I'm An Editor, Agent, Publisher. Can I Send You Books, News?

You bet!

New author you really want to get the word out on? Send us their book and a press release. We'll dish the book and automatically consider it for FAB.

Have news you want to spread around the web? Send it on over. We're working on new aspects of our site that will allow announcements!

Do You Read And Dish On Every Book Sent You?

We try.

We may not get to it right away, but we try and read books sent to us first. If you have a book that will be released soon and would like to have it dished on by a certain date, you may want to send us a note and let us know, if we think we can do it, we'll let you know. If we can't do it by the date you request, we'll let you know and the choice to send it will be yours to make.

Please remember, we will be honest in our dish. If we don't particularly like the book, we'll say so. Submit at your own risk.

If I Send You My Book, Am I A Guaranteed FAB?

No.

Sorry. It just doesn't work that way. We can't even promise a glowing dish. We have to be honest above all else. And our FAB picks are books that really speak to us or make us laugh or are just plain enjoyable. We may like a book, but very few merit the FAB title.

What Is The Best Way To Be Picked For FAB?

Send us your book. We can't consider it if we haven't read it.

At present, the dee's find their FAB picks by scouring the bookstores for new authors, and not only is it time consuming, not all stores may be carrying your book. You can e-mail us at deeanddeedish @ sbcglobal.net (once again, without the spaces) for the address to send the book(s). Please note, one dee is in VA and the other in KS, so if you don't have a particular dee in mind, you will need to send two copies to make it timely.

I Write e-Books, Why Are They Not Considered?

At the present time, the dee's do not read many e-books.

We are both very busy and do not have an e-Reader, so it isn't as easy for us to take e-books with us on the go. If you would still like us to dish on your e-book, we will be more than happy to do that, and you can send us the link at deeanddeedish @ sbcglobal.net (without the spaces). We are considering a separate week each month devoted to great new e-book finds, so feel free to send them over and look for details of the e-FAB in the near future.

I'm An Author But This Will Make Book 6 For Me, Can I Still Be Considered For FAB?

There are a few exceptions to our FAB guidelines.

If you are already established but will be introducing a new book under a pen name, the new book can be considered, BUT, we will not dish the books written under your other name during that week. We will mention you also write under that name, but the FAB week will be all about your new identity.

If you have been e-published and are now breaking out into print format, we will be glad to consider your print work for FAB.

Anthologies that you have contributed to do not count. FAB is for full length novels only. We will gladly dish on your anthology work during the week, but it will not be a major focus.

Are There Guidelines For FAB Picks?

Yes.
1) The author cannot have published more than 5 full length novels.
2) We prefer that the author has not yet hit any major bestsellers list.

We are trying to get the word out about new finds, and chances are, if the author has a bestseller, we'll be reading it and dishing on it anyway. We love debut authors as well, so many times you'll find us spotlighting a brand new author.

What Is FAB?

FAB = Fabulous Author/Book.

Both dee's love to find new authors that write excellent books. In order to introduce our readers to great new talent, we initiated FAB. Each month, the dee's will each have an author they will spotlight. There will be contests, reviews of their book(s), and interviews. We encourage readers to post questions to the author and if you've read or pre-ordered the book or books, we'd love to hear what you thought or what made you decide to try the author. The contests vary, but generally they involve a viral blogging theme.

You Keep Saying That - Honest But Not Cruel. Wouldn't It Be More Fun If You Were Cruel?

More fun? For who? It just isn't in our nature to be cruel.

Both of the dee's are writers (pre-pubbed, but still) and we understand the amount of work, blood, sweat and tears that go into writing a novel. So, if we don't like the book, we'll tell you, and we won't sugar coat. BUT, not liking a book is no excuse to belittle the author or all of their hard work. Sometimes we have very strong feelings of dislike for a book, and I'm sure that comes across just fine without resorting to nastiness.

Why Dish? Isn't It A Review?

Technically? We suppose it is.

If you look up the word review at dictionary.com then what we post falls into that category. However, we don't really feel like that's what we do. We say dish, because basically, we're just two friends talking about the books we've read. We say what we liked, what we didn't, and we keep it honest but not cruel.

Okay, But WHY Should I Listen To You?

