Tag: Giveaway

Books, Giveaway

ALIENATED Launch & NOOK Giveaway!

Elodie

Today I have the pleasure of hosting Melissa Landers and her book ALIENATED for her book launch and a NOOK Giveaway! I loved this book and hope you will too 🙂

ALIENATED Launch & NOOK Giveaway!

Alienated-newcvr

Hey, fiction lovers. I’m author Melissa Landers, and I’m thrilled to announce that my debut YA sci-fi romance, ALIENATED, is finally available from Disney-Hyperion! Cue the dancers and toss the confetti, because it’s been a long wait!

In a nutshell, ALIENATED is the story of valedictorian Cara Sweeney, who gets more than she bargained for when she agrees to host the nation’s first intergalactic exchange student, the gorgeous but emotionally-stilted Aelyx (pronounced A-licks) from planet L’eihr. The tone is light and humorous, but I explore some deeper themes as well.

What do reviewers have to say?

“The storyline is out of this world and character development paired with authentic voice is superb. Filled with intrigue and suspense, this book will appeal to both sci-fi and contemporary YA fiction fans.” –VOYA

“Interstellar relations heat up in this start to a new romantic science fiction series. Landers [explores] larger social, ecological, and ethical issues in this tense, fast-paced read.” –Booklist

“The perfect blend of sizzling romance, action, and suspense.” –#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout

“Smart, funny, and epic. I am now awaiting contact from planet L’eihr.” Julie Cross, bestselling author of Tempest.

“Intergalactic exchange students? Yes, please! I fell in love with this story and couldn’t put it down.” Jodi Meadows, author of Incarnate

If you like hot, swoony science fiction as much as I do, I hope you’ll give ALIENATED a try. It’s now available in stores and online.

To celebrate my book birthday, I’m offering one lucky winner a Nook Simple Touch. I’ll even throw in a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble so you can fill your new e-reader with whatever you want!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now for the fine print: This giveaway is open to US residents only. (Sorry, international friends, but you need a US billing address to buy digital content on the Nook.) Due to sweepstakes laws, entrants must be 18 years or older to participate.

Best of luck, and happy reading!

Melissa1Melissa Landers is a former teacher who left the classroom to pursue other worlds.

A proud sci-fi geek, she isn’t afraid to wear her Princess Leia costume in public—just ask her husband and three kids. She lives outside Cincinnati in the small town of Loveland, “Sweetheart of Ohio.” For more information, or just to say hello, visit http://www.melissa-landers.com.

Book Review, Giveaway

Rose under Fire – A review and a giveaway

Elodie

Thanks to Netgalley I received an e-galley of ROSE UNDER FIRE by Elizabeth Wein. After reading it and clutching my heart and fighting back tears in the train, I know that I will buy myself a copy of this book and will give away one additional copy to one lucky reader. The giveaway is open until September 28th and is open internationally (more details at the end of this post).

It tells a story of friendship, of horrors, of hope…

 While flying an Allied fighter plane from Paris to England, American ATA pilot and amateur poet, Rose Justice, is captured by the Nazis and sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious women’s concentration camp. Trapped in horrific circumstances, Rose finds hope in the impossible through the loyalty, bravery and friendship of her fellow prisoners. But will that be enough to endure the fate that’s in store for her?

Elizabeth Wein, author of the critically-acclaimed and best-selling Code Name Verity, delivers another stunning WWII thriller. The unforgettable story of Rose Justice is forged from heart-wrenching courage, resolve, and the slim, bright chance of survival.While flying an Allied fighter plane from Paris to England, American ATA pilot and amateur poet, Rose Justice, is captured by the Nazis and sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious women’s concentration camp. Trapped in horrific circumstances, Rose finds hope in the impossible through the loyalty, bravery and friendship of her fellow prisoners. But will that be enough to endure the fate that’s in store for her?

I´ve read CODE NAME VERITY a few weeks back and I enjoyed it – which is even weird to say about a book that describes such a heart-wrenching story but at the same time I did not fall into the story. Maybe it was the time I read it, maybe I was protecting myself. I don´t know.

But this one. This one grabbed me and didn´t let me go. The friendship and the hope shine through. The moments in Ravensbrück are horrific, there is no way to understand though through the eyes of Rose, we also see how some lines are not so easy to trace.

I mentioned in a past blog post that I first stopped reading and paused because there was a character named Elodie in it (and that´s my name) and I know that this was a very rare name in those years. However, this only stopped me for a second. Afterwards, I sunk deep into the story.

