Dracula in Love - Winner!!

Sorry all for my delayed announcement of the winner of Dracula in Love.  I absolutely loved your answers on what vampire stories you love and why you want to read this.  My winner said:

Yes, me!! I love Bram Stoker's Dracula and just wrote a review on Dracula The Un-Dead, so I'd love to read another "perspective" of it! I've heard so much about this novel and am ready to take it on -- there's just something about the "real" Dracula story that just gets me going, and I was such a fan of The Historian as well, that this book would be right up my alley!!

Woohoo!  I love when people refer me to books I have not yet read.  So my winner is:

Coffee and a Book Chick 

Congratulations and I can't wait to see what you think.  Enjoy!

****I am no longer a New Yorker and have moved over to my new blog A Library of My Own.  I will still be posting book reviews for a short time on this blog but if you want my full ramblings and photos, head on over!  Thank you!

Dracula in Love - Karen Essex (Giveaway!)

Book: Dracula in Love

Author: Karen Essex
Paperback (ARC): 384 pages
Publisher: Doubleday
Published Date: August 10, 2010

I love Karen Essex. Let me just put that out there right now. I read Leonardo's Swans a while back (my review) and fell in love with the story and her writing. She has this way of writing historical fiction that stays true to historical facts, something I love in an author. So when I heard she came out with Dracula in Love I immediately requested an ARC copy and jumped for joy when I received it (my post on the gorgeous cover). I also have to tell you that I've read Bram Stoker's Dracula quite a few times and also love that book.

Karen Essex's novel is from Mina's perspective as she tells the true story of her and the Count. It is a Victorian Gothic story of love, possession, betrayal, and of course some erotic scenes so yes, there is a bit of sex. But what I found fascinating is how Ms. Essex spun Mina's tale. The story starts off with Mina explaining how this was the true story and not Stoker's more popular fictional tale. Mr. Stoker even makes a cameo in the story which I thought was pretty cool.

While I adored the story and Ms. Essex's writing, I do have to warn you that it does have some a strong women's perspective from a very constrained Victorian society who deemed women as sort of a lesser class than men. For instance, once married most women did not control their property or money. It also shows an interesting spin on the asylum where Van Helsing is employed. **Side note: I had recently watched the Leonardo DiCaprio movie Shutter Island and found it's portrayal of the asylum very much like the one in this book. Very interesting.

My only gripe with the book is towards the end. I thought her explanation for the Count and Mina's attraction to each other was kind of, well, out of the blue. But it didn't detract my enjoyment of this highly Gothic love story. I've noticed another Mina/Dracula book out there called Dracula, My Love by Syrie James. I am really curious to see how the two compare. I will try hard and get my hand on a copy of that novel.

Now on to the giveaway!!

I asked Maxwell Brown at Random House if I could PLEASE have a copy to giveaway and he sent one to me ASAP! Woohoo! So I have a special ARC available to one lucky reader. Again my giveaway is open internationally. Here's the deal:


1) Please leave a comment with your email address (or blog address) telling me why you want to read this and if you are a fan of Stoker's version or any other vampire stories/movies/etc. Come on, talk to me!

2) I will give you an extra entry if you comment on my new blog A Library of My Own. If you only comment on my new blog I'll give you two entries as well.

3) Contest is open until August 17th when I get back from my trip to Alaska. Good luck!

The Queen of Palmyra Giveaway Winner!

Sorry for my delayed announcement of the winner of The Queen of Palmyra. I had asked everyone to name a book that had totally absorbed them. I received a number of new to me books, a few of Michelle Moran's books like Cleopatra's Daughter, and a couple of my favorites (The Art of Racing in the Rain and Pride and Prejudice). A few of you, including the winner, mentioned The Help.

And the winner....

Archana!

I've sent you an email so please email me your snail mail address so I can ship it out to you.

Thanks everyone for entering the contest!

Life After Yes - Winner!

Thank you all for entering my contest for Life After Yes. And now for the winner:

Vivienne from Serendipity!!

