Birthday Giveaway: Luck of the Draw by Rachael Renee Anderson

It's true! Today is my birthday. I'm still 17 at heart despite being a little more than double that age in real life.

What better way to celebrate than by having a book giveaway. I'm giving away a copy of Luck of the Draw by Rachael Renee Anderson.

Luck of the Draw is an LDS romantic comedy that is sure to please readers who enjoy a good clean, uplifting story. The combination of humor, romance and a meddling grandmother make this a book worth taking the time to read.


Open only to those with a US mailing address.
Giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all who entered.

Gratitude Giveaways: Follower Appreciation Giveaway

I am organizing a book lover follower appreciation giveaway hop. It will take place from November 17th to November 27th. If your blog would like to participate details can be found HERE. Prizes must be related to books and reading but you can be creative.

In My Mailbox

Won in a giveaway on Alexia's Books & Such

Greek Double Date by Marsha Warner

From Author For Reveiw

Battle Ready Moms Raising Battle Ready Kids by Reba Brown

From Author For Review

G.W. Frog and the Circus Lion by George Everett

Won in a giveaway on Kristi's Book Nook.

The Hippo's Fat Behind! by Margot Finke

Won in a giveaway on Alyssa's Writing Notebook.

The Heart Mender by Andy Andrews

From Author For Review:

A Pecunious Life by M.L. Dolan

Won in a giveaway on Allison's Attic of Books
$20 Amazon.com gift card


In My Mailbox was started by The Story Siren.

The idea behind IMM was not only to put new books on your radar but to also encourage blogger interaction. IMM explores the weekly contents of my mailbox & books bought.

Anyone can participate in IMM and you are not limited to only sharing books that arrive via your mailbox. You can also share books that you've bought or books that you've gotten at the library

Tiger, Tiger by Lynne Reid Banks

Two tiger cub brothers are torn from the jungle and taken to Rome. The stronger cub is trained as a killer at the Coliseum. Emperor Caesar makes a gift of the smaller cub to his beautiful daughter, Aurelia. She adores her cub, Boots, and Julius, a young animal keeper, teaches her how to earn the tiger's trust. Boots is pampered while his brother, known as Brute, lives in a cold and dark cage, let out only to kill. Caesar trusts Julius to watch Aurelia and her prized pet. But when a prank backfires, Boots temporarily escapes and Julius must pay with his life. Thousands watch as Julius is sent unarmed into the arena to face the killer Brute.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. I liked the book cover and had nothing else to listen to so I started Tiger, Tiger. I found myself drawn into the story and before I knew it I had finished the book. This novel by Lynne Reid Banks is historical fiction set in the 3rd century. It follows the life of two tiger cubs who are captured and brought to Rome. One to be trained for the circus and the other as a pet to Caesar's daughter. A heartfelt coming of age story full of courage and love.

Content: Clean read although this is set in the time of Gladiators so there is one brutal, gory scene in an arena with a tiger.

Rating: 4 Stars

Down River by Will Hobbs

No adults, no permit, no river map. 15-year-old Jessie and her six companions from Discovery Unlimited, an outdoor ed program she's been sent to by her father, "borrow" the company's rafting gear and take off down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon on their own. Floating beneath sheer red walls, camping on white sand beaches, exploring caves and waterfalls, Jessie and the others are at first having the time of their lives. Pursued by helicopters, they boldly push on into the black-walled inner gorge, the heart of the Grand Canyon, only to encounter huge rapids, bone-chilling rain, injuries, and conflict within the group. What will be the consequences of their reckless adventure?

This is a book I never would have picked up on my own. Downriver by Will Hobbs is on the required reading list for my son's sophomore language arts class. In all honesty the first half of the book I kept thinking - You've got to be kidding me, of all the books that could be chosen this is the book that was picked? It took me nearly a month to make it half way through the book. I was then hooked and finished the book in one day. Upon completing this book I realize it is a good fit for the unit that was being taught in the class: Life from the perspective of the young & old. The other book in the unit is Tuesday's With Morrie.

Downriver won many awards and I do admit this is a well written coming of age story. Although not a favorite it was worth reading and I would recommend it.

Content: A clean read.

Rating: I'm going with 4 stars due to the writing although if based just on how well I liked it I would give it 3.5 stars.

Along For The Ride By Sarah Dessen

It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live.

A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend.

Along for the Ride is the first Sarah Dessen book I have read and it won't be the last. I really enjoyed listening to this audio book.

This book deals with real life issues. Divorce and the effect it has on everyone. Parenthood and the difficulty of having a newborn. Relationships and all their complexities. Along for the Ride is a realistic portrayal of life with all its challenges and triumphs.

I enjoyed seeing Auden transform during the summer after her senior years when she goes to live with her father and step-mother. The characters are well developed and all have unique personalities and quirks making them people that I could relate to.

This is a really light, easy read. Great Chick-lit.

Content: There is some language but otherwise cleaner than many of the YA books I have recently read.

Rating: 4 Stars

Giveaway Winner: Over the Moon by Diane Daniels

The Random Number Generator has spoken.
The winner is:

CASS

A copy of Over the Moon by Diane Daniels is headed your way!

Welcoming The Fall Giveaway

Next week I'm participating in the Welcoming the Fall Giveaway hosted by Good Choice Reading. The event will run a full week starting September 22nd. Sign ups are still open until Saturday the 18th at midnight. For more information EMAIL Good Choice Reading.

Got Great Giveaways?

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 once in a while. 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.



Each week I search for great book giveaways and link them up here. However I can't possibly find them all so I need your help!

