Contest Ends tonight!

Today is the last day to enter my blogoversary giveaway! It's a free book - what do you have to lose? =)

My 2nd Blogoversary!

arch thinking is two years old today! My very first post was on 8/8/08 - such a nice round number. While I always planned to do a lot of book reviews, I thought then that it would be more of a general interest blog. These days, I don't discuss much other than books and I like it that way. Sometimes I feel like I should write about art and architecture more, but generally I feel like there are a lot of better writers out there who have that covered. Plus, as an architect, I have a pretty good outlet for those interests, whereas this is my space to write and talk about reading and writing.


Just like last year, I'd like to hold a special giveaway to celebrate the occasion. The rules:

• Choose any book (up to $30 in value) that I have reviewed or discussed in the past year (that's August 8, 2009 to August 8, 2010).
• Tell me in the comments on this post why you chose it.
• I will pick one reader who will win the book of their choosing!**
• Contest is open for one month, until September 8th.
• Please read the fine print.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks to all of you for reading my blog and being such a great community!

*Fine print: I will send the winner an Amazon (or other online seller) gift certificate for the value of the book plus $3.99 for standard US shipping. This contest is open to anyone, but you will have to pay for any shipping above that amount.

The Great Unsung YA 2010 Giveaway

Kelly of YAnnabe has just launched a huge giveaway - The Great Unsung YA 2010 Giveaway! She's giving away copies of 10 of the top 12 most obscure picks from Unsung YA 2010, including my pick, Year of the Horse. So get on over there, and enter for a chance to win!

Congratulations!

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway of Year of the Horse and a big thanks to author Justin Allen for providing the books. We had 15 entries and I used random.org to pick our two winners. They are -

7. Spav
15. Ninefly

Congratulations! I've emailed the winners.

The Unsung YA Hero Giveaway: Year of the Horse

Last week, Kelly of YAnnabe got a whole crowd of bloggers to Sing the Praises of the Unsung and blog about their favorite YA books no one has read. At the top of my list (in both obscurity and enjoyment) was The Year of the Horse by Justin Allen.


Here's what Publisher's Weekly had to say about this book:

Allen ... plots a supernatural wild west adventure in his sophomore outing that should hold appeal for younger readers. Chinese-American teenager Tzu-lu finds his life upended when his grandparents send him on an expedition west with famous gunslinger Jack Straw and his rag-tag crew of mercenaries. Exploring anew the tropes of the cowboy western—Indians, polygamous cultists, Ghost Riders and the perils of the open desert—Allen follows the gang to Silver City, the very edge of settled America, to reclaim a treasure stolen by a mysterious man known as the Yankee, and perhaps illuminate the fate of Tzu-lu's dead father. With a few playful nods to Washington Irving, Allen mixes western and fantasy into a high adventure coming-of-age, keeping his world's more outré elements grounded with a surfeit of dead-on historical details.

Even though I never read Westerns, I really liked this book. It wasn't perfect, but it was fun. I was pleasantly surprised when I read Year of the Horse that a book so far out of my comfort zone could be so enjoyable.

Since then, I've reviewed Year of the Horse and had a really, really long interview with author Justin Allen. I've lent this book out to friends and family, all of whom have enjoyed it. Sadly, though, this hasn't seemed to have made much of an impact out in the larger world. But this is one of those book I'm not just going to put up on a shelf and forget about. I want some of you to read it and find out for yourselves how much fun it is. So, thanks to Justin's generosity, I'm giving away two autographed copies of The Year of the Horse!

The contest is open worldwide. To enter, leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite book you'd never thought you'd like. You can earn an additional entry by blogging or tweeting this contest. Please let me know you have done so, by leaving a link, in a separate comment. The contest will close Friday, February 12 Monday, February 15 at 4 pm, Pacific Time. I'll announce the winners the following week. Please email me with any questions and good luck!

Winner!

Its time to pick a winner for my blog birthday giveaway. I picked a number using random. org, so ...

Congratulations to Becca!

Becca wrote:

I would love a copy of Medicus because I am fascinated by ancient Rome and Ruso sounds like a very interesting guy. Plus someone gave me a copy of the second in the series but I don’t want to read it until I have read this one.

