Winners!! Winners!! Chicken Dinners!!

Time to pick two winners for The Line Between Here and Gone, and Larry was, as usual asleep, so I enlisted the help of 
Cat Bot, 

along with Random.org, to pick the winners....

So, Cat Bot, who is it?

Drum Roll Please....

Daryl and Nise!!

A Giveaway! The Line Between Here and Gone

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Did you read my recent review of The Line Between Here and Gone?

"The man she loved is gone forever. The child she lives for could be next. Each day is a struggle for Amanda Gleason's newborn son as he battles a rare immune deficiency. Justin's best chance for a cure lies with his father, who was brutally murdered before Amanda even realized she carried his child.

Or was he?

One emailed photo changes everything, planting a seed of doubt that Amanda latches on to for dear life: a recent photo of a man who looks exactly like Paul. Could Justin's father be alive? The mother in her is desperate to find out. But tracking down a ghost when every second counts is not for amateurs.

Forensic Instincts is the one team up for the challenge."

Well, if you didn't read my review, go ahead, read it now.
I'll wait....

Ok, sounds good, doesn't it?
I assume now you would just love to have your very own copy to read, right?
Well, two of you can do just that because, thanks to Erin at Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, I have two lovely copies to give away.

And by the way, the book is still on tour out there in Blogland and you can follow along.
Head over to the BookTrib and check it out. "We’ve organized another scavenger hunt blog tour to celebrate THE LINE BETWEEN HERE AND GONE. Click on the dates below to find that day’s excerpt. The additional links lead to even more reviews, author Q&A’s and giveaways!"
What, there are other Giveaways? What if you win two? Well, I guess you can have your own giveaway!

Here is today's little excerpt...

"But she battled her way through them. Because one thought eclipsed all the rest.

What could this mean for Justin?"

Wonder what that is about? Well, follow the links and check out the rest of the excerpts.
But of course, be sure you leave a comment right here first...WITH YOUR E-MAIL...and be entered for a chance to win.
The contest is open to readers in the USA and Canada.
It starts...hmmm...right now! And will end in one week, at the stroke of midnight on Thursday, 8/02.
Once again, Larry the Wonder Cat(he loves giving stuff away) and Random.org will be in charge of picking the winner.

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Winners!! Winners!! Chicken Dinners!!

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Finally, I was able to wake Larry the Wonder Cat up and with the assistance of Randon.org, he picked the two lucky winners.

They are...drumroll please......

Tina and Vonnie Rivera!

I will be e-mailing you for your mailing info and hopefully the publisher will have it on the way shortly so you can start enjoying it.

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"Gone Missing" Giveaway!

Check It Out!!

You can't win if you don't play!

Musing Monday...Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe..

Before we head out to start the day, let's check out this week's Musing Monday question from Miz B at Should Be Reading ..

This week’s musing asks…

What are you currently reading? Is it any good? Would you recommend it?

Well, I need a new book to start the new week, because I just finished a book last night. Late last night in fact, because I stayed up too late, on a 'school' night, to finish it and will, no doubt be paid back with some sleepy time at work today. So if I just had to finish it, I must have liked the book, right?
Well, I did, pretty much.

It is called Hell or High Water and is written by Joy Castro.
I won't tell you too much about it because I hope to have a review up tomorrow or Thursday, but generally it is about a newspaper reporter in New Orleans who get an assignment to write about sexual offenders at the same time as several woman have been kidnapped and found dead..and sexually assaulted...in the city.

I will say that while I had an issue or two with the book, it did have a great ending..which is why I was up late. But for my final opinion, I need to muse about it a little bit. Which I know is a mistake. I would be best to write my review the minute I put down a book. I tell myself that I need to give it a little time, to let my opinion settle, but in reality I am just lazy. And, as I have mentioned, a world class procrastinator.
Rarely does my opinion change really, rarely do my insights deepen. I just hate to get started. Even though I know there is a danger that if I do not write it right away, I may never write it.

Let me ask you..do you who write reviews, on a blog or Amazon or Library Thing or Goodreads, review every book you read? And if not, how do you pick what will get the treatment and which will not?

