Book Giveaways in Blogworld (11-27-10 edition)

NOTE: A reminder that you are free to email me about any giveaways that you are having, if you want me to blog them, and I'll be happy to try to post them even if I am not entering them. Just include a link to the giveaway, what you are giving away, how many copies are being given away, and the deadline in order to assure being included. Email me at nfmgirl AT gmail DOT com.

Here is a list of some giveaways going on in Blogworld*. Please note that new giveaways that were added this week are indented in Blockquotes:

Urban Girl Reader is giving away a romance collection of books from Hachette! Deadline is November 27. US/Canada only.

Libby's Library News is giving away $30 for The Pear Tree. Deadline is November 28. US only.

Missy's Reads and Reviews is giving away a choice of book to 2 winners. Deadline is November 28. International!

Musings of a Reader Happy is having a Gratitude Giveaway. Your choice of Becca Fitzpatrick or Cassandra Clare. Deadline is November 28. International!

The Bibliophile's Journal is having a Gratitude Giveaway. Your choice of 3 giveaways. Deadline is November 28. International!

Eve's Fan Garden is giving away a grab bag of books. Deadline is November 28. US only.

Pages of Forbidden Love is giving away a copy of Matched. Deadline is November 28. US only.

Once Upon a Twilight is having a Gratitude Giveaway. Deadline is November 28. US/Canada only.

Knitting and Sundries is giving away $25 for books! Deadline is November 28. International!

P.J. Hoover is giving away an ARC of Delirium. Deadline is November 28. 

Vampires and Tofu is having a Gratitude Giveaway! Deadline is November 28. International!

At Home with Books is giving away your choice of four books. Deadline is November 28. US only.

Karissa's Reading Review is giving away 2 prize packs. Deadline is November 29. US only.

The Eclectic Reader is giving away your choice of 1 of three books. Deadline is November 30. International!

Bookin' with Bingo is giving away the Stiegg Larsson trilogy! Deadline is December 2. US only.

A Good Addiction is giving away a copy of The Replacement. Deadline is December 5. US only.

Readaholic is giving away a copy of Distant Hours. Deadline is December 5. US/Canada only.

Read Now Sleep Later is giving away 10 books! 9 US/Canada and 1 International! Deadline is December 25. International!

Eating Y.A. Books is having a big birthday bash throughout the month of December. A different book is being added each day for the first 21 days of December! Deadline is...I guess January 4. International!

*Courtesy Note: Please keep in mind the many, many hours of work that goes into me compiling this list each week. Please be courteous and thoughtful, and do not steal my text. Either recreate your own list, or link to this list and direct your readers here for giveaway information. Thank you so much for your consideration.

I Wanna...Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

It's almost the end of Miranda's sophomore year in high school, and her journal reflects the busy life of a typical teenager: conversations with friends, fights with mom, and fervent hopes for a driver's license. When Miranda first begins hearing the reports of a meteor on a collision course with the moon, it hardly seems worth a mention in her diary. But after the meteor hits, pushing the moon off its axis and causing worldwide earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes, all the things Miranda used to take for granted begin to disappear. Food and gas shortages, along with extreme weather changes, come to her small Pennsylvania town; and Miranda's voice is by turns petulant, angry, and finally resigned, as her family is forced to make tough choices while they consider their increasingly limited options. Yet even as suspicious neighbors stockpile food in anticipation of a looming winter without heat or electricity, Miranda knows that that her future is still hers to decide even if life as she knew it is over.

What's Releasing? (11-24-10 edition)

Books releasing the week of November 30th:

Rescue by Anita Shreve

A rookie paramedic pulls a young woman alive from her totaled car, a first rescue that begins a lifelong tangle of love and wreckage. Sheila Arsenault is a gorgeous enigma--streetwise and tough-talking, with haunted eyes, fierce desires, and a never-look-back determination. Peter Webster, as straight an arrow as they come, falls for her instantly and entirely. Soon Sheila and Peter are embroiled in an intense love affair, married, and parents to a baby daughter. Like the crash that brought them together, it all happened so fast. Can you ever really save another person? Eighteen years later, Sheila is long gone and Peter is raising their daughter, Rowan, alone. But Rowan is veering dangerously off track, and for the first time in their ordered existence together, Webster fears for her future. His work shows him daily every danger the world contains, how wrong everything can go in a second. All the love a father can give a daughter is suddenly not enough. Sheila's sudden return may be a godsend--or it may be exactly the wrong moment for a lifetime of questions and anger and longing to surface anew. What tore a young family apart? Is there even worse damage ahead? The questions lifted up in Anita Shreve's utterly enthralling new novel are deep and lasting, and this is a novel that could only have been written by a master of the human heart.

