Really Random Tuesday: Unplugging & Giveaway Winners

First off, although I’ve just gotten back from vacation, I need some time off blogging right now, so I’ve decided to take the next two weeks off. Hopefully, I will catch up a bit on reviews during this time, and I will be popping around your blogs to say hello. (I’m not planning to be totally unplugged!)

In other news, I’ve picked two winners for my last giveaway (using Random.org): Amy and Dolly! They each win a copy of The Glimpse Traveler by Marianne Boruch (read my review). Congrats and I hope you enjoy this memoir as much as I did. Thanks to Indiana University Press for sponsoring this giveaway.
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Really Random Tuesday is hosted by Suko at Suko’s Notebook. Feel free to join in, copy the button and link back to Suko’s blog.

Really Random Tuesday: Giveaway Winners & Kitty Pics

First off, I need to announce the winners of my two last giveaways: Gigi won a copy of Devotion: A Memoir by Dani Shapiro (read my review) and a real librarian won a copy of Home to Woefield by Susan Juby (read my review). Congrats to both winners and thanks to all who entered, especially those of you who shared your samskara* experiences with me!

*Wikipedia spells it sanskara, but the definition is correct!

Secondly, it’s been a while since I’ve shared any kitty pics with you, so here are three recent ones of Cairo being very cute! Click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Cairo on Mr. B’s shoulder

Cairo napping inside my sweater

Cairo sharing the ottoman with me

Mr. B took the first pic, and yes, Cairo is napping on our couch inside a sweater that’s hooked to a chair in the second pic!

Really Random Tuesday is hosted by Suko at Suko’s Notebook. Feel free to join in, copy the button and link back to Suko’s blog.

Really Random Tuesday: Boots, Kitty Pic & Giveaway Winner

Yesterday, in my Mailbox Monday post, I mentioned that I’d recently bought a pair of funky boots (and was able to pick any book in the store for free), so today I thought I’d share a photo of my new-to-me boots with you:

My new boots (click to enlarge)

I’ve worn them once (we had snow on the weekend) and while they’re comfy, they take a while to lace up! (They have zippers down the sides, but the zippers are defective—I can unzip the boots to take them off but can’t get them zipped back up again without unlacing them first!)

And here’s a pic of Cairo on top of our fridge enjoying scritches from Mr. B. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can read the cat comic strips on our fridge! (The one on the left, with the cat with her nose in the air, says “I’m not feeling the love.”)

Cairo on the fridge (click to enlarge)

Finally, it’s about time I pick a winner for my giveaway of a copy of The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are—Your Guide to a Wholehearted Life by Brené Brown (read my review). The winner is Debbie F. Congrats, Debbie—I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did!

Really Random Tuesday is hosted by Suko at Suko’s Notebook. Feel free to join in, copy the button and link back to Suko’s blog.

Two Years at she reads and reads + Giveaway Winners!

As you know, I recently celebrated my two-year anniversary, and to mark the occasion I wanted to share a few stats with you (as well as let you know who won my giveaway!).

This is my 479th post!

Top five reviews:

1. Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott (highly recommended)
2. Testimony by Anita Shreve (not recommended)
3. My Little Red Book edited by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff (recommended)
4. Simon’s Cat by Simon Tofield (highly recommended)
5. The Corpse Will Keep by Pat Capponi and Farthing by Jo Walton (recommended and highly recommended, respectively)

Top five non-review (non-giveaway) posts:

1. What Is the Nature of Reading, What Are Its Rules and Its Gifts? (guest post by my sister Brogan)
2. Similar Covers: Have You Seen These Women?
3. Similar Covers: A Bevy of Skirts
4. Again, Similar Covers
5. Similar Covers: More Women from Behind + How Do I Find These Covers Anyway?

Top referring sites (thank you!):

1. Reusable Cover Art at Reading the Past
2. Should Be Reading
3. Cindy’s Love of Books
4. Jacket Whys
5. My Friend Amy
6. The Printed Page
7. BookBound
8. Book Chatter
9. A Work in Progress
10. A Reader’s Respite

Over the past two years, my site has had nearly 30,000 visitors hailing from 117 countries!

Enough of that, you say, you want to know who won my giveaway? The winners were:

1. allisonsbj3, who requested American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld (my review)
   
2. buddyt, who requested Careless in Red by Elizabeth George (my review)
   

Congratulations and thanks again to all of you for reading (and commenting on!) my blog!

Really Random Tuesday: New Winners + Kitty Pics

Really Random Tuesday is hosted by Suko at Suko’s Notebook. Feel free to join in, copy the button and link back to Suko’s blog.

