BAFFLING BINGO MYSTERY BOOK DAY: ROOM- REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

WELCOME TO
BOOKIN' WITH BINGO'S
"BAFFLING BINGO DAY"
I'M EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THIS THURSDAY'S
"BAFFLING BINGO DAY"
MYSTERY BOOK CHOICE IS.....

GIVEAWAY ENDED
ROOM
BY EMMA DONOGHUE
Shortlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize

ABOUT THE BOOK:

To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.

Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, ROOM is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

Take a virtual tour of Ma and Jack's 11x11 room on www.roomthebook.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Born in Dublin in 1969, Emma Donoghue is a writer of contemporary and historical fiction whose novels include the bestselling Slammerkin, The Sealed Letter, Landing, Life Mask, Hood, and Stirfry. Her story collections are The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits, Kissing the Witch, and Touchy Subjects. She also writes literary history, and plays for stage and radio. She lives in London, Ontario, with her partner and their two small children. For more information, go to www.emmadonoghue.com.

Audio and Video

"I was born in Ireland in 1969 and lived in England before moving to Canada. I write fiction (including the bestselling Slammerkin), drama for stage and radio, and literary history; Room is my seventh novel. Some of the places I found inspiration : Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719), ), FeralChildren.com, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (2006), Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh (1856), John Fowles’s The Collector (1963), Anne Frank’s Diary (1947), Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932), Terminator 2 : Judgment Day (1991), The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs (1966), but above all in conversation with my five-year-old son."

MY REVIEW:

Emma Donoghue's ROOM is an amazingly different kind of book that hit me unlike anything I have read in a very long time. I was concerned reading the first few pages as initially I thought that the five year old narrator’s way of expressing himself was too frustrating for me to get used to. However, I stuck with it and within a few minutes became intrigued at what Jack, the child, was saying. Jack referred to things like calling a pitifully wilted plant “Plant”, and his bed he called “Bed”, as if those were their names like his was Jack. The people he saw on television were “Only TV”, and you slowly realize that the likes of Bed and Plant are characters to him because this is Jack‘s world. These characters live in the only world Jack knows and so of course they have names just like his mother is “Ma”. This is Jack’s world and he literally believes that anything outside of ROOM is outer space.

Readers learn through Jack’s narration that “Ma” has been locked in ROOM for seven years. Thus one realizes that Jack has been in ROOM for all of his five years with neither ever having set foot outside of this eleven square foot converted shed in all that time. You ascertain that Ma was kidnapped as a young college student by a man whom she and Jack refer to as “Old Nick”. As details of Ma’s kidnapping and subsequent repeated rapes are revealed the horror of what is really going on goes far beyond a story told about just a five year old’s life. Readers are seeing the story through Jack’s eyes and so there is nothing graphic about the criminal assaults by “Old Nick”. However, the mere emotional tension as Jack counts and listens to how many times the bedsprings squeak when Old Nick visits at night allows one to feel the psychological terror Ma endures. Each and every evening that Old Nick comes in ROOM, Ma submits in order to keep her son safe and in return for Old Nick bringing them much needed bare bones supplies on Sundays. Ma realizes that they must find a way out for Jack’s safety if not her sanity.

Jack has no interaction with Old Nick as Ma wants to protect Jack from any contact with something so evil. But one night it all becomes too much for Ma and she realizes they must try and escape before Old Nick decides to do something to Jack. Her goal is to protect her son  and she worries about what could become of them and doesn’t let Old Nick see him lest Jack be tainted by his evil. 

Jack and Ma have such a strong bond and you have to admire Ma for her dedication to raising Jack as normally as possible in what is an anything but normal situation. And the suspense builds as Ma begins to plan an escape. The only world that Jack knows will be no more.

Looking at the world through Jack’s eyes is fascinating as well as frightening, whether in ROOM or not. What is Jack’s life really like in ROOM and how will that change if he leaves that prison he calls ROOM? What kind of life will Jack and Ma lead if they do escape? Will Jack be able to acclimate to the real world? 

It is no surprise that ROOM is on the short list for the Man Booker Prize to be announced in October. This psychological thriller will get inside your head as much as Jack will get inside your heart. Living in Jack’s world is disturbing while fascinating. The creativity with which Donoghue portrays such a disturbing and terrifying subject will draw you in and not let you alone even long after you have left the ROOM. She has created a believable portrait of what we sadly know from today’s headlines every day in our  WORLD could happen and does. I strongly recommend you get a copy of this BOOK and go to your ROOM and start reading right away. I am pretty sure you won’t stop until you finish the BOOK.

