I DID NOT FORGET ABOUT ALL OF YOU WHO ENTERED!!!
And I have a bunch of books to give to TWO winners who commented on all the books featured in June! You're still out there right?
I shipped a bunch of books back from Chicago that were still being sent to my old house. It's a random surprise collection that you'll be winning, plus a few of the books that were already featured in June. I'll be randomly selecting TWO winners by the end of next week and alerting you who those two winners are here on the blog.
I may or may not have time to do a YouTube post on the announcement like I did for the March Madness giveaway.
In the meantime, I have been busy scheduling a bunch of great books for the September Smash Blowout Book Giveaway!
We've got a TON of new authors and books to share with you. I am AMAZED at the generosity of these authors and publicists! They want you to know about their books and are so excited to share them with you.
Some of them who have already signed on to be featured include:
In Malice, Quite Close by Brandi Lynn Ryder
Mice, by Gordon Reece
If It Was Easy, They'd Call The Whole Damn Thing A Honeymoon, By Jenna McCarthy
Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl, By Susan McCorkindale
500 Acres And No Place to Hide, By Susan McCorkindale
I'm Not The Biggest Bitch in the Relationship, Edited by Wade Rouse and a bunch of AMAZING writers
The Whole Package, By Cynthia Ellingsen
With A Little Luck, By Caprice Crane
Definitely Not Mr. Darcy, By Karen Doornebos
Pinch Me, By Adena Halpern
AND MANY MORE TO COME!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Home Sweet Home
... And it feels that way.
I wasn't sure it it would. Coming home to Scottsdale.
Our trip was wonderful. We had so much fun. It was better than I could have ever anticipated. The kids had such a great time seeing their best friends, spending every single moment with friends, having sleepovers, laughing, going into the city, swimming, staying up way too late every single night, doing things I normally wouldn't let them do (like seeing movies by themselves, going to restaurants by themselves, walking to Starbucks by themselves, wearing MAKEUP!). It seems they all got to grow up a little bit this summer.
I got to spend time with more friends than I could count. I lunched and I breakfasted and I coffeed and I drank more than I ever could have expected. We saw U2 and REO, and watched birds chase squirrels from their birdhouses, and also watched preying mantis grow and eat fruit flies. We had parties and I laughed a shitload and created memories that are too fun and too private to share on this blog. Porch regret! We planned the next Buttercup Retreat, and a Vegas getaway. I slept in, read some great books, got awakened by the big brother I never wanted at six a.m. by him playing the saxaphone -- WHO DOES THAT? Only the big brother I never wanted!
And now we're back. And they survived. And I survived. There were tears. It was difficult. I felt the emotions of leaving. It felt like saying goodbye all over again to my close friends, it felt like I was coming back here to nothing all over again. I wasn't sure how I would feel, coming back to the desert, to the heat, to a house I might not remember.
But we came back, and it was like, "Ahhhhhh." and "Home."
Our friends are our friends no matter the distance. My children know that now. They had the time of their lives. They're all here now, in their home, doing their thing. McKaelen is chatting on her cell phone with someone, I think a friend from here. Luke is playing his piano, and I've signed him up for football. Ajers is probably Xboxing it up. He gets his braces taken off today. McKaelen gets molds for hers to come ON today. Life keeps moving, just as it did. We had a great trip back home. We made incredible memories.
We're going to make incredible ones here to. In Scottsdale. Here. In our home now.
I wasn't sure it it would. Coming home to Scottsdale.
Our trip was wonderful. We had so much fun. It was better than I could have ever anticipated. The kids had such a great time seeing their best friends, spending every single moment with friends, having sleepovers, laughing, going into the city, swimming, staying up way too late every single night, doing things I normally wouldn't let them do (like seeing movies by themselves, going to restaurants by themselves, walking to Starbucks by themselves, wearing MAKEUP!). It seems they all got to grow up a little bit this summer.
