Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Seth Bullock Review




From the back of the book:


'Much of Seth Bullock's modern renown comes from television, motion pictures, and his friendship with President Theodore Roosevelt. But Bullock was much more than the frontier law enforcer portrayed in fictional accounts. In Seth Bullock: Black Hills Lawman, David Wolff examines the life work of Bullock as he helped build Deadwood, found the town of Belle Fourche, and promote the Black Hills.


Wolff explores the many ventures that Bullock delved into once he moved from Montana to the Black Hills at the start of the gold rush in 1876. He points out that Bullock quickly became an integral part of the burgeoning community, attempting to create a lasting legacy for himself by working within local and regional politics, through his various businesses, and in his many positions at the forefront of Black Hills law enforcement and forest management.


Bullock's life epitomized that of many entrepreneurs and pioneers across the nation, and Wolff describes the struggles and successes that this thinker and dreamer experienced in his forty-three years in the Black Hills.'



The book is, obviously, about Seth Bullock but because of his involvement in the town, by necessity, it becomes not only a biography of Bullock but also of Deadwood itself. Bullock may have been a lawman but he had many other positions in town too and was also an entrepreneur who had his hand in many business deals. Making sure that Deadwood survived was very important to Bullock and Wolff outlines his involvement in trying to organize and start what the town would need. You are told about mining, and trying to attract businesses and railroads, and start banks, and organize a government and all the many other struggles and obstacles the town needed to overcome to survive and grow. The book revolves around Bullock and his involvement in many of these things but it does broaden to a wider scope in that it shows the birth and growing pains of the town and its surrounding environs and all the other people who helped along the way. I didn’t know much about Seth Bullock when I started the book and it was very interesting to learn how involved he was in the workings of Deadwood and to see how farsighted and far-reaching his business ideas were. I also liked the close look at all that it takes to start a frontier town and keep it going, all the hard work and effort and not just the gunfights and glory. But I have to admit that there came a point when I had heard more about processing ore than I really cared to. Wolff researched his subject well as you can tell from the copious notes and long bibliography. The writing was easy to read and understand but definitely academic in style and reads more like a text book than a story. It is full of interesting information and nitty-gritty details and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in Seth Bullock or the old west in general.

Mega Giveaway

The Tome Traveller is having a wonderful, fantastic and huge giveaway. In celebration of posting the 100th review tons of books are being given away. But how many depends on how many people enter. For every 20 entries there will be another winner up to 10 winners in all. And each winner will get 10(!!!) books. So help us all out and get over there and take a look at the books (the list is too long for me to reproduce here but there is some great stuff, trust me) and leave a comment with a few of your top choices. You can get extra entries for commenting on book reviews and guest posts but please say something worth while or they won't count. Due to the fact that books are heavy this one is only open to the US. It ends July 21st so get all your commenting done by then.

The Devlin Diary

Want to win a copy of The Devlin Diary by Christi Phillips? Well, here's your chance or maybe chances would be more accurate.

Head on over to Drey's Library and tell her why you want to read the book and you will be entered to win one of her two copies. Extra entries can be had for following and sharing. You have until July 12th. Open to the US and Canada only, and no PO boxes.

Or you could pop over to Debbie's World of Books. Debbie has one copy to give away to someone who comments. You can also get an extra entry by sharing about it. You only have until July 10th for this one and it is only open to the US.

Patrick Carmen Giveaway

J. Kaye's Book Blog is giving away Patrick Carman's Atherton Trilogy. The winner will receive all three books, House of Power, Rivers of Fire, and The Dark Planet. You must be 18 or older to enter and you must live in the US or Canada. And remember, winners will not be contacted by email so make sure you check to see if you win. Or better yet become a follower so you don't miss the announcement. There are lots of way to get extra entries so make sure you check them out. The winner will be announced on July 25th.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Win 10 Books!!

A Sea of Books has a wonderful Summer Beach Bag Books giveaway. 5 people will each win a set of 10 books.

The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith
Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Obama's Blackberry by Kasper Hauser
A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand
When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
Any Minute by Joyce Meyer and Deborah Bedford
The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer
Kill For Me by Karen Rose
Miscarriage of Justice by Kip Gayden

You have until July 31st to get your entries in. There are lots of ways to get extra entries but make sure you leave a separate comment for each one. And make sure you leave an email address so you can be contacted if you win.

