HYPERVENTILATING OVER HERE!!!!!!

OH....MY....GOD.........

SO, a little while ago I opened an email from HarperCollins (who I LOVE... and officially want to marry, but I'll get to that in a minute)...that said they were offering review copies of this.....

Yes, it is the LAST book in the Gregory Maguire Oz series!!!!  Okay, plug your ears...

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

For those of you that have not heard of Gregory Maguire and all of his total awesomeness, you can read my ravings of his first in the series here... and then I read and reviewed the second one (Son of a Witch) and you can read all about that here... and then there was the third one.   Let me just say, it was the weirdest of the three, and by weird I mean DISTURBING.  And I really did not like it at all, okay, I liked it AT FIRST, but then the last 1/2 was just way to out there for me.  In fact I disliked it so much that I did not even bother to write a review about it, apparently.  But I have loved all of Maguire's other books.  The only one I have not read it Lost, mainly because I am a big fat giant chicken and it is super duper scary and creepy.

I went to see Wicked the musical and loved it.  I felt it was a completely true adaptation of the book, which is a feat in and of itself let me tell you!  And even if you had NOT read the book, I've been told people loved it just as much.

ANYway... now on to the latest offering by Gregory Maguire.. AKA- GENIUS.  A couple of weeks ago I was sent an email asking me if I would like to review a copy of Out of Oz, and I had to send some stats about my blog, which was almost like math, so that was kind of sucky.  BUT, today... and BY COURIER I might add, IT CAME!!!!   And it is so beautiful I can't stop staring at it.

See, here's the thing.  When you've had a book blog for awhile, and if you have awesome followers who stick around (have I told you lately how much I love you?) you get sent books.  Sometimes a lot of books.  And btw, I'M NOT COMPLAINING!  I feel very fortunate to be a blog that people like to send books to.  I get mostly unsolicited books, but sometimes that works out just dandy because then I find absolute gems like Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices trilogy (I'm reading ARC Clockwork Prince as we speak!), and the Leviathan trilogy.  But sometimes there are books that for whatever reason I just don't like or can't get into, and they kind of pile up all around me like giant guilt bombs waiting to go off.  So, to get an offer like this one, an offer of a book that I really really really want to read, AND that I would have asked for for Christmas sent to me for review is just so friggen awesome.  It is released on November 1st, and it is a huge book, about 1/3 thicker than the other 3 so I am going to hopefully get it read by that date.

NOW HERE'S WHERE IT'S ABOUT YOU!

Once my review is up and posted, HarperCollins Publishers has generously offered to do a GIVEAWAY OF A COPY OF THE BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thaaaaaat's right, you my lovely wonderful readers are going to have a chance at winning a copy of this gorgeous book!

So, STAY TUNED....

Meanwhile, here is the book trailer for Out of Oz, which is very well done...



Have an awesome night!

MAILBOX MONDAY (revised to give credit to Marcia ~ OOOPS!)

My Mailbox Monday is a  weekly meme hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.  Mine is a compilation of the last two or three weeks as I haven't done one in awhile. 

So here's what has showed up!

The following titles were sent to me by Michelle at Simon and Schuster Canada (they are very good to me!):

Women are Crazy, Men are Stupid by Howard J morris and Jenny Lee
(an excerpt from the blurb on the publishers website)
Using wit, hard-earned wisdom, and a highly entertaining he said/she said format, the authors explore the surprising method to his dumbness and the valid reasons behind her insanity, while providing real solutions to perennial relationship problems. By teaching men how and why they're stupid around women and showing women how to "control the crazy" for everybody's sake, Women Are Crazy, Men Are Stupid helps couples to reach the place where giving isn't giving in, needing isn't needy, and where the sexes can break the dysfunctional patterns and find a way to live lovingly, happily ever after.

LEVIATHAN by Scott Westerfeld
I was SUPER excited to get this the other day!!!  It is a GEORGOUS book, a YA fantasy novel, and it is taking all of my bookish willpower to not bump it up to the front of the line of my review copies.  But alas, there were others before it, so it must wait. 

Here is the summary from Scott Westerfeld's website:
Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She’s a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn’s paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.

Journey to the Son by Lauren Braddock Havey sent to me by the author:

Here is the blurb from her website:

As a young girl growing up in Nashville, Lauren Braddock Havey, the daughter of legendary songwriter Bobby Braddock, dreamed of her own artistic pursuits: singing, acting, and penning her own music But above all, one of her greatest dreams in life was to have a baby and be a parent someday. As the "someday" crept up and became her reality, Lauren and her husband Jim were crushed to receive the disheartening news that they were unable to conceive a baby unless they pursued in vitro fertilization, an expensive and uncertain alternative. Lauren's memoir A Journey to the Son (Two Harbors Press; ISBN 978-1-935097-71-6; October 2009), follows Lauren and Jim as they make the brave decision to go through the in vitro process and the white-knuckle journey that ensues.

