Friday, July 30, 2010

Book Review #51: BACKSEAT SAINTS (audiobook) by Joshilyn Jackson


read by the author

Publisher: Hachette Audio
Category: Fiction
Format: Audio Book
Subformat: CD (Audio)
Edition: Unabridged
Publish Date: 6/8/2010
Price: $34.98/$41.98
ISBN: 9781607882220
Pages: 0

Description (from the publisher):
Rose Mae Lolley is a fierce and dirty girl, long-suppressed under flowery skirts and bow-trimmed ballet flats. As "Mrs. Ro Grandee" she's trapped in a marriage that's thick with love and sick with abuse. Her true self has been bound in the chains of marital bliss in rural Texas, letting "Ro" make eggs, iron shirts, and take her punches. She seems doomed to spend the rest of her life battered outside by her husband and inside by her former self, until fate throws her in the path of an airport gypsy---one who shares her past and knows her future. The tarot cards foretell that Rose's beautiful, abusive husband is going to kill her. Unless she kills him first.

Hot-blooded Rose Mae escapes from under Ro's perky compliance and emerges with a gun and a plan to beat the hand she's been dealt. Following messages that her long-missing mother has left hidden for her in graffiti and behind paintings, Rose and her dog Gretel set out from Amarillo, TX back to her hometown of Fruiton, AL, and then on to California, unearthing a host of family secrets as she goes. Running for her life, she realizes that she must face her past in order to overcome her fate---death by marriage---and become a girl who is strong enough to save herself from the one who loves her best.

BACKSEAT SAINTS will dazzle readers with a fresh and heartwrenching portrayal of the lengths a mother will go to right the wrongs she's created, and how far a daughter will go to escape the demands of forgiveness. With the seed of a minor character from her popular best-seller, GODS IN ALABAMA, Jackson has built a whole new story full of her trademark sly wit, endearingly off-kilter characters, and utterly riveting plot twists.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Supernova Stars - Flawless

My Thoughts:
Listening to BACKSEAT SAINTS was the most perfect audiobook experience. Beautifully read by the author, employing a variety of spot-on accents, the story of Rose Mae Lolley fighting for her survival is riveting. I tried to restrict my listening to my daily commutes, but it was impossible. First, Rose Mae spoiled me for any print book I tried to read. I abandoned book after book because her voice was so strong, so insistent, that she overshadowed any other characters I attempted to befriend. Then I found myself unwilling to leave my car on arrival at either work or home. I just wanted to keep on listening as Rose Mae mined her own past in an attempt to carve out a new present and hopefully, a future. Finally, I just gave up on everything else and listened to the story every chance I could get, bringing discs inside to listen to in the evenings as I lay in bed in the dark and back out to the car for the ride into work in the morning. Lunch breaks were spent eating sandwiches in my passenger seat, listening as Joshilyn Jackson brought Rose Mae to life -- as precarious as that life may be.

As the story opens, Rose Mae, deep into her alter ego of Mrs. Ro Grandee, wife of the oldest son of a prominent Amarillo family, is contemplating the murder of her husband, Thom. She's convinced that after 5 years of an abusive marriage, it has come down to either him or her. The narrative meanders back and forth between Rose Mae's childhood, marred by the abandonment of her mother and the abuse of her father, and the years of her marriage, building the tension brick by brick and filling in the gaps with a mortar of enlightening anecdotes. Without ever justifying Thom's abusive behavior, or even Rose Mae's many bad choices, the author illuminates the complexity of violent domestic relationships and how its effects ripple out through generations. Rose Mae begins to question her own complicity as she struggles to understand and exorcise what she considers a bad seed deep within her. It's an absolutely fascinating account of an abused woman grappling with self-awareness and empowerment.

In Jackson's earlier novel, GODS IN ALABAMA, Rose Mae Lolley was a minor character. There is some crossover of other characters as well. I hadn't read GODS. . ., and I'm actually glad that I hadn't. I didn't have any preconceived opinions about characters who appear in both novels, and that heightened the experience for me -- I didn't know what to expect; I didn't know if Rose Mae's descriptions of them were accurate or if they were distorted by her romanticism or rage. I do have a copy of GODS. . . on order, and I can't wait to hear it, though I find it hard to believe it will have as powerful an impact as BACKSEAT SAINTS.