Woo hoo! I love Vivienne's blog, Serendipity, if you've never checked it out before. She's a wonderful blog lady from the UK, and is currently trudging through Wuthering Heights. Hang in there!

Life After Yes - Aidan Donnelley Rowley (and giveaway!)

Last year I was asked to read book called Life After Yes by Aidan Donnelley Rowley. Since it wasn't published yet, I was asked to wait to review it until a much closer publication date (May 18th). Then I heard TLC Book Tours was promoting this book and I asked to be part of the tour since I wanted to review it as well.

The story revolves around Quinn (actually Prudence Quinn O'Malley) who is a young attorney living in New York City. She is living the life and is dating an attractive man who whisks her away to Paris. He then proposes, she accepts...and then she starts to doubt.

Now let me say right here that this is not normally my type of book. In fact, after the first page or two I was asking my self "Why did I decide to read this? It's so cliche!". But then something odd happened. Quinn thought the same thing. And that got me interested in the story. I wondered what was going to happen to a woman who supposedly has everything she should wish for but who suddenly doubts it all.

While I didn't always like Quinn and often wondered why in the world she was doing the things she was doing, I was sympathetic. I mean, I was never one to imagine my wedding day or dream about bridal dresses so I kind of understood her fight or flight reaction. Another interesting thing is that the story takes places just after 9/11 and Quinn's father was one of the casualties that day. I had lost my father almost ten years before I was married, but I think it's always one of those things a girl will think about: the fact that her father isn't there to walk her down the aisle.

So this wasn't a typical romance/chick-lit type of book. It had it's dark moments but there was a surprising amount of fun moments as well such as the witty best friend (cliche as well but hey...).

**Side note: Harper Collins asked me and Nicole from Linus's Blanket to come and chat with Aidan Donnelley Rowley and other Harper employees who had read the book. Aidan was a wonderful host and answered all our questions and chatted away with us. She was born in Manhattan, is a lawyer, mom and also has a great blog called Ivy League Insecurities if you want to check her out more.

**Another side note:
I have an extra copy to give away to one lucky winner. The giveaway is open internationally through May 25th and all you have to do is:
1) Leave a comment with your email or blog for contact purposes
2) Tell me what about this story interests you.

For more reviews check out the TLC Book Tour:

Tuesday, May 18th: Life and Times of a “New” New Yorker
Thursday, May 20th: Confessions of a Bookaholic
Monday, May 24th: Books Like Breathing
Wednesday, May 26th: Luxury Reading
Thursday, May 27th: Rundpinne
Tuesday, June 1st: Crazy for Books
Wednesday, June 2nd: Cindy’s Love of Books
Thursday, June 3rd: Write Meg
Tuesday, June 8th: Heart 2 Heart
Wednesday, June 9th: Thoughts From an Evil Overload
Thursday, June 10th: Book Club Classics!

More reviews:

Confessions of a Real Librarian

Linus's Blanket

Miss Fortune Winner!

A big thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway for Sara Mills' mystery novel. And the winner is:

Mystica!

Of course my giveaways are normally international, Mystica, so just email me your snail mail address and I'll ship it out to you.

Miss Fortune - Sara Mills (and Giveaway!)

A while back I won a fun mystery book from one of my favorite blogs, Favorte PASTimes. Miss Fortune by Sara Mills is the first in a series based on Allie Fortune, private detective. I have to say that I've always loved this genre of detective stories. You know, the Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett kind of stuff. This is like that, only instead of Bogie being the detective, you've got Bacall.


The novel takes place in New York City a couple of years after World War II. Just like all the books in this type of genre, there is a knock at the door, a shaken client, and a case to solve. But what I liked about this series is that I really fell for Allie Fortune. She wasn't a P.I. Princess, even though that was her nickname. Instead, her character is level headed and quite human.


The reason why I'm going to keep reading this series is that Allie has her own personal mystery to solve. I don't want to tell you any spoilers but there is an interesting little love triangle and a couple of mysterious disappearances which are going to make me pick up the next novel, Miss Match.


