Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Summer Giveaway Hop! 8-1 to 8-7-12


HUGE thanks to I Am A Reader, Not A Writer AND Mary in HB for sponsoring this event! THANK YOU!

Yes! It's here! The SUMMER GIVEAWAY HOP! 
August 1st to August 7th!
If you would like to enter, please click on this link: HERE! OR on the GIVEAWAYS TAB up above!
Have fun hopping blog to blog!
Laurie

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh - REVIEW





First, I would like to point out on the sale page for this book at Amazon, which you can find by clicking on the TITLE of this book here: The Language of Flowers: A Novel, there is an EXCELLENT written Author Interview. The Author  discusses her life as a Foster Child Mother and how it relates to the book, and more. It is a GREAT Interview! You should NOT miss it!


On to the the Review!


The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh





Goodreads Synopsis:
A mesmerizing, moving, and elegantly written debut novel, The Language of Flowers beautifully weaves past and present, creating a vivid portrait of an unforgettable woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her own troubled past.

The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating grief, mistrust, and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.

Now eighteen and emancipated from the system, Victoria has nowhere to go and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own. Soon a local florist discovers her talents, and Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But a mysterious vendor at the flower market has her questioning what’s been missing in her life, and when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.



My Take:
4-stars!
The author's quote from this book trailer, "What is it like to try to love if you've never been loved yourself?", is the premise of this novel. 
Meet Victoria, the main character, whose flaw is not having ever had a person love her or even just have another human being care about her. 
She does not know how to feel love, nor to give it, nor would she even know this was a flaw of hers, at least not with the kind of life she has lived so far. We get to watch Victoria grow and very slowly learn to feel emotions even when we feel she may never learn them, or does not learn them after self sabotaging herself time and again.
As we are reading, this book flip-flops back and forth between present day and Victoria's past, which we do really need to learn to understand where she her reactions come from and to understand her as a person better.  
Victoria was left as a baby with no information whatsoever. The court decided she was approximately three weeks old at the time she was left, so they gave her a birth date, which she calls her 'Emancipation Date', not an actual 'birthday' for 'her' celebration reasons she tells us. Sounds typical as it is the first of the month.
In the beginning of the book, we see Victoria having to leave the group home she was in because she had aged out. She turned 18. "Emancipation Day"! Unfortunately, another homeless person. Victoria is an adult, though! She should be able to make her way in life all on her own.
However, at this time, we do see a little more heart in her as she leaves the group home with the flowers she brings in and gives to certain people. Only 'she' knows the meanings of the flowers, so some of it is quite fitting. We see the growth she made with Elizabeth in all of her emotions now, yet we don't know everything behind all of this at this point in time. What I did was to flip back to the beginning of the book after I had finished the book and reread the first chapter. This made ALL the difference for me as I did so. 
At times Victoria is likable, and at others we detest her. At times we just wanted to yell at her and tell her what she is doing wrong. All we can do is keep reading. UGH! At one point in the book, I almost lost complete faith in Victoria.
