Biggest Slacker Ever? Nah!

You might think I'm the biggest slacker ever but truly, I have legitimate excuses for not posting a single book this week. And I do feel really horrible about it but there were many obstacles that got in the way. Finally, FINALLY I can laugh about them, but this past week was NOT a very good one!

First of all, I had to visit the rectal and colon doctor, and seriously, when I walked in there, OMG, what a bunch of assholes! (OK, I could NOT resist THAT JOKE!). And SERIOUSLY, I did go to the booty doctor, but ALL IS FINE down yonder and I didn't have to do anything, and that's all I need to say about this little problem, but if any of you have had babies, and have pushed THAT hard, and know what it feels like to have ... well, never mind. But that was the start of my week.

THEN, I simultaneously wished my son a happy 14th birthday and then got a migraine so severe I ended up in bed and vomiting for two full days, and part of the time when I was sleeping on the floor (because you know how the floor is cool and comforting and you need to be by the toilet, and you have the pillow and blanket next to you?), well, when I got up at one point, I threw my back out. So not only was I having a migraine and vomiting, I also couldn't stand fully erect.

Vicodin no longer alleviates pain for me, and there's no way I'm going to take two, and taking pills were not working because I would puke them up so I had to push through the pain of it all. Sleep was the only thing that would help, and every time I fell asleep I had these crazy hallucinogenic dreams where I swear I created all sorts of mutant animals and I told my children stuff that when I woke up I couldn't remember if I told them these things in real life or in my dreams. I also dreamed I was in a building and my brain was having these crazy freaky incidents that probably really do happen to people who have migraines in real life and the building was spinning like a carousel and I couldn't stop it and other people in the building were walking normally but I wasn't and I was trying to stop from weaving, like I was drunk but wasn't really.

It was so freaky. 


When I could finally get out of bed, I couldn't look into bright light, go near a computer (words are still bothering me, and reading and watching TV pains me), loud noises make me want to cringe. I didn't eat for a day and a half (the one plus!).


So that was how I spent some of the most recent days.


THEN, my good neighbor was having surgery and I promised to help her with her twin babies who are just one year old. And she really needed my help, so although my brain was better and I could now eat, my back was still messed up. With the help of Diva (who I let stay home from school because she had a half-day anyway), we went and helped my neighbor with the babies.


And then here we are and it's Friday.


And I didn't have a chance at all to put up any of this week's books and I thought about them every single day and wondered if you guys thought, "Where the heck is today's book?" or "Did she bail on us and the contest?" I did not! I'm sorry about this!


We've got these books left and come hell or high water, I am going to do my best to get them to you next week! 


Party by Tom Leveen
The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison
The Mistress's Revenge by Tamar Cohen
Things We Didn't Say by Kristina Riggle
Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl & 300 Acres And No Place to Hide by Susan McCorkindale


I'm going to choose the winners for all the previous books RIGHT NOW so go back to see if you've won any of them, and then next week we'll finalize ALL these books, and before mid November, we'll have a grand prize winner for ALL of the books. Thanks for your patience you guys. You've been great! xoxo

MICE by GORDON REECE

Congratulations

Christina L

Please send me your full name and address at stephanieelliot@gmail.com

so you can receive your book!

MICE

By Gordon Reece

Here’s another book that I would have never found on my own and am really excited to bring to you. Full disclosure here, I’ve only gotten through the first couple of chapters (WAIT! You ask? You mean YOU HAVEN’T HAD TIME TO READ ALL OF THESE BOOKS??? SHAME ON YOU!!!) … 

Believe me, if I could I would lay on my couch and read all of these amazing books cover to cover all day long, but then I couldn’t be here telling you about them or even be offering them to you. So I’m doing the best I can. From what I have read so far though, this one is going to be a heart racer, and as I said, it’s not a usual one I would have ventured to pick up, so I’m always excited to find that needle in the haystack book that grabs my attention. This is another one of those kinds of books.

MICE by Gordon Reece is about a mother and daughter who have appeared to have been bullied and maybe abused for most of their lives (divorce for the mom, some bitchy frenemies for the teen daughter) so they retreat to the quiet countryside in a tiny home where they can be safe and no longer victimized by society. Until one night when intruders arrive.