If you're not a fan of audiobooks, you might want to make an exception for BACKSEAT SAINTS. First of all, Jackson does a stunning job with a variety of accents and personalities -- she is a trained actor. She gives Rose Mae a charming and endearing voice which often belies the horror of the scenes she is describing. It can be difficult to listen to the descriptions of a woman being beaten, and I often found myself gnawing on my own knuckles. Frankly, I don't know if I would have been able to read some of the scenes -- it would have been too easy to just skip over them. However, by listening to this story rather than reading it, I was able to hear what I otherwise may have chosen not to see. 

I strongly recommend BACKSEAT SAINTS. It's breathtaking and flawless.

Today is the last day to enter my giveaway for audiobook copies. Click here to enter.  (Comments on this review post will not be considered entries.)

Click here to listen to an excerpt.


Click here to access the Reading Group Guide.

Click here to visit the author's website.

About the author (from the publisher):
Joshilyn Jackson, a native of the Deep South, has worked as an actor and an award-winning teacher, and is now a writer and a mother of two. She is the author of GODS IN ALABAMA; BETWEEN, GEORGIA; and THE GIRL WHO STOPPED SWIMMING. Jackson lives with her husband and children outside of Atlanta. Visit her at http://www.joshilynjackson.com/.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Ditto Doubles: Quotation Marks

This is really interesting:  If these two covers are not exact duplicates, they were probably shot in the same photo session. The images together remind me of opening and closing quotation marks. Knapp's book, a quiet classic; King's, surely a soon-to-be classic.



Knapp, bestselling author of Drinking: A Love Story, has turned her brilliant eye toward how a woman’s appetite—for food, love, work, and pleasure—has become a battlefield. Provocative, important, and deeply familiar, Appetites beautifully and urgently challenges all women to learn what it is to feed both the body and the soul.

Ships on or around November 9, 2010
Simon & Schuster will be releaseing a brand new short story collection from Stephen King on November 9, 2010. Entitled Full Dark, No Stars, the book will include four new short stories.

Spotlight and Book Giveaway: NEW TRICKS by David Rosenfelt

CLOSED.
Thanks to the generous folks at
Hachette Book Group,
I have been authorized to
 give away three (3) copies of
NEW TRICKS
by David Rosenfelt.

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



Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Category: Fiction
Format: Mass Market
Publish Date: 7/1/2010
Price: $7.99/$9.99
ISBN: 9780446505888
Pages: 384
Size: 4-3/16" x 6-3/4"

Description (from the publisher):
Attorney Andy Carpenter is about to represent an adorable Bernese mountain dog puppy, whose owner was brutally murdered, in a custody fight. Few can rival Andy's affection for dogs, and he's determined to keep Waggy from falling into the wrong hands. But this playful pup possesses a valuable secret that some people will resort to violence to obtain. It will take more than Andy's usual courtroom theatrics to save Waggy, including help from the lawyer's golden retriever, Tara. Andy soon discovers that everyone around him is in danger, including his longtime girlfriend, Laurie--and only some high-risk new tricks will save those he cherishes most.


About the author (from the publisher):
DAVID ROSENFELT is the former marketing president for Tri-Star Pictures and lives in Southern California. For more information, visit his website: http://www.davidrosenfelt.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 Friday, August 20, 2010.

• 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.

• Winners are determined using the sequence generator at Random.org.

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

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Spotlight and Book Giveaway: FOLLOW ME by Joanna Scott

CLOSED.
Thanks to the generous folks at
Hachette Book Group,
I have been authorized to
 give away three (3) copies of
FOLLOW ME
by Joanna Scott.

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



Publisher: Back Bay Books
Category: Fiction
Format: Trade Paperback
Publish Date: 7/29/2010
Price: $14.99/$17.99
ISBN: 9780316051682
Pages: 448
Size: 5-1/2" x 8-1/4"

Description (from the publisher):
On a summer day in 1946 Sally Werner, the precocious young daughter of hardscrabble Pennsylvania farmers, secretly accepts her cousin's invitation to ride his new motorcycle. Like so much of what follows in Sally's life, it's an impulsive decision with dramatic and far-reaching consequences. Soon she abandons her home to begin a daring journey of self-creation, the truth of which she entrusts only with her granddaughter and namesake, six decades later. But when young Sally's father--a man she has never known--enters her life and offers another story altogether, she must uncover the truth of her grandmother's secret history.