Since Victoria has been in and out of numerous Foster Care and group homes her entire life, she never had the time to open up with anyone, or even share any feelings with another human being as no one had ever shown her any. She is not trusting, communicative, nor a loving person. She is very much to herself, even at the mere age of 10. This is when a woman by the name of Elizabeth takes her in. Elizabeth wants to adopt Victoria and is bound and determined to change Victoria and make her her daughter. Elizabeth starts to teach Victoria 'the meaning of flowers' as she owns an orchard and several flower gardens, plus a greenhouse. From the very beginning of this teaching, Victoria starts to make a book of flowers with their meanings, as she knows them to be. 
As Victoria turns 18, and is emancipated from the Foster Care System, she is given a little bit of money, a change of clothing, and is told she is free to go off on her own. She ends up living homeless, in a park, and makes a small garden of flowers there. 
A woman by the name of Renata happens to notice Victoria and her talent with the flowers. She gets to know Victoria and offers her some work in her floral shop she owns. Victoria takes the job, and it doesn't matter to her how much or little Renata will need her, she is happy to have work, and work with the  flowers she has come to know. Renata is so impressed with the amount of people who continue to return to her store requesting Victoria to get them flowers for this or that reason, she has her start to go to the flower markets early mornings. Victoria fills their orders, and they return happy, telling her she worked magic, as the situation they wanted the flowers for had worked. Victoria was not surprised as she knows the meaning of flowers and helped the people in that way. Renata, still so impressed with Victoria, helps her to find a very small place for her to live, but no larger than a closet in which a bed would not even fit in. Victoria could afford the rent, and was very happy with what Renata had done to help her. Victoria didn't care how large or small her own place to live was, but that is was her space. She could afford this. She was happy.
As Victoria is working for Renata, she starts to learn that the meaning of flowers as she knows them to be are not necessarily true of what she had been taught by Elizabeth. Renata's meanings are a little different than Elizabeth's meanings, and, she also learned some flowers can have several meanings. Victoria struggles through this. She must learn there are many more meanings to the many varieties of flowers than what she knows. This is somewhat disturbing to her. She wrestles with this fact, but starts to listen to Renata more to learn the additional meanings and adds them to her book.
Victoria meets a young man at the flower market. They become friends, and it turns into a somewhat dysfunctional relationship. Things happen from here, and it is vital that Victoria learns how to give love.
I really enjoyed this debut novel by this author. I hope she writes more in the future. Flowers CAN be included! I happened to learn a lot about flowers from this book myself. What is really neat is in the back of the Kindle edition, there is a glossary of a lot of flowers. I'm glad to have this. It's a nice edition to a few books I have already about the definition of flowers. Hey, what can I say? A girl LOVES flowers!
If you took the time to read the Author Interview at Amazon, you will see that the author is a Foster Parent herself, and deals with all types of children all of the time, in addition to her own. She is an advocate for kids who get 'emancipated' from the system, as well. Could YOU have supported yourself "completely" the day YOU turned 18? Put a roof over your head, pay the utilities, buy food and have a job to cover it all? She hopes this book helps to encourage "Us, the Reader's" to become inspired to help these young people in our own communities, make this transition. Hopefully, we all CAN help these young, 'still kids', as much as possible.
Read this book! It's beautiful! I HIGHLY recommend it!
I chose to read this book on my own. It was NOT provided to me for review. I had been eyeing this book for a little while, and every month I purchase '1' special book for myself, and this was it this month! Finally!
Thanks for reading my review!
Laurie
(This cover below is the book Amazon has as the cover. The 'current cover' is listed above. I guess Amazon has not updated their cover yet? I don't know? Here's the link in case you would like to purchase and read this book!)


