Write for a Reader

This will be the last Wednesday Wanderings post for the year.  I have enjoyed this new addition to my blog.  Still wish I knew how to make a button – anyone that will volunteer or help me out?  I found a picture I like, but don’t know how to do the “button” thing.

There are tons of ‘08 wrap-ups around the blogosphere as well as New Year’s wishes.  Both of which I’ve done; the wish just won’t post until tomorrow.  Here is what I found over at Papertigers.  I really liked the short and sweet post.

Giveaways

I found a new blog this week – Life Starring Ellie and Eve.  Great giveaways happen here, including this one for Eric Carle books.  2 winners will get all of the books listed.  Giveaway ends Jan. 10. 

Consumer Queen.com is new to me this week also.  In one of her posts, she gives you 7 ways to save and has a great giveaway to go along with it.  Here are the 7 ways to save:

Sign up for Fanatics to print $5 in Savings coupons                   Purchase the January “All You” magazine for $1.50 Savings (Magazine contains $50 in manufacturer’s coupons)Purchase the Fast Fixin’ Breakfast items and send in the Try Me Free for up to $5 in savings.Cut out the UPC’s from the products and collect 10 to earn a free product coupon. = $7.99 SavingsUse the coupon inside the box of Fast Fixin’ Breakfast items for a $1 savings.Use the Coupon in the Breakfast Burrito box for a Savings of $1.50

Use the Coupon in the Fast Classics Country Fried Steak for $2 off any 2 Fast Fixin’ Breakfast Items= $2 Savings

Here is the giveaway!  15 families will win a year’s supply of breakfast from Fast Fixin’ & Fast Classics.  This one will end on Jan. 15th with many ways to earn extra entries.

If you read my blog frequently, you know that I love Parent Reviewers.  They are wrapping up their Mega Giveaways with some great ones!  Who wouldn’t love a SNAP! digital camera?  Want to see Altar Boyz?  Readers available near the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania area or readers traveling to NYC would be able to take advantage of this opportunity.

A Peek At My Bookshelf is putting her blog through some changes for the new year, and she wants to do a You Pick It! book giveaway once a month, but she won’t unless we help her get to 50,000 by tonight.  Read the post here.

Don’t Forget

The Cybils short lists are due out tomorrow.  There are many bloggers who have been busily reading tons of books to whittle down each category.  Thank you for all your hard work; can’t wait to see the list!

Challenges

I will be participating in many challenges in the upcoming year.  I am trying to refrain from overloading myself with too many, but here is one that I may have to add to my list.  Check out The Ban on Spending Challenge!

That is all I have for today, unless you have something for me to add.  Let me know in the comments about what you’ve “wandered” on as you blog hopped this week.

Until next week…

My blog posting has slowed down due to the holidays, but I didn’t want to leave out the Wednesday Wanderings post.  This post is filled with all kinds of holiday goodies.  Enjoy!!

Christmas Greetings from the Blogosphere

Holiday wishes are all over the blogosphere as bloggers are slowing down with posts to spend quality time with family and friends.  Here are some wishes I’ve found:  Happy Holidays from Picture Book of the Day, Merry Christmas from Bookroomreview’s Weblog, Merry Christmas from Florinda at the 3 R’s, Christmas Cards from J. Kaye’s Book Blog, and Yes, Virginia!  There is a Santa Claus – Christmas Eve Traditions from Lesa at Lesa’s Book Critiques.

Holiday Goodies

Need a dish to take to a family gathering?  Bermudaonion has posted a Vegetable Casserole today.  What about some holiday treats?  Holly at Brimstone Soup has Orange Vanilla Caramels, Masala Chai, and Olivia’s Sugar Cookies.

Do you have a cookie maker in your life?  Check out the book that Franki over at A Year of Reading just bought.

Get a Santa coloring page for the kiddos to work on while you cook, finish wrapping, or just to pass the time until Santa comes, from Elizabeth at Dulemba.com.

Last-Minute

Still need some last minute gifts?  Books are great!  Head over to Books for the Holidays and look at all the suggestions.  You could also “give” a gift in someone’s name, like Melissa at Readergirlz suggests.

Giveaways

I did find some giveaways still going on during the holidays.  Head over to Parent Reviewers.  They are giving away a Brain Quest Workbook and they have opened up applications for to join the Parent Reviewer’s Team. 

Over at 3 P’s in a Pod, they are having a Lucky Mom giveaway. 

You could win a copy of the Golden Treasury of Children’s Literature from Vintage Kids’ Books My Kid Loves.

Win a StrollAway from 5 Minutes for Giveaways.