However, the tables are turned and instead of becoming the prey, it sounds like Shelley and her mother get a set of balls and take control of the situation! Rock on! Bring it! Grab that knife on the kitchen table and kill those mutha … well, you know. Maybe that’s what they do. I don’t know. Maybe they tie ‘em up and torture them. Maybe they pull their fingernails off and make ‘em cry like little babies… I don’t know but the thought totally intrigues me!

I’m looking forward to finding out who these middle-of-the-night predators are and what happens when the Mice don’t take the bait.

Here’s some commentary from Gordon Reece on MICE from his website. This one is going to be a psychological thriller for sure. So, do you want to read it or what? You bet you do! 

Since this one includes a plot line of bullying, let’s talk a little bit about that. My two older kids signed pledges today at school to be respectful and to not bully kids. I hope they know that goes for not bullying each other in the family. To enter to win, tell me if you were bullied as a kid? Do you remember bullying anyone? I remember not being so nice to a couple girls – I don’t know if you’d call it bullying, but I do wish I had been nicer. What about you? Have you had any personal experiences with bullying, whether it was you or your child?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check previous book features to see who the winner is -- that's how you'll find out if you've won or not, and you can still enter if there's not a winner's name posted on the top and highlighted! I usually choose a winner for each book anywhere from 3-7 days after I post a feature!


Thanks for checking out the Fall Fab Giveaway – we’ve got more books coming your way through October. I'll be featuring 2-3 each week. At the end of ALL the individual books featured and given away, one or two lucky winners will win the WHOLE batch of the books.


If you’ve got particular questions on how the Giveaway works, check the ORIGINAL POST HERE, or feel free to email me! Thanks!


Good luck everyone! And I really enjoy your comments too!


Thanks for reading and being a part of this promotion! To find out all the details on how to participate throughout the whole promotion click the previous link!


I also blog at Real Moms Guide if you'd like to read some of my other work.


If you're new here, check out the rules and all the books at in the promotion HERE.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment 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.

I'M NOT THE BIGGEST BITCH IN THIS RELATIONSHIP

Congratulations
Katie from Noblesville!
Please email me your full name and address at stephanieelliot@gmail.com
so I can send you your book!

I'm Not The Biggest Bitch in This Relationship

 Here’s a book I know a lot of you are going to love because I’ve done doggy books before and many of you go crazy over them! And what an adorable cover, and oh, yeah, did I mention that many of my favorite authors took part in this anthology? 

It’s called I’m Not the Biggest Bitch in This Relationship: Hilarious, Heartwarming Tales about Man’s Best Friend from America’s Favorite Humorists, which was edited by Wade Rouse and includes essays from Sarah Pekkanen, Jen Lancaster, Jenny Gardiner, Beth Harbison, Laurie Notaro, Caprice Crane, Stephanie Klein, Alice Bradley, and a forward by Chelsea Handler’s Dog, Chunk. Many other fine authors contributed to this anthology, and you can win it here on MaNiC MoMMy.

If you’ve got a pet, whether it’s a dog, cat or any other type (and I know many of you do, because DAMN, you all let ‘em sleep in your freakin’ beds!), tell me how you let them rule a part of your lives.

If you don’t have a pet, tell me something else interesting about you, because if you’re not a pet owner, you’re still an interesting person. Oh, come on, YES YOU ARE! You HAVE VALUE! SURE YOU DO! I KNOW YOU DO!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check previous book features to see who the winner is -- that's how you'll find out if you've won or not, and you can still enter if there's not a winner's name posted on the top and highlighted! I usually choose a winner for each book anywhere from 3-7 days after I post a feature!


Thanks for checking out the Fall Fab Giveaway – we’ve got more books coming your way through October. I'll be featuring 2-3 each week. At the end of ALL the individual books featured and given away, one or two lucky winners will win the WHOLE batch of the books.


If you’ve got particular questions on how the Giveaway works, check the ORIGINAL POST HERE, or feel free to email me! Thanks!


Good luck everyone! And I really enjoy your comments too!


Thanks for reading and being a part of this promotion! To find out all the details on how to participate throughout the whole promotion click the previous link!


I also blog at Real Moms Guide if you'd like to read some of my other work.


If you're new here, check out the rules and all the books at in the promotion HERE.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment 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.

BED by DAVID WHITEHOUSE

Congratulations
Faithspage!
Please email me your full name and address at stephanieelliot@gmail.com
so I can send you your book!

First of all, I PROMISE to have winners chosen for previous books by Wednesday of this week. Thank you for your patience! In the meantime, here's another great book for you to enter to win!

