Romance is in the Air Giveaway Hop

Last month I wrote a review on the Heather Wells Mysteries by Meg Cabot. I raved and raved about the series and now I am giving you a chance to win your very own copy of Size 12 is Not Fat, the first in the Heather Wells Mysteries. You might be thinking, isn't this a romantic giveaway? Yes it is! I love Heather's relationship with Cooper. Though you only get the foundation of that relationship in Size 12, I think you will also find yourself falling for this couple. I hope you enjoy this series as much as I did. It is laugh out loud funny sprinkled with some heartfelt moments. Plus, who doesn't love a dashing private investigator? 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Emily M. Danforth Interview & Giveaway

In 2012, I wrote an epic review on the awesome The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth. The book was recommended to me by a friend and fellow librarian. After I read it, I book talked it to anyone I could find. Cameron's story will break your heart over and over again, but it is a story that needs to be told. Fast forward a year and a half and CAM POST is still with me. I recommend it to patrons and from time to time I think back on Cameron's resilient story.

Author Emily M. Danforth was gracious enough to submit to one of my silly author interviews. This is something new I have been working on and I hope that everyone enjoys it. I find myself always wondering how people would answer the silliest of questions. Yes, I'm interested in their writing style or questions regarding their books. But I'm a silly person and I want to ask silly questions.

Silly Author Interview Questions for Emily Danforth

(Because these are way more fun than regular questions)

What song always gets stuck in your head? 

When my wife isn’t traveling for work, it’s whatever song she’s using that week on her i-phone alarm to wake her up. (This morning, for instance, Lady Gaga’s “Applause.” Particularly the chorus, that ear-wormy bit of repetition —live for the applause-plause/live for the applause-plause.)

Left Handed or Right Handed?

Right

If I were to give you a cookie, what kind of cookie would it be?

Well that would be entirely up to you, wouldn’t it? I mean, when someone’s giving me a cookie I don’t typically become demanding and put stipulations on the make or model of said cookie. However, I do love a good, soft sugar cookie with thick frosting and sprinkles. I also really love those powder-sugar-rolled pecan balls often found on cookie assortment trays during the holidays. My mom makes those best.

Which book have you read over and over again?

So many, and so random a grouping: The Grapes of Wrath; In Cold Blood; Matilda; To Kill a Mockingbird; Lolita; The Great Gatsby; The Price of Salt; Catcher in the Rye.

Guiltiest pleasure TV show?

Hmmmm. Maybe True Blood. Oh, or (and this is truly embarrassing), this ridiculous, “reality” series on Showtime. There are several on that channel and I’ll just let you pick the one you think it might be. They’re all equally guilty as guilty pleasures.

If you could get rid of one U.S. state, which would it be? Why?

 Nope. Not gonna do it. Not gonna pick one. We need them all. Even those that I personally would never choose to live in, I sometimes might like to visit, you know, to take in their gigantic balls of twine and their cheese festivals or Hay Days. Plus, it takes all of them together to make up the often upsetting but eternally fascinating country that is the US of A. Each state has its charms (though some certainly have more than others), and each state has given us artists and writers and thinkers and doers. In particular, I get defensive about those “square states” in the middle of the country—the “flyover states.” I’ve lived in a couple of them and I bristle when people dismiss them out of hand.

What is the worst job you have ever had? During one very cold, very long winter break, while I was home in Montana from my sophomore year of college, I worked as a caretaker in several group homes for adults with severe physical and mental  disabilities. Interacting with most of these residents was the best part of the job, but often I had the overnight shift, when the residents would be sleeping and I would be cleaning or prepping food or just trying to last the hours, awake, from, 11PM to 7AM. I remember my mother coming into my room at 10:30PM or so, to wake me from an evening nap, one I’d take in prep for one of these long nights, and just being filled with dread, there in the dark, still in my warm bed, thinking about the hours to come, and then having to bundle up and ready myself for a frozen car ride over to this endless night. I remember the houses always being far too quiet and far too warm, the thermostats cranked to some unreasonably tropic temperature. I used to open the door at 2 or 3 in the morning and stand on the little front stoops of these ranch houses and for a few minutes soak in the blizzard inevitably swirling around the dark, let myself get good and chilly, before going back to my bucket of Pine Sol and the kitchen floor. I was always so glad when the additional morning help arrived at six to help me wake the residents and start their days.

