So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

Thanks to Harper Collins Publishers and Brunonia Barry I have a SIGNED, yes I said signed hard cover edition of this wonderful book to giveaway to one lucky winner!

Please see my glowing review of this book HERE.

Here's the published description from the front flap:

Every gift has a price . . .

Every piece of lace has a secret . . .

My name is Towner Whitney. No, that's not exactly true. My real first name is Sophya. Never believe me. I lie all the time. . . .

Towner Whitney, the self-confessed unreliable narrator of The Lace Reader, hails from a family of Salem women who can read the future in the patterns in lace, and who have guarded a history of secrets going back generations, but the disappearance of two women brings Towner home to Salem and the truth about the death of her twin sister to light.

The Lace Reader is a mesmerizing tale that spirals into a world of secrets, confused identities, lies, and half-truths in which the reader quickly finds it's nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction, but as Towner Whitney points out early on in the novel, "There are no accidents."

Sorry, this Giveaway is only open to residents of the US and Canada. No PO Boxes please.

Here are the rules on how to enter:

1. For one entry, leave a comment. Please be sure to include either your blog URL or email address so that I can contact you if you win.

2. For a second entry, post about this giveaway on your blog and leave link to your blog post in the comments. You will also get an entry for each person who tells me that they learned about this giveaway from you.

3. For more entries: You will earn an extra entry for each comment you leave on my past, present, or future blog posts until the end of this giveaway.

4. The deadline to get your entries in is Wednesday November 12, 2008 12:00 Midnight E.S.T. Once I notify you that you've won, you will have 3 days to respond. After that, I will need to choose a different winner.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 5:19 PM 38 comments    

Labels: My Giveaways

Posted by Teddy Rose at 8:36 PM 14 comments    

Labels: Canada, Cheryl Kaye Tardif, Short Story Read in 2008

About the Book:
A suburban mom, her troubled daughter, divorced brothers, former child stars, born-again Christians, and some young millionaires have all been selected to compete on LOST AND FOUND, a daring new reality show. In pairs of two, they will race across the world to compete for a million-dollar prize. The only question is not only who will capture the big jackpot, but at what price.

Carolyn Parkhurst is also the author of the bestseller The Dogs of Babel.

About the Book:

Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:13 PM 25 comments    

Labels: My Giveaways

There are a lot of book giveaways in progress right now.

Diary of an Eccentric is giving one copy of Capote in Kansas by Kim Powers. Kim Powers also guest blogged there, so go check it out and enter here! There is also a giveaway for Lydia Bennet's Story by Jane Odiwe. There is a very good interview with Jane Odiwe as well. Enter here.

Alyce at At Home with Books has one copy of Nefertiti and 2 copies of The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran to give away. Enter here.

Dar at Peeking Between the Pages is also hosting a giveaway for Nefertiti and The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran. Enter here.

Amy at Passages to the Past is hosting a giveaway for To Hold the Crown by Jean Plaidy. Enter here.

Wendy at Musings of a Bookish Kitty is hosting a giveaway for The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff. There is a great interview with Mr. Ebershoff. Enter here.

Alisonwonderland at So Many Books, So Little Time is hosting a giveaway for The Spanish Box by Andromeda Romano-Lax. Enter here.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:29 PM 10 comments    

Labels: Giveaways Galore

Vivid and Beautiful

The year is 1954 and Kabuo Miyamoto a Japanese American fisherman is standing trial for murder in small town in Puget Sound Washington. Up until World War II, his family was growing strawberries and making payments towards owning the land they lived and worked on. With the onset so the war left for the land, they were sent away to a Japanese internment camp. After the war ended they came back to Puget Sound only to find the land that they had struggled for was sold.

The narrator of the story was the journalist covering the trial, Ishmael Chambers. As a child, he played with and later fell in love with Hatsue. When she was sent to the Japanese internment camp with her family, she sent Ishmael a "Dear John" letter. When she returned to Puget Sound, she was married to Kabuo Miyamoto.

Ishmael never stopped loving Hatsue and may be the only one to be able to uncover the truth and set Kabuo free. Will he let his feelings get in the way of doing the right thing? My lips are sealed.

This is a book of love, friendship, betrayal, honor, tradition, and racism. David’s Guterson’s characters ring true to me. His writing flows beautifully as he peels away the layers of the town and it’s inhabitants. This is a fast reading book that I didn’t want to put down. I highly recommend it!

4/5

Note to my fellow bloggers who also reviewed this book: If you would like me to link your review at the bottom of my review, please leave a comment with the link to your review.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:12 PM 16 comments    

Labels: Books Read 2008, David Guterson, Historical Fiction

Hoochie

Since this meme has been going around for such a long time, I am not going to tag anyone in particular. However, if you haven’t done this meme or want to do it again, consider yourself tagged.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 8:15 PM 10 comments    

Labels: Memes, Teddy's Fur Children

Father Padraic O’Casey will be 80 years old next month. He would like to retire, but the higher ups refuse to let him. They don’t want make someone else take over a diminished parish.

