Category: FREE

Stained French Quiz & 2 giveaways – closed

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This past week has gotten away from me, so I’m making this easy for you and me both.  I love visiting old churches.  I didn’t get to as many as I wanted to in France, but next time!  I’ve chosen 7 of the best pics I have from the stained glass that I found when touring.  The ‘quiz’ (a survey really) is that I want you to choose your favorite 3, in order.  I’m curious to see what your faves are.  I’ll tally up the votes and let you know what the favorites are next week.

IMG_2834I’m not awarding points this week, BUT I will be giving one lucky participant a pretty French journal.  Gage will draw a name next week.

The Doll (Vanessa Michael Munroe Series #3)I’m also drawing a winner for a signed copy of the Taylor Stevens latest. Hurry the winner will be chosen Wednesday at noon.  Click here for the details.

Here are your gorgeous choices. Just rank your top 3 in order as a comment.

Here is the order you ranked them in-

7.France 237

6.France 194

1.France 209

2.France 240

3.France 119

5.France 190

4.France 125

 

 

I hope you’ll click on them to see the detail.  Answers to last week’s quiz here.

The Doll Giveaway!

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So, I was able to spend some time with Taylor Stevens, the author of the Vanessa Michael Monroe series, last month and brought home a new, signed hardcover copy of the latest in the series, #3.  I decided to give it away this month since Taylor assured me that France is in the book 🙂  Although I haven’t read this one yet I can recommend this series for thriller lovers and those who love kick ass women.

The Doll (Vanessa Michael Munroe Series #3)The Doll, 2013

Haunted by a life of violence and as proficient with languages as she is with knives, Vanessa Michael Munroe, chameleon and hunter, has built her life on a reputation for getting things done—dangerous and often not-quite-legal things. Born to missionary parents in lawless Africa, taken under the tutelage of gunrunners, and tortured by one of the jungle’s most brutal men, Munroe was forced to do whatever it took to stay alive.
   The ability to survive, fight, adapt, and blend has since taken her across the globe on behalf of corporations, heads of state, and the few private clients who can afford her unique brand of expertise, and these abilities have made her enemies. 
   On a busy Dallas street, Munroe is kidnapped by an unseen opponent and thrust into an underground world where women and girls are merchandise and a shadowy figure known as The Doll Maker controls her every move. While trusted friends race to unravel where she is and why she was taken, everything pivots on one simple choice: Munroe must use her unique set of skills to deliver a high-profile young woman into the same nightmare that she once endured, or condemn to torture and certain death the one person she loves above all else.
   Driven by the violence that has made her what she is, cut off from help, and with attempts to escape predicted and prevented, Munroe will hunt for openings, for solutions, and a way to strike back at a man who holds all the cards. Because only one thing is certain: she cannot save everyone. 
   In this high-octane thriller for fans of Lee Child, Stieg Larsson, and Robert Ludlum’s Bourne trilogy, Vanessa Michael Munroe will have to fight fast, smart and furiously to overcome a dangerous nemesis and deliver her trademark brand of justice.

from Goodreads

Want to win a signed copy?  All you need to do is leave a comment with your email address.  I will count EVERY comment you leave on any of my posts this month as an entry.  Just make sure you leave your email on this post so I know you want it. I’ll tally previous and future July post comments for the drawing.  Open worldwide 🙂

Gage will draw a winner on July 31, so get to commenting 🙂

France 127I bet the super heroine, Vanessa Michael Monroe, uses these sidewalk gas pumps!  (courtesy of Bookbath)

E is for Extras (that means free stuff)

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Blogging from A-Z

Every year when I collect all of my unread books in one spot I find a few doubles.  I know I want the book, buy it and then discover it’s already it in the house!!  So, I need your help to find new homes for these books, 2 of them are favorites of mine and 3 I still need to read.  Leave a comment telling me which ones you want and Gage will randomly draw winners on Friday, April 26th (that happens to be the day for W).

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1. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. My first book of magical realism and I loved it.  The book is new.

2. Beloved by Toni Morrison. One of my favorite reads from last year.

3. The Devil’s Teardrop by Jeffery Deaver. A favorite author but I haven’t read this one yet.

4. Chocolat by Joanne Harris.  Loved the movie and I can’t wait to read this one.

5. The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold.  Loved her first book and I hope I love this one too.

Happy reading!  List all the ones that you want, you can win more than one.