I got to spend time with more friends than I could count. I lunched and I breakfasted and I coffeed and I drank more than I ever could have expected. We saw U2 and REO, and watched birds chase squirrels from their birdhouses, and also watched preying mantis grow and eat fruit flies. We had parties and I laughed a shitload and created memories that are too fun and too private to share on this blog. Porch regret! We planned the next Buttercup Retreat, and a Vegas getaway. I slept in, read some great books, got awakened by the big brother I never wanted at six a.m. by him playing the saxaphone -- WHO DOES THAT? Only the big brother I never wanted!
And now we're back. And they survived. And I survived. There were tears. It was difficult. I felt the emotions of leaving. It felt like saying goodbye all over again to my close friends, it felt like I was coming back here to nothing all over again. I wasn't sure how I would feel, coming back to the desert, to the heat, to a house I might not remember.
But we came back, and it was like, "Ahhhhhh." and "Home."
Our friends are our friends no matter the distance. My children know that now. They had the time of their lives. They're all here now, in their home, doing their thing. McKaelen is chatting on her cell phone with someone, I think a friend from here. Luke is playing his piano, and I've signed him up for football. Ajers is probably Xboxing it up. He gets his braces taken off today. McKaelen gets molds for hers to come ON today. Life keeps moving, just as it did. We had a great trip back home. We made incredible memories.
We're going to make incredible ones here to. In Scottsdale. Here. In our home now.
Friday, July 08, 2011
June Blast O Books Quick Update
One week of our trip is over.
Read This If You Want To Know about Grand Prize Info and the last of the book winners have been announced! It could be YOU! I will need you to send me your address, but you may not get your book until I return.
Read This if you want to know what's been going on since we headed to Chicago.
Also, please note, my email, if you need to get in touch with me, is spelled ELLIOT with ONE T. There is an awesome other Stephanie out there who spells her last name with two Ts. She has been getting my emails, and I have been getting her emails. Please make sure you spell it correctly when sending me your address for books and stuff. It's stephanieelliot@gmail.com. One T. Thanks guys!
If you have any questions about the book contest, or anything else, or if you have a suggestion for an author you would love to see on here, please leave a note here in the comments and I will try to answer them next week! There are TONS of great books coming your way in September. I am soooo excited to be sharing them with you!
ALSO, if you have reader friends who would like to know about books, It would be so awesome for you to share this blog with them. I would LOVE for you to help spread the word. Thanks! Hope you are all enjoying your summer.
For those of you who asked, Summer Shandy is an awesome beer made by Leinenkugel -- lemony and light, it's a great chick beer. And I am so not a beer drinker. But it doesn't give me migraines OR hangovers!
PeaCe uP and happy reading! I just finished Jennifer Weiner's Then Came You, her BEST YET! And also read my first Beth Harbison - Always Something There to Remind Me. Next up, I'm getting down and dirty with Chad Kultgen's Men Women & Children -- he's hardcore for sure, and I LOVE his books!
What are YOU guys reading!?
Can you tell I MISS YOU with how much I am blogging? Hope you'll leave me a comment! xo
MaNiC
Read This If You Want To Know about Grand Prize Info and the last of the book winners have been announced! It could be YOU! I will need you to send me your address, but you may not get your book until I return.
Read This if you want to know what's been going on since we headed to Chicago.
Also, please note, my email, if you need to get in touch with me, is spelled ELLIOT with ONE T. There is an awesome other Stephanie out there who spells her last name with two Ts. She has been getting my emails, and I have been getting her emails. Please make sure you spell it correctly when sending me your address for books and stuff. It's stephanieelliot@gmail.com. One T. Thanks guys!
If you have any questions about the book contest, or anything else, or if you have a suggestion for an author you would love to see on here, please leave a note here in the comments and I will try to answer them next week! There are TONS of great books coming your way in September. I am soooo excited to be sharing them with you!
ALSO, if you have reader friends who would like to know about books, It would be so awesome for you to share this blog with them. I would LOVE for you to help spread the word. Thanks! Hope you are all enjoying your summer.
For those of you who asked, Summer Shandy is an awesome beer made by Leinenkugel -- lemony and light, it's a great chick beer. And I am so not a beer drinker. But it doesn't give me migraines OR hangovers!