I admit I do not. I review, I think on average, about 2 books a week but I usually read more than that. And I will also admit I have no plan as to what I review. But I do know that the longer I wait, the more I 'muse', the less likely that I will ever put pen to paper about it. So much for clarifying my thoughts!
I try to give any ARCs or review copies my best try. Especially if someone is e-mailing me asking how my review is goming.. ;-)
Unless it is really, really bad book. I hate to write a really bad review and usually do it only when it is a book that there is a lot of buzz about.
Odd? No!
I feel I should throw my negative opinion in the hat, warn you maybe, so you don't go out and buy a book just because everyone seems to be reading it. But I am much more likely to write a review about a book I love. It's like you just have to go out and tell your book loving friends about this great one you just finished.

Or sometimes I use that very scientific method.."Eeny, meeny, miny, moe...!"
What about you?

Giveaway of "Gone Missing"

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Did you read my glowing review of this book just below?

Well, if not, stop right this minute and do so!
And then hurry back and leave a comment to be entered for a chance to win one of two copies I have to offer!
Open to US shipping address only.

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The contest will start today and run until 7/23, at which point Larry the Wonder Cat, along with Random.org, will pick the two lucky winners!
Good luck!

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Winner! Winner! Winner!

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Randon.org has spoken and the winner of The Girl Who Disappeared Twice is...

NANCYE!

You might notice that she was the very last person to enter yesterday evening, so it is never too late!
Congrads to the lucky winner. Just respond with your mailing info and the folks at Mira will have it on the way!

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Winner of "I'd Know You Anywhere"

I know you have all been on the edge of your seat, so the winner of I'd Know you Anywhere is...

heavenisabookstore

An e-mail will be on the way and as soon as I get a mailing address, it will be on the way.

Hope that you enjoy it! 

Room Winner

I let Sammy stick his paw into the hat and pick a winner. Ok, actually, he was asleep, so I let Random.org make the pick and...

Yes, Molly from my cozy book nook will have a package in her mailbox in the near future. Congrads!!

Winners!

Congrads to our two lucky winner of a copy of One Amazing Thing....

drumroll please...

as chosen by the always random Random.org...

Marjorie and

Debbie F.!

An e-mail will be on the way for your mailing information and then the books will be traveling just as fast as the USPS can.  Feel free to inset your own postal joke here.

...And The Winners Are...

Yes, we have our winners of the du Maurier Birthday giveaway!!
First, let me say that I counted the entries and picked them very early this morning while at work, using the ever useful Random.org...and that was way to complicated for me to me doing at 2 a.m.
But I succeeded and the winners are {{{drum roll please}}}



So shortly, I will get an e-mail out to you to sent me your mailing info. and I will pass that on to Danielle at Sourcebooks who will, no doubt, have those on their way to you both shortly. Congrads!!

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Happy Birthday!! And a Giveaway!!

Happy Birthday Ms. Du Maurier!! If she were still alive, today May 13th, would have been Daphne du Maurier's 102nd birthday. So, in the tradition of birthday everywhere, there will be gifts!



But instead of the usual, the birthday girl receiving gifts, in a way, she will be giving the gifts to you, my dear readers! Or actually, Sourcebooks, who has recently re-published two of her books, Frenchman's Creek and My Cousin Rachel, in very attractive new trade paperback editions, is offering the gifts to two lucky readers.
There are two books available, one of each book, for two lucky winners.

Just leave me a comment, telling me if you would be interested, after reading my fine reviews, in trying for Frenchman's and/or My Cousin Rachel and I will hold a separate drawing for each. You can get one entry for one or both with a comment, and an extra two entries if you are or become a follower of my always entertaining blog. A separate comment, if you will, letting me know that. And I will check, so no fibbing now! Lol...lol.

Since I am going on vacation next week, as I will tell you about in a post shortly, the contest will just run a week, and I will pick the winner, with the help of Random.org, Thursday morning and pass on the two names and mailing info. to the very kind Danielle at Sourcebooks to mail out the books. The contest is open to US and Canadian residents and GOOD LUCK! I think you will enjoy either one!!

And the Winner Is....

Drum roll please....

The winner of My "Only My Second Ever Giveaway" Giveaway is...

...the always amusing Jenners from Find Your Next Book Here. Congrads!!

So, I am off in search of an e-mail and as soon as I have an address to mail it to, it will be in the mail. I hope that you enjoy it..but then I always find that books I won are just a little more special!

