Welcome to Planet Books! My name is Karen and I LOVE to read deliciously interesting, entertaining and thought provoking books! I started this book blog in october 2007 and have enjoyed the connections I have made with fellow book bloggers, authors, publicists, book agents and fellow book lovers. I hope that my opinion of the books I read help other readers out there decide if they want to read that particular book. There are very few books I have disliked over the years and I believe that I have a fresh, fair and inviting voice that comes across vividly through Planet Books.
Here, you will find book reviews of the books I read and rambling thoughts. You will find the occasional boast about something I may have baked recently and YouTube videos of favorite songs. I love to read and hear about what you are reading too. I hope you’ll check out past posts, get to know me a little better, add some books to your TBR (To Be Read) list and leave a note here and there with your thoughts.
XOXO ~ K
Planet Books 
Hi there, I would love to join your book club. Do you only meet virtually or do you meet in person ever? Have you picked a book for February yet?
thanks!
Hey Jen! We are an bi-monthly on-line book club. Our next vote will be at the end of February for our March/April book. The January/February title is “My War…Killing Time In Iraq” by Colby Buzzell. It won the Blooker Award in 2007 (blogs turned to books) and I am almost done with it and have really enjoyed it. It is an eye-opening read about being an infantry soldier in the Army and Buzzell’s year deployment in Iraq a few years ago (kinda crazy that we can say a few years ago since this thing has been going on for so long now).
Please read through my posts to get to know me (my name is Karen) a little bit and share any thoughts you may have on what you are currently reading. I hope you enjoy yourself here at Planet Books and have a great weekend!
-K
Hi Karen! Can I join your book club? I’m Jules 🙂 Cheers!
Jules~
Sure! Planet Books is an online book club only and we read a book together every two months. This way everyone, including me, has time to get to other books on our TBR (To Be Read) shelf. The book that we will discussing via this web site for March/April is Karen Russell’s “St. Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised By Wolves”. It is a collection of short stories. I will be posting discussion questions in the last week of April so be sure to check back here.
Planet Books will also post a voting poll in the last week of April for the next book for May/June. There will be four books to vote from that have not been decided on yet.
I hope you will take the time to check out the posts in this blog and get to know me and our faithful readers a bit better.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will stay a while!
~Karen
Hi Karen! I’m glad you appreciated my pic of Maurice reading. It totally goes against my nature, but I am a complete sucker for animal photo shoots. What’s that that Rocky’s reading? Maurice enjoys the classics – The Little Prince and Betty Crocker’s tiny book of pies. Betty Crocker might be stretching the definition of “the classics” a bit, but whatever.
Hi Jill! Rocky has a book of Aesop’s Fables there. he’s such a great little model and takes great direction. Thanks for checking him out.
~K
Hi Karen-
If you’d like to be a stop on my blog tour,
tell me how many hits a day Planet Books gets and
what genres and ready-to-upload content
you accept.
Thanks,
Stephanie Barko
Literary Publicist
Austin
“Authors indigenous to the American West”
http://www.authorsassistant.com/Barko.htm
http://www.theauthorsassistant.blogspot.com
Walk awhile upon my journey
And steal a place in my heart.
With your eyes,
Upon these words,
You, kindred spirit,
Can touch my soul.
Chris Roe
“ In Search of Silence” by Chris Roe. A personal journey in search of spiritual peace.
A collection of 45 poems available from http://www.silentflightpublications.co.uk
A selection of the poems from “ In Search of Silence”
Eternal Journey
As the crimson flame of life
Breaks slowly
Above the horizon,
The white frosted meadows,
With trees and hedgerows
Of sculptured ice,
Speak loudly
Of your presence.
Once more
Upon this journey,
As another day begins,
Without effort
Or intrusion,
Through the peace
And tranquillity
Of your silent voice,
The moment becomes eternal,
And the journey begins again.
