Maw Books Blog

I have two books to give away! I recently reviewed Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine and The Baby Owner’s Manual: Operating Instructions, Trouble Shooting Tips, and Advice on First year Maintenance by Louis Borgenicht and Joe Borgenicht. Two very different books. Click on the title of each to read my review and then pop on back to this post and let me know if you’d like a copy of either one. Both are read copies, duplicates from my library but in excellent condition.

I love both of these books. Ella Enchanted was great and The Baby Owner’s Manual would be awesome if you have a new baby in the house or if you know someone who soon will. I’ll draw two names this Tuesday, July 8th, so enter prior to that. Open to U.S addresses only. Sorry to my international readers.

Thank you entering the Stephenie Meyer giveaway sponsored by Hatchette Book Group and Twilight Lexicon! The entries are in. I’ve sifted through 3,026 comments left by 892 different people for a grand total of 4,742 entries! Um, wow!! I simply had no idea that it would be this popular!! I’m just giddy with excitement as your excitement was infectious.

Before I reveal who’s won I wanted to take a moment and explain how entries were tallied. I kept track of people by their email address and each address was inserted into a spreadsheet with 11 columns across the top. For each “task” their email address was inserted into the appropriate column. This helped me keep track of who doubled up their entries and I was able to grant that. For those of you who may be panicking because I didn’t become your friend on facebook or myspace to check on your links, no worries. While I did follow all links to verify entries, if I had to become a friend or register for a forum, I trusted that if you sent me the link, well, then, you obviously wrote about the contest.

Once all entries were inserted into the spreadsheet and accounted for (easier said than done, I realize now) I merged all entries into a single column giving each email address it’s on number. Entries were not sorted after each column was brought over so if you had multiple entries they were “spread across the board.”

Winning numbers were determined randomly at random.org and you can see those results here:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

854	284	1511	1716	2817

Timestamp: 2008-07-02 12:02:38 UTC

Grand Prize:Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

496

Timestamp: 2008-07-02 12:13:17 UTC

Okay, who are the faces behind the lucky numbers??!!!!
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Five winners of one copy of The Host by Stephenie Meyer, a I Heart Ian button, a I Heart Jared button and a Twilight Lexicon Magnet are:

JESSICA!
(there were several, so it’s the Jessica who’s email begins with tstarxxxx@xxxxx.xxx)

Jessica says she hasn’t read The Host yet but it sounds really interesting, is planning on seeing the Twilight movie when it comes out and that it will be great on the big screen. Congrats Jessica!

KELLIAN!

Kellian has already read The Host but now has a brand new shiny cover of her own. She agreed with my review that the caves got a little long but overall didn’t think that the book was too long. She also had three ending in her head and couldn’t wait to see which was correct. Congratulations Kellian!

JEN from Devourer of Books!

Yay! I personally was happy to see Jen win because Jen is one of my regular readers! Even though I love all of you newbies as well, it was great to see Jen snatch up a prize amongst the thousands of entries. Check out her blog as well. Jen says she has to get out of the dark ages and win these books because she’s going to be ridiculed at some point. Let’s give Jen a even bigger congratulaions because she is getting married REALLY, REALLY soon. Consider this my wedding present! Congrats Jen!

NAKITA!

Nakita has not read The Host yet, but was planning on it as soon as she could afford it! Guess what? Free is a great price! And Nakita loves science fiction so is sure that she will love The Host. Happy reading Nakita!

MALIHA AHMEND!

Maliha said that my review reminded her of a series she used to read, called Animorphs, in which Yeerks (slugs who could take over the brains of any creature) landed on earth and started trying to take over and a group of kids fought against them. She’s also curious about the love interest between Wanda and Jared. Now she gets to find out for herself! Congratulations Maliha!

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Now on to the big one! Are you ready?! The grand prize winner who is walking away with Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and The Host by Stephenie Meyer, a I Heart Ian button, a I Heart Jared button, a Twilight Lexicon Magnet, and a t-shirt of their choice from the Twilight Lexicon shop is:

LAYDIANA!

Congratulations!! Laydiana says that she will be reading The Host right after she’s done reading the Twilight series, the Breaking Dawn book cover is her least favorite cover but says, “Who cares, the most important is the story that is inside.” The Twilight trailer makes her heart pump every time she watches it, thinks the movie is breathtaking and moving in the right direction, and thinks that Stephenie should come visit in Montreal! Congratulations Laydiana! I’m so excited for you!!

