It's time for another one of my free Pay It Forward book giveaways! I'm a day late posting this but I hope you'll all join me this month!

For those who may have missed out, please read about the guidelines right here.

So, I have one book to give away this month:

1) If You Give a Mom a Martini: 100 Ways to Find 10 Blissful Minutes for Yourself by Julie Klappas & Lyss Stern, in hardcover!

This was sent to me by Ava with Crown Publishing.

I have to say, this is such a delightful book!  It made me laugh out loud in several places. :)  I've already tried a couple of fun suggestions from the book!  I tell you, this book would make a wonderful gift...for you or for someone you love! Thankfully Ava sent me two copies, one for me and one for one of you!

Okay, so here's what the author's have to say about the book!

What’s a woman to do with her very own “Mommy time-out”? The new book, IF YOU GIVE A MOM A MARTINI . . . 100 Ways to Find 10 Blissful Minutes for Yourself (Clarkson Potter; Publication date: April 14, 2009) has all the answers. In it, New York City moms Julie Klappas and Lyss Stern (with the help of some celebrity friends) have come up with the very best ways for their stressed-out counterparts to bask in a little “me” time. Smartly written and stylishly illustrated by fashion illustrator Izak Zenou, the book contains great ideas for women who relish their role as Mom but also long for a few minutes to recharge.

Running the gamut from sweet to satiric, most of the ideas are recession-proof, costing little or no money at all. For instance:

Getting Your Kicks
While playing soccer with your child, punt the ball really, really far, then race over to a lawn chair and sip iced tea until he or she returns. Instant quiet time!

Judge for Yourself
Kelly Ripa recommends watching Judge Judy and reveling in someone else having all of the answers for a change. Ten minutes is just long enough to get through one juicy case.

Find a Bloom for Your Room
Treat yourself to a single, beautiful flower for your bedside table. It will fill your bedroom with a gorgeous fragrance and make you feel special all week long.

Working It at the Car Wash
Order “the works” and experience instant gratification. Where else can you hand over something utterly gross and, ten minutes later, see it sparkle like new ?

Other celebrity contributors include: Keisha Whitaker, Lara Spencer, fashion designers Catherine Malandrino and Cynthia Rowley, and actress Jill Hennessy, who spends her ten minutes strumming her six-string guitar and eating cookies.

Smart, sexy, fun, and inspirational, IF YOU GIVE A MOM A MARTINI . . . is a reminder for moms everywhere that it only takes ten minutes to regain some sanity and find the energy to go back to the playroom and face the music—even if it is “The Wheels on the Bus.”

About the Authors
JULIE KLAPPAS is the mother of two and was most recently a Creative Director at Lifetime Television before starting her own production company, Clementine Entertainment (clementinetv.com).

LYSS STERN is the mother of two young boys and the creator of Divalysscious Moms (divalyssciousmoms.com), New York City’s premier luxury lifestyle company for fabulous moms and tots, with more than 85,000 active members.

If you'd like to win this book, 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. Note: If you are not a blogger, you may still enter to win. 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 on Saturday morning, 30 May, so be sure to check back.

Best of luck!

If you have any books you'd like to Pay It Forward yourself this month, please leave me a comment and I'll link you in this post!

Additional Pay It Forward Giveaways:

1) Jubilee at Notes of Jubilee is giving away the book Red, White and Blue by Laura Hayden on 19 May. Stop by her blog to enter win. Thanks, Jubilee!

2) Tamy at 3 Sides of Crazy is giving away the book Southwest Slow Cookers by Tammy Biber on 30 May. Stop by her blog to enter to win. Thanks, Tamy!

Labels: book review, books/reading, giveaways, Pay It Forward, product review

It's time to pick the two winners for my April Pay It Forward Book Exchange. I've used Random.org to find my winners, although considering only 3 people entered this month for my 2 book giveaways, the odds were high for winning!

And the winners are...

#4 Tamy with 3 Sides of Crazy who wins a copy of Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult.

# 5-Angi with Teen Lit Review who wins The Last Girls by Lee Smith.

Congrats, ladies! Please email me your mailing addresses so I can send out your book!

And for those of you who didn't enter to win my giveaway, check back tomorrow.  I'm going to be posting a couple of children's books signed by the author (it'll be a review and giveaway, not a PIF book exchange).

