Book Blogger Hop (and a Guilty Conscience)

Hosted by Jennifer from Crazy-for-Books, this Book Blogger Hop is a brilliant BOOK PARTY, and lasts from January 28 until January 31. It's a fun, friendly way for book bloggers to socialize, connect with other book lovers, and discover new book blogs. If you'd like me to visit your blog, please leave a comment and I'll be happy to hop by.






Each week, Jennifer chooses a question from those submitted by book bloggers for discussion. This week's question is from Aliyah from Des Absurdités: What book are you most looking forward to seeing published in 2011? Why are you anticipating that book?

This is another great question, although it makes me a bit nervous as well. Here's my story.

A couple of years ago, I started to read a series of books I'd heard about but had never read. I fell in love with this series, and want to read the entire series. I am looking forward to The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party: The New No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Novel by Alexander McCall Smith, which is due out in March of this year. I adore this series, which features two clever, caring detectives in Botswana, Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi. I was on a roll with these books and read each and every one of them in order. That is, until last year, when I fell behind in my reading of this series. I had read all of the books up until the one published last year, The Double Comfort Safari Club. I will read that book before I read the new one. I am feeling very guilty that I haven't read Double Comfort yet. But my guilty conscience doesn't end there. There are many other sequels and series books that I have not yet read, and I feel bad about this. Some of the books that I blogged about in earlier days now have sequels (by Michael J. Fox, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Nora Ephron, for example), and I feel bad that I haven't read them; and there are series books such as the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace, which are so beautifully written that I want to read more of them. Why haven't I finished reading the Millennium trilogy by Steig Larsson? I have all three books but have only read the first one, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I even have a "prequel", The Defector by Daniel Silva, the book that came out before The Rembrandt Affair, and provides the backstory--and I haven't read that one yet! Sometimes I feel as if I should stop getting any new books, until I read all of the books that I already have. Or maybe I should just try to spend more time reading! :)

Book Blogger Hop: A Challenge Taken to Heart

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly event for bloggers and readers, a chance to socialize in a virtual way, to connect with other book lovers, make new friends and followers, and share an appreciation of books. Hosted by the brilliant Jennifer from Crazy-for-Books, this Hop lasts from November 12 until November 15, so there's still ample time to sign-up and enjoy the blogosphere's best BOOK PARTY! If you'd like me to visit your blog, please leave a comment.

Jennifer's Book Blogger Hop gets better each and every week! In addition to presenting a question-of-the-week, often submitted by other book bloggers, she posed a unique challenge last week. Admittedly, I was reluctant at first to take on her seemingly hefty challenge. To sum it up, Jennifer asked that we find a new blog and really get to know it throughout the week, to leave at least five comments on that blog, and then to post about the experience during the next Hop. Initially, I was not going to do this challenge, because I already have plenty to do, blogging-wise and other-wise. But I thought about it, and I realized that this was indeed the whole point of the Book Blogger Hop, to discover a new blog or two that you truly want to visit frequently. At that point, I decided to follow through wholeheartedly on Jennifer's challenge.

After some perusing, I decided to focus on Leslie's blog, Under My Apple Tree, which features mostly books, with a bit of nature, birds, flowers, food and photography, interconnected in an artistic fashion. These are some of my favorite things, so I thought this blog would be a good fit for me. I was undoubtedly also influenced by a book I recently finished reading, Heart With Joy. While I don't routinely read many young adult books, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, reviewed it, and even interviewed the gracious author, Steve Cushman. Anyway, in this book there's a wonderful character, "Old Lady Peters", who is an avid bird-watcher and teaches the main character in the story, Julian Hale, to also watch and care for our feathered friends.

To make things easy for myself, and to insure that I would, indeed, leave frequent comments, I added Under My Apple Tree to my blogroll (which allows me to know at a glance when a blog has published a new post). Throughout the past week, I visited this blog numerous times and left many comments. (Leslie may have wondered who I was and why I was suddenly leaving so many comments!) I will continue to follow this blog in an earnest fashion. Because really, as I've mentioned already, the point of blog hopping is precisely to discover sites that interest you in more than a superficial way.

Thank you, Jennifer, for giving me the push I needed, and for helping me to discover a very lovely book blog!

Each week, Jennifer presents a question for participating book bloggers to answer. This week's question is from Christina from The Paperback Princesses: If you find a book that looks interesting but is part of a series, do you always start with the first title?

Another interesting question! As a general rule, I do try to start with the first book in a series. For example, I've read all of the books in The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith in order, although I have yet to read the last book in this series (it sits patiently in my TBR stack). However, there are definitely exceptions to the "rule". I read--and enjoyed--the well-crafted thriller, The Rembrandt Affair, which is a part of the Gabriel Allon series by Daniel Silva, without having read any of the preceding books. I should add that this book "stood alone" quite well.

Thanks for reading!

Mailbox Monday: Gifts

I almost feel like a child boasting about Christmas gifts! Here are the latest acquisitions to my book collection, and they are, for the most part, gifts.



From Yvonne's blog, Socrates' Book Review Blog, I won the audio book version of The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker. Many book bloggers listen to audio books on a regular basis, while I've only listened to a couple, so I'm pleased to possess a new audio book.

Deepak Chopra's new book, Muhammad: A Story of the Last Prophet, arrived for an upcoming TLC book tour. This book will be released to the public on September 21, 2010. I have several books by Deepak Chopra, including my favorite so far, Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, which the author signed for me many years ago.

Goops and How to Be Them is a gift for my birthday from my mother. She read these verses to me and my sisters when we were mere goops, and it's wonderful to reacquaint myself with this very charming book.

