January Favourites

I'm finally putting up the books people picked as the best books they read in January. If you're looking for a book recommended by excellent readers try one of these titles:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
March by Geraldine Brooks
Light on Snow by Anita Shreve
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Watchmen by Alan Moore
The Man in the Picture by Susan Hill
Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden
Ender's Game
Who By Fire by Diana Splecher
The Book of Evidence, John Banville
SEALed With A Kiss by Mary Margaret Daughtridge
house by Josh Simmons
These Happy Golden Years - Laura Ingalls Wilder
Stefan Zweig's "The Post Office Girl"
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Høeg
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

Mandi Moore (no not that one but I bet the google hits start pouring in now) had an exciting announcement:

'I want to make the announcement that I am expecting a baby! The little one is due July 13th. We have our ultrasound scheduled for Feb 19th to find out the gender.'

Hope that went well :)

People were looking forward to some new releases:

'In February, I'm excited for the new Maeve Binchy novel, although I really didn't like her last one.'

'Scott Pilgrim Vol. 5 by Bryan Lee O'Malley is comes out this week. The Demi God Files by Rick Riordan comes out next week. I am stoked about both of these. One is my favorite indie comic, and the other is a companion book to one of my favorite fantasy series.'

'I'm really looking forward to Evermore by Alyson Noel, which gets released tomorrow (February 3).'

I've only had a few book totals through for February so if you haven't sent yours through please leave it here. I'm thinking I might not ask for any more totals until the middle of the year, I don't want you all to feel the pressure - this is all about fun.

Speaking of fun I'll be announcing the titles in our very special book bonanza giveaway tomorrow. Lots of goodies.

January Totals

I was going to pop up the list of everyone's favourite books and announcements for January, but I seem to have left my copy at work so that will have to wait until Monday.

However I can announce the total number fo books we all read in January. I'm still waiting for 12 totals to be returned to me but at the moment our January total stands at 257 books.Amazingly this means we have so far raised over $1440 (£1,019.69) between us! I'm so grateful to everyone for getting involved, keep up the good work :)

January Totals

Hi everyone, January just flew by didn't it?

So many people seem to have their birthdays in January, which means plenty of nights out, then a serious focus on the New Years resolutions to balance out all the good times. I think I'll have to try to master the art of reading on the exercise bike!

It's time to collect in your reading totals for January. I hope you've all found plenty of time to read and have had good book experiences. I've already received a few totals which have just blown me away, your reading is going to put books into so many new places. BTW if you have already sent your total no need to send it again.

Below is a short questionnaire for you to fill in. You can just tell me how many books you've completed in January if you like or you can provide some extra information. I don't have e-mail addresses for about seven participants so if you didn't receive this message by e-mail as well please let me have your e-mail address.

Copy and paste the questionnaire into an e-mail, title it 'January Totals' and return in to me as soon as possible:

Book Total – January:

Money Raised – January:

Best Book:

Worst Book:

So what else did you do in January?

Has it been easy encouraging people to sponsor you?

Want to comment on anything else book related (announcements, books you're looking forward to, challenge progress)?

The winner of our first monthly prize draw is 'The Medical Librarian'. The prize, a new copy of 'Captivity' by Deborah Lee Wesselman, generously donated by John F Blair Publishing(www.blairpub.com/), a handmade bookmark and matching bookplate from Hindrance Crafts (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5774337),a cute as heck handmade card from Gingerwinks (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6345294) and a handmade bracelet made by me (http://www.blinkingmouse.etsy.com) will be sent on as soon as you send me your address.

January Prize Draw - Captivity: Debbie Lee Wesselmann

It's time for our first prize draw here at 'The Year of Readers', yehaw. I decided to hold monthly draws with prizes that will encourage all participants in their reading. John F Blair is the first publisher who has generously donated a free book to give one lucky participant something new to read. Check out short blurb of 'Captivity' by Debbie Lee Wessemann below:

"Dana Armstrong is no ordinary primatologist. In the 1970s, she was the little blond girl with a chimpanzee for a sister, a participant in her father's psychology experiment that sought to narrow the divide between species. Now, decades later, the black-and-white clips of Dana bathing, learning sign language, and throwing tantrums with her "sister" still flicker in classrooms across the country. Dana wants nothing more than to forget about them, but as director of a chimpanzee sanctuary in the woods of South Carolina, she cannot escape.

Dana arrives at work one morning to discover that the worst has happened: someone has vandalized the buildings and opened the cages, setting loose a group of particularly dangerous chimpanzees. She mobilizes her staff to capture the missing chimps before they can injure local citizens or be killed themselves. The sanctuary is already on precarious ground, and if it fails, the chimps--some infected with HIV, some survivors of experimental surgeries, some rescued from roadside zoos--have nowhere to go. The sanctuary is all they--and Dana--have left."

If you would like to win this book and a small assortment of craft goodies from various Etsy sponsors just comment on this post telling me what your favourite book about nature is by January 31st. (PS you will also receive an e-mail detailing the terms and conditions of this giveaway once I get back to my work computer- only official participants of this challenge who have signed up using Mr Linky are eligible to enter for this prize).

Start Your Reading

'The Year of Readers' officially begins today. Today we've begun to help some charities and by the end of the year we will all have contributed to making the world just a little better. I'm so excited that over thirty people felt passionately about taking part in this challenge. I hope we get even more people joining up throughout the year.

Feel free to post/cross post from your own blog about great books you read here so others can find great book recommendations. If you have any questions you can contact me at bakerjodie at googlemail dot com .

Happy reading!