Books & Giveaway

It is a quiet day. Wet is threatening us. We may actually see something fall from the sky and dampen the earth. Of course these are the days that I love to curl up in a soft spot and read.  So I thought I would share a few more good reads with you.  And offer one for someone to take home with them too.

I love teaching the kiddos.  And there has been so many changes in our coast line of the Gulf of Mexico with the oil spill that we had there.  So how do you explain that to a child?  Patti Pelican and The Gulf Oil Spill is one way to do just that.  With bright paintings and a audio CD that has a sing-a-long with it, there is a lot of information to share here.  We had met Patti when we read Salty Seas.  I was so happy to have a way to explain to the kiddos how important it is we clean up after ourselves.  Birds, fish and animals can not correct the pollution that people create.  So when a disaster of this nature happens, it is of top priority that all is done to help the environment. 

I also have been curled up with The Canary List.  Here a 12 year old girl who has made the rounds of foster homes does her best to avoid the evil that is lurking around her.  It seems that she has been placed in classes for challenged kids.  But others do not realize that she can sense something they can not see, something dark.  As the story progresses and secrets manage to unfold, teacher Crockett Grey finds that his student Jamie Piper has a strange gift.  One that is taking him into dark conspiracies guarded by those in power.  So how does he help her and know when to dig a little deeper?  I was brought into this story, page by page.  And today is just the kind of day to dig on in once again.  Finding the secrets to be revealed. 

And my last one is the one I want to share with you.  It was a great wild wacky and weird read.  Just the kind of off center book that has you wondering what is happening with the characters still.  This is Just Exactly Like You is a great debut novel from the man's view of wonder when a marriage starts falling apart.  Jack Lang does not understand why his wife is gone.  Or how she can not see how life is never going to be all pat and nice.  But that instead the house will be unfinished, the marriage will not always work and their son will never be like everyone else.  He is sitting at home with their autistic son, looking at the house across the street.  The house he bought.  Thinking of how his wife is living across town with his best friend.  And not quite getting the whole picture into focus.  I think you might just want to read this one yourself.  Figure out if life is smooth or do we all have these internal conversations that no one else should ever hear?  You can get this book by leaving me a comment.  Just tell me one thought of how life is not always the way it looks from the outside.  Make sure you leave your email so I can notify the winner too!  And for me?  Well my internal conversation is always wondering why I am the only one who sees the puddle on the floor when a pet has an accident.  How does everyone else miss this and NEVER step in it either. 

I wish to thank those who sent me these books to review.  It is always my pleasure.  And of course, they do not pay me to read.  That is my own personal pleasure.  Nor do they pay for my thoughts...just happy to give them freely.