ENDED - Audio Book Giveaway: Daniel X - Watch the Skies By James Patterson, Ned Rust

All's quiet in the small town of Holliswood, the television sets a-glow in every home. But not all is as perfect as it seems.A terrifying outlaw has just arrived in town, with the goal of throwing it into chaos--and filming the pandemonium for the fellas back home.Only one person can stop him and his thugs from destroying the city and everyone living there. Daniel X assembles an all-star team of his own creation, but not even he could imagine the enormity of this made-for-TV-villain's powers.

James Patterson is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many books, including the blockbuster series Maximum Ride. More than 100 million of his books are in print around the world, making him one of the top-selling writers of all time.

Ned Rust lives in Croton, NY, with his family. His writing has appeared in Rolling Stone and McSweeney's Internet Tendency.

Thanks to Hachette for this great giveaway.

Available in CD and Digital Download formats. Also available in e-book and hardcover.
Listen to an excerpt.

Giveaway Rules:

• One entry only - just say "I watch the skies"
• Leave your email (I cannot contact you without your email)
• Only residents of the US and Canada may enterPlease no PO Boxes!!!
• The drawing will last till August 27
• Random number generator will be used - 3 copies to give away
• I will post the winners here on August 28
• Winners have 24 hours to reply or a new winner will be selected

WINNERS - Luvdaylilies, yadgirl, hielandwhippets

ENDED - Audio Book Giveaway: Ravens By George Dawes Green

When Shaw McBride and Romeo Zderko drive into the small town of Brunswick , Georgia, their only thought is to fix their car's leaky right tire and continue on to Key West, Florida, away from their dead-end jobs as computer technicians in Ohio. But when Shaw discovers that the 318 million dollar Georgia State Lottery has just been claimed by an ordinary Georgia family, he sees an opportunity - he and Romeo will blackmail the Boatwright family for half their winnings and ditch their deadbeat lives for good.

Disguised as a state lottery representative, Shaw enters the Boatwright's home and holds the family hostage, while Romeo patrols the town, staking out the homes of the family's loved ones, should the Boatwrights refuse to comply with their demands. But Shaw isn't your average criminal out to make a quick buck. Instead, he has a grand messianic vision and he'll stop at nothing to see it through -- and soon, the Boatwrights find themselves living a Flannery O'Connor American nightmare from which they can't properly awaken.

At once frightening, comic, and suspenseful, RAVENS is a wholly original and utterly compelling novel from one of our most talented writers.

George Dawes Green is a highly acclaimed novelist and poet. He currently divides his time between Georgia and New York.

Thanks to Hachette for this great giveaway.

Available in CD and Digital Download formats. Also available in e-book and hardcover.
Listen to an excerpt.

Giveaway Rules:

• One entry only - just say "I want ravens"
• Leave your email (I cannot contact you without your email)
• Only residents of the US and Canada may enter
• Please no PO Boxes!!!
• The drawing will last till August 28
• Random number generator will be used - 3 copies to give away
• I will post the winners here on August 29
• Winners have 24 hours to reply or a new winner will be selected

WINNERS - kathleenyohanna, edeliz, dwellenstein

ENDED Audio Book Giveaway: THE CASTAWAYS By Elin Hilderbrand, read by Katie Hale

Greg and Tess MacAvoy are one of four prominent Nantucket couples who count each other as best friends. As pillars of their close-knit community, the MacAvoys, Kapenashes, Drakes, and Wheelers are important to their friends and neighbors, and especially to each other. But just before the beginning of another idyllic summer, Greg and Tess are killed when their boat capsizes during an anniversary sail. As the warm weather approaches and the island mourns their loss, nothing can prepare the MacAvoy's closest friends for what will be revealed. Once again, Hilderbrand masterfully weaves an intense tale of love and loyalty set against the backdrop of endless summer island life.

Elin Hilderbrand lives on Nantucket with her husband and their three young children. She grew up in Collegeville, PA, and traveled extensively before settling on Nantucket, which has been the setting for her seven previous novels.

Hilderbrand is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the graduate fiction workshop at the University of Iowa

Thanks to Hachette for this great giveaway.
Available in CD and Digital Download formats. Also available in ebook and hardcover.
Listen to an excerpt.

Visit Elin Hilderbrand’s website or join the Elin Hilderbrand community.

