Giveaway-The Imposter's Daughter

Laurie Sandell grew up in awe (and sometimes in terror) of her larger-than-life father, who told jaw-dropping tales of a privileged childhood in Buenos Aires, academic triumphs, heroism during Vietnam, friendships with Kissinger and the Pope. As a young woman, Laurie unconsciously mirrors her dad, trying on several outsized personalities (Tokyo stripper, lesbian seductress, Ambien addict). Later, she lucks into the perfect job--interviewing celebrities for a top women's magazine. Growing up with her extraordinary father has given Laurie a knack for relating to the stars. But while researching an article on her dad's life, she makes an astonishing discovery: he's not the man he says he is--not even close. Now, Laurie begins to puzzle together three decades of lies and the splintered person that resulted from them--herself.

I have five copies of this book to giveaway. Please leave a comment with an email so I can contact you if you win. Become a follower of my blog and receive an extra entry. Contest is open to USA and Canada only, sorry but no P.O. Boxes. Winners will be chosen on July 15.

Giveaway-Julie and Julia

Julie & Julia, the bestselling memoir that's "irresistible....A kind of Bridget Jones meets The French Chef" (Philadelphia Inquirer), is now a major motion picture. Julie Powell, nearing thirty and trapped in a dead-end secretarial job, resolves to reclaim her life by cooking in the span of a single year, every one of the 524 recipes in Julia Child's legendary Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Her unexpected reward: not just a newfound respect for calves' livers and aspic, but a new life-lived with gusto. The film version is written and directed by Nora Ephron and stars Amy Adams as Julie and Meryl Streep as Julia.

I have five copies of this book to giveaway. Please leave a comment with your email so I can contact you if you are a winner. Become a follower of my blog and receive an extra entry. This contest is open to USA and Canada only, sorry but no P.O. Boxes. Winners will be chosen on July 15.

Giveaway-The Crimes of Paris

Turn-of-the-century Paris was the beating heart of a rapidly changing world. Painters, scientists, revolutionaries, poets--all were there. But so, too, were the shadows: Paris was a violent, criminal place, its sinister alleyways the haunts of Apache gangsters and its cafes the gathering places of murderous anarchists. In 1911, it fell victim to perhaps the greatest theft of all time--the taking of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. Immediately, Alphonse Bertillon, a detective world-renowned for pioneering crime-scene investigation techniques, was called upon to solve the crime. And quickly the Paris police had a suspect: a young Spanish artist named Pablo Picasso....

I have five copies of this book to giveaway. It is open to USA and Canada only, sorry but no P.O. Boxes. Please leave a comment with your email address. Become a follower and get an extra entry. The winners will be chosen on July 15.

Giveaway-Off Season

Book Information:

Acclaimed novelist Anne Rivers Siddons's new novel is a stunning tale of love and loss.

For as long as she can remember, they were Cam and Lilly--happily married, totally in love with each other, parents of a beautiful family, and partners in life. Then, after decades of marriage, it ended as every great love story does...in loss. After Cam's death, Lilly takes a lone road trip to her and Cam's favorite spot on the remote coast of Maine, the place where they fell in love over and over again, where their ghosts still dance. There, she looks hard to her past--to a first love that ended in tragedy; to falling in love with Cam; to a marriage filled with exuberance, sheer life, and safety-- to try to figure out her future.

It is a journey begun with tender memories and culminating in a revelation that will make Lilly re-evaluate everything she thought was true about her husband and her marriage.

I have five copies of this book to giveaway. Please leave a comment with an email so that I can contact you if you are a winner. Become a follower of my blog and receive an extra entry. This contest is open to USA and Canada only, sorry but no P.O. Boxes. The winners will be chosen on July 15.

Giveaway-My Name is Will

Book Information:

A Tale of two Shakespeares...

Struggling UC Santa Cruz grad student Willie Shakespeare Greenberg is trying to write his thesis about the Bard. Kind of...

Cut off by his father for laziness, and desperate for dough, Willie agrees to deliver a single giant, psychedelic mushroom to a mysterious collector, making himself an unwitting target in Ronald Reagan's War on Drugs.

Meanwhile, would-be playwright (and oppressed Catholic) William Shakespeare is eighteen years old and stuck teaching Latin in the boondocks of Stratford-upon-Avon. The future Bard's life is turned upside down when a stranger entrusts him with a sacred relic from Rome... This, at a time when adherents of the "Old Faith" are being hanged, drawn, and quartered as traitors.

Seemingly separated in time and place, the lives of Willie and William begin to intersect in curious ways, from harrowing encounters with the law (and a few ex-girlfriends) to dubious experiments with mind-altering substances. Their misadventures could be dismissed as youthful folly. But wise or foolish, the bold choices they make will shape not only the 'Shakespeare' each is destined to come... but the very course of history itself.


