Saturday, October 31, 2009

Giveaway Winners: THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER by Kathleen Kent


!! CONGRATULATIONS !!

The 5 winners of copies of
 by Kathleen Kent are:

RAnn a/k/a ruthjoec AT aol DOT com
Zibilee a/k/a zibilee AT figearo DOT net
Brittany a/k/a decklededgesblog At gmail DOT com
Patricia a/k/a pboylecharley AT hotmail DOT com
Wanda a/k/a wand_waiting AT hotmail DOT com

- I have sent everyone an email.

- Please contact me with your snail mail address A.S.A.P.

- Remember, the sponsor will only mail books to U.S. and Canadian street addresses and no P.O. Boxes.

- If I have not heard from you by 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday, November 2, 2009, your win will be forfeit and I will contact the next commenter selected by Random.org.


- Thank you to everyone who stopped by and entered. If you weren't one of the lucky ones in this drawing, click here to hop on over to the contest page at Hachette Book Group for listings of other blogs hosting book giveaways.

- Be sure and check my sidebar for other ongoing giveaways here and at other blogs.

A big thank you to Valerie and Hachette Book Group
 for making this giveaway possible.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Book Giveaway: THE GATE HOUSE by Nelson DeMille


Thanks to the generous folks at
Hachette Book Group,
I have been authorized to
 giveaway five (5) copies of




Publisher:  Grand Central Publishing
Category:  Fiction, Suspense & Thrillers
Format:  Trade Paperback
Publish Date:  11/3/2009
Price:  $14.99/$17.99
ISBN:  9780446564236
Pages:  800
Size:  5-1/4" x 8"

Description (from the publisher):
#1 New York Times bestselling author Nelson DeMille delivers the long-awaited follow-up to his classic novel The Gold Coast.

When John Sutter's aristocratic wife killed her mafia don lover, John left America and set out in his sailboat on a three-year journey around the world, eventually settling in London. Now, ten years later, he has come home to the Gold Coast, that stretch of land on the North Shore of Long Island that once held the greatest concentration of wealth and power in America, to attend the imminent funeral of an old family servant. Taking up temporary residence in the gatehouse of Stanhope Hall, John finds himself living only a quarter of a mile from Susan who has also returned to Long Island. But Susan isn't the only person from John's past who has reemerged: Though Frank Bellarosa, infamous Mafia don and Susan's ex-lover, is long dead, his son, Anthony, is alive and well, and intent on two missions: Drawing John back into the violent world of the Bellarosa family, and exacting revenge on his father's murderer--Susan Sutter. At the same time, John and Susan's mutual attraction resurfaces and old passions begin to reignite, and John finds himself pulled deeper into a familiar web of seduction and betrayal. In THE GATE HOUSE, acclaimed author Nelson Demille brings us back to that fabled spot on the North Shore -- a place where past, present, and future collides with often unexpected results.

Click here to read an excerpt.

Click here to visit the author's website.
 
With his taut, suspenseful, and well researched thrillers, Nelson DeMille has become one of the most popular writers working today, publishing bestseller after bestseller. In books such as Plum Island and Word of Honor, DeMille gives us breakneck plots featuring strong characters with difficult decisions to make, and readers can’t tear their eyes away.
 
Nelson DeMille is also the author of Wild Fire, Night Fall, Up Country, The Lion's Game, Plum Island, The Charm School, Word of Honor, The Talbot Odyssey, Cathedral, and By the Rivers of Babylon. He lives on Long Island, New York.
 



RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:

• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com

You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!

• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.

• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.

• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.

• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.

• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address. Hachette is unable to deliver to P.O. Boxes.

Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, November 20, 2009.

• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name.

Thank you to Valerie
at Hachette Book Group
for making this giveaway possible.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Book Giveaway: IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT by Lisa Dale


Thanks to the generous folks at
I have been authorized to
giveaway five (5!!) copies of

Rules for entering this giveaway are at the bottom of this post.



Pub. Date: November 2009

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 368pp

ISBN-13: 9780446406901
ISBN: 0446406902
 
Description (from the publisher):
Sometimes love finds you when you least expect it.

Lana Biel has always wanted to shake the dust of Vermont off her feet and see the world, one exotic country after another. But when a lighthearted spring fling changes her life forever, she turns to the one man whose strong shoulders can lighten any burden: her best friend, Eli Ward.

Eli has always been there for Lana--after all, that's what best friends do. But Lana isn't the only one hiding something. Eli is keeping secrets of his own that threaten their relationship. Yet as summer turns to fall, new desires awaken between them, even as old fears tear them apart. Then, when another Vermont winter fills the valleys with snow, Eli and Lana are given the chance for an adventure greater than they ever dreamed possible...and a love that will last for all time.

