Friday, January 22, 2010

Friday Finds- and Something For You

If I haven't mentioned it before, I had an incredible time at ALA Midwinter this past weekend. Among other things, I got a lot of great books. Here's the stack:
Now mind you, these aren't all the books I got there- these are just my favorites and the ones I'm going to read first!

Some favorites:
Alice I Have Been, by Melanie Benjamin. I tried and failed to get a review copy from her publicist so I just bought it from the booth.

The Swimming Pool by Holly LeCraw looks like juicy fun.

Beatrice and Virgil, by Booker Prize winner Yann Martel. A no-brainer for me.

Likewise Parrot and Olivier in America by the brilliant Peter Carey, a two-time Booker winner.

The Man from Beijing, by Henning Mankell. Twisty, page-turning Scandinavian crime fun.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson, about an unlikely friendship.

Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger, by Lee Smith. Short stories that have nothing to do with Jane Austen.

Beautiful Maria of My Soul, by Oscar Hijuelos. A followup to his masterful The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love.

And more!

But it's not all about me. I came back with some goodies for you, too.

First and foremost, I picked up an extra galley of Justin Cronin's next-hot-thing, The Passage, a post-apocalyptic thriller coming out in June from Random House. I don't know if you've heard about this book, but let me tell you- it's a showstopper. I'm 200 pages in (it's 700 pages long) and I can't put it down. It's like LOST in book form. When I'm reading it, I get so absorbed I can't hear my husband talking to me.

Trust me- you want this book. So here's what you need to know to win it:
  • Leave a comment on this post with your email address. Comments without an email address will be disregarded. I'm not kidding.
  • Link or tweet for an extra entry (and let me know!).
  • If you're a Google Follower or a feedburner subscriber (or become one), you get two extra entries.
  • U.S. addresses only. I'm sorry- this one weighs a ton.
  • You have until midnight January 31 to enter.
  • I will email the winner soon after Feb.1. You have 48 hours to acknowledge with your postal address or I pick another winner.
Fair enough? (Just so you know, the galley doesn't look anything like the cover art I'm showing you; it's a plain cover with blurbs of praise on both sides and a black spine.) Good luck!

58 comments:

claire said...

Ooh I'm salivating over the Yann Martel, the Peter Carey, and especially the Oscar Hijuelos! Lucky you!

Anonymous said...

I have to chuckle about that one book there... A librarian has an Overdue book :-D

They all look lovely and I'm very jealous, especially since that's not all your loot.

okay... email addy is ibetnoonehasthisdamnid@yahoo.com and I'm a GR subscriber.

Lenore Appelhans said...

I am so excited about Beatrice and Virgil!

And please, please, please enter me for The Passage. I am all about post-apocalyptic thrillers you know!

lenoreva at hotmail dot com

I am a follower :)

Meghan said...

Those books look amazing! I am a little bit jealous. And so I can't resist entering your contest, especially given you've titled it LOST in book form. Who can resist that show??

My email is meghankk at gmail dot com and I'm a subscriber through feedburner. Thanks, Marie!

Meghan @ Medieval Bookworm

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

That does sound interesting.. I love books with lots of action. :)

pinkflipflops44 at gmail dot com

and i am a follower.

Unknown said...

I don't think you'll regret spending money on Alice I have Been. It's definitely a good book worth having on one's shelves.
I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the new Martel's book.

And of course I really really hope that I will get to win The Passage :)

lillyswistek at gmail dot com

I am also a follower.

rhapsodyinbooks said...

I've seen lots of drooling over this book on Twitter. Please enter me!

+2 I follow on Google Reader.

nbmars AT yahoo DOT com

bermudaonion said...

Wow, what a lovely stack of books! The Map of True Places and The Man from Beijing both caught my eye. I'm going to skip the giveaway.

Julie P. said...

You sure made out! Wow! I'm so jealous! I'd love to win THE PASSAGE -- I've been trying to get my hands on a copy!

bookingmama(at)gmail(dot)com

Thanks for sharing!

logankstewart said...

I'd like a chance to win, too. Sounds interesting.

logankstewart [at] gmail [dot] com

I'm also a Follower/Feedburner reader.

Athira said...

Wow... All those books have been going dizzy.. there's a bunch of good ones there!

