Hello, Friends.  Last week was a pretty busy week for Old Musty Books - lots of reading, lots of articles posted. So, I took the weekend off, and figured I could just pretend this morning was an extension of Sunday.  I say I took the weekend off, but really, I just didn’t write.  I read…all weekend, from morning to night, during meals, by the pool - finished two books, and read two others. I was putting off this post until Sunday evening, and the day just slipped away on me.  When a day slips away because you’ve spent it reading, its been a great day, don’t you think?

So, what books did I read over the weekend?  Let me start by saying, Read the rest »

The mission of Miami Book Fair International is to promote reading, encourage writing, and heighten an awareness of literacy and the literary arts in our multi-ethnic community.  Miami Book Fair International is a full-scale international event that includes a Sunday-to-Sunday schedule of stellar programs, readings and special activities.

The Miami Book Fair International Schedules are beginning to be finalized.  On the next page, you will find links to the schedules for the week long event in Miami, Florida.  Read the rest »

Update:  this contest is now closed.  For another contest, please click here

With Halloween right around the corner I was looking at my book shelves realizing I have absolutely NOTHING scary to read!  Well, that’s not entirely accurate.  I have some Stephen King and a couple of Dean Koontz, but nothing I haven’t read a million and twelve times.

Right about the same time I was browsing book reviews, I got an email from Valerie at Hachette Books Group with a generous offer for a contest giveaway - five sets of ten books.

How could I pass up this offer? If I have nothing to spooky to read, you might be in the same boat! So, here’s the contest:

Read the rest »

This year, Miami Book Fair International has partnered with Diamond Book Distributors to present a comprehensive program on graphic novels and the comics world that will celebrate their historical place in our country’s literary life, as well as their recent rise in popularity and integration into the mainstream via book stores, libraries and educational curricula all over the country.

Please join the Miami Book Fair International and Miami Dade College’s Centre Gallery for an exceptional evening celebrating comic book legend, Will Eisner, with the opening of an exhibit of Will Eisner’s original artwork, a multi-media exhibit based upon The Plot, Eisner’s last graphic novel, and 25 artworks inspired by Eisner’s legendary graphic storytelling. Read the rest »

Sometimes, great opportunities come across our desks, and we have to make a decision to either take the opportunity and see where it will take us or reject the opportunity and continue business as usual.  I was given an opportunity recently to review a book I wouldn’t normally review, due to the possible controversial nature of the topic.  To be completely honest with you, I was intrigued by the clandestine nature of the opportunity - and the publicist who contacted me let her excitement show in her email.

The opportunity I’m alluding to is the review of a new publication about the New Testament in the Bible. I say ‘about’ but that’s not really accurate.  The book IS the books of the New Testament.  The Book: New Testament text is from the Good News Translation of the Bible; however, after seeing the book electronically, the version isn’t important.  Read the rest »

What is it about the characters in the Twilight Saga/series that readers become obsessed with?  Readers either become obsessed with Edward or Jacob and, from what I can tell; Bella is really not all that well received.  Really good characters have both good and bad impulses through a story.  Both Edward and Jacob share the ability to be motivated by good and evil.  They are both complex and show qualities of ‘real people’.  Bella, on the other hand, is extremely flat.  She is exactly the same in the beginning as she is in the end (well, except for the undead part).  She’s almost the damsel in distress stock character of every love story ever written.  She is extremely static, whereas Edward and Jacob continue to develop throughout all four books.

In part two of the Twilight series review, I want to try to break down the main characters as I see them.  It’s important to remember, my assessment comes from all four books, not just one or two of them.  I recognize the minor characters’ influence on Edward, Bella, and Jacob is important in understanding what motivates these three characters. We’ll talk about this later.  Read the rest »

A couple of weeks ago, I told you I’d received all four of the Twilight Saga Series books. I also told you I didn’t think I was going to get to them until after November.  Well, the draw was just too much.  I had to read them - had to know what the attraction was about.  Read all four of them over a period of four days.  The only time I stopped reading in four days was to eat, shower, and sleep for five hours each night/morning.

I couldn’t put the damn things down.  I wanted to, desperately!  But I couldn’t.  It was like I was a vampire and I ran across a human with the sweetest blood I’d ever smelled.  Totally bizarre behavior!

Did I like them though?  If I had to rate them on a 1-10 scale, where would they rate?  I’ve actually been asking myself this since I finished the last book, Breaking Dawn.  Read the rest »