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Lady Susan by Jane Austen

Lady Susan by Jane Austen is a short novel written in the form of letters until the conclusion where the author takes over.  Lady Susan is the widow of Mr. Vernon’s brother, and she has a daughter named, Frederica, whom Lady Susan believes needs more schooling and is better off in the care of others.  Lady Susan has a rather sultry reputation in society as a woman who flirts relentlessly and may even take it too far for polite society.

“She is really excessively pretty.  However you may choose to question the allurements of a lady no longer young, I must for my own part declare that I have seldom seen so lovely a woman as Lady Susan.”  (page 49)

What is truth and what is fiction about Lady Susan is tough to discern as each character’s opinion of her becomes more fluid, changing as new situations and information come to light.  She comes to live with her brother-in-law and his wife, Catherine, whom she tried to prevent from marrying her husband’s brother.  Once in Churchill, she meets Catherine’s brother Reginald, who already has a negative opinion of her, and she takes on the challenge of changing his mind, though to outsiders it looks as though she is flirting and making romantic inroads with him.  Enter Frederica, and her “lover” Sir James Martin.  The stage is set for great drama and entanglements.

“Her behavior to him, independent of her general character, has been so inexcusably artful and ungenerous since out marriage was first in agitation, that no one less amiable and mild than himself could have overlooked it at all; and though as his brother’s widow and in narrow circumstances it was proper to render her pecuniary assistance, I cannot help thinking his pressing invitation to her to visit us at Churchill perfectly unnecessary.”  (page 46)

Unlike Austen’s other novels and unfinished pieces, Lady Susan is not the typical heroine because she lives on the outskirts of society and enjoys herself in many ways.  She’s conniving in her machinations to find a match for her daughter, convince others of her propriety and social graces, and rightness of her decisions.  She is not a character that many readers will like or even come to like, but Austen seems to be using her negative personality traits to illustrate the machinations that are often done behind the scenes in Regency society as mothers seek husbands for their daughters and widows seeks to find another husband at an advanced age.

Overall, Lady Susan is an ambitious short novel that attempts to tackle society from a different angle.  Rather than place the young ladies eligible for husbands at the center of a (sort-of) conceit in which Lady Susan is the opposite of well-mannered society women and the men in her life are not in control of the situation nor their emotions.  Austen has tackled another difficult aspect of Regency society.

***I’ve wanted to read this novel since Anna embarked on her journey to read all of Austen’s works.***

This is my 2nd book for the 2011 Wish I’d Read That Challenge.

Interested in my other reviews of Austen’s unfinished novels, check out The Watsons and Sanditon.

Sanditon by Jane Austen

Sanditon, another unfinished novel and the last that she was working on before her death, by Jane Austen begins with the Parkers in search of a surgeon to bring back to the seaside town of Sanditon from Willingden to care for the sick tourists and travelers seeking the medicinal attributes of the small town.  Unfortunately, the Parkers’ carriage runs into rough roads in a different Wilingden without a physician and it overturns.  Mr. Parker ends up with a sprained ankle and the adventure begins.

Meeting these characters initially, readers will find Mrs. Parker of few words and Mr. Parker very vocal about his town and his life.  Parker in many ways is similar to Mr. Collins in how he pontificates about Mrs. Denham, the town’s patroness.  Despite an invitation to the Heywoods to spend time in Sanditon, the Parkers had to be content to take one of the daughters, Charlotte.  On the way home, Mr. Parker tells Charlotte about Mrs. Denham and the rest of Sanditon.

“‘There is at times’ said he — ‘a little self-importance — but it is not offensive; — and there are moments, there are points, when her love of money is carried greatly too far.  But she is a goodnatured woman, a very goodnatured woman, — a very obliging, friendly neighbour; a cheerful, independent, valuable character.  — and her faults may be entirely imputed to her want of education.”  (page 166)

Parker believes the sea waters will cure all ills and make sure everyone is healthy, even those who claim to be healthy already.  The introduction describes the outrageous nature of Austen’s hypochondriacs in this novel and attributes the characterizations to her need to lighten her burdens since she had been ailing for about a year before her death.  Whether true or just speculation is hard to say, but it is clear that Austen’s experiences in Bath and with the healing waters got her thinking about her own society and its dependence on these waters to cure their ills.

