Back to the Books Giveaway Hop

The Back to Books Giveaway Hop is hosted by I Am a Reader, Not a Writer and Buried by Books. It will run from September 1 - September 7.

I'm as lazy as ever.  Or let's just call it traditional.  Or perhaps...adverse to change.  Any who, I'm giving a way a book of one lucky winner's choice for $10 or less.  You can participate if the Book Depository ships to your mailbox.  Good luck and I hope everyone gets some great reading in!  Read a little extra for me!

Here's what you need to know:

1.  This is an International Giveaway (Whoohoo!) 
2. You do NOT have to be a FOLLOWER, but it is much appreciated 
3. I will use rafflecopter to choose a winner 
4. This contest will end on September 7 at 11:59pm central time. I will announce a winner a few days after. Good Luck!

Foodie Fridays... Poll: What do you look for in a recipe/cookbook?

I'm back again participating in the Geeky Blogger Book Blog's new Foodie Friday's meme.  She started this meme to combine her two faves--books and cooking.  Seeing as how I share those loves AND cooking decreases my stress, I couldn't contain my excitement.  I could kill two birds with one stone. It will be the perfect addition to Reflections of a Bookaholic as other content will slow and I can document my cooking.

This week's Foodie Friday post asks about you!! I want to get an idea of what people look for in cookbooks or recipes.  So please tell me what you think by answering the poll below.  I hope to use the results to make my reviews more helpful in the future.  If you choose "other" as an answer choice, please tell me why in the comments.

P.S.  I'm participating in a giveaway hop this week and answering this poll is an entry.  Although the giveaway isn't up yet, check back by the end of the night to enter the giveaway.

What Readers Know...

Source: facebook.com via Donna on Pinterest

Pinterest knows my soul right now :)

Why I Love Wednesdays... Favorite Book to Recommend

I am returning with my feature... Why I love which takes place on Wednesdays. Today's proclamation of love concernsthe books we love to recommend!

Why I Love...The Book Thief

The Book Thief is such a lovely and touching read.  It's funny because I had a difficult time starting it.  I would start, then stop.  Start again and stop again.  I kept coming back to it because every time I looked around, someone else was recommending it.  I kept thinking, "What am I missing?"  Then one day I didn't stop reading and this is one of the most amazing books I've ever read.  It's told from the point of view of death and he often imparts wise tidbits that are both thoughtful and fun at times.  The characters are all so  wonderful and complex.  It's so difficult to end this book.

I like to recommend this book not because it is amazing (and it is) but because I now that it can be easy to give up on it in the beginning.  It's not that it is slow.  It's just very different and it takes a moment to become accustomed   Because so many people recommended this book to me I couldn't get it out of my head.  I can't believe I would have missed out on something so wonderful.  You can find my review here.

Which recommendations do you love to give? Feel free to create your own post and link up.  Don't want to create an entire post?  Tell me your favorites in the comments.  Thanks for stopping by for another week of Why I Love Wednesdays!!

If you want to play along, feel free to grab the image (there is a button on the right sidebar now) and link your post in the linky. Here goes.

LINKY INSTRUCTIONS:

When naming your link, please choose the name of your post. Mine would say "Why I Love...Rhett Butler."

Please link directly to your post and not your blog.

Please participate :)

Previous Why I Love Wednesday Posts

Review: Come the Shadows

Come the Shadows by Wendy Young
Series: The Campbell Creek Mysteries #1
Genre: Mystery, Suspense
Pages: 232 pages (paperback)
Source: Author
Author's Blog | Twitter | Facebook
Buy it: Amazon | Kindle | B&N

Description:

Campbell Creek, North Carolina has not seen a murder in seventeen years. When bones are discovered in the old bread factory Officer Will Harmon is determined to investigate, no matter who stands in his way. His wife Laura knows there is more troubling their town than one dead body, though, and the more she digs the more she finds. It's all up to them - and they will do whatever it takes to win against the darkness invading their town.

My Rating:

My Review:

Just Because You Would Understand...

Source: Uploaded by user via Donna on Pinterest

P.S. Happy Birthday Mama and Daddy!!
Yep. Both of them... Today.

