Sunday Sam

Happy Sunday everyone.  What’s everyone been up to this weekend?  Anything exciting?  Not too much going on here other than the cold although it’s supposed to warm up for this week and I sure hope they’re right.  I had a headache and just a general gloomy mood this weekend so I didn’t do much other than get my hair cut.  It might be a couple of quiet weeks ahead as I have a few tests but I will have a few reviews.  I’m finishing up The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan and it sure is good.  I’ll have  a review up tomorrow and later in the week I’ll be reviewing Love and Other Subjects by Kathleen Shoop.  So since I don’t have much to say this week I’m going to share a few pictures of Sam and wish you all a good week ahead!

Snowy Sam!  I just love playing in all this snow that keeps filling up my backyard!  I seem to be the only one loving it though…

I love my blankies and my sleep  in the morning.  The one thing I don’t like is mommy trying to get me out of my warm blankies in the morning and she doesn’t give up either until I drag myself out.

I love to hide under the blankies and just peek out.  I just haven’t figured out how mommy always seems to find me though.

Awwwww, this is my mommy.  I looooove her and she looooooves me too!

Book Review: What the Zhang Boys Know by Clifford Garstang & Giveaway (US/Canada)

What the Zhang Boys Know by Clifford Garstang was a surprise for me – a nice one!  What the Zhang Boys Know has twelve separate chapters with seemingly separate stories yet they all link together in some way to the residents living in the condo complex called  Nanking Mansion.  The Nanking Mansion is located on the edge of Chinatown in Washington, D.C. and it isn’t the greatest neighborhood but these arsty type residents don’t seem to notice it all too much.  This is a story that to me highlights how life goes on through its various ups and downs and as each day passes, another takes its place.

The book starts off with the Zhang family and they were my favorite and I’m quite sure I would have been happy with a whole book just about them.  Feng-qi, a single dad left with two young boys after his American wife dies in a tragic accident, is left reeling.  Eventually his father comes from China to live with them and care for the boys and along the way even his mother-in-law seems to be opening up some even though she strongly opposed her daughter’s marriage to Feng-qi.  Although Feng-qi has met another woman he still can’t forget his perfect wife and his boys even more so as they are convinced she is coming back.

Then there is a host of others living in the building, among them a painter, a sculptor, and a lawyer.  Another story I really liked was one of an older woman whose husband leaves her and she ends up having to sell her belongings because she can’t get a job.  She even turned to her younger sister for help even though she knew it would be thrown back at her.  There is the young Susanna who originally moves in with her boyfriend, becomes pregnant, and then kicks him out because she’s moved on with the painter.  The painter is a tormented soul for sure as he’s haunted by a face in a picture that he’s painted.

All of the characters in this novel are flawed, just as all human beings are.  They aren’t perfect; they are just trying to get through their lives the best they can.  I love how all the stories weaved together in some way as for me that is the one thing that really does make a book of short stories work.  I also liked how the Zhang boys, although young and not always understanding the real issues, could still give you a pretty good update on what was going on with everyone in the building.  It just goes to show how much the young ones really do absorb.  This was a good read for me.  I enjoyed the book and the author’s writing style and I look forward to reading more from him.

What the Zhang Boys Know by Clifford Garstang is touring with TLC Book Tours so be sure to check out the other tour stops!  You can connect with Clifford on his website and a copy of What the Zhang Boys Know can be purchased here in the US and here in Canada.

 

GIVEAWAY DETAILS (US/Canada)

I have one copy of What the Zhang Boys Know by Clifford Garstang to share with my readers.  To enter…

• For 1 entry leave me a comment entering the giveaway.
• For 2 entries, follow my blog.  If you do let me know and I’ll pass the extra entry on to you as well.
• For 3 entries, blog or tweet this giveaway!

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents (no PO boxes) and I will draw for the winner on Saturday, November 10/12.  Good luck!

Source: Review copy provided by TLC Book Tours and the Publisher. No compensation was received for this review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Giveaway: Her Highness, the Traitor by Susan Higginbotham (on Interview post -US/Can)

Hey everyone, due to my oversight I did not post the giveaway with the interview I had with Susan Higginbotham, author of Her Highness, the Traitor, today.  Please click on the following post or on the book cover to enter for your own copy of the book.

 

Her Highness, the Traitor by Susan Higginbotham – Interview and Giveaway (US/Can)

 

Please do not enter on this post as it will not count.  Click on the link above or on the book cover to enter.

Sunday Ramblings

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE!

Happy Sunday all!  Has everyone had a good weekend?  What did you all do?  I hope something more exciting than what I did which is staying inside and staying warm.  So much for no snow – we have lots now!  It’s been bitterly cold too which makes it worse.  I can tell you my walks with Sammy haven’t been a lot of fun.  I’m so bundled up I can barely move.  I really should get you all a picture of what Sam and I look like when we  head out for our walks.  I will for next week.  It is supposed to be warming up for next week and I’m glad because it’s been a constant battle getting Sammy’s booties on him to go outside.  I ended up making some fleecy liners for his booties because his feet were getting cold.  They’re working great thank goodness.

Let’s see on the reading front there isn’t much going on.  I’m trying to get caught up on review copies and read what I’ve committed to in the next few months too.  After that I’d really like to focus on NetGalley books because they have a whole ton of really great up and coming books to read.  Right now I’m reading a book called Ru by Kim Thuy which I’m really liking.  It’s a short book so I’ll probably have a review up quickly.  As for next week I don’t have a lot going on – I left January as a slow month.  I was hoping that would give me a chance to get more reading done but it hasn’t seemed to work out that way.

As for Sammy – well he’s enjoying the snow or at least he is now that it warmed up a bit.  It was so cold last week that even he wasn’t enjoying it much and would go out and run back in.  To me it’s still really cold but obviously for the fluff ball it isn’t so bad with his clothes on.  When we come home from a walk he rubs his face back and forth in the snow or sticks his nose right under it.  I wish I had pictures for you guys but in this cold if I take my mittens off even for a minute my hands freeze so no pictures.  Sorry.  This coming week is warming up so I’ll try to get some pictures of him playing out in the backyard in the snow.  For now I’m just posting a bit of an older picture for you because I still haven’t gotten my computer fixed which also means I haven’t downloaded the pictures from my new camera.  Sorry again.

I’m hoping to get Sam groomed this week – he looks just like a baby bear cub right now.  You can’t even find his eyeballs right now.  I’m also hoping to get a lot of reading done but we’ll see.  Whenever I plan those kinds of things they never seem to happen.  What do all of you have planned for the week?  What are you reading – anything good?  Well that’s it for me this week.  Have a great day everyone!