About the author (from the publisher): 
A lifelong bookworm, Lisa Dale is a firm believer that there are few things in life better than curling up with a novel and a cup of tea. Lisa Dale worked in publishing for a number of years before earning her MFA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. A former assistant editor of The Literary Review and nominee for Best New American Voices 2010, Lisa lives and writes in Northern New Jersey.

For book trailers and excerpts you can visit Lisa's personal Web site, http://www.lisadalebooks.com/. Or you can join the conversation on http://www.bookanatomy101.com/, a blog where Lisa dissects, scrutinizes, and otherwise tinkers with "how books work." Lisa loves chatting with readers and writers, so log on and say hi!

 RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:

• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com

You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!

• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.

• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.

• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.


• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.

• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address. Hachette is unable to deliver to P.O. Boxes.


Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, November 13, 2009.

• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name.

Thank you to Anna
for making this giveaway possible.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

Audiobook Giveaway: 9 DRAGONS by Michael Connelly


Thanks to the generous folks at
I have been authorized to
giveaway three (3) audiobook copies of
by Michael Connelly

Rules for entering this giveaway are at the bottom of this post.



read by Len Cariou

Publisher: Hachette Audio
Category: Fiction, Suspense & Thrillers
Format: Audio Book
Subformat: CD (Audio)
Edition: Unabridged
Publish Date: 10/13/2009
Price: $39.98/$49.98
ISBN: 9781600247439
Pages: 0

Description (from the publisher):
LAPD Detective Harry Bosch is off the chain in the fastest, fiercest, and highest-stakes case of his life.

Fortune Liquors is a small shop in a tough South L.A. neighborhood, a store Bosch has known for years. The murder of John Li, the store's owner, hits Bosch hard, and he promises Li's family that he'll find the killer.

The world Bosch steps into next is unknown territory. He brings in a detective from the Asian Gang Unit for help with translation--not just of languages but also of the cultural norms and expectations that guided Li's life. He uncovers a link to a Hong Kong triad, a lethal and far-reaching crime ring that follows many immigrants to their new lives in the U.S.

And instantly his world explodes. The one good thing in Bosch's life, the person he holds most dear, is taken from him and Bosch travels to Hong Kong in an all-or-nothing bid to regain what he's lost. In a place known as Nine Dragons, as the city's Hungry Ghosts festival burns around him, Bosch puts aside everything he knows and risks everything he has in a desperate bid to outmatch the triad's ferocity.

Click here to listen to an excerpt.

Click here to visit the author's website.

About the Author (from the publisher):
Michael Connelly, a #1 New York Times bestselling novelist and a former journalist, has won numerous crime fiction prizes. He lives in Florida. For more information, visit http://www.michaelconnelly.com/.

 RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:

• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com

You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!

• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.

• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.

• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.


• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.

• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address. Hachette is unable to deliver to P.O. Boxes.


Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Tuesday, November 10, 2009.

• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name.

Thank you to Anna
for making this giveaway possible.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

Giveaway Winners: TRAVELING WITH POMEGRANATES


!! CONGRATULATIONS !!

The winners of the 2 copies of

Book Bird Dog

and

Beth(bookaholicmom)

Both winners are confirmed and their names and addresses forwarded to the giveaway sponsor.

I used Random.org to determine the winning entries.


Thank you to everyone who visited A Sea of Books and entered the giveaway.

Click here for information on ordering the book from the publisher.

Thank you to Penguin USA and Katrina from Wiredset
for making this giveaway possible.

My Favorite Reads #10: TRICK OR TREAT, SMELL MY FEET by Diane de Groat

Alyce of At Home with Books hosts My Favorite Reads, a weekly feature spotlighting favorite reads from pre-blogging days. Because it's been a while since the books were read, these posts are not reviews per se, but rather impressionistic remembrances of a positive reading experience. I think of this feature as an opportunity to more deeply explore the range of my reading interests and those of other book bloggers and readers of book blogs outside of the current crop of new releases.

Do you have an old favorite that you'd like to share?


written and illustrated by Diane de Groat
Pub. Date: August 1999
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Format: Paperback, 32pp
Age Range: 5 to 7
ISBN-13: 9780688170615

Synopsis (from the publisher):
Gilbert wants to be a Martian Space Pilot at the school costume parade, but a mix-up leaves him with nothing but his little sister's ballerina tutu to wear! In this hilarious follow-up to the best-selling Roses are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink, everyone's favorite porcupine learns all about the ups and downs of being different. Here is a madcap masquerade that will leave school-age children in stitches.

Why I Chose This Book:
This is one of my favorite books from the kids' stash. Maybe I'm even the one who bought it for them. We've had our copy for at least 2 years, and it's a favorite that we turn to again and again, whatever the time of year. Never mind that until I looked up the book on the publisher's website, I had thought Gilbert and his family were opossums. (Turns out they're porcupines!) I also had no idea that author/illustrator Diane de Groat had created a whole series of books around these sweet little characters -- or that she had illustrated over 120 other books! Needless to say, I'll be tracking them down and bringing some home. In the meantime, TRICK OR TREAT, SMELL MY FEET is a wonderfully timeless story and obviously perfect for this week.

