A loss too great for words

Yesterday I got an email that my e-reader's pc software had been upgraded, and I decided to download the new software. During installation, it detected all my ebooks already synced with the older software, and it proceeded to resync everything.

When I opened the upgraded program, to my horror the computer for some reason had lost 105 of my books!!! I couldn't find the files anywhere, and the software program only had link tags for the books, but no concrete files.

They were gone. All 105 of them.

The fortunate thing about this is that all of the ebooks I own (so far) have been free. Some were previously-free Kindle ebooks, and many were public domain ebooks from Google or other online sources. So I haven't lost a significant financial investment.

But still....

As I stated in this month's Read Your Own Library Challenge, I am a bibliophile in need of biblio rehab. This computer glitch is painful for me. Just the fact that I can't see all of those titles on my list anymore is difficult, I guess like a drug addict watching their best friends flush their entire stash down the crapper.

Pain.

Loss.

*sigh*

If I keep an open mind, then perhaps I will soon see this as the beginning of the rest of my life as a rehabilitated bibliophile. But at the moment, I just want to cry.

Or maybe I should just go get on Google and download 30 free ebooks tonight.

WWW Wednesday

This is a weekly meme from Should Be Reading. To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

1. I am currently reading How to Hug a Porcupine by Julie Ross. I've been working on this one for a few weeks now, and hope to have it done by the end of the day.

2. I recently finished Heaven is for Real for Kids. You can see my review of this book here.

3. The next book on my list is I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore. I have to read this one for book club next week, so I'd better get hustling!

Read Your Own Library Challenge for November

Jennifer at The Beauty of Eclecticism has a reading challenge that I decided I must join. Read Your Own Library Challenge is for all of us bibliophiles and bookstore addicts to whittle away at our piles of books we've collected, but never read.

That suddenly strikes me as such an odd thought. Why acquire a book if you don't plan to read it right away? That's what my husband would say anyway. And at one time in life, I would have agreed with it. But, somewhere in my early 20's, I got this crazy dream of owning my own bookstore, or even owning a B&N store. After that, I started my book collection in earnest.

My husband has tried over the years to whittle down my book piles, but I always make up for his decluttering whenever I visit a bookfair or library booksale. Dear old Borders also fed my book-buying addiction for awhile  with their amazing clearance sections. I could easily come home with 5 or 6 books at a time.

But do I ever get around to reading these books that continue to pile up on my shelves? Sadly, not really. As a busy mom of 4 kids, it's hard to even find time to get the dishes done, let alone read all my lovely books. Sometimes I'm fortunate to read one book a month, usually my local book club's monthly selection. Then there are times when I get through 6-7 books a month, which is amazing, but then they always seem to be library books or books I'm borrowing from a friend.

And don't even get me started on my 500+ "to-be-read" list, or the hundreds of the free e-books I've downloaded in the last year!

So - here I go on this challenge. I have chosen Blessings by Anna Quindlen. I chose it mainly because it's one of the thinner titles on my shelf, and I've got 3 other books I need to finish by the end of the month. I got this book at a library booksale several years ago. As part of the challenge level of Sinking Fast, I cannot buy any more books until I finish this one. I would go with the Biblio Rehab level, but I have to be able to take my kids to the library every week or so, or they get quite upset.

Now, time to get reading!

Book giveaway from Mymcbook's Blog

OK, what is more embarrassing than farting fire? Maybe not being able to control it! Here is a delightful book giveaway from Mymcbook's Blog. This giveaway is open until November 30th. To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a constructive comment with your email address included. Good luck to everyone!

Stella The Fire Farting Dragon by J. Aday Kennedy and illustrated by Jack Foster

Stella’s nervous tummy threatens her chances of winning the contest, but she marshals her nerves and does her best. A lesson of perseverance wrapped in a humorous bite makes the most reluctant readers gobble up this story. They’ll giggle themselves silly as Stella Dragon performs her flying act and farts fire. http://www.jadaykennedy.com/

Book review -- Heaven is for Real for Kids

My rating = 5 stars (Gibbee!)


I received this beautiful little treasure from Book Sneeze this week. It is an illustrated children's version of the bestseller Heaven Is For Real. In this book, Colton Burpo acts as narrator of his own afterlife experience, explaining in a very childlike and simple way how wonderful and beautiful heaven is. The story is told strictly from his own 4 year old point of view.

When reviewing a children's book, my rule is to read it to the target audience - children! In this case, I read this book to my own children (ages 11, 7, 6, and 3) for bedtme. As we read, my kids got more and more excited about the things Colton described in his story. They loved it so much that When my kids eventually shuffled off to bed, I heard my 7 year old saying, "I wish I could go to heaven right now." My 11 year old said, "Heaven is just like earth, but happier!"

A couple of my kids favorite parts:

Colton's description of playing with any animals you want-- all of my kids LOVED this part!! My 3 year old especially liked the pictures of the white horse with rainbow hair. He said, "I would want to feed him his carrots!"

At the end of the book is a short Q&A list, and the question of angels having wings is discussed. Colton's answer is "You get to choose if you want to walk or fly." My oldest thought this was very very cool!

The illustrations are beautiful - full of rich color and vibrancy. They help convey the feelings of love, peace and happiness Colton describes in the story. The language is simplistic, which makes potentially confusing points of doctrine quite easy for children to understand. I feel this book would be a blessing to any child's library, but will be especially beneficial for children who are dealing with terminal illness, or who have lost a loved one. It completely takes away any confusion or fear about what heaven is like, and helps children become very comfortable with the idea of going there.


I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Looking for a good series for my nephews

My sister-in-law came to me today, asking for book recommendations for her two boys. The oldest is 9 years old, and he is a voracious reader. (Ah, a man after my own heart!) He reads so fast, that my SIL can't keep up with everything he's read. She is concerned that if she doesn't have a new book or series to steer him towards, he may find "less desirable" books on his own.

My nephews are past the Magic Treehouse series, and the oldest has finished all of Harry Potter. He breezes through Nancy Drew, but I don't think his comprehension level is quite ready for her. His mom isn't comfortable with the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and I didn't even want to mention Captain Underpants. I have listed all the suggestions I gave her. Can you think of more? (I'm sure I've forgotten some classic ones!)

• Narnia series
• A Series of Unfortunate Events series
• Watership Down (I loaned this one to her)
• Farmer Boy from the Little House series
• Redwall series and other books by Brian Jacques
• Vladimir Tod series (I told her this may be a bit over his head)
• Inkheart series (they're currently working on this one)

Book Giveaway from Feeding Your Reading Habit

Feeding Your Reading Habit is giving away a copy of Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon. This is a very intriguing-sounding YA book that I am getting quite interested in. Usually, I don't go for YA books much at all (won't go into all my reasons here,) but this book is starting to gnaw away at my curiosity bone.

(From Feeding Your Reading Habit's blog) —

Carrier of the Mark is a young adult novel featuring a new heroine, Megan Rosenberg. When Megan moves to Ireland everything in her life seems to fall into place. She makes close friends with the girls in her class, her relationship with her dad is better than ever, and she finds herself inexplicably drawn to gorgeous, mysterious Adam DeRis. Adam is cold and aloof at first, but when Megan finally breaks down the icy barrier between them, she is amazed by the intensity of their connection. Then Adam reveals a secret about the magical destiny that will shape both of their lives but also threatens to tear them apart.