Wordful Wednesday – Diary of a Wimpy Kid Giveaway

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Jackie

Last week I shared with you how I took my daughter down to meet Jeff Kinney at a book signing, remember that? Well this week I have more from that trip to share with you!

At the end of the book signing and when everyone else was gone we had the opportunity to stick around and chat with Jeff for a while. This gave Lauren the chance to ask all those questions that she had been wondering about whether it was about the books or Jeff himself.

So here are some of the questions & answers…. just some random things about Jeff Kinney.

He’s been writing since 1998 and has been a published author for about 5 1/2 years but started out as a cartoonist at a newspaper.
His favorite food is pizza.
His favorite color (that day) was a masculine violet and it might be the color of his next book.
So, when it comes to the character names in the books he came up with them over the past 8 years, but he always knew that Greg was going to be Greg.
He has a special font created based on the writing that he created for the books.

Of course we had the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, The Third Wheel, signed.

And to top it all off Lauren had her picture taken with Jeff Kinney and her newly signed book!

It took her less than a week to read the book and she loved it! She’s even reading it again!

Alright, the giveaway part… one lucky reader (U.S only) will win their choice from books one through seven! (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Rodrick Rules, The Last Straw, Dog Days, The Ugly Truth, Cabin Fever, and The Third Wheel).

And because I’m feeling lazy I am going to make this one incredibly easy for you!

But first a couple rules…. one U.S. winner will be selected and once notified they will have 48 hrs to respond to me via email before another winner is selected. Each entry needs to have an email attached to it so I can contact you. The giveaway end on December 5th at 11:59 pm.

Mandatory: Leave a comment telling me which book you’d get & for who.

Extra Entry #1: Tweet! Use the Shareaholic Tweet button at the bottom of the post. Copy the URL and paste it into a comment.

Extra Entry #2: Leave a comment on any other post and then leave a comment here telling me which post you commented on.

That’s it!

Psstt… don’t forget about the Kitchen Aid mixer & Keurig Brewer giveaway!

Diary of a Submissive ~ A book review

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Jackie

Diary of a Submissive has been called a real “Fifty Shades of Grey”…. a true story of Sophie Morgan (not her real name of course) and her journey through sexual exploration and into a relationship with her very own “Christian Grey”.

It was interesting to hear the story from a real person, from someone who is just like the person sitting next to you on the bus, or even on the playground bench watching their kids play with yours. Sophie comes from a completely normal family like most of us, she wasn’t abused. She didn’t have a hard life growing up, her parents are still happily married and she’s still on very good terms with them. So what would cause someone to want to be dominated and forced to do some humiliating and sometimes painful just for pleasure in the end.

I’ve read a similar book series written by Anne Rice and while reading that I couldn’t believe that people would actually do that. I knew that people did odd/strange things but the book was fiction, right? It wasn’t until Diary of a Submissive that I realized it was real… there are people out there who really enjoy this type of lifestyle.

I will say that this book is open, honest, and detailed enough to cause you to blush if you’re not used to reading books of this nature. Sophie goes into great detail about her experiences, what she likes, what she has done, and how she felt the entire time while doing it… definitely graphic at times and possibly not for everyone.

If you are interested in following Sophie Morgan check her out on Twitter and you can also join the conversation over at BlogHer.

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

Matched – A Book Review

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Jackie

I love reading. There’s no doubt in my mind really and when I find a good book I get pulled in and find it hard to set it down. Then, of course, there are times when I start a book and just get stuck. I can’t seem to get into the book and find myself forcing myself to read it because I may finally break through the slowness and get to the good parts. Sometimes it gets better and other times… well, I just set it aside for a while.

I just finished reading Matched and I’ll be honest with you, it started out pretty slow. I had a hard time reading it. Part of it was because I was angry. The book is set in the future and it’s a future where the officials (government) control almost everything that the population does. What they eat, when they eat, what job they get, who they marry (if they even can), how many kids they have, and when they die. Every bit of life was controlled by the officials and everyone believed that it was for the best.

Matched. When teens reach the age of 17 they attend a banquet where they are matched up with the person they’ll spend the rest of their life with. It was hard to not be happy for Cassia when she was matched with her long time friend Xander. But yet, I found myself annoyed with the Officials and all of their control and reading it was slow because of that I think. I pushed on though and the book did get better.

Other characters are introduced and fleshed out as the book continues. Ky, Cassia’s love interest being one of the most important. Of course there’s a hint of rebellion, and as always a bit of foreshadowing of future stories.

The main character, Cassia, goes from an agreeable teen to one who starts question things (not out loud though) and starts pushing back in subtle ways. It all begins with her grandfather’s death on his 80th birthday and a poem that he gives her. A poem that is not one of the approved 100…

Anymore and I will end up giving away the entire story! In the end I found myself liking it more and more and wondering what happens next, what will Cassia do or say, what new twist will the officials add to the story, and how will all tie together.

Could you live in a world where everything is decided for you… where you have no control? Could you have faith in a world controlled fully by the government?

If you want to learn more about the author, Ally Condie, check out her Facebook page, Twitter, and of course her blog.

Join me in discussing Matched over at BlogHer Book Club page!

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.