Immortal Spirit
Beside me once more,
In peaceful silence,
Softer than a feather
Cast adrift upon the breeze,
In memories,
Your spirit,
Immortal,
Returns.
Further work from this collection of poems can be seen at
http://www.silentflightpublications.co.uk
Hey.. I am giving you a bloggy award! Check out the post here:
http://bookchatterandotherstuff.blogspot.com/2008/09/and-band-plays-on.html
I’m sure you have gotten it before so do not feel obligated to share the love! 🙂
Ti, thank you so much for this!! I have never won a blog award before so I am extremely flattered. Thank you!!
XOXO-K
Your new blog layout is stunning and crisp!
Pam :o)
PS: I need to read more!
Hi Karen,
You have a good idea for a blog. I also like to read and share info. So here’s the info sharing part — did you know there is a free online book/dvd/cd swapping website? I heard about it on the news earlier in the week. I wrote about it on my blog, or you can find them on the internet. They are called Paperbackswap. Take care, Anita
I was about to ask where overseas you are, but figured I’d check this page out first. I spent the majority of my youth on “the rock”. I really miss the place. Kampaii! =)
Love your blog. I’m in for your book club too.
I’m involved with a book club here as well and love to get ideas of books I wouldn’t usually choose. Can’t wait!
I won a book on one of your contests sometime back but it coincided with the time you were moving house. Do you think you could check whether Ms. Gregory’s publicist sent me the book because I havent got it as yet.
Tks
Mystica,
Happy New Year! I am sorry to see your post. I did send out the package with the book to you last fall and assumed (which I probably shouldn’t have) that you received it and had probably already finished reading it. I would like to resend you another copy (since that last one apparently is in mail limbo, probably never to be found again seeing the time that has passed) so please email me (planetbooksworldwide@gmail.com) your mailing address so I can do so.
Again Mystica, I am very sorry that winning a contest has become a pain in the neck! I want to right this as soon as possible.
Warmly,
Karen
Dear Karen:
I am a representative for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. I came across your name on the Planet Books blog and given your interest in reviewing and discussing all things literary we thought you might enjoy a book that we published this month entitled THE RUSSIAN DREAMBOOK OF COLOR AND FLIGHT, a fable-like first novel from a critically-acclaimed young author, set in contemporary Russia and told in rich, gorgeous prose. I’m pasting a description below.
We hope to generate buzz about this author we’re very excited about, so if you would like a complementary copy—absolutely no strings attached—I’d be happy to send you one. Please just write me back with the best mailing address.
Thanks so much,
Michael Sosa
DESCRIPTION: THE RUSSIAN DREAMBOOK OF COLOR AND FLIGHT, BY GINA OCHSNER
In a crumbling apartment building in post-Soviet Russia, there’s a ghost who won’t keep quiet.
Mircha fell from the roof and was never properly buried, so he sticks around to heckle the living: his wife, Azade; Olga, a disillusioned translator/censor for a military newspaper; Yuri, an army veteran who always wears an aviator’s helmet; and Tanya.
Tanya carries a notebook wherever she goes, recording her observations and her dreams of finding love and escaping her job at the All-Russia All-Cosmopolitan Museum, a place which holds a fantastic and terrible collection of art knockoffs created using the tools at hand, from foam to chewing gum, Popsicle sticks to tomato juice. When the museum’s director hears of a mysterious American group seeking to fund art in Russia, it looks like she might get her chance at a better life, if she can only convince them of the collection’s worth. Enlisting the help of Azade, Olga and even Mircha, Tanya scrambles to save her dreams and her neighbors, and along the way discovers that love may have been waiting in her own courtyard all along.
And so in Ochsner’s fable-like, magical debut, we see the transcendence of imagination. As Colum McCann has said: “[Ochsner] manages… to capture our sundry human moments and make raw and unforgettable music of them.”
Hi Karen,
Is there a way to contact you about receiving an advance review copy from a NYT bestselling author? Please contact me if you are interested.