Judging by this first book, the series isn't a gritty, dirty detective series that, say, Alan Furst may write, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Have any of you all read this series?


Which brings me to.......a GIVEAWAY!

I found a paperback copy at the New York Public Library's sale shelf so I'd love it if someone read this book and told me how they liked it.

The contest is open through May 10th. Please leave me a comment with a way to contact you if you win AND tell me if/how/and why you are a fan of this type of detective genre. For instance, my favorite Bogie/Bacall movie is The Big Sleep. Actually it's tied with Dark Passage.

Also Reviewed by:

Favorite PASTimes and Author Interview: Part One and Part Two

Raven Stole the Moon - Garth Stein (Giveaway)

A short while back, I was asked to read and review Garth Stein's book Raven Stole the Moon. I thought it was his new novel but it is actually a reprint of a book he wrote some thirteen years ago. Since my husband and I really enjoyed reading The Art of Racing in the Rain (our joint review here), I jumped at the chance.

I don't want to have any spoilers so here's the story:

While vacationing at a resort in Alaska, Jenna and Robert Rosen lost their only young son in a boating accident and his body was never recovered. Two years later, back in Seattle, Jenna is still unable to come to terms with the guilt and grief over his death. After an angry fight with Robert, Jenna spontaneously drives to Bellingham where she catches the ferry to Alaska knowing she must deal with his death in her own way.

Jenna arrives in Wrangell, the home of her Tlingit grandmother who passed away years earlier. There she meets a few characters who help her search for answers to her son's death and disappearance including Eddie, an injured fisherman who develops quite the crush on Jenna. While searching for answers, Jenna becomes more and more a believer in the Tlingit lore and legend surrounding kushtaka spirits: shape-shifting otter spirits believed to steal the souls of lost people.

I am having a hard time deciding how I like this book. I liked it. I didn't love it. There were too many hard topics to make it really enjoyable but I was sucked into the story anyway. My husband said it's not as engaging as The Art of Racing in the Rain, but we both devoured the story anyway. When I wasn't reading the book, he was.

I think the biggest thing to note is that this is an older book of Garth Stein's and it shows in the writing which is not as fluid as The Art of Racing in the Rain. But I completely loved the Alaskan setting and the Tlingit spirit lore. Garth Stein is part Tlingit and I loved that he really put work into the Alaskan setting.

The hard part about reading this book is the topics of death, grief, and guilt and how they can wreck, ravage, and pull apart a family. It was a great book for discussion between my husband and I though. I found that I had more sympathy with the husband and thought Jenna was insanely selfish while my husband felt they were both mildly awful in their selfishness.

I searched around the web and found a Tlingit image of a kushtaka:

Here's the original cover of Raven Stole the Moon. I definitely like the newer one much better:

***An now for a GIVEAWAY!

Sarah at Terra Communications is letting me give away a copy of Raven Stole the Moon to one lucky U.S. or Canada resident. The contest is open through March 19th so good luck!

To enter, please post a comment with your email address or blog so I know how to get a hold of you.

Also reviewed by:

All About {n}

The Tome Traveller's Weblog

The Literate Housewife

Minds Alive on the Shelves

A Bookish Way of Life

Planet Books

Book Chatter

Booking Mama

Year of the Bookwormz

Caribou's Mom

Estella's Revenge

Bibliophile by the Sea
Bart's Bookshelf

Creed of Violence Winners!

Thank you to all who entered my contest and promoted it via twitter. My husband just saw this book in our bookshelf yesterday and snagged it up. It's definitely a great read.

So without further ado, here's the five winners of the autographed copies:

Dawn M.
Sue
Jessica
tetewa
Deedles

Congratulations!! I'll be emailing you all for your addresses so Jim over at Kelley & Hall can get them out to you. Happy reading!

**PS. Tetewa -- I don't have an email for you so please email me at: nycbookgirl at gmail dot com Thanks!!

Creed of Violence - Giveaway!!

