WINNER OF CLOCKWORK ANGEL AND A REDRAW FOR BEHEMOTH!!!

THE WINNER OF CLOCKWORK ANGEL IS...........................

BEVERLY AT THE WORMHOLE!!!!!!!! 

Congrats!  I have sent you an email and also posted  a comment on your blog.  Please email me at circlebooks@shaw.ca as soon as possible with your snailmail so I can order your book! 

And after numerous attempts and an extension on the winner of Behemoth I was forced to redraw and the NEW WINNER IS.......................

INSPIRED KATHY OVER AT TOO BUSY READING!!!!!!!!!!!  CONGRATS!

And same goes for you, Kathy, please email me as soon as possible with your snailmail address, I will be shipping this book myself. 

Both winners have one week from today to contact me with their details or I will have to re-draw.  

THANK YOU SO MUCH to all who entered and have a WONDERFUL DAY!

THE WINNER OF BEHEMOTH IS.............

The winner as determined by RANDOM.ORG is...

                                                     WANDA!!!!!
Wanda I have sent you an email and if you could reply with your snailmail by Tuesday October 12th, that would be great! 

Thanks to all who entered, and don't forget we still have our OTHER giveaway happening!  A BRAND NEW copy of The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare which I will be ordering for the winner from Book Depository.  This contest is worldwide!  The contest ends October 15th so hurry!  :0)  Click here to enter.

ANOTHER GIVEAWAY! ARC OF BEHEMOTH BY SCOTT WESTERFELD!

Sooooooo, since the lovely folks at Simon and Schuster Canada inadvertantly sent me an EXTRA ARC of the much anticipated Behemoth, I was given permission to GIVE MY EXTRA COPY AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

If you have not read Leviathan you can read my review here.  And here is the blurb on the 2nd in the trilogy:

The behemoth is the fiercest creature in the British navy. It can swallow enemy battleships with one bite. The Darwinists will need it, now that they are at war with the Clanker powers.



Deryn is a girl posing as a boy in the British Air Service, and Alek is the heir to an empire posing as a commoner. Finally together aboard the airship Leviathan, they hope to bring the war to a halt. But when disaster strikes the Leviathan's peacekeeping mission, they find themselves alone and hunted in enemy territory.


Alek and Deryn will need great skill, new allies, and brave hearts to face what's ahead.

The release date for this book is October 5th, and that is when the contest will end!  Since I will be paying for shipping myself the contest is only open to US and Canada.  Here are the rules:

• You must be a follower to enter
• You can earn extra entries by tweeting and posting about the giveaway on your blog
• US and Canada only

CONTEST ENDS MIDNIGHT MOUNTAIN TIME ON OCTOBER 5TH.  CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

Good luck!

REVIEW: CLOCKWORK ANGEL AND GIVEAWAY!

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Book one of The Infernal Devices trilogy
Hardcover 496 pages
Available now
Ages 14 and up

First of all I would like to send out a HUGE thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for sending me an ARC of Clockwork Angel!  I feel very fortunate to have S and S in my life, and I am grateful for every book they send my way!

Clockwork Angel is the first in The Infernal Devices series and this thrills me to no end.  Cassandra Clare is the author of the extremely popular Mortal Instruments series, as well as a book I would love to read called "Geektastic, Stories from the Nerd Herd".  She is also a contributing author to two anthology type books "Vacations from Hell"  and "Zombies vs. Unicorns." 

The first sentence in this little gem had me at "hello"....."The demon exploded in a shower of ichor and guts."  Who doesn't love exploding showers of demon guts!  The story revolves around Tessa, Will and Jem.  Will is a super sexy mysterious bad boy (but not in the typical annoying sense) shadowhunter; Jem is the nice cute guy in the story; and Tessa Gray is a young woman who is being held against her will and discovering that she is not quite human.  Tessa's part of the story starts with her arriving in London searching for her brother but soon becomes  a prisoner of two extremely unattractive and uber creepy "women" called The Dark Sisters, and they are prepping her for her meeting with The Magister.  Meanwhile Tessa's beloved brother Nathanial is missing and Tessa is determined to find out what happened to him, even though the Dark Sisters insist he is very much alive... but won't continue to be if she does not do as they ask. 