Thanks to all who entered...and blame Random.Org if you didn't win. :=)

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Thursday briefs...

really brief this time...lol

First, just want to remind any readers that the GIVEAWAY for "The Lost City of Z" will end this weekend. So drop a comment there if you would like to win a copy of a very interesting book.

Second, for those of you that like...or don't mind...e-books, there is an offer out there to download a PDF file of C.J.West's book "Sin and Vengeance". I have not read it yet, but it seems it is being made into a film and the books got very good, if limited, reviews on Amazon. If you are interested, the site is http://www.22wb.com/freesinbook.htm and you will need to enter the password: cjwest.

And last...I just want to remind you check out the Susan Boyle/Britian's Got Talent video here. It seems that the video on YouTube has now been viewed by over 12 million viewers.

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a review of The Lost City of Z...and A GIVEAWAY!

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann (Doubleday, ISBN 978-0-385-51353-1)

For centuries, there were stories of a huge, developed, ancient city, deep in the Amazon jungle, a city where gold was so plentiful that the Indians ground it into a powder and covered their bodies in it. The Spanish called it El Dorado, the gilded man, after the city's gold covered king. It was a legend that lured many explorers to their deaths in the jungle, but a legend that would not die. In January 1925, Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett, perhaps the most famous explorer of his day, accompanied by his son and his son's best friend, set out on what many thought was the best chance to discover the truth of the mysterious city. They set off to great fanfare, entered the jungle...never to be seem again. David Grann, in his first book, The Lost City of Z, sets out both by extensive research with many before unknown documents and by his own trip into the much changed and yet still quite dangerous Amazon, to determine the truth of what actually happen to the great explorer Fawcett....and perhaps to solve the mystery of El Dorado as well.

Fawcett was, in ways, a larger than life figure. It was when he was in the British military, stationed in Ceylon, that he first got a taste for the adventurous life of the explorer. Certainly, at the time, he was not alone in his quest; the Royal Geographical Society in London had an actual school for explorers at their headquarters. But he was certainly one of the most famous, the most succesful, the most colorful and seemed, in some ways, to be indestructible. His greatest adventures were deep into the jungle,

"a wilderness nearly the size of the continental United States, to make what he called "the great discovery of the century"- a lost civilization. By then most of the world had been explored, it's veil of enchantment lifted, but the Amazon remained as mysterious as the dark side of the moon."

On several previous trips into the Amazon, mapping areas of south America only vaguely understood before, when it seemed that all those around him had succumbed to illness, or starvation, or madness, he would emerge from the jungle, months later, even when all hope had been lost. He would always reappear, except that one final time....

For decades, countless have tried to solve the mystery of what happened to Fawcett, perhaps as many as a hundred of them losing their own lives in the process. And yet the mystery persisted, the mystery of the Lost City and the mystery of the most famous explorer that had set out to find it. For his own reasons, Grann, someone who happily admits that he hates to camp, has a terrible sense of direction, can get lost on the subway and prefers his air-conditioned apartment in NYC to the overwhelming heat of the jungle, found himself caught up in the story as well and set out to see if, at last, the truth could be found.

I will leave it up to you, the readers, to find out if he accomplishes that task.

But I will tell you this, that the journey he takes us on, in search of it, is a thrilling and very interesting one. He takes us back to learn about Fawcett, someone who

"wanted to become what Joseph Conrad had dubbed "a geography militant", someone who, "bearing in his breast a spark of the sacred fire", discovered along the secret latitudes and longitudes of the earth the mysteries of mankind."

A soldier, a hero in WWI, a spy for the British, a husband and a father...but most of all a man truly obsessed. He would return home, to the comfort of his family between expeditions then, once again, the feeling would start.

"..before long, he found himself unable to sit still. "Deep down inside me a tiny voice was calling," Fawcett said. "At first scarcely audible, it persisted until I could no longer ignore it. It was the voice of the wild places, and I knew that it was now part of me for ever." He added, "Inexplicably-amazingly-I knew I loved that hell."

Hell is not an overstatement of the conditions he and the others suffered in the jungle, and yet he, and so many others, again and again would return, answering that call of the wild.

