prizes for everyone!!!

Yes, but not just anyone....but yes everyone who has completed the Orbis Terrarum Challenge and does their wrap up post!!

Beastmomma, the insanely-cool-supa-woman from life from the belly of the beast has offered to help really make this conclusion a blast! She is offering to supplement my prizes, and had the idea to send a bookie prize to every single one of you who has completed the challenge and who does the wrap up post.

You still have time! If you need to finish a book, do it! If you need to write answers to my silly survey...do it! You have until midnight on the 15th, which is tomorrow to complete the challenge, the wrap up post, and adding your link to Mr. linky. You can do it! :) Good luck folks.

The bookie prizes will consist of books (of course), bookends, baskets for books, cookbooks...keep in mind that some items will be in gently used condition, and if that bugs you you don't need to participate if you don't want to.

Here is what your wrap up post needs to include
Here is where you can see some of the prizes I am offering

You must put the link to your wrap up post on my sweet Mr. Linky to be included in this prize fest!!!

PS if anyone else is feeling generous and wants to add in some prizes to winners...send me an email and you are certainly welcome to help!! :)

edit:
raidergirl has added to the prize loot:
"In the Country of Men" by Hisham Matar, set in Libya!

Tricia has added PS I Love You by Cecelia Ahern and Charity Girl by Georgette Heyer to the prize bucket as well!!! :)

2008

Here are my reads for 2008, I guess this year I completed 108 according to the count here :) I met my goal,sweet!

My favourites, the Happy Chicken award winners for 2008:


What I read in 2008:

NaNo Complete.

I finished my novel, I WROTE A NOVEL. I can now say that and be happy. I don't know what I will do with it yet, don't know when or what will happen. Maybe I will try to edit the first draft, maybe I will never look at it again. I don't know right now what will happen at all.

PS now I can get back to reading all the books that have been piling up for me!!!

reviews

2009

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Reviews

The Shack/La Cabaña by William P. Young
My Antonia by Willa Cather*
A View of Jerusalem by Erin Sheely Tolman
Love and Other Natural Disasters by Holly Shumas
Moment of Truth in Iraq by Michael Yon*
Home Girl by Judith Matloff
Bitter Sweets by Roopa Farooki
Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet
Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek
Ben's Trumpet by Rachel Isadora
Visiting Langston by Willie Perdomo
Pet Show by Ezra Jack Keats
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak*
Forever Lily by Beth Nonte Russell
The Misadventures of Oliver Booth by David Desmond
The Survivors Club by Ben Sherwood
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo
Anne Of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Walking The Choctaw Road by Choctaw Storyteller Tim Tingle
My Little Red Book by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff
The Milly-Molly-Mandy Books by Joyce Lankster Brisley
Work In Progress by Kristin Armstrong
Miles from Nowhere by Nami Mun
Slumdog Millionaire (film review)*
Written by Vikas Swarup (novel) and Simon Beaufoy (screenplay)
Directed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan (co-director: India)
Get Positively Beautiful by Carmindy
Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson




