I am kind of liking to participate in weekly geeks. A good way of community building, to discover new blogs, new books, new bloggers. Best is to read different perceptions about same books! That is the theme for this week's geek which Dewey borrowed from Darla's blog, books and other things. You review a book and then link it with the review of the same book reviewed by a fellow blogger. That way you and your reader get to read diverse viewpoints. I think this is a great idea. I have infact linked a few of my reviews in previous posts, before this.

Searching through archives might take a while but well worth the effort. Time for me go link hunting and post those here. The linky think might work well after each review. That way, more might look out for their older reviews and just copy/paste the links in the linky thing.

Trish from Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? (love that blog name) gave me this BFF award:

How sweet is that?! Thanks so much Trish. I've been enjoying reading Trish's blog. Her posts are so entertaining. It's relatively new to me. She's also hosting the Novella Challenge.

I'm not sure what the rules are so I'll give this to 5 blogger friends whose blogs I enjoy and are visitors to my blog as well:

Teddy @ So many precious books
Michelle @ Fraternity of Dreamers (Something tells me her name is Michelle. Boy, I hope I'm right)
Rob @ Rough Draft
Raidergirl @ An Adventure in Reading

I was given this award by two of my blogging friends, Rhinoa and Wendy. I should have responded to this a long time ago but I have been sick and am just starting to feel better. Most people have already been given this award but I will still post a list of the 10 blogs that make my day not including Rhinoa and Wendy's which, of course, do make my day. So here they are:

3M(Michelle) at 1 More Chapter- 3M is an avid reader and we share a lot of the same tastes. I have gotten several great recommendations from her. She is one of my prime enablers for feeding my challenge addiction. Plus, I love the design of her blog.

As it was BAFAB week from Jan 1-7, I bought books for my nephews, nieces and friends. I donated 50+ assorted books to an old age Home. I suppose I was just plain lucky to win three books I had put my name for. Thanks Melody, Dewey and Rhinoa. I look forward to read those. "The Road" was a coveted one!

The Road by Cormac McCarthy from Melody's Reading Corner
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher from Dewey

Now here's an interesting challenge! In 2008 I'll be reading some books about planet earth. See the challenge page for more information. List to come.

I have completed the Pub'08 Challenge! I have been fortunate to receive several ARCs of books published in '08. For the most part, I have enjoyed them all. Here's what I read:
**Click on the title for reviews.**

As I get ready to watch Persuasion, the first of the Jane Austen marathon on PBS, I had a couple of things to bring to your attention:

*1st Becky's Mini-Austen Challenge is underway. Hope you have your books picked out for that.

Yay! I love being tagged with memes, and this time Michelle over at Bookworm got me with two. First, I have to tell you six things about me.

Hm. This is turning out to be more difficult than I thought. I can think of only that which is already known, or that which I don't want to be known.

MUST THINK.

1. I haven't ever watched Dirty Dancing all the way through.

2. I love scary movies but "torture porn" (that is, movies like Hostel and Saw) makes me cry. I like my fright to be based entirely on that which is improbable, such as zombies and people that can't die, like Michael Meyers.

3. I hate leaving the house since I am often afraid I left something on or plugged in, etc. and will therefore burn my house down and kill my numerous pets.

4. Speaking of my pets, I have three dogs and a cat. I almost adopted another kitten this weekend (it was rescued from being put down) but I just can't afford another one. I'm sure someone adopted him after I left though; he was just too precious.

Darling Stephanie at Confessions of a Bookaholic bestowed this award to me. I think she's the bees knees too. Thanks, Steph! Here's the explanation:

I found out something new today....a Bookworms Carnival!! I was hanging out on Dewey's blog, The Hidden Side of a Leaf, and found out that every month someone different hosts this carnival. Each month there is a different theme as well.

This month's carnival is hosted by This is the Life and the theme is Thrills and Chills: Spooky Books That Keep You Up At Night. In order to enter your scary book just click on the Bookworms Carnival picture and submit an entry using the Blog Carnival Submission Form. The deadline is this Friday, yikes that's tomorrow!!

The latest Bookworm Carnival, with the theme of "Women in Literature" is now up for your perusal over at the Armenian Odar Reads. There are many fascinating posts on women around the world - looks like a lot of good reading ahead! Thanks to Myrthe for hosting once again.

This week’s theme comes from Samantha, who suggested that one week we all write about our fond memories of childhood books.

You could approach this several ways. I’ll probably list my favorite childhood books with maybe a paragraph about each book: why I loved it, how old I was when I read it, where I got the book, etc. You could also just pick one childhood favorite and review it as you would any other book. Or, if you’re fast, you could make up a meme other weekly geeks might like to use. It’ll be interesting to see how everyone personalizes this theme. Don’t forget to come back and leave a link to the post in your comment once you’ve written your post. No wrap-up post this week; just the one childhood books post.

