Giveaway - You Lucky Dog - Debra Finerman

Looking for fun read for your beach bag? Enter to win a copy of Debra Finerman's newest book - You Lucky Dog!

What's it about? From Stewart's Grove Press:

"You Lucky Dog is the unlikely love story of Jake and Emma, a young couple thrown into a very unusual situation.

Jake and Emma appear to have everything going for them. A young married couple, they live with their dog in the leafy suburbs of Los Angeles. But after a horrible accident changes the course of their lives forever, Jake finds himself alive but living outside his body, and in the body of his dog.

What follows is a hilarious and heartwarming tale of misplaced identity. You Lucky Dog explores the mysteries of life and death, and the enduring power of love, in a heartwarming story for animal lovers and all lovers."

"Debra Finerman is an American writer who lives part-time in Paris. She is the author of three novels. You Lucky Dog,  her latest book, is a humorous novel for dog lovers and human lovers.

Shadow War, her second book, is a WWII novel inspired by plaques seen on walls throughout Paris dedicated to the brave Resistance Fighters who died on the spot, shot by Nazi patrols.  Her first novel Mademoiselle Victorine, has been translated into six languages worldwide. Debra is a former journalist for Capital Style, The Hollywood Reporter monthly magazine, Beverly Hills Today and Beverly Hills Magazine. Her articles about France are published in the online magazine, myfrenchlife.orgTM. A graduate of UCLA, she earned her academic degree in Art History and Connoisseurship at Christie's, New York." You can connect with Debra Finerman on her website.

Sound like a book you'd like to read? Enter to win a copy using the Rafflecopter form below. Open to US only, no PO boxes please. Ends June 9/18.

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Living Large In Our Little House - Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell

Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell has chronicled her housing downsize and in her blog Living Large in Our Little House.

She's taken that a step further in her new book Living Large in Our Little House: Thriving in 480 Square Feet with Six Dogs, a Husband, and One Remote--Plus More Stories of How You Can Too.

Kerri and her husband Dale downsized when financial straits moved them into a 480 sq. foot house in the Ozark mountains. Kerri and Dale discovered that less is truly more - less stuff equals financial security, more time for each other, for hobbies, for just enjoying each day, less maintenance work and so many more benefits.

Living Large is a comfortable read, with no pretensions. Reading the book is like having a conversation on the front porch with the author - homey and folksy.  We meet a younger Kerri as she shares her personal family story, and then details her and husband Dale's journey to smaller living. She writes with candor, detailing not just the upside, but the downside as well. Kerri has taken knowledge gained from their move and has included tips, recipes, checklists and advice for those considering a move to a smaller abode. Kerri also includes many personal photographs of her and Dale and her beloved pets.

Kerri reached out to others living in smaller and tiny homes and has also included their stories.

I've been fascinated with 'smaller' living, especially the tiny home movement. I often consider whether I could divest myself of my many 'things' and pursue a simpler way of life. Smaller living may not be for everyone, but I think there's much food for thought in Kerri's book. And I will still dream of my own little house. Kerri has also included a large list of resources and further reading for those considering their own change.  Read an excerpt of Living Large in Our Little House.

Giveaway - Orchard - Jack H. Bailey

Here's a great giveaway today for readers who like historical fiction - Orchard by Jack H. Bailey.

From the publisher:

"This much is true. It's 1899. Harry Orchard is a member of the fire-breathing Western Federation of Miners. While other members labor underground to harvest the riches of the earth, Orchard is paid to kill men who are a problem for the union. He's an interesting killer, well-liked by his peers and by the ladies.

After years of cat-and-mouse pursuit by legendary Pinkerton, Charles Siringo, when he's arrested in 1906 for the murder of Idaho's former Governor, Frank Steunenberg, he's killed nineteen men in Idaho and Colorado. Even today, in the silver mining towns of northern Idaho, his name is spoken in whispers by those familiar with his deeds." Read an excerpt of Orchard.

