Blog Tour And Giveaway- The Vanishing Sculptor by Donita K. Paul

Readin'
The Vanishing Sculptor
Donita K. Paul
Waterbrook/Multnomah
Pgs: 398

Writin'
22 yr old Tipper is not sure what to do. Her father disappeared long ago leaving Lady Peg, and her, with the care and upkeep their estate, Byrdschopen. Tipper keeps hoping her father will appear as the money is starting to run out and she has had to sell some of sculptures to pay the servants and buy food. Just when she thought things couldn't get worse Tipper's father, Verrin Schope, returns. Sort of. He had been whisked away to a gateway that has become unstable. This unstableness meant that he could disappear again at any moment. Each disappearance/reappearance degraded Schope's health and he needed to find three of his sculptures to stay in this world. Unfortunately, Tipper had not only sold the sculptures, she didn't know who the final recipients were. Tipper, Verrin Schope, and Bec, her parrot guardian set out on a quest to retrieve the sculptures before it's too late.

Rithmetic'
Donita K. Paul introduces us to a world that is not quite different enough to make us forget our own. Couple that with a host of characters and the reader spends a lot of time trying to organize things. This proved to be distracting at times. As this was my first encounter with Paul's work, I'm convinced that being unfamiliar with her writing style was what stopped me from fully immersing myself in The Vanishing Sculptor.

Overall I give The Vanishing Sculptor 1 copy. I will purchase it for the school library but I will only booktalk it to specific audiences.

Author Talk
Donita K. Paul is a retired teacher and author of numerous novellas, short stories, and eight novels, including the best-selling DragonKeeper Chronicles, a series which has sold more than a quarter million books to date. The winner of multiple awards, she lives in Colorado Springs , Colorado , where she spends time mentoring and encouraging young writers. Visit her online at donitakpaul.com.

You can also find Donita K. Paul on Goodreads.

I have ONE copy of this book to giveaway! Just leave a comment and your name will be entered into a drawing! US residences only. The contest will run until July 8th, 11:59 PM, EST! Good luck!

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? 6/22

Normally I post this over at Book Blather but I've decided I want to do it here instead. Each week bloggers review what books they've finished, started, and what their reading plans are for the upcoming week. I do this because it helps me to see I'm not very good at planning my reading! J/K! If you want to play along, sign up at J. Kaye's Book Blog.

Finished

Lost and Found by Andrew Clements (161) - Great book about twins. One brother's file gets misplaced at school and they decide to take this time to pretend there's only one person not two. Not only does it give them a chance to feel what's it's like NOT being mistaken for someone else but 1/2 the time they don't go to school! Win-win right? Definite school purchase.

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen (383)- Another Dessen romantic hit. It was awesome. Read my review here. Definite school purchase.

As you see, I didn't finish a single book that was on my original plan list.

Started

Being Nikki by Meg Cabot (124/336) - good but not keeping my interest as well as Airhead.

The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand (248/359) - really enjoying this one! If only I didn't have to work!

The Vanishing Sculptor by Donita K. Paul (210/390) - good but not engrossing. I wrote about it on Sunday Salon.

Upcoming

Well, I feel better when I look at my page count - 1,126! I'm not slacking after all! I'm reading more than my avg 240pg - 4 books per week. I think I'll continue listing page count as it gives me a different perspective.

The Vanishing Sculptor - Blog Tour and Giveaway - June 25

Ghostgirl (328) and Ghostgirl:Homecoming by Tonya Hurley (285) - Author Interview - July 1 Contest Monday - June 29

The Castaways - Blog Tour - July 9 Contest Monday - July 13

Looks like a goal of 1,016 pgs. I should then have time to get caught up on reviews too!

Well, what are you reading this week?

Sunday Salon - June 21, 2009

This was not my most productive week. I barely scratched the service on my to-do, to-read, or to-blog lists. I've been watching a lot of DVDs though. I started the first season of Felicity and have been watching Shakespeare Retold - modernized versions of some of Shakespeare's plays. James McAvoy is in the Macbeth one and I do enjoy watching him. He plays Joe Macbeth who's working in a restaurant he hopes to inherit. He decides to have his successor killed so that he doesn't have to wait so long. He sings in this one too!

The best thing I've done this week is participate in the Bloggiesta that was hosted by MawBooks. Even though I didn't get much done, it had me thinking again of the direction I want this blog to take. I'm getting better at reviews - now I just have to start linking them on the review page. I learned alot about favicons, gravatars, commenting as a way to develop relationships, and had The Brain Lair graded.

In terms of reading, today I'm reading The Vanishing Sculptor by Donita K. Paul.

It's had a very slow start but is finally starting to pick up. In the beginning we meet Tipper, a 22 yr old emerlindian and Bec, a giant parrot. They have been selling her dad's sculptures to keep the estate running. Tipper's dad disappeared about 15 years ago and she and her mother are starting to run out of money and things to sell off.

Thankfully, her dad reappears...but only temporarily. He's caught between two worlds and needs three of his sculptures to help him return fully and completely.

Unfortunately, Tipper doesn't know where those statutes ended up. So Tipper, along with her Dad, Bec and some other characters, two from another world, head on a quest to retrieve the sculptures, repair the gateway and bring her Dad home for good.

I should have this fully read, reviewed and posted by Thursday. I will also host a giveaway.

Happy reading everyone!

In My Mailbox - June 1

This week's book's I've received, aka In My Mailbox, is brought to you courtesy of The Story Siren - check out her new blog design. Somehow this moved to Sunday night without me noticing...will take care of next week. Let's get right to books I bought, begged for, and books I'll tour.

Bought: I know I promised not buy so many books, but sometimes it's the only way to get what you want!

Looking for Alibrandri by Melina Marchetta
Boy Toy by Barry Lyga
My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger



Hero Type by Barry Lyga
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shafer
Once Dead, Twice Shy by Kim Harrison




Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler - Lots of fun activities coming up with this title. Today was the official release day and I'll be posting about a Twitter Party and other activities later today - stay tuned! It will be a blast! We'll be featuring activities throughout the month of June to celebrate!

Begged For:

School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari
Knowing I couldn't go to BEA I was afraid I wouldn't get this book - but Little, Brown tweeted about it and sent it to me! It releases September 1st and I am psyched to read it. It has a different phobia listed before each chapter. Great formatting. It's also a middle-grades novel which I'm looking to add to our collection.

The Actor and The Housewife by Shannon Hale
I received this one from Bloomsbury. I've already read it and it was fantastic. Sometimes I laughed out-loud, in public places! I cried quite a few times. Shannon's writing made me feel like I was the housewife going through this. Look for my review later this week.


Blog Tours:

The Vanishing Sculptor by Danita K. Paul
The Vanishing Sculptor releases June 2, 2009. I'll be touring June 22 - June 26, please stop by to hear more about this new fantasy for middle grades. I'll be giving away two copies of this book!


Ghostgirl:Homecoming by Tanya Hurley
Ghostgirl: homecoming releases July 1, 2009 and I get to interview Tonya Hurley!! I have two copies of ghostgirl and two copies of ghostgirl:homecoming to give away! Love the coffin books!


Well, those are the books in my mailbox. I'm thinking of doing all blog tour books separately...I'm going to have to get my calendar together so I keep track of everything! Some fun reading coming up as soon as I'm completely done with work!

What's in your mailbox?