Winners @ The Book Bag!!

I had several giveaways ending all about the same time so I waited until they were all done so I could announce the winners in one post. 

First up is the Follower Love Giveaway Hop

Let me tell you, this was one amazing hop! I gained over 150 new followers on this hop and went over 1100. UN-Believable!! I asked for some love and man, I got it! I really wish I could make everyone a winner. I guess the only thing to do would be to have more giveaways! 

Next up was the giveaway for 2 Kindle copies of the amazing story, The Life We Dream donated by the author. 

Thank you, J.H. Glaze!

You can read my thoughts here

And last but not least, I had the giveaway for the fabulous book, Joy for Beginners. 

Another book I loved and you can ready my thoughts here. 

I have a couple other giveaways going on right now so go check them out too. 

And I will be participating in the No Strings Attached Giveaway Hop in March ~ I love that hop! 

Okay, so do you want to know who the winners are, as drawn by Rafflecopter? 

Right now? 

Really? 

Ready?

Joy for Beginners winner is ....

Shelly Hammond

The Life We Dream winners are ....

Fiery Na and Bidisha Banerjee

(one of the winners didn't respond within 48 hours so another winner was drawn and has been notified)

And the winner of the Followers Love Hop is .......

Diah Didi

Congrats to all of these winners. Emails will be sent soon and you have 48 hours to respond. 

Be sure to check out the sidebar for my current giveaways! 

Joy for Beginners by Erica Bauermeister and a Giveaway!

At an intimate, festive dinner party in Seattle, six women gather to celebrate their friend Kate's recovery from cancer. Wineglass in hand, Kate strikes a bargain with them. To celebrate her new lease on life, she'll do the one thing that's always terrified her: white-water rafting. But if she goes, all of them will also do something they always swore they'd never do-and Kate is going to choose their adventures.

Shimmering with warmth, wit, and insight, Joy for Beginners is a celebration of life: unexpected, lyrical, and deeply satisfying. ~~ synopsis from Goodreads

My thoughts about Joy for Beginners ~~

This is the first book written by Erica that I have read. But it won't be the last. What an excellent storyteller! I love reading stories about a group of women who have a bond and get through life by leaning on each other.

When Kate is diagnosed with cancer, her friends gather around her and get her through her ordeal. When they get together to celebrate her recovery, she decides she is going to do the one thing she is afraid of and challenges each of them to do something they are afraid of doing or facing. But she gets to pick what they each have to do.

Because of the time she spent with each of these women during her recovery, Kate really understands her friends and knows what each of them needs to find fulfillment and happiness in their lives. I really loved that each chapter focuses on one of the women and the reader gets to know them very well and becomes invested in their challenge, right along with them.

Here's a couple of great lines from Joy for Beginners ~~

'It's a bookstore. We specialize in stories.'

'Adults need to have fun so children will want to grow up.'

And I love this ~~

'I think love is kind of like those waves out there. You ride one in to the beach, and it's the most amazing thing you've ever felt. But at some point the water goes back out; it has to. And maybe you're lucky -- maybe you're both too busy to do anything drastic. Maybe you're good as friends, so you stay. And then something happens -- maybe it's something as big as a baby, or as small as him unloading the dishwasher -- and the wave comes back in again. And it does that, over and over. I just think sometimes people forget to wait.'

Erica's newest book, The Lost Art of Mixing, just came out and I so want to read it now!

About the author

Erica Bauermeister is the author of the bestselling novel The School of Essential Ingredients (Putnam, 2009) which follows the lives of eight students and their teacher in a cooking class held in a restaurant kitchen. Her novel, Joy for Beginners (Putnam, June 2011) explores what happens to seven women who challenge one another to do one thing in the next year that is new or difficult or scary. The twist? - they don't get to choose their own challenges. Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain, has called Joy for Beginners "moving, touching, wonderfully written; inspiring to read." Erica Bauermeister is also the co-author of two nonfiction books: 500 Great Books by Women: A Reader's Guide and Let's Hear It For the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. She lives in Seattle and loves to talk with book groups.

Connect with Erica

Website | Goodreads | Amazon

This is book 1 for my 2013 TBR Pile Challenge

Enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win
a paperback copy of this amazing book!

Be sure to check out the sidebar for my current giveaways!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

WWW Wednesdays January 30, 2013

WWW Wednesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading

To play along, just answer the following three questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

Clicking on the book covers will take you to Goodreads
for more information about the books listed below.

What are you currently reading?

News from Heaven by Jennifer Haigh
This is a collection of stories about some of the characters from Jennifer's book Baker Towers, which I already read and loved! It's nice to revisit Bakerton. I will be posting my thoughts about both of these books in February for TLC Book Tours.

Where We Belong by Emily Giffin

Still drivin' and listenin'. Almost done!

What did you recently finish reading?

The Life We Dream by JH Glaze
What a beautiful love story! My thoughts are here. You can enter my giveaway to win one of 2 Kindle e-book novellas from the author.

Home Front by Kristen Hannah

I have not read one of Kristin's books that I didn't absolutely love. My book group will be discussing this tomorrow so I am anxious to see what they think.

Joy for Beginners by Erica Bauermeister

This is the first book I read for my TBR Pile Challenge. I will be posting my thoughts soon.

What do you think you will read next?

I really have no idea what I am going to read next.

Guess it's time to go stand in front of my bookshelves.

What's on your WWW this week?

Leave me a comment and

I'll stop by to check out your reads.

And be sure to check out the sidebar
for my current giveaways!

WWW Wednesdays January 23, 2013

WWW Wednesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading

To play along, just answer the following three questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

Clicking on the book covers will take you to Goodreads
for more information about the books listed below.

What are you currently reading?

Joy for Beginners by Erica Bauermeister
This is the first book I am reading for my TBR Pile Challenge. It felt so great to get it down off the shelf and start reading it. It has been sitting there way too long. 

Where We Belong by Emily Giffin

Still drivin' and listenin'.

What did you recently finish reading?

I loved this long weekend! It was very cold here and it was wonderful to just sit inside under a blanket and get lost in a few good books! Reviews on all of these will be posted soon ~ they were all wonderful!

Fractured by Susan Oloier

Loved it ~ so emotional! 

Sara's Promise by Deanna Lynn Sletten
Such a beautiful story! 

Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh

Wonderful saga that starts in the 40's and follows a family thru the years.

What do you think you will read next?

Home Front by Kristen Hannah

My book club won copies of this book (!!) and we are reading it this month. I love Kristen's books, they kind of remind me of Jody Picoult's. 

What's on your WWW this week?

Leave me a comment and

I'll stop by to check out your reads.

And be sure to check out the sidebar 
for my current giveaways! 

Oh no! Which one should I read first?

I just got a notification that I have both of these books, The Art of Forgetting AND Joy for Beginners on hold at the public library. I have been dying to read both of them. 

And now I have to decide which one to read first. How do I choose??