Having walked through the gates of Buchenwald while in High School, I pictured some of the places Rose mentioned and the same angst clutched my heart as I read the words as when I passed through the gates where thousands of people died.

I felt like a voyeur to witness the horrors without being able to do anything. As mentioned the friendships and hope offer a glimpse of light in the darkness. Rose manages to find people to hold on, she becomes a person they can rely on as well.

I don´t think I can give justice to this book. Really. How to put into words Rose´s journey and tears, her hope and her smiles, her hearing her friends crying out “Tell the world!” as they go to their death? How to explain her poems, her way of moving forward and holding herself up?

I could see Rose, I could see her nail polish and the contrast of the red against the dirt, I could feel the surge of courage and bravery as well as her fears.

I can hear the words she writes.

Hope is the most treacherous thing in the world. It lifts you and lets you plummet. But as long as you’re being lifted you don’t worry about plummeting.”

Writing to you like this makes me feel that you are still alive. It’s an illusion I’ve noticed before– words on a page are like oxygen to a petrol engine, firing up ghosts. It only lasts while the words are in your head. After you put down the paper or pen, the pistons fall lifeless again.

Reading and remembering are important. We need to continue telling the stories even though yes memory does create histories, they change but the essence stays the same and that is let´s ensure we do not transform anyone into a “it”. Let´s remember the past, let´s pass it on, let´s tell the stories.

I think Elizabeth says it best at the end of the book when she explains:

It has become a false memory of my own – Rose´s dream of the icy wind in the empty bunks is my dream (…) My book is fiction, but it is based on the real memories of other people. In the end, like Rose, I am doing what I can to carry out the last instruction of the true witnesses – those who went to their death crying out: Tell the world.

Tell the world.

And to help tell the world, I´m giving a copy of this book out. If you already have it and you win, just give your copy to a school library.

All you have to do is comment on this blog post. The giveaway is open until September 28th and is open internationally.

Ready Set Write, revising, What´s Up Wednesday

What´s Up Wednesday? And Ready. Set. Write. The back on track edition!

Elodie

Pshhhh….did you hear about our Ready. Set. WRITE! Giveaway?  **The Writer’s Care Package Giveaway is open to Ready. Set. WRITE! participants only, but it’s open internationally!!!** It  will be open through 11:59pm EST on July 23rd when one winner will be selected to win a surprise package of writing-related goodies from all five of us. That means you’re getting packages from 5 different places, 3 different countries! ☺

The winner will be announced on our blogs in our What’s Up Wednesday posts on July 24th.

To access the Rafflecopter Giveaway just click here 

If you´re participating in Ready. Set. Write!, don´t hesitate to add the link to your What´s Up Wednesday post on Jaime´s blog here.  From there, you can also discover new blogs and encourage other writers! What´s up Wednesday is the brainchild of Jaime and Erin.  It´s a way to keep in touch in just four headings…

What I´m reading
Last week I mentioned I started THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY by Jenny Han and well…hmmm…I kind of fell in love with the book. Monday, I started and finished IT’S NOT SUMMER WITHOUT YOU and yesterday dove right into WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE SUMMER.
What I love about this trilogy? The perfect mix of family dynamics, heartbreak, hope, love, siblings, kisses, beach…While I was reading, the back of my throat burned, I held my breath and I fell all the emotions rushing through me. When this happens, I know I have found a story that will stay with me for a long time.
What I’m Writing
ready set write button
I did it! I revised one chapter! Actually I revised a bit more than one chapter but I’m so happy to get back into the swings of things. Sometimes this revising feels like deleting way too many words but at the same time I’m glad I upped the tension and I feel like the story is flowing much better that way.
My goal for next week?
  • Revise 6 chapters. Yes. You read correctly 😛 Hubby is going on business trip Saturday morning which means I can use the entire weekend to revise. And I will. Hold me to it!
What else I´ve been up to
My parents and my mother-in-law visited this weekend…which means we spent some time walking around, discovering new places or enjoying old ones and ate a lot of wonderful yummy food.
Sunset over the fields Alex and Rhine Food Hidden treasure

The last picture is a door behind a fortress from the 17th century…

What inspires me right now

The encouraging comments you posted on my blog last week when I felt bad about not writing. Thank you!

The time I got to spend with my family, reminding myself to slow down and to enjoy those moments.

Reading novels that remind me how I wish people could get lost in a story I create.

Sign up here for Ready Set Write!:

I can’t wait to check all your posts and see what you’ve been up to 🙂

Book Review, Giveaway

Blog tour – Hysteria – a review and giveaway…

Elodie

I have a secret.

