http://findthetimetoread.blogspot.com/2009/09/note-from-jess-first-blogiversary.html

Note from Jess: First Blogiversary!

Yup, you read right. Find the Time to Read is a year old today. I've had some ups and downs the past year working on this blog. I've switched hosts several times, changed the layout, worried if I was posting too much or not enough. There was the whole summer where I barely posted because real life kicked me in the face, but I still came through it all and so did Find the Time to Read.

I received my first ARC this year, actually until I started working on Find the Time to Read I didn't even know what an ARC was. My first ARC was Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev and I won it in a contest that she had put together. Getting that package in the mail really shocked me to my core, and was really one of the coolest things that have ever happend to me. Currently my copy of that ARC is sitting on my bookshelves next to the finished copy of Eyes Like Stars. It's a silly thing, but for me that ARC was a lot of firsts, and it means the world to me.

My stats for this year are:

I reviewed 59 books
Which ended up being 21,814 pages read
I finished 24 books from my TBR pile
I completed 1 book challenge
I held 3 contests
I went to 6 author signings for authors that I have reviewed


My goals for the next year are:

To double the amount of books reviewed
To double the amount of books read from my TBR pile
Complete at least 3 book challenges and hold more contests to share my love of reading with my readers
To meet more authors (that's a given! I love talking to them and hearing them talk about their books!)


To celebrate my 1 year Blogiversary, I'm holding a huge contest to celebrate my successes

WANT TO WIN?

1st prize wins a $20.00 visa gift card + my choice of 3 books I've reviewed this year
2nd prize wins a $10.00 visa gift card + my choice of 2 books I've reviewed this year
3rd prize wins my choice of 3 books I've reviewed this year + random book swag I received from ALA

escapeinabook.blogspot.com

http://escapeinabook.blogspot.com/2009/09/giveaway.html?dsq=17895642#comment-17895642

Giveaway:

It's been a while since my last contest and now it's time for another one. In this giveaway you'll find books that I've loved reading or books I'm REALLY looking forward to read. The winner can choose one of these four books:

The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan

Nick and his brother, Alan, have spent their lives on the run from magic. Their father was murdered, and their mother was driven mad by magicians and the demons who give them power. The magicians are hunting the Ryves family for a charm that Nick's mother stole -- a charm that keeps her alive -- and they want it badly enough to kill again.

Danger draws even closer when a brother and sister come to the Ryves family for help. The boy wears a demon's mark, a sign of death that almost nothing can erase...and when Alan also gets marked by a demon, Nick is des-perate to save him. The only way to do that is to kill one of the magicians they have been hiding from for so long.

Ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse, Nick starts to suspect that his brother is telling him lie after lie about their past. As the magicians' Circle closes in on their family, Nick uncovers the secret that could destroy them all.

To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee(this is one of my favorite reads so far this year):

The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.

Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Warning don't read the description below this picture if you haven't read Hunger Games:

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater:

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

The contest is open toeveryone!