BED

By David Whitehouse 

Here’s a book I have been waiting for a chance to read and I’ve finally found the time to get to it. I’m about half-way through it and it’s mesmerizing! BED is about a boy who becomes a man who decides at the age of twenty-five that the end result of adulthood isn’t worth much so he takes to his bed and stays there. And doesn’t get out. He becomes the fattest man in the world and becomes famous for it.

Malcolm, from what I have read so far, was an odd yet intelligent young boy, but had a penchant for being uncomfortable in his clothing, so he would strip naked at the strangest of places, completely mortifying his parents and younger brother, who is the shy and sweet narrator in the book. As Malcolm grows older and stranger, he becomes more withdrawn. Even so, he finds a girlfriend, Lou, and his younger brother finds that he is drawn to Lou as well. She is kind and compassionate and brings light into the family.

I am finding that in the reading of this book, I am expecting a major surprise ending, not sure if it will be sad or happy, but am definitely positive this is going to be a book that will stay with me for a very long time. It’s one of those books that I had to work up to reading, and I keep thinking about it when I’m not immersed in it.

BED is David Whitehouse’s first novel. It was the inaugural winner of the 'To Hell with Prizes' award in 2010 for best unpublished novel. It is also being adapted for film. 

Here is an official blurb:

Reminiscent of such novels as A Confederacy of Dunces and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Bed is a darkly funny and surprisingly tender debut novel about two brothers, one of whom refuses to leave his bed on his twenty-fifth birthday.

Mal Ede, a child of untamed manners and unbounded curiosity, is the eccentric eldest son of an otherwise typical middle-class family. But as the wonders of childhood fade into the responsibilities of adulthood, Mal’s spirits fade too. On his twenty-fifth birthday, disillusioned, Mal goes to bed—back to his childhood bed—and never emerges again.

Narrated by Mal’s shy, diligent younger brother, BED details Mal’s subsequent extreme and increasingly grotesque transformation: immobility and a gargantuan appetite combine, over the course of two decades, to make him the fattest man in the world. Despite his seclusion and his refusal to explain his motivations, Mal’s condition earns him worldwide notoriety and a cult of followers convinced he is making an important statement about modern life. But Mal’s actions will also change the lives of his haunted parents, his brother and the woman they both love, Lou.

Here is the stunning trailer for the video:

When Mr. MaNiC and I were first married and shopping for a bed, we bought a Queen. My parents told us we were crazy to buy a queen. We were like, “No! We love our queen! We want to be close! We want to cuddle! We LOVE each other!” Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. Mr. MaNiC is six-foot-five. I am five-foot-nine but shrinking every day. We have three children. A queen was the stupidest investment we ever made. Well, not really because now our son sleeps on it, but that’s not big enough for him because he is six-foot-two at age 13. 

To win BED, tell me if you sleep in a Twin, Queen, King, Bunk, Blow-Up, Trundle, Couch, Lazy-Boy Chair. Tell me the story of your bed, and you’ll be entered to win this incredible novel by David Whitehouse! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check previous book features to see who the winner is -- that's how you'll find out if you've won or not, and you can still enter if there's not a winner's name posted on the top and highlighted! I usually choose a winner for each book anywhere from 3-7 days after I post a feature!


Thanks for checking out the Fall Fab Giveaway – we’ve got more books coming your way through October. I'll be featuring 2-3 each week. At the end of ALL the individual books featured and given away, one or two lucky winners will win the WHOLE batch of the books.


If you’ve got particular questions on how the Giveaway works, check the ORIGINAL POST HERE, or feel free to email me! Thanks!


Good luck everyone! And I really enjoy your comments too!


Thanks for reading and being a part of this promotion! To find out all the details on how to participate throughout the whole promotion click the previous link!


I also blog at Real Moms Guide if you'd like to read some of my other work.


If you're new here, check out the rules and all the books at in the promotion HERE.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment 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.

TRICKS and TREATS

For those of you who've missed some of the last couple of books in the Fall Fab Book Giveaway, here are the links so you can easily click to read about them and enter to win ...

One Flight Up

What Came First

Falling Under

Pinch Me

Dogs, Dogs, and More Dogs

There's still a few more days to go and enter on each post above to win those books, and remember, if you enter each post, that gains you MORE entries toward the end of the Fall Fab Giveaway to win ALL the books at the end, which we are nearing. We've got about nine books (or two weeks left to go)! That's the TREAT part of this post.


