It’s time to select our Book Club book for March (I guess it’s technically past time) and I’m kind of stuck. I think I’ve lost confidence in myself after being disappointed with our last selection. I’d heard such great things and was really looking forward to Shiver, but in the end I struggled to get through it and was fairly disappointed.

BUT one great thing that came out of last month’s selection was a wonderful discussion! I guess having varying opinions about the books makes for a better dialogue.  So here’s where I ask for your help. I’ve narrowed it down to a few  choices for the March Book Club selection, but I’d really love to know which one YOU’d like to read and discuss! We really want you to enjoy the book club, so your opinion is important to us!

Please let us know in the comments below which of the following four books you would most like to read and discuss next month:

1. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

2. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

4. Sundays at Tiffany’s by James Patterson

(Click on the title link to read more about the book.)

NOTE: We’ve made this post sticky so it’ll stay at the top of the page. Please scroll down for new posts, we’re still updating regularly!

To correspond with our February Book Club discussion, we’re giving away one hardcover copy of Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater!

Shiver has been getting rave reviews around the net, and we want to make sure you get YOUR chance to read it too. Here’s a brief description from the author’s website:

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl.

• To enter just leave a comment telling us something that makes you shiver! (Be sure to include an accurate email in the comment field so we can let you know if you won. It won’t be published.)
• For an extra entry follow this blog. Be sure to let us know you’re a follower so we can give you the extra entry.
• Post or tweet about this giveaway for another entry.

The giveaway closes at midnight Friday, March 12, 2010

Men of the Otherworld (A Women of the Otherworld tie-in)
by Kelley Armstrong

Fantastic! That’s what I think about Kelley Armstrong’s Men of the Otherworld! I was so excited to read this collection of stories told from the men’s point of view, that I bumped all the other books on my ‘to read’ list and dove into it right away. I was most definitely not disappointed! For someone who loves continuity and a good back-story, (both of which Men of the Otherworld has in spades!) it’s a perfect addition to an already great series.

Comprised of four short stories, Men of the Otherworld begins with a story on Jeremy’s father Malcolm, followed by two longer stories on a young Clayton, and concludes with a new present-day story narrated by Jeremy. As always, Kelley Armstrong’s writing is fantastic – the characters are well rounded and believable, and the story is engaging and flows easily.

While it was great to get a glimpse into Jeremy past by meeting his father, and to see things from his point of view, it was the stories on Clay that really made this book for me. These two stories (which almost read as one long story) fill in all the information we don’t get in the Women of the Underworld novels. We learn how Clay became a werewolf, how he came to be with Jeremy, and we get to watch him grow from a young wild boy into the man we later meet through Elena. As an added bonus, the hierarchy and structure of the pack are explained, and stories of how current Pack members came to take their place are intertwined with Clay’s story. We even get a glimpse into what caused previous Pack members to abandon their status in the Pack.

Men of the Otherworld is a must read for fans of Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld books. The fact that proceeds from this anthology go to World Literacy of Canada is even more of a reason to run right out and get your copy.

Sometimes I read something that really sticks with me and (I feel) warrants discussion. And while it doesn’t exactly fall under the ‘Book Chat’ category, it’s still something that came from a book. So we’re adding a new feature here at WAGB called Off Topic. This is where we’ll further elaborate on the books we’re reading by sharing something we learned while reading the book.

As always we love and appreciate your feedback, so please chime in with your thoughts, and if you ever have an ‘Off Topic’ subject you’d like to discuss, let us know!

Our first Off Topic is about Personal Grooming Products and comes from the book Echolic by Adria Vasil. This was originally a Canadian book, but there’s now an American version available.

I consider the environment a pretty important issue and I always try to do what I can to improve my impact on our planet. I’ve had Ecoholic for some time now, but had only really flipped through it a few times. It wasn’t until I sat down and started actually reading it that I realized that while I try to avoid products that are harmful to the environment, I’ve been overlooking the fact that what I’m putting in and on my body is potentially harmful to both myself as well as the environment.

