Winner of the Hush, Hush Giveaway!!

And here I bet you all thought I forgot!! No. I didn't forget. I just didn't get to it right away. Complete and utter difference!!

So...for my BBAW Giveaway, I ended up assigning everone a number. I give you the winner, from Random Generator #39:

Nikola of Nikola's Book Blog

Thanks so much everyone for visiting and entering!! I appreciate every comment!

BBAW Meme.....and a BBAW Giveaway!!

Today's "assignment" for BBAW is to complete a reading meme. It's one that is listed on the BBAW blog, so everyone can answer the same questions. The trick is to do it with few words. Anyone that knows me, will know this is an impossible task. I like words. I use them all the time. LOTS of them. To answer these questions in 5 words or less is well..... Ridiculous!! I'll try to shorten my answers, but don't count on them really being all that short!!

Do you snack while you read? Nope. Not usually. Unless you count Diet Pepsi.

If so, favorite reading snack? Did we decide Diet Pepsi was a snack or not? Still unclear. But if it IS a snack, that's my answer!

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you? NEVER mark up my books. Sacrilege!

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears?Laying the book flat open? Bookmarks, if I ever have any (the girlies tend to steal them!) Usually just scraps of paper. Never dog-ear.

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both? Both. Mostly Fiction, though.

Hard copy or audiobooks? Hard Copy only.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point? End of Chapter person. With anything else, there is no closure. I'm all about the closure!

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away? Usually. I hate not knowing something. Immediately.

What are you currently reading? I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith and Book 2 of Gregor Series by Suzanne Collins (although I am told that The Knife of Never Letting Go MUST be my next read!)

What is the last book you bought? The Hunger Games for Chad's Birthday (and The Preacher: Gone to Texas by Garth Ennis - graphic novel for me!)

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time? Can do more than 1, but has to be different genres or the confusion sets in.

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read? Any time/Any Place

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books? Either. (But I do like closure, as we discussed above)

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over? The Stand by Stephen King. To everyone that will listen.

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?) WHEN they are organized, it's by author.

Now that was fun, not all too taxing. Since it IS BBAW, I decided I would do a giveaway as well. Although I didn't love the book, there is a ton of buzz about it on the Internet these days. And since it isn't being released until October 13th, I thought I would giveaway my ARC copy of Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzgerald. I didn't love, but it doesn't mean you won't! It is a used copy. Try as I might to keep them perfect, there always ends up being at least a little reading wear on them!

Since this is for BBAW, I'm only running the giveaway for a couple of days. So enter quickly. Enter now!! All you have to do to enter is tell me your favorite read of 2009. No jumping through hoops. Not posting on your blogs. You don't even have to tweet it, if you don't want to. See? I'm pretty easy to get along with, aren't I? This contest is open worldwide, and my girlies will draw a name this Saturday: Sept. 19th!!

Thanks for stopping by, and Happy BBAW!!

And You Thought I Forgot......

all about the drawing for the 5 copies of Dan Simmons' The Terror!! I really did mean to do this on Monday....but you know me. As I always say, Better Late than Never. With a little help from the kiddies....and my husband's motorcycle helmet!! Drumroll please...........

Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings

Michelle from Master Musings by Michelle

John Mutford from The Book Mine Set

S.M.D from The World in the Satin Bag

and

Tif from Tif Talks Books

Thanks to all who participated...and especially left me comments about how wonderful I am!! I had a lot of fun reading them!! If you guys could send me your snail mail address, I'll forward it to Valerie at Hatchette books!

Another Giveaway!! The Terror by Dan Simmons

Thanks to Valerie Russo at Hachette Books, I have 5 copies of Dan Simmon's The Terror to giveaway. It has just been released in paperback!! Unfortunately, this giveaway is going to be restricted to US and Canadian residents....sorry!!

All you have to do to be entered is leave me a comment. You know...something along the lines of how great I am!! Gotta feed my ego, you know!! (kidding, just kidding!)

For a 2 more entries, blog about this giveaway and post a link to your blog!! Easy, peasy right??

I will announce the winners on February 16th!! That's almost 2 weeks to get your entries in.

