Saturday, May 16, 2009

Winners: Audiobook Giveaway: Dewey The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

A big thanks to Anna of Hachette Books for making this giveaway possible!

Thanks to all of you who entered! I wish that I could send copies of these books to each of you! A special thanks to those of you who follow my blog or became followers! I hope you enjoy my blog!

The 5 winners are:

Gaby
Carlene
Jena
PMF
Annie

Congratulations! Please contact me within 3 days to claim your prize.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 6:44 PM 5 comments  

Labels:

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Winner: Best Intentions by Emily Listfield

Thanks to Emily Listfield for allowing me to host this giveaway!

Thanks to all of you who entered! I wish that I could send copies of these books to each of you! A special thanks to those of you who follow my blog or became followers! I hope you enjoy my blog!

Drum roll please!

The winner is...

Jo-Jo

Congratulations! Please contact me within 3 days to claim your prize.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:14 PM 8 comments  

Labels:

Monday, May 11, 2009

Mailbox Mondays



Visit Marcia every Monday at The Printed Page to share what arrived in your mailbox each week.

I only received one this week but i'm quite excited about it!


Thanks to Lisa Munley of TLC Book Tours. I am looking forward to being part of the tour!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:10 PM 15 comments  

Labels:

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Short Story Monday: A Delhi Story by Rana Dasgupta

This is a story that could have taken place just about anywhere. The only identifying features that it took place in India is a couple references that readers may or may not pick up on.

This story is only one page and to tell any of its content would surely give it away. I will say that to me it reads more like a fable with an obvious "moral to the story". Read it for yourself and you'll see what I mean. Here's the link: A Delhi Story.

Also reviewed by:

The Book Mine Set

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 reviews. Come join in the fun!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 11:15 PM 2 comments  

Labels:

The Help By Kathryn Stockett

Amazing Journey


Skeeter Phelan just graduated college and is trying to go about her day to day living, like a good white Southern woman should. She is a active member in the Junior league, she plays Bridge with her friends, and even goes out on a date that her best friend Hilly set her up with. Her over bearing mother wants nothing more for her daughter than to marry, live in a nice house, and have a black maid. So what' s wrong with her? Why isn't this enough?

Skeeter has her own aspirations and dreams big, for a southern white woman. She wants to actually make use of her college degree and become a writer. She sends her resume to Harper and Row in New York City. Amazingly she actually hears back from the editor. Not with a job but with some sound advice. Skeeter quietly follows it.

On her path to becoming a writer, Skeeter starts to question the norms of the southern society she lives in. This is when she forges an unlikely friendship with two black maids. The book is narrated in turn by Skeeter and the two maids, Aibileen and Minny.

This is an amazing book about race relations in the south during the Civil Rights era. Reading this book was like Kathryn Stockett put me in a rocket and transported me back in time to the 1960's south! I lost hours of sleep and had a hard time prying the book out of my hands.

The character and plot development were stellar, that of a seasoned writer. Imagine my surprise when I learned that this is Stockett's first novel! I rarely read a book more than once because there are so many that I want to read however, this book is worth a return visit! I see quite a promising writing career ahead for Kathryn Stockett and cannot recommend this book highly enough!

5/5

Thanks so much to Bronwyn Kienapple of Penguin Group (Canada) for answering my plea to read and review this book!

Also reviewed by (please let me know if I missed anybody):

Devourer of Books
Under a Blood Red Sky
Lesley's Book Nook
At Home With Books
Book Room Reviews
Shhh I'm Reading..
The Bluestocking Society

Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? »

ANovelMenagerie


Posted by Teddy Rose at 5:07 PM 16 comments  

Labels: , ,

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Giveaway: Signora da Vinci by Robin Maxwell

Thanks to Kaitlyn Kennedy of New American Library I have one paperback copy of this wonderful book up for grabs!

To find out more about this book see my review here and my interview with Robin Maxwell here.

Here are the rules:

1. For one entry, first leave a comment about the interview on my interview post, here. Then come back to this giveway post and confirm that you commented on the interview post (I will be checking) You must do this to be entered! Please be sure to include your email address (if it isn't available in your profile), so that I can contact you if you win. You will be disqualified if I can't email you!