The Lost City of Z is a thriller, the story of the history of an era, but most of all, the fascinating tale of one man's obsession. It is also just a very good read that I think many of you will enjoy.

And to help you do that, I am going to give away, to one lucky person, a brand spanking new ARC of the book....since somehow I was fortunate enough to find myself with an extra copy. So if you would like a chance to win, just leave me a comment here. If you would like to actually comment on the book or the review that would certainly be appreciated, but if you would like to be entered to win, just mention that too and be sure to leave a way to get in touch with you. For an extra chance to win, just mention the contest on your own blog and tell me that in your comment as well.
Since I am not a wealthy woman, I am afraid that I have to limit it to US residents, and I will draw the winner...hmmm...shall we say Sunday, April 19th, to give you a chance to say something really clever. Not that it will help your chances, but it is fun to read!

Check out these other great reviews...
A Reader's Respite
Fashion Piranha
At Home With Books
A Bookworm's World
Fresh Ink Books
The Book Catapult
Fyrefly's Book Blog

Also Available From Amazon

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....and The Winner Is.....

It is very early Sunday morning and time to pick the winners of the First Ever Caite's Lovely Shore Breeze Book Giveaway! I am sure that you are all on the edge of your seats. I am not because I do not want to drop my laptop...
So I threw the numbers in a hat...or at least cyberly with Random.org and drew out two winners and they are...

Wait, first, just let me say one thing. I sincerely thank all who entered the contest and I hope that you may come back and visit my wee blog in the future. Of course, the majority of you have not won. Sad, but the way it is. But I do hope that your interest might have been peaked by my review and therefore if you have not won, I would still encourage you to read A Thousand Veils. There is that great resource in your community called the public library, and at Mr. Murphy's suggestion, take yourself down there and request that they obtain a copy or two to loan out. Because in all sincerity. Mr. Murphy's desire "is for many people to read "A Thousand Veils" so as to spread the positive message contained in the book -- a message of hope and reconciliation."
Personally, I would suggest you go down to your local bookstore and order a copy or two. And if you enjoy the book, and I think that you will, I would hope you spread the word, write a review if you have a blog, tell your fellow book lovers if you do not, because as I think that I mentioned, this is a self-published book so it needs us, the reader, to help tell people about it.

Ok...now where was I...Oh yes, the winners.
Well, according to those little random.org elves the winners are....{{drumroll}}
Julie D and Carey at The Tome Traveler.

Congrads and I will send you each an e-mail to which you can reply with your mailing info.

a review of "A Thousand Veils" and a GIVEAWAY!

A Thousand Veils by D.J. Murphy

Fatima Shihabi was raised by a loving father and family, a self described 'child of the desert', in an isolated rural town in Iraq. She learned from her oldest brother, Omar, a love of language, as he would read endless passages from the Koran to her, telling her that “You must lose yourself in these cadences, Fatima, the exquisiteness of these lines. There's no greater beauty in the world.” Fatima felt a need from her earliest days to express her experiences of the world, in stories and ultimately in her poetry, and her experiences about what Omar would call the “Others”.

”A writer has to mirror the concerns of ordinary people” he told her. “Force humanity to look itself in the face, so that maybe, on day, one glorious day, it may decide to tidy itself up, make itself right.”

It would be these two things, her love of writing and poetry and her need to champion the cause of others, especially women and children under the regime of Saddam Hussein, that would bracket her life.

Her poetry, written in secret, would strengthen her enough to save her life and her mind when she was given in marriage to an older man, who abused her both mentally and physically. From her adolescence, she followed the wishes of her father and then her husband to wear the veil, the long black traditional abayah.

“ Long before her adolescence was over, she came to perceive the subtle irony of draping a black cloth over a sentient being whose very identity was associated with self-expression. After all, it was not simply to hold a mirror to humanity that she wrote, but to change it, if only by degrees. Thus, having accepted the veil, she soon resolved to renounce it, at least in spirit, and reinvigorated her efforts to observe and engage the Others...She could hardly reconcile her soaring imagination with the physical confines of a black cloth.”

