About the book:

The Knight Life is a hilariously twisted view of life through the eyes and pen of its creator, community-oriented urban hipster and award-winning cartoonist Keith Knight. The Knight Life deftly blends political insight and neurotic humor in a uniquely fluid and dynamic style, offering a comic strip that’s fresh, sharp, topical and funny. Designed for daily newspapers, The Knight Life follows Knight’s long-running, 2007 Harvey Award-winning weekly comic strip “The K Chronicles,” which appears on salon.com.

An unabashedly provocative political and social satire, The Knight Life tackles contemporary issues like consumer culture, bacon, the media, race, family and everything else, gently mocking the minutiae of daily life with self-deprecating humor, honesty and goofiness-a combination that’s perfect for the comics. And The Knight Life’s energetic style reminds readers that comics can look funny as well as read funny. The result is accessible yet edgy, compassionate and political-and never preachy. Cartoonist and comic historian R.C. Harvey said, “The Knight Life is undeniably the best new laugh- and thought-provoker on the comics page. Not since Calvin and Hobbes has there been so novel an entertainment in the funnies.”

Giveaway:
Thanks to Anna and Hachette Book Group.
To win this book, leave a comment, then fill up this form.
Two winners will be choosen on June 10.
Giveaway open to US and Canada address. No PO Box please.

Extra entries (+1 each unless otherwise noted):
+2 Visit KnightLifeComic.com and check out Keith’s blog on KChronicles.comme then tell me something interesting that you find.
+3 Blog about this contest
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“Like” The Knight Life on Facebook
Follow @KeefKnight on Twitter

Tags: Hachette Books Giveaway, Keith Knight

by Laura Kinsale
Sourcebooks Re-issue 5/2010
ISBN-10: 1402237022
Publication Date: 2010-05-04

I enjoyed reading this book very much. It’s probably one of the earlier paranormal books written, before it was it was commonly done. I couldn’t tell because it’s beautiful. Although I might be a little lost why Faelan was ‘weird’, I enjoyed everything else in this book. Roderica can read thoughts of everyone around her. She doesn’t wish to, but she can anyway. Personally, I will not be comfortable being around someone who can hear my thoughts.

I’d rather not guard what I think about. If I think it is tough, Roderica has to live with it. It’s no wonder that she jumps at the chance to marry Faelan, ‘The Devil Earl, when she met him. She can’t hear him, and that is heaven for him. Unfortunately, all is not smooth-sailing in their relationship.

There’s mystery, lots of romance, and a wonderful book all around. I highly recommend it.

Thanks to Danielle at Sourcebooks for my review copy.

Giveaway:

I have an ARC, it’s a tad worn, because I’ve read it already. If you’d like to have it, leave a comment, e-mail your address, and a week from today, I’ll pick a winner and mail the book right away. Oh, yeah. Open worldwide. But like I said, the book is used. It’s an ARC.

From the author’s site:

Cursed with the ability to hear the thoughts of those around her, Roderica is resigned to living without marriage or love. But when she finds one man’s thoughts closed to her, she takes her only chance on marriage with an enigmatic, impoverished lord, The Devil Earl, whose Irish estate is haunted by memories and faerie mists…

This is a romance with paranormal elements written before fantasy and paranormal was cool. The sidhe that briefly appear in Uncertain Magic are of the traditional Irish type, powerful and enigmatic

What would it really be like to know the minds of everyone around you?

Tags: Danielle Jackson, Laura Kinsale, Sourcebooks

Halfway through my first book, I fell in love with Julie Klassen. She’s a fantastic writer and I hope to read more of her books.

I first read The Apothecary’s Daughter because Kindle offered the book for free. I was surprised to find myself enjoying the story. I usually would read 6 or more books simultaneously, but this one just hog all my attention. I can empathized with Lily. I remember most anything (or I used to ). This book kept me guessing until the very end. It’s when I find treasures like this that I really feel very lucky to own a kindle. If not for it, I doubt I would have stumbled into these books.

Julie Klassen’s book is amazingly entertaining. It’s got depth, intrigue, and other ingredients that make it work so well for the reader. She tackles tough and common issues, and the story comes out extraordinary. In Lady of Milkweed Manor, Charlotte Lamb bore a child out of wedlock. I learned more about ‘nursemaids’ that I thought possible. It is a powerful story. I cannot recommend this book enough. It’s so enjoyable.

