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Jul 30

The Forgotten Garden (mini-review)

By Stephanie book reviews, cool blogs & sites 15 Comments »

I think this is the first time I’ve ever written a mini-review (with the exception of my sort-of-review last week)! I am usually very good about writing a book review as soon as I finish a book, but somehow The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton slipped through the cracks. In fact, I was originally going to skip over this review all together, but really enjoyed her book and wanted to encourage my readers to pick it up. Instead of writing my own synopsis, I’ve copied a description of The Forgotten Garden from the authors website:

On the eve of the first world war, a little girl is found abandoned on a ship to Australia. A mysterious woman called the Authoress had promised to look after her – but the Authoress has disappeared without a trace.

A terrible secret…

On the night of her twenty-first birthday, Nell O’Connor learns a secret that will change her life forever. Decades later, she embarks upon a search for the truth that leads her to the windswept Cornish coast and the strange and beautiful Blackhurst Manor, once owned by the aristocratic Mountrachet family.

A mysterious inheritance…

On Nell’s death, her grand-daughter, Cassandra, comes into an unexpected inheritance. Cliff Cottage and its forgotten garden are notorious amongst the Cornish locals for the secrets they hold – secrets about the doomed Mountrachet family and their ward Eliza Makepeace, a writer of dark Victorian fairytales. It is here that Cassandra will finally uncover the truth about the family, and solve the century-old mystery of a little girl lost.

The Forgotten Garden was a book that I read with my book club. We all really enjoyed the novel and had a very good discussion about it at the meeting. At over five hundred detailed pages, The Forgotten Garden was not a book that you could easily breeze through. In fact, it took me quite a while to get through the novel as I really wanted to pay attention carefully to the storyline. Morton so expertly spins multiple plot lines throughout the story and if I had rushed through the novel I might have missed some important details.

With a completely satisfying ending, The Forgotten Garden was a thoroughly enjoyable read and perfect for book club discussions. I’ve never read her first book The House at Riverton but plan on grabbing a copy of it soon. I am also looking forward to reading Morton’s new book, The Distant Hours, which will be released later this year.

For more in-depth reviews, check out what Violet Crush and Discussing Books had to say about The Forgotten Garden.

Jul 22

To Kill a Mockingbird (a sort-of-review)

By Stephanie book events, book reviews, cool blogs & sites 20 Comments »

I did it! I finally sat down and read To Kill a Mockingbird and found myself thoroughly immersed in the world of Scout, Jem, Atticus and the many varied characters within the book. Instead of writing a “review” because there must be thousands of reviews written about this American classic already (and I always feel quite underqualified to actually review a classic) I’ve decided to just write down some of my thoughts about To Kill a Mockingbird (TKAM) for all of you (WARNING – may contain spoilers in this semi-review)!

What surprised me the most about TKAM?

I really had very little to go on when I opened the first page. I knew the book was about racism and prejudice, but that was all the information I had. So I was kind of surprised that the book wasn’t this epic story that I’ve sometimes associated with a classic. Instead of spanning generations or a lifetime, TKAM focuses on just a few years in the life of Scout and her older brother Jem. It was really a very simple, quiet book. Having said that, Harper Lee didn’t have to write this epic drama to get her point across. It was a very powerful book, all neatly packed in just over three hundred pages.

What did I love best about TKAM?

I have to say I really enjoyed the humor sprinkled throughout the novel. Scout of course had some of the best lines and I particularly loved it when she started swearing, in the hopes that her father would take her out of school:

“Aw, that’s a damn story,” I (Scout) said.
“I beg your pardon?”
Atticus said, “Don’t pay any attention to her, Jack. She’s trying you out. Cal says she’s been cussing fluently for a week, now.”
Uncle Jack raised his eyebrows and said nothing. I was proceeding on the dim theory, aside from the innate attractiveness of such words, that if Atticus discovered I had picked them up at school he wouldn’t make me go. But at supper that evening when I asked him to pass the damn ham, please, Uncle Jack pointed at me. “See me afterwards, young lady,” he said

Who was my favorite character?

I have to say Scout because I loved that she was spunky, intelligent and wise beyond her years.

What was my best discovery about TKAM?