Boldly rendered and beautifully told, in FOLLOW ME Joanna Scott has crafted a paean to the American tradition of re-invention and a sweeping saga of timeless and tender storytelling.

Click here to access the Reading Group Guide.



About the author (from the publisher):
Joanna Scott is the author of nine books, including The Manikin, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Various Antidotes and Arrogance, which were both finalists for the PEN/Faulkner Award; and the critically acclaimed Make Believe, Tourmaline, and Liberation. A recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Lannan Award, she lives with her family in upstate 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, August 20, 2010.

• 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.

• Winners are determined using the sequence generator at Random.org.

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

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

Waiting on Wednesday: MOON OVER MANIFEST by Clare Vanderpool


"WAITING ON WEDNESDAY"
is hosted by Jill from

Join in and tell us . . .

What are you waiting for?

My pick for this week is . . .




Pub. Date: October 12, 2010
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Format: Hardcover, 368pp
Age Range: 9 to 12
ISBN-13: 9780385738835
ISBN: 0385738838

Description (from the publisher):
"The movement of the train rocked me like a lullaby. I closed my eyes to the dusty countryside and imagined the sign I’d seen only in Gideon’s stories: Manifest—A Town with a rich past and a bright future."

Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.

Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it’s just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos, including some old letters that mention a spy known as the Rattler. These mysterious letters send Abilene and her new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt, even though they are warned to “Leave Well Enough Alone.”

Abilene throws all caution aside when she heads down the mysterious Path to Perdition to pay a debt to the reclusive Miss Sadie, a diviner who only tells stories from the past. It seems that Manifest’s history is full of colorful and shadowy characters—and long-held secrets. The more Abilene hears, the more determined she is to learn just what role her father played in that history. And as Manifest’s secrets are laid bare one by one, Abilene begins to weave her own story into the fabric of the town.

Powerful in its simplicity and rich in historical detail, Clare Vanderpool’s debut is a gripping story of loss and redemption.

Click here to visit the author's website.

About the author (from the publisher):
Moon Over Manifest, Clare Vanderpool’s first novel, is set in the fictional small town of Manifest, Kansas, which is based on the real southeastern Kansas town of Frontenac, home of both of her maternal grandparents. Drawing on stories she heard as a child, along with research in town newspapers, yearbooks, and graveyards, Clare found a rich and colorful history for her story. Clare lives in Wichita, Kansas, with her husband and their four children.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Not My Giveaway: THE JEWEL OF ST. PETERSBURG by Kate Furnivall


This book sounds like a delicious read! Don't pass up your chances to win a copy. Check out the blogs listed below hosting giveaways. Click on the links to go to those blogs to enter.

THE JEWEL OF ST. PETERSBURG
by Kate Furnivall

Description (from the publisher):
The national bestselling author of The Russian Concubine takes us back to Tsarist Russia for a sweeping novel of love and intrigue.

Russia, 1910. Valentina Ivanova is the darling of St. Petersburg's elite aristocracy-until her romance with a Danish engineer creates a terrible scandal and her parents push her into a loveless engagement with a Russian count.

Meanwhile, Russia itself is bound for rebellion. With the Tsar and the Duma at each other's throats, and the Bolsheviks drawing their battle lines, the elegance and opulence of Tsarist rule are in their last days. And Valentina will be forced to make a choice that will change not only her own life, but the lives of those around her forever...

Enter the giveaways at the following blogs:

Lori's Reading Corner (08-09-10)

Crazy for Books  (08-09-10)

MarjoleinBookBlog (08-01-10)

Peeking Between the Pages (08-01-10)

Thanks to the fabulous bloggers for hosting these giveaways!

(I'll add more if/when I find them!)

Friday, July 23, 2010

Friday Finds: Joanna Catherine Scott - Historical Fiction Author


FRIDAY FINDS is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading.
What great books did you hear about / discover this past week?
Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!


This Friday's Find was a happy accident. I was actually Googling "Joanna Scott" author of FOLLOW ME, in preparation for an upcoming blog post, and I stumpbeled upon the website of "Joanna Catherine Scott", also an author. And just take a peek at the kind of books she writes . . .