_____________________________________

I wish that every single one of you could have been winners! It breaks my heart that so many entered and so few are chosen. I will be emailing the winners sometime by the end of today to get addresses, etc., so watch your inboxes. In the meantime, I’ll either be passed out on the family room floor while my two little boys run around wrecking the house or I’ll have managed to get up the energy and meet my playgroup at the park but be wondering if it’s okay to hire a babysitter during the day so I can take a nap. Seriously, you guys wore me out. But I was as anxious as you were to find out the winners.

Things of note:

• If you didn’t win a copy of The Host, hop on over to my blogging friend Tracy at Bookroomreviews and enter her contest for another chance. You have until July 19th to enter!

• If you would like to participate in a group read of The Host (I am!) then head on over to Becky’s Online Reading Group where we are discussing The Host for July. We’re about to start and what better time to read it then with some new friends?

• Or, if you’d like to simply purchase a copy of any of the books by Stephenie Meyer, support this blog by purchasing it through my Amazon store.

• If you like reading reviews, check out my Book Bloggers Book Reviews database for more reviews of The Twilight series and The Host. It’s a great resource to find book reviews from bloggers like myself.

• Make sure you stick around and pop in from time to time. Better yet subscribe to my feed via a reader or email. I read the Twilight series before I had this blog and I hope to reread them and write reviews. Hopefully, before Breaking Dawn comes out which I’ll definitely be reviewing.

• I’ll also be putting up another book giveaway this week of two books I reviewed this past month but didn’t realize I had two copies of each in the house (a result from having to many books that you can see here). No jumping through hoops this time. Entering will me simple as telling me that you’d like to win.

I guess that’s it! Congratulations again to the lucky winners!

The Stephenie Meyer giveaway was insanely successful with way more entries than I could have ever hoped for! I have been rushing to beat the clock to put up the winners today at noon, but I’ve decided that it will need to be pushed back one day.  There are simply more entries then I anticipated and I simply need more time.

I know each of you were waiting patiently for that announcement. I hope that you will be understanding in knowing that I would rather make sure that each entry is counted correctly rather than rushing through to meet a deadline. I don’t want to make any mistakes especially as many of you went to great strides to enter multiple times. Your enthusiasm for the contest and Stephenie Meyer was amazing and it’s been a lot of fun to read all of the comments (and yes, I’ve read them all!).

So, I now anticipate that I will announce the winners on this blog (winners will also be notified by email) at noon MST tomorrow, July 2nd. Thanks for understanding! It is so appreciated!!

Darfur is my new hot topic and this post won’t be the last that you’ll hear about it. There is currently a genocide happening in Darfur, Sudan RIGHT NOW! I recently featured a list of book and video recommendations about the genocide in Darfur, so you can bring yourself up to speed on what is happening. One of those books that I featured was The Sudan Project: Rebuilding With the People of Darfur: A Young Person’s Guide by Melissa Leembruggen.

First off, let me give you some background information about The Sudan Project and how this book came into existence. After realizing that they needed and could make a difference in Sudan, the people of the Ginghamsburg Church in Dayton, Ohio banded together and created The Sudan Project, a relief organization dedicated to serving their local brothers and sisters in Sudan. Since 2004 they have worked with the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and created a five year plan to help sustain local farmers with seed and tools, create a children’s protective services program, teacher training, and provide safe sanitary water supplies. Each year $1,000,000 arrives at the church from all over the country to sustain it’s ongoing efforts.

A portion of the proceeds from The Sudan Project: Rebuilding With the People of Darfur, A Young Person’s Guide goes to The Sudan Project. The Sudan Project is a visual ABC book for children approximately ages 9-12. Each letter of the alphabet highlights a fact about Sudan. Words that children may not understand are highlighted and featured in a glossary in the back of the book.

The Sudan Project is a great resource to use in the home with included study unit plans and activities, as well as questions for further discussion, fund raising ideas, and even a Sudanese recipe. The Sudan Project is funded by the Ginghamsburg Church and the UMCOR, so naturally the book is very Christian based but it’s focus is not on them but rather the displaced people of Darfur. Just as it should be.

The photos are large, bright and informative. The only drawback that I could even say about this wonderful little book is that some of the photos were pixilized (about 3-4 out of 26), the photographer in me was slightly bothered by this. But no matter. The subject matter of this book is what is the most important! If there is just one child or even just one adult who learns about Darfur, Sudan and feels a call to action then, in my opinion, it’s well worth the time invested to write it.

Melissa Leembruggen was gracious enough to sit down and discuss The Sudan Project and how we can help.

NM: How did you become involved with the Ginghamsburg church, UMCOR and The Sudan Project? And why did you feel a need to personally become an advocate?