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 65+ book giveaways listed on last week's Got Great Giveaways? are still open.

To help bloggers easily find giveaways they are interested please fill out the Linky like this:
Genre or Category - Title, Author, ending date.

So your Link Title should look something like this:
Young Adult - I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore ends 9/21

Catergory: Adult, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Picture Book
OR
Genre: Mystery, Romance, SciFi, Fantasy, Nonfiction, Christian, etc.

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!



The next Got Great Giveaways Linky will be posted on Thursday 9/23. 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.

Giveaway: I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

I'm hosting a bonus contest as part of
Enna Isilee's Birthday Bash 2010
Presented by Squeaky Books
From August 23rd until September 22nd Enna Isilee at Squeaky Books is having a HUGE bash to celebrate her birthday! There are over a dozen contests, tons of author interviews, and guest posts from a bunch different YA book bloggers. And I get to host a bonus contest!
I get to give away a copy of I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore! Entering is simple, just fill out the form (with optional bonus entries). You have until September 21st at 11:59 MST to enter. All winners will be announced on Enna Isilee's birthday (September 22nd) on Enna Isilee's blog (Squeaky Books). And today, Ennalee featured Me at Squeaky Books. You should totally go check it out.
Want to know more about I am Number Four? Click here!
Without further ado, enter to win! Click below.


Giveaway now closed.

Check out my review of I Am Number Four.

While you are here take a minute to enter my other Great Giveaways: Over the Moon (ends 9/15), The Aristobrats (ends 9/24), The Maze Runner (ends 10/3) and Escape From Rwanda (ends 10/10).

Be sure to check out my Got Great Giveaways? Linky which currently lists 65 great giveaways!

This giveaway is now closed. The winner is Coral - you should have been contacted by Enna Isilee with details on how to claim your prize.

Escape From Rwanda by John Yves Bizimana - Book Review & Giveaway

John Yves Bizimana was only seven years old when his family was caught up in the Rwandan genocide. In Escape from Rwanda, he tells of their horrifying escape and subsequent experiences as refugees, traveling with his widowed mother and his younger brother and sister from country to country, searching for safety and a place to call home. When they finally reach Zimbabwe, they expect their lives will settle down - they don't suspect that even greater trials are yet to come.

John's story is one of almost unimaginable hardship - trudging through corpses that litter the road out of Rwanda, huddling under cardboard boxes for shelter, depending on strangers and governmental agencies for sustenance. His story is one of poverty, loneliness, and death, but it is also a story of faith, hope, determination, and miracles. This unique first-person account is interwoven with stories of others' saving acts of kindness and compassion in a seemingly compassion-less world.

This unforgettable story of rising above all odds reminds us that life itself is a blessing and that hope should be the driving force of our lives.

Escape from Rwanda was exactly what it claimed to be a true story of faith, hope and survival. This memoir shares the incredible life story of John Yves Bizimana.

Born to a wealthy family in Zimbabwe, John had an idyllic childhood. Delicious meals, a huge house, many servants and a wonderful family made for a blissful life. When John was just seven years old everything changed. The death of his father followed by the Rwanda Genocide left John as a refuge. Forced to flee to Zimbabwe with his mother and two younger siblings, life would now be full of one trial and challenge after another.

John dreamed of coming to the United States but circumstances took him to Zimbabwe where he lived in the Transit Center then to Emerald Hill Orphanage and then to Belgium to live with relatives.

Through his trials the hand of God was evident in his life, from the kindness of strangers to needed documents being found at the last minute, we see many instances of the tender mercies of the Lord. John's life changes for good one day when he is drawn towards two out of place men playing a game of street ball in suits and ties.

This short book was packed full of wisdom and truth. I found myself underlining profound passages that touch my spirit as I read. Here are just a few:

It's a sad fact that a common human trait is to be harshest with those who share our weaknesses. One would think that we would be more understanding after having walked down the same path, but we find, sadly, the recovering alcoholic being overly critical of the occasional drinker.

It was a painful lesson: I was better off being the very best version of myself than a dreadful copy of someone else.

Perhaps the hardest challenge among all else was to unlearn old habits and learn new ones. To become the person I wished to be, I had to be drained of that of which I was full and to be filled with that of which I was barren.

Trials of our lives expose to us the strengths or weaknesses of our character. Trials are the mirror that allows us to see ourselves indeed, because trials, in whatever form, reveal to us how strong or weak we are.

I highly recommend this amazing story. It is a inspiring book that is worth taking the time to read.

Miraculously a family photo book survived allowing pictures of John and his family to be included in this memoir.

Content: A uplifting, inspiring, clean read.

Rating: 4 Stars

Giveaway Details:

I'm giving away my copy of Escape From Rwanda.

Giveaway open until October 10, 2010

Open only to those with a US mailing address.

Being a blog follower is not required to enter this giveaway. Followers do get (+1) one extra entry.

This Giveaway is now Closed - Congratulations to the winner Erinberry

Fallen By Kate Lauren

There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

I think I've read one too many paranormal romances lately. I liked this one but there are others I've read recently that enjoyed more. If you've read all of the recent young adult paranormal romance books, like I have, then you need to read this one too, especially if you love fallen angels. If you don't love the genre then you can skip this one.

The first half of Fallen was really slow for me. I kept waiting for something to happen and for secrets to be revealed. I'm glad I stuck with it because I ended up enjoying this story by Lauren Kate. The last 3rd of the book really held my interest.

Love the cover!

Content: mild language & profanity throughout and some mild innuendo.

Rating: 3.5 Stars - I will read the sequel Torment.