Giveaway Rules:

• One entry only - just say "I am a castaway"
• Leave your email (I cannot contact you without your email)
• Only residents of the US and Canada may enter
• Please no PO Boxes!!!
• The drawing will last till August 30
• Random number generator will be used - 3 copies to give away
• I will post the winners here on August 31
• Winners have 24 hours to reply or a new winner will be selected

WINNERS - tatertot3741, pamelashockley, garrettsambo

ENDED Book Giveaway: $20 Per Gallon by Christopher Steiner

Imagine an everyday world in which the price of gasoline (and oil) continues to go up, and up, and up. Think about the immediate impact that would have on our lives.Of course, everybody already knows how about gasoline has affected our driving habits. People can't wait to junk their gas-guzzling SUVs for a new Prius. But there are more, not-so-obvious changes on the horizon that Chris Steiner tracks brilliantly in this provocative work.

Consider the following societal changes: people who own homes in far-off suburbs will soon realize that there's no longer any market for their houses (reason: nobody wants to live too far away because it's too expensive to commute to work). Telecommuting will begin to expand rapidly. Trains will become the mode of national transportation (as it used to be) as the price of flying becomes prohibitive. Families will begin to migrate southward as the price of heating northern homes in the winter is too pricey. Cheap everyday items that are comprised of plastic will go away because of the rising price to produce them (plastic is derived from oil).

And this is just the beginning of a huge and overwhelming domino effect that our way of life will undergo in the years to come.

Steiner, an engineer by training before turning to journalism, sees how this simple but constant rise in oil and gas prices will totally re-structure our lifestyle. But what may be surprising to readers is that all of these changes may not be negative - but actually will usher in some new and very promising aspects of our society.

Steiner will probe how the liberation of technology and innovation, triggered by climbing gas prices, will change our lives. The book may start as an alarmist's exercise.... but don't be misled. The future will be exhilarating.

On a Personal Note: I disagree with the author. He seems to forget that America has been very resourceful through the years. What we have not invented, we have perfected. Also he seems to forget about natural gas. We are the largest producers of natural gas in the world. Why not use it more in other uses like transportation?

Thanks to Hachette for this great giveaway.

Giveaway Rules:

• One entry only - just say "I want cheap gas" and specify book or audiobook
• Leave your email (I cannot contact you without your email)
• Only residents of the US and Canada may enter
• Please no PO Boxes!!!
• The drawing will last till August 15
• Random number generator will be used - 5 copies to give away
• I will post the winners here on August 16
• Winners have 24 hours to reply or a new winner will be selected

WINNERS - (Book) Hotsnotty2, skstigger, ladycat713, nancyrobster, sunnyview99
(Audiobook) jason, tatertot374, debdesk9

Book Review: Annie's Ghosts

Annie's Ghosts by Steve Luxenberg

Steve Luxenberg is a journalist from Baltimore, MD who learned that his mother was not an only child, that she had a sister who was kept secret. His mother died before he learned the story of Annie. He then embarked on a quest to find Annie’s history.

Among the first things he learned was that Annie had multiple disabilities (an amputated leg, mental retardation, and some form of mental illness) probably due to low birth weight and being premature. Luxenberg had a lot of questions about his aunt. The main question was why his mother hid the fact that Annie existed and told everyone that she was an only child.

Luxenmberg did a good job as a journalist and researcher. My favorite part and also intriguing is the interview with Holocaust survivor Anna Schlein Oliwek, cousin of Luxenberg's mother Beth or Bertha (her real name) and the hidden aunt named Annie. Anna Oliwek made her way to the U.S. after World War II, settling with her American family in Detroit. It is her challenge to her American family's decision to secrete away the mentally and physically challenged Annie that gives the tale its moral construct. She had seen how incapacitated people were treated in Nazi Germany and was appalled that her own family would do the same thing to Annie.

For me, the most touching part of the story was when Luxenberg replaced the previously empty tombstone marker with one that read: ANNIE COHEN, APRIL 27, 1919 - AUGUST 7, 1972, DAUGHTER, SISTER, AUNT.

One thing that I am glad to have changed through the years, is the treatment of mentally and handicapped children/adults. Having a family member institutionalized for life was devastating to the person as well as the family. I am glad that we it is no longer advocated to “jail” the person but to mainstream the ones that can be. I know that in some instances some people are extremely handicapped and they have to be “sent away” but I sure hope they are still part of their family not abandoned like it happened to Annie.

On a personal note - Overall, it is a good book to be part of your reading list.