Well, 'cause we're pretty? Nah, that's probably not the answer you were looking for. In all honesty, we can see two possible answers, the first sounding totally conceited and just plain wrong, and the second being the truth.

1 - (Totally conceited answer) Because we're extremely intelligent women who just happen to be right. About everything.

2 - (The truth) That's actually not a question we can give an answer to. You'll just have to read our thoughts on the books and see if they jive with yours. The good thing here is, if we liked a book and you totally hated it, you can read our reviews and read the opposite into them. On that same note, if we happen to like a book and you do too, it would seem our tastes are similar, therefore, you'll be able to look for some new books. That's why we post reviews on books whether we like them or not. Remember, we're going to be honest about a review, so not all of them will be favorable. We will, however never be cruel. We'll give you our thoughts, good and bad, and you'll be able to see if you like the way we think or not. We just really hope you'll like the way we think ;)

So, Who Exactly are dee and Dee?

You know, this isn't exactly an easy question to answer, because really, who exactly are any of us? But, we'll try.

dee - The only d whose name actually begins with "d". Busy wife and mother of six, aspiring writer (and she so totally rocks on with her bad self on the writing gig), when she's not homeschooling, waitressing, or taking care of her fabulous family, she's a readin'. You can of course check out her Personal Dish by clicking here. And then, you can click here to see her ABC's of Me(Me).


Comments are open on all FAQ posts, if you would like further info, please just leave us a comment and we'll make sure to answer it.

All You Ever Wanted To Know...And Then Some

Hello, Lovelies! If you are looking for our reviews, please click here or you can click the link on the side over there. We moved the review site so we could organize everything better and make it easier for you to find our dishes, and we love our new home, BUT (I know, always a but) we have this address here so we figured we may as well make use of it. So now, this site will serve as the FAQ page for dee & Dee dish.

We're just now getting it going, but soon you'll find FAQ's, submission guidelines, and the little rants (erm, essays) that we have rumbling around in our heads. Basically, if it aint a review, but it's still about books, you'll find it here. We'll make sure to link it from our review page, so no need to point bookmarks. This is basically a spot for information purposes only. Make sense? Oh good, I'm glad it does to one of us ;)!

Take Care

We have MOVED!!!

Happy New Year, you wonderful people!

If you're reading this though, I'm a little worried about you. See, it's January 1, 2007, and we are not HERE anymore. This is the LAST post at this site.

But don't worry, this site will stay up for a while, because it has directions to our new home. And we really want all of you to come on over to the new place and find us. It's a whole different atmosphere over there. The paint is different, we've hung some pictures up on the walls, we even have mood lighting! Plus, we're going to be unveiling so many wonderful new ways for you to WIN BOOKS, you really don't want to miss it.

So head on over to the new digs. All you have to do is click HERE , or you can point your web browser in this direction - http://deeanddeedish.blogspot.com . Either way will get you there. Remember to change or add a new bookmark, so you can easily find us.

From BOTH of us to ALL of you...

Take Care, and Keep Turning Those Pages!!

Dee and dee

Readers Pick The Best of 2006

Our readers picks for Best of The Best 2006

Our readers have spoken, and they should be heard. As you all know, we held our last contest of 2006 recently. The contest was quite simple, really. We told you our Top Three Picks of 2006, and we asked you to tell us yours. Many of you were kind enough to respond, and we've compiled a list, based on what YOU liked best this past year. Without further ado, we present YOUR picks for the Best of the Best of 2006. This list is in no particular order, it's just a complilation of your choices. We've deleted your comments, for the sake of space and time. However, if you're interested to know about a particular title on the list, zap us an e-mail and we'll be happy to share what other readers had to say. No, we won't tell you who picked what, but here you go...