"Descended from gold miners, Jack H. Bailey grew up in and around the locales frequented by Harry Orchard. It was while living in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, that his fascination with Orchard began. Jack joined the Navy at 17 and served in WWII aboard the aircraft carrier USS Lexington until she was sunk in the Battle of the Coral Sea. He graduated from USC with a BA in English and spent 16 years in aerospace during which time he wrote two critically praised novels, The Number Two Man and The Icarus Complex. Jack wrote prolifically until his death in 2010. Most notably, Jack was an annual participant in the prestigious Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was one of only a handful of writers to have advanced in the competition seven times."

If you'd like to read Orchard, enter to win a copy using the Rafflecopter form below. 

Open to US only, ends July 30/16.

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Giveaway - Pound for Pound by Shannon Kopp

I've got a great giveaway for you today - Shannon Kopp's memoir, Pound for Pound: A Story of One Woman's Recovery and the Shelter Dogs Who Loved Her Back to Life.

From the publisher, William Morrow:

"The dogs don't judge me or give me a motivational speech. They don't rush me to heal or grow. They sit in my lap and lick my face and make me feel chosen. And sometimes, it hits me hard that I'm doing the exact thing I say I cannot do. Changing."

Pound for Pound is the inspirational tale of one woman's journey back from the brink of self-destruction, and a heartfelt homage to the four-legged heroes who unexpectedly saved her life.

For eight years, Shannon Kopp battled the silent, horrific, and all-too-common disease of bulimia. Stuck in an endless cycle of bingeing and purging, Shannon was overwhelmed by broken promises: to herself, to her family, to her future. Finally, at twenty-four, she got a job working at the San Diego Humane Society and SPCA, where in caring for shelter dogs, she found the inspiration to heal and the courage to forgive herself. With the help of some extraordinary homeless animals -- dogs like Sweet Pea, Big Girl, Abby, Stewie, and countless others -- Shannon realized from her suffering, something beautiful had been born. Compassion.

Shannon's poignant memoir is a story of hope, resilience, and the spiritual healing animals bring to our lives. Pound for Pound vividly reminds us that animals are more than just friends and companions -- they can teach us how to savor the present moment and reclaim our joy. Rich with emotion and inspiration, Pound for Pound is essential reading for animal lovers and everyone who has struggled to change." Read an excerpt of Pound for Pound.

Cr: Leslie Patrice 

"Shannon Kopp is a bestselling writer, eating disorder survivor, and animal welfare advocate. She has worked at various animal shelters throughout Southern California, where shelter dogs helped her to discover a more present and compassionate way of living. Her story has been featured on NPR, The Huffington Post, Psychology Today, Salon and more. Today, Shannon carries a profound message about the healing power of the paw across the globe." You can connect with Shannon Kopp on her website, find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

If Pound for Pound sounds like a book you'd like to read, I have a copy to giveaway to one lucky reader. Enter using the Rafflecopter form below. Open to US only, no PO boxes please. Ends April 30/16.

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Giveaway - A Small Indiscretion - Jan Ellison

 Jan Ellison's debut novel A Small Indiscretion was released at the beginning of this year. It has received great reviews and been chosen as an Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 Editor’s Pick, San Francisco Chronicle Book Club pick, and has received wonderful reviews from USA Today, Flavor Wire, The Rumpus and many more.

If you've missed it first time round, no worries. The paperback releases at the top of next year. But - I have a signed copy to giveaway to one lucky reader now!

From the publisher, Random House:

"Fans of Everything I Never Told You and The Girl on the Train will devour this page-turning literary debut about a harrowing coming-of-age and a marriage under siege from O. Henry Prize winner Jan Ellison.

At nineteen, Annie Black abandons California for a London winter of drinking to oblivion and looking for love in the wrong places. Twenty years later, she is a happily married mother of three living in San Francisco. Then one morning, a photograph arrives in her mailbox, and an old obsession is awakened.

After a return trip to London, Annie’s marriage falters, her store floods, and her son, Robbie, takes a night-time ride that nearly costs him his life. Now Annie must fight to save her family by untangling the mysteries of that reckless winter in Europe that drew an invisible map of her future.