2. For two more entries, 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 another 5 more entries: Become a Follower of my blog or subscribe to my blog through Google Reader or other subscription service. If you are already a subscriber or follower you still get the five extra entries! Please do not comment that you are a follower five times! I will give you the extra entries myself. I will delete any extra entries that you make as it will just confuse me when I go to pick the winners.

The giveaway is open to everyone on the planet with a mailing address.
Only one entry per household/IP address.

This giveaway will end on Friday May 22nd 11:59PM E.S.T. The winners will be notified by email, so remember toto include your email address in the comments, if it isn't available in your profile! Winners must respond within three days or will be disqualified. Therefore, if your moving or going on a trip, etc. . please let me know.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 6:44 PM 41 comments  

Labels:

Interview with Robin Maxwell, Author of Signora da Vinci

I am so excited to welcome Robin Maxwell, author of Signora da Vinci to So Many Precious Books, So Little Time! When I first heard about this book, I went begging for a review copy. It did not disappoint! (See my review).

Now for the interview:

Teddy: What inspired you to write about Leonardo da Vinci's mother?

R.M.: Actually, my first thought was to write a book about Leonardo, because he was -- and remains today -- much more than just an astonishing artist. He had the most original mind of any man of any century. He was an inventor, scientist, philosopher, atheist, believer in Nature as God, vegetarian (when such a thing was a heretical act!), a homosexual, a believer in freedom of the human spirit, and that learning did not come from books but from personal, first-hand experience. However, the publishing business today -- especially in the historical fiction genre -- is quite fixated on stories told from a woman's point of view. So I was forced to revise my thinking.

In retrospect, SIGNORA DA VINCI might not have been quite as appealing a book as it was with Caterina, because with her as the protagonist, she was able to observe Florence's all-male "inner circle", secretly, through female eyes, as well as have a love relationship with a man. If I'd only had Leonardo to work with, I would have been writing primarily about homosexual relationships and truthfully, though I have several close friends who are gay, I'm not familiar (from an "insiders" point of view) with that kind of sexuality.

Teddy: How long did it take you to do research for this book? Please tell us about your research process for the book.

R.M.: Since this was, after having written six novels of Tudor England and Ireland, my first in Renaissance Italy, I was starting from scratch -- locations, characters, world view, philosophies, politics, arts and sciences -- absolutely everything was new to me. I'd never been to Florence or Milan, had never set foot in Italy at all, yet I knew I had to really evoke a sense of this most extraordinary moment in time, as it was in Florence, with this particular group of people, where the Renaissance began. The Renaissance was the most significant turning point in history up to that time, and I had to do it justice.

So I stared buying and acquiring research books -- mostly online through Amazon, Powell's, and Alibris -- and scouring the internet, and I began immersing myself in the period. I read a dozen books on Leonardo alone. Not only his body of work in painting, architecture and sculpture, but his NOTEBOOKS, a prodigious treasury of technologic inventions, science, biology, anatomy and optics, as well as his philosophies which -- it would be an understatement to say -- were radical...downright heretical.

I was lucky enough to find some great books on Florence, one that had a street map of the city in 1500 with all the important landmarks, churches, palazzos, public buidlings and bridges, and I referred to that constantly, making sure my characters were getting around from place to place on the correct streets.

I read several wonderful biographies of Lorenzo "The Magnificent" de' Medici, and one autobiography with all his famous sonnets and explanation of their meanings. I also saw every visual image we have of him -- paintings, busts and even his death mask. During the course of researching and writing this book, I totally fell in love with Lorenzo, so it was easy to write my protagonist -- Caterina da Vinci -- falling in love with him, too.

With regard to the Turin Shroud hoax, which is an important part of the plot, I used two books by the non-fiction authors, Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince, and depended upon their research and experiments very heavily.

In terms of length of time and depth of effort doing research for a novel: SIGNORA DA VINCI takes its place alongside THE QUEEN'S BASTARD and THE WILD IRISH, though in SIGNORA DA VINCI I was still sitting there with research books in my lap as I was writing the very last page of the epilogue. When I was finished I had a bit of a mental meltdown where I couldn't put two thoughts together, was forgetting simple words, and literally walking around in circles. I can finally say (after nearly a year) that my head is back to normal.

Teddy: At what point in your writing the book did you decide that Caterina would become Cato?