I hope everyone had a great holiday season and a happy new year! To kick off this year, Jim over at Keeley and Hall told me that they have FIVE copies of the awesome book The Creed of Violence by Boston Teran. Wait...I meant to say five SIGNED copies!

I am pretty jealous. I love that Boston Teran's identity is unknown so having a signed copy is pretty cool. That and I really liked the book. AND it's going to be adapted into a movie!

Here's the deal:

1) Leave a comment with your email address or a way to contact you.

2) If you blog, tweet, Facebook, etc. about this, I'll give you an extra entry.

3) Open to U.S. or Canada residents (Sorry my international followers!!)

4) Contest is open through January 18th.

That's it!!

Check out my review of The Creed of Violence by Boston Teran
Check out my review of Giv: The Story of a Dog and America by Boston Teran

Red Leather Diary Winner!

I hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season! For those of you who celebrate Christmas, I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas Eve. Right now I'm at work. Yeah. Seriously.

So I thought I'd announce the winner of The Red Leather Diary.

The winner is...

SUSAN!!!

She mentioned that she had just read the book Forever Liesl: A Memoir of the Sound of Music
I love that movie!

I hope you enjoy this one as well.

The Red Leather Diary - Lily Koppel

I was asked earlier this year by Danny Goldstein of Harper Collins to read and review The Red Leather Diary by Lily Koppel. I read it back in May and can't believe it's taken me this long to review it, mainly because I loved it that much. The minute I finished it I wanted to open it back up and re-read it. You can browse the book over at Harper Collins website.

True story:

Lily Koppel is a writer for The New York Times who lives on the Upper West Side. One day as she's leaving her apartment, she sees a ton of old steamer trunks sitting on the curb for removal. (Side note: I love love looking at all the gems you can find on trash day in the city.) The apartment building had a ton of old trunks sitting in storage for decades and was finally getting rid of them. The one that struck Lily's fancy, though, was open and had some beautiful vintage clothes and an old red leather diary. She saved the trunk along with the diary. The following book is the story behind the woman who wrote in the diary from 1929 to 1934.

Here's a photo of Lily with some of the old trunks:
The diary isn't just any old diary. It's a diary that is meant to span five years. Each day of the month has a page. Each year has a couple of lines on that page. (Side note: I love this idea for a diary. That way you aren't required to blab on and can look back on the years and see what was going on in your life on that day.)

The diary was written by a young teenage Florence Wolfson. Lily tracks down Florence and finds the 90 year-old still alive and well today. Using the diary as a guide and Florence's memories for filler, Lily Koppel paints a beautiful tribute to a young girl living her life to the fullest in New York City.

Here's Lily and Florence:
Why did I love this book so much?

-Lily's writing. I feel like I could see what Florence's NYC was like. The sites, sounds, everything was so vivid. While reading the book on the subway and bus, I would look around the city and marvel how much things have changed...and how much they've stayed the same.

-Florence. What an amazing and accomplished woman. She was a writer too and her short lines on her everyday life are so insightful and beautiful. She tried and experimented everything. Some she failed while others she succeeded but it never stopped her from trying. She even experimented in love, both men and women (which was, I thought, pretty darn scandalous reading for back then.) She met and knew some pretty famous people as well, creating a literary salon of sorts. (Great post on her salon over at this blog.)

-The photos. I loved that the book included photos of Florence, the people she loved and knew...just a great part of the book.

-Her European tour at the end of the book. I am SO jealous. Just this part could be made into a movie. A young American girl going touring Europe, which is on the brink of war, while young European men, including an Italian Count, fall madly in love with her. Sigh.

I want to re-read it because there are so many quotes from Florence's diary that I just loved. I need to go back and write them all down. And then buy my own red leather diary because who knows, someday someone might find my little life interesting.

Here's Lily with the diary:
I wish I had reviewed this a long while back when it was all still new and fresh in my head. But I'm sort of glad I didn't, because I found the hardback copy of this book at a library sale. That means I am giving away my paperback copy!