It was that imagination and that engagement of the Others that would be the source of her conflict with the Hussein government. After she was divorced by her husband, for bearing a daughter rather than a son, one of her brothers in Baghdad got her a job writing for the most influential newspaper in Iraq, about issues concerning woman and children. She was well aware of the dangers of even the slightest criticism of the government. Everyone knew of people who were taken to prison, with no charges, and horribly tortured and some who simply disappeared, presumed killed by Hussein's secret police. She was careful, but not careful enough and in time was arrested and sent to the infamous Al Khatabi Prison. After three months of torture, her brother was able to get her released but she knew that next time, imprisonment would mean her death.

But the situation in Iraq, after 9-11, with UN sanctions in place, was getting worse and worse, limited resources going to the most powerful and leaving little for hospitals or schools, children suffering the most, and Fatima could not totally silence her voice. She became involved with an underground group that had some of her articles published oversees and she was always ready for the call that would mean that she was to be arrested again and killed and that she must flee the country. When the call comes, she leaves her daughter in the relative safety of her brother Abdeljelil's house and makes it across the desert to Saudi Arabia. And it is there that her real adventure begins. No country will give her refuge and she will be returned to Iraq and her certain death if she can not find help.

Help comes in the person of a Wall Street lawyer named Charles Sherman, persuaded by his law partner Art and by Fatima's brother Omar, now an American professor, to take on her case. Charles is a man with his own ghosts, having narrowly escaped death in the World Trade Center, his mind seared with the horrible images of that day. He is a very rich and powerful and successful man, but one who comes to realize that he has chosen to wear his own veils from the world. His encounters with Fatima and her family and their experiences together will leave him a changed man, in many ways.

A Thousand Veils is an excellent book, certainly one of the most enjoyable and most thought provoking ones that I have read this year. It is many things...the personal stories of Fatima and Charles, their friendship and growing affection for each other. It is a discussion of some of the cultural and ideological differences between the Arab world and the West, a story about politics and world we live in. It is a thriller, with Hussein's secret police racing across Paris and the Alps and people fleeing across the desert with helicopters in pursuit. But ultimately, perhaps, it is a story mostly about love and family and to what lengths we will go to protect them, and it is a story about friends and how those friendships can change us all into better people. How individuals can come to better under this complex world and how individuals can
make a difference in the world.

This is Mr. Murphy first novel, and one based, he says, to some degree on a true story. And a wonderful story it is. The characters, both the major characters of Charles and Fatima and the many minor characters, like Charles' girlfriend Sarah, his law partner Art, Fatima's brothers Omar and Abdeljelil and her daughter Latifa, are all well developed and realistically portrayed. The plot is tight and logical and moves at a good pace; the description of the various locations, from NYC to Paris to the prisons of Iraq, clearly painted. It is a well told and moving story.

This is the sort of book that you just can not put down. This is the rare sort of book that I looked forward to having time to pick up to read again and one that I was sad to see draw to a conclusion. A well rounded, satisfying conclusion...but I was sad nevertheless. A book that I can give a strong recommendation to.

I am very thankful to Mr. Murphy for sending me a copy of his excellent book to read and review and therefore I will fulfill his wishes to pass the book on, as he requested, to someone else who will read and review it as well. I must say that I do rather hate to give it away...well, I guess I will have to just buy another copy perhaps....but a promise is a promise. ;-)
And I know that whoever receives it will get a very good book.
So, if you are interesting in winning a copy of A Thousand Veils, in my very first ever book giveaway, just post a comment here, with a link to your blog or some other sort of contact info. If you link back to the review and contest on your blog, you will get a second entry. Shipping to US or Canada only please. As part of the Book Giveaway Carnival over at Bookroom Reviews, I will pick the winner at random from those posted by midnight Saturday, 11/08, and post the name of the winner on Sunday.

Good luck and take a minute to enter...I think that you will love this book!

**An Update** You know, as I thought about this book and read your many comments expressing an interest in it, I decided something. First of all, I didn't want to give up my copy, because I want to share it with some family and friends. And I just want to keep it. :-)
So, I have purchase TWO brand new copies and will give both of them away to TWO lucky winners. So you have doubled your chance of winning. Or I did. It's a win, win, win situation.

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Giant Book Giveaway!

Again...not mine. No, Devourer of Books is having a Giant book giveaway, in honor of her 100th book review. She is giving away several prizes for a total give away of, at this point, 18 books. And if there are more entries, that may go up...so go over and post a comment and get a chance to enter!