Tag: Books: Giveaway

Birthday Month Giveaway!

Posted 5 October, 2015 by Lianne in Miscellaneous / 51 Comments

So here’s a little detail for you: today’s my birthday 😛 I’m not one for big celebrations or anything, and it doesn’t help that my birthday falls on a Monday this year (haha O_O). Anyway, to celebrate this small detail, I am hosting a wee little book giveaway here on my blog this month 🙂 The following are nine books that I’ve read this year and that I’ve enjoyed and you can win one of. Why nine selections? It’s not arbitrary, I assure you; it’s because I’m 29 today xP

Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay (review)
Runaway by Alice Munro (review)
Any book from Deborah Harkness’ All Souls trilogy (see author tag)
Any book from Rachel Bach’s Paradox trilogy (see author tag)
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (review)
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (review)
The Winter Sea (Sophia’s Secret) by Susanna Kearsley (review)
Always the Bridesmaid by Lindsey Kelk (review)
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (review forthcoming)

To enter, just fill out the Rafflecopter below; giveaway ends on 31 October 2015 at 11:59pm EST and is open internationally so long as The Book Depository delivers to your country. A winner will be chosen and contacted the following day, so please make sure you enter a valid email address 😉 The winner will be announced on this same post.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please email me or comment below if there are any issues with Rafflecopter. Otherwise, in bocca al lupo! 🙂

Eclectictales.com’s Blogoversary!

Posted 4 February, 2015 by Lianne in Website / 52 Comments

My domain URL may be new but my webspace isn’t, and today it is celebrating 8 years on the internet! 🙂 (yeah, I’m pretty old on the blogosphere, haha xP) It’s been another wonderful year on the blogosphere, chatting with bloggers about books and television shows and all kinds of stuff, both here and on Twitter 🙂 I’ve “met” a number of new bloggers thanks to Armchair BEA last year and other blogging events such as read-alongs, as well as plenty more via Twitter and through other blogger friends. I’ve also learned a lot as a blogger, discovered new tools to connect and present my blog posts in a more organised manner. And of course it was a fantatic year in reading, as evident by the end of the year book survey I filled out back in December 2014 🙂

According to WordPress stats, here are my top 5 visited posts from the past year (barring pages and sign-up posts to last year’s reading challenges that I hosted):

Speculatin & Wishlist for The Hobbit (2014) (back when it was still 2 movies, lol; can’t believe people are still visiting that post xD)
Armchair BEA: Giveaways & Beyond Borders
List: Books Featuring a Love of Books
caffeinatedlife.net’s Blogoversary!
Sci-Fi Month 2013: 10 Reasons Why You Should Watch Babylon 5 <--which I definitely recommend, by the way :p

I’ve noticed there’s been ups and downs in the book blogging community in the last year, and it affected us all at some level; heck, there are times when I do find myself wondering why I blog, why I bother posting my thoughts on books and whatnot. But then I re-read a few of my book reviews (the lengthier ones–the classics or on the books I really loved 😛 ) and I remember that it’s about my love of storytelling, of books, of talking about books with others. Sure, some reviews don’t get as much attention as others (alas), books I push aren’t for everyone (it happens), but I’m ever grateful to have this medium to channel my thoughts and interact with others who also love to read and understand, appreciate, and approach books in a somewhat similar manner as I do xD

So I just wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you very much to all my readers, commenters, fellow bloggers & friends for being awesome, for commenting, for the discussion, recommendations, encouragements, and feedback. I’m still working on getting back to comments at a timely manner, but your comments make my day 🙂

As a little thank you to you all, I am hosting a giveaway with an opportunity to win one of the following 8 (hehe) books I read in the past year and enjoyed. I tried to keep it as eclectic (hehehe) as possible so that there’s something for everyone 😉 This giveaway is open internationally as long as the Book Depository ships to your country.

Robin Oliveira’s I Always Loved You (review) *
Lucy Clarke’s A Single Breath (review)
Jonathan Tropper’s This is Where I Leave You (review)
Gabrielle Zevin’s The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (review)
Alice Munro’s Hateship, Friendship Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (review)
Miranda Hart’s Is It Just Me? (review)
Rachel Bach’s Fortune’s Pawn (review)
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas (review)

* = this will be a pre-order

And that’s about it! The giveaway will run until Saturday, February 28th @ 11:59PM EST. Please make sure you use a valid email address when you enter and just read the rest of the terms and conditions with the Rafflecopter 😉

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you again, and here’s to a lovely 2015 (with my shiny new domain url, lol)! 🙂

Winners of Blogoversary Book Giveaway Contest

Edit (2 March 2015): Thank you to everyone who entered my book giveaway! I used random.org to select two giveaways for this contest. Congratulations to Wattle and Lark: I hope you guys enjoy the books you selected! Thank you again for celebrating with me 🙂

Review: Rodin’s Lover (+ Excerpt + Giveaway)

Posted 19 January, 2015 by Lianne in Books / 14 Comments

Rodin’s Lover
By: Heather Webb
Format/Source: Paperback courtesy of Plume/Penguin

A mesmerizing tale of art and passion in Belle Époque France

As a woman, aspiring sculptor Camille Claudel has plenty of critics, especially her ultra-traditional mother. But when Auguste Rodin makes Camille his apprentice—and his muse—their passion inspires groundbreaking works. Yet, Camille’s success is overshadowed by her lover’s rising star, and her obsessions cross the line into madness.

