kick ass giveaway!

Win a copy of The Hundred-Year House!!

 

 

 

 

 

Contest Rules:

 

1. Follow this blog :)

2. E-mail your name and this book title to: jenileerose@yahoo.com to enter!

3. Contest ends 8/31!

in honor of belated national dog day.

I am not NOT a dog person, I am just more of a cat person because they can wash themselves and the bathroom cleanup is easier. I can totally appreciate a book filled with true stories about man's best friend though, which is why I am pleased to review Man's Best Hero: True Stories of Great American Dogs by dog-lover and author Ace Collins.

Get ready for a feel-good-tear-fest folks because this collection tells 13 true stories of heroic actions by everyday dogs, and you WILL blubber like a baby, dog lover or not. A major crowd pleaser is the story of the guide dog leading his owner to safety on September 11th. I'm crying right now just writing that line. Ugh. Many of these stories include dogs that have saved lives, but Collins also included stories about dogs who have improved lives, which is kind of the same thing.

smart boss 101.

People have the tendency to say that you become like the people you spend the most time with, so surround yourself with the very best. I never knew who the people were who said this, but one of them is Claudio Fernández-Aráoz. He wrote It's Not the How or the What but the Who: Succeed by Surrounding Yourself with the Best and insists this is the difference between failure and success in business. Can't argue with that.

 

This is a hiring resource which I passed over to my husband who owns his own chiropractic office and has the WORST luck finding secretaries that fit. He's on his third in less than two years and he still doesn't feel like she's his long-term solution. He was pretty thrilled and impressed with wifey over here when I handed him a book filled with CLEAR info on topics associated with personnel recruitment including how many candidates you should interview, the benefits and pitfalls of using consultants, how to ensure that new hires fit into your organization, how to deal with compensation, how to create teams that thrive, and more. Every boss needs to know how to assess people for the purpose of employment, and Claudio will get you there the fastest.

GASP!

The Hundred-Year House by Rebecca Makkai is not a novel for everyone, but really, what novel is? If you enjoy smart writing, an entrancing story, and characters just loath-able enough to keep you turning the page, then I suggest you grab a copy.

Makkai has created a pretty complex ghost story which takes place over 100 years. Readers get to meet the multiple characters that lived in the mansion (called Laurelfield) over this course of time. Part I focuses on Zee and her husband, Doug, in 1999. Part II focuses on Grace and her husband, George, in 1955, answering many questions from Part I. Part III focuses on a group of artists who were staying at Laurelfield in 1929. The novel moved along really well in my opinion, and if you don't like one set of characters, chances are you'll like another.

we used to be friends.

My mom and I are obsessed with Veronica Mars. The show, the fictional character, the movie. So when we heard that writer Rob Thomas was coming out with a series of V. Mars novels picking right up where the movie (which came out in March) left off, we almost had kittens! Or whatever that expression is. I knocked back the first installment in about 36 hours. It was like catching up with an old friend, one that you like a lot.

In The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line Veronica gets her first high paying gig since her dad almost died in the hit and run that killed Deputy Sacks which happened at the end of the movie. She took over Mars Investigations while Keith has been recovering, and Keith isn't super pleased about her being back in the PI biz when she is one bar exam away from being a successful attorney in anywhere but Neptune. It's currently spring break and Veronica is approached by a big wig at the Chamber of Commerce to help find a girl who went missing after a night of drunken debauchery. The potential kidnapping of a teenage girl is killing business for local bars, hotels, restaurants and strip clubs in the coastal town and Sheriff Lamb is a fool, so Veronica takes the case basically so she can pay the electric bill and her newest employee, Mac. Once pretty teenage girl number two goes missing things start getting interesting, and Veronica learns once again that the past can never just stay in the past.

kick ass giveaway!

A chance to win a FREE copy of My Accidental Jihad!

 

 

 

 

 

Contest Rules:

 

1. Follow this blog :)

2. E-mail your name and this book title to: jenileerose@yahoo.com to enter!

3. Contest ends 8/24!

when god wants a piece of you.

Kasey Van Norman wrote about her journey with cancer and if being a Christian is all it's cracked up to be in her memoir Raw Faith: What Happens When God Picks a Fight. Back in May she came out with a Bible study based on that memoir titled Raw Faith Bible Study: What Happens When God Picks a Fight because she's not the only one who has experience the trials of life, leaving her to wonder why God would allow such a terrible thing to happen. She has helped scores of people with her memoir and now she can reach even more with this new study, and I highly recommend it.

In this Bible study, Kasey draws from scripture and her personal story to help us understand why God let's bad things happen to good people. Also included are questions you can either personally reflect on or use in a group discussion, whichever you prefer. There is also a leader's guide included for facilitators. It can get super emotional in this study, especially for those of you who have been hit hard with tragedy. I don't know how well I'd do in a group setting with the weight of the grief on my shoulders, so don't feel like you have to join a group if you're not ready. Read through the days yourself first if you need to. A lot of comfort comes along with the sadness.