Crafturday! A Change Purse

Here's a fun little thing I learned how to make this past week. A change purse! I bought the pattern at my favorite quilt shop, Quilter's Way of Acton, and got to work right away. I used two small pieces of fabric for the outside, and two more for the inside pockets

plus fusible fleece and interfacing, sticky-back velcro, a Hawaiian coconut shell button and the usual sewing notions and machine. The pockets hold standard-size business or credit cards. It would be a great accessory for those you headed to BEA or other functions where you'll be passing out and collecting lots of business cards. Here's the back:

Since this was my first one there's definitely room for improvement, but overall I'm pretty happy with it. I picked out a really cute cat print to use for a couple more. I used scraps for this one but you can cut enough fabric for two from a fat quarter, if you cut the long edge parallel to the selvage. I can't wait to get started. It took me about an hour to make this one; I think doing two or three at once, assembly-line style, is very practical. I'd love to get good enough at making these to sell them but for now I think they'd make fun gifts.

And I'm giving this one away to one of you if you'd like it! If you live in the US and would like a little turtle purse, leave a comment with an email address. The giveaway will be open for a week, till next Saturday.

Banned Book Week!

It's Banned Book Week, and to recognize that, I'm participating with Sheila of Book Journey (a great blog, by the way) in her Jump On the Banned Wagon series of posts about banned books. Stop by her site to see all of the participating blogs, many if not all of which are offering giveaways along with their posts.

Each blogger has chosen a banned book to highlight; my choice is The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. I picked it up for Banned Book Week in 2003, because it was one of the few adult books on the lists I hadn't read at the time.

I first read The Handmaid's Tale in 2003, and finished it two nights before my wedding. If you have ever read this book, you know that it is probably the very worst thing to read when you're going through serious pre-wedding stress! All joking aside, it's very difficult for me now to articulate just the effect this book had on me. "Traumatized" gets close!

It's a dystopia set in the Boston area in a future both distant and recognizable. The United States as we know it no longer exists; the Republic of Gilead has replaced it following a bloody coupe and nuclear war. After the war, many people are infertile; some fertile women deemed unfit for "respectable" life in this ultra-fundamentalist religious society are enslaved as sexual surrogates or "handmaids" and a young woman named Offred is a handmaid to a powerful couple. Other non-desirable women are forced to become domestic servants or prostitutes, or sent to clean up the nuclear wasteland. Privileged women can marry but no woman is allowed to work, learn to read, or have her own money. Homosexuality is anathema; abortion, a capital offense. Womens' bodies and minds are state property.

The story is meant on one level to be a tale of what could happen if certain kinds of religious fundamentalism already present in the world were to get the upper hand. The thing about this book that scared me so is that in some parts of the world it already has, and every day in this country we see more and more fighting over what women are allowed to do and be and want.

The Handmaid's Tale is probably the best-known of Atwood's novels and the one of hers with which most readers start. After I read it, and after a recovery period, I went on kind of a Margaret Atwood bender, during which I read all of her novels over the course of two years or so. And I have to say, those were among the best two years of my reading life. It's not for everybody- believe me, I get that. But I do think it's a cultural touchstone. So I think you should read it.

And to encourage you to read it, I'm giving away a signed paperback copy of The Handmaid's Tale. I got to meet Atwood a couple of years ago and ended up with an extra (I know- an extra signed book? But yes.) which I would love to share. If you'd like to win it, leave a comment on this post with your email address and get back to me within 48 hours with a mailing address if you win.

Blogiversary Giveaway Winner!

The winner of my blogiversary giveaway is Alyce of At Home With Books, one of my favorite blogs and one that I've been reading practically since I started blogging.

She chose to receive a copy of Patrick DeWitt's delightful The Sisters Brothers, which I will ship off to her this week.

I'm so excited, one of my favorite books to one of my favorite bloggers! Thanks to everyone who entered and/or stopped by to wish me a happy blogiversary!

Sunday Salon: My Blogiversary!

