2011 November

December Book Club Meetings

November 30, 2011 by Mocha Girl Alysia 4 Comments

Just a reminder of upcoming book club meetings for the month of December.

Los Angeles

December 3, 2010 (4pm-6pm) at Esowon Bookstore. 4331 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA (map) We will be talking about Be Careful What You Pray For and purchasing the new book The Perfect Christmas. If you need a ride please email me before the 3rd and I will help you out. Please bring $2.00 for parking that is located in the lot behind the bookstore. When the new book is voted for and selected I will let you know the cost before the meeting. All Mocha Girls will receive a 15% discount from now on at Esowon Bookstore. I will be handing out temporary cards for each of you. Whenever you are at the bookstore just show your card and you will get the discount. New Members are welcomed to join us as well! You can RSVP below in the comments sections (please state city) or here MochaGirlsRead LA

Tempe

December 17, 2010 (2:30pm-4:30pm) at Changing Hands Bookstore. 6428 S McClintock Dr, Tempe, AZ (map). We will be talking about Be Careful What You Pray For and purchasing the new book The Perfect Christmas. Meet in the back room of the book store. Changing Hands Bookstore will give all Mocha Girls Read members a 10% discount on paperbacks and 20% off of hardcover books. Mocha Girl Rochelle will be handing out temporary cards for each of you. Whenever you are at the bookstore just show your card and you will get the discount. New Members are welcomed to join us as well! You can RSVP below in the comments sections (please state city) or here MochaGirlsRead Tempe.

Philadelphia

December 10, 2010 (11:30am – 1:30pm) at Barnes and Noble Bookstore. 1805 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA (map) This brand new chapter is turning out to be the hottest event in Philadelphia with 30 RSVP’s in already! WOW! This meeting is your first and is a Meet and Mingle. You will be able to purchase the December book The Perfect Christmas at the store as well. Mocha Girl Rhonda will be handing out temporary cards for each of you. New Members are welcomed to join us as well! You can RSVP below in the comments sections (please state city) or here MochaGirlsRead Philadelphia.

Filed Under: Home Tagged With: book club meeting, Books, bookstores, LA, meetings, Philly, Tempe

Why I Love Wednesdays!

November 30, 2011 by Mocha Girl Alysia 8 Comments

Why I Love Wednesdays…Series

Mocha Girl Alexis from Reflections of a Bookaholic started a Wednesday Meme called Why I Love Wednesday. What is a Meme you ask? According to wikipedia…The term “Internet meme” refers to a catchphrase or concept that spreads rapidly from person to person via the Internet, largely through Internet-based email, blogs, forums, Imageboards, social networking sites and instant messaging. Basically, a topic from the meme host (Alexis) is posted on participating blogs with blog authors (me) answering it on their site (here).

The question this Wednesday is Series or a Stand Alone?

This was easy for me. I am 100% a series girl. Why would you want a good book to end? When you finish a REALLY good book, a book where you were having a hard time putting it down, don’t you feel strange. Like when you realized there was no Santa strange. Like the end of the best meal ever and you still have room for dessert strange. Do you go for seconds or go for dessert? I am always looking for a good series. I love getting the first one and following the lives and growth of the characters with there good and bad choices. Every time I am reading a good series, I will finish a book and get up (no matter the time) and get the next book. Thank God there is a Barnes and Nobles nearby that closes at 11pm. I hate to say it but Twilight had me rushing there at 10:30pm one night. And I mean rushing!!! For me a good series will let you start anywhere and you feel like you haven’t missed anything. Just like watching a soap opera. After a week you are hooked and it was on TV for decades before you joined in.

Series I Love:

Sweet Valley High - From my childhood

V.C Andrews (Dollanganger Series) – From my childhood

Anne Rice (Both Vampire & Jesus stories)

Angles and Demons

Harry Potter

Twilight

The Quilters Series (Elm Creek Quilts Series) – Just found out about this series and I love it!

Viola in Reel Life - Just picked up the second book. It is a cute, quick read.

P.P.S. (Pet Peeve Statement) I can’t stand to read a series and wait and wait … and wait for the next book to come out.

It is your time to answer the question. Are you into series or stand alone? What are some of the series that you love?

♥Mocha Girl Alysia♥

Filed Under: Home, Why I Love... Tagged With: Books, meme, reading, series, stand alone, Wednesday

Cast the Movie

November 29, 2011 by Mocha Girl Alysia 1 Comment

November Book of the Month

Now that most of you have finished reading Be Careful What You Pray For by Kimberla Lawson Roby. So now it’s time to talk about it. First go to the button in the menu and tell us what you think. We want to hear your voice. Add your thoughts to the reviews by sending them to mochagirl@email.com or just click on the poll below. Just 1 click is all it will take! Easy!

Cast It! So now if you were the casting the movie version of this book. Who would you cast? Who are the actors that you were imagining while reading the book?

First let’s start with the Mocha Girl. Alicia Black. She seems to be a young lady who has it all together. She was well taken care of by her dad and the men in her life. She is a Nordstroms and not TJMaxx shopper. I have one women in mind for her, Kerry Washington. She is a powerhouse actress that would bring something to Alicia’s character to make her “real”.