 Matched by Ally Condie

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.
The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Also releasing this week:

• Port Mortuary (Kay Scarpetta Series #18) by Patricia Cornwell
• The Essential American: 25 Documents and Speeches Every American Should Own by Jackie Gingrich Cushman (Editor), Newt Gingrich (Foreword by)
• Shadowheart (Shadowmarch Series #4) by Tad Williams
• Of Love and Evil (Songs of the Seraphim Series #2) by Anne Rice
• Cooking Light Recipes 2011: Every Recipe... A Year's Worth of Cooking Light Magazine by Cooking Light Magazine Editors
• Suck on This Year LYFAO @ 140 Characters or Less by Denis Leary
• Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler
• The Sherlockian by Graham Moore
• Stieg Larsson: Our Days in Stockholm by Kurdo Baksi
• Galileo by John Heilbron
• A Fistful of Rice: My Unexpected Quest to End Poverty Through Profitability by Vikram Akula
• Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
• Lover Mine (Black Dagger Brotherhood Series #8) by J. R. Ward
• Unforgivable by Laura Griffin
• The Sooner the Better by Debbie Macomber
• O'Hurley's Return: Skin Deep\Without a Trace by Nora Roberts
• Hungry for You (Argeneau Vampire Series #14) by Lynsay Sands
• U Is for Undertow (Kinsey Millhone Series #21) by Sue Grafton
• Devoured by Darkness (Guardians of Eternity Series #7) by Alexandra Ivy
• First Lord's Fury (Codex Alera Series #6) by Jim Butcher
• Highland Protector by Hannah Howell
• Lucid Intervals (Stone Barrington Series #18) by Stuart Woods
• Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
• McKettrick's Choice (McKettrick Series) by Linda Lael Miller
• Eternal Flame by Cynthia Eden
• Not That Kind of Girl by Susan Donovan
• The Shadow Wife by Diane Chamberlain
• Night of the Vampires by Heather Graham
• Honor's Splendour by Julie Garwood

Have a Happy Haul-idays with Chronicle Books!

Chronicle Books wants you to have a Happy Haul-idays, as well as one very lucky reader of your blog! Just write a blog post about the Haul-idays giveaway along with a list of up to $500 worth of the books that you would like to win and then complete this form. Chronicle Books will randomly draw the name of one blogger to win the books on their list! How great is that?

And know what's even better? One reader who comments on the blog post will also win $500 worth of their choice of books from Chronicle Books! How great is that THAT?!

Bloggers have until 12/14/10 to submit their blog post. Get the full official rules here.

So here is my chosen list of books if I should be so lucky as to win:

• New Vegetarian: More Than 75 Fresh, Contemporary Recipes for Pasta, Tagines, Curries, Soups and Stews, and Desserts
  By Robin Asbell, Yvonne Duivenvoorden   $19.95
• Rice Pasta Couscous: The Heart of the Mediterranean Kitchen
  By Jeff Koehler $29.95
• Fresh from the Farmers' Market: Year-Round Recipes for the Pick of the Crop
  By Janet Fletcher, Victoria Pearson, Alice Waters  $19.95
• Simply Organic: A Cookbook for Sustainable, Seasonal, and Local Ingredients
  By Jesse Ziff Cool, France Ruffenach  $24.95
• On This Earth: Photographs from East Africa
  By Nick Brandt, Alice Sebold, Jane Goodall  $40
• Chicken and Egg: A Memoir of Suburban Homesteading with 125 Recipes
  By Janice Cole, Alex Farnum  $24.95
• Eco Dog: Healthy Living for Your Pet  $16.95
• Doggie Bag  $22.95
• Cooking for Two: Perfect Meals for Pairs
  By Jessica Strand, Caren Alpert  $19.95
• Heirloom Beans: Great Recipes for Dips and Spreads, Soups and Stews, Salads and Salsas, and Much More from Rancho Gordo
  By Steve Sando, Vanessa Barrington, Sara Remington $22.95
• Natural Architecture: Princeton Architectural Press
  By Alessandro Rocca  $39.95
• The Meaning of Trees: Botany • History • Healing • Love
  By Fred Hageneder $19.95
• From Seed to Skillet: A Guide to Growing, Tending, Harvesting, and Cooking Up Fresh, Healthy Food to Share with People You Love
  by Jimmy Williams   $30
• The Commonsense Kitchen: 500 Recipes Plus Lessons for a Hand-Crafted Life
  By Tom Hudgens $35
• Fast, Fresh & Green: More Than 90 Delicious Recipes for Veggie Lovers
  By Susie Middleton, Ben Fink $24.95
• Anna Getty's Easy Green Organic: Cook Well—Eat Well—Live Well
  By Anna Getty, Dan Goldberg, Ron Hamad $24.95
• Michael Chiarello's Bottega
  By Michael Chiarello, Frankie Frankeny $40
• Fields of Plenty: A Farmer's Journey in Search of Real Food and the People Who Grow It
  By Michael Ableman $35
  

