Offer on the table: Swamplandia, by Karen Russell -- international is okay

To my surprise, somehow I ended up with two copies of this book, so the extra copy needs a home.   If you would like a chance to have it, please leave a comment by Monday, April 18th, and I'll choose someone at random to send the book to.  It doesn't matter where you live -- I'll mail anywhere! 

Offer on the table: Scandinavian Crime Fiction: The Fourth Man, by K.O. Dahl

I finally received my SantaThing books from LibraryThing, and The Fourth Man, by K.O. Dahl, was one of the books I got.  I already own a copy, so if anyone wants this one, it's yours. Just be the first one to leave a comment to claim it and send me an email with your home address. 

I haven't got to my copy yet (coming next month), so I don't know if it's any good, but hey, it's free!

Offer on the table: an ARC of Eleanor Henderson's new book, Ten Thousand Saints

due out in June, 2011

Does anybody want this book? I got it as part of my Powell's Books Indiespensable package, but I'm probably not going to read it.  Here's the blurb:

"A remarkable new writer makes her debut with a sweeping, multi-generational drama, set against the backdrop of the raw, roaring New York City of the late '80s -- part coming-of-age, part coming to terms -- that joins the ranks of The Emperor's Children and The Fortress of Solitude."

I'm sure it's good, but I'm not going to get to anywhere in the near future, so someone else should have it.  First one to comment gets it; please send me an email (oakesn at gmail dot com) with your address info.  Place is not an issue!

Room International Giveaway .... and the winner is....

According to random.org, the winner of Room is commenter #9 (excluding Suzanne, who said she didn't have to be entered in the giveaway) -- and that would be Clenna!  Yay for you! I'll be ordering that for you tomorrow, so if you would be ever so kind and send me an email with your address,  it will be on its way.

And thanks to everyone else...there will definitely be more giveaways in my future, so stay tuned.  You may not have won the book, but I won a chance to check out all of your awesome blogs.

A Special thanks to Jo of Booklover Book Reviews for putting up a post about the giveaway on her lovely blog.

the longlist progress: T minus 3 and counting....and a giveaway to celebrate

The Booker Longlist 13 -- it's almost over! Yay!

In the wee early hours of this morning I finished Damon Galgut's In a Strange Room, and two days ago I finished up The Finkler Question, by Howard Jacobson.  So I'm almost finished with the longlist, have one more to go on the shortlist, and plan to celebrate when it's all over with a stack of deliciously mindless horror novels until October 1.

Here's the list so far:


1. C, by Tom McCarthy -- shortlisted

2. In a Strange Room, by Damon Galgut (to be reviewed shortly) --- shortlisted

3. Room, by Emma Donoghue -- shortlisted

4. The Finkler Question, by Howard Jacobson (to be reviewed shortly) -- shortlisted

5. Parrot and Olivier in America, by Peter Carey -- shortlisted

6. Trespass, by Rose Tremain

7. February, by Lisa Moore

8. The Slap, by Christian Tsiolkas
9. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, by David Mitchell

10. Skippy Dies, by Paul Murray  -- my favorite of the entire list! I'll repeat my bummedness at it not getting to the shortlist.


Reading now:
11.  The Long Song, by Andrea Levy -- shortlisted


Left to go:
12. The Betrayal, by Helen Dunmore
13. The Stars in the Bright Sky, by Alan Warner

--and now, the fun stuff --

Giveaway of Room, by Emma Donoghue

In honor of finally getting to the last 3 books on the longlist (which was no simple task, mind you), I'm marking the occasion by giving away a copy of Room, by Emma Donoghue.  I will be selecting a winner on September 25th.  If you'd like to try for a chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post with your blog name by September 24th.  If you don't have a blog, then please leave a comment and send me an email with your contact info.  International entries are welcome.  Note: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SIGN UP AS A FOLLOWER.  I enjoy people's comments, and I really like the wonderful people I've "met" since I started this reading journal, but followership is not mandatory just to win a book!