The Marriage Spell by Mary Jo Putney
Intuition by Allegra Goodman
All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-Fleming
Single in Suburbia by Wendy Wax
Email to the Front by Alesia Holiday*** (2003)
Welcome to Temptation by Jenny Crusie***
Faking It by Jenny Crusie***
Confessions of a Super Mom by Melanie Lynne Hauser
Total Waste of Make-Up by Kim Gruenenfelder
She Got Up Off the Couch by Haven Kimmel
Heat by Bill Buford
The Sharing Knife by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Witness by Dee Henderson
Beach Road by James Patterson
Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn
The Comeback Kiss** by Lani Diane Rich (chosen twice)
Hex and the Single Girl by Valerie Frankel
Too Big to Miss by Sue Ann Jaffarian
Specials by Scott Westerfeld
Bleed by Laurie Ann Stolarz
Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen
12 Sharp * ** by Janet Evanovich (chosen twice)
Baby Proof by Emily Giffin
Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris***
Body Movers by Stephanie Bond
Dark Lover by J.R. Ward
Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris***
Just for Kicks* by Susan Andersen
Francesca's Kitchen by Peter Pezzelli
Farewell Summer by Ray Bradbury
The Life and Times of Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout
Triangle by Catherine Weber
The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
Sold by Patricia McCormick
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Dear John* by Nicholas Sparks
Testing Kate*# by Whitney Gaskell
Tenth Circle** by Jodi Picoult (chosen twice)
Don't Look Down by Jennifer Crusie*** and Bob Mayer
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion Blondes Have More Felons* by Alesia Holiday***
Werewolf Rising*# by R.L. LaFevers
The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Poison Study by Maria V Snyder

* This book was reviewed by us in 2006
** This book was chosen by more than one reader as a Top Pick
***This author was chosen by more than one reader
#This book was one of the six chosen by us as Best of the Best 2006

What's the list tell us? Well, two of your Top Picks were also two of ours. We reviewed more than a few of the books on your list, and read (but didn't review) at least a few others. And, of course, it tells us that you like a very wide range of books, just like we do. Thanks for taking the time to let us know what moved you most, what you like best, and of course, for tuning in to see what we've been reading. If you have a book you'd like us to review, we're always open for suggestions. Just drop us a line at deeanddeedish@sbcglobal.net , or leave us a comment. That's what we're here for! And, as always...

Take Care and Keep turning those pages!

Girls in Pants, Ann Brashares

Well now, that's not your normal and expected type of book for me to review, is it? Yeah, get over it. I needed to do a review. I was actually supposed to have one up yesterday, but I got lazy. I spent the day watching The Godfather with my hubs, then had to make him spaghetti. Who says tv isn't influential? Not his stomach, that's for sure.

So why am I doing a review of a YA book that's been out for over a year? Because I can. And also because it's a darn good book. The fact that the 4th book in the series is coming out soon has nothing to do with it. At all. Ok, maybe a little bit. The fact that it will be released January 9th, and I will be there waiting at Borders that morning, with my oldest daughter, and that we will argue all the way home about who gets to read it first is irrelevant, ok? Oh, and just so you know... I will win, because I am bigger. Also, because I have the Visa that will purchase the book. She won't complain too much though. Again, because I have the Visa. Also, because I'm a very fast reader, and she'll have the book before dinner, I'm sure. But that's that book, and this review is about this one. So here goes...

I was introduced to the Traveling Pants books a few years back by my daughter. She found the first one and wanted to read it. Like any mom wanting her daughter to love books, I bought it. However, unlike some moms, I read it first. That was the rule in our house. She could pick any book she wanted, but I got to read it first, just to be sure. It wasn't that I didn't trust her, it was just that I wanted to know what she was reading. Now the rule is that she can pick any book, but she understands that I can read it at any time. And if there is anything in it that I might get squicky about, she has to tell me before I find out on my own. I have to admit, she reads some darn good books. This series is proof to me that there are some really great YA authors out there!

Book 3, Girls In Pants, centers around The Third Summer of the Sisterhood. Basically, for those unfamiliar with the premise, four best friends found this magical pair of pants that fits them all to utter perfection. They are all just as different on the outside as they are on the inside, but The Pants don't seem to know that. Through two summers, The Pants have worked their magic in the lives of these young ladies, being there through joy and heartache. This summer though, these four might just need more than pants to make it through.

Bridget is heading off to coach soccer camp in Pennsylvania. She's the youngest coach there, only a few years older than her team. But even more than that, can she come face to face with The Boy from her past and walk away unscathed?

Lena wants more than anything to put thoughts of her old flame, Kostos, behind her. Immersing herself in an art project in order to win a much-meeded scholarship might be just the thing she needs to heal her broken heart.

Carmen meets the perfect guy, but is tortured about it. He seems to see her only at her best, and she knows there is more to her than what he's seeing. Does she bare her real self to him, or let him go on believing that she's really "Good Carmen"?