Thank you!
Sarah D.
Terra Communications
I’m releasing my first book this fall. I speak about it on my blog. Hope you grab a copy and enjoy
Dear Karen:
I seek a your review of my novel, The Bloody Birthright, a humorous mystery.
Synopsis:
J. Pincus Delmont is the most successful, and ethically challenged attorney north of Las Vegas, and he’s Richard Page’s only hope to escape execution by lethal injection. Pinky quickly determines his client’s tale of betrayal and murder leads to Southern California and demands investigative help from Bear Zarbarte who owes him a sizeable chunk of money. The Bear is as big as a tree, street wise, sort of trustworthy, and not averse to cracking the occasional head when the need arises. A grumbling Bear drives south where he discovers, and falls for Flo Sonderlund-a woman with a body to kill for, and a mouth as caustic as a bucket of lye. By hook and by crook, Pinky, the Bear, and Flo pry a solution to the murder from a string of chumps and patsies that stretches from the fertile hills of Tuscany, Italy to eastern wasteland of Nevada, the home of the Loneliest Road In America.
Regards,
Ken
It was nice meeting you at Jen Weiner’s book signing tonight. 🙂
Yes it was Melissa! Thanks for checking out Planet Books!!
In late June an article about my memoir; Broken Birds, The Story of My Momila appeared in The Huffington Post and as a result my ranking Amazon.com ranking jumped from 900,000 to 900. Since that time my book is now ranked 30th in my segment and has received over 81% of ratings of 4-5 stars.
Broken Birds is the nitty gritty, raw truth story of a twelve-year-old girl (My mom), who outwits, outruns and outlasts the strongest army of the time: the Nazi war machine. Fate brings her to New York City, where opposites attract when a very war torn and pessimistic Channa finds true love in Nathan, a tall dark and very optimistic man who also survived the war. (And that’s only the first 70 pages).
Their dance is set.
They re-create a family, but Channa’s emotional foundation causes her to pass along wartime fears and trepidations to their five children and forces Nathan to constantly prove his allegiance to her. This fertile ground was ideal for perfecting submergence of feelings, hurts and a distorted view of love and family loyalties.
When Mom unexpectedly dies her children must finally confront reality . . . and the bad blood begins. When the battle finally ends and the smoke clears we are all too aware of the illusion we all seemed to share.
Broken Birds, illuminates the positives and the negatives that occur in life, love and family. The trials and tribulations of Channa and her family touch the reader and cause them to ponder their own family patterns, evaluation, dynamics and weaknesses. Is then up them to try to affect a change, while they still are able.
May I send you a copy of the book in either book or ebook format?
Sincerely, Jeannette Katzir
Congrats!
http://chicklitcentraltheblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/one-lovely-blog-award.html
Hello,
Do you mind if I link to your site from my fashion sites?
Thanks.
Kathy
Hi Karen –
I would like to talk to you about reviewing my recently-published murder mystery, “Heaven’s Rage”. More information available on my website. Please contact me if you think you might be interested.
All best,
Tiffany Craig Brown
In late June an article about my memoir; Broken Birds, The Story of My Momila appeared in The Huffington Post and as a result my ranking Amazon.com ranking jumped from 900,000 to 900. Since that time my book is now ranked 30th in my segment and has received over 81% of ratings of 4-5 stars.
Broken Birds is the nitty gritty, raw true story of a twelve-year-old girl (My mom), who outwits, outruns and outlasts the strongest army of the time: the Nazi war machine. Fate brings her to New York City, where opposites attract, and a very war torn and pessimistic Channa finds true love in Nathan, a tall dark and very optimistic man who also survived the war. (And that’s only the first 70 pages).
Their dance is set.
They re-create a family, but Channa’s emotional foundation causes her to pass along wartime fears and trepidations to their five children and forces Nathan to constantly prove his allegiance to her. This fertile ground was ideal for perfecting submergence of feelings, hurts and a distorted view of love and family loyalties.