ML: When we found out we were moving to Dayton we started to look at churches online and watch their services, we felt drawn to the work going on at Ginghamsburg. After finally moving 10 months later, we started attending the services and began hearing in-depth stories about The Sudan Project and the partnership with UMCOR. It was heading into the second year of the program, so there had already been a harvest in Darfur and the child protective services programs were beginning. When I enter a new church, I’ve learned to pray about the work God is doing there and then to pray about how I can be involved in it. I don’t like to assume that I can come into a church and start with my agenda.

During that time of transition and prayer, my heart was softened toward the people of Darfur. I had always felt in the past that things happening in other parts of the world were too far removed and out of my purview of influence. But as I listened to reports, I began thinking about the moms just like me, with kids just like mine, trying to feed them and keep them out of harms way. I thought of their husbands being killed or recruited and realized that if it were my family, I would not sit by and just hope and pray things would improve. I would do something. So, at that point I felt I had to do something for them, in case they couldn’t. And do something that would have a lasting impact so that in the future these kinds of atrocities will be a thing of the past.

NM: Wow. Being a mother myself, I know how that feels, I’ve found my heart really has been softened towards small and helpless children. I really liked how The Sudan Project is aimed at a younger generation. Most adults haven’t even heard of Darfur, and worse yet, don’t even want to know. Why a book about Sudan for kids?

ML: Kids aren’t as tainted and de-sensitized to world tragedies like some adults are and they are the future leaders. I hope that the book will help children understand another culture and recognize that people are just people all over the world and we have commonalities just like we have differences. But I think the most important reason why I wrote the book, is because children hear and understand more than we give them credit for in our world. They hear news blurbs on the radio or see it on TV. But parents, and adults don’t always talk to their kids about the hard subjects in life like genocide and war. So I wanted to write an age-appropriate book that would just touch on the issues and would allow conversation and learning to flow from it naturally. Children are fascinated to find out how kids in other cultures live and to realize that their lives touch and connect through things like candy and soda or daily chores.

NM: I agree that we don’t give enough children credit for what they understand and what they are capable of doing with their knowledge. So what are some ways that children can become involved in humanitarian work, advocacy, or awareness in regards to the current genocide in Darfur?

ML: Children are also passionate and powerful. There are many children who have made a great impact on behalf of The Sudan Project both by helping educate others on the crisis and through raising financial resources to support the three main project areas: sustainable agriculture, child protective services, and clean water facilities. Schools have been holding rallies, educational programs, and fundraisers.

I’ve been asked by students, teachers, and parents to present programs to entire schools to help other students learn about the culture and crisis in Darfur. Children are doing swim-a-thons, run-a-thons, and all kinds of -thons. They are writing letters to political representatives on a local and national level. But one of the biggest activities that children are participating is the Birthday for Darfur. Children invite guests to bring donations for Darfur rather than presents for the birthday child. Last year alone the kids at Ginghamsburg raised over $20,000.

Here is a video of a swim–thon, Olivia Jones raising money for the Sudan Miracle Offering by asking people she knows to sponsor her as she attempts to swim 100 laps in one hour:

NM: I have to admit that that video made me cry. It’s a powerful thought that even one person using their God given talents can really can make a difference. What is the single, most memorable story that you encountered while researching this book? How has it touched you?

ML: The single most memorable story involving this book has to do with the picture on the Zz page. It is a picture of a celebration, but I wondered what they were celebrating. It turns out that the first harvest was exceptionally good. There was a 400% profit on the peanut crop. Because the project is designed for sustainable agriculture the first 5200 families were asked to give one bag of seed peanuts back to the organization to help other families get back to farming. When it was time to collect the seed bags, only some of the families were handing in their portion. The project workers weren’t sure why so they started asking around.

Then a delegation from Ginghamsburg, Ohio arrived to visit and encourage the local Darfurians and to show them that we were committed to long term change. When they arrived there was a huge celebration and time of thanksgiving. They were singing. “You have set our children free.” It turns out, that many of the families had sold there children into slavery to keep them alive and from starvation. With the bountiful peanut harvest, they bought over 500 children back out of slavery and brought them home. All because of some peanut seeds and tools paid for by ordinary people from a church in Ohio.

NM: You’re making me cry again. Wow, that is simply amazing. What are some of the current projects that Ginghamsburg Church is involved in and what can we do if we’d like to help?