The Language of Flowers: A Novel by Vanessa Diffenbaugh




Sunday, July 29, 2012

New York Times Best Selling Top 15 Books for the week ending July 28th, 2012

Before I get to the Top 15 Best Selling books for this week, I would like to bring something up that is eating away at me. I'm NOT to happy about it, either. This link - -> HERE! That link has a LOT of the NEW *FALL* Releases! You can check them out!
The problem I have with them is this: the COST OF THE EBOOKS. They have INCREASED AGAIN! Now, instead of the $9.99 like they were when the E-Reader first came out, instead of the recent increase to $12.99, NOW they are being INCREASED TO $14.99! YES! It seems EVERY New Release time the prices creep up by at least $2.00. This is what I have noticed.
What about the EBOOKS THAT COST MORE THAN THE PHYSICAL BOOKS??? DOESN'T THAT IRK YOU? IT DOES ME!
I do this article every Sunday, and in a way, it IS advertising for the Publishers. I see this EVERY time a slew of NEW Releases come out, the Ebooks creep UP in price. 
I would like to educate you in that it is the PUBLISHER who chooses the COST OF THE EBOOKS, JUST AS 'THEY' CHOOSE THE COST OF THE BOOKS. Amazon has NO PART in adjusting the prices of Ebooks whatsoever. Amazon CAN adjust the cost of BOOKS! Phsyical books! For some reason the law that WAS going to allow RETAILERS the ability to adjust the cost of ebooks MUST have fell through? I don't know why?
This is really starting to make me MORE THAN A LITTLE ANGRY!
When ebooks first came out, they were generally $9.99. They have increased by $1, $2 or even $3 EVERY TIME a New Release comes out, ON TOP OF THE $9.99! Have you noticed this yet? I don't know if any of YOU have noticed this? I am noticing it is the BIG Publishing houses that are doing this. If you click on that link, the word that says HERE, up above, go ahead and look at the Fiction and Mystery, Suspense and Thriller Genres. 
NOW the Ebooks HAVE RISEN IN PRICE TO $14.99 OR MORE! Some ebooks are as HIGH as $19.99! UNBELIEVABLE! For something we cannot 'hand over' to someone else??? What's going on? I SURELY don't understand this? 
Is THIS the PRICE WE PAY IN ADDITION TO THE COST OF THE EREADER? Publishers are publishing LESS books, and some authors are NOT PUBLISHING BOOKS AT ALL! WHERE does the COST come in?
Are we completely OUT of the recession we were in? NO!!! We ARE coming OUT of it, so WHAT IS THE DEAL?
Take the NEW Adult book by J K Rowling. It is priced at $19.99 for the PHYSICAL BOOK AND THE EBOOK, BOTH! YES!
This is really bothering me! I don't really care WHO I tick off by writing this, either! What I HOPE to do is to bring this to the attention of YOU READERS! "YOU" NEED TO START TO COMPLAIN! YES, YOU DO! WE "ALL" NEED TO DO SOMETHING! This is the ONLY way the Publishers will know WE ARE GETTING A LITTLE UPSET WITH THEM!
You will start to notice this today when you look at the costs of the books. I list them every week. You will see ebooks selling today for $14.99! YEP! They are NEW RELEASES!
I don't expect to get my books for cheap, but, this has been going on since I bought my Kindle. The ebooks CONTINUING TO INCREASE IN PRICE BY UP TO $10 PER BOOK IN ADDITION TO THE ORIGINAL $9.99!!! I SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Even the books by the Independent Authors (and they know I love and support them DEARLY), are increasing the prices of THEIR books, too!
An ebook is a COMPUTER FILE! THAT IS IT! An ebook takes NO PAPER! NONE! I would think an ebook would cost LESS than a PAPER book, wouldn't you? Wasn't one of the SELLING POINTS of the E-Readers about the ENVIRONMENT? The E-Reader will be "GREEN"? I remember that discussion! Yes, it IS convenient to purchase an ebook from home. It's super convenient for me, who can't drive because I have a neuro muscle disease. I couldn't tell you when the next time I would be in a bookstore would be. For me, it IS EASY to purchase an ebook! It works out GREAT!
Every month I buy a couple of the mainstream ebooks for 'me' to read. That is going to STOP! RIGHT NOW! I am going to REFUSE to pay the INCREASED PRICES of EBOOKS! I feel if I cannot have it in my hands, WHY am I going to purchase a computer file that can be lost? OR, what if I never get it if I don't watch for it to download? This DOES happen.
Is this what it is going to take? Everyone who owns an E-Reader to STOP purchasing books? To Black-ball the E-Reader?
The question "I" have is this. WHEN WILL THE INCREASE OF THE PRICE OF EBOOKS STOP? OR WILL IT STOP? WILL IT ONLY BE A LUXURY FOR THE RICH, TO PURCHASE AN EBOOK? AMAZON SURE MAKES IT SUPER CHEAP TO PURCHASE THE E-READER! WOW!
So this IS what it is starting to look like! 
Does ANYONE agree with me?
IF you DO, please leave a comment after the Best Sellers, PLEASE! I want to stand up and make a point to the Publishers. We are READERS, NOT MILLIONAIRES who can afford ANY PRICE FOR A BOOK, NOR can we continue to pay INCREASES IN THE PRICES OF THE EBOOKS! We MUST say 'enough IS enough'!
Even the MOVIE THEATERS have NOT increased their prices in QUITE A WHILE! Does this tell you anything? The 'Stars' salaries HAVE INCREASED DRAMATICALLY, but movie tickets HAVE remained MUCH STEADIER THAN BOOKS! Do Publishers NOT WANT US TO READ? DO THEY WANT TO GO OUT OF BUSINESS? OR WHAT? I ask ALL of you this question?


