Search Results for: what's on your nightstand

Mailbox Monday – the BEA edition!

May 30, 2010 by Carrie

As I think most of you know, Jennifer and I attended the Book Expo and Book Blogger Convention in New York City this past week. When we were in New York, hobnobbing with other book bloggers, we discovered a wonderful meme called Mailbox Monday which is hosted by The Printed Page which we thought would be fun to participate in.

Now, this particular Monday is a holiday and, honestly, more books have arrived in my home via my suitcase than via my mailbox this week! But here’s a list of what I picked up at BEA and hope to share with you all over the next few weeks.

Summer at Tiffany was in the bags we received at the Book Blogger conference and it looked fascinating. So I devoured it (almost literally) on the plane ride back home. Loved. this. book.

The question the book asks is, “Do you remember the best summer of your life?” Author Marjorie Hart relays her story of a memorable summer she spent in New York City at the end of World War II, working at Tiffany. I found this book to be fascinating on so many levels and my thanks goes to whichever hand stuffed this book into my bag! I am indebted to you!

I picked up a copy of The Contest at the Seventh Generation/Book Publishing Company booth.

What drew me to this particular title? In big, bold letters on the back of the book it says:

“My name is Rosy, and I’m going to be the first half-Mohawk to win an Anne of Green Gables look-alike contest.”

I read this one while sitting and waiting to board the plane. Oh yes. I did. Fabulous read!

Born to Be a Blessing: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Christian Children was picked up at the Abingdon Press booth. And yes, I also read through this one on the plane ride home. (I had a long trip home if you were wondering and it gave me plenty of opportunity to read! No complaints there.) I’ve read a good number of books on parenting but I think this one is unique and has a special something to offer. I was glad to have spotted it and am looking forward to sharing more about the title with you!

The next two books I have not yet had the opportunity to read but am looking forward to doing so in the not-too-distant future.

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating was picked up at the Algonquin booth and it was the title that caught my eye. The selling statements:

1. “While an illness keeps her bedridden, Bailey watches a wild snail that has taken up residence on her nightstand.” (from the back cover) Makes you want to say something to the question, “What’s on YOUR Nightstand?” doesn’t it?

2. The sales rep told me that after reading this book, the Algonquin office became home to some office snails. Can’t say that I would be tempted to offer my home up to snails, but then I haven’t read the book yet! Maybe my opinion will change.

Lastly, I was HUGELY excited by this next book, which I picked up from author Patti Wheeler in their booth:

Travels with Gannon and Wyatt: Botswana is the story about twin boys who adventure into the heart of Africa. I really don’t want to say too much about this book until I’ve read it and have the opportunity to present their story to you in full. Let’s just say I’m excited, excited, EXCITED and if you want a sneak peek to discover why then you can visit their website – www.travelswithgannonandwyatt.com

In the meantime, I’ll try to maintain my composure and will tell you more about them soon. Very, very soon.

Likewise, Jennifer and I will be sharing more about our amazing time at BEA this past week so stay tuned.

To learn more about Mailbox Monday, visit The Printed Page and link up to share what books have arrived in your mailbox in the past week. (Or what books would have ended up in your mailbox had you not insisted upon stuffing them into your suitcase so that you’d have something to read on the flight home!)

Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know.

Welcome to the 5 Minutes for Books Ultimate Blog Party!

March 20, 2009 by Jennifer

Our UBP post is brought to you by

MobiStories: taking children’s picture books off the page and onto the video screen. Downloadable, portable, educational, enjoyable. Click to get a FREE book now.

This is sort of a housewarming for us. 5 Minutes for Books started back in July 2008, and we have really enjoyed finding our groove here in the blogosphere. What is our groove? Well, just as our tagline says, “We’re Reading into Everything.”

One thing that I love about this site is that we seek to get the book-loving community involved with our weekly carnivals. Each Tuesday of the month we host a different community event. You can find the whole schedule at our join in page on the navbar.