I'm back, my back, and back to the February giveaway

and let's do this bass-ackward.  First matter at hand: who wins the giveaway of Lisa Moore's book, February?

The winner, determined entirely at random by random.org, is M, or Maya, who came here via Goodreads.  Maya's blog is called Apprentice Writer -- go over and say hi. To all of the rest of you -- thanks so much for playing, and I see many more giveaways in my future.

Second: I'm back: I've been away in California with no computer -- only my iphone which I can't use for blogging because it takes me forever to write anything with that thing.  I can keep up with comments but that's about it.

Third: My back: well, on my birthday I slipped on a rainy grocery store pavement and it was all over -- flat until the day we flew out of here, so that was about 8 days where I could do nothing but just lay there wishing I could get up, but thinking that if I tried to imitate a well person, I'd kill myself on the flight from FL to CA.

I have tons of reviews to write -- so I'd better get cracking.

Congratulations again to Maya (M) for winning the February book giveaway.

It's my birthday -- and I'm giving away a book to celebrate

  Yes, it's my birthday. I have no idea what we're going to do today but I'm sure it will be great. Last year Larry took me to Atlantis in the Bahamas and I got to swim with the dolphins. Not just to stand around and pet them but actually snorkel with them. That was great. The year before that it was a cruise. The year before that Larry rented an entire pontoon boat (normally seating 12) at Disney in FL, and we went around the lagoon before parking to watch the 9:00 pm fireworks from the Magic Kingdom on the water, complete with music & sound. I could go on and on (he's the master of awesome birthdays), but whatever happens today, I know it's going to be special. 

And to celebrate, I'm in the mood for a book giveaway.  One of my sons bought me a copy of Lisa Moore's February, and I'd already bought one, so I have an extra copy.  If you would like to try to win this copy, here's what you have to do.

1. Leave a comment on this post, and then send me an email with your email address. Anyone from any country can enter.

2. Enter by August 15th -- I will pick the winner (via random.org) on the 17th.  

3. You do NOT have to follow my blog to participate. I didn't start this blog to gain followers (but a special thanks to all of you who read my posts and comment every now and then!) so that's not a requirement. 

February, by Lisa Moore

My favorite book of the month international giveaway contest -- Zeitoun -- and the winner is...

drumroll, please.....

Twenty-one people entered to win, and I took the entries in the order in which they came. According to the random number generator, the winner is Aths! Congratulations!

I would like to thank everyone who put their name in the hat for this book. I'll choose another one toward the end of July and we'll play again.

My favorite book of the month international giveaway contest -- Zeitoun -- through June 30th

To win a copy of Dave Eggers' wonderful book Zeitoun, all you have to do is to leave a comment with either your blog URL or an email address.  You do NOT have to become a follower -- just leave a comment.  The winner will be selected at random at the end of the month. The giveaway is open internationally and you can only enter once. June 30th is your last day, so if you've always wanted to read this book, now's your chance, and for free!

Aussie Author Giveaway goes International - through June 20th

If you go on over to this blog (Booklover book reviews), you can enter to win one of these titles from various Australian authors. She's opened the contest up internationally, so the winner could come from anywhere in the world. Why shouldn't it be you? It's very easy to enter -- go take a look!  You have until June 20th to enter. 

Good luck!

The Devil's Star, by Jo Nesbø -- Winner of the Giveaway

and the lucky winner is  (drumroll, please)....skkorman! For all of the rest of you who entered to win, thanks very much for playing, and do check in often because I think I like doing this giveaway thing. 

for all of you Scandinavian fiction buffs -- book giveaway: The Devil's Star, by Jo Nesbo (sticky post -- new posts below)

To celebrate my return home after three weeks, I am giving away a copy of The Devil's Star, by Jo Nesbo.  I received a copy from the publisher while I was away, but I already own this book so this one needs a new home.

All you have to do to receive this book is to leave a comment on this post with your email address or a link to your blog by May 26th. That's it.

...and so sorry! Only US entries, please...this book is really huge!