PeaCe uP and happy reading! I just finished Jennifer Weiner's Then Came You, her BEST YET! And also read my first Beth Harbison - Always Something There to Remind Me. Next up, I'm getting down and dirty with Chad Kultgen's Men Women & Children -- he's hardcore for sure, and I LOVE his books!
What are YOU guys reading!?
Can you tell I MISS YOU with how much I am blogging? Hope you'll leave me a comment! xo
MaNiC
Thursday, July 07, 2011
So Far in Chicago ...
We've been here almost a week. I'm at a B&N right now. I wrote this first part the second day we were here, the part that's italicized down below. Then I'll recap some other stuff. I'll also try to choose the last of the winners while I'm able to do so right now, and promise when I get home to do the grand prize drawing. I've got a huge stack of great books that I got from my old house here that I'll be taking back with to give to the grand prize winner(s)!
Here's the first thoughts I had upon return here:
I feel displaced. We’re back ‘home’. Literally, in our old neighborhood, and I never thought it would be this emotional. It’s like I have discovered I really don’t have a home now. We went back to our old house today. My daughter, “Diva” broke down when she walked in, and that made me cry. It brought back too many memories. She said, “That’s the tree we used to climb in.” We saw the swing set they played on forever. So many things in the home are still ours. Things we left behind for the new owners. It’s still a beautiful house, we loved that house, it’s still a great house. It might have been a mistake to go back. To be at a party there, with the new family and their people, their friends, their family. We felt displaced.
Then I think back to our house in Arizona. I’m trying to think of how it looks, what it’s like. I was just there two days ago. It’s like I can’t remember it. Does it feel like “our” home? Just because it’s got “our” stuff in it? My kids are here now, in Chicago, the place they grew up, and you’d not believe what they’re like—they are so happy here. My oldest has been with his best friend non-stop, running around having a blast, and so has Tukey. Diva has spent the whole time with her best friend, sleeping over there, swimming, doing each others’ hair. They have missed each other like crazy.
I’ve seen a bunch of girlfriends. I’ve cried. I don’t have friends like this in Scottsdale. I mean I have friends, some really great ones, but not a huge bunch of close friends in my neighborhood like I did here. And not a big group. Not yet. I haven’t tried all that hard. My neighborhood in AZ is not like this one. Not like I can tell my kids to just go on out and come home at dinner time. This neighborhood in Illinois is a 1950s dream ‘hood. Go out, play all day with your friends, and when you hear me call you for dinner, come home. That’s what we lived when we were here. Damn, I missed it. I realize it now. And now, it’s like we’ve got to relive the whole moving away from Chicago all over again when we go back home to AZ in a few weeks. I don’t know how my kids will react when it’s time to go home.
So, I'm not feeling THAT sad now. And hey, I've since heard there was a HORRIBLE SAND STORM by where we live in Scottsdale. Have you guys heard about it? Whoever reads this and lives there, please comment and tell me how bad it was! I don't know if I'd rather be in a sandstorm like THAT or be in the Blizzard Chicago had here last winter?
We went to Naperville Ribfest when we got here with neighbor friends and had a blast--REO Speedwagon played and a band called DOT DOT DOT opened for them and they actually were really GREAT! I have to google them to find out more about them. Then Saturday was kind of a melancholy day because we went back to our old house and where I wrote that stuff above. Sunday we had a GREAT day in our old hood with awesome neighbors and friends at a pool party, and Monday we went to a friend's lakehouse.
SUMMER SHANDYs are a plenty out here and I've finally found the drink of choice (aside from my beloved POOL BOYS) that do not give me hangovers!
Then Monday we headed to Mr. Manic's boyhood home and met up with his sister and her family and I got to see my nephew and two nieces, one of whom I never met, and they are ADORABLE! We got so much lovin' from them.
And then... THEN, Tuesday night, I got my U2 redemption! We saw Bono! Last time I was supposed to see U2, this is the horrible thing that happened to me. So let me tell you, it was awesome that I FINALLY got to be at a U2 show! And it ROCKED! And they played ONE TREE HILL, which apparently they've only played it four times EVER! And With Or Without You was awesome, and so was Where The Streets Have No Name, and I personally vote Bono for President!
