Winner: Novel Destinations

With the help of Random.org a winner has been selected for the autographed copy of Novel Destinations.

In order to be entered to win, I asked participants to name the one "novel destination" they would most like to visit.  The most frequently mentioned place was Prince Edward Island, home of the beloved Anne of Green Gables books (5 mentions).  Other frequent mentions included various places in England (we have some fans of Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Agatha Christie, and Sherlock Holmes), Guerensy Island received 4 mentions, and Charleston was mentioned by two different people.



I had a total of 29 people enter the give-away (thanks so very much!) and the lucky winner is #21:

Mrs. DeRaps 

She indicated that she loves John Steinbeck and for that reason her novel destination would be Cannery Row.  I have only read Of Mice and Men, but there are several Steinbeck novels that I would love to read someday.  Perhaps she can provide a read-along in the future and help us appreciate his fine writing style (*hint hint*).

Congratulations to the winner - and once again, thank you all for participating.
(please note:  (I apologize for the lack of graphics in this post - but for some reason blogger will not allow me to add a photo at this time...ugh!)

I plan to offer another BEA give-away in the fall that will coordinate with Carl's RIP Challenge.  I hope you will feel free to come back and enter that contest as well.

Armchair BEA: Novel Destinations Give-away!

As many have already discussed on "real" BEA posts as well as these "virtual" posts --- meeting the authors and having them sign their newest books is always a highlight of the Expo Experience.  Now, I am a rather shy person, so it was a big deal for me just to stand in line - try think of something to say to the author that didn't sound like a bumbling idiot - and then not trip over myself as I walked away.  But last year I attempted something even more daring:  I asked a couple of the authors if they wouldn't mind signing two books -- one for me and one for a giveaway on my blog.  And do you know what I discovered?!  They are only more than happy to do so!  In fact, many of them talked about how much they enjoy book blogs, how integral book bloggers are to the success of authors, and they requested that I send them a link to my review.  I was in awe and learned that the truth of the old adage, "The worst that can happen is that they can say no."

Well, once I returned from BEA 2009 life happened and as a result, I still have a couple of those books that I received last year sitting on my shelves.  So, I plan to give away one here in honor of BEA 2010 -- and then I plan to give away the other this fall during Carl's RIP challenge (which I will assume that he will host again!)

The autographed book that I am giving away today is Novel Destinations:  Literary Landmarks from Jane Austen's Bath to Ernest Hemingway's Key West by Shannon McKenna Schmidt and Joni Rendon.  I have read this book - twice - from the local library and I was thrilled to finally receive my own copy.

I love to travel - and I love to read - so this book is like paradise to me.  In fact last year I hosted my first reading challenge, the Summer Vacation Reading Challenge, where I encouraged participants to take a literary vacation to any destination of choice.  While there are several "novel destinations" detailed in this book that I would love to visit someday (Jane Austen's cottage in Chatsworth, the Brontes house is Haworth, Thoreau's Walden Pond and Alcott's Orchard House, both in Concord, MA -- just to name a few), I am content with reading about them in detail and daydreaming about the tours that I would take, the bed-and-breakfast where I would sleep, and the meals that I would eat.  There are even suggestions for other sites of interest in the area.  To read a more detailed description of my experience with these two lovely authors, please visit my summary post here.

If you love reading - and armchair traveling as much as I do - then I encourage you to enter this modest give away.  In the comments section, please tell me which "novel destination" you would most like to visit and why.  Be sure to leave a valid email address so that I contact the winner.

This contest will be open for one week (just in case any "real" BEA attendees would like to enter) and I will select the winner using random.org on Friday, June 4, 2010.  Good luck to all - and I look forward to hearing your literary vacation dreams!

A WINNER!!!!!

Well, my contest for an autographed copy of A Dog Named Christmas by Greg Kincaid is officially over. I had hoped that more people would have had a chance to enter, but perhaps since the giveaway was only open for a little over week, others did not have the opportunity to sign up. At any rate, there were 11 who expressed interest, and with the help of random.org the winning number was comment #8 which was ........JOANN of Lakeside Musing!!!

I have contacted JoAnn via email, but wanted to publicly acknowledge her holiday gift.

Thanks to all who entered and I wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas with your pet and human family members :)

Book Give Away: A Dog Named Christmas

I simply could not let the season go by without sharing a gift with my dear cyber friends. When I learned that I was going to this author's presentation and book signing at my local library, I knew that I found the perfect gift from me to you! If you are unfamiliar with this lovely gem of a book, please read my review here.

This contest is open until December 14, 2009 and it is for an autographed copy of the book. The contest is open to all U.S. residents. To enter, just leave a comment below with an email address. I plan to draw the winner on my birthday so that I can celebrate twice that day! I promise to mail the book no later than December 16 --- so if you would like to give it as a Christmas gift, it should arrive in time to wrap and put under the tree.

WINNER -- Summer Vacation Reading Challenge

Well, summer has come and gone and I am very late in posting the winner of my first reading challenge. I learned a lot from this challenge - namely that I have a lot more to learn! Of course, it didn't help matters that Mr. Linky experienced many technical difficulties in the midst of my challenge, nor that I was out-of-town for six weeks this summer and did not have time to adequately answer questions or cheer contestants on. I apologize for that and promise that the next time I undertake such an endeavor, I will be sure to find the time to properly encourage and motivate those who are kind enough to participate.

I had a total of 15 participants complete this challenge and a total of 52 books were read - so I was quite pleased that so many literary vacations were enjoyed this year! The drawing for the $20 gift certificate to Amazon was indeed random, as the Mr. Linky problem caused contestants to post links to their reviews in several different locations. It took me a while to consolidate all reviews in one place in order to organize an excel list, but after inputting all 52 entries, and using Random.org to generate a winner - number 25 - I am very pleased to announce that JENNERS is the recipient of the prize!!!

Hmmm.....I wonder if she will use it to buy some ebooks for her Kindle?

Summer Vacation Reading Challenge - sign up Winner

I have been rather remiss lately. I promised to draw a winner for my Summer Vacation Reading Challenge sign up on Friday - but with end of the school year activities (yes, I am officially on summer vacation) time just got away from me. I do want to thank the 24 who have chosen to participate in this challenge with me. I must confess that when I first had the idea, I was hoping that at least 5 would be interested. You have all blessed me beyond measure.

Now....without further ado.....the winner of the sign up portion of this challenge is: KIM of Page after Page!! I am so excited that Kim won (although I must warn you -- this is not a big gift, but rather a fun gift that plays on the vacation theme of the challenge). Kim and I became blog friends during my early blog stages, and she has remained faithful to encourage me every step of the way. Kim always signs her messages *smiles* and that is a GREAT way to boost anyone's spirits. Kim, the gift will be in the mail soon and you will hopefully receive it by the end of the week.

NOW.....just because I have given away the sign up prize, that does not mean that you have missed the opportunity to take part in this challenge. The link to the sign up is on the left sidebar and the challenge runs from May 22-Sept 7. The grand prize winner will receive a $20 Amazon gift card to help fund those fall reading purchases. While I am thrilled to have 24 join me on this literary adventure, the saying "the more the merrier" always holds true on a vacation. So if this sounds like fun to you --- please don't hesitate to sign up.

Winner!!

Well, I am awake and refreshed from the read-a-thon (and I only have 100 pages left in Rebecca, which I WILL finish this evening) --- so with the use of random.org I have selected the winner of my "bookish" prize: Janel of Janel's Jumble!! I hope you enjoy this little gift, Janel.

I want to thank all of you who commented -- and most importantly, all of you who follow my humble little blog. You are the best!