Happy 4th of July and Giveaway Promotion

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!

summer beach bag books giveaway

The sun is shining here in Brainerd Minnesota and looks as though it will turn out to be a beautiful day!  I am planning to take a bike ride and maybe go hang out in one of the near by small towns and browse shops with my husband.  I may take my camera and shoot a couple picks as well.

This morning I wanted to remind everyone that Bookin With Bingo has a great Summer Beach Bag giveaway.  Be sure to stop by and sign up to win that great package, contest ends July 17.

For more giveaways be sure to click on my giveaway tab at the top of the page.  This will list all the giveaways here as well as great giveways going on at other book sites.  Click on the links to take you to the page of each giveaway.

I will be announcing my Blogeversary Giveaway Party details Sunday evening so be sure to stop back and get the details on a huge giveaway for you.

Have a super incredible 4th of July all over the world!


Freebie Friday: Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult

keeping faith

Congratulations to:

Jamie from For The Love of All That is Written

Please email me your shipping info and this little treasure will be on its way to you!

In honor of Jodi Picoult’s book My Sisters Keeper being released this week as a movie, I thought I would offer a Picoult book.  I have a new oversized paperback copy of Keeping Faith for this weeks giveaway.

When the marriage of Mariah White and her cheating husband, Colin, turns ugly and disintegrates, their seven-year-old daughter, Faith, is there to witness it all. In the aftermath of a rapid divorce, Mariah falls into a deep depression—and suddenly Faith, a child with no religious background whatsoever, hears divine voices, starts reciting biblical passages, and develops stigmata. And when the miraculous healings begin, mother and daughter are thrust into the volatile center of controversy and into the heat of a custody battle—trapped in a mad media circus that threatens what little stability the family has left.

To enter,

1.  Place a comment here with your favorite Picoult book that you have read (if you have read her)

2.  Earn an additional chance to win by blogging about this contest on your blog or Twitter

Winner will be announced next Friday July 10.  You must be in the US and no p.o. box numbers.

Have fun and have a safe and happy 4th of July!

My Sisters Keeper – The Movie

This afternoon I was able to  see the movie version of Jodi Piccoult’s My Sisters sisKeeper (see my 2006 review of the book here)

I was excited to see it as this was my first Jodi Piccoult read that knocked my socks off at what an amazing author she is.  I was also, as with any book to movie… a little cautious.  We tend to love our books and can take changes a bit personally.

The movie… I really enjoyed it.  I found it heart achingly beautiful and if not for having read the book previously I probably would have come out of the theater feeling blissfully satisfied.  Without giving too much away, I will just point a couple things that didn’t need to change (book to movie) but did…

1.  The brother character of Jesse was deeply troubled in the book and with due cause as all the families attention went continuously to the care of Kate.  In the movie they touch on this slightly, but make him more of a caring and overwhelmed brother.

2.  Of course the changing of the ending.  I actually only heard that it was different yesterday from a friend.  And yes, it was a different ending and while it worked, I believe the book ending is far better.

movie sisters keeperI was curious as to what Jodi Piccoult thought of this rather big change to her book so I looked on line and found this statement written by her:

TO ALL MY FABULOUS FANS WHO’VE SEEN THE MOVIE:

“Yes, I know the ending is different. Yes, I know some of you are very upset. I didn’t change it. The author has no control over the movie, and it was hard for me to accept too. However, there’s a great deal in the movie that I think is great, and I enjoyed watching it – and I hope you did too. Please don’t email me asking me why I changed the ending, or “let” Hollywood do that – it wasn’t something I had any control over.”  ~ Jodi Piccoult

Final thoughts:  The movie captured the story line well, I had many of the same emotions as I had when I first read the book – from at first disliking the mother and finding her impossibly cruel, to moving toward compassion when you start to see the bigger picture of a mothers heart.  I cried like a baby through many parts of the movie.  I think seeing it was more emotional for me than reading it.

Morning Meanderings….

I actually did not have to travel any farther than my email to find coffeesa great book review.  Melissa from  Reminder List emailed me with a book that she was excited about and asking about the Guest Blogger Spot.

I had a tiny window this morning before I boogied out the door but quickly checked out the review and loved it.  As my morning went on, I kept thinking about the book, the review, and Melissa’s passion to promote it.

The book is Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo.  later today I will add this full review to my Guest Blogger Tab.  In the mean time, help yourself to a cup of coffee and read this great review.

Morning Meanderings…

coffee04aI slept funny and have a now two day pinch in my back…. good grief what is that?  Am I old enough for back pain???  So this morning I woke up a little later than usual, and spent a little more time than I should have reading emails and lally gagging around the blogesphere….

My stop today took me a review that just read to me like a casual heartfelt book.  I was at Girls Just Reading, and found this little treasure posted by Lisa:  The Forgotten Garden.  I instantly was drawn to the book.  I encourage you to stop by and see this review and a beautifully done blog.

And now…. I quote the rabbit in Alice and Wonderland….