1st Tuesday: Classics Bookclub
2nd Tuesday: Children’s Classics
3rd Tuesday: Kids’ Picks
4th Tuesday: What’s on My Nightstand
5th Tuesday: I Read It!

Please check out the scheduled topics, and join in soon!

Another way that we seek to meet the needs of our book-loving community is by providing a wide variety of reviews. We strive to give our readers reviews for the books that you love — be it books for your preschooler, or your tween, or you.

And what makes finding new books even better? Well — if you have the chance to win one, that’s what! We host giveaways at least once a week. Every Wednesday you’ll find a new giveaway, but we often post more than once a week. In April we have some very special giveaways coming up, including at least a week of giveaways for Mother’s Day. Subscribe to our feed and follow us on twitter @5M4B so that you won’t miss a thing.

We’re a group blog, and I am so proud of our team. I think you can get an idea about what you might find here if you can get a feel for our staff reviewers.

I’m Jennifer, the managing editor. I enjoy reading a little bit of everything, but my favorites are character-driven literary fiction and memoir along with middle grade fiction. In addition to contributing to 5 Minutes for Mom and 5 Minutes for Giveaways, I blog at Snapshot about life in Connecticut (as a transplanted Texan) with my husband, preschool son and tween daughter.

Melissa primarily reads contemporary Christian fiction, as well as memoir,and contemporary fiction. She loves a good story. As her ministry with youth girls grows, she finds herself reading more fiction and non-fiction targeted toward youth. Not only is Melissa a member of our team, she also blogs at Breath of Life.

Lauren enjoys all types of fiction, especially historical. As a former elementary school teacher, she also has a love for children’s literature. Lauren is trying to work more nonfiction into her book pile, particularly titles relating to Christian families and parenting. Lauren blogs about her family at Baseballs and Bows.

Carrie enjoys enjoys any book that provides a good laugh, a deep thought or one that won’t otherwise take up too much of her time. She has a two year old son (and another one on the way via an adoption!) and therefore is on the constant prowl for good books for boys. She maintains a separate book blog on the side (to feature all of the other books she reads) called Reading to Know.

Lisa is a mom of four boys so when she’s not doing laundry or shuttling her kids all over town, she enjoys reading books of all kinds. She loves Southern fiction, but genres really don’t matter to her as long the book is well written and engaging. She also loves reading the classics and books that offer sound Biblical encouragement in her Christian faith. Lisa blogs about faith, books, and life as a mom at Lisa writes…

And lastly, we have our newest staff reviewer Dawn, who joined our group in February. Dawn goes straight for the mainstream fiction, but likes to mix it up by reviewing a few children’s books now and then as well. She blogs about reading, raising kids and random things that make her laugh at my thoughts exactly.

Please take the time to follow 5M4B on twitter subscribe to our feed or on the top left sidebar you can sign up to have our posts emailed to you.

Before you go, leave a comment telling us what kind of books you would like to see reviewed. And don’t forget to visit our sponsor for your free book download!

Now head on back to 5 Minutes for Mom to make more stops on the Ultimate Blog Party.

Kids’ Picks — March

March 17, 2009 by Jennifer

Kids’ Picks is your opportunity to share those “kid tested, mother approved” books (or mother tolerated, at least). What have your kids enjoyed reading this month?

They can post a guest review on your site, or you can just share what they’ve enjoyed — from birth up through teens.

Link your post up directly, and tell us ages of the children, for easy surfing.

Thanks for participating.

