LAST NIGHT AT CHATEAU MARMONT by Lauren Weisberger & NIGHT ROAD by Kristin Hannah

Winners:
Night Road:
Colleen Turner

Last Night At Chateau Marmont:
Krystal who roasted marshmallows

Please email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com so we can get your books to you. Also please note: my email has ONE T! There happens to be another Stephanie Elliot out there but she spells her last name with TWO Ts and she's been getting some of my emails and I've been getting some of her emails! Fortunately, she's very cool so she's been sending emails to me if she gets any!

Last Night at Chateau Marmont

By Lauren Weisberger

Night Road

By Kristin Hannah

I’ve got two more books for you this weekend and I know you’re going to LOVE these! And what's interesting when I choose books to match up together on a post is sometimes I try to do it so there’s something in common, and today I didn’t think I had anything in common with the two I chose. Except now, after this post is almost all written, I realized that both of these books have the word NIGHT in the title. Crazy right? Wow.

First up is Lauren Weisberger’s Last Night at Chateau Marmont. Everyone remembers Lauren’s debut hit, The Devil Wears Prada, and with this, her fourth novel, Lauren continues to captivate with a fun beach read. Last Night at Chateau Marmont is about a wife trying to deal with the husband’s sudden launch into the land of paparazzi and all things that come along with becoming an overnight celebrity.

Brooke loved reading the dishy celebrity gossip rag Last Night. That is, until her marriage became a weekly headline.

Brooke was drawn to the soulful, enigmatic Julian Alter the very first time she heard him perform “Hallelujah” at a dark East Village dive bar. Now five years married, Brooke balances two jobs—as a nutritionist at NYU Hospital and as a consultant to an Upper East Side girls’ school, where privilege gone wrong and disordered eating run rampant—in order to help support her husband’s dream of making it in the music world.

Things are looking up when after years of playing Manhattan clubs and toiling as an A&R intern, Julian finally gets signed by Sony. Although no one’s promising that the album will ever hit the airwaves, Julian is still dedicated to logging in long hours in the recording studio. All that changes after Julian is asked to perform on the Tonight show with Jay Leno—and is catapulted to stardom, literally overnight. Amazing opportunities begin popping up almost daily—a new designer wardrobe, a tour with Maroon Five, even a Grammy performance.

At first the newfound fame is fun—who wouldn’t want to stay at the Chateau Marmont or visit the set of one of television’s hottest shows? Yet it seems that Brooke’s sweet husband—the man who can’t handle hot showers and wears socks to bed—is increasingly absent, even on those rare nights they’re home together. When rumors about Brooke and Julian swirl in the tabloid magazines, she begins to question the truth of her marriage and is forced to finally come to term with what she thinks she wants—and what she actually needs.

Read the FIRST CHAPTER HERE. Check out an interesting interview with Lauren and her editor HERE. I love the fact that Lauren’s own husband created song lyrics for her character Julian in the book!

Next up is Night Road by Kristin Hannah. I know, I know, I know – you guys are screaming that I’m FINALLY featuring a Kristin Hannah book! What took me so long!? Well it’s here now, and I promise from here on out, I’ll share all her books on MaNiC MoMMy!

Night Road is one of those books that tears at the heartstrings. It’s about family and young love, heartbreak, forgiveneness, and what it takes to bring a family back together again.

For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own, and it shows—her twins, Mia and Zach—are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude. Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable.

Jude does everything to keep her kids on track for college and out of harm’s way. It has always been easy-- until senior year of high school. Suddenly she is at a loss. Nothing feels safe anymore; every time her kids leave the house, she worries about them.

On a hot summer’s night her worst fears come true. One decision will change the course of their lives. In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything. In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget…or the courage to forgive.

Vivid, universal, and emotionally complex, NIGHT ROAD raises profound questions about motherhood, identity, love, and forgiveness. It is a luminous, heartbreaking novel that captures both the exquisite pain of loss and the stunning power of hope. This is Kristin Hannah at her very best, telling an unforgettable story about the longing for family, the resilience of the human heart, and the courage it takes to forgive the people we love.

Read the FIRST CHAPTER HERE.

To enter to win either one of these books tell me what you did LAST NIGHT!

I went grocery shopping and then waited for our friends from Pasadena to arrive. They used to live in Chicago too, but moved to LA in January. The funny thing is now that they live six hours away from us, we see them MORE than when they lived only 45 minutes away in Chicago! So, tell me what you did last night!

(I will draw winners' names from this batch of posts, so if you enter here, you’re qualified to win one of these books, but I’ll draw two names, so it’s possible that your name may be drawn twice)

Thanks for reading and being a part of June Blast-O-Books.

I also blog at SheKnows.com Real Moms Guide. Please take a look at my posts over there if you get a chance!

Don't forget to enter for any of the previous books that you may have missed. AS LONG AS A WINNER's NAME is NOT posted at the top of the blog post, then that means a winner has NOT yet been chosen so you can still enter to win that book but ONLY ONE TIME per book entry PLEASE!

If you're new here, check out the rules and other stuff for the June Blast-O-Books there under that highlighted link back there, or feel free to leave me a comment always and I'll answer it in the thread, or email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com. It is always at my discretion to change things up, and because of some regulations, I guess I must say that the books I review are given to me by either the authors or publishers or publicists, and I am never paid for my reviews, and they are my own personal reviews, and you know what, because I'm here telling you this anyway, I will also tell you that I never review a book I don't like, because you know what, why waste my time, life is too short to read a crappy book! There. There's my new mantra!

MAINE by J. Courtney Sullivan & THE SILVER BOAT by Luanne Rice

WINNERS:

Maine:

Beverly Victoria

The Silver Boat:

Katie from Litchfield Beach in SC

Please email me your mailing address at stephanieelliot@gmail.com so that I can send you your book!

Please go back to the previous posts and enter to win if you have not yet had a chance to do so. As long as a highlighted winner's name has NOT been listed at the top of the previous posts, you can enter to win! TWO separate winners will win ONE book each listed here. However, you only have to post ONCE and you will have the chance to win each of the books.