Kerry Washington

Who did I pick for Pastor JT Valentine? I am glad you asked. First Kimberla Roby Lawson said he was… He was almost too good to be true, what with his at least six-foot-two body frame, flawlessly smooth skin, coal-black wavy hair, and pearly-white teeth. Ok, I had a hard time with this one. I want to cast Jesse Martin in everything. *sigh* But I think Boris Kodjoe would be perfect and he is a hottie that fits the bill and I can see him at the pulpit of a mega church.

Boruis Kodjoe

For Alicia’s dad, Reverend Curtis Black has to be an old school actor that can express his feelings with a look. Old enough to be her dad and still got it! Denzel Washington!!!! Of course! Enough said.

Denzel Washington

I would love to see break out actresses, non-traditional actresses and underrated actresses cast in the roles of the other women.

Who would you cast in the roles? Any favorites?

Filed Under: Home Tagged With: book, casting, Kimberla Lawson Roby, movie, November, review

Monday’s Memory for November 28, 2011

November 28, 2011 by Mocha Girl Alysia 4 Comments

HAAAAAPPPYYYY MONDAYYY!!

This Monday just happens to fall on the official 3 month of Mocha Girls Read existence. Can you believe it has been three months already? So with no further ado here are the numbers. Get ready to have you socks blown off. Kinda!

Website Followers 29 to 44

Facebook Likes 91 to 140

Twitter Followers 221 to 322

Meetup Members 63 to 115

Good Reads Members 44 to 78

Book Blog Friends 26 to 36

Hits on the site to date 3,804 to 7,517

That is so crazy! In a good way of course. Thank you all for joining in on this journey and adventure of reading and meeting new like-minded Mocha Girls. I love seeing the new friendships coming from this group of amazing women.

So to keep in the spirit of numbers the children’s book I will be posting up for today’s Monday Memory is all about Numbers too.

Did you ever read this book? Do you have a story about this book you would like to share? Let us know in the comments section below? Give us your review, thoughts and memories on this Monday’s book. If you have a recommendation for a Monday’s Memory feel free to contact us at mochagirl@email.com.

♥Happy Monday!♥

Filed Under: Home Tagged With: book, children's books, Comments, kid books, Monday, Read

December Book of the Month: The Perfect Christmas

November 27, 2011 by Mocha Girl Alysia 4 Comments

“Debbie Macomber writes truly breathtaking, interesting and heart-warming stories that are sheer delight to relish. A Perfect Christmas will not disappoint her fans and will certainly add more to the list who love this author who knows how to pen a true celebration of real, romantic love!”— CrystalReviews.com

After all the books being nominated and 90 votes cast…Mocha Girls Read December book selection winner is The Perfect Christmas by Debbie Macomber. Take a minute to see what this book and the author are all about.

December's Poll Results

Synopsis

December Book of the Month

What would make your Christmas perfect?

For Cassie Beaumont, it’s meeting her perfect match, Cassie, at thirty-three, wants a husband and kids, and so far, nothing’s worked. Not blind dates, not the Internet and certainly not leaving love to chance. What’s left? A professional matchmaker. He’s Simon Dodson, and he’s very choosy about the clients he takes on. Cassie finds Simon a difficult, acerbic know-it-all, and she’s astonished when he accepts her as a client.

Claiming he has her perfect mate in mind, Simon assigns her three tasks to complete before she meets him. Three tasks that are all about Christmas: being up as Santa’s elf at a children’s party and preparing a traditional turkey dinner for her neighbors (whom she happens to dislike). Despite a number of comical mishaps, Cassie does it all – and she’s finally ready to meet her match. But just like the perfect Christmas gift, he turns out to be a wonderful surprise!

Biography

Debbie Macomber

With more than 140 million copies of her books in print, Debbie Macomber is one of today’s most popular authors.
The #1 New York Times bestselling author is best known for her ability to create compelling characters and bring their stories to life in her books. Drawing on her own experiences and observations, Debbie writes heartwarming tales about small-town life, home and family, enduring friendships and women who knit. Every book features the delightful sense of humor for which readers around the world clamor. Not bad for a woman who is dyslexic and didn’t learn to read until she was in the fifth grade.

Being dyslexic did not deter the young mother of four from pursuing her lifelong dream of becoming published. She celebrated her first sale in 1982 when Silhouette Books acquired her manuscript, Heartsong. The book became the first category romance ever to be reviewed by Publishers Weekly. She was soon featured in Newsweek—and demand for her books quickly exceeded her wildest dreams.

Three of her novels have scored the #1 slot on the New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly lists the first week on sale. She is the first-ever recipient of the “readers’ choice” Quill Award for Romance Fiction, for 44 Cranberry Point, the fourth book in her highly popular Cedar Cove series. Debbie has also been honored with a RITA® for her 2005 holiday hardcover, The Christmas Basket; an RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award and is a multiple winner of both the Holt Medallion and the B. Dalton Award. In July 2010, the Romance Writers of America presented Debbie with their prestigious Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award. (read more)

Congratulations to Debbie for becoming Mocha Girls Read book for the month for December 2011.

Feel free to leave comments and thoughts here as you are reading the book. I’m looking forward to reading this holiday book and hearing what everyone thinks of it.

Happy holidays and don’t forget to keep the pages turning!

♥Mocha Girl Alysia♥

Filed Under: Book of the Month Tagged With: book, book of the month, Debbie Macomber, December, holiday, Read