Happy Sunday! Today is a very special day for me:

Happy Blogiversary to me!! Today is my fourth anniversary blogging. Thank you to everyone who's ever read my blog, left a comment, entered a giveaway, linked to me, tweeted, etc., etc. It's been a fun-filled, busy four years of online life. I've read a lot of books, written a lot of reviews and most importantly made a lot of wonderful friends. And I have a present for one of you:

I'm offering a giveaway of Eddie Signwriter, by Adam Schwartzman, my favorite new book of 2010. It's just out in paperback; you can read my review here. It's a wonderful literary debut by an acclaimed poet with a wonderful ear for language and eye for detail. This book didn't get near the attention it deserved, but Schwartzman is one to watch. He's already achieved wide acclaim for his poetry and I predict more success for him and his writing in the future.

What you need to know:

• I'm offering a brand new paperback of Eddie Signwriter that I bought myself for the giveaway. There is no sponsorship or corporate promotion behind it. I just love this book and want more people to read it.
• The giveaway is open to the U.S. and Canada.
• To enter, comment on this post with your email address. No email address, no entry- no exceptions.
• You have a week, until midnight EST August 14 to enter.
• Sometime early that week I'll pick a winner with Random.org and notify that person via email. The winner has 48 hours to get back to me with a mailing address before I pick another winner.
• Tweets, Facebook posts and Google+ posts get you two extra entries. Being a follower gets you two extra entries. Please leave a link.

And me? I'll spend the day reading. Maybe I'll re-read Eddie Signwriter. Thanks for entering and thanks for everything! This blog would be nothing without you.

Special Feature: Interview with author Holly LeCraw & A Giveaway

Yesterday I reviewed Holly LeCraw's debut novel The Swimming Pool; Holly was kind enough to take some time to answer some questions for you and me about the book and her writing life.
What themes were you exploring with The Swimming Pool?

I was interested, quite literally, in the ripple effect—in the toxicity of secrets in families, in their effects over generations. So often parents keep secrets from children in an effort to protect them, and then the result is just the opposite. Although the thing people first focus on in the book is the affair between Jed and Marcella, the underlying motivations really spring from the parent-child relationships—and the fact that Jed and Marcella’s affair is quite Oedipal underscores that theme.

I was also interested in the idea of lack of control. Jed doesn’t know who killed his mother, and the uncertainty is eating away at him; he thinks an answer will satisfy him. But, in the end, control is an illusion for all of us, and we must come to terms with that.

Why did you choose Cape Cod as your summer setting, instead of, say, a Southern resort area like Cape Hatteras? Does the cultural conflict between the North and South play any role in the book?

I don’t remember choosing it—I saw Callie and Jed at the Cape from the beginning. I think the cultural conflict only plays a small part here, but in the book I’m working on now I think it will be larger. I’ve got self-exiled Southerners again. I guess more than the particular regional differences, I’m interested in the idea of the outsider, and the discomfort of displacement. Although I’m also very interested in the different attitudes toward religion in the North and South, and I think that might come into play in my new book.

Why did you choose to create a fictional, archetypal Cape Cod town instead of using a real one? How did that choice influence the story and the characters?

I think when real places are used that aren’t absolutely iconic it can be distracting. It’s too tempting to compare—“is that place really like that?” It messes with the fictional dream. Also, my Mashantum, while very similar to the town we go to on the Cape, isn’t exactly the same. I am not that interested in verisimilitude, and I didn’t want to be held to it. Any measures you can take, as a writer, to free yourself up are worth taking.

Why did you choose alternating perspectives and flashbacks? I've heard some writers say there is some resistance to flashbacks as a narrative device. Did you encounter any resistance yourself?

It seemed necessary to move around in time and perspective to tell the story I wanted to tell. I thought of it, the story, as a whole, organic thing, and I wanted to look at it from all angles. I don’t even really think of them as flashbacks. The characters’ memories are very much in the present, and they influence their actions in the present, so time seems more fluid. Metabolizing one’s memories in the present makes the memories a part of the plot in real time, if that makes sense.

