Update on BBAW Giveaways (+ Updates in General)

I'm sorry for the radio silence for the past week; my computer, which has prevented me from posting as much as I'd like for weeks, took a turn for the worse. In other words, regular updates may slow for a while, but I'll do my best to update at least twice a week until my computer is healthy again. For instance, I have a couple of reviews coming soon. (One of the nice side effects of not being about to blog means that I've been reading more!)

And in giveaway news, all my Book Blogger Appreciation Week giveaways ended last night! I'm going to pick the winners and post about it (hopefully) tomorrow. Good luck to everyone who entered!

BBAW Guest Interview: Lisa of "Lit and Life"

As a rather new blogger--I was but a twinkle in a blogger's eye last year, so to speak--I was both excited and apprehensive about participating in Book Blogger Appreciation Week. I certainly wanted to express my gratitude for all of the blogs--the dozens upon dozens--that I love to read and that make my day a little brighter. But I'm so new to the game; what could I have to contribute? I was particularly concerned about the BBAW interviews, where participating bloggers are paired to interview each other. I loved the concept, but felt I simply lacked the experience to have anything to say.

In a stroke of luck, for my BBAW interview, I was paired with Lisa of Lit and Life. Lisa, like me, is a newcomer to the book blogger world. We get each other. We remember what it's like to be new because we are new. My anxiety went away, and in the process, I learned about the author of a blog I will certainly be following from now on!

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And here is Lisa in all her glory:

1. An oldie but a good: what is your favorite book and why?

Pride and Prejudice; I love the dialogue between Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy.

2. I see that you like flea marketing (and I can relate!); do you look for books there as well?

The only books I look for at flea markets are old children's books, which I collect. I'm pretty picking about buying used books; it's terrible to say but I don't like them once their pages are yellowed.

3. Since you love both cooking and reading, what is your cookbook collection like?

I do have a fairly big cookbook collection but don't use them as much as I should. I'm pretty prone to freelancing when I cook.

4. What is your favorite movie adaptation of a book?

That's a tough one! I love movies but I'm not always happy with adaptations of books I like. I do really like the most recent adaptation of Pride and Prejudice but mostly for the scene at the end in the field!

5. Do your husband and children share your love of reading?

All of the guys in my house like to read but none of them read as much as I do. My daughter really doesn't like to read which makes me so sad. I keep trying to find her that book that will really grab her and turn her into a reader.

6. What have been the highlights of blogging for you? Any negatives?

I have been happily surprised with the sense of community in the book blogging world. I really feel like I'm making friends, even if that makes my family laugh at me. The only negative is that I've become somewhat addicted to reading blogs now--which makes my TBR list grow daily but cuts into my reading time.

7. What criteria do you use when reviewing books?

I like to start my actual review with the things I liked about a book. I've been lucky since I started blogging in May and haven't picked up anything yet that I've had a hard time doing this. Next I'll get into what I didn't like about the book. But I always try to end on a positive note--even if it were just to say that maybe this just wasn't the right book for me or that it wasn't the right time for me to read it.

8. On your blog, you list the top five books you've read this year; why those five?

The Help, City of Thieves and The Housekeeper and The Professor all had wonderful characters first and foremost. The Mighty Queens of Freeville was such a positive book and made me laugh. People of the Book has this fabulous looks back into history. And I felt like all of them were really well written.

9. How do you choose your quotes of the day come from?

I've used several sources for my quotes. Sometimes I just starting going down a list until I find something I like. Sometimes I'm looking for something particular. I started with the idea to only use book related quotes but that went by the wayside one day when I found a really funny quote I wanted to use. My sister even sent me the one about the grandfather.

10. Do you have any plans for your blog looking forward?

I'm hoping to get my very computer-savvy son to help me put together a header and go to a three-column format. I love when I can figure out how to change or add something new on it. After the first of the year, I'm toying with the idea of hosting a challenge.

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Again, please check out Lisa's blog at Lit and Life, as she truly has a wonderful writing style!

BBAW Giveaway: Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (Friday)

In support of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, I will be hosting five giveaways: one for each day of BBAW. Though I will be posting them all on Monday, they will each represent one of the BBAW days, and will run until Sunday. For Friday's giveaway: Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. Here's a description:

From the author of Blink and The Tipping Point, a new book that asks: why are people successful? For centuries, humankind has grappled with this question, searching for the secret to accomplishing great things. This book takes us on a journey to show us what makes an overachiever. It reveals that we pay more attention to what successful people are like, and little attention to where successful people are from.