I really loved how the author tied in the title of the book to the entire story. When Scout says to her father “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” a few pages short of the end of the story is really a beautiful moment. I also felt the theme of “putting yourself in another man’s shoes” was a powerful one. At the end of the book there is a very scene where Scout is looking at her street from Boo Radley’s front porch and realizes that her father’s advice to always look at a situation from another person’s perspective is spot on. It’s given me a lot to think about since finishing the book.

What is my biggest regret when it comes to TKAM?

Probably the fact that unlike a lot of Americans, I didn’t have the opportunity to read TKAM while young and in school. I would love to have read and studied TKAM with my peers at a young age. Check out this guest post over at She Is Too Fond Of Books to see how one teacher has come up with a very creative and interactive way to teach teenagers directly from the pages of TKAM. How awesome and interesting would that assignment be? But unfortunately I didn’t read this book as a teenager and wish that I had, not only to have been able to learn about TKAM while still a kid, but to have been able to re-read it as an adult to see how or if my perceptions of TKAM changed with time.

Check out this website that celebrates the 50th Anniversary of TKAM (plus you can listen to Sissy Spacek’s audio recording of the book). Thank you Harper Collins for sending me this book for me to read and review!

Lastly, I found this HILARIOUS video put together by Cat over at Beyond Books which includes her thoughts on the first eight chapters of TKAM.

Thank you Cat for allowing me to share your video on my blog (make sure you all watch the video until the end – it’s worth it)!! I hope Cat that you continue with the video series as you read TKAM (and no, the Mockingbird is not named Frank)!

Jul 11

Sunday Salon 7.11.10 – the classic I haven’t read yet

By Stephanie book events, cool blogs & sites, sunday salon 29 Comments »

As a teenager, I wasn’t much of a reader. Even though my mother and sister very often had their noses in a book, I didn’t have any interest in reading at all. Not until I became an adult did I finally realize that I was missing out on something really big and before I knew it I became an avid reader. I started mostly with horror fiction (I think one of Stephen King’s books was my first real read) and over the last fifteen plus years have since move onto more varied literature (although I do love me some good ghost stories now and then).

'East of Eden' by John Steinbeck But there was one type of genre I was afraid to tackle – the classics. I don’t know whether I thought I wasn’t smart enough to read classic literature or if I wouldn’t “get” it, but I was deathly afraid of even attempting a classic book.

I have to thank Oprah’s Book Club for encouraging me to give it a try (I know *eyes rolling* but to be honest if it wasn’t for her I don’t know that I would have picked up my very first classic, East of Eden by John Steinbeck). I really enjoyed East of Eden and realized that there were a world of books, ones that are beloved by millions, that I should make the time to read. Shortly thereafter I devoured a copy of my mom’s all time favorite book Little Women, met Hazel in Watership Down, learned about China in The Good Earth, recovered from surgery with Elizabeth and Darcy as my companions and delved into some Bronte with Jane Eyre.

Learn more about the 50th Anniversary of To Kill a Mockingbird There is one book though that I haven’t read yet, that I have been meaning to for a very long time. There is a big celebration going on to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, so I’ve decided to join in on the fun. In a couple days (right after finishing my current read) I plan on reading, for the first time ever, this true American classic.

So tell me, have you read To Kill a Mockingbird? Is there one classic book that you’ve always meant to read but haven’t done so yet?

By the way, if you haven’t read To Kill a Mockingbird and would like to, check out Heather’s blog – she is hosting a great giveaway of the 50th anniversary edition of To Kill a Mockingbird along with a very special book companion, Scout, Atticus, and Boo: A Celeberation of 50 Years of To Kill a Mockingbird!

May 06

Sex and the Austen Girl Web Series

By Stephanie books & tv, cool blogs & sites, everything austen, guest posts 4 Comments »

While hosting the Everything Austen challenge last year, the lovely Laurie Viera Rigler, author of Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict and Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, wrote this guest post for Stephanie’s Written Word. It is one of the most popular guest posts on my blog and generated quite a few comments.

Well, Ms. Rigler is back with something very cool. If you enjoyed the author’s books as much as I did, please take a look at the trailer above for the new web series inspired by her novels called SEX AND THE AUSTEN GIRL. In the series, the two protagonists from her books face off over the pros and cons of life and love and being woman in Regency England vs. 21st century L.A.

