Contest Roundup: 11.30.09

The only contest running here right now is the Design a Button contest. I think I'll keep this one open through the middle of December, so if you want to win a book of your choice and haven't entered yet, now is your chance!

Also, as a reminder there will not be a Contest Monday for the month of December in lieu of a whole bunch of other contests. What, you ask? Well, you'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out...

But on to other things. Let's see what kind of contests are going on that I can tell you about! Don't forget to always check the right sidebar for previously featured contests that are still open to enter.


First of all, I want to tell you about a series of contests that will be coming up in the future. The fabulous Ellz Reads is hosting something she calls the 12 blogs of Christmas. Starting December 12th one blog a day will be hosting a fabulous holiday giveaway. There's some great blogs on this list including yours truly. ;-) I'll post the schedule in the sidebar as it gets closer, but for now you can get all the details over at the event blog. Stay tuned for tons of chances to win!


Carrie's YA Bookshelf is giving you a chance to win three books including The Dragon Heir by Cinda Williams Chima. Enter to win at her blog by December 18th.


Lost in a Book is having a special Christmas Box Giveaway including all sorts of books and ARC goodies. You can win a copy of Nobody's Princess and all sorts of other neat books. Ends December 10th.


Tirzah at The Compulsive Reader is also hosting a Christmas Cheer giveaway. Enter her contest for a chance to win 8 books including Numbers, which is the book I have my eye on. Ends December 21st.


Jennifer at Extreme Reader Book Reviews is also getting into the holiday spirit with a giveaway that has two winners and two prize packs. One of them is for the Pretty Little Liars books and the other is for the Blood Coven books. Ends December 19th.


The Book Resort has a great interview with Julie Kagawa up. And it includes a chance to win a copy of her new book The Iron King. Don't you just love the cover of this one? Ends December 31st.


Celi.a is hosting a contest I love called the Everything Austen Giveaway. You know this one is right up my alley. She's got all sorts of Austen-inspired prizes, so make sure you check this out if you're a Janeite. Ends December 8th.

And that's it for this time around. If you're hungry for more, make sure you check back here tomorrow. There's going to be a lot going on here at The Shady Glade in the next few days...

Winner of November Comment Contest: Chosen

I'm closing the comment contest for November a little early, so any comments made after this post will get rolled over to next month's contest.There were 160 eligible entries this month and the random number generator has picked lucky number 139 as the winner. That means

Book Lady

is our winner with the winning comment on this Thanksgiving LOL. Congrats! You have one week to email me with your mailing address and claim your ARC of Chosen: A House of Night Novel.

For those who are interested, Book Lady (our winner) was the top commentor this month and earned 5 extra entries. The other top ten commenters with one extra entry each were throuthehaze, queen of entropy, Jenny N., celi.a, Ane Ѽ, Sheryl, RKCharron, Jessica Kennedy, and Wrighty.

Congrats to those who made the top ten. Those in bold have made the top ten list two months in a row. Keep up the good work! For those of you who didn't win, there will be another comment contest coming up tomorrow with the prize YOU voted for, so keep your eye open for that. And keep those comments coming!

Winner of Contest Monday: Yesterday's Magic

As promised, there is a winner to announce for Novembers only Contest Monday post. So without further ado, the winner of a brand new copy of Yesterday's Magic by Pamela Service is:

Beth (BBRB)

Congratulations! You have one week to send me an email with your mailing address. For those of you who didn't win this time, don't despair. There will be lots of chances to win great amounts of goodies starting tomorrow.

LOL of the week: Kitteh Yoga

Had a stressful holiday? How about some yoga to help you relieve that tension:

If that doesn't say relaxation, I don't know what does...

If you'd like to learn more about LOLcats, you can check out the website, or read my review of the book.

Have a great week!

You Pick the Prize

So December is fast approaching, and along with a certain event (that shall remain nameless until December 1st) that means a new comment contest for December. But to be honest, I can't decide what to give away next month. So I'm letting you decide!

