Winning Wednesday 16 Dec 2009

Hi, everyone! First of all, I apologize for not having a Winning Wednesday post the last two weeks. I've been busy... and lazy, even more than usual. In the attempt to post faster and more effectively, I'm going to do this and following Winning Wednesday posts just like Belle of Ms Bookish does... a simple list with book title, book genre, ending date. It's not as pretty, but it conveys the same message, makes me save time, and maybe is even quicker to peruse, who knows? Anyway, let's start.

 Regular giveaways (or lists of giveaways)

Monday Book Giveaway at Katrina Stonoff's blog. Up for grabs this week: The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry, No Time To Wave Goodbye by Jacquelyn Mitchard, and Life Sentences by Laura Lippman. Enter before next Sunday at noon.

Win-It Wednesday at  Melissa Walker's blog. Up for grabs this week: (still to be announced while writing this post).

Check out Ms Bookish's compilation of international books giveaways, posted every Sunday as part of The Sunday Salon. Here is her latest link compilation, dated Dec 13.

Alyce's December Bookshelf Cleaning Giveaway at her blog, At Home With Books. Four books up for grabs; open to residents of the US and Canada only. Ends Dec 27 at midnight.

Links to various book giveaways hosted by readers of The Story Siren, posted in the Mr Linky at the end of each YA Connection post. Here's last Saturday's post.

List of 53 Urban Fantasy book giveaways at All Things Urban Fantasy!

Many different giveaways for books and audiobooks at Peeking Between the Pages. Most are US & Canada only, though, because the books come directly from the publisher.

Also check out specific blogs for giveaways: Contests and Freebies and West of Mars - Win a Book.

International giveaways

•  1 out of 5 copies of Beautiful by Amy Reed (YA). Ends Dec 18.
  
• Buy books up to $20 at BookDepository (3 winners). Ends Dec 18.
  
• At least five prize packs (books, ARCs, a bag) to (at least) five winners. Ends Dec 19.
• Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson (YA). Ends Dec 20 at midnight.
• Autographed copy of Linger by Maggie Stiefvater (YA). Ends Dec 20.
  
• Tricks by Ellen Hopkins (YA). Ends Dec 21.
• $75 Visa gift card. Ends Dec 21.
• ARC of Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers (YA). Ends Dec 25.
• 2 winners get their choice of books in YA and adult paranormal romance.  Ends Dec 30.
  
• Witch and Wizard by James Patterson (thriller?). Ends Dec 31.
• The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk (general fiction). Ends Dec 31.
• Nice Girls Don't Live Forever by Molly Harper (YA, paranormal). Ends Dec 31.
• Leaving Gee's Bend by Irene Latham (general fiction). Ends Dec 31.
• The Mark by Jen Nadol (YA). Ends Dec 31.
• Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves (YA). Ends Dec 31.
• The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard (YA). Ends Dec 31.
• Four winners of three books each (mostly YA). Ends Dec 31. 
• Two winners of 2 paperback novels of their choice. Ends Dec 31.
• 2 signed copies of Monster Republic by Ben Norton (horror/thriller). Ends Dec 31.
  
• Taken by Storm by Angela Morrison (YA). Ends Jan 1.
  
• Four winners of various book prizes in the Happy Holidays Book Blowout. Ends Jan 5.
  
• Any book under $15 from BookDepository to 1 winner. Ends Jan 15 at 11:59 PST.
• 6 books (or audiobooks) in December/January Massive Book Giveaway (YA, historical fiction). Ends Jan 31.
• 2 winners get to choose 1 book out of six (YA, historical fiction, paranormal romance). Ends Jan 31.

North America only giveaways

• 1 bookcase and various YA titles for two winners. US only. Ends Dec 17.
  
• Let It Snow (YA). US only. Ends Dec 17 at midnight.
  
• Three books from Putnam Juvenile Publications (YA). Open to US and Canada only. Ends Dec 17.
• 2 winners get to pick 1 out of 6 books (YA). US only. Ends Dec 17 at midnight, Central Time.
  