ML: Ginghamsburg committed to a 5 year program to begin a sustainable agricultural program, child protective services (education, food, shelter), and clean water facilities. We have been told by the tribal leaders and vice-president of Sudan that clean water for all will equal peace. It is essential. We are in year 4 of the project and Ginghamsburg and our partners raised over $3 million dollars to fund these life-changing projects. We are
hopeful that other people from around the country and the world will continue to help us fund the projects.

People at Ginghamsburg have been giving up Christmas presents for 3 years (”Christmas is not your birthday” has been the theme) and making additional sacrifices, digging deep into our wallets to make a difference in Darfur. Maybe someone reading this will feel inspired to do the same. 40% of my profit from the book goes to The Sudan Project. 100% of donations to The Sudan Project goes to fund programs in Sudan. We do not keep any of it for overhead. For more information, project updates, and to donate visit www.thesudanproject.org.

NM: If you could share just one thought about Sudan with us, what would it be?

ML: Every person can make a difference. I only imagined that I would be able to reach 1000’s of people all over the world with the message of HOPE for Darfur, Sudan. But then I did it.

Thanks Melissa! and I urge each of you to learn more about Darfur and what you can do to help. The Sudan Project is an excellent resource to help you sit down with your children and discuss the ugly face of genocide.

Please visit www.thesudanproject.org and Melissa Leembruggen’s website to learn how you can donate or help the cause. Melissa has an early elementary aged fiction book called Benny the Baffled Behemoth, illustrated by award winning artist Trish McKinney coming out late fall 2008. A portion of the proceeds will go to help children in poverty.

The New York Times Bestseller List
June 29nd, 2008

Hardcover Fiction

1. FEARLESS FOURTEEN, by Janet Evanovich. Stephanie Plum and her boyfriend Joe Morelli become involved when his cousin’s bank robbery goes bad.
2. SAIL, by James Patterson and Howard Roughan. A sailing vacation turns into a disaster when someone attempts to destroy a family.
3. THE HOST, by Stephenie Meyer. In this first adult novel by the author of the Twilight series for teenagers, aliens have taken control of the minds and bodies of most humans, but one woman won’t surrender.
4. CHASING HARRY WINSTON, by Lauren Weisberger. Three glamorous friends, New York women nearing 30, vow to change their lives.
5. LOVE THE ONE YOU’RE WITH, by Emily Giffin. A woman’s happy marriage is shaken when she encounters an old boyfriend.

Hardcover Nonfiction

1. WHEN YOU ARE ENGULFED IN FLAMES, by David Sedaris. The humorist’s latest essays deal with middle age, mortality and giving up smoking
2. WHAT HAPPENED, by Scott McClellan. A former White House press secretary regrets that “I allowed myself to be deceived” by top officials.
3. THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE, by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi. An American writer who moved to Florence works with an Italian journalist to discover the identity of a local serial killer
4. ARE YOU THERE, VODKA? IT’S ME, CHELSEA, by Chelsea Handler.  Humorous personal essays from the stand-up comedian.
5. BIG RUSS AND ME, by Tim Russert.  The host of “Meet the Press” remembers his father..

Hardcover Advice

1. THE LAST LECTURE, by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow. After learning he has terminal cancer, a Carnegie Mellon professor shares his thoughts on the importance of “seizing every moment.”
2. THE SECRET, by Rhonda Byrne. The law of attraction as a key to getting what you want.
3. QUANTUM WELLNESS, by Kathy Freston. How small changes can lead to significant improvements in body and spirit. (†)
4. THE SOUTH BEACH DIET SUPERCHARGED, by Arthur Agatston with Joseph Signorile.  A guide to faster weight loss.
5. THE 4-HOUR WORKWEEK, by Timothy Ferriss.  Reconstructing your life so that it’s not all about work

Paperback Advice

1. A NEW EARTH, by Eckhart Tolle. A spiritual teacher prescribes letting go of the ego to help end conflict and suffering.
2. THE POWER OF NOW, by Eckhart Tolle. A guide to personal growth and spiritual enlightenment.
3. SKINNY BITCH, by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. Vegan diet advice from the world of modeling.
4. WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING, by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel. Advice for parents-to-be. (†)
5. YOU CAN HEAL YOUR LIFE, by Louise L. Hay. A counselor’s prescriptions for regaining confidence through mind-body self-healing.