Yesterday we had an awesome day doing a whole family photo shoot and there are pics on FB if you're my FB friend, and if you're not my FB friend, go ahead and FB friend me, just tell me you know me from MaNiC MoMMy when you friend me. I gotta run now but thanks for checking in!
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xo MaNiC
Here's the first thoughts I had upon return here:
I feel displaced. We’re back ‘home’. Literally, in our old neighborhood, and I never thought it would be this emotional. It’s like I have discovered I really don’t have a home now. We went back to our old house today. My daughter, “Diva” broke down when she walked in, and that made me cry. It brought back too many memories. She said, “That’s the tree we used to climb in.” We saw the swing set they played on forever. So many things in the home are still ours. Things we left behind for the new owners. It’s still a beautiful house, we loved that house, it’s still a great house. It might have been a mistake to go back. To be at a party there, with the new family and their people, their friends, their family. We felt displaced.
Then I think back to our house in Arizona. I’m trying to think of how it looks, what it’s like. I was just there two days ago. It’s like I can’t remember it. Does it feel like “our” home? Just because it’s got “our” stuff in it? My kids are here now, in Chicago, the place they grew up, and you’d not believe what they’re like—they are so happy here. My oldest has been with his best friend non-stop, running around having a blast, and so has Tukey. Diva has spent the whole time with her best friend, sleeping over there, swimming, doing each others’ hair. They have missed each other like crazy.
I’ve seen a bunch of girlfriends. I’ve cried. I don’t have friends like this in Scottsdale. I mean I have friends, some really great ones, but not a huge bunch of close friends in my neighborhood like I did here. And not a big group. Not yet. I haven’t tried all that hard. My neighborhood in AZ is not like this one. Not like I can tell my kids to just go on out and come home at dinner time. This neighborhood in Illinois is a 1950s dream ‘hood. Go out, play all day with your friends, and when you hear me call you for dinner, come home. That’s what we lived when we were here. Damn, I missed it. I realize it now. And now, it’s like we’ve got to relive the whole moving away from Chicago all over again when we go back home to AZ in a few weeks. I don’t know how my kids will react when it’s time to go home.
So, I'm not feeling THAT sad now. And hey, I've since heard there was a HORRIBLE SAND STORM by where we live in Scottsdale. Have you guys heard about it? Whoever reads this and lives there, please comment and tell me how bad it was! I don't know if I'd rather be in a sandstorm like THAT or be in the Blizzard Chicago had here last winter?
We went to Naperville Ribfest when we got here with neighbor friends and had a blast--REO Speedwagon played and a band called DOT DOT DOT opened for them and they actually were really GREAT! I have to google them to find out more about them. Then Saturday was kind of a melancholy day because we went back to our old house and where I wrote that stuff above. Sunday we had a GREAT day in our old hood with awesome neighbors and friends at a pool party, and Monday we went to a friend's lakehouse.
SUMMER SHANDYs are a plenty out here and I've finally found the drink of choice (aside from my beloved POOL BOYS) that do not give me hangovers!
Then Monday we headed to Mr. Manic's boyhood home and met up with his sister and her family and I got to see my nephew and two nieces, one of whom I never met, and they are ADORABLE! We got so much lovin' from them.
And then... THEN, Tuesday night, I got my U2 redemption! We saw Bono! Last time I was supposed to see U2, this is the horrible thing that happened to me. So let me tell you, it was awesome that I FINALLY got to be at a U2 show! And it ROCKED! And they played ONE TREE HILL, which apparently they've only played it four times EVER! And With Or Without You was awesome, and so was Where The Streets Have No Name, and I personally vote Bono for President!
Yesterday we had an awesome day doing a whole family photo shoot and there are pics on FB if you're my FB friend, and if you're not my FB friend, go ahead and FB friend me, just tell me you know me from MaNiC MoMMy when you friend me. I gotta run now but thanks for checking in!
xo MaNiC
Thursday, June 30, 2011
HEADING TO CHI TOWN
Hey everyone, am heading to Chicago but I still have to pick the winners of the last three books. I'll keep the post open through the weekend in case you didn't get a chance to enter yet so go back to the previous post and enter to win any one of the three great books listed! Make sure to check to see if you've won a book throughout June by checking the tops of each post - some people didn't let me know if they've won -- it could be YOU!