I've set up at poll at the top of the right sidebar to let you vote on what book you want to see as the Comment Contest prize for December 2009. All you have to do is either vote in the poll, or send me an email at shadyglade(AT)mail(DOT) com with "vote" in the subject line and your choice in the body of the email.

Voting closes on November 30th at 5:00 p.m. PST.

And for your reference, here is a list of the books you will be voting on along with links to Amazon.com so you can read about them if you haven't heard of them before. Once you've done your research, don't forget to vote!

- My Mother Is a French Fry and Further Proof of My Fuzzed-Up Life by Colleen Sydor
- The Miles Between by Mary E. Pearson
- House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones
- Bliss by Lauren Myracle
- Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman
- Never Cry Werewolf by Heather Davis
- A holiday-themed book (To Be Determined by me on 12/1)

What I've Been Up To

In addition to having lots of work and family issues to deal with, there's another thing that's been keeping me away from the blog. It's called the Cybils. Pretty much every night that I'm not working or have another commitment has been spent reading nomniees (and working on my bookshelf). And while I do still have about a month to get through as many of the books as I can, take a look at my to be read pile:


Now, I took this two days ago, so six of these I finished over the holiday, so it's a little out of date. But you get the idea. Good thing those are graphic novels and read fast! And I've already read 23 nomninees including six books that come before in a series so I can understand what's going on. Phew!

Anyway, if you don't hear from me in the next few days, at least you'll know what I've been doing. I feel bad for neglecting my blog but I just don't have enough time in the day lately. Le sigh.

I did also want to point out the new Cybils widget in the sidebar. It's over to the right -----> It displays a new book from one of the nominated categories each time it's refreshed. Neat huh? Normally I say that any of those books would make good Christmas presents, but the truth is there are always a few books in the nominated bunch that just wouldn't make the Christmas cut. Then again, some of those books are absolutely excellent. So it's your decision, I guess.

Anyway, I'm off to go read a few more books before I have to go to work.

LOL of the week: Thanksgiving edition

Couldn't resist. :D

Don't worry, this won't take the place of the feature this week. Come back on Sunday for a new LOL!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who are in the US and/or celebrating today. As you celebrate today, don't forget to be thankful for those things you have. I thank God for my family, that I have a home to live in, and that we have the chance to eat a special dinner tonight.

Anyway, if you'll excuse me, I have a couple pies to go finish...

Contest Roundup: November 23rd

Time for another Contest Roundup. I missed this last week so I wanted to make sure it would be a big one. So hang tight and let's get started.

First of all, you can win a book of your choice right here at The Shady Glade by entering my Design a Button contest. This is a great opportunity for those of you who are graphically inclined. Details for that can be found here.


Next up is a series of contests to win Fallen by Lauren Kate. This one must be popular, it's popping up everywhere! You have a chance to win an ARC copy from Lori at Pure Imagination (ends Nov 25, hurry!), one from Alea at Pop Culture Junkie (ends Dec 3), and one of five copies from Ellz Reads (ends Dec 4).


The unstoppable Amy from Addicted to Books is giving away a copy of The Stolen One that's been signed by the author. I just can't get over how lovely the cover is on this one! Ends Dec 29th.


If you are a fan of L.J. Smith's Night World books, you can enter to win one of 5 copies of the Ultimate Fan Guide for the books at Reverie Book Reviews. And if you're not a fan, you can become one because 5 copies of the first book in the series is up for grabs too! Ends Nov. 30th.


Steph Su is having another great contest at her blog, this time for six ARCs and some swag including How to Say Goodbye in Robot (for those of you who didn't win here in September). Ends Dec 3rd (US and Canada only).


Sharon (who loves Books and Cats) is giving away an ARCof Palace Beautiful by Sarah DeFord Williams that's open internationally. Head over there to enter by Nov 30th.

And last but not least, don't forget you still have a chance to win Yesterday's Magic or Chosen right here at The Shady Glade.

And that's it for today! If you know of a contest I should add leave me a link in the comments.

