Winners Announced: Three of 'Em!

Yay! I'm finally feeling well enough to post the winners of my most recent giveaways. Sorry for the delay--It's been a rough couple of weeks. But, I am ready to announce and ship out some prizes to the lucky winners of the Valentine's Giveaway and the Rival book and necklace giveaway. Here we go...

Winner of Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer and necklace:

Ms. Ashley of Bookcase Siren!

Winner of Love is Hell and Dark Heart pendant:

Kristen of My Bookish Fairy Tale!

Winner of Love, Love, Love and Heart Pendant:

Melissa of My Chaotic Ramblings!

Congrats, ladies. 

Others, please keep your eye out for a super awesome giveaway coming this week-ish!

Winner + Additional Contest: Our Alphabet of L-O-V-E, Inspired by David Levithan

Happy Valentine's Day! 

I'm writing to announce the winner of my giveaway of David Levithan's The Lover's Dictionary AND to encourage a more complete A-Z dictionary of LOVE. Here are your entries so far:

adoration: loving someone not despite their faults but because of them.
amore: Italian for love

amour: A love affair, especially an illicit one.
ardor: passion

biglove: when you have mad love for someone!
blessed: To know that there is someone out there that can share my good times, my bad times and all those wonderful moments in between.
bliss: the feeling of joy that you get sharing amazing moments with those close to you.
butterflies: the feeling you get in your tummy when you realize you are in love, and hopefully continue to feel for as long as you are in love.

cherish: to adore, protect, care for lovingly.
cherish: To hold someone dear to your heart. 
children: there is no greater love than what you feel for your children.
commitment: Realizing your stuck with your partner for life and dealing with it.
commitment: part of love is making a commitment to another person, committing your heart to them, and promising to be there and sticking to it.
companionship: To be by someone's side for the rest of your lives.
companionship: A feeling of bliss and serenity when you realise that not only do you adore your beloved but you also enjoy sharing every moment of your day with him.
compassion: Understanding you're mate and what they may be going through at any given time and understanding when they may feel a bit crabby.
compromise: the ability to understand that you aren't always right.
courtship: The act of dating, or before a couple is married.

devoted: Knowing that there is one person out there that will never have me turning my head to look at someone else and thing "I wonder...." and knowing that he feels the same way to.
devotion: love that is expressed through actions and words
devotion: giving your all for the one you love.
devour: As in "I'm going to devour you"....that's a little sexy, but still full of love.

embrace: An affectionate hug.
empathy: understanding of another's feelings: the ability to identify with and understand somebody else's feelings or difficulties.
enamored: in love, charmed, captivated.
enchanted: utterly delighted or captivated; fascinated; charmed.

faith: The confident belief or trust in the truth or trustworthiness of a person, concept or thing.
faith: Believing that no matter what happens, or how many things don't work out, God always has something better waiting for you.
fearless: To love with all your heart & not be afraid to fall.

*fearless: To be scared out of your mind, but falling in love anyway. Winning Definition!*

fidelity: You can't have a lasting relationship without it.
fond: Having a strong liking, inclination, or affection.
fondness: to like being around someone
forgiveness: the act of choosing not to hold past wrongs against someone ; is a necessity to stay in a long term relationship
forgiveness: as in, forgiving them when they do something really stupid like forgetting your birthday or valentines day.

giggles: A side-affect of falling in love (see Shivers, Groans, Gasps and Happy Dances) As in: Ursula found she suffered from the Giggles whenever Thomas was near.

hands: holding someone's hands and feeling butterflies in one's stomach.
heart: The symbol of love; the mascot. What you give to someone when you love them and trust that they'll treasure it always.

helpful: you aren't the only one that feels like everything is crashing down sometimes. be able to share with the one you love...and then be willing to make sure you do what you can to protect them
husband: A man who is loving, honest, fair, generous, empathetic, caring, affectionate, nonjudgemental and respectful of his wife. eg. My husband!

idolize: to love or admire too much.
infatuation: an extravagant passion for something. 
infatuation: A crush. An object of extravagant, short-lived passion.
infatuation: the can't hardly breathe, how am i going to make it through the day feeling
inspiration: the person who gives you all your best ideas/feelings/encouragements. Your love inspiration.
intimacy: Being close to your lover. Something that makes a relationship stronger.

lavish: you can never have too much much love.
love v.
1: willing the absolute good of another and
2: desiring good for yourself in return.
3: a constant exchange of affection and/or support between two people
(see also heroic and charity)
love: /lʌv/ Show Spelled [luhv] Show IPA noun, verb, loved, lov·ing.
–noun 1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for books.