The books are coming from Hachette so you have to have a US or Canada address to enter, and they can not ship to PO boxes.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Will, One More Time

There is another one! Tutu's Two Cents also has 5 copies of My Name is Will by Jess Winfield. Or if Shakespeare doesn't strike your fancy you can enter to win Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddons instead. There will be 5 winner for each book but you have to choose because there is only one book per customer. You have until July 17th to enter. Follow, subscribe and blog for extra entries. Open to the US and Canada, no PO boxes.


(More chances can be found at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time.)

The Friday 56, There Will Be Dragons

The Rules:

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

In keeping with the rules I am using the book closest to me right now. Which means my sentence comes from There Will Be Dragons by John Ringo. I'm not reading it or anything I just happened to put it down near the computer. So the sentence will be a surprise to me when I open the book to find out what it is.


The sentence:

At the sight on the other side she had to give a mental growl; no matter how large a space, a teenage female could trash it all.

My Name is Will Take Two

Guess what? I have found more chances to win My Name is Will by Jess Winfield. Shooting Stars Mag has 5 copies to give away. This one ends July 6th. So get over there and leave a comment. You can get an extra entry by posting about it and another for becoming a follower. Once again the books are from Hachette so you have to live in the US or Canada to enter and they will not ship to PO boxes. Good luck!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

My Name is Will

Joystory is giving away a copy of My Name is Will by Jess Winfield. All you have to do is leave a comment to enter. You can get an extra entry by blogging about it. Which is why you are reading about it here. I have a weakness for books that have anything to do with Shakespeare. Does that make me a geek? Well, if you feel the same way and want to compete with me for a copy of your own head on over. The deadline to enter is noon PST Saturday, July 18th. The book is coming from Hachette so you have to have an address in the US or Canada and they will not deliver to PO boxes.

(P.S. For another chance to win this book visit Just One More Page.)

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Walking People

Peeking Between the Pages is giving away 5 copies of The Walking People by Mary Beth Keane. You can read her review and see what she thought of it. If it looks like something you would like to read yourself all you have to do is leave a comment to enter. You can get extra entries by telling her if you have a favorite family saga/drama type novel or have read a good one recently, and by blogging or tweeting. She will have the drawing for the winners on July 17th. This one is open to the US and Canada, but no PO boxes.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

In the Minority

Summer is coming but it has been cool and rainy around here. Which is just fine with me. Partly because I like the rain and often go out and play in it. But the real reason that I like this weather is that heat and I do not get along. I don’t do well in the heat. Many people look forward to the Summer and trips to the beach and all of that but I spend most of my time trying to stay hydrated and worrying that I’m going to pass out due to heat exhaustion. First of all, I sweat. A lot. I think I sweat more than anyone I know, have ever seen, or even heard of. If that is an exaggeration it isn’t by much. And being sweaty is no fun at all. Not for me and probably not for the people around me either. In the Summer heat every little effort seems like too much. Just walking around becomes hard work. But finding a place to sit down is not that easy either because in my living room that fans and air-conditioners can not seem to lower to a comfortable temperature my sofa becomes some sort of torture device. I sit down and the upholstery seems to wrap around me like a big heavy blanket until I am cooking in my own juices. And actual cooking is out because I’m certainly not going to create more heat by turning on the oven nor am I going to stand anywhere near an active stovetop. So if it can’t be done in the microwave it isn’t getting done. I am too uncomfortable to sleep and so I am even more cranky than usual. And unfortunately I’m not a big fan of iced coffee but hot coffee does not seem like a reasonable thing to be drinking when it is 90 degrees so even getting my caffeine fix becomes problematic. So I spend my Summer drinking lots of ice water and waiting for Fall to bring some relief. People around me keep wondering when it is going to start feeling like Summer but I am grateful for each day the Summer heat holds off. I was enjoying the cool rainy day recently and one of my co-workers mentioned that it was supposed to get up over 80 by the end of the week. She said it like it was a good thing. It made me want to cry. But I know that that puts me in the minority and so I keep my mouth shut. No reason to let everyone know that I am getting so much joy out of what they consider a bad thing. Some times I think I should feel badly about that. But I have yet to feel badly enough that I can honestly wish for the rain and cool temperatures to stop. I figure it will be all too soon that the tables are turned and everyone else is happy in the heat and I am the one miserable. So I might as well enjoy it while I can. Because no matter how hard I wish I know that it will not last forever.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Strange Angels