One food you refuse to eat?

I don’t eat red meat, pork, or poultry and I haven’t for almost fifteen years.

Favorite alcoholic beverage?

Cocktail: a Tanqueray and tonic with extra lime. Beer: something wheaty w/lemon. (Apparently I’m most interested in the citrus paired with my alcohol. You know, scurvy-prevention and all.)

What song would you sing to at karaoke?

Like there’s only one choice. C’mon. For solos I’m a fan of “Sandra Dee” from Grease, but only if the mood is right in the room. Sometimes it’s just not time for “Sandra Dee,” you know? “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” seems often a crowd pleaser. And I’ll happily duet a Captain and Tennille number, or “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” you know—something snappy and sappy. I guess that’s my karaoke wheelhouse, really: snappy and a little (or a lot) sappy.

A BIG THANK YOU TO EMILY M. DANFORTH FOR ANSWERING THIS RIDICULOUS QUESTIONS!

Now onto the giveaway hop!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Silly Interview with Lauren Willig

     So I have been keeping a secret! I hatched a crazy idea to start doing silly interviews with my favorite authors. In today's social media age we have access to them through Twitter, Facebook, etc. All I had to do was ask. I love author interviews but I always want to know how they will respond to zany questions. That is because I am a silly goose (according to BF).  I don't know how regularly I will post the interviews, but I am very excited because Lauren Willig will be the first author!

    

   Lauren Willig is the New York Times bestselling author of the aaaahhhmazing Pink Carnation series, which are Napoleanic-set romantic mysteries. If you haven't read these books, you are definitely missing out! Like I mentioned before, all I had to do was ask. I wrote to her through the e-mail address provided on her website. I thanked her for writing the Pink Carnation books because I am constantly recommending them to my patrons. Spies? Romance? Suspense? Historical? Hunky Englishmen? Yeah, this book has it all!  I absolutely love when I recommend a book to a patron and they come back wanting me to put the next 3 in the series on hold for me, which always happens when I book talk The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. In my e-mail, I asked if she would be up for a few zany interview questions. Imagine my absolute delight when she responded back only a few hours later! I let out a fangirl scream that sent BF running into the room. Total fangirl moment. I'm not ashamed. Ok, let me tell you a little more about the series. 

     The Secret History of the Pink Carnation (Pink Carnation #1) by Lauren Willig was recommend to me by a friend and fellow librarian. She tore through the series and I found myself enthralled in them as well. Here is a little snippet about the first book in the series: 

    Deciding that true romantic heroes are a thing of the past, Eloise Kelly, an intelligent American who always manages to wear her Jimmy Choo suede boots on the day it rains, leaves Harvard's Widener Library bound for England to finish her dissertation on the dashing pair of spies the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian. What she discovers is something the finest historians have missed: a secret history that begins with a letter dated 1803. Eloise has found the secret history of the Pink Carnation the most elusive spy of all time, the spy who single-handedly saved England from Napoleon's invasion.

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, a wildly imaginative and highly adventurous debut, opens with the story of a modern-day heroine but soon becomes a book within a book. Eloise Kelly settles in to read the secret history hoping to unmask the Pink Carnation's identity, but before she can make this discovery, she uncovers a passionate romance within the pages of the secret history that almost threw off the course of world events. How did the Pink Carnation save England? What became of the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian? And will Eloise Kelly find a hero of her own?

The story alternates between the past and the present and both storylines are intriguing and well written. I know you will love this book as much as I did!

When it came to the interview questions, I wanted to make her laugh out loud. I'm sure after 10 books she has been asked all the traditional questions. I tried to think of some off the wall questions that would delight her and you as well! So without further ado, here is my author interview with Lauren Willig.

Silly Author Interview Questions for Lauren Willig

(Because these are way more fun than regular questions)

(Note from LW: Yes, yes, they are!)

      1. If you had to perform at a karaoke bar, what song would you sing?

These occasions generally involve a great deal of alcohol, so it’s hard to remember precisely what gets sung, but I do have vague memories of belting out “Proud Mary” at the karaoke machine during New Associates Weekend for my law firm.  It’s kind of amazing that they didn’t rescind my job offer then and there.