Click here to visit the author's website.

About the author (from the publisher):Diane deGroat is the illustrator of more than 120 children's books and the author-illustrator of other bestselling books about Gilbert, including Mother, You're the Best! (But Sister, You're a Pest!) ; Last One in Is a Rotten Egg!; Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet; Jingle Bells, Homework Smells; Happy Birthday to You, You Belong in a Zoo; No More Pencils, No More Books, No More Teacher's Dirty Looks!; Brand-new Pencils, Brand-new Books; and the New York Times bestseller Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Blog Tour and Book Review #25: JAPAN TOOK THE J.A.P. OUT OF ME: A Memoir by Lisa Fineberg Cook




Pub. Date: October 2009
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Format: Paperback, 288pp
Sales Rank: 191,181
ISBN-13: 9781439110034
ISBN: 1439110034

Description (from the publisher):
Six days after an InStyle-worthy wedding in Los Angeles, Lisa Fineberg Cook left behind her little red Jetta, her manicurist of ten years, and her very best friend for the land of the rising sun. When her husband accepted a job teaching English in Nagoya, Japan, she imagined exotic weekend getaways, fine sushi dinners, and sake sojourns with glamorous expatriate friends. Instead, she's the only Jewish girl on public transportation, and everyone is staring. Lisa longs for regular mani/pedis, valet parking, and gimlets with her girlfriends, but for the next year, she learns to cook, clean, commute, and shop like the Japanese, all the while adjusting to another foreign concept -- marriage. Loneliness and frustration give way to new and unexpected friendships, the evolution of old ones, and a fresh understanding of what it means to feel different -- until finally a world she never thought she'd fit into begins to feel home-like, if not exactly like home.

My Rating: 4 Stars out of 5

My Thoughts:
I was so excited when my review copy of JAPAN TOOK THE J.A.P. OUT OF ME by Lisa Fineberg Cook arrived. As an armchair traveler, I love reading about people's experiences in other countries, the more exotic the better. And the twist of this memoir -- that the author, a self-described Jewish American Princess loses her royal crown while living abroad -- promised to make this book an entertaining read.

I'm happy to say that I was not disappointed.  In fact, I appreciated this memoir on a level I totally did not anticipate.  I really didn't expect that I would ever be able to identify with anyone who would be described as a "princess," but I found that many of the author's reactions to her foreign circumstances were not so foreign to me! For example, I hate being the center of attention and feeling that all eyes are on me, especially out in public. Most of the time I tell myself that no one is really paying attention to me and just get on with my business. After all, no one likes being stared at. But for our intrepid Princess Lisa, all eyes really ARE on her! As a tall blond woman in a world of small dark-haired people, she becomes something of a spectacle just by stepping outside her door. Spoiled she may be, but this sort of celebrity attention is not something she is used to or desires.

For all her whining about having to figure out how to do her own laundry and cooking and being reduced to using public transportation, Princess Lisa plunges in and carries on. During her first year in Japan, she actually confronts several versions of culture shock: the most obvious is as an American living in a foreign country with it's different viewpoints and customs. Secondly, this is also her first year of marriage, and that requires adjustments and compromises in an uncharted territory that would challenge anyone. And thirdly, she discovers the vast landscape of her own character. In the past, she may have enjoyed her pampered existence, but she takes pride in learning to fend for herself -- and laugh at herself.

JAPAN TOOK THE J.A.P. OUT OF ME was an enjoyable read and a fun little escape. I enjoyed the author's light writing style and her ability to poke fun at herself. And if she sometimes sounds childish in her complaints about the lifestyle she has taken on, she also possesses an almost childlike wonder and ability to have fun.
"Tokyo rocks. I love it. Everything moves incredibly fast and the lights and sounds collide colorfully, creating a kind of benevolent Blade Runner atmosphere. It happens to be raining this weekend, which adds to the allure as live-action billboards glisten throughout the Ginza district. When we come to the famous four corners crosswalk, which is as wide and long as an L.A. city park, we stand on the curb for several minutes waiting for the light to change, and I look at the bright neon puddles and smile at my husband." p. 79
I want to read more from this author -- what was her second year in Japan like? How did she adjust to life back in the States? What is her life like now?  Oops! Am I staring?



