Sunday, June 26, 2011

Winner: The Beauty Chorus by Kate Lord Brown

Thanks again to Devon Pool of McArthur and Company for making this giveaway possible!

The winner is: 
Judy (disqualified)
PoCoKat

Congratulations!  Please respond to the email I sent you within two days to claim your book.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:28 PM 1 comments  

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Winners: Ripe For Pleasure by Isobel Carr

Thanks again to Brianne Beers of  Hachette Book Group for making this giveaway possible!  I am so sorry for the delay in picking winners, my life has been crazy busy lately.  Thanks to everyone who entered!

The Winners are:
Meredith (already won)
Maria (already won)
Winnie (already won)
Bethie 
Judy H. 
Cozy in Texas

Congratulations!  Please respond to the email I sent you within 2 days to claim your book.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:17 PM 1 comments  

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Monday, June 20, 2011

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday now has it's very own blog, Mailbox Monday.  It is also on tour and is being hosted by Bluestocking in June.

I received the following books in my mailbox  last week:

Thanks to Sourcebook for the galley.

 Thanks to Little Brown and Company for the galley.










I received the following books in my in-box last week:

I purchased this eBook.  Sourcebooks had another awesome sale!
 Another purchase from Sourcebook's awesome sale.
 Another purchase from Sourcebooks Awesome sale.
 Thanks to Lerner Books and Net Galley for this eGalley.
 I met the author, Linda Urbach at the BEA and she sent me the PDF for this book. I am very excited about this book!
 Thanks to Hachette Books and Net Galley for the eGalley.


 Thanks to Penguin Group and Net Galley for the eGalley of this book.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 4:49 PM 18 comments  

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Sunday, June 19, 2011

Trading Stories: Notes from an apprenticeship by Jhumpa Lahiri

The author, at around the age of three, with her parents, Amar and Tapati, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, circa 1970.
I just adore Jhumpa Lahiri for her short stories and her novel, The Namesake.  So, when I ran across an essay written by her in The New Yorker, I had to read it.  Yes, technically it's not a short story but it is by a short story author about her childhood.
"I had almost no books to call my own. I remember coveting and eventually being permitted to own a book for the first time. I was five or six"
Jhumpa Lahiri's was born in the United States and claims that her parents never read to her as a child.  However, on her first trip to India, with her parents, her grandfather told her stories and use to even lengthen her bed time because she hadn't wanted his stories to end.

Her first language was Bengali but the books that she read were in English.
"and their subjects were, for the most part, either English or American lives. I was aware of a feeling of trespassing. I was aware that I did not belong to the worlds I was reading about: that my family’s life was different, that different food graced our table, that different holidays were celebrated, that my family cared and fretted about different things.  For me, the act of reading was one of discovery in the most basic sense—the discovery of a culture that was foreign to my parents. I began to defy them in this way, and to understand, from books, certain things that they didn’t know."
When she was in school and started making friends, she started writing stories as a way to conect with her peers.  In 5th grade, she won a prize for her story, The Adventures of a Weighing Scale.

After she graduated college, she moved to Boston where she worked in a book store.  She became close friends with a co-worker, who happened to be the daughter of the poet Bill Corbett.  She started visiting the Corbetts' frequently and she soon gained inspiration to be a writer.

I really enjoyed reading about Jhumpa Lahiri's childhood and how she became a writer.  This essay is only four pages long and highly recommended.  You can read it here.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 11:03 PM 5 comments  

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Friday, June 17, 2011

Review and Giveaway: Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye

I posted the following review back in October, 2010.  In celebration of Safe From the Sea coming out in paperback in September, 2011, I am posting it again.  Also, thanks to Caitin Hamilton Summie of Unbridled Books, I am giving away a copy to one lucky winner.  This was my top 10 list of favorite books of 2010 and I want to share it with you!

My Review: 

After Noah's father, Olaf phones him with a plea to come help him, Noah tells his wife Natalie that he has to go. Since Noah hasn't seen Olaf since his wedding, many years ago and is estranged from his father, Natalie isn't supportive at first. After all, she is just about to ovulate and the wind for trying to become pregnant is narrowing.

Noah and Natalie live in Boston but Noah does make the trip to his father's home at Misquah, Minnesota, on Lake Superior. As soon as he arrives and sees his father, he knows he did the right thing. Noah want to take Olaf to the hospital to see a doctor but Olaf refuses. It doesn't take a doctor to see that something is wrong with Olaf.

Since Olaf doesn't have a phone, Noah drives into town to phone his sister , Solveig. She said that she would make it there as soon as she can. He also phones Natalie. Just as she was about to hang up, she told Noah that she is coming out to his father's.