A Little About The Terror:

The men on board HMS Terror have every expectation of finding the Northwest Passage. When the expedition's leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes command and leads his surviving crewmen on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. But as another winter approaches, as scurvy and starvation grow more terrible, and as the Terror on the ice stalks them southward, Crozier and his men begin to fear there is no escape.A haunting, gripping story based on actual historical events, The Terror is a novel that will chill you to your core.

"Dan's Arctic adventure-dark fantasy novel The Terror was on a variety of Top 10 lists for 2007, including Entertainment Weekly's Top 10 Books of 2007, USA Today's Top 10 Books, Stephen King's "Top 10 from My Reading in 2007" list also quoted in Entertainment Weekly, and was # 1 on Amazon.com's "2007 Top 10 SF and Horror Novels" list.

See? Now you MUST have this book!! Good luck, and thanks for stopping by!!

Winner of the Matrimony Giveaway

Drumroll please........

Linda from Maine!!

Thanks so much to all of you for participating. I wish I had a book for everyone! But stop back again after the first of the year. I have a few ARC's that I'm going to be giving away too!!

A Quiet Little Novel About Life......

T'is the season to be busy!! So busy, that I am about 4 reviews behind, and that never happens to me! But since I'm hosting a Giveaway for Matrimony by Joshua Henkin (291 pgs, 2007), I thought it would be prudent to let you all know what I thought about the book!!

"Out! Out! Out! The first words Julian Wainwright ever spoke, according to his father, Richard Wainwright III, graduate of Yale and grand lubricator of the economic machinery, and Constance Wainwright, Wellesley graduate and descendant of a long family of Pennsylvania Republicans. Julian, the first Wainwright in four generations to be given his own Christian name. Julian's father would have liked another Richard, but Julian's mother was a persistent woman and she believed a child of hers was entitled to his own identity and therefore his own name.

In 1986, seventeen-year-old Julian Wainwright leaves New York City to go to college. Early on, Julian knew he would never follow in his father's footsteps and become an investment banker. It wasn't in his heart. And he certainly didn't want to go to Yale. Instead Julian enrolled at Graymont, a small liberal arts college in Northington, Massachusettes, and set his sights on becoming a writer. He had come to Graymont to study fiction writing under Professor Chesterfield, a man who had written one novel. His novel had been sold to Hollywood. Plagued by troubles from the start, the movie was never made...and it started Chesterfield on a road to a 20-year Writer's block.

It was in Chesterfield's Fiction Workshop, where Julian met Carter Heinz....the only other promising writer in the bunch. The two became best friends, and spent most of their time together....mostly out of convenience. Carter was a scholarship kid from California, and it was hard for Julian to really understand him. Julian's parents were rich, and he never had to worry about money. Carter always felt like he was on the outside because he didn't have money. Nevertheless, the two remained friends.

It was also during Freshman year that Julian met Mia Mendelsohn. He had picked her picture out of the freshman facebook, and dubbed her "Mia from Montreal". He had decided she was the one for him. And when he actually meets her, the two started dating, and by Senior year, they are living together.

But Senior year is a year for change and when Mia's mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, things really change. Mia and Julian got married right after graduation. It wasn't a romantic thing to do....Mia wanted her mother there to see it. Did they love each other? Sure, but they really did rush marriage.

Through college, grad school and years of writer's block, Matrimony takes you through the lives and times of Julian and Mia. This book isn't chocked full of explosions or cliff-hangers. What Matrimony is full of is a lot of intense character study. It's a slow, quiet little novel. And that's not a bad thing. Josh Henkin lets us peek into the lives of Julian and Mia at certain moments in time. The characters are so-well developed, that even though there isn't always a lot of action, you really care what happens to these people. This is real life.

I haven't read a lot of literary fiction lately. But Matrimony, which was a NY Times Notable Book for 2007 is certainly a winner. If you want to read a wonderful character study, this one is for you. Don't forget to sign up for my giveaway either. Go to this post!! 4.5/5

Giveaway!!!

OK.....did I get your attention??? A few months back, I won a copy of Matrimony by Joshua Henkin from Naida at The Bookworm. Well...a few weeks ago, Joshua Henkin contacted me, and now I'm getting a chance to return the favor! Mr. Henkin is offering to send one lucky person an AUTOGRAPHED copy of his New York Times Notable Book, Matrimony. I just finished it last night, and it really is wonderful! I hope to have my review up tomorrow, so stay tuned!!

