Literature and Poetry Reviews, Home of the Virtual Poetry Circle
In a recent FSB Associates-sponsored giveaway on my blog, random.org helped me select the winner from more than 20 entrants.
Congrats to Rachel, who said:
“I looooove trivia and so would love to win these! Thanks for the giveaway!”
The books are on their way to you. I hope you enjoy them and Happy Holidays.
Chronicle Books selected CakeSpy as the winner of its Haul-idays giveaway. Congrats to CakeSpy!
Thanks to all of you who read my post.
Anyone interested in still purchasing books from Chronicle Books for the holidays can use coupon code HAULIDAYS through Thursday, Dec. 16 for 35% off.
Last month, I reviewed Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye, and loved it. If you missed the review, check it out. I held a giveaway for the ARC I received from BEA, and my husband randomly selected number 9. . .
The winner is JHS from Colloquium.
Congrats and enjoy the book!
I also reviewed Heidegger’s Glasses by Thaisa Frank last month for a TLC Book Tour and loved it. If you missed that review, you best check it out if you enjoy WWII novels.
The giveaway for that one went well, and my husband again selected number 2…
The winner is Lindymc.
Congrats and enjoy the book!
Finally, the giveaway for the Monstrumology series of YA books by Rick Yancey ended, and there were to be two winners, who will receive The Monstrumologist and Curse of the Wendigo. I’ll be reviewing these in the new year.
My husband selected the numbers 9 and 14
Congrats to Kris T. and Ti of Book Chatter.
Congrats everyone, and I hope you enjoy your books. If you’re looking for more giveaways, please check out the right sidebar of my giveaways and others from around the blogosphere.
Thanks to FSB Associates, I’ve got a giveaway for the trivia buff in your circle just in time for the holidays.
They can brush up on grammar and punctuation, spelling, literature, history, and more in i before e (except after c), My Grammar and I…Or Should That Be Me?: How to Speak and Write It Right, and I Used to Know That: Stuff You Forgot from School in the Boxed Set of Blackboard Books from Readers Digest.
Check out the details of these great books:
i before e (except after c):
old-school ways to remember stuff In this clever-and often hilarious-collection, you’ll find engaging mnemonics, arranged in easy to find categories that include geography, time and the calendar, numbers, and astronomy. Perfect for students of all ages!My Grammar and I…Or Should That Be Me?: How to Speak and Write It Right
Avoid grammatical minefields with this entertaining refresher course for anyone who has ever been stumped by spelling confusion, dangling modifiers, split infinitives, or for those who have no idea what these things even are.I Used to Know That: Stuff You Forgot from School
Take a trip down memory lane with this light-hearted and informative reminder of the many things we learned in school that have been forgotten over time, from Shakespeare and diphthongs to quotients, phalanges, and protons. After all, as Stantayana reminds us, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
About the Authors:
Judy Parkinson, author of i before e (except after c): old-school ways to remember stuff, is a graduate of Bristol University. She is a producer of documentaries, music videos, and commercials, and won a Clio award for a Greenpeace ad. Parkinson has published four books. She lives in London.
J. A. Wines, author of My Grammar and I…Or Should That Be Me?: How to Speak and Write It Right, is a graduate of Oxford University and the author of several books on grammar and trivia.
Caroline Taggart is the author of the best- selling I Used to Know That, The Classics, and An Apple a Day and coauthor of My Grammar and I . . . Or Should That Be Me? She is also the editor of Writer’s Market UK & Ireland, a guide for aspiring writers. She has worked in publishing for more than thirty years, the last twenty in nonfiction.
To Enter: (US Only)
1. Leave a comment about which trivia buff these books would be perfect for.
2. Blog, Tweet, and/or Facebook for a second entry.
Deadline is Dec. 15, 2010 at 11:59 PM EST. Just in time for the holidays!
Thaisa Frank’s WWII novel, Heidegger’s Glasses, combines philosophy, mystery, war, and more, woven with crisp, no-nonsense dialogue and just enough detailed description to tantalize the reader to continue the journey. The story centers on Operation Mail, Briefaktion, a Nazi program to entice Jews to volunteer for relocation by sending letters from their taken relatives. The letters are actually written by a group of Scribes pulled from the lines of people being relocated, who have special language skills. A special set of orders, possibly from Goebbels, are sent to the Compound for a philosopher to answer Heidigger‘s letter to his Jewish optometrist Asher Englehardt, who was sent to Auschwitz and is probably dead.