To enter the giveaway:

1) Provide email, blog...a way of contacting you.

2) Have you read any interesting biographies or want to? If so, who?

Giveaway is open to all and through December 22nd. Good luck!

Here's the cover of the copy I'm keeping. Don't you love it?
Also Reviewed by:

Peeking Between the Pages
She is Too Fond of Books
Booking Mama
Confessions of a Real Librarian
Caribou's Mom
Bibliophile by the Sea
A Girl Walks into a Bookstore
Library Queue
Book Club Girl

Gourmet Rhapsody Winner!

Happy Monday everyone!

Without further ado, the winner of the audio copy of Gourmet Rhapsody is:

Ladytink_534

In response of what other foodie books are good, Ladytink_534 said Chocolat by Joanne Harris and Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen series.

Sounds interesting, I'll have to check them out! I loved Chocolat the movie.


On another note, I never heard back from the winner of The Art of Racing in the Rain...

So the next winner is:

Aik

Thanks for entering the contests!

Gourmet Rhapsody - Muriel Barbery GIVEAWAY!

Ok. This is going to be a doozy of a review.

I won a copy of Muriel Barbery's novel Gourmet Rhapsody through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. Wait. I won an AUDIO copy of this book. And that's where this gets tricky.

I rarely listen to audio books. My mind tends to wander and I end up rewinding a bunch. And then there's the issue with the narrators. A bad narrator can ruin a good book. Thankfully that was NOT the issue with this audio book. I loved the various narrators' voices. I just had other issues...mainly my own.

First of all, I tried listening and doing things on the Internet. Bad idea. Then I decided to sit and knit while listening. Better idea. Forgot to turn the shuffle thing off iTunes. Bad idea. So I listened to about half of the book in shuffle mode. Yeah.

Anyway, here's the gist:

Gourmet Rhapsody takes place in the same affluent apartment building as The Elegance of the Hedgehog (read my review). This book, however, revolves around an elderly food critic, Monsieur Arthens, who is on his deathbed. The story flip flops between the food critic desperately trying to remember a specific food or taste while he revisits old memories of his lifetime. The rest of the story is narrated by the various people in his life: wife, cat, children, etc. Some of them liked him and some absolutely loathe him. (Almost every section of the audio book is narrated by someone else with a lot of flashbacks, so you could see how I might not have known it was on shuffle.)

At first I did NOT like the food critic. Pompous. Vain. Wordy. But as I sat and knitted, I just started to salivate. I wanted to curl up with a glass of wine and listen to all the foods. (My husband just laughed at that because I am not what you'd call a foodie person.) And then I started to like ol' Monsieur Arthens. He's just on his deathbed remembering fond tastes and smells and experiences while all around him family and friends are judging him.

Anyway, there you have it. I did like it. Even after all my technical difficulties. I want to re-read it (not listen) because there are so many things said that I loved. No dog-earring with audio copies.

***Would you like my Audio (CDs) copy of The Gourmet Rhapsody?

To enter:

1) Tell me your favorite foodie book. I mean one that makes you want to eat whatever they are.

AND

2) Your email. Or your blog. Or however I can get a hold of you.

Contest is open world-wide and open through Friday, December 11th. So hurry up and enter!

Also Reviewed by:
Medieval Bookworm

The Art of Racing in the Rain - Winner!

Thank you all who entered and left great comments!! The winner of my hard back copy of Garth Stein's novel is:

Carol at buddyt

Aik

Carol, you didn't leave me your email (for shame!) so please email me your address (nycbookgirl at gmail dot com) so I can ship it out to you!! You left a great comment so I don't want you to miss out!

I never heard back from Carol so the winner is Aik!

Thanks!

Giv - WINNERS!

Yippee!! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving (those of you who celebrate) and are looking forward to December and the holidays.

I had fun picking the winners on this one because I can't wait for you to tell me what you think.

Thanks to Random.org my winners are:

Karen K
Wanda
Ladytink_534
Silent Raven
A Real Librarian

Congratulations! Wanda, you've won two of my Dog Days of November contests, lucky you!!