Some Secret Santa Wonderings

I've signed up to participate in three Secret Santas with other bloggers this years and I've already gotten my partners for two of them. It makes me so excited and happy for Christmas! Although I almost always have my shopping done early, so I've been thinking about Christmas for awhile now.

Before I forget Ashley from Books Obsession is hosting the third swap and she's still accepting signups until December 1st. For all of you who are late getting on the bandwagon. :) You can sign up over at her blog.

But as I'm putting together my packages for my (Santas? Receivees? Partners?) I have a lot of thoughts running through my head.

All three swaps have asked for a wishlist and I when I sign up I personally try to overlist things since I've been on the other end and it sucks. You know what I mean "oh, I'm happy with anything." Ahhhh! What am I supposed to do with that?

At that same time, I feel like I'm taking the easy way out by just getting them something on their wish list. It almost feels like it's a little stale as a gift. Although I'm sure they are happy getting something on their list (I know I would be) it feels a little less personable to me. I'm the kind of person who usually puts a lot of thought into the presents I give, so I think that's part of the reason why this option bothers me.

And yet another option is to take the list of what they want and get something that you think they will like based up what they wished for. This is the kind of gift I got last year from Secret Santa. Which is totally cool, since I loved it anyway. But am in the minority here? Do you get disappointed if the present isn't something you asked for? And what if they hate it?

Anyway, for those of you who've participated in this kind of gift exchange before, what do you think? I'd love to hear what you're experiences have been.

LOL of the Week: Oops!

I was so sad I missed this last week since I was gone for the funeral. So it is with great pleasure I bring you the LOL for this week:

Yeah, that would make me run too.

If you'd like to learn more about LOLcats, you can check out the website, or read my review of the book.

Have a great week!

Time to do a Little Winter Cleaning

It seems like I've been apologizing a lot for being absent from the blog lately. Kind of a bummer, since I hate it when life gets in the way. And although I've been kind of boring lately, I will make it up to you in December. Promise.

Anyway, don't have much to talk about tonight, but I am cleaning out my bookshelves again. It's that time of year again when I go through all the books I have and reorganize, reshuffle and decide which books I maybe can live without.

Which is really kind of hard for me, but maybe great news for some of you, especially if you're participating in one of the upcoming swaps. I guess I need to look at it as making room for all those wonderful new books I'll (hopefully) get for Christmas.

Meanwhile, don't forget about my Design a Button contest. You'll get a book of your choice if you win...

Now I'm off to go organize shelves. I'll come back when maybe I have some pictures.

Design a Button Contest!

Time for a new contest! Although, if you haven't already, make sure you enter the running Contest Monday post too.

But back to this contest. I've been wanting a button for my blog for awhile now, and I'm not graphically inclined at all.

So this is where you come in! To enter this contest, all you have to do is make me a button. I need:
1. A Shady Glade button
2. A Book Swaps button
3. I don't want to post this on the general blog yet, as it will ruin the surprise, but if you'd like details on this one, you can email and ask. I got a button for this one, thanks! However, you are still welcome to submit designs for 1 and 2!

Sizing can be as big or little as you want, but I'd like entries to be able to be shrunk/cropped down to fit in a sidebar.

You can do one, two, or all three buttons. It's completely up to you. The winner will get a book of their choice from all those I have available. (For a preview of what you might be able to get you can check here or here for ideas. Just remember, I have a lot more that I'm not listing either place.) Or, you can get a free entry (you don't have to pay the entrance fee) into my upcoming virtual book swap. Your choice. There will be a winner for each type of button. Or one person will win multiple prizes. Depends on how many people enter. Oh, and of course you will get recognition on the blog and never ending praise and adoration from me. :D

Open internationally. Contest ends when I get enough entries. We'll see when it happens. Contest will be offically closed on Jan 15th. Get those entries in!

To send in your entry, shoot me an email at shadyglade(AT)mail(DOT)com with the word "button" or "contest" in the subject line somewhere so your email doesn't get deleted.