• Bad Apple by Laura Ruby (YA). US only. Ends Dec 19.
• 3 prize packs (YA). US and Canada only. Ends Dec 19. 
• 2 winners of a mystery box each, full of ARCs from 2008. US and Canada only. Ends Dec 19.
  
• 3 ARCs (Bleeding Violet, Hush, Hush, and The Sky Is Everywhere) (YA) . US and Canada only. Ends Dec 21.
  
• Four books (historical romance). US only Ends Dec 23 at at 11:59 PM EST.
• Various prizes for three winners. US and Canada only. Ends Dec 25.
  
• A big box with 12 books/ARCs (YA). US and Canada only. Ends Dec 26.
• 3 winners get 1 book each (Book of winner's choice, Hold Still by Nina LaCour, and Waves by Sharon Dogar). US only. Ends Dec 27.
  
• Exit Music by Ian Rankin (thriller). US and Canada only. Ends Dec 30.
• ARC of Little Black Lies by Trish Cohen. US only. Ends Dec 31.
  
• Various book prizes if you pre-order one of three books from Putnam Juvenile Publications. US only. Ends Jan 5.
• 3 winners and 25 books to choose from (mostly YA). US only. Ends Jan 15.

 No time to chat today, so I'll just rush off. Happy reading and contest entering, people!

Winners announced!

OK, so I spent practically the whole morning writing names on tiny slips of paper, folding them and putting them away so that I could draw the name of the winner in the old-fashioned way (no one actually warned it would be so time-consuming. I might have to find a faster way of doing it next time I'm holding a contest).

I started putting the pieces of paper in a mug (bought by my parents when they visited Paris a couple of years ago - that's why the mug features the Eiffel Tower). I was writing the name of the 54th entrant when I realized the mug was already full, while I had at least another 20 entrants to put in (and almost everyone had more than one entry).The mug wasn't obviously going to be big enough to contain them all.  (I apologize for the horrible pictures in this post, but please note that they were taken with my phone camera and still worse than usual... not sure why).

So I took one of the plastic boxes my mum uses to store leftovers in the fridge, and that turned out to be big enough. I went on and on and on, writing names, cutting pieces of paper, folding the slips, etc, while my mum kept asking why, oh why was I wasting time playing stupid games while I had to change my sheets, tidy my room up, go and buy bus tickets so i can go to Padua this afternoon, make myself presentable for going out, and about a million other things I don't feel like doing but I have to do anyway.

This was the final result: a plastic box full of bits of paper. Not very romantic, but oh well. Lots of entries, see?

So I finally put my hand in, mixed the pieces of paper around a bit, then plunged in and drew out a name. It turned out to be:

That would be Laura from The Calico Critic, who asked for The Maze Runner. Or alternatively, for Leviathan (by Scott Westerman, I assume). Laura was one of the participants with the most entries, so I guess it paid off.

Then, I watched the plastic box still full of paper bits, and I thought: "All this work to draw only one name? Let's splurge. Let's have another winner!" After all, 77 people entered, but almost everyone had more than one entry, and the total was certainly up to 150 entries or even more. So I drew another name:

And that would be Jenny from Dreaming Of Books. She asked for The Forest of Hands and Teeth. So, Jenny and Laura please email me at outofblue1(AT)gmail(DOT)com asap with your mailing addresses. Please also confirm which book you want (if you've changed your mind, that's OK, just tell me). As soon as I receive your email I'll order your books from the BookDepository (which apparently has gone into maintenance mode while I was typing this post), so you can get them in time for Christmas.

And I'm going to actually pay attention to the addresses this time... cause you know, when I ordered the gift for my Secret Santee I accidentally chose the default address for delivery (my own), instead of that of the person who was supposed to receive them. I realized my mistake two minutes later, when I received the order confirmation by email, and I noticed that the billing and the delivery addresses were the same. I panicked BIG TIME, and emailed the Customer Support. They were totally awesome and edited the delivery address for me. Tragedy prevented (it would have been a tragedy because I ordered for my Secret Santee a book which I already own... so I would've ended up with two copies. Two copies with different covers, so not exactly identical, but still two very ugly covers; for inexplicable reasons, sometimes very good book happen to have terrible covers.)

