Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Christmas Giveaway

I am trying to finish 'Letter Perfect' by Cathy Marie Hake and get a review up soon, but while I'm reading (and learning new skills, like smocking) I'm having fun finding these giveaways to share with you. I know it reduces my chances, by offering more entries, but its just so much fun. So, I found another one ~

Colletta at Colletta's Kitchen Sink is doing a Christmas book giveaway for 2 books:

Forever Christmas by Christine Lynxwiler







Christmas Dreams by Rebecca Germany, Mary Hawkins, Veda Boyd Jones and Melanie Panagiotopoulos







Her rules for entering are as follows:
1. Leave a comment telling me your favorite Christmas cookie (1 entry)

2. Be a follower and mention it in your comment (1 entry)

3. Blog about this giveway and let me know that you did (2 entries)

So, go to Colletta's Kitchen Sink and enter today!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

You Guessed It - I Found Another Giveaway!!!

Lori at Some of My Favorite Things is having a giveaway! The best part about this one is you get to choose your book! Here is a picture of the books she is offering and her 'contest rules'.

* You must leave a valid email address in your comment, so I can
contact you if you're the winner.
(Example: sugarandgrits{at}hotmail{dot}com)
This way spammers will be less likely to grab it.

* You must have a valid U.S. mailing address.

* At this time, the giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

* The giveaway will start today, Nov.20th, and end on
Nov. 24th
at 11:59 p.m.(EST)
(Any/all entries entered after this time will not be eligible.)

* I will announce the winner here on Nov. 25th ~ you will also be contacted via email. You will then have 48 hours in which to respond with your snail mail address, or another winner will be chosen.

Now ~ on to the fun stuff ~ chances for extra entries!!
Please include all of your extra entries in ONE comment...this
will make it a lot easier for me to keep up with them!!
Thanks! =)

+1 = By becoming a new follower thru
Google Friend Connect, on the right sidebar

+2 = Let me know that you're already a follower

+3 = Tell me which book you're interested in.
(you can even tell me why...if you want to,
but that's not required!)

+5 = Post about my giveaway on your blog, or in your sidebar
(you can use my image above, just be sure to link back to me!)


So, hop on over to Some of My Favorite Things and post your entry!

Another Giveaway!

Lee at Butterfly Blessings is having a giveaway at her site. The books included in the giveaway are:

Saturdays with Stella by Allison Pittman
A Leap of Faith by Lenora Worth
A Texas Legacy Christmas by DiAnn Mills
A Carol for Christmas by Robin Lee Hatcher (hardcover)


Here are her rules to enter:
If you want to enter, please leave a valid email address, but disguise it so the spammers don't bug you. If you become a follower, you get two entries, my existing followers get three, and extra one if you share about the contest on your blog and link back to me. Tell me all of this in your entry. I will announce the winners on the 30th of November.

So, stop by Butterfly Blessings for a chance to win these books!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Children's Book Giveaway






















Visit Colleen at The Princess & The Monkey to win a copy of Bella Basset Ballerina and The Scritchy Little Twitchell Sisters.

Here are the rules for the giveaway:

To enter: Follow my blog and leave a comment telling me who this would be for.

Extra entries:

~follow my blog
~subscribe to my blog
~follow me on twitter and tweet this giveaway
~blog about this giveaway
~enter any of my other giveaways and leave a comment telling me you did(1 entry for each contest entered).

This giveaway is open to US residents only. Please leave a seperate comment for each entry. Please leave your email so I can contact the winner. The giveaway will end on Nov. 22 and the winner will be chosen by random.org.

Good luck!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

The Missing


The Missing
by: Beverly Lewis


Another great book by Beverly Lewis! This book is the sequel to The Secret. I must admit I kind of wished that a little more would be revealed to her family about Lettie's disappearance. But, I guess that's how she gets you coming back for more - which I will definitely be doing. I enjoyed getting to know the people that she is meeting while she away and the intrigue of the path that she is following. I can't imagine what it would be like to be forced to give up a child at birth and then feel the guilt of that decision your whole life. I understand her desire to search, but am a little leery like some of her new friends about how her child will react.

I like how Beverly introduced more information about Heather and her father and the struggle to decide which treatment option would be best. I have my own suspicions regarding that family. And I like the ironies that occur with the beau's to make the story that much more interesting. I look forward to finding out how Beverly brings about the climax with Lettie revealing what she has been doing to her husband.

This is definitely a great book to read. I love the writing style of Beverly Lewis and how she makes the characters come alive. If you haven't read any of her books, I recommend starting with The Heritage of Lancaster County series. Enjoy!

Back of the Book:

A painful absence, a desperate heart. . . Is it too late to find Lettie Byler?

Grace Byler longs to uncover the secret that drove her mother to leave the family weeks ago. When all hopes are dashed for such a search, an unlikely friendship leads to a suprising invitation. Meanwhile the young Amishman Grace thought was courting her best friend takes a sudden interest in her, and Grace's decision to remain single is challenged even as her determination to find her mother grows.



Thanks for stopping by! Come back again soon.


Win a Kindle!

I just entered a contest to win a free Kindle from Noobie (worth $259!) and I wanted you to have a chance to win one too!

All you need to do to enter is to click the link below or copy and paste it into your favorite Internet browser:

http://www.noobie.com/kindle-giveaway?ref=1992166077

Be sure to read the email you get from Noobie after you register. You'll get your own unique link that you can use to earn even more entries in the drawing!



Win a brand new Kindle!

