Jackson Jones: The Tale of a Boy, an Elf, and a Very Stinky Fish

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books.  A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured.  The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between!  Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Jenn Kelly

illustrated by:

Ariane Elsammak

and the book:

Jackson Jones: The Tale of a Boy, an Elf, and a Very Stinky Fish

Zonderkidz (August 6, 2010)

***Special thanks to Pam Mettler of Zonderkidz for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jenn Kelly lives in Ottawa, Canada, but her heart lives in Paris. Or Hawaii. She hasn’t decided yet. She is an undercover garden guru, painter, and chef, which has absolute nothing to do with this book. She won a writing award in grade 4, failed English Lit in university, spent many years writing bad poetry, and then decided to write a book. This is it. She is married to her best friend, Danny, and is mom to a five-year-old boy and a dog who worries too much. She embraces the ridiculousness and disorganization of life.


Visit the author's website.

Ari has worked as a freelance illustrator for a variety of projects, mostly in children’s media.  Her specialty is character design and she most enjoys illustrating humorous and wacky predicaments.

She studied editorial and children’s book illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and the DuCret School of Art in New Jersey. She uses a variety of media to create my images both traditional and digital.


Visit the illustrator's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $12.99
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Zonderkidz (August 6, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310720796
ISBN-13: 978-0310720799

PLEASE CLICK THE BROWSE INSIDE BUTTON TO VIEW THE FIRST CHAPTER:

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Whisper on the Wind by Maureen Lang

Product Description:

In Brussels at the height of WWI, a small, underground newspaper is the only thing offering the occupied city hope—and real news of the war. The paper may be a small whisper amid the shouts of the German army, but Edward Kirkland will do anything to keep it in print. Meanwhile, Isa Lassone, a Belgian-American socialite whose parents whisked her to safety at the start of the war, sneaks back into the country to rescue those dearest to her: Edward and his mother. But Edward refuses to go, and soon Isa is drawn into his secret life printing the newspaper . . . And into his heart.


My thoughts:
This is the first book I've ever read by Maureen Lang and I don't think it will be the last.   Apparently, this is the second book in a series but I never felt lost or confused having not read book one.    I really enjoyed Isa's story.  She sneaks back into Brussels to try and sneak the man she loves back out.  Of course, he doesn't realize that she's in love with him.  He refuses to leave and so Isa ends up helping him with a secret newspaper.  There are a few twists and turns and it certainly kept me turning the pages.  I really enjoyed reading about Edward's mom, Genny's relationship with the Major.  This is a not only a romance but a book about letting go of hate so it doesn't destroy you.  Isa wants to hate the Germans and there was one paragraph that really stuck out to me.  She sees the Major (he's German) coming down the stairs (he's lost a foot in the war) and she struggles with going and helping him and walking away.  And I forget exactly how the author phrased it but basically it said something about how she stood there as her sinful nature battled with what she knew God wanted her to do.  Definitely makes ya think.  


If you want to check out the first chapter of this book you can here. I recommend you do because it's really a good book. :)


*Thanks to Tyndale for sending me a free copy to review*

The Tale of Oat Cake Crag by Susan Wittig Albert

From Goodreads.com:
In the Lake District, noisy test flights of the new hydroplane are disrupting life in the village of Near Sawrey. Miss Beatrix Potter can barely hear herself think-which she needs to do for the new case she's just taken up. Her friend Grace Lythecoe has been receiving some anonymous letters, threatening her good name. 

Now Beatrix must proceed quietly, so as not to arouse village gossip. And while her visit to Near Sawrey has proven to be anything but quiet, there is yet another piece of business for Beatrix to address: that of her own future. When she's offered a second chance at love, she decides that sometimes causing a disturbance can be well worth the trouble. 


My review:
This is the seventh book in The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter series and it's just as lovely as all the others.   This is a cozy mystery and it is heavy on the cozy and I think that is one of the reasons I love this series.  I also love that the animals talk...not to the humans but to each other and they help move the story along and usually help solve the mystery.  So if you enjoy  charming, cozy mysteries than I highly suggest you check out this series.  I love it! :)


**I bought this book from amazon.com*

Fall Into Reading 2010

Today is the first day of Fall and that means that the Fall into Reading 2010 Challenge begins!! If you have never participated in this challenge then just go over to Callapidder Days to find out all the info about this lovely challenge. I'm really looking forward to this challenge this year because I set a goal for myself this year to get 50 books read and I'm a little behind so hopefully this challenge will get me back on track. My goal is to read at least 10 books during this challenge and here is my list:

1. Whispers on the Wind by Maureen Lang Read
   
2. Lady in Waiting by Susan Meissner Read
   
3. In Every Heartbeat by Kim Vogel Sawyer Read
   
4. Head in the Clouds by Karen Witemeyer Read
   
5. Masquerade by Nancy Moser Read
   
6. Where Hearts are Free by Golden Keyes Parsons
7. Seasons in the Mist by Deborah Kinnard Read
   
8. Fools Rush In by Janice Thompson
9. Maid to Match by Deeanne Gist Read
   
10. The Anonymous Bride by Vickie McDonough Read
    

Books I've added:

1. The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler Read
   
2. How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell Read
   
3. Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball by Donita K. Paul Read
   
4. Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop by Lee Goldberg Read
   
5. Dining With Joy by Rachel Hauck Read
6. The Capture by Kathryn Lasky Read
7. The Charlatan's Boy by Jonathan Rogers Read
   

So that is my list of books I want to get read for the Fall Into Reading Challenge. It's not set in stone though so I may change a book or two depending on my mood. So I guess now I need to start reading! :)

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"So, what is your answer, Edward? Will you let me help?"
He turned and started to speak, but his answer was lost in a sudden burst of noise and confusion.

--Whisper on the Wind by Maureen Lang

A Hope Undaunted by Julie Lessman

From Goodreads.com:

The 1920s are drawing to a close, and feisty Katie O'Connor is the epitome of the new woman--smart and sassy with goals for her future that include the perfect husband and a challenging career in law. Her boyfriend Jake fits all of her criteria for a husband--good-looking, well-connected, wealthy, and head-over-heels in love with her. But when she is forced to spend the summer of 1929 with Luke McGee, the bane of her childhood existence, Katie comes face to face with a choice. Will she follow her well-laid plans to marry Jake? Or will she fall for the man she swore to despise forever? A Hope Undaunted is the engrossing first book in the WINDS OF CHANGE series from popular author Julie Lessman. Readers will thrill at the highly charged romance in this passionate story.


My review:
I know I'm going to be in the minority here but I didn't love this book but before I get to that  first I will say what I did like.  I think Julie Lessman is one of the few authors that can have a lot of characters featured in a book and it doesn't get confusing.  The story flows really well and you really feel for all the characters.  There were quite a few times that I got a lump in my throat. Also, I loved reading about Faith and Collin as a married couple and getting to "hang out" with the O'Connor family again.  So now to the part I'm not looking forward to, but I want to be honest, so here I go:  I've only read one other book by Julie Lessman, A Passion Most Pure, and I loved it but I felt like in a way A Hope Undaunted was a little too similar to A Passion Most Pure.  I don't want to give anything away but let's just say you had a similar love triangle going on in both books.  So for me when the love triangle part popped up it just kind of slowed the book down because I knew who Katie was going to end up with and felt like it just made the book longer than necessary.  But with that being said I did still enjoy the book and would recommend it.


**Thanks to the publisher for sending me a free copy for review**


A Hope Undaunted Facebook Party

Booking Through Thursday

Do you divide your books into day and night reads? How do you decide?


This is a question I would never have thought to ask since I don't divide my books into day/night reads.  I am a one book at a time person so that will be the book I read day or night.  But now I'm curious about how one would decide what is the best book to read during the day and which books are best at night.  So do you divide your books into day/night reads??

Wordless Wednesday

The Wait is Over!!

Today the seventh book in The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter came out today!  I love, love, LOVE this series and I'm so excited the next book it out.  If you haven't checked out this series I highly recommend it especially if you love animals.

Talk of the Town by Lisa Wingate

Product Description:
The show American Megastar is the hottest thing on television but its associate producer, Mandalay Florentino, is worried. She's just arrived in the tiny town of Daily, Texas, to arrange a surprise "reunion concert" for hometown finalist Amber Amberson. Only it turns out everyone in town seems to know the secret. And paparazzi are arriving. Word from Hollywood is that Amber has disappeared with a "bad boy" actor. Can anything go right in this tumbleweed town? Imagene Doll loves her town of Daily, Texas, but things are lonely without her beloved husband. Life seems dull. At least until that fancy-dressed woman pulls into town, looking terrified and glamorous all at once. Soon life's not the least bit boring as Imagene and the rest of Daily find themselves at the center of a media maelstrom--with a young girl's future on the line.


My thoughts:
I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately.  I think it has a lot to do with the fact that August was a crazy month for me and it was just hard for me to get into anything.  Well, that changed when I started reading Talk of the Town.  I loved this book!  This is a "fish out of water" type of story.  You have Mandalay who is from CA having to go to a small town in Texas and try to plan a secret concert.  What happens in Daily, TX is a hoot.  But you also have a little romance happening.  Plus, you also meet Imagene Doll (love her) and her journey about moving on after losing her beloved husband.  So as you can guess I highly recommend this book.  I am looking forward to reading the other books in this series because I'm really looking forward to returning to Daily, TX. :)


*I got my copy of Talk of the Town (Kindle edition) free from Amazon.com