Friday's Freebie...

If you love reading and have a Kindle or the Kindle app then this is for you!  Get a free book every day if you want at eBook Daily.  I have found a few books already that I can't wait to read, and these are not the books you usually find for free, these are new and current in a variety of genera like romance, mystery, science fiction and biography, there are even self improvement and children's books.  Its free to join and free to download the books. 

Have a great Friday!

C.Q.

Thursday's pircture perfect deal...

The picture...

We have a section of yard that is all wild flowers and one of the first to open was the beautiful Wall Flowers.  I love the bright orange color in the spring and snapped this after a light rain.

The deal...

For those of you with youngsters or grandchildren this is an amazing deal from Eversave.  You can get an 11 piece Sesame Street book set geared towards children ages 2 to 6.  These are designed to help them learn numbers, colors, shapes and letters.  The books are usually $54.89, but they are marked down 51% for the next four days making them only $27.00 with free shipping.

Hope you are all having a fantastic week!

C.Q.

Friday's Freebie...

I have a couple of freebies today that you may have a harder time getting but are so worth it if you qualify.  The first one is a Kindle copy of the book Super Duper Totally Authorized Top Secret Recipes by Todd Willber if you are an Amazon Prime member this book is totally free to borrow and download to your Kindle or Kindle app. The thing to remember is that you can borrow the book free of charge, but you must return it before you download another or you will be charged the $9.99 for the book. This is a great way to find recipes I enjoy and write them down.  I love having Prime, the free shipping more than pays for the membership for me, but in addition to that you get a free Kindle loaner ebook each month and unlimited free streaming video.

The next offer is for a free Blockbuster Express DVD Rental Code, just text one of these keywords to 39777:  BASEBALL, BILLY, CATHERINE, CHEF, CLOONEY,  DENIRO, DEPP, EDGAR, EMILIO, FARIS, GANG, GERE, GOSLING, HOLMES, HUGH, ITALY, JUSTIN, KERIA, KUMAR, LAW, MAMA, OLSEN, PERLMAN, POLICE, RACHEL, SCARY, SCOTT, SETH, SHAW, STEVE, TATUM, TAYLOR, TERROR, VIRUS, WEDDING, ZANE.

Hope you are all looking forward to a great weekend!

C.Q.

Sunday's media madness...

I have a love for reading, its something I grew up with, and am thrilled with the advent of e-books.  It means my book shelves can be cleared of the books I won't read again.  Books I look at kind of like the 1/2 hour sitcom on TV; a lot of fun but not a lot of substance.  I do however have a few authors I will only buy as real books, one being James Patterson.  A big part of that is the large collection of his books built up over the years by my parents and passed on to me after my mom was gone.  Today's book is Private by James Patterson.

"The police can't help you Former Marine helicopter pilot Jack Morgan runs Private, a renowned investigation company with branches around the globe. It is where you go when you need maximum force and maximum discretion. The secrets of the most influential men and women on the planet come to Jack daily--and his staff of investigators uses the world's most advanced forensic tools to make and break their cases. The press will destroy you Jack is already deep into the investigation of a multi-million dollar NFL gambling scandal and the unsolved slayings of 18 schoolgirls when he learns of a horrific murder close to home: his best friend's wife, Jack's former lover, has been killed. It nearly pushes him over the edge. Instead, Jack pushes back and devotes all of Private's resources to tracking down her killer. Only one place to turn: Private But Jack doesn't have to play by the rules. As he closes in on the killer and chooses between revenge and justice, Morgan has to navigate a workplace love affair that threatens to blow the roof off his plans. With a plot that moves at death-defying speeds, Private is James Patterson sleekest, most exciting thriller ever."

For those of you who like the feel of a book in your hand, you can find the hard cover version at Buy.com used for $1.01 plus $3.99 shipping, or new at Bobbis Bookstore for $5.00 plus $4.49 for shipping.  In paperback you can find it used at Thriftbooks.com for $3.95 with free shipping, or new at eCrater for $6.20 with $1.99 for shipping.  You can download a digital audio copy of the book for $18.89 at We Read For You or you can find it on CD at the Barns and Noble Marketplace for $9.50 with $3.99 shipping.  It can also download it to your Nook for $14.99 or you Kindle for $9.99.