Labels: giveaways, Pay It Forward, winners

It's time for another one of my free Pay It Forward book giveaways! The first two books on my giveaway list were the ones that I should've given away at the end of July but didn't. And I didn't get an August giveaway up either. Sorry for falling off the wagon. I hope you'll all join me this month!

For those who may have missed out, please read about the guidelines right here.

So, I have two books to give away this month:

1) Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult, in hardcover!

From Publishers Weekly

Charlotte and Sean O'Keefe's daughter, Willow, was born with brittle bone disease, a condition that requires Charlotte to act as full-time caregiver and has strained their emotional and financial limits. Willow's teenaged half-sister, Amelia, suffers as well, overshadowed by Willow's needs and lost in her own adolescent turmoil. When Charlotte decides to sue for wrongful birth in order to obtain a settlement to ensure Willow's future, the already strained family begins to implode. Not only is the defendant Charlotte's longtime friend, but the case requires Charlotte and Sean to claim that had they known of Willow's condition, they would have terminated the pregnancy, a statement that strikes at the core of their faith and family. Picoult individualizes the alternating voices of the narrators more believably than she has previously, and weaves in subplots to underscore the themes of hope, regret, identity and family, leading up to her signature closing twists.

2) The Last Girls by Lee Smith.

From Publishers Weekly

he Big Chill meets Huckleberry Finn in a moving novel inspired by a real-life episode. Thirty-six years ago, Smith (Oral History) and 15 other college "girls" sailed a raft down the Mississippi River from Kentucky to New Orleans in giddy homage to Huck. Here she reimagines that prefeminist odyssey, and then updates it, as four of the raft's alumnae take a steamboat cruise in 1999 to recreate their river voyage and scatter the ashes of one of their own. What results is an unsentimental journey back to not-quite-halcyon college days of the mid-1960s ("periods cramps boys dates birth babies the works") masterfully intercut with more recent stories of marriages, infidelities, health crises and career moves, all set firmly in the South. At first the characters threaten to be mere stereotypes: innocent, self-sacrificing Harriet; arty, maternal Catherine; brittle Southern belle Courtney; brassy romance novelist Anna. But Smith reveals surprising truths about each character, even as she suggests that the fate of their departed classmate-the wild, promiscuous, possibly suicidal Baby-may never be understood. The steamboat setting provides ample opportunities to skewer cruise ship tackiness and Southern kitsch, a witty counterpoint to the often troubled personal stories of the passengers. Readers who like their plots linear may be challenged by the tangle of tales, but those who agree that "there are no grown-ups," and that there's "no beginning and no end" to the "real story" of people's lives, will find this tender, generous, graceful novel a delight.
If you'd like to win one 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. Note: If you are not a blogger, you may still enter to win. 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 on Saturday morning, 24 April, so be sure to check back.

Best of luck!

If you have any books you'd like to Pay It Forward yourself this month, please leave me a comment and I'll link you in this post!

Additional Pay It Forward Giveaways:

1) Cynthia at Springmont Cottage is giving away the book Flyover States by Grace Grant on 24 April. Stop by her blog to enter win. Thanks, Cynthia.

2) Jubilee at Notes of Jubilee is giving away the book Salty Like Blood by Harry Kraus, M.D. on 24 April. Stop by her blog to enter win. Thanks, Jubilee!

3) Kathleen Marie at The Open Window is giving away the book The Mitford Bedside Companion by Jan Karon on 24 April. Stop by her blog to enter win. Thanks, Kathleen Marie.

4) Tamy at 3 Sides of Crazy is giving four books: East of Eden by John Steinbeck, Northern Lights by Nora Roberts, Angels All Over Town by Luanne Rice, and Tales of A Drama Queen by Lee Nichols on 30 April. Stop by her blog to enter to win. Thanks, Tamy!

Labels: books/reading, giveaways, Pay It Forward

It's time to pick the two winners for my March Pay It Forward Book Exchange. I've used Random.org to find my winners, although considering only 3 people entered this month for my 2 book giveaways, the odds were high for winning! 

And the winners are...

#1 Cynthia with Springmont Cottage who wins a copy of Love You, Mean It by Patricia Carrington, Julia Collins, Claudia Gerbasi, & Ann Haynes.

# 3-Jubilee with Notes of Jubilee who wins Marked (House of Night, Book 1) by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast.

Congrats, ladies! Sorry Tamy! Cynthia & Jubilee, please email me your mailing addresses so I can send out your book!

And for those of you who didn't enter to win my giveaway, there is 1 additional book still up for grabs this month thanks to PIF giveaways being held by other bloggers! Hurry quick to enter to win!