As for resistance, no, I never got any. I was well-edited, but also lightly edited. The book was sold in very similar form to the final version. Early on in the writing process, I considered putting dates on the sections, but then I decided to try to write it as clearly as I could so that wouldn’t be necessary. I might have to do them in my current book, though. I’m not opposed to dates on principle; I just thought I could make The Swimming Pool work without them, and that the reader might stay more firmly in the characters’ heads that way. I thought my eventual agent or editor might suggest them, but they didn’t.

Would you tell us a little about your writing process? What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Write every day. Write as freely as you can. Read On Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande. Listen to your gut. Have faith. Don’t give up.

As for my own writing process, I try to follow my own advice, often failing miserably.

What do you like to read? What are you reading now?

I have been reading a lot of poetry. I’ve been felt far too immersed in the Web because of book promotion, and at this point I feel like the Internet is a Chinese water torture of banality, with just enough meaning to keep you hoping but not enough to keep you satisfied. (Book blogs, of course, are an obvious exception!) So I’ve been craving pure, concentrated language. I want to cleanse myself with words. Rumi, Rilke, Stevens, Eliot, Levertov, Gioia. Right now I’m all over the place. I am looking for passion and intensity and, not precision exactly, but care.

I’m also reading a selection of Jung’s writings. I’m fascinated that he was a psychologist and a scientist who truly believed in God—I am rather more interested in him as a mystic than a psychologist. And I think as an artist and a storyteller, I should know more about the collective unconscious and archetypes—or maybe just figure out what it is that I already know. But I’m at the beginning of this project, so right now I just have questions.

And I also am reading, or at this point re-reading, Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard, and Love and Summer by William Trevor. I tend to read a book very quickly the first time, and then, if it moves me, I slow down and read it a few more times. And I want to recommend American Music by Jane Mendelsohn, which came out last year. It didn’t get a lot of attention and I have no idea why, because it is beautiful.

Holly LeCraw's The Swimming Pool was recently named
one of Kirkus' Top Debuts of 2010, and was named a "Best
Book of Summer" by The Daily Beast and Good Morning
America. LeCraw has published short fiction in various literary journals and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. A native of Atlanta, she now lives outside Boston with her husband, journalist Peter Howe, and their three children.

Thank you Holly!

I have two signed hardcover copies of The Swimming Pool left over from my travels, which I'd like to offer to two of you! Here are the rules:

• Leave a comment on this post with your email address, and tell me what you're interested in about the book. No email address, no entry- no exceptions.
• No strings- if you want to tweet or Facebook or link to this, I thank you, but it's one person, one comment, one entry.
• This giveaway is open worldwide.
• The giveaway is open from now until midnight, January 31, 2011.
• I will contact the winners via email soon after the 1st of February. Please reply with your mailing address within 48 hours or I will select another winner. I'll send the books out media mail.

Thanks and good luck!

Russo-Biblio-Extravaganza: The Wrapup and The Winners

 

Read and Reviewed:

The Shadows of Berlin, by Dovid Bergelson. Great for readers interested in Jewish literature.

A Mountain of Crumbs, by Elena Gorokhova. A wonderful memoir.

The Ladies from St. Petersburg, by Nina Berberova. A moving collection of short stories.

The Dacha Husband, by Ivan Shcheglov. A bitingly satirical novella about the bourgeoisie.

There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried To Kill Her Neighbor's Baby: Scary Fairy Tales, by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya. Does what it says on the label.

Ruts and Gullies: Nine Days in St. Petersburg, by Philippe Girard. A cute graphic novel.

The Accompanist, by Nina Berberova. A somewhat disturbing novella.

Other features:

Interview with Lisa of Lizok's Bookshelf.

A&A's Movie A Day Reviews "Night Watch," based on the novel by Sergei Lukyanenko. Part 1 by Andy and Part 2 by Amanda.

15 Authors: Russian Month Edition.

Doctor Zhivago Group Read post one and post two.

I also finished Moscow 2042, by Vladimir Voinovich; look for a review sometime in early December. I tried reading Victor Pelevin's novel The Sacred Book of the Werewolf but have put it aside for now.

That's the wrapup. Now, the winners!

