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!

PEEING MY PANTS IN ANTICIPATION FOR.......

GAK!!!!

I saw that another blogger recieved this this week in her mailbox and I JUST ABOUT FREAKED!  FREAKED, I TELL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I KNOW I said I am not accepting any review books at this time.. I know, I KNOW, BUT.... I would LOVE to get my hands on the ARC for this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Leviathan remains as my FAVOURITE ARC I have EVER READ, and also is in my top 10 of my favourite books OF ALL TIME.

I
friggen
loved
it.

Did I mention that I loved it?

ANYway, while I sit here and send the ULTIMATE vibe to the universe that Behemoth is headed my way, I hope you all have an AWESOME day!!!!

Lisa

WINNER OF LEVIATHAN!

NATALIE FROM MINDFUL MUSINGS!!!!!!!! 

Please email me as soon as possible with your info so I can order and have your book shipped!  Thank you to everyone who entered!!! 

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)

MAILBOX MONDAY

Mailbox Monday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

This past week what arrived was a freebie (thank you to the publicist for Cowboy and Wills!) and one that I ordered, "Thomas Riley" by Nick Valentino.  (steampunk)

Cowboy and Wills by Monica Holloway looks like a very heartwarming tale about an autistic boy who falls in love with a dog, and vise versa.  My great nephew has autism, so this book pulls at my heartstrings in a profound way.  Here is the blurb from the author's website:

In this exceptionally touching memoir, critically acclaimed author Monica Holloway shares the extraordinary, deeply moving story of Cowboy, the golden retriever puppy who changed her son’s life.


The day Monica learns that her lovable, brilliant threeyear- old son, Wills, has autism spectrum disorder, she takes him to buy an aquarium. It’s the first in a string of impulsive trips to the pet store to buy animals as a distraction from the uncontrollable, crushing reality of Wills’s diagnosis. But while Wills diligently tends to the growing menagerie, what he really wants is a puppy. And one Christmas, when Wills is six, Cowboy Carol Lawrence joins their family.

Like all dynamic duos, Cowboy and Wills complement each other perfectly. Wills is cautious, fastidious, and irresistibly tenderhearted. Cowboy, a rambunctious golden retriever, is overeager, affectionate, and impulsive. And from the moment Cowboy enters their lives, Monica sees her son step a little farther into the world.

Soon, the boy who could barely say hello to his classmates in kindergarten is sharing stories of his new “sister” Cowboy during morning circle. Children crowd around them at the park, and instead of running away, Wills, holding Cowboy’s leash in his sweaty fist, proudly answers all of their questions. With Cowboy, he finds the courage to invite kids over for playdates, overcomes his debilitating fear of water to swim along beside her in the family pool, and, after years of gentle coaxing, Wills finally sleeps in his own bed with Cowboy’s paws draped across his small chest. Through it all, Cowboy is there, dragging him toward other children, giving him the confidence to try new things and the courage to face his worst fears. And when Cowboy turns out to need her new family as much as they need her, they discover just how much she has taught them—about devotion, about loyalty, and about never giving up.

Sometimes it’s what you don’t know to hope for that saves you. For Monica, her husband, Michael, and their son, Wills, salvation came in the form of a puppy with pale blonde fur, chocolate brown eyes, a fondness for chewing the crotch out of underpants, and a limitless capacity for love.

The next one is one I ordered myself from first time author Nick Valentino.  It's a steampunk book called "Thomas Riley".  I LOVED the cover and the website is super cool, but when I read the first 2 pages I was very disappointed.  I hope the rest of the book is not written this way.  Once again the need for copious  amounts of description of EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY is prevelant in the first few pages, which tells me that this author likely wants to "help" me "see" his characters and world.  I really like this author as he is a lovely man, so I really really hope to enjoy his debut novel! 

We are only 8 FOLLOWERS away from starting our MEGA 200 FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY!!!!! WOOOOT!!  And not only THAT...... I have hired Karen Lewis from SIMPLY AMUSING DESIGNS, and she has created an AWESOME design for Book Blab which I will hopefully be unveiling THIS WEEK!!!!! 

Have a wonderful day!

TEASER TUESDAY

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB from Should Be Reading, and anyone can play along!

• grab your current read
• flip to a random page
• select two teaser sentences from somewhere on that page
• try not to include spoilers!
• please let us know the author and book so we can add them to our TBR pile!

Because, as I said, I have not been the most stellar reader lately, my teaser is once again from Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld:

"Deryn Sharp gritted her teeth, resolving  that no one would see through her disguise.

    There couldn't be that much trick to it, being a stupid boy."

For more teasers click here. 

WHAT ARE YOU READING ON MONDAYS?

This is a weekly bookish meme hosted by J. Kayes' Book Blog.  It gives us a chance to chat about what we are currently reading this week, what we have read and what we are planning to read. 

WELL.....

I have been KNITTING lately and NOT reading. 

Sigh.

I have been pretty stressed out due to, you know, life in general and Christmas and my husband being out of town working for a month, and I am finding it hard to concentrate when I read.  The best thing for me to do when I am like this is to knit while watching a fav DVD.  The combo is usually knitting and Frasier.  Today it was knitting and Everybody Loves Raymond.  I do this during my usual reading time for a couple of hours in the afternoon when my youngest child naps.  So, I have gotten diddly done in the reading department, but I HAVE gotten 6 lovely little squares for the baby blanket I am knitting for my nephews son that will be arriving in March! 

I do have every intention of reading every day, and I did manage to read a bit of Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (which  I FRICKEN LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)  It is FANTASTIC!!  I mean, SO SO unique and awesome, and Steampunk-y!  I think Steampunk may be my next big thing.  I ordered Nick Valentino's book from the guest blog he did a little while ago, "Thomas Riley" and I am just waiting for it to come in the mail. 

Today I started The 13 Hour by Richard Doetsch, and after hearing much bally-hoo about it I have to say I am not overly impressed thus far.  I mean the premise is very cool (the book STARTS with the 12th Chapter), and the first few pages were great, and then he gets into the overdone describing of every character down to the last shred of clothing and hair on their head.  This just makes the book wreak of "oooohh... look at me I am writing" to me, but I am hoping it gets better.  People seem to LOVE it.  So, I will give it an honest go and try to overlook this tendancy. 

Hopefully I'll have more to chat about next week!

TEASER TUESDAYS

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme (and my favourite!) hosted by MizB at Should be Reading!

It's easy and everyone can play!

• Grab your current read
• Flip to a random page and select 2 sentences
• try not to include spoilers!
• And please include the name of book and author so we can add it to our tbr pile!

My teaser is from:  Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

'"Okay, beastie," she called up.  "I may have got you into this mess, but I'm gonna get you out too.  And I'm telling you:  Now's not the time to panic!"

    The creature made no promises, but Deryn pulled the ballast cords anyway."

You can read  more teasers here.

I would also take a moment and welcome someone who is brand new to the book blogging world!  She is a very talented photographer, and I am so excited that she has decided to start her own book blog! 

WELCOME, VENESSA!!    Check out her blog here.