“Hans Ewigkeit had originally planned to line the mine with thick brick walls. But even before losing Stalingrad, the Reich was pinched for money. So instead of brick walls, the Compound had thin pine walls covered with a single layer of plaster. Workers had added five coats of paint. But the Compound was a flimsy shell: Scribes put their hands on their ears when they wanted to think. Mueller had worn earmuffs.” (page 81)
Enter Elie Schacten, a woman with two lives and names. She writes some of the letters, but most importantly has permission to be outside after curfew and uses that to her advantage to save those she can from the oppressive Nazi regime. She is caught between her lies and the ambitious Stumpf who considers himself in charge of the Compound as well as her affection for Lodenstein, the leader of the Compound. Will the orders to write a response to Hiedigger’s letter expose the Compound for its lackadaisical work and Elie’s operations to rescue Jews, or will the orders be another means of saving helpless souls?
“Light snow began to fall — swirls of white on grey. The streets widened, narrowed, widened again, expanding and contracting, as though they were breathing. Nothing felt quite real to Elie — not the sky, or the air, or a coffeehouse where customers drank from incongruously large cups of ersatz coffee. People hurried by, surrounded by pale grey air — the only thing that seemed to hold them together. Elie passed a muddy street with a chain-link fence followed by a row of prosperous houses. The town was breaking up, and she felt she was breaking up with it. It began to snow thickly, surrounding everyone in white. We’re bound by veils, Elie thought, fragile accidents of cohesion.” (page 95)
Heidigger’s Glasses is more than a philosophical journey, it takes a look at how the ordinary can become extraordinary. Each object can have a hidden meaning or take on the life of a memory that will have to serve as a lifeline in the most dire of moments. Like Hiedigger’s glasses help the philosopher “fall out of the world,” each character must find that moment in time when they fall out of the reality they fear and into the reality that they create. Frank has taken the time to weave a complex story during a tumultuous time in history, and her novel accomplishes that goal and more. Her characterizations are unique and dynamic, and the plot is unraveled slowly by the reader who takes an unexpected journey to discover the mettle of even the most ordinary individual.
About the Author:
Photo by Chris Hardy; www.chrishardyphoto.com
Thaisa Frank has written three books of fiction, including A Brief History of Camouflage and Sleeping in Velvet (both with Black Sparrow Press, now acquired by David Godine). She has co-authored a work of nonfiction, Finding Your Writers Voice: A Guide to Creative Fiction, which is used in MFA programs. Her forthcoming novel, Heidegger’s Glasses, is coming out this fall with Counterpoint Press. Foreign rights have already been sold to ten countries.
***Thanks to the author, TLC Book Tours, and Counterpoint for sending me a review copy. ***
Please check out the other stops on the tour.
Giveaway information: 1 Copy for 1 lucky reader in the U.S. or Canada
1. Leave a comment about what historical period you love to read about most.
2. Blog, Tweet, Facebook, etc., for a second entry and leave a link in the comments.
Deadline Dec. 3, 2010, 11:59PM EST.
This is my 57th book for the 2010 New Authors Reading Challenge.
Chronicle Books has the best holiday giveaway I’ve ever seen going on — $500 in books for 1 blogger and $500 for 1 blogger’s reader for a total of $1,000.
As a blogger, you know I love books, but you also know I love to give away books. Chronicle Books is giving these books away to a blogger or blog reader who lives in the United States and is 18 years or older.
All you have to do is check out the publisher’s Web site and make a list of books up to $500. Check out their list. Winners will be announced Dec. 13, 2010. Also check out this video:
Here’s my selections:
1. Fast, Fresh & Green by Susie Middleton which will help you make greens tasty; I’m always looking for new ways to make vegetables since I find them tough to eat.
2. Cupcake Kit by Elinor Klivans provides you with the tools necessary to make great cupcakes and decorate them like professionals.
3. Art of the Slow Cooker by Andrew Schloss is just the book for me because working early morning hours and waiting for a husband to come home from work, slow cookers save my life and allow me more time to read. While I have a number of soup recipes, this book can provide me with much more.
4. New Vegetarian by Robin Asbell would make a great gift for my vegetarian cousin and her girls. I’m sure she’s looking for new recipes. I’d love to get this one for her.
5. A Simple Plan by Gary Soto is a collection of poems by a poet I have not heard of before, but I’m always looking for new poets. I’m in luck because they have two other books by this author, though I’ll save those for after reading this one.