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

C.Q.

Friday's Freebie...

For those of you who have not read the Left Behind series, the first book titled simply Left Behind is available free from Amazon for your kindle.  If you don't have a Kindle you can download the Kindle app to your iPad, iPod, phone or computer for free.  This freebie is the full 490 page book which is normally $14.99.

Have a great Friday!

C.Q.



 

2011 in Review...

Java over a Never Growing old is taking today off for New Years so I thought I would share some of my favorite posts with you from 2011.

In January I went with a friend of mine to Minneapolis so she could have some medical tests run and found some great information on hotel shopping that I passes along in Hotel Happiness, I also found a new blogger friend Meg Hart and her great book Housecat Confidential, a view of life from a cats perspective, that I posted in my Sunday's media madness.  If you get a chance you can check out Meg's new blog at Hart Stories, she is a terrific writer and I highly recommend her book and her blog.

In February I started getting a little antsy to play in my garden and a friend sent me some info on hay bale gardening that I passed along because it is easy and inexpensive and a great way to have a garden quick in an area that may not have an easy place to plant stuff.  You can check that out at Hey! Hay! Hay! Garden the easy way...

March brought two awards that I received, one for the Cherry on Top award and one for the Incredibly Sweet blog award, both required me to share some information about me which was fun, with the Cherry on Top one I also shared a favorite picture of my grandmother.

In April I shared a great recipe for my favorite Easter treat, Hot Cross Buns together with a little history on them.  I also started doing posts called Saturday Sojourn that were a lot of fun for me and included tips on saving while traveling.  One of my favorites was the one I did for Saint Paul, MN since we were heading there ourselves for a short vacation. 

May brought the release of a book from a series that I love by Jess Loury so I was able to do a little review of the book Octoberfest to share with my readers, May also marks Memorial Day and I was able to thank our armed services folks and post two great old pictures of my grandfather and my dad looking very dapper in their uniforms from WWII.

In June I had two great guest bloggers while I was on vacation for my 25th anniversary, the first was Alexis from from Simply Beautiful Veg.  and her great post on ways to organize, including a great pocketed organizer project you can make yourself.  My other guest poster was Nina from The Adventures ArtsyNina.  She did a wonderful post on making a Pallet Kitchen Cookbook Shelf, a very cool and extremely inexpensive project.

In July I stopped doing the Saturday Sojourn's and replaced them with Silly Saturday, my first one I loved because it emphasises simplicity.  I also love this time of year when all the fruits and veggies are getting ripe and took the opportunity to share a wonderful no bake blueberry cheesecake for everyone.

August was a great month for my Media Madness section for me, I found a couple of great apps, Uno and Conde Nast Traveller Magazine, that I love and use all the time.  The other was for the book The Help, which was wonderful and I would recommend to anyone looking for a good read.

September was a moth of highs and lows, the low being the sadness that came with the 9/11 memorial ceremonies I watched that day, the high was going on vacation to Chicago with two of my best girl friends and being able to share a bit of what we did and how we saved a ton of cash along the way.

The October posts were where two of my favorites are, one is one of my many favorite pictures, this one was of a small grey tree frog in our backyard that I used on the Thursday's picture perfect deal, the other was one of my favorite Silly Saturday's featuring a great photo shopped scene.

November was all about sharing my favorite things, including a list of movies, a great app called Flipboard and a recipe I always make for Rosy Fruit Salad, a wonderful frozen concoction that is from the 1950s.

December was all about relaxing and getting ready for the holidays and vacation, but in between that I was able to post one of my favorite ever pictures of my dog Tucker loving the first snowfall from last year.  Java also posted a wonderful Meet Me On Monday with 15 questions to tide us over until after New Year's, and being a good bit Irish, I couldn't end the year without and Irish Christmas Blessing to all my readers.

Thank you to all my readers for reading last year, I am looking forward to 2012!

C.Q.

Meet me on Monday...

Well its Monday again and that can only mean its time to get to know your blogger neighbors with the Meet Me On Monday hop hosted by Java over at Never Growing Old. It is a lot of fun so be sure to hop over and follow along.