Mother/Mom/Mommy: a mother is loved the longest - from the time you are born. Mother will also love you longest, as she likely loved you before you were born!
Mother: no love on earth compares to that of a mother for her child.
Move: on over Bleep! He's mine!

nurture: nur·ture /ˈnɜrtʃər/ v. To care for another person and bring out the best in him/her; To satisfy one's craving for another person's love.

passion: A powerful emotion, such as love or joy.
passion: kindness and love together. 
passion: That love where your heart aches because you're so in love that it's hard to hold it in - you want to tell the world and you don't want it to ever stop.
power: having the support of the person allows you to have power and do things that you wouldn't normally.
precious: love is precious. It is valuable, and should be cherished.

rapture: An expression of ecstatic feeling.

sex: the showing of love between a husband and wife or partners.
share: Giving of oneself to another.
snookie: (NOT a reference to the Jersey Shore) - an affectionate term of endearment made in reference to a cherished loved one.
soulmate: The magical connection between two people that lasts a lifetime and beyond.
squishy: my niece's nickname, because she loves hugs
support: n. 1) the act of showing encouragement 2) Giving aid to one financially

tenderness: loving someone with affection, honesty, and caution to their feelings.
treasure: Something you find that is of high value or priceless. Your significant other is a treasure.
trust: To hand over your heart, the most fragile yet vital part of you body, to a guy, expecting him NOT to break it. 

unconditional: When you love someone its no matter what. You accept flaws and all.
understanding: To be able to comprehend one's actions and thoughts.
union: The combining of two spirits, two souls.

worship: so much love that you would worship and do anything for the person.

zeal: A feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor of a person or cause)
zeal: Great warmth and earnest towards a person.
ziggy: my middle son's nickname, because he reminds me of ziggy and how his days are never just perfect, but I still love him.

The winner of this book is: Shahira 

Congrats! Please email me back with your address within 48 hrs to claim your prize!

*   *   *

In related news...

We're missing entries for the following letters: J, K (really?), O, Q, V, X, Y. 

In the interest of creating a more perfect dictionary, I'm looking for some contributions to our list. I'll send on extra commenter a thank-you gift. Please leave an email. I'll keep this open for a day or two. 

Basically, until we've created a complete A-Z of L-O-V-E.

To enter, leave a comment with an additional entry for our lover's dictionary. 

Please, only US folks for this one.

Books With Love Hop: In Love or Out?

Welcome to the Valentine's Day Book With Love Hop at DeRaps Reads!

I have noticed that there are two (at least) types of people in this world: Those who look forward to Valentine's Day and feel a surge of love and joy every February 14th, and those who want to retch just thinking about it. The former are usually blissfully in love and the latter are usually those muttering types who complain about "Hallmark" holidays. 

Well, whether you find yourself in the former or the latter category this Valentine's Day, I have a prize for you! Please feel free to enter one or both of these giveaways, as you may just want to win either prize. To enter, simply fill out the form below and choose which prize you'd like to win. I'll announce the winners of these giveaways on February 17th. Happy Valentine's Day!

Prize #1: In Love

A copy of Love, Love, Love by Deborah Reber

Flying Hearts Pendant

Prize #2: Out of Love

Love is Hell by Scott Westerfeld, Melissa Marr, Justine Larbalestier, 

Gabrielle Zevin, and Laurie Faria Stolarz 

Dark Heart Pendant

This giveaway is for US residents only. Sorry, my international lovelies!

Be sure to check out all of the other giveaways in this hop!