This giveaway is open to anyone, worldwide. All you have to do is leave me a comment, and I'll enter you in the contest. And if you post about it on your blog, I'll double your chance to win. Just send me a link!

If you would like to read Matrimony as a book club selection, Joshua has kindly offered to participate in the discussion!! This would make a great Christmas present for any book lover as well!!

Check out Joshua's website for to learn more about the author himself, download a reading group guide, and check out his other contests!!

The drawing for the book will take place on December 22nd. And all you have to do is leave me a comment!!

It's all in the Name!

Heather, from Errant Thoughts, tagged me for this cute little meme. (Check out Heather's Errant Dream Reviews also for some AWESOME book recommendations!) This is the Book Cover Meme.

Go to the advanced book search on Amazon, type your first name into the Title field, and post the most interesting/amusing cover that shows up.

This one is cute!!! Besides, the rest of the "Stephanie" titles ended up being Janet Evanovich books!! Gotta love that Stephanie Plum!

Since I've tagged just about everybody I know for all the other memes, I'm just going to "group" tag. If you haven't done this yet, you're tagged!! Kind of lame, I know. Sorry!

In other news.....Short Story Sunday took a back seat to Fantasy Football Sunday! I really TRIED to read. But I just couldn't concentrate on Edgar Allen Poe while the Bears game was on!! Not that it mattered. Why, oh why, won't Lovie Smith listen to me and start ANY other QB on the team besides Grossman?? That man is KILLING me! I would have thought after the fiasco called a Super Bowl last year, he would have gotten the clue!

The library called me yesterday. My copy of "Fragile Things" was in!! I love my library. I was looking for a copy of the new book, "Catherine the Great: Love, Sex & Power" by Virginia Rounding. They couldn't get me a copy through ILL, so they just ordered a new copy for our library!! Those ladies just love me there!! Of course, while I was there, I stocked up on my more books! I came home with the following:

• Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
• World War Z by Max Brooks
• The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• 1916 by Moran Llywelyn
• Booked to Die by John Dunning
• Sin in the Second City: Madames, Ministers, Playboys and the Battle for America's Soul by Karen Abbott
• The Uses of Enchantment by Heidi Julavitus
• Terrorist by John Updike
• The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist

Looks like I'd better get to reading!! And don't forget about my giveaway!!! Marked: A House of Night Novel by PC Cast & Kristin Cast. Go here to enter to win! I'm drawing a name on Thursday!!

Later!

Book Giveaway and the RIP Challenge

Since Carl's RIP Challenge is so much fun and he's so giving with his prize packages, I thought I would pass along the first book I read for this challenge!! If you haven't read my review yet, you can check it out below. Marked: A House of Night Novel is the first book in a new series by PC Cast and her daughter Kristin. It's marketed to YA, but I found it to be a very good addition the ever-growing paranormal genre.

My copy is an ARC and it's a soft-covered trade paperback. The drawing is open to anyone, anywhere!!

So....if you need something to add to your list of RIP Challenge books, this one is a great one!! Or, if you aren't in the challenge, but just want something new to read, here you go!! I will be drawing for a winner on Sept. 13th, so sign up now. All you have to do is leave me a comment that you want to be entered!!

Random Posting....and More Free Books!

Yes, it must be my lucky week. Not only did I win a new Sci-Fi book, but the lovely Tanabata from In Spring it is The Dawn was giving away a copy of Anthony Doerr's About Grace for Buy a Friend a Book Week. And guess what? She drew my name too!! Yeah!! Thank you so much Tanabata!! I'm really excited. This looks like a great book too!!



John, at The Book Mine Set, is doing his Weekly Compare again this week. Last week's winner, Jane Austen, is squaring off this week against Kurt Vonnegut. Well....no contest for me. I'm a HUGE Vonnegut fan.








Speaking of Jane, they are releasing a movie about her life starring Anne Hathaway. It is called Becoming Jane. I saw the previews for it a few weeks ago, and it looks really good. Except, Anne Hathaway is WAY too pretty to play Jane Austen. I don't know much about this movie, or how factually it is supposed to be, but I still think I would like to see it.