One Lovely Blog Award

A big thank you to Lee Smith at Butterfly Blessings for passing along this award. My thank you is a little bit delayed due to some things that have been happening here at home, but I'm back and very grateful.



Here are the rules of the "One Lovely Blog Award": Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I'm not as seasoned as some in the blogging world, so it will be hard to come up with 15, but here are some blogs I enjoy:

Caffeine and Romance

What You Reading Now?

Great Christian Fiction and other tales

Just A Little Something On My Mind

A Sequence of Continual Delights



Redefining Beautiful by Jenna Lucado


Redefining Beautiful
by: Jenna Lucado with Max Lucado

Summary of the Book:

In this book Jenna Lucado uses real life issues to help teenage girls realize they are beautiful because God made them and God loves them. Through studying the relationship of a girl and her father Jenna is able to pinpoint specific areas why girls feel they are not beautiful and counteract that with biblical reasons that prove that they are.

My Thoughts:

This book is a great read for every teenage girl. Jenna has a wonderful writing style that makes it easy for anyone to read. Her real life examples help you to realize that you are not alone in your insecurities and awkwardness and that there is hope. I was a little bit concerned with how much she focused on a good relationship with your earthly father, but about half-way through my concerns faded. She does a great job of pointing out that we all have a Perfect Heavenly Father. Her advice for teens on relationships is wonderful. I also really like the way that she has personalized the book for every reader to get involved and explore their motives and relationships. This would be a great book for family discussions. I think that anyone who reads this book will certainly redefine their definition of the word beautiful.



Thanks for stopping by!


Friday, November 13, 2009

Sugar and Grits


Sugar and Grits
by: DiAnn Mills, Martha Rogers, Janice Thompson, Kathleen Y'Barbo

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I am at a point in my life where I have a wonderful group of friends that are similar to the group in this book and I just fell in love with all of them and was able to relate to them really well. Each novella was written well and did a great job of portraying the uniqueness of each character. Each woman learns how God needs to be at the center of every relationship and that sometimes you find love in the oddest of places. We all need to keep our eyes open to God's plans that are happening all around us.

Back of the Book:

Strong women with a dash of sweetness. . .

Berta is a young woman in her twenties who owns and operates Bert's Dirts, a bulldozer and backhoe business. She's putting away her money to attend a school in Biloxi to fulfill her dream of singing opera. But God has other plans, and romance is on the way.

Dottie Jean is heading toward her fifty-fifth birthday. A widow, she makes her living by owning and operating Calista's Catfish house and making the best pecan pies in the county. But love is standing in the background when Dottie Jean encounters an old high school flame.

Sassy, a widow in her fifties, is known for her quick tongue and peculiar temperament. As the proprietor of Sassy's Bait Shop and an avid fisherwoman, Sassy thinks she has life all figured out until God reels in something unexpected.

Sue Ellen is a young woman in her twenties who is living out her dream as a hairdresser at the RhondaVous Beauty Shop. She and bud Briggs, deputy sheriff of Calista, have been friends since their school days, but does God have something else in mind for them?

Will these Mississippi women learn to balance their tendencies toward gritty strength and independence with feminine sweetness and godly joy?



Thanks for stopping by!!


Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Talking to the Dead


Talking to the Dead
by: Bonnie Grove

This book has had me kinda torn. The book is very well written. Ms. Grove keeps your curiosity peeked throughout the book. She is very descriptive, helping you put yourself right in the house, office, church, etc. You really do feel like you know the characters and can picture them in your mind very easily. She is also very knowledgeable and you can tell that the book was very well researched.

However, I do have a few concerns. The book wasn't exactly what I expected from the description on the back of the book. I do not like how much the book focuses on psychological practices and medicine for mental healing. I personally believe in biblical counseling. In 2 Peter 1:3 Peter tells us that "His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." I also do not like the feelings-based 'God-experience' that is thrown in at the end. Nowhere does anyone encourage her to, neither does she call upon the name of the Lord (Romans 10:9-10).

*Please note that these are my personal preferences and beliefs and I understand that those reading this may feel different*

About the Book:
Twenty-something Kate Davis can't seem to get this grieving widow thing right. She's supposed to put on a brave face and get on with her life, right? Instead she's camped out on her living room floor, unwashed, unkempt, and unable to sleep-because her husband Kevin keeps talking to her.

Is she losing her mind?

Kate's attempts to find the source of the voice she hears are both humorous and humiliating, as she turns first to an "eclectically spiritual" counselor, then a shrink with a bad toupee, a mean-spirited exorcist, and finally group therapy. There she meets Jack, the warmhearted, unconventional pastor of a ramshackle church, and at last the voice subsides. But when she stumbles upon a secret Kevin was keeping, Kate's fragile hold on the present threatens to implode under the weight of the past. And Kevin begins to shout.

Will the voice ever stop? Kate must confront her grief to find the grace to go on, in this tender, quirky story about second chances.

About the Author:
Bonnie Grove started writing when her parents bought a typewriter, and she hasn't stopped since. Trained in Christian Counseling (Emmanuel Bible College, Kitchener, ON), and secular psychology (University of Alberta), she developed and wrote social programs for families at risk while landing articles and stories in anthologies. She is the author of Working Your Best You: Discovering and Developing the Strengths God Gave You; Talking to the Dead is her first novel. Grove and her pastor husband, Steve, have two children; they live in Saskatchewan.

Purchase Talking to the Dead at
Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.


Check out these other member blogs this week for more info.