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO MIRIAM AND THE GOOD FOLKS
AT THE HACHETTE BOOK GROUP,
I HAVE 3 COPIES OF THIS FASCINATING
NEW BOOK TO GIVE AWAY!

THE RULES:

--U.S. AND CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE
--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
--ALL ENTRIES/COMMENTS MUST BE
SEPARATE IN ORDER TO COUNT
AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY


HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING ABOUT ROOM AND/OR AUTHOR EMMA DONOGHUE ABOVE THAT MADE YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK I CAN FOLLOW IN THE ENTRY

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE WAY THAT YOU FOLLOW THIS BLOG.

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING OVER AT EMMA DONOGHUE'S WEBSITE BY GOING HERE

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, OCTOBER 27!

GOOD LUCK!

PROMISE ME: REVIEW AND BONUS GIVEAWAY ENTRIES

GIVEAWAY ENDED
How a Sister's Love Launched the
Global Movement to End Breast Cancer
BY NANCY G. BRINKER

REMEMBER ABOUT THE BOOK:

Suzy and Nancy Goodman were more than sisters. They were best friends, confidantes, and partners in the grand adventure of life. For three decades, nothing could separate them. Not college, not marriage, not miles. Then Suzy got sick. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1977; three agonizing years later, at thirty-six, she died.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The Goodman girls were raised in postwar Peoria, Illinois, by parents who believed that small acts of charity could change the world. Suzy was the big sister—the homecoming queen with an infectious enthusiasm and a generous heart. Nancy was the little sister—the tomboy with an outsized sense of justice who wanted to right all wrongs. The sisters shared makeup tips, dating secrets, plans for glamorous fantasy careers. They spent one memorable summer in Europe discovering a big world far from Peoria. They imagined a long life together—one in which they’d grow old together surrounded by children and grandchildren. Suzy’s diagnosis shattered that dream.

In 1977, breast cancer was still shrouded in stigma and shame. Nobody talked about early detection and mammograms. Nobody could even say the words “breast” and “cancer” together in polite company, let alone on television news broadcasts. With Nancy at her side, Suzy endured the many indignities of cancer treatment, from the grim, soul-killing waiting rooms to the mistakes of well-meaning but misinformed doctors. That’s when Suzy began to ask Nancy to promise. To promise to end the silence. To promise to raise money for scientific research. To promise to one day cure breast cancer for good. Big, shoot-for-the-moon promises that Nancy never dreamed she could fulfill. But she promised because this was her beloved sister. I promise, Suzy. . . . Even if it takes the rest of my life.

Suzy’s death—both shocking and senseless—created a deep pain in Nancy that never fully went away. But she soon found a useful outlet for her grief and outrage. Armed only with a shoebox filled with the names of potential donors, Nancy put her formidable fund-raising talents to work and quickly discovered a groundswell of grassroots support. She was aided in her mission by the loving tutelage of her husband, restaurant magnate Norman Brinker, whose dynamic approach to entrepreneurship became Nancy’s model for running her foundation. Her account of how she and Norman met, fell in love, and managed to achieve the elusive “true marriage of equals” is one of the great grown-up love stories among recent memoirs.

Nancy’s mission to change the way the world talked about and treated breast cancer took on added urgency when she was herself diagnosed with the disease in 1984, a terrifying chapter in her life that she had long feared. Unlike her sister, Nancy survived and went on to make Susan G. Komen for the Cure into the most influential health charity in the country and arguably the world. A pioneering force in cause-related marketing, SGK turned the pink ribbon into a symbol of hope everywhere. Each year, millions of people worldwide take part in SGK Race for the Cure events. And thanks to the more than $1.5 billion spent by SGK for cutting-edge research and community programs, a breast cancer diagnosis today is no longer a death sentence. In fact, in the time since Suzy’s death, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer has risen from 74 percent to 98 percent.

Promise Me is a deeply moving story of family and sisterhood, the dramatic “30,000-foot view” of the democratization of a disease, and a soaring affirmative to the question: Can one person truly make a difference?