Recently, the church crucifix has gone missing off of its hanging place and shown up in different and unusual places around the church. Is someone playing tricks? That’s what the church thinks. However more and more parishioners are coming back to church, looking for a miracle. Things spiral out of control as more and more people show up and the media get involved.

When I first heard about this story, I couldn’t help but think about the toast with the resemblance of Jesus that turned up on Ebay. Bids were in the thousands of dollars. That is a true story and it seems to me that this one pokes a bit of fun at it.

Aitchison writes with a thought provoking sense of humor that pokes a little fun at all sides. With his little twist of an ending he had me laughing out loud. Aitchison at the same time writes in a respectful manner that won't offend.

4/5

Note: If you would like to read this short story, it is only available on Amazon.com, for 49 cents. However, Aitchison does offer a free download of one featured short story per month on his website. Here is the link.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 11:04 PM 7 comments    

Labels: Barry Aitchison, Short Story Read in 2008

MizB is hosting the 2009 READ & REVIEW CHALLENGE.

Since I make a effort to review every book I read, this challenge is perfect for me.

Here's how the challenge works:

For the 2009 READ & REVIEW CHALLENGE, you need to:
* review each book you read between January 1st and December 31st, 2009

* PLEASE keep your reviews clean & respectful ~ these books we read are the hard work of an author, and we don’t need to be mean. Even if you didn’t like the book, please try to find something you can say that would be encouraging to the author.

Reviews can be as short, or long, as you wish

You MAY overlap with other challenges

eBooks and Audiobooks ARE allowed.

If there will be spoilers in your review, please note this in the subject line of your post so that those who don’t want to read them can skip that review. Thank you.

If you would like to join this challenge as well, click on the link HERE.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:22 PM 4 comments    

Labels: 2009 CHALLENGES

Fashionista Piranha having this awesome book giveaway.

Here's what she says about it:
I am a sucker for good historical fiction (perhaps you have noticed?) and I am especially fond of historical fiction centering around kings and queens. The intrigues of royalty fascinates me, and besides, all the princesses always have the nicest, jewel-encrusted dresses! I haven't done a big contest in a while, so it's time for another extravaganza - for every fifty entries I receive, another book will be added to the lot. There will be multiple winners in a random drawing, and each winner gets to pick one item from the following:

Everyone knows that I am a sucker for good historical fiction too! So, I had to get in on this.

Click here to find out details and how to enter.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:28 PM 4 comments    

Labels: giveaways

Julie from Booking Mama is hosting this book giveaway. To enter, click on the link.

Below is a description of the book.

Summary: Product description from Amazon:
Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life. Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 7:16 PM 0 comments    

Labels: giveaways

Shana at Literarily is hosting this book giveaway.
To enter, click on the link.
Below is a description of the book, but be sure to stop by at Literarily to read Shana's wonderful review:

The Lost Diary of Don Juan by Douglas Carlton Abrams

Length: 336 pages
Publication date: July 1, 2008
Publisher: Washington Square Press
ISBN-10: 1416532528
ISBN-13: 978-1416532521

Summary: Product description from Amazon: It was a time of discovery and decadence, when life became a gamble and the gold that poured endlessly into the port of Sevilla devalued money, marriage, and love itself. In the midst of these treacherous times, Juan Tenorio is born and then abandoned in the barn of a convent. Raised secretly by the nuns, he learns to love and worship all women and wants nothing more than to be a priest, until he falls in love with one of the sisters. When their affair is discovered, Juan leaves the Church forever. He is soon recruited to be a spy by the powerful Marquis de la Mota, who teaches him to become the world's greatest libertine and seducer of women. But when he crosses swords with the most powerful man in the Empire, Don Juan must escape the murderous fury of the Inquisitor who battles all forms of debauchery, deviance, and heresy.

It is after knowing countless women that he is convinced by the Marquis to keep a diary, and it is here within its pages that Don Juan reveals his greatest adventures and the Arts of Passion he mastered. But what finally compels him to confess everything and risk losing his life, livelihood, and honor is the most perilous adventure of all -- the irresistible fall into the madness of love with the only woman who could ever make him forget all others.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 6:51 PM 0 comments    

Labels: giveaways

Dominican Family Saga

Posted by Teddy Rose at 2:23 PM 14 comments    

Labels: Books Read 2008, Dominican, Junot diaz

Creative and Deeply Touching

Posted by Teddy Rose at 7:18 PM 23 comments    

Labels: Animals, Books Read 2008