I'll be emailing you for your addresses.

Thank you!

The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein

I decided to do the review for Garth Stein's novel, The Art of Racing in the Rain, a bit differently than I normally do.

Back in this post I asked you all to ask me and my husband (Robb) questions about this book. Robb and I both read and liked it. Robb bought the book and I was asked to review the book by Sean from Terra Communications.

***Stick around because at the end of the Q&A there is a chance to win a copy of The Art of Racing in the Rain.

You all were wonderful and asked some great questions. So without further ado, here we go:



From A Bookshelf Monstrosity:

1. Do you look at your dog differently after reading this book?

ROBB:
After reading, I'm better able to admit my own dog's mortality (pretend I am laughing while saying that). And I appreciate more the memories and all the changes of the last 6yrs that my dog has been through with me. I know at some point I will have a different dog, but before that happens my dog now cannot say she has been bored being my dog. So yes, I do; the book reminded me of all the "why I have a dog / mans best friend / etc" reasons and sayings.

Amanda:
It definitely did! To a degree. I normally read my books during my commute to and from work. And each day after work I just wanted to give my dogs a big ol' hug. I laughed because Enzo is kind of cocky and philosophizes a bit. While my Charlie dog is kind of a big oaf, I could totally see our dog Anna being all cocky and thinking..."when I'm human." Before reading this book, my husband and I would joke that Anna's just waiting until she grows opposable thumbs and then she'll show us all.

2. Did you like how the story was written from the dog's perspective? Why or why not?

ROBB:
I do not think it would have been as good a story if told from any another perspective. As Denny, it would have been a too personal perspective; as Eve it would have been a different story time line; as Annika it would have some teen drama tragic thing recycled. Enzo held me observing from the sidelines. I could see what was going on, I was as much involved in the situation, outraged and saddened, but I could not do anything about it. Also, Enzo was able to cross story lines without the author forcing it along. He was in the Zoe's world, he was by Denny's side, he invaded the in-laws, and stood proudly at the coffee shop scene. Also, the dog was written a bit snarky and I enjoy that kind of thing.

Amanda:
I liked that this story was from Enzo's point of view. I didn't get caught up in all the semantics of it (how did he know things, how did he learn), I just enjoyed his perspective. That said, I probably would not have enjoyed this book had it been from someone else's perspective, say Denny. The story was a bit too drama, a bit too LifeTime movie which I'm not really into. I think coming from the perspective of the dog who really cared about his family absolutely made the story work.

3. Do you or your husband have a favorite quotation or passage from the book?

ROBB:
I usually dog ear and mark up pages with passages, quotes, scenes, names... for whatever reasons. I was just barely into this book when I realized I would be reading it again and decided to deal with all the note taking on round two so I could enjoy the book and enjoy reading the book. That being said, "Get to it, mother*^@+&~" really stands out for a variety of reasons.

Amanda:
I don't remember a specific quote but there is one point in the book that I almost cried, and oddly it had nothing to do with Enzo. I won't give it away but it had to do with Denny's parents. That's all I'll say.

From Nicole at Linus's Blanket:

4. Did you and your husband react differently to the dog narrating the books and what happened to the dog over the course of the story?

ROBB:
I think Enzo is a great character and that really showed through the one-sidedness of the narration. Thinking about it now, I can see how it's not just his story, but also the story of an "every dog". Lucky dogs get great families; unfortunate dogs get tragedy; unlucky dogs get passed and in/out shelters. Enzo lived these lives. When I got my dog, I accepted that I would be responsible for keeping her out of the unfortunate and on the positive side of unlucky as best able. I also know where her story is likely to end. So, Enzo's story, while heartstrung, is also a story about a lucky dog and that is something I can appreciate.

Amanda:
Hmmm. I haven't read Robb's responses yet to see how he reacted. I do think that he likes this book a bit more than I did. Maybe because he could relate to Denny as a male more.