I love scary books, suspense, psychological thrillers – usually they do need a bit of romance and a touch of hope.

So, when I saw HYSTERIA by Megan Miranda up for grabs on NetGalley I didn´t hesitate. I requested it and grinned when I got approved. I may have done a bit of a happy dance. And when I was selected to be part of the Blog tour I was even happier 🙂

HysteriaSummary from Goodreads.com: Mallory killed her boyfriend, Brian. She can’t remember the details of that night but everyone knows it was self-defense, so she isn’t charged. But Mallory still feels Brian’s presence in her life. Is it all in her head? Or is it something more? In desperate need of a fresh start, Mallory is sent to Monroe, a fancy prep school where no one knows her . . . or anything about her past.But the feeling follows her, as do her secrets. Then, one of her new classmates turns up dead. As suspicion falls on Mallory, she must find a way to remember the details of both deadly nights so she can prove her innocence-to herself and others

Mallory was at times an unreliable narrator. She doesn´t remember details, she feels the presence of the one she killed around her. It makes her insecure, worried, never able to let go. Her parents don´t know how to deal with her. Only her best friend continues to look at her like she still knows her.

But I liked her, I rooted for her, wanted to know more about her.

The entire novel, one wonders exactly what happened that night and what is going on in the boarding school. The setting feels real and the boarding school stories are a nice touch. The love interest is truly adorable and got my heart racing a few times.

I couldn´t stop turning the pages. I had to know what happened next. I found Miranda´s writing really engaging and I remember taking notes on some of the tricks she used, or some of the hints she dropped.

I wish there sometimes could have been more from that night and more on the actual resolution. (I´ll leave at that to not spoil anything).

But I really enjoyed it 🙂

(and I´m now writing a YA romantic suspense, finally trusting myself to take that love of thrillers and suspense to my YA writing)

Oh…and before I forget:

GIVEAWAY 

Open until March 21st

  • You can win a COPY of HYSTERIA (US only as per the guidelines I received)
  • For you all my international readers: you can win a copy of Miranda´s first book FRACTURE.

What do you need to do?

  • Simply tell me the last movie or book that scared you a little 🙂 (and please mention if you´re located in the US or any other countries)
Books, Giveaway

WINNERS of MY LIFE NEXT DOOR…

Elodie
Balloon launch at the Great Pershing Balloon Derby near Brookfield, Missouri on September 4, 2005. Photo taken by Joe DeShon (Wiki Commons)

THE WINNERS of MY LIFE NEXT DOOR Giveaway are…

Winner of a SIGNED copy (kindly donated by Huntley Fitzpatrick)

Winner of a copy (hardback)

Thank you everybody for entering and spreading the word!

And especially THANKS to Huntley who has really been very nice and kind about this!

Giveaway, Happy Friday, writing

Happy Friday – Interview and Giveaway (MY LIFE NEXT DOOR)

Elodie


Today is a SPECIAL HAPPY FRIDAY…I have a little something which pretty made me smile all week and which I cannot wait to share with all of you. Are you ready? 😀 

Do you remember when I gushed about the book MY LIFE NEXT DOOR by Huntley Fitzpatrick? Huntley was kind enough to answer a question I had on Twitter. I had read several of her interviews but I still had a lot of questions on how she came to this book, and the characters and her writing process…and…and…So I decided to send her an email and to ask her if she would be willing to do an interview here on my little blog. She said YES! AND…when I mentioned I was going to have a giveaway and would have loved for it to be a signed book but knowing since I lived in Germany and all it could be complicated: she said she WOULD do it! So, ladies and gentleman, you can WIN a signed copy of MY LIFE NEXT DOOR (and I´m throwing another non-signed copy so there will be TWO winners)! I´ll tell you how after the interview (oh and it´s open internationally)

INTERVIEW WITH HUNTLEY FITZPATRICK (or where I grin every time I read this :-))

MY LIFE NEXT DOOR was published on June 14th, 2012. It´s a story about first loves but also friendship, family and finding yourself.