But, really, I don’t need karaoke to sing.  I do it all the time—bits of Gilbert & Sullivan, show tunes, 80s music, the Judy Collins songs my mother used to play me in my youth—and when I forget the words, I have a tendency to make up replacement lyrics.  Sometimes those lyrics make sense, and sometimes they don’t.  (Except to me.)

2. Left Handed or Right Handed?

Right-handed.

3.  Have you ever watched Duck Dynasty?

Is that related to Duck Tales?  (Now I have the theme song from Duck Tales stuck in my head….)

4.  Your best Halloween costume?

My Halloween costumes tend to be a bit esoteric.  I went as Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey my first year of grad school and spent a great deal of time fielding “Northanger what?” and “Catherine who?”  Sadly, the following year’s appearance as Fanny Burney’s Evelina wasn’t any more successful.  (“Evelina who?”)

5.  Urban Dictionary defines as fangirl as ‘A rabid breed of human female who is obsessed with either a fictional character or an actor”. Who would cause you to act like a fangirl?

I would have said Georgette Heyer, but I had the great good fortune, when I was living in London, to take tea with the wife of Georgette Heyer’s former publisher (I know, I know, it sounds like a French exercise: “have you seen the pen of the publisher of my author?”).  Once I had been fortified with strong tea, she confided that Heyer had actually been rather dull at dinner parties, wanting only to talk about (a) bridge and (b) her husband’s work.  This made me rather sad.  (Which necessitated the consumption of several chocolate biscuits and more strong tea, which made me no less sad, but a great deal more jittery.)

My other big author crush?  Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels.  Everything I know about comic timing, I learned from reading her.

6. Which book have you read over and over again?

There are so many!  Do I have to pick just one?  Gone With the Wind is a strong contender, but I’ll go with L.M. Montgomery’s The Blue Castle.  It never gets old.

       7. What was the last movie you went to see?

I have to confess, I don’t get out much, movie-wise.  I tend to see things a few years late, once they’ve come to tv (or now, Netflix).  But I did actually make it to the theatre for the latest Star Trek movie. I love the tongue in cheek silliness of these re-imaginings of the Star Trek universe.  And how could I miss out on Benedict Cumberbatch as space age villain?

8.  Favorite alcoholic beverage?

I’ll knock back anything that comes in a champagne flute or a martini glass, preferably tinted an odd color from various concoctions (kir royale, I’m looking at you)—but my fallback is a Gin & Tonic.

9. If I were to give you a pint of ice cream, what brand and flavor would it be?

Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food.  So much goodness in such a small container!

10.  What book do you remember the most from the library when you were a child?

Anne-Marie Selinko’s Desiree, the “diary” of Napoleon’s first love, whom he jilted for Josephine.  I was ten years old, in the midst of a Napoleon and Josephine obsession, following the airing of one of those Napoleon and Josephine mini-series on television.  I nagged the school librarian for anything to do with them—and, like a magician, she produced Desiree, with its dark blue binding and yellowed pages, told in diary format, history from the point of view of a girl of sixteen.  I fell in love with that book and borrowed it again and again.

After that, I’d have to say Mary Stewart’s Nine Coaches Waiting.  Our school library had a flimsy paperback copy with seventies artwork on the cover: a woman in very high boots and a very short skirt on a dark path with the sinister chateau looming behind her.  I have my own copy now, a much sturdier copy, but I still miss that old library copy (which probably spent more time in my house than it did in the library).

Thanks so much for having me here on your blog!  Now I’m craving some ice cream and a re-read of Nine Coaches Waiting….

Book Giveaway Time!

It has been a long long long time since I did a book giveaway. I'm going to fix that right now!

I'm a giving away two Karen Marie Moning paperbacks. Both are the first in two awesome series ( Highlander series and the Fever series)

If you haven't read these books or anything else by Karen Marie Moning...where have you been? The Fever series took over my life for an entire month in 2012! You definitely want to win these books!

Open to U.S. residents only.

Good luck and thank you for reading this blog! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Giveaway!

