Blog Tour: Red in the Flower Bed by Andrea Nepa

Red in the Flower Bed by Andrea Napa
An Illustrated Children's Story about Interracial Adoption
Published: December 12th 2008 by Tribute Books
Authors Website
Link to Red in the Flower Bed on Tribute Books
Source: Tribute Books Blog Tour

Book Summary:The journey of adoption is beautifully depicted with the comforting imagery of a poppy flower who is welcomed into a garden family. It is a charming story of "seeds" being planted in the perfect place - exactly where they belong. Children and adults will enjoy this simple yet meaningful story and homespun illustrations. The book's loving approach helps children to understand adoption. Andrea Nepa has captured the essence of adoption and family, and has illustrated it beautifully with images and poetry that even a small child can comprehend and enjoy.



Andrea Nepa Bio: Andrea Nepa is the mother of an adopted Vietnamese daughter named Leah. In 2001, Adoptions from the Heart assisted with the international adoption. Andrea dedicated her book to her daughter: "For my dear Leah, whose journey in her young life has already taken her to far away and unexpected places." In 2006, Leah was diagnosed with cancer. She is currently in remission. Andrea lives with Leah and her husband, David, in Haddonfield, New Jersey. She is a registered dietitian for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Book Review: This is an adorable book and would be the perfect gift for someone who is involved in an adoption. A new seed can't grow where it it is at so the wind carries it to fertile ground where it is able to thrive. Beautiful illustrations and simple text make this a book for all ages.

Book Review: Princess for Hire by Lindsey Leavitt

When an immaculately dressed woman steps out of an iridescent bubble and asks you if you'd like to become a substitute princess, do you

a) run

b) faint

c) say Yes!


For Desi Bascomb, who's been longing for a bit of glamour in her Idaho life, the choice is a definite C--that is, once she can stop pinching herself. As her new agent Meredith explains, Desi has a rare magical ability: when she applies the ancient Egyptian formula "Royal Rouge," she can transform temporarily into the exact lookalike of any princess who needs her subbing services. Dream come true, right?

Well, Desi soon discovers that subbing involves a lot more than wearing a tiara and waving at cameras. Like, what do you do when a bullying older sister puts you on a heinous crash diet? Or when the tribal villagers gather to watch you perform a ceremonial dance you don't know? Or when a princess's conflicted sweetheart shows up to break things off--and you know she would want you to change his mind?

In this hilarious, winning debut, one girl's dream of glamour transforms into something bigger: the desire to make a positive impact. And an impact Desi makes, one royal fiasco at a time.


Princess for Hire is a sparkly clean, fun tween read. I thought it was such a cute story and smiled throughout. The story never lagged and kept my interest through out. It has a great message. I'm sharing this book with my ten year old daughter.

This is a great debut novel from Lindsey Leavitt. I'm looking forward to the sequel The Royal Treatment as well as her other book Sean Griswold's Head which is due out in March.

Content: Clean

Rating: 5 Stars

Source: From author for Review

Blog Hop & Follow and Weekly Update

Thanks for stopping by!


"What very popular and hyped book in the blogosphere did you NOT enjoy and how did you feel about posting your review?"

I honestly can't think of a hyped book that I didn't enjoy.  There is one hyped book I just can't bring myself to read... Mockingjay.  I loved the first two books and have read such mixed reviews about Mockingjay I'm worried I won't love it.  I want to love it so I'm just waiting for some silly reason. 