Are you familiar with her work? Please leave a comment and tell us what you think.

“Scott can really write.”
―New York Times Book Review

(All book descriptions are provided by the publishers.)

 
From Joanna Catherine Scott comes a sweeping tale of the Civil War, unique in its perspective and exquisitely woven, in which three young Southerners worlds apart are joined in a quest for something greater than themselves.

Eugenia Mae Spotswood, the daughter of a failed aristocrat, longs to regain the life she lost. The slave Tom wants one thing: freedom. After becoming the property of Eugenia Mae, a dangerous affection grows. But he learns freedom is not something she can give him - he must fight for it himself.

Clyde Bricket, the farm boy responsible for Tom's capture, has always believed in the South. But he soon learns that sometimes the only way to redeem yourself is to fight against everything he thought he believed in.

CHILD OF THE SOUTH
From the award-winning author of The Road from Chapel Hill, a story of loyalty, duty, and love in the days following the Civil War.

Returning to characters introduced in her previous novel, acclaimed author Joanna Catherine Scott explores the terrain of a devastated South, where the war is over-but conflict lives on. Having endured years of hardship, Eugenia Mae Spotswood returns to Wilmington to find out who her mother is, only to be faced with racism and hatred...until she is befriended by the most powerful Negro leader in the state Senate.

Also driven forward are the strong-minded ex-slave Tom and his crippled former enemy Clyde Bricket. Tom spent the last years of the war working for the Union as a spy. Now, Clyde watches as his family farm slowly dies. Only if they work together can they survive...

THE LUCKY GOURD SHOP
When an American mother's three adopted children reach their teens, they grow curious about their Korean heritage. A much-anticipated letter from Korea fails to satisfy them but sparks memories in the eldest. So begins the heartbreaking and inspiring tale of their birth mother's life as their adoptive mother imagines it.

Abandoned as a baby and then again and again, Mi Sook is raised in a Korean coffee shop by its string of owner-mothers. She grows to adulthood fiercely independent and eventually comes to manage the shop. But her marriage to Kun Soo, with whom she has three children, begins a series of events that ultimately wrench her babies from her arms. Deceived by Kun Soo and his well-intentioned mother, and unsupported by a rigidly Confucian culture, Mi Sook emerges as a tragic and heroic figure who embodies the rich complexities of a nation -- and of the heart.

CASSANDRA, LOST
Based on a true story, an enchanting tale of an American woman who flees to France during the revolution, to be with the man she lovedIn the late 1800s Cassandra Van Pradelles, a headstrong seventeen-year-old, elopes with Benedict, a lieutenant from General Rochambeaus French army and flees from her familys plantation in Maryland to Revolutionary France. Once there they hide in his familys ruined mansion, nurse his deathly ill mother and plan their escape from the dangerous city. A chance meeting grows into a clandestine relationship for Cassandra with the young pirate Jean Lafitte, who helps them get out of war-torn Paris. After a harsh rejection by her father, they run again, this time to New Orleans. After Benedicts mysterious death, Cassandra embarks for her familys home hoping for a reunion, but the meeting never takes place. Her ship is taken by the notorious Lafitte and she disappears without a trace. Cassandra, Lost is an exploration of actions and their consequences, as well as the joys and perils of following ones heart. (Out of print.)

Click here to visit the author's website.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Book Giveaway and Review #50: THE SECRETS OF NEWBERRY by Victor McGlothin

CLOSED.
Thanks to the generous folks at
Hachette Book Group,
I have been authorized to
 give away three (3) copies of
THE SECRETS OF NEWBERRY
by Victor McGlothin.

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



Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Category: Fiction
Format: Trade Paperback
Publish Date: 6/21/2010
Price: $13.99/$16.99
ISBN: 9780446178136
Pages: 384
Size: 5-1/4" x 8"

Description (from the back cover):
1950 New Orleans couldn't be sweeter for Ivory "Bones" Arcineaux and Hampton Bynote. Friends since meeting at an illegal gambling house outside Newberry, Louisiana, they indulge themselves with all the fine women, good food, and wild nights they can handle. All seems good in N'awlins-especially for Hampton, who plans to make a clean break from riotous living after falling for the woman of his dreams, classy Magnolia Holiday. But the love of a good woman may not be enough to pull Hampton from the brink of disaster when his pal Bones murders a white city councilman during a simple robbery gone wrong.