It’s Sunday and Gage is here to choose winners!

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Thank you all for your best wishes on my blogiversary.  Let’s get to some winners… First up, winner of the free book from my favorites list.  I taped everyone on a ball and let Gage choose one.

013014And the winner is…Sheree!  She said she wanted to win Violets of March, but a girl has a right to change her mind.

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Next up is the winner of Godiva chocolate.  I let Gage choose oneof the letters that represented the quiz gang this week.  Who’d he choose?

001004The winner is Nise!  Yummy chocolate is headed your way 🙂

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I had you help me choose the best Gage photo from his years on the blog.  The majority of you chose the one with him and his momma on their birthday hats.  Great choice 🙂  Gage helped me pick the winner of a surprise bookish gift.  This time I gave him some Sesame Street stickers and waited to see who’d get stuck first.

006012On his third sticker Big Bird hit Carol (Carol’s Notebook)!  Congratulations, Carol!

5 Best of the Best – Gage is giving away a prize if you tell him how cute he is!

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012May 2012 153006082391

In October 2010 little Gage came into the world and onto the blog.  Six pounds of cuteness!  After much debate, here are my 5 favorite photos from Sundays with Gage.  Tell me your favorite and you’ll be entered to win some Godiva chocolate!

In honor of my 5 year blogiversary I’m giving stuff away.  Click here to win a favorite (of mine) book).

Click here to win a cool bookish gift.

5 Best of the Best- Quizzes with a chance to win!

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I have a degree in English Education and although I don’t use it to make money these days I do still have some of the test maker in me and thankfully you guys let me play quizmaster.  Thank you all for coming to play 🙂  The quizzes are always on Tuesdays (next round starting in February) and the more people who guess the better.  The winner of each round wins a gift card in the amount of the number of participants, and there is always a special prize for a random quizzee.  Nise (Under the Boardwalk) has dominated the leaderboard with 6 wins in 10 rounds since I started keeping track in 2010!  But Hannah (Word Lily) is the reigning champion.

Here are 4 of my favorites over the past 5 years, Writer’s Lost Quiz (this is always the first quiz of the year, next one coming up Feb. 5), Common Thread Quiz (I’ve done a few of these and I’ll do more but they are time-consuming), Color Scattergories Quiz (this is just one of the many that I rely on the participants more than on my own research, the Big Boggle is another that I like too), and the 40 Quiz (life begins at 40 ;)).

023Wanna Win?  I love the visual quizzes.  This last favorite is the one I made for the Read-a-thon this past fall.  It’s a clock.  Go ahead and leave your guesses for the titles (each one coinciding with where you find it one the clock) as a comment.  On Saturday Gage will randomly choose a winner.  You don’t have to guess them all and guesses don’t have to be correct to be entered for the win.  Winner will receive the same bookish prize that Marie won last round (ie. it’s a surprise and a good one!)

Want to enter to win one of my favorite books?  Click here.

My 5 year Blogiversary with a chance to win a favorite book!

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I can hardly believe I’ve been blogging for 5 years!  I started slow, got involved with the community through memes, challenges and events, and then slowed down again these past few months have really slowed down due to home demands.  This slowdown will continue for the next few months, but I will still be here, reading, writing, quizzing and visiting your blogs.  Only on a more laid back schedule!

It’s really the community that makes it worth the time and effort.  There have been one or two times in the past year when I’ve considered giving it up because I only have so much time in the day and while I love all of you, you aren’t the ones giving me hugs and kisses at night.  But I would miss it so here I am 5 years in and looking forward to 5 more.

I’ll be going some Best-of-the Best posts this weeks with giveaways.  For the first one I thought I’d compare my favorite lists over the years.  The only big difference I see is that I read less romances these days.  I bolded my 5 favorites from these lists (at least my favorite 5 today :)).  My 5 faves from the last 5 years.

GIVEAWAY-Tell me what your favorite is from these lists and you’ll be entered to win a favorite pick of your choice!  Make sure you leave your email too.  I’ll draw a winner on Saturday.  Look for more giveaways this week!