I’m late, I’m late for
A very important date.
No time to say hello, good-bye,
I’m late, I’m late, I’m late
I’m late and when I wave,
late
I lose the time I save.
My fuzzy ears and whiskers
Took me too much time to shave.
I run and then I hop, hop, hop,
I wish that I could fly.
There’s danger if I dare to
Stop and here’s a reason why:
I’m over-due, I’m in a rabbit stew.
Can’t even say good-bye,
hello, I’m late, I’m late, I’m late.

The Fun Minute Manager by Bob Pike * Robert C Ford * John Newstrom

Meet Bob Workman. Bob likes his job. Bob likes his employees. Bob considers himself a good manager but senses lowfun minute manager morale among his immediate staff members.

In this easy-to-read business fable, a chance encounter transforms Bob s work life as he sets out to discover how fun can revolutionize a worksite and pay big dividends both in morale and return on investment.

Bob discovers that a fun work environment one which lifts people s spirits and reminds them of their value to their managers, their organization, and to each other is a primary need among employees. He sets off on a quest to find ways to create a fun environment and develops a method to produce convincing evidence that creating a fun work environment is worth the time and effort for the company.

Along the way, Bob discovers that fun at work: * reduces stress
* energizes employees and lowers turnover
* improves both employee attitudes and customer satisfaction
* lowers absenteeism and increases productivity
* creates employee loyalty and group cohesiveness

While fun has not been viewed as a traditional responsibility of the manager, managers that care about their employees and their bottom line will find The Fun Minute Manager a great tool for actively engaging their employees and positively transforming their workplace. This book is concise, timely, and a rich resource of practical ideas.

I really appreciate books like this.  I have been in many management rolls all my adult life and most of the people that have worked for me I am still in touch with – years later.  I truly believe that books like this are spot on.  I always felt that if I enjoyed my job, looked forward to going and doing the job itself, the day was so much better… the job was so much better.

The Fun minute manager does just that.  It gives you real life scenarios that you can take into the work place, ANY work environment and make things fun.

The result after implementing fun into the work day?

  • Higher morale
  • Less stress
  • less missed time and/or work related injuries
  • Teamwork improvement
  • Less employee turnover

You can be that company that everyone is talking about.  People will be waiting in line to work for you.  I know this, I have read many books on morale and employee incentives.  It does work.

If you are a business owner or manager this is a book that I would consider manditory to have in your office library.

fun bobby

Bob Pike CSP, CPAE Speakers Hall of Fame is Chairman/CEO of the Bob Pike Group and has consulted on training and performance improvement since 1969 with organizations like IBM, AT&T, Hallmark Cards, the USMC, The Joint Military Agency, Microsoft, Pfizer, and more. He is the author or co-author of 29 books, including the best-selling Creative Training Techniques Handbook and Dealing with Difficult ParticipantsMore than 125,000 trainers on five continents have attended his 2-5 day train-the-trainer workshops.

Check out more on this book at: www.TheFunMinuteManager.com

Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie O Martian (+ giveaway)

praying wife

Winner Announced!

RITA!!!

Congratulations!!!!  🙂

I recently entered a really cool 30 day challenge with about 1,800 women around the world and part of that challenge was to read a chapter a day out of this book.  (See more about the challenge details at my blog Straight On Through.)

What really amazed me is that although I have read this book before, breaking it down a chapter a day made a ton of difference.  I would read my chapter in the morning while I prepped for my day and do the prayer for my husband that followed each chapter.  By going through this book this way, it really gave me time to let that days chapter sink in and as I thought about the chapter throughout my day I would again bring it before God in prayer.

Stormie O Martian is an incredible author who has written many books on prayer that I would highly recommend.  I have also gone through her book Power of a Praying Parent which is also a great read for women with children of any age.

Power of a Praying Wife is a book that you can go through again and again and get something different and profound out of it every time.  This book is filled with situations that women have gone through and have had remarkable results with the power of Prayer.

I have a new copy of this book that I would like to offer for giveaway.  You have until July 27th to sign up for this one.  As always, please addresses within the US only.

To sign up:

For one entry – leave a comment here (be sure I have a way to email you if you are the winner)

For an additional entry – post about this review with giveaway and leave a message here with the link to that post

That’s it.

Everything Austen Challenge!

My first challenge!  I almost hate to say this but as of this date…. I have never read Jane Austen.  It’s Austentrue.  So seeing this challenge actually fulfills a long time goal for me, which is to get a little time with this author.

The challenge is hosted by  Stephanies Written Word.  We have from July 1, 2009 to January 1, 2010.  We are to read or watch 6 Austen related books or movies.  See Stephanie’s site for more information.

Here is my plan of attack:

Pride and Prejudice (book)

Just Jane by Nancy Moser (book)

Sense and Sensibility (book)

Mr. and Mrs. Darcy by Alexander Potter ( book)

Emma (movie)

Becoming Jane (movie)

I tried to include a mix here of her original works, some of the new works… and a couple movies.  I’ll cross off from this list as I accomplish each read… er…. movie…  uhhhh…. you get the point!  Can’t wait to experience Austen!

Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose realism, biting social commentary and masterful use of free indirect speech, burlesque, and irony have earned her a place as one of the most widely read and most beloved writers in English literature.[1]