I'm a stickler for reading series in order, too, Becca, so I totally understand! Email me with your address at lorin_arch (at) hotmail (dot) com

Thanks to all of you who entered and thanks for reading arch thinking!

Reminder: Giveaway Ends Today!

Last chance to enter my blog birthday giveaway!

Giveaway Update

Either there's a case of book contest fatigue going around, or everyone is on vacation. I've decided to postpone the deadline for my current book giveaway until Wednesday, August 26 to give more people time to enter. Please drop me an email or comment here with any questions.

Happy 1st Birthday, Blog!

Update: Please note revised contest end date.

This past year has just flown by, and I have just had so much fun blogging. I've read so many good books, "met" many new fellow bloggers, and have just generally really enjoyed having a venue to share my thoughts. Thank you so much to all of my readers. It just amazes me that people - some of whom I have never met - take the time to read what I write. Writing has been a secret hobby of mine for some time and I have just loved having an audience for what I write.

In honor of the big day, I'd like to have a special giveaway. Choose any book* that I have reviewed in the past year, tell me why you chose it, and I will pick one reader who will win that book!** Contest is open until August 18 26th. Be sure to read all the fine print and let me know if you have any questions.


* Fine print: max value $30. Sorry, but there's just no way I can afford to spend more, and I know some of the architecture books I've featured sell for well over that amount.
** More fine print: Most likely, I will send the winner an Amazon gift certificate for the value of the book plus $3.99 for standard US shipping. This contest is open to anyone, but you will have to pay for any shipping above that amount.

Birthday Giveaway Winner

Thanks for all your birthday well-wishes! From Random.org, here the giveaway entrants in random order:

1. Teresa
2. Lenore
3. Julie
4. Missy
5. Mari
6. shananaginsbooks
7. drey

Congratulations, Teresa! Please send me an email (lorin_arch (at) hotmail (dot) com) with your contact info.

A Birthday and a Giveaway

Happy birthday, to me!
Happy birthday, to me!
Happy birthday, dear Lorin...
Happy birthday, to me!

I am this many fingers old today, but instead of giving me presents, I'd like to give one of you something instead. As a thank you to those of you who stuck it out over my impromptu blogging vacation of the past couple weeks, I am giving away a $25 gift certificate to Amazon (or, for anyone outside of the US, the online bookstore of your choice). Post a comment here and Wednesday I will pick a winner. I will not be contacting you via email, so check back here to find out if you won.

PS: On an unrelated note, I am having a lot of problems with Blogger recently, not publishing my scheduled posts. Anyone else running into this?

Congratulations!

The winner of the Devil in the White City giveaway is entry number 6 -

Congratulations, Joy!

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Devil in the White City Giveaway!

I really enjoyed Devil in the White City (link goes to my review). That's why I'm so excited to be giving away a copy autographed by author Erik Larson to one lucky reader!

The contest is open to anyone with a mailing address in the US or Canada. To enter, leave a comment on this post with your contact information. You can earn an additional entry by becoming a Follower. Please let me know you have done so in a separate comment. The contest will close Friday, June 12 at 5 pm, Pacific Time. I'll announce the winner the next week.

Please note that the book is gently used, not new. Feel free to send me an email with any questions.

Good luck!

Wish List: Graceling

I know, I know! I can't believe I haven't read Graceling yet, either. I can't even link to where I heard about it first because I have heard about it everywhere.

If you, like me, are eager to read this book, I have wonderful news. Bookluver-Carol's Reviews is hosting a giveaway! So click on that link, enter to win and let me know if you win! Good luck! (FYI, it closes 5/15 so enter soon!)

For those of you who can't wait, you can buy Graceling on Amazon.

Love your Indie Bookstore

Via Scalzi:

March-is-love-your-Indie-Bookstore: The Contest

How to Play:

• Go to a local independent bookstore.
  
• Buy something.
  
• Save the receipt.
  
• Send a photo or scan of the receipt to author Joe Hill.
  