6. Werewolves by Paul Jessup for my husband who loves these illustrated comic-type books.
7. The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Gross Junior Edition by David Borgenicht, Nathaniel Marunas, and Robin Epstein, which The Girl would adore!
8. The Ivy and Bean Secret Treasure Box by Annie Barrows for my niece.
9. Ivy and Bean Boxed Set 2 by Annie Barrows for my niece.
10. Ivy and Bean: What’s the Big Idea? by Annie Barrows also for my niece.
11. Ivy and Bean Mini Notes by Annie Barrows for The Girl.
12. The Little Books Boxed Set by Amy Krouse Rosenthal for the young learners. I’ve got a nephew in mind for this one.
13. Creature: ABC by Andrew Zuckerman, another one for young learners.
14. Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls: How to Start a Band, Write Songs, Record an Album, and Rock Out! for The Girl.
15. Haikubes by Forrest-Pruzan Creative.
16. The Ultimate Metallica by Ross Halfin, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett.
17. Michael Jackson: Before He Was King by Todd Gray.
18. Wine Wars: A Trivia Game for Wine Geeks and Wannabes by Joyce Lock for a friend’s husband who loves trivia.
19. Foodie Fight: A Trivia Game for Serious Food Lovers by Joyce Lock for that same friend’s husband.
20. Subway Art: 25th Anniversary Edition by Martha Cooper, Henry Chalfant.
21. Manuel Alvarez Bravo: Photopoetry.
Interested in winning the books (total of $499.34) I’ve selected, please leave a valid email address and let me know whether you would keep all of the books or give some away. You can read all the official rules here!
I have a special treat for the young adult in you or living with you, especially if they are interested in supernatural adventures. Rick Yancey’s The Monstrumologist, which won the 2010 Michael L. Printz Honor Award, and the second book in the series, The Curse of the Wendigo, are up for grabs for two winners in the United States or Canada.
The Monstrumologist begins with the diary of Will Henry, orphan and assistant to a doctor with a most unusual specialty: monster hunting. In the short time he has lived with the doctor, Will has grown accustomed to his late night callers and dangerous business. But when one visitor comes with the body of a young girl and the monster that was eating her, Will’s world is about to change forever. The doctor has discovered a baby Anthropophagus—a headless monster that feeds through a mouth in its chest—and it signals a growing number of Anthropophagi. Now, Will and the doctor must face the horror threatening to overtake and consume our world before it is too late (from Simon & Schuster).
Please check out the Monstrumologist Web site and the first chapter of the book.
The Curse of the Wendigo: While attempting to disprove that Homo vampiris, the vampire, could exist, Dr. Warthrop is asked by his former fiancé to rescue her husband from the Wendigo, a creature that starves even as it gorges itself on human flesh, which has snatched him in the Canadian wilderness. Although Warthrop also considers the Wendigo to be fictitious, he relents and rescues her husband from death and starvation, and then sees the man transform into a Wendigo. Can the doctor and Will Henry hunt down the ultimate predator, who, like the legendary vampire, is neither living nor dead, whose hunger for human flesh is never satisfied? This second book in The Monstrumologist series explores the line between myth and reality, love and hate, genius, and madness (from Simon & Schuster).
Please read the first chapter of the book.
Also check out this trailer:
Rick Yancey is the author of The Monstrumologist series (Book #1 of which won the Michael L. Printz Honor Award in 2010) as well as the critically acclaimed series Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp. He has also written several novels for adults including The Highly Effective Detective and A Burning in Homeland. He earned a BA in English from Roosevelt University in Chicago, and worked as a field officer for the Internal Revenue Service before turning to writing full time in 2004. Rick lives in Florida with his wife Sandy, three sons, two dogs and one lizard. Visit his Web site.
To Enter:
1. Leave a comment about why you want to win this series.
2. Spread the word via Blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. for a second entry.
Deadline Dec. 3, 2010, at 11:59 PM EST
***Thanks to Big Honcho Media and Simon & Schuster for sponsoring the giveaway. Look for my review later in the year.***
Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye is steeped in rough seas, relationships, and a break in the weather. From water imagery to isolated wilderness, Geye takes readers on a descriptive and detailed journey of Noah and Olaf Torr’s strained father-son relationship and the past that comes between them. Set in the northern regions of Minnesota near Lake Superior, Noah must confront his father when time is running out. While there is doubt about whether his father is truly ill and dying, Noah drops everything in Boston, including his wife Natalie and their fertility issues, to come to his father’s aid.