I hope that each and every one of you has a very Merry Christmas!  Until next week…

I am day late on posting this, and for that I apologize.  I also realize I owe you 2 book reviews – oops!  I will be busy tonight.

We had 8 entries for Outliers, and the winner, thanks to random.org, is…

Sara M.

Here is your sequence:

• 1
• 6
• 4
• 2
• 8
• 7
• 5
• 3

Timestamp: 2008-12-17 20:39:48 UTC

We had 6 entries for 100 Ways to Simplify Your Life, and the winner, thanks to random.org, is…

Janel

Here is your sequence:

• 2
• 3
• 1
• 5
• 4
• 6

Timestamp: 2008-12-17 20:42:18 UTC

I have emailed both of the winners.  Please send me your mailing address so that I may forward them on  to Hatchette. 

Thank you to everyone who entered.  Look for more giveaways to come soon!

I have lots of good things to tell you about this week!  I’m posting this early because of the deadlines on a few of the contests.

First things first…are you a member of Bookblogs?  If not, you need to get over there and check out all the groups that you can be a part of.  Yesterday, two groups were started that I want to highlight.  Natasha, of Maw Books Blog, started a group called Blogging Tips - “A place to share blogging tips, techniques, technical “stuff”, creating an audience, share frustrations and successes, what works and what doesn’t!”  Wendi, of Wendi’s Book Corner, started Book Bloggers Stumble Up!! - “Help drive traffic to your site by learning about StumbleUpon and how we can use it to help each other!”  Both of these groups would benefit new as well as experienced bloggers.

Speaking of Maw Books Blog, she has a great giveaway right now.  Read her post about the Christmas Mouse and see how you can enter to win a $10 Amazon gift certificate.  Hurry as she is announcing the winner TOMORROW!!!

Bookshipper is giving away any book of your choice of $20 or less from either Amazon.com or Chapters.ca because she has had 10,000 visitors to her blog…WOOHOO!!!

Over at Sharon Loves Books and Cats, you can win a copy of The Forest of Hands & Teeth.  Contest ends 12/18

Brimful Curiosities is always having giveaways, but the one that has my attention right now is the Smartshopper.  Have you seen this thing?  I am so into it!  Make sure you check it out and get entered.  You have until 12/31 on this one.  You can check out her other giveaways in the sidebar.  She also does a list of Kid’s Book Giveaways every Monday and Friday.

I came across 2 new blogs this past week.  Both of these are great and are hosting giveaways that I’m sure you’ll want to check out.

The first is Write by Faith - Ramblings, Musings, and a Whole Lot About Books.  Right now she has 3 books and an ornament giveaway going on.  Hurry because these end 12/19.

Next, I happened on Allison’s Attic of Books.  Over at Allison’s Attic, you could win a copy of Perfect on Paper.  This one ends 12/21.

Finally, I’ve saved the biggest one for last!  Run, don’t walk over to Reviewer X!  It is Girl Week and you are in for AWESOME treats – guest blogs, reviews, interviews and contests.  You don’t want to miss this!

This just in…OMG!  Have you seen the contest over at The Story Siren?  It’s an amazing giveaway to say Thank You to all of the readers.  BTW, her blog is 1 year old!!!

That’s all for this week’s Wanderings.  As always, if you have something you’ve “wandered” on or want me to add, please leave it in the comments.  Until next week…

I apologize for these being so late today.  It has been a hard week here.  We had writing benchmarks yesterday for 3, 4, 5, so I was with a small group all day.  Last night, had to make cake balls and spicy crackers for our Pig Out day today.  Then today, had a reading training after school, in the SNOW.  Yes, it is snowing in Houston, TX!  Can you believe it?  For those of you up north, it’s no big deal, but for us, BIG DEAL!  I am even going to write plans for a sub tomorrow in case I can’t get in.   I live 30 miles north of Houston and my school, so things out here are usually worse.  Plus, I have to go over alot of bridges and overpasses, so I’m leery of the ice.  If it gets too bad, they may call school, but it has to be REAL bad for our superintendent to do that.

Anyway, I didn’t want to go without Wednesday Wanderings, so I’m giving it to you short and sweet tonight.  I would like to say, that if you are having a giveaway or a special post on your blog that you’d like me to highlight one week on Wednesday Wanderings, please email me.  My email addy is in the sidebar.  I would love to hear from you and add your giveaways and posts so that others will see them. 