Maine

By J. Courtney Sullivan

The Silver Boat

By Luanne Rice

It’s OFFICIALLY summer so I can officially bring out these two books which are BEACH BOOKS! The unique thing about The Silver Boat by Luanne Rice and Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan is they both take place in the family’s beachfront properties.


First up, Maine. Some of my most favorite childhood memories are from our trips to Scituate, Maine to visit extended family. I remember walking along the beach, and the craggled rocks along the shore, and racing to the dime store to get candy every afternoon with distant, distant cousins whom I loved but now cannot even remember their names. I have such vivid memories of those times and wish I had a beach house that I could take my family to every summer.

I LOVED J. Courtney’s first book Commencement, and the minute I heard she had a new one out, I had to get it. She’s one of those authors that I have come to love and crave. So, while I have not had a chance to read Maine yet, this one is coming with me on our trip to Chicago. It’s also a BIG book, which makes this one of the times I wish I owned a Kindle, but it’s also a book cover that I adore, so if I had a Kindle, I wouldn't be able to gawk and caress the cover as I have been doing! I have read the first chapter, and let me tell you, this family saga will suck you in.

Here is what Maine is about:

In her best-selling debut, Commencement, J. Courtney Sullivan explored the complicated and contradictory landscape of female friendship. Now, in her highly anticipated second novel, Sullivan takes us into even richer territory, introducing four unforgettable women who have nothing in common but the fact that, like it or not, they’re family.

For the Kellehers, Maine is a place where children run in packs, showers are taken outdoors, and old Irish songs are sung around a piano. Their beachfront property, won on a barroom bet after the war, sits on three acres of sand and pine nestled between stretches of rocky coast, with one tree bearing the initials “A.H.” At the cottage, built by Kelleher hands, cocktail hour follows morning mass, nosy grandchildren snoop in drawers, and decades-old grudges simmer beneath the surface.

As three generations of Kelleher women descend on the property one summer, each brings her own hopes and fears. Maggie is thirty-two and pregnant, waiting for the perfect moment to tell her imperfect boyfriend the news; Ann Marie, a Kelleher by marriage, is channeling her domestic frustration into a dollhouse obsession and an ill-advised crush; Kathleen, the black sheep, never wanted to set foot in the cottage again; and Alice, the matriarch at the center of it all, would trade every floorboard for a chance to undo the events of one night, long ago.

By turns wickedly funny and achingly sad, Maine unveils the sibling rivalry, alcoholism, social climbing, and Catholic guilt at the center of one family, along with the abiding, often irrational love that keeps them coming back, every summer, to Maine and to each other.

I know how much you all love to read the first chapters, so here it is. But do be warned, once you read it, you will NOT want to stop!
MAINE FIRST CHAPTER

The Silver Boat

By Luanne Rice

Next up is Luanne Rice’s The Silver Boat, another beach house family story, but this time, they all congregate on Martha’s Vineyard. I bet many of you are familiar with Luanne Rice as she is the author of 22 consecutive NYT bestsellers! I have to confess here that I have yet to read a Luanne Rice, but I am very excited to be introduced to her. So see, even I get to find out new authors through MaNiC MoMMy!

Read the First Chapter Here: THE SILVER BOAT

Here is the book’s summary:

From the beloved New York Times bestselling Luanne Rice comes a heartwarming yet heart-wrenching portrait of three far-flung sisters who come home to Martha's Vineyard one last time. Their mother's beach house is the only place any of them ever found true happiness and they need to begin the difficult process of letting go. Memories of their grandmother, mother, and their Irish father, who sailed away the year Dar turned twelve, rise up and expose the fine cracks in their family myth-especially when a cache of old letters reveals enough truth to send them back to their ancestral homeland.

Transplanted into the unfamiliar, each sister sees life, her heart, and her relationship to home in a new way. But how do they let go of a place that contains the complicated love of their imperfect family? Without the house, where will they be together?

The novel is a season on Martha's Vineyard; a mission to Ireland; a cast of friends, including one wildly off-the-grid Zen genius; passionate love in the surf; and three very different sisters with lives filled with beauty, sorrow, and deep love they'd never been quite sure they could trust. The Silver Boat is Luanne Rice at her very best, complete with her singular talent for capturing a family in all its flawed complexity.


To enter to qualify to win either of these books, please tell me about a favorite beach memory!

Thanks for reading and being a part of June Blast-O-Books.

I also blog at SheKnows.com Real Moms Guide. Please take a look at my posts over there if you get a chance!

Don't forget to enter for any of the previous books that you may have missed. AS LONG AS A WINNER's NAME is NOT posted at the top of the blog post, then that means a winner has NOT yet been chosen so you can still enter to win that book but ONLY ONE TIME per book entry PLEASE!

If you're new here, check out the rules and other stuff for the June Blast-O-Books there under that highlighted link back there, or feel free to leave me a comment always and I'll answer it in the thread, or email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com. It is always at my discretion to change things up, and because of some regulations, I guess I must say that the books I review are given to me by either the authors or publishers or publicists, and I am never paid for my reviews, and they are my own personal reviews, and you know what, because I'm here telling you this anyway, I will also tell you that I never review a book I don't like, because you know what, why waste my time, life is too short to read a crappy book! There. There's my new mantra!

THE ONE THAT I WANT by Allison Winn Scotch & THE ORPHAN SISTER by Gwendolen Gross

WINNERS:

The Orphan Sister:

Qweska8402

The One That I Want:

JDSTEC

Please email me your addresses at stephanieelliot@gmail.com so I can get your books to you! Congrats!

The One That I Want

By: Allison Winn Scotch

The Orphan Sister
By Gwendolen Gross

TWO separate winners will win ONE book each. However, you only have to post ONCE and you will have the chance to win each of the books.

Allison is one of those authors who takes the time to connect with her fans, and is also willing to help other writers. She's on Facebook and Twitter - she's very fun to follow, if you haven't connected with her online. She's had the opportunity to interview some very hot celebs, and has freelanced for years as well as written NYT bestsellers. Her latest, The One That I Want is out in paperback next week, but you can win it here THIS WEEK!