“He took off his jeans and shirt, his socks and drawers, and stood naked at the end of the dock. Instantly the sweat that only a few minutes earlier had been dripping from him dried — seemed almost to encase him — as the wind curled around him. . . . From the instant he went under he could feel the water seizing him. Although he’d been anticipating something like it, he could never have expected the grip of the water. If he hadn’t kicked and pulled for the surface the instant he was submerged he might have ended up sunk.” (page 134)
Coming back to town brings back all the feelings of abandonment he felt as a child when his father worked on the Great Lakes with the shipping companies. Readers will be absorbed in the descriptive detail, leaving their living rooms and subway cars and entering the wooded forest near Olaf’s cabin. The wintry wind will whip through their collars, forcing them to wrap scarves around their necks and feeling the ice freeze on their skin as Noah takes a bath in the lake.
For a first novel, Safe From the Sea has very few flaws with only the relationship between Noah and Natalie feeling a bit confused, changing from a semi-adversarial relationship to a loving one once she too arrives in Minnesota. Complex relationships abound in this novel and mirror the churning lake waters when storms approach, but calmer waters prevail as the family comes to terms with reality and the love they share.
As deep as the 800 feet of Lake Superior that nearly took Olaf’s life when Noah was a boy, Safe From the Sea will pull readers under and churn them in the undercurrent of Noah’s feelings for his father as he learns to forgive the man scarred by the sinking of the ship Ragnarok, the loss of his colleagues, and the inescapable truth that he was powerless against the elements. Geye creates strong settings, tense relationships between Olaf, his son, and his daughter, and a story that is utterly absorbing from the first page.
***Thanks to Unbridled Books for sending me a copy for review. Though I should have finished this book ages ago, it was easy to pick the book back up and become absorbed in the story after dealing with the death of my grandfather.***
About the Author:
Peter Geye received his MFA from the University of New Orleans and his PHD from Western Michigan University, where he was editor of Third Coast. He was born and raised in Minneapolis and continues to live there with his wife and three children.
If you’d like to win an ARC of Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye, please enter the international giveaway.
1. Leave a comment about why you would like to read this novel.
2. Name an Unbridled Book title you’ve read and enjoyed.
3. Blog, Tweet, Facebook, or spread the word about the giveaway.
Deadline is Nov. 30, 2010, at 11:59 PM EST.
This is my 55th book for the 2010 New Authors Reading Challenge.
Out of just a few entrants, the random winner of A Vampire is Coming to Dinner! by Pamela Jane is:
Colleen of Books in the City
Congrats and enjoy the book!
Pamela Jane, author of A Vampire Is Coming to Dinner! 10 Rules to Follow, has been a children’s author for some time. She has agreed to answer a few interview questions and offer a giveaway to one lucky reader. I’ve also got a special guest reviewer.
Please welcome Pamela.
1. When did you first begin writing children’s books?
I was eight when I wrote my first “book” about my parakeet, Winky Blue. I had looked for a story about a parakeet in our local library without success, so I decided to write my own. This eventually led (many years later) to the “Winky Blue” series published my Mondo. The series is featured on my website http://www.pamelajane.com. My first published book, NOELLE OF THE NUTCRACKER, illustrated by Jan Brett, came out in 1986.
2. Have you ever considered doing your own illustrations for your books?
I would love to do my own illustrations because I can picture them so well in my head! However, they don’t translate well on paper, and I’ve been very fortunate in my publisher’s choice of illustrators for my books.
3. What is the relationship between author and illustrator like?
It various with each book and project. Often, I do not get to know the illustrator until after the book is out. In cases where the book is historical fiction, there may be earlier contact between the author and illustrator because it’s so important that the illustrations are factually correct. I’ve just finished writing my first historical children’s picture book, so it will be interesting to see how this process unfolds.
4. Could you explain how you got involved in writing for an animation series? and what that entails?
A former children’s book editor contacted me about writing for the animation series. It’s quite different from writing in book form because there is no description; the writing is simply dialog although I indicate the action in separate comments on the manuscript. The next step is having actors read the parts and animators illustrate the story (or perhaps it’s the other way around.) I’m excited to see how it will turn out!
5. When you are not writing what are your other interests and hobbies?
I love to walk in nature while listening to books on my iPod and I play the piano, albeit badly! I also like watching old movies and British mystery series such as “Foyle’s War.”
