I put all of your entries into Random.org and came up with a WINNER!

WRIGHTY…

…has won a copy of The House on Tradd Street.

Please email me with your mailing address so I can get this out to you.  I will be mailing all books next Wednesday when I am off for the Thanksgiving holidays. 

Thank you to everyone who entered, blogged about it, subscribed and told others about my blog and this giveaway.  I hope you will stick around.

Happy Humpday!  That’s the message I got from my Secret Pal when I walked into my office this morning.   It’s so nice to get treats, especially when they are unexpected!  Along with the message were 4 colored pens and some cute notecards.

Wednesday Wanderings this week will be sparse as I am trying to catch up from being at a writing training all day yesterday.  I have happened on some things that I want to share with you. 

Bloggy Giveaways has something new everyday that you can enter to win, but I wanted to let you know about a giveaway at her other blog:  Blogging Basics 101.  She is giving away an Epson Artisan 800 Printer.

Found a new blog – Brain Burps by author, Katie Davis.   She has started something new called Freebie Fridays.  Go check it out!

Do you know about the Picnic Basket?  It’s a blog for teachers, librarians, and other gluttons of good books.  You can request review copies of children’s books to use and review.  Thanks to Deborah from Jacket Flap for giving me the link.

Have you seen Becky’s new reading challenge?  It is called the Centuries Reading Challenge.  I’m in; are you?

One last thing:  Bookroomreviews Weblog is hosting Holiday Gift Guide 2008.  Everyday there is a new item reviewed that might make the perfect gift for someone on your list.  Also, there are giveaways!  Today’s is Connection Bracelets.

I am so excited about everything that is going on right now around the blogoshpere – freebies, gift ideas, new books, and lots of comments on each others’ blogs.  Join in the fun and spread a little love this holiday season.  Until next week…

Today’s review is part of a blog tour for Pump Up Your Book Promotion.  I am pleased to bring you my review of The House on Tradd Street.

Author:  Karen White

Review copy provided by:   Pump Up Your Book Promotions

Synopsis:  Melanie Middleton is a ghost seeing realtor.  This is a fact she does not like to let others know.  After she meets with an old man, she thinks to list his house, she ends up inheriting his entire estate.  She doesn’t like old houses; she just likes to sell them.  What will SHE do with a rundown old house in Charleston full of wonderful antiques?  The house is historic and full of ghosts who want and need Melanie’s help.  In walks, Jack Trenholm, a good looking, unsolved mystery loving, writer.  He worms his way into the house and Melanie’s life because he believes that hidden in her house on Tradd Street, are missing Confederate diamonds.  Jack falls for Melanie, Melanie doesn’t know she’s fallen for Jack, and the ghosts are fighting against them and each other.

My Review:  Whan I received this book, I was excited to read it, but it took me a little while to get into it.  I am so glad that I stuck with this one.  Romance lover?  Mystery lover?  Ghost story lover?  Historical Fiction lover?  If you answered yes to one or more of those questions, then you should enjoy this book.  I haven’t read any of Karen White’s other books, but now I will.  She writes in such a way that you can connect with the characters and feel like you are right there, in the story.  I enjoyed The House on Tradd Street because of the intrigue and the mystery.  Will they ever find the diamonds?  Who are the ghosts and what do they want?  Finding the answer to these questions is what kept me reading.  Also the fact that I couldn’t wait to see if Melanie and Jack got together.  I love how White tells the story of Melanie dealing with her own ghosts: her relationship with her father (who controls the estate money) and her broken relationship with her mother (who left when Melanie was young).  Being fond of Civil War history, it was wonderful to see how the story line and history came together.  Charleston, South Carolina is a very historical town, and White makes that known through references in the book.   I would recommend this book to others who enjoy chick lit, historical fiction, and/or mysteries.  It’s a great ghost story and made me want to go to Charleston to visit some of the old houses and see if they are really haunted.

I enjoyed this book so much, that I want to pass it on for others to enjoy.  If you’d like to receive my copy of The House on Tradd Street, leave me a comment.  I will randomly choose a winner on Nov. 18.  Giveaway open to US addresses only.   You can earn multiple entries by:

• blog about this for 2 more entries
• subscribe to my blog for 1 entry
• have others say they heard about this giveaway from you for 1 more entry
• you could have a total of 5 entries! 