With the brilliant pacing and emotional precision that won Jan Ellison an O. Henry Prize for her first published story, A Small Indiscretion announces a major new voice in suspense fiction as it unfolds a story of denial, obsession, love, forgiveness—and one woman’s reckoning with her own fateful mistakes." Read an excerpt of A Small Indiscretion.

"Jan Ellison is a graduate of Stanford University and San Francisco State University’s MFA Program. She has published award-winning short fiction, and was the recipient of a 2007 O. Henry Prize for her first story to appear in print. Her work has also been shortlisted for Best American Short Stories and the Pushcart Prize. She lives in Northern California with her husband and their four children. A Small Indiscretion is her first book." You can keep up with Jan Ellison on Facebook and on Twitter.

Sound like a book you'd like to read? One copy to giveaway - open to US, no PO boxes please. Ends November 21/15. Enter using the Rafflecopter form below.

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Giveaway - A Small Indiscretion - Jan Ellison

A Small Indiscretion is Jan Ellison's debut novel. And I've got a copy to giveaway to one lucky reader, courtesy of Random House!

From the publisher:

"Fans of Everything I Never Told You and The Girl on the Train will devour this page-turning literary debut about a harrowing coming-of-age and a marriage under siege from O. Henry Prize winner Jan Ellison.

At nineteen, Annie Black abandons California for a London winter of drinking to oblivion and looking for love in the wrong places. Twenty years later, she is a happily married mother of three living in San Francisco. Then one morning, a photograph arrives in her mailbox, and an old obsession is awakened.

After a return trip to London, Annie’s marriage falters, her store floods, and her son, Robbie, takes a night-time ride that nearly costs him his life. Now Annie must fight to save her family by untangling the mysteries of that reckless winter in Europe that drew an invisible map of her future.

With the brilliant pacing and emotional precision that won Jan Ellison an O. Henry Prize for her first published story, A Small Indiscretion announces a major new voice in suspense fiction as it unfolds a story of denial, obsession, love, forgiveness—and one woman’s reckoning with her own fateful mistakes." Read an excerpt of A Small Indiscretion.

"Jan Ellison is a graduate of Stanford University and San Francisco State University’s MFA Program. She has published award-winning short fiction, and was the recipient of a 2007 O. Henry Prize for her first story to appear in print. Her work has also been shortlisted for Best American Short Stories and the Pushcart Prize. She lives in Northern California with her husband and their four children. A Small Indiscretion is her first book." You can keep with Jan Ellison on Facebook and on Twitter.

Sound like a book you'd like to read? One copy to giveaway - open to US and Canada, no PO boxes please. Ends April 11/15. Enter using the Rafflecopter form below.

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Giveaway - Sweet Nothings - Janis Thomas

I've got a sweet little giveaway for you today - Sweet Nothings by Janis Thomas.

From Berkley Books:

"Life’s sweetest moments happen when you least expect them . . .

When Ruby McMillan’s husband announces one morning that he’s dumping her for another woman, she’s unable to decide which indignity stings the most: the dissolution of their eighteen-year marriage or the deflation of her white-chocolate soufflé with raspberry Grand Marnier sauce. Without a good-bye to their two teenaged children, Walter leaves Ruby to cope with her ruined dessert, an unpaid mortgage, and her failing bakery.

With only royal icing holding her together, Ruby still manages to pick herself up and move on, subsidizing her income with an extra job as a baking instructor, getting a “my-husband’s-gone” makeover, and even flirting with her gorgeous mortgage broker, Jacob Salt. For as long as she can remember, Ruby has done what’s practical, eschewing far-fetched dreams and true love in favor of stability. But suddenly single again at the age of forty-four, she’s beginning to discover that life is most delicious when you stop following a recipe and just live." Read an excerpt of Sweet Nothings.

"Janis Thomas, author of Sweet Nothings, is a native Californian, lives in Orange County with her husband, their two children, and their dog, Ruby. Janis has written more than fifty songs and (with her dad) two children's books, and is also an avid baker. She is also the author of Something New." You can find Janis Thomas on Facebook and on Twitter.