Author Interview + Book and Necklace Giveaway: Sara Bennett Wealer of Rival

Recently, I had what Oprah would most likely deem an "Aha" moment. It came after I watched and listened to an amazing performance by our school’s concert band. It was held in our school's gym, with about 800 people watching. As I listened to the music, I looked around at the crowd and saw dozens of students playing air drums and other instruments. This got me thinking about the number of students who could benefit from music education. But, with shrinking budgets, this will not happen any time soon.

I knew that Ms. Sara Bennett Wealer was going to drop by DeRaps Reads for a guest post and knew that her book dealt with two former friends who compete musically. So, I figured Ms. Bennett Wealer might have an opinion or two about the state of music education in our schools. And, I was right!

When people talk about cutting back on music in public education, I often feel like they’re speaking a foreign language. Music was such an important part of my own educational experience that the idea of curtailing or eliminating it just doesn’t compute. Music gave me confidence. It opened new worlds. It made me excited to go to school and kept me motivated when other subjects had me discouraged. 

I often think that the people who want to cut music from public education aren’t thinking about it the right way. They act like music is an “extra” when, really, music can be an integral part of the learning experience.

In fact, you could create an entire curriculum with music as the glue that holds each subject together: 

Languages – How many of us learned French by singing Frere Jacques? I remember my German lessons because our teacher taught us “Du, du liegst mir im hertzen.” Heck, music is its own language, and one that few people end up regretting having learned. 

Literature/Poetry – From lyrics and librettos to symphonies and operas based on myth, legend and classic literature, your lesson plan is almost written for you!

History/Cultures – You can explore everything from daily living, religion and folklore to major historical events by looking at the music people were singing with and for one another.

Science – How do the parts of the body work together to give you your voice? What are the physics of pitch? The mechanics of how a trombone works? How do animals in nature use musical sounds to communicate?

Math – This is a biggie for me. A friend of mine told me his daughter’s school was teaching math by having the children stomp out rhyhms on the floor, and I was so jealous! If someone had taught me that way I might not have grown up terrified of numbers. 

I remember the first time I really, truly understood math – it happened when I was singing Bach’s B-Minor Mass with a symphony chorus. When rehearsals first started, I HATED the piece. It was painful and tedious and hard, with all sorts of changing rhythms, byzantine fugues and harmonies, just a brick wall that I couldn’t get my brain around. I tried to fake it – tried to follow the people next to me, tried to limp along, and I ended up with a headache, a sore throat and a tongue-lashing from my director.

I was forced to face the music – I HAD to count. I had to do the math. I had to work the problem, no shortcuts. So I coaxed my brain into really analyzing and reading, and…

…Seriously? It got way trippy. After a couple more rehearsals, things suddenly clicked! And I felt like I had literally walked into the music. The music took on three dimensions, like I was inside of it – almost like being in an architectural geometric structure. I could feel and hear and see and understand what the numbers were creating, and it was so much more than just digits on a page. It was a gorgeous masterpiece that I love to this day.

Why, oh why couldn’t I have had that experience at age15? 

With today’s focus on standardized testing, I worry that this kind of creative thinking just isn’t being done when it comes to music in public schools. But perhaps we need it more than ever.

Music can get test-weary kids out of their seats. It can help them experience what they’re learning, not just memorize it. It can bring concepts to life. 

Perhaps, instead of putting music in a separate classroom, we should make every classroom musical. Maybe then we’d see that it’s not an “extra” at all!

Find Sara Online: 
Website
Blog
Twitter

And, now for the giveaway. I am so very jealous that one of you is going to win this amazing prize pack. One lucky commenter with a US address will win:

 A copy of Rival 

~AND~

 This cute necklace!

How awesome is that?! To enter, simply comment with an answer to this question:

How has music been important or influential in your life?

Details:

Open to US entrants only

Contest Ends 2/20/2011

Please leave an email address so that I can contact you if you win!

Winner: Tell Us We're Home by Marina Budhos

Time to announce the winner of Marina Budhos's Tell Us We're Home!