MY REVIEW:

PROMISE ME by Nancy G. Brinker is a story you won't soon forget. Many of us know of  the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation and all the good work this non-profit organization has done over the years but not many know the real story behind it. Nancy Brinker who has been the driving force behind this organization from the start, tells its story in this book. PROMISE ME not only tells how Nancy built the Susan G. Komen Foundation but the details of how she got people involved and how she keeps it going until this day. All of this is fascinating but the real story in PROMISE ME begins with Nancy and her sister, Susan; the real reason for this organization in the first place.
 
Brinker describes her life story which has been built around a solid family that she and Susan were a part of. In the first part of the book, Nancy tells about her relationship with Susan and about her sister’s zest for life. She reveals how Susan enjoyed life and was much like their father, a person who always volunteered in so many ways and also was just inherently dedicated to helping others. Nancy says of her sister Susan, that like their father, she never met a person she didn’t feel was a friend. Nancy, on the other hand, favored their mother who was a very strong-minded, ambitious, and reasonable, while never shy about having to push the system in order to accomplish one of her positive goals. Even though the girls’ parents had opposite personalities, they were a loving couple who instilled in their children the importance of the value of family, and having love and respect for each other, even if their views differed. They were wonderful parents and helped the girls to see the value of being independent thinkers while respecting others views as well. Family was everything to them.

The book also tells of Nancy and her former husband, Norman Brinker, who gave her so much in the way of how to organize and run a business. They met and fell deeply in love and were a great support and inspiration to each other. Norman’s idea of running a business for the people and not just for the business end of it alone, showed Nancy how that would always be of great benefit to all in the end. He was a great example to Nancy on how to treat your employees like family and the benefits you would reap in more than one way as a result of that. Much of the success of the Susan G. Komen Foundation is a result of what Nancy learned from Norman Brinker and how she put it in action in successfully running the organization.

The story goes on to describe the deep and loving bond between the sisters. It tells of Susan’s beast cancer diagnosis in 1977 and how at the time, people didn’t even talk about breast cancer. There in the early 1980’s, the treatments were awful and there was no cure. Nancy watched her sister suffer and she promised her that she would fight to make breast cancer awareness a real priority. Only three years later, Susan died and Nancy had her cause, and she went after it full steam. It also tells of the horror of Nancy herself discovering she had breast cancer but this was years later and she is now a survivor. This was just one more thing that spurred her on in her cause.

The book goes on to describe the history and major accomplishments over the years that have come about in breast cancer research, treatment, and cures. Many breast cancer survivors’ stories are in the book and it also includes the story of volunteers who give everything they have to help this cause. Starting with $200 and a few contacts, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure has raised more than 1.5 billion dollars to give for breast cancer research and the results are hopeful. Statistically, people never realized for instance that almost 340,000 women died during the ten year period of the Viet Nam War, while we sadly also lost over 58,000 service men. Yet, those women weren’t discussed back then. Great strides of course have been made today and yet, we still have about 40,000 women who die each year from Breast Cancer...still! How can we let this continue? We can’t, and if reading Nancy’s book, PROMISE ME does nothing more than make you aware that you must get yourself checked, that is a start. Hopefully, it will also inspire you to be like Susan and her father, and obviously Nancy of course, and see how YOU can help others. What part can you play in this battle? Can you sit by and not want to help find a Cure? I think not… and each person who reads this book will come away with their own way of helping but they also will come away not forgetting what they have read.
 

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO JULIE AND THE PEOPLE AT
CROWN PUBLISHING I HAVE ONE COPY OF
THIS AMAZING BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.

--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
 ---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS 
IN CASE YOU WIN! 
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
 COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER
YOU CAN GO HERE TO SEE THE FIRST PART OF
THIS POST AND MORE WAYS TO ENTER  

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHY YOU WOULD LIKE TO WIN THIS BOOK

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE CURRENT GIVEAWAY YOU HAVE ENTERED FROM THIS BLOG. ONLY ONE THIS TIME, PLEASE.
 
+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET OR SHARE ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY ON THE SOCIAL NETWORK OR BLOG OF YOUR CHOICE. EACH PLACE YOU POST SHOULD BE SEPARATE AND WITH A LINK LEFT IN YOUR COMMENT.

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, OCTOBER 13!

WEDNESDAY MEANS WINNERS DAY!

WELCOME TO
BOOKIN' WITH BINGO'S
"WEDNESDAY MEANS WINNERS DAY".