Cassandra Clare's writing style is fantastic and she has created a very believable pseudo world of London in the 1800's, with very believable races of creatures and the laws by which they live.  I absolutely hands down LOVED... IT.  She even added a hint of the young love thing, but with a great amount of restraint that is very believable and easy to relate to.  Will is not so much the brooding bad boy as in many other YA novels, as he is a reckless, enthusiastic, loyal shadowhunter who is very misunderstood.  Jem, on the other hand, is very sweet and has Will's back no matter what.  I don't want to say too much more because I think that it might spoil the read for you all.  But trust me... it is AWESOME! 

Many in the blogosphere are asking the question TEAM WILL?  Or TEAM JEM?  I have to say Will all the way.  And what does that say about me??! 

HA!

If you would like a little more detail on the storyline you can click here for the blurb...

And here is the book trailer courtesy of Simon and Schuster Canada!




And now for the giveaway portion of the post!

Very simple... you click here and fill out the form, you must be a follower of my blog to enter, you can earn extra entries for tweets, posts on your blog and sidebar listings.  The contest is open worldwide as I am going to be ordering the book from Book Depository and paying for it myself and there will be no substitution.  If you win I will only order Clockwork Angel.  The contest ends October 15th.

GOOD LUCK!

GIVEAWAY OVER AT BOOK BLAB FOR KIDS!

Hey all!

I think I probably MAY have mentioned, ONCE OR TWICE (cough) that my 10 year old daughter has her own book blog called Book Blab for Kids.  She has just announced her VERY FIRST giveaway with a twist.  The twist is that for every follower that enters the contest our family is going to donate $1 to a GREAT charity that was started by another 10 year old girl named Molly.  You see Molly and Ellie both have siblings adopted from Ethiopia, and Molly is raising $8000 to purchase a clean water well in Ethiopia and we want to do our share!  ( You can visit Molly's Facebook page called H2O for Ethiopia to learn more about her foundation)

All you have to do is enter the contest and WE will put $1 in.  Done and done. 

SO, click here to enter to win a copy of the 2nd book in the Dork Diaries series,which is an entertaining romp through young girlhood. 

NO PRESSURE.  But you really don't want to make not one but TWO 10 year old girls cry, do you? 

DO YOU?!!!  :0)

All kidding aside, she would just love it if you stopped by and entered, or had a look around. 

Thanks everyone!

FROM THE SET OF "THE 19TH WIFE"!

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to pop in to say hello and that I miss you all!   I also wanted to post this......

This is David Ebershoff the author of "The 19th Wife".  He was on set for 3 days watching his words unfold onscreen.  This particular day he was all duded up for being an extra.  How cool would that be?  Standing there on set to be on camera for the film that was adapted from your novel?  Awesomeness. 

And speaking of awesomeness...

David and I chatted for about 45 minutes about this book, his past books and just his writing life in general.  The 19th Wife is not the only novel of his being made into a film.  The other is called "The Danish Girl" and was published in 2000.   This book has been selected to be made into a feature and produced by Nicole Kidman, who will play the leading role.  It is not in production yet, so we will see if it ever does make it to the big screen.  But for an author, having 2 out of 3 made into films is pretty damn impressive.  He also was very excited that I had a book blog and said, "I LOVE book blogs!" and has agreed to do a signed giveaway!  WOOT!    Once this movie is done shooting (next week) I will finish up the book and will be launching the giveaway, author interview, and review (plus insights into the shooting and adaptation) in September when the movie is sceduled to be aired on Lifetime. 

But until then, I am still working too long of hours to get any major reading done, but a gal at work did lend me a hilarious book called "F U Penguin" based on the blog of the same name, and it is a very light, potty-mouthed book which I can pick up and read without too much brain power.  If you don't mind the prevalence of the "f" bomb an various other colorful words you will LOVE it. 

ANYwho, have a great week and a bit and I'll see you early in July!

AND THE WINNER IS...................

The winner of Book Blabs very first ever MEGA GIVEAWAY and the GRAND PRIZE WINNER OF a $50 credit from Book Depository PLUS a release copy of the Super Secret YA novel PLUS a book of their choice from my ARC/book pile!  (see list below) 

After many entries and TONS of guesses about the indentity of the Super Secret YA novel, and 13 correct guesses the winner is:





GRAND PRIZE WINNER:
SPAV FROM FICTION KINGDOM!!!

The second place winner may choose one selection from my ARC/book pile and I will ship it to you, and the 2nd place winner is:   

2ND PLACE WINNER:
KATE FROM I just wanna sit here and read!

And the third place winner who also gets to choose a book from the list below is:

3RD PLACE WINNER:
KRISTINE FROM Maidenveil!

CONGRATULATIONS to all of the winners, and thank you SO MUCH to everyone who entered the contest!!!!!!!!!! 