As this is BAFAB week yet again, I bought books for my nephews, nieces and friends. I also bought books for myself. A few book lovers too are offering books on their blogs. Do check those out for free books! This way, I won a few books in the last year! Do check out
Rhinoa's Rambling
Melody's Reading Corner

Michelle from 1 More Chapter was kind enough to add my name to a drawing that she was having for a book giveaway. I won Buying a Fishing Rod for My Grandfather. Since I am participating in the 2008 A-Z Challenge this year, I will use this book for my "X" author. Now, to find my "X" title.

Thanks so much, Michelle!

This is a good idea. It will help me read from my other challenges. From July 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008 I need to read one book from six challenges I'm signed up for or will sign up for before then. Find out more here.

A tentative list is coming.

Ever stumble over something while web surfing and think, "Oh cool! I've never seen anything like this on the internet" only to find out you're the last person on the planet who hasn't heard of it.

Here are some of the things recently discovered by me and of course I have to share with you. Kinda like Columbus 'finding' America, they've already been discovered by thousands of people. It's my blog; I'm planting a flag in these:

My Live Signature: (Above)I could spend hours making these. (Yes, I'm that vain.) Try experimenting to find your best autograph for when you're rich and famous.

Esty: Drool over what the creative people are making. I wish I had that kind of talent.

sk*rt: Interesting stuff on the internet rated by women. If you have a profile, friend me. I'm, guess what, chrisbookarama.

This is getting insane!! I've joined three more challenges. I have got to stop browsing other blogs at work (downtime is wonderful isn't it?).

Ok...I have been over-committed for the 2007 challenges. I admit it. That's why I have been avoiding all of the new ones that have been popping up, even though some of them look really interesting and fun. But, Melissa over at Book Nut is hosting a challenge that fits right in with my reading plans for 2008.

I forgot to wrap it up! As simple as that! All this week I left links at various blogs and a few fellow bloggers too, left their links. I have added those links to the main posts. However, I might have left out a few links. Do feel free to remind me. I have made lists of book reviews for 2006, 2007 and 2008, which shows on the top of my left side bar. I have even put up a message about link exchange.

Stars: *****

I read this book for the Bibliography challenge.

I'm glad I found and read this book. Dunning is a great author and I thoroughly enjoyed his writing. Reading about buying and reselling books was very interesting and makes me want to learn more about it so I can make some money finding good deals. There is some really good information on the hobby too, not just a passing mention. The way the book is written, it could almost pass as a memoir. It all sounds so real, I kept having to remind myself it wasn't.

The story was very intriguing. The plot was well thought out. I had trouble stopping reading for the night

My very first award ever! Sarah at PussReboots awarded me the You Make My Day Award. This is the first award any of my blogs have won. I'm honored thanks!

Winners of this award are to award it to at least 10 more people. So without furthur ado, Bloggers who I believe deserve this award!

A Gaggle of Book Reviews - the first book review blog I ever read, the one that got me thinking of becoming more active with my blog.

Michael Connelly
391 pages
Read for: The Book Awards Challenge

Terry McCaleb used to be a top FBI profiler but the stress has taken it's toll on him. He suffers a heart attack which leaves him him in need of a heart transplant. He receives his heart transplant and is recovering at his boat when Graciela, the sister of his heart donor, shows up and asks him to help her find her sister's killer. Things get twisty from there.

I was able to complete another book yesterday which brings my total for January to eight. I am pretty happy with that. I managed three chunksters in January. However, my challenge reading got sidetracked a bit by some of the ARCs that I received. For the most part, I have enjoyed them so I don't mind. I will try to catch up on my challenges in February. Here's what I read:

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to not take on more than I can handle, especially when it comes to challenges. In 2007, I discovered Reading Challenges and signed up for everything and completed very little. I still have a few books to finish for the TBR Challenge and The Something About Me Challenge. I really hate not finishing things.

Now the new run of challenges is starting and I find myself being drawn in. They're just so tempting. Why is that? Is it the camaraderie of people working towards the same goals? The cute buttons?

Anyway, I'm sticking to a few rules before I join:

Stars: ****1/2

This book was read for the Newbery Project and the Decades 08 Challenge.

NOTE: The picture isn't of the version I read but I can't find it right now. When I go home I'll write down the ISBN and next time come and find the right graphic.

I had never heard of Doctor Dolittle until the Eddie Murphy movie came out and although the movie was silly, the idea of being able to talk to animals was an interesting one. So when I found out it was a book first I knew I wanted to read it. One day I found it at a library sale and I took it home.

Stars: ****

This book was read for the Four-Legged Friends challenge and the Fall Into Reading challenge. This book was read in November.

This is a tween novel, ages 9 and up about a boy who is thrown overboard of a ship to save his life and is washed up on an island full of dogs. The dogs were left behind by the former islanders. The dogs have split into two groups, with the more wild dogs called Fangoes by the sheep dogs. However it's been a while since people were on the island and most of the dogs don't remember humans. The boy, Jack, is the first human they've seen and he doesn't fit what they have heard about humans.

In this week I could manage to review only one book, that too a Tintin one, The Lake of Sharks. Comic books take less time to read and review. A new house entails a lot of work. Although I am nicely enconsed in my new home, all those paperwork for banks etc has to be completed. In India, nothing gets done by telephone or the internet. One has to go there and get things done.