The Rules

1. The contest will run until midnight EST on September 20th.
2. This giveaway is limited to the United States and Canada only.
3. To enter, just leave a comment with your e-mail address so that I can contact you if you win.
4. For additional entries, you can:

+1 Follow my blog
+1 Subscribe by reader
+1 Subscribe by e-mail
+3 Post on your blog about this contest (either sidebar or post is
fine; include the link in your comment)

5. Please post a separate comment for each entry.

Good luck!

BBAW Giveaway: The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand (Thursday)

In support of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, I will be hosting five giveaways: one for each day of BBAW. Though I will be posting them all on Monday, they will each represent one of the BBAW days, and will run until Sunday. For Thursday's giveaway: The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand. Here's a description:

Greg and Tess MacAvoy are one of four prominent Nantucket couples who count each other as best friends. As pillars of their close-knit community, the MacAvoys, Kapenashes, Drakes, and Wheelers are important to their friends and neighbors, and especially to each other. But just before the beginning of another idyllic summer, Greg and Tess are killed when their boat capsizes during an anniversary sail. As the warm weather approaches and the island mourns their loss, nothing can prepare the MacAvoy's closest friends for what will be revealed.

Once again, Hilderbrand masterfully weaves an intense tale of love and loyalty set against the backdrop of endless summer island life.

The Rules

1. The contest will run until midnight EST on September 20th.
2. This giveaway is limited to the United States and Canada only.
3. To enter, just leave a comment with your e-mail address so that I can contact you if you win.
4. For additional entries, you can:

+1 Follow my blog
+1 Subscribe by reader
+1 Subscribe by e-mail
+3 Post on your blog about this contest (either sidebar or post is
fine; include the link in your comment)

5. Please post a separate comment for each entry.

Good luck!

BBAW Giveaway: My Name Is Will by Jess Winfield (Wednesday)

In support of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, I will be hosting five giveaways: one for each day of BBAW. Though I will be posting them all on Monday, they will each represent one of the BBAW days, and will run until Sunday. For Wednesday's giveaway: My Name Is Will by Jess Winfield. Here's a description:

Willie Shakespeare Greenberg is not living up to his name. It's 1986, and instead of finishing his thesis on the Bard, this grad student is saying "yes" to drugs, bedding coeds, and delivering a giant psychedelic mushroom to a mysterious collector. Meanwhile (or rather, back in 1582), would-be playwright William Shakespeare is an eighteen-year-old Latin teacher whose world is turned upside down when a stranger entrusts him with a sacred relic from Rome, drawing him into an underground network of Catholic dissidents.

The Rules

1. The contest will run until midnight EST on September 20th.
2. This giveaway is limited to the United States and Canada only.
3. To enter, just leave a comment with your e-mail address so that I can contact you if you win.
4. For additional entries, you can:

+1 Follow my blog
+1 Subscribe by reader
+1 Subscribe by e-mail
+3 Post on your blog about this contest (either sidebar or post is
fine; include the link in your comment)

5. Please post a separate comment for each entry.

Good luck!

BBAW Giveaway: BoneMan's Daughters by Ted Dekker (Tuesday)

In support of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, I will be hosting five giveaways: one for each day of BBAW. Though I will be posting them all on Monday, they will each represent one of the BBAW days, and will run until Sunday. For Tuesday's giveaway: BoneMan's Daughters by Ted Dekker. Here's a description:

They call him BoneMan, a serial killer who's abducted six young women. He's the perfect father looking for the perfect daughter, and when his victims fail to meet his lofty expectations, he kills them by breaking their bones and leaving them to die.

Intelligence officer Ryan Evans, on the other hand, has lost all hope of ever being the perfect father. His daughter and wife have written him out of their lives.

Everything changes when BoneMan takes Ryan's estranged daughter, Bethany, as his seventh victim. Ryan goes after BoneMan on his own.

But the FBI sees it differently. New evidence points to the suspicion that Ryan is BoneMan. Now the hunter is the hunted, and in the end, only one father will stand.

The Rules

1. The contest will run until midnight EST on September 20th.
2. This giveaway is limited to the United States and Canada only.
3. To enter, just leave a comment with your e-mail address so that I can contact you if you win.
4. For additional entries, you can:

+1 Follow my blog
+1 Subscribe by reader
+1 Subscribe by e-mail
+3 Post on your blog about this contest (either sidebar or post is
fine; include the link in your comment)

5. Please post a separate comment for each entry.

Good luck!