Tibby hates change. She doesn't want summer to start, because then it will end. When it ends, everyone is leaving, going off to college, starting new lives. If she could just keep things the same, everything would be fine. Why does the world keep moving forward when all she wants is for it to Pause for a while?

These are just a few of the dilemmas the young ladies must face during their last summer at home. With summer nearing its end, the world as they know it is almost over. How will they make it through all that this final summer has in store for them? Well, in The Pants, of course. And more importantly - Together.

Ms. Brashares is just freakin' brilliant, that's all I can say. She has managed to create this world where things like dead moms, and crazy grandmas, and boys that do you wrong, and girls that die, and friends that help you through it all, well, this world is right there, in your hands, as you turn the pages. I've read the first two books in the series and they are beautiful, but this one is beyond that. This one... oh, man, it's good!

This is a YA book I'm talking about, ok? But still, it put me right back there, into that very same summer that she's describing. I had three friends too, and we were a lot like the Septembers (so named because their moms were all friends during pregnancy and all gave birth in September). There was a smart one and a brash one and a beautiful one and a serious one. Just like this book though, we each got to be different things at different times. That's the beauty of friendship. You get to be all, and sometimes nothing, and that's ok. They'll still love you when the day is through, or even when the summer is over.

Each of the girls has a different passion, and Ms. Brashares is almost intimate with each of the things that define these young ladies. For Bridget, or Bee, it's sports. She breathes soccer, and running, and anything athletic. I know what she means when Bee talks about a natural high during a run, and I can almost feel my muscles straining with her. Carmen is so full of life that it oozes out of every pore. I get caught up in her exuberance. Lena is an artist, and seeing her family as she draws their portraits almost makes me think I could be proficient with some charcoal and a sketch pad (NOT!). And Tibby, the one who wants most for things to stay exactly the same, embraces life, in the most basic sense of the word, with such courage and bravery that it had tears streaming down my face.

I loved this book. Let me tell you that again, ok? I LOVED THIS BOOK. If you have a daughter that is anywhere between 13 and 20, you should buy her this book. If you are a young lady between 15 and 25, you should buy this book for yourself. If you are a woman, betwen 20 and 90, you should treat yourself to this fantastic read. Are you getting the idea that I'm going to read the next one first, and it has nothing to do with making sure it's ok for my daughter to read? I'm going to read it because I love this series, because I love getting sucked in to this world Ms. Brashares has created, where girls grow up and move on and learn to love and learn to let go, and still, through it all, cling tight to that wonderful gift they have been given. Yes, those magical pants are great. But the magic is not in what the Pants do for them. The magic is in what the Pants help them see, about each other, and about themselves.

Just do yourself a favor and read this book. Read the whole series. And then call up those friends of yours and tell them just how much they mean. Because you know, summer was over a few months ago, and things won't ever be the same again. But maybe, with a little luck and some magic Pants, you can feel that way again.

Keep turning those pages,
dee

Sleeping With The Fishes - MaryJanice Davidson

Hello, Lovelies! I hope each and every one of you had a very Merry Christmas, or Happy Holiday of your choice. I had a fabulous time and the kids are in hog heaven with all of their new toys. Now, I just have to find room for all of them! Before I get to today's review, I need to make a few announcements. First, please note that on January 1, 2007, we will be moved to our new home, Dee and Dee will now be here , and we are totally falling in love with it. Please point your bookmarks to the new site. It is still a work in progress, and you'll see many new and exciting things in the year to come. Second, we still have not heard from the winner of this months contest , so Joan B. please contact us at deeanddeedish@sbcglobal.net so we can get your books out to you ASAP. And last but certainly not least, my third announcement, the two winners of signed Blondes Have More Felons by Alesia Holliday are Joel B. and Alexis J.. Please send your snail mail addy to deeanddeedish@sbcglobal.net and I'll forward those on to Alesia so she can send them out! Congratulations to all three of the winners this month! I have to say, I wish I could have entered our contest! And now, without further ado...

Sleeping With The Fishes by MaryJanice Davidson
(BCC)

A FISH OUT OF WATER

Fred is a mermaid, But stop right there. Whatever image you're thinking of right now, forget it. Fred is not blonde. She's not buxom. And she's definitely not perky. In fact, Fred can be downright cranky. And it doesn't help matters that her hair is ocean-colored.