I AM EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THIS WEDNESDAY'S
"WEDNESDAY MEANS WINNERS DAY"...

THE WINNERS HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED
BY EMAIL AND HAVE UNTIL NOON,
OCTOBER 1, TO REPLY WITH THE
INFORMATION OR A NEW WINNER
WILL HAVE TO BE CHOSEN!
************************************
THE HYPNOTIST
BY M. J. ROSE
THANKS TO TRACEE AT NOVEL NOISE
I HAVE ONE COPY OF THIS EXCITING
BOOK TO GIVE AWAY
THE WINNER IS:
#17 Cindy W
**********************************
A SECRET KEPT 
BY TATIANA DeROSNAY
READ BY SIMON VANCE 
THANKS TO STEPHANIE AND THE GOOD
FOLKS AT MACMILLAN AUDIO BOOKS,
I HAVE THREE COPIES OF AUDIO BOOK
TO GIVE AWAY! 
THE WINNERS ARE:
#57 LoveMy2Dogs
#40 Bonnie
#73 Christine H
*********************************

LET'S TAKE THE
LONG WAY HOME
A Memoir of Friendship
BY GAIL CALDWELL

THANKS TO DEBORAH AND GOOD PEOPLE
AT RANDOM HOUSE PUBLISHING,
I HAVE 5 ADVANCED COPIES OF THIS BEST

  SELLING NEW BOOK TO GIVE AWAY

THE WINNERS ARE:

#69 (#9 in Part Two) sharon54220

#37 holdenj
#15 Pamela Keener
#45 Linda Henderson
#52 Carol W.
****************************************

GILDED LILY
LILY SAFRA: 

The Making of One of
the World's Wealthiest Widows
BY ISABEL VINCENT

THANKS TO MARK AND GOOD PEOPLE
AT HARPER COLLINS PUBLISHING,
I HAVE 3 COPIES OF THIS FASCINATING
BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.

THE WINNERS ARE:

#56 allisonsbj3
#9 Colleen Turner
#27 justpeachy36
************************************

HERO FOUND
The Greatest POW Escape

of the Vietnam War
BY BRUCE HENDERSON

THANKS TO MARK AND GOOD PEOPLE
AT HARPER COLLINS PUBLISHING,
I HAVE 3 COPIES OF THIS INSPIRING
BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.

THE WINNERS ARE:

#50 rubynreba
#35 ossmcalc
#14 Steve Capell
***************************************

THE COOKBOOK COLLECTOR
BY ALLEGRA GOODMAN

I HAVE ONE COPY OF THIS
POPULAR BOOK TO GIVE
AWAY MYSELF-A BRAND NEW,
HARDBACK EDITION.  

THE WINNER IS:

#6 bermudaonion

***********************************

DON'T BLINK
BY JAMES PATTERSON
and HOWARD ROUGHAN

THANKS TO BRAD AND MY FRIENDS
AT THE HACHETTE BOOK GROUP,
I HAVE THREE COPIES OF THIS
EXCITING NEW MYSTERY
TO GIVE AWAY!

THE WINNERS ARE:

#24 Andrea I
#89 (#42 Part Two) chey
#119 (#72 Part Two) Pamela Keener

*********************************** 

BILL WARRINGTON'S
LAST CHANCE
BY JAMES KING

THANK YOU TO YEN AND THE
GOODFOLKS AT PENGUIN PUBLISHING, 
I HAVE ONE COPY OF THIS 
AMAZING BOOK TO GIVE AWAY!

THE WINNER IS:

#40 (#4 Part Two) traveler

********************************** 

HANDY MANNY 3 BOOK SET

  

I HAVE ONE SET OF THESE
POPULAR HANDY MANNY BOOKS,
BRAND NEW, FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
THAT I AM GIVING AWAY!

THE WINNER IS:

#44 Tore

*********************************** 

CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!

PROFESSOR BINGO PRESENTS: THE SEARCH FOR WONDLA PREVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

WELCOME TO
BOOKIN' WITH BINGO'S
"PROFESSOR BINGO
PRESENTS DAY" 
I'M EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THIS TUESDAY'S
"PROFESSOR BINGO PRESENTS DAY"
CHILDREN/YOUNG ADULT BOOK CHOICE IS.....