“One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts.  All the time.”The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them…until one summer evening Jase Garrett climbs her trellis and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love and stumble through the awkwardness and awesomeness of first romance, Jase’s family makes Samantha one of their own—even as she keeps him a secret from her disapproving mother and critical best friend. Then the unthinkable happens, and the bottom drops out of Samantha’s world. She’s suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself? (From Huntley´s website)

Meet the author 😀 HUNTLEY FITZPATRICK: I was lucky enough to be born to parents who read every kind of written material with interest and enthusiasm, and let me do the same. From the start I searched for books that let me fall in love…with the story and with the boy. For most of my childhood I divided my devotion between Almanzo Wilder from The Little House books, C.S. Lewis’ Prince Caspian and Tom in Louisa May Alcott’s An Old Fashioned Girl. (more on Huntley´s website)

1. What is the first word that comes to your mind when thinking about the story of MY LIFE NEXT DOOR? Contrast

2. Jase, Jase, Jase…where did you find the inspiration for such a great guy? Thank you! Jase is actually a character who has been in my head for a long time.  I recently reread a story I wrote when I was fourteen and the hero was a good-natured boy who was close to his family, loved animals and was good with his hands (the last is something that has always appealed to me).  Like Samantha, I was never a fan of boys who were into lots of drama and I really wanted to write a book where the nice guy gets the girl, rather than losing out to the emo rebel bad boy.  The two manuscripts I’d completed before this both had challenging heroes, and I have to say it was a pleasure doing Jase after them.

3. What is one of your favourite sentences in the book? The first one that comes to mind is Jase’s response when he sees Samantha in her silly waitress uniform (short shirt, sailor top and little red scarf).  Embarrassed by his raised eyebrows, she hurries to tell him her boss designed the uniform. Jase says, “He must have a rich fantasy life.”  The understated humor of that is very Jase.

4. You mentioned in an earlier interview that like Sam, you enjoyed watching people. Did you ever see something funny? (or someone resembling Jase)? A few years ago, my father and I were sitting on a park bench in Boston Common on a beautiful spring day. A boy and a girl came walking along—she had long blond hair and was wearing a white dress and they were holding hands. Something about the way they looked—like real friends in addition to boyfriend and girlfriend, got to me and when I sat down to write the book, I remembered them.

5. You have a cast full of wonderfully fledged characters, which one was the easiest to write and which one was the hardest? Tim and Jase were the easiest. They just seemed to come to me. I struggled with Nan the most. I wanted to make it clear why they were friends, and also why that friendship was in trouble. I also worked really really hard not to make Grace and Clay into Disney villains, to give each of them some humanizing factors. I hope that worked!

6. Did you listen to a particular song while writing this book? Or what song would like to hear in the soundtrack if MY LIFE NEXT DOOR were to become a movie?  Seaside by the Kooks. And the Beatles Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da completely reminds me of the Garretts.  I listen to that song in the car a lot with my kids and they always sing along, so it reminds me of happy, messy but lovely family life.

7. Have you thought about writing a companion book like maybe about Andy or about Tim (I have a big soft spot for Tim and Alice and really enjoyed Andy’s first attempts at dating. Plus I would love to continue getting glimpses about Sam and Jase)? I’ve not only thought about it, I’ve done it. I did about ¾ of a book about Tim and Alice right after MLND, but that wasn’t the one that was picked up by my publisher, so I put it to the side (for now). I do hope eventually to return to it, though. Both Tim and Alice are a lot of fun to write. And I’d love to do a book where Andy finds someone.  I’d even like to do one on Nan where she figures herself out.

8. The querying process can be daunting while exciting. How was it for you? Did you send a lot of queries out? How long did it take you to snag your agent? I did send a lot of queries, and got some encouraging answers but I actually got my agent by button-holing a colleague of hers at a writer’s conference. We’d worked together when I was an editor, and I mentioned that I was writing now. She very kindly told me to send her my manuscripts, and encouraged me to keep going, even though the first two were not quite what she was looking for. MY LIFE NEXT DOOR was the third one and she passed it on to her co-agent, Christina Hogrebe, who liked it and signed me up. In short, I got really lucky.

9. What is an advice you would give to aspiring authors? Read, read, read. I am a huge believer that reading good writing sinks into your brain and helps you write better. There are some great books out there on how to write—notably Anne Lamott’s BIRD BY BIRD and Donald Maass THE FIRE IN FICTION, but what has helped me most to be a writer is being a livelong, passionate reader. I also believe in keeping a journal, and always carrying around a notebook to jot down ideas.

10. Can you tell us about your next project? It’s tentatively entitled WHAT I THOUGHT WAS TRUE, and will come out next year. It’s set in the same area as MY LIFE NEXT DOOR, but with a very different cast of characters. It centers around Gwen Castle, a working class girl who has grown up on a privileged island, and Cass Somers, the boy who is her Worst Mistake Ever and inescapable crush, whom she thinks she can spend the summer forgetting, until she learns that he is going to be the “yard boy” onthe island this year—and has no intention of being forgotten.