From Mariska:

5. What was the first thing come out when you had finished reading this book ?

ROBB:
Probably the very first thing was the need to get home and pet the dogs, hug the wife, and take a moment to really appreciate my lot on this great spinning mass. That followed by a cynical "dreams can come true" moment and then an appreciation for a very well written book. All wrapped up in about 30 seconds after finishing.

Amanda:
Honestly, I did NOT like the end. I thought it was a bit too cheesy, happily-ever-after kharma thing going on. Looking back, I'm not sure if I agree with all the philosophizing that was in the book but it honestly wasn't that pushy while I was reading it. I do know that I liked the book and really liked Enzo. It made me sad to think that some day our Charlie and Anna won't be around. They are the first dogs I've ever had so it's going to be insanely sad when they pass. I can't even imagine how Robb is going to take it.

6. What is the best part of this book for you and your husband?

ROBB:
I did not know anything about the book when I picked it up. I had a travel day coming up, was in a bookstore, dog on the cover, and the promise of an interesting story perspective - so i grabbed a copy. I started the book at an ATL airport bar and finished it somewhere along the 1 train that same night. So the best part to me was enjoying the book and it's combined elements: a love story without being a love story; tragedy and doom; a hero survived; bite. Also, I think it is great how living life, full of variables, paralleled the unexpectednesses of driving cars, really fast, without dominating the book. (PS - If you have not heard it already, nice cover work Archie Ferguson).

Amanda:
I loved Enzo. I just wanted to hug him. And then hug Charlie and Anna. I would honestly read this again just because of Enzo. And for some reason, I loved that he got all caught up in the racing aspect (Denny is a race car driver...thus the title of the book). I thought I would get annoyed at the use of racing euphemisms. Kind of when someone keeps using sports terms and it drives you up the wall. But I really liked that part of the book. I think because Enzo used it and I could just see the joy a dog gets when in a car. Our dogs LOVE sticking their heads out of the truck while we're driving. It made me happy to think about all that.

From Janna Qualman at Something She Wrote:

7. How many times did you cry?

ROBB:
Several actually, the better moment crying while saddled up at a bar, 3 in the afternoon, and on a packed bus.

Amanda:
I only almost cried once. During the aforementioned parent part.

8. Would you ever name a dog Enzo?

ROBB:
Had I thought of it first, yes.

Amanda:
No. Not a big Ferrari fan. That said, for Denny's dog it was a great name. It honestly took me longer than it should have to figure out that Enzo was named after Enzo Ferrari.


There you have it! Thanks to everyone who asked us questions and to my husband Robb who graciously played along.

And thank you to Sean at Terra Communications for my review copy which I will now pass on to one lucky winner!! Robb will NOT part with his paperback copy so I'm going to giveaway my hardback copy.

To enter the GIVEAWAY you MUST:

1) provide email or way to contact you
2) tell me something you learned or pondered during this Q&A section

That's it! The giveaway is open for a week, through December 2nd and is International.

Good luck!

Just for fun, here's the four of us our first Thanksgiving together (our tradition is to go camping).


Also Reviewed by:
Urban Bachelorette

Now & Then - Winners!!

Sorry I'm a bit belated in picking the winners. I got one of those fun super colds. Anyway...here we go...

And the 5 Winners are:

Wanda

Heatherzilla

Andrea

Christine

Carol M

I will be emailing you for your addresses so they can mail those books out to ASAP.

And just for fun, here's what you all told me:

Favorite pet books:

The Art of Racing in the Rain
Marley & Me
Merle's Door
Dewey
Wesley the Owl

Time Travel Boooks:

The Time Traveler's Wife
Eve: A Novel of the First Woman
The Devil's Arithmetic
The Reluctant God
The Outlander Series
Riddle in the Mountain
The Man Who Loved Jane Austen
The Time Machine


Time Travel Movie/Shows:

Somewhere in Time
Back to the Future
Kate & Leopold
Lost (show)
7 Days (show)

Giv by Boston Teran - GIVEAWAY!

