloggers to come together and discover new book blogs.

If you have hopped over from the Mr. Linky, Welcome!  I hope you will stay a bit and look around.  I haven't been able to participate in the hop for a few weeks so I'm glad to be hopping again.  I review a wide range of books including (but not limited to!) urban fantasy, young adult, contemporary fiction, historical fiction, chic lit, cozy mystery, and some non-fiction.  I also have a regular monthly giveaway, with the June Giveaway ending very soon.  There are 10 books to choose from this month.  Unfortunately, I do have to limit these giveaways to the USA only.

I love comments so please don't be shy!

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links and I do earn a small percentage for each item purchased through those links. Any other referral or associate links will be noted within the post.

CSN Bookshelf Review

At the beginning of June, I posted about an offer I received from CSN stores to review a product.  Well, my bookshelf arrived and my husband put it together over the weekend.  I chose the Antigua 53" H Four Tier Bookcase.  We decided before it arrived that we would put it in our bedroom instead of in the loft with our other bookshelves.  This way we can put books on it that we know we want to read in the near future and new books as we purchase them so they won't get lost among the other books before we've read them.

Ordering from CSN was easy, although I did goof up using the promo code they emailed me.  Ashley was able to straighten me out though and then it worked just fine.  I think the product shipped within 48 hours of my ordering it and I ordered it pretty late in the day.

We started out putting it together with me holding parts while he fastened them in place but then our daughter woke up from her nap so he was on his own.  I think having two people to get the top shelf onto the sides made it a lot easier.  The screws are in an awkward place so I'm not sure one person could hold the pieces and put the screws in at the same time.  I don't think he had any trouble with getting the rest of it together on his own.  In the picture he is putting the feet on before standing it up to add the back.  I actually liked the look of it without the back but we decided it really did need it for stability.

It looks a bit bare right now but I'm sure we will fill it up quickly!  The top shelf is my husband's and the middle and bottom shelves are mine.  Right now this doesn't include books that I have lined up for review or series books where I need to read multiple books to catch up or want to actually re-read the entire series.  No library books on there yet either but that will change soon too.  It actually matches our bedroom furniture quite well which is a great bonus.

Overall, I am very pleased with this bookshelf and my experience with CSN Stores.

The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.  CSN Stores provided me with a promotional code which I could use to purchase any item in their stores to review (up to a certain price point).  No monetary compensation was received for this review.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links and I do earn a small percentage for each item purchased through those links. Any other referral or associate links will be noted within the post.

Mailbox Monday 6/14/2010

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Simply Stacie, This Mama Loves Her Bargains, and A little of this and a little of that...

To participate:

* Add your blog to the linky
* Subscribe by email to the three hostesses - they will subscribe to your blog email feed
* Visit other blogs on the list and subscribe by email to the ones that interest you.  Please leave a comment letting the blogger know that you found their blog through Mailbox Monday.  Don't forget to leave a link to your blog in the comment and to confirm your email subscription.

Everyone is welcome to participate.  There will be a new linky each week so make sure you stop by one of the hostesses blogs to add your link on Mondays.  Every week a featured blog will have the #4 spot in the Linky - I was very surprised this morning to find out that Library Girl Reads is featured this week!

Your blog must have a way to subscribe by email.  If it doesn't, one of the hostesses will remove your link.

Help spread the word by creating a Mailbox Monday post with the blog hop code.  Have fun finding some new blogs :-)



Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links and I do earn a small percentage for each item purchased through those links. Any other referral or associate links will be noted within the post.

Stealing Lumby by Gail Fraser

Title:  Stealing Lumby
Author:  Gail Fraser
Publisher:  New American Library
Publication Date:  September 2007
Format:  Paperback, 329 pages
Age Group:  Adult
Series:  Lumby (Book 2)

When a famous painting, The Barns of Lumby, is stolen national attention is focused on the usually quiet town of Lumby and its very private residents.  The Montis Inn, run by Pam and Mark Walker, is over run with reporters at the same time that Mark is pushing forward one project after another.  Katie Banks, the owner of the barns depicted in the painting, has personal reasons not to trust the reporters.  No one realizes what a personal connection Charlotte Ross has to the painting and to the artist, Dana Porter.  Then one of the actual barns disappears and the town comes together in unexpected ways to help preserve a piece of national history.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, The Lumby Lines, and I found this installment just as charming.  The residents of Lumby all have such unique and interesting stories.  Fraser does a wonderful job at weaving the individual stories into the overall picture.  She is able to connect the residents of Lumby with the famous artist and the national story about the painting without losing the charm of life in Lumby.  Many familiar characters return in Stealing Lumby and there are a few new friends introduced as well.

