Tutu's First 2012 Giveaway! - Calico Joe by John Grisham

I haven't done a giveaway in quite awhile, but this one is bound to be a really popular one.  Everybody loves baseball, or knows someone who loves baseball, and John Grisham has never written a book I could put down once I opened the cover.  Doubleday has graciously offered us 2 copies to giveaway.  The blurb makes me quite happy to have a review copy to start on.  I'll give you my take when I announce the winners.  In the meantime, here's a little blurb to whet your reading appetite.

At long last, America’s favorite storyteller takes on America’s favorite pastime.

In this surprising and moving novel, the careers of a golden-boy rookie hitter for the Cubs and a hard-hitting Mets pitcher take very different paths. In Calico Joe, John Grisham takes on America's favorite pastime: baseball.  But it's not only a tale of pitchers and hitters.  It's a surprising and moving story of fathers and sons, redemption, forgiveness, and hope in the American heartland.  You might think it will be great for the sports lover in your life, but then end up reading it yourself. The baseball is thrilling, but it’s what happens off the field that makes Calico Joe a classic.

To enter, just leave a comment AND fill out the form.
No PO Boxes, anyone in the US with a street address can enter.

Opening day for the Red Sox (my favorite team) is April 5th, so we'll announce the winners that night.  Deadline for entering is April 4th at 11:58 PM EDT.

The Giveaway Queen

One of the most fun things about being a book blogger is getting acquainted (virtually at least) with some wonderful people who share your love of books.  Another is that we are able to feature books we receive from publishers to give away to our wonderful readers as an enticement to a) read and review the books, b) attract more readers to our blog, and c) get come great (AND FREE) publicity for their books.

I haven't run a giveaway in a while because they are time-consuming and my review schedule is really backed up.  The library in town is keeping me quite busy, and frankly, I've wanted to devote my reading to books that truly interested me as a reader, not just books the publisher wanted promoted.  BUT, there is a blogger out there who is my nominee for "Queen of the Giveaways" - BINGO at Bookin' with Bingo.

This lady has the respect of publishers, the devotion of over 1000 followers, and one of the most exciting blogs around. She's ALWAYS running giveaways (I've won a couple myself over the years) and she features a very eclectic assortment of interviews, giveaways, reviews, and graphcis. She is currently celebrating her third "Blogiversary" by giving away a boatload of books.  Several of these giveaways are still underway, so click that link and get on over there and treat yourself.

 

Thanks Kaye for a wonderful three years.  I'm looking forward to many more.  Now do I get extra points for this post?  LOL

A Winner ! A Heartbeat Away

Congratulations to Susan.

Her comment #13 in the recent giveaway for Michael Palmer's newest thriller was the winner chosen by Random.org.  As soon as she sends me her mailing address, Dr. Palmer will mail her a signed copy.

Don't forget to enter the other giveaways running on the sidebar, and thanks to everyone who entered.

GIVEAWAY::::::::At Home by Bill Bryson

GIVEAWAY

2 copies available

Once again our friends at Doubleday have offered a great book as a giveaway.  My review copy arrived today and it looks great! -It's next in the queue after my two current reads.  Meanwhile here's what the publisher says:

From one of the most beloved authors of our time—more than six million copies of his books have been sold in this country alone—a fascinating excursion into the history behind the place we call home.

"Houses aren't refuges from history. They are where history ends up."

Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of England where nothing of any great significance has happened since the Romans decamped. Yet one day, he began to consider how very little he knew about the ordinary things of life as he found it in that comfortable home. To remedy this, he formed the idea of journeying about his house from room to room to "write a history of the world without leaving home." The bathroom provides the occasion for a history of hygiene; the bedroom, sex, death, and sleep; the kitchen, nutrition and the spice trade; and so on, as Bryson shows how each has figured in the evolution of private life. Whatever happens in the world, he demonstrates, ends up in our house, in the paint and the pipes and the pillows and every item of furniture.

Bill Bryson has one of the liveliest, most inquisitive minds on the planet, and he is a master at turning the seemingly isolated or mundane fact into an occasion for the most diverting exposition imaginable. His wit and sheer prose fluency make At Home one of the most entertaining books ever written about private life.

Read an excerpt 

Here are the rules for the giveaway: 

1. For one entry, leave a comment telling me whether you've read anything else by Bill Bryson.
2. For an extra entry, leave a separate comment telling me you're a follower (or become one and let me know).
3. For another entry,  make a separate entry telling me you blogged about the giveaway, (sidebars are fine) and LEAVE ME THE LINK to the posting (if I don't get a link, the entry doesn't count).US addresses only, no PO Boxes.
4. You MUST leave me an email address to contact you.  NO EMAIL, NO WIN.
5. Deadline is Oct 29 -noon EDT.