I don’t know if I’ll be posting Really Random Tuesday posts on a regular basis, but it fit with my mood and needs today!

Two of the winners I picked for my giveaway of The Impostor’s Daughter: A True Memoir by Laurie Sandell had already won copies of the book on other blogs, so I’ve picked two new winners: Aik at The Bookaholics and Kailia Sage at Reading the Best of the Best. Congrats! I hope you enjoy the book.

Don’t forget to also enter my two-year blogiversary giveaway! You can pick a book of your choice from any of the books mentioned on my blog (except in the “similar covers” posts). Note that a few people have requested books that I’ve never mentioned here—if you are one of them, please enter again with a new pick. I’ll select two winners at random on August 25.

As part of this giveaway, I asked for feedback about my blog. Amy at The House of the Seven Tails responded with this comment:

“My only other suggestion/request, which you will understand based on the look of my blog, is an occasional picture or post of the adorable kitty on your shoulder in your profile photo! I have a soft spot for the furry felines!”

I’m only too happy to oblige, with a few pics of Cairo hanging out in one of my bookcases. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Cairo surveying the room from an SF shelf

Cairo considering Tepper’s works

Giveaway Winners + A Dozen Additions to My Wish List

Congratulations to Misusedinnocence, Lindy at Lindy Reads and Reviews, Marjorie, J.T. Oldfield at Bibliofreakblog and Amanda at The Zen Leaf, who won copies of The Impostor’s Daughter: A True Memoir by Laurie Sandell! Please send me your addresses and I will pass them on to Hachette.

Thank you to Hachette for providing the books for this giveaway and thank you to all of you who entered!

1. Misusedinnocence
2. Lindy
3. Marjorie
4. J.T. Oldfield
5. Amanda
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These are the comic books / graphic novels that I’ve added to my wish list as a result of running this giveaway:

The books are (followed by the blogger who recommended them):

• The Dreaming series by Queenie Chan (Cindy at Cindy’s Love of Books)
• Life, in Pictures by Will Eisner (Lindy at Lindy Reads and Reviews)
• The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam by Ann Marie Fleming (Danielle)
• Bannock, Beans and Black Tea: Memories of a Prince Edward Island Childhood in the Great Depression by John Gallant (Lindy at Lindy Reads and Reviews)
• Amy Unbounded: Belondweg Blossoming by Rachel Hartman (ikkinlala)
• Siberia by Nikolai Maslov (Lindy at Lindy Reads and Reviews)
• Perfect Example by John Porcellino (Lindy at Lindy Reads and Reviews)
• Chicken with Plums and Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi (Amanda at The Zen Leaf)
• The Rabbi’s Cat by Joann Sfar (Susan at West of Mars)
• To Dance: A Ballerina’s Graphic Novel by Siena Cherson Siegel (Lindy at Lindy Reads and Reviews)
• At a Crossroads: Between a Rock and My Parents’ Place by Kate T. Williamson (Lindy at Lindy Reads and Reviews)

If the book you recommended doesn’t appear on my list, chances are that’s because I’ve already read it (or it was already on my wish list)! Thank you all for your suggestions!

And the Winner Is...

Congratulations to Kathleen, who won a copy of Getting a Grip 2: Clarity, Creativity and Courage for the World We Really Want by Frances Moore Lappé. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did!

Many thanks to The Small Planet Institute for sponsoring this giveaway.

And the Winners Are...

Congratulations to Bhumi, who won a copy of The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women and a Forty-Year Friendship by Jeffrey Zaslow (read my review). Many thanks to TLC Book Tours and Penguin USA for sponsoring this giveaway.

The winners of My Little Red Book edited by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff are:

1. Rebecca Graham
   
2. Johnny
3. Kristen at BookNAround
   
4. Little Tesoro
5. MoziEsmé
6. Jena at Muse Books
   
7. Marilu
8. MarionG
9. Natalie W at The Book Inn
   
10. Stephanie at Open Mind, Insert Book

Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to everyone who entered this giveaway, especially those who shared your period stories! Many thanks to Penguin USA for sponsoring this generous giveaway.

And the Winner Is...

Congratulations to bcteagirl, who won a new paperback copy of The Local News by Miriam Gershow! Please send me your address and I will forward it to Random House. Thank you to Miriam and Random House for sponsoring this giveaway and thank you to all of you who entered!

1. bcteagirl

Timestamp: 2010-04-01 01:13:30 UTC

And the Winners Are...

