I am so excited to do this! I have been keeping my eye out for just the right time to do this giveaway. (Call it a contest if you must, but it really is just a giveaway...nothing but a game of luck this time!) And now is the perfect time. Why? In a game where points mean absolutely nothing, I'll give you 1,000 extra bonus points if you can guess what this giveaway is celebrating.
Here's what has been brewing in my brain lately: I have been inching closer to being excited for summer. So much craziness to take care of between now and then, and I think after about June 6th I will be wildly excited and ready for summer. On his blog for English last week, Alex had to pick two books to profile for his summer reading. I am currently reading a book that I LOVE. I have had to stop and re-read several passages that were so thoughtful and touching...and I'll talk about it more when I'm done. I'm only half-way through it, and I have a weirdness for recommending anything I haven't finished. And the next book waiting for me has my curiosity running high.
So Alex's blog made me start thinking about my summer reading list. I have a couple in mind, but I want a LIST! I want to go on vacation with a minimum of 6 books that I am excited to read so I can read whatever suits my mood then. That just sounds so summery to me!
And the other "so summery" happiness is a venti iced-tea lemonade from Starbucks. Or even just a Crystal Light lemon iced tea. Or whatever, over ice. In the sun. With a good book. (Or really any reading material that isn't a field trip permission slip, a fundraising pledge sheet, a health topic permission slip, 3rd grade spelling lists, practice records...those are not so much summery.)
So here's all it takes to enter the giveaway: leave a comment with the best book you've ever read, the book you most want to read, or even a book that was good enough to spend some brain cells reading. Or even your favorite book from when you were young or your favorite book to read to your kids. Or all of the above for another extra 1,000 points. And remember those bonus points for guessing the reason for this. (Beyond my thinking towards summer, there is another something!)
Wanna win? You gotta play. If you don't live close, I'll mail it, but only if it doesn't leave this country. And you have to comment here to play, not send me a separate email ~ although I do love those.
So here we go: give me your book choice and you could end up with this venti-sized double-walled cold drink cup from Starbucks, a $10 Starbucks card to get 'er filled, and a $10 Barnes & Noble card to get started on a book for your summer reading list! The winner will be a totally random drawing conducted by the oh-so-honest Brad, who is ineligible to play. Sorry, Brad.
You have until Sunday to enter ~ we'll pick a winner Sunday evening!
Good luck!
My favorite book -- I read so much it is hard for me to pick just one.
ReplyDeleteRedeeming Love by Francine Rivers. It totally caught me off guard at the depth of the story. At the time I didn't even know who she was and had never read anything by her so I was blown away by her ability write.
My next read: Grounds for Living by Jack Hayford and a series by Robert Witlow (sp)
One day I would like to get around to reading "Bridges of Madison County".
ReplyDeletewrotek5 at gmail dot com
OK Mrs.Carlson - this is a cool give-a-way!
ReplyDeleteI have many favorite books - but one that always sticks out in my mind is Roald Dahl's James and The Giant Peach. I first remember this book being a read-aloud by my third grade teacher, Mrs. Rogers (who I believe I thought I would marry at some point...that didn't work out because I found the perfect person many years later in college!!) I remember that we would have 20-30 minutes of read-aloud after lunch recess. I remember not wanting read-aloud to end. The story was fun, the characters were crazy, the idea of this huge peach rolling, sailing and flying around was completely engaging to me. It was this book (and Mrs. Rogers) that tipped me over to becoming a reader. At the end of my third grade year - my parents bought me a hard-cover copy of this book. I still have it today, I still pick it up occassionally and can almost hear Mrs. Rogers voice. Great book, great memories, great teacher. That was probably much more information than needed for a summer give-away. Maybe I will fill my Venti Sized double-walled cold Starbucks cup with a Peach Iced Tea!
Just recently I read the book the Secret of Joy by Melissa Senate. I really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI must say that I read an awful lot and I am all over the gambit of what subjects and genre I read.
Some of my favorite books though were written by Katherine Stone.
When I was a child I read all of the Little House books.
Okay Leanne, you are REALLY speaking my language girl! NOTHING better than a great book list to head into summer! I can't choose just one, but two of my faves:
ReplyDeleteThe Kite Runner: set in the middle east about two young boys who are best friends. One sees the other go through something horrific and just stands by, but then, later in life, he has a chance to redeem himself. An "anti-hero" type of story, hard to read, but you'll have to read it to see if the boy redeems himself.
