Monday, October 01, 2007
October Pay It Forward Book Exchange giveaway- 26 books up for grabs!
Edited to add: The winner of my first book, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, was Lace. The winner of my second book, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, was BeckyB. There are more books linked below to be won, so keep entering! My next Pay It Forward Book Exchange will be hosted on 5 November.
It's time for another one of my free Pay It Forward book giveaway!
Let me just recap the Pay It Forward Book Exchange concept for those who might have missed it.
Most all of us love to read and get “new-to-us” books, right? And if you’re anything like me, you love winning things (what a rush), not to mention getting fun stuff in the mail! So here’s what this book exchange is all about:
1) On the first Monday of each month I'll pick a couple of books to give away to two lucky readers (you don’t have to have a blog to enter). It may be a book that I’ve purchased new or used, or it may be a book that someone has shared with me that I really like. It’ll probably be a paperback, just to make things easier, but no guarantees.
2) Details on how you can enter to win will be listed below.
3) If you’re the lucky winner of the book giveaway and you have your own blog I ask that you, in turn, host a drawing to give that book away for free to one of your readers, after you’ve had a chance to read it (let’s say, within a month after you’ve received the book). If you mail the book out using the media/book rate that the post office offers it’s pretty inexpensive. If you're a non-blogger who has won the book, please consider donating the book to your local library or shelter after you're done with it.
4) If you’re really motivated and want to host your own “Pay It Forward” giveaway at any time this month, feel free to grab the button above to use on your own blog. Just let me know so I can publish a post on my blog plugging your giveaway and directing my readers your way!
So there you have it, my Pay It Forward Book Exchange, designed to encourage people to read, to share good books, to possibly get you out of your reading comfort zone, and to get fun stuff in the mail instead of just bills!
Now then, my book giveaways for the month of October will be two books given to me by Lucy with booksprice.com. Thanks, Lucy!
Books Price is a really cool multiple price comparison website. Just to check it out, I typed in one of the books Lucy gave me and I got a long list of price comparisons. What's neat is that the price comparison even includes shipping costs. It's not just book prices that you can check, you can also look into DVDs, CDs, and games as well! If you haven't already, you really should check out booksprice.com.
Okay, now for my two books that are up for grabs!
1) Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.I must admit, when I first saw this out in the stores and read the back cover, it didn't seem all that interesting to me. But when it was presented to me again I figured, 'Why not?' I'm so glad I read this book! It ended up being a really good read!
Here's an editorial review from Publishers Weekly:
With its spotlight on elephants, Gruen's romantic page-turner hinges on the human-animal bonds that drove her debut and its sequel (Riding Lessons and Flying Changes)—but without the mass appeal that horses hold. The novel, told in flashback by nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski, recounts the wild and wonderful period he spent with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, a traveling circus he joined during the Great Depression. When 23-year-old Jankowski learns that his parents have been killed in a car crash, leaving him penniless, he drops out of Cornell veterinary school and parlays his expertise with animals into a job with the circus, where he cares for a menagerie of exotic creatures[...] He also falls in love with Marlena, one of the show's star performers—a romance complicated by Marlena's husband, the unbalanced, sadistic circus boss who beats both his wife and the animals Jankowski cares for. Despite her often clichéd prose and the predictability of the story's ending, Gruen skillfully humanizes the midgets, drunks, rubes and freaks who populate her book.
2) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.This book was quite an emotional one to read. It was excellent! Oronzo grabbed it and read it before me. After reading it, he promptly went to Barnes & Noble and purchased another book by the author.