When I started on January 7, 2008 these were the books I listed as favorites from the year before…

the 5 Prey novels by John Sandford (Broken, Chosen, Mortal, Naked, Hidden)

Natural Born Lover by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hollows by JK Rowling

Sophie Metropolis by Tori Carrington

A year later and my 2008 list looked like this…

On Writing by Stephen King

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr

The Coffin Dancer by Jeffrey Deaver

Splendor by Brenda Joyce

Fear & Trembling by Amelie Nothomb

A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler

Here are my 2009 favorites

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

Watchers by Dean Koontz

Joy School by Elizabeth Berg

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Broken Window by Jeffery Deaver

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

My 2010 faves may be my favorite of the lists…

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

2011 had more great reading

Good Grief by Lolly Winston

Roots by Alex Haley

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigani

Husband and Wife by Leah Stewart

Live Wire by Harlan Coben

The Missing Ink by Karen Olson

Buried Prey by John Sandford

A Room with a View by EM Forster

Heart Sick by Chelsea Cain

And finally last year’s  list

Beloved by Toni Morrison

The Violets of March by Sarah Jio

In the Woods by Tana French

It by Stephen King

Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe

Thank you all for being such great reading buddies these past years and always steering my to awesome books I wouldn’t have found otherwise.

Nutcracker by E.T.A Hoffmann, pictures by Maurice Sendak GIVEAWAY!

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NutcrackerNutcracker. December has gotten away from me around here and I forgot to give away a this gorgeous hardcover book.

I used it in a quiz a few weeks ago and you can click here to see the pics I took.  It is 100 pages of gorgeousness 🙂  I want to thank Debbie from Random House for sending this book for the quiz and a giveaway.

Overview

“A classic, new and complete. One of the ten best illustrated children’s books of the year.” — New York Times Book Review

The tale of Nutcracker, written by E.T.A. Hoffmann in 1816, has fascinated and inspired artists, composers, and audiences for almost two hundred years. It has retained its freshness because it appeals to the sense of wonder we all share.

Maurice Sendak designed brilliant sets and costumes for the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Christmas production of Nutcracker and created even more magnificent pictures especially for this book. He joined with the eminent translator Ralph Manheim to produce this illustrated edition of Hoffmann’s wonderful tale, destined to become a classic for all ages.

The world of Nutcracker is a world of pleasures. Maurice Sendak’s art illuminates the delights of Hoffmann’s story in this rich and tantalizing treasure.

                        After hearing how her toy nutcracker got his ugly face, a little girl helps break the spell and watches him change into a handsome prince.

I’d like to get this mailed this week, so let’s get the giveaway started!  To be entered just leave a comment with your email address.  For a second entry you can tweet about it or post a link to Facebook.

Gage will draw a winner before he goes to bed on Thursday night (12/20). 

24 Hour Read-A-Thon Hour 16 Time Flies Mini-Challenge – CLOSED

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Thanks to all of you who played! Keep reading 🙂  The first reader to get all 13 books correct is Megan (YA? Why Not?) and she will receive a $24 B&N giftcard.  The secondly winner (randomly chosen by drawing names out of a hat) is Dilatory Bibliophile and she will receive a $12 B&N giftcard.  Congratulations, readers, I’ll be in touch 🙂  I’ll be stopping by everyone who played along in the next few days to say hi.

Hi read-a-thonners!  I hope you’re all still awake and having fun.  There are two ways to play this mini-challenge…I made a fall Read-a-thon Clock (yes, it looked more like a clock in my mind ;)).  Just tell me the titles and you could win a prize, the reader with the most correct answers wins a prize. (in the event of a tie the first person to submit their answers will win)  If you get even one title correct I’ll throw your name in the drawing for a second prize.  Keep in mind that each number on the clock is correctly represented and don’t forget about the book in the center.

I’ll periodically hide the comments so don’t be worried if your answers disappear until I draw a winner at 1 AM.

(I apologize for the quality of the clock.  My camera died so I had to use my cell phone) You should be able to click on it to make it bigger.

There’s a second way to play…Make your own clock and post it on your blog.  Make sure each of the titles has something to do with time.  Make sure to leave a link in the comments.  You’ll be eligible for the second prize.

Wanna know what you’re playing for?  First prize (reader who guesses the most correct titles in my clock) will get a $24 Barnes & Noble giftcard.  The second randomly chosen winner will receive a $12 Barnes & Noble giftcard. (If you are not in the US I can do Book Depository)

If  you still want to extend your break with something bookish I do have another quiz going on with prizes.  The link is here.