R.M.: I always write a detailed outline of my novels to start (this is how I sell my books -- based on proposals) so as soon as I came up with my storyline, it became clear that if I wanted Caterina to follow her beloved son, Leonardo, into Florence to watch over him, and if I wanted to illuminate the secret world of the city -- what I call "The Shadow Renaissance," (see more about that in a page on my website http://robinmaxwell.com, BONUS PASSPORT TO THE 15th CENTURY called "What is the Shadow Renaissance?"), from the inside, from her perspective, she could not be a woman. Women were kept cloistered in their fathers' houses till they were married (or went to a convent) and then cloistered in their husband's houses till they died. They were only allowed to go out to confession or gather with their women friends for special occasions like marriages and the birth of children. And since I learned that there were women who cross-dressed all throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance (and found some wonderful research books on the subject), I had no choice but to turn Caterina into "Cato."

Teddy: Was there really a tie in history with Leonardo da Vinci and Lorenzo de’Medici. Please tell us about that tie.

R.M.: There's actually a controversy about that. Some historians say that because Lorenzo de' Medici did not send Leonardo with other painters like Botticelli (on loan) to Rome to decorate the Vatican, and because he DID send the 30 year-old already famous painter to live and work in Milan in the court of Ludovico Sforza, that Lorenzo did not think highly of Leonardo. That is because Leo was not a highly educated man (as Lorenzo was), but something of a "country bumpkin," Lorenzo felt Leo was "below him" socially. I think that's hogwash.

Other historians say Lorenzo was Leonardo's patron and "godfather," and while only one suggests that da Vinci may have lived for a while at the Palazzo Medici (like Michelangelo and Botticelli certainly did for several years as "adopted sons") I don't think Lorenzo went that far with Leonardo. He did appreciate his genius, from a very young age (Leo was an apprentice with the Medici court Artist, Verrocchio), and there's reason to believe that if Lorenzo knew of Leo's heretical leanings (which he had to have known about, as Leo was very open about them) then sending him to his friend Ludovico in Milan, to a much less religiously repressive place than Florence under Savonarola, was a protective measure. In any event, the latter was the choice I made that fit my story and the interaction between Leonardo, his mother and the Medici family.

Teddy: What are you working on now?

R.M.: My next novel, O, JULIET, is the first retelling of the the world's greatest love story in the form of a historical novel. I set it in Florence (and only a few parts in Verona) in 1444. Lorenzo de' Medici's mother, Lucrezia (at age 18, just before she marries into the Medici family), is Juliet's best girlfriend, and while the story is told primarily in Juliet's voice, Romeo gets to tell his side of it as well. It'll be published in the beginning of 2010.

Teddy: What is one of your favourite books/authors?

R.M.: I have too many much-loved authors and books to list, but my new two favorites in historical fiction are C.W. Gortner (THE LAST QUEEN) and Michelle Moran (NEFERTITI and THE HERETIC QUEEN).

I would like to thanks Robin Maxwell for taking time out of her busy schedule for this interview!

I loved this book and know that my readers will to. On that note, please look for my giveaway where one lucky reader will win a copy of Signora da Vinci!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 5:54 PM 43 comments  

Labels: ,

Friday, May 8, 2009

Giveaways Galore

As usual, be sure to check back at this post throught the week for links to more book giveaways!

My Giveaways:

I have one copy of Best Intentions by Emily Listfield. Deadline is May 15th. Enter here.

I have 5 copies of the audiobook of Dewey The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World. Deadline is May 16th. Enter here.

I am giving away 3 sets of 5 books for Asian Heritage Month. They include: Free Food for Millionaires By Min Jin Lee, Trail of Crumbs By Kim Sunée, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles By Jennifer Lee, Transparency By Frances Hwang, and Strangers from a Different Shore By Ronald Takaki. Deadline is May 31st. Enter here.

I am giving away 3 sets of 5 books for Latino Book Month. They include: B as in Beauty By Alberto Ferreras, Into the Beautiful North By Luis Urrea, Hungry Woman in Paris By Josefina Lopez, The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos By Margaret Mascarenhas, Houston, We Have a Problema By Gwendolyn Zepeda. Deadline is May 31st. Enter here.

I am giving away 3 sets of five books in honour of Mother's Day. They include: Miracles of Motherhood, Odd Mom Out By Jane Porter, Mommy Grace By Sheila Schuller Coleman, Beginner's Greek By James Collins,The Road Home By Rose Tremain. Deadline is May 31st. Enter here.