Check out these other blogs on the tour to read some more reviews:

The Life (And Lies) of an Inanimate Flying Object: http://haleymathiot.blogspot.com/

The Neverending Shelf: http://neverendingshelf.blogspot.com

Drey’s Library: http://dreyslibrary.blogspot.com/

A Sea of Books: http://aseaofbooks.blogspot.com/

Libby’s Library News: http://www.libslibrary.blogspot.com/

Bookin’ With Bingo: http://bookinwithbingo.blogspot.com/

Readaholic: http://bridget3420.blogspot.com/

That’s A Novel Idea: http://thatsanovelidea.blogspot.com

Starting Fresh: http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/

Just Another New Blog: http://justanothernewblog.blogspot.com/

Blog Business World: http://www.blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com

My Friend Amy: http://www.myfriendamysblog.com

Chick With Books: http://www.chickwithbooks.blogspot.com/

Book N Around: http://booknaround.blogspot.com/

My Book Views: http://my-book-views.blogspot.com/

So Many Books, So Little Time: http://purplg8r-somanybooks.blogspot.com/

Keep on Booking: http://keeponbooking.blogspot.com

Reading at the Beach: http://ilratb.blogspot.com/

Found Not Lost: http://jmomfinds.amoores.com/

Brizmus Blogs Books: http://brizmusblogsbooks.blogspot.com/

I Read: http://sumanam.wordpress.com/

Thank you to Sarah at Simon & Schuster
for organizing this blog tour
and providing me with a review copy.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Giveaways from Around the Blogs


Here are a few giveaways from around the blogs that caught my attention. Why don't you take a chance too?

THE QUEEN'S MISTAKE
by Diane Haeger

So Many Precious Books, So Little Time ends 10/26/09

The Burton Review ends 11/06/09






THE LAST DICKENS
by Matthew Pearl

Savvy Verse & Wit - ends 10/29/09

The Tome Traveller - ends 10/30/09

Luxury Reading - ends 11/04/09




NINE DRAGONS
by Michael Connelly

Audiobook: A Circle of Books - ends 11/08/09

Hardcover: A Book Blogger's Diary - ends 11/21/09

Hardcover: Libby's Library News - ends 11/23/09

Giveaway Winners - DETECTIVES DON'T WEAR SEAT BELTS by CiCi McNair


!! CONGRATULATIONS !!

The winners of the five copies of DETECTIVES DON'T WEAR SEAT BELTS by Cici McNair are:

enyl a/k/a enyl (AT) inbox (DOT) com (confirmed)

MJ a/k/a mj.coward (AT) gmail (DOT) com (confirmed)

Just.Me a/k/a bevsclark (AT) gmail (DOT) com (confirmed)

Beth (BBRB) a/k/a BethsBookReviewsBlog (AT) gmail (DOT) com (confirmed)

Rue a/k/a ruthann (DOT) francis (AT) gmail (DOT) com (confirmed)

Please respond to my email with your snail mail address by 5:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, October 27, or your win will be forfeit and I will contact the next winner generated by Random.org.



- Thank you to everyone who stopped by and entered. If you weren't one of the lucky ones in this drawing, click here to hop on over to the contest page at Hachette Book Group for listings of other blogs hosting book giveaways.  


- Be sure and check my sidebar for other ongoing giveaways here and at other blogs.    

A big thank you to Brianne and Hachette Book Group for making this giveaway possible.

Audiobook Giveaway: THE LOVELY BONES by Alice Sebold


Thanks to the generous folks at
I have been authorized to
giveaway three (3) audiobook copies of

Rules for entering this giveaway are at the bottom of this post.



Read by the author

Publisher: Hachette Audio
Category: Ficton
Format: Audio Book
Subformat: CD (Audio)
Edition: Unabridged
Publish Date: 9/30/2009
Price: $19.98/$24.98
ISBN: 9781600248429
Pages: 0

Description (from the publisher):
Once in a generation a novel comes along that taps a vein of universal human experience, resonating with readers of all ages. THE LOVELY BONES is such a book -- a #1 bestseller celebrated at once for its artistry, for its luminous clarity of emotion, and for its astonishing power to lay claim to the hearts of millions of readers around the world. Now in an audiobook edition read by the author, with movie tie-in art.

"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973."

So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her -- her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling. Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, THE LOVELY BONES succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy.
The major motion picture version of THE LOVELY BONES, directed by Peter Jackson and starring Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, and Saoirse Ronan is scheduled for release on December 11, 2009.
 
Click here to listen to an excerpt.

Click here to visit the author's website.

About the author (from the publisher):
Alice Sebold is the bestselling author of the novels The Lovely Bones and The Almost Moon, and Lucky, a memoir. She lives in California with her husband, the novelist Glen David Gold.

 RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:

• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com

You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!

• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.

• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.

• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.


• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.

• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address. Hachette is unable to deliver to P.O. Boxes.


Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, November 8,  2009.

• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name.

Thank you to Anna
for making this giveaway possible.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

Book Review #24: J is for Jack-O'-Lantern by Denise Brennan-Nelson




J IS FOR JACK-O'-LANTERN
illustrated by Donald Wu

Pub. Date: August 2009
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Format: Hardcover, 40pp
Age Range: 5 to 11
ISBN-13: 9781585364435
ISBN: 1585364436

Description (from the publisher):
Who lit the first jack-o'-lantern? What creature of the night must return to his grave by dawn? And why do we holler "Trick or treat"? J is for Jack-O'-Lantern: A Halloween Alphabet invites you to come along on this A-Z adventure and celebration of all things that "go bump in the night." .