What do you do besides reading / reviewing as a hobby??
To be honest.... lately not much.  Reading and blogging are taking up all my free time.  I do enjoy doing things outdoors but now that winter is here I'm inside more often than not :(


While you are here take a minute to enter my current giveaways:

Finding Rose ends 12/3

The Adventures of Annie Marmalade ends 12/4

Sundays at Tiffanys ends 12/6 NEW THIS WEEK

Lost Island Smugglers ends 12/7

From the Ashes of Courage ends 12/7

Peace and Plenty ends 12/8

Mockingbird and The Absolute Value of Mike ends 12/9

World's Best Origami ends 12/10

The Peanuts Collection ends 12/11

Lizzie's Blue Ridge Memories ends 12/12

Conspiracy 365 ends 12/12

Ice King ends 12/14

Foresight ends 12/15

The Thorn (plus opportunity to win $25 Amazon Gift Card) ends 12/15

The Job ends 12/16

Flecks of Gold ends 12/17

Five Flavors of Dumb ends 12/19

Dear Austin ends 12/20 NEW THIS WEEK

Nearly New Books for You Giveaways: Safe Haven audiobook, Restored Hope & The Fairy Folk and She ends 12/6
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Stanley's Christmas Adventure, Horrible Harry & the Triple Revenge or The Story or Edgar Sawtelle Ends 12/16 NEW THIS WEEK

Visit my Got Great Giveaways Linky to enter dozens of book giveaways. If you have a giveaway on your site that isn't listed please add it to the linky. Book related giveaways only please!

Reviews:
Dear Austin, Christmas with the Prophets, Recovering Charles

Events:
The Holiday Gift Giveaway Hop runs until Sunday.  There are over 200 blogs each hosting a gift card or cash giveaway. 


I have 4 Great Sponsors for this Giveaway. CLICK HERE to enter my giveaways.








Usborne Books $15 Gift Certificate









Leap Books - 2 $10 Gift Certificates








Memorable Children Books & Gifts - $25 Gift Certificate






Little One Books - $25 Gift Certificate.

Upcoming Events:

Book Blogger's Holiday Bash Giveaway Dec. 5th to 15th, hosted by Soapbox in my Mind.

Come back starting Sunday to enter my giveaway for one of three great books.

Best I've Read 2010






Best I've Read 2010 starts on Monday!!
There are currently 6 teaser giveaway running on the site.  Be sure to stop by and enter them: Secondhand Charm, Immortal Beloved, Clockwork Angel, Before I Fall, Pathfinder and Amy & Roger's Epic Detour.  A 7th Giveaway for Crescendo should be posted tomorrow.

Starting Monday there will be dozens of book giveaways each day on the 9 participating blogs.  A total of 400 books are up for grabs during the event.

Coming December 21st - 22nd - 75+ Bloggers each hosting a book giveaway!
Sign up to join for Midwinter's Eve Giveaway Hop.


New Year's Reading Resolutions January 3rd to 9th Hosted by Reading Angel, Pure Imagination & Candance's Book Blog.


January 14th - 17th
Sign Ups are now open for the Dreaming of Books Giveaway Hop


February 8th - 13th
Sign up to show your followers some love - Follower Love Giveaway Hop.



If you are still here remember, I always follow back so if you are a new follower be sure to leave me a comment on this post with a link to your site so I can stop by your blog and follow you.

Hope you are having a fabulous Friday!

Nearly New Books for You 12/2 - 12/16

I love to receive free books in the mail.

Unlike most avid readers I don't have a huge personal library.

I believe books should be read and then shared instead of sitting on a shelf collecting dust.

This unique belief could mean free books for you.

Each week I will be hosting a Nearly New Books For You Giveaway. At least 3 books will be offered each week. The winner of the giveaway will get to choose which book they want. All books are in excellent condition.

This week I'm offering:

Books 1 & 2 in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith


Stanley's Christmas Adventure by Jeff Brown


Horrible Harry and the Triple Revenge by Suzy Kline


The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

Giveaway is open only to those over the age of 13 with a US mailing address. Must be a blog follower to enter. Giveaway closes 12/16/10. Winner will be chosen from all eligible entries by the Random Number Generator. To enter you must fill out the Form.

This week's extra entries:
+1 Follow on Twitter
+1 Be or Become my friend on Goodreads

This giveaway is now closed.