Questions? Just ask! Good luck to everyone.

Waiting on Wednesday: 11.18.09

Anastasia's Secret by Susanne Dunlap

About the Book (from Amazon.com): " “Will I never see you again either?” I asked, feeling as though I was about to jump off a high mountain peak and hope to land without hurting myself. That’s how impossible everything seemed at that moment, no matter what I did.

“Perhaps we will meet again,” Sasha said, softening his voice. “But you must see that it does not matter. You have so much ahead of you. It’s your choice now. Choose the future! Choose life!”

For Anastasia Romanov, life as the privileged daughter of Russia’s last tsar is about to be torn apart by the bloodshed of revolution. Ousted from the imperial palace when the Bolsheviks seize control of the government, Anastasia and her family are exiled to Siberia. But even while the rebels debate the family’s future with agonizing slowness and the threat to their lives grows more menacing, romance quietly blooms between Anastasia and Sasha, a sympathetic young guard she has known since childhood. But will the strength of their love be enough to save Anastasia from a violent death?

Inspired by the mysteries that have long surrounded the last days of the Romanov family, Susanne Dunlap’s new novel is a haunting vision of the life—and love story—of Russia’s last princess."

So why am I waiting for this one? Um, well, I think you know how I feel about stories that involve Anastasia. If not, here's a refresher. And another one. Enough said really.

And now for the part of the post where I gush about the cover. Isn't it pretty? I don't really think the model looks like Anastasia, but I like it anyway.

Anastasia's Secret will be released on March 2nd, 2010 and is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com:

I'm Back

Well, I'm back and thoroughly exhausted from the funeral and surrounding travel/family mingling. Things might still be a little slow around here as I catch up on things.

Also, my email program apparently decided to quit on me. So if you sent me an email recently, I will get back to you as soon as my stupid email program decides to let me view my messages.

Meanwhile, I hope everyone else is having a pleasant day...

Unexpected Absense

Once again, I'm posting to let everyone know things might be a little slow around here for the next few days.

My grandmother passed away yesterday. As you can imagine, things have been pretty busy trying to make arrangements so we can attend the funeral on Monday. I'll be driving down there soon and we'll be there for a few days. I may have time to blog, but maybe not. At this point I'm going to play it by ear.

In the meantime, sign ups are still coming along for the virtual swap. We've got a few participants, so it looks like it's going to be lots of fun. Anyone who has signed up/will sign up, I haven't forgotten about you, but I'll be taking a break from it for a few days. So go ahead and fill out the form and I'll get back to you when I get back into town. And don't forget to enter for a chance to win Yesterday's Magic too.

I'll be back when I can. Until then, go read something fun for me.

A Veterans Day Thank You

Today (November 11th) is Veterans Day here in the US. I have a hard time finding the words to express the thanks I feel for these brave men who (past and present) fought to protect our country and our way of life.

So I present to you this video, because it does a much better job than I could.


Now that you've watched that, I just want to add one more thing. As the video says, it's not about politics. And if you make it about politics, you're being petty. It doesn't matter who is on what side, and remember many of our soldiers probably share your political views. And yet the serve anyway. These men have sacrificed their time, their families, and their own freedoms so that you can continue to enjoy those things.

So no matter what your view is, thank a solider today.

Swap clarification

I had a really good question about the virtual swaps, and so I wanted to make sure I posted it to make sure everyone read the clarification.

Thank you to Lili, who wanted to know if the fees had to be paid for each round you participate in. The answer is no. The fees are just a one time entry fee for however many rounds you choose to do.

However, if you left the swap and wanted to come back again later (like a few weeks later), you would need to pay the fee again. Essentially, once you get your package of books back, you have left the game.

If anyone else has clarifying questions, please let me know!

New Swap Is Here!

So here's the big news that I hinted at last week. Remember back in August when I started my travelling book swap? Well, it’s coming along quite nicely (four people left to go) and so I decided I could turn my attention to the next swap. One of the things that I heard from several people during the first round was a disappointment that it was only for US residents. Well this one will be open internationally!

