Monday, January 24, 2011

****Book Give-A-Way*****

I am so excited to be hosting my very first giveaway (for not one but two books) and would like to thank Megan Renart at Phenix Publicity for making this possible. Enough about me, lets check out the book and author!


Quantum Angel Healing: Energy Therapy and Communication with Angels
by Eva-Maria Mora



Quantum Angel Healing: Energy Therapy and Communication with Angels (Synergy Books, February 2011), reveals how to restore health and balance to your life and the lives of others through connecting and communicating with angels.

Mora says that for every illness, there is a corresponding emotion or harmful pattern in our lives. Whether suffering from a chronic physical ailment or other imbalance, the Quantum-Angel-Healing method utilizes a higher source of energy to effectively transform any emotions, thoughts, patterns and programs that underlie our ill health. Along with tools for overcoming negative energy, Quantum Angel Healing provides readers with a comprehensive list of illnesses and their emotional counterparts, along with a step-by-step treatment method.



About the author:
Mora earned her MBA from the University of Kassel in Germany and worked as a consultant in the corporate world before dedicating her life to healing. A clairvoyant medical intuitive and spiritual teacher, she currently divides her time between Germany and Scottsdale, Ariz. She is the founder of Children of the Light, a charity organization in Germany supporting children with ADHD. She is also the author of "Quantum Angel Love" (2007), "Quantum Angel Children" (2008) and "Activating Divine Power" (2009). Mora lectures and hosts workshops based on Quantum Angel Healing worldwide with her husband, Michael. For more information, visit www.quantumangelhealing.com.

To schedule an interview with Mora or to receive a review copy of Quantum Angel Healing,
please contact Megan Renart at (512) 478-2028 ext. 213 or mrenart@phenixpublicity.com.

***Contest Rules***

This giveaway is open to anyone (worldwide).  To enter:

*Leave a comment on this post including your email address telling how you try to bring balance to your life!
*Follow this blog (via Google Friend Connect, RSS Feed, etc.)

*Follow me on Twitter at ( islandgirlreads ) and Tweet about this giveaway (include @islandgirlreads in your tweet)

3 entry maximum.

The deadline for entry is 11:59 PM (Eastern Time) Tuesday, February 15th !




The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help, Kathleen Sprockett



Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women—mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends—view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t. (
From the publisher.)

My Thoughts: 
I thought this was a good read, which gave a mostly accuracte depiction of the relationships between employer and "the help" in the south.  The writer did a good job of examining the relationships she introduced in the book. The characters are well-developed, and there is the right combination of suspense and humor.

I applaud Kathleen Stockett for daring to take on this project and really giving a clear picture of what life was like at the time during which the book was written.  I admired young Skeeter who just finshed college and struggled to fit into the social circle in her suburban hometome.  Instead of following the life her mother laid out for her, she decided she wanted to be a writer.  Her own relationship with her maid growing up, gave her cause to ponder the plight of other maids and fueled the project that eventually led her to New York.

My main focus however, was on the maids and their struggle to survive in the midst of social injustice (on the brink of the civil rights movement).  Though the two friends were as different in social standing from their employers as day and night, there were very much similar in the sense of being devoted to their work and cherishing family and friendship. Abileen is torn between her role as maid to Ms. Hilly and nanny to her daugher Mae Mobley.  Minny, her dear friend and also a maid, is loud and rambuncios......they complement each other well. 

I felt the writer wrote from very personal experiences and really wanted to showcase these women for who they really were, not black maids  but strong, phenomenal women who loved fiercely and stood up for their rights!!  I for one, can't wait to see the movie!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

The Fun of Dying, Find out what reallly happens next

Author: Roberta Grimes


If you wonder whether death ends life, how it feels to die, or what heaven might be like, this book is for you. If you worry about a lost loved one, or fret about the death of a pet, all the answers to your questions are here. And if you are afraid of death, if you worry that your life has no meaning, or if you have given up on religions, then let this book ease some of your fears while it brings new meaning to your life.


Nothing written here is based on the teachings of any religion. Instead, this book draws on more than a century’s worth of evidence to explain in detail how death feels, how it happens and—most importantly—what comes next. Accounts of near-death experiences are just a small part of the afterlife evidence! A lot of the best death-related evidence was produced in the first half of the 20th century, and it has been ignored ever since by mainstream science and mainstream religions. When it is put together with more recent discoveries, it tells a consistent and amazing story.

The Fun of Dying is a complete account of how dying feels and what comes next. Read it, learn the truth, and apply its lessons so you can enjoy your best life forevermore!

My Thoughts:

Thanks to Megan at Phenix Publicity for sending me this book. I thought it was an interesting read and came at a time when I questioned what really happens when you die. I like how the writer presents a life after death where upon your death, you are greeted by loved ones who help to guide you as you transition through the different levels of heaven (or Summerland). The writer reiterates that death is not unpleasant so most who have died, do not have any wish to return. In a few cases, some ppl (like mothers) of young children wish to remain here on earth so they can take care of their children. They will be able to do so if their earthly bodies are capable of sustaining life. Towards the end of the book, explanations about the upper levels do get a bit muddled but overall this is a book that gives food for thought and very easy to read.

Island Girl Reads in bikini....with books, drinks & kids in tow!

Its a new year and I have a new blog.  Excuse me, a professional-looking new blog!  I am sooo excited.  Well I have posted my first review in well over 6 months and have several more to go......no I did'nt sop reading, just got too busy to post the reviews.

Check it out!  I'm still trying to figure out how to add reviews to the Review Page......do I open the same post each time or is there a way for me to add new posts to the page?  Sounds crazy but send your thoughts please.

*smooches*