Poetry and prose combine to entertain and educate.


H is for Haunted House:

A haunted house; you better beware.
Only enter if you dare.
Monsters lurking, looking mean--
Just can't wait to make you scream!

Classic autumn games, jokes, and recipes (including gooey deviled egg eyeballs!) help round out the Halloween festivities. Atmospheric artwork blends just enough fun with fright to provide the perfect backdrop.

My Rating: 5 Stars out of 5

My Thoughts:

A few months ago, I was tickled to learn that I'd won a copy of J IS FOR JACK-O'-LATERN: A Halloween Alphabet from a giveaway hosted at A Patchwork of Books. I thought it would be a great book for this time of year. However, until I had the book in my hands, I didn't fully appreciate just what I had won. This is no ordinary alphabet book. Sure, the reader takes an enjoyable stroll through the ABC's with a Halloween theme. Each letter of the alphabet introduces a Halloween concept with a little poem. That's great for the youngest kids. The real treat for adults and older kids is found on the sidebars where each subject is more fully explored with a little background history, related facts, international correlations, and sometimes suggestions for games or activities. One of my favorites is S.

S is for Scarecrow:
Scarecrows hang around all day;
wear old clothes filled with hay.
They work to chase the crows away
but when do scarecrows get to play?

In the sidebar, I learned "In Japanese mythology, a scarecrow appears as a supreme being who cannot walk, but knows everything of the world."

The kids and I have really enjoyed this book at my house - I even pick it up when they're not around!

This is a fabulous book for families and a wonderful asset to teachers in the classroom as well. Highly recommended.

One of Denise Brennan-Nelson's favorite Halloween memories is of her daughters wearing homemade skunk costumes, since the girls are "Mommy's little stinkers." Her other books include Willow and Buzzy the bumblebee. When she's not visiting schools to speak to schoolchildren and teachers, Denise is at home in Howell, Michigan.

Born in Hong Kong, Donald Wu grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. He studied illustration at the California College of the Arts. Donald's current focus is in children's book illustration, but he also has experience with portraiture and editorial artwork. He lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

 

This review copy is from my personal library and obtained through a contest win hosted at A Patchwork of Books and sponsored by Sleeping Bear Press.

Book Review #23: THE 13 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN by Carole Greene; illustrated by Tim Raglin



THE 13 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN
by Carol Greene
illustrated by Tim Raglin

Pub. Date: September 2009
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Incorporated
Format: Hardcover, 32pp
Sales Rank: 17,707
Age Range: 4 to 8
ISBN-13: 9781402230967
ISBN: 1402230966

Description (from the publisher):

"On the first day of Halloween my good friend gave to me: a vulture in a dead tree."

Children will love to sing along!

Everyone knows "The Twelve Days of Christmas," but are you ready for The Thirteen Days of Halloween? In this delightfully offbeat story, a dashing ghoul tries to win his ghostly love's heart with heaps of hilarious gifts ranging from broomsticks and bats to cauldrons and cats! Carol Greene's lively verse is perfectly complemented by Tim Raglin's enchantingly erie illustrations. Children of all ages will love to sing along. The result is a frightfully funny Halloween tale you'll never forget.

My Rating:  4.5 Stars out of 5

My Thoughts:

The kids and I were so excited to recieve this book for review from Sourcebooks, Inc. As soon as it arrived we sat down, opened it up, and started singing, laughing, and - yes, I'll admit it - even snorting! There were  squeals of horrified delight and plenty of eewww-yuks as we flipped through the pages and tried to carry the tune. The concept is simple: a green-skinned lord woes his likewise hued lady with vultures, hissing cats, and assorted creepies and crawlies all to the tune of The 12 Days of Christmas. Of course, being Halloween, we get Day 13. And that brings me to my only complaint. On the first reading, after the rollicking fun of the first 12 days, the "choose your own ending" of the 13th day fell flat as a lead balloon. With subsequent readings, we were prepared for the ending and continued the fun by trying to think up what could be the grossest or scariest final present. But you know what they say about first impressions -- I would have given this book a full 5 stars if the ending had been better.

However, I still strongly recommend this book -- the concept is fun, the string of presents are silly and gross, the illustrations are colorful, bouyant, and imaginative. Once they realize what is expected at the end, the kids enjoyed trying to outdo each other imagining what could be the most hilariously horrible 13th present. And I have to admit, it's a catchy little tune . . . "and a vulture in a dead tree."

Carol Greene wrote her first poem when she was six years old (it was about a spider). To date she has published over a hundred books for children. Carol also likes to read, sing, and make teddy bears. She lives in Webster Groves, Missouri, with her cat Dulcie.