Thanks again to Liz at Doubleday for making this one available.

The Contest Mother Lode

If you are a regular follower of any book blog, you are aware that many of us periodically are fortunate enough to receive copies from publishers or authors that we can give away to our readers.  Those contests generate hype for the author, and keep those of us who love to read in the loop about new books or new releases of past favorites.

Keeping up with all those contests is often time-consuming however, and finding, posting, and conducting contests cuts into reading time. There is one site however, that I must remind you about, Susan of West of Mars - Win a Book! is awesome.  To quote her page:

Win a Book is a unique sort of blog, in that we’re traffic cops more than anything else. We post links to author interviews and guest blog appearances, to book giveaways, and to other events that will connect books and readers. Author events, in which books can be autographed and/or purchased, for example.

What Win a Book does not do: Post book reviews. Host authors for guest blogs or interviews. Hold book giveaways.

If you're looking for more giveaways, or interviews or a page to find out what's happening in the book blog world, West of Mars is THE place to start.  Susan doesn't have everything, but each of those links on her page will have links to other pages.....they breed better than rabbits - and they're much less messy!!!

So spend some time this weekend entering contests and winning some great new books. Thanks Susan for a great blog, and for all your help posting our giveaways.

And the Winners are...................

I'm almost finished the first one in this series, and I'm telling you it's a page turner.  I'm especially pleased with the fact that Christopher Reich can tell a story that involves several different groups and many people, but you know who everyone is, and have no trouble following all these disparate strings.  Rules of Betrayal is the follow-up to Rules of Deception, and two lucky people are in for the thrill of the summer.  These books are heart pounding, 'take a deep breath' good.  Scary, but only in that you can truly imagine some of these scenarios happening, and hope that our government has its act together.

They prove you never know who to trust.

OK so enough already, WHO ARE THE WINNERS?

Jholden (a repeat winner, proving it pays to stop by and enter daily)

and 

Allisonsjb3

I'll be sending out the emails this afternoon, and the winners have until 6:PM Monday August 1st to let me their mailing address.  Congratulations.

Thanks again to Doubleday for providing the copies for this contest.

The Latest Batch of Winners

Winners!!!!

We have winners!!

I'm almost finished Red Hook Road and will post a review sometime next week.  I'm having a hard time tearing myself from reading it to do these contest posts - it's that good.  

I haven't gotten my review copy of Impostor's Daughter yet, but I can't wait!

In the meantime, the entries are in and Random.org has chosen some new followers, a devoted long-time follower (but first time winner) and a repeat winner.  So it appears the boast is true - no favoritism from Random.

Red Hook Road will go to

Sue

 &

TerryMac

Emails have gone out  and winners have already replied, so those copies should be in the mail this week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Copies of Impostor's Daughter go to

Etirv (she's a repeat winner - pays to keep coming back!)

Caite

Page

Emails have gone to these three and they have until Monday July 26th to get to me with an address, or we'll have Random draw another winner.

Thanks so much to all of  you who visited and entered.  Be sure to come back often, there are more contests running.

Another Audio Book Giveaway- The Island by Elin Hilderbrand

Another Great Giveaway for summer reading!

The Island

3 audio copies available 

by Elin Hilderbrand

Earlier, we had a contest for  Elin Hilderbrand's Castaways. After the excitement of that one, I'm thrilled to be able to giveaway (and review) another by this author set in New England off the coast of Nantucket, and just in time for the end of a glorious summer. This time, courtesy of Ana at Hachette Audio, we have three copies of THE ISLAND, read by Denise Hicks. Here's what the Hachette Book Group page says about this one:

From New York Times bestseller Elin Hilderbrand, a new novel set on Tuckernuck, a tiny island off the coast of Nantucket.  Four women-a mother, her sister, two grown daughters-head to Tuckernuck for a retreat, hoping to escape their troubles. Instead, they find only drama, secrets, and life-changing revelations.

"This story of one woman's midlife crisis is an emotional and heartfelt journey. It's a captivating tale of heartache, happiness, confusion and love."-Romantic Times BOOK club magazine.

"A gem of a summer read with a glamorous location, elite lifestyle, and Hilderbrand's appealing take on the constant stress that fills the lives of women everywhere."-Booklist

"Claire's walk on the dark side is pure voyeuristic fun...A perfect summer cocktail of sex, sun and scandal."-Kirkus Reviews

"Characters are as complex and fragile as glassblowing artist Claire's creations in Hilderbrand's latest Nantucket tale....this mom-lit novel stand(s) out from the pack."-Library Journal

 I enjoyed The Castaways so much I can't wait to 'ear-read' this one.  I really love audio books and this one promises to be really fun.