I am also giving away Signora da Vinci by Robin Maxwell. Deadline is May 23rd. Enter here.

Over at Historical Tapestry we are giving away a signed copy of The Tory Widow by Christine Blevins, plus an Revolutionary America survival kit (lavender water and a hankie). Deadline is May 15th. Enter here.

New offerings (if you do enter any of these lovely giveaways, please let them know that Teddy sent you):

Book Reviews by Bobbie is giving away 6 books, winner take all. This giveaway is open to book bloggers only. Deadline is May 28th. Enter here.

Booking Mama is giving away The Turnaround by George Pelecanos. Deadline is May 22nd. Enter here.

Kristi of Books and Needlepoint is giving away 3 of each of these books: Boneman's Daughter by Ted Dekker - Enter here. The Horse Boy by Rupert Isaacson - enter here. Mr. Popper's Penguins - Enter here. Priceless Memories by Bob Barker - Enter here. Deadline for all 4 giveaways is May 22nd.

On My Bookshelf is giving away 2 ARC copies of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe. Deadline is May 20th. Enter here.

Dar of Peeking Between the Pages is giving away 2 copies of The Moment Between by Nicole Baart. Deadline is May 22nd. Enter here. She is also giving away 5 copies of Testimony by Anita Shreve. Deadlin is May 30th. Enter here. She also has 5 copies of Made in the U.S.A. by Billie Letts. Deadline is May 30th. Ente3r here.

Serena of Savvy Verse and Wit is giving away 2 copies The Last Queen by CW Gortner. Deadline is May 22nd. Enter here. She is also givingt away Rubber Side Down Edited by Jose Gouveia. Deadline is May 15th. Enter here.

Alyce of At Home With Books is giving away 5 copies of The G-Free Diet by Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Deadline is May 21st. Enter here. She is also giving away 3 copies of the unabridged audiobook, Priceless Memories by Bob Barker. Deadline is May 21st. Enter here. She is also giving away The Survivors Club by Ben Sherwood. Deadline is May 26th. Enter here.

The Phantom's Lair is giving away five copies of The Walking People by Mary Beth Keane. Deadline is May 26th. Enter here.

Anna of Diary of an Eccentric is giving away2 copies of The Wonder Singer by George Rabasa. Deadline is May 17th. Enter here.

Arleigh of historical-fiction.com is giving away 3 gently used books by Philippa Gregory: The Constant Princess, The Queen’s Fool, and The Virgin’s Lover. Deadline is May 16th. Enter here.

Cheryl's Book Nook is giving away The Wonder Singer by Goerge Rabasa. Deadline is May 29. Enter here.

My friends over at Royal Reviews are giving away 2 copies of The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran. Deadline is May 31st. Enter here.

Arleigh of Historical-Fiction is giving away 3 signed copies of Royal Blood by Rona Sharon. Deadline is May 31st. Enter here.

Amy of Passages to the Past is giving away Royal Blood by Rona Sharon. Deadline is May 24th. Enter here. She is also giving away The Frenchman's Creek and My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier. Deadline is May 27th. Enter here.

Marie of The Burton Review is giving away Wild Highland Magic by Kendra Leigh Castle. Deadline is May 30th. Enter here.

Ali of Worducopia is giving away 5 copies each of 3 health realted books: The N.D.D. Book: How Nutrition Deficit Disorder Affects Your Child's Learning, Behavior, and Health, and What You Can Do about It by Dr. William Sears. The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide by Elisabeth Hasselbeck . If Your Kid Eats This Book, Everything Will Still Be Okay by Lara Zibner. She will be drawing one book every Sunday for the next five weeks. Enter here.

NotNessie of Todays Adventure is giving away her gently used copy of Sea Changes by Gail Graham. Deadline is June 7th. Enter here.

Wanda of A Season to Read is celebrating her 100th post by hosting a giveaway of a favorite book of hers. She bought a brand new copy of Shelf Monkey by Corey Redekop to give away. Deadline is June 7th. Enter here.

Below are giveaways that I announced in previous weeks. There is still time to enter (if you do enter any of these lovely giveaways, please let them know that Teddy sent you):

Marie of The Burton Review is giving away 3 copies of Follow Me by Joanna Scott. Deadline is May 23rd. Enter here.