As the novel progresses, readers will find that Austen has ventured into territory that she is not as familiar with, in that Charlotte Heywood becomes a narrating commentator on this new society in Sanditon.  Readers will enjoy the fresh look at society and their tendency to become ill and recover miraculously when they are needed.  Austen clearly had begun branching out beyond simply highlighting the societal hypocrisy among courtship rituals to discuss other topics like charity to those less fortunate and generating a prosperous town without commercializing it too much.

Overall, Sanditon by Jane Austen may be unfinished, but well worth reading to see how Austen’s work had grown and was about to flourish further.  It is not quite clear who the hero of the novel would have been — although it could be speculated that Uncle Sydney Parker is the hero.  It is clearly not Sir Edward, and the heroine could be Charlotte, though readers’ connection to her because of her observer status and her plight is not all that strong and could signal that Austen had another heroine in mind.  Readers will have fun visiting this seaside resort and its quirky characters, as well as fun speculating where Austen was heading with this story.

The Watsons by Jane Austen

The Watsons by Jane Austen is an unfinished novel, but encompasses many elements from her finished novels, such as Emma and Sense & Sensibility.  Elizabeth and Emma Watson hail from a poorer family than the Osborne or the Edwards families.  Emma had been living with an aunt for many years, only to return home to a sickly father and a devoted sister, Elizabeth, who has not married despite her advanced age to care for their father.  The story begins with Elizabeth escorting herself to the Edwards’ home before the ball.

“‘I am sorry for her anxieties,’ said Emma, ‘ — but I do not like her plans or her opinions.  I shall be afraid of her.  — She must have too masculine and a bold temper.  — To be so bent on marriage — to pursue a man merely for the sake of situation — is a sort of thing that shocks me; I cannot understand it.  . . . ‘” (page 110)

Again we see Jane Austen’s insistence that marriage for wealth or improved situation are appalling, yet often done in society.  Emma is a bit more outspoken than Elizabeth Bennet, while Elizabeth has a sense of duty to the family, much like Elinore in Sense & Sensibility.  The sickly father is reminiscent of the father in Emma.  In may ways, The Watsons seems to be a starting point for many of Austen’s novels or at least an earlier work that inspired her to keep writing.

Although unfinished, readers can clearly see where the story would have gone eventually given the sickly nature of Emma and Elizabeth’s father.  One of the most interesting parts of the work are the relationship or lack there of that Emma has with her other brothers and sisters.  The love interests in the novel range from a self-indulgent, young man to an older Lord who knows his place in society and believes women should just fall for him instantly no matter how distant and self-indulgent he is.  Of course, there also is the quiet preacher who has caught the eye of a wealthy woman, but has a silent adoration for another.

The Watsons, like Austen’s other completed novels, has a depth that may be missed upon first reading, but her characters remain enduring and witty.  Gossip is prevalent in many of her novels, but the Watsons provides a great deal of snide remarks and backhanded comments.  Another enjoyable Austen read.

**Thanks to Anna for letting me borrow her copy so I could finish the Jane Austen Challenge.  I’ll probably be reading the other two novels in the new year.***

This is my 14th and final book for the Jane Austen Challenge 2010.  I’ve officially completed my 9th challenge.


This is my 10th book for the Everything Austen II Challenge.

A Vampire Is Coming to Dinner! 10 Rules to Follow by Pamela Jane, Illustrated by Pedro Rodriguez

Pamela Jane‘s A Vampire Is Coming to Dinner! 10 Rules to Follow is a picture book for ages three to eight and is brightly illustrated by Pedro Rodriguez.

The images and text teeter between light and dark, balanced enough to engage young readers and keep them on their toes.  The pranks the young boy comes up with to keep the vampire guessing are hilarious and just something a young kid would come up with.

The only drawback for some younger readers is the design of the book in which the flaps would be hard for their uncoordinated hands to open without ripping.  The book has a final surprise for kids that will have them smiling.  A Vampire Is Coming to Dinner! 10 Rules to Follow is a hard bound children’s book with bright images, fun pranks, and rules that are familiar and new where vampires are concerned.  Kids will enjoy the book, and parents can have fun reading it with their children.