• Be entered in the chance to win awesome things, like a Limited Edition copy of the Newbury Award winning THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman or a Limited Edition copy of DROOD by Dan Simmons or an ARC of WHERE EVERYTHING ENDS by Ray Bradbury or a signed hardcover of AGENT TO THE STARS by John Scalzi*.
  

Good luck and have fun shopping!

*except that its going to be mine, so hands off!

Win the Kitty Norville Books!

Remember last month how I added Carrie Vaughn's Kity Norville series to my wish list? Well, now here is one lucky reader chance to win all six Kitty Norville novels at drey's library! Good luck and let me know if you win!

Huge Giveaway

Tara's Views on Books is hosting a huge book giveaway with nine different books you can win. Wow! Visit her here to enter. Good luck!

Congratulations!

Thanks to everyone who participated in my first giveaway!

The winner of Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner is
Tammy!

And the winner of Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan is
Sheri S.!

I hope to host another giveaway again soon, so stay tuned and visit often!

Giveaway Reminder

Just a reminder that tomorrow is the last day to enter to win my giveaway. Go here for more information.

Happy Sunday!

My First Giveaway!

I did some bookshelf cleaning this weekend and found two books that are a) duplicates (i.e., we have multiple copies in our library) and b) new copies (one still with the receipt in it!). Instead of donating to the library or selling, I decided to host my first giveaway here and send them each to a new happy home.

The Books

Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner (softcover, new copy, mint condition)

The heart of this third-person narrative is Becky, an overweight but thoroughly appealing chef at a chic bistro. Married to an adoring doctor and living in a cozy row house, the warm, nurturing Becky ... she rushes to help another woman who collapses into sudden, crushing labor pains after a prenatal yoga class ... The woman whom Becky helps is Ayinde, the gorgeous wife of an NBA superstar. Picturesquely if improbably, she, Becky and another expectant mom, perky blonde Kelly (who was also at the fateful yoga class and lent a helping hand) become fast friends. Eventually, Lia, a beautiful young actress who has left Hollywood for her hometown of Philadelphia in the wake of a tragedy, joins the group. For much of the story, Weiner, a wonderful natural writer and storyteller, renders her characters and their messy, sometimes wrenching lives in details that resonate as the real deal. In the end, alas, she slips in a soapy Hollywood ending. Still, this is a rich portrayal of new motherhood and a fun ride. Weiner's readers will root for her to trust ever more her ability to float between comedy and pathos, leaving the shallows for true and surprising depths.

Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan (hardcover, mostly new copy, book jacket has a little shelf rash, excellent condition)

Tan delivers another highly entertaining novel, this one narrated from beyond the grave. San Francisco socialite and art-world doyenne Bibi Chen has planned the vacation of a lifetime along the notorious Burma Road for 12 of her dearest friends. Violently murdered days before takeoff, she's reduced to watching her friends bumble through their travels from the remove of the spirit world. Making the best of it, the 11 friends who aren't hung over depart their Myanmar resort on Christmas morning to boat across a misty lake—and vanish. The tourists find themselves trapped in jungle-covered mountains, held by a refugee tribe that believes Rupert, the group's surly teenager, is the reincarnation of their god Younger White Brother, come to save them from the unstable, militaristic Myanmar government. Tan's travelers, who range from a neurotic hypochondriac to the debonair, self-involved host of a show called The Fido Files, fight and flirt among themselves. While ensemble casting precludes the intimacy that characterizes Tan's mother-daughter stories, the book branches out with a broad plot and dynamic digressions. It's based on a true story, and Tan seems to be having fun with it, indulging in the wry, witty voice of Bibi while still exploring her signature questions of fate, connection, identity and family.

I'll confess that I didn't really like this book that much (don't ask how we got two), but I'm sure there is an Amy Tan fan out there who will.

The Rules

Comment here and tell me which book you would like to receive. You must include an email address or some other contact information (like a website where I can leave a comment), or I will delete the entry. Contest closes in two weeks, on January 26, at 7 pm (ish) California time. Two winners (one for each book) will be chosen at random. Contest is only open to those with US or Canadian addresses. (Sorry! But I am paying for shipping, and that's what I can afford.)

Good luck!