The people who have each won a signed copy of Daphne Kalotay's novel Russian Winter are:

Carey of The Tome Traveller

Belynda, aka MrsCnC

Zibilee of Raging Bibliomania

I'll be in touch with each of you in the next day or so for your mailing address.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered. I hope those of you who started following for extra entries will stick around now that the giveaway is over!

Also, thank you to everyone who commented on Russo-Biblio-Extravaganza. I have enough left in my stash for another month-or-two-or-three- of Russian books. Let's do it again sometime!

Russo-Biblio-Extravaganza Giveaway- 3 *signed* copies of RUSSIAN WINTER

As part of November's Russo-Biblio-Extravaganza month of Russian books and reading, I picked up THREE SIGNED COPIES of Daphne Kalotay's new novel RUSSIAN WINTER to give away.

RUSSIAN WINTER is an exciting new novel about a Russian ballerina, her jewelry collection and her collection of memories, memories that she lingers over one by one as she auctions off her precious jewels, collected over a lifetime. It goes back and forth through time and has garnered many rave reviews.

I have three copies to give away to three lucky winners. Here are the rules:

1. This giveaway is open the U.S. only.
2. To enter, leave a comment here with your email address. No email address, no entry- no exceptions.
3. Link to the giveaway on your blog, Facebook or Twitter and leave me the link here for two extra entries each.
4. Followers old and new get two extra entries.
5. The contest is open until midnight EST November 30. I will select the winners with Random.org. You have the whole month to enter. I will contact the winners sometime the following weekend; each winner will have 48 hours to respond with a US mailing address. If I don't hear back in 48 hours I will select another winner.

BiblioSue reviewed Russian Winter here.
See She Is Too Fond of Books' review here.
Boston Book Bums reviewed it, too. 

If you have reviewed the book and would like me to link to it on this post, leave it in the comments even if you don't want to enter the giveaway and I will update the post periodically with your reviews.
Good luck!

Happy Blogiversary to Me! And A Giveaway for You!

Today is my third blogiversary! Yay!! Starting my blog and watching it grow has been really fun and I want to thank everyone who's ever read it or commented on it for your interest and support. When I started it back in 2007 I don't think I ever expected anything to come of it. It's been such a pleasure and a privilege to get to know all of you, and this year has been the best so far, with BEA, Book Blogger Con and lots of great book events, activities and more. My husband is taking me out to a nice French restaurant in Boston tonight for beef Wellington, but the presents are going to be for you. To celebrate my third blogiversary, I'm doing a giveaway of two signed Brunonia Barry galleys- her 2008 hit The Lace Reader and her latest, which came out in the spring, The Map of True Places. Even if you've read one or both, signed galleys are great to collect. So it's two giveaways, one book to one winner and the other to another winner. The contest is open worldwide and is open until midnight EST September 3, 2010. The rules:

• Leave a comment with your email address, stating which book you'd like to win. You can enter for both but you can only win one.
• Entries without an email address AND a book preference will be disregarded.
• Tweet the giveaway and leave a link for two extra entries.
• Become (or be) a follower for two extra entries.

I will use Random.org to pick a winner sometime the weekend of September 4-5 and announce the winner the following week. I'll email the winner and he or she has 48 hours to respond before I pick another winner. Thank you for everything these past three years and good luck!

Armchair BEA- We have a winner!

I'm thrilled to announce the winner of my Armchair BEA giveaway- Marlene, of the fantastic blog Book Lover and Procrastinator. What a great name for a book blog! It's a new favorite of mine for sure and I hope you all go check it out.

Thanks to everyone who entered and thanks to the organizers of Armchair BEA for the event. I was glad to be able to share some of the fun of going to a big conference with you all, and I hope some of you new followers stick around. I look forward to getting to know you and your blogs!

ArmChair BEA Giveaway- YA Grab Bag

My ArmChair BEA Giveaway is for the stack of YA galleys pictured below. These are winter and spring 2010 titles from a variety of publishers, all in new condition. I'm giving away all of the titles to one winner, like a real galley grab. I'll also thrown in a gently-used conference-floor totebag I picked up at ALA Midwinter (which is also where these books came from), and maybe an extra surprise or two.

