Michele J.

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(Mis)Adventures in Audiobooks

Michele J. posted an article on - Dec 2, 2009, 11:09 pm
A Reader's Respite is a big fan of Audible.com. We subscribe, so we get to download an audiobook once each month (which, coincidentally, is about how long it takes us to get through one unabridge...
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Blog Plagerism Day

Michele J. posted an article on - Dec 2, 2009, 8:16 pm
In the spirit of bloggery-plagerism (a subtle swipe at the tempest in a teapot elsewhere in blogland today), A Reader's Respite felt the following was too good to pass up... the.effing.librarian ...
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Winner of a Series!

Michele J. posted an article on - Dec 2, 2009, 6:32 pm
Are you all just dying to know who gets the three Luxe books??? Our random winner this week is: CELTIC LADY! Zap us an email with your mailing address so that A Reader's Respite can get these t...
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It's a James Cain Festival....

Michele J. posted an article on - Dec 1, 2009, 1:40 pm
Well, at least it is for A Reader's Respite ever since we discovered this founder of the American hard-boiled detective novel. We were smitten with Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice (if y...
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More James Cain.....

Michele J. posted an article on - Dec 1, 2009, 6:01 am
You know, we're getting to where we're really enjoying these older James Cain novels.
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Kickin' off December with a winner....

Michele J. posted an article on - Dec 1, 2009, 3:46 am
The best way to kick off the last month of 2009 is with a winner..... Diane, of The Book Resort fame, you're up! Zap us a mailing address, Diane, and thanks to all who entered!
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Fellow bloggers, we NEED YOUR HELP!

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 29, 2009, 12:34 pm
One of the toughest things to find time for in our insanely busy world (aside from actually reading, we mean) is keeping up with all of the wonderful blogs out there. And if you have kidlets running ...
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War is hell.....

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 28, 2009, 11:03 pm
Despite all of our protests last year, A Reader's Respite caved and signed up for too many reading challenges. We can't think why we do this, unless it's to satisfy our unreasonable desir...
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In the spirit of Turkey Day.....

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 26, 2009, 5:33 am
Yesterday was Thanksgiving Holiday here in the U.S. This is a very, very big tradition in this country. It's the holiday where Americans ostensibly take the time to reflect upon our good fortune...
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Winner of a Classic

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 25, 2009, 1:29 pm
Our random winner this week is..... Julie from Booking Mama! Zap us your mailing address Julie and Happy Thanksgiving!
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Random Notes from the Troposphere

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 21, 2009, 3:57 am
It recently occurred to A Reader's Respite that we rarely - if ever - share any of the backstory behind our reading adventures. Yes, we post book reviews and book giveaways, but those are just th...
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FOUR Winners!

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 21, 2009, 2:02 am
Thanks to the fabulous generosity of publisher Simon & Schuster we have FOUR winners to announce today...... Veens over at Giving Reading a Chance! Beth of Beth Fish Reads! Crystal of My Reading Room...
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The Booker Curse...broken at last

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 19, 2009, 10:39 am
What is the Booker Curse, you ask? It is the evil curse that someone placed on A Reader's Respite that has prevented us from ever being able to actually finish (let alone enjoy) any book written ...
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A Mystery Winner!

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 19, 2009, 12:16 am
Congratulations Marjorie! You've won a copy of Charles Todd's A Duty to the Dead. Send us your mailing address and A Reader's Respite will happily throw this one in the mail for you!
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Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 17, 2009, 11:40 am
One of the few mass-market authors that A Reader's Respite truly enjoys is Michael Crichton and we truly mourned his passing last year. When we learned that an entire finished manuscript was foun...
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An Artsy-Fartsy Winner!

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 15, 2009, 5:48 pm
And our random, off-the-wall winner of Polsky's I Sold Andy Warhol (too soon) is...... DB! Zap us your mailing address, DB, and we'll get this one out to you!
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The saga ends here....at least for us it does

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 12, 2009, 8:14 am
If you've been reading this blog for any significant amount of time, you'll be familiar with A Reader's Respite's hateful relationship with Anna Godbersen's The Luxe Series. We...
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WTF Wednesday

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 11, 2009, 2:12 pm
Today's WTF Wednesday is all about impediments to reading. A Reader's Respite has discovered a few important barriers to reading a good book this morning..... #1. Die-cast toy cars shoved d...
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Back to Business.....