Shockingly enough, almost all of the standard beauty products available today have harmful chemicals in them! If you read the ingredients, this shouldn’t be all that surprising since you can’t pronounce over half of the items listed.  Echolic states that the average woman uses 15 products every day, so I thought I’d test this out. I kept count as I got ready this morning, and I used a whopping 17 products! And I really don’t consider myself to be heavily made up or anything.  This number does vary from around 13 to 19 on any given day, but 17 is probably the average. Then I spent some time comparing my products to the list of harmful chemicals provided in Ecoholic, and I was horrified! (You can see a similar list here, which I found via the Echolic site’s Kick Ass Websites page.)

I am now on a mission to replace these harmful products with natural ones, and am very curious to see if recurring problems such as hair loss, acne, and dry scalp improve. (Stay tuned I’ll post an update once I’ve switched over.)

So, here’s where I challenge you dear readers! Take notice of how many products you use in a day. Don’t forget, everything counts: soup, toothpaste, mouthwash, dental-floss, make-up, cream, perfume, lip balm…  if you use it on your body in any way, it’s a product. How many do you use? Then take the time to compare them against the list of harmful products. How do you feel about your ‘beauty’ routine now? If it saves you or someone you love from getting cancer isn’t it worth it to make a change? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

February’s Book Club selection was Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. We were looking for a romantic selection for February (for obvious reasons) and we certainly found a love story with Shiver!

We were lucky once again to have a batch of discussion questions already prepared – and by the author herself no less! Of course we always like to mix thing sup a little, so we’ve added a few of our own questions and cut some of the ones from Maggie’s site. As always, we encourage veering off topic, so please feel free to bring up anything you would like to discuss about the book.

Here are the discussion questions for Shiver:

1. Did you enjoy Shiver? Are you looking forward to reading Linger? What was your favorite part of the story? Your favorite character? What did you dislike (if anything) about the book?
2. How did you feel about the narrative style of switching back and forth between Grace and Sam’s point of view?
3. Maggie Stiefvater has a new take on the werewolf genre. How did you like this updated version compared to more traditional variations (ie silver bullets & full moons)?
   Click to read the rest of the questions

I started participating in Read To Me Tuesday last week on Tumblr. Since I enjoyed it, I’ve decided to make it a regular thing… at least until I run out of good passages to read. And it only made sense to post my readings here as well. Think of it as a little Storytime with Rae to start out your Tuesdays.

Today’s reading is Chapter 3 from MaryJanice Davidson’s Undead and Unwed:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

PS: Let me know if you enjoy it and think I should continue with it. And if you have a suggestion for something I should read, share in the comments!

Holy Smokes (Aisling Grey, Guardian #4)
By Katie MacAlister

I loved the first 3 Aisling books, and while I did enjoy Holy Smokes and am happy with the way the series has concluded, I also found it to be the weakest of the four books in the Aisling Grey, Guardian series.  All the great characters are still there, and there’s still plenty of action and chuckles, but I found the story to be very jumpy. Ideally, the whole Vendiger situation could have been resolved in Light My Fire, making for a more focused novel for the final chapter in Aisling’s story.  I also found the many unsuccessful wedding attempts didn’t so much enhance the story as distract from it. But it was nice to see Aisling finally come into her own as a Guardian, and to see that she’s now on the right path both in her ‘career’ and in her relationship with Drake. Not the best book of the series, but definitely a satisfying ending to the series.

Thank-you to Jeannie from Pine Cottage Books for presenting us with this fun award!

