Really Random Tuesday #75: Greenlight, Snow, a Winner, and a Giveaway

Do your bookstacks defy gravity?  I know many of us have enormous stacks of books, but I've never seen anything quite like this!
 

After Christmas, we traveled to NY to visit family.  As a book blogger, I keep an eye out for anything book-related while I'm on trips.  Armed with my iPhone (eye phone), it's easy to take pictures of my discoveries.  I found this zany "book bike" at an Anthropologie store in  Chelsea.  (Click on photos to make them larger.)

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For the past year or two, I've been getting email about events at the Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn.  It was exciting to visit the store and spend some time browsing.  I was somewhat tempted to introduce myself as a book blogger to the cashier, but she didn't seem particularly interested in chatting, so I didn't.

Inside the Greenlight Bookstore

Surrounded  by books

Daughter browsing

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Nothing says winter back east more clearly than snow.  During our trip, we experienced a snowstorm.  My favorite thing about snow is that it makes everything appear beautiful and magical. And of course it's lovely to be inside cozily reading when there's snow within view.

 

My other daughter, enjoying the snowstorm

Snow-covered morning, Brooklyn

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As is often the case in these Really Random Tuesday posts, I have a book winner to announce.  Please help me to congratulate Paulita from An Accidental Blog.  She's won Almost Always by Bobbi Reed.  Congratulations, Paulita!  I hope you'll enjoy this book as much as I did.  If you didn't win this time,  please don't despair as I host and list many giveaways.  In fact, I have a brand new giveaway, below.

I'm starting off the new year with a giveaway for a copy of a 365 New Words-a-Year calendar.  I bought one yesterday, only to receive another from my hubby in the mail later in the day.  I love this desk calendar, and have been getting it for the past several years.  I keep it by my computer, and often use it as a source of words for Wondrous Words Wednesday, a meme for wordies hosted by Kathy from BermudaOnion's Weblog.  This giveaway will run for a shorter time than usual, due to the nature of the item (U.S./Canada only).

• To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment.
• For another chance at winning, become a follower of this blog, or indicate that you're already a follower.
• For an additional chance, post about this contest on your blog, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter.

Enter by 5 PM PST on Tuesday, January 14.  One winner will be selected randomly and announced on Wednesday, January 15.

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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 book winners in these posts.  If you have miscellaneous book news to gather up and are inspired by this idea, "grab" the button for use on your own blog, then add your link to the "master" Mister Linky on the Really Random Tuesday page.  

Wishing my readers a fabulous 2014, replete with reading time! 

Almost Always: Review and Giveaway

In spite of the holiday madness, I managed to carve out enough quiet time to read Almost Always by Bobbi Reed.  This is my last book review for 2013.

Published in 2012, Almost Always tells the story of fifty-four year old Eva Palmer, who's been married to John for thirty-four years.  The story begins when Eva overhears two teenagers talking in a booth at Bob Evans, a restaurant in Ohio.  Eva then initiates a conversation with a pregnant and distraught eighteen-year-old, Cecelia Rudgely.  Determined to find a baby for her daughter, Shelly, and a grandchild for herself, Eva's entranced by the idea that she could give the teenager's baby to Shelly, her daughter.  Shelly and her husband, Brad, have been trying unsuccessfully to start a family for several years, and are discouraged and disheartened,  Optimistic that things will work out, Eva embarks on a new mission, and befriends Cecelia, with the hope of giving her daughter a very precious gift--a baby.

I know we're all busy with the holidays, so I'll "cut to the chase".  Simply put, I loved this book.  I'm glad I chose to read it, because I enjoyed it greatly.  Almost Always is a well-written and believable story.  Although my words may sound clichéd, the story touched my heart, and made me laugh and cry.  (I actually cried quite a bit while reading this book.)

Eva may be meddlesome, but this protagonist was my favorite character, a homemaker and caregiver who genuinely cares about others.  I adored her character.  Eva stays true to character, as a caregiver who puts others first, and wishes to make them happy.  She also helps an elderly neighbor, Mrs. Darlene Hemley, an ailing, childless widow.  Throughout the book, which is written in the present tense, we're privy to Eva's private thoughts and feelings as a wife and mother, to her joys and doubts.  Naturally, she worries that Cecelia may ultimately decide to keep the baby.  Readers are kept in suspense, not knowing what Cecelia and her boyfriend, Jeremy, will decide to do after the baby's born.  I relished the side plots in the book, in particular Eva's husband's puzzling new hobby, making gingerbread houses from scratch, which seems feminine and out of character for him (he's a retired State Highway Patrol trooper).  Gradually, details about Eva's long marriage to John unfold throughout the pages, revealing the history of their marriage and family, which includes two adult children, Shelly and Scott. 

Almost Always is a love story of a different kind.  It's not about heady romance or glittering new love.  It's about seasoned love that has developed over the course of many years, through good times and bad. This book is about love at the very core of marriage and family, and how that love provides the courage to face each day.  I think Bobbi Reed's novel is fabulous, and highly recommend it, especially to readers who enjoy books that center around marriage and family.   

Wonderful news!  Author Bobbi Reed is generously offering an international giveaway for a copy of Almost Always (print copy, U.S.; ebook, elsewhere).

• 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.
• For an additional chance, post about this contest on your blog, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter.

Enter by 5 PM PST on Monday, January 6.  One winner will be selected randomly and announced on Tuesday, January 7.

Thanks to Bobbi Reed for sending me a complimentary copy of her book, and for offering a giveaway to my readers.  Your comments are welcomed, as always.  Thanks for reading!

Mailbox Monday and the Book Blogger's Dilemma

What's the best way to photograph books?  You want to be fair to the authors, book cover artists and designers, but you also want a decent, eye-catching photo.

 This is a snazzy picture of my new books, but it only shows the top book cover!

This shows most of each of the book covers--but does the photo draw you in?

Here's a classic way to highlight books for Mailbox Monday.  However, it shows only the top cover, and the book spine poetry aspect of this particular stack is definitely lacking.

When you have only a couple of new books to showcase, it's fairly easy to show the covers, but you need to be more creative with a larger stack.  What's your approach to this dilemma?  ;)

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These are the books pictured above, which I received in the mail from agents and authors:

Freedom Fries and Café Crème by Jocelyne Rapinac

Almost Always by Bobbi Reed

House of Miracles by Ulrica Hume (featured in my last MM post, but I've included it again because it happened to be "hanging out" with my newest books)

Short Leash by Janice Gary

Journey to the Heart of Aikido by Linda Holiday

Please stay tuned for my reviews of these books.

Created by Marcia from To Be Continued, Mailbox Monday is a fun, social meme that's been "on tour" for the past few years.  This weekly meme needs a new home; if you're interested, please contact Marcia.  November’s host is Crystal from I totally paused!

What new books have you added to your shelves recently?