Being a mermaid does help Fred when she works at the New England Aquarium. But, needless to say, it's there that she gets involved in something fishy. Weird levels of toxins have been found in the local water. A gorgeous marine biologist wants her help investigating. So does her mer-person ruler, the High Prince of the Black Sea. You think it would be easy for a mermaid to get to the bottom of things. Think again...

As far as this BCC goes, I can't really say too much, because there really isn't much there, is there? And that isn't actually a bad thing. It gives an idea of who the heroine is, and a rundown of her obstacle. All-in-all, if more pubs went with the idea of less is more, well, I'd be without fodder, but fewer books would get put back on shelves because of the nonsense written there.

Dr. Fredrika Bimm is a hybrid mermaid with attitude. Just like the BCC says, if when you hear "mermaid" you think Ariel , with Fred, you have another think coming. In true Davidson style, Fred is a no-nonsense female, who shoots it straight and just a bit harsh, loves her friends, but tends to focus more on herself and her own problems. And when Dr. Thomas Pearson, hunky water fellow and romance novelist, shows up at the NEA to investigate the source of toxins in the harbor, Fred's problems get even bigger than walking in on her parents getting down and dirty and the fish in her care being on a hunger strike because she won't play Pet Shop Boys for them.

Soon after Dr. Thomas arrives and announces the toxins, Prince Artur of the Black Sea also arrives to do a bit of investigating himself. Since Fred is a mermaid, he informs her that she is his subject and will help him solve the problem. Did I mention the prince is also very hunky? And did I mention that both he and Pearson have a thing for Fred? Oh yeah, Fred's life is about to get very interesting.

When I sat down to do this review, I was really very torn. On one hand, MJD is a must buy for me, and always will be, and when I review one of my must buy's I generally do the whole Fan Girl Squee Fest thing. On the other hand, Fishes just isn't FGSF worthy. I did like the book, but to be honest it's probably because I like Davidson and her humor.

Since we ended up with a blizzard on release date, I was unable to get out of town to buy it right away so I had a chance to read a few reviews. Many of those reviews were not happy ones. There were a lot of complaints about the length and the price of the paperback. I'm not gonna complain about either because I did like the book, and I simply don't mind paying the cash for a book that was worth my time to read. Especially from one of my favorite authors.

The book is short. A mere 268 pages and double spaced at that, and Davidson address just that by saying "Well, I can write fast or I can write long, but I can't do both." in a letter to her readers at the end of the book (true she's addressing the Undead books, but still). Even with the short length, Fishes has all of the elements that make me love Davidson. Like I said, her brash females are always a plus, and there is always a best friend that would do anything for them. A real sense of community about her books, and Fishes had all of that. There was a nice Romance sub-plot, actually two, and some very funny pages with a lovable cast of characters. I also liked the pollution problem they were investigating. Whether intentional or not, Davidson made some very good points about the way we treat our environment, hint-we don't treat it well. And I liked that even while making it funny to read, it brought some awareness to this reader.

Where Fishes was a disappointment for me actually had to do with those two nice Romantic subplots. This is supposed to be the first book in a series, and the way the book ended all nice and tidy didn't really leave room, that I could see, for the Pearson vs Artur triangle to continue, and neither man was chosen at the end. The book is classified as EROTICA, and there was only one scene in which sex actually took place. And guess what? It wasn't even Fred getting some. Now, I didn't buy this book for the erotica label, but I happen to know from reading her other books, that Davidson is a master at really HOT sex scenes. But the one scene we did get, was stilted and since the characters involved in the actual act weren't a major focus of the story, it just felt off. Nothing steamy at all, and that's probably because I just didn't feel invested in the two involved in the act.

If you, like me, are a HUGE Davidson fan, then you'll enjoy this book. BUT, if you are wanting to get some one hooked on Davidson and her style, this isn't the book to give them. I have hopes that the next installment will get better, and feel more natural, we'll just have to wait and see.

Take Care

Dear John, Nicholas Sparks

How come every time I start a new review, I feel like it's confession time? And I'm not even Catholic! Well, here ya go... Nicholas Sparks is another of my guilty pleasures.