I’m doing things a little differently this time around. For those of you who want to sign up for a travelling swap, don’t worry. They aren’t going anywhere, and you can still participate in this swap and a travelling swap. Or just one or the other. In order to accommodate international participants, rather than having a box that physically travels from house to house we will do a “virtual” box. So here’s the basics of how it will work:

Everyone who signs up will send the books they want to swap to me (including international swappers). Once I get all of them I will post a list of all the books I got and throw in several titles of my own to form our virtual “box”. Then everyone will take turns picking a title one at a time from the box. Once you’ve picked a book for every one you sent I’ll package up your new books and mail them back to you.

So what do you think? If you’re interested in participating, make sure you check out the specific rules. I've posted them separately so linking is a little easier in the future. Read through these and then use the form on that page to sign up. That's right, I'm going to make you click through to get to the form. That way I know you've at least seen the rules.

And here's a little sneak peek for you. I have no idea what others will be including, but I CAN tell you what I might add to the box. Sign up and you may get a chance at some of these:

Bliss by Lauren Myracle
Never Cry Werewolf by Heather Davis
Snap by Carol Snow
Runemarks by Joanne Harris
The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney
Jinxed by Day Leclaire
Backtracked by Pedro De Alacantara
The Other Side: A Teen's Guide to Ghost Hunting and the Paranormal by Marley Gibson
Pants on Fire by Meg Cabot
Losing Christina: Fog by Caroline B Cooney
Cindy Ella by Robin Palmer

Interested now? Great! Again, just make sure you've read the rules, and then sign up! You may get some of these, you may not, but you'll never know until you sign up. :)

Virtual Swap Rules

Here are the rules for the new virtual swaps. If you are interested in participating in a travelling swap instead (or in addition to this one) you can find details at that post. To help keep things as uncluttered as possible, I'm posting the rules separately from the announcement post.

1. Participating in the swap requires a minor fee to cover return postage. US Residents = $5, Canada Residents = $7, Other International = $12. These are in US dollars. I will also randomly be awarding $5 Amazon gift cards and extra books to random swapping participants, so fees also help cover those costs. Fees will be paid via PayPal. If this is a problem for you, email me to work out other arrangements.

2. Members who want to sign up will need to provide an email address, a mailing address and how many rounds they want to participate in. The number of books equals the number of rounds so if you send 2 books to the swap, you get to participate in 2 rounds, 3 books, 3 rounds, etc.

3. Books MUST be in good condition (used is fine) and must be Young Adult or books with Young Adult appeal. ARCs are fine. If you have any questions about whether your books qualify, just ask.

4. Once you’ve signed up and paid your fee, send your books to the address I will give you. Once I get a good number of books I’ll post a list of all of those available and start the swap.

5. At the beginning of each round I will use a list randomizer to determine the picking order. I will email you when it’s your turn to pick. When it’s your turn, look at the list of books and choose one. Email me to let me know your choice, or if you choose to pass. You will have 72 hours from my email to choose something before you get skipped. If you are skipped you will get one more chance to choose right before the round is over.

6. After everyone has either picked or passed the round will end. Those still participating will be shuffled again and a new round will begin. If you’ve picked your books for every round you signed up for (i.e. for 2 rounds if you sent 2 books) I will package up your new books and send them to you.

7. Players can leave the swap early only after participating in two rounds. If you leave before two rounds are up, your sent books are forfeit. At the end of the current round I will pull any book(s) you have already chosen and/or books you originally sent and send them back to you. If the books you originally sent are no longer available you will be allowed to pick from an alternate list until you have the same number of books you signed up with (i.e. until swapped books + alternate picks/books still available = number of books you sent).

8. Every once in awhile I will randomly select a swapper to receive either an extra book or a $5 Amazon.com gift card. This means that some of you will receive extra prizes and some of you will not.

9. New members will be allowed to join the swap at the beginning of a new round. As soon as your fee and books have been received you will be worked into the shuffle at the beginning of the next round. You can then play like normal.