GIVEAWAY ENDED
THE SEARCH FOR WONDLA

BY TONY DITERLIZZI

ABOUT THE BOOK:

When a marauder destroys the underground sanctuary that Eva Nine was raised in by the robot Muthr, the twelve-year-year-old girl is forced to flee aboveground. Eva Nine is searching for anyone else like her, for she knows that other humans exist, because of an item she treasures—a scrap of cardboard on which is depicted a young girl, an adult, and a robot, with the strange word, "WondLa." Tony DiTerlizzi honors traditional children's literature in this totally original space age adventure: one that is as complex as an alien planet, but as simple as a child's wish for a place to belong.

Breathtaking two-color illustrations throughout reveal another dimension of Tony DiTerlizzi's vision, and, for those readers with a webcam, the book also features Augmented Reality in several places, revealing additional information about Eva Nine's world.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tony DiTerlizzi is co-creator and illustrator of the bestselling Spiderwick Chronicles, the author and illustrator of Jimmy Zangwow's Out-of-this-World MoonPie Adventure, as well as the Zena Sutherland Award winning Ted. His brilliantly cinematic version of Mary Howitt's classic The Spider and The FlyKenny & the Dragon debuted as a New York Times Best Seller. He lives with his wife, Angela and their daughter in Western Massachusetts and Jupiter, FL. Visit Tony on the web at diterlizzi.com.   earned Tony his second Zena Sutherland Award, and recieved a Caldecott Honor. Tony's art has also graced the covers of such well-known fantasy writers as Peter S. Beagle, J. R. R. Tolkien, Anne McCaffrey, and Greg Bear. He has also made significant contributions to Dungeons and Dragons and Wizards of the Coast's Magic; The Gathering. His first chapter book, Kenny & the Dragon debuted as a New York Times Best Seller. He lives with his wife, Angela and their daughter in Western Massachusetts and Jupiter, FL. Visit Tony on the web at diterlizzi.com.

BEHIND THE BOOK:

The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi

As a kid who loved classics like The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan and Wendy, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, I wondered why it was that I returned to these timeless tales again and again throughout my life. The answer is easy: There lies magic between those pages, places I loved visiting when I was ten years-old that I still love returning to today.

What if I could conjure up a story in the same spirit? A story that the ten-year-old Tony would have loved and that the forty-year-old Tony has the ability to create?

First, I’d make the hero a heroine—a strong and clever spirit drawn from some of my favorite protagonists like Dorothy Gale, Wendy Darling, and Alice. And, like those characters, I’d have her cope with problems children can relate to: Some are timeless, such as dealing with parents and finding one’s place in the world; others more timely such as society’s growing reliance on technology to help us.

Next, I’d create a wonderworld for my heroine to have her adventures in. A setting both familiar and strange that I’d hope readers would enjoy exploring. I’d populate it with characters whose personalities may seem familiar but who are housed in a more science-fiction cast, such as robots, aliens, and an array of bizarre otherworldly life-forms. This was how I began to imagine the world of Eva Nine and her journey in The Search for WondLa.

Though Eva utilizes futuristic technology as she interacts with all manner of aliens, her story is still a fairy tale at its heart. A fairy tale of compassion and family. A fairy tale of danger and adventure. A fairy tale for the twenty-first century.

MY REVIEW:

Woohoo! I just received my copy and am off to read this fascinating new book! Watch for my review of this AMAZINGLY new genre in books coming soon!

GIVEAWAY

 
THANKS TO PAUL AND THE GREAT

FOLKS AT SIMON & SCHUSTER, I

HAVE 3 COPIES OF THIS AMAZING

BOOK TO GIVE AWAY

 
--U.S. AND CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY

--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE

--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT

--ALL ENTRIES/COMMENTS MUST BE
SEPARATE IN ORDER TO COUNT
AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY


HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT THE SEARCH FOR WONDLA THAT MAKES YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK I CAN FOLLOW IN THIS ENTRY

+1 (or +2) MORE ENTRIES: WATCH ONE OF THE VIDEOS ABOVE AND COMMENT ON SOMETHING ABOUT IT; WATCH BOTH VIDEOS AND GET AN EXTRA COMMENT

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON A CURRENT GIVEAWAY FROM MY BLOG THAT YOU HAVE ENTERED. FOR EACH GIVEAWAY YOU ENTER, YOU MAY HAVE ANOTHER ENTRY BUT MUST ENTER EACH ONE SEPARATELY

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, OCTOBER 19!

