Hi, this is Sally – the mom of Leah and Amy.  This summer is one of staying in and resting for me.  First, I wait for  lower back surgery.  You will no doubt see lots of reviews from me.  Unfortunately I can’t do much because I can’t lift, I can’t bend, and I can’t walk correctly, and when I try to I wind up  in pain. Second, after I have surgery I will have to recuperate for several weeks.  Then, back to  teach school – actually school will probably begin before I am ready to go back.  Soooo, this is where YOU come in.  I already have a basket of books ready to read, but I can always use some other suggestions.  I need recommendations of books that kept you on the edge of your seat, so engaged that hardly anything could distract you.  My favorite book types are cozy mysteries (you can look at some of my reviews to see what I HAVE read), Amish fiction, engaging Christian fiction, James Patterson-type books, Nicholas Sparks-type books, Tess Gerritsen-type books, and others along that line.  I’m NOT a Twilight fan, nor do I like vampires or outright fantasy.  Any ideas?  Beach type fiction also  sounds good since I will be staying home all summer.  Thanks for your suggestions I REALLY appreciate your thoughtfulness!

I always enjoy Randy Singer’s books and I was especially excited to read this one when he allowed readers to choose the verdict of the case! A few months ago he had a video with the closing statements that allowed readers to understand the issues and evidence and make a choice. Additionally, I had a strong interest in reading this book because it dealt with issues of gun control. I have mixed feelings on gun control because I believe in both non-violence and personal liberty. I am strongly against government control and regulation in most areas. Yet it does seem as though there should be a way to permit people to own guns without all the problems we have. I think Mr. Singer did a great job of exploring the issues and whether or not gun manufacturers are at fault when people use their guns in violent crimes.

The novel opens with a bang as a local news station is taken hostage by a mad gunmen. When lives are lost, a victim’s family member opens a lawsuit against the gun manufacturer because they knowingly supplied a dealer who knowingly sold guns through straw purchases.

Another aspect that I loved about this book was the exploration of whether or not Christians should be involved in lawsuits. I have always thought we shouldn’t, but Mr. Singer presents some compelling arguments that there might be some cases where it’s okay, while also making sure your heart is right.

This is probably my favorite Randy Singer novel to date. It was full of mystery and twists and turns. While the case was important, the lives of both lawyers were also examined, especially Jason Noble who I really enjoyed as a character. I hope that we get to see him again! It was also fun to see a few characters from previous books.

This is Christian fiction and while the characters are definitely exploring their faith, I don’t think it’s overbearing. I really recommend it! You can buy it Amazon.

(I received the ARC of this book from the author’s publicist for review.)

As I have mentioned many times before on this blog, I teach second grade children.  Recently it was brought to my attention by a THIRD grade teacher that there are not enough easy chapter books for third grade girls.  What do you think?  Do you know of any I could suggest to her besides the classic Magic Treehouse, June B. Jones, Boxcar Children or Magic Schoolbus?  We are in the business of encouraging and fostering a love of reading in children and we both buy hundreds of books for our classroom libraries.  I have spent so much of my time worrying about having interesting things for BOYS that I never thought about girls’ books, although I have all the ones I mentioned and more.  Please help me, reading friends.  You will be doing a great service for children who may not have parents who care enough to supply their own children with good books.  We have Accelerated Reader at our schools and spend at least 30 minutes a day reading self-selected books.  Any suggestions you could send my way would be very much appreciated!

Consider nominating The Friendly Book Nook for an award in the Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards?

If you hadn’t planned to nominate or hadn’t thought of it, we’d love your support!

I think we should have a good running at Best Design!

It might seem slightly unethical that since I’m organizing it I’m asking for your nomination, but don’t worry, I have people checking up on me.

Read about the nomination process here.

Today is Sally’s birthday! I hope you will all wish her a Happy Birthday! Thanks Mom for all the great reviews and teaching tips!

If you stopped by The Friendly Book Nook last night and it was down, it’s because I was upgrading! And yes that turned into a deeply painful process because I am still learning everyday about technology. I am simply over the moon that I didn’t lose the site…it truly felt like I would at times! I even called my mom (Sally) in near tears.

