Thursday, March 31, 2011

Literary Hop@ The Bluebookcase Mar31st-Apr2nd

Literary Blog Hop

Good Morning I am trying to get this prompt upas quickly as I can
The question for this week is Do you find yourself predisposed to like or dislike books that are generally accepted as  great books and have been incorporated as literary canon>Discuss the affect you believe book'
"status" has on your opinon?

I tend to be interested in books that seem to make the bestseller's list.  I think  that all those people can't be wrong.  Boy was I wrong.  James Baldwin wrote a book calledGo Tell It on the Mountain "Go tell it on the Mountain"
I wasn't to impressed withit .  As an African-American I feel a pressure sometimes not to bash  other
African-american writers especially not ones who are this well know and I do honestly like some of the other books.As I get older ,however, I  don't feel the so-called pressure as much . I don't think being honest about
how you feel about a book is the same thing as a character assasination  of some sort.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Contest Giveaway 2 copies of "Young Mandela:The Revolutionary Years

Young Mandela: The Revolutionary Years
Good morning fellow addicts here is our next giveaway 2 copies of "Young Mandela:the Revolutionary Years"
I really enjoyed reading this book and I think you will ,too.  Here are the contest rules:

1.  You must be a follower of this blog to win.

2.  U. S. and Canada residents.

3.    Leave a comment in the comment section of this post with your email address so I will be able to reach you faster.  Deadline to enter April 5th @midnight winners will be annouced on Wed.(April 6th)

Annoucement:An Atlas of Impossible Longing: A Novel  I am part of the Free Press book tour which is April 5th so stop back by
for the review of this book.

And the winner is!Eileen and Karen k)

Art and Madness: A Memoir of Lust Without Reason Congradulations Eileen and Karen k! please email me at clsherrard(dot)bookaddict(at)gmail(dot)com with your address .  Thanks for playing.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Early start to National Poetry Month Nikki Giovonni

The Collected Poetry of Nikki GiovanniI know National Poetry Month is in April but I couldn't wait so today I wanted to share this poem by one of my all-time favorite Nikki Giovanni

The December of my Springs


In the december of my of my springs
i long for the days
  i shall somehow have
free from children and dinners
and people i have grown stale with
this time i think i'll face love
with my heart instead of my glands
rather than hands clutching to satiate
my fingers will stroke to satisfy
i think it might be good
to decide rather than to need

that pitter-patter rhythm of rain
sliding on city streests is as satisfying
to me as this quiet has become
and like the raindrop I accede to my nature

perhaps there will be no
difference between the foolishness of age
and the foolishness of youth
some say we are responsible
for those we love
others know we are responsible
for those who love us
so i sit waiting
for a fresh thought
to stir the atmosphere

i'm glad i'm not iron
else i would be burned
by now

Book Review"His Other Wife by Deborah Bedford

His Other Wife: A NovelHilary is surviving the aftermath of her divorce from Eric, who seem to wake up one morning
to be with his mistress instead and make  her his new wife.  The main casualty in this quiet war is Seth who,like
most children caught in the middle of  their parent's decisions must learn how to live life without his Dad.Fast forward a few years later Seth is graduating from high school which will force Hilary to come face to face with
ex-husband and his new life.  Will she have the strength to pull through? How will Seth handle the tension that
inevitably comes up?   Something happens that night after graduation the will possible change the course of Seth's life forever.  Will his parents rely on their faith?  

  I found myself sympathetic to Hilary's situation but not necessarily to Hilary the person. The main reason beingI felt like she didn't have enough flaws like most of us have .  She seemed like a martyr.   Now please don't misunderstand me her situation was not something I would wish on anyone.As if the adultery wasn't humiliating enough,but by marrying the other woman may suggest to the whole wide world that the wife left behind was lacking somehow.  The reasons that came up in the context of the story, as to why Pamela the
other woman , would cheat with this man weren't plausible,but inspite of this I was happy overall with the plot and would like to read her other Christian books.  I gave this book 3 and  half stars.