Mean while, back at Olaf's house, Noah gets reacquainted with his father. They talk about his mother and why Olaf didn't rush back from a shipping job to see her before she died. Noah was just a child at the time and always resented Olaf for that. Then Olaf confided in Noah as to what really happened back in 1967, on the Ragnarøk. The ship that Olaf worked on. Olaf was one of the three men who survived the sinking.

"the crew of the ill-fated superior steel ship ss Ragnarøk, march 1967."

Olaf still carried guilt all these years later for surviving. It's the reason he drank all those years ago, though he did quit drinking a few years ago.

Noah and Olaf tried to make up for lost time with the short time they have together.

Safe From the Sea grabbed me from the start and will stick with me. It is a finely crafted character driven saga. Sure there have been stories done about father and son relationships before, but not like this. Peter Geye captures the relationship as well as the beautiful Lake Superior landscape with pitch perfect ease. In my opinion, it is a must read!

5/5
The Giveaway: 
To Enter:
Leave a comment with your email address, so I can contact you if you win.

Extra Entries:  (please leave a separate comment for each, for instance you you are a follower, leave 3 comments that you are a follower).

+3 Old or new follower of this blog.
+3 Old or new follower on Twitter (@teddyrose1).
+2 Tweet about this Giveaway (Up to 1 time per day) 
+3 Be my friend on Facebook (Teddy Rose).
+3 "Like" the post about this giveaway on Facebook
+3 Be my friend on Goodreads (Teddy).
+3 for Joining my Books Won Reading Challenge (be sure to follow the rules and then let me know you joined here.)
+5 for following my Premier Virtual Author Book Tours
+5 for filling out the  Tour Host Interest Form (please do this if you have a book blog and you are serious about wanting to be a tour host)
+3 for each comment on a book review I have done. (Be sure to tell me which ones).
+1 for clicking to give free food at The Animal Rescue Site (tell me you did it).( Up to 1 time per day)
+1 for clicking to give free books at The Literacy Site (tell me you did it). ( Up to 1 time per day)

That's 31 or more possible entries!
Sorry, the giveaway is only open US  and Canadian residents only.
The winner’s mailing address: NO P.O.Boxes.
Only one entry per household/IP address
 
Winners will be subject to the one copy per household rule, which means that if you win the same title in two or more contests, you will receive only one copy of the book.

This giveaway will end on Friday July 1,11:59 P.M. E.S.T. The winners will be notified by email. Winners must respond within TWO days or will be disqualified.



Posted by Teddy Rose at 5:14 PM 35 comments  

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Giveaway: Bride Flight by Marieke van der Pol

Thanks to Music Box Films, I am giving away 3 copies of Bride Flight by Marieke van der Pol, to my U.S. readers.  This is to celebrate the release of the motion picture, Bride Flight, this month. 

http://www.facebook.com/brideflight


Directed by Ben Sombogaart. Stars Waldemar Torenstra, Karina Smulders, Anna Drijver, Elise Schaap, Rutger Hauer, Pleuni Touw.


Book Description:

Based on a true story, this evocative period piece is filled with chance meetings, pioneering women, and sparkling romance

It is 1953, and the last great transcontinental air race from London to Christchurch is about to begin; but even before the plane has left the runway, it has already become famous as the "bride flight." Of its 60 emigrating passengers, many are brides-to-be flying out to join their fiancés on the other side of the world. Among them are Ada, Marjorie, and Esther, each of them with their own reasons for wanting to leave behind the hardships of post-war life at home and their own pasts. During the trip they meet Frank, a charismatic bachelor, who will come to have a dramatic influence on their lives and who exerts a continued hold over each of the women as they follow their very different paths in New Zealand. It is only when they meet again, years later, at Frank's funeral, that the three women—now "brides in black"—get to hear each other's stories for the first time and realize just how closely their lives have been bound together by what happened on the bride flight.

To Enter:
Leave a comment with your email address, so I can contact you if you win.

Extra Entries:  (please leave a separate comment for each, for instance you you are a follower, leave 3 comments that you are a follower).

