Week 20 Reading: “How to Kill a Rock Star”

This week we’re tackling our 20th book – I can’t believe we’ve gotten so far in a few short months! Keeping with January’s “New” theme, I chose a book that is “new to me,” and also falls under the genre “contemporary” (meaning modern, or new). This week we’re tackling How to Kill a Rock Star by Tiffanie DeBartolo.

You might have a hard time finding this one. Libraries might not have it yet, but it can be found at book stores. If you’re anxious to read along, you can find the eBook of How to Kill a Rock Star by clicking on the link. I hope you’ll read along, because I’m very excited about this book.

I have had this book sitting on my shelf for about a month, and have been anxious to read it. I won it in an online drawing from a great book blog, The Book Bosses. A HUGE thank you to the ladies over there, who hooked me up with a personalized, autographed copy of this book, direct from Tiffanie DeBartolo herself. I felt so honored that I wanted to read it right away, but I couldn’t quite make it fit with the “Holiday” themed reading of December.

The description on this book is rather vague, but it looks like it will contain romance and rock n’ roll – two very good things. I’m not usually a fan of romance (as I’m sure you are well aware of by now), and I usually go more for classics than contemporary, but I’m so excited to read this book (in case you haven’t gotten that by me saying it 100 times in this blog post already)! I hope you’ll be able to find it – try checking used book stores, your local book retailer, or if you have an eReader, you should be able to find a compatible eBook version of it.

Happy Reading.

November Reading List

Wow! We are rapidly approaching the end of October (where did the time go?!), and our Halloween reading is coming to an end. One book (Guilty Pleasures) and two reviews (Guilty Pleasures and this week’s reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) left, and then it’s time for our November reading. I figured I should probably release the list (which just got finished now) so you can pick up the books you need if you are following along! Remember, the library is a great resource (and will more than likely have all of these books), or you could more than likely find these books at a used book store and save some money!

November’s theme is the “Month of Travel.” I don’t know why I thought that up, but… we’re stuck with it. I was having a hard time making selections, but I think I put together a good list:

Nov. 3 – 9 – Letters from Amelia – Jean L. Backus

Backus uses real letters from Amelia Earhart, the famous and doomed pilot, to piece together Earhart’s private life. I’ve always found Amelia Earhart to be an interesting subject – mostly because of the mystery surrounding her death – and thought this would be a good chance to pick up a book about her life. The book is a biography, and will be the first biography of our reading challenge.

Nov. 10 – 16 – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

This “travel” book takes place in outer space, and is a great sci-fi comedy book to add to our reading list. When you pick this one up at the library, don’t be intimidated by the size. The book is the first of a series, and has been grouped together with the subsequent books to make one gigantic volume (you might find it under The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), but we’re just reading the first part, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, for this reading challenge. If you continue reading the other books, that’s great! I hope you do (and I hope I’ll get a chance to eventually, also).

Nov. 17 – 23 – Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathan Swift

I’m a little ashamed to say I’ve never read this classic novel! I’m looking forward to picking this one up … especially because my new 17th and 18th Century British Literature class requires me to read it this semester, so I’ll be knocking out two birds with one stone! I swear I had this book picked out and paid for (yay used book store $1.50) before this class opened (otherwise I wouldn’t have bought it at all because it’s in my textbook). I’m looking forward to reading this book for the first time, and discovering all about Gulliver and his travels.

Nov. 24 – 30 – The Sea Shall Embrace Them – David W. Shaw

This book is a historical, non-fiction account of “The Tragic Story of the Steamship Arctic.” Shaw writes about the 1854 collision between two steamships, and the “harrowing events” that followed. The book came with a wonderful recommendation from my mom (thanks, Mom!), and was passed on to my husband (who needs to be really bored to read a book), so I am making good use of it and putting it into our book challenge. If my mom liked it, I know I will!

So there you have it, folks! Our reading list for November. It’s hard to imagine we’re so close to the end of 2013 already! Head out to your library and get prepared to read along!

Week 3 Reading: The Great Gatsby

In keeping with the Movie/TV Show Theme for September (that is, books that have been adapted into movie or TV shows), this week’s reading will be F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic – The Great Gatsby.

While most of us probably read this book in high school, I thought it was time to revisit it! The movie, staring the fabulous Leonardo DiCaprio (who else could follow in Robert Redford’s footprints?!), just came out on DVD, and I’ve been holding off on watching it so I could finish my re-read.

Now, if you’re wanting to read it, but don’t want to pay a ton of money for it, try visiting the library. If you can’t find it there (it is a popular book, and required reading in most schools), you can find the FREE ebook here

http://www.feedbooks.com/book/5543/the-great-gatsby

Who doesn’t like free?!

So I hope you’ll read this classic American novel along with me!