Since this is a blog tour, don’t miss the other stops:

Divine Caroline (Author Interview)
S. Krishna’s Books (Book Review)
Blogcritics (Author Interview)
The Writer’s Life (Guest Post)
Publishing Secrets of Authors (Guest Post)
The Book Rack (Book Review)
Savvy Verse & Wit (Book Review)
Scribe Vibe (Guest Post)
Savvy Verse & Wit (guest post & book giveaway)
The Book Czar (book review)
Musings of a Bookish Kitty (book review)
The Book Stacks (guest post)
American Chronicle (author interview)
Musings of a Bookish Kitty (author interview)
In Bed With Books (book review)
Review Your Book (book review)
The Plot (book spotlight)
The Plot (character interview)
The Friendly Book Nook (book review)
Reading Mama (book review)
Zensanity (author interview)
Dear Author (guest post)
Diary of an Eccentric (book review)
Bookish Ruth (book review)
Cafe of Dreams (book review)
The 1st Page (book spotlight)
Diary of an Eccentric (author interview)
As the Pages Turn (book review)
The Tome Traveller’s Weblog (book review)
Real Hollywood (author interview)

You can really get into the holiday spirit just by jumping around the blogosphere!  There are so many blogs doing holiday “things” that it is just fun to be a part of it all.  Check out some of the activities going on, join in the swaps, enter the giveaways, and get in the holiday spirit!

Over at My Friend Amy, we have been challenged to buy books for the holidays.  Who on your list would like a good read?  I’ve already found some for people on my list!  Click here to join in!

Were you aware that there is a comment challenge going on?  Those of us in the Kidlitosphere are trying to comment on at least 5 other blogs a day.  We are doing this for 21 days in order to create a habit.  Do you comment or just lurk?  Why not add to the conversation the blogger is having?  Go on; it’s fun!  Thank you to Mother Reader and Lee Wind for putting this together.

There are bloggy swaps going on!  What are bloggy swaps, you say?  Have you heard of Secret Santa?  Well, we are doing that, blog style.  Head over to Things Mean a Lot or The Hidden Side of a Leaf and see what it’s all about! 

I’ve also found lots of holiday giveaways at these sites.  Be sure to check them out!

5 Minutes for Mom

Parent Reviewers

3 P’s Mama Says

Have fun!  What else is out there that you want people to know about for the holidays?  Leave it in the comments.

We have yet another book winner!  I am so excited by all of the traffic that the Book Giveaway Carnival has brought to my blog this week.  I am also pumped that we will be doing it once a quarter…it is so much fun, not only entering for free books, but visiting other blogs.  Thank you to all of you who have entered.  If you come here often, thank you.  If this was your first time, I hope you will come back. 

The winner of Nora Roberts’ Blood Brothers is…

SUSAN C.

I have sent you an email, so please send me your mailing address.

If you didn’t win, try again.  I am currently giving away an ARC of Creepers.

I have no hesitation in telling you that I really enjoyed this book.  I received an autographed hardcover copy and read it almost immediately after I completed the Twilight Saga.  I just couldn’t read anything else until I had finished that.  I’m so glad that Creepers  by Joanne Dahme was the next thing I decided to read.

Synopsis of book:  Courtney and her parents have moved into an 18th century home in Murmur, Massachusetts.  What’s disturbing to Courtney is that the house is covered in ivy and right next door to a cemetery.  Shortly after moving in she notices two people in the cemetery; a man and a young girl.  Come to find out, this is Christian Geyer and Margaret, who she officially meets in the grocery store.  They seem odd to Courtney, but she becomes friends with both of them, especially Margaret who is about her age.  Christian and Margaret have been in Murmur a short while.  They are looking for the remains of one of their ancestors, Prudence.  It seems Courtney lives in the house where Prudence used to live, but her remains were relocated and no one knows where they are.  Strange things start happening in the house and outside; Courtney even thinks she sees a witch!  Will they find out what really happened to Prudence and where her remains are?  You will have to read it to find out.