The titles:
The Popularity Papers, by Amy Ignatow
The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, by Heather Brewer,
The Good Girl's Guide to Getting Kidnapped, by Yxta Maya Murray,
Fang, by James Patterson,
Dragons of Darkness, by Antonia Michaelis,
The Prophecy, by Dawn Miller,
Magic Under Glass, by Jaclyn Delamore (with the embargoed "white washed" cover, FYI),
Night Runner, by Max Turner,
Emily the Strange: Stranger and Stranger, by Rob Reger and Jessica Gruner,
Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies, by Andrea Beaty,
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, by Tom Angleberger,
Enchanted Glass, by Diane Wynne Jones.

The rules:

• Open to U.S. entrants only.
• Open only to those attending neither BEA nor Book Blogger Con.
  
• The giveaway is for the whole pile. If there's something in it that you don't want, you're free to dispose of it as you see fit. You're free to do whatever you want with all of the books.
  
• Leave a comment with your email address. Entries without email addresses will be disregarded.
• Tweet the entry for an extra entry; become a follower for two extra entries.
• The contest is open now until midnight, Sunday May 30. I'll pick the winner during the day on Sunday and announce the winner on Monday.
  
• I will pick the winner using random.org and will notify the winner immediately. The winner has 48 hours to get back in touch with me with a shipping address. If I don't hear from the winner in that time, I'll choose a new winner.
  

Good luck and happy Armchair BEA!

THE PASSAGE- We Have a Winner!

Congratulations to Michelle, of the awesome blog Galleysmith, who won my recent giveaway of Justin Cronin's The Passage. I'll be mailing it out soon- I hope you enjoy it!

In the meantime if you're not already reading her fantastic blog, you really need to, right now!

Thanks to everyone who entered!

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!

Read-a-Thon 3 PM Update - and Giveaway!

To celebrate the Read-a-Thon, I'm giving away a whole collection of graphic novels to one lucky winner. Included are the following:

Will You Still Love Me if I Wet the Bed?, a mini graphic novel by Liz Prince,
Bombaby, by Anthony Mazzotta, which I read today,
The Squirrel Mother, a celebrated graphic novel by Megan Kelso,
Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Graphic Adaptation, by Ray Bradbury and Tim Hamilton,
Jennifer Omand's charming Squarecat Comics,
Amy Unbounded, by Rachel Hartman, perfect for that tween girl in your life,
Serenity: Those Left Behind, a tie-in from the cult TV show,
The Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore,
The Question: The Five Books of Blood, by Greg Rucka,
Heroes: Volume 1, based on the hit TV series, and
Strangers in Paradise, Volume 1, by Terry Moore- the first compilation volume of the landmark series signed by author Terry Moore.

All are gently-read used copies, in good condition. Some may contain violence, sex or swearing and most are not suitable for children or younger teens.

To enter:

• Leave a comment on this post with your email address. Comments without an email address will be disregarded.
• Become a follower and receive an extra entry.
• Tweet this giveaway and/or link to it (and leave me the link) for two extra entries.
• The giveaway will be open from now until midnight EST, Wednesday November 4. I will likely mail the package out the following Friday.
• I can mail to U.S. addresses only but if you want to enter as angel for someone abroad I'll mail to you in the U.S. and then you will be responsible for shipping to the winner.
  

This is a great giveaway for the newbie to graphic novels or the reader looking to expand his or her collection- there's a lot of variety here from small press comics to TV tie-ins to brand-new comics to a classic or two. I will probably also throw in an extra or two into the package such as a manga or something like that.

Now, on to my update!

Halfway through, and I'm on to longer books now. I finished the graphic adaptation of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, which I thought was great, and James Turner's Rex Libris: I, Librarian, a cute librarian-as-superhero comic.

Next I'm moving into the bright, colorful world of Joann Sfar for Klezmer and Vampire Loves. See you at 6!