Ready Set Read Reviews is giving away a copy of Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow and she had some wonderful things to say about it. If you would like to win a copy get over there and leave her a comment. There are all sorts of things you can do to get entries, do everything and you'll be entered 6 times. Leave your comments by July 11th. Sorry, guys, but this one is limited to the US. Good luck!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

More Julia

And who doesn't want more Julia Child? There are a couple of places you can go to enter to win Julie and Julia by Julie Powell.

Enter at The Eclectic Book Hoarder until June 30th.

Enter at The Tome Traveller until July 5th.

Enter at Carol's Notebook until July 7th.

They each have 5 copies to give away and lots of ways to get extra entries.

The books are coming from Hachette so you have to live in the US or Canada to enter, and PO boxes will not be allowed.

Friday, June 19, 2009

The Friday 56, Savvy


Well, I'm getting better anyway. I may have missed last week but at least it has been less than a month since I last managed to remember The Friday 56. Hosted, as always, by Storytime with Tonya and Friends.

The Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.


My sentence(s) comes from Savvy by Ingrid Law.

"That is for an adult to decide, young man," Miss Rosemary insisted, trying to pry Fish's fingers from the telephone. But distracted by the flying papers and the unexplained wind lashing through the room, she had no real chance at getting the phone away from Fish.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

We Bought a Zoo Review

We Bought a Zoo by Benjamin Mee

From the inside flap:

'In the market for a house and the adventure of a lifetime. Benjamin Mee decided to uproot his family and move them to an unlikely new home: a dilapidated zoo in the English countryside, complete with over 200 exotic animals. Mee, who specializes in animal behavior, had a dream to refurbish the zoo and run it as a family business. Naturally, friends and colleagues thought he was crazy.
...
The grand reopening of the zoo was scheduled for spring, but there was much work to be done and none of it easy for these novice zookeepers. Tigers broke loose, money ran low, the staff grew skeptical, and family tensions reached a boiling point.'
...
(There's more but I think you get the point.)


I’m a sucker for animal anecdotes. Wild animals, domestic animals, and apparently animals in zoos too. As an animal anecdote lover I liked reading all about the animals, even when he was just talking about their dental care. It was also interesting to find out some of what is required to own and run a zoo. There are also many other things going on besides the zoo and he shares his personal struggles too. As a whole it is an interesting story that is easy to become involved in. I found myself rooting for Mee and his family as they struggled with all of the legal, animal, and money problems along the way. Because it is a first person account we see everything from Benjamin’s perspective, with his emphasis on what is important to tell which made it uniquely Benjamin’s story but almost made me wish someone else was telling it. Some of the pieces that I would have been interested in hearing just weren’t there. I sometimes found myself wondering where his children were along with the rest of his family that gave him so much support. And I wish that I could have seen more of his mother who seemed to have such an important role in the process but not in the book. It is an interesting and, although not always happy, entertaining story that I enjoyed and am glad I read. But in the end it is less about the ‘young family’ from the title than it is about one man, and the distinctly one-sided view point left me feeling as if the story was not really complete.

Julie & Julia

At Home With Books is giving away 5 copies of Julie & Julia by Julie Powell. You can get your first entry just by leaving a comment that includes your email address. You can get extra entries by blogging, following or subscribing, tweeting, and stumbling but make sure you leave a separate comment for each entry. You have until midnight on June 29th to get your entries in. You have to be a resident of the US or Canada to enter, and sorry but no PO boxes.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Jacqueline Carey Giveaway

Unmainstream Mom Reads is giving away Santa Olivia and Naamah's Kiss by Jacqueline Carey. There will be 3 winners and they will all get both books. It is open until July 4th. Open to residents of the US and Canada, no PO boxes. There are several ways to get extra entries but make sure you leave a separate comment for each entry. For complete contest rules you can go here.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Win The Shack

Joystory is giving away a copy of The Shack by Wm. Paul Young. You can go here and read the first chapter to help you decide if you want to win yourself a copy. But you better hurry. You only have until June 20th to enter. This one is international so anyone can enter. But make sure you check back because you have to get back to her right away if you win or she will pick a new winner. Good luck.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Third Policeman Vocab

As if trying to figure out what was going on in The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien wasn't hard enough he had to go and put in a bunch of words I didn't know. I looked them up but it didn't help me understand the book any better. Oh, well.

