J. Scott Savage & Farworld: Water Keep Interview & Book Giveaway

I'm having a book giveaway on my children's literature site: Let The Wild Rumpus Start.

Tuesday Thingers: A Little Late and Off Topic

Although I don't have a favorite bookstore, I do have an affection for Carnegie Libraries. In each town I travel through, I look for a Carnegie Library. I suppose this love was formed in my hometown's Carnegie Library:

I remember checking books out at the little circular librarian desk. I remember the musty smell and the creak of the wooden floors. I remember wooden card catalogs and rolling library carts with the squeaky wheels. There was an abundant children's section with colorful posters; I had to ask for assistance to reach the top shelf where, it seemed, all the best books lurked. I attended Brownie Girl Scout meetings in the basement where the scout leader baked warm chocolate chip cookies.... ah.....

Andrew Carnegie built 2,509 libraries. My home state was the recipient of the most libraries, 165. Today, my hometown Carnegie Library is still in operation with an annex and an expansion wing. Sadly, many Carnegie Libraries did not share the same fate.


Teachers can find a lesson plan detailing all the historical contexts of the Carnegie Libraries on the National Park Service site HERE.

As to Boston Bibliophile's favorite bookstore prompt... I guess I'd have to choose silly old Barnes & Noble. I go there to relax a couple times a month, but I don't know if it'll ever inspire such warm reflection.

The Queen's Return

The queen of the aliens has returned from her first semester in veterinary medical school. She has decreed that the cats are too fat, but gave me outstanding marks on the dog care. I would like to remind her that I am doing this servitude without compensation, but loyal subjects can't speak back to their queen.

Her return was marked by a tropical storm sending her across four countries before she was able to return to her homeland. The air carrier lost her luggage so today will be spent in search of new clothes. Not bad considering the royal wardrobe consisted of merely two pair of jeans, a pair of shorts and four t-shirts.

Inglorious by Joanna Kavenna

There are stories we read that seem to strike a chord with the particular time in which we read them. I used to call She's Come Undone one of my favorite books and then I reread it, years later, and wondered, “What?” Inglorious is a book that hit me just right at this point in my life. I suspect others will have qualms with the character driven plot, but I identified with the protagonist.


Rosa Lane is bored and restless and prone to grandiose thought. She quits her job in search of the ever elusive ‘something more.’ In the meantime, and to little surprise considering her mindset, her relationship of ten years falls apart. Adding insult to injury is a betrayal and a lack of compassion by those around her. Rosa spends her days making lists that never seem to get completed and telling herself that she’s ok, really ok, with all the changes swirling around her. She takes a lover and ignores her ex’s impending nuptials. Really, Rosa Lane is going to be just fine.

Inglorious is about lies. The lies we tell ourselves, the ones we push so deep that we start to believe them ourselves. They help us get through the day, both the mundane and the glorious points, and the extremes that cause us to go insane if we think too hard about them.

I loved this book. It was written beautifully. The author is a certain talent to the literary realm. I’ll be looking for her next offering. I’ll give that Rosa’s voice is protracted, but that’s kind of the point. Imagine how it must feel to be Rosa.

Recommended for those who have battled depression, had a nervous breakdown, been wounded by a lover or anyone seeking insight into the mind of a girl on the edge of losing it all.


Buy Inglorious Here

Book Giveaways Once Again!

Gilding Lily by Tatiana Boncompagni at Julie's Jewels HERE.
Also at Bookshipper HERE.
Enter quick as they both end 8/15.






Schooled by by Anisha Lakhani at Jenn's Bookshelf HERE. Ends 8/16.

Better by Atul Gawande at Letters on Pages HERE. Ends 8/18.









The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton at Bookish Ruth HERE. Ends 8/20 @ 9PM.










Maybe Baby: An Infertile Love Story by Matthew M.F. Miller at Reader for Life HERE. Ends 8/20.


So Long At The Fair by Christina Schwarz (which I reviewed here) is at Book Zombie HERE. Ends 8/20. Allison's Attic also has this one until 8/15 HERE.








A Reader's Journal is offering Matrimony HERE. Ends 8/19











Marie-Therese, Child of Terror: The Fate of Marie Antoinette’s Daughter, Susan Nagel at Medieval Bookworm HERE. Ends 8/20.









Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly at Lori's reading Corner HERE. Ends 8/21.








Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers and Other Gross or Useless Information About Your Body by Frances Gould along with a $10 Borders card at In The Shadow of Mt. TBR HERE. Ends 8/23.








The Gargoyle is on offer at She Is Too Fond of Books HERE. Ends 8/23.








Sweetsmoke by David Fuller at Bookroom Reviews HERE. Ends 8/26.




The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt at Blood of the Muse HERE. Ends 8/31. The site is also offering a signed copy of White Night by Jim Butcher HERE. Also ends 8/31. Seize the Night signed by Sherrilyn Kenyon is HERE until 8/20. Kushiel's Scion signed by Jacqueline Carey is HERE until 8/15.




Immortals: The Crossing by Joy Nash is on a blog tour with 50 chances to win (although I've missed a few days so it's more like 45 chances to win) HERE.

Channeling Judas Priest (or maybe just Beavis & Butthead)

I am living on the edge. Breaking the law, breaking the law. Some fool in my neighborhood failed to password protect his wireless signal and I am wardriving.

My own connection went M.I.A. at ten o'clock this morning causing panic and bawling. AT&T tried to fix the damned line, but here I sit, almost twelve hours later, wardriving in a little corner of my bathroom. Three bars in the bathroom, only one in the rest of the house.

How did we live without the Internet? There are twelve hours worth of unexamined nuggets floating about my head.

Drumroll Please.....

Amy F is the winner of my first ever contest!

I've emailed Amy and am awaiting her reply.

I really want to thank everyone for dropping by with some fantastic quotes from some fantastic authors.

Puffy Pizza Ponderation

The teachers all return to their classrooms Monday. They’ll be hanging cutesiness and making plans. Once again, as with the past two years, I won’t be joining them.

Over the summer I’ve popped onto the Broward County Schools employment board several times. I viewed the openings in a somewhat desirous manner just long enough to remember…

Christopher L. was the bane of my fourth year in teaching. I had fifth graders who misbehaved far greater than Chris, but he simply had the ability to misbehave with such panache. Example? One day, after returning from lunch, I noticed a smashed slice of pizza ground into the newly installed carpet, the carpet our principal had warned us to never, ever allow eating upon.

“Who brought pizza back from the cafeteria?” I uttered without summoning any best teaching practices gleaned over the past four years. Silence.

“Everyone here knows there’s no food allowed in the classroom, “ I added. Silence.

“If someone doesn’t start explaining how that pizza ended up on the newly installed carpet that our principal from hell is going to kick my ass over…” or something like “If someone doesn’t tell me how that pizza got there, we are ALL missing recess,” I blurted.

Up goes Chris’s hand. “May I speak with you in private?”

I tell the class of thirty-four wide eyes to start reading something, anything, to turn around and “get to work” on something, anything, as I join Chris at my desk.

“I cannot tell a lie, Mrs. Tasses, I was reentering the room when I noticed that I had a slice of pizza stuck to the bottom of my shoe.” This is truly how Chris spoke. “I, ever so gently, rubbed my foot to remove the pizza and didn’t think to pick it up and throw it in the trash.” He batting-eye added, “Please do not punish the class for my stupidity.”

This wasn’t the start of the year. I knew Chris and I saw the evidence. “That pizza is not flat. That pizza is puffy,” I managed to stifle my desire to scream. “ That pizza was not on the bottom of your shoe. That pizza was in your pocket.”

There is no other profession on this planet where you will ever hear those words spoken in that order. Only in the teaching profession. Well, maybe crime fighting, but still…

There are other stories from the nine years, ones even more ridiculous. They help me close the employment board window.

Serendipity on Wednesday

Stuff that caught my attention this week:

Really great (I say, REALLY great) discussion about Cathcher In The Rye with author John Green (my Indiana homeboy). Man, I wish he hadn't reminded me of split infinitives!