Now with the local police and the FBI hot on their trails, Hampton and Bones must decide whether friendship is worth losing their freedom-and possibly their lives.


My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars - Good but slightly flawed.

My Thoughts:  I had more than a little trouble settling on a rating for this book, most likely because despite what I view as some pretty obvious flaws, I still liked this book. THE SECRETS OF NEWBERRY is a deceptively ambitious novel, and I think it just gets away from the author.  For the most part, I enjoyed the book while I was reading it but, once I was finished and considered it as a whole, I was frustrated and a little disappointed. I ended up with a lot of questions. On the other hand, I think it's a worthwhile, entertaining, and provocative read. It could certainly generate some good discussions.

Most of the story is set in 1950's Jim Crow era in and around New Orleans and is told from the point of view of Hampton Bynote, a young black man who has been banned from the plantation where his family has been sharecropping for generations -- actually, since slavery was abolished. He doesn't mind too much because he wants more of life than what sharecropping can provide, and he's still able to sneak onto the plantation to visit his family. When he's in the city, he dabbles in crime as a means of survival but doesn't want to get too deep into the life. Things change drastically when he meets up with Ivory "Bones" Arcineaux. Bones is of mixed race, mostly passing as white for safety and convenience while his loyalties are firmly placed within the black community. He has the potential to be a fascinating character, but the focus of the story is not on him and, as the story progresses, his character actually loses dimension. Unfortunately for the story, I believe his character and his motivations are too integral not to be explored more thoroughly.

Meanwhile, Hampton is a nice young guy, rather naive, who just wants to live a little before finding the perfect woman and settling down. He fully intends to lead a good life -- just not quite yet. He falls victim to Bones' manipulations and, for most of the story, it's arguable whether Bones will save Hampton or destroy him.

Actually, there are quite a few victims in THE SECRETS OF NEWBERRY.  Back on the plantation, life hasn't progressed all that much since the era of slavery. It's revealed very early on in the story that the black women sharecroppers have entered into secret sexual relationships with the white plantation owners throughout the entire town, what is referred to as a "Gentlemen's Agreement," and the women believe this somehow protects the lives of their husbands, brothers, fathers, and sons. It was difficult for me to accept the premise that this secret has been successfully kept from the black men for generations. Both Hampton's mother and his sister, Pearl Lee, have become entangled in this agreement. What is hinted at and never fully explored, are the complex and conflicting feelings the women possess toward their secret "lovers" in particular and the agreement in general.

There are other victims of sexual abuse as well, far too many for this novel to address in a satisfactory manner. The frequent instances of abuse may be true-to-life, but in the circumstances of this novel, it strains believability and, therefore, detracts from the horror that is suffered.

So, what did I like about THE SECRETS OF NEWBERRY and why would I recommend it? I liked both Pearl Lee and Magnolia, a young girl who sets her mind and heart on Hampton and won't let go. I also liked Hampton. I was probably most satisfied with the development of Magnolia's character. She arrives on the scene as a seemingly wide-eyed innocent, but she's a pretty spunky young woman with a keen eye on everything going on around her. She's determined, knows what she wants, and knows how to go after it.  The novel holds a rich cast of secondary characters, and I enjoyed observing their interactions and the various ways they handled conflict and adversity, as well as good fortune.

I also liked the glimpse into this complicated historical era - right on the cusp of the civil rights movement. You could see America changing, one person at a time. Some people were holdouts - some of the most steadfast holdouts grew by leaps and bounds at the last possible moment. Some just got meaner.

I liked the author's writing style - it's clean, straightforward, and very discriptive. The reader experiences the essence of the time and place, the voice of each character is distinctive. I liked the pace of the storytelling - threads are unwound slowly and leisurely - until toward then end when everything feels too rushed.

THE SECRETS OF NEWBERRY would have been a better book if it had been more tightly written.  Kind of like this review!

So, enter the contest, and judge this book for yourself.

About the author (from the publisher):
Essence bestselling author Victor McGlothin is a former bank vice-president who nearly forfeited an athletic scholarship due to poor reading skills. Ultimately, he overcame that obstacle and later completed a Masters degree in Human Relations & Business. Victor is also an on-line columnist of Victor Said?, a real Brotha to Sistah look at relationship.