Coterie 1. a group of people who associate closely
2. an exclusive group; clique

Velocipede 1. a vehicle, usually having two or three wheels, that is propelled by the rider
2. an early kind of bicycle or tricycle

Sempiternal - everlasting; eternal

Lascar 1. an East Indian sailor
2. Anglo-Indian. an artilleryman

Excoriation 1. the act of excoriating
2. the state of being excoriated

so I looked up:
Excoriate 1. to denounce or berate severely; flay verbally
2. to strip off or remove the skin from

Acatalectic 1. (adj) not catalectic; complete
2. (noun) a verse having the complete number of syllables in the last foot

so I looked up:
Catalectic - lacking a syllable at the end of a line in metrical verse or ending in an incomplete foot

Banjax - ruin, smash, damage

Defalcation 1. misappropriation of money or funds held by an official, trustee, or other fiduciary
2. the sum misappropriated

Buncombe (variation of bunkum) - insincere speech making by a politician intended merely to please local constituents
( I think I would have gotten this one but the spelling threw me off.)

Vitiate - to impair the quality of; make faulty; spoil

Rhodomontade 1. a bragging speech
2. vain boasting or bluster

Peregrination 1. travel from one place to another, esp. on foot
2. a course of travel; journey

Desideratum - something wanted or needed

Mutandum - thing which is to be changed; something which must be altered

Saturday, June 13, 2009

J. Kaye's Book Blog

This month (as always) J. Kaye's Book Blog has a lot of giveaways going on.

For the audiobook The Richest Man in Town by W. Randall Jones go here.

For the audiobook The Vixen Diaries by Karrine Steffans go here.

For the audiobook The Cabinet of Curiosities by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child go here.

For the audiobook Law of Connection by Michael J. Losier go here.

For Initiation by Susan Fine go here.

For the audiobook The Bourne Deception by Eric Van Lustbader go here.

For the audiobook First Family by David Baldacci go here.

For Ghost Huntress: The Awakening by Marley Gibson go here.

For Wings by Aprilynne Pike go here.

For Red Fire by Deidre Knight go here.

For the audiobook A Long Stone's Throw by Alphie McCourt go here.

For A Taste For Red by Lewis Harris go here.

For the audiobook The 8th Confession by James Patterson go here.

For the audiobook 7th Heaven by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro go here.

For the audiobook Testimony by Anita Shreve go here.

For the audiobook Losing Mum and Pup by Christopher Buckley go here.


The Rules:

• You must be 18 years or older
• US and Canada residents only
• Winners will NOT be notified by email. The winner will be posted on June 27, 2009. If you don’t want to miss the announcement post, be a subscriber to the blog.
• Make sure your entry can be distinguished by others who post. Remember, you might not be the only John or Jane commenting below.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Garden Spells

Serendipity is giving away a copy of Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. It's gently used but it has a pretty sparkly cover to make up for that. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment but you can get extra entries for following and blogging. You have until June 18th to get your entries in. And this one is open internationally so everyone should get over there and enter. Good luck!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Last Prince Giveaway

Drey's Library is giving away a gently used ARC copy of The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire by C.M. Mayo. Want to know more? You can read Drey's review. Want to win it? Then drop by and tell her what your favorite summer drink is. You can get extra entries for following and spreading the word. The winner will be picked after 6:00 PM on June 16th so you better hurry!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Night Gardening

Want to read The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos? Well, there are blogs everywhere who want you to read it too. They each have 5 copies to give away so that's a lot of chances!

Enter at A Sea of Books by June 17th.

Enter at The Tome Traveller by June 18th.

Enter at Carol's Notebook by June 19th.

Enter at Socrates' Book Reviews by June 19th.

Enter at Dan's Journal by June 19th.

Enter at Just One More Page by June 21st.

Enter at The Eclectic Book Hoarder by June 23rd.

Enter at Joystory by June 27th.

Enter at A Bookworm's World by June 27th.

Enter at Peeking Between the Pages by June 27th.