I've got a copy to giveaway to one lucky reader. To be entered, simply leave a comment. Open to US and Canada, no po boxes please. Ends November 23/13.

Giveaway - Welcome Home Mama & Boris

Here's a giveaway sure to tug at your heart strings.....

Welcome Home Mama and Boris

Subtitled: How a Sister's Love Saved a Fallen Soldier's Beloved Dogs

by Carey Neesley with Michael Levin

"Growing up in the well-heeled Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, Carey Neesley always thought she and her younger brother, Peter, would never be separated. The children of divorced parents and outcasts in their neighborhood, Carey and Peter supported, loved, and encouraged each other when it seemed no one else cared.

It was a bond that grew through the years, and one that made Peter's eventual decision to enlist in the Army all the more difficult for Carey. With Peter having stepped up to help her raise her young son, Carey was closer than ever to her brother, and the thought of him serving far from home was painful.

While stationed in Iraq, Peter befriended a stray dog and her four puppies, only to watch three of the young pups die in the warzone. With only two surviving dogs-Mama and Boris-Peter became determined to save the strays. Carey helped her brother with his mission, but everything changed on Christmas Day in 2007 when word arrived at the Neesley household that Peter had been killed.

Amidst the grief of coming to terms with her brother's death and the turmoil of trying to plan his funeral, Carey devoted herself to bringing Peter's dogs home to the U.S. It was the final honor she could pay to her brother and a way of keeping a piece of him with her. With the help of an unlikely network of heroes, including an animal rescue organization in Utah, a civilian airline, an Iraqi family, and a private security contractor with military connections, Mama and Boris mad the journey form the streets of Baghdad to Carey's suburban house.

Carey's mission garnered widespread attention and requests from other soldiers for help in bringing home dogs they had become attached to on deployment, and she continues to work with organizations dedicated to bringing home wartime strays."



Thanks to the generosity of  Reader's Digest Books, I have one copy to giveaway. Open to US and Canada. Closes August 31. Simply leave a comment to be entered.



Benny & Shrimp - Katarina Mazetti

Benny & Shrimp opens with Desireé (Shrimp) sitting on a bench in a cemetery. She is a young widow, who was married to a seemingly perfect man - Orjan. They had settled into a comfortable but passionless marriage when he suddenly died. But, she comes several times a week, sitting for an hour at a time. "Presumably in the hope of getting down to the right sort of grieving if I stick at it long enough."

Benny, an unmarried dairy farmer, who desperately needs and wants a wife to take care of him and his house, is also at the cemetery regularly. He attends the grave of his parents with great zeal, always gardening and cleaning. "Going to the grave is my only breathing space."

His parent's stone is beside Orjan's. Benny sits on the bench beside Shrimp. They are unaccountably annoyed with each other for being there. Until the day they smile at each other...

What follows is a telling of a burgeoning relationship from two viewpoints - his and hers, told in alternating chapters. Mazetti has done a phenomenal job of taking the same event or incident and completely changing it based on each character's outlooks, beliefs, dreams and hopes.

That initial smile? Each assumes the other was smiling for the same reason - they weren't. The two are polar opposites, with altogether different interests. What draws them together is passion, loneliness and ticking biological clocks.

Can these two thoroughly disparate souls find happiness together?

I found the two narratives of the same story utterly fascinating and couldn't wait to see what the other thought of the same incident. Neither character is willing to give in or back down and there's the story. What are you willing to sacrifice for happiness? How much would you give up?

Katarina Mazetti has created characters that evoke strong emotions. I changed my feeling for the characters many times over the course of the book. She presents both male and female viewpoints with equal skill and insight. I must admit though - I ended up liking Benny much more than Shrimp. Have you read it yet? What were your thoughts at the end?

There is a great set of questions included as a Reader's Guide with the book. I think it would make an interesting selection for a book club. You can read an exerpt of Benny & Shrimp.

Benny & Shrimp is set and was written in Sweden. It has just been released in North America by Penquin Books.