GOOD LUCK!

ATTENTION: MORE CHANCES FOR COWBOY AND WILLS TONIGHT! PLUS A "BINGO" BONUS!

 ATTENTION: 

FANS OF COWBOY AND WILLS

 

 COWBOY & WILLS

BY MONICA HOLLOWAY

(CLICK THE TITLE OR BOOK COVER TO SEE MY REVIEW)

As most of you know, I am a huge fan of Monica Holloway's COWBOY AND WILLS. So I wanted to pass on some exciting news for you who are also fans and might like to try to win a great prize tonight! 

Monica will be holding a live video chat on the COWBOY AND WILLS Facebook page tonight, Tuesday, Sept 28th, at 7:30pm EST.  (www.facebook.com/cowboyandwills)
 
I know that Monica would love for you all to tune in tonight. 

The first person with a question will win a 3 foot tall stuffed golden retriever, donated by Gregory's Toys in Encino. The next 5 to ask questions will receive a signed copy of COWBOY AND WILLS.

All you have to do is go to the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/cowboyandwills
You will be able to submit questions in the comments section if you’re logged into Facebook.  

BONUS ENTRY: FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO LISTEN IN TONIGHT, AND SINCE YOU ARE SO HONEST, PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO GIVE YOURSELF ONE EXTRA ENTRY INTO ANY CURRENT GIVEAWAY OF MINE BY NOON, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH. 

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS COMMENT BY SAYING: "I VISITED COWBOY AND WILLS RADIO SHOW".  LET YOUR CONSCIENCE BE YOUR GUIDE WHEN IT COMES TO USING THIS. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS LISTEN TO GET THIS EXTRA BONUS ENTRY. HOWEVER, YOU MAY ONLY USE IT ONCE AND IT MUST BE POSTED  BY THE DEADLINE GIVEN HERE. ....GOOD LUCK!

THE GOOD DAUGHTERS: REVIEW AND BONUS ENTRIES

GIVEAWAY ENDED
THE GOOD DAUGHTERS

BY JOYCE MAYNARD

MY REVIEW: 

THE GOOD DAUGHTERS by Joyce Maynard is the second of her books I have read and I really enjoyed it maybe even more than her earlier LABOR DAY. It is the kind of book you will want to read and not put down, so plan ahead. Although Ruth Plank and Dana Dickerson were born on the same day in the same hospital, that is just about all the girls have in common as far as their families and lifestyles go. 

Ruth is a good girl and grows up to be an artist with a deep artistic flair and imagination. Her home area is about the only thing she has ever known as she remained near home and family for most of her life. Dana, on the other hand is a scientist and her family were always on the move so her dream would be to have some place to permanently call home. That being said, Dana yearly spends time near Ruth, and their families get to know one another and the girls interact throughout their lives.

Although they are different in most every way, they both want to find out where they truly belong as they both have always felt they were different and didn't quite fit in where they were. One other thing they have in common is their love (albeit a different kind for each of them) for Ray, who happens to be Dana's older brother.

Maynard tells their story by alternating who is narrating every other chapter. The comparison is interesting as it followed them as young children to their adulthood. The girls both relate about times of happiness and sadness alike. Neither is close to their mother and although one comes from a large farm family and the other a largely dysfunctional one, they both have more in common then you might think. Their search for peace and their place in the world leads to a story that pulls you in and most importantly makes you care for these finely drawn characters. 

The story winds around and without giving much more away, leads readers to a satisfying conclusion that I am fairly sure you will figure out early on, or at least suspect. However, it doesn't make the read any less compelling as you want to follow along just to watch how the climax of the story does come together. THE GOOD DAUGHTERS makes for a good story that I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend.

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO MEGAN AND MY FRIENDS 
AT HARPER COLLINS PUBLISHING,
I HAVE 2 COPIES OF THIS WONDERFUL
NEW BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.

--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: READ MY REVIEW AND COMMENT ON ONE REASON YOU MIGHT LIKE TO WIN AND READ JOYCE MAYNARD'S NEW BOOK THE GOOD SISTERS

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE OTHER CURRENT GIVEAWAY YOU ARE NOW ENTERED IN FROM MY BLOG

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON IF YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG AND HOW. EACH WAY YOU FOLLOW MUST BE ENTERED SEPARATELY IN ORDER TO COUNT AS INDIVIDUAL VOTE

GIVEAWAY ENDS

6 PM, EST, SEPTEMBER 29!

GOOD LUCK!

