Category: Blog Hops

Freedom to Read Giveaway Hop

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Blog Hops> Freedom to Read Giveaway Hop> Giveaways

Welcome to the Freedom to Read Giveaway Hop, hosted by BookHounds.

This hop celebrates U.S. Independence Day.

It’s important, this year and every year, to link the Freedom to Read with Independence Day. Why? Because the freedom to read is enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. While the First Amendment is generally thought of as the one about freedom of speech and freedom of the press (along with several other important freedoms), those freedoms of speech and press require that people also be free to listen to those speeches without fear of government interference, and the freedom to read what those free presses have printed without fear of government censorship or punishment.

So without that Freedom to Read, the tree falls in the forest and there’s no one to hear it. In today’s world of internet bubbles and information silos, it is more important than ever to be free to say, and print and READ all points of view – especially the controversial and unpopular ones.

In celebration of our Freedom to Read, I am giving away the winner’s choice of a $10 Amazon Gift Card or a $10 Book from the Book Depository, so that you can celebrate your freedom to read by getting something awesome.

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For more great bookish prizes, be sure to visit the other stops on the hop:



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July Book of Choice Giveaway Hop

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Blog Hops> Book of Choice Giveaway Hop> Giveaways

Welcome to the July Book of Choice Giveaway Hop, hosted by FLYLēF.

And HELLO Summer!

Hot summer days are perfect for curling up in a nice air conditioned house with a good book. Or for stretching out by the pool or the beach, with a good book. Actually, I’m not sure there are any really bad times to spend with a good book!

This month, the two books I’m most looking forward to are Assassin’s Price by L.E. Modesitt Jr. and The Painted Queen, the last and final book in the Amelia Peabody series by the late Elizabeth Peters, assisted in this case by Joan Hess. Modesitt’s Imager Portfolio is one of my favorite epic fantasy series, so I start looking for the next book as soon as I finish the current one. And I loved Amelia Peabody. I have fond memories of listening to the early books. My first was The Last Camel Died at Noon, which had an awesome title in addition to being a marvelous story. Elizabeth Peters passed away in 2013, so I wasn’t expecting a final wrap-up to the series, but I’m very glad to have one.

So what books coming out this month that you just can’t wait to read? Answer in the rafflecopter below for your chance at a $10 Amazon Gift Card or the book of your choice, up to $10, from the Book Depository.

Happy Reading!

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For more terrific July book suggestions (and other great bookish prizes) be sure to visit the other stops on the hop!

Splash Into Summer Giveaway Hop

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Blog Hops> Giveaways> Splash into Summer Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Splash into Summer Giveaway Hop, hosted by Bookhounds!

We really are splashing into summer here, it’s raining! Which makes it a great day to curl up with a good book. Not that summer days in general aren’t great days to do that. It’s hot outside, air conditioned inside, and the long days never seem to end. In a good way.

When we lived in Alaska the summer days never really did end. It got kind of twilight-ish between 1 and 3 in the morning, but never full dark. And it was glorious!

But Atlanta summers are long, hot and sticky. Except indoors, where the air conditioning seems to be permanently set to Alaska winter!

Whatever your plans are for the summer, here is your chance to win a little something to further those plans, especially if they are plans to read the lazy days away! The winner will receive their choice of a $10 Amazon Gift Card or a $10 Book from the Book Depository. This giveaway is therefore open to everyone who lives in any of the voluminous list of places that the Book Depository ships to.

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And for more fabulous bookish prizes, be sure to visit the other stops on the hop!



 

Beach Reads Giveaway Hop

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Beach Reads Giveaway Hop> Blog Hops> Giveaways

Welcome to the Beach Reads Giveaway Hop, hosted by Stuck in Books.

Barnes & Noble may be having some difficulties, but they have a terrific definition for “beach reads”:

A beach read is a delicate and complicated combination of characteristics: it must be light enough to make you smile while simultaneously being absorbing enough to make you risk sunburn because you simply can’t stop turning the pages (books are the cause of approximately 85% of any bookworm’s sunburns).

While you may not have an actual beach to read on (Atlanta is landlocked, after all) the idea that summer reading is a bit, well, lighter and fluffier than reading the rest of the year seems fairly well established. Your mileage, including your mileage to a beach, may vary. And everyone’s definition of what constitutes “light and fluffy” may also have a certain amount of variance.