About the Author:

Pamela Jane is the author of twenty-six books for children, including Noelle of the Nutcracker illustrated by Jan Brett (Houghton Mifflin) which has been optioned for a film, and the “Winky Blue” and “Milo” series published by Mondo. Her new book, A Vampire is Coming to Dinner! 10 Rules to Follow, illustrated by Pedro Rodriquez, has just been released (Price Stern Sloan, a division of Penguin Books for Young Readers).

To check out the rest of the tour stops, click the link.

***Thanks to the author and TLC Book Tours for sending a review copy of this book.***

This is my 48th book for the 2010 New Authors Reading Challenge.

How to Be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway

Margaret Dilloway‘s How to Be an American Housewife is reminiscent of Amy Tan and Lisa See’s fiction in that the main characters are of Asian descent and struggle with cultural differences and generational gaps that hamper their ability to relate with one another smoothly.

“After the first hour watching scratchy TV in the blood lab, I wished I had a book with me.  Charlie and I weren’t big readers.  Books were too expensive and library books were full of germs from all the people who had checked them out.”  (page 123 of ARC)

Shoko is a Japanese woman who marries an American soldier, Charlie, shortly after the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.  She tells her story of how she moved from a happy childhood to a tumultuous adolescence at a time when her nation was occupied by a foreign invader and her family had lost its position in the caste society.  She’s an independent woman still beholden to Japanese traditions, though she takes time out to find true love.

“I understood then that my skills in school or in sports would not make my life come about in the way I wished.  I took my bows at that recital, vowing I would learn what I needed and make the best marriage possible.”  (page 6 of ARC)

Her trip down memory lane, unfortunately, is a bit stilted with little emotion, which could make it harder for readers to connect with Shoko.  However, once readers are engaged with Shoko’s struggles as an American housewife as she adapts to different cultural norms and strives to raise her children properly.  Mike and Suiko, her children, are as different as night and day, with Mike floating through life and Suiko taking her responsibilities to heart even to the detriment of her own dreams.  Shoko’s relationship with her children is strained, but she must soon learn to rely on them when she tries to reunite with her estranged brother, Taro.

Dilloway’s novel is captivating as Shoko continues to tell her story and when her daughter, Sue takes over the narration when she heads to Japan to learn about her family’s past and reconcile her family after many decades of silence.  As a debut, it is solid in drawing dynamic characters and creating fun dialogue between Shoko and Charlie and between Sue and Helena, Shoko’s granddaughter.  Three generations populate these pages, but really How to Be an American Housewife is a story about the strong, independent women in this family.

About the Author:

Margaret Dilloway was inspired by her Japanese mother’s experiences when she wrote this novel, and especially by a book her father had given to her mother called The American Way of Housekeeping. She lives in Hawaii with her husband and three young children.

Please follow her on Twitter, check out her blog, and view the reading group guide for her debut novel.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours, Penguin, and Margaret Dilloway for sending me a copy of How to Be an American Housewife for review.

This is my 40th book for the 2010 New Authors Reading Challenge.

Paco’s Story by Larry Heinemann

Paco’s Story by Larry Heinemann chronicles the war experiences of Paco, the only surviving soldier of the Fire Base Harriette massacre from Alpha Company.  The narrative is unusual in that Paco does not tell his own story of his survival or his recovery and ultimate return to the United States from the Vietnam War.  Though readers get to know Paco through the eyes of others and his nightmares, Paco is a vivid and lost character in search of peace.

“Paco is in constant motion, trying to get settled and comfortable with that nagging, warm tingling in his legs and hips.”  (Page 35)

Heinemann’s language is raw, scraping down to the guts and bones in his readers, making them cringe, turn away, and stand agape.  A number of readers may find the graphic scenes in this novel to be too much, but what makes them uncomfortable are the realities of war and the breakdown of humanity.  Paco struggles not only with why he was the only survivor, but how to assimilate himself back into a society he no longer recognizes once stateside.

“(A body never gets used to humping, James.  When the word comes, you saddle your rucksack on your back, take a deep breath and set your jaw good and tight, then lean a little forward, as though you’re walking into a stiff and blunt nor’easter, and begin by putting one foot in front of the other.  . . .”  (Page 9)

Paco is an enigma, which is typical of most returning soldiers from the Vietnam War.  “The intricate ironwork–the tension beams and torsion beams and, overhead, trellis-looking crossbeams–is delicate and well made” (Page 66-7) is an image that will stick with readers as they wonder about Paco and his ability to return from the land of ghosts and emerge from the memories that haunt him.