So what are you waiting for? Comment below, and you, too, can have a chance to win $500 in books from Chronicle Books! If you are a blogger, go here to join in on the Happy Haul-idays!

If you wanna blame someone, blame him...

Sorry I haven't been around this weekend. I've been a little distracted by this guy. His name is Smeagol (pronounced Smee-goal for those not familiar with Gollum from the Lord of the Rings trilogy), and he is the latest addition to our ZooCrew.

I've been planning on getting a dog, but Smeagol is totally NOT what I had in mind! However is the greatest little dog, so there is no way I could ever regret getting him. He is thought to be about 4-5 months old chihuahua mix (actually he was sold to me as a "Chihuahua", but I knew that he looked like a mix and strongly doubted what the rescue was promoting.)

You can learn more about Smeagol and see a video of him on my other blog, but in the meantime if you want to blame someone for my temporary absence, you can blame him...

Good luck with that!

Book Giveaways in Blogworld (11-20-10 edition)

Note: Sorry for the delay. I've been a little busy this weekend, plus I've been avoiding the computer due to a migraine. I'll add more to this list throughout the week.

A reminder that you are free to email me about any giveaways that you are having, if you want me to blog them, and I'll be happy to try to post them even if I am not entering them. Just include a link to the giveaway, what you are giving away, how many copies are being given away, and the deadline in order to assure being included. Email me at nfmgirl AT gmail DOT com.

Here is a list of some giveaways going on in Blogworld*. Please note that new giveaways that were added this week are indented in Blockquotes:

I Read Banned Books is having a 250 Follower Giveaway! They are giving away a copy of Matched and one of Clockwork Angel, and could add more if more followers sign on. Deadline is November 24. International!

Wrighty's Reads is having a Share the Wealth giveaways. ARCs of Nightshade and The Replacement are up for grabs. Deadline is November 25. International!

I Read Banned Books is giving away a Matched ARC. Deadline is November 24. International!

The Book Junkie's Bookshelf is having a big "almost" 400 follower contest! Lots up for grabs! Deadline is November 26 (my birthday!). US/Canada only.

At Home with Books is giving away your choice of four books. Deadline is November 28. US only.

*Courtesy Note: Please keep in mind the many, many hours of work that goes into me compiling this list each week. Please be courteous and thoughtful, and do not steal my text. Either recreate your own list, or link to this list and direct your readers here for giveaway information. Thank you so much for your consideration.

I Wanna... My Splendid Concubine by Lloyd Lofthouse

My Splendid Concubine by Lloyd Lofthouse

No Westerner has ever achieved Robert Hart's status and level of power in China. During the nineteenth century, driven by a passion for his adopted country, Hart became the "godfather of China's modernism," inspector general of China's Customs Service, and the builder of China's railroads, postal and telegraph systems, and schools, but his first real love is Ayaou, a young concubine.

Introducing...Vixen by Jillian Larkin

Introducing books through the opening paragraphs...

She didn't feel like wearing a garter tonight. Her gold-beaded dress, cascading in waves of crystalline fringe, covered the intersection between her sheer stocking and bare thigh.

She slipped her right foot into one of her two-tone Mary Janes, her left foot into the other. The thin black straps went across her ankles, the silver buckles tightened with a pinch.