Now... for the BIG REVEAL....... the identity of the SUPER SECRET YA NOVEL IS...........


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I thought it might be fun to tell you guys some of the guesses that we had, they were all VERY VERY GOOD!  (These are the GUESSES and NOT the list of books for winners to choose from!)

• The Prince of Mist by Zafon (This book had 3 guesses, the most of any of the clues!)
• The Rise of Renegade X
• Patch from Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
• The Secret Year
• The Death Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
• Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyers
• Lies by Michael Grant 
• Worldshaker by Richard Harland
• The Red Pyramid Kane Chronicles Book 1
• Friend is not a Verb by Daniel Ehrenhaft
• Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr
• Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green
• Infinity:  Chronicles of Nick by Sherrilyn Kenyon
• The Lighter Side of Life and Death by C.K. Kelly Martin

I found a few in there that I would DEFINATELY pick up!  Especially the first one The Prince of Mist, it is a GEORGOUS looking book with a great premise.

Now, HERE is the list of books I have on offer for all three winners to choose from! 
• Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (SIGNED ARC)

• Saving a Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan
• Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup
• The Sign for Drowning by Rachel Stolzman
• Falling Apart in One Piece by Stacy Morrison (ARC)
• The 13th Hour by Richard Dotsch (ARC)
• Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
 Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninger
• The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory
• A Brief History of the Future by Jacques Attali
• The Fourth Part of the World by Toby Lester (ARC)
• River Thieves by Michael Crummey
• Dewey The Small-Town Library Cat who Touched the world by Vicki Myron
• The Glass Castle by jeannette Walls (hardcover)

• And a gently used copy of White Cat by Holly Black as well. 

The winners MUST EMAIL ME BY FRIDAY MAY 7TH , 2010 in order to claim your prizes!  You must email me your snail mail addresses, and the SPAV please visit Book Depository.com and select your $50 dollars worth of books, please do not exceed this amount as all of the prizes are coming out of my own pocket, including the White Cat that I will be ordering for you and the shipping of the books from my house.  I can't WAIT to see which ones you have selected!  All winners can contact me at circlebooks@shaw.ca

REVIEW OF WHITE CAT COMING TOMORROW! 

Thanks again to all who entered and followed along for the clues!

SUNDAY SALON

Wow.  Kay, I don't think I have ever been so neglectful of this blog ever!  So sorry!  But my  new pooch (along with my other pooch, cat AND 2 children AND husband) I really have not a lot of time for blogging or any computer shinanigans.  But I do have something cool to share... it was my  birthday a week ago today AND.......




I GOT A KINDLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat's right.  ME.  A Kindle.  And may I say?  ME LOVEY.  It is AWESOME! 

I had never seen a kindle in the "real" before, so I had little idea what to expect, but I can honestly say that it is exactly as I imagined, and the benefits are amazing in so may unexpected ways.  Don't get me wrong, I STILL LOVE physical books more than life itself, and in fact was given Chapters gift cards for my BD and bought SEVERAL non-fiction books, but the Kindle is just so handy!

For example:  you know when you are lying in bed or on your couch reading a book, and you want to, say, lay on your side?  And you go to hold the book with one hand and it is kind of tricky to keep the book open enough to actually READ the thing?  And then to turn the page you have to grab it with you other hand and.. you get my meaning.  Well, the kindle it is all one handed, you can lay or sit in any position you like and just click with your thumb to turn the page.  Done.  Finito.  I know it's not exactly physically exhausting to do it the other way, but I'm just saying, it's a bonus I hadn't realized before. 

The number one reason I love it is that I am not adding to my morbidly obese pile of books in my house.  I know all of you can relate.  In the last couple of years when I would buy a novel, I almost would feel sick coming home and putting the brand new book on my grossly over stacked shelves.  And let's face it, how many books do I ACTUALLY re-read?  There are about a dozen books that I re-read or plan on re-reading, the other several hundred books I will never ever read or pick up again.  THIS way, when I am done a book and do not want to re-read... DELETE.  The only downside I can see at this point is I can't lend my book to someone.  The book I am reading now is AWESOME and I know several of my family members would love it, but obviously will not be able to pass it on as I often do. 

Now, onto the book I am reading on the kindle as of this moment:

This book is as good as I hoped it would be.  The Kindle does not tell you what page you are on but it tells you what percentage of the book you have completed, so I am 29% through this book. I LOVE it. A MUST read! 

