Article first published as Book Review: Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan by Robin Maxwell on Blogcritics. About: Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan by Robin Maxwell is a feminine take on the famous Burroughs novel. This book tells the famous story from the view point of Jane Porter, Tarzan’s love interest. The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book— use the Raf­fle­copter form at the end of the post to enter. 320 pages Publisher: Tor Books Language: English ISBN-10: 0765333589 My rating for Jane – 4 Buy this book in paper or electronic format More Books by Robin Maxwell Thoughts: Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan by Robin Maxwell (website | Facebook | @TheRobinMaxwell) is not a retelling of the origin story of Tarzan, but a reimagining of the mythology originally created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I was very excited about this novel, Tarzan has always been a favorite (who can forget those wonderful comics and Johnny Weissmuller films) and in preparation read the original Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. To be honest, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the book again (I read it as a kid), I can certainly see why it is considered a classic and captures the imagination of…

There are a few books that stick with you from your childhood. One of those books for me is Bunnicula by James Howe

This week I reviewed Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs which I found to remain an exciting adventure story as I remembered from childhood. Art by Boris Vallejo 1 ) Burroughs wrote 25 sequels to Tarzan of the Apes, there are also three authorized books by other authors. 2 ) Burroughs sold the film rights for his novel, Tarzan of the Apes for $5,000 in cash advance (a record at the time) and 5% of gross receipts. 3 ) The 1918 version of Tarzan of the Apes, a silent film starring Elmo Lincoln, was the first movie ever to gross a million dollars. 4 ) There were three more silent Tarzan films, the last one starred Frank Merrill as our hero. Merrill was an acrobat and the studio worked his skills into the script, since then Tarzan swinging on vines (never in the books) through the trees has been seared into the public’s mind. 5 ) Many people know that the most famous actor to portray Tarzan, Johnny Weissmüller, was an Olympic record holder swimmer (winning 5 gold medal and 1 bronze), however, many don’t know is that he was also a yodeling champion and came up with…

About: The Mirrored World by Debra Dean is a fictional account of the life of St. Xenia. The novel takes place in St. Petersburg, Russia during the 18th Century. The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book— use the Raf­fle­copter form at the end of the post to enter. 256 pages Publisher: Harper Language: English ISBN-10: 0061231452 My rating for The Mirrored World – 2 Buy this book in paper or electronic format More Books by Debra Dean Thoughts: The Mirrored World by Debra Dean (Facebook) is has an interesting premise – the life of a Russian saint. This is one of those books where everything is wonderful, but for me the sum of the parts simply didn’t come together to create a whole. The subject is interesting, the time period fascinating, the writing is lyrical and the novel certainly captures a dreamy state of time and place. However, the book simply failed to capture my interest. Even though I appreciated the styling, effort and talent that went into the writing, I found myself having a difficult time reading the novel. I never got vested in any of the characters, I simply didn’t care about them at all. The best…

What Does Book Blogging Mean to You? Book blogging for me is a way to relax, as well as verbalized why I enjoyed or didn’t enjoy a book. It is a way to put my thoughts in order and think about a work instead of just plowing through them. Of course, like many of us when I started this blog I thought I was unique, I thought that there are thousands, no – tens of thousands of people just aching for a book blog to go online and argue about beloved favorites. As we all know, I was miserably wrong and there are many wonderful book blogs on the Interwebs – which actually made this hobby much more fun and social. As is the case in life, what intended was not what happened, changed but for the better I believe. I know read way out of my comfort zone (mostly for better but sometimes for worst) have been introduced to excellent authors, entreating books and wonderful bloggers. Check out more great answers and leave me a link so I can read yours. Zohar – Man of la Book

