Congratulations to auntdel42, who won our Melbourne Cup sweep this year! I’ve sent an email to all the particpants, so if you didn’t receive it, please let me know ASAP. I would hate to deprive auntdel42 of her books!
I also offered some consolation prizes to the second, third last place getters. (I gave away two last place prizes because, technically, Descarado didn’t finish.) Since I’m giving away review copies and free books I’m unlikely to ever get to in my TBR pile, I thought I’d give the books a bit of a plug here.
All of them sound good—it’s just that they don’t hit my sweet spot when it comes to books. And now, hopefully, I’ve found better homes for them! Check out our winners’ picks…
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Yes, it’s on again! Join our Melbourne Cup sweep to win some books! Champers optional.
Update: The first sweep has closed and I’ve posted the draw below. I’ll run a second sweep if we get another 23 people to sign up but you can only sign up via comments. I’m not taking sign ups from Twitter because it’s too cumbersome.
Update: Bauer (#18) has been scratched from the race, so there are only 23 horses in the running.
For non-Aussie readers who follow the blog, today we’re celebrating one of the biggest national events in Australia. That’s right, a long time ago someone came up with the brilliant idea of using a horse race as an excuse for boozy lunches and, in Melbourne’s case, a public holiday!
Our impromptu Melbourne Cup sweep last year was a huge hit, so we’re doing it again! Here’s how it works:
1. The first 24 23 people to comment here or tweet using the hashtag #btsweep are in. If you’re commenter #25, that’s okay—I’ll keep the comments open, and if we get another 24 people, I’ll run a second sweep.
2. Participants must sign up before 2pm AEDT to give me time to allocate your horses.
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I usually wait at least six months before republishing articles I wrote for the ARRA newsletter. However, this one is about the 2010 Get Reading! campaign, and I thought I’d repost it so there’s time for you to grab a book (or seven) before it ends.
This is one of my favourite months for reading books. September is Get Reading! month—previously called Books Alive, it’s a month-long, nationwide campaign to encourage reading.
Each year the campaign publishes the 50 Books You Can’t Put Down Guide. Pick up a copy of any of the books listed from a participating retailer and you get a free book to go with it–either an anthology of short stories by well known Australian authors, or a children’s book of stories by Morris Gleitzman.
This year is particularly exciting for romance readers. The second book of the Black Cobra Quartet, The Elusive Bride, by Stephanie Laurens is listed in the guide. Yes, a romance genre book is in the guide! The free anthology also features a short story by Maggie Alderson, who was nominated for the Romance Book of the Year (R*BY) Award for Romantic Elements in 2009.
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Bronwyn Parry’s third Dungirri book shelved
In case you missed her announcement, Bronwyn Parry is no longer working on her third Dungirri book. If there’s one thing I admire in an author it’s knowing when to let go of a book or series. The good news is that Parry seems to have a new book in the works, so yay for her and for us readers!
FANGtastic Fiction’s change of focus
I noticed that our friends over at FANGtastic Fiction have decided to stop selling books directly but have become a kind of portal for book recommendations. If you love your books with a touch of the supernatural, it’s worth checking out the site.
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In anticipation of the next book in J. R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Decadence has been hard at work updating the ever popular BDB cheat sheets. The cheat sheets summarise what we know so far about the Brothers and their world, based on the books already published.
We’ll be republishing the updated cheat sheets over the next two weeks, starting Monday. I’ve also created a page summarising all BDB-related posts on this blog.
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Covet by J. R. Ward (Fallen Angels, Book 1)
I opened this book with mixed feelings. I love J. R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series, which means that before this book was even released a part of me already resented the angels for taking Ward’s time away from the Brothers and leaving me with only one Black Dagger Brotherhood book a year instead of two.
BOOK GIVEAWAY: Read on for a chance to win a copy of Covet. Ends Friday, April 2 AEST.
Jim Heron accidentally dies and is blackmailed by the angels into saving the seven souls (one for each of Dante’s deadly sins) who will tip the balance between good and evil for all time. So, no pressure there.
Vin diPietro is Covet’s romantic hero and the first of the souls Jim must save. Having fought his way to obscene wealth, it’s obvious which sin Vin is most guilty of, and Jim believes that part of his mission is to get him to warm up to his girlfriend and pop the question.
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In honour of Valentines Day—and in the absence of reviews to post—we’re spreading the link love around!
Lovely book things
First, a big congratulations to the City of Sydney librarians who put together an excellent Library Lovers event at Customs House last Thursday. I’m told the event was booked out. Rather than hiring professional actors, library staff did the readings—from Greek poetry to an excerpt from Kiss Me, Annabel by Eloisa James to one of my favourite poems, Close Reading, which we were lucky enough to be able to publish here at Book Thingo last year.
The Australian Romance Readers Association today launched its new website designed by Australian author Paula Roe. If you’re an ARRA member, the newsletter also came out today and in my column I talk about why I like reading the end of the book first. Also, it looks like the Annual ARRA Readers Awards Dinner is set for May 15 in Sydney. No details on the venue yet.
If you only have a couple of minutes, check A Regency Romance in 2 minutes
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I’m currently addressing some parcels I owe to winners of past book giveaways. I’m sorry they didn’t make it for Christmas, but I hope they’ll herald a great start to your reading year.
Photo credit: perfect gift 1 by lusi (stock.xchng)
Giveaway winners
Congratulations to Therese, who won a copy of Red Dust with entry on what she loves about celebrating an Aussie Christmas:
I love christmas in Australia because of the heat, getting together with family, hanging out with the neighbours, enjoying a wonderful baked dinner and then spending the afternoon playing games outside with everybody.
The result was pretty close because Wandergurl, Decadence and I all had different favourites!
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Photo: Book Worm Bot by ittybittiesforyou (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Happy new year, everyone!
First of all, a reminder that our Desperate Duchesses giveaway ends next week. To enter, tell us what chess piece you’d be and why, post your answer as a comment to this post.
To kick off 2010, I thought I’d list the reading challenges that we’re joining this year. We’re paring down our challenge list because, as we found out last year, it can be stressful trying to keep track of them all!
So for 2010, I’m doing the Aussie Author Challenge and the Book Binge Challenge in April, if MaryP hosts it again. Wandergurl is doing the Year of the Historical Challenge. She also wants to read more steampunk novels.
I’m planning to host the Books Alive Challenge in September … and to do a better job of hosting it this year!
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Brainchild of Marg from Reading Adventures and Kailana from The Written World
Yes, I’m late for my Advent Tour post. The good news is … everything here is FREE! Plus…
BOOK GIVEAWAY: Read on for a chance to win a copy of Desperate Duchesses by Eloisa James. The contest ends midnight on Wednesday, January 6 AEST.
But first, something for the 2009 Blog Advent Tour, the brainchild of Marg from Reading Adventures and Kailana from The Written World. (Yes, even though it’s now Boxing Day.)
Last year, I posted links to a bunch of free stories online because hey, what’s an Advent calendar without free stuff? So in keeping with tradition, I asked tweeples and ARRA members for links to free stories online. Here they are for your holiday reading pleasure. (Thanks to everyone who sent me links!)
Free stories by Australian authors
Hellcursed by Erica Hayes – A prequel to Shadowfae, one of my favourite debut novels for 2009
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