June Overview

Here is an overview of all the posts and book reviews that I had put up in June in case you somehow missed one of them (I imagine it happens occasionally) or if you are new to my blog and want some help catching up with all the June awesomeness that took place here.Books Reviewed:Charmed Life by Diana Wynne JonesThe Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne JonesTracking the Tempest by Nicole PeelerGraceling by Kristin CashoreThe City & the City by China MievilleMagic bleeds by Ilona AndrewsShades of Grey by Jasper Fforde(Semi) Regular Blog...

It's Friday so Follow and Hop

Last week's Follow Friday was pretty fun and I came across some great new blogs so I thought I would give it another go. This time I added Crazy for Book's Blog Hop as well as the Follow Friday feature hosted by Parajunkee's ViewThis week, Jennifer at Crazy for Books asks that participants talk about why they started blogging, so here is my answer:My name is Simcha and I started blogging about a year ago after I began an online scifi and fantasy...

Conrad's Fate by Diana Wynne Jones

Conrad’s Fate is the only one of the Chrestomanci books that I had never before read and since it includes my favorite character in the series, Christopher Chant, I was really excited to finally read it.Conrad Tesdinic lives in the mountain village of Stallchester, in the English Alps, along with his mother, uncle and sister. Ever since he was a young child Conrad has been warned by his uncle that he possesses bad karma, from an important deed left...

Friday Quotes: It's all DWJ this week

Since this week I had focused on reading books by Diana Wynne Jones I thought it would be appropriate to dedicate this week's page of quotes to her.I really had so much fun immersing myself in Jones's world of the Chrestomanci and I even managed to fit in Howl's Moving Castle, which I loved and will review next week. I still have many more of her books that I intend to read and I will be trying to fit them in between my other readings whenever I have the chance.In the meantime I hope you enjoy these quotes as well as the reviews I have put up so...

Funny customer service moments

This is a bit off topic but I couldn't resist sharing this really funny site that I came across today called The Customer is not Always Right where employees from around the world share their humorous experiences in customer service. These are a few of my favorites: Not So Beautiful Mind Bookstore | Alberta, Canada Customer: “Hi, I’m looking for a book based off a movie. Life is Beautiful, I think?” Me: “I don’t believe Life is Beautiful” was originally a book. Are you perhaps thinking of A Beautiful Mind?” Customer: “Yes! Yes that’s the...

The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones

Most people die only once, but Christopher Chant can die again and again, or at least nine times. And at the rate that he is currently going, those nine lives won’t last very long.Raised in a London mansion by a bevy of nurses and governesses, young Christopher lives a privileged but lonely existence, largely ignored by his flighty mother and distant father. But each night he escapes from the nursery into the Place Between from where he can enter...

Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones

A couple of weeks ago I had mentioned that in honor of Diana Wynne Jones I would try to read and review as many of her books as I could get a hold of, and since then I hadn't brought it up again. Lest you think that I forgot about my resolution I want to clarify that I certainly have not. In fact, I had jumped into my pile of Jones books with relish, only occasionally coming up for air. And then I suddenly realized that it has been over a week since...

Missing Harry Potter? Then this song is for you

Thanks to BStearns at Bryan's SFF Hub for introducing me to James at War and his music video parodies. This is Hey Harry Potter sung to Hey There Deli...

Free audiobooks at Audible.com

Audible.com is currently offering a selection of audio books for free download as a promotion to non-members. A few of the books they are offering are ones that I have been eager to read, so I'm pretty excited about this promotion. But this offer is only good for one download and it ends on July 2nd.The list of books include:METAtropolis by Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, John Scalzi, Karl SchroederThe Hunter by L. J. SmithOperation Yes by Sara Lewis HolmesThat's Life Samara Brooks by Daniel EhrenhaftThe Hanging Hill by Chris GrabensteinYours...