BBAW Giveaway - Graphic Novel Grab-Bag featuring WHAT IT IS by Lynda Barry

For my Book Blogger Appreciation Week giveaway, I'm featuring a hardcover copy of What It Is, by comics goddess Lynda Barry, as well as twelve samplers by publishers such as DC, Top Shelf, Dark Horse Comics, Red 5 Comics, Oni Press, Bongo Comics, Archie Comics and Marvel.

The centerpiece is the wonderful book by Lynda Barry, which is half memoir and half writing workshop. I loved this book.

If you have never read a graphic novel before, this is a fantastic opportunity to read a great book by a top artist and writer, and to get a grasp of what's going on in comics today with all the great samplers.

The rules for the giveaway are as follows:

• Open to U.S. residents only.
• To enter, leave a comment with your email address. If you do not leave an email address, your entry will not be counted.
• I will use Random.org to select a winner on September 19 and notify the winner via email shortly thereafter. The winner has 48 hours to respond. If I don't hear back from you, I will choose a new winner.
• Two extra entries if you're a follower.
• Two more extra entries if you tweet or link to the giveaway and leave the link(s) in the comments.

Blogiversary Giveaway- We Have a Winner!

With the help of Random.org, I found the winner of my Blogiversary giveaway- Sue of The Mickelson Family blog.

Be sure to stop by her great blog & say hi and congratulations.

Happy Birthday to Boston Bibliophile!

So today marks two full years of blogging. I have to admit I'm kind of proud.

Here's a link to my first day of posting. Fascinating stuff, no? No wonder I had no readers for the six months! Things didn't take off until I tapped into the burgeoning (and trendy) book blogging world and from then on it's been a lot of fun. Some fun facts:

• The original name of my blog was Another Librarian's Book Blog. Boston Bibliophile is better, right?
  
• The first review offer I received was from author Edward Hardy, for his book Keeper and Kid, which I enjoyed,
• My first author interview was with Eva Etzioni-Halevy, which was fun and lead to some others,
• A couple of months ago I was featured in the Macmillan newsletter for librarians, for my review of their novel The Tricking of Freya,
  
• I was the original host of the Tuesday Thingers meme about LibraryThing, now hosted by Wendi at Wendi's Book Corner,
  
• I did a weekly feature called Graphic Novel Monday for several months and still do the occasional graphic novel feature.

And now? Now I'm trying to figure out what the future holds for me and my blog. I'm trying to do more essay writing, fewer memes, better reviews and more author interviews.

Professionally I'm still a librarian but I'm looking for other ways to get involved in the book world and if you have any ideas, I'm open to suggestions! (Email me privately if you do!)

Of course a big thank-you goes out to my readers and commenters- I wouldn't be able to blog without the great feedback I get everyday. Getting to know you, your blogs and what you like to read has been incredibly fun and rewarding and I know that whatever else happens with life and career, I'll continue blogging for a long time to come.

To celebrate, I'm going to give away a signed copy of that first book I received for review, Edward Hardy's Keeper and Kid.


Here are the rules:

• To enter, leave a comment here with your email address in the comment. Entries without an email address will be disregarded.
• One extra entry if you link to the giveaway and leave the link in the comments.
• Two extra entries if you tweet the giveaway and leave the link in the comments.
• Three extra entries if you are a follower or become one.
  
• The giveaway is open to the U.S. and Canada.
• I will use Random.org to choose a winner.
  
• Entries close at midnight EST on August 23. I will pick the winner on August 24 and contact him/her by the 25th. If I don't hear back from the winner with a mailing address within 7 days I will choose another winner.

It's a fun, addictive read- I hope you like it!

St. Patrick's Giveaway- We have a winner!

Random.org has helped me select Candy of the blog Twisted as the winner of my Saint Patrick's Day Giveaway!

Congratulations to Candy, and be sure to check out her new blog!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
In celebration of St. Patty's Day, I'm giving away a gently-read copy of Irish Girls About Town, a paperback anthology of short stories about Irish women edited by Maeve Binchy, Marian Keyes and Cathy Kelly.

Authors include the editors, as well as Joan O'Neill, Catherine Barry, Mary Ryan, Sarah Webb and others.