Tim Raglin brings his wacky imagination and wonderfully odd cast of characters to The Thirteen Days of Halloween. His previous books include Five Funny Fights, Pecos Bill, and The Birthday ABC. He received a silver medal from the New York Society of Illustrators for his book Uncle Mugsy & the Terrible Twins of Christmas. Mr. Raglin lives in his hometown of Independence, Kansas.

Thank you to Sourcebooks, Inc. for providing me a review copy of this book.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Audiobook Giveaway: WHAT THE DOG SAW by Malcolm Gladwell


Thanks to the generous folks at
I have been authorized to
giveaway three (3) audiobook copies of
by Malcolm Gladwell

Rules for entering this giveaway are at the bottom of this post.


by Malcolm Gladwell
Read by Malcolm Gladwell

Publisher: Hachette Audio
Category: BUSINESS & ECONOMICS, PSYCHOLOGY
Format: AUDIO BOOK
Subformat: CD (AUDIO)
Edition: Unabridged
Publish Date: 10/20/2009
Price: $39.98/$49.98
ISBN: 9781600249150
Pages: 0

Description (from the publisher):
Over the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell has become the most gifted and influential journalist in America. In The New Yorker, his writings are such must-reads that the magazine charges advertisers significantly more money for ads that run within his articles. With his #1 bestsellers, The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers, he has reached millions of readers. And now the very best and most famous of his New Yorker pieces are collected in a brilliant and provocative anthology. Among the pieces: his investigation into why there are so many different kinds of mustard but only one kind of ketchup; a surprising assessment of what makes for a safer automobile; a look at how we hire when we can't tell who's right for the job; an examination of machine built to predict hit movies; the reasons why homelessness might be easier to solve than manage; his famous profile of inventor and entrepreneur Ron Popeil; a look at why employers love personality tests; a dissection of Ivy League admissions and who gets in; the saga of the quest to invent the perfect cookie; and a look at hair dye and the hidden history of postwar America.

For the millions of Malcolm Gladwell fans, this anthology is like a greatest hits compilation-a mix tape from America's alpha mind.

Click here to visit the author's website.

 RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:

• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com

You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!

• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.

• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.

• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.


• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.

• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address. Hachette is unable to deliver to P.O. Boxes.


Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Saturday, November 7,  2009.

• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name.

Thank you to Anna
for making this giveaway possible.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

This giveaway is now closed.

Friday, October 23, 2009

YA Novel Writing Contest


November is National Novel Writing Month - otherwise known as NaNoWriMo. I've been asked by Sourcebooks, Inc. to help get the word out about this great opportunity for authors of Young Adult Novels. Is that you or someone you know? If so, take note:

Get in Front of Top YA Editors and Agents with ONLY the First 250 Words of Your YA Novel!

Have a young adult novel—or a YA novel idea—tucked away for a rainy day? Are you putting off pitching your idea simply because you’re not sure how to pitch an agent? No problem! All you have to do is submit the first 250 words of your novel and you can win both exposure to editors, and a one-on-one chat with one of New York’s TOP literary agents Regina Brooks.

Regina Brooks is the founder of Serendipity Literary Agency and the author of Writing Great Books for Young Adults. Brooks has been instrumental at establishing and building the careers of many YA writers, including three-time National Book Award Honoree and Michael Printz Honoree Marilyn Nelson, as well as Sundee Frazier—a Coretta Scott King Award winner, an Oprah Book Pick and an Al Roker book club selection. As an agent, she is known for her ability to turn raw talent into successful authors.

ADDITIONALLY: The top 20 submissions will all be read by a panel of five judges comprised of top YA editors at Random House, HarperCollins, Harlequin, Sourcebooks and Penguin. All 20 will receive free autographed copies of Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks. Of the 20, they will pick the top five submissions and provide each author with commentary. ONE Grand Prize Winner will win a free 10-week writing course courtesy of the Gotham Writer’s Workshop.

Please submit all entries via the contest website at http://www.writingclasses.com/ContestPages/YAPitch.php. One entry per person; anyone age 13+ can apply. Open to the U.S. & Canada (void where prohibited). Entries for the YA Novel Discovery Contest will be accepted from 12:01am (ET) November 1 until 11:59pm (ET),

NOVEMBER IS NaNoWriMo:
In honor of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org)—an international event where aspiring novelists are encouraged to write an entire novel in 30 days—this contest is meant to encourage the aspiring YA author to get started on that novel by offering an incentive for completing the first 250 words.

So apply now! http://www.writingclasses.com/ContestPages/YAPitch.php

JUDGING:

YA literary agent Regina Brooks, along with editors at Sourcebooks, will read all of the entries and determine the top 20 submissions. These submissions will then be read by Dan Ehrenhaft, head Acquisitions Editor at Soucebooks Fire; Alisha Niehaus, Editor at Dial Books for Young Readers (Penguin); David Linker, Executive Editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books; Michele Burke, Editor at Knopf Books for Young Readers (Random House); and Evette Porter, Editor at Harlequin. These judges will whittle the top 20 down to four winners and a grand prize winner—all five will be provided commentary on their submissions.