BINGO'S BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY!

 

 FROM ME...TO YOU!
GIVEAWAY ENDED!
TO CELEBRATE MY BIRTHDAY, 
AND BECAUSE I ENJOY GIVING 
EVEN MORE THAN RECEIVING,
I HAVE A SPECIAL 

BINGO BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY

OF THINGS I LIKE  

JUST FOR MY LOYAL FOLLOWERS! 

THIS GIVEAWAY WON'T BE LISTED IN MY GIVEAWAY COLUMN SO ONLY THOSE FOLLOWERS WHO COME BY DAILY WILL KNOW ABOUT IT......... IT WILL BE OUR SECRET!

WHAT'S A PARTY WITHOUT A GAME? 

I LOVE DOING THIS ONE SO I THOUGHT SOME OF YOU MIGHT JUST CLICK ON IT AND HAVE SOME FUN SEEING WHAT YOU REMEMBER ABOUT BOOK COVERS, AS AFTER ALL, WE ALWAYS TALK ABOUT TELLING A BOOK BY ITS COVER...ENJOY BY CLICKING HERE

 OK, NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY! 

AS OPRAH LIKES TO SAY, 
THESE ARE SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS...
SOME NEW TITLES, SOME OLD TITLES, 
BUT ALL ARE BRAND NEW BOOKS!

BIG BINGO BIRTHDAY GIFT:

1-AUTOGRAPHED COPY KYLIE BRANT'S 

WAKING NIGHTMARE 

2-MY FAVORITE OPRAH PICK:  
 SHE'S COME UNDONE by WALLY LAMB 
 3-A FAVORITE YA/KIDS BOOK: 
CAROLYN KEENE'S NANCY DREW BOOK,
THE SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK
4-HOLIDAY BOOK by DEBBIE MACOMBER: 
MRS. MIRACLE  

5-Janet Evanovich Audio Book:

SIZZLING SIXTEEN

BIGGER BINGO BIRTHDAY GIFT:

1-AUTOGRAPHED COPY KYLIE BRANT'S 
WAKING EVIL
2-FAVORITE OPRAH PICK: 
SHE'S COME UNDONE by WALLY LAMB
3-A FAVORITE YA/KIDS BOOK:
THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY 
OF EDWARD TOULANE
by KATE DICAMILLO
4-HOLIDAY BOOK by DEBBIE MACOMBER: 
MRS. MIRACLE

5-CHOSEN by ALEKSANDRA MALYSKA:

FOOD LOVERS SOUP  

6-Janet Evanovich Audio Book:

SIZZLING SIXTEEN 
 

BIGGEST BINGO BIRTHDAY GIFT:

1-AUTOGRAPHED COPY KYLIE BRANT'S 
WAKING DEAD
2-MY FAVORITE OPRAH PICK: 
SHE'S COME UNDONE by WALLY LAMB
3-A FAVORITE YA/KIDS BOOK:
PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS BOOK 5:
THE LAST OLYMPIAN 
 4-HOLIDAY BOOK by DEBBIE MACOMBER: 
MRS. MIRACLE 
5-FAVORITE CHEF'S COOKBOOK:

RACHEL RAY'S BIG ORANGE BOOK

6-THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART 
PRESENTS EARTH!  
7-Janet Evanovich Audio Book:
SIZZLING SIXTEEN 

 

GIVEAWAY

ALL THE BINGO BIRTHDAY GIFTS

ARE FROM ME TO YOU PERSONALLY!
THERE WILL BE ONE WINNER FOR EACH
BINGO BIRTHDAY GIFT PACKAGE ABOVE! 

 
--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY

--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT IF YOU ARE A GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT FOLLOWER AS THIS IS A REQUIREMENT TO ENTER. IF YOU AREN'T, YOU CAN SIGN UP TODAY. IT IS EASY AND ONLY TAKES A FEW MINUTES.

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND YOUR BIRTHDAY

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT AND TELL ME IF YOU HAD A CHOICE, WHICH OF THE "GIFTS" YOU WOULD WANT TO WIN: BIG, BIGGER, OR BIGGEST!

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT

 6 PM, EST, OCTOBER 5!