When I was in college and grad school, anything that wasn’t part of a class assignment constituted “light and fluffy”. Summer and Winter Break were the only times I had any significant unencumbered and unassigned reading time.

Now, of course, it’s whatever I want it to be. And my definition of “light” has changed to any book that I can’t put down, from the fluffiest romance to the most exciting, but possibly gloomy, epic fantasy. I just want to be so absorbed that I don’t notice that sunburn, or in my case the cat gravity that is putting my legs and feet to sleep.

What about you? What makes a book a “beach read” for you? And which ones are you most looking forward to diving into this summer? Give us your upcoming beach reads for a chance at either a $10 Amazon Gift Card or a copy of the book itself (as long as it’s less than $10).

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And for more chances at more beachy and bookish prizes, be sure to visit the other stops on the hop!

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Love in Bloom Giveaway Hop

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Blog Hops> Giveaways> Love in Bloom Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Love in Bloom Giveaway Hop, hosted by BookHounds.

Everything is in bloom around here. We get our profusion of flowers in the Spring, because by Summer it is just too darn hot. Even the grass turns brown.

I love to receive flowers, but I also have cats. Usually one or more of the resident felines loves to eat the flowers. Erasmus used to get a whole rose petal in his mouth, and then let it kind of dribble out, slightly damp. He was a dear, sweet, dim cat, and he never quite got the point. My very first furbaby, Licorice, used to just knock the vase over and consume the flowers. And then, of course, “give” them back to me.

Freddie the Fredinator hasn’t had much exposure to flowers yet. As much of a bundle of energetic destruction as he is, I expect him to accidentally knock the vase over and then run away from the mess. One of these days soon we’ll see.

For your chance at a $10 Gift Card or $10 Book, tell us your favorite flower, or your favorite pets and flowers story via the Rafflecopter below.

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And be sure to check out the rest of the stops on the hop for more blooming chances at bookish prizes!



May I Suggest Giveaway Hop

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Blog Hops> Giveaways> May I Suggest Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the May I Suggest Giveaway Hop, hosted by Stuck in Books.

It’s May, and may I suggest a book for you to read? That’s the theme of this hop, books that we would suggest to other people to read.

Suggesting books to the universe is a bit awkward, because I don’t know what kind of books the universe likes to read! But seriously, it is difficult to suggest (read that as shove) books to people without having a clue about what they know they like. But I’ll try, using some of the books that I’ve most forcefully suggested to people in the past.

Anyone who things they might like science fiction and hasn’t read Old Man’s War by John Scalzi needs to go out and get it. It is purely awesome. Anyone who thinks that epic fantasy is all either coming of age stories or blood and guts like Game of Thrones should try Imager by L.E. Modesitt Jr. Any mystery reader who hasn’t ventured to Three Pines should grab Still Life by Louise Penny and get themselves introduced to Chief Inspector Gamache. His four sayings of wisdom are ones we all need to remember to say, “I was wrong. I’m sorry, I don’t know. I need help.” We all have problems getting any and all of those phrases out of our mouths, especially when we need to the most.

Want to laugh until you cry, and with a bit of fantasy and commentary thrown in, pick up anything by Terry Pratchett (but start with either Mort or Guards, Guards). Like time travel but waiting for the next Outlander? Try The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen A. Flynn. Want to really sink your teeth into something meaty? American Gods by Neil Gaiman. The TV series may be fantastic, but the book is always better.

And that’s my final suggestion – NEVER judge a book by its movie.

I’ve listed some of my favorite suggestions, but now it’s your turn. What’s your favorite book to suggest? If you could shove one book at someone, what would it be?

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For more fabulous bookish prizes, be sure to visit the other stops on the hop!

Life’s a Beach Giveaway Hop

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Blog Hops> Giveaways

Welcome to the second annual Life’s a Beach Giveaway Hop, hosted by The Kids Did It and The Mommy Island.

Every summer the publishers come out with a whole bunch of books they label as “beach reads”. It usually means that someone thinks those books are light and frothy like the surf, even if (or often especially because) those books are multi-hundred page family saga/melodrama/romance potboilers. Plenty of sex and sin to while away those hours reading by the beach. Assuming that anybody has time for that anymore, and that we aren’t all back in the beach house slathered in SPF 100.