My next Pay It Forward Book Exchange will begin on Wednesday, 1 April.  I will probably have at least two books up for grabs and one of them will be a brand new novel, Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult, in hardcover.  

Labels: books/reading, giveaways, Pay It Forward

It's time for another one of my free Pay It Forward book giveaways! The first two books on my giveaway list were the ones that I should've given away at the end of July but didn't. And I didn't get an August giveaway up either. Sorry for falling off the wagon. I hope you'll all join me this month!

For those who may have missed out, please read about the guidelines right here.

So, I have two books to give away this month:

1) Love You, Mean It by Patricia Carrington, Julia Collins, Claudia Gerbasi, & Ann Haynes.!

From Publishers Weekly

Four young women widowed by the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center were so bereft, so inconsolable, that they ended up forming their own support group, the "Widows Club." True, they found sympathy everywhere—from in-laws, co-workers, friends, grief professionals—but even their dearest intimates couldn't offer the absolutely unconditional acceptance and understanding of a sister sufferer. Collins could weep and tell stories about Tommy for hours, days or years, and Haynes wouldn't find it tiresome. Gerbasi could tell Carrington she'd seen "signs" of Bart—a bird outside her window, a bedside light flickering—and Carrington would understand, because her Caz was also sending messages. None of these women were interested in being "the perfect September 11 widow," working on protest committees, testifying before Congress and organizing fund-raisers. They just wanted to get through a day without dissolving into tears. In interfolded accounts, they each discuss how they met their husbands, how they spent September 11 and all the many ways they grieved. In the end, they each found ways to open themselves to new love, careful to keep the "Boys" and the Widows Club ever dear.

2) Marked (House of Night, Book 1) by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast.

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up—In 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampyres not only exist but are also tolerated by humans. Those whom the creatures "mark" as special enter the House of Night school where they will either become vampyres themselves, or, if their body rejects the change, die. To Zoey, being marked is truly a blessing, though she's scared at first. She has never fit into the human world and has always felt she is destined for something else. Her grandmother, a descendant of the Cherokee, has always supported her emotionally, and it is she who takes the girl to her new school. But even there the teen stands apart from the others. Her mark from the Goddess Nyx is a special one, showing that her powers are very strong for one so young. At the House of Night, Zoey finds true friendship, loyalty, and romance as well as mistrust and deception. She realizes that all is not right in the vampyre world and that the problems she thought she left behind exist there as well. Readers will identify with many of the characters, especially the protagonist. The story moves quickly (a little too quickly at the end) and purposely leaves many unresolved issues. A good choice for those libraries serving fans of the occult, but be aware that the book contains some suggestive language and sex.—Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY

Labels: books/reading, giveaways, Pay It Forward

It's past time to pick the four winners for my September Pay It Forward Book Exchange. I've used Random.org to find my winners.

And the winners are...

# 1-yessenia, who wins a copy of Hitched by Carol Higgins Clark.

#2- Swapna Krishna, a non-blogger who wins a copy of I Choose This Day by Sharon Fieker.

#5- Jubilee at Notes of Jubilee who wins a copy of Your Child's Strengths.

# 6-Forgetfulone who wins a copy of The Divide by Nicholas Evans.


Congrats, Ladies! Please email me your mailing addresses so I can send out your book!

Labels: books/reading, giveaways, Pay It Forward

It's time for another one of my free Pay It Forward book giveaways! The first two books on my giveaway list were the ones that I should've given away at the end of July but didn't. And I didn't get an August giveaway up either. Sorry for falling off the wagon. I hope you'll all join me this month!

For those who may have missed out, please read about the guidelines right here.

So, I have three books to give away this month.

1) Hitched by Carol Higgins Clark.

This book was sent to me by Sheryl with Taking the Challenge. Thanks, Sheryl!

From Publishers Weekly

Nervous brides may want to wait until after the wedding to read bestseller Clark's winning ninth mystery to feature PI Regan Reilly (after 2005's Burned). With her wedding to Jack "no relation" Reilly, head of the NYPD Major Case Squad, only a week away, Regan thinks she has everything under control. But when she arrives to pick up her wedding dress at Alfred and Charisse's Coutures in Little Italy, she finds the young husband-and-wife designers bound and gagged, a wedding dress shredded on the floor and four others missing, including her own. In spite of all she must do before the wedding, Regan agrees to investigate. Jack, hoping to solve a big bank robbery case before their nuptials, is more than supportive. To Regan's surprise, not all the brides-to-be who've lost their gowns are that distraught. Regan's and Jack's cases convincingly intertwine as the sleuthing trail leads them from the streets of New York to Las Vegas. With her usual cast of quirky characters, Clark's lighthearted romp will keep readers guessing who will and who won't make it to the altar.