Article first published as Book Review: Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs on Blogcritics. About: Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs is the famous novel of the boy who was raised by simians in the jungles of Africa. The book was first serialized in All-Story Magazine 1812 and published in 1814. 288 pages Publisher: Ballantine Books Language: English ISBN-10: 034531977X My rating for Tarzan of the Apes – 5 Buy this book in paper or FREE in electronic format More Books by by Edgar Rice Burroughs Thoughts: A few weeks ago I put in a request to review Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan by Robin Maxwell, the Tarzan story from the perspective of Jane (post coming next week). I then decided to re-read the original Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs to refresh my memory has it has been decades since I read it first. I did not regret that decision for a moment and can certainly understand why Tarzan achieved a cult icon status. Burroughs wrote an exciting novel, making the unbelievable seem somewhat plausible in a story which tags on the readers’ imagination almost every page. The characters, especially that of Tarzan, are masterfully written, combining intelligence and wisdom….

In which interview myself…. Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack? Snacking and reading – a dangerous pastime. I usually don’t snack and read, but I love to do so, the only time I do read and eat is during lunch. Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you? I don’t mark my books, but the idea doesn’t horrify me either. I actually think it’s a good idea but I never got used to doing so, maybe because the first book I actually bought instead of borrow from the library was in my teens. How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open? I use a bookmark, it’s more convenient than dog ears or laying the book flat (which in a house with two kids won’t last long). Fiction, Non-fiction, or both? Both but I try to mix them up (reading one fiction, one non-fiction). I also like to read fiction books about topics I am interested in a non-fiction area. Hard copy or audiobooks? Hard copy. Are you a person who tends to read to…

I’m a bit of a political junky! I’m not as bad as I used to be because, to be honest, the more attention I pay the more I realized how screwed we’re getting by those in power (this is more true on a local level than the federal one). Election season is interesting, the lies, deceits, half truths and obscene amounts of money spent are jaw dropping. Frankly, I cannot see any difference in political ideology or major policies between Obama and Romney. I actually think that the staunch Republicans and staunch Democrats are not seeing a thing beyond an elephant’s ass and a donkey’s tail. After all, Obama (in the role of “The Liberal”) has governed like a conservative Republican – right of center. Romney (in the role of “The Conservative”) has governed left of center previously. So actually, the Republicans should be rooting for Obama, while the Democrats should be supporting Romney. But what do I know…? At the time of this post, the books below were free or $0.99 — please check before downloading. Authors: If you’d like your book to be fea­tured on Tight­wad Tues­days please email me. Freedom Island by J.R. Sinclair American taxpayers begin disappearing…….

It is Book Blogger Appreciation Week – it’s a nice event which I participated in last year and somehow totally missed the “heads up” on it this year. Today discussion, titled “Appreciation” is to share a few blogs which you follow and enjoy. Image from http://litandlife.blogspot.com/ Below are several blogs which I follow, enjoy and have posted in the past week. I follow many more and enjoy almost all of them. At the beginning of my blogging days, following was a quid pro quo activity, and at some level it still is today, but now I know which blogs I enjoy, which bloggers have the same taste as I do (in order to add for my never ending “to read” list), and which bloggers I disagree with which makes some good bookish discussions. Without further ado, here is the list in alphabetical order: At Home with Books – http://athomewithbooks.net/ The Children’s War – http://thechildrenswar.blogspot.com/ Crazy for Books – http://crazy-for-books.com/ Gently Mad – http://sharonhenning.blogspot.com Lit and Life – http://litandlife.blogspot.com/ My Reader’s Block – http://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/ Reading in Taiwan – http://taiwaneastcoaster.blogspot.com Wordsmithonia – http://wordsmithonia.blogspot.com/ There are many more of course…. Zohar – Man of la Book

Twelve year old Hugo shoulders a lot of responsibility for his age. His parents are dead and his caretaker is his drunkard uncle, tender to the train station’s clocks, which one day simply disappears.

Son of a watchmaker, Hugo who loves to tinker with mechanical toys takes it upon himself to maintain the clocks while hiding in the hidden world of the train station. One day he finds an automaton, a mechanical man, which was cherished by his late father. Hugo restores the toy using his father’s notebook as a reference, he gets his parts by stealing them from the old man who owns a toy kiosk in the station.