Category: Blogs

Enter my book giveaway in The Literary Blog Hop

Valorie Grace Hallinan56 Comments

literarybloghop_februaryBooks Can Save a Life is two years old this month, and to celebrate I’m participating in The Literary Giveaway Blog Hop.

Over 40 blogs are part of the hop, which is the mastermind of Judith who blogs at Leeswammes’ Blog in the Netherlands.

Between now and Wednesday, February 12, you can hop to over 40 different book blogs, all offering one or more giveaways of books or bookish items. All books will be literary (non)fiction or something close to that. Follow the links at the bottom of this post to find the other participating blogs.

My Giveaway

As part of the blog hop I will be giving away 2 novels, which are open for North American entries.

The Rules

1. Anyone can enter. You do not need to have a blog.
2. You need a post-office recognised address in North America where you can receive packages.
3. You do not have to be a follower or become a follower, although if you like my blog I hope you will! You can follow by email or on Facebook or Twitter.
4. Leave a comment (on the left sidebar) letting me know the last best book or author you’ve read and providing me with an email address where you can be contacted should you win.
5. You can enter the giveaway until Wednesday 12th February. I will close the giveaway at midnight. Winners will be randomly picked using random.com.
6. Double or invalid entries will be removed.
7. I will notify the winners by email. The winners need to answer my email within 3 days, or I’ll announce a new winner.

MY BOOK GIVEAWAY ENDS AT MIDNIGHT EST, WEDNESDAY, 2/12/2014!

Thank you for visiting my blog. Now start blog hopping!

  1. Leeswammes
  2. Seaside Book Nook
  3. Booklover Book Reviews
  4. Biblionomad
  5. Laurie Here
  6. The Well-Read Redhead (US/CA)
  7. River City Reading
  8. GirlVsBookshelf
  9. Ciska’s Book Chest
  10. The Book Stop
  11. Ragdoll Books Blog
  12. Nishita’s Rants and Raves
  13. Lucybird’s Book Blog
  14. Reading World (N-America)
  15. Journey Through Books
  16. Readerbuzz
  17. Always With a Book (US)
  18. 52 Books or Bust (N.Am./UK)
  19. Guiltless Reading (US/CA)
  20. Book-alicious Mama (US)
  21. Wensend
  22. Books Speak Volumes
  23. Words for Worms
  24. The Relentless Reader
  25. A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall (US)
  1. Fourth Street Review
  2. Vailia’s Page Turner
  3. The Little Reader Library
  4. Lost Generation Reader
  5. Heavenali
  6. Roof Beam Reader
  7. Mythical Books
  8. Word by Word
  9. The Misfortune of Knowing
  10. Aymaran Shadow > Behind The Scenes
  11. The Things You Can Read (US)
  12. Bay State Reader’s Advisory
  13. Curiosity Killed the Bookworm
  14. Lizzy’s Literary Life
  15. Books Can Save a Life (N. America)
  16. Words And Peace (US)
  17. The Book Club Blog

On the twelfth day of Christmas: James Fielden

Valorie Grace HallinanLeave a comment

lake, close-up of water

I discovered James Fielden’s site more than a year ago. Ever since, I’ve been enjoying his writing, photography and, more recently, his music and audio meditations – all paths in which James explores aspects of spirituality and the inner life. James lives in Los Angeles, where he mixes sound for film and television.

His 23-minute guided meditation, Journey Across a Lake, is a wonderful way to begin the new year.

Photo by James Fielden.

On the tenth day of Christmas: Brain Pickings

Valorie Grace HallinanLeave a comment

Deer in snow

7 Essential Books on the Art and Science of Happiness, at Brain Pickings. If you’re not familiar with this site, you’ll want to browse its long, generous excerpts from books by artists, scientists, and other fascinating people. See The Best of Brain Pickings 2013. This is not really a blog, but “a human-powered discovery engine for interestingness” by Maria Popova that has been praised by The New York Times and is included in the Library of Congress permanent web archive.

Photo: Christmas Eve visitors, through binoculars, by A. Hallinan

On the ninth day of Christmas: Bealtaine Cottage

Valorie Grace HallinanLeave a comment

Cardinal

Bealtaine Cottage is luscious, especially if you like Irish cottages, and midwinter.

On the eighth day of Christmas: The Teacup Chronicles

Valorie Grace HallinanLeave a comment

juniper berries

The Teacup Chronicles

Because I like good stories about ordinary things, fine photographs, unusual recipes, and anything with “teacup” in the title.

On the seventh day of Christmas: Los Rodriguez Life

Valorie Grace HallinanLeave a comment

Winter snow scene

Los Rodriguez Life always makes me happy when I visit. Bilingual, so I can practice reading Spanish, and it feels like a grand celebration of family and being alive. There’s gardening, food, travel, photography, music and lots of personality.

I think you’ll enjoy “Fly On.” (Scroll down to the music video.) I love fiddle music.

December morning photo by Putneypics under CC By-NC 2.0

On the sixth day of Christmas: Letters of Note

Valorie Grace Hallinan1 Comment

Cardinal

Letters of Note is, in the words of its editor, Shaun Usher, “an attempt to gather and sort fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes, and memos.”

They are the extraordinary words of real people. Here are a few of my favorites:

Our Frank

The Outsiders

We were not found wanting

I am very real

Everything comes to an end

There is a Letters of Note book, too!

Northern Cardinal photo by Putneypics under CC By-NC 2.0

On the fifth day of Christmas: The Quivering Pen

Valorie Grace Hallinan1 Comment

12 Days of Christmas

The Quivering Pen has been my happiest blog discovery of late. It’s a rich, beautifully written site about books, writing, and the literary life by David Abrams, a former Army journalist and author of The Fobbit, a comic novel about the Iraq War.

David is an expansive, passionate reader who writes eloquently about new, backlist, classic, and “lost gem” titles. You’ll find unusual and off-the-beaten-path books to add to your to-read list, and if you’re a writer, you’ll appreciate David’s generous sharing of his own journey and the wisdom of other writers.

I’m looking forward to reading David’s enticing backlist of posts. Among other attractions, he features Trailer Park Tuesday (new book trailers), Friday Freebie (a book giveaway), Sunday Sentence (the best sentences he’s read that week), My First Time (writers talk about virgin experiences in their writing and publishing careers), and Bookstore of the Month.

The Twelve Days of Christmas Song Poster by Xavier-Romero Frias is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

On the fourth day of Christmas: Ephemeral New York

Valorie Grace Hallinan7 Comments

Christmas tree

You could spend hours browsing the photos and traveling back in time at Ephemeral New York.

The photo above is from “Which city park hosted the first Christmas tree?”  New York City during the holidays is transcendent, no matter what the century.

Years ago, I jogged past Carl Shurtz Park every day, but I never knew Peter Pan lived there.

Nine Barrow Street in Greenwich Village bears a version of my husband’s family name, in honor of an inventive Irish blacksmith. I found that out when I read, “A village monument to a 19th century blacksmith.”

There are 75 posts about out-of-date guidebooks.

And 45 posts about defunct department stores.

Many a bittersweet tale, as well:  “The Tragedy of the Loveliest Woman in America” and “Notes Pinned to Babies at the Foundling Asylum.”

You could write a book about each and every post at Ephemeral New York.

Photo: Bain News Service