“And he’s just a man like the rest of us, James, who wants to fuck away all that pain and redeem his body.”  (Page 173)

Heinemann is a brilliant writer, meshing the surreal with the reality of Paco’s life as a dishwasher in the Texas Lunch of Boone, Texas.  Ghosts that push Paco to remember, veterans that tell their own stories, and the looks of townsfolk as he hobbles to and from work all serve to keep Paco entrenched in the jungle with the events that took his innocence and his life.  Paco’s Story is an every soldier story in the way it depicts the horrors of war and the impact of those events on the psyche of those soldiers.

If you’ve missed the read-a-long discussion, please check out my answers to the discussion questions for sections 1, 2, and 3.

This is my 8th book for the 2010 Vietnam War Reading Challenge.

Free to a Good Home by Eve Marie Mont

Eve Marie Mont‘s Free to a Good Home is a delightful read about Noelle Ryan whose husband, Jay, has finally told her his deepest secret — he’s gay — effectively obliterating her dream and forcing her to reassess her life.  Noelle has a successful, if stressful, career as a veterinary technician, but she occupies most of her time with her family and the dogs at the shelter, rather than coping with her own problems.  She’d rather solve everyone else’s problems and be the good person that everyone leans on when they need consoling or help.

“‘Sure,’ I say, handing him my cup.  He’s cute.  Messy brown hair, crinkly eyes, and that sexy clenched jaw thing.  Too cute.  A turn-your-brain-to-clotted-cream cute.”  (page 32)

Noelle is passionate about saving animals and finding them homes, but she’s also passionate about helping people, including her WASP ex-mother-in-law, Margaret, who made her marriage miserable. However, what will get to readers is how much of a doormat Noelle is when it comes to Jay; he asks her to do many unthinkable favors including taking care of his mother.  Many readers will want to scream at this character and beat her back to her senses.  While Jay is not a bad guy per se, he crosses the line in his relationship with Noelle, which effectively prevents her from moving on with her life even after she meets a gorgeous musician named Jasper.

“‘Luxwood Victorian Gardens.’

‘They make it sound so pleasant.  Like you’re staying in some luxurious estate, Blithewold Mansion for the physically impaired.’

‘Well, they have to do that to get people in the door.  They can’t very well call the place Let-Us-Steal-Your Independence Gardens.’

‘Feed-Us-Flavorless-Food-Courtyard.’

‘Watch-Jeopardy-Until-You-Die-Village.'”  (page 193)

However, Mont’s writing is engaging and dramatic and even humorous.  If you love animals and a bit of romance in your summer reading with a good dose of drama, Free to a Good Home will fit your needs.

About the Author:

Eve Mont lives with her husband, Ken, and her shelter dog, Maggie, in suburban Philadelphia, where she teaches high school English and creative writing. Free to a Good Home is her first novel, which was released on  July 6, 2010. She is currently working on her second novel.

http://www.literaryescapism.com/new-author-challenge10

This is my 37th book for the 2010 New Authors Reading Challenge.

Paco’s Story Readalong Week 2

This is week 2 of the Paco’s Story read-a-long, and the second set of  discussion questions were posted on Wednesday, July 14 for Chapters 3 and 4.

If you missed the first round of questions, check them out.  You also can check out my previous post for section 1.

Like the other chapters, readers only see Paco through the eyes of other characters or the unknown/ghost narrator.  We learn that Paco is on medication to keep the pain away, but how much medication would it take to keep the images of war out of your mind?

One of the most memorable passages for me is in Chapter 3:  “He [Paco] is not really asleep, hunched as awkwardly as he is, but mighty groggy from the several additional doses of medication — muscle relaxers and anti-depressants — to the point of a near-helpless stupor.  . . . Paco is in constant motion . . . ” (Page 35)

As readers move through these next two chapters we see Paco move from location to location — from the bar to the diner to the antique store to the barbershop –but in a way, he’s motionless as he sits and listens to each person or people he meets — silent.  Paco is a dichotomy in this way, and it makes him an enigma.