Rodin’s Lover brings to life the volatile love affair between one of the era’s greatest artists and a woman entwined in a tragic dilemma she cannot escape.

I read Heather Webb’s Becoming Josephine (review) last year and absolutely loved it, so I was happy to learn that she was coming out with a new novel this year! I admit, I’m not familiar with many of the women artists of the Belle Epoque period until I started reading historical fiction titles featuring them, so it’s also quite the history lesson for me about this period 🙂

This book will be available on 27 January 2015. Included after the cut is an excerpt from the novel as well as a giveaway for an opportunity to win a copy of the novel!

Review: A Paris Apartment (+ Excerpt + Giveaway)

Posted 8 October, 2014 by Lianne in Books / 4 Comments

A Paris Apartment
By: Michelle Gable
Format/Source: Hardback courtesy of the publishers as part of A Paris Apartment France Book Tours

Bienvenue à Paris!

When April Vogt’s boss tells her about an apartment in the ninth arrondissement that has been discovered after being shuttered for the past seventy years, the Sotheby’s continental furniture specialist does not hear the words “dust” or “rats” or “decrepit.” She hears Paris. She hears escape.

Once in France, April quickly learns the apartment is not merely some rich hoarder’s repository. Beneath the cobwebs and stale perfumed air is a goldmine, and not because of the actual gold (or painted ostrich eggs or mounted rhinoceros horns or bronze bathtub). First, there’s a portrait by one of the masters of the Belle Epoque, Giovanni Boldini. And then there are letters and journals written by the very woman in the painting, Marthe de Florian. These documents reveal that she was more than a renowned courtesan with enviable decolletage. Suddenly April’s quest is no longer about the bureaux plats and Louis-style armchairs that will fetch millions at auction. It’s about discovering the story behind this charismatic woman.

It’s about discovering two women, actually.

With the help of a salty (and annoyingly sexy) Parisian solicitor and the courtesan’s private diaries, April tries to uncover the many secrets buried in the apartment. As she digs into Marthe’s life, April can’t help but take a deeper look into her own. Having left behind in the States a cheating husband, a family crisis about to erupt, and a career she’s been using as the crutch to simply get by, she feels compelled to sort out her own life too. When the things she left bubbling back home begin to boil over, and Parisian delicacies beyond flaky pâtisseries tempt her better judgment, April knows that both she and Marthe deserve happy finales.

Whether accompanied by croissants or champagne, this delectable debut novel depicts the Paris of the Belle Epoque and the present day with vibrant and stunning allure. Based on historical events, Michelle Gable’s A Paris Apartment will entertain and inspire, as readers embrace the struggles and successes of two very unforgettable women.

Paris, the Belle Epoque, a story about putting together Marthe’s story from the present day…what more could I ask for in such a novel? This novel was published on 22 April 2014.

Thank you to France Book Tours for letting me take part in the book tour for this novel. Included with this review is an excerpt from the book. At the end of this review is also a giveaway contest for a chance to win a print copy of this novel (open to US/Canada readers only!) as well as a link to an excerpt of the novel.

Review: Lies Told In Silence + Giveaway

Posted 15 September, 2014 by Lianne in Books / 6 Comments

Lies Told in Silence
By: M.K. Tod
Format/Source: Paperback courtesy of the author as part of the Lies Told in Silence France Book Tours

In May 1914, Helene Noisette’s father believes war is imminent. Convinced Germany will head straight for Paris, he sends his wife, daughter, mother and younger son to Beaufort, a small village in northern France. But when war erupts a few months later, the German army invades neutral Belgium with the intent of sweeping south towards Paris. And by the end of September, Beaufort is less than twenty miles from the front.

During the years that follow, with the rumbling of guns ever present in the distance, three generations of women come together to cope with deprivation, constant fear and the dreadful impacts of war. In 1917, Helene falls in love with a young Canadian soldier who was wounded in the battle of Vimy Ridge.

But war has a way of separating lovers and families, of twisting promises and dashing hopes, and of turning the naïve and innocent into the jaded and war-weary. As the months pass, Helene is forced to reconcile dreams for the future with harsh reality.

Lies Told in Silence examines love and loss, duty and sacrifice, and the unexpected consequences of lies.

I read M.K. Tod’s debut novel, Unravelled (review) last year as part of a blog tour and thought it was a solid first novel touching on a lot of issues stemming from the First World War and into the Second World War. Lies Told in Silence is her second novel focusing solely on the First World War, which is especially timely given that this year marks the centenary of the First World War starting. This book was released on 29 June 2014.

Thank you to France Book Tours for letting me take part in the book tour for this novel. I am also hosting a giveaway at the end of this review for a chance to win an eCopy of this novel. Also, be sure to check out this post for an interview with the author!