We host a community carnival each Tuesday. Upcoming events:
March 24 What’s on My Nightstand
March 31 I Read It!
April 7 Around the World in Eighty Days — Classics Bookclub
April 14Children’s Classics — Dog stories

Kids’ Picks Participants

1. Jennifer, Snapshot (4 & 10)
2. Carrie, RtK (2 1/2)
3. cindy
4. stephanie@{Olive Tree} (5&3)
5. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (preschoolers)

6. Bluestocking
7. BOOKIE WOOGIE (6, 8, and 10)
8. Alicia (7-10)
9. Kaycee (Boys 6-12)
10. Dawn (8, 2, 1)

11. Cynthia (age 6)
12. Heather J. (7 yr old son)
13. Jessica @ Mountains of Books
14. Upstatemomof3
15. Cheeky Monkey Preschool

Reminders and Announcements

March 16, 2009 by Jennifer

I wanted to point your attention to the Twitter updates in the sidebar. Some of you have seen them and have started following us. Thanks! I hope to use our updates there to point you to some reviews and giveaways or interesting conversations that are happening in the comments. Most importantly it serves as a reminder of upcoming events (which are also always available at the Join In tab on the NavBar). You can follow us at www.twitter.com/5M4B.

And since I’m posting now, let me take the time to remind you about some upcoming events:

Tomorrow Kids’ Picks will post at 6:00am Eastern time. Join us for my favorite Tuesday community event by posting what your kids have enjoyed reading this month.

Next Tuesday is What’s on My Nightstand, an event that continues to grow and bring new people to our site. Thank you for participating so faithfully (and with such anticipation!).

And finally, March 31 we are having our quarterly 5th Tuesday event of I Read It!. We thought about canceling it because December’s participation was so low, but that was just the second time we had it, and several people pleaded with us to keep it. So, if you like the idea of posting up a review (or reviews) of books that you decided to read based on a recommendation here or in the book column at 5 Minutes for Mom, this is your last chance! If it has a strong showing, we’ll keep it. If not, we’ll have an off-week every quarter, or we’ll add something else.

Classics Bookclub —

Our full schedule (through September) can be found at the Join In page. Tuesday April 7 we’ll be reading Around the World in Eighty Days.

Thank you–

I couldn’t pop in here with an announcement and neglect the opportunity to thank you — on behalf of myself and all the reviewers. We are each so pleased to have the opportunity to share our love of the written word with you.

As always, if you have suggestions for us about the site, leave a comment or send us an email.

A Big Bloggy Giveaway of Books

January 26, 2009 by Jennifer

Welcome to the 5 Minutes for Books’ Bloggy Giveaway. We are offering one lucky reader this entire collection of brand new books worth over $120 that have been featured here on 5 Minutes for Books.

I tried to pick books that represented the wide variety of books that we review here each week. We feature popular fiction and Christian fiction for adults, as well as interesting non-fiction titles. We also offer reviews to help you find great books for your children, be they two or twelve.

The other thing that a new reader might find of interest is our Tuesday community events. Each week we have a different carnival that allows our readers to share What’s On Their Nightstand or their own thoughts on a Classic that we tackle that week, or a favorite Children’s Classic, or books that their Kids Pick. Read our “Join In” page to learn more about each of these carnivals.

If you love books and reading, please sign up for our feed so you won’t miss any of our posts or giveaways (we give away at least one book each week).

If you’d like to win this package of books worth over $120, leave a comment saying which book sounds most appealing to you. The books are linked to their original reviews, so you can find out more about the books if you missed the reviews the first time around.

Novels for You:

The Apothecary’s Daughter

The Only True Genius in the Family — reviewed today in the books column at 5 Minutes for Mom

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County

Activity Books:

The Complete Book of Rhymes, Songs, Poems Fingerplays and Chants

201 Things to Do When Kids Say “I’m Bored”

Books for your Kids:

Strictest School in the World series from Kids Can Press (set of 3 chapter books)

The Day Leo Said I Hate You

So–to be eligible to win (U.S. shipping addresses only), leave a comment here telling me which book excites you most, and if your name is randomly selected, you’ll win the entire set of books! We’ll announce the winner on Sunday February 1. This giveaway is CLOSED. Thanks to all who entered!

For more awesome giveaways, check out the other offerings at the Bloggy Giveaways carnival.