Congrats to Tara of Taming the Bookshelf

Please return my email within 48 hrs to claim your prize!

Follower Love Giveaway Hop: Welcome to DeRaps Reads, Where It's All About the LOVE < 3

Hello and happy love month to all of you! I don't know about you, but I get very excited about this particular holiday. I have been married to my handsome husband for just over three years, and have never felt more happy in my life! We love Valentine's Day and take it as a chance to reconnect and celebrate every year. In this spirit, I am offering up David Levithan's new book The Lover's Dictionary for one lucky commenter!

I have not yet read this book, but have read wildly positive reviews. I have read many, many books by Mr. Leviathan and am a huge fan. He's a great author of YA lit, but this book is more of an adult book, I hear. Hopefully, this does not discourage all of you YA fans from entering this giveaway.

In this book, I am told that Levithan goes through the dictionary and starts each of the 26 segments with a word for love. With this in mind, I'd like you to choose a letter from the (English) alphabet and come up with a love-word for that letter. Then, please write your own definition for that word. This is all you need to do to enter. Oh, please leave your email address so that I can contact you if you win.

You may enter more than once if you like. Just choose a different letter / word each time. This giveaway is open to everyone in the world (as long as the Book Depository ships to you).

In the end, I'll compile my favorite alphabetical list of words/ definitions and arrange an alphabet of love. How fun. And, Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

Blogiversary Winners Announced

It looks like I won't have school tomorrow due to a humongous snowstorm...Hopefully. Because rather than planning for teaching, I've been tallying blogiversary entries all night long. (Don't worry about the state of education in our schools--I'm sorta just kidding. I could teach tomorrow if I had to!)

Without further ado, here are the winnings and the winners of my most recent blogiversary giveaways:

2011 Debut Giveaway

Justine from A Bookful of Thoughts chose Wither

XVI Giveaway

Zombie Girrrl from Rating Reads won this book

Re-Gift Giveaway

Lynossa of Deranged Book Lovers chose Mockingjay

Thanks to all who entered and all of you who have stuck with me for this first year. I truly consider all you regulars and new followers to be an integral part of my life now. You inspire me to read great books and I always look forward to your feedback. Thanks for a great year! Cheers to many more!

And, stay tuned for two Valentine's Day Blog Hop-style giveaways this month. I'm pumped!

Book Review + Winter Wonderland Giveaway: Trapped by Michael Northrop

What would you do if you were stuck inside your high school in a deadly snowstorm?

This is the basic premise of Michael Northrup's Trapped, a fast-paced and gripping thriller about a group of seven high school students who are literally locked inside their school after several feet of snow are dumped on it. Seems like a pretty innocent and basic plot, but when you think about these mismatched group of teens trapped inside this school, you can imagine the fight for survival that ensues.

I found the main character and the story's hero, Scotty, to be a pretty realistic teen boy. From the moment the snow starts to fall, he doubts the brilliance of the plan to stay at the school, even though his friends are intent on doing so. When all of the students but the group of seven are gone, Scotty seems to be the first to step into survival mode and is often the voice of reason and calm throughout the story.

Even more than Scotty, I loved the suspense in this novel. I teach in an old high school (it's being renovated right now) and can just imagine the structural issues that would cause our school to come crashing down if this old building were asked to hold several feet of heavy snow. It wouldn't be long before our building collapsed. But, in Trapped, you never quite find out what ends up happening to all of the kids or the school building itself. I loved this. You know that not everyone made it out alive, which is alluded to in the first chapters of the book, but never know the true extent of the damage.

This would be a great read for a reluctant teen reader, particularly male readers. It's short but not without a whole lot of "what would you do" questions. There are easy parallels between this book and others like Lord of the Flies, although this story is not too similar to be a snow-induced knockoff. A perfect read for a snowy day!

*  *  *

Want to win a copy of this book? Signed? It's made out to me, but you can just pretend! I'm giving away my ARC of this book at The Book Rat as part of Misty's Winter Wonderland celebration. Just head over there and check out my guest post for more info and ENTER THE GIVEAWAY HERE!