+3 Old or new follower of this blog.
+3 Old or new follower on Twitter (@teddyrose1).
+2 Tweet about this Giveaway (Up to 1 time per day) 
+3 Be my friend on Facebook (Teddy Rose).
+3 "Like" the post about this giveaway on Facebook
+3 Be my friend on Goodreads (Teddy).
+3 for Joining my Books Won Reading Challenge (be sure to follow the rules and then let me know you joined here.)
+5 for following my Premier Virtual Author Book Tours
+5 for filling out the  Tour Host Interest Form (please do this if you have a book blog and you are serious about wanting to be a tour host)
+3 for each comment on a book review I have done. (Be sure to tell me which ones).
+1 for clicking to give free food at The Animal Rescue Site (tell me you did it).( Up to 1 time per day)
+1 for clicking to give free books at The Literacy Site (tell me you did it). ( Up to 1 time per day)

That's 31 or more possible entries!
Sorry, the giveaway is only open US residents only.
The winner’s mailing address: NO P.O.Boxes.
Only one entry per household/IP address
 
Winners will be subject to the one copy per household rule, which means that if you win the same title in two or more contests, you will receive only one copy of the book.

This giveaway will end on Friday July 1,11:59 P.M. E.S.T. The winners will be notified by email. Winners must respond within TWO days or will be disqualified.


Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:01 AM 55 comments  

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Monday, June 13, 2011

The Jelly-Bean by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Jelley Bean is what they called Jim Powell.  How did he get that name you wonder?  F. Scott Fitzerald tells us early in the story:
"Jelly-bean is the name throughout the undissolved Confederacy for one who spends his life conjugating the verb to idle in the first person singular - I am idling, I have idled, I will idle.
Jim returned home from the war at age 21 and lived above Tilley's Garage.  He felt most comfortable hanging out in the garage. He was pretty much a loner and didn't like parties.  He couldn't dance and he couldn't get the courage up to ask a girl any way. However, his friend, Clark invited him to one and promised he wouldn't leave him in a corner, sitting by himself the entire time.

Despite the prohibition, Clark smuggled in a bottle of Corn moonshine.   They sneaked outside to have some and then Jim got left hiding the bottle on him.  That's when Nancy Lamar showed up with gum on her shoe.  Jim siphoned gas out of a car to get the gum off.  He was entranced by her beauty and also knew that she got herself in trouble when she drank the corn.  However, he shared it with her, non the less.

After the dance, a group stayed and played craps including Jim and Nancy.  Read the story, here to see what happend next.

It took me a couple of pages to get into The Jelly Bean.  Mostly that is because it took until then for Fitzerald to explain why Jim was a Jelly Bean.  Then the story really took off.  This story reminded me why I adored The Great Gatsby so much back in high school.  I really hope to read it again someday.

Also reviewed by:

Did you review The Jelly Bean?  Please leave the link in the comments.

If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story review. Come join in the fun and add to my short story TBR!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 8:29 PM 8 comments  

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Friday, June 10, 2011

June Reviews for 2011 ARC Reading Challenge

The standings so far:
Working Towards Bronze Level:


Bronze Achieved:
Teddy-12
Yvonne -12
Working on Silver: 
Beth-13
CMash- 19
Donna -18
Heather -14

Level Gold:


Level Platinum:
Andrea-33 
Julie-48
Sarah- 30

Please post the books you read in June for the challenge in Mr. Linky, below:

*Note: if you missed posting your links last month, please always post "late" links in the current month's Mr. Linky.  For example, if you forgot to post a link in February, please post it on this Mr. Linky in this post.

Please enter your name and the name of the book in this format: Name: (Your Name, Book Title and Author's Name) for example: (Teddy, Obsessive Reading by Helen Reader).

Posted by Teddy Rose at 1:08 PM 6 comments  

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June Reviews for 2011 Books Won Reading Challenge

The standings so far:

Honorable Mentions: Read 1-3 books won:

Jessica- 3
Tea-1 
Teddy-1

Bronze: Read 4-6 books you won:
Julie-5

Silver: Read 7-9 books you won:

LuAnn-7

Please post the books you read in June for the challenge in Mr. Linky, below:

*Note: if you missed posting your links last month, please always post "late" links in the current month's Mr. Linky.  For example, if you forgot to post a link in February, please post it on this Mr. Linky in this post.

Please enter your name and the name of the book in this format: Name: (Your Name, Book Title and Author's Name) for example: (Teddy, Obsessive Reading by Helen Reader).

Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:48 PM 4 comments  

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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

BEA and BBC (Book Blogger Expo) New York City- Edition # 1

Many of you are probably wondering why it has taken me so long to post about my first trip ever to New York City, the BEA and the BBC.  Well, the last day I was there, my feet swelled and by morning, flight day, I had to stuff my feet into my shoes. My legs blew up like balloons on the flight home and my husband and I spent the evening in the emergency room of the hospital because I have a high risk for blood clots. That had never happened to me before. They gave me blood thinners as a precaution but it turned out I didn’t have a clot, thank goodness. I had never had my feet or leg blow up like that. I seriously wondered if I put a pin in them if they would pop. LOL! It was much better for two days and now it came back again but not as bad.  I have had to keep my legs elevated this entire time, which hasn’t been very conducive to blogging. 