 

So here are the rules for the giveaway: 

1. For one entry, leave a comment telling me something that interests you about this one. Include your email address (no email no win).
2. For an extra entry, leave a separate comment telling me you're a follower (or become one and let me know).
3. For another entry, make a separate entry telling me you blogged about the giveaway, (sidebars are fine) and LEAVE ME THE LINK to the posting.
4. Since I don't twitter, tweet, or FB, you can get extra entries by visiting my blog every day, and leaving a comment about the current post.  Just leave your comment on the contest post and tell me something about that day's post. Say "daily entry and the date and blah blah blah about the daily post" YOU CAN DO THIS UP TO 10 times.
5. US and Canadian addresses only, no PO Boxes
6. Deadline is August 9th-noon EDT.

 

Giveaway: Red Hook Road

on sale July 13, 2010

Red Hook Road

Doesn't that cover look intriguing?  It's time for summer weddings, and the garden party appears to be setup and ready.  This giveaway comes from Judy at Doubleday who has given us two copies of Ayelet Waldman's follow-up to her earlier novel Love and Other Impossible Pursuits.  Available in two weeks, the blurb tells me this is going to be a terrific summer read (after all it's set in Maine!).

As lyrical as a sonata, Ayelet Waldman’s follow-up novel to Love and Other Impossible Pursuits explores the aftermath of a family tragedy.

Set on the coast of Maine over the course of four summers, Red Hook Road tells the story of two families, the Tetherlys and the Copakens, and of the ways in which their lives are unraveled and stitched together by misfortune, by good intentions and failure, and by love and calamity.

A marriage collapses under the strain of a daughter’s death; two bereaved siblings find comfort in one another; and an adopted young girl breathes new life into her family with her prodigious talent for the violin. As she writes with obvious affection for these unforgettable characters, Ayelet Waldman skillfully interweaves life’s finer pleasures—music and literature—with the more mundane joys of living. Within these resonant pages, a vase filled with wildflowers or a cold beer on a hot summer day serve as constant reminders that it’s often the little things that make life so precious.

So here are the rules for the giveaway: 

1. For one entry leave a comment telling me why you'd like to read this book.  Include your email address (no email no win).
2. For an extra entry, leave a separate comment telling me you're a follower (or become one and let me know).
3. For another entry, leave another comment saying you blogged about the giveaway, (sidebars are fine) and LEAVE ME THE LINK to the posting.  (TOTAL 3 entries per person).
4. US and Canadian addresses only, no post office boxes please
5. Deadline is July 19th.
    
   Good luck and happy summer reading.

Giveaway: The Nobodies Album

Just in Time for Summer

On Sale Next Week

2 copies to giveaway

Thanks to Judy at Doubleday, we've got two copies of Carolyn Parkhurst's latest novel, The Nobodies Album to giveaway.  Author of best-seller The Dogs of Babel, Parkhurst has given us a novel, a mystery, and a story about a story all in one volume.  I don't have my review copy yet, but I'm looking forward to getting my hands on it.

Here's the blurb from her website:


From the bestselling author of The Dogs of Babel comes a dazzling literary mystery about the lengths to which some people will go to rewrite their past. 

Bestselling novelist Octavia Frost has just completed her latest book — a revolutionary novel in which she has rewritten the last chapters of all her previous books, removing clues about her personal life concealed within, especially a horrific tragedy that befell her family years ago.
On her way to deliver the manuscript to her editor, Octavia reads a news crawl in Times Square and learns that her rock-star son, Milo, has been arrested for murder. Though she and Milo have not spoken years — in an estrangement stemming from that tragic day — she drops everything to go to him.
The last chapters of Octavia's novel are layered throughout The Nobodies Album — the scattered puzzle pieces to her and Milo's dark and troubled past. Did she drive her son to murder? Did Milo murder anyone at all? And what exactly happened all those years ago? As the novel builds to a stunning conclusion, Octavia must consider how this story will end.
Universally praised for her candid explorations of the human psyche, Parkhurst delivers an emotionally gripping and resonant mystery about a mother and her son, and about the possibility that one can never truly know another person.

So here are the rules for the giveaway: 

1. Leave a comment telling me why you want to win (it's ok to say you want a free book!). Include your email address (no email no win)
2. For an extra entry, leave a separate comment telling me you're a follower (or become one and let me know).
3. For another entry, blog about the giveaway, (sidebars are fine) and LEAVE ME THE LINK to the posting.
4. Now ....this is a new one...since I don't twitter, tweet, or FB, you can get extra entries by visiting my blog every day, and simply saying "daily entry and the date - feel free to comment on the current post too!" So if you come every day from now until the deadline, you could have up to 22 extra entries. 
5. Doubleday  is paying for the mailing, so the usual US addresses only.  NO PO Boxes.
6. Deadline is July 1st.