Winner: The Princess of Las Pulgas by C. Lee McKenzie

Congrats to Mary Ellen! She won The Princess of Las Pulgas by C. Lee McKenzie!!

I've sent an email and hope to get an address soon!

Thanks to all who entered.

Blogiversary Giveaway #3: The Re-Gift

It's exactly one month after Christmas and many of you are probably planning to either return or re-gift some of the presents you received this holiday season. I'm no stranger to the re-gift. I've definitely passed on some items that didn't fit my style (or my body). Now, though, I am actually going to give one of you a gift that I've already given to someone else.

Here is a list my favorite giveaways of 2010:

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Crank by Ellen Hopkins 
The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
Jumpstart the World by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Far From You by Lisa Schroeder
Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick
Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn

One lucky commenter will win one title from this list! That's a far better re-gift than some of the others you'll get this year. To enter, please leave a comment with the title of the book you'd like to win AND your email. This contest is open internationally and it closes on January 31st at midnight (EST).

Extra Entries:

+1 New Follower

+2 Old Follower
+ 2 Comment on the Book Review/ Post of the book you want to win

Book Review: Tell Us We're Home by Marina Budhos

What does it feel like to be different? This a question explored by many YA authors. In Marina Budhos's book Tell Us We're Home, this question is made central to the book by its three main characters: Maria, Jaya, and Lola.

Each of these girls are not only "different" because they're going through typical adolescent changes, but because they're the children of immigrants. Their mothers, like so many in our country, work as maids or nannies in the homes of their wealthy suburb neighbors. With these three main characters, Budhos ultimately describes three very different approaches and reactions to feeling "different," even when the characters are facing very similar circumstances. Simply put, there is no "one" immigrant experience or "one" reaction to being told that you're not welcome in a school or a town or a country.

Each girl has their own story and Budhos gives each story the time and attention necessary to develop. I definitely gravitated toward one girl more than the others. But by the end of the story, I understood each of the girls any why they had to react the way they did to the circumstances of their individual lives.

The more that I think about this book, and I have definitely done a lot of thinking since reading it, the more that I see the plight of the "new" American represented in this book. I do not live in an area of the country where there is a lot of immigration, but there is a large population of Somalian refugees in a nearby city (about an hour away). Every year since this group of refugees has come to live in our state, I hear my students (again, not really living anywhere near these people) making more and more ignorant comments about these people. Why? Because they're different. All of the observations and complaints break down to that one category: Difference is scary.

How are we ever going to learn to live together in peace in our country if we don't begin to realize that there are possibilities in difference and that it's not necessarily a horrible thing to be exposed to difference? And, in books like Buddhos's, it becomes obvious that the differences that we sometimes perceive as threatening are pretty surface. Underneath, teens just want to fit in. They want to find commonalities, not differences and they want to feel that they're home in their own country.

This conversation is larger than this one book. But, this book is a great catalyst for starting that conversation or the thought process that may lead to seeing this issue through a different lens. I know that I've been thinking about it regularly ever since I read this book. Surely, that's a mark of a great read!

Author Interview + Book Giveaway: C. Lee McKenzie, Author of Princess of Las Pulgas

Today I'm lucky enough to have C. Lee McKenzie, author of The Princess of Las Pulgas visiting. She's been kind enough to answer a few of my questions and she's offering up a copy of her book to one lucky commenter. Here's what we talked about:


In this book, Carlie grows up in a wealthy, privileged lifestyle for much of her life and is then forced to move to a much poorer area. This is an interesting topic to me because I teach in a very poor school. Though we lack resources, our students are rich in their spirits. I learn great life lessons from their courage every day. Is this true of any of the characters in this novel?

I think it’s true of several characters in Princess. Carlie certainly learns about courage from K.T. and that’s the last person on earth she expects to learn anything from. Carlie judges K.T. based on her tattoos, her “rappy-head shifting” behavior and her “in-your-face” attitude. Then she finds out that K.T’s behavior is a way to protect herself from terrible memories and mean kids. 

Juan learns about Carlie’s own courageous fight to survive in this strange new place and without her loving father to guide her. He assumes she’s just a preppy Channing girl when she’s so much more.

