In My Mailbox (05.04-09.09)

As always, In My Mailbox is hosted by the fabulous Story Siren! Be sure to check out her blog for more links to other people's mailboxes... As for me, just one book this week, it happens to be for review:

Dreamstone by P. A. Hendrickson.

Synopsis from Amazon.com:

When Joebin Vassiter's home world of Prothia is faced with extinction at the hands of vicious slavers from Gildus-5, a voice in his dream lures him on a journey to the mysterious, uncharted regions north of his settlement. A mismatched band of volunteers join him as he searches for the one thing that can save Prothia—The DREAMSTONE. To hold the Dreamstone is to hold the power of transforming the subconscious into the conscious, the dream into reality. But pursuing the stone is not without risks. There are others in the hunt. Governor Kress Moltaire, a self-serving manipulator, desires its power for the sake of building her new order in the galaxy, and Colonel Penzin and Captain Klonda seek the stone for its financial value on the black market. As time runs out on the once-insignificant world of Prothia, Joebin wrestles with his own deep-set insecurities and new truths concerning his home planet. Can he conquer his fears and defeat the slavers and rival seekers of the stone before it's too late? —Not on his own and not without the Dreamstone.

Cindy Pon's Incredible Contest!

In celebration of the release of Silver Phoenix, Cindy Pon is holding an amazing contest on her site. I haven't read this book, yet, but the early reviews I've read are certainly intriguing!! What can you win, you ask? An original framed work by Cindy Pon, or a $100 bookstore gift card, and a signed copy of Silver Phoenix! Pretty sweet, I'd say!

As a bonus, here's a little teaser... The book trailer!

Blogger Tips & Tricks: Helpful Links

**UPDATED 6/9/09**

OK, I am FINALLY getting this post done--my apologies to any of you who've been waiting for all the links I've been promising. In reality, most of this information could probably be found in my other Blogger Tips & Tricks Posts, but I've tried to add a few other helpful sites here as well. Here are some of the best sites I've found with tips, layouts and more for Blogger:

BLOG TEMPLATES

The Cutest Blog on the Block ~ Specializes in 2- and 3-column templates for blogs, wish super easy "installation." For those of you who remember my first blog layout, that's the site I used.

Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates ~ The site where I found my current blog layout. There are some really great options on this site!

That Blog Place ~ Another site specializing in Blogger layouts. Some of them are reminiscent of TCBOTB, in my opinion.

TIPS, TRICKS & WIDGETS

Blogger Tips & Tricks ~ The home of some great customization tips and various useful widgets. If you recall, I mentioned that I must have unwittingly "stolen" their site name for my series of posts. Oops. :-)

Blogger Buster ~ Another great tips & tricks web site. This is where I learned to add a third column to an existing Blogger template...

Blogger Plugins ~ Another great place for widgets. I think I've used at least 5 or 6 from this site on my own blog.

Blogger Templates ~ The name says it all, though they have some great widgets available, too. Look for their header links to navigate through the site more easily.

Blogging For Good in the Modern World ~ I will forever be grateful to this site for helping me figure out how to get links to work in my header. They also have other helpful information, so check it out!

Blogging Tips ~ Thanks to Jo for mentioning this site. It will be a good resource for all blogging, not just blogger tips and tricks, and you can find it at Book Blogs on Ning. In my opinion, any sites with people exchanging helpful information about blogging are worth mentioning!!

Just Another Pixel - This site is where I discovered how to make scrolling blogrolls. It's actually someone's personal blog, but they have a few tutorials you might find helpful.

MISCELLANEOUS HELPFUL SITES

Photobucket ~ A great picture hosting web site--they offer several different methods for linking pictures--HTML code, direct link, etc. It's great for hosting your blog buttons and more! I've found their site to be one of the most user-friendly out there, and there's no purchase requirement to host your photos, it's 100% free!

FileDen - Another photo hosting site. It supports the favicon (.ico) files, in case the ICONJ site below is still not up and running when you're reading this post.

ICONJ ~ A Favicon generator and hosting site. This is the site I used to host my favicon, the butterfly you see in your browser's address bar.

Favicons from Pics - This little site will generate a nice little favicon kit for you, with the option to have just the .ico file or an animated .gif favicon. It's another great option in case ICON is still out of commission when you decide to work on a favicon for your blog!

HTML Color Codes ~ There are probably dozens of sites where you can find codes for HTML colors, but this is one of my favorites. I get a little obsessed with wanting my text and various generated images/widgets to coordinate with my blog's look & feel, so this site comes in handy for me.

Palette Generator ~ Thanks to Becky for mentioning this site! It's VERY cool... You can upload a picture and it will generate HTML codes and swatches that you can use to coordinate with the picture.

LAST THOUGHTS...

When in doubt... run a Google search! Any time I wanted to figure out how to do something in Blogger, I searched for the answer. Sometimes I'd have to type my query in several different ways before I found what I was looking for, but almost every time I managed to get an answer to my question!

Well folks, this pretty much does it for my Blogger Tips & Tricks series. If anything else comes up down the road I'll be sure to write additional entries, but for now I hope I've provided you with plenty of resources to answer your questions about Blogger! I may also come back from time to time and update this link post with other helpful sites, since I feel like I may be forgetting some now. :-) I know I've heard from several of you that have been able to make use of these posts or plan to in the future, and I'm so glad to hear it! If there's ever anything I can do to be of help, please don't hesitate to ask. I don't proclaim to be an expert, but I know what it's like to try to figure this stuff out on your own and wishing there was someone you could just talk to about it! :-)

BTW, if YOU have any helpful links, I would love for you to leave a comment with the link (and I'm sure others would, too)!