 So I totally forgot about this book. I had been meaning to use it for a Giveaway but it just got pushed under some things on my desk. Well no more! I am giving away an ARC of Making Piece: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Pie by Beth M. Howard. Check out her awesome blog.
Here is a little bit more about the book from Goodreads,

"You will find my story is a lot like pie, a strawberry-rhubarb pie. It's bitter. It's messy. It's got some sweetness, too. Sometimes the ingredients get added in the wrong order, but it has substance, it will warm your insides, and even though it isn't perfect, it still turns out okay in the end."

When journalist Beth M. Howard's young husband dies suddenly, she packs up the RV he left behind and hits the American highways. At every stop along the way—whether filming a documentary or handing out free slices on the streets of Los Angeles—Beth uses pie as a way to find purpose. Howard eventually returns to her Iowa roots and creates the perfect synergy between two of America's greatest icons—pie and the American Gothic House, the little farmhouse immortalized in Grant Wood's famous painting, where she now lives and runs the Pitchfork Pie Stand.

Making Piece powerfully shows how one courageous woman triumphs over tragedy. This beautifully written memoir is, ultimately, about hope. It's about the journey of healing and recovery, of facing fears, finding meaning in life again, and moving forward with purpose and, eventually, joy. It's about the nourishment of the heart and soul that comes from the simple act of giving to others, like baking a homemade pie and sharing it with someone whose pain is even greater than your own. And it tells of the role of fate, second chances and the strength found in community"

Remember this is an Advanced Reader Copy. 

Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor (can't help it!)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Leap into Books Giveaway Hop

Since this is my very first hop, I have decided to giveaway a few awesome book! You will have the chance to win a FREE hardback copy of ...

Pretty girls in pretty dresses, partying until dawn.

Irresistible boys with mischievous smiles and dangerous intentions.

White lies, dark secrets, and scandalous hookups.

This is Manhattan, 1899.

Beautiful sisters Elizabeth and Diana Holland rule Manhattan's social scene. Or so it appears. When the girls discover their status among New York City's elite is far from secure, suddenly everyone--from the backstabbing socialite Penelope Hayes, to the debonair bachelor Henry Schoonmaker, to the spiteful maid Lina Broud--threatens Elizabeth's and Diana's golden future.

With the fate of the Hollands resting on her shoulders, Elizabeth must choose between family duty and true love. But when her carriage overturns near the East River, the girl whose glittering life lit up the city's gossip pages is swallowed by the rough current. As all of New York grieves, some begin to wonder whether life at the top proved too much for this ethereal beauty, or if, perhaps, someone wanted to see Manhattan's most celebrated daughter disappear...

In a world of luxury and deception, where appearance matters above everything and breaking the social code means running the risk of being ostracized forever, five teenagers lead dangerously scandalous lives. This thrilling trip to the age of innocence is anything but innocent. (From Goodreads!)

Good luck!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Giveaway! Thank you to my subscribers!

As a thank you to my subscribers I am doing another book giveaway!

This one will be a lot simpler than last time. All you need to do is subscribe to this blog and leave a comment letting me know that you are now following me! If you have been following me already, still leave a comment. 

The book giveaway will run until February 29th! A winner will be chosen at random and I will contact you then.

So what is the book? Well I won't keep you in suspense like last time!

The prize is a paperback copy of

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larson



GOOD LUCK!!

And the winner is....

Congrats to Charlotte who won!

And a big thank you to everyone who entered.

I hope to have this at least once a month.

So what book did Charlotte win?

I thought this book was perfect because it came from my library's Friends bookstore but also because author Rick Bragg is from Alabama.

Book Giveaway Contest

So I have decided to do a book giveaway contest! Mainly to get rid of some of the books in my house.

Here is how its gonna work. You can either...

1. Comment on this post

2. Follow this blog.

3. Share this post. FB, Tweet, any form of social networking.

or

4. Do all of the above and have 3 entries into the contest!

When you comment on this post besure to include how many numbers of entries you have...

example: Can't wait to see what the book is! I also followed your blog and retweeted.

Total number of entries: 3

Make any sense? hope so...

I will pick a winner (at random) on Tuesday January 31st. From there I will notify the winner and send the book

What's the book? Well that's a surprise. I promise it won't be anything dreadful or in horrible condition.

GOOD LUCK!