Help! My brain seems to have shut down on me this month. I’ve yet to finish a book in September! And while September is usually a slower reading month for me, it’s never been this slow! And it’s not even a case of not liking the book I’m reading… I specifically set aside the review books and picked up the 4th book in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series that I’ve been waiting to read for ages, but I can never seem to get in more than a few pages a day. I’ve also been busy at home, and having another chatty boy living with us hasn’t helped at all, but I’m beginning to really miss getting lost in a good book.

So I thought, I’d ask my fellow book lovers and reading experts to find out what they do when this happens…

What do you do to beat the book blah’s when they strike? Or does this never happen to you? What’s your secret to finishing a book when you’ve hit a rut? And how do you come up with ideas for interesting blog posts when you have no book reviews to share? Help a fellow book lover get her groove back!

As you may have noticed, we’re taking a little break from the WAGB book club this month. September’s always such a busy month, between back to school and new fall TV (which both Rae and I have a healthy love for), so we thought we’d take a little break and come back with some fresh selections in October.

Because we like to hear your thoughts and want our book club to reflect our reader’s tastes, we’re letting YOU decide on our October book club selection!

Please let us know which of the “Can’t put it down books” you’d like to read and discuss next month by voting in our poll. And if you have other books that you think would make good book club selections, be sure to let us know in the comments below because we’ll be making choices for future months as well.

I’m a HUGE fan of Angie Dudley over at Bakerella. She puts my cake decorating to shame. Better yet, she’s just as sweet as the treats she makes. I don’t know her personally or anything but her posts never fail to bring a smile to my face. Which is why I can’t wait to get my hands on her book, Cake Pops: Tips, Tricks, and Recipes for More Than 40 Irresistible Mini Treats, which hit shelves this week.

Even better Angie made a little video to promote the book and in it she shows you the basics of making cake pops. Awesome! (She’s also posted about making the video over at Bakerella.) I really need to make some of these soon. I’m making the cake(s) for a friend’s son’s first birthday next weekend. Maybe I’ll sneak some cake pops in there as an extra treat.

So, my fellow bakers, be sure to check out the cake pops section of Angie’s blog. If you like what you see, I’m pretty sure you’ll love her new book as much as I will!

Our August Book Club selections is Sunday’s at Tiffany’s by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet. I’ve been a fan of James Patterson’s Maximum Ride series for some time now, but this was the first of his adult books that I’ve read. I quite enjoyed it and look forward to testing out some of his others soon!

I was lucky enough to find discussion questions in a few places on the web this month. Below are a selection of discussion points  that I found on LitLovers.com and Readinggroupguides.com. I’ve done some editing on the questions I found, and of course we always want to hear what you have to say, so please feel free to bring up anything you would like to discuss about the book.

1. Did you enjoy Sundays at Tiffany’s? Why or why not?
2. Sundays at Tiffany’s merges the natural and supernatural worlds. Many individuals and cultures believe those two worlds are actually more closely integrated than everyday reality and science suggests. Where do you fall in this? Guardian angels…yes or no?
3. Sundays at Tiffany’s features three main characters, and almost no supporting characters.  Do you feel this hurt or helped the story? Do you feel the main characters were fully developed, emotionally complex individuals?
4. Michael says that the role of an imaginary friend is to make children feel less alone and to help them find their place in the world. Do you think imaginary friends help children deal with their issues or keep them from dealing with life head-on? Did you ever have an imaginary friend?
5. Jane’s special emergency feel-good food is Oreos. Do you have a favorite comfort food? Do you indulge or avoid your favorite temptations?
6. Michael explains to Jane that when children turn nine years old, their imaginary friends must leave them, and that she will forget him. Why do you think Jane never forgot Michael?  Was Michael destined to meet Jane again or was he really back in New York to help her mother?
7. Michael gives up his immortality to be with Jane. Was he aware of making the choice? Do you think he became mortal as soon as saw Jane or was it when he agreed to grow old with her? Or at another time? Why do you think his ‘powers’ faded slowly rather than disappearing all at once?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

What’s better than a book that makes you miss sleep and skip meals because it’s so great you just can’t put it down? Well, if you’re asking a book lover… the answer is probably “not much”! And that’s why our Question of the Week is: What was the last book you read that you just couldn’t put down?

I’m currently reading The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller, and the fact that I had to stop reading to come to work with only 50 pages to go is driving me crazy!!

The Eternal Ones is a story about reincarnation and a group of people who can remember their past lives, and as a result spend their current lives looking for the ones they’ve loved in the past. It’s a bit fantasy, a bit romance, and a lot of mystery. I’ve been really enjoying it and have been kept guessing all the way along.

And since I love a book I hate to put down, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to get a few more recs. for books that fall into the page-turner category! Now that I’ve shared my current “Can’t Put It Down” book with you, please tell me about the last book you read that made you late for work and miss dinner!

I hated the Vampire Diaries books with a fiery passion (see my review), and yet my extreme love of the CW show based on the books has made me want to read this back-story novel about Stefan and Damon’s troubled past!

Apparently  HarperCollins will be releasing Stefan’s Diaries, a trilogy of novels that will share some of the Salvatore brothers’ long and troubled history (including the Katherine romance that turned them against each other). The novels that the popular show is based on were originally published in 1991 by author L. J. Smith. According to EW, Smith will not be penning this new trilogy. (Um, Yay!) Though both Amazon and HarperCollins have her listed as the author so that information could be inaccurate.

