Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

What I'm waiting for:

Title: The Penny Pinchers
Author: Sarah Strohmeyer
Publication Date: July 2, 2009

Bestselling author Sarah Strohmeyer offers up a timely (and recession-proof) treat about the things money can—and can’t—buy. Living in New Jersey—the state that boasts the most malls per capita—Kat’s favorite recreational activity is a no-brainer: shopping. But when she discovers that her husband, Griff, has been hiding a secret bank account, her joyful consumerism suddenly loses its appeal. Are their fights about money more serious than she understood? Is he, as her friends suggest, preparing for a divorce? Just in case, Kat decides it’s time to start saving.

Drastic times call for drastic measures: Kat starts by canceling cable and kicking her $240-a-month Starbucks habit. But what starts out as a simple effort to cut costs becomes an over-the-top obsession when Kat joins an eclectic but lovable group of savers called the Penny Pinchers Club. Soon she is pumping her gas at dawn (when it is thicker) and serving dinner made from food she retrieved at the grocery store dumpster. Kat is saving money, to be sure, but what she’s really saving is time—time she spends with Griff, their two kids . . . and an old flame who resurfaces at precisely the wrong moment, offering Kat a life where money is no object.

An irresistible and wonderfully warm-hearted novel about the unexpected ways hardship can lead to happiness, The Penny Pinchers Club is the perfect pick-me-up for these troubled times. (From Amazon.com)

Cover Attraction

Each Wednesday, Marcia from The Printed Page, hosts Cover Attraction. She writes:

"I’m a very visual person and love beautiful cover art. It doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll read the book but at least I might stop and take a peek instead of walking right on by. "

I am a visual person as well and have often read books simply because I liked the cover. My cover attraction for this week:

Title: Baggage Claim
Author: Tanya Michna
From the back cover: Now that her daughter is happily married, Beth Overton, is ready to take charge of her life. She starts by impulsively following her husband on a business trip. But her intention of putting some zing back into their lackluster marriage fizzles when she stumbles upon a secret Allen has been keeping for years. Since he's fallen down on his part of their marriage bargain, Beth is forced to rethink hers. But first she’s got to retrieve the luggage she’s accidentally switched with someone else.

Carly Frazer keeps telling herself she’s got her life completely under control…until it falls completely apart. The career than means everything to her begins to crumble. Her mother, recently widowed, moves in with Carly to receive the extra care she needs. Suddenly Carly's just anohter divorce, undistinguished professor who's under pressure to publish or perish and has troubles at home. What's more, while headed to a conference, she mistakes another woman's suitcase for her own.

When Beth and Carly meet in a hotel bar to switch bags, they are two very different women, in very disimilar situations, who never guess that a twist of fate and their unlikely friendship are about to take their lives in surprising new directions.

When I first saw this book at Borders, I was immediately drawn to it. Just makes me want to pack a bag and spend some quiet time alone (sigh).

Tuesday Teasers

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jenn of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
  
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
  
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure what you share does not give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
  
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
  

My teasers:

"Not a soul had been around when I'd hidden it over a week ago. How had it ended up on my bulletin board?"
~p. 114, Legacy by Kate Brian~

48 Hour Book Challenge

Mother Reader is hosting the fourth annual 48 Hour Book Challenge. It's this weekend, June 5th - June 7th. Check-in day will be June 8th. This will be my first time participating in this challenge. I've always wanted to participate in a read-a-thon, but prior commitments have prevented me from doing so. I have several activities planned this weekend, however we can choose to make this a laid-back challenge, so I'm able to do both.

Here are the basic guidelines:

1. The weekend is June 5–7, 2009. Read and blog for any 48-hour period within the Friday-to-Monday-morning window. Start no sooner than 7:00 a.m. on Friday the fifth and end no later than 7:00 a.m. Monday. So, go from 7:00 p.m. Friday to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday... or maybe 7:00 a.m. Saturday to 7:00 a.m. Monday works better for you. But the 48 hours do need to be in a row. Edited to add: But during that 48-hour period you may still have gaps of time in which you can’t read, and that’s fine. In the middle of the three different challenge weekends I’ve had to go to work, attend a ballet recital, and drive for a Girl Scout event. You can certainly work around the other events in your weekend.


2. The books should be about fifth-grade level and up. Adult books are fine, especially if any adult book bloggers want to play. If you are generally a picture book blogger, consider this a good time to get caught up on all those wonderful books you’ve been hearing about. Two graphic novels can be included in the reading. I’m not trying to discriminate, I’m just trying to make sure that the number of books and page counts mean the same thing to everyone.


3. It’s your call as to how much you want to put into it. If you want to skip sleep and showers to do this, go for it. If you want to be a bit more laid back, fine. But you have to put something into it or it’s not a challenge.


4. The length of the reviews are not an issue. You can write a sentence, paragraph, or a full-length review. The time spend reviewing counts in your total time.


5. On your blog, state when you are starting the challenge with a specific entry on that day. This makes it easier to track the participants. Write your final summary on Monday, and for one day, we’ll all be on the same page, so to speak.


6. Your final summary needs to clearly include the number of books read, the approximate hours you spent reading/reviewing, and any other comments you want to make on the experience. It needs to be posted no later than noon on Monday, June 8th.