This was a fun, quick read!

2) I Choose This Day by Sharon Fieker.

This book was sent to me by Dawn at Our Adoption Journey...to Nowhere. Thanks, Dawn!

Book description: Have you faced a difficult decision concerning an unexpected pregnancy? Sharon Fieker uses I Choose this Day: Mournings and Miracles of Adoption to convey how the circumstances of the darkest period in her life evolved into the brightest time. She includes the challenges and blessings surrounding her pregnancy. The heartache of "not knowing" what happened to her baby and the beautiful story that unfolds as she meets her birth daughter are inspirational. When going through difficult times, Sharon sometimes wondered how God could allow such troubling things to happen. Her story demonstrates how He had a plan for her--one filled with hope. He also allowed her free will to make her own choices. If you're facing or have faced an unplanned pregnancy, you will benefit from reading I Choose this Day: Mournings and Miracles of Adoption. 

Labels: books/reading, giveaways, Pay It Forward

It's time for another one of my free Pay It Forward book giveaways! Sorry for the delay on getting this out. We've had an emotional roller coaster these past couple of weeks with foster care issues.

For those who may have missed out, please read about the guidelines right here.

So, I have two books to give away this month.

1) Hitched by Carol Higgins Clark.

This book was sent to me by Sheryl with Taking the Challenge. Thanks, Sheryl!

From Publishers Weekly

Nervous brides may want to wait until after the wedding to read bestseller Clark's winning ninth mystery to feature PI Regan Reilly (after 2005's Burned). With her wedding to Jack "no relation" Reilly, head of the NYPD Major Case Squad, only a week away, Regan thinks she has everything under control. But when she arrives to pick up her wedding dress at Alfred and Charisse's Coutures in Little Italy, she finds the young husband-and-wife designers bound and gagged, a wedding dress shredded on the floor and four others missing, including her own. In spite of all she must do before the wedding, Regan agrees to investigate. Jack, hoping to solve a big bank robbery case before their nuptials, is more than supportive. To Regan's surprise, not all the brides-to-be who've lost their gowns are that distraught. Regan's and Jack's cases convincingly intertwine as the sleuthing trail leads them from the streets of New York to Las Vegas. With her usual cast of quirky characters, Clark's lighthearted romp will keep readers guessing who will and who won't make it to the altar.

This was a fun, quick read!

2) I Choose This Day by Sharon Fieker.

This book was sent to me by Dawn at Our Adoption Journey...to Nowhere. Thanks, Dawn!

Book description: Have you faced a difficult decision concerning an unexpected pregnancy? Sharon Fieker uses I Choose this Day: Mournings and Miracles of Adoption to convey how the circumstances of the darkest period in her life evolved into the brightest time. She includes the challenges and blessings surrounding her pregnancy. The heartache of "not knowing" what happened to her baby and the beautiful story that unfolds as she meets her birth daughter are inspirational. When going through difficult times, Sharon sometimes wondered how God could allow such troubling things to happen. Her story demonstrates how He had a plan for her--one filled with hope. He also allowed her free will to make her own choices. If you're facing or have faced an unplanned pregnancy, you will benefit from reading I Choose this Day: Mournings and Miracles of Adoption.

Labels: book review, books/reading, giveaways, Pay It Forward

It's time to pick the three winners for my June Pay It Forward Book Exchange. I've used Random.org to find my winners.

And the winners are...

# 1-Tamy with 3 Sides of Crazy who wins a copy of Your Child's Strengths.
# 13-Cynthia with Springmont Cottage who winsa copy of Your Child's Strengths.
# 14-Briggie with There is Power in Prayer who winsDevotions for the Sandbox Set by by Jane Morton and Sharon Dahl.

Congrats, Ladies! Please email me your mailing addresses so I can send out your book! If I don't hear from by Friday, 4 July, I'll have to pick another winner.

And for those of you who didn't win my giveaway, there are 7 additional books still up for grabs this month thanks to PIF giveaways being held by other bloggers! Hurry quick to enter to win!