The premise:

Tilly Farmer is thirty-two years old and has the perfect life she always dreamed of: married to her high school sweetheart, working as a school guidance counselor, trying for a baby. Perfect.

But one sweltering afternoon at the local fair, everything changes. Tilly wanders into a fortune teller's tent and meets an old childhood friend, who offers her more than just a reading. "I'm giving you the gift of clarity," her friend says. "It's what I always thought you needed." And soon enough, Tilly starts seeing things: her alcoholic father relapsing, staggering out of a bar with his car keys in hand; her husband uprooting their happy, stable life, a packed U-Haul in their driveway. And even more disturbing, these visions start coming true. Suddenly Tilly's perfect life, so meticulously mapped out, seems to be crumbling around her. And as she furiously races to keep up with - and hopefully change - her destiny, she faces the question: Which life does she want? The one she's carefully nursed for decades, or the one she never considered possible?

I'm also very excited about her fourth book, which will be out early 2012 called, The Song Remains the Same! Sneak Peek HERE!

And for all you writers out there with any kind of questions at all, don't forget to check out Allison's blog, Ask Allison, where she is always available to answer your writing questions! It's a great blog, very helpful and inspiring!

The Orphan Sister
By Gwendolen Gross

The next book to give away is one that Allison personally recommends, The Orphan Sister, by Gwendolen Gross, which I am completely engrossed in right now. Allison calls it “a gorgeous portrait of life, love, loss and sisterhood.”

I read five chapters while getting my hair colored today and cannot wait until later tonight when I can escape into some quiet time to continue reading. Gwendolen has written three other books, her most recent was The Other Mother, which I also loved and devoured. Her writing is so fluid and full of imagery, and The Orphan Sister is already so suspenseful and such a page-turner.

Here is the book’s premise:

Clementine Lord is not an orphan. She just feels like one sometimes. One of triplets, a quirk of nature left her the odd one out. Odette and Olivia are identical; Clementine is a singleton. Biologically speaking, she came from her own egg. Practically speaking, she never quite left it. Then Clementine’s father—a pediatric neurologist who is an expert on children’s brains, but clueless when it comes to his own daughters—disappears, and his choices, both past and present, force the family dynamics to change at last. As the three sisters struggle to make sense of it, their mother must emerge from the greenhouse and leave the flowers that have long been the focus of her warmth and nurturing.

For Clementine, the next step means retracing the winding route that led her to this very moment: to understand her father’s betrayal, the tragedy of her first lost love, her family’s divisions, and her best friend Eli’s sudden romantic interest. Most of all, she may finally have found the voice with which to share the inside story of being the odd sister out. . . .

To enter to win either one of these awesome books, tell me if you think you can judge a book by its cover? Is there a certain book cover you love? Personally, I love both these book covers. I love the book covers where you can't tell what the character looks like. I always like to imagine for myself who the character is.

Thanks for reading and being a part of June Blast-O-Books.

I also blog at SheKnows.com Real Moms Guide. Please take a look at my posts over there if you get a chance!

Don't forget to enter for any of the previous books that you may have missed. AS LONG AS A WINNER's NAME is NOT posted at the top of the blog post, then that means a winner has NOT yet been chosen so you can still enter to win that book but ONLY ONE TIME per book entry PLEASE!

If you're new here, check out the rules and other stuff for the June Blast-O-Books there under that highlighted link back there, or feel free to leave me a comment always and I'll answer it in the thread, or email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com. It is always at my discretion to change things up, and because of some regulations, I guess I must say that the books I review are given to me by either the authors or publishers or publicists, and I am never paid for my reviews, and they are my own personal reviews, and you know what, because I'm here telling you this anyway, I will also tell you that I never review a book I don't like, because you know what, why waste my time, life is too short to read a crappy book! There. There's my new mantra!

LONG DRIVE HOME by Will Allison & PARENTS BEHAVING BADLY by Scott Gummer

WINNERS:

Parents Behaving Badly:

Gwendolen Gross

(who just happens to be the author of The Orphan Girl! I think it's so cool that she won a book!)

Long Drive Home:

Joelle who said Jim Higley was her fave male author!

Please email me your mailing addresses so we can get you your books! Congrats!

NOTE: I am posting more frequently or doubling up books because I have many to get through by the end of the month, so make SURE to check previous posts so you don't miss ANY of the fabulous books I'm featuring! If there is not a highlighted WINNER on top of the POST, then you may still ENTER to win that book!

Long Drive HomeBy Will Allison

Parents Behaving Badly

By Scott Gummer

Today I’m so very excited to bring two talented MEN to MaNiC MoMMy! Am I allowed to call them DILFs????? Cuz yep, they are quite sexy in their videos, if I dare say so! You MUST check them out ladies! And they are such talented writers!

A man and his pen is not to be shunned!

Let me preface this by saying this is NOT a two-fer post – TWO separate winners will win ONE book each. However, you only have to post ONCE and you will have the chance to win each of the books. Do you get what I’m sayin? (Yes, I will draw from the same batch twice, so you could possibly win both books.)

The first book up is Parents Behaving Badly by Scott Gummer, and I am part-way through and laughing like crazy over it. Seriously, this book reads like it should be on TV or a movie. Almost like the New and Improved Bad News Bears for women who love to read a great book. Tom Perrotta, one of my favorite male authors, said this of the book: “Not just a sharp satire about Little League madness but a shrewd and sympathetic portrait of a midlife marriage.”

Here’s the blurb on the book:

When Ben and Jili Holden must move from Manhattan with their three children back to their small hometown of Palace Valley, California, they are forced to reconcile the parents they've become with the dreams they had, the choices they've made, and a sex life much more down-to-earth than the epic Ferris wheel tryst of their youth. After reluctantly stepping up to lead his son's Little League team, Ben is challenged to finally come to terms with the long shadow of his father, a legendary high school baseball coach and mentor who is beloved by generations of players, yet largely a stranger to Ben.