Audiobook Giveaway: SAY YOU'RE ONE OF THEM by Umen Akpan


Thanks to the generous folks at
I have been authorized to
giveaway three (3) audiobook copies of

Rules for entering this giveaway are at the bottom of this post.


Stories by Umen Akpan
Read by Robin Miles and Dion Graham
Category: FICTION
Format: AUDIO BOOK
Subformat: CD (AUDIO)
Edition: Unabridged Selections
Publish Date: 10/13/2009
Price: $18.98/$22.98
ISBN: 9781607883418
Pages: 0
 
Description (from the publisher):
Uwem Akpan's stunning stories humanize the perils of poverty and violence so piercingly that few readers will feel they've ever encountered Africa so immediately. The eight-year-old narrator of "An Ex-Mas Feast" needs only enough money to buy books and pay fees in order to attend school. Even when his twelve-year-old sister takes to the streets to raise these meager funds, his dream can't be granted. Food comes first. His family lives in a street shanty in Nairobi, Kenya, but their way of both loving and taking advantage of each other strikes a universal chord.

In the second of his stories published in a New Yorker special fiction issue, Akpan takes us far beyond what we thought we knew about the tribal conflict in Rwanda. The story is told by a young girl, who, with her little brother, witnesses the worst possible scenario between parents. They are asked to do the previously unimaginable in order to protect their children. This singular collection will also take the reader inside Nigeria, Benin, and Ethiopia, revealing in beautiful prose the harsh consequences for children of life in Africa.

Akpan's voice is a literary miracle, rendering lives of almost unimaginable deprivation and terror into stories that are nothing short of transcendent.

Available in CD and Digital Download formats.

Click here to listen to an excerpt.

Click here to listen to the interview with Uwem Akpan.

 
Click here to visit the author's website.
 
About the author (from the publisher):
Uwem Akpan was born in Ikot Akpan Eda in southern Nigeria. After studying philosophy and English at Creighton and Gonzaga Universities, he studied theology for three years at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. He was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 2003 and received his MFA in creative writing from the University of Michigan in 2006. "My Parents' Bedroom," a story from his short story collection, Say You're One of Them, was one of five short stories by African writers chosen as finalists for The Caine Prize for African Writing 2007.
 
 RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:

• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com

You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!

• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.

• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.

• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.


• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.

• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address. Hachette is unable to deliver to P.O. Boxes.


Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, November 6, 2009.

• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name.

Thank you to Anna
for making this giveaway possible.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

Blog Tour and Book Review #22: OVER THE HOLIDAYS by Sandra Harper




Pub. Date: October 2009
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Format: Paperback, 336pp
ISBN-13: 9781439158708
ISBN: 1439158703

Synopsis (from the publisher):
The best holiday traditions are meant to be broken.

It's only December 1, and Vanessa Clayton has been dreading Christmas since she spotted tinseled trees at her local mall in September. Thankfully, she and her husband, JT, can't afford to drag their twin boys across the country to New England for the annual celebration at her stuffy sister-in-law Patience's home. Not that Vanessa has prepared a proper Christmas for her family in years, and she has less time than ever since she agreed to consult on the script of a local play. Her older sister, Thea, is no help -- she'd rather make art and flirt with surfers than babysit her nine-year-old nephews. Then Patience drops a holiday stress bomb: Her family will come to California instead.

In between "baking" cinnamon rolls for the school potluck and overbearing Patience testing her patience, Vanessa can't stop thinking about the difficult but charming playwright at work. Meanwhile, Patience's teenage daughter, Libby, obsesses over a college boy she has met by the pool, and Thea searches desperately for the meaning of Christmas -- for her latest installation, of course. As their holiday plans go comically awry, these four women discover the true spirit of the season is hidden in every festive surprise.

My Rating: 3.5 Stars out of 5

My Thoughts:

Sandra Harper's new book, OVER THE HOLIDAYS, is a light-hearted, pleasant read about four women who each experience an emotional growth spurt over one holiday season.

Over the course of just a few short weeks, the central character, Vanessa, mother of 9-year-old twin boys, is confronted with the temptation to stray from her comfortable and predictable marriage. While her husband, JT, is working out of town and upon his return is laid up in bed with the flu, Vanessa juggles a last minute visit from her in-laws, the varying demands of holiday contributions of time, money, and homemade food from her sons' school, and the growing flirtations of a cute playwright with whom she is working. Vanessa's biggest stress is that she just doesn't like her sister-in-law, Patience, whom she sees as a stuffy and overbearing perfectionist.