Victor lives in Dallas with his wife and two sons.

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 Friday, August 6, 2010.

• 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!

Thank you to Hachette Book Group for my review copy of this book.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

Spotlight and Book Giveaway: A CHANGE IN ALTITUDE by Anita Shreve

CLOSED.
Thanks to the generous folks at
Hachette Book Group,
I have been authorized to
 give away three (3) copies of
A CHANGE IN ALTITUDE
by Anita Shreve.

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



Publisher: Back Bay Books
Category: Fiction
Format: Trade Paperback
Publish Date: 5/4/2010
Price: $14.99/$17.99
ISBN: 9780316020718
Pages: 336
Size: 5-1/2" x 8-1/4"

Description (from the publisher):
Margaret and Patrick have been married just a few months when they set off on what they hope will be a great adventure-a year living in Kenya. Margaret quickly realizes there is a great deal she doesn't know about the complex mores of her new home, and about her own husband.

A British couple invites the newlyweds to join on a climbing expedition to Mount Kenya, and they eagerly agree. But during their harrowing ascent, a horrific accident occurs. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Margaret struggles to understand what happened on the mountain and how these events have transformed her and her marriage, perhaps forever.

A Change in Altitude illuminates the inner landscape of a couple, the irrevocable impact of tragedy, and the elusive nature of forgiveness. With stunning language and striking emotional intensity, Anita Shreve transports us to the exotic panoramas of Africa and into the core of our most intimate relationships.


Click here to access the Reading Group Guide.

Click here to visit the author's website.

About the author (from the publisher):
ANITA SHREVE began writing fiction while working as a high school teacher. Although one of her first published stories, "Past the Island, Drifting," was awarded an O. Henry Prize in 1975, Shreve felt she couldn't make a living as a fiction writer so she became a journalist. She traveled to Africa, and spent three years in Kenya, writing articles that appeared in magazines such as Quest, US, and Newsweek. Back in the United States, she turned to raising her children and writing freelance articles for magazines. Shreve later expanded two of these articles — both published in the New York Times Magazine — into the nonfiction books Remaking Motherhood and Women Together, Women Alone. At the same time Shreve also began working on her first novel, Eden Close. With its publication in 1989, she gave up journalism for writing fiction full time, thrilled, as she says, with "the rush of freedom that I could make it up."

Since Eden Close, Anita Shreve has written eleven other novels: Strange Fits of Passion, Where or When, Resistance, The Weight of Water, The Pilot's Wife, Fortune's Rocks, The Last Time They Met, Sea Glass, All He Ever Wanted, Light on Snow, A Wedding in December, Body Surfing, and Testimony. In 1998 Shreve received the PEN/L. L. Winship Award and the New England Book Award for fiction.

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 Wednesday, August 11, 2010.

• 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.

• Winners are determined using the sequence generator at Random.org.

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

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

Spotlight and Giveaway: OFF SEASON by Anne Rivers Siddons

CLOSED.
Thanks to the wonderful folks at
Hachette Book Group,
I have been authorized to
 give away three (3) copies of
OFF SEASON
by Anne Rivers Siddons.

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



Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Category: Fiction
Format: Mass Market
Publish Date: 7/1/2010
Price: $7.99/$9.99
ISBN: 9780446618212
Pages: 432
Size: 4-3/16" x 6-3/4"


Description (from the publisher):
For as long as she can remember, they were Cam and Lilly--happily married, totally in love with each other, parents of a beautiful family, and partners in life. Then, after decades of marriage, it ended as every great love story does...in loss. After Cam's death, Lilly takes a lone road trip to her and Cam's favorite spot on the remote coast of Maine, the place where they fell in love over and over again, where their ghosts still dance. There, she looks hard to her past--to a first love that ended in tragedy; to falling in love with Cam; to a marriage filled with exuberance, sheer life, and safety-- to try to figure out her future.

It is a journey begun with tender memories and culminating in a revelation that will make Lilly re-evaluate everything she thought was true about her husband and her marriage.


Click here to visit the author's website.

