GIVEAWAY HOP: "Clear Your Shelf" Giveaway Hop

Today I am joining in on the "Clear Your Shelf" Giveaway Hop, hosted by I Am a Reader, Not a Writer.

I decided that this would be a good time to try and find new homes for some books I had committed to reviewing, but haven't gotten to for one reason or another. The only requirements to win are that you:

• Need to be an active book blogger. This is because these are books that need to be reviewed, and I need to do what I can to assure that is what will happen to them.  
• Need to have a US shipping address.

So please only enter if you have a current book blog, and you will be able to review the book you win in a reasonable amount of time. 

Now on to the books that I have up for grabs:

Hunter by Campbell Jeffreys

Did the Australian government really bring known Nazi party members to Australia and protected them until their deaths? Having survived the horrors of the Eastern Front, Peter Fischer leaves post-war Germany behind and moves to Australia. 40 years later, Eric Messer is struggling to find his place at a new high school south of Perth. The two meet just before the Gulf War, sparking a strange friendship tainted by mistrust and half-truths, and complicated by a mysterious and overly friendly Austrian named Baum. Of Germany descent himself, Eric becomes fascinated by the men and the stories they tell. Are they possibly wanted Nazi war criminals?

Why have I not reviewed it?  I think it sounds like a fine book, but for some reason I have just been completely unable to get into the mindset to sit down with this book. It has been on my TBR shelf much, much too long, and it needs to get reviewed!

Kea's Flight by Erika Hammerschmidt and John C. Ricker

It's the 25th century, and humans have learned how to end unwanted pregnancies by removing and cryogenically freezing the embryos to save for later. But they never planned for how many there would be, or how much control people would want over their offspring's genetic makeup.

Kea was an exile before she was born. Grown from an embryo that was rejected for having autism-spectrum genes, she has been raised on a starship full of Earth's unwanted children. When a sudden discovery threatens their plan to find a home, Kea must join with other rejects to save the ship from its own insane government.

For more info about this book, go to: http://erikahammerschmidt.com/kea.php

Why have I not reviewed it? This is one of those books that I simply should not have accepted to review. I was intrigued by the autism angle, but sci-fi really is not my bent. 

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen

In this irresistible memoir, the New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize Anna Quindlen writes about looking back and ahead—and celebrating it all—as she considers marriage, girlfriends, our mothers, faith, loss, all the stuff in our closets, and more.

As she did in her beloved New York Times columns, and in A Short Guide to a Happy Life, Quindlen says for us here what we may wish we could have said ourselves. Using her past, present, and future to explore what matters most to women at different ages, Quindlen talks about
 
Marriage: “A safety net of small white lies can be the bedrock of a successful marriage. You wouldn’t believe how cheaply I can do a kitchen renovation.”

Girlfriends: “Ask any woman how she makes it through the day, and she may mention her calendar, her to-do lists, her babysitter. But if you push her on how she really makes it through her day, she will mention her girlfriends. Sometimes I will see a photo of an actress in an unflattering dress or a blouse too young for her or with a heavy-handed makeup job, and I mutter, ‘She must not have any girlfriends.’ ”

Stuff: “Here’s what it comes down to, really: there is now so much stuff in my head, so many years, so many memories, that it’s taken the place of primacy away from the things in the bedrooms, on the porch. My doctor says that, contrary to conventional wisdom, she doesn’t believe our memories flag because of a drop in estrogen but because of how crowded it is in the drawers of our minds. Between the stuff at work and the stuff at home, the appointments and the news and the gossip and the rest, the past and the present and the plans for the future, the filing cabinets in our heads are not only full, they’re overflowing.”

Our bodies: “I’ve finally recognized my body for what it is: a personality-delivery system, designed expressly to carry my character from place to place, now and in the years to come. It’s like a car, and while I like a red convertible or even a Bentley as well as the next person, what I really need are four tires and an engine.”

Parenting: “Being a parent is not transactional. We do not get what we give. It is the ultimate pay-it-forward endeavor: We are good parents not so they will be loving enough to stay with us but so they will be strong enough to leave us.”

From childhood memories to manic motherhood to middle age, Quindlen uses the events of her own life to illuminate our own. Along with the downsides of age, she says, can come wisdom, a perspective on life that makes it satisfying and even joyful. Candid, funny, moving, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake is filled with the sharp insights and revealing observations that have long confirmed Quindlen’s status as America’s laureate of real life.

Why I have not reviewed it: I received this book unsolicited, and I started reading it and found I really enjoyed the writing style. The trouble was that I could not really identify with the subject matter. I'm not 50 (yet!), not married and have no children. I just couldn't identify.

The Fire Starter Sessions: A Soulful + Practical Guide to Creating Success On Your Own Terms by Danielle Laporte

The Fire Starter Sessions is an apathy-kicking, integrity-infusing guide to defining success on your own terms.

As the creator of DanielleLaPorte.com--deemed “the best place online for kick-ass spirituality,” Danielle LaPorte’s straight-talk life-and-livelihood sermons have been read by over one million people. Bold but empathetic, she reframes popular self-help and success concepts:

• Life balance is a myth, and the pursuit of it is causing us more stress then the craving for balance itself.
• Being well-rounded is over-rated. When you focus on developing your true strengths, you enter your mastery zone.
• Screw your principles (they might be holding you back).
• We have ambition backwards. Getting clear on how you want to feel in your life + work is more important than setting goals. It's the most potent form of clarity that you can have, and it's what leads to true fulfillment.

Why I have not reviewed it:  I was offered this book for review or giveaway. Knowing that "self-help" is not really my thing, I intended to give it away. However after receiving it I found it visually and tactilely very appealing. So I gave it a go, and I confirmed (once again) that self-help is not my thing! But I am sure there are tons of people out there who could really enjoy this one!

To enter, just complete the Rafflecopter form below...
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winners will be chosen 6/21/12, or thereabouts! And now head on to the other blogs who have books to give away from their shelves. Good luck everyone!