I think that this web series looks like a lot of fun. SEX AND THE AUSTEN GIRL premieres on the broadband network www.Babelgum.com on May 17, 2010. To learn more about the web series check out the author’s blog.

Apr 29

Dear Mom

By Stephanie Just for fun, cool blogs & sites, life 15 Comments »

Yeah, only a busy mother would forget to watch the Today Show this morning when the possibility of the picture of her youngest daughter would be part of an beautiful slideshow created by the insipiring Kelly Corrigan. I kid you not. I don’t know if the video was shown on the Today Show during the author’s interview (to talk about her new book Lift) but in the hub-bub of getting out the door I totally forgot to watch!!

Luckily, the video is already up on YouTube. Kelly Corrigan had put a request on Facebook this past weekend, asking for photos of adopted children for her Today show interview. My daughter Maya’s picture made it on the video!! It is of her at 9 months, in a hotel in China the day after we adopted her. She is at the 1 min 29 second mark (and yes, her hair used to stick up that straight)!

Thank you Kelly for including Maya’s picture in your wonderful video!! To see more inspiring videos by Kelly, check out her website here. You can also find out more about Kelly’s new book Lift here or read my review of her memoir The Middle Place here.

Mar 07

Sunday Salon 03.07.10

By Stephanie Love of books, blogging, cool blogs & sites, giveaway, new books, sunday salon 27 Comments »

Good afternoon Saloners! I’ve got some cool bookish things to share with you all.

I met a really nice gal Denise not too long ago. She had just moved to this area and her youngest son is in Maya’s preschool class. What I didn’t know about Denise is that she too is a blogger and has just posted a really lovely interview with Kelly Corrigan, author of The Middle Place and her newest book Lift. Check it out at Denise’s blog Musings de Mommy.

I’ve been trying really hard not to purchase any new books and have been good over the past six months. But I kind of fell of the wagon recently and came home with these books.

I bought Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer based solely on Susan’s great review. Then I picked up a copy of The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle since I will be reading it with my book club this month. After reading about author Maureen Johnson on the Book Blogger Con website, I found a copy of Suite Scarlett and decided to give it a try. And I am really glad I grabbed a copy of Little Bee by Chris Cleave, especially after reading Natasha’s thoughts on the book.

Speaking of great blog posts, I was intrigued by Dawn’s recent review of The Power of Half: One Family’s Decision to Stop Taking and Start Giving Back by Kevin and Hannah Salwen. After reading and Tweeting Dawn’s insightful and honest review, I heard from a friend about the 200 Story Home Contest run by Khelly and Jerry Agee. It is a creative competition where you can submit artwork based on the theme of “home” and throughout the course of the competition they’re giving away cool prizes like Mini cars and charity donations. The grand prize is a mansion in Park City, UT (it’s unbelievably gorgeous) or $500,000 cash. And to top it off you pick your favorite charity and they’ll donate $50K to it. Pretty crazy, right! Check out their website to find out more about the contest and how to enter.

Lastly, check out what came in my mail last week!! Faithful Place: A Novel by Tana French! The book isn’t out until this summer and was so excited to get an ARC of it.

In non-bookish news, I took my oldest daughter out to see Alice in Wonderland yesterday afternoon. It was as I suspected, a totally whacked out version of the story and one that we both found enjoyable. It doesn’t hurt to have Johnny Depp, who I love, being the crazy Mad-Hatter!

Also, my husband and I FINALLY picked out tile backsplash for our kitchen! After bringing home lots of samples over the last few months, I finally found exactly what I wanted. I can’t wait to start putting it up so I can show all of you!

Dec 10

A hot cuppa tea

By Stephanie cool blogs & sites 16 Comments »

I am definitely a coffee person. I look forward to having a cup after waking up. There is nothing quite like the first sip of hot coffee early in the morning. By the afternoon, when I’m looking for something hot to drink, I tend to start up the tea kettle to make myself a hot cup of tea. When the Bag Ladies Tea company contacted me to offer me a sample of their line of specialty teas called Novel Teas I decided to give it a try.

Novel Teas is Bag Ladies Tea’s newest line of tea designed especially for the book lover. I received the Novel Tea Box which includes 25 tea bags, each with different literary quotes on individually printed tea tags. They also sent me a Novel Tea Pouch which includes 5 tea bags (and which I plan on giving away to one of you in the near future).