Everyone finds out about Mr. Smith’s courage. He gives up a prime teaching position in an up scale school because he’s “needed” in Las Pulgas. I love Mr. Smith.


I love that you’ve included an English teacher in your novel who is a positive role model and inspiring to his students. Often, adults are portrayed as negligent and irresponsible in YA lit. Was it important to you to have a positive adult figure in your book?

I try to have positive adult role models in all my books. They don’t have to be perfect and they deliberately aren’t because I like to show that it’s never too late for people to reach their full potential. I like to show that it’s not only teens who struggle to find a place they fit. Being an adult doesn’t automatically bestow wisdom upon us; it often only bestows power. 

Because I’m a super nerd, I absolutely love Shakespeare. I have taught Othello and absolutely adore this play. There is so much wisdom and craziness in it! And, it’s perfect for teens because of the jealousy and love triangle elements. Why did you choose to include this play in your novel?

I love Othello and, at the same time, I hate that jealous, sad, pathetic Moor. I’m like Carlie; I want to rewrite the play and let Desdemona set that guy straight. Alas, that can’t happen. I also chose this play because of the separation of the father from the daughter at the beginning of the play. Carlie has a hard time saying her lines because she hates to say goodbye to her father a second time. That offered opportunities to bring up how Carlie still grieved, but was trying to recover.

I have a fascination with the Spanish language. I don’t speak it, but desperately want to.  I was definitely attracted to your use of Spanish in your title. Do you speak Spanish? Or, are you like me and just wish that you could?

I used to be able to get by when I was in a Spanish speaking country. Now, I don’t know.  I spent a summer in Valencia and by the end of my time there, I was able to carry on a fair conversation. It’s so easy not to use the language when you’re in the US that I don’t use it. Still on a trip to Nicaragua last year I manage to wrangle a few fresh lobsters from a fisherman and he even gave me a local discount. How about that?

What’s up next for you? Do you have another book in the works, or is it time for a break?

I’ve finished my third novel. At least, I’ve stopped writing and put “The End” at the bottom. There may be rewrites in my future. This one will be a bit different; it has a male protagonist, but it has a few adults that I admire as well as a couple less admirable ones. I really like this main character, but then I always fall in love them. They’re like my kids, and since I’ve only had boys, I’m very fond of this guy, Hutch McQueen. He’s so lost at the beginning that he makes my heart ache. I had to figure out how to save him.   

Thanks for the interview! If you'd like to find out more about this book, check out this video trailer:

 And, on to the part you've all been waiting for! The giveaway! To enter, please comment on this interview and tell us why you'd like to read this book or remark on some aspect of this interview. Make sure to leave your email so we can contact you if you win!

Extra Entries:

+1 Follower

+3 Link on Your Blog (leave link)

+5 Blog Post (leave link)

Please use one comment for ALL entries.

US Addresses Only; Closes 1/25 at Midnight (EST)

Winners: Dreaming of Books Giveaway + Trickster's Girl

What a fun giveaway the Dreaming of Books Hop turned out to be! I had a great time reading all of your comments regarding your dreams...Seems like a lot of you have some disturbing dreams (like me) and others of you don't remember them at all.

And, one of you (I don't remember who it was) talked about your dog's dreams. I've always wondered what my dog is dreaming about when he starts running and barking and whimpering in his sleep. I always wake him up, but wondering if I'm taking him out of an awesome dream! I guess I'll never know.

Without further ado, here are the two winners of this giveaway hop:

Ren of All By MySHELF

Spav

Thanks to all 299 entrants. That's a lot of people! 

And, the winner of Trickster's Girl is:

Allison of Allison's Book Reviews

Congrats to all!

Dreaming of Books Giveaway Hop: Welcome to My Giveaway!

I love to read, so I definitely daydream about books and having a huge library and all of that. But, more than this, I am a person who has chronic nightmares. Don't feel bad for me--I'm totally used to this and think it's just part of an overactive imagination that will someday lead to a really excellent novel.