BBAW Giveaway: Hollywood Is Like High School With Money by Zoey Dean (Monday)

In support of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, I will be hosting five giveaways: one for each day of BBAW. Though I will be posting them all on Monday, they will each represent one of the BBAW days, and will run until Sunday. For Monday's giveaway: Hollywood Is Like High School With Money by Zoey Dean. Here's a description:

Twenty-four-year old Taylor Henning has just landed her dream job as an assistant at a major movie studio. But when her catty coworkers trick her into almost getting fired, she realizes that the old saying "Hollywood is like school with money" just may be true. The thing is, Taylor wasn't exactly a social butterfly in high school--how is she supposed to do any better the second time around?

That's when she meets her boss's popular sixteen-year-old daughter Quinn, and has an epiphany: maybe this teenager can teach her how to use her queen bee tactics to succeed in the Hollywood popularity contest. Quinn comes up with a plan to teach Taylor one lesson a week--everything from "Fake it 'til you make it" to "It's *never* your fault"--and soon Taylor finds herself winning the war against rival assistant Kylie. Until, that is, she's directed to steal Kylie's boyfriend, and something happens that's not in the game plan: Taylor falls for the guy. Now she must do the impossible--harness her inner mean girl while staying true to herself.

The Rules

1. The contest will run until midnight EST on September 20th.
2. This giveaway is limited to the United States and Canada only.
3. To enter, just leave a comment with your e-mail address so that I can contact you if you win.
4. For additional entries, you can:

+1 Follow my blog
+1 Subscribe by reader
+1 Subscribe by e-mail
+3 Post on your blog about this contest (either sidebar or post is
fine; include the link in your comment)

5. Please post a separate comment for each entry.

Good luck!

It's Monday! What are you reading? (September 14, 2009)

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a weekly event hosted by J. Kaye's Book Blog; participants discuss what they read the previous week and what the plan to read in the coming week.

I'm just going to stop apologizing for reading slowly; apparently I'm just slow! Hopefully my quality will make up for it. :^)

Last week's action:

*Friends Like These by Danny Wallace

Perusing now:

*Friends Like These by Danny Wallace (almost done!)

Stay tuned for:

*Benny & Shrimp by Katarina Mazetti
*Everything Sucks by Hannah Friedman
*Deconstructing Sammy by Matt Birkbeck

Giveaway: The Blue Pen by Lisa Rusczyk

I recently read and really enjoyed The Blue Pen by isa Rusczyk; you can read my review here and my interview with Ms. Rusczyk here!

Now, thanks to Lisa, I have five .PDF copies of The Blue Pen to give away to my readers.

The Rules

1. The contest will run until midnight EST on September 30th.
2. To enter, just leave a comment with your e-mail address so that I can contact you if you win.
3. For additional entries, you can:

+1 Follow my blog
+1 Subscribe by reader
+1 Subscribe by e-mail
+3 Post on your blog about this contest (either sidebar or post is
fine; include the link in your comment)

4. Please post a separate comment for each entry.

Good luck!

Guest Interview: Lisa Rusczyk, author of The Blue Pen

A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of reviewing The Blue Pen by Lisa Rusczyk. I found it very compelling, and a great read that I couldn't put it down. For that reason, I am honored that Ms. Rusczyk agreed to an interview here on Falling Into Words. I hope you will enjoy her responses as much as I did!

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How would you describe The Blue Pen thematically?

The story explores elements of the paranormal in relation to symptoms of mental illness. It also plays out Cleo's family drama. Parker is a catalyst to bring Cleo full circle in her life experiences.

As you mentioned, there are touches of the occult in several places which sometimes converge with mental illness. How did that plot element come about? Was it something you were already interested in, or did Cleo's story take you there?

It's definitely something I have a personal interest in. I'm fascinated with the similarities between symptoms of mental illness and the paranormal. It was intended as the main theme of the book from the beginning. I wanted to write something that a reader might relate to on either side of the coin.

I found Cleo to be incredibly dynamic and mesmerizing. What was her inspiration?

Cleo just popped out of the pen. I don't know where she came from. She started out being a bit more crass, but as I wrote her character, she mellowed and I altered her earlier attitude.

The other main character, Parker, is a journalist. Have you worked in the field? I found the tension between "good" and "bad" journalists very interesting.

