Melissa's Bookshelf

Sunday, April 19, 2009

The Sunday Salon (04.19.09) Short & Sweet

Happy Sunday, Saloners! This will be a quick post, as I think I am still recovering from cheering through 15 hours of the 24-Hour Read-A-Thon yesterday and this morning! :-) It was such an awesome experience and I was so thrilled to add 30 new blogs to my Reader!! What a great way to bring the community together for a day of doing something we all love... TOGETHER! I just realized that I hadn't written a post all day--I guess after commenting and tweeting I was just typed-out for most of the day!

This week was slow for me, in my opinion. I only read and reviewed 2 books.... Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr and Deadly Exchange by Geoffrey M. Gluckman. I enjoyed both, which made for an easy week in reading, just wish I'd had more time to do it!

I shared more awards with fellow bloggers, which always makes me happy. As much as I am honored and touched to receive awards, I love handing them out even more. There are so many wonderful blogs out there I want to be able to award each and every one of them :-)

This week I also started a series of posts I entitled Blogger Tips & Tricks, with various subjects for each post, including layouts and functional headers and grab buttons. I intended to post another one this weekend but the Read-A-Thon took over my life yesterday and I just didn't have time today. I think my next post will focus on widgets that are available to Blogger. After that, I will probably post links to various sites that I've found helpful as I've learned how to make the most out of Blogger. I hope those of you using Blogger are finding these helpful, and some tips will even come in handy on other applications, too!

So that's really it for my week in review. I didn't feel like I could go an entire day without posting an entry--I'm not ready to end my streak of posting every day since starting this blog! Hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead--happy reading and blogging to all!!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

REVIEW: Deadly Exchange by Geoffrey M. Gluckman

Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Pub. Date: June 2007, iUniverse, Inc.
Format: Trade Paperback, 337 pages
Source/FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was received and my opinions are my own.

What if the company you work for could control your mind?

Only weeks remain before Lectures and More, Inc., a company representing the world's top motivational speakers, launches its latest technological advance: a mind-altering radio frequency device sold as a work-site enhancement product. The deceptively altruistic Ulrich Rogers spearheads the company and its reeducation programs, incorporating the presentational prowess and charm of Jennifer Chance, a world-renowned motivational speaker. But as the lies that make up her life begin to unravel like threads on a poorly sewn garment, it becomes evident that nothing is as it seems.

Jennifer alone holds the key to unveil Rogers's plot to hold America hostage using Lectures and More's newest device. Plunged into a twisting chase to escape the clutches of Rogers and his former espionage henchmen, Jennifer seeks help from Frank Revere, an enigmatic former government counterintelligence agent. But the question of who to trust continues to dangle in Jennifer's mind. Thousands of lives hang in the balance, but a deeper deception lurks in the shadows …

Brimming with suspense, danger, and mystery, Deadly Exchange conjures up a blend of the ordinary, the arcane, the seen, and the unseen in the search for truth.

MY THOUGHTS

Reading this book was like reading a season of 24, except that these events took place across more time than just one day. I have to admit that it was a little difficult to get settled into this book--because it is written from multiple points of view and shifts settings as events unfold, it can be a little difficult to follow at times. However, once I got comfortable it was a fascinating, riveting read... Gluckman's knowledge of the government, its agencies, and military technology is impressive! Not to mention, his plot twists keep you on the edge of your seat!

I don't know about all of you, but for me well-developed characters are extremely important in creating an enjoyable book. Gluckman succeeded many times over with his character development in Deadly Exchange. Frank and Jennifer are very believable, but I can't say much without giving away an important part of the story. And as for the "bad guys," Walter Jones in particular--you love to hate them! The addition of the various Rastafarian boys added another element of interest to the "cast."

If you enjoy political thrillers or the TV show 24, I think you would enjoy this book. Even though it started slow for me, the subject matter was so fascinating I couldn't help but enjoy Deadly Exchange.

Other reviews of A Deadly Exchange:

Socrates' Book Reviews

#readathon: A Whole New Respect for Cheerleading...

Who says cheerleading is easy? Lol :-) I think I ended up getting a *little* obsessed (in a good way, I suppose) with this whole cheerleading for the 24 Hour Read-A-Thon... I've really enjoyed stopping by everyone's blog to leave a comment. And I think I did hit just about everyone participating--if I missed you, I sincerely apologize because it was my honest intention to visit every reader out there. I can't imagine how you guys must be feeling by now, we're nearly halfway through the day!!