Often, I will have graphic and disturbing dreams that are somehow based on whatever I read or watched right before I went to sleep. My dream can stem from a scary scene in a book, but can just as easily come from a seemingly innocuous TV commercial. (I once had a recurring nightmare about Mr. Clean. It was bad. I was probably 8 or 9 and this nightmare plagued me every night for months. I cannot purchase anything with Mr. Clean on it to this day!)

For my giveaway, I am going to order a couple of scary books. I haven't started this series, but I hear that it's pretty good and (at least) slightly disturbing. There will be two winners; one who hasn't started this series and one who has or who has the first book already. Here are the books:

To enter,  fill out the form below. This giveaway is international and is for all--followers and non-followers alike, international and folks from the US. If you'd like the extra point offered in the form for a comment, please answer this simple question:

What are your dreams like?

Contest closes at midnight (EST) on January 17th, 2011.

Be sure to check out all of the other awesome giveaways in this hop!

Winner: The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher

I'm taking today's cancellation of school due to copious amounts of snow to catch up on my blogging activities. One area where I like to be prompt is in the announcement of giveaway winners. I know that I love to win books, and I'm sure most of you are like me in this respect. So, the winner of Cameron Stratcher's The Water Wars is:

Hilary

Congrats! You have 48 hrs to respond to my email before I choose another. 

Hope you love it!

Reading Resolutions Giveaway Hop: The WINNER

Holy smokes. That took forever! At least I was able to listen to my audio book while tallying all of these entries. So, there were 222 book lovers who entered this giveaway with a total of 766 entries, once all extra ones were counted. Craziness! You guys must really want some books!

Just a reminder: The prize for this giveaway is a book that will count toward a reading challenge or will help to ease your book wishlist in some way. It was so fun to read all of your answers--I actually got a lot of idea for future giveaways. And, I learned about a few challenges that I hadn't joined. And now I have!

As for the winner (#405), she's picked a copy of this book for her prize:

I don't blame Erin for choosing this one! It's lingered on my wishlist for some time...

For the 221 of you who did not win this contest, please feel free to check out the giveaways being held on DeRaps Reads. And, there is much more to come. I'm reading some great books and have tons of extra books to giveaway. My book boon will benefit you!

**The winner, Erin, has been emailed and needs to claim her prize within 

48 hrs. before another winner is drawn**

 

Blogiversary Giveaway #1: Debut Authors 2011

 I started this blog one year ago today!

I am so very excited to participate in The Story Siren's Debut Author Challenge for 2011. I joined in the fun a little late last year, but loved the books I read and the bloggers I met in the process. I know that several of you are also participating in this challenge, and I'd love to get you started with an order (or pre-order) of a debut 2011 book that is on my wishlist.

I know that there are 12 months in the year, but I'm going to offer up debuts from the first few months of this year. That should give you a bunch of great reads to choose from!

Here is the list that one lucky commenter can choose from:

Across the Universe by Beth Revis (1/11/11)

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton (2/15/11) 

Clarity by Kim Harrington (3/1/11)

Wither by Lauren DeStefano (3/22/11)

Notice that all of these covers have their female characters pictured on the cover? I'm hoping that 2011 brings a batch of super-strong female leads! We'll have to read to see.

To enter, simply fill out the form included in this post. Please leave a comment so that you don't accidentally enter more than once. This INTERNATIONAL giveaway closes at midnight (EST) on January 31, 2011 and is ONLY open to followers of this blog.There will be at least a few more giveaways this month. Make sure to check back!

If this contest does not appeal to you, please stop by and check out all of the other fantastic giveaways that I have planned for January/ February!

Winner: Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

Wow! There were a ton of awesome predictions for 2011 in the comments of this giveaway. I used random.org to choose a winner, and lo and behold is chose #2. I don't know why that's weird, but it is.

So, entrant #2 is:

I love this prediction! A real-life Princess wedding. I know I'm going to watch. I'm a sucker for romance and weddings anyway, and am (unnaturally) curious about the lives of royalty. 

Congrats, seriousreader. Please respond to my email within 48 hours to claim your prize!