The packaging of Novel Teas is quite pretty. With quotes from various authors on the packaging as well as the tea bag tag (my cup of tea included a very true saying by Henry Ward Beecher “Where is human nature so weak as in a bookstore?”) the Bag Ladies Tea company have designed a lovely package for tea drinkers and book lovers.

The tea itself is a flavorful English Breakfast Tea that I enjoyed very much. I think that Novel Teas would be a perfect gift for a book lover in your life! If you know someone who enjoys drinking tea but is not a big reader (are there really such people out there?) then you should check out the Bag Ladies Tea line of whimsical teas. You may be able to find the perfect gift for the teacher, gardener or relative in your life. Or maybe one of these beautifully packaged teas from their Blossom collection. Please note that the Bag Ladies Tea only ship in the US.

Thank you Bag Ladies Teas for sending me a sample of your tea. I am really enjoying it.

Dec 04

The Dewey Tree

By Stephanie Love of books, cool blogs & sites 3 Comments »

I’m guessing that most of you know Lisa Roe, Online Publicist extraordinaire who writes her own bookish blog here. I’ve had the pleasure of actually meeting Lisa in person (and can I say that she is stunningly pretty in real life – no really, what a cutie)! Anyway, Lisa has come up with one great idea to honor Dewey, a book blogger who passed away a year ago. In the spirit of Dewey’s constant community building in the book blog-sphere, Lisa has come up with The Dewey Tree project.

Lisa is asking us to gather up the books that we no longer need and donate them to a worthy cause. You can find out all the details and sign up to participate here. She even has prizes to give to three lucky random participants – handmade tote bags made by Lisa!

As for me, I’m going to grab a box full of books and donate them to my local hospital’s store The Book Barn, a place where they sell used books and use the funds for hospital programs.

Sep 09

Bran Hambric The Fairfield Curse

By Stephanie book reviews, cool blogs & sites 11 Comments »

What if your mother was a criminal? What if her crime was magic? What if magic ran in the family?

There has been a lot of internet buzz over the book Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse and with good reason. The author, Kaleb Nation, is an internt celebrity. He began writing Bran Hambric (which is the first book in a series) at the age of fourteen. Now Kaleb is twenty years old and a college student. He is also the founder of Twilight Guy, where Kaleb chronicled his reading of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga. He runs his own blog and regularly uploads videos to You Tube, which have generated over four million views. Add published author to his long list of accomplishments and you have one talented kid.

Bran Hambric The Fairfield Curse is the story of fourteen year old Bran, who arrived under mysterious circumstances to the city of Dunce, where magic is outlawed. Bran was found as a young boy, with no memory at all, inside a bank vault with a note clutched in his hand with his name and birth date written down. Bran becomes the foster child of the Wilomas family. The Wilomas’ consist of Sewey, his bumbling foster father with a speeding problem, hypochondriac foster mom Mabel and two bratty kids. Bran never quite feels like he fits into the family with the exception of his only friend Rose, who happens to be Mabel’s cousin and is a live in maid for the family.

After a strange encounter with a burglar who knows Bran’s name and tries to kidnap him, Bran starts to get the feeling that he is being watched. Then, when Bran saves Rosie from getting hit by a car by unknowingly conjuring up a magic spell, he realizes there is a whole secret society of magical people, or Mages, living in Dunce. Bran starts to wonder about the mother he has no memory of and he soon begins to put the puzzle piece of his past together. In doing so, Bran finds out some information about his mother and her magical past and enters into a dangerous cat and mouse game in which he comes face to face with pure magical evil.

As I’ve mentioned here on my blog before, I wasn’t much of a reader as a kid (I know, the shock)! My love of fiction for children really began with the Harry Potter series which I read as an adult and I’ve been hooked ever since. When I was asked to be a part of a blog tour for this original book, I jumped at the chance.

Bran Hambric The Fairfield Curse is a magical tale full of whimsy, lots of adventure and a dash of humor. It’s a nice coming of age story where fourteen year old Bran has to make one of the most important decisions of his young life - he can either let things happen around him without getting involved or have the courage and become the hero he was meant to be. The book is filled with fun characters (in particular Sewey, who is a crack up) and some really inventive magical creatures (loved the outlawed gnomes).