My next Pay It Forward Book Exchange will be held on Tuesday, 1 July. I hope you'll join me then!

Labels: books/reading, giveaways, Pay It Forward

It's time for another one of my free Pay It Forward book giveaways!

For those who may have missed out, please read about the guidelines right here.

So, I have three books to give away this month.

1) Your Child's Strengths (I have 2 copies to give away to two separate winners.)

These book copies were sent to me by Tom with Future Perfect Publishing on behalf of the author Jenifer Fox, M.Ed.. Thanks, Tom!

Forward by Marcus Buckingham:

There's no doubt that our schools are in crisis. One response to this crisis has been the "No Child Left Behind" program, which has an unfortunate tendency to prey on a parent's worst fears: that their child will, in fact, be "left behind." In order to ensure that each child moves forward with their group, the focus of parents and teachers has primarily been on "fixing" kids' weaknesses to improve academic performance. In YOUR CHILD'S STRENGTHS: Discover Them, Develop Them, Use Them educator and author Jenifer Fox, M.E.d. turns this flawed paradigm on its head, arguing that we must focus on how our children's individual strengths create success and build on this foundation to help them thrive in school and in life.

Labels: books/reading, giveaways, Pay It Forward

It's time to pick a winner for my May Pay It Forward Book Exchange. I've used Random.org to find my winner.

And the winner is...

# 4-Lori with Lori's Reading Corner who wins Purity In Death by J.D. Robb.

Congrats, Lori! Please email me your mailing addresses so I can send out your book! If I don't hear from you soon, I'll have to pick another winner.

And for those of you who didn't win my giveaway, there are 17 additional books still up for grabs this month thanks to PIF giveaways being held by other bloggers! Hurry quick to enter to win!

My next Pay It Forward Book Exchange will be held on Monday, 2 June. I hope you'll join me then!

Labels: books/reading, giveaways, Pay It Forward, winners

I just wanted to remind you all that I'm choosing the winner of my May Pay It Forward Book Exchange this Saturday. You still have time to go sign up to win!

Also, there are 17 more books up for grabs thanks to the additional Pay It Forward giveaways that other blogs are hosting. Check it out!

Labels: books/reading, giveaways, Pay It Forward

Before I begin, I'd like to thank all of you who participate in my Pay It Forward Book Exchange giveaways, whether you're entering to win books, or even hosting your own giveaways to share books with others. I've been tickled pink with the interest this exchange has generated! Keep it up, will you?! And be sure to check out all the books up for grabs on my May PIF Book Exchange!

Now then, I've noticed that there is quite a variation in the way that people are hosting their own Pay It Forward Book Exchange giveaways. Some of the variations I love, like Cloudscome's version where she's giving away a CD/DVD this month. Other variations seem to be causing a bit of confusion so I'd like to revisit the guidelines that I initially established and recently modified in the hopes that we can all be on the same page and have consistency for our readers. Please pay close attention to item #4.

If you have any questions or comments regarding these guidelines, please let me know. I'd be happy to chat with you about them.

Here are the guidelines for my Pay It Forward Book Exchange.

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 in each monthly post.

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 during the month, grab the PIF button above to use on your own blog post and link back to my original Pay It Forward Post. Be sure to let me know about your giveaway so I can add your link on my original PIF post directing my readers your way! I'd appreciate it if you would not use Mr. Linky on your blog and require that your readers post about your Pay It Forward book exchange on their blogs to be eligible to win your book. If you'd just ask your readers to leave you a comment on your post to be entered to win, and then direct them to my blog to review the master list of other Pay It Forward giveaways, that would be much appreciated and I think less confusing for all participating!

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!

Labels: Pay It Forward

It's time for another one of my free Pay It Forward book giveaways!

For those who may have missed out, please read about the guidelines right here.

Labels: books/reading, giveaways, Pay It Forward

It's time to pick a winner for my April Pay It Forward Book Exchange. I've used Random.org to find my winner.

And the winner is...

# 8- Swapna Krishna a non-blogger who wins Creations In Death by J.D. Robb.

Congrats, Swapna! Please email me your mailing addresses so I can send out your book! If I don't hear from you soon, I'll have to pick another winner.

And for those of you who didn't win my giveaway, check out the additional books still up for grabs this month!

My next Pay It Forward Book Exchange will be held on Thursday, 1 May.

Labels: books/reading, giveaways, Pay It Forward, winners

It's time for another one of my free Pay It Forward book giveaways!