Foodie Fridays... Hungry Girl Supermarket Survival (Review)

Hungry Girl Supermarket Survival: Aisle by Aisle by Lisa Lillien
Genre: Cooking
Pages: 256 (paperback)
Source: Purchase
Hungry Girl |  Twitter
Buy it: Amazon | Kindle | B&N

Description:
Finally . . . a real-world guide that will help you navigate the supermarket and stock up on guilt-free foods, from mealtime must-haves to snack finds and more! It’s Hungry Girl’s ultimate resource for grocery-store survival---a must-own manual that makes shopping for better-for-you foods easy and fun! Inside you’ll find:

Hungry Girl’s amazingly comprehensive supermarket guide is your key to guilt-free shopping, eating, and living!

If you don't like to cook or don't have time to cook, never fear!  This is the Foodie Friday post for everyone.  Read on and I'll explain why.

My Review:

Review: I've Got Your Number (Audiobook)

I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella
Genre: Chick Lit
Length: 13 hours and 25 minutes
Narrator: Jane Entwistle
Source: eLibrary
Author's Website | Facebook
Buy it: Amazon | Kindle | Audiobook | B&N | Book Depo

Description:

Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier. She is about to marry the ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her 'happy ever after' begins to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring but in the panic that followed, she has now lost her phone. As she paces shakily round the hotel foyer she spots an abandoned phone in a bin. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring. Perfect!
Well, perfect except the phone's owner, businessman Sam Roxton doesn't agree. He wants his phone back and doesn't appreciate Poppy reading all his messages and wading into his personal life.
What ensues is a hilarious and unpredictable turn of events as Poppy and Sam increasingly upend each other's lives through emails and text messages. As Poppy juggles wedding preparations, mysterious phone calls and hiding her left hand from Magnus and his parents... she soon realises that she is in for the biggest surprise of her life.

My Rating

My Review:

Why I Love Wednesdays... Favorite Chunksters

I am returning with my feature... Why I love which takes place on Wednesdays. Today's proclamation of love concerns our Favorite Large (Chunky) Reads

Why I Love... You guessed it...Gone with the Wind

It has been some time since I discussed my love for Gone with the Wind, Selfish Scarlet, and Ravishing Rhett Butler (can men be ravishing?).  Yes, and when I refer to Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind, I must use his full name.  It just doesn't work any other way.  Most of you know (and will understandably roll your eyes) that my all time favorite book is Gone with the Wind.  You know that you love a book when it's the answer to almost every bookish question.  But I digress.

Gone with the Wind is my favorite Chunkster (a work I never heard before entering the book blogging arena) for a variety of reasons.  When I was in school, we had the accelerated reader program.  This is a reading program where students read books which have predetermined points based on the length and reading level.  After completing a book, you would take a 10 question test on the book and acquire varying points based on how well you do.  We could then cash in our points for prizes.  Some teachers integrated it into their classrooms and some didn't.  My sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Jimenez (who I still love), assigned each  student a point requirement per six week period and I believe that I was required to get 100 points.  I think most books were about 6 or 7 points.  The classics were usually around 9.  Well Gone with the Wind was 56.  So I picked it up...and the rest is history!!  In retrospect, it would seem difficult to take a test on such a long book, but then again, it's hard to forget Gone with the Wind.

I didn't have many chunksters to choose from because I actually don't prefer them.  You know, short attention span and all.

Which chunksters do you love? Feel free to create your own post and link up.  Don't want to create an entire post?  Tell me your favorites in the comments.  Thanks for stopping by for another week of Why I Love Wednesdays!!

If you want to play along, feel free to grab the image (there is a button on the right sidebar now) and link your post in the linky. Here goes.

LINKY INSTRUCTIONS:

When naming your link, please choose the name of your post. Mine would say "Why I Love...Rhett Butler."

Please link directly to your post and not your blog.

