Sunday, March 17, 2013

March Reviews For the 2013 ARC Reading Challenge


In February, we collectively read and reviewed 36 ARC's for a total of 66 ARC's, so far in 2013!  
Here are the standings so far:

Level Bronze (up to 12 Arcs):
Andrea 8
Christine 4
Darlene 8Krista 4
Rebecca 6
Retha 4Teddy 8Yvonne 8

Working on Silver:
Nicola 15

Silver (24 ARCS):

Working on Gold:

Gold ( 30 ARCS):

Working on Platinum:

Platinum (35 ARCS):


If you don't see yourself in the standings above, it is because you didn't leave a comment telling me how many books you read so far. You need to do this at the end of each month.

Please post the books you read in February for the challenge in Mr. Linky, below:
If you forgot to post book in any previous months, please post them in Mr. Linky below as well.

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).
 



Giveaway Winners Galore

Thanks to everyone who entered the following giveaways! Winners, please reply to the email I sent you today within 48 hours to claim your books. After 2 days you will be disqualified and a new winner will be picked. Rafflecopter picks all winners using Random.org. 


Thanks again to Shelly Lowenkopf for making this giveaway possible.


The winner is:
Julia H.








Thanks again to Hannah Auerbach of Newman Communications, for making this giveaway possible.


The winner is:
Linda K







Thanks again to Kaitlyn Kennedy of HarperCollins Publishers, for making this giveaway possible.

The winner is:
Marjore T.






Thanks again to Lura Dold of The Albee Agency, for making this giveaway possible!


The winner Is:
Anita Y.







Thanks again to Michelle Nelson of Shelton Interactive for making this giveaway possible.

The winner is:
Margaret C.






Thanks again to Kaitlyn McCrystal of Touchstone Publicity: Simon & Schuster, Inc, for making this giveaway possible.

The winner is:
Linda K.







Friday, March 15, 2013

Review & Giveaway: March With Me by Rosalie Turner

Book Description:

Like a tornado, the civil rights movement struck Birmingham in the spring of ’63.  In this coming of age novel we are swept into the separate cultures of the south. 
Two girls, one black and one white, endure the pain and prejudice of segregation. The girls mature and pursue the same profession until one fateful day when a force of nature sweeps in and rearranges their lives.

My Thoughts:

I recently read and reviewed a book dealing with the same subject in the same place, Through Angel's Eyes by Steve Theunissen.

I can never get enough of certain times in history and 1960's anything is one of them.  Especially when it's about human rights and segregation.  I am a child of the 60's, born in 1963, right when the protest were really heating up. 

I still can't wrap my head around why it is that there are people who think they are better than someone else that has a different skin color.  I was born and raised in Minnesota but I would hope I would have felt the same way had I come from the south.

One of the main characters in this book, Martha Ann, a white girl in Birmingham ponder this question.  She didn't know if it was right or wrong by she wanted to know why.  Her father, especially, was very racist.

While Through Angel's Eyes was focused primarily on the African American population and was narrated by Angel, a 13 year old African American girl, March With Me focuses on both sides of the issue.  There were two narrators, a white girl, Martha Ann and an African American girl, Letitia.

I liked this approach, it showed two girls one on each side of the tracks.  The characters were well defined.  The writing was great for the most part but sometimes the narration seemed to change from first person.  I also found the characters say something out of character for their age, especially Martha Ann.

However, I loved that Turner let us into the world of two different girls from both sides.  To me that was unique from other books I  have read on this topic. I recommend this book!

4/5

About Rosalie Turner:

Rosalie Turner is the award-winning author of five books.  Her novel, Sisters of Valorrecently received the Military Writers Society of America Bronze Award for Fiction.
While living in Jacksonville, FL she was awarded the JC Penney Award for establishing an inner city reading program.

Rosalie divides her time between New Mexico and Alabama.

Thanks to Stephanie Barko, Literary Publicist, I am giving away one copy of March With Me.  This giveaway is open to internationally.  Print copy for U.S. or Canada, ebook for other.  This offer ends on March 29, 2013.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway



Thursday, March 14, 2013

Giveaway: Wanderlust by Elieba Levine

Starting today, Wanderlust by Elieba Levine is on tour!  If you love erotica, this book is for you.  Thanks to Elieba, we are giving away one ebook of Wonderlust!  If you follow the tour and do all of the easy tasks on the Rafflecopter, can get get a lot of entries and discover great websites!