I have a great Mailbox Monday to share, and have to really start buckling down and getting some review reading done as I am WAAAAY behind.  I am having a very tough time getting into Heresy by S.J. Parris, so I put it down a few weeks ago, but will get it read and reviewed.  Wolf Hall I put down quite awhile ago and will pick it up sometime in the future, but it is a personal read so there is no pressure to read it.  I recieved some totally fun YA reads from Source Books which I can't wait to share with you all tomorrow, along with some WICKED giveaways upcoming for those ones!  

My SUPER SECRET YA NOVEL and MEGA GIVEAWAY ends on Tuesday, so don't forget to check back in on May 4th for the BIG REVEAL!  I have just loved reading all of your guesses to the clues, and am just thrilled at how many of you have added to your comments about loving the mystery aspect to the contest!  It has been a total blast doing it!  And I wanted to say a huge

WELCOME

to all of my new followers, and just a word to you that my lack of posting is not common for my blog, and is solely the result of welcoming our poochy and training her.  She is coming along wonderfully, and it has been so much fun learning all of the ways you can get dogs to perform for the camera, and they just LOVE the training sessions! 

ANYway, have a WONDERFUL Sunday, everyone, and HAPPY READING!

Blogger burnout!... blah... and CLUE #4!

Hello all,
I realize I have been pretty quiet around here lately.  I have to admit to having a bit of blogger burn-out.  And even worse, I have been hit with reading burn-out as well.  Lately I have been feeling like my book blog has become exactly what I DIDN'T want it to become... like a job that I do not get paid for.  I have a large stack of review books to read (btw, if you are a publisher or author please read my review policy as I am not accepting any books for review at this time), and the pressure is on.  In the future I definately will not be participating in anymore blog tours, the pressure is just too much to get the book read by a certain deadline on top of all of the other reading that I have to do by release dates etc.  Most of the books are pretty good, some I even have LOVED, but some just make me plain old cranky.  How is it even possible that I could resent reading?  A passion I have had my entire life!  So, I have decided that after my current commitments are done I will revert back to reading for pure pleasure and reviewing the books that I have chosen. 

I have also been super busy getting involved with a new phase in my career which is dog training for movies and television, as well as general dog behaviour training.  A lot of my reading has been about this topic, and it is fascinating and I LOOOOVE IT! 

Now, as for Phil, my first AD friend who worked on Pillars of the Earth?  He is currently working on a film in Calgary (where I live) so I am going to be working around his schedule to get that vlog interview done!  Can't wait to hear what he has to say!  Ken Follett was on set a TON, apparently, and it is always interesting hearing about the author's involvement on a movie made from their book.  When I worked on The Assassination of Jesse James, Ron Hansen, was on set for about 2 weeks, and even had a cameo in the film!  He was very polite and didn't have any input, he just really enjoyed watching his words being spoken by Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck and the like. 

ANYway, on to CLUE #4!!!!  And if you do not know what the clue business is all about you can read about it and sign up for it here

Here is THE CLUE:      The Super Secret YA novel is about PARANORMAL shinanigans.

You can submit your guess here... only one guess per week please!

GOOD LUCK!

The Super Secret

REVIEW: MISTRESS OF ROME AND GIVEAWAY!

Mistress of Rome
by Kate Quinn
Paperback: 480 pages

Publisher: Berkley (TRD); Original edition (April 6 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425232476


First of all, I would like to send a HUGE THANK YOU to Kaitlyn of Berkley (Penguin Group) USA for sending me an ARC of this book!


Reading this book is like watching a great mini-series on television. It has it all; love, lust, murder,gladiators, courtesans, emperor, you name it this book has it! I have to admit when I first opened the book and started reading, I was surprised at the modern contemporary language in it. I decided to not let that bother me and continued reading with an open mind. Well, I can say with no hesitation whatsoever that I..... LOVED.... IT! This was a book that I could not put down. I was reading every single spare minute that I had, and when I closed the cover at the very end I ran to my computer to rave about it to Kaitlyn, who sent it to me, and to everyone on my plus 500 facebook list. Kate Quinn knows how to write a good story, filled with suspense, unrequited love, politics, and some history thrown in for good measure.

Often times in novels with fairly complicated plots you will find holes everywhere you look. There were none, in my opinion, in Quinn's book. Everytime there was a twist or turn, or someone was murdered -- and even how they were murdered -- it made sense. Each plot twist or turn was believable as was all of the politics of the day.