For the 40 people who entered but did not win, I am going to have TONS of giveaways in January. It's my blogiversary month and I have tons of goodies all lined up. I can't wait!

Book Review + Book Giveaway: The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher

I love a good dystopia. I am a huge fan of this genre for some reason or another. No matter what the controlling government or post-apocalyptic plague the characters are facing, I'm there. I will pretty much read any book in this genre, and was terrifically excited to read this one.

The Water Wars is the story of Vera and her brother, Will, who live in a section of the re-apportioned US called Illinowa. There are now only 5 such sections of the US, and they are not friendly toward one another. Much of the coast of the US, Canada, Greenland, and Mexico has been lost to disastrous flooding.  Of course, the all of the flooding from the polar ice caps has melted into the ocean and is undrinkable. Rivers have been dammed, and drinking water is at a premium. Pirates, government agencies, and ordinary citizens are all fighting for one precious commodity--water.

Shortly after Vera and Will become friendly with a mysterious boy named Kai, he disappears. It seems like he's been kidnapped, from the state of his ruined apartment. As it turns out, Kai and his father know where to find water--and dangerous people are vying to control Kai for his secrets.

Vera and Will begin to search for Kai and are quickly swept up in an international battle. They get to experience just how far people are willing to go for clean, drinkable water. And once they start this journey, they can't turn back. Too quickly, they are in deep and know that if they every want to see Kai alive again, they've got to find him.

I did read this book in one sitting, but that had more to do with the fact that I didn't think I'd pick it back up again if I set it down. This is not to say that the book was completely boring, because it wasn't. I just didn't really connect with the characters. Because, when a book presents an entirely different world from the one that I know and understand, I need to have a good relationship with the characters. Books like The Hunger Games and The Uglies series and Matched developed great worlds and great characters.

I just felt pretty much nothing for Vera and Will. I mean, I didn't want anything bad to happen to them, but I didn't not feel any sense of urgency about whether or not they were going to make it to the end of this story. That said, the world of The Water Wars was pretty believable. Just yesterday, it was a balmy 40 degrees here in Western Maine. We barely have any snow! We should have feet by now and the temperature should be right around zero, or at least in the low teens. I completely know that Global Warming is taking place and believe this book. It's just the characters that are a little shallow for my taste.

All badness aside (and it's really not that bad), I do have an extra copy of this book. In my haste to get it and read it, I bought two without realizing it. So, I am going to give away one copy to a lucky commenter. It'd be great if it went to someone who's participating in a dystopia reading challenge or who likes this genre. But, I'll give it to whichever person random.org chooses!

This giveaway is for those with US addresses only. It closes on 1/10/2011 at midnight (EST).  

To enter, simply leave a comment with your email and an answer to this question:

What is your favorite dystopia? Classic, YA, adult, whatever. 

I just need fun titles to look forward to!

Extra Entries:

+1 New Follower

+3 Old Follower

Please leave all entries in one comment. 

Good Luck!

**This book counts toward my tally in the Dystopia Reading Challenge 2011**

(There's still time to join!)

Reading Resolutions Giveaway Hop: What's On Your Wishlist?

 Welcome to Book Blog 93 in the Reading Resolutions Giveaway Hop!
This giveaway is for my US and International followers!

I don't know about you, but my book wishlist is looong. I think my amazon wishlist is about 25 pages. It's crammed with books. And, I've signed up for all sorts of challenges for 2011, so I need to buy some books that will count toward those challenges. I'm sure that some of you are in this same predicament. I'd love to help you by purchasing one of the books (currently out or a pre-order) from your book wishlist that will meet a requirement for one of the challenges you're committed to for 2011.

I am asking that you leave a comment with the title of the book you'd choose and the challenge it will be read for (value up to $15 US). This is not mandatory, but I kinda want to know (and I'm sure others do too) what's on everyone's challenges list. After, I can add even more to my list!

This contest is open internationally wherever the Book Depository ships. 

Contest closes at 11:59 (EST) on January 9th.

And, check out all of the other blogs who are participating in this event!