Good luck!

Giveaway: The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand

Just in time for summer reading!

Hachette Book Group has done it again! They have made three copies available for giveaway to three of my lucky readers.  This is Hilderbrand's latest story, set in New England, on a beach, with some romance, some mystery, and a great all around story.  

Publisher's blurb: Greg and Tess MacAvoy are one of four prominent Nantucket couples who count each other as best friends. As pillars of their close-knit community, the MacAvoys, Kapenashes, Drakes, and Wheelers are important to their friends and neighbors, and especially to each other. But just before the beginning of another idyllic summer, Greg and Tess are killed when their boat capsizes during an anniversary sail. As the warm weather approaches and the island mourns their loss, nothing can prepare the MacAvoy's closest friends for what will be revealed.

Once again, Hilderbrand masterfully weaves an intense tale of love and loyalty set against the backdrop of endless summer island life.

 I can't wait to get my review copy.  Enter below to win your copy.  Here's the rules:

1. Leave a comment telling me what else is on your summer reading list. Include your email address (no email no win)
2. For an extra entry, leave a separate comment if you're a follower (or become one and let me know).
3. For another entry, blog about the giveaway, (sidebars are fine) and LEAVE ME THE LINK to the posting.
4. Hachette is paying for the mailing, so the usual US and Canadian addresses only.  NO PO Boxes.
5. Deadline is June 24th.

Good luck!

Giveaway-Spring Training Opens soon

The Eastern Stars

How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town

of San Pedro de Macoris

by Mark Kurlansky 

Somehow somewhere there's mouse twitch in the air.  I think I entered the form for an ARC of this delightful book twice, because I got two copies.  Lydia at G.P. Putnam's Sons / Riverhead has given me the thumbs up to offer the extra to all of you in a giveaway.  Spring training is coming up soon, so for all of us baseball fans, this should be a delightful way to get a jump on the season.

I haven't read my copy yet, but here's what's on the cover to whet your appetite:

By the year 2008, seventy-nine boys and men from San Pedro had gone on to play in the Major Leagues--that means that one in six Dominicans who has played in the Majors has come from one tiny, impoverished town.  Rico Carty, Alfredo Griffin, Robinson Cano, Sammy Sosa, Alfonso Soriano, and legions of other San Pedro players who came up in the local sugar-mill teams flocked to the United States, looking for opportunity, wealth, and a better life......For those who make it, the million-dollar paychecks from Major League Baseball mean that not only they, but their entire families as well, have been saved from grinding poverty.  The successful few set an example that dazzles the neighbors they left behind.  But for the majority, this dream is illusory.


Because of the sugar industry, and the influxes of migrant workers from across the Caribbean to work in the cane fields and factories, San Pedro is one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the Dominican Republic.  A multitude of languages are spoken there; a multitude of skin colors populate the community; the constants are sugar and baseball.  The history of players from San Pedro is also a chronicle of racism in baseball, of changing social mores in sports and in the Dominican Republic and the United States, and of the personal stories of the many men who sought freedom from poverty through playing ball.


Mark Kurlansky reveals two countries' love affair with a sport, and the remarkable journey of San Pedro and its baseball players.  As he did in Cod and Salt, he follows the common threads to the story, and here he discovers wider meanings about place, identity, and above all, baseball.

About the Author: Mark Murlansky

Mark Kurlansky is the New York Times-bestselling author of many books, including The Food of a Younger Land; Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World; Salt: A World History; The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester. He reported from the Caribbean for the Chicago Tribune for seven years and wrote both A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny and The White Man in the Tree and Other Stories about the area. A finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for science writing and a winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, he lives in New York City.

So Here are the Rules:

One COMMENT only 

PUT EVERYTHING IN THE SAME COMMENT

(if you leave more than one it won't count!)

I'll figure out the bonus points.

 In your comment put the following

• Your email address (use a spam busting format like myname (at) myemail provider (dot) com) (+1)--no email--NO entry--I have to be able to notify you if you win.
• Which baseball team your root for (or if you're not a fan just say so)--no extra entries for BOSOX so don't try to suck up, just fun to know who's getting set for opening day. (+1)
• Say if you're a follower (you can become a follower on the left side of this blog) (+2)
• Post on your blog about the contest and leave a link to the  specific post (+4)
• Post this in the contest sidebar on your blog (+3)
• US and Canada only,  PO BOXES are acceptable (I'm paying for this one so I'll do the Post Office!!)

So you could have a total of 11 entries from one comment - isn't that EASY????

Deadline is March 19th.

PLAY BALL!