OR, HOW ABOUT WHEN AN EBOOK COSTS "MORE" THAN A PHYSICAL BOOK?
WHAT IS THE FOR THAT?


Thank you,
Laurie

Here are our Top 15 Best Sellers!

1. Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy by E L James
Print Book: $9.57
Ebook:       $9.99

 

2. Fifty Shades Darker (Fifty Shades, Book 2) by E L James
Print Book $9.57
Ebook:      $9.99

 

3. Fifty Shades Freed: Book Three of the Fifty Shades Trilogy (50 Shades Trilogy) by E L James
Print Book: $9.57
Ebook:       $9.99

 

4.The Fallen Angel: A Novel by Daniel Silva
Print Book: $15.98
Ebook:       $14.99



5.Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn
Print Book: $13.94
Ebook:       $12.99

  

6. Bared to You: A Crossfire Novel by Sylvia Day
Print Book: $9.00
Ebook:       $7.99

 

7. Deep Down: A Jack Reacher Story by Lee Child
Available ONLY as a Kindle Single. Word is this is in prelude to his next Book which is called, "Jack Reacher, A Wanted Man, A Novel". Price for this Kindle Single: $1.99

   

8. I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson
Print book: $18.30
Ebook:      $12.99

 

9. Shadow of Night: A Novel (All Souls Trilogy) by Deborah Harkness
Print Book: $16.31
Ebook:       $12.99

 

10. Creole Belle: A Dave Robicheaux Novel by James Lee Burke
Print book: $16.79
Ebook:      $14.99

 

11. Slammed Book One in the Slammed Series, by Colleen Hoover - THIS BOOK ROCKS!!! It is EXCELLENT! A GREAT LOVE STORY! BEYOND GREAT! It will leave you wanting for MORE, I guarantee it! Which is GREAT because she has her 2nd book in this series published, and it is called Point of Retreat! Yes! I HAVE read that one, too! ENJOY!!!
Print Book: $8.63
Ebook:       $2.99


Point of Retreat (Volume 2) in the Slammed Series, by Colleen Hoover. You ARE going to want to read this IMMEDIATELY AFTER reading Slammed!



12. Fifty Shades Trilogy: Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, Fifty Shades Freed 3-volume Boxed Set by E L James
Print book: $28.71
Ebook:      $29.99

 

13. The Marriage Bargain (Marriage to a Billionaire) by Jennifer Probst
Print Book: $7.99
Ebook:       $2.99

 

14. Backfire (An FBI Thriller) by Catherine Coulter
Print Book: $17;62
Ebook:       $12.99

 

15. The Litigators: A Novel by John Grisham
Print Book: $10.88
Ebook:       $9.99

  

Have a GREAT week!

Friday, July 27, 2012

LOOK what I found at Amazon! The BIG "FALL" Books Preview! Pre-Order NOW!



Wondering what's coming out this Fall in books? It's HERE! At Amazon!
Click on the WORDS IN PURPLE BELOW, to see them all and PRE-ORDER NOW!


Click here ---> The BIG "FALL" Books Preview! PRE-ORDER NOW!!!

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Week ending July 22, 2012
Combined PRINT and EBOOK

1. Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy by E L James
Print Book: $9.57
Ebook:       $9.99

 

2. Fifty Shades Darker (Fifty Shades, Book 2) by E L James
Print Book: $9.57
Ebook:       $9.99

 

3. Fifty Shades Freed: Book Three of the Fifty Shades Trilogy by E L James
Print Book: $9.57
Ebook:       $9.99

 

4. Shadow of Night: A Novel (All Souls Trilogy) by Deborah Harkness
Print Book:  $16.31
Ebook:        $12.99

 

5. Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn AND I read an article that THIS BOOK "IS" being made into a MOVIE! I am dying to read this one! I WILL by Summer's end!
Print Book:  $13.94
Ebook:        $12.99

 