2008

Reviews

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Confetti Cakes for Kids by Elisa Strauss with Christie Matheson
The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg
The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
Katie Brown Celebrates by Katie Brown
The Green Beauty Guide by Julie Gabriel
Wife In The North by Judith o' Reilly
A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas *
Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
Flirting with Forty by Jane Porter
Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicky Myron
Testimony by Anita Shreve
Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe by Jennie Shortridge
I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence by Amy Sedaris
Monique and the Mango Rains by Kris Holloway
LIFE: The American Journey of Barack Obama by Robert Sullivan
Off the Menu by Christine Son*
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
We Interrupt This Broadcast (10th Anniversary Edition) by Joe Garner
First Daughter by Eric Van Lustbader
The Bible Illuminated: The Book, New Testament by Publisher lluminated World
Life After Genius by M. Ann Jacoby
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Lord of The Flies by William Golding
The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton*
The Shiniest Jewel: A Family Love Story by Marian Henley*
Dating Da Vinci by Malena Lott
Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala
Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Janeology by Karen Harrington
Immortal by Traci L. Slatton
Watership Down by Richard Adams*
March by Geraldine Brooks
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer
Half A Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom*
An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken
Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
The Front Porch Prophet by Raymond L. Atkins
What if...? by Steve N. Lee
The Bible Salesman by Clyde Edgerton
Run by Ann Patchett
The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss
The River, By Moonlight Camille Marchetta
Eating for Energy by Yuri Elkaim
The American Boy's Handy Book by Daniel C. Beard
From A Distance by Tamara Alexander
Surviving Ben's Suicide by C.Comfort Shields
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
and Annie Barrows*
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls*
Deep in the Heart of Trouble byDeeanne Gist
Jackie Ormes: The First African American Woman Cartoonist by Nancy Goldstein
Mrs. Lieutenant by Phillys Zimbler Miller
The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Skunk: A Love Story by Justin Courter
The Vanishing Moon by Joseph Coulson
Did I Expect Angels? by Kathryn Maughan
The Society of S by Susan Hubbard
The Heartbreak Diet by Thorina Rose
BELONGING by Niloufar Talebi
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella
A Bottle in the Gaza Sea by Valerie Zenatti
The Wishing Year by Noelle Oxenhandler
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
A Separate Star: Selected Writings by Helen Hunt Jackson
Matrimony: a novel by Joshua Henkin
Love Marriage by V.V. Ganeshananthan
Persepolis and Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi
Dreams and Stones by Magdalena Tulli
Two Brothers: One North, One South by David H. Jones
Invasion of the Bible Thumpers by Skookum Maguire
The Writing Circle by Rozena Maart*
I Love Dirt by Jennifer Ward
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Moshin Hamid
Sarajevo Marlboro by Miljenko Jergovic*
Voice of Ice/ Voix de Glace by Alta Ifland
Making Stuff for Kids by Victoria Woodcock
A Spoon for Every Bite by Joe Hayes
ABeCedarios: Mexican Folk Art in Spanish and English by Cynthia Weill
187 Reasons Mexicanos Can't Cross the Border by Juan Felipe Herrera
Moving Parts by Magdalena Tulli
Town House by Tish Cohen
Farmworker's Daughter by Rose Castillo Gilbault
The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule
The Waitress Was New by Dominique Fabre
I'jaam:an iraqi rhapsody by Sinan Antoon*
There's a (Slight) Chance I Might be Going to Hell by Laurie Notaro
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger*
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
Karma and Other Stories by Rishi Reddi
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

*Winners of my Happy Chicken Award!!! :)

Here are my reads for 2008, I guess this year I completed 108 according to the count here :) I met my goal,sweet!

My favourites, the Happy Chicken award winners for 2008:


What I read in 2008:

A Short History of Tractors In Ukrainian

Title: A Short History of Tractors In Ukrainian
Author: Marina Lewycka
Pages: 326
Yearly Count: 34

When coercion, manipulation and big boobs capture the attention of their ailing father, sisters Vera and Nadia try to rescue him from his doomed fate. Nevertheless, he is in love, and belives Valentina can do no wrong. Soon everyone will be aware of how deep her claws can dig in and refuse to let go. The History of Tractors In Ukrainian is a delightful and deep read all in one. I was stunned by the writing , which was bright and original. The matter of the elderly and how to care for them, and respect their wishes while still protecting them from harm is not something I had ever read about.

To me this book is a good read, seemingly light as it is packed with laughs and interesting situations, however the subject matter is deep and gives the book a great balance. I fell right into this one, and in the end pages when coming up again to my real world realized just how much I enjoyed it, as now I am sorry to close the book and say goodbye. It is an endearing read, and it took me somewhere I have never been before. I highly recommend this read- great summer not-to-heavy, not-to-light pick!

I can't wait to read something else she has written :) I found it very interesting that before writing novels she wrote informative non-fiction help books for caring for the elderly. To me she seems to be laughing in the face of society and saying- wake up! Take care of your elderly, treat them right, respect them and never let them be taken advantage of! Youth is fleeting and not to be eternally preserved, you too will grow old. - but maybe that is just my take on things.