At the heart of the story are the universal experiences and themes of family and community, as Ben and Jili struggle to connect with their technology-addicted children and grapple with issues of marital fidelity—both at home and in the hotbed of sexual tension that is the Little League park. Among an unforgettable cast are Del, an autocratic coach who issues his own Ten Commandments; Liza, Ben's unrequited high school crush; Logan, a smart-aleck ringer whose preteen talents are eclipsed only by his ego; and Cyn, the sultry thong-wearing team mom with the serpent tattoo. Every mother and father of every boy and girl who have ever participated in youth sports can relate, and in Parents Behaving Badly Scott Gummer brilliantly skewers overzealous parents and lunatic coaches, giving the grown-ups who seek vicarious glory the send-up they so richly deserve.

Check out an excerpt HERE.

And here is Scott in a video about Parents Behaving Badly where he fesses up about where the idea for the book came about.

NEXT UP:

Long Drive Home By Will Allison

Next up is a book I have been dying to get my hands on from the moment I read about it. Long Drive Home by Will Allison is a book about what happens when an impulsive act can turn your whole life into a downward spiral. When a simple jerk of his wheel, intended to scare a reckless driver, causes the driver to die in a car accident, Glen Bauer has to face the moral consequences knowing he was the one who may have caused the death. Add some extra tension to the story – Glen’s young daughter, Sara, was in the backseat at the time. An impulsive lie to his wife, the police, and his daughter, and the game begins. Long Drive Home is going to be an emotional and psychological drama that I will have to gear up to read. You know how there are some books that you just have to prep for? For me, I actually need to allocate a quiet time and place, and enough time span to be able to sit and really get into the drama of the book. And I cannot wait to settle in for this one!

Here’s a blurb:

Life can change in an instant because of one small mistake. For Glen Bauer, all it takes is a quick jerk of the steering wheel, intended to scare a reckless driver. But the reckless driver is killed, and just like that, Glen's placid suburban existence begins to unravel. When Glen realizes no one else saw the accident, he impulsively lies about what happened--to the police, to his wife, even to his six-year-old daughter, Sara, who was in the backseat at the time of the crash. But a tenacious detective thinks Sara might have seen more than she knows, or more than her parents will let her tell. And when Glen tries to prevent the detective from interrogating Sara, he finds himself in a high-stakes cat-and-mouse game that could end in a lawsuit or prison. What he doesn't see coming is the reaction of his wife, Liz--a panicked plan that threatens to tear their family apart in the name of saving it. But what if the accident wasn't really Glen's fault? What if someone else were to blame for the turn his life has taken? It's a question Glen can't let go of. And as he struggles to understand the extent of his own guilt, he finds himself on yet another collision course, different in kind but with the potential to be equally devastating.

Here’s a great video of Will Allison talking about LONG DRIVE HOME.

An interesting side note I just discovered about both of these books: Tom Perrotta is mentioned in Long Drive Home too. No wonder I was drawn to both of these books and to these male writers! I have found two new faves!

To qualify to win one or both of these two great books, leave a comment on who is your favorite male author! Thanks!

P.S. How many of you were smart enough to catch my subtle yet intentional joke up there?

Thanks for reading and being a part of June Blast-O-Books.

I also blog at SheKnows.com Real Moms Guide.

Don't forget to enter for any of the previous books that you may have missed. AS LONG AS A WINNER's NAME is NOT posted at the top of the blog post, then that means a winner has NOT yet been chosen so you can still enter to win that book but ONLY ONE TIME per book entry PLEASE!

If you're new here, check out the rules and other stuff for the June Blast-O-Books there under that highlighted link back there, or feel free to leave me a comment always and I'll answer it in the thread, or email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com. It is always at my discretion to change things up, and because of some regulations, I guess I must say that the books I review are given to me by either the authors or publishers or publicists, and I am never paid for my reviews, and they are my own personal reviews, and you know what, because I'm here telling you this anyway, I will also tell you that I never review a book I don't like, because you know what, why waste my time, life is too short to read a crappy book! There. There's my new mantra!

WHERE'S MY WAND by Eric Poole

Winner: Lizett34

Please email me your address at stephanieelliot@gmail.com so you can get your book!

Where’s My Wand

By Eric Poole

What’s a Blast-O-Books Giveaway without some Memoir in the mix? We’ve got Eric Poole’s Where’s My Wand? One Boy’s Magical Triumph Over Alienation and Shag Carpeting coming your way today, and already I’m loving the first few pages because yes, I have a bit of shag carpeting in our new home. We actually call it the ‘70s Black Porn Rug for those of you who haven’t personal gyrated on it. I loathe it and cannot wait to get rid of it.

(I’ll note here, it’s not really from the ‘70s and it’s not really Porn carpet. It’s actually probably really nice, but it’s just not my style, and I don't gyrate on it. And I haven't put a black light against it either. I don't want to know what's been there before.)

Back to the book: Where’s My Wand is for any of you who have ever read and loved David Sedaris or Augusten Burroughs. People magazine has said this:

“Poole’s memoir of growing up gay and Baptist in the seventies would be worth reading if it were just gut-splittingly funny. But Wand is also a deeply moving account of a boy’s attempt to control his world with his own brand of magic.”

And for you Brady Bunch fans, Florence Henderson wishes she could have had Eric for a Brady Boy! I have no idea why, or what she would have done to him, but, well, I guess that would have really made for some exciting Brady Bunch episodes, don’t you all think? “Bobby, Peter! What ARE you doing with Eric’s WAND???!!!” Hahah, Yes, I continue to CRACK MYSELF UP!

Book Blurb:
From the age of eight through early adolescence, Poole sought refuge from his obsessive-compulsive mother, sadistic teachers, and sneering schoolyard thugs in the Scotchgarded basement of his family’s suburban St. Louis tract house. There, emulating his favorite TV character, Endora from Bewitched, he wrapped himself in a makeshift caftan and cast magical spells in an effort to maintain control over the rapidly shifting ground beneath his feet. But when a series of tragic events tested Eric’s longstanding belief that magic can vanquish evil, he began to question the efficacy of his incantations, embarking on a spiritual journey that led him to discover the magic that comes only from within.