Here are today's questions:

1. Tomorrow I'm going to _________?
2. Pudding or Jello?
3. What book are you currently reading?
4. What is the first concert you went to see?
5. What is your current weather?
------------------------------------------------------------

1. Tomorrow I'm going to _________?

Run to town to pick up our prescriptions, get a gift card for my Sister-in-law and mail my last Christmas package.

2. Pudding or Jello?

That's tough but I have a real soft spot for lime Jello, it was a comfort food growing up and so I still love it today. (The picture is from The Jello Mold Mistress of Brooklyn, there is a TON of cool stuff there to check out!)

3. What book are you currently reading?

I am reading Murder by Mocha, its the latest in the Coffee House Mystery series by Cleo Coyle.  I love a good mystery.

4. What is the first concert you went to see?

Wow, that's a long time ago, I think it was Head East & John Cougar concert together back in the late 70s; before he changed his name.

5. What is your current weather?

36* with freezing rain, ish!

Hope everyone is having a great start to their week!

C.Q.

Sunday's media madness...

I love to find fellow bloggers who do amazing things!  I was blog hopping a couple of days ago and found BLYRO Books.  The author wrote the children's book Over and Under for her own daughter when she found that reading to her "precious restless toddler" was a challenge with most children's books.  The words on the pages were too long or there were simply too many of them.  The book is beautiful, the background and pictures will encourage your youngster to read along, this will help develop reading skills that will help them through their entire life.  She even made sure the type font she used would no cause confusion in young readers, like the way a "g" in type is different from the way we print it.  I am a huge advocate of reading and was thrilled to find this book for children so young, it is aimed at the 0 - 5 age range.  I am not a parent myself so when my friends and family have children I have a hard time knowing what books are best for the younger age range, this fits the bill.  As an even better bonus BLYRO is donating copies of her books to low income families, funded by sales of the book and her beautiful bookmarks.  I think that is awesome and encourage anyone who is looking for a great gift for a youngster on your holiday list to check out this gorgeous book.

Have a relaxing Sunday everyone!

C.Q.

Sunday's media madness...

I found a great deal in my emails inbox today that I wanted to pass along.  Brads Deals is offering a one year (12 issues) subscription to Bon Appetit Magazine for only $5.00!!  This offer is only good for today so you need to act fast to get it, even better, you can subscribe at this price for up to three years.  You can find the offer at Discount Mags who already have it on sale from $47.88 to $15.00.  Just add it to your cart and then enter coupon code BRADSDEALS when you check out to get the $5.00 price.  Your over all saving comes out to be a whopping $42.88!

If you are not a subscriber of Brads Deals I highly recommend it.  There is something for everyone and there are different deals in my email everyday.

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend.

C.Q.

Sunday's media madness...

With Halloween coming up I thought I would look at some book for the family.  The first one is for the youngsters in your house, its an adorable press board book called Clackers: Black Cat by C Nash (Author), Luana Rinaldo (Illustrator).  Its the story of a Black Cat who wants her friends to come trick-or-treating with her, but they are all too busy—preparing to throw a surprise Halloween party for her. The lively text, colorful illustrations and sound effects all enhance the clacking noise of this format. The sounds will keep young children interested and enjoying the book, its geared towards kids age baby to preschool.  It is only $5.99 and available at Amazon.

The next book is for a little bit older audience, Can You See What I See?: On a Scary Scary Night: Picture Puzzles to Search and Solve.  This book is by Walter Wick, the Co-creator of the popular I SPY series.  It challenges the child to find thing that are hidden in the pictures which is great for increasing their retention of new words. It is a fun book geared toward children 4 - 8 and available at Amazon for $11.19.

For the pre teen there is a series by author Richelle Mead called the Vampire Acadmy, book one is available at Amazon for $8.99.  From the Booklist review: "After two years on the run, best friends Rose, half-human/half-vampire, and Lissa, a mortal vampire princess, are caught and returned to St. Vladimir's Academy. Up until then, Rose had kept Lissa safe from her enemies; school, however, brings both girls additional challenges and responsibilities. How they handle peer pressure, nasty gossip, new relationships, and anonymous threats may mean life or death. Likable narrator Rose hides doubts about her friend behind a tough exterior; orphan Lissa, while coping with difficult emotional issues such as depression and survivor's guilt, uses her emerging gifts for good."