When Mom unexpectedly dies her children must finally confront reality . . . and the bad blood begins. When the battle finally ends and the smoke clears we are all too aware of the illusion we all seemed to share.
Broken Birds, illuminates the positives and the negatives that occur in life, love and family. The trials and tribulations of Channa and her family touch the reader and cause them to ponder their own family patterns, evaluation, dynamics and weaknesses. Is then up them to try to affect a change, while they still are able.
May I send you a copy of the book in either book or ebook format?
Sincerely, Jeannette Katzir
Hello Karen,
I am a Canadian author preparing for the release of my debut young adult novel, TRUE COLOURS. I would love to have you review it for me. If you are interested, please let me know how to proceed from here.
Thanks.
Sincerely,
Lucy Lemay Cellucci
TRUE COLOURS:
Fifteen-year-old Zoe Sanders is many things; unfortunately, confident is not one of them. Perhaps that is why she prefers the company of animals to people; she doesn’t have to try as hard. Passionate about animals and a self-professed advocate for their rights, Zoe is not above taking matters into her own hands when it comes to animal welfare. But the stakes are ultimately raised as she finds herself at the center of a dangerous conspiracy involving the disappearance of some animals from the shelter at which she volunteers, and a cosmetics company she’s desperately trying to convince her peers to boycott. When her life is thrown into chaos (who has time for teen angst when you’re busy getting arrested?), she is forced to rely on her courage and tenacity, as well as the help of street-savvy Alex Fisher, her troubled yet attractive Social Studies partner, to unravel the mystery. Zoe soon learns that nothing is as it appears, as she is confronted with angry parents, a dangerous sociopath, and a blossoming but ill-advised romance with Alex.
Karen, do you have a contact form or email address here? I’m interested in having you review one of my novels but can’t seem to find a way to contact you.
You can drop me a note via my web site, and I’ll check back here in a few days to see if you’ve responded.
Thanks,
Heather
Hi Karen,
I work for St. Martin’s Press and am trying to send you a copy of the new Immortal series book Night Star. However, I have the wrong address. Could you email me your preferred mailing address?
Best,
Dana
LOVED meeting you at Gaithersburg Book fest!
Warmly,
Caroline Leavitt
Me too!! You were wonderful and I look forward to reading Pictures of You. I hope you enjoyed the rest of your day at the festival! Thanks for coming!!
XOXO-K
My name is Joe Rinaldo, and I have published an ebook entitled, A Spy At Home. I would be most grateful if you would review it for your blog. I’ll provide a free copy for you to read in Word, pdf, or html format, whichever you prefer.
Garrison’s story begins when he retires from the CIA. In retirement Garrison shares the pain he inflicted on his family during his life abroad. Noah, Garrison’s adult son with Down syndrome, a form of mental retardation, doesn’t trust dad when he returns home. Experience has taught Noah that dad always leaves again. Over time they grow closer.
Louisa, Garrison’s wife, gradually accepts her husband back; however, accepting him as her husband and trusting him with her child present two separate obstacles.
Tragedy strikes, and Louisa dies. Garrison becomes solely responsible for Noah, who has developed Alzheimer’s, common in aging people with Down syndrome. This disease tears at Garrison’s heart. Noah ceases to be himself and relives a life his dad knew nothing about.
Thank you for considering A Spy At Home. If you are willing to review my book, please email me at rinald47@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
Joe Rinaldo
Hi Karen, (my mother’s name, too) Great blog! Will you be posting your review policy soon? I’ll check back!
Sorry for the late, late, late response. I no longer am reviewing books for publishers and authors. I’m just reading what I’m interested in and reviewing the books for fun on here. If you would like to tell me about a book, please feel free but know that I am not committing myself to read it.
Thanks for your comment and for visiting my blog!