The story begins with Thea, a slave girl of an evil royal named Lady Lepida. (Oh how  Lady Lepida is fun to hate!) Thea and Lady Lepida are regulars at the gladiator games, and one thing I love about Quinn's tale is how she describes the actual games... very exciting and just like a film rolling in front of your eyes. Eventually, Thea catches the eye of the Emperor, a ruthless yet charismatic ruler who lords over all with an iron fist. Enter Arius. Arius is a hulking gladiator who rises to the number one fighter in the history of the games. Fate brings Thea and Arius together, but their time together is not to be. Wrenched apart by circumstances beyond their control, Thea is destined to be the emperor's toy, and Arius is destined to be pounded into the bloody sand day after day rising to his feet with a heavy heart and only one name on his lips.... Thea.

Will they ever meet again? Will Thea break her slave bonds forever?

This book is a sweeping tale that will have you reading feverishly into the night. Quinn successfully leads the reader from chapter to heart pounding chapter until you reach the breathtaking final pages.

RATING: 5/5

Now for the giveaway portion!  Berkley Group has generously offered to giveaway one copy of Mistress of Rome to one lucky winner (open to the US only please!) 

To enter just fill out this form, and for extra points post about it in your sidebar, tweet about it, or post an actual entry about it!  The contest ends April 30th at midnight MST.  Good luck!!!

HORRIBLE BLOG TOUR STOP! Winner of COWBOY AND WILLS , and Clue #3!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Horrid Henry's Joke Book  (Trade Paperback 112 pages  $4.99US/$5.99 CAN) is an extremely fun little book!  Especially if you have read any of the books from the series, as the characters from the books interact throughout.  The illustrations are by Tony Ross adn are very cute!

We had a great time reading jokes to eachother every night, what a fun thing to do as a family!  I mean, what's a joke but to be shared, right?

Our personal favourites were at the back labelled :  Jokes Much To Rude To Tell Mom... lots of bursting out laughing and simultaneously saying, "Ewwwww!" 

For more information on the fantastic book for kids click here!   

A great book for young and old to enjoy!  And to celebrate the launching of this great little laugh riot, I have 3 HORRID HENRY posters to giveaway!  Contest is open to everyone, and will end on April 15th, midnight MST.  Just leave your comment and way to contact you to enter!

THE THREE WINNERS OF THE SIGNED COPY OF COWBOY AND WILLS ARE:

CINDY!!!

KIM!!!

AND

MANNA B!!!

Congratulations to you all!! I have notified you all via email and blog if you have one, please contact me by Tuesday April 5th with your mailing address so I can then send it off to Monica! 

Thank you so much for entering, I KNOW you will LOOOVE it!


Now, an update on the Book Blab MEGA GIVEAWAY!  A total of 8 people have correctly identified the book and now have an additional 10 ENTRIES added to their total for a chance to win the $50 of books from The Book Depository!  (Remember, when we hit 400 followers that goes up to $75, and if we make it to 500 followers the grand prize winner will recieve $100 worth of books of their choice from The Book Depository, PLUS a copy of the Super Secret YA Novel!!!!!!  So tell all your friends and lets give away THE MAXIMUM!!!!   If you want to register for the giveaway just click here and enter... then when you see the post title with the word CLUE in it, you can then have a guess at what the Super Secret book is for an extra 10 entries in the drawing on May 4th!!!! 

Here is Clue # 3:

On the cover of the Super Secret YA novel is a human and an animal.......

Hmmmmm.....

Click here to take your guess!

Have a WONDERFUL Easter!

300 FOLLOWER MEGA GIVEAWAY!!!! (AND CLUE #1)

Alrighty folks....... my google friend follower may say 295, but my site feeder says 324!!! WOOT!!! Thank you sooo much and WELCOME to all of my new followers! And a GIANT thank you to all of you who have been following for some time now!!!

And as a celebration of this big milestone AND as a very sincere thank you to ALL OF YOU, here is the giveaway I am offering up to my followers!

Let me explain how it's going to work and then I'll describe the prizes after that.

Remember a little while ago how I got a "Super Secret YA novel" sent to me? Okay, well, just to make this a little more fun, once a week I am going to be posting clues as to the identity of this Super Secret Novel and if you guess the identity of the book you will recieve an additional 10 entries!!!!!  When you have guessed correctly I will email you to let you know, and you will be credited all of your entries.  The actual identity of the book will not be revealed until the contest end date. 