From the munitions strewn across her vanity, she carefully selected her weapons and placed them in a gold mesh evening bag: vamp-red kiss-proof lipstick, silver powder compact, tortoiseshell comb, ivory cigarette case.

She stated into the mirror. Everything was perfection: green eyes smoldering, cheekbones rouged and accented, lips outlined and plumped. Tonight, even her skin shimmered with something almost magical.

WINNER: Falling Home by Karen White

Well, Random.org has done its thing and selected the winner of Falling Home for me. And the winner is...

Joanne of Jo-Jo Loves to Read

Yay! I'm so happy for Joanne! I'll be emailing you for your mailing address, Joanne! Thanks to all who entered the giveaway. Stay tuned for more giveaways in the future!

Top Ten on my Wish List

My list of favorite books I am hankering for is constantly changing, but I thought that I would highlight a few of my current favorites. Here is today's Top Ten list of books I want to get:

Smonk by Tom Franklin

It's 1911 and the townsfolk of Old Texas, Alabama, have had enough. Every Saturday night for a year, E. O. Smonk has been destroying property, killing livestock, seducing women, cheating and beating men, all from behind the twin barrels of his Winchester 45-70 caliber over-and-under rifle. Syphilitic, consumptive, gouty, and goitered—an expert with explosives and knives—Smonk hates horses, goats, and the Irish, and it's high time he was stopped. But capturing old Smonk won't be easy—and putting him on trial could have shocking and disastrous consequences, considering the terrible secret the citizens of Old Texas are hiding. 

The Dead Path by Stephen M. Irwin

Do you remember the last time a book gave you the chills? The Dead Path is the ghost story we’ve been waiting for.

A haunting vision in the woods sets off a series of tragic events, leaving Nicholas Close lost amid visions of ghosts trapped in their harrowing, final moments. These uniquely ter­rifying apparitions lead him on a thrilling and suspenseful ride to confront a wicked soul, and will leave an indelible mark on lovers of high-quality suspense and horror alike. 

Nicholas Close has always had an uncanny intuition, but after the death of his wife he becomes haunted, literally, by ghosts doomed to repeat their final violent moments in a chilling and endless loop. Torn by guilt and fearing for his sanity, Nicholas returns to his childhood home and is soon entangled in a dis­turbing series of disappearances and  murders—both as a sus­pect and as the next victim of the malignant evil lurking in the heart of the woods. 

Stephen M. Irwin is the kind of debut author that readers love to discover—and rave about to all their friends. His electric use of language, stunning imagery, and suspenseful pacing are all on full display here. The Dead Path is a tour de force of wild imagination, taut suspense, and the creepiest, scariest setting since the sewers in Stephen King’s It.

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.

But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.

Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.

His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.

The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin

From the author of Where the River Ends, comes this page-turning story of love and survival.

On a stormy winter night, two strangers wait for a flight at the Salt Lake City airport.  Ashley Knox is an attractive, successful writer, who is flying East for her much anticipated wedding.  Dr. Ben Payne has just wrapped up a medical conference and is also eager to get back East for a slate of surgeries he has scheduled for the following day.   When the last outgoing flight is cancelled due to a broken de-icer and a forthcoming storm, Ben finds a charter plane that can take him around the storm and drop him in Denver to catch a connection.   And when the pilot says the single engine prop plane can fit one more, if barely, Ben offers the seat to Ashley knowing that she needs to get back just as urgently.   And then the unthinkable happens.  The pilot has a heart attack mid-flight and the plane crashes into the High Uintas Wilderness— one of the largest stretches of harsh and remote land in the United States. 

Ben, who has broken ribs and Ashley, who suffers a terrible leg fracture, along with the pilot's dog, are faced with an incredibly harrowing battle to survive.   Fortunately, Ben is a medical professional and avid climber (and in a lucky break, has his gear from a climb earlier in the week).  With little hope for rescue, he must nurse Ashley back to health and figure out how they are going to get off the mountain, where the temperature hovers in the teens.   Meanwhile, Ashley soon realizes that the very private Ben has some serious emotional wounds to heal as well.  He explains to Ashley that he is separated from his beloved wife, but in a long standing tradition, he faithfully records messages for her on his voice recorder reflecting on their love affair.  As Ashley eavesdrops on Ben's tender words to his estranged wife she comes to fear that when it comes to her own love story, she's just settling.  And what's more: she begins to realize that the man she is really attracted to, the man she may love, is Ben.