Now that I have explained my absence and how I have fallen behind in my blogging, lets get to the fun stuff!

I spent nine days in New York City.  Like I said above, I had never been there before, so I wanted to get some sightseeing in.  I was able to go  four days before the BEA started because I had a free place to stay, thanks to Allen, my brother's best friend.  Seriously, I cannot thank him enough!  I wish I would have taken pictures of his place!  OMG, so much nicer than any hotel.  He has traveled all over the world and has an art collection to show for it.  I thought I was living in a museum.  His place was stunning and quite spacious for a New York City zip code. 


My 19 year old niece, Rachel went with me.  She had been there a couple times before with her parents, so she was my tour guide for the first couple days.  Thanks to her, I didn't get totally lost on the subways.
 Rachel and Teddy in Times Square

On our  first day, we spent the morning in line to get discount tickets to plays.  We then walked around Wall Street and saw "Ground Zero".  I was very excited when I saw a street vendor with pretzels because I wanted to make a point of buying a pretzel off of a street vendor in NYC.  Crazy, I know!  It was so big that I could only eat a quarter of it but I enjoyed every bit.  Rachel refuse to help me out so I had to toss what I couldn't eat.  It was a bargain though, for $2.00.  We also went to Filene's Basement where I got a bargain on a new pair of walking shoes.

On day two I decided to go have brunch on my own since Rachel didn't want to go.  Before the trip I was given all kinds of recommendations for vegan friendly restaurants.  I went to Curly's Vegetarian Lunch.  It turned out that they are not strictly vegetarian but mostly.  They claim on their menu that they can make any of their items vegan.  I had the lumberjack breakfast, which included vegan pancakes, scrambled tofu, curly fries, and fresh fruit.  To be honest, it was nothing spectacular, in fact I didn't like the scrambled tofu at all.  I just skiped the toru and ate about a third of the rest of the plate.

After brunch I met up with Rachel and we saw the musical, Billy Elliot together.  It took me about a half hour to get into it but then I really enjoyed it.  Then we went our separate ways again. We had heard that some theaters had rush tickets at a discount so I walked around from theater to theater inquiring.  The play I really wanted to see Good People only had rush for students.  But then I asked about Bengal Tiger with Robin Williams.  They have a draw nightly for 21 tickets.  I got lucky and won!  Rush tickets were only $27 and they were for the front row!  I found myself face to face with Robin Williams and all the actors.  The play was great.  It was a serious play that took place in Baghdad.

On Sunday we went to Times Square again, to try to get rush tickets to see Wicked.  There were about 200 people there and they only drew 12 names.  I really wanted to get a ticket for Rachel to see it but there were not even discount tickets to be had and I wouldn't pay full price.  They was a fun market there, where some of the streets were blocked off so we went shopping.  We got five tee shirts for $20.00 and some other gifts and then we ran into the Naked Cowboy.
Then we went to a create your own burger place.  You choose the patty and the toppings.  I was in luck, they had a veggie burger.  We also shared just a few fries.  LOL!
On Monday I went to get my BEA badge and then took the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty.  I wanted to take the boat ride to the statue and Ellis Island but I didn't have 3 hours to wait in line.  It was a grey sky day and a bit foggy so the photos didn't turn out very good.
After that, I made it just in time for the Random House Tea.  When you walk into the lobby of Random House, you are greeted by many first editions of their books.  That was very cool.  Once inside the room for the Tea, I ran into my friend, Amy of The Girl From the Ghetto.  
Soon after that, an author in attendence saw my name badge and acted like I was a rock star.  It was Ellen Meropol, author of House Arrest.  I had given the book a 4.5/5.  She was so kind and gracious. 
Lisa See was there and talked about her new book, Dreams of Joy.  After we were all given copies to have her sign.  After, it was time to grab our swag bags.  They had a table full of books and canvas bags and you just took what you wanted.  Of course for me, I felt like a kid in a candy store!  I only took books that were on my TBR, which just happened to be most of them. LOL!  I then put my bag down to visit with others in attendence.  When it was time to go, I realized that someone had taken off with my bag by mistake.  I felt bad for them, because they ended up with a Lisa See signed to Teddy.  LOL!  I was also crushed because I was so excited to have met her.  All of a sudden she reappeared and I had her practically by herself!

I was also invited to replace the swag bag!


On Tuesday, the BEA officially started.  I will write about it more in my next post.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:33 PM 7 comments  

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