Congratulations to Kathy (bermudaonion), Janet Ruth, Tina Branco, June and rubynreba who won copies of Simon’s Cat by Simon Tofield! Please send me your addresses and I will pass them on to Hachette.

Thank you to Hachette for providing the books for this giveaway and thank you to all of you who entered! I especially loved all your crazy cat stories!

1. bermudaonion
2. Janet Ruth
3. Tina Branco
4. June
5. rubynreba

Timestamp: 2009-12-08 23:26:03 UTC

Congratulations, BBAW giveaway winners!

Congratulations to Alessandra at Out of the Blue, who won a copy of The Wishing Year: A House, a Man, My Soul by Noelle Oxenhandler, in my first BBAW giveaway...





Jo-Jo at Jo-Jo Loves to Read, who won Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos, in my second BBAW giveaway...




Rebecca, who won The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale, in my third BBAW giveaway...





and Brogan, who won The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker, in my fourth and final BBAW giveaway!



I’ve emailed all the winners so please send me your addresses asap and I will order your books from The Book Depository. Thank you to everyone who entered. I wish I could have sent each one of you a book!

And the winners are...

Congratulations to Cindy (socmom), Iliana, Nan, Debs Desk and Bonnie who won copies of The Impostor’s Daughter: A True Memoir by Laurie Sandell! Please send me your addresses and I will pass them on to Hachette.

Thank you to Hachette for providing the books for this giveaway and thank you to all of you who entered!

1. Cindy (socmom)
2. Iliana
3. Nan
4. Debs Desk
5. Bonnie

Timestamp: 2009-08-08 06:05:45 UTC

And the winners are...

Congratulations to Jake Lsewhere, who won a copy of The Etruscan by Linda Lappin, and teabird, who won a copy of Katherine’s Wish by the same author! Please send me your addresses and I will pass them on to the author.

Thank you to Linda Lappin for providing the books for this giveaway and thank you to all of you who entered! I will announce my next giveaway tomorrow, so be sure to come back!

1. Jake Lsewhere
2. teabird

Timestamp: 2009-07-20 23:12:30 UTC

And the winner is...

Congratulations to Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea, who won my gently read ARC of Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel! Please send me your address and I will pop your book in the mail asap. Thank you to everyone who entered and thank you for sharing your experiences of reading about places you know.

1. Diane

Timestamp: 2009-07-03 23:43:53 UTC

A new winner...

I announced the winners to the My Little Red Book giveaway last week, but it turned out one of them (songbirdz) had already won the book from another blog. The new winner is aprilperlowski. Congratulations, April! I have sent the winners’ addresses to Hachette, so you should all be receiving your books soon!

And the winners are...

Congratulations to Number One Novels, StephSu, songbirdz, ShootingStarsMag and teabird, who won copies of My Little Red Book edited by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff! Please send me your addresses and I will pass them on to Hachette.

Thank you to Hachette for providing the books for this giveaway and thank you to all of you who entered! Thank you, also, for sharing your favourite female historical figures with me, many of whom I hadn’t heard of before.

1. Number One Novels
2. StephSu
3. songbirdz
4. ShootingStarsMag
5. teabird

Timestamp: 2009-04-03 00:34:48 UTC

And the winners are...

Congratulations to Myckyee, Gwendolyn B. and Tasses, who won copies of The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker! Please send me your addresses and I will pass them on to Hachette.

Thank you to Hachette for providing the book for this giveaway and thank you to all of you who entered!

1. Myckyee
2. Gwendolyn B.
3. Tasses

Timestamp: 2009-02-17 21:02:50 UTC

And the winner is...

Congratulations to Mistress Meeyee, who won a copy of The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent! Please send me your address and I will pass it on to Hachette.

Thank you to Hachette for providing the book for this giveaway and thank you to all of you who entered!

And the winners are...

It’s time to finally announce the winners of my “5 days, 5 books, 5 ways” BBAW giveaway! (Apologies for the delay!) Without further ado...


Tanabata won The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. Congratulations, Tanabata!





Alyce won Aberrations by Penelope Przekop. Congratulations, Alyce!





Icedream won So Long at the Fair by Christina Schwarz. Congratulations, Icedream!





Serena won American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. Congratulations, Serena!





Theresa N. won The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. Congratulations Theresa N.!




Thank you to everyone who participated in this giveaway! I enjoyed checking out all your blogs as well as the ones you recommended to me. And thank you for all your comments! I have hopefully responded to all of them by now... Winners, please send me your snail mail addresses and I’ll get those books out to you as soon as possible!