The next part is about TRICKS, or Halloween ...

I figure I've had about, between my three kids, 35 Halloween costumes. For the life of me, I can't remember them all. This upsets me greatly, because I used to be able to rattle off all of their costumes year by year, and say what they wore. I mean, I remember some of them. I know for sure that AJer's first Halloween he was nothing because he was five days old and I had been home from the hospital only one day. I was a naive mom who had written a note on the door that said, "Baby Sleeping, Please Don't Ring Bell."

Of course, all of the children rang the bell - none of THEM could read! And of course, a newborn baby wouldn't be DISTURBED by a freakin' doorbell! A new mom lesson quickly learned.

As I sit here and write, I can't even remember what he was dressed as for his very first real Halloween. WHAT KIND OF MOTHER AM I? OMG. Didn't I dress him up? Oh! Thank goodness, I just remembered! He was a clown. Phew, I am not going to hell for forgetting. And he was a very cute clown, and I think he had a lollipop and loved it.

His second official Halloween, which would have actually been his third, but the first doesn't count because he was five days old, Ajers was joined by his sister, who was six months old, and I had the perfect solution for them. I dressed them as an angel and a devil. It was the perfect combination. And here's where I show my age. Back THEN, there really wasn't digital cameras. OK, maybe they were just starting to get popular, but I didn't have one yet, and I certainly didn't know how to upload photos to a computer, so you're not getting to see a picture here. Imagine it, if you'd like. Or, I could go find a photo, take a picture of it and then post it. But that would be a lot of work.

Through the years, we've had a pirate, Tigger, a fairy, and boy, was that fairy ever pissed off - I do have video footage of that one and one day she is going to get to view that and see just how fiercely mad she was at age two. However, the very next year Diva was THRILLED to wear that same costume, so it worked out well in the end. We've had girl rocker stars, a Woody, Spiderman, two Hulks one year -- that was very cute, a small Hulk and a medium Hulk. A fuzzy Big Bird graced our presence once ... I love the years where WE moms get to decide what the kiddos will wear.

Unfortunately, my babes are older now. They still want the candy, they just don't want to work as hard to get it. Ajers will go out as something goofy. At almost 14, they still want to go around the neighborhood with their buddies, but he wants nothing to do with dressing up. Diva Darling, however, bought a masquerade dress and mask and will put on gobs of makeup and do her hair all up and pretend to be someone famous. Any chance to dress up and act older than she is. And Tukey, who is just 10 ... when I asked him what he wanted to dress up as? He said he might just put on a jersey and be a sports guy. Or after a few minutes of thinking, he said, "Or maybe I'll just take my pillowcase out and go as a candy collector?"

Now that's original.

I don't know if they do "Ghosting" in your neighborhood, but they do in mine. And they did in my last neighborhood in Chicago too. The first time we experienced it in Chicago, I freaked out. I thought maybe I should call the police because strangers were giving us candy and what if it was poisoned? Later, I found out it's a fun tradition that neighbors do. We've taken to doing it too. We haven't been "Booed" or "Ghosted" yet this Halloween season, but we're always on the lookout. It's mostly fun to catch the person doing the tricking. You can find extra fun ways to "Ghost" people in your neighborhood over here at the Fresh Takes site. And if you've got a fun family story to share while you're there, do so. You'll be entered to win a $50 gift card and will have a chance to have your story or family featured on the site!

And yes, in case you're wondering, I get dressed up for Halloween too! MaNiC MoMMy can get pretty scary!

My blog is a part of an incentivized online influencer network for Fresh Takes on Family Time Powered by Subway.

ONE FLIGHT UP by SUSAN FALES-HILL

Congratulations
TaraUB!
Please email me your full name and address at stephanieelliot@gmail.com
so I can send you your book!

One Flight Up

By Susan Fales-Hill

Susan Fales-Hill is an accomplished writer who has  not only written novels but I was surprised to find out she also wrote for some of my favorite TV shows back in the day – The Cosby Show and A Different World. I’m excited to bring you One Flight Up, which The New York Post calls “A chick lit masterpiece that leaves Jackie Collins in the dust!” …

After years of searching for and finally landing that one perfect man, four Manhattan friends find themselves simultaneously questioning their romantic choices. Smart, strong, but jaded divorce lawyer India Chumley leads this pack of feisty thirty-somethings, all friends since grade school at Sibley Academy, an Upper East Side institution for sophisticated ladies-in-training. 