Please participate :)

Previous Why I Love Wednesday Posts

Review: Arranged

Arranged by Catherine McKenzie
Genre: Chick Lit
Pages: 390 (Paperback)
Source: Author
Author's Website | Twitter | Facebook
Buy it: Amazon | Kindle | B&N | Book Depo

Description:

Anne Blythe has a great life: a good job, good friends, and a potential book deal for her first novel. When it comes to finding someone to share it with, however, she just can't seem to get it right.

After yet another relationship ends, Anne comes across a business card for what she thinks is a dating service, and she pockets it just in case. When her best friend, Sarah, announces she's engaged, Anne can't help feeling envious. On an impulse, she decides to give the service a try because maybe she could use a little assistance in finding the right man. But Anne soon discovers the company isn't a dating service; it's an exclusive, and pricey, arranged marriage service. She initially rejects the idea, but the more she thinks about it-and the company's success rate-the more it appeals to her. After all, arranged marriages are the norm for millions of women around the world, so why wouldn't it work for her?
A few months later, Anne is travelling to a Mexican resort, where in one short weekend she will meet and marry Jack. And against all odds, it seems to be working out-until Anne learns that Jack, and the company that arranged their marriage, are not what they seem at all

My Rating:

My Review:

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Audiobook)

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1
Genre: Young Adult, Angels/Demons
Length: 12 hours and 32 minutes
Narrator: Khristine Hvam
Source: eLibrary
Author's Blog | Twitter 
Buy it: Amazon | Kindle | Audiobook | B&N | Book Depo

Description:

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low. And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages - not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out. When one of the strangers - beautiful, haunted Akiva - fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

My Rating:

My Review:

Why I Love Wednesdays... Gifted Books

I am returning with my new feature... Why I love which takes place on Wednesdays. Today's proclamation of love concerns our Favorite Book Given or Received as a Gift

Why I Love...Cookbooks!!

Now I must admit that this week's topic is a bit confusing.  Even I can't remember what I actually meant when I chose this topic so let's all just run with it mmkay? Great.

I actually get very few books gifted to me and I understand why.  I mean, it can be difficult to choose a book for someone else.  It is doubly difficult when you aren't a reader, which is the case for most of the people who tend to give me gifts.  Well except for Jade.  Jade, you are one of the only people (the only person) who gives me bookish gifts and I heart you for that because you so don't have to do that.  Anyways.  I do get cookbooks as gifts and it is one of my favorite bookish gifts.  A close family member of mine works for Cooking Light Magazine and I'm always begging for cookbooks that I hear about or slyly inquire about .  Because she loves me and because I'm a very annoying person, sometimes she sends them my way (or she sends them to other family members and I just steal them).  I count these as gifts.  I'm pretty sure this counts.  Boy am I rambling tonight.

This could even be considered a group gift as these are the books that I am using for upcoming Foodie Fridays!

Okay enough of the madness.  What great books have you been gifted?

Which Gifted Books do you love? Feel free to create your own post and link up.  Don't want to create an entire post?  Tell me your favorites in the comments.  Thanks for stopping by for another week of Why I Love Wednesdays!!

If you want to play along, feel free to grab the image (there is a button on the right sidebar now) and link your post in the linky. Here goes.

LINKY INSTRUCTIONS:  

When naming your link, please choose the name of your post. Mine would say "Why I Love...Rhett Butler."

Please link directly to your post and not your blog.

Please participate :)

Previous Why I Love Wednesday Posts

Review: All I Ever Wanted

All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 318 (eReader)
Source: Purchased based on blogger recommendation
Author's Website | Twitter | Facebook | Blog
Buy it: Amazon | Kindle | B&N | Book Depo

Description:

One Happily-Ever-After Rocking Chair...
 and no sign of any forthcoming babies to rock in ol' Georgebury, Vermont. For Callie Grey, turning thirty means coming to grips with the fact that her boss (and five-week fling) is way overdue in his marriage proposal. And way off track because Mark has suddenly announced his engagement to the company's new Miss Perfect. If that isn't bad enough, her mom decides to throw her a three-oh birthday bash in the family funeral home.
Bad goes to worse when she stirs up a crazy relationship with the town's not so warm and fuzzy veterinarian, Ian McFarland, in order to flag Mark's attention. So Ian is more comfortable with animals.... So he's formal, orderly and just a bit tense. The ever-friendly, fun-loving and spontaneous Callie decides it's time for Ian to get a personality makeover. But dang, if he doesn't shock the heck out of her, she might actually fall for Vermont's unlikeliest eligible bachelor....