Also please note, if you do win a book or if you would like to contact me: My email is stephanieelliot@gmail.com with ONE T. There's another girl out there who spells her last name with two Ts and she's been getting my emails. Fortunately, she's really cool. I have also gotten her emails. In fact, she's hosting a baby shower, and I've gotten her RSVPs. Someone asked me what she could bring to the baby shower. My head was spinning with all sorts of crazy answers - I could say, "Hey, did you know she's having TWINS!?!? Bring a bunch of boy/girl balloons and pink and blue cupcakes, but shhhh, don't tell anyone yet, cuz it's a surprise!" hahahah, I would NEVER DO that, but that's how my fiction-mind works!
Speaking of fiction, my agents have my novel now, and it's in their hands, so I just have to wait patiently! I have done one round of edits for them and I'm hoping that it will be ready soon to go to a bunch of editors and that someone will love the book and want to publish it.
In the meantime, I am putting together a great list of books to do a FALL FAB BLOWOUT GIVEAWAY for you guys, so not to worry, there are plenty of books coming soon, just right around the corner! And when I get back from Chicago, I will do the grand prize drawing which will include some of the books from the June giveaway, and a mysterious batch of other books that I have no idea what they will be. Long story short - since I moved, the new owners have been getting books sent to my old house STILL! I'll be picking them up in Chicago, and whatever books are there, the grand prize winner will be receiving a bunch of them. It's up to YOU GUYS to decide again -- should I split the bunch up? It's definitely going to be around 20 books or so!
I hope you're all having a great summer and reading LOTS! Here are the books I'll be taking along to Chicago with me, and YES, some of them will be turning up in the Fall Fab Blowout Giveaway as well!
Men, Women and Children by Chad Kultgen
Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner
Always Something There to Remind Me by Beth Harbison
Long Drive Home by Will Allison (getting to this one finally and can't wait!)
Let me know what you are reading!
PeaCe uP!
~MaNiC MoMMy
Also please note, if you do win a book or if you would like to contact me: My email is stephanieelliot@gmail.com with ONE T. There's another girl out there who spells her last name with two Ts and she's been getting my emails. Fortunately, she's really cool. I have also gotten her emails. In fact, she's hosting a baby shower, and I've gotten her RSVPs. Someone asked me what she could bring to the baby shower. My head was spinning with all sorts of crazy answers - I could say, "Hey, did you know she's having TWINS!?!? Bring a bunch of boy/girl balloons and pink and blue cupcakes, but shhhh, don't tell anyone yet, cuz it's a surprise!" hahahah, I would NEVER DO that, but that's how my fiction-mind works!
Speaking of fiction, my agents have my novel now, and it's in their hands, so I just have to wait patiently! I have done one round of edits for them and I'm hoping that it will be ready soon to go to a bunch of editors and that someone will love the book and want to publish it.
In the meantime, I am putting together a great list of books to do a FALL FAB BLOWOUT GIVEAWAY for you guys, so not to worry, there are plenty of books coming soon, just right around the corner! And when I get back from Chicago, I will do the grand prize drawing which will include some of the books from the June giveaway, and a mysterious batch of other books that I have no idea what they will be. Long story short - since I moved, the new owners have been getting books sent to my old house STILL! I'll be picking them up in Chicago, and whatever books are there, the grand prize winner will be receiving a bunch of them. It's up to YOU GUYS to decide again -- should I split the bunch up? It's definitely going to be around 20 books or so!
I hope you're all having a great summer and reading LOTS! Here are the books I'll be taking along to Chicago with me, and YES, some of them will be turning up in the Fall Fab Blowout Giveaway as well!
Men, Women and Children by Chad Kultgen
Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner
Always Something There to Remind Me by Beth Harbison
Long Drive Home by Will Allison (getting to this one finally and can't wait!)
Let me know what you are reading!
PeaCe uP!
~MaNiC MoMMy
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
THREE FINAL BOOKS FOR JUNE BLAST-O-BOOKS!
WINNERS FINALLY!