As the days on the mountains become weeks, their survival become increasingly perilous.  How will they make it out of the wilderness and if they do, how will this experience change them forever?

Both a tender and page-turning read, The Mountain Between Us will reaffirm your belief in the power of love to sustain us.

The Passage by Justin Cronin

“It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.” 

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterful prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

Who do they think should pay for the unrest?

Katniss Everdeen.

The final book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins will have hearts racing, pages turning, and everyone talking about one of the biggest and most talked-about books and authors in recent publishing history!!!!

Fireflies in December by Jennifer Erin Valent

“The summer I turned thirteen, I thought I killed a man.”

So begins the story of Jessilyn Lassiter, a young girl whose world is torn apart the summer of 1932. When Jessilyn’s best friend, Gemma, loses her parents in a tragic fire, Jessilyn’s father vows to care for her as his own, despite the fact that Gemma is black and prejudice is prevalent in their southern Virginia town.

It doesn’t take long for the Lassiters to attract the attention of a local band of Ku Klux Klan members, who make increasingly violent threats on Jessilyn and her family.

As she struggles to navigate a complex world of first crushes, loyalties, and betrayals, Jessilyn ultimately discovers what it takes to be a bright light in a dark world.

The Blue Notebook by James A. Levine

A haunting yet astonishingly hopeful story of a young Indian prostitute who uses writing and imagination to transcend her reality.
An unforgettable, deeply affecting tribute to the powers of imagination and the resilience of childhood, THE BLUE NOTEBOOK tells the story of Batuk, a precocious 15-year-old girl from rural India who was sold into sexual slavery by her father when she was nine. As she navigates the grim realities of the Common Street—a street of prostitution in Mumbai where children are kept in cages as they wait for customers to pay for sex—Batuk manages to put pen to paper, recording her private thoughts and stories in a diary. The novel is powerfully told in Batuk’s voice, through the words she writes in her journal, where she finds hope and beauty in the bleakest circumstances.

Beautifully crafted and deeply human, THE BLUE NOTEBOOK explores how people, in the most difficult of situations, can use storytelling to make sense of...

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn't want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.

Matched by Ally Condie

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

The rest of my "wannas" may be found on my Wish List. 

Book Giveaways in Blogworld (11-13-10 edition)

Note: A reminder that you are free to email me about any giveaways that you are having, if you want me to blog them, and I'll be happy to try to post them even if I am not entering them. Just include a link to the giveaway, what you are giving away, how many copies are being given away, and the deadline in order to assure being included. Email me at nfmgirl AT gmail DOT com.

Here is a list of some giveaways going on in Blogworld*. Please note that new giveaways that were added this week are indented in Blockquotes:

Fantastic Book Review is giving away a copy of Extraordinary. Deadline is November 13. US/Canada only.

Sophistikatied is giving away a Clockwork Angel prize pack. Deadline is November 16. US only.

Sparkling Reviews is giving away a Kindle! Deadline is November 18. International!

Talk is Cheap is giving away a copy of Matched. Deadline is November 18. I couldn't see any mention of whether it is international or not.

Jo-Jo Loves to Read is having a 2 yr blogiversary giveaway! Amazon gift cards and choice of a gently read book up for grabs. Deadline is November 19. US/Canada only. 

Radiant Light is giving away 2 copies of Running the Books. Deadline is November 19. US only.

Reading Teen is giving away The Mockingbirds. Deadline is November 19. International!

Sparkling Reviews is giving away two $25 Amazon gift cards. Deadline is November 20. I think it is International, but don't know for sure.

Read This Book is giving away up to 6 YA books! Deadline is November 20. International!

Passages to the Past is giving away $100 to CSN Stores. Deadline is November 21. US/Canada only.

A Good Addiction is giving away their ARC of The Mockingbirds. Deadline is November 21. US/Canada only.

I Read Banned Books is having a 250 Follower Giveaway! They are giving away a copy of Matched and one of Clockwork Angel, and could add more if more followers sign on. Deadline is November 24. International!

Wrighty's Reads is having a Share the Wealth giveaways. ARCs of Nightshade and The Replacement are up for grabs. Deadline is November 25. International!