Meanwhile, Patience cannot understand why Vanessa doesn't appreciate her offers of assistance and guidance, struggles to understand the break with tradition that has brought her from her beloved New England Christmas to sunny, bouncy L.A., and suffers through the growing pains of her 17-year-old daughter, Libby, who is eagerly and naively trying to spread her wings and fly away.

Vanessa's older sister, Thea, a working artist, wonders if her talent has dried up and whether 15 years ago, she let Mr. Right slip through her fingers.

Although the story takes place at Christmastime and there are occasional questions of its meaning, the holiday does not really have a major role in the novel. It mostly serves as a device on which to display each woman's story - somewhat like a Christmas tree holding up its ornaments. What the characters experience could have been explored in a different way at any time of the year. If you are looking for a blatent message about the meaning of Christmas, you won't find it here. There is a message of hope and renewal if you read between the lines.

I enjoyed sitting back and escaping into this novel. While there's not a whole lot of depth to the characters, there is variety, and I could identify with some aspect of each woman's personality - even the teenaged Libby!  I liked the way the author wove their storylines together - sometimes intersecting, sometimes running parallel. There's no scene where all four sit around and connect, but each influences the others if not directly then through one another. And by novel's end, each woman has grown in such a way that her own life is enriched and she is better able to understand as well as enrich the lives of others.

What I did not like about the novel was the all too frequent use of the F-word. I suppose it's intended to make the characters sound realistic, but it almost always came across as too harsh. Almost every time I came across it, I found it jarring and it took me out of the story. Even if we hear the word several times a day, or even use it occasionally ourselves, there's more of an impact when it is used in print. I believe that it's a word that should be used very sparingly, if at all, so that when the reader does encounter it, it relays some real significance. Surprisingly, there was one instance when a character said "F*&^. F*&^. F*&^." That was the only time it's use seem truly realistic and conveyed the character's panic and confusion. I would have rated this novel higher if there had been less use of the word.  (Sorry, but I did not note the page number of the above quote - I'll edit it in later today.)

Overall, I would recommend OVER THE HOLIDAYS by Sandra Harper as a good escapist read -- not too heavy or complex, but with enough meat to keep the reader engaged and interested in how these women work through their issues.  I would recommend that you pick up OVER THE HOLIDAYS if you find yourself looking for a little stress relief . . . over the holidays. ;)

Click here to read an excerpt.

About the author (from the publisher):
Sandra Harper is the author of the play, Magpie's Tea Room, which enjoyed a successful run in Los Angeles at The Ventura Court Theatre. She has written a cooking column, "The California Cook" for the newspaper, Skirt. A script reader for Pathe Studios and Springcreek Productions, she also wrote and produced fashion and rock videos for Elvis Costello, Chaka Khan and Vidal Sassoon, amonf others. Ms. Harper recieved her B.A. in Journalism from the University of Southern California and has completed a children's book, The Witches Club.


Check out the reviews on these other blogs on today's tour:

Rundpinne: http://www.rundpinne.blogspot.com

Frugal Plus: http://frugalplus.com/

The Life (And Lies) of an Inanimate Flying Object: http://haleymathiot.blogspot.com/

Drey’s Library: http://dreyslibrary.blogspot.com/

Wendi’s Book Corner: http://wendisbookcorner.blogspot.com/

Opinionated? Me? : http://readingwatchingliving.blogspot.com/

Me, My Book and the Couch: http://memybookandthecouch.blogspot.com/

Libby’s Library News: http://www.libslibrary.blogspot.com/

Bookin’ With Bingo: http://bookinwithbingo.blogspot.com/

Books, Movies, and Chinese Food: http://books-movies-chinesefood.blogspot.com/

Psychotic State: http://www.psychoticstate.blogspot.com/

Readaholic: http://bridget3420.blogspot.com/

That’s A Novel Idea: http://thatsanovelidea.blogspot.com

All About {N}: http://www.bookwormygirl.blogspot.com/

Starting Fresh: http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/

A Sea of Books: http://aseaofbooks.blogspot.com/

Just Another New Blog: http://justanothernewblog.blogspot.com/

Blog Business World: http://www.blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com

My Friend Amy: http://www.myfriendamysblog.com

Cheryl’s Book Nook: http://cherylsbooknook.blogspot.com/

One Person’s Journey Through A World of Books: http://bookjourney.wordpress.com/

I Read: http://sumanam.wordpress.com/

So Many Books, So Little Time: http://purplg8r-somanybooks.blogspot.com/

Keep on Booking: http://keeponbooking.blogspot.com

Reading at the Beach: http://ilratb.blogspot.com/

Found Not Lost: http://jmomfinds.amoores.com/

Brizmus Blogs Books: http://brizmusblogsbooks.blogspot.com/

Book Reviews by Buuklvr81:
http://www.buuklvr81.blogspot.com/


Thank you to Sarah at Simon & Schuster
for organizing this blog tour
 and providing me with a review copy.