Here's the editorial review from Publishers Weekly:
Hosseini's stunning debut novel starts as an eloquent Afghan version of the American immigrant experience in the late 20th century, but betrayal and redemption come to the forefront when the narrator, a writer, returns to his ravaged homeland to rescue the son of his childhood friend after the boy's parents are shot during the Taliban takeover in the mid '90s. Amir, the son of a well-to-do Kabul merchant, is the first-person narrator, who marries, moves to California and becomes a successful novelist. But he remains haunted by a childhood incident in which he betrayed the trust of his best friend, a Hazara boy named Hassan, who receives a brutal beating from some local bullies. After establishing himself in America, Amir learns that the Taliban have murdered Hassan and his wife, raising questions about the fate of his son, Sohrab. Spurred on by childhood guilt, Amir makes the difficult journey to Kabul, only to learn the boy has been enslaved by a former childhood bully who has become a prominent Taliban official. The price Amir must pay to recover the boy is just one of several brilliant, startling plot twists that make this book memorable both as a political chronicle and a deeply personal tale about how childhood choices affect our adult lives. The character studies alone would make this a noteworthy debut, from the portrait of the sensitive, insecure Amir to the multilayered development of his father, Baba, whose sacrifices and scandalous behavior are fully revealed only when Amir returns to Afghanistan and learns the true nature of his relationship to Hassan. Add an incisive, perceptive examination of recent Afghan history and its ramifications in both America and the Middle East, and the result is a complete work of literature that succeeds in exploring the culture of a previously obscure nation that has become a pivot point in the global politics of the new millennium.
If you'd like to win either of these books, here is what you must do:
1. On your blog, write a post about this giveaway, using my "Pay It Forward" button, and then link back to my post. I am sure your readers would appreciate learning about the chance to win a book. You must complete this step to be put in the drawing, unless of course you don't have a blog!
2. Sign the Mr. Linky (the Mr. Linky is that list of names at the end of this post - just type your name in the box) with your name and the specific URL of your PIF post by end of day on Friday, 5 October. Note: If you are not a blogger, you may still enter. Just sign your name on the Mr. Linky without a URL and then email me your contact information. Please note on your email that it is for the PIF book giveaway.
I'll announce the winners this coming Saturday morning, so be sure to check back.
Best of luck!
Additional Pay It Forward Book Exchange Giveaways!
Shauna at Shauna Rumbling gave away the book The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith's on 5 October. Thanks, Shauna!
Kathleen Marie at The Open Window gave away four books on 6 October! She gave away the books Stuffed by Brian Wiprud, Reconstructing Natalie by Laura Jensen Walker, The Teeth of the Tiger by Tom Clancy, and The Amen Sisters by Angela Benson. Thanks, Kathleen Marie!
Paige at Superpaige's Pad gave away the book I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith on 8 October. Thanks, Paige!
Beth at Sportsmomma gave away two books: Dear John by Nicolas Sparks and Extravagant Grace on 9 October. Thanks, Beth!
April at Butterfly Kisses gave away three books: 3 Seconds by Les Parrott, Are you kidding, God? ME, a Prudent Woman by Melissa Jansen, and Every Breath She Takes by Suzanne Forster on 10 October. Thanks, April!
Carrie at with all that I've been given gave away two books: Going Over East: Reflections of a Woman Rancher by Linda M. Hasselstrom and Herbs for Health and Happiness by Mo Siegel on 10 October. Thanks, Carrie!
Julie at Joyful Days gave away the book Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden on 14 October. Thanks, Julie!
Cloudscome at a wrung sponge gave away the book Sugar Cage by Connie May Fowler on 14 October. Thanks, Cloudscome!
Libby at Lessons from the Tortoise gave away the book The Noah Confessions by Barbara Hall on 15 October. Thanks, Libby!
Magpie at Magpie Musing gave away the book Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Jane Gilman on 15 October. Stop by her blog to enter to win. Thanks, Magpie!
Blue Momma at Life in the Fishbowl gave away the book The Road by Cormac McCarthy on 18 October. Thanks, Blue Momma!
Vail at Thoughts of a Wannabe gave away the book Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella on 19 October. Thanks, Vail!
Julie at Joyful Days gave away the book The Divine Appointment by Jerome Teel on 21 October. Thanks, Julie!
Beckyb at In the Pages gave away the book Cave of the Dark Wind by Ridley Pearson on 22 October. Thanks, Becky!
Karen at Mommy of Three gave away the book Sammy's Hill by Kristin Gore on 31 October. Stop by her blog to enter to win. Thanks, Karen!