I really wish I could hold a HUGE giveaway like the guys at Teens Read And Write, who had more than 20 winners, or Parajunkee's 300 Followers contest, or even The Story Siren's 1000 Followers Giveaway. But unfortunately, I haven't got the money at the moment (and I'm out of a job, again). I'm going to have another contest for my birthday next year - but considering I was born in July, that's more than 6 months away. Never mind - there are so many contests going on at the moment in the book blogosphere. Must be the season.

I know I skipped Winning Wednesday last week - I almost wanted to post a make-up list yesterday, but then a) I didn't feel like writing it, and b) I thought that I'd still have to come up with different links for Winning Wednesday Dec 9, which might actually be too difficult. So you'll get a very long list next Wednesday, as I've started saving bookmarks for the various contests.

As for the now infamous and much-promised first Memories Monday post... it'll have to wait for next Monday. Sorry. I'm shameless, I know :( But I promise it's going to be up before the end of times.

My contest is now closed

So, my contest is now closed. 78 people entered, which isn't too shabby, I think. Now I have 94 followers, which is very good. I'm now tallying up entries (it might have been better to start doing this sooner, but who cares, I've been busy after all), and will announce the winner as soon as possible. Hopefully later today. Stay tuned!

Winning Wednesday 25 Nov 2009 (short edition)

Hi everyone, this is going to be a sadly&unusually short Winning Wednesday post cause I got home at 7 pm tonight and am very tired after the first day at a new maybe job (maybe job because they haven't decided if they really want to employ me or not, and of course I haven't really decided if I want to stay, we haven't talked money or contracts yet, but it would be a position in sales - both domestic and exportation - for a small, family-owned firm which produces and sells luxury furniture).

So, I'm not really listing many giveaways in this post; only compilations of links or very, very interesting contests.

First of all: my own giveaway! Win your choice of a book up to €12 (that should be about $17-18) from the BookDepository. Open to anywhere in the world BookDepository ships to, which I am told is pretty much the whole world (to be certain, check on their FAQ page the list of countries they deliver to). Ends Dec 6 at midnight GMT+1, and if more than 100 people enter, I'm going to choose two winners. Check out all the details and enter on this post.

You can also check out Katrina Stonoff's Monday Giveaways, done regularly every Monday on her blog. This week she's giving away any book readily available for $25 or less. Open to anyone in the world who has access to "reliable mail service" (yes, I do wonder if the Italian post system can be labelled as such... well, I'm entering the giveaway all the same, lol). Next Monday, Katrina is going to choose two winers from one of her many beautiful hats!

Also check out Melissa Walker's Win-It Wednesday feature. She has a different (YA) book up for grabs every Wednesday if you answer her question. This week she's giving away The Possibilities of Sainthood by Donna Freitas (I want it!). Enter before next Wednesday.

For many interesting contests, most of them open worldwide, check out the Contest page on The Book Resort (awesome blog, BTW).

If you like YA fiction, a good stop is The Story Siren, not only because Kristi's blog is awesome (she has over 1000 followers - can you imagine it?!), but also because she always has many contests going on, some international, some US (or US&Canada) only.

Huge Thanksgiving Giveaway (5 books for 5 winners) at Peace Love & Pat book reviews. International and ending on Dec 4.

Another awesome contest is at Book Bound. Three winners (or even more, depending on the number of entries) will be able to spend up to $20 in books at the BookDepository. Open internationally and ends on Dec 18. How generous is that?

Two ARCs by Lauren Kate (Fallen and The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove) are up for grabs at Steph Su Reads! Awesome, isn't it? This is an international contest ending on Dec 10.

Win Bad Apple by Laura Ruby at Books at Midnight. Open internationally and ends on December 11, 11:59 EST.