Also: "Same kind of Different as Me" Story of a friendship between a homeless man and a very wealthy art dealer. You won't want to put it down.
okay, one more I JUST started, and can't believe I would say so just barely into it, but "The Help" about african american maids in the 60's has me swept up so far, very funny, but serious. It's at Costco now for only 14 something! I apologize if it gets bad, but don't think it will.
okay, you are doing this so you'll win the Lacey library summer reading program???
Happy reading to all! Connie
The Hidding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ! It makes you so thankfull for what you have and what God has given to you! Amazing true story about a Christian woman surviving concentration camps.
ReplyDeleteWow Leanne I have so many faves. When I was a kid I loved Black Stallion series and Nancy Drew and Amanda is right about Hiding Place being awesome but I want to go with something more recent so I am going with one I have been raving about for the last year. "The Art of Racing in the Rain" I read it last year on my vacation. I was even telling people down on the dock fishing about it, they all wrote down the title and stuck it in their tackle boxes. They didn't need to tho I was quoteing it to them word for word. Even my husband read it and he only reads westerns. He loved it. One friend went to the library and it was a year long waiting list. Costco has it in paper back. The picture of the dog on front looks like your picture of your dog looking over the counter. The book is written from a dogs perspective about his people. It will make you laugh and cry. The author Garth Stein is from Seattle and did an awesome job.
ReplyDeleteNow what are you celebrating? Does it have something to do with freedom Mom style? Like the first day with no diaper bag, or first day of all day school for all the kids. I don't know how old your son is but is he ready for traffic safty and you will be celebrating a little more freedom? That's what I am going with.
Love you,
Lois
Leanne, forgot to tell you, you can borrow the book. Not trying to get brownie points.
ReplyDeleteLois
Just this week I read two books (I never read, so this was a feat!) They are both books that my middle school students read, but often those are quick, enjoyable reads that spark conversation.
ReplyDeleteThe first was call Stuck In Neutral by Terry Trueman. It's about a boy with cerebral palsy who doesn't have have any control of his muscles so he's bound to a wheelchair and unable to communicate with anyone. However he narrates the book so the whole time you are literally "in his head". The plot thickens when he finds out that his father is trying to 'mercy' kill him. The ending will shock you but will spark amazing conversation.
The second was called Harmless by Dana Reinhardt. It's about three girls who lie to their parents about where they are going for the night. They almost get caught and have to tell an even bigger lie to stay out of trouble. The lie they tell is horrendous and they have to learn to live with their lie. The book rotates through each girls perspective of the same events so the voice in the book is really neat. Have fun reading!
OK--this is just a book...........well, they are never "just a book" but this one has always made me cry. It was soooo hard to put down too many years ago to count. Haven't even thought about it in ages until now but it is always one that pops into my head whenever anyone asks about a book that has "stuck" with me over the years: "When Rabbit Howls" by Truddi Chase. Scary but in a different way. It will always be in my memories of a great story--full of information, tears and sadness. Very hard to put down. Phyllis
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to see you are an avid reader like your mom was! She inspired me to get back to the love of reading when I thought I was too 'busy' with life!
ReplyDeleteMany, many years ago I read Nicholas and Alexandria....I still regard it as my favorite...somehow I believe my ancestry could have been connected to that whole scenario...don't ask me why! LOL And then coming in a close second was Lincoln...yes, simply named Lincoln, but a tremendous insight on a historical icon.
Recently The Help drew me in, so much so that I literally finished it in less than two days! Amazing stuff!
I believe if we are true 'readers' every book we take the time to pick up and read will enrich us in some way. We each zone in to certain types, like mysteries, historical novels, romance...well you get the picture...but to stretch our imaginations and minds, we need to get out of our comfort zones and pick up a complete opposite of our desired read. Until I did that, it was like reading the same thing over and over....
Thanks for your blog...it's so refreshing and well thought out!
Love ya, Aunt Claudia
I will first say I think your picture represents the welcome of summer with you on your much anticipated vacation by the lake. You relaxing with a Starbucks drink along with your latest book find that you can't wait to read.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say some of my favorite reads have been by the author: Nicolas Sparks "A Bend in the Road; The Choice to name a few. Then there was the thought provoking "The Shack" by William P. Young. I think one of my special ones is Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. I have passed this book along again and again. The book I am looking forward to reading next is:
Her Mother's Hope by Francine Rivers...I have already reserved it at my local library...