Alyce of At Home With Books is giving away four books which include; Silent on the Moor by Deanna Raybourn, I Choose to be Happy by Missy Jenkins, Recovering Charles: A Novel by Jason F. Wright, The Book of Night Women by Marlon James . Deadline is May 28th. enter here.

J. Kaye's Book Blog is giving away the audiobook, Undress Me In the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman. Deadline is May 30th. Enter here.

Dar of Peeking Between the Pages is giving away 5 copies of Jantsen's Gift by Pam Cope and Aimee Molloy. Deadline is May 17. Enter here. She is also giving away Too Hot to Handle and Romeo, Romeo by Robin Kaye. Deadline is May 14th. Enter here.

Carey of The Tome Traveller is giving away Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland. Deadline is May 15th. Enter here. She also has 5 copies of The G-Free Diet by Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Deadline is May 15th. Enter here.

Luanne of A Bookworm's World is giving away The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe. This giveaway is only open to Canadians and the deadline is May 16th. Enter here. She is also giving away Follow Me by Joanna Scott. Open to U.S. and Canadian Readers. Deadline is May 23rd. Enter here.

Luanne is also giving away 5 copies of The G-Free Diet by Elisabeth Hasselbeck . Deadline is May 29th. Enter here.Wendy's Minding Spot is giving away 3 copies of Follow Me by Joanna Scott. Deadline is May 11th. Enter here.

Lilly of Reading Extravaganza is giving away 4 books in celebration of her new citizenship to the U.S.A. Congratulations Lilly! Deadline is May 31st. Enter here.

Mrs. Magoo Reads is giving away How to Buy a Love of Reading by Tanya Egan Gibson. Deadline is May 31st. Enter here.

Amy of Passages to the Past is giving away Royal Harlot: A Novel of the Countess Castlemaine and King Charles II by Susan Holloway Scott. Deadline is May 19th. Enter here.

Fabulous Canadian Freebies is giving away Pavane by Keith Roberts and Dove Chocolate. This is for Canadians only. Deadline is May 31st. Enter here.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:45 PM 10 comments  

Labels:

Winners: Testimony: A Novel By Anita Shreve


A big thanks to Valerie of Hachette Books for making this giveaway possible!

Thanks to all of you who entered! I wish that I could send copies of these books to each of you! A special thanks to those of you who follow my blog or became followers! I hope you enjoy my blog!

Before I announce the winners I have a unfortunate little rant. Two of the winners are not original. That is because I had to disqualify two who did not follow the rules and leave their email addresses. This may have been an oversight on their part but it would not be fair to the rest of you who did follow the rules. This is the first time I have mentioned this issue on one of my giveaways however it happens on a lot of them. The moral of this rant: be sure to double check that you followed the rules. I hate having to disqualify people!!

Now back to the winners!

The winners are:

Nightdweller

Kristi

RhapsodyAlready won

Julie

Yvonne

Holly

Congratulations! Please contact me within 3 days to claim your prize.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 1:02 PM 8 comments  

Labels:

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

May Huge Giveaway#3: Asian Heritage Month

Thanks to Valerie of Hachette Books for this special giveaway!

3 lucky winners will receive all 5 of these books:

Here are the rules:

1. For one entry, leave a comment recommending an Asian book. If you can't think of of one, then let me know your favorite book you have read so far this year . You must do this to be entered! Please be sure to include your email address (if it isn't available in your profile), so that I can contact you if you win. You will be disqualified if I can't email you!
2. For two more entries, 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 another 5 more entries: Become a Follower of my blog or subscribe to my blog through Google Reader or other subscription service. If you are already a subscriber or follower you still get the five extra entries! Please do not comment that you are a follower five times! I will give you the extra entries myself. I will delete any extra entries that you make as it will just confuse me when I go to pick the winners.
The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.

The winner’s mailing address: NO P.O. Boxes.Only one entry per household/IP address.

This giveaway will end on Sunday May 31st Midnight E.S.T. The winners be picked using Random.org and will be notified by email, so remember to include your email address in the comments, if it isn't available in your profile! Winners must respond within three days or will be disqualified. Therefore, if your moving or going on a trip, etc. . please let me know.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 11:13 PM 74 comments  

Labels:

Newer Posts Older Posts Home

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)