About the author :  Deborah Bedford was born in Texas earned her degree in Journalism and minor in Marketing from Texas A&M University.  After graduation got her first writing gig as Editor of "Evergreen Weekly" a small local paper from (you guessed it) Evergreen,Colorado  One of the things that impressed me
was not only the fact that she published her first book"Touch The Sky"  with Harlequin SuperRomance
after only 5-6 weeks worth of rejections is the fact that she actually gave up a successful 12 year stint to write
Christian fiction instead.  I felt like this was very courageous especially since for 3 years after that she didn't even have a publisher! I applaud anyone willing stand up for what they believe in.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Crazy-for-books Book Hop

Good morning, fellow book addicts.  It's that time of the week where I check out the hops next week I'll be
at the Literary Book Hop here    The question this week is "If you could physically put yourself in a book
or series what would it be?" I was going to say James Patterson but someone already put that so to be
unique I am going to say "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet"  I guess I love the idea of living in California in the 80's.   Don't forget to check out the giveaway below this post.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Contest Giveaways:Art and Madness by Anne Roiphe

Art and Madness: A Memoir of Lust Without Reason  Wow I have never been so happy to see the Fed Ex guy! I have read the intro and I am
already excited about the story.  For those of you interested in winning a copy I am giving away 2 here are the rules:

1. You must be a follower of this blog to win

2.  This hosted by Doubleday so I can only offer this book to US residents(Sorry Canada checkout
my giveaway next week it will include you guys as well)

3.  Please leave your email address in the comment section of this post the Deadline to enter is
March 29th @midnight.  You will have 48hours to respond or I have to give it away to someone else.

Congradulations: PoCoKat and Sidne you won a copy of "His Other Wife"

His Other Wife: A Novel  Please email me at clsherrard(dot)bookaddict(at)gmail(dot)com so we can Mail out the copies.+

Monday, March 21, 2011

Part Two of "Fall to Grace" by Jay Bakker

No discussion of God's Grace be complete without mentioning the following verse from  Romans 6:1-2
"What shall we say then?Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?Certainly not!How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it"(NKJV)   I am not dondeming thte author's approach to this topic,but I don't remember seeing this verse and ,in my opinon, I think it's vital to include it.  Without it may make receiving God's
Grace the equivalent of getting a Get Out of Jail free card.  Anyone who has played  Monolopy (Yes folks it's
a board game bear with me I am going somewhere with this) knows that besides accumulating  a lot of property,
,collecting $200 when you pass go, the best thing you can get is that "Get Out Of Jail Free Card" simply because
if you landed on the square that says Go To Jail and you had that card you didn't have to go.   Well God's Grace isn't quite like that . If you have already received God's Grace for something you done wrong , it doesn't mean we should abuse it by going out and willfully do the same thing (without any real remorse) and then expect God to forgive you.(I am not talking about people with addictions that is something a little different).  I say this because I have seen people in real life do this and are later totally surprised by the consequences that follow.

Overall I did enjoy this book,but if you are looking for  alot of gory ,intimate details about Jim and Tammy Faye
it's not a memoir so you won't get  much information there.  I did find his writing very honest, provocative and
well organized so I am giving it 3 and a half stars out of 5.  I would like to take this time  thank FaithWords
which is an imprint of Hatchette Book Group for letting me review this  and no I dont get paid to do so.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Literary Hop question of the week :What book must you read before you die?

Anna Karenina (Oprah's Book Club)


Literary Blog Hop
I am really glad Christina asked this question.  I feel that I must read this book before I die because of the
reactions of writers like Pat Conroy and for all the references made  about this book I feel I owe it to myself
to read it.   (If your looking for the Contest Giveaway please see the post below this one)

Contest Giveaway:2 copies of "His Other Wife"Deborah Bedford

His Other Wife: A NovelHere are the rules:
1. You must be a follower of this blog.

2.U;.S and Canada residents only.

3.  Leave a comment and a current email in the comment section of this post
so I can notify you as soon as possible.

The deadline is March 22nd at midnight.   The winner will only have 48 hours to respond or I will have to
pick someone else from the comment section of this post

New Location

If you have made it here then I want to direct you to my newer improved blog over on wordpress ( New blog .) I just want to thank you guys f...