It is very rare that a book will actually bring a smile to my face or cause me to laugh out loud.  Stealing Lumby is a fun book and a great break from the darkness often found in the books I read.  It was actually a perfect follow up to Susan Kelly's By Accident because it was such a change of pace.

I borrowed Stealing Lumby from my local library and all opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links and I do earn a small percentage for each item purchased through those links. Any other referral or associate links will be noted within the post.

New Look!

I've been wanting a new look for the blog for quite a while now. I kept visiting various blog designers websites and looking enviously at what they have to offer. Unfortunately, being a stay at home mom I just don't have money of my own to pay someone to redesign Library Girl Reads for me. I was really afraid to try doing it myself too because my HTML coding is pretty rusty and I didn't want to totally mess things up.

Tonight I was poking around a bit and discovered some new templates. I loved that I could see exactly how the blog would look before I applied them so after playing around, I decided on this one. I really like the wider sidebar on the right and the additional columns it gives me. The bookish background is also a huge plus since I really wasn't finding anything in the designers' free offerings that was book related.

I'd love to hear what you think of the new look! I'm sure I'll be playing around with it some more but I think this is a great start to a blog makeover. If you are reading this in a feed reader or by email, I'd love to have you stop by and check it out.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links and I do earn a small percentage for each item purchased through those links. Any other referral or associate links will be noted within the post.

Mega Swagbucks Friday

For those of you who are new here, you will often see me mentioning Swagbucks on Fridays.  That is because Fridays mean Mega Swagbucks for searching!  Haven't tried Swagbucks yet?  It is super easy - simply use the Swagbucks search engine to do your normal Internet searching and sometimes you will be rewarded with Swagbucks which can then be redeemed for some great prizes. My theory is that if I'm going to be searching the Internet anyway, I may as well get rewarded for doing it.

My favorite prize is the Amazon.com gift card.  My plan is to try to pay for as much of Christmas this year as I can using the gift cards I earn.  There are also tons of other gift cards available plus you can redeem for various merchandise as well.

On Fridays, Swagbucks gives out more Mega Swagbucks (anything over 10) than usual which means you can earn your desired prizes even faster.  I got 59 for one search today!  I'd love to hear if one of my readers finds a high value one today or any other day!

Don't forget to check out the Special Offers section and keep an eye out for Swag Codes as well.  Both of those can help those bucks add up!  Daily Polls get you 1 Swagbuck each day and they recently added other trusted survey sites for another option to earn.

Swagbucks links contained within this post are referral links and I will earn some Swagbucks if you sign up using those links.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links and I do earn a small percentage for each item purchased through those links. Any other referral or associate links will be noted within the post.

Wind Warrior book trailer by Cynthia Roberts

Last month I gave you an excerpt from Wind Warrior and a guest post by author Cynthia Roberts.  Well, the release date for Wind Warrior is almost here and Cynthia sent me the book trailer to share with you.  I hope you enjoy it.



Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links and I do earn a small percentage for each item purchased through those links. Any other referral or associate links will be noted within the post.

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs

Title:  Silver Borne
Author:  Patricia Briggs
Publisher:  Ace Hardcover
Publication Date:  March 2010
Format:  Hardcover, 352 pages
Age Group:  Adult
Series:  Mercy Thompson (Book 5)

Mercy Thompson is a coyote shapeshifter, mate to the Alpha of the local werewolf pack, and car mechanic.  In the fifth book in the series, Silver Borne, Mercy must help the Alpha, Adam, deal with a threat to the pack from within, keep her friend Samuel from losing himself to his wolf, and keep herself alive as the Fae attempt to locate a book that is more than what it appears.

I really enjoy this series.  Mercy is a great main character because she is strong and independent yet she knows her limitations.  She understands that in a world of werewolves, witches, Fae, and vampires, a coyote is outmatched most of the time.  This allows her to think through situations and rely on strategy and cunning when she would otherwise be overcome by brute force.  Mercy pays attention to the details and this serves her well when dealing with both the Fae and the werewolves.  She is also beginning to understand that sometimes asking for help is not showing weakness but strength.