I guess I've really spent most of the day commenting, though my official scheduled times were 8am-11am this morning, 10pm-11pm tonight, and 7am-8am tomorrow... It's just so hard to stop when there are so many people out there to cheer on :-) I've also been doing a lot of tweeting with all of you, too! Of course, in between all of my Read-A-Thon activities the hubby and I were working with our meat smoker, trying our hand at a pork butt today. At the moment, I feel like I smell like a charcoal briquette but it's worth it--our pulled pork was AWESOME, especially for our first time trying it ourselves!

But back to the Read-a-thon... One of the best things about being a cheerleader? Finding new blogs to follow!! Since I haven't been in the book-blogging community for too long (just realized today's my 2-month anniversary!) I know there are a jillion blogs out there just waiting for me to find them... Today I added 30... yes, 30!!! to my subscription list and blogroll. I'd like to take this moment to share with you those "new-to-me" blogs:

1) tickettoanywhere.blogspot.com
2) diaryofaneccentric.blogspot.com
3) ashleyslibrary.blogspot.com
4) smsbookreviews.blogspot.com
5) books-movies-chinesefood.blogspot.com
6) www.bartsbookshelf.co.uk
7) bookpsmith.blogspot.com
8) bookjunkiereviews.blogspot.com
9) books4alison.blogspot.com
10) agignac.blogspot.com
11) crazycommamomma.wordpress.com
12) alainereading.blogspot.com
13) abookloverforever.blogspot.com
14) fantaghiro23.blogspot.com
15) awaitingserenity.net
16) callistahogan.livejournal.com
17) birdbrainbb.net
18) hiddenplace.wordpress.com
19) wordsbyannie.blogspot.com
20) thefriendlybooknook.com
21) thebookgirl.net
22) bookslovejessicamarie.blogspot.com
23) kbpinkbookmark.blogspot.com
24) lastexilewords.blogspot.com
25) lissaslongyarn.blogspot.com
26) chikune.com/blog
27) gimmemorebooks.blogspot.com
28) librariansbookreviews.blogspot.com
29) karinlibrarian.wordpress.com
30) relatedreading.wordpress.com

What new blogs did you find today?!

Now If only I could find the time to finish the last few minutes of Deadly Exchange so that I can write that review!!

HAPPY READ-A-THON DAY!

Yay! So excited it's finally here, though I will not be participating as a reader this time around... I'm looking forward to cheering everyone on and reading posts throughout the day! Good luck, everyone! Love all the pictures of snacks and reading spaces out there.

Hubby and I made the mistake of trying to get a Boston Butt in the smoker this morning... Interesting experience that made me about 20 minutes late getting to the Read-A-Thon (nearly typed Read-A-Thong, wow) but I'm here now! Hope to do a LOT of commenting and finally get my review for Deadly Exchange posted today. (It was like reading 24, except that it wasn't about just one day...) And I'll have another Blogger Tips post coming up soon, too!

Good luck to all you readers out there! I'll be stopping by as many of your blogs as I possibly can to share the love :-)

Friday, April 17, 2009

Awards!

Well guys and gals, once again I'm overwhelmed with your kindness and generosity in passing along some awards to me. Now I'd like to return the favor and send some love out to some of my favorite blogs... First up:

One Lovely Blog Award

Kerrie over at Mysteries in Paradise gave me the One Lovely Blog Award last week. Thank you so much! Here's more info about what this award means...

This award which is given to new blogs and blogging friends.

The rules to follow are:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Well, I don't know that I'll be awarding "new" blogs here, but I will pass this on to 15 fabulous, lovely blogs:

LiyanaLand!
Midnight Twilight's Book Blog
Kristina's Favorites
A Circle of Books
A Passion for Books
Cupcake Witch
Devourer of Books
Allison's Attic
Books & other thoughts
Jenn's Bookshelf
Mrs. Hill's Book Blog
My Charmed Life
Page After Page
{Insert Book Title Here}
Wondrous Reads

Please go check out these wonderful blogs and the people behind them!

The next award is the newest that I've seen on the blogging scene and I think it's one of the best... The "You Don't Say" Super Comments Award... I received this from J. Kaye at J. Kaye's Book Blog, as well as Kristina at Kristina's Favorites. Thank you both!

It is easy for me to hand out this award. Thanks to Nymeth, I now have a top commentators widget in my left sidebar, so here are the current top 10 commentators...