I have five copies to giveaway. Please leave a comment with your email so that I can contact if you win. Become a follower of my blog and get an extra entry. This contest is open to USA and Canada only, sorry no P.O. Boxes. Winners will be chosen on July 15.

GiveAway- I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti

From failure to fusilli, this deliciously hilarious read tells the story of Giulia Melucci's fizzled romances and the mouth-watering recipes she used to seduce her men, smooth over the lumps, and console herself when the relationships flamed out.

From an affectionate alcoholic, to the classic New York City commitment-phobe, to a hipster aged past his sell date, and not one, but two novelists with Peter Pan complexes, Giulia has cooked for them all. She suffers each disappointment with resolute cheer (after a few tears) and a bowl of pastina (recipe included) and has lived to tell the tale so that other women may go out, hopefully with greater success, and if that's not possible, at least have something good to eat.

Peppered throughout Giulia's delightful and often poignant remembrances are fond recollections of her mother's cooking, the recipes she learned from her, and many she invented on her own inspired by the men in her life. Readers will howl at Giulia's boyfriend-littered past and swoon over her irresistable culinary creations.


I have five copies of this book to giveaway. Please leave a comment with an email address so that I can contact you. This contest is open to USA and Canada only, sorry no P.O. Box addresses. Become a follower of my blog and receive an extra entry. Winners will be chosen on July 15.

Win a Book-"The Woman Who Named God"

Book Information:

The saga of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar is the tale of origin for all three monotheistic faiths. Abraham must choose between two wives who have borne him two sons. One wife and son will share in his wealth and status, while the other two are exiled into the desert. Long a cornerstone of Western anxiety, the story chronicles a very famous and troubled family, and sheds light on the ongoing conflict between the Judeo-Christian and Islamic worlds.

How did this ancient story become one of the least understood and most frequently misinterpreted of our cultural myths? Gordon explores this legendary love triangle to give us a startling perspective on three biblical characters who--with their jealousies, passions, and doubts--actually behave like human beings.

THE WOMAN WHO NAMED GOD is a compelling, smart, and provocative take on one of the Bible's most intriguing and troubling love stories.


Please post a comment if you would like to win this book. Be sure and include an email so that I can contact you. This contest is open to USA and Canada only, no p.o. boxes. If you become a follower of my blog, you get an extra entry. Contest winner will be chosen on July 25. I have one copy of this book to giveaway.

July Contests

I have several contests this month for free books. Please leave a comment on the post for the book you would like to win. If you become a follower of my blog, you will get an extra entry. The contests are open to USA and Canada only and no PO Box addresses.

The Girls From Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow

The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women and a Forty-Year Friendship
Jeffrey ZaslowPenguin Group (2009)

ISBN 9781592404452

Reviewed by Laura Johnson for Reader Views (6/09)

Karla, Kelly, Marilyn, Jane, Jenny, Karen, Cathy, Angela, Sally, Diana, and Sheila are the girls from Ames. For many that statement might not mean anything, but once you read “The Girls from Ames” by Jeffrey Zaslow, you will wish you were a member of their group. Zaslow’s book is a heartwarming, true tale, of eleven girls from Ames, Iowa that can only be described as a biography of friendship. The book chronicles a 40-year journey of friendship that is deeply moving, emotional, and honest.

Not only does Zaslow tell their story, but he mixes in statistics on friendship to show what a powerful affect friendship can have on a person’s life. It made me evaluate the friendships I have had, still have, and those that are yet to come in my life. Yet, it also made me evaluate myself in a way that I had not done before. I found myself thinking about what kind of friend I am, but most importantly, what kind of person I am and how I want my journey in life to be seen, shared, and remembered by others. I laughed, I cried, and by the last page I felt as if I was an unofficial member of their group.

It is surprising that a male author was successful in capturing the true spirit of women and their friendships. Yet, the author did just that in “The Girls from Ames.” Jeffrey Zaslow’s book is geared towards women, yet I would recommend this selection for both women and men. Women will relate and rejoice, while men will better understand women and their bonds.

Starting a Book Group

I am starting a book group that will meet once a month. As of now, the members are in the Elizabethtown/Louisville area and we will rotate towns for the monthly meetings. Our first meeting will be held in Louisville on Saturday, July 18, 2009. The selection that we are reading for this first meeting is Body of Knowledge by Bryce Anderson. You can contact me for details on how to get the book. The author will be at our first meeting to field questions and engage us in discussion.

I will post more details later as to the time and exact library location as they are finalized. This first meeting will get our group started with the discussion of our first book and set down how the group will work and what the members can look forward to.

I hope to see many of you there. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Welcome to my Blog. I have been thinking for sometime about starting my own blog where I can talk about my love for books. I have no greater passion than my love of books and I can't seem to ever get enough of them. I hope you will enjoy my posts and comments on the things that I read and share with you.