About the author (from the publisher):
OFF SEASON is Anne Rivers Siddons's 17th novel. Her previous bestselling novels include Sweetwater Creek, Islands, Nora Nora, Low Country, Up Island, Fault Lines, Downtown, Hill Towns, Colony, Outer Banks, King's Oak, Peachtree Road, Homeplace, Fox's Earth, The House Next Door, and Heartbreak Hotel. She is also the author of a work of nonfiction, John Chancellor Makes Me Cry. She and her husband, Heyward, split their time between their home in Charleston, SC and Brooklin, ME.

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 Wednesday, August 11, 2010.

• 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.

• Winners are determined using the sequence generator at Random.org.

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

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

My Favorite Reads #12: IN A DARK WOOD WANDERING by Hella S. Haasse

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?



by Hella S. Haasse

Pub. Date: April 1991
Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers, Ltd.
Format: Paperback, 594pp
Sales Rank: 576,588
ISBN-13: 9780897333566
ISBN: 089733356X
Edition Description: Reprint

Description (from Library Journal):
This novel exemplifies historical fiction at its best; the author's meticulous research and polished style bring the medieval world into vibrant focus. Set during the Hundred Years War (1337-1453), the narrative creates believable human beings from the great roll of historical figures. Here are the mad Charles VI, the brilliant Louis d'Orleans, Joan of Arc, Henry V, and, most importantly, Charles d'Orleans, whose loyalty to France brought him decades of captivity in England. A natural poet and scholar, his birth and rank thrust him into the center of intrigue and strife, and through his observant eyes readers enter fully into his colorful, dangerous times. First published in the Netherlands in 1949, this book has never been out of print there and has been reprinted 15 times. This first English translation should find an enthusiastic audience. Highly recommended. BOMC featured selection; Quality Paperback selection.-- Starr E. Smith, Georgetown Univ. Lib., Washington, D.C.

Why I Chose This Book: 
THROUGH A DARK WOOD WANDERING represents everything I like best about reading historical fiction. While I read this account of the life of Charles d'Orleans, I surrounded myself with reference maps and academic texts on British, French and European history. I read this book when it was first translated into English back in the late 80's/early 90's -- before the Internet had conquered the world. (Kind of gives a modern twist on the term "Dark Ages.") I just recall being so drawn into the events of the One Hundred Years War, that the contemporary world fell away from my consciousness. I would spend hours sprawled on my bed, poring over maps, and following up references in my texts. I love the way complete immersion in the historical period enables me to grasp the reality of that period - to fully understand, to know on a visceral level, and appreciate that the individual people actually existed and the events actually occured. I guess that's what they mean when they talk about bringing history to life. Closest thing to time travel that I've ever found!

Click here to visit the author's website.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Spotlight and Audiobook Giveaway: THE ISLAND by Elin Hilderbrand; read by Denice Hicks

CLOSED.
Thanks to the generous folks at
Hachette Book Group,
I have been authorized to
 give away three (3) audiobook copies of
THE ISLAND
by Elin Hilderbrand
read by Denice Hicks

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


read by Denise Hicks

Publisher: Hachette Audio
Category: Fiction
Format: Audio Book
Subformat: CD (Audio)
Edition: Unabridged
Publish Date: 7/6/2010
Price: $34.98/$41.98
ISBN: 9781607882404
Pages: 0

Description (from the publisher):
Birdie Cousins has planned a getaway with her daughter Chess on rustic, charming Tuckernuck Island off the coast of Nantucket, a chance to bond before Chess's upcoming marriage. Birdie's been through a difficult divorce herself, so she knows the big commitment that marriage entails. She's only recently dared to tiptoe back into the waters of romance.

When Chess abruptly breaks off the wedding and her fiancé shockingly dies in a rock climbing accident, it leaves Chess feeling guilty and deeply depressed. Birdie circles the wagons, convincing her younger daughter Tate, and her own sister India to join them on Tuckernuck for the month of July. Secrets and intrigue soon make their way to the surface, as Elin Hilderbrand once again weaves a masterful story of summer suspense.


Click here to listen to an excerpt.

Click here to view the video.

Click here to visit the author's website.

About the author (from the publisher):
Elin Hilderbrand lives on Nantucket with her husband and their three young children. She grew up in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and traveled extensively before settling on Nantucket, which has been the setting for her five previous novels. Hilderbrand is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the graduate fiction workshop at the University of Iowa.

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, August 6, 2010.

• 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.

• Winners are determined using the sequence generator at Random.org.

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

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.