My sister, Karen, gave me a Barnes & Noble gift card as a birthday gift. It's the perfect gift for me!

Lydia from Putnam sent The Defector by Daniel Silva to thank me for being on TLC's The Rembrandt Affair book blog tour. But it should be the other way around. I should thank Lydia, because I enjoyed reading my first Daniel Silva thriller and being on the tour, which was a very different sort of book tour.

Mailbox Monday, one of my favorite memes, is being hosted by one of my favorite bloggers, Kathy from Bermudaonion's Weblog, during the month of September. What new books have you gotten recently in the mail or from elsewhere?

The Rembrandt Affair: A Questionnaire

Often I am privileged to interview authors. Now I am in a sense the one being interviewed in this non-traditional review of The Rembrandt Affair, the new thriller by NY Times bestselling author Daniel Silva. The publisher presented ten questions pertaining to the book, which I've answered below.


If you were to write a blurb in fewer than three sentences for The Rembrandt Affair, what would it be?

If you seek excitement, don't leave the house--instead, turn off your computer and cell phone, set out the "Do Not Disturb" sign, and open up the latest thriller by Daniel Silva. Furnished with mystery, art, and intrigue, your requirement for excitement will not only be met but exceeded as you join Gabriel Allon on his new adventures around the world.


Gabriel Allon is a talented spy and assassin, but also a master art restorer. If you could have two careers that seem to be complete opposites, what would they be?

That's a great question. I tried to come up with professions that are diametrically opposed. I'm not sure if I completely succeed (in fact, I know I haven't), but I'll choose an artist, a sculptress to be more precise, and a novelist. The first is tactile and communicates in such a different way than the fiction writer. (I studied art and English in college, so I actually have a background in both areas.)


What three words would you use to describe the character of Gabriel Allon?

Professional, unflappable, and perspicacious--that's how I'd describe Gabriel Allon.


The Rembrandt Affair takes the reader all over the world. Of all the locations mentioned, which would be your ideal vacation spot?

Many of the cities mentioned in the book appeal to me--Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, Paris, Tel Aviv, etc.--but if I had to choose only one, it would be London. I am a bit of an Anglophile, am thoroughly charmed by English accents, and "favour" the ambiance of London. It simply seems so established and civilized and sophisticated. I visited London many years ago, armed with an old Nikon and a sense of awe, and would love to return.


Art theft plays a major role in the novel. If no crime were involved, what piece of art would you like to have in your home?

Since I don't think my husband would appreciate discovering a beautiful, giant, naked man in the living room, I won't choose David by Michelangelo. I love the work of the Impressionists, and would probably choose a painting from Claude Monet's Water Lilies series, such as Nymphéas, which is absolutely spectacular. The colors and play of light define glorious!




Zoe Reed is a powerful female character in the novel. Tell us about an influential woman in your life.

My mother is a very strong woman. Along with careers in the medical field and real estate, she raised four daughters without ever complaining. I marvel at the strength and optimism she's shown over the years, which continue now, as she faces health problems with great courage.


Who was your favorite “good guy” in The Rembrandt Affair and why?

This was my first book by Daniel Silva, and my introduction to Gabriel Allon, who impressed me with his intelligence and compassion. He is a "good guy", a hero without being a stereotypical hero. He never gives up and doesn't compromise his ideals throughout the book, whether he's dealing with art or with people.


All of the technology discussed in the novel is real. Does any of it surprise you?

I know that there's far more technology than I could ever imagine, so it didn't really surprise me. That being said though, what's currently out there is nothing short of amazing. I'm not supposed to quote from my copy of the book, because it's not the final version, so I'll paraphrase a bit. The book says that mobile technology has enabled governments to monitor the words of their citizens, their e-mails, and even their thoughts in ways that were previously just science fiction. The brave new world has definitely arrived!


What celebrity would play Gabriel Allon if The Rembrandt Affair were on the big screen?

There is only one person I can see in this role. Please don't accuse me of "brown-nosing", but the whole time I read The Rembrandt Affair I pictured the author as protagonist Gabriel Allon. Once I saw the photo below, that's who I imagined as the character. Or maybe there's an actor who resembles Daniel Silva?



Which fellow book-loving, blogging friend do you think would enjoy The Rembrandt Affair? Tag them here and we will mail a finished copy of the novel!

Thank you for your generosity! I would like to tag my fellow blogger and writer Kim Smith from Writing Space. As the author of a few mysteries herself, I'm sure she'll appreciate and enjoy this riveting book.


Special thanks to Lisa from TLC and Putnam for including me on this tour. For other such reviews of this book, please visit the other stops on TLC's The Rembrandt Affair blog tour.

Mailbox Monday: More Books for Summer

One of the perks of being a book blogger is getting books in the mail. Gratis. What an honor it is to be asked to review books, of all sorts, some which haven't yet been released to the public! When I first started this blog, I didn't imagine that I'd get books in the mail to review, but after many months of blogging I started to get offers. I also win books from other book blogs that I visit, which is terrific, too.

While I didn't get a great number of new books last week, I did get a couple more to savor this summer.

The Rembrandt Affair, the latest thriller by Daniel Silva, to be released to the public on July 20, arrived for an upcoming TLC book tour from Putnam. I won The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees from a giveaway on Kristi's blog, peetswea. She generously let me choose any book I wanted from her long list of reviewed books. I'm looking forward to reading both of these.


Mailbox Monday, one of my favorite memes, is hosted by Marcia from The Printed Page. What new books did you get for the summer, by mail or from elsewhere?