REVIEW: Willow by Julia Hoban

Genre: Fiction, Young Adult
Pub Date: April 2009, Penguin Group
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
Source/FTC Disclosure: I purchased my copy of this book. I was in no way compensated for this review and my opinions are my own.

Seven months ago, on a rainy March night, sixteen year- old Willow's parents died in a horrible car accident. Willow was driving. Now her older brother barely speaks to her, her new classmates know her as the killer orphan girl, and Willow is blocking the pain by secretly cutting herself. But when one boy —one sensitive, soulful boy—discovers Willow's secret, it sparks an intense relationship that turns the "safe" world Willow has created for herself upside down.

Told in an extraordinary fresh voice, Willow is an unforgettable novel about one girl's struggle to cope with tragedy, and one boy's refusal to give up on her.

MY THOUGHTS

This was another book that has been receiving so many positive, glowing reviews, one almost has to approach reading it with a healthy amount of skepticism. For me, the skepticism was gone just a few pages into the book and I was swept into the story without ever looking back. I read this book in one sitting this past Sunday, pausing only to grab some dinner, which I ate while reading. I have never read a book about cutting or cutters, nor do I know any cutters in my personal life, so I was not expecting to feel so much connection to the story or the characters. In fact, I originally didn't think I wanted to read this book because I wasn't sure I cared to read about this subject matter. Little did I know...

Julia Hoban's writing doesn't let you stay disconnected from the story--nor do her characters. Honestly, this book is just as amazing as the other reviews out there have portrayed it to be. The story is beautifully written and I found myself tearful (and even laughing at times) on several occasions. One of my favorite scenes (minor SPOILER ALERT--sorry!) is after Guy gives Willow his phone number, asking her to call him if she is getting ready to cut herself again. Although she never thought she would, after a particularly upsetting event with her brother, Willow calls him, unable to speak at all. But Guy knows it's her and simply stays on the line and lets her know that he's there. Guy is a big sweetheart, and while I find it hard to believe there really is a teenage guy (sorry) like him out there, you can't help but love him even if he seems a bit too good to be true.

Willow really is a powerful, moving story and I'm so glad I stepped out of my normal comfort zone to read this book.

Other reviews of Willow:

Look at that Book ~ Mrs. Magoo Reads ~ The Story Siren

Harmony Book Reviews ~ Pop Culture Junkie

Liv's Book Reviews ~ J. Kaye's Book Blog ~ Presenting Lenore

Bookluver-Carol's Reviews ~ YA Reads ~ Zoe's Book Reviews

Just Blinded Book Reviews ~ Laura's Review Bookshelf

The Page Flipper ~ Au Courant ~ Reader Rabbit

Hope's Bookshelf ~ Shooting Stars Mag ~ The Eclectic Reader

Readings of a Teenage Tree ~ Life In The Thumb
Carrie's YA Bookshelf ~ Ticket to Anywhere ~ Michelle's Bookshelf

REVIEW: The Chameleon Conspiracy by Haggai Carmon

Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Pub Date: April 2009, Leisure Books
Format: Mass Market, 365 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.

The master criminal and con man known as the Chameleon has eluded international law enforcement for twenty years. Dan Gordon was sure he finally had him, but he was left empty-handed. Now he won't rest until the Chameleon is stopped. The Chameleon is actually more than a mere criminal--he's an undercover sleeper agent. But Gordon is more than he seems, too. He's an experienced hunter, trained by the Mossad, working now for the CIA.

The trail leads Gordon to unforeseen locales and surprising alliances. His hunt for the slippery Chameleon will send him undercover to Iran, surrounded by danger and betrayal on all sides. What he learns could affect the world's balance of power...if he makes it out of Tehran alive.

MY THOUGHTS

I received an email from Garmon's marketing agency, looking to send me a review copy of this book, and I jumped at the chance. I've discovered that I really enjoy political/government thrillers, thanks to Jack Bauer & 24, as well as Vince Flynn. I definitely was not disappointed with The Chameleon Conspiracy, though let me tell you the story is almost overwhelming!

Haggai Carmon clearly knows his stuff, as the book is filled with so much detail with regards to the government, its agencies, and covert operations. Actually, I think I have a whole new respect for agents who go undercover after reading this book. There are many intense scenes that made me wonder how anyone can successfully assume a new identity--let alone have to do that all the time for their job. Even Dan Gordon commented once about keeping all of his identities straight--he dreaded running into someone he might have met from a previous case because he doubted he would know what name he had given them. To tell you the truth, I couldn't tell you how many different aliases he had in this one book!

If you enjoy thrillers, particularly anything involving terrorism and state relations, then I definitely recommend this book. I will say that at times I got bogged down in all the detail--sometimes the writing was a little too dry or informational to pull me into the story. But overall, I enjoyed it and was glad to have this opportunity to discover a new-to-me author. The Chameleon Conspiracy is the third Dan Gordon Intelligence Thriller, so I have a feeling I'll be checking out the first two, as well.