There’s Abby Rosenfeld Adams, a Jewish gallery owner married to her Wasp college sweetheart, Monique Dawkins-Dubois, gynecologist and card carrying member of Harlem’s thriving Buppie-ocracy, and Esme Santiago Talbot, a Columbian heiress married to the All-American boy next door. When India, the most straight-laced of them all, learns that her friends are considering straying from their partners, she is dismayed. That is, until India’s ex-fiance, the love of her life, the destroyer of her heart, and the best sex ever, comes back into her life – and she finds herself caught between the dependable man she thought was her future and the man she never quite let go of. 

To win One Flight Up, tell me if you and some of your best girlfriends could sneak away somewhere for a quick vacation, where would you choose to go? Some of my friends and I are going to Vegas in November! (Not my first choice – my first choice would be a beach destination, but my first choice really isn’t a place I want to put on a bathing suit either!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check previous book features to see who the winner is -- that's how you'll find out if you've won or not, and you can still enter if there's not a winner's name posted on the top and highlighted! I usually choose a winner for each book anywhere from 3-7 days after I post a feature!


Thanks for checking out the Fall Fab Giveaway – we’ve got more books coming your way through October. I'll be featuring 2-3 each week. At the end of ALL the individual books featured and given away, one or two lucky winners will win the WHOLE batch of the books.


If you’ve got particular questions on how the Giveaway works, check the ORIGINAL POST HERE, or feel free to email me! Thanks!


Good luck everyone! And I really enjoy your comments too!


Thanks for reading and being a part of this promotion! To find out all the details on how to participate throughout the whole promotion click the previous link!


I also blog at Real Moms Guide if you'd like to read some of my other work.


If you're new here, check out the rules and all the books at in the promotion HERE.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment 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.

WHAT CAME FIRST by CAROL SNOW

Congratulations
Sherry V!
Please email me your full name and address at stephanieelliot@gmail.com
so I can send you your book!

This is the third book in a blast of four in a row this week. Make sure to enter to win them all!

What Came First


Carol Snow


I don’t know how I JUST discovered author Carol Snow but I’m so glad that I did. Her latest novel, What Came First (out last week!) is a delightful book about marriage, love, sperm donors, and … chickens in the backyard? Hmmm….

Here’s a blurb:

Vanessa wants just one thing for her twenty-ninth birthday: an engagement ring from her longtime boyfriend, Eric. But when the ring turns out to be a mix CD and Eric turns out to be a guy who doesn't want to get married or have children, Vanessa considers a new path to having a family.

When Wendy and her husband, Darren, couldn't have children the old- fashioned way, a sperm donor seemed like the perfect solution. She never imagined she'd have out-of-control twins who'd drive her to cookie binges and scrapbooking while Darren escaped into the virtual world of computer games.

Single and career-driven, Laura didn't need a man to have a baby - at least not one that she ever met. Thanks to an anonymous donor, she shares her life with her adored eight-year-old son, Ian. She'll do anything for Ian - even fill their backyard with a bunch of noisy chickens. But the one thing Ian really wants is something Laura's never been able to give him: a sibling.

Now, to grant Ian's wish, Laura starts a search that will not only change her life but Vanessa's and Wendy's as well...

Take a sneak peek at an excerpt here.

To enter to win this book, answer this question: What do YOU think came first? Usually it’s my husband! Thank you, thank you! I’ll be here til Friday!

I kill me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check previous book features to see who the winner is -- that's how you'll find out if you've won or not, and you can still enter if there's not a winner's name posted on the top and highlighted! I usually choose a winner for each book anywhere from 3-7 days after I post a feature!


Thanks for checking out the Fall Fab Giveaway – we’ve got more books coming your way through October. I'll be featuring 2-3 each week. At the end of ALL the individual books featured and given away, one or two lucky winners will win the WHOLE batch of the books.


If you’ve got particular questions on how the Giveaway works, check the ORIGINAL POST HERE, or feel free to email me! Thanks!


Good luck everyone! And I really enjoy your comments too!


Thanks for reading and being a part of this promotion! To find out all the details on how to participate throughout the whole promotion click the previous link!


I also blog at Real Moms Guide if you'd like to read some of my other work.


If you're new here, check out the rules and all the books at in the promotion HERE.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment 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.