You can also earn extra entries for:

• Posting the contest in your sidebar (you can use my button if you like!)  5 entries
• Tweeting about it!  1 extra entry
• Putting the contest in the actual BODY of a post!  5 entries

The GRAND PRIZE winner which will be chosen by Random.org will win: $50 credit from Book Depository PLUS a release copy of the Super Secret YA novel PLUS a book of their choice from my ARC/book pile! If we reach 400 Followers that amount goes up to $75, and if we reach 500 followers by the end of the contest than the GRAND PRIZE will be $100 worth of books from the Book Depository, and therefore this contest in INTERNATIONAL as well! Once the grand prize winner has been announced, then that person will send me their list of books they would like to order from Book Depository! 

There will be a second and third place drawing as well, and those folks will each win a choice of one book from my stack of ARC's and novels.

Here are the books that are up for grabs:

• Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (SIGNED ARC)
• Saving a Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan
• Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup
• The Sign for Drowning by Rachel Stolzman
• Falling Apart in One Piece by Stacy Morrison (ARC)
• The 13th Hour by Richard Dotsch (ARC)
• Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
• Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninger
• The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory
• A Brief History of the Future by Jacques Attali
• The Fourth Part of the World by Toby Lester (ARC)
• River Thieves by Michael Crummey
• Dewey The Small-Town Library Cat who Touched the world by Vicki Myron
• The Glass Castle by jeannette Walls (hardcover)

As the contest evolves I will add more books for the winners to choose from!

Here's how to enter:

• Fill out the form to enter
• watch for the clue each week
• take a guess to earn an additional 5 points! (I will supply another form for your guesses to keep them confidential!)
• anyone who correctly guesses the title of the Super Secret YA novel will earn a whopping 10 entries! Once you have correctly identified the name of the book I will email you to let you know and all of your extra entries will be added. The name of the book will not be made PUBLIC until the release date which is also the end of the contest on MAY 4th!
• This contest is international!
• You MUST be a follower to enter with google reader or feed burner.
• Contest ends at midnight MST, May 4th 2010.


HERE IS YOUR FIRST CLUE:

The Super Secret YA novel main character is a male.

To enter this week's guess click here.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!

COWBOY AND WILLS GIVEAWAY! AND MEGA GIVEAWAY ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!

Hey Book Blabbers!  I am SUPER EXCITED to announce that Monica Holloway the author of the FANTASTIC book "Cowboy and Wills" (you can read my rave review here) is very generously offering up THREE SIGNED COPIES of her book to THREE LUCKY WINNERS!!!!!  This contest is open WORLDWIDE! 

PLUS ---

Stay tuned for my interview with Monica earlier in the week!  If you have read the book already and have any questions you would like me to ask Monica, just email them to me at circlebooks(at)shaw(dot)ca and I'll see if I can add it! 





And now.... since this contest will more than likely bring our follower total to 300 or more, I am going to begin THE BIG.... MAMMOTH.... GIVEAWAY!!!!! 

When we hit 300 followers I am going to officially announce the big giveaway... so STAAAY TUUUUNED!! 

But back to the "Cowboy and Wills" giveaway!  This contest is international and ends on March 31st, midnight Mountain Time.  You must be a follower to enter, and you must leave a way for me to contact you.  If you do NOT feel comfortable leaving your email address in the comments, that's FINE, just leave a comment that you want to be entered and then EMAIL ME your email address at circlebooks(at)shaw(dot)ca.  ONLY ONE ENTRY PER PERSON... this rule is strictly enforced by a cattle prod (to quote Ree Drummond from Pioneer Woman!). 

I am telling you... you all WILL LOVE THIS BOOK!!  It will warm the cockles of your heart (whatever a "cockle"is) and make you laugh, cry and want to hug your neighbor.  Monica is even going to SIGN THE COPIES and PERSONALLY mail them to each winner!  Cuz she's awesome like that. 

GOOD LUCK!  And don't forget to stay tuned for A) the 300 follower giveaway announcement, and B) my interview with Monica  and C)  my interview with my friend and 1st assistant director on the Ken Follet's "Pillars of the Earth" vlog interview which is coming soon!!!!

HAVE AN AWESOME DAY!

WE HAVE A WEEEEENER!

To.........

LISA BASSO over at The Journal of an Aspiring Writer!

She has won an ARC copy of GONE by LISA MCMANN!!!!!

Thank you SO MUCH to all you who entered this quicky giveaway!  And Lisa please email me your snail mail by Midnight on Friday or I will have to redraw.  You can comment here with your details and I will not publish, or you can email me at circlebooks@shaw.ca

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!

REVIEW: LEVIATHAN BY SCOTT WESTERFELD AND STEAMPUNK GIVEAWAY!