I Read Banned Books is giving away a Matched ARC. Deadline is November 24. International!

The Book Junkie's Bookshelf is having a big "almost" 400 follower contest! Lots up for grabs! Deadline is November 26 (my birthday!). US/Canada only.

Readaholic is giving away a copy of Heartbroke Bay. Deadline is unknown (not currently posted), but should probably be in mid-November. US/Canada only.

*Courtesy Note: Please keep in mind the many, many hours of work that goes into me compiling this list each week. Please be courteous and thoughtful, and do not steal my text. Either recreate your own list, or link to this list and direct your readers here for giveaway information. Thank you so much for your consideration.

I Wanna...Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Yann Martel's second novel, Life of Pi, appeared in Canada in 2001 to enthusiastic reviews and moderate sales. A year later, it came out of nowhere to win the Booker Prize and became an international publishing phenomenon (and Amazon.ca's first blockbuster). In a wonderful display of storytelling verve, Martel takes a distinctly unpromising premise--a "story that will make you believe in God" about a boy trapped on a lifeboat with an enormous tiger--and pulls it off with complete and winning confidence.

Book Blogger Holiday Swap

Well, I have signed up once again for the Book Blogger Holiday Swap. If you haven't signed on already, you have until November 14th to get on board Santa's sleigh! Join in on the fun!

GIVEAWAY: 5 Minutes for Mom Christmas Giveaway

 

It's that time of year! 5 Minutes for Mom is having their annual Christmas Giveaway November 8-30th. Full of giveaways and ideas for Christmas gifts, you won't want to miss a day! Check their blog for all of the details. Then prepare to go Christmas shopping!

Book Giveaways in Blogworld (11-06-10 edition)

Note: A reminder that you are free to email me about any giveaways that you are having, if you want me to blog them, and I'll be happy to try to post them even if I am not entering them. Just include a link to the giveaway, what you are giving away, how many copies are being given away, and the deadline in order to assure being included. Email me at nfmgirl AT gmail DOT com.

Here is a list of some giveaways going on in Blogworld*. Please note that new giveaways that were added this week are indented in Blockquotes:

Readaholic is giving away 3 copies of The Tale of Halcyon Crane. Deadline is November 6. US/Canada only.

Library of Clean Reads is giving away 3 copies of Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World. Deadline is November 7. US/Canada only.

emy shin is giving away an ARC of Matched! Deadline is November 8.

Readaholic is giving away a copy of The Unidentified. Deadline is November 9. US/Canada only.

Just Jennifer Reading is giving away 3 copies of Dewey. Deadline is November 9. US/Canada only.

Readaholic is giving away a copy of The Truth-Teller's Lie. Deadline is November 9. US/Canada only.

Readaholic is giving away 2 copies of Kill the Dead. Deadline is November 10. US only.

Fantastic Book Review is giving away a copy of Extraordinary. Deadline is November 13. US/Canada only.

Sophistikatied is giving away a Clockwork Angel prize pack. Deadline is November 16. US only.

Sparkling Reviews is giving away a Kindle! Deadline is November 18. International!

Read This Book is giving away up to 6 YA books! Deadline is November 20. International!

I Read Banned Books is giving away a Matched ARC. Deadline is November 24. International!

The Book Junkie's Bookshelf is having a big "almost" 400 follower contest! Lots up for grabs! Deadline is November 26 (my birthday!). US/Canada only.

Readaholic is giving away a copy of Heartbroke Bay. Deadline is unknown (not currently posted), but should probably be in mid-November. US/Canada only.

*Courtesy Note: Please keep in mind the many, many hours of work that goes into me compiling this list each week. Please be courteous and thoughtful, and do not steal my text. Either recreate your own list, or link to this list and direct your readers here for giveaway information. Thank you so much for your consideration.

I Wanna...One Second After by William R. Forstchen

One Second After by William R. Forstchen

New York Times best selling author William R. Forstchen now brings us a story which can be all too terrifyingly real...a story in which one man struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war that will send America back to the Dark Ages...A war based upon a weapon, an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP).  A weapon that may already be in the hands of our enemies.
Months before publication, One Second After has already been cited on the floor of Congress as a book all Americans should read, a book already being discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a truly realistic look at a weapon and its awesome power to destroy the entire United States, literally within one second. It is a weapon that the Wall Street Journal warns could shatter America. In the tradition of On the Beach, Fail Safe and Testament, this book, set in a typical American town, is a dire warning of what might be our future...and our end.