(But everyone who participated this month, please read this notice!)
Missing Persons: DENISE
Missing Persons: DENISE
Skinny: MICHELLE M.
The Little Women Letters: MARGIE
Congrats winners! Please email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com NOT with TWO Ts ... there is another stephanie elliot out there who has been getting my emails. If you put Two Ts at the end of elliot you will be sending it to the WRONG Stephanie! I am STEPHANIE ELLIOT with ONE T!
Thank YOU ALL who participated! There will be a GRAND PRIZE DRAWING with lots of books to win when I return from Chicago, probably late July/early August. If you've posted at ALL during the month of June, YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO WIN! I will DRAW one name per POST for each day, and then ALL of those entries will then go into the drawing where two names will then be chosen to WIN a bunch of books and possibly a Target or B&N gift card and some other treats or stuff to go along with it! So stay tuned and keep reading MaNiC! Also, when I get back home, I will have the updated list of MANY MORE great books that will be offered up during the SEPTEMBER BLOWOUT MONTHLONG GIVEAWAY!
OK, we are officially down to the wire and I’ve got three more books to share with you. But not to worry because I’ve already got a KICKIN’ list started of new books that I’ll be bringing to you in the Fall. Because I’m leaving for Chicago in two days, I’m posting the last three books here. Enter once, and I will be choosing THREE winners for these books very soon, so you gotta be quick here. (Or maybe, just maybe I’ll let it go through the weekend and I’ll choose after the fourth of July – I’m pretty sure I can manage to choose winners while out of town, I just know I have to get this post up, because, well, have you tried to pack for five people for almost a month lately? NOT FUN!)
NOTE: Please make sure to go back and check to see if you've won a book -- there was a mistake on one of the previous books and I accidentally listed the wrong winner on one of the books. You may have won!
So, here are the LAST THREE BOOKS of June’s Blast-O-Books! Hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you. I’ll be giving you some more details on the giveaway, and will be announcing a grand prize winner with a GRAND PRIZE SURPRISE PACK of MYSTERY books when I return at the end of July. I may even choose two winners like last time!
There will also be vacation posting so please do check in through July…I'll be seeing U2, and REO Speedwagon, and seeing old friends, and having family reunions, and meeting my niece for the very first time, and watching my kids get together with their best friends they haven't seen since we moved here over a year ago, and attending the Very Late Housewarming Party at my old home (Yep,the house we used to live in!), so there will be much to blog about! ... and you can always check out my posts at SheKnows.com Real Moms Guide - I post over there every single day - mostly about women issues and parenting stuff, also some different book reviews too! If you get a chance, stop on by and leave a comment! Thanks!
So, without any further you know what, here are today's final three books! Thanks for taking the ride with me this month! It's been a lot of fun!
MISSING PERSONS by Clare O’Donohue
This one is a Kate Conway Mystery, and it seems I’m becoming a mystery fan, so if you are too, you can expect to find more mysteries here on MaNiC!
When Kate’s soon-to-be ex-husband is found dead, she’s the suspect, and while she might have wanted to kill him, she didn’t do it. While she’s in the middle of this mess, suddenly, her dead ex’s new girlfriend wants to be friends with her – ok, how weird is THAT, and what is UP with that? Pretty mysterious there, huh?
Since Kate is a Chicago (gotta love going back to my roots) Television Producer, she gets a new assignment for a TV series called Missing Persons, and she throws herself into the project, which is about the disappearance of a young woman. She’s got to get 22 minutes of footage but suddenly, she’s discovering that the case on the young woman, and her ex’s death may have something in common.
It’s fast-paced and heart-racing, and since the author has a background in television as a writer and producer, she’s got the inside scoop to make Missing Persons an authentic and exciting read!
SKINNY by Diana Spechler
When I first discovered SKINNY, I knew it was one I had to read, and share with you! It had all the elements I look for in a great book – a protagonist dealing with some inner turmoil, a bit of a YA feel with the kids in camp (love the setting), some sexy sexy, and I already knew that Diana Spechler had written a great first novel, Who By Fire (check it out too!) I was especially attracted to the fact that there was a weight issue there. I guess it’s because for my whole life I have battled with the dreaded calorie. I’ve never been to summer camp though, and in SKINNY, main character Gray heads there as a camp counselor in order to stop a sudden bingeing due to her father’s death, and also to unravel a family mystery.