For the teen reader short stories are great, they are something they can read in between homework and a busy social calender.  American Supernatural Tales is a series of stories by the best horror writers ever, including Poe himself, H. P. Lovecraft, Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and-of course- Stephen King.  It is available a Amazon for $11.25.

Finally, what Halloween would be complete without reading something yourself.  There are so many great books on the market by so many great authors, but during Halloween I tend to go back to the tried and true classics, this year I am leaning towards the original Dracula, written in 1897 by Irish novelist Bram Stoker, this reprint of the book has new illustrations by Ben Templesmith.  It was written before Vampires were considered cool, attractive or "nice" and tells the story of Jonathan Harker, who travels to Transylvania to meet with the mysterious Count Dracula, he ends up enslaved by the vampire who wants to learn about England. Leaving Harker for dead, Dracula travels to London where he begins to menace Harker's fiancee, Mina, and her beautiful friend, Lucy. After escaping from Dracula's castle, Harker returns to London where he meets Abraham Van Helsing who may have a way to destroy the blood-sucking monster! It is available at Amazon for $11.60, but there are also some bargain priced copies available for sale as well.

I hope you all have had a great weekend!

C.Q.

Sunday's media madness...

I am so excited.  Bones Season six will hit the shelves Tuesday October 11th, this is one of my favorite shows so I am looking forward to snuggling up with my blanket and hot chocolate to solving some great mysteries.  I don't think I would ever spring the extra money for TV shows on Blu-Ray so I keep the price lower by only shopping for the standard DVD format.  With that in mind I was able to find the lowest price for the DVD with DeepDiscount for $35.99 with free shipping.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the show, Bones is the story of  forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan, who works with FBI Agent Seeley Booth to help the Bureau solve crimes and identifying human remains.  The shows character of Temperance Brennan is based on Kathy Reichs who is a best selling author as well as a practicing forensic anthropologist.  As smart as Temperance Brennan seems in the series, I think she would be a close second to the real Dr. Reichs.  If you are interested in Kathy Reichs books or background you can find it all at her website, as well as additional information on the show.

Hope you are having a beautiful weekend!

C.Q.

Sunday's media madness...

Growing up and still today I love movies, almost any genera with the exception of gory horror.  Just give me a bowl of popcorn, a large soda (and a box of tissues if its a tear jerker) and I am set.  Growing up I watched Siskel and Ebert and loved their takes on the movies, not that I always agreed, but I loved hearing what they had to say.   I was saddened in 1999 when Gene Siskel passed away, and in 2002 when Roger Ebert found out he had thyrod cancer I was hoping he would get better and return to At The Movies with his new on air partner Richard Roeper, but he was not so lucky and as time went on he was not able to return and in 2008 Richard Roeper did not renew his contract because his friend and co-host was unable to return.  Roger Ebert has now lost his ability to speak due to the cancer, but that has not kept him silent.  He has written his Memoirs titled approperatly Life Itself: A Memoir.  I have purchased the Kindle version at Amazon for $14.99, if you want it in hard cover I was able to find it at Walmart for $17.10 plus tax with free shipping (Amazon was a close second at $17.90), if you would like the audio version of the book you can find it for $23.09 at Amazon.

From Amazon's Product Description:

Roger Ebert's journalism carried him on a path far from his nearly idyllic childhood in Urbana, Illinois. It is a journey that began as a reporter for his local daily, and took him to Chicago, where he was unexpectedly given the job of film critic for the Sun-Times, launching a lifetime's adventures.

In this candid, personal history, Ebert chronicles it all: his loves, losses, and obsessions; his struggle and recovery from alcoholism; his marriage; his politics; and his spiritual beliefs. He writes about his years at the Sun-Times, his colorful newspaper friends, and his life-changing collaboration with Gene Siskel. He remembers his friendships with Studs Terkel, Mike Royko, Oprah Winfrey, and Russ Meyer (for whom he wrote Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and an ill-fated Sex Pistols movie). He shares his insights into movie stars and directors like John Wayne, Werner Herzog, and Martin Scorsese.

This is a story that only Roger Ebert could tell. Filled with the same deep insight, dry wit, and sharp observations that his readers have long cherished, this is more than a memoir-it is a singular, warm-hearted, inspiring look at life itself.

"I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out."

Have a beautiful Sunday!

C.Q.