6. I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
Print Book: $16.79
Ebook:       $14.99

  Okay! I'm SUPER UPSET!!! Ebooks are NOW $14.99 for NEW books??? WHAT THE HECK HAVE THE PUBLISHER'S DONE??? I can tell you one thing, I will NEVER purchase an ebook at the price of $14.99! I REFUSE TO PAY $12.99! "IF" I were to purchase ANY BOOK, AND PAY $14.99, I BETTER HAVE IT IN MY HANDS AND BE ABLE TO ALLOW MY HUSBAND TO READ IT FOR "MORE THAN 2 WEEKS"!!! This is IT! I couldn't believe my EYES! I'm SUPER HOT over this! How DARE they??? WHAT do the publisher's think we are? WHY would they THINK WE WOULD PAY THAT MUCH MONEY FOR A COMPUTER FILE???? I will also take the liberty and state it is ALWAYS STARTS WITH THE BEST SELLING AUTHORS when they UP THE PRICES!! What is this? The Best Selling authors are NOT making enough money as it is? Oh, I'm HOT over this issue!!! I believe I will be writing some letters to some publishers over this issue! YOU should ALSO write some letters to the publishers, as well! The MORE people speak up, the MORE the publishers will hear us! THIS MUST STOP!! COME ON!!! 

I would like to know what YOU think?
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT!!!


7. Backfire (An FBI Thriller) by Catherine Coulter
Print Book: $16.62
Ebook:       $12.99

 

8. Bared to You: A Crossfire Novel by Sylvia Day
Print Book: $9.00
Ebook:       $7.99

 

9. Fifty Shades Trilogy: Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, Fifty Shades Freed 3-volume Boxed Set - Paperback  by E L James
Print Book: $28.71
Ebook:       $29.99

 

10. The Great Escape: A Novel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Print Book: $15.28
Ebook:       $12.99

 

11. The Litigators: A Novel by John Grisham
Print Book: $10.88
Ebook:       $9.99 (These price are MUCH BETTER!)



12. The Marriage Bargain (Marriage to a Billionaire) by Jennifer Probst
ATTENTION: This paperback has NOT been available and NOW IT IS AVAILABLE, so if you have been waiting, IT'S HERE AND AVAILABLE!
Print Book: $7.99
Ebook:       $2.88

  

13. The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
Print Book: $17.79
Ebook:       $12.99

 

14. The Next Best Thing: A Novel by Jennifer Weiner
Print Book: $17.47
Ebook:       $12.99

 

15. Slammed by Colleen Hoover
Print Book: $7.91
Ebook:       $2.99

OH MY GOSH!!!! CLICK ON MY GIVEAWAYS TAB RIGHT NOW or on this link: http://www.lauriehere.blogspot.com/p/giveaways.html !!! THE LAST TWO GIVEAWAYS I HAVE GIVEN AWAY #15, SLAMMED, BY COLLEEN HOOVER! RIGHT NOW 'SHE' IS GIVING AWAY A SIGNED COPY OF SLAMMED!!! GO ENTER!!!!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Vacation Reads Giveaway Hop! July 19th to July 25th! Come ENTER!!!


HUGE thanks to I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and The Bookish Mama for Sponsoring this Giveaway Hop! Thanks!!!


WELCOME!!!! It's time for the:


Vacation Reads Giveaway Blog Hop!
July 19th to July 25th!


US and CANADA!!!
(due to postage costs)


Since the last Giveaway of Slammed AND Point of Retreat BOTH by Colleen Hoover was A HUGE SUCCESS, I had SO MANY messages of thanks! You are VERY welcome! I told the Author, Colleen Hoover, and she was SO HAPPY you ALL LOVED the giveaway, the SHE has offered a:


"SIGNED" PAPERBACK COPY of "SLAMMED"!!!





To learn MORE about this book, click on the LINK that will take you to the Giveaway Page, or click on the GIVEAWAY TAB UP ABOVE, and SCROLL DOWN TO THE PREVIOUS Giveaway Hop! ALL the info is there! This book is continuously climbing the charts on Amazon! Last I looked it was #11! Woo-hoo! This is an AWESOME BOOK!  You will also see her 2nd book in this series, Point of Retreat!


OR, you can ALSO PURCHASE THIS PAPERBACK OR EBOOK by click on the WORDS OR THE PHOTO OF THE AMAZON PICTURE BELOW!
Slammed




This is her 2nd book in this series!
Point of Retreat (Volume 2)




What do YOU have to do to ENTER? Fill out the FORM at this LINK: http://www.lauriehere.blogspot.com/p/giveaways.html 
OR CLICK ON THE "GIVEAWAYS TAB" UP ABOVE ON THE MENU!