GIVEAWAY OF ONE SIGNED COPY OF MY LIFE NEXT DOOR 

(and I´m adding a non-signed copy to the mix sent via the Book Depository)

How to enter? Since this is all about the book, you don´t even have to be a follower of this blog to enter (just make sure I have a way to contact you to let you know if you win). It would be great if you win that you share the love by writing a review but it´s up to you…

Tell me in the comments if you:

+2 Tweeted about the interview and giveaway (with the link)

+4 Blogged about it (with the link)

+2 Follow Huntley on Twitter or on Facebook

You automatically have one entry if you comment on this post 😀 The contest is open internationally and will end on August 3rd, 12pm (EST).

THANK YOU AGAIN SO MUCH HUNTLEY!!!!

Giveaway

And the winner is….

Elodie

First of all, thank you everybody for the encouraging words on this blog and out, for the smiles, the laughs, the insight…You, ladies and gentlemen, are wonderful…

My first “I LOVE READING” giveaway was fun and I´ll do another one soon again, to continue spreading the love of books and stories 😀

Without further ado, the winner of two books of her choice (one for her and one for somebody younger) as decided by the drawing I´ve done at Random.org is….

Jessica Love

Congrats! 😀 All I need now is the title of the two books you wish to have…I even think I remember one of those books may go to your classroom library…AWESOME 😀 

Interview

Welcome to The Lichgates Hidden World Blog Tour…

Elodie

I had the chance of connecting with the very talented S.M. Boyce on Twitter and as she announced her Hidden World Blog Tour, I immediately raised my hand (or sent her a message :D).

First let me introduce you to her book:

Lichgates (Summary from Goodreads): The Grimoire turns its own pages and can answer any question asked of it, and Kara Magari is its next target. She has no idea what she’s getting herself into when she stumbles across the old book while hiking a hidden trail. Once she opens it, she’s thrown into Ourea: a beautiful world full of terrifying things that all want the Grimoire’s secrets. Everyone in this new world is trying to find her, and most want to control her.  Braeden Drakonin grew up in Ourea, and all he’s ever known of life is lying. The Grimoire is his one chance at redemption, and it lands in his lap when Kara Magari comes into his life. He has one question to ask the book – one question that can fix everything in his broken life – and he’s not letting Kara out of his sight until he gets an answer.  There’s no escaping Ourea. There’s no going back now.

Then we have a special message coming directly from S.M. Boyce:

And S.M. has been kind enough to answer the questions I sent her. It is the FIRST interview I publish on this blog (and I really enjoyed it so probably not the last :D)

  • When and where did you have the first idea for LICHGATES?

The first idea for Lichgates came almost a decade ago in my aunt’s basement, when my brothers and I were making little wands and spell casters and other fun things out of clay. I actually still have them, somewhere! These toys sparked a constant daydream about what creatures would use them, and that daydream snowballed into 7 years of development and world building — and, ultimately, the complete removal of the original spell casters from the series. Haha. But, as the old writing adage goes, you need to be able to “kill your darling passages” to write successfully.

The Grimoire Trilogy has been a long while in the making, and I’ve put every ounce of creativity I could spare into making it the best it can be. I really hope you enjoy it.

  • One sentence of your book which you’d like to share with us:

This one is really hard for me to answer. I hope you know that! One of the hardest from this entire blog tour! Ultimately, though, I have to say I’d go with this one:

“Kara thought of Twin and Adele and Garrett and Braeden and wondered how many of the few people she still had left in the world would survive, since she didn’t quite have the best track record with that sort of thing.”

  • What are you the most proud of when it comes to your writing?

I think we writers are inherently self-depreciating. It keeps us modest and constantly striving to improve, so it’s hard for me to be proud of anything more than having a published book. That is an incredible, surreal, tear-jerking feeling.

I guess if I had to pick any one thing, I’d say I’m fairly good at describing the world around the characters. I’ve had many readers compliment my world-building description, and I love immersing myself in the ‘where’. You can check out a few of these reviews here  and here .

  • Your most embarrassing writing moment was…

Contradicting myself in one of my first drafts of Lichgates. You know how you can get so into a story that you can’t see beyond the words on the page? I don’t remember the details, but the first reader draft had someone saying they would never do something one sentence…and then they did that without a second thought later on in the book. Oops! I turned red when my beta readers pointed it out, but that’s why we have writing circles!

  • Where do you usually write?