A favorite book? This is a hard one for me. Ask about my favorite Beethoven/Mahler/Mozart symphony or favorite violin concerto or favorite composer and I'd have plenty of answers. But, fav book? Hmmmm.
ReplyDeleteDoes a series count? I have vivid memories of Dick and Jane books as a first grader. I. Loved. These. (Almost as much as I love Schubert's Trout Quintet.)In fact, I loosely collect D&J books now. I think I'm up to five. Just looking at the pictures and seeing the single work "Look." on the page puts me back in Miss Jarvis's class at Carl Cozier Elementary. 1971. It was a great year to start reading.
By second grade it was the Eddie books. His green thumb. The fire engine. I remember telling my mom she should read these books because they were so good.
Third and fourth grade were mostly all about Laura Ingalls Wilder and the family adventures across the country. (I think this was also about when I discovered Vivaldi... can't go wrong there.)
Skip forward several years, and I loved Goodnight Moon because I read it to all the kids when they were little little.
Currently? I love Beethoven's 7th the most. Oh, wait. It's books we're talking about.
I just read Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone for summer reading unless they are looking for a really complex story full of a blurred line between fantasy and reality which uses imagery/illusion from the Indian culture to describe the early years of a new country (India). It was just too darned confusing. I hear it's going to be a movie. Maybe I'll watch it and see if it fills the missing gaps.
So, that leaves me with a current favorite book, which is probably The Joy of Cooking. I have loved this one for a while. I love to pour over the pages, even though I haven't done it in a while. Seriously. Reading about ingredients and methods fascinates me. Way more than Indian culture of the early 1900s. The other thing that fascinates me is the way Tchaikovsky gets the strings to sound that way in Serenade for Strings... but again, that is a different question!
May 15 National Chocolate Chip Day
ReplyDeleteMay 31st National Macaroon Day
My guesses for the 1000 bonus points. My other guess was Cookie Monster's Birthday on May 25 but there is debate about that and his actual birthday may be in November.
Hi, Lois's husband here. She told me about the contest and I had to put my two cents in so I can win. My favorite book is the "Greatest Generation" by Tom Brokaw. About the World War Two Generation.
ReplyDeletePat
The comments have been so fun to read and I have taken down a few titles to add to my Nook already. I too love to read but picking favorites is hard. I always recommend "The Glass Castle" to people not sure why it stuck out to me so much but genuinely a book I read with my full attention.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite genre of books is mysteries- Mary Higgins Clark is my fav. author in this category. I am currently reading The French Twist series by Sandra Byrd- fluffy chic lit to make me smile after reading the touching "I Will Carry You" which totally altered my perspective of how big our God is.
Favorites from my teen years - Wuthering Heights, Anne of Green Gables(all 8) and anything Frank Peretti.
And for my dear Jacob I still read "The Jesus Storybook Bible", "The Giant Jam Sandwich", "How I became a Pirate" and "Blueberries for Sal"- he owns all in hardback which hope survive until he can read them to his own children if not I will be purchasing them for him:)
Christina
Hey Christina, if you liked Glass Castle, I am reading Jeannette Walls newest book, Half Broke Horses. It's about her grandmother and it is very good. What a woman.
ReplyDeleteLeanne, you hit on a hot subject. I'm taking titles too.
Lois
too many books to choose from, I'd have to say my favorite book is whatever I'm reading at the time. I love to get lost in a good story. Little House on the Prairie books where great when I was young. the books by James Heriot that start with "All Creatures Great and Small" will have you laughing out loud. In fact I think I'll re-read those again...Reading all these comments gave me a good reading list, especially the Hiding Place, think that will be my next one. darrlyn
ReplyDeleteI came to sit down to enter the contest and I am too late, wah, wah, wah....what a dummy I am. I think though, that I would have lost for I love what you love so not very insightful. I am looking forward to reading some of these books that are suggested aren't you?
ReplyDeleteThanks Lois- I finished Half-Broke Horses a few weeks ago and it is headed out the door to lend to all my friends that loved The Glass Castle! Definitely gives you perspective about Rosemary:)
ReplyDeleteLeann- I loved the Mitford Series as well- I flew through those books and was sad when I could no longer be part of their town. I will definitely have to check out the The Chocolate Chip mystery- sounds yummy...
Christina