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Firstly, I want to send a HUGE THANK YOU to Michelle at Simon and Schuster Canada for sending this out to me!!!!

And now on to my thoughts on this book.  I can sum it up in two words:

HOLY.


CRAP.

I literally just finished it yesterday and I cannot WAIT to tell you all about it!  Now I have to somehow put my words into some sort of coherant meaning. 

This is my very first Steampunk EVER, and suffice it to say it will NOT be my last.  I am so in love with this genre I cannot even see straight. 

Westerfeld has recreated World War  I in this little gem, and in it we follow two main characters - Deryn and Alek.  Deryn is a 15 year old girl who wants desperately to join the air service and train as an airman, and with the help of her brother she disguises herself as a lad and does just that.  Turns out she is naturally good at pretty much everything that comes her way, which makes her a solid asset to the military.  Alek is the son of the Duke and his common-wife who were murdered at the beginning of the story.  He is hoisted from his room by two of his father's men and quickly realizes that he is on the run for his life. 

The world that Westerfeld has created is fascinating!  Basically there are two camps and two trains of thoughts.  There are the Clankers and the Darwinists. The Clankers are the sort that use these incredible machines to fight the war, and the Darwinists use fabricated animals.  Seen through the eyes of Deryn, the beasties are to be respected and even loved, but seen through the eyes of a Clanker they are repulsive.  And Westerfeld gives us an authentic look from both view points. 

The story is loosely based on actual facts from World War I.  The "shot heard round the world" when Arch Duke Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian-Hungary throne and his wife were murdered, started the war and in Leviathan the beginning is exactly the same scenario.  He explains the similiarities and differences in the last section of the book.  For history buffs and the layman it is very interesting!

The Steampunk genre is awesome as it intertwines futuristic creatures and machines with old world ideologies and time frame.  The clothing is extremely cool, with the goggles and the boots and leather and bowler hats, along with the inventions of the time. 

The artwork is GEORGOUS, by Keith Thompson, and it accompanies the book nicely with illustrations sprinkled throughout.

I HIGHLY recommend this book to ANYONE of ANY age.  It is a relatively fast read, and you will be immersed into the Steampunk world in all its glory.  What an amazing movie it would make!  And the BEST part is that this is the FIRST in the TRILOGY, I just found out.  WOOT! 

RATING: 5/5

Now for the GIVEAWAY portion of this post!!  Because I got this book for free for the purposes of review, I want to show my support for this author and select one lucky winner for which I will order the book from Book Depository and ship it directly to them! 

Here are the rules to enter:  PLEASE PROVIDE SEPERATE COMMENTS FOR EACH ENTRY OR THEY WILL ONLY BE COUNTED AS ONE!

• post a comment, you do not have to put your email address if you do not want to, you then must just check back here on the contest end date when I will announce the winner and we will sort out the details then.  (1 entry)
• Follow my blog and get an extra 2 entries.
• Post about the contest in your sidebar or tweet about it and get another 2 entries.

Total of 5 chances to win! 

The contest will close on January 15th at midnight Alberta time.  January 16th I will announce the winner and will follow up with email if it is provided.

This contest is open to EVERYONE!  (Thank you to LADYBUG for the tip for ordering books from The Book Depository for free shipping!)
Good luck to the winners, and I can't wait to hear what the winner will think about the book!!

PS since this giveaway will definately bring me over the 200 follower mark, I will be doing the huge giveaway once we hit 300!  :0)

ANNOUNCEMENT: 200 FOLLOWER FANTASTIC GIVEAWAY!

It occurred to me the other day that Book Blab is almost at 200 followers according to google friend!  WOOOOT!!  I can't TELL you all how much I appreciate all of the support you guys give to me!  And as a thank you, I am going to have a 200 FOLLOWER FANTASTIC GIVEAWAY!  On the day that I reach 200, I will announce the first official day of the giveaway.  It will involve a total of 10 books!  The grand prize winner will have first pick of 3 books from the pile, and the second place winner will choose 2 books from the remaining 7, and then 5 MORE lucky winners will recieve a book!  These books will be either brand new, or very gently used novels including a few ARC's!  One book in particular is a SIGNED ARC of Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.  It is gently used, but it is autographed which makes it pretty cool!  And if we hit 300 before the deadline, I will add another 5 books to the pile!  That's a total of 15 books potentially up for grabs!!!!! 

So stay tuned in the days and weeks ahead because as soon as we hit 200 you can start to enter!  And that will be the day that the names of the titles available to win will be released! 

