Winners!

OK, I just chose the winners for the most recent giveaway using Random.org....and the winners are:

Drey won Funny in Farsi
Alyce wins Long Walk to Freedom (audiobook)
and Avalonne83 wins The Last Days of Krypton

Thanks everyone for participating!

Winners can send your mailing address to bexadler at yahoo dot com.

Up High in the Trees Winner!

Using Random.org I selected AMBER as the winner of Up High in the Trees by Kiara Brinkman. Thanks so much to all of you who entered.

M.J. Rose Winners!

OK, so since some people got more than one entry for posting about this giveaway, I did this by listing you by number and then using Random.org to generate a sequence. The top five entries won books, with the first number chosen winning the grand prize, the second and third places getting The Memorist, and the last two getting The Reincarnationist. Here's the results:

GRAND PRIZE (a copy of each book): Literary Feline
Copies of The Memorist: Serena and Carol's Notebook
Copies of The Reincarnationist: Judi and Carolyn.

I don't have all of your e-mails, so if you don't hear from me then please e-mail me at bexadler(at)yahoo(dot)com with your mailing address and I'll get the books out to you! Thanks everyone for participating!

Is it Karma?

It seems that all the giveaways I've been hosting lately are paying off on the Karma scale because I just won five books from Book-Blog.com and Hatchette books! I'm so super excited for these books:

Book Club Discussion: Gregory Maguire's Wicked Series

This month I selected Wicked by Gregory Maguire for the online book club because I've wanted to read it for years and I thought it fit well in the month of Halloween. My only disappointment with this book is that I never read it sooner! I had put off reading the book because I was a little irked that Maguire took someone else's story (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum) and repurposed it for his own novel. I've always been one of those people who thinks it's unimaginative to take someone else's work and rewrite it, but that has all changed with Wicked.

Maguire weaves a wonderful tale of Elphaba Thropp, the woman many of us know as The Wicked Witch of the West, and the land of Oz from the time before the infamous Wizard arrives to Elphaba's untimely death at the hands of the unforgettable Dorothy. As Elphaba grows up we see her transforming into somewhat of a political activist. Upon entering college she is immediately drawn to helping Animals who have just been subjected to new laws limiting their rights and taking away their ability to be gainfully employed in anything besides manual labor. For her actions to aid the Animals she is considered a threat to the Wizard. Not to mention the fact that her sister, the ruler of Munchkinland, has seceded from the greater country of Oz, showing growing discontent of the Wizard's rule among the people of Oz.

And there is so much more. There's magic and talking Animals (animals don't talk, Animals do) as one would expect. Many of the mysteries of Oz are fleshed out and made very real. And we see another side to the story of the Wizard of Oz. The book was definitely a grown-up's fairy tale, but I thought it was wonderfully well written.

I also read Son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men after finishing Wicked because I just had to know what happened (seriously, it's like Harry Potter for adults). However, I didn't like Son of a Witch quite as well as Wicked because it moved a bit too slow until it got to the end. I did enjoy it though and the ending made my heart smile in a big way. A Lion Among Men was even slower than Son of a Witch and left me wanting more. Liir (the son of Elphaba) was completely left out of the story with no accounting of him or his family, which I suppose was done in order to leave space for another book in the series, but I was still disappointed by it. In regard to A Lion Among Men, I almost felt like Maguire had a deadline and so decided to throw something together. And I was hugely disappointed that the Lion turned out to be such an opportunistic creep - and after Elphaba saved him as a cub! Have any of you read these sequels? What did you think? Am I being too harsh here?

Also, I want to know what you all thought of Wicked! I tried to keep my review short because I really want to know what you all though. Who were your favorite characters? What did you think of Elphaba? How about her sister? Did you think the author left any unanswered questions at the end?

Wicked was also reviewed by:
Beastmomma

Oh, and before I forget: I selected the winner for my copy of Janeology by Karen Harrington! I selected the winner using the list randomizer on random.org and got: REBEKAH E. Rebekah if you can send your mailing address to bexadler at yahoo dot com, I'll send the book out to you. Thanks to everyone who entered and check back in a few days because I'll be holding another giveaway then.

Book Club Discussion: House & Home

First, I wanted to let you all know that after your encouragement I decided to go to my public library book club and I still enjoyed the discussion. Not only that, but I also was given a copy of the book by one of the other members so I won't have to check it out at the library again! Now hopefully I'll really find the time to read it, especially considering how many people there actually really liked the book.

Now, onto our own book club discussion here. This month we read House & Home by Kathleen McCleary (check out my interview with her here) Personally, I really enjoyed this book. At first I was uncertain as to whether I'd like it because it sounded a little far-fetched to me. I also got the feeling I wasn't going to like Ellen because, from the description, she seemed like an impetuous child - burning down her house because somebody else had bought it outright? Puh-lease! BUT I loved this book. I got through it quickly and what I found was that, despite the cover's description, the book was about much more than Ellen and her house.

House & Home is about learning to distinguish between what makes a house and what makes a home. The two words conjure up very different meanings in my mind, and I was glad that Ellen was finally able to see that what made her house a happy place was not necessarily the things that filled it, but the people.

I thought the characters in this book were really well developed and I loved every one of them. Sam was one of my favorites, despite his flaws (probably because he reminds me so much of my own beau). Some of Ellen's complaints about him really caught me off guard because I have had so many of those complaints myself.