Description of Wanderlust:

Publisher: Pinnacle (September 26, 2012)
Category: Erotica
Tour Dates: March, 2013
Available in: ebook  196 pages
ADVENTURE From New York to Kenya to Katmandu, Jane Perry sets out to explore the world and finds romance and excitement at every turn… PASSION From Bali to Sydney to Hawaii, Jane follows her heart’s desires… and leaves behind men who will never forget her… WANDERLUST An erotic odyssey of passion and obsession. Part of a trilogy: Wanderlust, Interludes, Escapes
Praise for Wanderlust:

” If you liked Fifty Shades of Gray you will love wanderlust !! A terrific read !!!! From the first pages to the last i could not put the book down !!”- Les Ereb, Amazon Reviewer

” What a wonderful book! I just can’t get over it! The excitement is present page after page! Can’t wait to read the next book!”- Mrs A.Yard, Amazon Reviewer

” Wanderlust took me on a captivating, dreamy journey. I enjoyed every moment of it and didn’t want it to end.  I look forward to the other books in the series.
A real page turner.”- Wylee, Amazon Reviewer

” Fun and stimulating, a cruise around the world that I could only do in this character’s expression. An absolutely fun read!”- Fbrgddss, Amazon Reviewer

” From the moment I opened the book, I couldn’t close it until the last page. It’s a good guilty pleasure but it’s not you’re usual erotic novel, it’s full of witty characters, smart dialogues.. A great canvas of lust, empowerment for women, and sexual liberation (And great erotica…)”- Junnnne, Amazon Reviewer

About Elieba Levine:

Elieba Levine is a passionate writer and discerning editor who currently resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has written five fiction novels, a picture book, and an award-winning screenplay. Her extensive world travels greatly influenced the settings in her erotic trilogy Wanderlust, Interludes, and Escapes—which have recently been released in electronic format. She is currently working on her next novel.

Buy Wanderlust at:

This giveaway ends on March 30, 2013.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Follow the Tour:

So Many Precious Books Mar 14 Group Giveaway
Makayla’s Book Reviews Mar 15 Review
Allison Meritt  Mar 15 Interview & Group Giveaway
Journey Through Words Mar 18 Review
Dab of Darkness Mar 18 Interview
Reading Penguin Mar 19 Review
Fictionators Mar 19 Review & Group Giveaway
Crazy for Books Mar 21 Review
Crazy for Books Mar 22 I interview & Group Giveaway
Saving for 6 Mar 22 Review & Group Giveaway
Romance Bookie Mar 25 Guest Post & Giveaway
Book Lovers Cozy Cafe Mar 26 Review
Top Shelf Mar 27 Review
Romancing the Book Mar 28 Review
Romancing the Book Mar 28 Interview
The Bookworm Mar 29 Review & Group Giveaway






Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Giveaway: Goldenland Past Dark by Chandler Klang Smith


Thanks to Beverly Bambury  of  ChiZine Publications, I am giving away one Ebook copy of Goldenland Past Dark!

Book Description:

A hostile stranger is hunting Dr. Show’s ramshackle travelling circus across 1960s America. His target: the ringmaster himself. Struggling to elude the menace, Dr. Show scraps his ambitious itinerary; ticket sales plummet, and nothing but disaster looms. The troupe’s unravelling hopes fall on their latest and most promising recruit, Webern Bell, a sixteen-year-old hunchbacked midget devoted obsessively to perfecting the surreal clown performances that come to him in his dreams. But as they travel through a landscape of abandoned amusement parks and rural ghost towns, Webern’s bizarre past starts to pursue him, as well. Along the way, we meet Nepenthe, the seductive Lizard Girl; Brunhilde, a shell-shocked bearded lady; Marzipan, a world-weary chimp; a cabal of drunken, backstabbing clowns; Webern’s uncanny sisters, witchy dogcatchers who speak only in rhymes; and his childhood friend, Wags, who may or may not be imaginary, and whose motives are far more sinister than they seem.

Read an Excerpt

About Chandler Klang Smith:

Chandler Klang Smith grew up in Springfield, Illinois, before dropping out of high school early and running away to join the circus – or rather, the most circus-like educational environment she could find, namely, Bennington College. After four years of costume parties, lonely mountains, brilliant professors, passionate 3 a.m. aesthetic arguments, and dark nights of the soul, she graduated in 2005 with a concentration in literature and philosophy and journeyed on to the MFA Creative Writing Program at Columbia University, from which she graduated in 2007. At Columbia, she began the project that would develop into Goldenland Past Dark and discovered the joys and terrors of a city grown large beyond all reason, a mutant place nourished by history and money and the redemptive elixir of art.