Below is the blurb of the book:
In the aftermath of her Orthodox Jewish father's death, twenty-six-year-old Gray Lachmann finds herself compulsively eating. Desperate to stop bingeing, she abandons her life in New York City for a job at a southern weight-loss camp. There, caught among the warring egos of her devious co-counselor Sheena, the self-aggrandizing camp director Lewis, his attractive assistant Bennett, and a throng of combative teenage campers, she is confronted by a captivating mystery: her teenage half-sister Eden, whom Gray never knew existed. Now, while unraveling her father's lies, Gray must tackle her own self-deceptions and take control of her body and her life.
Visceral, poignant, and often wickedly funny, Diana Spechler's masterfully crafted second novel illuminates a young woman's struggle to make sense of the inextricable link between hunger and emotion, and to make peace with her demons, her body, and herself.
Here’s the book trailer of SKINNY.
The Little Women Letters by Gabrielle Donnelly
I am positive I read and loved Little Women when I was a little girl, and for some reason, I think I wanted to be Jo. (Yes, I just went to Wikipedia to confirm – she was the one who wanted to write a great novel, so that is true – I wanted to be, and still do want to be, Jo!)
The Little Women Letters is a fictional take on Jo’s descendants – and I’ve yet had a chance to read it, but anyone, whether or not you’ve read Little Women, will enjoy this “compassionate and spirited tale.” And if you’ve always been a Little Women fan, then well, you will fall in absolute love with this imaginary continued tale of these women!
Here’s the premise:
Vibrant, fresh, and intelligent, The Little Women Letters explores the imagined lives of Jo March’s descendants—three sisters who are both thoroughly modern and thoroughly March. As uplifting and essential as Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, Gabrielle Donnelly’s novel will speak to anyone who’s ever fought with a sister, fallen in love with a fabulous pair of shoes, or wondered what on earth life had in store for her.
With her older sister, Emma, planning a wedding and her younger sister, Sophie, preparing to launch a career on the London stage, Lulu can’t help but feel like the failure of the Atwater family. Lulu loves her sisters dearly and wants nothing but the best for them, but she finds herself stuck in a rut, working dead-end jobs with no romantic prospects in sight. When her mother asks her to find a cache of old family recipes in the attic of her childhood home, Lulu stumbles across a collection of letters written by her great-great-grandmother Josephine March. In her letters, Jo writes in detail about every aspect of her life: her older sister, Meg’s, new home and family; her younger sister Amy’s many admirers; Beth’s illness and the family’s shared grief over losing her too soon; and the butterflies she feels when she meets a handsome young German. As Lulu delves deeper into the lives and secrets of the March sisters, she finds solace and guidance, but can the words of her great-great-grandmother help Lulu find a place for herself in a world so different from the one Jo knew?
Some things, of course, remain unchanged: the stories and jokes that form a family’s history, the laughter over tea in the afternoon, the desire to do the right thing in spite of obstacles. And above all, of course, the fierce, undying, and often infuriating bond of sisterhood that links the Atwater women every bit as firmly as it did the March sisters all those years ago. Both a loving tribute to Little Women and a wonderful contemporary family story, The Little Women Letters is a heartwarming, funny, and wise novel for today.
Read an excerpt of THE LITTLE WOMEN LETTERS.
To enter to qualify for each one of these books (I will draw three separate winners from all the entries, so you’ll have three chances to win), tell me … hmmm, I was going to ask you to name your fave crime show and if you’ve been to summer camp, but then I couldn’t come up with something for the third book, like what is your favorite letter? That’s dumb, so I’m trying to think of something really clever and interesting to ask you…. Let’s see …OK!
Since I’ve been thinking a lot about my OWN manuscript (which has been edited and sent back to my agent!), let me ask you this:
If you could ASK THE EX YOU THINK ABOUT MOST one thing, what would you ask him (or her)?
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!
Friday, June 24, 2011
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
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!
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!
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