Introducing...Purgatory Inn by Ernesto Jose Herrera

An introduction through the first chapter or so...

It was a big fire. Although it did not have the dimensions that turn a blaze into a subject of historical proportions, it did manage to destroy the old tenement.

The fact that a body was found next to an expensive camera mounted on a tripod: a Dalian cross, mechanical icon of twentieth-century drama, increased the curiosity of the media which reported on the incident for three days. Then, it was all forgotten. And then, maybe not.

Last Will and Testament of Joe Hill

This morning I was thinking of one of my favorite old folk songs, as performed at Woodstock by Joan Baez: Joe Hill. It got me to wondering more about the history of who Joe Hill really was, so Wikipedia to the rescue!

Joe Hill was an immigrant labor activist, as well as a songwriter. He was, most feel unjustly so, accused of murder and executed by firing squad in 1915. As his last will and testament, he left this behind...

My will is easy to decide,
For there is nothing to divide.
My kin don't need to fuss and moan,
"Moss does not cling to a rolling stone."

My body? Oh, if I could choose
I would to ashes it reduce,
And let the merry breezes blow,
My dust to where some flowers grow.

Perhaps some fading flower then
Would come to life and bloom again.
This is my Last and final Will.
Good Luck to All of you,
Joe Hill

What's Releasing? (11-03-10 edition)

What's available the week of 11/9/10:

Decision Points by George W. Bush

President George W. Bush describes the critical decisions of his presidency and personal life.

Decision Points is the extraordinary memoir of America’s 43rd president. Shattering the conventions of political autobiography, George W. Bush offers a strikingly candid journey through the defining decisions of his life. 

In gripping, never-before-heard detail, President Bush brings listeners inside the Texas Governor’s Mansion on the night of the hotly contested 2000 election; aboard Air Force One on 9/11, in the hours after America’s most devastating attack since Pearl Harbor; at the head of the table in the Situation Room in the moments before launching the war in Iraq; and behind the Oval Office desk for his historic and controversial decisions on the financial crisis, Hurricane Katrina, Afghanistan, Iran, and other issues that have shaped the first decade of the 21st century. 

President Bush writes honestly and directly about his flaws and mistakes, as well as his accomplishments reforming education, treating HIV/AIDS in Africa, and safeguarding the country amid chilling warnings of additional terrorist attacks. He also offers intimate new details on his decision to quit drinking, discovery of faith, and relationship with his family.

A groundbreaking new brand of memoir, Decision Points will captivate supporters, surprise critics, and change perspectives on one of the most consequential eras in American history – and the man at the center of events.

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

"I believe there is another man inside every man, a stranger . . ." writes Wilfred Leland James in the early pages of the riveting confession that makes up "1922," the first in this pitch-black quartet of mesmerizing tales from Stephen King. For James, that stranger is awakened when his wife, Arlette, proposes selling off the family homestead and moving to Omaha, setting in motion a gruesome train of murder and madness. 

In "Big Driver," a cozy-mystery writer named Tess encounters the stranger along a back road in Massachusetts when she takes a shortcut home after a book-club engagement. Violated and left for dead, Tess plots a revenge that will bring her face-to-face with another stranger: the one inside herself. 

"Fair Extension," the shortest of these tales, is perhaps the nastiest and certainly the funniest. Making a deal with the devil not only saves Dave Streeter from a fatal cancer but provides rich recompense for a lifetime of resentment. 

When her husband of more than twenty years is away on one of his business trips, Darcy Anderson looks for batteries in the garage. Her toe knocks up against a box under a worktable and she discovers the stranger inside her husband. It’s a horrifying discovery, rendered with bristling intensity, and it definitively ends a good marriage. 

Like Different Seasons and Four Past Midnight, which generated such enduring films as The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me, Full Dark, No Stars proves Stephen King a master of the long story form.

