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Monthly Archives: December 2013

December 6, 2013 · 6:15 pm

Christmas Saturday Steals

I have searched over the river and through the woods for some Christmas theme Saturday Steals.

First is Vicki Batman. Vicki is a friend with a kind heart. I recommend her work and we have 2 Christmas offerings. Further along when we reach Grandmother’s house we have anthologies and cookie recipes. Merry Christmas to All, and to All Good Reading!

The Great Fruitcake Bake-off by Vicki Batman. $2.50 from Smashwords.com or Amazon – The Great Fruitcake Bake-Off A STEAL!

When a five-time champ teams up with her new neighbor for The Great Fruitcake Bake-off, they discover baking a prize-winning entry is complicated, bad guys are plotting to take the crown, and first prize isn’t just about a ribbon.

Twinkle Lights by Vicki Batman. $2.50 from Smashwords.com. or Amazon
Twinkle Lights A STEAL!
A do-gooder joins forces with a reformed delinquent turned lawyer to run a Christmas tree stand benefiting the children’s hospital. When the money goes missing, fingers are pointed.

Also by Vicki Batman:

Man Theory and Other Stories by Vicki Batman. $0.99 from Smashwords.com or Amazon Kindle: Man Theory and Other Stories A STEAL!

Three fun, quick reads from Sassy Writer Vicki Batman “Ouch” – Who knew a yoga class would be so dangerous…and romantic? “Man Theory” – When a geeky co-worker espouses his theory on love, a friend risks her heart. “Tommy and the Teacher” – A young boy steals from the school’s book fair causing interesting possibilities to arise.

Little Birdie Who…and Other Stories by Vicki Batman. $2.99 from Smashwords.com or Amazon Kindle Little Birdie Who…and Other Stories
“This is NOT Working”: A day at a new job when nothing is going right until the new boss steps in. “Check Her Out”: Gum: it’s a sticky situation, especially between the store manager and Auntie Caren when her nephew has to pay for the package he stole. “Little Birdie Who… “: A new town, a new friend, a new beginning. Who would have thought a little bird could bring two people together?

The Heart of Christmas by Patricia McLinn, Judith Arnold and Kathryn Shay. A STEAL! AT $.99.
In Wyoming Wildflowers: The Beginning, discover how it all started in this much-anticipated prequel novella to the bestselling and award-winning Wyoming Wildflowers series by USA Today bestselling author Patricia McLinn. Ed’s and Donna’s worlds couldn’t have been any more different – a rancher from Wyoming and an up-and-coming Broadway musical actress on a national tour. What could have been a momentary encounter sparks desire . . . and more. But can there be anything but heartbreak ahead when they have only days before their dreams pull them apart?

In Almost An Angel, Conor Malone manages to hold things together for his daughter Amy after his wife’s death, until someone tells her Santa will bring her mother back for Christmas. How can Conor force Amy to accept reality without ruining her holiday? With help from Eliza Powell, the alluring new school psychologist—and the Daddy School.

In Flashover, Nick Evans, a captain in the Hidden Cove fire department, believes he committed the worst of crimes, even if it was to protect his little sister. He’s not ready for a relationship with Stacey Sterling, a firefighter’s widow who’s determined to help him heal. But on Christmas, Nick learns the meaning of redemption and love.

Christmas Hearts Anthology by Sadie Hart and Kodilynn Calhoun
also available at

Smashwords a STEAL at $2.99.

And FREE! by Sadie Hart for Christmas: Silver Bells

A STEAL AT $2.99.

And for FREE!

Shop Amazon – Get the New Kindle Fire HDX Tablet

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December 1, 2013 · 1:46 am

Sunday Shout Out 12/1/13

A new Meme that I am all about. I read so many books but getting reviews done for all of them is a challenge. You can participate too, just check out the Meme rules below, and check my Shout Out!

Is there ever such a thing as too many books? I don’t think there are too many books to read, but there can definitely be too many to review. If you are sent more books than you can review or read or the TBR pile is a mountain than Sunday Shout-Out allows us to acknowledge books and the publishers.

Sunday Shout-Out is a bookish meme hosted by Monique of Write Note Reviews. If you’re a book blogger and you want to join in, just:

Share the title, author, blurb and image from a book (or more than one) you want to acknowledge.
Share the genre, price and link to the publisher so readers can follow-up if they like the sound of the book.
Ping back to Write Note Reviews in your post. And if you can pingback to me, thank you.

This week I want to give a shout out to a book stacked in my TBR. I have scanned this book, want to read and but haven’t as yet. There are certain non-fiction books I am a fan of, one category is language. Years ago I read The Mother Tongue – English And How It Got That Way
and thoroughly enjoyed. But many linguists believe Bryson, while an excellent travel author and storyteller, has it wrong. There are not 24 or whatever number of words for snow in the ‘Eskimo’ language as Bryson asserts. If you enjoy learning about word origins, as I do check out this book.

The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax and Other Irreverent Essays on the Study of Language
by Geoffrey K. Pullum.

How reliable are all those stories about the number of Eskimo words for snow? How can lamps, flags, and parrots be libelous? How might Star Trek’s Commander Spock react to Noam Chomsky’s theories of language? These and many other odd questions are typical topics in this collection of essays that present an occasionally zany, often wry, but always fascinating look at language and the people who study it.

Geoffrey K. Pullum’s writings began as columns in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory in 1983. For six years, in almost every issue, under the banner “TOPIC. . .COMMENT,” he published a captivating mélange of commentary, criticism, satire, whimsy, and fiction. Those columns are reproduced here—almost exactly as his friends and colleagues originally warned him not to publish them—along with new material including a foreword by James D. McCawley, a prologue, and a new introduction to each of these clever pieces. Whether making a sneak attack on some sacred cow, delivering a tongue-in-cheek protest against current standards, or supplying a caustic review of some recent development, Pullum remains in touch with serious concerns about language and society. At the same time, he reminds the reader not to take linguistics too seriously all of the time.

Pullum will take you on an excursion into the wild and untamed fringes of linguistics. Among the unusual encounters in store are a conversation between Star Trek’s Commander Spock and three real earth linguists, the strange tale of the author’s imprisonment for embezzling funds from the Campaign for Typographical Freedom, a harrowing account of a day in the research life of four unhappy grammarians, and the true story of how a monograph on syntax was suppressed because the examples were judged to be libelous. You will also find a volley of humorous broadsides aimed at dishonest attributional practices, meddlesome copy editors, mathematical incompetence, and “cracker-barrel philosophy of science.” These learned and witty pieces will delight anyone who is fascinated by the quirks of language and linguists.