My review:  Creepers is such a great title for this book, because it is truly creepy.  I enjoyed the story immensely.  I really liked the way the author added insight by putting a picture, letter excerpt, news article, etc. at the beginning of each chapter.  From the beginning I was wondering if Christian and Margaret were ghosts themselves, but Courney’s parents can see and interact with them.  This is a great ghost stoy that I think 3rd grade and up students will enjoy.  Dahme hooks the reader from the beginning and keeps you there by keeping you guessing.  Why does the ivy seem to grow back every time it gets cut down?  Why does the witch keep coming around?  Will they ever find out what really happened to Prudence’s remains?  Adults will love this book as it is an easy read.

I was fortunate to receive the hardback, which I donated to my school library, but I also received an ARC, which I’m happy to pass on to one of you.  Since Halloween has just passsed, tell me your favorite ghost story for a chance to win.  I will keep this contest open until Wednesday, Nov. 12, and I’ll choose a winner via random.org on Thursday, Nov. 13.  Good luck!

I let random.org choose the winner of my Monday Madness giveaway, Dead Boys, and it is…comment #15…

Sunny

I have sent you an email as well, so please send me you mailing address so I can get your book in the mail to you this week.

Thank you to everyone who visited my blog this week.  I will be announcing the winner of Blood Brothers tomorrow.  I will also be posting a review of Creepers tonight or tomorrow and there will be a giveaway of an ARC of the book.  Stay tuned…

The round-up this week can be found over at Check It Out. 

I chose a Maya Angelou poem today for 2 reasons.  One, I love her poetry, and two, this poem speaks to me.  You do not have to be like every other woman (or man if you want to change it) because each of us is unique and phenomenal in our own way.

OK…I am still in need of a button for this weekly post…anybody out there who is wonderful at making buttons?  Wednesday Wanderings is something I do weekly to tell my readers about what I’ve seen that is happening at other blogs.  It can be anything that grabs my attention that I want to share with you.

Today’s post is just about giveaways.  Don’t we all love to get FREE stuff?  I know I do.  I just got the mail and received a copy of The Space Between Before and After that I won.  What a great day! 

 This week you can sign up to win lots of books during the Book Giveaway Carnival hosted by Bookroomreviews Weblog.

I am so pumped about the Book Giveaway Carnival that I have decided to try to do a giveaway each day.  Today’s selection is a book I have read and loved, so the copy is gently used.  It is Book One of a trilogy.  The final book is due to come out around Christmas, so this will get you started.

I love this series by Nora Roberts.  In fact, I love almost everything she does, but this was a different angle for her as a writer.  Here is a taste to whet your appetite:

It had been the Pagan Stone for hundreds of years, long before the three boys stood around it and spilled the blood in a bond of brotherhood, unwittingly releasing a force bent on destruction…

Every seven years, there comes a week in July when the locals do unspeakable things-and then don’t seem to remember them.  The collective madness has made itself known beyond the town borders and has given Hawkins Hollow the reputation of a village possessed.

This modern-day legend draws reporter and author Quinn Black to Hawkins Hollow with the hope of making the eerie happening the subject of her new book.  It is only February, but Caleb Hawkins, descendent of the town founders, has already seen and felt the stirrings of evil.  Though he can never forget the beginning of the terror in the woods twenty-one years ago, the signs have never been this strong before.  Cal will need the help of his best friends, Fox and Gage, but surprisingly he must rely on Quinn as well.  She, too, can see the evil that the locals cannot, somehow connecting her to the town-and to Cal.  As winter turns to spring, Cal and Quinn will shed their inhibitions, surrendering to a growing desire.  They will form the cornerstone of a group of men and women bound by fate, passion, and the fight against what is to come from out of the darkness…

If you like series, then you should leave me a comment to win this book.  Since this is by my favorite adult fiction author, tell me who your favorite adult author is.

• open to US residents
• contest ends Sat, Nov. 8
• winner chosen by random and notified by email and on this blog, Sun. Nov. 9
• winner has 2 days to respond or new winner is picked