The Passage sounds so interesting, plus the LOST reference got me! :D

I'm a follower!

athira.c AT gmail DOT com

Anonymous said...

I love that that huge stack is "what you're going to read first"!! There are definitely a few in that stack I want to read, too — I love Hijuelos's Mr. Ives' Christmas (Mambo Kinds is on the TBR shelf), for one. The Passage sounds excellent! WordLily AT gmail DOT com

I'm subscribed to your feed.

I tweeted about your giveaway: http://twitter.com/Wordlily/statuses/8075581675

trish said...

I've been dying to read this book! I've only heard people raving about it!

I'm a follower. :)

trish(at)heylady(dot)net

Brandy said...

The Passage! Yes please! bdanner at gmail dot com, and I usually read via Google Reader!

And not to bribe the judge or anything, but I could save you shipping entirely just by being local. :)

Vasilly said...

You have a lot of great reading ahead of you! My addy 1330v (AT) gmail (DOT) com

I've tweeted about the giveaway: http://twitter.com/Vasilly/statuses/8076350470

and I'm a follower on Google Reader.

Beth F said...

Me, me me!!!!! I want to win it.

I already follow you in my reader, I just tweeted about it (http://twitter.com/BethFishReads/statuses/8076517889), and I'm commenting.

BFish [dot] Reads [at] gmail [dot] com.

I'm in USA.

Bonnie said...

What an awesome stack of books!! I'm going to have to add some of these to my wish list...I keep hearing buzz about Alice I have Been.

I haven't heard about The Passage but if it's like LOST in book form, I'm in! Please add my name to the drawing.

redladysreadingroomATgmailDOTcom

I am a google follower!

Michelle said...

I'm totally in for this giveaway!

michelle[at]galleysmith[dot]com

I already follow you in my Google Reader and I'm going to tweet your giveaway right this instant :)

Rachel Cantor said...

Hit me with THE PASSAGE! I've been tweeting my Passage envy for weeks! Not excited about leaving an email address here, but I'll DM you.

Rachel Cantor said...

Okay, not all that accustomed to this. "Nickname" is Rachel Cantor ...

Anonymous said...

What a great stack you have there, Marie!!!

Have a great weekend.

robyn said...

i think i'm interested in the marrowbone marble company. love the title, love the look of the cover. can't get a good description but sounds intriguing nonetheless.

Lee3000 said...

The Passage -- to my MAILBOX (analog mailbox, in physical book form)!

My interweb interface is freeman (dot) Leet (at) gmail (dot) com

Erin said...

The apocalypse is practically my middle name!

I so wish I had done to this now. Arcs make me giddy.

erin[at]erincooks[dot]com

Sarah P. Miller said...

I've been lurking here for months, but I can surely break the silence for a chance at The Passage! I can't wait to get my hands on this one. (Ditto for Alice Have I Been - hope you plan to post a review.)

My email is sarah dot pare at gmail dot com. I've already retweeted this contest (I'm @MillerThis)

Thanks for the chance at this!

Randall Drum said...

"The Passage" sounds like something right up my alley!

randall.drum@gmail.com

Jessica said...

Oh count me in! I subscribe on google reader. Sounds like something I need to read.

sternapple at gmail dot com

"This Book is Overdue" - great title - can't wait for your review on that one, if it's good I know a number of librarians who are getting a copy :-)

Laura Hartness said...

This one sounds really good! I love Lost, The Hunger Games series and The Maze Runner. This looks like it's right up my alley!

Here's the link to where I blogged about it on my site:

http://calicocritic.blogspot.com/2010/01/contests-of-week-january-20.html


Here's the tweet:

http://twitter.com/lhartness/status/8080779101


I'm also following via Google Friend Connect.

Thanks for the chance to enter!

Laura Hartness
The Calico Critic
CalicoCritic at gmail dot com

email
follow

Amy M. said...

I already have a copy of the PASSAGE so don't put me in the giveaway but I just wanted to say I am dying to read both "Beatrice and Virgil" and "Likewise Parrot and Olivier!" Hope you like ALICE I HAVE BEEN!

-Amy
Life by Candlelight

Unknown said...

Count me in. I'm a feed subscriber.

kolists a/t gmail d\t com

Kathleen said...

I'm a huge fan of LOST and would love a chance to win anything that resembles that in book form. My email is pizzo underscore kathleen at yahoo dot com

Sandra said...