There are a few rules that go along with this award:

1. Link to the blog that gave you the award.
2. Pass the award along to 5 brilliantly Over the Top Blogs (blogs you love!) Alert them so they know to receive the award.
3. Copy and paste the following quiz, and reply with ONE word answers:

1. Your cell phone? Crucial!
2. Your hair? Curly
3. Your mother? Yep
4. Your father? Male
5. Your favorite food? Chocolate
6. Your dream last night? ?
7. Your favorite drink? Milk
8. Your dream/goal? Sleep
9. What room are you in? Roaming
10. Your hobby? Reading
11. Your fear? Lonely
2. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Waterfront
13. Where were you last night? Sleeping
14. Something that you aren’t? Tall
15. Muffins? Sure
16. Wish list item? Property
17. Where did you grow up? Deep River
18. Last thing you did? Blogged
19. What are you wearing? PJ’s
20. Your TV? Stevie
21. Your pets? Adorable
22. Friends? Good
23. Your life? Going
24. Your mood? Tired
25. Missing someone? Whitney
26. Vehicle? Corolla
27. Something you’re not wearing? Hat
28. Your favorite store? Amazon
29. Your favorite color? Blue
30. When was the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Today
32. Your best friend? Brad
33. One place that I go to over and over? Work
34. One person who emails me regularly? Rae
35. Favorite place to eat? Home

Here are the 5 blogs we’d like to pass this award onto:

1. Tina’s Book Reviews

2. Bellas Novella

3. Reading in Winter

4. Peeking Between the Pages

5. Stella Matutina

Finally we have made it to Friday. Even though it was a short week, it felt really long for some reason. I’m looking forward to the week-end, although I’m a little worried my busy schedule is going to prevent me from finishing Shiver before Monday when I was hoping to post the discussion questions. Check back next week to see if I suceeded or not!

But now onto our Freebie! This Friday we have a special treat for you. Well, one that’s a special favorite of Rae and I at least… customized bookmarks! Yes, for two girls who love their e-readers, Rae and I also LOVE our bookmarks and have a long-standing tradition of making them for each other. So this week I thought I’d share a few bookish bookmarks with you. I have quite a large collection, so if people enjoy them we may share more in the future!

All you have to do is right click save the following jpeg files to your computer, and then print them out on card stock and cut them out. For those of you who are so inclined, laminating them is an excellent way to make them last!

If you like the bookmarks, please let us know which ones are your favorites, and what you’d like to see in the future! Thanks & Enjoy!

Crossing the Bridge
by Michael Baron

There are few things better than discovering a new author whose writing you fall immediately in love with. And that’s just what’s happened with Michael Baron and Crossing the Bridge!

Ever since the death of his younger brother 10 years earlier, Hugh Penders has felt his presence acts as a painful reminder of what was lost, and has kept his distance from his parents as a result. But when his father suffers a heart attack, Hugh picks up his life and heads home to small town Amber, Connecticut to help his parents out during this time of need. What begins as a dull and tedious existence, becomes a fresh start at life with the help of some new (and old) friends that Hugh discovers as he re-acquaints himself with his hometown.

As I mentioned, I fell in love with this book as soon as I started reading it. I can’t think of a better way to describe it than it felt like ‘going home’. I grew up in a small town, so reading Hugh’s reactions to returning to Amber felt familiar and comfortable. All of the characters in Crossing the Bridge feel very real – like people you know in everyday life as opposed to characters created for a story. I was very sad to have to say goodbye to them at the end of the book. So much so that I’ve been dreaming of a sequel (of sorts) that follows secondary character Tyler in his future endeavours, but still touches base with Hugh and the residents of Amber as well.  That’s how much I want to stay in touch with these characters!  Even though you can kind of see where the story is going from fairly early on, I still found I couldn’t put the book down as I was eager to see the next interaction between these characters, and I was never really sure things would turn out the way I hoped.

Crossing the Bridge isn’t a fast-paced read, but its tale about real people with real issues unfurls slowly and wraps you up in its cozy story. I will definitely be checking out more of Michael Baron’s books.

*This book was provided for review by the Publisher.

*Book 1 for the TwentyTen Reading Challenge.