TO WIN:
So, if you’re looking for a little bit of ‘70s, a little bit of closet-gayness, and a whole lotta magic, tell me something you like about the seventies. And if you WEREN’T ALIVE DURING THE SEVENTIES, GO ASK A FAMILY MEMBER! Or just tell me you’re still a baby, and make me cringe!

Really though, I was barely part of the seventies, and only 11 by the time I got out of that decade, so I’m really not that much ahead of all you young ones! But I do remember those flare jeans. Maybe it’s because they have already been around two or three times since then. OK, I’ll tell you something! I remember they had these RECORD STORES, that sold RECORDS. Like vinyl. The stores were called The Record Bar. And my sister and I had gift certificates to get a record album. I chose a K-Town one. With like Knock-Knock-Knock on Wood, and I Will Survive on the album. Kind of like a mixed tape type of record album. Totally ‘70s right?

And my sister picked up this one with a black dude on it. It was called, Off The Wall. His name was Michael Jackson. I looked at her and said, clear as day, and I regret this to this day. I said, “Stacy, I don’t know if you’re going to like that record album.” Want to know why I said that to her? My preconceived idea that the singer was black so he wasn’t going to be good! HOW HORRIBLE AND WRONG WAS I? Thank GOD she bought the album anyway! Long live Michael Jackson! So there! There is my seventies story! Tell me one of yours to enter to win Where’s My Wand by Eric Poole!

Thanks for reading and being a part of June Blast-O-Books.

I also blog at SheKnows.com Real Moms Guide.

Don't forget to enter yesterday’s book, The D Word! I will most likely be choosing all the winners for the week over the weekend so do check back then! AS LONG AS A WINNER's NAME is NOT posted at the top of the blog post, then that means a winner has NOT yet been chosen so you can still enter to win that book but ONLY ONE TIME per book entry PLEASE!

If you're new here, check out the rules and other stuff for the June Blast-O-Books there under that highlighted link back there, or feel free to leave me a comment always and I'll answer it in the thread, or email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com. It is always at my discretion to change things up, and because of some regulations, I guess I must say that the books I review are given to me by either the authors or publishers or publicists, and I am never paid for my reviews, and they are my own personal reviews, and you know what, because I'm here telling you this anyway, I will also tell you that I never review a book I don't like, because you know what, why waste my time, life is too short to read a crappy book! There. There's my new mantra!

PRICELESS by Nicole Richie

Winner: Melissa tmd36

Please email me at: stephanieelliot@gmail.com to claim your book!

Priceless
By Nicole Richie

When I heard that Nicole Richie had a book out, I had to admit, I thought it was a tell-all memoir. Imagine my surprise when I learned that Nicole is not only a philanthropist, a designer, a fashionista, an actress and a mother of two, she’s also a talented fiction writer and a New York Times bestselling author of the previously pubbed The Truth About Diamonds, 2005!

Priceless is a book that digs deep into the exciting life of 22-year-old Charlotte Williams who has it all – money, fame as a talented singer, celebrity, great friends, and the New York city lifestyle any young woman would wish for. But when her father is arrested for fraud and the family’s bank accounts are frozen, Charlotte escapes to New Orleans to rebuild her life. From Manhattan to the French Quarter and LA, this tale will give you a sneak peek into a rich life that Nicole Richie has created – the fun of this book is wondering which parts are fiction from Nicole's glamorous celebrity life though!

To enter to win PRICELESS, tell me three things in your life that are PRICELESS to you, NOT INCLUDING the obvious, like spouse, children, family members, pets! For me, my three priceless items are:

~My signed copies of books from the authors I love.
~All of my photographs.
~All of the pictures and letters my children have written and drawn for me.
~My diamond ring my mother gave to me and my engagement ring my husband gave to me.

OK, I wrote down FOUR!

Your turn!

If you didn’t yet enter yesterday’s book BEST KEPT SECRET, make sure to check it out by going to the previous post! I will most likely be choosing all the winners for the week over the weekend so do check back then! AS LONG AS A WINNER's NAME is NOT posted at the top of the blog post, then that means a winner has NOT yet been chosen so you can still enter to win that book but ONLY ONE TIME per book entry PLEASE!

If you're new here, check out the rules and other stuff for the June Blast-O-Books there under that highlighted link back there, or feel free to leave me a comment always and I'll answer it in the thread, or email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com. It is always at my discretion to change things up, and because of some regulations, I guess I must say that the books I review are given to me by either the authors or publishers or publicists, and I am never paid for my reviews, and they are my own personal reviews, and you know what, because I'm here telling you this anyway, I will also tell you that I never review a book I don't like, because you know what, why waste my time, life is too short to read a crappy book! There. There's my new mantra!

June Blast-O-Books!

Update! We've added MORE books ALREADY!!!

I'M DOING IT AGAIN!

June Blast-O-Books!

OK, I didn’t think I’d be doing this again so soon after the March Madness Book A Day Giveaway, but what better way to kick off summer than with a bunch of fun book reviews, features and giveaways, right?

RIGHT!

So, here’s what we’re going to do for the first part of June: Let’s start giving away some books next week, shall we? Every day until the book offers stop coming through, I’ll give away a book to a lucky reader. And same as last time, if you enter every day, I’ll put your name in to win a grand prize at the end, which will be a batch of books. This time the grand prize will be a random batch of books – some will be a selection of those that I’m giving away in June, and some will be some random extra books I have here. Plus I may toss in a Target gift card or a Starbucks card, and some other fun stuff; we’ll just have to see what I’m in the mood for giving away.

One thing that many of you were confused about last time was that some of you thought that you were not all included as many times as you entered daily. You were. If you leave a comment on EVERY post every time I offer you a book, your name will be entered in the final grand prize drawing THAT many times, whether you win a book or not. Guaranteed. So rest assured that even if you don’t win any of the books for the next 15 book giveaways (or however many I give away), your name will go into the ‘hat’ that many times to be eligible to win the grand prize.

This promo is called the June Blast-O-Books, and for now I’ve got these books committed, and there are possibly more to come, so stay tuned, and we’ll kick this bad boy off on Monday June 6th! However, unlike in March, I will be taking the weekends off! Some of the books being offered this time around will be e-books!