But about those beach reads, whether you plan to read them on a beach, or at home in air conditioned comfort.

The Everygirl has a great chart to help choose your summer beach reads. It starts with the most important thing – what you are planning to order by Starbucks – before it gets to the more important bookish choices between time travel and invisibility.

What about you? Do you take books to the beach? Or on vacation? How do you decide what to take? (I have an iPad, I take EVERYTHING!) What are you planning to, or hoping to, read this summer?

Share your top picks for your summer beach reads for a chance at a $10 Amazon Gift Card or a $10 Book from the Book Depository, so you can get started on your very own beach reads list.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And for more fabulous prizes, be sure to visit the other stops on the hop!

Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway Hop

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Blog Hops> Giveaways> Hoppy Easter Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway Hop, hosted by BookHounds.

For those who celebrate Easter, a slightly early Happy Easter to you. And for those who celebrate Passover, happy middle of Passover. For those who are just happy to celebrate the beginning of Spring, happy that. Longer days and warmer weather are always something to celebrate, in some places more than others.

As someone who celebrates Passover, and who has a birthday at this time of year, one of my childhood memories is of not being able to have birthday cake or a party at my birthday more often than not. At that time, there just wasn’t much in the way of baked goods that were Kosher for Passover. Except this one cinnamon crumble coffee cake that was surprisingly yummy, but not exactly birthday-cake material. Based on the offerings at the grocery store this week, solutions for this particular dilemma now abound!

But it isn’t Easter without some mention of Peeps. I still don’t believe they are a food, but they clearly make great dioramas. This one struck a chord and a funny bone, as I remember when my room did look kind of like this – except that the stairs went the other way. My room was at the top of the house when I was in high school.

Maybe you want a good book to read with your Peeps? Even when this blog hop is over, it still won’t be too late! (Especially if you like your Peeps “well seasoned”)

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And for more chances at more fabulous prizes, be sure to visit the other stops on the hop.



Rain Rain Go Away Giveaway Hop

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Blog Hops> Giveaways> Rain Rain Go Away Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Second Annual Rain Rain Go Away Giveaway Hop, hosted by The Kids Did It and The Mommy Island.

Today is my birthday. I am participating in this hop as part of my annual Blogo-Birthday celebration. Yesterday was the sixth anniversary of the founding of Reading Reality and today is my birthday, so, “blogo-birthday”!

You might also call this a hobbit birthday. It’s my birthday and instead of (or in addition to) receiving presents I am also giving presents all week long. Including today.

It’s April, and as I write this, it is raining cats and dogs here in Atlanta, although so far I haven’t seen any poodles in the road. Maybe later.

But that makes this an excellent day to curl up with a cup of tea, a purring cat, and a good book. Let me know how you like to spend your rainy days for a chance at your choice of a $10 Amazon Gift Card or a $10 book from the Book Depository.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more fabulous prizes, be sure to visit the other stops on the hop!

Spring into Romance Giveaway Hop

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Blog Hops> Giveaways> Spring into Romance Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Spring into Romance Giveaway Hop, hosted by The Herd Presents. In this case, the Herd is presenting a blog hop. (Sorry, I just can’t resist the puns!)

This is a hop for sharing our most anticipated upcoming reads for the spring. I’ll say upfront that not all of my most anticipated reads are romances, but maybe yours are.

In April, the books I’m looking forward to most are Song of the Lion by Anne Hillerman and Cold Welcome by Elizabeth Moon. They are both part of reboots for series that I thought were dead long ago. In the case of the Hillerman book, the original series died because the author Tony Hillerman did. His daughter Anne has picked up the action, and it’s marvelous. Sometimes even better than the original, because the point of view has shifted from all of the men to one of the women, and it makes things very different. Elizabeth Moon’s Vatta’s War series was one of my favorite merchant space empire series, but she seemed to have finished a while ago. And suddenly Cold Welcome appeared, the first book of Vatta’s Peace.

On the romance front there’s Slow Burn Cowboy by Maisey Yates, The Captive Shifter by Veronica Scott, White Hot by Ilona Andrews and stretching the definition of Spring just a bit, Silver Silence by Nalini Singh and Theron and Hemi in Anna Hackett’s Hell Squad series.

What about you?

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As always, for more bookish prizes, be sure to visit the other stops on the hop