The narrator continues to demonstrate the reactions to Paco the war veteran and we learn a bit more about his recovery, but do we get to know Paco?  Should this story be told by Paco?  Readers may like to understand his inner thoughts, but I wonder if he thinks much beyond the moment.  He seems focused on finding a job and a place to stay, but not much else.

Even if you aren’t participating in the Vietnam War Reading Challenge, we hope that you will join us for the Paco’s Story read-a-long.  Until next week.

Paco’s Story Readalong Week 1

This is week 1 of the Paco’s Story read-a-long, and the first discussion questions were posted on Wednesday, July 7 for Chapters 1 and 2.

Paco’s Story is about the soul survivor of the Fire Base Harriette massacre where Alpha Company was obliterated.  Heinemann’s writing is raw and honest, and in the first Chapters we’re introduced to Paco through an unnamed narrator, who could be the ghost of a soldier killed in action during the massacre.  Readers learn that Paco is the soul survivor from Alpha Company, and his survival had a serious impact on a medic who until he met Paco had failed to save many soldiers injured in the Vietnam War.

The unnamed narrator is brutal in his honesty about Paco’s injuries and the devastation suffered by soldiers in the field.  He wants to tell his story, Paco’s story, even if people are unprepared to hear it or don’t want to hear it at all.  This is a story that must be told.  I wonder if that is how Heinemann felt while he was writing this novel — did he believe that this story was his calling, something he had to tell.

Even if you aren’t participating in the Vietnam War Reading Challenge, we hope that you will join us for the Paco’s Story read-a-long.  Until next week.

Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

Charlaine Harris‘s Dead to the World is the fourth book in the Sookie Stackhouse southern vampire mystery series, a series that gets better and better.  Sookie faces more obstacles in this novel, but mostly because there are new enemies in town — witches — and her brother has disappeared.  These witches are stronger than the local Wiccans because they are shifters, possibly Weres, and drink vampire blood, which only makes them stronger.

Harris carefully weaves in the main plot and the subplot, while peppering her prose with ethical and emotional complications.  All the while, readers are immersed in backwoods and old world atmosphere of Bon Temps.  The dialogue between the characters is full of humor, and readers will enjoy the author’s sense of fun with shape shifters like Debbie Pelt whose names resemble their two-natured state.

Bill, her former boyfriend and intimate vampire, has left town for Peru, leaving her to mull over their past relationship.  Wallowing a bit in self pity, Sookie soon finds a a half-naked man by the side of the road, and it is none other than Eric, but he’s not so much the Eric she knows.  Their tentative friendship blossoms, but only in a surface kind of way.

Will Sookie find her brother?  Will the vampires and the shape-shifters save Bon Temps and Shreveport from the more powerful intruders?  You’ll have to read Dead to the World to find out.  Looking for a great summer read to kick back in the lounger with, Charlaine Harris is your author.

This is book four out of 10.

This is my 3rd book for the 2010 Vampire Series Challenge.

Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

Charlaine Harris‘s Club Dead is the third book in the southern vampire series, which I’m reading for the Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge and the Vampire Series Reading Challenge that I’m incredibly behind on.  In this installment, Sookie’s new boyfriend/vampire Bill has become distant and has informed her that he will be taking a “business” trip to Seattle to complete a project for the Queen of Louisiana.  Unfortunately, Sookie soon finds out that after Bill leaves town that her boyfriend’s project places her in the cross hairs of the vampire kingdoms.

“Mama and Daddy died nearly twenty years before vampires had appeared on network television to announce the fact that they were actually present among us, an announcement that had followed on the Japanese development of synthetic blood that actually maintained a vampire’s life without the necessity of drinking from humans.”  (Page 4-5)

Thrown into a new mystery that leads her to Mississippi and a whole new set of vampires with their werewolf and were-animal minions, Sookie has to navigate not only her mixed feelings about Bill and his distance from her, but also the inner politics of the vampire kingdoms.  Harris does an incredible job of weaving in the Southern charm and manners that many readers enjoy in southern fiction with the darker side of vampires and all things supernatural.

“I have never seen one before, but the word ‘goblin’ popped into my mind as if I had a supernatural dictionary printed on the inside of my eyeballs.”  (Page 94)

“‘Bill,’ I said coldly.  Something was Up, with a capital U.  And it wasn’t Bill’s libido.  (Libido had just been on my Word-A-Day calendar.)”  (Page 3)

Club Dead will take readers into the exclusive vampire clubs where humans are merely accessories and into the compounds that resemble the cults on television that are raided by the FBI.  Looking for a fun, suspenseful summer read, check out Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse books.