I've never worked as a journalist. I have a pretty bad job history, actually! Mainly I've worked as a sound tech and waitress, but now I freelance write and do proofreading/programming for my brother's company.

How much of the settings and characters are inspired by your own life?

The characters don't feel like they come from anyone I know, but the setting of the Beacon could be any number of dark punk clubs I played in during my punk rock playing years. Also, in the past I had a tendency to overindulge in drinking, so writing about it seemed natural. I spent every summer until I was sixteen in Philadelphia, so that is why I chose to put Cleo there. It's a great city, and I could see it supporting a place like the Beacon.

I can typically pinpoint the moments in my life that instigate large changes. Was there any such moment for you in relation to creating The Blue Pen?

I wrote the novel over a five year period when I lived in Phoenix, Arizona and was married. I spent seven years in the desert and it changed me quite a bit. When my husband left me, I became more determined to see one of my books get published. That doesn't have to do with creating it, but it did push me to work as hard as I could to make my career dreams come true. As far as creating it, I can't think of a particular moment, just long nights in the computer room typing away madly.

Who are your influences, both literary and non-literary? Which ones played a role in The Blue Pen?

I'm usually influenced by whatever I'm reading at the time, or TV shows and movies that fuel my imagination. Oddly, I think music influences me the most in writing. Music has so much mood and feeling in it that I am greatly inspired by it and often feel moved to write certain ways during or after hearing certain songs or albums. I listened to a lot of Radiohead while writing The Blue Pen.

Do you typically write in a linear fashion, or out of order where inspiration takes you?

I write in linear fashion, but plot a step ahead in my mind. I don't outline, but rather have a rough direction of where I want the books to go.

Outside of reading and writing, what are your hobbies?

I write and play music, though not as much as I used to. I also occasionally indulge in massive amounts of time loss due to playing MMORPGs, online gaming. I can't do that right now because I have dial-up, but soon I'll have satellite Internet and the gaming may begin again! I also love to snuggle up with the boyfriend with some Star Trek.

Lastly, if you can, tell us a bit about where you're going from here.

I have three more novels coming out with my publisher, two in an urban fantasy series called Sam the Night Person and Full Moon in December, and a young adult fantasy called A Dream of the Past. I'm working on a middle grade fantasy novel about cats mainly these days, a sequel to A Dream of the Past, and a book about twins with mental illness.

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Thank you, Lisa, for taking the time to metaphorically sit down with me. Again, I posted my review of The Blue Pen a couple of weeks ago, and I urge everyone to check it out!

Giveaway: Playing House by Fredrica Wagman

I recently read and loved Playing House by Fredrica Wagman; you can read my review here.

Now, thanks to Julie and the good people at FSB Associates, I have two copies of Playing House to give away to my readers.

The Rules

1. The contest will run until midnight EST on September 30th.
2. Unfortunately, this giveaway is limited to the United States only, and no P.O. Box addresses can be accepted.
3. To enter, just leave a comment with your e-mail address so that I can contact you if you win.
4. For additional entries, you can:

+1 Follow my blog
+1 Subscribe by reader
+1 Subscribe by e-mail
+3 Post on your blog about this contest (either sidebar or post is
fine; include the link in your comment)

5. Please post a separate comment for each entry.

Good luck!

Booking Through Thursday (September 10, 2009)

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly event that poses a new book-related each week. Here is this week's question:

What’s the most informative book you’ve read recently?

I'd probably have to go with The Link by Colin Tudge, at least if we're going at the question from a purely fact-based knowledge tilt. I certainly learned a great deal about evolution and all the global changes that affect it. Though not the most scientifically rigorous book, for someone without a scientific background (like me!), the book was perfect.

But, on the other hand, I always feel that I learn an enormous amount from great works of fiction, even if it is harder to put my finger on exactly what I learned. Every one of my favorite books has changed me in some way. I do think I would be a different person, if only slightly different, had I never read certain book.

In other words, I think it's hard to say!

Book Review: Playing House by Fredrica Wagman

That the central theme of Playing House is incest could--and, I suspect, often does--repel the potential reader away. Looking at the book from a traditionally moralistic standpoint, this is the literary equivalent of an amusement park's house of horrors. However, taking the wrappings of Playing House and using them to judge the true heart of the book would be a mistake. Doing so would allow the potential reader to miss what is a nuanced and delicate examination of the things we need and what that need does to us.