(There is also a CD that came with the book that is comprised of songs written and performed by the author, it is a country opera.  Each chapter of the book has a song that goes with it.)

The Sign for Drowning by Rachel Stolzman was sent to me by her publisher Jennifer at Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Here's the summary from the website:

Anna has grown up haunted by her younger sister’s death. In the life she constructs as a barrier against the emotional wreckage of her family tragedy, Anna settles comfortably into a career as a teacher of deaf children. But a challenge arrives—in the form of a young girl. Adrea’s disarming vulnerability and obvious need for love offer Anna the possibility of reconnecting with the world around her—if she has the courage to open her heart.

I have already started this book and it is beautifully written.  I also have a SIGNED copy to giveaway!  Stay tuned for that!

From Random House Canada I recieved "The Wife's Tale" by Lori Lansens.

Here's the summary from their website:

  In Lori Lansens’ Leaford, Ontario — home of Rose and Ruby Darlen, the sorrowing parents of Larry Merkel, and not far from Rusholme where Addy Shadd once looked after an abandoned child — love and grief combine to awaken an obese woman from her loneliness. When her husband doesn’t come home on the eve of their 25th wedding anniversary, Mary Gooch, who has never learned to be self-sufficient, sets out on a truly remarkable journey of self-discovery that takes her first to the big city and then to another country

The following were books I have won in contests on other blogs:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

I have wanted to read this book FOR AGES, and so I was thrilled to have won a copy!

Here is the blurb from Random House:

January 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.

The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells
Here's part of the blurb from HarperCollins:

A tale of family and friendship, tragedy and triumph, loss and love, The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder features the warmth, humor, soul, and wonder that have made Wells one of today's most cherished writers, and gives us an unforgettable new heroine to treasure.

YA ASPIRING AUTHORS COULD WIN A CHANCE TO GET DISCOVERED!

This is SUPER EXCITING news!!!    In honor of the annual writing competition, Nanwrimo, some of the biggest names in publishing (Random House, HarperCollins, Harlequin, Source Books, and Penguin) has teamed up with  New Yorks' extremely popluar Gotham Writers' Worshop,  to bring you the YA Author contest that just might be your big break!

Here are the details (from the official Press Release provided by Source Books):

 Get in front of TOP YA Editors and Agents with ONLY the first 250 words of your YA novel!

Have a young adult novel—or a YA novel idea—tucked away for a rainy day? Are you putting off pitching your idea simply because you’re not sure how to pitch an agent? No problem! All you have to do is submit the first 250 words of your novel and you can win both exposure to editors, and a one-on-one chat with one of New York’s TOP literary agents Regina Brooks.

Regina Brooks is the founder of Serendipity Literary Agency and the author of Writing Great Books for Young Adults. Brooks has been instrumental at establishing and building the careers of many YA writers, including three-time National Book Award Honoree and Michael Printz Honoree Marilyn Nelson, as well as Sundee Frazier—a Coretta Scott King Award winner, an Oprah Book Pick and an Al Roker book club selection. As an agent, she is known for her ability to turn raw talent into successful authors.

ADDITIONALLY: The top 20 submissions will all be read by a panel of five judges comprised of top YA editors at Random House, HarperCollins, Harlequin, Sourcebooks and Penguin. All 20 will receive free autographed copies of Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks. Of the 20, they will pick the top five submissions and provide each author with commentary. ONE Grand Prize Winner will win a free 10-week writing course courtesy of the Gotham Writer’s Workshop.

Please submit all entries via the contest website at http://www.writingclasses.com/ContestPages/YAPitch.php. One entry per person; anyone age 13+ can apply. Open to the U.S. & Canada (void where prohibited). Entries for the YA Novel Discovery Contest will be accepted from 12:01am (ET) November 1 until 11:59pm (ET),

NOVEMBER IS NaNoWriMo

In honor of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org)—an international event where aspiring novelists are encouraged to write an entire novel in 30 days—this contest is meant to encourage the aspiring YA author to get started on that novel by offering an incentive for completing the first 250 words.

So apply now! http://bit.ly/1PYGaN

JUDGING

YA literary agent Regina Brooks, along with editors at Sourcebooks, will read all of the entries and determine the top 20 submissions. These submissions will then be read by Dan Ehrenhaft, head Acquisitions Editor at Soucebooks Fire; Alisha Niehaus, Editor at Dial Books for Young Readers (Penguin); David Linker, Executive Editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books; Michele Burke, Editor at Knopf Books for Young Readers (Random House); and Evette Porter, Editor at Harlequin. These judges will whittle the top 20 down to four winners and a grand prize winner—all five will be provided commentary on their submissions.