Children’s Picture Books

1. GALLOP!, written and illustrated by Rufus Butler Seder. Animals seem to move when you flip the page. (Ages 4 to 8 )
2. ALPHABET, by Matthew Van Fleet. An interactive safari ABC. (Ages 2 to 6)
3. READ ALL ABOUT IT!, by Laura Bush and Jenna Bush. Illustrated by Denise Brunkus. A boy is surprised to discover that he loves story books.
4. LADYBUG GIRL, by Jacky Davis and David Soman. Illustrated by David Soman.  Creativity and the right outfit let a little girl feel bigger. (Ages 4 and up)
5. DON’T BUMP THE GLUMP!, written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein.  His first collection of nonsense verse, originally published in 1964. (Ages 5 and up)

Children’s Chapter Books

1. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: RODRICK RULES, written and illustrated by Jeff Kinney. How Greg embarrassed himself on his summer vacation (ask his older brother, Rodrick); a sequel to “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” (Ages 9 to 12)
2. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, written and illustrated by Jeff Kinney. The travails of adolescence, in cartoons. (Ages 9 to 12)
3. LOCK AND KEY, by Sarah Dessen. A free-spirited high school girl is sent to live with her wealthy older sister. (Ages 12 and up)
4. SEEKERS: THE QUEST BEGINS, by Erin Hunter. The adventures of three bear cubs. (Ages 12 and up)
5. THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET, written and illustrated by Brian Selznick. A novel “in words and pictures”; an orphaned thief must decipher his father’s last message. (Ages 9 to 12)

Children’s Paperback Books

1. ALICIA, by Lisi Harrison. In Spain for the summer, a girl auditions for a role in a rock video; a Clique novel. (Ages 12 and up)
2. DYLAN, by Lisi Harrison. The daughter of a TV journalist falls in love at a Hawaiian tennis tournament; a Clique novel. (Ages 12 and up)
3. THE BOOK THIEF, by Markus Zusak. A girl saves books from Nazi burning and shares them with a Jewish man in hiding. (Ages 14 and up)
4. TEMPTED, by Cecily von Ziegesar. Who at Waverly stopped Jenny from being expelled? An It Girl novel. (Ages 15 and up)
5. THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX, by Kate DiCamillo. Illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering. A mouse, a rat and a simple servant girl embark on a magical journey. (Ages 10 and up)

Children’s Series Books

1. THE TWILIGHT SERIES, by Stephenie Meyer. Vampires and werewolves in high school. (Ages 12 and up)
2. PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS, by Rick Riordan. Battling mythological monsters. (Ages 9 to 12)
3. PENDRAGON, by D. J. MacHale. A teenage boy travels through time and space. (Ages 10 and up)
4. JUNIE B. JONES, by Barbara Park. Illustrated by Denise Brunkus. Antics in the classroom. (Ages 4 to
5. HARRY POTTER, by J. K. Rowling.  A boy wizard hones his skills and fights evil. (Ages 10 and up)

Paperback Trade Fiction

1. THE SHACK, by William P. Young. A man whose daughter was abducted is invited to an isolated shack, apparently by God. (†)
2. THE KITE RUNNER, by Khaled Hosseini. An Afghan-American returns to Kabul to learn how a childhood friend has fared.
3. WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, by Sara Gruen. A young man-and an elephant-save a Depression-era circus.
4. NINETEEN MINUTES, by Jodi Picoult.  The aftermath of a high school shooting reveals the fault lines in a small New Hampshire town.
5. BAREFOOT, by Elin Hilderbrand.  Three women burdened by various problems (work, love, health) spend a transformative summer together on Nantucket.

Paperback Mass-Market Fiction

1. LEAN MEAN THIRTEEN, by Janet Evanovich. The New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum becomes a suspect when her ex-husband disappears.
2. STEP ON A CRACK, by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge.  A detective raising 10 children alone must rescue 34 high-level hostages.
3. HIGH NOON, by Nora Roberts. A hostage negotiator must face down her unknown stalker.
4. THE JUDAS STRAIN, by James Rollins. Sigma Force operatives trained in science investigate the reemergence of an ancient plague.
5. RETURN TO SUMMERHOUSE, by Jude Deveraux.  Three women visit a house in Maine, where the mystical Madame Zoya might help them rewrite their pasts.

Paperback Non-Fiction

1. BIG RUSS AND ME, by Tim Russert.  Russert remembers his father and the other important teachers in his life.
2. THREE CUPS OF TEA, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. A former climber builds schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
3. WISDOM OF OUR FATHERS, by Tim Russert. The journalist presents readers’ letters about their fathers in response to his memoir, “Big Russ and Me.”
4. THE AUDACITY OF HOPE, by Barack Obama. The Illinois senator proposes that Americans move beyond their political divisions.
5. EAT, PRAY, LOVE, by Elizabeth Gilbert. A writer’s yearlong journey in search of self takes her to Italy, India and Indonesia.

Source: The New York Times Best Seller List