Briggie at There is Power In Prayer... gave away the book Dinner With A Perfect Stranger by David Gregory on 31 October. Thanks, Briggie!
Elrena at Elrena Evens gave away the book Life among the Savages by Shirley Jackson on 1 November. Thanks, Elrena!
If anyone else is hosting a Pay It Forward Book Exchange giveaway this month and you'd like me to link you on this post, just leave me a comment letting me know the details and I'll be happy to add you!
Labels: book review, books/reading, giveaways, Pay It Forward, product review
30 Comments:
Please enter me for the Water for Elephants drawing. (I already read The Kite Runner recently. It's excellent!)
Please count me in for #1, I have #2 on my nightstand! Also, something is wrong with my post and it won't let me edit it and I forgot to put that it runs through midnight CST on Oct 31. Thanks!
I have not read either book so please enter me for both books or one or the other. However you would like to do it.
I have four posted... Hugs!
I absolutely loved Water For Elephants and recommend it highly! Count me in for The Kite Runner.
Yay! I love PIF!
Please enter me for both books!
I would love to be in for the Kite Runner - I have STILL not read that one!!! How fun - oh AND I have mine up and ready to go too!
http://inthepages.blogspot.com/2007/10/pay-it-forward.html
Ah, I've read Kite Runner and just borrowed Water for Elephants from a friend! Maybe I'll enter next month. In the meantime, I"ll host my own PIF Book exchange next week!
these sound like excellent reads, count me in and thanks for giving me a heads up! take care and God bless!
I already have the Kite Runner, but would love to enter the Elephants book. I have my own pay it forward contest up now at
http://paige.ericksonfamily.com/2007/10/02/another-book-to-win/
I'd love to win! I'm also hosting three new giveaways!!
Please enter me for Number One! I will get my post up soon.
Great idea, would love to be entered :)
I'd love to be entered for both! I've posted over on my blog, though I won't do my PIF post until next week.
Ok, I now have 4 giveaways going, and all 4 links are on Mr. Linky!!
your blog is so much fun and beautiful! the pictures are amazing! thanks
I haven't read either one yet. I've linked you already. When I get home tonight I'll be listing my giveaway and will let you know so you can add it to your list. We just got home from the beach and now is when I feel like I'm drowning trying to catch up on home stuff!
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Hey - I've got my book giveaway posted now on my blog if you'll link me.
I just wanted to say you are doign a great job with this PIF Books!!
Laura
Please count me in for the 2 books! They sound interesting!
My Drawing will be October 19th. Thanks for hosting this!
I haven't read either book but have heard great things about them, so please, enter me for both of them! Thanks!
Stop by to enter my book PASS IT ON giveaway too!
I am a little late this month, but my drawing is up today. I am giving away Sugar Cage. Drawing will be Sunday, October 14. Thanks for doing this round up!
I just posted a link to my first giveaway--thanks for hosting!
I have a giveaway posted for Memoirs of a Geisha. It runs until October 14th. The URL is:
http://ourjoyfuldays.blogspot.com/2007/10/memoirs-of-geisha-is-wonderful-book-i.html
Thanks!
I've got my post up - giving away Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress.
http://magpiemusing.blogspot.com/2007/10/book-karma-october-edition.html
I would love to win any of the posted books!!
I also have my own up with entries ending Thu, Oct. 18.
http://inthebowl.blogspot.com
I have a new giveaway up for "The Divine Appointment" and will give it away on the 21st.
Thanks.
http://ourjoyfuldays.blogspot.com/2007/10/book-giveaway.html
I'm hosting another PIF! I'm giving away Life Among the Savages on November 1st, and here's the link: http://elrenaevans.blogspot.com/2007/10/pay-it-forward-book-exchange.html
Thanks!
You've really started something here!
I'm hosting a Pay it Foward Book Exchange. There are two books to choose from in November:
Goose in the Pond by Earlene Fowler
Or
The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis
Here's the link:
http://abundantliving-tracy.blogspot.com/2007/11/pay-it-forward-book-exchange.html
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