Also available this week:

• Cross Fire (Alex Cross Series #17) by James Patterson
• The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
• A Stranger in Mayfair by Charles Finch
• Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon
• Outwitting Trolls (Brady Coyne Series #25) by William Tapply
• Valley Forge: George Washington and the Crucible of Victory by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen
• Trio of Sorcery by Mercedes Lackey
• jackass: 10 Years of Stupid by Sean Cliver (editor)
• The Memory Chalet by Tony Judt
• The Weight by Andrew Vachss
• Sunset Park by Paul Auster
• The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley
• Tyger Tyger: A Goblin Wars Book by Kersten Hamilton
• House Rules by Jodi Picoult
• Brava, Valentine by Adriana Trigiani
• Phantom Prospect by Alex Archer
• This Perfect Day by Ira Levin
• When the Whistle Blows by Fran Slayton
• Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher
• Night Crossing to Athens by Irene Magers
• Soaring Home by Christine Johnson
• Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Gately
• The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson

WINNER: The Queen's Pawn by Christy English

The winner of The Queen's Pawn is...

#7 Deb of Shady Lady

Congratulations, Deb! I'll be emailing you for your information. You'll have 72 hours to get back to me, and I will then forward your information onto the author for shipment of your book.

Thanks everyone! And don't forget my current giveaway for Falling Home!

Teaser Tuesdays (11-02-10 edition)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
  
• Open to a random page
  
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Today's Teaser:

John smiled and drove away, looking perplexed. Addeo knew she exerted an attraction in him difficult to shed. She also knew that he felt uncomfortable not being able to establish a firm control over the development of events and feelings, and she knew that his mind was giving rise to wild ideas and images. She was enjoying it.


-- Purgatory Inn by Ernesto Jose Herrera (page 18)

Mailbox Monday (11-01-10 edition)

Image licensed from bigstockphoto.com

Copyright stands

Mailbox Monday is brought to us by The Printed Page. Here are just some of the books I've received over the last few weeks:

Sugar by Bernice L. McFadden
Won from Knitting and Sundries

In a debut novel that blends the rich, earthy atmosphere of the deep South and a voice imbued with spiritual grace, Bernice L. McFadden tells the story of two women: a modest, churchgoing wife and mother, and the young prostitute she befriends.. "When Sugar arrives in 1950s Bigelow - waltzing down the main square of the sweltering tiny Arkansas town as if she has every right to be there - no one tosses out the welcome mat or invites her in for a Coke. The Bigelow women hate her from the minute they lay eyes on her - on the bouncing blond wig and red-painted lips that tell them she has never known a hard day's work. All they know is they want her gone, out of their town, and away from their men.. "But Sugar has traveled too far and survived too much to back down now. She parks herself in the house at #10 Grove Street, even though she feels there is something about Bigelow that is calling up the past she prayed she'd left behind.. "Deep in her soul, Pearl Taylor knows what it is that Sugar feels, because it happened to her. It was the day her world shut down, the day the devil himself murdered her young daughter, Jude. It wasn't that Pearl stopped believing in God, exactly; she just couldn't trust him the way she used to. Then Sugar moves in next door, and Pearl's life irrevocably changes. Over sweet potato pie, an unlikely friendship begins, transforming the lives of two women - and an entire community.

Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love by Larry Levin
Won from So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

In the bestselling tradition of Rescuing Sprite comes the story of a puppy brought back from the brink of death, and the family he adopted.

In 2002, Larry Levin and his twin sons, Dan and Noah, took their terminally ill cat to the Ardmore Animal Hospital outside Philadelphia to have the beloved pet put to sleep. What would begin as a terrible day suddenly got brighter as the ugliest dog they had ever seen--one who was missing an ear and had half his face covered in scar tissue--ran up to them and captured their hearts. The dog had been used as bait for fighting dogs when he was just a few months old. He had been thrown in a cage and left to die until the police rescued him and the staff at Ardmore Animal Hospital saved his life. The Levins, whose sons are themselves adopted, were unable to resist Oogy's charms, and decided to take him home. 

Heartwarming and redemptive, OOGY is the story of the people who were determined to rescue this dog against all odds, and of the family who took him home, named him "Oogy" (an affectionate derivative of ugly), and made him one of their own.

Vixen by Jillian Larkin
Received for discussion from B&N First Look Teens

Jazz . . . Booze . . . Boys . . . It’s a dangerous combination.

Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun . . . or are they?

Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . .

Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry. . . .

From debut author Jillian Larkin, VIXEN is the first novel in the sexy, dangerous, and ridiculously romantic new series set in the Roaring Twenties . . . when anything goes.


Thanks to everyone for the books!