For those who may have missed out, please read about the guidelines right here.

So, I have one book to give away this month.

1) Creations In Death by J.D. Robb.

This book was sent to me by Anne with Authors on the Web. Thanks, Anne!

Editorial Review by Publishers Weekly:

At 27 books and counting, Nora Roberts is more prolific under her Robb pseudonym than most authors manage in a single career. Yet the latest in her not-so-near-future detective series featuring New York Police Det. Eve Dallas offers a satisfyingly novel mélange of suspense, sex, forensics and heroics. It's 2060, and the serial killer nicknamed The Groom is back in town after an absence of nine years, resuming his horrific run of kidnapping, torturing and killing young women. Dallas, who served as a detective in the frustrating first investigation, assumes lead role in this one. This time, not only do the killer's chosen victims have ties to Dallas's husband, Roarke, but Dallas herself may be the killer's ultimate target. Swiftly paced, the story cuts frequently from the investigation to the killer's progress with his victims. Dallas works to outplan, outfight and outsmart the killer; to keep her handsome, rich husband happy; and to be ready for the next round after a good night's sleep. Robb's latest is bound to please Dallas fans.

I love Nora Roberts and this book was an excellent read. It kept me in suspense the entire time I was reading it. I think you'll enjoy it!

If you'd like to this book, 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. Note: If you are not a blogger, you may still enter to win. 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 winner on Saturday morning, 19 April, so be sure to check back.

Best of luck!

If you have any books you'd like to Pay It Forward yourself this month, please leave me a comment and I'll link you in this post!

Additional Pay It Forward Giveaways:

1) Caroline at food for thought is giving away two more books, The Friday Night Knitting Club, by Kate Jacobs and Shopaholic & Baby, by Sophie Kinsella on 18 April. Stop by her blog to enter to win. Thanks, Caroline!

Caroline at food for thought gave away two books, Mothers Need Time-Outs, Too by Susan Callahan, Anne Nolen, and Katrin Schumann and I Married My Mother-in-Law edited by Ilena Silverman on 5 April. Thanks, Caroline!

Jubilee at notes of jubilee gave away two books, The Door In The Dragon's Throat by Frank Peretti and Improving Your Serve -- The Art of Unselfish Living by Charles Swindoll on 14 April. Thanks, Jubilee!

Heather at Production, Not Reproduction gave away the book, Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood on 15 April. Thanks, Heather!

Tamy at 3 Sides of Crazy gave away the book, Lakeside Cottage by Susan Wiggs on 23 April. Thanks, Tamy!

Cynthia at Springmont Cottage gave away the book, Puttin' on the Grits by Deborah Ford on 21 April. Thanks, Cynthia!

Forgetfulone gave away the book, Garden of Beasts by Jeffery Deaver. on 30 April. Thanks, Forgetfulone!

Labels: bloggity goodness, books/reading, giveaways, Pay It Forward

It's time to pick two winners for my March Pay It Forward Book Exchange. I've used Random.org to find my winners.

And the winners are...

# 2- Tisa a non-blogger who wins Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.

# 16- Lindsay at On Shades of Gray who wins Hope's Boy: A Memoir by Andrew Bridge.

Congrats, Ladies! Please email me your mailing addresses so I can send you your books next week! If I don't hear from you soon, I'll have to pick another winner.

And for those of you who didn't win my giveaway, check out the additional books still up for grabs this month!

My next Pay It Forward Book Exchange will be held on Tuesday, 1 April.

Labels: bloggity goodness, books/reading, giveaways, Pay It Forward, winners

UPDATE: The winners of my books were announced right here. My next giveaway will be held on Tuesday, 1 April. Please join me again then!

It's time for another one of my free Pay It Forward book giveaways!

For those who may have missed out, please read about the guidelines right here.

So, I have two books to give away this month.

1) Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.

Editorial Review by Amazon.com:

"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974." And so begins Middlesex, the mesmerizing saga of a near-mythic Greek American family and the "roller-coaster ride of a single gene through time." The odd but utterly believable story of Cal Stephanides, and how this 41-year-old hermaphrodite was raised as Calliope, is at the tender heart of this long-awaited second novel from Jeffrey Eugenides, whose elegant and haunting 1993 debut, The Virgin Suicides, remains one of the finest first novels of recent memory.