Book Review: Recovering Charles by Jason F. Wright

Luke Millward is a man who does not know he is lost. His girlfriend loves him, his career is going well, and every night he falls asleep knowing that his life is good and meaningful. Only when the past reveals its twisted smile in a phone call and a disconnected voice asks him to come find his father in post-Katrina New Orleans is Luke compelled to find out what kind of man he truly is.

This was the pick for my Book Group this month.  I listened to the audio version of this book and found myself pulled into the story.

Recovering Charles takes place in the weeks following Hurricane Katrina.  Luke has been estranged from his alcoholic father for quite some time but finds himself in New Orleans searching for his father in the aftermath of Katrina.

This book brought insights into the reality of what life was like for those who didn't evacuate and chose for various reasons to remain in New Orleans.  This book portrayed feeling and emotions that I never clued into while watching the news coverage of Katrina.  I connected with characters in this novel who were dealing with the subjects of forgiveness, death, alcholism, love and loss.

Jason has written several other books including The Wednesday Letters & The Christmas Jars that I'm going to check out and read.

Content: Clean

Rating 4.5 Stars

Source: Library

Got Great Giveaways 12/2

Got Great Giveaways is a weekly feature hosted here on I Am A Reader, Not A Writer.

I love book giveaways. They often have low entries which means I actually win them. I'm always on the lookout for book giveaways and have become frustrated by not having one place to find them all. So I started hosting my own Book Giveaway Linky.






Do you have a book giveaway on your blog or website? Scroll down and add it to the linky list.

Have you found a great book giveaway you want to share? Please add it.

Stop by each week and link up book related giveaways.

Many of the book giveaways listed on last week's Got Great Giveaways Post are still open.

To help bloggers easily find giveaways they are interested in please include as much info as possible:
Genre or Category, Title, Author, website, ending date, etc.

Please link directly to the giveaway.

BOOK & BOOK RELATED GIVEAWAYS ONLY - others will be deleted.

Bookmark this site and stop back by in a couple days for more giveaways because new giveaways get added all week long!

Don't forget to enter all my great giveaways here on this site. Giveaways are listed on the right sidebar ----->

The next Got Great Giveaways Linky will be posted on Thursday 12/9. If you have a giveaway you want me to add to next week's linky just FILL OUT THIS FORM, or you can stop back next week to add it.

This Week's Got Great Giveaways:

Giveaway Winner: Coming Soon Best I've Read 2010

Congratulations to the Winner of my
Coming Soon Best I've Read 2010 Giveaway!

The Random Number Generator has spoken!

The Winner is:

Kjovus

I sent Kjovus a list of 2010 books I had available for giveaway.  He chose Tyger, Tyger by Kersten Hamilton.  I'll be shipping his book out at the beginning of the week.

Thanks to everyone who entered this giveaway by sharing their favorite read of 2010. I've contacted many of those authors and have set up giveaways with many of them as part of BIR2010.

Holiday Gift Giveaway Hop

The Holiday Gift Hop is finally here.  This event is hosted by Simply Stacie.  Each participating blog has a gift card or cash giveaway just in time for the holiday.  This event runs from December 1st - 5th.  After entering my giveaways "hop" to the next site on the list and enter their giveaway.



Welcome to the Holiday Gift Giveaway Hop.
I've got 4 fabulous sponsors for this Hop. 
There will be 5 winners.

To Enter you must be a blog follower and fill out the forms. 
You can enter 1, 2, 3 or all 4 giveaways.

Click HERE to learn more about each of my fabulous sponsors.


GIVEAWAY #1 - Open Worldwide
Little One Books - $25 Gift Certificate

Little One Books is giving away a $25 Gift Certificate.  To enter you'll need to be a follower of this blog. Giveaway is open Worldwide.

3 Optional Entries are available:
+1 Like Little One Books on Facebook
+1 Sign up for the Little One Books Newsletter
+1 Follow Little One Books on Twitter


Giveaway #2 - Open to US only
Memorable Children Books & Gifts - $25 Gift Certificate

Memorable Children Books & Gifts is giving away a $25 Gift Certificate. To Enter you must be a follower of this blog & have a US mailing address.
The Gift Certificate expires January 5, 2011 and does not include the following: Disney Personalized products, MJM Personalized Books or Personalized Wooden Gifts.