He's one of those authors that I reach for when I need a really good cry. Every single one of his books that I've ever read has been a guaranteed tear-jerker. Now don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean that I think they're all beautifully moving, or incredibly written, or fresh and innovative, or surprising, or anything like that. Almost without exception, his books are fairly predictable, at least to me. I can generally tell what's going to happen, who will fall in love, who will be heartbroken, who will die, and who should be cast when the book gets made into a movie. Still though, I'm drawn to these books like the proverbial moth to flame. I can't stay away from them. Sometimes, I can't get enough of them. Always, they are what I reach for when I just need a darn good cry. So of course, at Christmas, I find myself reading a LOT of Sparks. This year, he even made my gift list. And since I have one of those husbands that is totally determined that I will get what I want, I got this book yesterday. Yeah me!

Dear John is the story of John Tyree and Savannah Lynn Curtis. John and Savannah are both from North Carolina. He's from Wilmington on the coast, she's from Lenoir in the mountains. He's a reformed rebel, she's almost a saint. He's home from Germany on leave from the Army, she's on summer break from college building houses for Habitat for Humanity. They meet on Wrightsville Beach, when he jumps off the pier to rescue her purse. Neither of them are ever the same again.

During the few short days they have together before John must return to Germany, he and Savannah discover that they seem to complete each other. No, this is not some Jerry McGuire ripoff. Their love is real, and so is the heartache they feel when John gets on the plane. During their first year apart, they write and call often, and re-live their days together during the first night of each full moon. Their love seems to grow stronger and deeper, and they are convinced that they will end up together forever. After they are re-united a year later, their love only seems to strengthen. Counting down the days until John is discharged from the army, they make plans to marry. Along with the rest of the world, neither one can foresee how the events of September 11th will impact their lives and their plans for the future.

Well, that's takes you most of the way through the book. Yes, you can still read it and get lots out of it. Trust me, you get more info than I've given you just be reading the book flap. So don't think I blew all the good parts, ok?

What didn't I like? As I mentioned, I thought it was pretty obvious what would happen. I could see some of those plot turns a mile away. But then again, that's also part of why I like Sparks' books, as they are comfortable reads, nothing over the top happens. I wasn't too crazy about the way John seemed to use being in the army as an excuse to break his promise to Savannah. To me, that was not in keeping with the passion and devotion that John so often expressed. It seemed out of character. Also, the whole point of John and Savannah being apart seemed contrived to me, since I did 10 years in the Navy and know how easy it usually is for spouses to join servicemembers overseas. I still can't figure out why, if they were so much in love, Savannah didn't pack her bags and head over to Germany. Well, I guess there wouldn't have been much of a book if she'd done that, right?

What did I like? Well, it was sweet. Go ahead, gag if you must, but it's the truth. The story is told from John's POV. He expresses his love in glorious twenty-something detail. He chronicles his life with his father, a probable sufferer of Asperger's Syndrome. He details what it's like in a war zone. Basically, it's a different POV than I'm used to, and I really liked that.
- There's just something about reading a Southern author that fills me up to the brim. I loved the way John could tell that Savannah was from the mountains, because of her accent. This is something that people not from the South probably don't understand. To Yanks, we all sound the same, right? But to us, there is a very discernible difference between Charlotte and Charleston, Atlanta and Augusta, Wilmington and Winston-Salem. Yanks label our speech as "Southern twang" or "Southern drawl". Only another Southerner understands the subtle nuances that differentiate between coastal and mountain, city and farm. Sparks shows that better than most, and I love it in all of his books.
-Sparks can paint a picture with words like no other. In describing their relationship, John muses, "Our relationship, I felt with a heaviness in my chest, was beginning to feel like the spinning movement of a child's top. When we were together, we had the power to keep it spinning, and the result was beauty and magic and an almost childlike sense of wonder; when we separated, the spinning began inevitably to slow. We became wobbly and unstable, and I knew I had to find a way to keep us from toppling over." Can you see that picture in your head? Can you feel John's uneasiness, the way he senses that he needs to work hard to keep what he has? This is what Sparks does so well; he creates these incredibly vivid emotional pictures that you can't help but identify with. You get sucked right into John's struggle to keep that top spinning, to find a way to hold on to his ideal and perfect love with Savannah.