Now, here’s out guest reviewer, The Girl from Diary of an Eccentric:
A Vampire Is Coming to Dinner! 10 Rules to Follow by Pamela Jane is funny and the pictures are cool. I really like the first picture with the invitation from the vampire stuck to the door with a skull knife, the picture where he gets ready to meet the vampire and puts his shirt on backwards, and when the kid shakes the vampire’s hand with a stick.
Rule 5 and Rule 6 are funny because the kid decides to ignore those rules and do the opposite. I also liked rule 3 and rule 11. The pictures were detailed. Rule 11 was my favorite. I think smaller kids would like the book if parents read the book to them. I love the book.
Thanks to The Girl for her review.
Now for the giveaway. I have one copy for 1 lucky US/Canada reader.
1. Please leave a comment about your favorite monster or Halloween book.
2. For a second entry, spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Deadline is Oct. 30, 2011, at 11:59 PM EST.
Out of more than 23 entrants, Random.org selected 2 winners for Mr. Darcy’s Voyage by Kara Louise:
1. Janel of Janel’s Jumble who said, “I am drooling over that hammock chair! And the porch too. Either one of those things would be a great place to write. Both of them together must be heaven. Thanks for sharing, Kara.”
2. Melissa of Mommy Wants to Read, who said, “I would love to have a nice big comfy recliner with a huge fluffy blanket, a super fast laptop and a table next to me stack high with snacks and drinks. Yeah that is my dream writing space. “
BBAW 2010 winners for the Forgotten Treasures post and their respective wins are as follows:
Jeanne of Necromancy Never Pays won A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick. She said, “I find villanelles hardest to write; the rhymes are so obsessive! My favorite is Elizabeth Bishop’s One Art.”
MMW who won The Tudor Rose by Margaret Campbell Barnes. She said, “Sestinas are my favorite to read but def seem the hardest to write to me. Good luck to poets who make it seem so EASY and beautiful!!” Guatami of
BBAW 2010 winners for the Unexpected Treasures post and their respective wins are as follows:
Gautami of Everything Distils Into Reading won A Dangerous Affair by Caro Peacock. She said, “There are so many good bloggers, who have influenced my reading. I really can’t name a handful…”
Dovile won Short Girls by Bich Minh Nguyen. She said, “I’ve discovered Reading Teen blog this year, and Lauren Kate’s books with it!”
Jill of Rhapsody in Books won The Widow’s Season by Laura Brodie. She said, “I would have to say that I have read the most books because of the blogs of Sandy of You Gotta Read This! and Nymeth of Things Mean A Lot. When they *both* rave about a book, then I know for sure I’ll be knocked out by it too, and that was certainly the case with Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. But in truth, WAY over half of my reading selections now come from the recommendations of fellow bloggers. I just keep a notepad and pen in front of the computer!”
BBAW 2010 winners for the my start of BBAW post and their respective wins are as follows:
Mette J (Mysteriousrose) won the $10 Better World Books gift certificate. She said, “What a great site I love writing poems, heres what I got from the site:
The sun disappears
And a flock of birds
Crosses the pink sky”
Grace of Books Like Breathing won the $10 Amazon.com gift certificate. She said, “I’m terrible at poetry but here’s my try at it:
Nothings speedier than a cheetah,
In a rush it’d surely beat ya’,
As hard as you’d try
To make your feet fly
By the end of the race it’d eat Velveeta!”
Congrats to all the winners.
The long overdue announcement of winners for Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji (Click the book cover for Amazon.com’s synopsis or the title for my review) is here. In no particular order, the winners are:
J.T. Oldfield of Bibliofreak, who said, “I’d love to read this because I’ve read two books about Tehran this summer (Honeymoon in Tehran and Embroideries) and I guess I’m on a roll!”
Margie, who said, “I have heard many good things about this book. I enjoy books which give you a glimpse of another culture.”
Sandra Muniz, who said, “I would like to read this books because I haven’t read anything like this before and I want to. I read some reviews and it seems an interesting read =D”
The winners of C. Allyn Pierson’s Mr. Darcy’s Little Sister (click the cover for Amazon’s synopsis or click the title for my review) are:
Grace from Books Like Breathing, who said, “I first read Pride and Prejudice when I was a freshman in high school. It was a revelation. I quickly declared it my favorite book and, as soon as I was finished the first time, I read it again. Then I saw the Colin Firth version of P&P and it was all over. I was ruined for other books for a long time.”
Wanda who said, “I loved Pride & Prejudice from the first page onward. It was different from anything I’ve read before.”
Congrats to all the winners. There are more giveaways in the right sidebar in honor of BBAW, so enter today!