I watched all your tweets so I know how much fun you had. I'm definitely reading the new Martel book. I'll wait and see what you think of the Carey one. Don't enter me-apocalyptic, post or otherwise isn't my cup of tea. Enjoy your books, I look forward to your thoughts on them.

A Bookshelf Monstrosity said...

Ugh, you lucky duck! I always go to the annual conference in summer, but haven't made it to a midwinter conf. yet...

+1 tweeted: http://twitter.com/bookmonstrosity/status/8086371144
+2 I'm a follower and a subscriber.

fitz12383(at)hotmail(dot)com

Madeleine said...

Oh I would love to win this book
Thank-you for the giveaway

I am a follower


madeleine444/at/gmail/dot/com

Anonymous said...

All this competition, but I am still in! eveningreaderblog AT yahoo DOT com

MySharonAnne said...

sharonluvscats(at)gmail(dot)com

Thanks for the contest. I'm really looking forward to reading this one. I didn't quite realize how long it was though!

I am a google follower

Phyllis Sommer said...

sounds like i can't wait to read it!

phyl613 at yahoo.com

i'm a google reader subscriber, also.

thanks!

fibrowitch said...

I wish i felt well enough to tag along. All the spare energy I had went into a 4 hour showing at Arisia.

I would have loved to roam about the floor with you. I am more a fan of non fiction 'little history' books

Still darn lupus

Dana said...

Wow -- looks like a lot of great new reads coming your way!

Please enter me in the giveaway. My email is boredd09(at)gmail(dot)com. I am also a follower.

Megan said...

Oh, your pile of books looks very delicious! I mean, delicious for the mind, of course. ;-)

I'd love to get my hands on a copy of The Passage, so please do enter me. My email address is toadacious1 at yahoo dot com. I'm following on Google reader, and I just retweeted your "any more takers?" tweet.

Thanks! =)

jpetroroy said...

Jealous of that pile!
And I'd love to read The Passage

I'm also a GoogleFriend follower

jpetroroy at gmail dot com

Alexia561 said...

Those aren't all the books you brought back with you, just your favorites? Oh...my. Have a serious case of book envy! *L*

I couldn't get a review copy of Alice I Have Been either, so looking forward to hearing what you think.

Would love a chance to read this one, so please count me in!

I'm a Google follower

alexia561@yahoo dot com

Marie Cloutier said...

Tricia tricia.m at att.net

christa @ mental foodie said...

The Passage sounds intriguing!

+2 subscribed via RSS

cytljjb @ gmail . com

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

What a great stack of books. The Passage sounds amazing, please enter me....(google reader follower)

bibliophilebythesea AT gmail DOT com

Thanks so much

Jen (Devourer of Books) said...

Okay, okay, you've convinced me, I *do* want to read The Passage. I'm also a feedburner subscriber.

Jen(at)devourerofbooks(dot)com

Lindsay Frost said...

I would LOVE to win that book. :D:D
Thankyou!

-Lindsay

lindsay15photo@gmail.com

becky s said...

Sounds like it could be interesting (yes, even though I don't really watch Lost). But man, I am such a book nut I would have loved going to a conference like that. So much fun.

(Email's in my profile, so it should come through on the comment.)

Sue said...

Thanks for the lovely giveaway.

s.mickelson at gmail dot com

Irene said...

The Passage by Justin Cronin!!!!!!! Wow, please count me in.

I am a follower.


cyeates AT nycap DOT rr DOT com

Zibilee said...

Awesome stack you got there!! Please enter me in your giveaway, it sounds like an awesome read and I would love to read it!

zibilee(at)figearo(dot)net

I am also a follower of your blog!

Nancye said...

This looks like an awesome book! Thanks for the chance!

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

Nancye said...

subscribe via reader

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

Nancye said...

Tweet! Tweet!

http://twitter.com/NancyeDavis/status/8444001684

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

Unknown said...

Great giveaway! I'm always up for a good page turner! I tweeted and joined your blog! email is cooper585@earthlink.net Hope you scratches heal soon :}

Melissa (Books R Us) said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Melissa (Books R Us) said...

The book looks great please enter me


melissa(at)gingerhig(dot)com

Katie said...

Oh, I would love to read The Passage!

conradkm at gmail dot com