Subjects include life, love, families, children, marriage and career.
It's a great book and a great way to acquaint yourself with a variety of contemporary Irish women authors and their varied work.

The rules:

• Leave a comment on this post with your email address. Entries without an email address will not be counted.
• Tweet or link for an extra entry.
  
• This contest is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only.
• The giveaway will close tonight at midnight EST.
• I will contact the winner sometime tomorrow. The winner has a week to get back to me with his/her address.
  
• I will mail out the package as soon as I have that information. I will mail it media mail.

So that's it- just a quick 24 hour giveaway. Good luck!

Book Giveaway Carnival- We Have a Winner!

I'm pleased to announce that Rhapsody in Books is the lucky winner of my Graphic Novel Grab-Bag Giveaway.

Congratulations! And do be sure to check out her great blog.

Book Giveaway Carnival! TODAY through March 8

My giveaway for the Book Giveaway Carnival is a GRAPHIC NOVEL GRAB BAG.

One lucky winner will receive:
Kate T. Williamson's appealing, beautifully drawn graphic novel about growing up, called Crossroads: Between A Rock and My Parents' Place. Here's the Amazon product description:

After graduating from college and spending a magical year abroad writing our best-selling A Year in Japan, Kate T. Williamson felt ready for anything. But, like many a post-graduate, she needed some time to figure out just what that anything was. Her parents’ house in Pennsylvania seemed like the perfect place for a brief layover, but twenty-three-months later, Williamson was still contemplating the past and the future, while explaining to curious neighbors that at present her life was "at a crossroads."

At a Crossroads is a unique graphic memoir about the common, yet little-discussed "boomerang years." With sharp wit and expressive watercolors, Williamson illustrates the joys, disappointments, comforts, and embarrassments of life back home with mom and dad. Highlights and low points include celebrating her twenty-fourth birthday at a Hall & Oates concert with her mother; noticing the train sounds from her bedroom for the first time; battling an infestation of squirrels; discovering that the ballet class she has signed up for is actually for children, and attending anyway; getting mail from her college crush, who has developed an interest in taxidermy; wearing a chain mail belt of her own creation to her cousin’s Renaissance wedding. Moving from season to season, Williamson uses her delightful illustrations and vivid descriptions to discover the beauty and truth inside every hilarious episode. At a Crossroads is a book for young and old alike, or for anyone contemplating the little things worth noting in the times of our lives we often erase from our histories.

The winner will also receive a "grab bag" of graphic novel samplers and zines including the following:

The Fart Party #6, by Julia Wertz,
Ignatz, a sampler published by Fantagraphics,
Slow News Day #1, by Andi Watson,
Gekiga, a sampler published by Drawn & Quarterly,
Fuff #4, by Jeffrey Lewis,
Tank Girl #4, by Alan Martin,
Tick-Tock Follies, by Chris Butler and Chris Hogg,
Amelia Rules! Comics and Stories, written and illustrated by Jimmy Gownley, and
Comic Book Diner, a sampler published by Kids Love Comics.

It's all good stuff in here- I've reviewed Julia Wertz and Andi Watson on the blog in the past, and the publisher samplers are filled with a variety of great stuff as well.

With the exception of Comic Book Diner which is intended for children, the majority of these samplers and zines are intended for adults. If you have a question about the content please feel free to email me and I'll respond when I can.

Here are the rules:

1. Comment on this entry.
2. Leave an email address in the comment. If you do not leave an email address I will not enter you in the giveaway.
3. Tweet or blog about this giveaway for an additional entry. Tweet AND blog for two additional entries. Leave me links for both.
4. This giveaway is open to residents of the United States only.
5. The deadline for entry is midnight EST March 8, 2009. I will pick the winner on March 9 using random.org and notify him/her no later than March 10. If I don't receive any acknowledgment from the winner within a week (or by March 17) I will select another winner. I will mail out the package as soon as possible after I hear from the winner with an address.

The Book Giveaway Carnival is hosted at BookRoomReviews.com. Go there to link to even more great giveaways, and good luck!