Got Milf? The Mordern Mom’s Guide to Feeling Fabulous, Looking Great, and Rocking a Minivan by Sarah Maizes

Parents Behaving Badly by Scott Gummer

Best Kept Secret by Amy Hatvany

Where’s My Wand? by Eric Poole

Skinny by Diana Spechler

Priceless by Nicole Richie (yep, THAT Nicole Richie)

Night Road by Kristin Hannah

The D Word by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

A Pug’s Tale by Allison Pace

The Silver Boat by Luanne Rice

Momfriends by Ariella Papa

The Little Women Letters by Gabrielle Donnelly

Missing Persons by Clare O'Donohue

Chicken in the Car and the Car Won't Go: Nearly 200 Ways to Enjoy Chicagoland With Tweens And Tweens by Melisa Wells

Last Night at Chateau Marmont by Lauren Weisberger

Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan

The One That I Want by Allison Winn Scotch

Here are some of the rules we played by from last time:
Sorry, but if you live outside of the U.S. or Canada, we can’t deliver books to you. You’re the lucky one who gets to live somewhere exotic, so that’s the one downfall you’ve got to suffer by not being able to win here.

Enter only once per book, but remember, if you don’t win that day, you will still be entered to win whatever the ‘grand’ prize I choose to make grand at the end of this June Blast-O-Books!

Use a unique identifying name when leaving your comment (JEN is NOT UNIQUE, but JEN36 IS UNIQUE – get it?), and preferably please try to leave a way for me to contact you if you can. Usually I will announce the book winner 3-5 days after I post the book review at the TOP of the post, so it’s important to COME BACK to the post to see if you have won.

You must contact me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com to claim your book. For the most part, I won’t come looking for you to give you your prize.

I use random.org to choose the winners.

Any questions, feel free to ask them in the comment section!

End of the Month Recap & More Book Giveaways Are Coming!

Well, the end of May brings about a lot of stuff for us. This past Sunday marked our One Year anniversary of us living in Arizona. We DID it. It’s hard to believe we’ve lived here one whole year. I can’t say the day past without emotion, but I don’t think I’m going to harbor on it now. One thing I’ve learned is that this blog is no longer a place where I lay it all out there any longer, but more of a place to share my love for books and authors with you all and a tidbit here and there of some glimpses of what’s going on in my life, not everything anymore, like in the old days when I OVERSHARED.

This past Sunday was also Mr. MaNiC’s and my 18th wedding anniversary. People say that marriage is hard work, and I guess that some of the stuff we’ve been through has been difficult but I know most couples have it way harder than we do. I’ve trusted him enough to go from Chicago to Philly with him. And from Philly to Chicago with him. And from Chicago to Scottsdale with him. And he’s taken care of the family so far, and I haven’t wanted to kill him THAT many times, so it’s all good. : ) Really, it is all good. Or I wouldn’t be here.

School’s out. ALREADY. And I did almost want to kill the kiddies already on Friday with them being a bit ungrateful. OMG. They were just being ENTITLED. It’s like “COME ON! We’ve got all summer. We don’t have to do EVERYTHING the minute school gets out!” I took a deep breath and things will be on track now. I’m excited to have this time with them.

Coming up in the next few days that will take us into a couple of weeks, I’m going to be kicking off a JUNE BLAST-O-BOOKS! Here’s a list of some of the books you can expect to find here being featured and given away! So please come back to read about them and you can also win them, much like you had chances to win them in March during the March Madness giveaway, but on a smaller scale, and no grand prize winner, but still, fun, great reads for you to learn about and possibly win! Here’s the list that I have so far, and there may be more:

Got Milf? The Mordern Mom’s Guide to Feeling Fabulous, Looking Great, and Rocking a Minivan by Sarah Maizes

Parents Behaving Badly by Scott Gummer

Best Kept Secret by Amy Hatvany

Where’s My Wand? by Eric Poole

Skinny by Diana Spechler

Priceless by Nicole Richie (yep, THAT Nicole Richie)

Night Road by Kristin Hannah

The D Word by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

A Pug’s Tale by Allison Pace

The Silver Boat by Luanne Rice

Momfriends by Ariella Papa

Lastly, I’ve got some pictures of the kitchen re-do. Remember when I showed you the ugliest wallpaper in the world and asked for your opinions on paint color? Well, I DECIDED! What do you think? If you have a negative opinion, please don’t share. Hahah, no really, if you hate it, go ahead and tell me, I can take it!

Here is the old kitchen:

And here's what it looks like now:

 The beige color on the wall with the white pantry door is completely different than the beige color over the red here. But it matches pretty good! I love how the red over the arch looks. So glad the wallpaper is GONE! There used to be wallpaper where the pantry door is and all over where the red is too.

 I had the painting already and wanted to put it up somewhere. It had been in our living room but looks better here. I am still not opposed to something larger to fill up the space on this wall.

 I love that wire decor thingamagig I had placed up on the high wall. From World Market and CHEAP! The whole wall above the windows used to be covered in wallpaper. Ewww.

 Here's a little table I found at Home Goods -- isn't it adorable? A great place to throw JUNK!

So that's IT for our home improvement stuff for a while, at least until we get rid of what we like to call our '70s porn carpet which is in our family room. Come back in a couple days and I'll start doing the reviews/features/giveaways for all the great books I mentioned above! And Happy Almost June to you all!

Walt Disney World with Kids 2011

Congrats to Ally of Little Squirts blog who has won the copy of Walt Disney World with Kids! Please email me with your full name and address so we can send you your book! Thanks!

Walt Disney World with Kids by Kim Wright Wiley

Hi everyone! I have some great books coming up and am going to be doing a June Blast-O-Books where for about 10 days straight it’s going to be book giveaways galore, so be ready for that! Also, please check the previous giveaways for The Last Letter, The First Husband and Here, Home, Hope as these books have not been claimed yet!

In the meantime, who loves DISNEY!?!?!? Not sure if many of you know that I was born in Tampa and practically lived at Disney World when I was younger, back when all they had there was a castle and three-quarters of the characters didn’t exist!