Eugenides weaves together a kaleidoscopic narrative spanning 80 years of a stained family history, from a fateful incestuous union in a small town in early 1920s Asia Minor to Prohibition-era Detroit; from the early days of Ford Motors to the heated 1967 race riots; from the tony suburbs of Grosse Pointe and a confusing, aching adolescent love story to modern-day Berlin. Eugenides's command of the narrative is astonishing. He balances Cal/Callie's shifting voices convincingly, spinning this strange and often unsettling story with intelligence, insight, and generous amounts of humor:

Emotions, in my experience aren't covered by single words. I don't believe in "sadness," "joy," or "regret." … I'd like to have at my disposal complicated hybrid emotions, Germanic traincar constructions like, say, "the happiness that attends disaster." Or: "the disappointment of sleeping with one's fantasy." ... I'd like to have a word for "the sadness inspired by failing restaurants" as well as for "the excitement of getting a room with a minibar." I've never had the right words to describe my life, and now that I've entered my story, I need them more than ever.

When you get to the end of this splendorous book, when you suddenly realize that after hundreds of pages you have only a few more left to turn over, you'll experience a quick pang of regret knowing that your time with Cal is coming to a close, and you may even resist finishing it--putting it aside for an hour or two, or maybe overnight--just so that this wondrous, magical novel might never end. --Brad Thomas Parsons

I'm not suprised that this book was chosen to be a part of Oprah's Book Club! It was good and I had a tough time setting it down.

2) Hope's Boy: A Memoir by Andrew Bridge.

I was given this book by one of my co-workers. Since it was a memoir from a former foster child that aged out of the system, I started it immediately and had it read within two days of receiving it! It really liked it and I think you will too!

Editorial Review by Publishers Weekly:

In this memoir of a decade spent in foster care, Bridge illuminates the horrors of a system that, in its clumsy attempts to save children, he argues, all too frequently condemns them to physical and emotional abuse. The child of a teenage mother who divorced her abusive husband soon after Bridge was born, he watched helplessly as his mother disintegrated under the impact of isolation and poverty. At the age of seven, Bridge was dragged away from his mother, literally, by police and warehoused in an enormous California juvenile facility patrolled by armed guards. The state eventually transferred him to a foster family dominated by an obese, bullying Estonian woman who had survived imprisonment in Dachau as a child. At 17, as he prepared to leave foster care for college and freedom, Bridge finally had a reunion with the mother he never stopped missing. In his narration of this unending nightmare, Bridge shows particular skill in portraying his isolation and the defenses he constructed to survive it. He also has a talent for grotesques, particularly that of the monstrous foster mother who revisited the misery of her upbringing on her foster children. Bridge's obsessive focus on his loneliness and his two mothers is so intense that a more balanced picture of his life fails to emerge and his attachment to another foster child remains unexplained. Yet Bridge, a Harvard Law School graduate who has devoted his career to children's rights, has provided remarkable insights into a dark corner of American society.

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. Note: If you are not a blogger, you may still enter to win. 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 on Saturday morning, 22 March, so be sure to check back.

Best of luck!

If you have any books you'd like to Pay It Forward yourself this month, please leave me a comment and I'll link you in this post!

Additional Pay It Forward Giveaways:

1) Kathleen Marie at The Open Window is giving the book, Highland Legacy, which is actually 4 stories in one book, on 24 March. Stop by her blog to enter to win. Thanks, Kathleen Marie!

2) Paige at Yes, I would really like to be thin is giving away the book, An Abundance of Katherines by John Green on 30 March. Stop by her blog to enter to win. Thanks, Paige!

3) Nikki at Angels of Heart is giving away the book, Shoot the Moon by Billie Letts on 31 March. Stop by her blog to enter to win. Thanks, Nikki!

Cloudscome at a wrung sponge gave away the book, The House of Djinn Suzanne Fisher Staples on 14 March. Thanks, Cloudscome!

Cynthia at Springmont Cottage gave away the book, The Amen Sisters by Angela Benson on 16 March. Thanks, Cynthia!

Betsy at The Homeschool Way gave away three books to one lucky winner, Lady’s Big Surprise by JoAnn S. Dawson, Star of Wonder by JoAnn S. Dawson, and A Star Discovered by JoAnn S. Dawson on 21 March. Thanks, Betsy!

Tamy at 3 Sides of Crazy gave away the book, Purity in Death by J.D. Robb aka Nora Roberts on 31 March and I was her winner! Thanks, Tamy!

Labels: bloggity goodness, books/reading, giveaways, Pay It Forward