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 9, 2009, 10:23 pm
Have you heard about Lauren Grodstein's new novel, A Friend of the Family? A Reader's Respite just finished reading it and what a riveting novel it is, too. This is one of those psychologica...
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Green Books Campaign: Fly by Wire

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 9, 2009, 12:00 pm
This review is part of the Green Books campaign. Today 100 bloggers are reviewing 100 great books printed in an environmentally friendly way. Our goal is to encourage publishers to get greener and ...
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Historical Fiction Heresy

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 7, 2009, 11:19 pm
So ask any historical fiction afficianado to give you a list of the best historical fiction novels ever written and dollars to doughnuts, Anya Seton's Katherine will make the top ten. Originally ...
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A little non-fiction for variety.....

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 5, 2009, 9:09 am
As historical fiction fans, how much do you actually know about the time periods that serve as a background for many of your favorite novels? If you're like us, there are some historical periods ...
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WTF Wednesday

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 4, 2009, 10:07 am
uh huh. workin' like a charm. WTF Wednesdays are brought to you by The Book Resort.
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A few words from the Historian of the Obscure

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 3, 2009, 2:50 am
Recently, A Reader's Respite reviewed Dan Brown's new novel The Lost Symbol, his follow up to The Da Vinci Code. You may recall that we were pretty "meh" about the whole thing. Surprisingly,...
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Mysterious goings-on

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 2, 2009, 8:45 am
headless and in black and white? they're bringing forth the big guns here. November seems to us to be a good month for reading mysteries. Or maybe it's just a good month to read A Duty to t...
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In which someone wins some historical fiction therapy....

Michele J. posted an article on - Nov 2, 2009, 7:25 am
Michelle, of Michelle's Masterful Musings, has won a double dose of historical fiction therapy this week. Not only was Michelle randomly chosen to receive a copy of Hugh and Bess from A Reader...
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Historical Fiction Therapy

Michele J. posted an article on - Oct 24, 2009, 3:30 am
Let's face it, if you are unfortunate enough to fumble through a really bad work of historical fiction, you then find yourself in need of some serious Historical Fiction Therapy....something well-...
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Witchy Woman

Michele J. posted an article on - Oct 22, 2009, 11:25 pm
Witches. Salem. It all just is so Halloween-ish, we can hardly stand it. Back at the beginning of June this year, the publisher Voice released this Katherine Howe book called The Physick Book of ...
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A Winner!

Michele J. posted an article on - Oct 22, 2009, 11:19 pm
Our random winner for Sally Beauman's Rebecca's Tale - prequel to the classic Rebecca - is Michelle, whose lovely blog The True Book Addict is always a winner in our book! Zap us an email, M...
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Vamp it Up

Michele J. posted an article on - Oct 21, 2009, 10:10 pm
Just so you know, A Reader's Respite has been faithfully chipping away at the charming Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris. Truly we love, love, love these books. And we don't normal...
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WTF Wednesday

Michele J. posted an article on - Oct 21, 2009, 4:12 am
Okay. Starting the timer.....NOW. ....22 minutes have passed. *Checking behind for firmness* I got nuthin'. About as firm as a bowl of tapioca. *Off to call the FCC to complain about false a...
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Friends Don't Let Friends Read Bad Historical Fiction

Michele J. posted an article on - Oct 20, 2009, 2:22 am
Or do they? Not so very long ago, A Reader's Respite found ourselves at home with a few hours of spare time on our hands. Feeling industrious, we drove into town to meet a Bloggy Friend for lunc...
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Historical Fiction Winner

Michele J. posted an article on - Oct 20, 2009, 2:15 am
Alyce, of At Home With Books fame, is our random winner this week! Zap an email, Alyce, and we'll get this shipped out to you ASAP. Happy reading and thanks for helping me clean off these books...
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A Novel With Layers

Michele J. posted an article on - Oct 19, 2009, 4:18 am
A Reader's Respite fully admits that we started off on the wrong foot with Laura Kasischke's new novel, In a Perfect World. After twenty years spent in the commercial aviation industry, we we...
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A Little Bit Twisted

Michele J. posted an article on - Oct 16, 2009, 12:59 pm
A Reader's Respite has often pondered our perceptions of reality. Mostly, we admit, this kind of pondering often follows a day that we're convinced was some sort of bad dream. But neverthele...
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Whatcha readin' for Halloween?