Thank you, SO much, Colleen!!!
Good Luck! Enjoy the HOP!!!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

The NYT TOP 15 Best Selling Books for the week ending Sunday, July 15th, 2012

Ahhhhh!!! I'm LATE!!!! 
Hello Everyone!!! I extremely apologize for being LATE!!! Oh my! This is VERY unlike me, but I will attempt to explain!
My son is here for the weekend, so he and I have been visiting and goofing around, and just plain 'ol having FUN! So I apologize this post is late, but, I wouldn't trade it for the world!! Life is TOOOO short and our children grow up TOOO fast! In the blink of an eye they are grown! Adults! We find ourselves asking, "Where has the time gone?" Then we look in the mirror! OH, MY! I am NOT OLD! Yet, I HAVE aged! Oh, well, these were AWESOME aging years! 
So, back to 'this' post!
So, here we go!
I want to address one thing first. 
I NEVER gave it a thought as to what an IMPACT 'one' single book could make on the world with a book that has made it onto the NYT Best Seller List. I think this impact is so BIG because of the subject matter this book contains. Eroticism. This book has stayed there for MONTHS, and has caught the attention of this country at least, because of this subject matter of the book, and it has even been given a nickname of "Mommy Porn" here in the US and "Mummy Porn" in the UK. Disgusting! Come on, people! WHAT and WHY are we wasting our time reading this NON- literature? Even some MEN are making references towards women with this nickname directly TO women in a derogatory way! "I" have even fallen 'victim' of this accusation by some 'man on Twitter' to go read my 'mommy porn'! We are wasting our time, and some 'men' think this IS the way women WANT to be treated! This is ALL over a poorly written book, according to some of the reviewer's I have noticed! I saw one review with a title of "Who wrote this? A Teenager?" 
IF we purchased 'other books' rather than these that put women down SO terribly, think of how much BETTER this world would be! Wow! What a concept! Amazing!
Another thing. They say 'sex sells'. It SURE does! Society needs to QUIT thinking with the way the COULD feel, which is NOT realistic, and think with A CLEAR HEAD! 
Personally, I'm kind of tired of retyping this same 'ol book, over and over, week after week on this NYT Best Seller List. I 'could' look at this in a positive way of making my life 'easier' while typing up this post because I KNOW what the TOP 3 books ARE going to be and I could get a jump-start on typing it up! However, this is NOT what "I" want the WORLD to be reading! 
The issue I have with this book or all three books.  
The book/books I am referring to is "Fifty Shades of Grey" by E L James
I AM a little upset with this author for portraying women in the fashion she has with the content of these books with the female main character  I don't know the name of this character as I have not read any of these books, nor do I intend to, but I do know a little about the book from the description I have read about it on Amazon, and from coming across articles about this/these books here on the web, and from hearing about this book on television, too, of all places! I saw it on one of the morning talk shows, but cannot remember which one.
The genre of this/these books is Erotica. I don't read erotica as it is not a genre I enjoy. My preference in reading when it comes enjoyment is Contemporary Fiction, including chic-lit, women's fiction, popular fiction, Mysteries/Suspense/Thrillers, and a few others, too. 
I 'had' nothing against the genre until now. The female character is who I have a problem with. Why? "I" am a woman, and the content of this book reflects on me as a woman now, PUBLICLY as to what some people think, as I will go into more detail in a moment. I NEVER would have expected this genre would affect me/women, until last Saturday afternoon/evening when I was watching the Nascar Sprint Cup Series Race. 
Yes! I LOVE watching Nascar racing! How many of you would expect ME to like Nascar? Miss Girly-Girl here, who loves everything pink, lace, flowery, and bling-bling! I think you can tell by the look of my blog! Yes, I LOVE a GREAT race, too!
Okay, back to what I was writing about. So I got online and went to Nascar.com and I Tweet. I LOVE tweeting with others about the race as it is going on! It's a lot of fun to talk to others while the race is going on. So as I am tweeting, one man did not like what I had to say about something we all were talking about. He told me to get offline, go in my bedroom, and to read Fifty Shades of Grey, as that is where I belong. I came back with something smart to say back, which I probably should NOT have done, but I did. It DID shut him up, so whatever it was I said, it put him back in his place!
Hmmmm. I the more I thought about what he said, the more I thought about how many MORE people, or MEN, in particular, may think this same thing about women. 
This has just really been bothering me all week long that ONE book could set us women back SO much! Women have fought so hard to get where we are today that I DON'T want us to take 10 steps backwards JUST BECAUSE OF THIS BOOK!
I feel that a LOT of men, in particular, feel this may very well indeed be a reflection of us women, deep down inside. Men, 'some' of you, this is in YOUR FANTASIES! 
I am NOT alone in the way I feel. There are MANY articles written by other Bloggers out there that address this SAME degradation of women. Here's a GREAT article by another blogger: http://www.hlntv.com/article/2012/05/08/opinion-fifty-shades-grey-feminism-literature. I LOVE her article! READ IT!
I ask ALL of you today, the MEN IN PARTICULAR, to PLEASE KNOW this/these books are NOT A REFLECTION OF WOMEN, AND, THIS BOOK IS A WORK OF "FICTION". Yes, this book IS FICTIONAL when it comes to women! Remember this!
I also have to wonder HOW MANY MEN HAVE 'REALLY' PURCHASED THIS BOOK FOR THEMSELVES? NOT JUST WOMEN!!! Yes, I'm calling the men on this one! The women are the ones getting accused here, so, MEN . . . FESS UP!
This is all I have to say about MY OPINION of this/these books. I feel I have covered everything I need to, and honestly, I feel SO much better! Let's MOVE ON NOW! We ARE OVER this book. Women get to STOP being downgraded and once again WOMEN NEED TO BE RESPECTED!
Thank you for taking the time to read my opinion of this/these books in particular! 
(No offense to the book or the author, either, this is just 'my experience' and MY OPINION.) 
P.S. The ratings of these books HAVE DROPPED since last week. They seem to drop further each week as time goes on. I would be willing to HOPE these books are going to start to fall lower in their ratings soon. Again, my opinion.