The first volume Stefan’s Diaries #1: Origins is due out on November 2, 2010. The second book called Stefan’s Diaries #2: Bloodlust is scheduled for January 2011.

Here’s a bit about the first book from HarperCollins:

Set during the Civil War, against a backdrop of grand estates, unimaginable riches, and deadly secrets, three teenagers in Mystic Falls, Virginia enter a torrid love triangle that will span eternity.

Brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore are inseparable until they meet Katherine, a stunning, mysterious woman who turns their world upside down. Siblings turned rivals, the Salvatores compete for Katherine′s affection, only to discover that her sumptuous silk dresses and glittering gems hide a terrible secret: Katherine is a vampire. And she is intent on turning them into vampires so they can live together-forever.

Check out this exclusive peek at the new cover from EW’s Shelf Life blog

So, what do you think? Are you a fan of The Vampire Diaries? Will you read the origin stories? Or have you tried to read the first books and as a result will likely avoid these ones at all costs?

We’re back with more ARC/Review copy discussion this week…

I recently struggled through 180 or so pages of a 320(ish) page book I didn’t enjoy. I’ve been trying to change my ways and let books I’m not enjoying go, so I generally don’t have an issue with setting a book aside if I’m not enjoying it. But since this was a review book, I wanted to stick with it and give it a review (even if it was a bad one). The book also had pages and pages of 4 and 5 star reviews, so I kept telling myself it had to get better. Finally I decided I had read more than half of it and was liking it less as I went along so that was a fair enough chance.

Now my question to you fellow bloggers is: How do you handle ARCs/review books you don’t enjoy?

Do you always finish a review book and give it an honest review? Do you send back review copies you don’t want to read? Do you write a review stating you couldn’t finish the book or do you tell the publisher/author that you didn’t read the book and won’t be reviewing it?

As anyone who’s been reading this blog for any length of time is probably aware, I’m a BIG fan of e-books and digital readers. I have an old school Sony PRS-505, and even though it doesn’t have any of the fancy bells & whistles of some of the new models, I still love it to pieces.  And while I love my Sony, I also know there are a huge variety of models out there to choose from. And I think that’s fantastic! I want everyone to have an e-reader*, and offering the people choices is the best way to make that happen.

So, even though I’m not super fond of Amazon’s attempts to keep people from shopping around, I am thrilled that they are continually releasing new models of the Kindle, and even more thrilled that they are making them so affordable! And that’s why I just had to share Amazon’s announcement about their newest Kindle model.

The new model boasts better screen contrast, improved fonts, faster page turns, smaller size, bigger memory, longer battery life (one MONTH on a single charge!), and 3G and wireless connection for $189! And if you’re not concerned with 3G, the wi-fi only model is just $139!! (Click the image above to get a better view.)

Amazon’s main page has a notice about the new Kindles, and you can get all the details here.

What do you think? Pretty shiny right? Have you embraced the e-book? Will the lower prices and new features convince you to buy a Kindle?

*This does NOT mean I want everyone to abandon books. It just means I believe everyone should have a combination of paper and e-books. Both for the environment and to support those self-published authors who are launching their books in digital format.

This week’s QotW is one that I’m sure many book bloggers have often wondered about… What is the etiquette when it comes to review copies?

Let’s say a publisher/author/bookseller has said that they’re going to send you an ARC for review prior to the book’s publication date, but the publication date grows (very) near and the book has not yet arrived. What do you do? Should one assume that there weren’t enough review copies available and just move on? Should you contact the publisher to find out why you didn’t receive the book? If so, how do you go about asking why the book hasn’t arrived? Isn’t it rude to ask why you didn’t get something you didn’t even pay for?

I bet the book blogging community has a ton of good tips on this and other review copy related issues! If you’re a book blogger with experience in this area, please share your advice with fellow bloggers. And please don’t feel restricted to discussing missing review copies… we’d love to hear any advice you have to offer!

Our Book Club selection for July was The Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink. This dark tale about a pair of twins and the prophecy that divides them, pits good against evil, Guardians against Gatekeepers and twin sisters Lia and Alice against one another.

There were no discussions questions available for The Prophecy of the Sisters so I’ve come up with a few points to help spark some discussion. As always, we encourage veering off topic, so please feel free to bring up anything you would like to discuss about the book!

The Prophecy of the Sisters Discussion Questions

1. Did you enjoy The Prophecy of the Sisters? Will you read Guardian of the Gate the next book in the series?
2. Why do you think their father chose to tell Henry so much more about what was going on than Lia?
3. How has Alice managed to keep her training a secret from her family for so long? Especially when Thomas and Virginia were aware of the prophecy?
4. Do you think Lia’s lack of training stopped her from permanently closing the gate and ending the Prophecy? Did her parents make the right decision to keep her in the dark for so long?
5. Twins! Do you know any twins? How do you think Alice and Lia compared to other twins? Or even other siblings for that matter?
6. Would you be able to turn against your own sibling in order to do something you felt strongly about?
7. Why did their mother choose to protect Lia and not Alice? They were both very young at the time, how could she have known which of them would need protection from the other?
8. How did you feel about the ending of the book? Do you consider The Prophecy of the Sisters a complete story or merely the first portion of a longer story? Why?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below!