Brimful Curiosites is having 4 giveaways right now.  Here is what she’s giving away:  IttyBitty Bookworm, ends 12/15, WordWorld Toy and DVD ends 12/15, Cole Family Christmas Book ends 12/15, and Toot & Puddle: I’ll Be Home for Christmas children’s book, ends 12/16.

Books Ahoy is giving away Snow Valley Heroes: A Christmas Tale, children’s chapter book.

If you love 5 Minutes for Mom, you have to check out their new site: 5 Minutes for Giveaways.  Right now they have 2 DVD copies of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN 3-disc collector’s edition.

Novel Menagerie has a giveaway right now.  You can win a 4 pack of Jane Porter’s books, but you have to enter by 10 PM, PST tonight.  On another site, she is also giving away one of her BookCharmers.  If you haven’t seen them; you have to check them out!  Enter by tomorrow over at Thursday Thoughts by telling her whether you are a cat person or a dog person.

Until next week…

What a way to start off my week!  I have just found out that I am going to be receiving 2 audiobooks for review.   Hatchette Books is sending me copies of 100 Ways to Simplify Your Life and Outliers.  They are also going to send 2 of my readers one of those titles.  Which one would you choose?  Please tell me which one you would like and why in the comments.  I will run this contest through next Sunday, Dec. 14 and draw a winner on Monday, Dec. 15.  The winners will be emailed and posted on this blog on Monday.  You will have 2 days to get your mailing address to me so that I can forward it on to the folks at Hatchette.   Here is some information about each book so that you can make an informed choice! 

Joyce Meyer breaks it down to the simple principle of exercising faith rather than doubt and confidence rather than people-pleasing. She writes from her experience of struggling to balance work, family, friends, and all the other demands on limited time to show readers the simple answer to a simpler life.

In this stunning new audiobook, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of “outliers”–the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. Brilliant and entertaining, OUTLIERS is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.

How can you earn extra entries:

• Follow my blog through RSS feed, a reader, etc. – 1 entry
• Blog about this giveaway – 2 entries
• Send someone my way and have them say they were told by you – 2 entries

You could earn a total of 6 entries!  Since these will be shipped by the publisher, the contest is open to US and Canada ONLY.  Please NO P.O. boxes.  Good luck!

‘Tis the season everywhere, for giving.  I have noticed alot more giveaways around the blogosphere this week and alot of Christmas spirit! 

There has also been some sadness and I want to start off with that.  If you haven’t heard, Dewey from The Hidden Side of a Leaf, passed away last week.  There has been so much discussion on this topic since we heard the news.  I myself have had a heavy heart and I had only known Dewey since right before the last Read-a-Thon.  Natasha, from Maw Books Blog started a discussion over at Book Blogs so that we, bloggers, can discuss, share memories, grieve, etc.  Thank you Natasha, from giving us all a place to gather.

What else is happening aroung the blogosphere?

Over at Booking Mama, great things are happening!  There is a new reviewer, Booking Daughter.  Check out her first review here.  She also has copies of Bobbi Brown’s Makeup Manual to give away.  You can enter until 12/8.

I got an email yesterday from The Lil’ Peanut Patch.  They are having 12 Days of Christmas at the Patch.  There is a new giveaway every day from Dec. 1 – 12. 

Have you found Books for the Holidays blog?  The goal is to promote the buying and giving of books as gifts this holiday season.  There are great posts on there with gift ideas.  You can even comment with questions and the contributing bloggers will do their best to try and help you find the perfect book for someone on your list.

Scribbit is hosting a week of giveaways this week.  Each day’s giveaway will last until Sun. Dec 7th and winners will be chosen on the 8th.  There are some great giveaways!

Another 12 Days of Christmas is happening over at Kidbits.  These giveaways run almost all month, and although you won’t have them in time for Christmas, they will be drawing the winners on the 25th. 

If you are a readergirlz follower, then you may already know this, but they have started a new blog; readertotz, in an effort to recognize the infant-toddler book as a vital addition to children’s literature.

The long lost blogger is back at And Another Book Read.  Read this post to find out how you can enter to win an ARC of Paper Towns.  Oh, and I’m mentioned in the post…I won a book!

Finally, for today, Brimful Curiosities has 3 hardcover copies of a children’s book: The Moon Shines Down (12/8) to give away.  She also has a Land’s End giveaway (12/8) and an Itty Bitty Bookworm curriculum giveaway (12/15).

I hope that you have found yourself easing back into this week after the holidays.  May you continue to enjoy a great week and have fun with all your wanderings.  Until next week…

As always, I will continue to update this post throughout the day when I find other items of interest.  If you’d like to add something, please leave it in the comments.  I love to hear from you!

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…

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.