Aces High - Review & Giveaway

So here we go, my first review and giveaway. I was sent this book, Aces High by Bill Yenne to read and review. I was so thrilled for many reasons, it was my first chance to do a reveiw, it was on a good subject, and I have a sorta military background which I had hoped meant I wouldn't have too many confusing parts to read.

Aces High is is the story of the two top aces of World War II, Richard Bong and Thomas McGuire. It starts with an introduction to what an ace is and how as the times changed, so did the role of our heroes. From midevil knights to fighter pilots. I enjoyed the opening quite a bit, the comparison of the old versus the new. It was a great start. Then it begins the story of the two men, again, I was enjoying the book. As the book progressed, however, it seemed to jump all over the timeline as well as jump from the two main characters to technical info about the planes that were being built at the time. I had a very hard time keeping up with 'when' it was in the story and I felt the details of the planes was a little much. I have yet to finish the book as I have a hard time getting through one chapter with the way it is written. I think the idea for this book is excellent, I just don't personally care for the presentation. I would love to get to the end to find out which of the two men was actually the top ace and find out what all happened to them. Perhaps I will in time.

I'm not trying to say that the book is bad, it's just not written for someone like me. I hope that whoever wins the copy of this book can read it and enjoy it.

This review was sponsored by The Penguin Group. All opinions are 100% mine and no compensation was given for the review of this item.

Now for the giveaway part!! I'm going to make this simple. To win, you must leave a comment telling me what you want to be when you grow up. (OK...so most of you are grown, it can be what you wanted to be when you were a kid.) That's it. I will run the contest for 2 weeks. On the 21st of April I will use a random number generator to determine the winner.

In case you're wondering why I'm not offering additional entries, here's why:
     1)I would love for you to follow my blog, facebook, twitter etc, but not just to gain an entry. I would like the people following me to actually be interested in my blog and not just the giveaway.
     2)If you're a busy person, sometimes it's just too much to ask to create a post or tweet about the giveaway every day and I find that gives some people an unfair advantage in winning.

I'm looking forward to reading your comments!!

Where Are You From?

I work with the public and some people will hear me speak and say "You're not from around here, are you?" To which I answer, "No." The resonse to my answer varies at times but it usually amounts to "Where are you from?" I hate being asked this question, because it usually involves a long explanation. My answer to the question is "Which year?" Which makes people automatically say "You must be a military brat." Here comes the explanation. "Yes, my father was in the Air Force for 22 years before he retired, however, my mom and dad divorced when I was 8. I went to 16 different schools (that I can remember) from Kindergarten through my Senior year. The longest I was in one school was 3 years, which was the school I graduated from. And oddly enough, that was when I was living with my dad. I was born in Japan, then we moved back to the states in Maryland. A few years later, my dad was shipped to Italy, it was during this time that he and my mother divorced. He was in italy for 4 years, then went to Germany for 4 years. Then he returned to the states and was stationed in Florida for a couple of years, then in New York. Looking back, I would have moved LESS, if I'd have lived with my father."

I hunted down a map of Japan that actually had the town I was born shown, but for some reason it's not showing up on here right.

Anyway, here is my list of places I've lived:

Japan

Maryland

Massachusetts

Ohio

Texas (all over the place here)

Florida

New York

I think I got it all, maybe. That's just the states I've lived in and not the individual towns. So, I have moved a lot. I always swore that I would not move my children around all over the place like my mother did and I have done well so far. They have been in this one town at the same school for 6 years now. Much longer than I ever was in one place.

What brings on a post like this? Well, I have my very first review item on the way and I am very excited. It is in some way related to something I have said in this post. Are you curious? You'll just have to wait and see what is coming. Be sure to keep your eyes open, because there will be a giveaway involved as well!

So...where are YOU from?