In New York City, she has enmeshed herself variously in the great machine of publishing: as the ghostwriter of two young adult novels for Alloy Entertainment Group, as a reader for the Paris Review, as an assistant/associate agent for a boutique literary agency, and currently, as the Events Coordinator for the KGB Bar. She still loves books.

Chandler's Website.
Chandler on Facebook.

The giveaway is open worldwide and ends on March 27, 2013.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't want to take your chances at winning it?  Go here to pre-order it!



Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Giveaway: Lets Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson


Thanks to Jessica Butler of Berkley Books, I am giving away one print copy of Let's Pretend This Never Happened!

Book Description:

LET’S PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED (A Mostly True Memoir) is a hilarious account of her redneck childhood, anxious adolescence and ever-eventful life with her long-suffering husband and their daughter. Come along with Lawson as she tells about Jenkins, her menacing and reluctant pet turkey, about getting stuck in a cow’s vagina (and you thought your high school years were awkward), or working in HR (where she learned how to say “Is this your penis?” without giggling.)  Her arguments with husband Victor—sometimes in her head, occasionally via Post-Its—are priceless. And the stories of her engagement and wedding are topped only by her story of giving birth. 

 “There’s something wrong with Lawson – magnificently wrong.  I defy you to read her work and not hurt yourself laughing,” says NY Times best-selling author Jen Lancaster, and Let’s Pretend This Never Happened finds her at her irrepressible best.

About Jenny Lawson:

Jenny Lawson is a columnist and one of the most popular humor bloggers in America with over 200,000 followers. Her blog, www.thebloggess.com, gets millions of page views per month. Jenny lives in the Texas Hill Country with her husband and daughter.  You can also follow her on Twitter @thebloggess.

This giveaway is open to the U.S. only and ends on March 26, 2013.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.


Saturday, March 9, 2013

Giveaway: The Crooked Branch by Jeanine Cummins

Thanks to Fiona Brown From Penguin, USA, I am giving away one copy of The Crooked Branch.

Book Description:

From the national bestselling and highly acclaimed author of The Outside Boy comes the deeply moving story of two mothers—witty, self-deprecating Majella, who is shocked by her entry into motherhood in modern-day New York, and her ancestor, tough and terrified Ginny Doyle, whose battles are more fundamental: she must keep her young family alive during Ireland’s Great Famine.

After the birth of her daughter Emma, the usually resilient Majella finds herself feeling isolated and exhausted. Then, at her childhood home in Queens, Majella discovers the diary of her maternal ancestor Ginny—and is shocked to read a story of murder in her family history.

With the famine upon her, Ginny Doyle fled from Ireland to America, but not all of her family made it. What happened during those harrowing years, and why does Ginny call herself a killer? Is Majella genetically fated to be a bad mother, despite the fierce tenderness she feels for her baby? Determined to uncover the truth of her heritage and her own identity, Majella sets out to explore Ginny’s past—and discovers surprising truths about her family and ultimately, herself.

About Jeanine Cummins:

Jeanine Cummins is the bestselling author of the groundbreaking memoir A RIP IN HEAVEN and award winning novel THE OUTSIDE BOY. She worked in the publishing industry for ten years before becoming a full-time writer. She was born in Spain , and has lived in California , Maryland , Belfast , and New York City , where she remains now with her Irish husband and growing family. THE CROOKED BRANCH is her second novel.

This giveaway is open to the U.S. only and ends on March 23, 2013.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter. 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, March 8, 2013

Giveaway Winners Galore

Thanks to everyone who entered the following giveaways! Winners, please reply to the email I sent you today within 48 hours to claim your books. After 2 days you will be disqualified and a new winner will be picked. Rafflecopter picks all winners using Random.org. 


Thanks again to Art Maines for making this giveaway possible!  


The winner is:
Linda K.








Thanks again to Benjamin Berkley for making this giveaway possible.

The winner is:
Angela H.







Thanks again to Kimberly Young for making this giveaway possible!

The winner is:
Julia H.







Thanks again to Benjamin Berkley for making this giveaway possible.


The winner is:
Anne S.







Thanks again to Gabriele Wills for making this giveaway possible.

The winner is:
Marjorie T.







Thanks again to Bobbie Pyron for making this giveaway possible.

The winner is:
Carrie







Thanks again to Kelley & Hall Book Publicity for making this giveaway possible.

The winner is:
Julia H.




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