Other reviews for The History of Tractors in Ukrainian:
Corinne at The Book Nest
Tricia at Library Queue

Have you reviewed this book? if you give me your link I will put it here on my post :)

want a good book list!?2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize shortlists announced

2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize announced!!

These books are decided upon by judgeing panels in each of the four different Commonwealth regions:Africa; Canada and the Caribbean, Europe and South Asia; and South East Asia and South Pacific. This list was chosen from a list of 320!

Here are the lists by Commonwealth region:

AFRICA

Best Book
Barbara Adair (South Africa) End Jacana Media
Ifeoma Chinwuba (Nigeria) Waiting for Maria Spectrum Books
Finuala Dowling(South Africa) Flyleaf Penguin Books SA
Karen King-Aribisala (Nigeria) The Hangman's Game Peepal Tree Press
Susan Mann (South Africa ) Quarter Tones Harvill Secker
Zakes Mda (South Africa) Cion Penguin Books SA

Best First Book
Sade Adeniran (Nigeria ) Imagine This SW Books
Ceridwen Dovey (South Africa) Blood Kin Penguin Books SA
Dayo Forster (Gambia) Reading the Ceiling Simon and Schuster
Ken Kamoche (Kenya) A Fragile Hope Salt Publishing
Sumayya Lee (South Africa) The Story of Maha South Africa Kwela Books
Carel van der Merwe (South Africa) No Man's Land Umuzi

CANADA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Best Book
Gil Adamson (Canada) The Outlander House of Anansi Press
Erna Brodber (Jamaica) The Rainmaker's Mistake New Beacon Books
Lawrence Hill (Canada) The Book of Negroes HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Robert Hough (Canada) The Culprits Canada Random House Canada
Frances Itani (Canada) Remembering the Bones HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Michael Ondaatje (Canada) Divisadero Bloomsbury Publishing/ McClelland & Stewart


Best First Book
David Chariandy (Canada) Soucouyant Arsenal Pulp Press
Tish Cohen (Canada) Town House HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Arley McNeney (Canada) Post Thistledown Press
Ameen Merchant (Canada) The Silent Raga Douglas & McIntyre
C.S. Richardson (Canada) The End of the Alphabet Doubleday Canada
Neil Smith (Canada) Bang Crunch Knopf Canada

EUROPE AND SOUTH ASIA

Best Book
David Davidar (India )The Solitude of Emperors Weidenfeld & Nicholson
Mohsin Hamid (Pakistan)The Reluctant Fundamentalist Viking, Penguin Books India PVT Ltd/Hamish Hamilton
Usha K.R. (India) Girl and a River Penguin Books India PVT Ltd
Hari Kunzru (UK) My Revolutions Hamish Hamilton
Nicholas Shakespeare (UK) Secrets of the Sea Harvill Secker
Indra Sinha (India ) Animal's People Simon and Schuster

Best First Book
Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh) A Golden Age John Murray
Priya Basil (UK) Ishq and Mushq Transworld Publishers
Shandana Minhas (UK) Tunnel Vision Roli Books
Catherine O'Flynn (UK) What was Lost Tindal Street Press
Jeremy Page (UK) Salt Viking, Penguin
JM Shaw (UK) The Illumination of Merton Browne Sceptre

SOUTH EAST ASIA AND SOUTH PACIFIC

Best Book Award
Steven Carroll (Australia) The Time We Have Taken HarperCollins
Sonya Hartnett (Australia) The Ghosts Child Penguin Australia
Sarah Hopkins (Australia) The Crimes of Billy Fish ABC Books
Mireille Juchau (Australia) Burning In Giramondo
Michelle De Kretser (Australia) The Lost Dog Allen & Unwin
Alex Miller (Australia) Landscape of Farewell Allen & Unwin

Best First Book Award
Steven Conte (Australia) The Zookeepers War Australia Harper Collins
Karen Foxlee (Australia) The Anatomy of Wings Australia UQP
Sara Knox (Australia) The Orphan Gunner Giramondo
Carol Lefevre (Australia) Nights in the Asylum Picador
Marcella Polain (Australia) The Edge of the World Fremantle Press
Stephen Scourfield (Australia) Other Country Allen & Unwin

Go to their site and see for yourself!!