Do you remember (one post ago) when I raved that I loved Boston Teran's Giv: The Story of a Dog and America, but I wasn't going to give my copy away?

Well, Jim over at Keeley and Hall sent me an email saying that they are sending me FIVE copies of GIV to giveaway. How cool is that?!

So you know the drill, go over and read my review and then enter my giveaway here. Please comment on why this book sounds interesting and leave me a way to contact you. For fun, let me know if you have any pets that have made a different in your life.

I love my international readers so the contest is open world-wide through November 25th.

Now & Then - Jacqueline Sheehan GIVEAWAY

I was asked by Stephanie at Harper-Collins if I wanted to read and review Now & Then by Jacqueline Sheehan. I took one look at the puppy cover and said OK! I have a soft spot for "not-so little" dogs since I have one of my own.

This book is a bit of a trip. Take chick-lit, a bit of romance, Irish historical-fiction, and time travel and mix it all up, throw in a little bit of Irish wolfhound and you've got Now & Then. And I totally enjoyed it. **Warning: The dog plays a fairly small part in the story.**

Plot:

Anna O'Shea is a bit of a mess. Her father abandoned the family, her brother has anger issues, her nephew has just landed in jail, and her husband left her for another woman after three failed pregnancies.

Joseph O'Shea is a bit of a mess. He's sixteen, unpopular at school, and only good at wrestling, not the most popular sport at school. His father just got into a huge car accident while on his way to pick up Joseph from jail and his aunt, Anna, is furious with him.

Enter the time-travel. How? Why? Read the book!

Anna and Joseph get whisked back in time to country Ireland, 1844. Just one year before THE potato famine. And they get separated. Anna is injured and is taken in by some of the country people. Joseph gets taken for a non-Irish Canadian and is taken in by a wealthy Englishman. And of course, they both fall in love with someone while in historic Ireland. Anna and Joseph have to find each other, figure out what happened and why, and how to get home...if they still want to go home.


What I liked:

I enjoyed the sections narrated by Anna. I really liked her and just wanted her to be happy. I loved the historical setting in Ireland. The way the Irish were suppressed by the British landlords and what they had to do to survive was fascinating and horrible at the same time. I love that it was kind of realistic too. Anna got beat up quite a bit which I don't think you'd find in a romance novel. I mean, at one point she looses some teeth. O yeah.

What I didn't like:

Ok. I think the cover and blurb is so misleading. I thought this book would be more dog-centric, right? Wrong. Well, mostly wrong. There is a dog. An Irish wolfhound name Madigan. He has more to do with Joseph's part of the story. But just a bit. Madigan's importance really only comes out at the very end. And speaking of Joseph, he was so annoying. I guess he's a sixteen year-old but still. Hmm...I guess that is it.

While it wasn't the story the cover led me to believe it was, it was still a fun time-traveling ride. I have to admit I'm a sucker for Irish history so that was a huge bonus for me.

Over at Harper-Collins, you can browse inside the book.

Stephanie also told me I could give away FIVE copies of Now & Then. How cool is that!?! It's open worldwide (if Harper can't deliver to you, I will) and it runs through Friday, November 20th. You must:

1) Give me a way to contact you AND...
2) Tell me your favorite time-traveling story (book, movie, etc) AND/OR pet story (book, movie, etc).

For more reviews, Jacqueline Sheehan is over at TLC Book Reviews

Here's her tour stops:

Monday, November 2nd: The Bluestocking Guide

Wednesday, November 4th: Yule Time Reading

Thursday, November 5th: Life in the Thumb

Monday, November 9th: Eclectic Book Lover

Thursday, November 12th: I’m Booking It

Tuesday, November 17th: The Brain Lair

Wednesday, November 18th: Bloggin’ ’bout Books

Monday, November 23rd: Stephanie’s Written Word

Monday, November 30th: Jenn’s Bookshelves

Tuesday, December 1st: The Tome Traveller

**Thank you Stephanie and Harper-Collins for giving me this book to read and review!