Anyway, all of that to say that Erin of Journey Through Reading nominated us for a Brilliante blogging award! I am patting myself on the back about that because I don’t feel especially brilliant at the moment. (truth be told….it is VERY easy to upgrade, I just didn’t have everything clicking)

Many thanks Erin, we love you too! We are supposed to nominate seven blogs but I read a whole bunch of book blogs and I think just about everyone I know has already been nominated. I got nominated for this one on my personal blog as well and no one that I nominated passed it on! (ungrateful….)

So I’m nominating Erin right back. And also I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who reads our bookish reflections. I have loved being a part of the book blogging community, because I think that book bloggers are kind and supportive of one another. Reading naturally forces you to open your mind to different ways of thinking and living and I really think that is reflected in the friendship we share in the book blogging community. So many thanks to all!

I was going to have a review of a book that I think is powerful in subtle ways, but it’s almost 3 a.m. and I can’t do it justice to write it now. So look for that on Sunday or Monday or maybe even later today if I get the chance. And tomorrow is the first Saturday in the Nook! I’m really excited about that!

Be sure to leave comments this month for a chance at the Amazon giftcard! Also, enter our bloggy giveaway if you are so inclined.

One more thing…ALL prizes have finally been mailed. I am just the most scatterbrained person I know, so I make it to the post office and realize I forgot one prize, and then don’t get a chance to go again for awhile. I will definitely work on that so that we can be super brilliant next time! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

The winner of Live a Little by Kim Green is Cindi (no blog)!

The winner of Questory of Root Karbunkulus is Shannon!

Please send me your addresses and I’ll be sure these get to you!

Thanks for your participation everyone!

Next week we are starting a brand new feature on Saturdays called Saturdays in the Nook. We have a really impressive line-up of authors and book bloggers who will be sharing some of the early reading memories with you. It’s Saturday morning books instead of cartoons!

We love reading and want The Friendly Book Nook to be a big celebration of books! There are just a few spots open for the rest of this year so if you are an author who would enjoy sharing an early memory of reading with us, please email Amy at thefriendlybooknook AT gmail DOT com

Tomorrow we’ll announce the winners of Live a Little and the Questory of Root Karbunkulus!

At long last! The winners of the Summer Reading Extravaganza! First, let me thank you all for joining in…I think it was a lot of fun. I got a lot of ideas from everyone!

It took me some to go through and count all the legitimate entries, but we do have some winners! And they are:

Tracy is the winner of the Inspirational Fiction Lot
Nise is the winner of the signed copy of Stealing Athena
Emma is the winner of the ten dollar Amazon gift certificate.

Just get your addresses to me everyone, so I can get those things in the mail to you. There will be more giveaways coming up, so stay tuned.

One more thing…has everyone been able to read The Girl Who Stopped Swimming yet?

We’ll be having another group read discussion in August of Kim Green’s Live a Little! Once again, the publisher (Hachette Book Group USA) has offered to give a copy to one lucky reader. Here are the rules:

1) Leave a comment agreeing to participate in the group discussion August 27-29.
2) For two extra entries, post about this giveaway on your blog and leave a comment here with your link.
3) This will be open until July 23rd. At that point, we will choose a winner. That is the same day the book will be available in stores.

Here’s a little about the book from the publisher’s site:
-What do you do if you have two bratty teenage kids who don’t give you the time of day?
-What do you do if your husband is more interested in his remote than you?
-What do you do if you’re forever being compared to your perfect sister–who just happened to marry your perfect boyfriend?
-And what do you do if you’re told you have stage 4 breast cancer?
Well, if you’re Raquel Rose, you tell your family your diagnosis, and then you watch them go from treating you like dirt to treating you like a queen. Then you go on to raise unprecedented amounts of money for breast cancer research. You fulfill your early artistic promise. And you find you love this new life of yours, no matter how fleeting it may be.

So when the doctor calls to tell her that there was a mistake and she’s actually perfectly healthy, instead of sharing her good news, Raquel can’t relinquish the sudden attention and love from her family. Soon Raquel’s lie by omission snowballs and the wise-cracking 40-something becomes a sought-after figure on her sister’s popular talk show, elevating her “illness” to local rock star status. Her mistaken diagnosis becomes the fated opportunity to fix the glaring problems in her life–her stalled career as an artist, her lackluster marriage, her unappreciative children, and her highly dysfunctional family.
And while she wants to tell the truth, she’s afraid to give it all up–would her family go back to taking her for granted? Would the donors rescind their checks if they think she was a fraud? In the end, it’s up to Raquel to find her real “cure”: an ending that befits the second chance she’s been granted.