I purchased my copy of Club Dead.

This is the 3rd book I’ve read for the Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge.

This is my 2nd book for the 2010 Vampire Series Challenge.

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

Beth Hoffman‘s debut novel, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, has become a New York Times bestseller, and what a debut it is.  Her novel is a prime example of what’s great about southern fiction from the enveloping summer heat of Georgia to the fragrant aroma of orchids and other flowers.  CeeCee Honeycutt is a young girl living in Ohio mainly with her mother as her father travels weekly for his job, but she’s got more worries than just school and peer pressure — her mother is slowly losing her grip.

“‘Oysters are a lot like women.  It’s how we survive the hurts in life that brings us strength and gives us our beauty.’  She fell silent for a moment and gazed out the window.  ‘They say there’s no such thing as a perfect pearl — that nothing from nature can ever be truly perfect.'”  (page 255)

Eventually, CeeCee comes to live with her great aunt Tallulah “Tootie” Caldwell, who is a busy society woman interested in preserving the historical structures in Savannah.  In many ways the restoration of these homes resembles the rebuilding CeeCee must accomplish after her life is irrevocably altered.  At the young age of 12, CeeCee must contend with tragedy, being an outcast, the confusing emotions about her parents, and fitting in with a society that is foreign to her.

“Momma left her red satin shoes in the middle of the road.  That’s what three eyewitnesses told the police.”  (Page 1)

Hoffman creates dynamic characters in CeeCee, Mrs. Odell, Oletta, and Tootie, but she also has crafted a supporting cast of eccentric older women who are neighbors and have their own problems and tensions with one another.  Picture large hats, garden parties, and soirees, and you’ll be transported in CeeCee’s Georgia, away from her hometown in Ohio.

“The bedsheets were damp with humidity and sleep, and from the pillowcase I detected a familiar scent:  it was just like the lavender sachets Mrs. Odell made every year as Christmas gifts.  I rubbed my eyes and tried to sit up, but I was nestled deep in the feather bed, like a baby bird in a nest.”  (page 57)

“Though she’d long since passed the zenith of youth, unmistakable remnants of a mysterious beauty oozed from the pores of her porcelain-white skin.  Swirling around her ankles, as light as smoke and the color of midnight, was a silk caftan splashed with bits of silver glitter.”  (page 81)

Readers will be absorbed in CeeCee’s evolution from young, responsible woman caring for her mother to a mischievous child lashing out and back to a young lady becoming content in her own skin.  Hoffman does an excellent job of painting Georgia and its traditional society in a nostalgic hue that enables readers to grasp that CeeCee is remembering this period of her life fondly and with greater clarity than she probably did as a child.  Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is captivating debut novel and coming-of-age story about a young lady who has lost her way, only to find a new chapter has begun.

About the Author:

Beth Hoffman was the president and owner of a major interior design studio in Cincinnati, Ohio, before turning to writing full time. She lives with her husband and two cats in a quaint historic district in Newport, Kentucky. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is her first novel.

Thanks to Penguin and Inkwell Management for sending me a free copy of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt for review.

Check out the other tour stops:

5/17 & 5/18 – Devourer of Books

5/19 & 5/20 – Diary of an Eccentric

5/21 – Savvy Verse & Wit

5/22 – Medieval Bookworm

5/23 – lit*chick

5/24 – A Novel Menagerie

5/25 – The Tome Traveller’s Weblog

5/26 – Peeking Between the Pages

5/27 – Steph Su Reads

5/28 – Galleysmith

5/29 – The Literate Housewife Review

Giveaway details — three copies for US/Canada readers and one copy for an international reader:

1.  Leave a comment about why you want to read this book; don’t forget to let me know if you are living outside the United States or Canada.

2.  Leave a comment on the guest post.

3.  Blog, Tweet, Facebook, or otherwise spread the word about the giveaway and leave a comment on this post.

4.  Become a Facebook fan of the blog and leave a comment.

Deadline is June 2, 2010, at 11:59 PM EST.

This is my 33rd book for the 2010 New Authors Challenge.