I would recommend Bran Hambric for the kid in your life who likes magical tales and urban fantasy or an adult who wants to re-live some of the fun of reading books written for children. For more information about the book, check out the book trailer here. Thanks Sourcebooks Jabberwocky for sending this book my way for review.

Click below to find out what other bloggers think of Bran Hambric:

Sunday, August 30^thJenn’s Bookshelf , Homespun Light

Monday, August 31^stStevenTill.com, Dolce Bellezza, Bobbi’s Book Nook

Tuesday, September 1^stThe Looking Glass Review, Edward-Cullen.net, Beth Fish Reads, SMS Book Reviews, James Holder’s YouTube Channel

Wednesday, September 2^ndBookalicio.us, Reading Rumpus, Katie’s Literature Lounge. Ultimate Bookhound

Thursday, September 3^rdBrimful Curiosities, Charlotte’s Library

Friday, September 4^thBriMeetsBooks.com, Bran Hambric by Kaleb Nation

Saturday, September 5^thLibrary Lounge Lizard, Sarah’s Random Musings, Saulchichas, GreenFyr.com

Sunday, September 6^thCindy’s Love of Books

Monday, September 7^thLauren’s Crammed Bookshelf, Grasping for the Wind, Life After Twilight vlog channel

Tuesday, September 8^thShooting Stars Magazine, Mrs. Magoo Reads, Lori Calabrese Writes

Wednesday, September 9^thThe Brain Lair, Dulemba.com, The Children’s Book Review, TV Watch Online

Thursday, September 10^thThe Friendly Book Nook, Book Journey, Home School Buzz, Spidurmunkey.com

Friday, September 11^thThe Inside Scoop With Chandelle, Booking Mama

Saturday, September 12^thZoe’s Book Reviews, Lit for Kids

Sunday, September 13^thNever Jam Today, A Bibliophile’s Reverie

Monday, September 14^thCafé of Dreams, Marta’s Meanderings, Galleysmith.com, A Book Blogger’s Diary, The Reader’s Quill

Tuesday, September 15^tha book in hand, MistiSchindele.com, Not Just for Kids

Wednesday, September 16^thWrite for a Reader, CumpulsiveReader.com

Thursday, September 17^thHowling Good Books, The Written World

Friday, September 18^thAlways Riddikulus, YA Books Central

Saturday, September 19^thMs. Bookish, Into the Wardrobe

Sep 04

All things new (blog, BBAW voting & car bumper)

By Stephanie blogging, book events, cool blogs & sites, life 24 Comments »

With the help of my wonderful husband Joe, I’ve finally made the leap to self-hosting my blog and getting my own URL! I’ve been working hard the last few days to get this site up and running and I hope you’ll take a look around and let me know what you think! From this moment on I will be posting here (as you can see, with the exception of a few comments and the YouTube videos, my blog has been imported here in full).

If you have left a comment for my Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters giveaway and you no longer see it in the comment section of that post, don’t fret. All comments are e-mailed to directly to me so I have them all on record!

There may still be some bugs I need to work out (and if I find a theme template I like better I may even switch this one out). I also still need to work on my blogroll (which didn’t seem to make it over to the new site) and would ask you to please update your blogroll (and bloglines or google reader) with my new URL www.stephanieswrittenword.com. Thanks so much!

In the meantime, it’s time to vote for your favorite blogs in anticipation for Book Blogger Appreciation Week! For the first time my blog was nominated and has now been shortlisted in a few catagories including BEST CHALLENGE HOST, BEST CHALLENGE and BEST COMMUNITY BUILDER. Thank you for nominating me (whoever you are). I really appreciate it!

Lastly, I’ll be headed to the body shop mid-week to drop off my car. While driving home from the party store (where I bought glow sticks for the neighborhood kids at our BBQ) I was rear ended by a large SUV. I wasn’t fully stopped when I was hit, but had been slowing down on the highway because I heard an ambulance siren (and wanted to make sure that it wasn’t going through the intersection ahead of me). The impact took my back bumper clear off the car, but luckily my daughter and I were unharmed. We need to pay a deductible to get the car fixed, so I told the kids that those glow sticks were probably the most expensive in the world!