Extra Entries
+1 Become a MCBG Blog email subscriber
+1 Like MCBG on Facebook

Giveaway #3 - Open Internationally
Leap Books - $10 Gift Certificate - 2 Winners

Leap Books is giving away (2) $10 Gift Certificates.  Giveaway is open Internationally.

Extra Entries:
+1 Follow Leap Books on Twitter
+1 Friend Leap Books on Facebook
+1 Follow Leap Books Blog


Giveaway #4 - Open to the US
Usborne Books - $15 Gift Certificate

Usborne consultant Nancy Murphy is offering a $15 Usborne Books Gift Certificate.  Giveaway is open to the US.



Thank you to these 4 wonderful sponsors!

While you are here take a few minutes to enter all my great book giveaways listed down the right sidebar.

These giveaways are now closed.

Holiday Hop Sponsor: Little One Books

The Holiday Hop is here! This is a 5 day hop hosted by Simply Stacie. There are over 200 blogs participating in this event each hosting a giveaway for gift cards just in time for your holiday shopping.

I'm excited to tell you about one of my sponsors, Little One Books.

Six years ago Joan McCoy and Barney Cohen became Grandparents. As they sought out appropriate material for their newest family member they were overwhelmed by the vast amount of choices available for young children. Failing to find guidance in their purchasing options, they took matters into their own hands. Their goal is to put age appropriate, quality media into the lives of young children. Today they have five grandchildren from one through six years of age.


They created Little One Books, an online site designed to help others make informed choices from among the immense amount of material available for children ages zero to five. Joan and Barney have personally reviewed and selected each and every item in their store. Visitors to their site will find detailed information on why they prefer a particular product in the "Why We Chose" section of each product page.

At Little One Books you’ll find the absolute best in baby board books, toddler music, pre-school videos and everything in-between. They have bedtime books that promote rest and relaxation, and others that are guaranteed to get your little one up and moving. In the thirty years that have elapsed since raising their own children, they’ve never lost sight of the important role that books, music and video play in a child's early life.

About Little One Books

 At Little One Books, we understand the important role that books, music and video play in a child's early life.

 We specialize in quality books, music, and video, for children from birth through age five.

 Our team of professionals have personally reviewed and selected each and every item in our store.

 There is detailed information on why we prefer a particular product in our "Why We Chose" section of each product page.

 We match each product to what we believe is the youngest appropriate age group.

 We will pass along the latest news in child development, and publish discussions with authors, illustrators, musicians and producers

 We share personal anecdotes related to child rearing in our companion blog.

 Our carefully selected items can be used for years to come. As children develop they often find pleasure in revisiting old favorites, and eventually learn to read them on their own.

 We want to help parents, grandparents, family and friends make informed choices from among the vast amount of media available for children today.

 We want our customers to have a rewarding online shopping experience.

Little One Books will be giving away a $25 Gift Certificate.  To enter you'll need to be a follower of this blog. Giveaway is open Worldwide.

3 Optional Entries are available:
+1 Like Little One Books on Facebook
+1 Sign up for the Little One Books Newsletter
+1 Follow Little One Books on Twitter

Holiday Hop Sponsor: Leap Books

I'm excited to tell you about another of my wonderful Holiday Hop Sponsors: Leap Books.
Once in blue moon, a publisher comes along who does things in an innovative way. Leap Books opened their doors on the night of the blue moon, expecting something magical to happen. And it did.

ABOUT LEAP BOOKS

Leap Books, LLC, is a new publisher that opened on January 1, 2010. A member of the Children’s Book Council, Leap is committed to producing quality fiction for teens and tweens. Our Surge line for teens (ages 14-19) will feature paranormals, contemporaries, inspirationals, and mysteries. Our Frolic line for tweens (ages 10-14) will focus on the same categories, but we’ll be putting out lighter paranormals for this age group. We also plan to branch out with fantasy, historical, and multicultural titles.