The plot, though so potentially shocking, is rather straightforward. Playing House's nameless narrator has a childhood love affair with her brother from which she never recovers. After the affair ends, she begins to spin out of control mentally, brilliantly reflected in Fredrica Wagman's frantic, frenetic, stream-of-consciousness writing style. The narrator wants her brother yet is also angry and wishes to escape his influence. Everything that happens to her or is done by her post-affair is a direct result of the gravitational pull of her brother.

Interestingly, the narrator looks back at her relationship with her brother not with disgust or even confusion but rather with a mixture of nostalgia and resignation. She says of her sister, a sibling eclipsed in the narrator's mind by the brother, that she was "chasing smoke," and the same is true of the narrator. She has created in her brother the ideal man, yet he is the man she cannot have. In spite of this, or because of it, she seeks him everywhere. In light of an absent father, vacant mother and an older sister she never really knows, her brother becomes her entire family, her only guidepost platonically and romantically. For her, he is the only one who can give and who can take away.

Thus, the conflict of Playing House is an internal one. At the opening, the narrator is torn between her incestuous relationship with her brother and her socially acceptable relationship with her husband. But there is no simple dichotomy. Onto the normal, churchly love of a husband and wife, the narrator tries to impose perverse freakishness. Onto her incestuous relationship, normal domesticity. The rules by which the rest of us make sense of our lives don't apply to the narrator. She cannot accept church-sanctioned love because she is already a member of a cult of personality. But can members of such cults ever come out okay?

Playing House is frequently difficult; Wagman does an excellent job of not allowing the reader the luxury of labelling right and wrong. This is one of the harder reads I've tackled recently, not only for the subject matter but also because of the beautiful but dizzying prose. In the end, though, the narrator's failings and agonies are truly universal; as she asks herself, "Why didn't I ever live what I had, why were the dreams always better than the things I had?"

It's Monday! What are you reading? (September 7, 2009)

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a weekly event hosted by J. Kaye's Book Blog; participants discuss what they read the previous week and what the plan to read in the coming week.

Last week was slow--again! But I have a couple of reviews coming up, so hopefully that will help make up for it. :^)

Last week's action:

*Playing House by Fredrica Wagman

Perusing now:

*Friends Like These by Danny Wallace

Stay tuned for:

*Benny & Shrimp by Katarina Mazetti
*Everything Sucks by Hannah Friedman

Sunday Salon (September 6, 2009)

As this is my wedding anniversary, the only thing I'll be reading is the dinner menu at wd~50. Food + husband (+, I suppose, reading) = heaven!

But I do have a big week coming up: at least two big reviews, more giveaways, an author interview and more. Do check back for more fun!

Booking Through Thursday (September 3, 2009)

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly event that poses a new book-related each week. Here is this week's question:

What’s the biggest book you’ve read recently?
(Feel free to think “big” as size, or as popularity, or in any other way you care to interpret.)

In pure, physical heft, I'd have to say East of Eden by John Steinbeck is my Sears Tower. But the book's span, its intrigues through generations, its twists and turns: they all made it so that East of Eden was over far too soon. For me, this is an example of the ideal book: long enough to get deep into, interesting enough to fall completely into, and weighty enough to feel nice and snug under the arm.

On the other hand, Herzog by Saul Bellow, which is about half the length of East of Eden, took me almost twice as long to read. I just couldn't connect to the central character, and each page felt as though I was slogging through mud. (Don't get me wrong, I think Bellow is a great author; I just hated this book.) I find it interesting how--at least for me--the length in pages has very little in common with the length in experience.

August Giveaways: And The Winners Are...

Amd now to (somewhat belatedly) announce the winners of my group of giveaways which ended early this week. With the help of random.org, here goes!

Winner of Bobbi Brown Living Beauty and How Not To Look Old:

4 - Barbara

Winners of Julie & Julia by Julie Powell:

3 - TZel
12 - bingo
20 - tea
47 - Carol
48 - The Mini-Maker

Winners of The Impostor's Daughter by Laurie Sandell:

15 - ky2here
31 - danosor
33 - wanda
52 - Erica G
80 - Renee

Winners of The Link by Colin Tudge:

2 - wanda
6 - I Heart Book Gossip
14 - etirv
24 - JaniceH
26 - Marybeth I.

Winners have until Tuesday, September 8th to claim their books or I'll move on to the next contestant. Thanks for the great response to my first set of giveaways!