I’m now reading her third and latest book called The Silent Governess. I wish there was more to read, but I’ll just have to wait for the next one to come out. Julie, please write more books! I am looking forward to the next one.

Tags: Julie Klassen

My Review:

I’m a fan of King Arthur and his court. So, I was quite excited to read this 3rd book of the Pendragon series. I have not read the first two books, but because JORDAN is an excellent book, I am going to read the others too. I’m mildly OCD that way. Besides, wouldn’t you want more of the same fantabulous book?

This book dived into action almost right away. The progression of the story was smooth. It’s an exciting take, yet places will have you grinning like an idiot. I like the voyage. It’s like Star Trek (you know, the latest version where even non-sci-fi fan were enjoying). The attraction’s fast and furious between Vivianne Blackstone and Jordan McArthur. I love how they can both change into dragon. From the description of their flight, I was half-expecting Ms. Kearney to be a dragon herself. I enjoyed reading this book very much.

Jordan (Pendragon Legacy) (Original Edition)
by Susan Kearney
Mass Market Paperback, 416 Pages, Published 2010 by Forever

Other books in the series:
Lucan: Five Fun Facts about LUCAN
Rion: Five Fun Facts about RION

About the author:

USA TODAY bestselling author Susan Kearney is a native of New Jersey and has a Business Degree from the University of Michigan. Her fifty plus books include contemporary, romantic suspense, historical, futuristic, science fiction and paranormal novels. She resides in a suburb of Tampa-with her husband, kids, Boston terriers and iguana. Currently she’s plotting her way through her 52st work of fiction. You can reach her through her web site at www.susankearney.com.
Giveaway:
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Drawing will be by random.org list randomizer and integer generator.
Contest open to US and Canada addresses only. No PO Boxes please.
There’s a maximum of 5 winners.
Winners will be posted on March 10.

Tags: Anna Balasi, Hachette Books Giveaway, Susan Kearney

The Swan Thieves (Unabridged Edition)
by Elizabeth Kostova,
Readers: Treat Williams, Anne Heche, Erin Cottrell, Sarah Zimmerman, John Lee
Audio CD, Published 2010 by Hachette Audio, Unabridged Edition

Review:

A huge thanks to Anna from Hachette Books for the opportunity to enjoy this book and a chance for giveaway. I was very excited to hear about this book. I have read THE HISTORIAN (twice), and it was perfect. Listening to THE SWAN THIEVES is very much like taking a nice and leisurely walk in the park on a beautiful day. There’s nothing jarring about it. It flows, and it’s pleasant. When something suspenseful comes along, you’re safe in the knowledge that after this rough patch, your walk will go on being pleasant and flowing.

It took me a long while to figure out what’s going in the book. I didn’t really read any of the description of the story in advance. I know I’m going to listen to it, why bother? I just let the narration go on and I’ll figure out the story as it goes along. The readers are excellent, but they sometimes become interchangeable, I can’t quite tell which is which. There’s a sub-plot from a 19th century artist and his girl, then there’s Robert Oliver and his breakdown in the present time. His psychiatrist digs deeper into Robert Oliver’s life (a la Dr. House) to find out more about this patient. I don’t know how many psychiatrist would put so much effort into the lives of their patients, but Dr. Marlowe put many hours into finding out about his patient.

At the end of it all, I got this feeling that I just took a pleasant journey across beautiful landscapes, but I have no idea what the point of that trek was. The book left me with a very pleasant feeling, but also a confused one, just like life itself.

More about this book:

Listen to an Excerpt
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Read an Excerpt

Giveaway:
+1: subscribe
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+1: Finish this sentence, and make it at least two sentences long…(you can do this twice)

Love is….

+1: Extra chances of winning for each friend of yours who come and play.

Drawing will be by random.org list randomizer and integer generator.
Contest open to US and Canada addresses only. No PO Boxes please.
There’s a maximum of 3 winners.
Winners will be posted on March 2.
Check back here and find out if you’re a winner.

Product Description

Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe has a perfectly ordered life–solitary, perhaps, but full of devotion to his profession and the painting hobby he loves. This order is destroyed when renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient. In response, Marlowe finds himself going beyond his own legal and ethical boundaries to understand the secret that torments this genius, a journey that will lead him into the lives of the women closest to Robert Oliver and toward a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.

Ranging from American museums to the coast of Normandy, from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth, from young love to last love, THE SWAN THIEVES is a story of obsession, the losses of history, and the power of art to preserve human hope.

Tags: Anna Balasi, Elizabeth Kostova