How does it end? Well, duh! I'm not telling. Some of you already have this book. One of you even named it as one of your Top Three of 2006. It doesn't make my Top Three list, but it's not bad at all. It did exactly what I needed it to do. It drew me out of my own life for most of the day, helped me escape into someone else's struggles for a while, and of course, brought those tension-relieving tears that are the reason I reach for a Sparks book in the first place. It was a decent story, with decent characters, and I enjoyed it. Would I buy it in hardback? No, because I got it as a gift. Would I suggest you get it in hardback? If you're a hardcore Sparks fan, you won't be disappointed. I know I wasn't. If you're not hardcore, put your name of the library list or wait for the paperback. It's NOT a bad buy, but I'm pretty firmly against paying $25 for any book. That's just me, though.

Agree? Disagree? Drop me a comment and tell me why. And by all means...

Keep turning those pages!

Merry Christmas!!

Wow, it is early! Well, not really, but still... it is Christmas, so maybe I shouldn't even be on here yet. However, when you have six kids in the house, under the age of 15, there is no rest for the weary. But hey, I got the Between, Georgia audiobook AND the new Nicholas Sparks book, Dear John, so I'm not complaining at all. My family knows me so well!

Besides, this is the perfect time for me to announce the winner of the December contest... and the winner is...

JOAN B.

Congratulations, Joan! Please send us an e-mail with "I'm the December contest winner" in the subject line, and be sure to include your mailing address.

Joan had this to say about her Top Three picks of 2006...

Dark Lover J.R. Ward

The world Ward creates is fascinating and makes you want to know more about it. A real page turner.

Grave Sight Charlaine Harris

I love her imagination and the way she makes Harper's gift so so believable. A very accessible writer.

Just for Kicks Susan Andersen

Pure fun. Lovable hero and heroine and great secondary characters.

As the winner, Joan will get copies of all six of our picks, plus a copy of Blondes Have More Felons by Alesia Holliday. How's that for spreading Christmas joy?

Thanks to all that entered this contest!

And remember, we're only going to be HERE for a few more days. On January 1st, you'll have to check us out in our new home, over here. PLEASE bookmark the new place and plan on stopping by often. We're still going to be doing reviews all the time, and contests every month, plus we have some really cool new things planned as well. We'll be starting something called the Fabulous Author/Book Pick of the month (FAB Pick), where we will spotlight a fabulous book or author for a week. If we're spotlighting an author, we'll have an interview as well. Plus, to tie everything together, that FAB Pick will be included in the contest goodies for that month. Isn't that just the coolest?

So remember to check us out in our new home, send some congrats to Joan, be ready for Charity's announcement for the other two winners of Alesia's book, and, as always...

Keep turning those pages!

Merry Christmas!

CONTEST ENDS SOON. ENTER TO WIN - NOW!!

Yep, that's right - the contest is ending soon!
If you don't enter, you can't win. If you don't win, then how are you going to start out the new year with new books?

We're ending the December contest at midnight 24 December, 2006. Your entries or e-mails need to be posted by that day, or they won't count. Remember, all you have to do for this contest is send us an e-mail, or make a comment, telling us YOUR Top Three Picks of 2006 ( can you hear the rhyme in that one? I worked on that for, like, 3 hours!).

And here's a BONUS! Remember how I said that the six books that you'll be getting wouldn't be signed? Well, I was wrong. Some of the fabulous authors of some of those amazing six books actually contacted us... and said that they would be happy to sign a book for the contest winner. Can you believe that? It just blew me away. Now, not all of the authors are able to do this, but some of them are, so we're actually very lucky. And can I just tell you that we didn't ask them to do this? They volunteered to do it, because they are even more wonderful that we thought they were already! YAY YAY YAY!!

And another thing... remember how I said that we were giving away our six favorite books, three of mine and three of Charity's? Well..... Charity just mentioned that she would have picked "Blondes Have More Felons" by Alesia Holliday, if she would have read it before she did her picks. Well, Alesia said that she would send us THREE SIGNED BOOKS to give away to you wonderful people! Can you believe that? I know, it's like Christmas around here or something! So the winner will get not six, but SEVEN books! And two other lucky blog readers will each get a copy of Alesia's fan-tab-u-lous books as well!

So ENTER THE CONTEST!

And a Merry Christmas to all!!