Congratulations Ann!

Don't you just love winning contests? I usually don't win but recently I have scored four ARCs (advanced reading copies) and that makes me very, very happy.

On the one hand, because they are mine and don't have to be returned to the library, I have only read two of them. Perhaps you'll be distressed to learn that Louise Penny's mystery Trick of Light and Anders Roslund's thriller Three Seconds have languished? Of course the second title mentioned was released in January of this year, while the first comes out the end of August. I really should read them so that I will seem relevant and 'happening'.

I HAVE finished Mary Kay Andrews' beach read Summer Rental (and loved it). The fourth title, which I have also read, hasn't arrived yet. I clicked to win this book at Goodreads because I like it when I read it and never win anything. Maybe my luck has changed. Here's the message I got.

"You are one of our First Reads lucky winners! You will soon receive a free copy of The Lake Shore Limited (Vintage Contemporaries) in the mail. Please allow a few weeks for shipping.

Don't forget to add the book to your Goodreads currently-reading shelf, and we encourage you to also add it to a "first-reads" shelf when you are done reading. Posting a review is optional, but please keep in mind that reviewing the book is in the spirit of First Reads. Publishers provide free copies to Goodreads in hopes of getting early feedback about the book. First Readers who post reviews are also more likely to win free books in the future!"

Maybe I'll have to read Sue Miller's book again. My earlier short review last year ended with, "It's not a great book but it is a good read." I'm assuming this new round of ARCs are leftovers since the hardback was released in  2010 and the trade paperback came out May 31, 2011. Never mind. A contest is a contest. And being a winner is a great feeling!

What to Read Next?

 "A challenge for people who, like me, love to read is figuring out what books to read next. So many books, so little time! I was very happy to discover the New York Journal of Books -- an online resource of book reviews. A terrific place to go to find out about new books."

Shared from Gretchen Rubin's blog The Happiness Project.

Who Reads?

The July 9/16, 2010 issue of Entertainment Weekly carries a column by Stephen King called My Must Summer Reads. 'Uncle Stevie', as he refers to himself at times, does a great job of finding good reads, but what caught my attention were some 'bummer' statistics he shared.

"According to ParaPublishing.com (quoted on the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop page), a third of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives, and 42 percent of college grads never read another book after college. The National Endowment for the Arts says that 57 percent of Americans read for pleasure at least occasionally, which is more hopeful, but it still leaves a lot of people watching four hours of tube a night."

Since the column he wrote doesn't appear on the EW site, the books he reviews are The Millennium Trilogy (Stieg Larsson); The Passage (Justin Cronin); The Unnamed (Josuha Ferris); The Strip (Thomas Perry); The Storm Prey (John Sandford; and, last but not least, his favorite Ordinary Thunderstorms (William Boyd).

Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War by Joe Bageant

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Joe Bageant describes the America that the educated, city liberal doesn't even know exists and he does it in such a way that you can't help laughing and then being disturbed at the same time. Whether you agree with the author or not, there is a lot to consider in the arguments he puts forth concerning gun control, American health care, the mortgage racket, and our political system in general.


View all my reviews.