Yep, there was just Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Cinderella and Donald when I was a kid! Hahah. Most of you know my author pal Kim Wright, who wrote the amazing Love in Mid Air. She is also a very talented travel author who writes and loves all things Disney! Today, I turn the blog over to her and she’s going to share some new stuff about WDW with you all, AND we’ve got a book offer for you as well! …

So here's Kim to share some Disney stuff with you all!

Walt Disney World really knows how to keep people coming back....they're constantly adding new stuff and updating attractions. I've been writing about Disney for 26 years, each year updating my travel guide Walt Disney World With Kids, and even though I stopped counting after 100 visits, I have to admit that Disney even manages to keep me on my toes!

On a recent press trip they debuted two new attractions, both of which were pretty darn amazing, and which I think are going to be huge hits.

STAR TOURS 3-D: The completely revamped Star Tours ride at Hollywood Studios has two great things going for it. One, they've created not just one new story line, but 54 of them. Well, actually it's a sort of mix and match story line with multiple beginnings, endings, and middles, which means they can be combined in 54 different ways. But you're always flying with C3P0 and R2D2 to one of the spots featured in the movies and the special effects are always amazing. That's partly due to the second great thing, which is the 3-D technology. Not only does it make you feel like you're really flying, but the 3-D effects have actually cut down on the tendency of the ride to give people motion sickness. (That was one of the few objections Disney guests had to the old ride. Simulated action can be tougher to take than real action and some people were tossing their intergalactic cookies.)

Anyway, it's back, more fun than ever, and the 40-inch height requirement means most kids are welcome aboard. I predict the multiple story line is going to be a big draw since lots of people will want to ride more than once. You know how obsessive Star Tours fans can be... the night before the opening they were lined up sleeping on the sidewalks outside of Hollywood Studios, like they were waiting for a rock concert! Anyway, if the line is longer than 30 minutes, use FASTPASS.

WILD AFRICA TREK: If you love animals and you love Kilimanjaro Safaris at the Animal Kingdom, you'll go gorilla over this. The Wild Africa Trek debuted a few months ago and I suspect Disney thought the $189 per person ticket price would make this an attraction for VIPs only. Surprise, surprise... everyone loves it so much the tours are overbooked and they're going from four tours a day to twelve, starting in June.

What makes it so hot? For starters, it's a 3-hour tour for anyone over the age of 8 and it gives you lots more chances to get lots closer to the animals. You walk on trails that weave around the animal compounds with your knowledgeable guides and get to walk over a swinging suspension bridge 50 feet above a river full of napping crocodiles. This "creek of crocs" part is really exciting and even though it's not really dangerous - you're tethered in with a bungee and the bridge is only Disney-designed to look as if it's creaky and broken - it does get your heart beating faster. Your walking tour is followed by a VIP safari in a special truck and a truly delicious lunch that's catered to your viewing platform that's located right in the middle of the savannah with the animals all around you.

I think the Trek is proving so popular because the trainers take plenty of pictures for you and answer all your questions in complete detail which make the trip both memorable and educational. It's the perfect basis for a school project and will help parents feel a lot less guilty if they've taken the kids out of school for the Disney trip. (For example, did you know a group of hippos are called a "bloat"? Neither did I.) Advance reservations are a must: Call (407) WDW-TOUR for more details.

To enter to win Kim’s amazing book, Walt Disney World with Kids 2011, tell me if you’ve taken the kids to Disney, and what was your favorite part of the trip? When we went, I LOVED the Buzz Lightyear Ride, and The Bug’s Life Show, but was TERRIFIED of Lilo and Stitch! That one was SCARY!!

A Night Out With Jen! As in Lancaster.

As promised, here is the winning Haiku from the recent contest to win IF YOU WERE HERE, Jen Lancaster's first novel. It was chosen for the knowledge of Jen Lancaster's brood at home. Also Jen's friends, Tracey and Gina, had input on this Haiku being the winner. Congrats to Crystal717 for winning a personalized copy of IF YOU WERE HERE.

You guys have been so great about hanging out here and being supportive, so I'm trying to do as much as I can to give back a little wherever I can - I purchased an extra copy of the book and randomly chose another winner. That winner is Ally N. who will also receive a book that Jen also personalized.

Here is Crystal's winning Haiku:

Jen, Queen of the house

Loki, Libby, Maisy, Fletch

House full of madness

So, Ally and Crystal, please email me with your full name and address - I have your personalized books signed by Jen herself tonight waiting for you, and if you follow me on Facebook, you probably know I'm dying to go back to the post office so I can jam to some of the tunes they're always playing there!

Those of you who have entered other book giveaways, the winners of The Baby Planner and Here, Hope, Home have not yet come forward. Please check back to see if your name is at the top of those blog posts and contact me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com so you can receive your book. Would love to give those winners their books! Thanks!

And thanks to Jen tonight for a great reading/signing in Phoenix! She is one of my top five authors and is on my SHELF OF FAME in my office. Love her, love her humor, love her books! I'm just really sorry that I gave away a really big plot point of the book during the Q&A tonight! My bad! I hope she's gonna find it in her heart to forgive me.

Also, DO NOT FORGET to enter to win The First Husband by Laura Dave; in fact, CLICK HERE AND GO THERE NOW!! Don't forget to check back on Friday for FIVE DOLLAR FUN FACT FRIDAY. I promise this one for sure is gonna stump you all! And Heidi, I will send you your five bucks you won from guessing Barry Manilow soon! I've been low on the funds! : )

Thanks everyone for being such awesome readers!

PeaCe uP!
~MaNiC MoMMy

THE FIRST HUSBAND by Laura Dave

Congratulations to JEN R. who has NO TATTOOS but might consider a shooting star on the top of her foot has won the copy of THE FIRST HUSBAND! Please email me your full name and address so you can receive your book!

Laura Dave’s third book hit the shelves last week and it’s one of my favorite books, because Laura’s one of my favorite authors, and she can’t write ‘em fast enough. Laura was so generous in answering a few questions about The First Husband, and she’s even offered to give away ANOTHER copy here on MaNiC MoMMy (she gave away TWO sets of ALL her books in March – did you MISS THAT?). Seriously, she is that great!