Michele J. posted an article on - Oct 16, 2009, 12:55 am
A Reader's Respite just loves Halloween. Not just because we're kinda witchy (broomstick, jet aircraft....tomayto, tomahto), but because we can indulge in theme reading. This year, thanks to...
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Diversifying My Bookshelves

Michele J. posted an article on - Oct 9, 2009, 2:55 pm
Anybody Can Be Cool But Awesome Takes Practice, by Lorraine Peterson Whew, Lorraine ain't just whistling Dixie here. It's hard work being awsome.
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WTF Wednesday

Michele J. posted an article on - Oct 7, 2009, 6:34 am
WTF Wednesdays are brought to you by The Book Resort!
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Who wants to be Queen for a day?

Michele J. posted an article on - Oct 6, 2009, 5:40 am
Mystica is our Queen for today and has won a copy of The White Queen! Zap us your mailing address, Mystica, and we'll get this in the mail for you!
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Gifting bookish-things

Michele J. posted an article on - Oct 3, 2009, 12:21 pm
A Reader's Respite usually finds ourselves wrapped in angst when it comes to choosing bookish-gifts. And let's face it, because we are such rabid bibliophiles, we foist our bookish-gifts on a...
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Have you ever been fooled by a book's title?

Michele J. posted an article on - Oct 3, 2009, 12:05 am
We're just wondering, 'cause A Reader's Respite sure was. Earlier in the summer, we were sent a copy of Sarah Ockler's new young adult novel entitled Twenty Boy Summer. The novel lin...
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Some more Queenly love.....

Michele J. posted an article on - Oct 2, 2009, 12:57 pm
Who's Queen for today? Why it's KYLEE, of Kylee's Journal! Zap us your mailing address, Kylee, and we'll ship this one off to you. Happy reading!
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One Book Leads to Another

Michele J. posted an article on - Oct 1, 2009, 5:48 pm
The discovery of a new-to-you series is a thing of beauty and means all is well with the world. As you probably know by now, A Reader's Respite is afflicted with what is commonly known as Series ...
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Back with a vengeance....

Michele J. posted an article on - Sep 30, 2009, 2:54 pm
It's about darned time that A Reader's Respite got back to the business of reviewing books around here. Enough of this slacking off. We thought we come back with a bang and give you the low-...
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Who's feeling Queenly today?

Michele J. posted an article on - Sep 30, 2009, 2:36 pm
Briana of The Book Pixie, that's who's feeling queenly with a copy of The Devil's Queen coming her way! Email us your mailing address, Briana, and happy reading!
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Welcome to A Reader's Respite's World....

Michele J. posted an article on - Sep 28, 2009, 11:40 pm
As most of you know, moving into a new home is a messy business. We hate it. But tonight, A Reader's Respite thought we'd share a rare glimpse inside our personal hell world with you. Feel...
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Oh good golly, we missed posting a winner!

Michele J. posted an article on - Sep 25, 2009, 6:37 pm
A Reader's Respite suspected we had forgotten something important. Sure enough, we forgot to post a WINNER! Hey Daphne, of Tanzanite's Shelf and Stuff fame! YOU WON! Zap us your email addr...
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A Reader's Respite will be back after a short break....

Michele J. posted an article on - Sep 25, 2009, 1:05 pm
Unforseen complication from moving: A Reader's Respite internet connection will not be available until Monday. (You suck, Qwest. Hope your connection speeds are faster than your installation se...
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Pulp Novels

Michele J. posted an article on - Sep 19, 2009, 11:48 am
Are we the only one who is absolutely smitten with old pulp novels? More specifically, we love their cover art. As A Reader's Respite has been busily moving into our new abode, we're bemoani...
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Red queen, blue queen, green queen....oh yeah, WHITE queen

Michele J. posted an article on - Sep 18, 2009, 9:28 pm
... heart of King Edward IV and elevated herself to the Queen of England. Lizzy and Ed, according to Gregory, had a pretty ... fact is that Gregory has never been able to recapture that same magi...
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