I also found that I really connected with Ellen on a different level, in that she reminded me of my own mother in some of the passages. As a child I moved often, and I have to say I reacted much like her children. I threw huge tantrums every time we moved and would hold it against my parents for months afterward. Here is one passage that I highlighted in the text:

"And then Ellen simply refusted to move again. After years of putting off having children, and working endless hours to get her decorating business up and running in one town after another, she was done. She wanted to buy a house and paint the walls red, not some neutral rental color. She watned to get pregnant and have babies. She wanted to plant bulbs and know she'd be there in the spring to watch them bloom. She wanted to make friends and reminisce over shared memories that went back more than twelve months."

I think this one passage so encapsulates that desire, after years of moving, to stay put, to have some roots. I know I've felt this way as recently as March when I moved back to Sacramento from Paris. I absolutely had every intention of settling down here, finally. And I still dream of owning my own house and knowing it will be a place I can always come back to.

This book was very relatable in many ways. It's more than a story of a house - it's the story of a family. I really want that to come across in my review because I feel that some people may avoid this book as I did at first, thinking it was too far-fetched.

For those of you who read the book, I have a couple of questions in the hopes to get a conversation started:

What did you think of the book?

Who was your favorite character in the book? Who did you relate to most and why?

Have you ever felt this way about a move or a house?

Were you surprised by all of the turns this book took?

If this book was made into a movie, who would be your choice to play Ellen? And who would play her hunky husband, Sam? (I stole this question from Displaced Beachbums, hope you don't mind!)

Oh, and I almost forgot: We have a winner! I chose the winner of the House & Home giveaway using Random.org and it chose kamewh! Congratulations! Send your mailing address to bexadler (at) yahoo (dot) com and I'll get it out to you right away!

For other reviews of this book visit:
A Lifetime of Books
It's All About Books
Books on the Brain
Booking Mama

Matrimony Winner!

The drawing for a signed paperback copy of Matrimony by Joshua Henkin is now closed. The winner was selected using random.org's list randomizer. And the winner is windycindy! Congratulations! If you'd please e-mail me (bexadler at yahoo dot com) your mailing address, I can get it to Mr. Henkin and have the book sent to you.

Matrimony was released today in paperback with this new fancy cover. For more information about Matrimony you can check out Joshua Henkin's Web site here, read an interview between him and I here or read my review of the book here.

Contest Winners!

Sorry I didn't get this  up yesterday. My laptop has had a major breakdown and won't be  back up for the foreseeable future. Note to self: Apple computers may look super sleek and be super popular, but they live up to the reputation PC users have given them. I haven't even owned the laptop a year and I already have to have the hard drive replaced? SO not OK with me.

Anyway, what you're really here for is to see who our winners are, so let's get down to business:

When you are engulfed in flames goes to icedream. 

A short history of nearly everything goes to Shana.

and The Richest Season goes to Amanda.

Please email (bexadler at yahoo dot com) me with you mailing addresses so I can get these books out asap. 

If you didn't happen to win this one, be advised there will be more giveaways to come. AND Jocelyn at Book Finds is giving away a copy of Sisters of Misery. So head on over and check that one out.

Reviews and book club announcements will be soon to follow, but I'm sleepy right now and borrowing this computer so I don't want to take too much time. 

The Purge Continues...

First, I'd like to announce the winner of last week's giveaway of A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. Random.org's list generator selected Janel as our winner. Sorry Janel, I don't have your email, so you'll have to contact me: bexadler at yahoo dot com.

For the rest of you, don't despair, there are still more books to win! This week I have three more books to giveaway.

On August 1, I will pick three winners.

The first place winner will receive a signed copy (but it's JUST his signature) of David Sedaris' new book, When You Are Engulfed In Flames.

Second place receives my ARC copy of The Richest Season by Maryann McFadden, which I reviewed here.

Third place gets my copy (paperback) of A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.

I promise reviews are coming one of these days. I'm in the midst of reading four different books, but for some reason I am completely unable to finish any of them. I have no attention span these days...

OK then, don't forget to leave a comment by August 1!

P.S. Planet Books is also holding a giveaway, so jump on over there for more chances to get free books!

Winner! And Reminders

The drawing for All About Lulu is now closed, as I've selected the winner using Random.org. AND the winner is (drum roll please) Allessandra. Please send me your mailing address to bexadler at yahoo dot com and I'll get the book out to you as soon as possible.

Also, everyone remember we'll be having our book club discussion about Animal, Vegetable, Miracle on June 30 (Monday). As always I'll post my review that day and I hope to hear what you all thought of the book. In addition, if you've already reviewed the book, you can leave a comment on that post and I'll include a link to your review.

One last thing: I've already mentioned it, but since it's almost here, I thought I'd bring up the 24-hour Read-a-thon again. We'll be raising money for Reading Is Fundamental and you can contribute by pledging to donate a set amount for each hour or page I read ($1 an hour for instance or 10 cents a page) or you can just donate any amount you wish (I think lowest donation amount is $10). Go here for more information on donating to the organization. And I'll be updating my blog throughout the day on Saturday with information on where I stand. The read-a-thon starts at 9 a.m. Saturday and ends 9 a.m. Sunday. Something tells me I'll be doing a lot of sleeping on Sunday....