Finally, I found something new. It is called the "Pay-It-Forward" Book Exchange and it is hosted by Overwhelmed With Joy! Click on the pretty picture for more details or to join up. It looks like the first book to be exchanged is Lucky by Alice Sebold. Looks Like fun!!

Later!!

Wahoo!! I Won a Book!

Last week, Carl posted about book giveaways at his blog, Stainless Steel Droppings. He listed a bunch of giveaways that were going on right now, most in the fantasy/sci-fi genre. Of course, I have no problem with freebies!! I'm easy, what can I say?

So....I was logging on this morning and I got an email. I won a copy of Saturns Returns by Sean Williams from Graeme's Fantasy Book Review! He has a great site. If you like fantasy and sci-fi, you should really check it out!! Thanks Graeme!

Later!

And the Winner is......

Much thanks to all of you that read my review! And much thanks to those that signed up for my drawing. I wish I had a book for everyone!! But alas, I only have one copy. So thanks to Anastasia (my five-year-old) who picked a name out of the hat.

Jeff S.

So, if you could just email you address to me, I can get your book sent out this week!

Later!

An NC-17 Book for an NC-17 Blog....and a Giveaway!

OK....first let me apologize. I was supposed to have this review up yesterday. BUT, I went to see a movie instead. Live Free or Die Hard....and man did it rock! Don't be mad! It was Bruce Willis, what can I say!!

Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis (277 pgs) was sent to me by Harper Collins for review. It is Ellis' first novel, although he is known in the literary world as the creator of a couple of DC Comics.

I opened my eyes to see the rat taking a piss in my coffee. It was a huge brown bastard; had a body like a turd with legs and beady black eyes full of secret rat-knowledge. Making a smug huffing sound, it threw itself from the table to the floor, and scuttled back into the hole in the wall where it had spent the last three months planning new ways to screw me around. I'd tried nailing wood over the gap in the wainscot, but it gnawed through it and spat the wet pieces into my shoes. After that, I spiked bait with warfarin, but the poison seemed to somehow cause it to evolve and become a super-rat. I nailed it across the eyes once with a lucky shot with the butt of my gun, but it got up again and shat in my telephone.

From the first paragraph of this book, you know you are going to be in for a wild ride. Mike McGill, once super-agent for the Pinkerton Agency, is a Private Investigator in New York City. His biggest problem, aside from only have $3 in his checking account, is his terrorizing rat. That is, until the heroin-addicted Chief of Staff to the President of the United States walks into his office. He is being asked to help the government on a mission. To retrieve the Constitution of the United States. Oh, but not the Constitution we know about. Oh no. That would be too easy. This constitution was a secret document that was privately authored by a few of the founders. It was a hand-written document that had 23 invisible amendments that detailed the real intent the founders had on the design of the American public. Oh yeah. It was supposedly bound in the skin of an extraterrestrial entity that "plagued the ass of Ben Franklin for over 6 nights on his travels of Europe".

Since Mike is a reputed "shit-magnet", this assignment seems to right up his alley, although he is a little reluctant to take the job.....like he has a say in this matter. $500,000 is the pay, and it's transferred to his bank account immediately. All he has to do is find this document that was lost in the 1950's when Nixon traded it for favors of a Chinese woman in San Francisco. How hard can that be, right??

When I said wild ride, I meant it! As Mike and his new pal Trix, travel a "crooked little vein" across the country, we meet some of the most unique and probably the sickest cast of characters ever to grace the pages of fiction. Apparently I'm a very Vanilla person, because these people are just down-right nuts! From the Null group in NYC (that would be National Union of Lizard Lovers who have a seriously warped Lizard Fetish) all the way to LA and the Pirates of the Pacific (who are too sick for me to even describe in this blog!) we see perverts in all shapes and sizes. And even a 70-year-old serial killer who is ready to sue for libel by being labeled a "virgin". This book is certainly not for everyone. Definitely not for the faint at heart. But if you like adventure and action, the kind that the graphic novel will give, this book might be just for you. It's a quick-read and definitely one I am glad to have had the pleasure to review. 4/5

Since this book was sent to me by the publisher, I thought I would pass it on to someone else. It's a softcover ARC. If you are interested in it, just leave me a comment. Sometime on Sunday I will draw a name and pass it on!

Later!