Really Random Tuesday #51: Book Winners

Does Laura mean lucky?  The lucky winner of the literary novel River in the Sea by Tina Boscha is Laura from Laura's Reviews.  Additionally, I had to draw a new winner for the book I Am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits, because I haven't heard from the first winner, and had no email address to use to contact her.  The new winner is Laura Kay from A Novel Review.  Many congratulations to both Lauras!  

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Appearing on random Tuesdays, Really Random Tuesday is a way to post odds and ends--announcements, musings, quotes, photos--any blogging and  book-related things you can think of. I often announce my book winners in these Tuesday posts.  If you're inspired by this idea, feel free to "grab" the button for your own blog, and leave a link to your post in the comments.  Please visit Leslie's blog, Under My Apple Tree, for another Really Random Tuesday post.  Leslie's post has earned her an additional entry in my $25 Amazon gift card giveaway!

River in the Sea: Review and Giveaway

There are many compelling books about World War II, and I began this story with the hope that I might add to my list of noteworthy novels.   Written by Tina Boscha, a new indie author, River in the Sea is a literary novel about a young girl, Leentje De Graff, growing up during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.  Set in the province Friesland of the Netherlands in 1944, this book was published in 2012, and although it's fictional, the story was inspired by events from the past of the author's mother and her family. 

"It was then that the real fear began, the simultaneous heat and cold of it, the absolute rush of thought and adrenaline that flowed from the recognition that what was happening was true and severe and horrific. What would they do to her?  Leen began to shake."
~River in the Sea, Tina Boscha

As the story begins, Leentje, Leen for short, is the fifteen-year-old protagonist in River in the Sea.  Instead of attending school, Leen works in Dokkum (a town near her home in Wierum) as a maid for Baker Deinum and his wife, six days a week, and also helps out at home, because her mother is still grieving over the loss of a child. While driving her father's truck home from her job one Saturday,  Leen feels guilty and is distracted because she's just stolen a packet of salt (a precious commodity during wartime) from her employers, and when a German soldier's dog runs out in front of the truck, she panics and loses control.  To Leen, this event is terrifying, and seems to lead to more trauma for her and the De Graff family during this unsettling time of war.

Church and dike in Wierum

Why did it take me so long to read and review this book?  My excuse is that I have monstrous TBR piles (a natural consequence after you've been blogging about books for a few years), and so I postponed reading this one.  When I finally did settle down with River in the Sea, I was richly rewarded, cast into a different place and time by this imaginative, lyrical novel.  Many of the names of the characters were unfamiliar to me--Leen, Tine, Wopke, and Renske, to name a few--which contributed to the sense that I was truly in a foreign place.  The De Graff family seemed very real and was held together by both grief and love.  Leen, the main character, is a well-drawn, believable character with spunk.  She learned to drive by the time she was twelve, and although Leen's not perfect (she's stubborn, like her father, "Pater", and quite sensitive, like her mother, "Mem"), she tries to be a good person and she loves her family, which make her a likeable main character.  She's part of a fairly large family, and is struggling to have a degree of independence,  but the war makes this especially difficult, because danger lurks outside and there's a true lack of security.  Worry about the war permeates daily life, and girls in particular are advised to be extra careful when they go out, and to avoid the German soldiers at the camp and around town (Leen prefers driving by the camp to bicycling past).  At times life seemed too bleak for Leen (and for me, as a reader), but then she'd be lifted up by her friendship with Minnie, or a shared cigarette break, or by her burgeoning romance, and I'd be relieved and renewed as well.  As Leen breaks away from her family, she enjoys smoking cigarettes (as many did in those times), and is becoming a more independent young woman.  River in the Sea is very well written and I found myself 100% immersed in this coming-of-age story.  Descriptions of underdoek, leaving home to hide from soldiers at night, and the sores caused by a lack of nutrition (and the pungent remedy for them), affected me and will remain long in my memory.  The book is unexpectedly tender and touching, with the war as a backdrop, when German soldiers were an omnipresent, menacing presence.  River in the Sea would be an excellent choice for those interested in World War II fiction.  To enhance my review, the author kindly provided the photo above of a church in Wierum, a small village in Dongeradeel in the province Friesland of the Netherlands, from her mother's collection.