After skimming a review or two on other book blogs, I was afraid that I would miss the vampires in this book.  I really didn't though because I got to see so much more of the werewolf pack.  Mercy is learning more and more about what it means to be pack and this book shows even more of the political and social structure and conventions.  She learns about how the pack bonds work and about her mate bond with Adam.  I love authors who fully develop the social structure and expectations for the various paranormal societies and Briggs is one of the best I've read lately.  Not only does Mercy need to understand the dynamic of the pack to contain the threat from within but she must also understand how to deal with the Fae to keep herself and her friends alive and as unharmed as possible.  Although the Fae do not lie, the word games they play can have devastating results if the bargain is not carefully constructed.

Silver Borne was a wonderfully quick read for me because I did not want to put it down.  I really don't want to wait for the next book in the series (spring 2011) but I guess I can pick up her Alpha and Omega series in the meantime.

I purchased Silver Borne for my personal library and all opinions presented in this review are my own.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links and I do earn a small percentage for each item purchased through those links. Any other referral or associate links will be noted within the post.

By Accident by Susan Kelly (Review)

Title:  By Accident
Author:  Susan Kelly
Publisher:  Pegasus Books
Publication Date:  May 2010
Format:  Hardcover, 304 pages
Age Group:  Adult

Laura Lucas is grieving the death of her son, who should have been college bound in the fall.  She grieves as an island - isolated and disconnected from everything and everyone she used to love.  Then she and her daughter, Ebie, meet the young man next door and Laura begins to show signs of life again.  By Accident examines relationships between men and women, husbands and wives, parents and children.

By Accident is beautifully written.  I could feel the heaviness of Laura's grief and her frustration with her husband as he tried to force her out of it.  I understood her anger at the construction happening in her neighborhood.  The changes are happening too quickly and she is unable to hold on to what once was and what should have been.

Relationships are at the heart of the story.  Laura and her husband go in different directions after their son's death.  Russ and his business partner go in different directions as well, in part causing Laura to lose her best friend of many years.  New relationships develop when Elliot moves in next door.  Lines are drawn in the sand, crossed, and redrawn as the characters try to find their place in a world that keeps shifting under their feet and throwing them off balance.

I loved the beginning of the book and felt that it ended exactly how it should have.  There were a few things in the latter half that bothered me but it was only because I didn't want the characters to make those choices, even though I saw how they got there and how those choices led to the ending.  I think the chapters in Ebie's voice were a wonderful break from Laura's heavy grief and gave a different perspective to the story.

This review is based on an advance reading copy of By Accident which was sent to me by Marissa at JKSCommunications.  The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links and I do earn a small percentage for each item purchased through those links. Any other referral or associate links will be noted within the post.

Upcoming CSN Review

If you are like me, you may have seen CSN stores popping up on lots of blogs with product reviews and giveaways.  Being a fairly small blog, I never expected to be contacted by CSN with an offer to do a review of one of their products.  So I was very excited when I was given such a great opportunity.  With 200+ stores, CSN carries everything from sofas to cookware to kids toys to bookshelves.  Yep, I said bookshelves!

While we were working out the details, I realized that I actually own a bookshelf from CSN that I won last year from All Booked Up.  When I received it in November, we were living in a tiny apartment and had no room for another shelf.  Now that we've moved into our new house, we finally got it out of the box and up on the wall.  As you can see, it is currently holding our DVD and video game collection.  This is the Hanging Corner Storage in Maple shelf.  It really does blend into our wall quite a bit.  I think if I could have chosen, I would have picked the darker Cherry version.  The same shelf is also available in Espresso.

My husband didn't seem to have any trouble assembling the shelf, although getting it on the wall was a little bit of a challenge.  Lining up those holes for drilling seems to be a pain no matter what you are hanging!  The shelf itself is pretty sturdy, although I'm not sure I would want to put anything with significant weight on it.  I was just excited to remember that we had it so we could get the media boxes unpacked and out of the house.

CSN offers free shipping on many of their items and they ship to Canada!  Which of the 200+ CSN stores would be your favorite?  I have a feeling I could get myself in a lot of shopping trouble in most of them!

As for which product I've chosen for review?  Well, you are just going to have to wait and see!

Note: All opinions provided on this blog are my own. If a product was given to me for review, the source of that product is noted in the post. Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links and I do earn a small percentage for each item purchased through those links. Any other referral or associate links will be noted within the post.