Although we are open to most every genre, at present we are accepting submissions only from agents or from attendees at conferences where our editors speak. From time to time, we may put out a call for a specific genre via Twitter. Once we acquire a manuscript, each submission goes through a two-level process prior to approval by an editor. A committee composed of editors, educators, librarians, and booksellers who are familiar with the target audience read the manuscript. If they agree it has potential, it goes to a teen focus group for review. Only submissions that get a unanimous and enthusiastic thumbs-up from both panels will be considered by Leap editors for acceptance.

We have an exciting lineup of books slated to come out over the next few months. Watch for Freaksville by Kitty Keswick and Under My Skin by Judith Graves, both first books in werewolf paranormal series by debut authors. Bonnie J. Doerr’s eco-mystery, Island Sting, about the endangered Key deer and Jane Greenhill’s I Was a Teenage Alien, a humorous sci-fi, will round out our spring offerings. We have a light paranormal and funny chick lit lined up for summer, and we’re working on several great titles for fall including For the Love of Strangers, a lyrical coming-of-age tale rooted in Russian mythology, by Jacqueline Horsfall. This popular author of joke books and nonfiction is now taking her writing in whole new direction, and we’re delighted to have this opportunity to publish her poetic and poignant fiction.

Leap Books plans to stay small so we can produce high-quality books and spend time promoting our authors and helping them develop their careers. There will be no mid-list authors at Leap; we only accept top-notch authors with terrific ideas and strong writing skills. At the same time, we’re looking to introduce fresh new voices to the world. We hope to get teens excited and eager to read more, to encourage reluctant readers to pick up books, and to put out books with artistic appeal. To do that, we’ve contracted several artists to add graphic elements to our books. We’re especially thrilled to have the gothic artwork of Canadian graphic artist Val Cox to enhance our paranormal books. For more information about Leap Books, our authors and illustrators, and our latest contests and giveaways, visit us at http://www.leapbks.com/.

Leap Books is giving away (2) $10 Gift Certificates.  Giveaway is open Internationally. 
Extra Entries:
+1 Follow Leap Books on Twitter
+1 Friend Leap Books on Facebook
+1 Follow Leap Books Blog

Holiday Hop Sponsor: Memorable Children Books & Gifts

Another of my fabulous sponsors is Memorable Children Books & Gifts.

Ella Johnson started Memorable Children Books & Gifts in May 2008. As a formal teacher, she knows that making basic education fundamentals interesting to children can be challenging. Education can be fun, exciting and captivating for children with the right learning tools. So her goal is to “make learning interesting and fun” for the children while they learn. Including the latest technology was imperative because we don’t want children left behind. Her product includes Personalized and Non Personalized books and gifts. Memorable Children Books & Gifts is also in the business of supporting other small businesses.

More about Ella & Memorable Children Books & Gifts:

As a formal teacher, I know that making basic education fundamentals interesting to children can be challenging. I knew education could be fun, exciting and captivating. Our goal is to “make learning interesting and fun” for the children. Including the latest technology was imperative because we don’t want children left behind.

The answer was to offer personalized stories with popular characters that hold the child’s interest because it is about them interacting with Dinosaurs, Leprechauns, Spiderman, Fantastic Four, Dora the Explorer, Disney Characters, Care Bears and many more. The technology is the method in which these stories are conveyed, on “Interactive CDs” and “CD-ROMs”. Many are personalized which captivates the children even more. These CDs and CD-ROMs reinforce the basic reading skills of the children when they read along with the narrated stories that are spelled out at the bottom of the computer screen.

Children love to play these CDs for hours at a time because they’re fun. Parents love these CDs because they take comfort in knowing their children are learning while having fun. Children find it fun also when they read a story and it all about them in a Personalized Book.