Now, onto the TOP 15 Best Selling Books for the week ending today, Suday, July 15th, 2012


Combined both PRINT AND EBOOK:


1. Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy by E L James
Print book: $9.57
Ebook:      $9.99

 

2. Fifty Shades Darker (Fifty Shades, Book 2) by E L James
Print book: $9.57
Ebook:      $9.99

 

3. Fifty Shades Freed: Book Three of the Fifty Shades Trilogy by E L James
Print book $9.57
Ebook      $9.99


4. Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn
Print book $15.00
Ebook:     $12.99

 

5. Bared to You: A Crossfire Novel by Sylvia Day

Print Book: $9.00
Ebook       $7.99


6. Criminal by Karen Slaughter 
Print Book:  $17.82
Ebook:        $12.99

 

7. Samurai Game (Game/Ghostwalker) by Christine Feehan
Print book: $7.99
Ebook:      $7.99

 

8. The Next Best Thing: A Novel by Jennifer Weiner
Print book:  $16.97
Ebook:       $12.99

 

9. Fifty Shades Trilogy: Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, Fifty Shades Freed 3-volume Boxed Set by  E L James
Print Book:  $28.71
Ebook:       $29.99

 

10. The Litigators: A Novel by John Grisham
Print Book:  $10.88
Ebook:       $9.99

 

11. Echoes at Dawn (A KGI Novel) by Maya Banks
Print Book:  $7.99
Ebook:       $7.99

 

12. The Marriage Bargain (Marriage to a Billionaire)
Print book:  $7.99

Ebook:       $2.99


"PHOTO"
NOT
AVAILABLE


13. A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) by George R R Martin
Print Book:  $9.99
Ebook:        $8.99


 

14.Wicked Business: A Lizzy and Diesel Novel by Janet Evanovich
Print Book:  $18.16
Ebook:       $12.99



15. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
Print Book: $8.99
Ebook:       $7.99




See you next weekend!