Wonderful news! Tina Boscha is generously offering a copy of River in the Sea as a giveaway (U.S./Canada only) to a lucky reader.

• To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment. 
• For another chance at winning, become a follower of this blog, or let me know that you're already a follower, or that you subscribe in Google Reader.
• For an additional chance, post about this contest on your blog, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. 
• For one more chance, name a book (fiction or non-fiction) set in or about World War II that you found notable.

Enter by 5PM PDT on Monday, July 2.  One lucky winner will be randomly selected and announced on Tuesday, July 3.  Good luck!

Special thanks to Tina Boscha for sending me a copy of her novel.

Really Random Tuesday #49: Armchair BEA and a Book Winner

Armchair BEA is an online networking event for bloggers who will not be attending Book Expo America (BEA) at the Javits Center in New York this week (June 4 - 8, 2012).  This virtual convention is hosted by a terrific team of book bloggers.

 

The Armchair BEA Blog Team

Emily

Tif Sweeney

Amy - My Friend Amy

Pam

Julie - My 5 monkeys

Chrisbookarama

Michelle Shannon

Florinda Pendley Vasquez

The 1stdaughter

Be sure to stop by Armchair BEA to register and to participate in the various activities, including interviews, discussions, giveaways, and more.  The goal of this event is to help promote a sense of community between book bloggers.  Please allow me to introduce myself: I hope I'm not too late to post this Armchair BEA interview.  I've chosen five questions, and have tried to keep my answers brief.

1) Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?

My name's Susan, but I go by "Suko", which is my user name (a combo of my first and last names).  I started this site four years ago because I was intrigued by the idea of having a blog, even though I knew next to nothing about blogging.  I chose books as a focus because I was excited about the books I was reading, and I thought that such a focus would be neither too narrow nor too wide.

2) What are you currently reading? 

I've just started a new book, River in the Sea by Tina Boscha.  I've had this book for a while and feel bad that I am just getting to it now.  The author has been very understanding, but I feel guilty about taking so long to begin reading her work.  I hope to review the book soon.

3) What is your favorite feature on your blog (i.e. author interviews, memes, something specific to your blog)?  

I really enjoy conducting and posting my exclusive author interviews.  In this way, I've become acquainted with many authors, and have learned more about their work and the writing process.  Each author has been friendly, gracious, and professional.  I felt very fortunate the first time an author--best-selling author Kate Jacobs--agreed to do an interview with me, in November of 2008. That launched my collection of interviews, which I've organized as an Author Interviews page.

4) Where do you see your blog in five years?  

Hmm. . . let me consult my crystal ball.  Seriously, though, I'm not sure what the future holds for this site.  That's a great question!  Of course, I wouldn't mind if this blog became much more popular.   I don't know where the future of book blogging (or any type of blogging) is headed, but I'll hopefully be a part of it.

5) What is your favorite part about the book blogging community?

I appreciate the supportive community of book bloggers.  While our tastes in books vary widely, the book bloggers I've met online are courteous and caring, and they introduce me to a cornucopia of tempting books. They also host reading challenges that entice me to read genres I'd probably not choose otherwise.  I've expanded my reading due to Savvy Verse & Wit and Diary of an Eccentric's War Through the Generations challenge,  Dolce Bellezza's Japanese Literature challenge, and The Reading Life's Irish Quarter short story challenge.  I've opened up to more great reading as a result, and have learned about other times and cultures in the process. 

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Often I announce my book winners in these Tuesday posts. Without further ado, the randomly selected winner of The Paper Garden by Molly Peacock is:

Faith Hope and Cherrytea!

Many congrats!  I hope you enjoy this book, which is about profound and prolific creativity at a later stage of life. The pictures of Mary Delany's exquisite work in this book may entice you to see the paper mosaicks in person.

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Appearing on random Tuesdays, Really Random Tuesday is a way to post odds and ends--announcements, musings, quotes, photos--any blogging and book-related things you can think of.  If you're inspired by this idea, feel free to copy the button and use it on your own blog.   Please leave a link in the comments if you’re participating and I'll add it to this post.  Thanks for reading!