And that’s it! All square on the rules? If you’re interested, use this form to sign up now. Looking forward to swapping with you!

Contest Monday: Win a Copy of Yesterday's Magic

As promised, here is the Contest Monday post for November. I'm going to extend the deadline for this one beyond just a week since it will be the only other contest I'm holding for November in preparation for the December project I've hinted at. Anyway, this week's prize is for a brand new hardback copy of Yesterday's Magic by Pamela Service.

About the Book (From Amazon.com): "When Heather McKenna is kidnapped by the sorceress Morgan LeFay, it is up to Heather’s friend Welly and the wizard Merlin (yes, that Merlin) to rescue her. Set five hundred years in the future following a nuclear devastation, the technological world has ground to a halt but magic is beginning to take hold again, and the powerful icons of myth are starting to fight over control of the world. From the Russian witch Baba Yaga, to the Native American trickster god, Raven, the most ancient magical forces are beginning to awaken, and they have very different ideas about the future of the earth.

This riveting sequel to Tomorrow's Magic continues Merlin and Arthur’s quest to reunite the world. "

How to Enter: To enter the contest, simply leave a comment on this post. IMPORTANT: Due to security concerns, do NOT include your email address in the comment. If you do, it will be deleted and you will not be entered. This new measure is designed to help protect your account from spam. If you can't/don't want to leave a comment, send an email to shadyglade (AT) mail (DOT) com with the subject line "Yesterday Contest" and include your name, your email address, and the correct subject line.

How to earn Extra Entries:

1. +1 for a sidebar post. Post a link in your comment.
2. +2 for a regular post. Post a link in your comment.
3. +1 Being or becoming a follower.
4. +2 For being referred by someone (let me know who).
5. +1 For every person you refer.

Rules: The contest is open until Wednesday, November 25th, 2009. Open to US and Canada residents, even if you've won a contest in the past. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator. One free entry per person allowed. See above for instructions to earn extra contest entries. Rules about claiming prizes can be found here. Questions? Post a comment or email and ask.

Good luck to everyone! I'll be announcing the winner at the end of November (probably the 30th).

*The amazing Contest Monday banner was designed by Liyana.

LOL of the Week: Maturity

I missed last week, so I wanted to be sure I didn't miss the LOL this week. So here we go:


If you'd like to learn more about LOLcats, you can check out the website, or read my review of the book.

Have a great week!

Some Updates and Holiday Cheer

Hey, sorry I've been a little absent this past week. As I mentioned on Monday, I did get over my cold, but my Mom caught it, so I've been playing nurse the past few days. Not to mention I've been spending a lot of time planning a certain upcoming event in December... but you'll have to wait to learn more about that.

And although you have to wait for that, there's another big announcement coming up next week that will be posted on Tuesday. So if you're not a subscriber, you'll want to come back for that. Also, a new contest will be posted Monday, so keep your eye open for that as well.

Tomorrow will be another Fall Into Reading Update. Despite my best intentions, I have not been doing those weekly as I planned. I blame it on the Cybils reading. And speaking of which, my posting may become more and more spotty as we get closer to December. Some people blog about their reading as they go, but I find I'm more the kind of person who blogs after the whole thing is over. During I just focus on reading. :)

For those who can't wait until December, here's a quick notice for you before you go. Some of you may have heard about this already, but there are two book swaps going on for bloggers during the holidays.

First off is the Book Bloggers Holiday Swap. I participated in this one last year and it was lots of fun. So of course I'm doing it again this year too. Deadline to sign up for this one is November 12th. Head over to the website to check out all the details, FAQs, and of course to sign up!

The next swap is a Secret Santa swap brought to you courtsey of Kate at The Neverending Shelf. Deadline to sign up for this one is November 15th. You can sign up for this one even if you're not a blogger. I also signed up for this one, so I may get one of you as my partner. That is, if you sign up too...

Anyway, that's it for me right now. Going to go check on mom.