I live on the edge of a nature preserve, so I tucked my desk in a corner where I can look out the window. It’s beautiful! And when the wind gets going, there are all sorts of crazy noises. It’s both tense and beautiful. I love my writing spot.

  • One piece of advice for writers:

Write for yourself.

You are putting your name on this story, and it ultimately reflects what you think is artistic and beautiful. If you write for others and always bend yourself around others’ input, you will lose the story you originally wrote. It will lose its meaning. So write what makes you happy. You will never be able to please everyone else, so it’s crucial that you are happy with what you put out there.

  • Imagine you can go back in time and have a face-to-face with teenie S.M. Boyce: what advice would you give her? (yes I’m all about giving advice today :-))

I would probably tell myself to invest in Google. Short of that, I’d sit back and sigh deeply as I watched myself do stupid things. The mistakes I made make me who I am today, and I’m better off for them. It would be hard to watch, but I know it’s for the better that nothing in my past change. Except maybe a nice investment in Google. Money, I’d like. Haha!

For those who would like to snag their own copy of Lichgates, you can go to any of these sites:

And as S.M. Boyce explained, she prepared a treat for you 😀  By clicking on the Rafflecopter image, you will access the giveaway for an e-book copy of Lichgates or a set of Grimoire Book Swag…

And of course you can win a Grand Prize  – including Amazon gift cards, signed books… – on her blog (just click the banner below).

Thanks again for stopping by, S.M. Boyce :D!

Editing, Giveaway, Happy Friday, reading, revising

Happy Friday #8: Giveaway, Books and Thanks!

Elodie

Yay it’s Friday…and it’s Happy Friday 😀

My fingers have been itching to type this post but I had to stay longer at work so it´s a bit later than usual…Ready? Here are some of the reasons why I smiled this week…

My “I love reading giveaway”: This giveaway is to celebrate my love of reading with all of you. There will be one winner (but I probably will repeat this in a few months) You can win 2 books (up to a total of $30): one for you and one for a teenager or a child or a baby you want to share your love of books with. If you’re a teenager, that’s one for you and one for a friend or somebody younger than you. The giveaway is international (open to all countries that The Book Depository ships to). Just fill out the entry form by Friday March 16th.

Revising: Two weeks ago, I sent my first chapter to Tarah…I was anxious to receive her feedback. How would I react to the possible criticism towards the words I put on paper? What did she think about it? Was it awful? Was it good? and wow, I never thought I would be so happy to see her many comments on this chapter. Tarah: again THANK YOU! She not only took the time to read it but she gave a lot of thoughts to it. She edited some and pointed out where it could actually get “tighter”. I am very grateful because I just have the feeling, that thanks to her, my story is moving forward. It´s getting better. I´m excited to dive into the story again!

Reading: I started reading Incarnate at the beginning of the week. I was not sure what to expect…but I was in for a treat. I had plenty of time while waiting at the French consulate to finally change my papers (got married in August and only getting around to it but that´s another story). I will probably do a full review soon but let me just say that Jodi managed to make me miss my piano even more. I also really enjoyed the world-building, the development and the romance. Right now, I am thoroughly enjoying Amy and Roger´s Epic Detour (thanks Jaime for pointing this book out to me some time ago :D)

So tell me what made YOU smile this week?

Giveaway, reading

I love reading GIVEAWAY!

Elodie

Yay! Giveaway! 😀

Nope I don’t have 100 followers (yet). It may seem like I do but really the number on the right includes my Twitter followers on top of my blog friends…

Since I did not want to wait any longer, I decided to do an “I love reading GIVEAWAY”.

I love reading. I love books. I really do. It’s a love affair which has been going on for the longest time.
It started when my parents read to me each evening before I fell asleep (Merci Papa et Maman!). It continued when I picked up books on my own. Reading Victor Hugo at the age of 8 because really who wouldn’t want to read The Hunchback of Notre Dame at that age…I did not understand everything though. I should read it again 🙂 In my teens, I fell deeper in love with all types of stories and well now, my husband put a limit to the amount of hardcovers I can buy a month…(I’m still not happy with this, Mr Chemical Engineer).

So this giveaway is to celebrate my love of reading with all of you. There will be one winner (but I probably will repeat this in a few months)

You can win 2 books (up to a total of $30): one for you and one for a teenager or a child or a baby you want to share your love of books with. If you’re a teenager, that’s one for you and one for a friend or somebody younger than you. The giveaway is international (open to all countries that The Book Depository ships to). Just fill out the entry form below by Friday March 16th.