George Orwell's diaries will appear online HERE over 70 days beginning August 9th. Each entry will be posted precisely seventy years after it was written. (via BookFinds)


Staying on the literary theme: Author August has started over on the Science Fiction Message Board. There's all sorts of fun stuff going on to celebrate a new SciFi author each day. (via Boing Boing)
8/1 Arthur C. Clarke, 8/2 Vernor Vinge, 8/3 Vonda McIntyre, 8/4 Robert A. Heinlein, 8/5 Roger Zelazny, 8/6 Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, 8/7 Lloyd Biggle Jr., 8/8 Elizabeth Bear, 8/9 Elizabeth Moon, 8/10 Edgar Rice Burroughs, 8/11 H. Beam Piper, 8/12 Keith Laumer, 8/13 Joan D. Vinge, 8/14 J.T. McIntosh, 8/15 Katherine MacLean, 8/16 Bruce Sterling, 8/17 William Gibson, 8/18 Pat Cadigan, 8/19 Ursula K. Le Guin, 8/20 Storm Constantine, 8/21 Rosel George Brown, 8/22 Ray Bradbury, 8/23 Caitlin Kiernan, 8/24 Tanith Lee, 8/25 Peter F. Hamilton, 8/26 Stanislaw Lem, 8/27 Neil Gaiman, 8/28 Zenna Henderson, 8/29 Michael Moorcock, 8/30 Jules Verne, 8/31 Iain M. Banks

Made myself into a super hero:
(Marvel Superhero Creator found via It's A Pugs Life)

One of many new books I'm coveting is Haven Kimmel's latest: Iodine

"In her fourth novel, Kimmel offers a beautifully wrought portrait of the brilliant and psychotic Trace Pennington, a runaway now scraping by in an Indiana farmhouse while completing her final year of college.... Trace is haunted by a disturbing personal history, hinted at via dreams, startling recollections and entries in her journal.... Kimmel skillfully weaves together Trace's lucid moments and her diminishing sanity, providing a full picture of a troubled woman whose identity, past and present are repeatedly called into question." -- Publishers Weekly
You can read Haven's late-to-the-party take on the Sopranos on her blog. Funny stuff.


If you haven't seen this (because it's all over the place now), head over and see what a real man makes for his girl on her birthday. Women are swooning, men are ready to punch the guy.


For those who flunked Scouting, but are really good at other stuff, here's some patches for your uniform (via Neatorama)


If you know what it's like to die of dysentery more than a hundred times: This shirt is for you! (via Choice Shirts through Loralees Looney Tunes)

And, as always, in Star Wars news ... A wedding cake idea for my son who'll marry in September.
(via Neatorama)

Books A Plenty! Books Galore!

In addition to my own $20 Amazon book giveaway HERE. I would like to mention several other book giveaways:

Devourer of Books has Queen of the Road. HERE. Closes 8/8.

Lori's Reading Corner has an ARC of American Wife up for grabs HERE. Closes 8/10

Enter to win a signed copy of Sisters of Misery by Megan Kelley Hall on Book Finds: HERE. Closes 8/8

Book Finds is also offering Gargoyle which is getting excellent buzz around the book blogs. HERE. Closes 8/11













Fantastic Neil Gaiman Giveaway on Fashionista Piranha's Live Journal Page: HERE Closes 8/20

The Tome Traveller's Weblog is offering Stealing Athena by Karen Essex: HERE. Closes 8/17

Fantasy Cafe is giving away a copy of A Companion To Wolves. HERE. Closes 8/8.

Boston Bibliophile has Bobbie Faye's (kinda, sorta, not-exactly) Family Jewels up for grabs. HERE. Closes 8/6. So hurry!

This is the one I really want! Bookish Ruth has Kaimira the Sky Village. HERE. Closes 8/6.

Kathleen's Book Reviews has The Questory of Root Karbunkulus. HERE. Closes 8/15.

Badgerbooks has Summer Blowout. HERE. Closes 8/14

The Optimistic Bookfool is giving away Mercedes Coffin. HERE. Closes 8/12.

Bookroomreviews has a copy of Tan Lines. HERE. Closes 8/22.

Maggie,Dammit is celebrating her new digs with a $25 Barnes & Noble gift certificate. Go HERE, dammit. Closes 8/10.

After you jump through my hoop, go visit these clowns too.

Picasa dumped all the book covers & I'm too tired to hunt and post them again. Sorry. It's the contests that matter anyway!