While some of the books I review on my site are furnished by the publishers, authors, or publicists for the purpose of review all of my reviews are truthful, honest, and my sincere opinion.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Winners: Obama's Blackberry



Thank you for everyone that entered this giveaway! There were 21 total entries from 11 different entrants!

The 5 Winners Are:
1) catsnbooks12
2) A Reader
3) Lesley
4) Anonymous (#2)
5) Busgirl

I sent out emails The winners have until 11:59pm EST Tuesday June 16th to respond or I will draw a new winner.

I used Random.org's Random Sequence Generator to draw the winners.

Again thank you for entering and congratulations to the winners!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Review and Giveaway! Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes

I want to thank Staci at Random House for letting me participate in another great Blog Tour!



Book Summary
When a mammogram result comes back abnormal, midlife mama Summer Finley makes a snap decision to relegate fear to the back burner and fulfill a lifelong dream. Summer heads for Holland where she meets up with tulips, wooden shoes, and her best friend, Noelle.

Pen pals since fourth grade, Summer and Noelle have never met face-to-face. Through decades of heart-level correspondence, they have sustained a deep friendship. A week of adventure helps both women trade anxiety for a renewed and deeper trust in God. When Summer confides in Noelle about the abnormal medical report, Noelle finds the freedom to share a long-held heartache, and both women discover they needed each other more than they realized.

Women ages 35 and up, readers of Christian Boomer Lit, and fans of books such as The Yada Yada Prayer Group will enjoy Robin Jones Gunn’s humorous and uplifting style. True-to-life characters and moments of poignancy bring a deeper understanding of the value of life and the gift of true friends. Readers guide and bonus material included.

My Review

This was a great book about finding yourself and spiritual growth.

I've never been in the position that Summer was placed in. Hearing that you have an abnormal test result is probably a very scary situation. I would imagine that all the things you've never done would seem to spread themselves out like a list of life's failures. But for Summer that seemed to be just the kick start that she needed.

The writing wasn't great but the characters, while a bit two-dimensional, were very real to me. The spiritual and introspective thoughts that Summer has were also very real. It is also very apparent the Robin Jones Gunn put a lot of research into the book. The places that Summer and Noelle visit are real places with real stories.

Through all of the inner turmoil Summer faces she's able to keep her head held high and just enjoy her visit. The humorous stories enter at just the right time, keeping what could have been a very serious and emotional story very light-hearted. This made the story touching and at the same time easy to read. I personally find most stories about a serious subject, such as serious illness, very hard to read emotionally. They just seem to drain me, and while the stories may be good they take a lot out of me. This story deals with a very serious topic in a way that makes it enjoyable. The story isn't so much about what Summer is going through, but rather it's just about her living her life and enjoying herself.

Overall it was a pretty good book. A bit of chick-lit mixed with a story of spirituality. It was a very fast read. It also made me want to read more of the Sisterchicks novels.

For more information about Sisterchicks please visit the Sisterchicks website
For more information about the Author Robin Jones Gunn please visit her website

Now the giveaway!

I'm going to do this giveaway a little different than I do my others. The 50th comment on this post will win a copy of Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes.

You can leave as many comments as you would like, you just can not leave two comments in a row, there has to be at least one comment from someone else in between.

In your first comment please leave me you email address so I can contact you if you win.

Because I am mailing this out myself please only US entrants. Also, for those of you that have allergies please be aware that I have pets and I smoke. The copy I'm giving away was never opened and I didn't let my dog roll around on it, but I understand that if you have allergies the dander and smoke in the air "seeps" into the pages. Just wanted to give you fair warning, and I don't want to be responsible for anyone's asthma attack!

I'll start a conversation in the comments, feel free to keep the conversation going!

Good Luck! Also, tell your friends to enter!

Congratulations to MJ for having the 50th post. Your book is in the mail :-)