SUNDAY SALON AND GIVEAWAY!

Today I am recovering from my 10 year old daughter's birthday slumber party.  It was totally fun and a big hit, but now I am totally STRESSED because I am working this week and have a MILLION things to do today to get ready for it.  I am working on a movie till Thurs, which means both my girls have to be moved into my parents house, and my dog has to go to a dog sitter.  Laundry, packing, groceries, driving, you know, the whole thing.  Then on Friday I have to get ready for my daughter's family party in which my inlaws and about 20 people are coming over on Saturday.  What I'm basically saying is... AAAAHHH!!!  And that I will not be able to any book blogging while I am gone.  But I'll be back in a week! 

In the mean time, here is the giveaway for Rachel Stolzman's book as promised, "The Sign for Drowning".  I have not had time to get the interview done, but I really wanted to get this giveaway out to you guys!  The book is signed, as as I said it is LOVELY!  You can read my review of it here.

I can't seem to get the google form to work,  so here's what I am going to do until then, leave a comment WITHOUT YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS, then you must CHECK BACK on the announce date to see if you have won!  If you are the lucky winner you can then email me and we'll do everything else privately.
PLEASE LEAVE SEPERATE COMMENTS FOR EACH ENTRY!
To enter:

• leave a comment  (remember NO EMAIL addresses please!)  1 entry
• become a follower or let me know you already are a follower (2 entries)
• post about this giveaway in your SIDE BAR and in a SEPERATE COMMENT leave me the link, please (2 entries)
• twitter about it, and in another SEPERATE comment leave me that link too. (1 entry)

This contest will close on December 10th!  I will announce the winner the morning of December 11th, so make sure you check back to see if you have won!  If I do not hear from the winner within 3 business days I will draw again. 

Think of it as an early Christmas present FROM ME!  :0)  As I am shipping this book myself the contest is only open to the US and Canada. 

Have a great week, everyone!  I will miss you!

REVIEW OF NOVEL "THE SIGN FOR DROWNING"

The Sign for Drowning by Rachel Stolzman

Rachel Stolzman's debut novel is beautifully written and taps into everyone's need to connect with someone outside themselves; healing past wounds in the process.

The Sign for Drowning is about Anna, a woman who has grown up haunted by her younger sister's death.  Keeping the world at bay, she delves into the world of sign language at first as an imaginary way to communicate with her sister, and later it will bring into her life Adrea.  Adrea is one of the deaf students at the school for deaf children where Anna works,and quickly Anna discovers that for the first time since her sister's death somone has access to her heart. 

What follows is Anna's journey into her past where she faces the devestating memories of her sisters death.  With Adrea's complete innocence and need for a mother, Anna may find the balm to finally soothe her wounded spirit.  If only she could find the courage to let the young girl in.

This book really touched my heart, and just LOOK at the COVER!  Georgous, right?  Stolzman's knowledge of American Sign Language and the culture of the deaf community resounds as a very sturdy backdrop for this story.  It renewed my interest in learning ASL, and the descriptions of the signs in the book are very easy to visualize. The book takes you through Anna's life in a gentle way and allowing you to experience her healing through the unconditional love of a little girl.  It also touched me on the adoption front as well.  Our youngest daughter is adopted, and there were several sections where I was nodding my head in agreement to some of the feelings Anna shared towards her daughter in respect to her being adopted.  FANTASTIC! 

I highly recommend this book!

You can read more about Rachel and her work, and to request a possible phone conference with the author for your reading group!  Click here.

And don't forget to watch for her interview in the coming days, and for our giveaway of a signed copy of her book! 

Stay tuned for my upcoming interview with Rachel and a giveaway of a SIGNED copy of her book! 


RATING:  4/5

THE WINNER OF SIGNED COPY OF OUTLANDER IS...............

                                 Mozi Esmé!!!!

Thank you to all who entered this contest!!!!! 

Mozi Esmé please email me with your mailing address or comment on this post with your details and I will not publish.  I will also email you and leave comment on your blog!  Please contact me with your details by Tuesday November 17th, otherwise I will have to re-draw for a new winner.

Have a WONDERFUL day everyone! 

THE WINNER OF HUGH AND BESS!!!

TO:

AMANDA

at

 Bookshelf Monstrosity!!!!!! 

I will also be sending you an email!  Please notify me of your mailing address so I can send it on to the publisher and they can mail your book!!! 

Thank you so much to everyone who entered!!  If you didn't win I highly recommend purchasing Susan's book, it is worth every single penny!!!