The books are provided by Hachette Book Group so the contests are open to residents of the US and Canada only. No PO boxes.

Friday, June 5, 2009

The Friday 56, finally



I did the Friday 56 once before and I had intended to keep doing it. Of course I would never remember until it wasn't Friday anymore and it seemed silly to do it then. I figured I could always do it next week. Well, it took me a couple of months but I finally remembered while it was still Friday. So here goes.

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

My sentence:

Books were carried off and concealed in the ground, whole collections deliberately buried by their owners to hide them from the pirates.

From The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

The Crimes of Paris Review

The Crimes of Paris by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler

From the back of the book:

'Turn-of-the-century Paris was the beating heart of a rapidly changing world. Painters, scientists, revolutionaries, poets - all were there. But so, too, were the shadows: Paris was a violent, criminal place, its sinister alleyways the haunts of "Apache" gangsters and its cafes the gathering places of murderous anarchists. In 1911, it fell victim to perhaps the greatest theft of all time: the taking of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. Immediately, Alphonse Bertillio, a detective world renowned for pioneering crime-scene investigation techniques, was called upon to solve the crime. And quickly the Paris police had a suspect: a young Spanish artist who called himself Pablo Picasso...'


I found this book fascinating. It talks about the theft of the Mona Lisa and keeps coming back to that theme throughout the book but that is not really what the book is about. It starts by setting the scene of Paris and the social and political climate at the time. It talks about art, and how it was changing, and the emergence of cubism. It talks about the life of Pablo Picasso and his friends and contemporaries. And it talks a lot about crime and how that was changing too. From the first time a car was used as a get away vehicle to the first private detective to the beginnings of the use of science to solve crimes. Normally, I would think that there were too many vastly different topics to fit together in one cohesive book. But I did not find that the case here. None of the pieces made you wonder what they were doing there. Instead you saw how they all were interconnected. There were no improbable jumps or abrupt changes of subject as if the author was trying to shoehorn in every piece of information they happened to know no matter how unrelated. And there is a lot of information. You can tell that a lot of time went into researching this book. But even though there is a lot to digest I found the writing easy to read, it didn’t get dull or dry and it flowed well so the book moved quickly. I loved learning all the little tidbits like how cubism found its way into the military, or when the word detective was first used. I also liked that it wasn’t all just facts and dates and that you got to see some of the events in the context of people’s lives, having seen their background and how they got to where they were. There is a part of this book that is true crime in that it talks about a lot of cases and gives some specifics of each one, but it is also a history and talks about the anarchists and the political climate, it explores the culture of the time in the talk about art and the love of crime fiction. It may not be for everyone but I think it has appeal for several different interests. I don’t think you ever really forget the fact that this is a non-fiction book but at the same time it is definitely a good story. And it may not be filled with heart stopping thrills but there is a bit of mystery about it and it does keep you interested until the very end.

Lake of Skulls

How's that for a title? Interested? Well, Birdbrain(ed) is giving away a copy of Lake of Skulls by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. It's an ex-library copy so it has some stamps and stuff but it hasn't hurt the story inside so if you want a chance to win get over there and leave a comment by June 9th. Extra entries available if you blog or twitter. And this one is open to everyone! Good like.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Books I Finished in May

I know you have been waiting all month for this so I won't keep you waiting any longer.

Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home by Harry Kemelman
I liked it. I thought it was more about the people than it was about the mystery.

The Moon and the Sun by Vonda McIntyre
Not my favorite. You can read my review here. And you can download your own copy here.

Galileo by Bertolt Brecht

The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien
I spent a lot of this book wondering if I was ever going to figure out what was going on. I did, sort of. It was interesting but hard to define.

Alan Quatermain's Wife by H. Rider Haggard
Not a whole lot of romance so don't worry. I love the cover.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley
Another vampire story. But I like vampires so that's okay. Some of the characters were very interesting.

Eyes Wide Open by Jud Wilhite
You can read my review here.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
What is there to say? This book is just great.

Guide to Pirate Parenting by Tim Bete
A silly, goofy, very fast read. You can download your own e-book copy here.

Crimes of Paris by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler
I found this book fascinating. You can read my review here.

Tarzan at the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs
A lot of daring do and beautiful women falling in love with brave men. Typical Edgar Rice Burroughs.