Prize Draw - March

This months giveway is extra-super specialicious. Richard Nash who was until just recently running Softskull Press generously donated 5 books for us to pass on to you lucky, lucky readers. He let me pick the titles and even replaced one when the book I picked wasn't availabe. Fabulous guy, really friendly and nice. (You can also buy Softskull titles at Turnaround.)

Books to be won are:

Candy in Action - Matthue Roth
Gone and Back Again - Jonathan Scott
Cool for You - Eileen Myles
Lonely Werewolf Girl - Martin Millar
Branwell - Douglas A Martin

I've decided to make them into one big prize package, but such a big freebie means I'm going to ask you guys to put a little more effort in to win this draw. Don't worry I'm not going to make you joust or anything:)

Recently I've been thinking about where all the books we read in 2009 might end up. The books that leave my house often go in charity bags, some get traded at Bookmooch, sold on Amazon and occassionally I post a book to a campaign that is collecting books to stock libraries, pass on to people who don't have books or raise money for worthy causes.

So to be in with a chance of winning the Softskull book bonanza all you have to do is donate a book to a worthy cause (it's a nice honour system giveway).

For every book you put in the post (or donate locally) before midnight 31st March GMT you get an entry into the draw. Please comment to let me know which organisation you've sent to and how many books you've sent.

You get one extra entry if you write about the cause/s that you're sending books to somewhere (make sure you leave a link to your post in the comments below).

You can get an other entry if someone tells you they were influenced by your post and sent books to a charitable organisation/needful library (think libraries abroad or those destroyed by natural disasters).

To add to the prize giving goodness I'm almost certain that I'll be including a mystery book in with this package so go nuts donating!

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.

J.C. Montgomery's Progress

1. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
2. March by Geraldine Brooks
3. Sexing the Cherry by Jeannette Winterson
4. Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
   
5. Peony In Love by Lisa See
   
6. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
7. A Lucky Child by Thomas Buergenthal
8. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

Comments and questions regarding the above list, please visit my blog. My contact information is on the sidebar.

February Prize Draw Winner

The winner of our February prize draw is N Vasillis - congratulations! I'll be posting out your book and selection of crafty goodies next week.

Thanks to everyone who entered and make sure to check the blog for an extra big giveaway next month :)

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 :)

February - Prize Draw

This month's fabulous prize draw item comes from McSweeney's . They generously donated a new, hardback copy of Michael Chabon's 'Maps and Legends'. Darren Franich, from McSweeney's sent me this blurb of Chabon's newest non-fiction work:

'Michael Chabon's sparkling first book of nonfiction is a love song in sixteen parts — a series of linked essays in praise of reading and writing, with subjects running from ghost stories to comic books, Sherlock Holmes to Cormac McCarthy. Throughout, Chabon energetically argues for a return to the thrilling, chilling origins of storytelling, rejecting the false walls around "serious" literature in favor of an wide-ranging affection. His own fiction, meanwhile, is explored from the perspective of personal history: post-collegiate desperation sparks his debut, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh; procrastination and doubt reveal the way toward Wonder Boys; a love of comics and a basement golem combine to create the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay; and an enigmatic Yiddish phrasebook unfurls into The Yiddish Policeman's Union.'

To enter to win this book and increase your reading total just leave me a comment telling me what your favourite myth or legend is by 13:00 GMT March 1st. The myth you choose can be from any culture and you can include a brief plot summary if you like, I'm fascinated with myths.Only official members of 'The Year of Readers' (those who have signed up via the site's Mr Linky) are eligible to enter this contest. This contest is open to official participants from all countries and continents. The winner will be decided using a random number generator and the book will be posted to the winner at no cost, regardless of where they live in the world (although I can't legislate for any customs charges that might be made by your country).

New: Amazon Associates

I realised I was missing a really easy trick to earn some more money for charity so we now have an Amazon Associates account. Every time any one buys a book from Amazon, through the search box in the left hand column the account earns a referral fee. Every time the account reaches $10 I'll get that amount sent to my bank account and I'll draw the amount earned out every time I receive a payment. This cash will go into a tin for charity (I'm going to draw it out as I go along so I don't have to make a massive withdrawal at the end of the year).

However I'm not sure how the select a charity to send this money to. I think I want to donate it to a charity no one here is already supporting, but which one? Any thoughts?

So the next time you think about buying a book from Amazon please take a minute to drop by the blog and find it via the search engine. Make sure all your friends, family and book blog readers know about it as well.

I'm still collecting totals and questionnaires but I'll be back soon with a post about the books you loved reading in January. Remember to keep dropping links and reviews here (if you ahven't received an invite letting you post here please let me know).