Memorable Children Books and Gifts© (MCBG), is expanding. We offer a wide selection of Disney Personalized Books like My Adventure Books. These personalized books incorporate your child’s name - making them the star of an exciting adventure story. In each of these wonderful stories, your child's name, birthday, address, friends or brothers and sisters names are all printed in these unique, personalized children’s books. There are a large number of titles to choose from including Disney books with all the most popular Disney characters. All with 30 full color pages personalized throughout. We also have Personalized Disney Clocks, Placemats, Name Poems and DVDs.

Every gift is a keepsake! A Personalized Gift made entirely from Wood, with the child's name personalized on it. Whatever the special occasion - a Christening, New Baby, Baptism, Birthday celebration or Christmas - a wooden gift that will last so long is the perfect gift. All Children Gifts are hand cut and finished like Wooden Clocks, Nursery Sets, Pencil Holders, Growth Charts, Door Plates and many more.

We also carry Interactive Story Book CDs for children. These Interactive Story Books comes Personalized or Non- personalized. The personalization of the story books not only includes the child’s name but, in some cases, it will include changing the appearance of the story’s main character (the child) such as hair and skin color to closely resemble the child. We also offer Children Personalized Music CDs and much more. All of our gifts brings hours of enjoyment for months to come.

We also have Non-Personalized Story Books, Chapter Books, and Giggles Computer Funtime for Baby 6 – 24 months, The Fruit Troop DVDs; this is a value-based Educational DVD for children between the ages of 2 and 13. The Fruit Troop is a group of fruit friends that help make learning Christian values fun. We have design placemats from Disney Princess to Cars, Fairies, Hello Kitty, Dora etc. We have just added Personalized Books, Coo Clocks and Bird House Clocks.

1) Our gifts are keepsake that the child will cherish forever.
2) Our gifts are uniquely personalized.
3) Our gifts will teach simultaneously while the child has fun playing or singing over and over again.
4) Think of how the special child in your life would enjoy this on his or her birthday or just to play during the summer.
5) What your child learned during school is reinforced during their play time.

Memorable Children Books & Gifts will be giving away a $25 Gift Certificate. To Enter you must be a follower of this blog & have a US mailing address.
The Gift Certificate expires January 5, 2011 and does not include the following: Disney Personalized products, MJM Personalized Books or Personalized Wooden Gifts.

Extra Entries
+1 Become a MCBG Blog email subscriber
+1 Like MCBG on Facebook

Holiday Hop Sponsor: Usborne Books

Time to tell you about my final Holiday Gift Hop sponsor: Usborne Books.

Usborne Consultant Nancy Murphy is sponsoring this giveway.

Nancy has this to say:

As a mother, I understand the importance of finding quality products for babies and kids. I have chosen to sell products that we personally use in our daily life. The most important product is our large selection of books! My girls and I love to read. My husband and I both value education and feel that it is so important.The books really make learning fun and exciting for kids. We have lots of favorites.

Give the Gift of Reading
Help your child with reading from an early age with the NEW Usborne Very First Reading Set.
Usborne Very First Reading is an exciting series for children who are just starting to learn to read. The 15 book boxed set includes a helpful parents’ guide.
Very First Reading is designed to bring children up to the level at which they can tackle stories in Usborne First Reading (Level One), which is part of the bestselling Usborne Reading Program.

Usborne Books & More offers a commission based income while providing us with exciting monthly prizes, sales bonus, and incredible travel contests. They also recognize us for our achievements. I won 2009 consultant of the year honorable mention and 2010 New Supervisor of the Year. Plus, we won a trip to Hawaii! So, please let me share this wonderful opportunity with you.
If you are interested in viewing my Usborne Books website, click here. Click on Income Opportunity for more information about selling or to see this month’s starter kit. You can also sign up to win $50 in free books.

I would love to share more information about Usborne Books with you, hear about your favorite product or to hear your comments. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Nancy is offering a $15 Usborne Books Gift Certificate.  Giveaway is open to those in the US.