Win a gift voucher for your Christmas wishlist at Booklover Book Reviews, for a value of $25AUD (or equivalent value in other currencies. Ends Dec 11 at 5 pm (Brisbane, Australia time).

At SFF Chat there's a great giveaway for your choice of a fantasy or science fiction book from their online bookstore. Lots of possible choices, and many extra entries available (especially if you live in Israel, lol). Open internationally; ends on Dec 25.

17 books for 5 winners at The Neverending Shelf's amazing Thank You contest! International and ending on Dec 31.

2 winners will get a book from their wishlist (up to $20 at the BookDepository) at A Passion for Books. Open internationally and ending on Dec 31.

Get to spend up to $16 at the BookDepository, courtesy of YA Vampire Books. International; ends Dec 31.

And the amazing Book Resort has a giveaway for Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves. (Check out that pretty purple cover!). International and ending Dec 31.

A good list of international giveaways can be found every Sunday at Ms Bookish, courtesy of Belle herself. Check out her latest list, updated on Sunday Nov 22.

Of course, there are whole blogs devoted to book giveaways. My favourites are West of Mark - Win A Book! and Contests and Freebies.

Also, if you follow the Book Blogs network on Ning, you can check the three main forums about book giveaways there (at least, that I know of): Book Giveaways, Blogging for Books and Giveaways, and Book Giveaways - Open Internationally. The first two threads include both international and North-America-only contests (you usually have to check the single giveaways to know for sure, because people don't always remember to mention that when they leave a link), while the third thread features only worldwide contests.

There would be so many giveaways to include, but I just don't have time to list them now. As usual, you're more than welcome to use the comments to post links to your own giveaway/list of contests, or to contests that you find on the Web and that you consider worth mentioning. Do your own exploring, and see you next week with a (hopefully) more substantial Winning Wednesday post (which I should find the time to draft in the weekend)!

Video Sunday

I'm creating another regular feature on this blog! It's called Video Sunday (OK, not a very rock-and-roll name, I agree... have any better suggestions? Let's hear 'em) and it will contain... guess what... a video! Possibly, but not always, book-related. Today, just to send off things with a splash, I'm featuring a song by Sara McLachlan which I've recently discovered and love to pieces. It's called Stupid. Here you can watch Sara and her band perform it live. Such a beautiful, haunting song.

I especially love the part that says:

Love has made me a fool
it set me on fire and watched as I floundered
unable to speak
except to cry out and wait for your answer
but you come around in your time
speaking of fabulous places
create an oasis
dries up as soon as you're gone
you leave me here burning
in this desert without you

I think this live version is very good, while the CD track is not as engaging - as far as I can hear from Youtube. There's also another version of the song, called Mark Bell remix, which is more "beat" and absolutely beautiful: you can watch the video on Youtube.

I'm thinking that maybe in the future posts I can feature book trailers, video book reviews (I saw one at Mrs Magoo Reads and I was all, "I want to do one too! Teach me how!". Either I find someone willing to teach me or I'll keep pestering y'all, you know), or possibly a vlog. I love watching other book bloggers' vlogs because it's nice to associate a face to a blog (yeah, there are pictures, but it's not the same as seeing a person in a video), and also to hear everyone's voices. I found some software to record a vlog a while back, and if (big if, considering my very limited technical skills) I can learn to use it, you can expect a vlog from me! So you can all hear my terrible Italian accent and beg me never to make another vlog again. Hahahaha. No, I promise, it's not so terrible. Or at least I can make an effort :)

In other news, my dad fixed my grandfather's old exercise camera for me, and I've been cycling like crazy ever since. I like to do it while reading a book, so I get distracted and don't notice the minutes tickling by. My mum says it's not really going to work if I read a book while exercising. Maybe she thinks I'm not doing it fast enough when I'm reading, but she's wrong. My brother says I need to get on that bike every time I feel hungry and it's not mealtime. I did it just now, and although the endorphines releasing in my body are very nice and relaxing, I'm still hungry as hell. Slimming down is going to take a long, long time, I suspect.