Laura’s the type of author who makes you fall in love with all of her characters. They’re so real and likeable, even the ones you’re not quite sure you’re supposed to like. Here’s my conversation with her about The First Husband. Check it out and then leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win a copy! Thanks Laura! You ROCK!

MaNiC: Tell me about Roman Holiday - is it really a favorite movie of yours? Has bad stuff happened to you when you watch it? I’ve never seen it? Should I? Of course, I’ve never seen It’s a Wonderful Life or Gone with the Wind either! (I know, isn’t that like a cardinal sin!)

Laura: It is a cardinal sin! Mostly because you are missing out on serious enjoyment. Roman Holiday is a great movie—starring Audrey Hepburn (at her loveable best) as a trapped Princess eager to experience the real world. And, even though Audrey plays royalty, her desire to live life on her terms is highly relatable. And don’t even get me started on Gregory Peck. Wow.

As for my real-life bad luck movie? That would be All The Presidents Men. I love that movie—and my experience with it bringing me bad luck (and no longer watching it due to a misplaced superstition! Don’t judge me!) was what inspired my giving Annie a bad luck movie. Because—like Annie—as much as I love the movie, I will run out of the room if ever it comes on.

MM: Why did you feel the need to include the part in the book about the meeting of Caleb and Annie in the bar? And their attraction? I thought that was interesting but wasn’t sure what it was all about? Was that to trick the reader to think that maybe Annie would forget about both Griffin and Nick?

Laura: For me, the Caleb moment spoke to Annie’s ultimate psychological battle. Because of Annie’s past (her less-than-dependable mom/her nomadic childhood), she struggles to be present—both for herself, and the people who love her—and has organized her life so she can always escape in the name of something better being out there. There is always something exhilarating waiting for her just around the corner—in a new country, in a new part of the world. And Caleb represents the latest possibility.

She has a choice when they meet: she can choose something new and shiny all over again. Or she can choose someone (I won’t say whether I speak of Griffin or Nick, for those who haven’t read yet) who just may be everything.

MM: What I LOVED about The First Husband (among other things of course) is that I truly, TRULY didn’t know until the very end who she would end up with, and I do feel the reader is very conflicted as to who she would be with. Although I knew who I wanted to be with from the get-go!

Laura: Thank you! I’m so pleased to hear that. Early readers keep telling me that they really didn’t know what Annie was going to do, which makes me so happy to hear. I wanted her to have two viable choices. Griffin and Nick represent two sides of what Annie hopes for. But ultimately she has to choose—which side to be true to in herself. (As a side-note, I was happy with the choice she made too.)

MM: Why did you choose an anchor tattoo for Gia and Griffin? If Griffin and Annie were to get matching tattoos, what do you think they would get, and where? Also, do you think Annie is the type of person who would request that Griffin get his anchor tattoo removed?

Laura: That is a great question. It was actually a hand tattoo in the first draft (a tattoo of the hand of hamsa!), but that never felt precisely right to me. So much of Griffin’s life is anchored—anchored to his hometown, anchored to his family, anchored to his passion for his work—that I felt like an anchor was a tattoo choice he’d make.

Plus, Griffin’s ex-girlfriend Gia is both literally and metaphorically Griffin’s anchor. So much so that she almost sinks Griffin and Annie.

Even considering that, Annie wouldn’t ever ask Griffin to have his tattoo removed. It is an important piece of who he is.

But I think if Annie was going to brave it and get a tattoo with Griffin, she would suggest the opposite of an anchor for them. What’s the opposite? Maybe she’d pick a kite or a plane. Something that represents being set free.

MM: Did Jesse remind you of Uncle Jesse from Full House? ; )

Laura: That is hilarious! No, but how cute was John Stamos in his wedding episode? I know too much of that episode by heart to not be a little ashamed of it.

MM: Do you think Gia may ever show up in another book, or are these characters done in your mind? Or how about Nick? They’re all happily ever after?

Laura: I usually leave my characters in the world they’ve inhabited, but I have gotten such a phenomenal response to Annie’s best friend, Jordan, that I think she has the best shot of having her own story told. I try to never say never. So, yes, Jordan and her stepdaughter Sasha may very well appear in another book one of these days.

MM: Does your fiancé have any of the qualities that either Nick or Griffin possess? I know you live in LA, and also that your fiancé is in the TV industry. Nick is in movies and lives in LA … any connection between the two?

Laura: My fiancé, Josh, would definitely say there is. He thinks he’s Nick and Griffin and every other character, including Annie! I’m just kidding (mostly).

But I do recognize there are some outward similarities between Nick and Josh: Josh is a screenwriter (he’s written for a bunch of TV shows including The West Wing and, currently, Fringe, which has totally turned me into a Sci-Fi geek, I’m proud to say). So he certainly has a work life that mirrors Nick’s. But, in reality, he has more in common with Griffin. He has Griffin’s sweetness. And he’s a great cook.

MM: What town did you design Williamsburg (see, I can’t even remember what town it is either, just like the characters in the book!) from? Would you ever survive in a town like that? And would you go there for your husband?

Laura: I lived in western Massachusetts for a year in my early twenties and I loved the idea of setting a novel there: in a place that on the surface is cold and difficult (I mean very cold!), but despite its challenges, it is stunningly special at its core.

As the writing progressed, I took needed narrative liberties, but I loosely designed Williamsburg on the real town of Williamsburg, which was about twenty minutes from where I lived. My future sister-in-law is a professor now at Mt. Holyoake, which gives me a great reason to go back to western Massachusetts and visit. I still have such a fondness for it, and like to imagine Annie living her life there.

MM: Thanks so much Laura! And for you guys out there who would like a chance to win The First Husband, since Laura’s character Griffin has a tattoo, let me ask you this – Do you have a tattoo, and if so, what kind? If you DON’T have a tattoo, what kind would you get/what would it say/what symbol would it be, and where would you get it?

GO!