My Rating:

My Review

Bookmarks!!

I found these cute book spine bookmarks by way of Pinterest.  Which led me to Green Paper and then of course to Etsy (P.S. I love vintage!), which is where I always end up.  I think the bookmarks are a creative way to deal with old books that are kind of falling apart.  But I'm not sure I could do it.  You know... make that final tear.  What about you?  They are falling apart any way right?  But I do feel guilt-free just buying them.

Review: Bond Girl

Bond Girl by Erin Duffy
Genre: Chick Lit, Adult Fiction
Pages: 293 (paperback)
Source: TLC Book tours
Author's Facebook
Buy it: Amazon | Kindle | B&N | Book Depo

Description:

When other little girls were dreaming about becoming doctors or lawyers, Alex Garrett set her sights on conquering the high-powered world of Wall Street. And though she's prepared to fight her way into an elitist boys' club, or duck the occasional errant football, she quickly realizes she's in over her head when she's relegated to a kiddie-size folding chair with her new moniker—Girlie—inscribed in Wite-Out across the back.

No matter. She's determined to make it in bond sales at Cromwell Pierce, one of the Street's most esteemed brokerage firms. Keeping her eyes on the prize, the low Girlie on the totem pole will endure whatever comes her way.  Ignoring her friends' pleas to quit, Alex excels (while learning how to roll with the punches and laugh at herself) and soon advances from lowly analyst to slightly-less-lowly associate. Suddenly, she's addressed by her real name, and the impenetrable boys' club has transformed into forty older brothers and one possible boyfriend. Then the apocalypse hits, and Alex is forced to choose between sticking with Cromwell Pierce as it teeters on the brink of disaster or kicking off her Jimmy Choos and running for higher ground.

My Rating:

My Review:

Why I Love Wednesday... Book Recommended by Another

I am returning with my new feature... Why I love which takes place on Wednesdays. Today's proclamation of love concerns our Favorite Book Recommended by Another

Why I Love...Hounded (Iron Druid Chronicles)

This was an easy one for me (for a change).  When I saw this topic on my list, Hounded by Kevin Hearne instantly came to mind.  I am so so so very thankful to Missie from The Unread Reader and Jade from Sort of Beautiful for recommending this series.  I became hooked from the very beginning.  I am 110% (don't you hate when people make up false numbers like this) sure that I would have never picked up this book or read this series if it wasn't for their rave reviews.  It's just not something that would have piqued my interest.  An ancient druid trying to stay alive?  Ummm... who cares?  Well I do now!  I want to know EVERY scrape that Atticus finds himself in.

This is one entertaining series that has kept me interested from beginning to end.  I don't really compare the books across the series because they have all been fantastic.  I don't know the last time I found such a fabulous series that didn't disappoint.  Thanks  Missie and Jade!

Which books do you love thanks to the recommendation of someone else? Feel free to create your own post and link up.  Don't want to create an entire post?  Tell me your favorites in the comments.  Thanks for stopping by for another week of Why I Love Wednesdays!!

P.S. I've read some books!!  We are back on track :)

Why I Love Wednesdays... Favorite Summer Read

I am returning with my new feature... Why I love which takes place on Wednesdays. Today's proclamation of love concerns our Favorite Summer Read

Why I Love...Your Favorite Summer Read!!

Unfortunately I don't have any summer reads (which explains this week's topic), but I do love a great one.  I love how summer reads make me feel like I've taken a grand vacation even though I haven't left home.  If it's rainy outside, I can escape somewhere with a little sun.  There is just something about a great summer read that makes me feel so relaxed and I seem to read them faster.  So I'm definitely dying to catch up on some great ones!!

Soooo... tell me your favorite summer read of this wonderful summer.  Leave a comment or throw up a quick post.  If you've already left a review this summer, go ahead and link up in the linky.