Happy Halloween! My Giveaway Winners Announced!

Happy Happy Happy Halloween!!  This is one of my favorite holidays because I'm such a sucker for bad B-rated horror movies.  Plus, Ghost Hunters Live is on tonight, and they will be in MY city, the beautiful Buffalo, NY!  Don't forget to tune in at 7PM EST on SyFy if you live in the States :)

Congratulations to my giveaway winners!  This was my first giveaway and I had so much fun with it :)  There will definitely be more in the future!

Book 1, Ghost Hunting: True Stories of Unexplained Phenomena from the Atlantic Paranormal Society goes to:

Vivien!

Book 2, Seeking Spirits: The Lost Cases of the Atlantic Paranormal Society goes to:

Jasmine1485!

I have emailed both of you.  If I don't here back from the winners, I'll go back to random.org and pick new winners :)

Book Blogger Hop, Yay!

Don't Forget to Enter my Halloween Giveaway!  Ends 10/30!!

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly hop hosted by Crazy-for-Books and is a way for bloggers to find other great blogs to read and make new friends in the blogging world.

This week's question:
"What is the one bookish thing you would love to have, no matter the cost?"

My answer:
I'm pretty sure most of us avid readers are going to have the same answer to this one ;)  I, of course, would love a huge home library.  And could the house that it's in please, please, please, please be in France??  And maybe I could get unlimited books published in French for my French reading habit??  Pretty pretty please?  With suger on top?  LOL we can always hope.

I don't know about you, but I am SO pumped for Halloween this weekend!  I was in France last year for it, and they don't celebrate Halloween like we do here (at least they didn't in my city..).  And I didn't have any Ghost Hunters Live episodes to watch.  And I didn't have any scary movies to watch.  (Unless you count Hocus Pocus that took me two weeks to download from iTunes because of a slow internet connection, which I couldn't watch for 2 weeks after Halloween anyway because of the slow download time..).  I am excited!

And of course, don't forget, if you haven't done so already, to enter my Halloween Giveaway!  Sign-ups close tomorrow, October 30th, but if you get yours in on Halloween morning I'll let that enter too :)  More info can be found here (follow the link).

Happy Hopping!  I can't wait to check out some new-to-me blogs this weekend, as last weekend was too busy for much hopping on my part.

Happy *almost* Halloween!  And who else is jealous that France gets a whole week off now for All Saint's Day?!

Review/Gush: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Last week to enter my international Halloween Giveaway!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society hands down is the best book I've read all year.  It might go down in history as one of my favorite books of all time.  In fact, I'm already planning a visit to the bookstore to buy a copy or two to give to friends/family as gifts.  It was that good.  Read it for yourself and see.

Guernsey is written entirely in letters and telegrams sent by the characters.  It follows writer Juliet, struggling to find a topic for her next book in post-World War II England.  By chance, she receives a letter in the mail from a Mr. Dawsey Adams.  He lives on Guernsey, a Channel Island that was occupied by the Germans during the war (did you even know that Germany occupied part of England?!  I'm a history buff, especially on WWII, and I didn't know this!  Crazy..), and he's writing because her name is written inside a book he picked up on the island.  Turns out, it used to belong to her and she gave it away.  He inquires about the author (Charles Lamb) and soon a friendship begins.  Through Dawsey, and soon, other Guernsey residents, Juliet discovers a fascinating new world in the Channel Islands.  She is eager to learn about the islanders' life under Nazi occupation and also about the group that some of the islanders started-The Guernsey Litary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  She forms friendships with many of them.  This is a beautiful, funny, and sad story about a group of resilient and quirky Guernsey islanders and the woman who wants to know about them.

It's hard to sum up this book, because it's just so good.  So just take my word for it that there's never a dull moment!  In fact, there's quite a lot of drama!

I adored the format of this book.  Reading personal letters between the characters gives us a glimpse into their relationships.  I was worried that the story would be very choppy and abrupt, and it was the total opposite.  I couldn't put the book down, while at the same time, I was taking my time reading it because I didn't want it to end too quickly.

The characters were all fabulous too, and the letters really help you to get to know them.  I sincerely feel like I personally know them all!  Juliet is I guess the main character, though she's really just the link to the other characters.  We read mostly her letters.  She is HILARIOUS!  She is so snarky and witty, definitely someone I could see myself being friends with.  Isola, one of the islanders, also had a wild personality and said some very funny things.  Another very intriguing character was Elizabeth McKenna.  I was always eager to learn more about this remarkably kind and quirky character, who went out of her way to be nice to her friends and would put you in your place if you deserved it.  It's hard to pick favorites with this book.  Dawsey I really loved, though I'm not used to the name and totally thought he was a woman at first!!  (Sorry, Dawsey!)  There are also some nasty characters that are so ridiculous in their ways you can't help but laugh at them. 

I've said a lot about how hilarious this book is.  It's true.  In fact, I didn't even bring it to campus to read because it was so witty at times.  I laughed out loud so much while reading this book, my family probably thought I'd snapped.  It was refreshing to read a book with so much "snark" to it.

This book is much more than just a book of letters shared between friends.  It's a story of courage and of deep love for your friends and your family.  It's a book about the resilience of a group of people forced to live with the enemy.  It's a book about love and a book about loss. 

I LOVE this book.  I can't say anymore about it because I don't want to give it away, and I desperately want to reread it, and laugh and cry, and get to know these beautiful people all over again!

And I'm sure you'll all love it because it's so bookish :)  The characters all bond, after all, over books <3

And now for some memorable/favorite quotes!  (P.S.-This book was so well-written that I stopped underlining quotes about halfway through.  I figured my little sis would be annoyed when she starts reading it and every line of the book is underlined....)
-Page right after cover/10: Juliet, to Dawsey-"I wonder how the book got to Guernsey?  Perhaps there is some secret sort of homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers."
       How lovely is that line?!
-Page 85: Juliet to Sophie-"Your questions regarding that gentleman are very delicate, very subtle, very much like being smacked in the head with a mallet.  Am I in love with him?  What kind of a question is that?  It's a tuba among the flutes, and I expect better of you.  The first rule of snooping is to come at it sideways...."
-Page 87: Juliet to Dawsey, speaking of her 3-year-old nephew-"Now he talks to himself, which I find terribly endearing since I do, too."

To end this review,I'd just like to give a few words about Mary Ann Shaffer, who wrote the book and passed away in 2008.  Her niece, Annie Barrows, finished it up for her and wrote a heartwarming afterword about her aunt.  It was beautiful to read and made me appreciate this story even more.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society really is a unique masterpiece (I see I'm having trouble trying to be subtle about my adoration....).  I highly recommend it, for the glimpse we get into post-WWII Europe, for the humor, for the relationships that are formed, and for the wonderful and "real" characters in it.


Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Author: Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Date of Publication: 2009
Number of Pages: 274
Genre: Fiction
Source: personal copy

Weekend Reads + Epic Knitting Fail (after 15 years of knitting!)

Bonjour mes amis :)  I hope you all had a great week, and a relaxing weekend.  I had a very stressful week filled with lots of work.  And I officially hate my folklore class.  The teacher is impossible.  I have to reprint my paper (it's ungraded until I do) because I didn't put a word count on the title page.  WTF??  I've written tons of research papers and never have I ever been forced to put in a word count.  And seriously.  Couldn't she just take off a few points for that instead of making me waste more paper??  It's crazy.  She also handed back my preliminary bibliography (which is lame anyway, since it's just a list of sources we are going to look at for our next paper..) and said it didn't follow MLA format.  Um....seriously?  I've written enough bibliographies to know how to write one.  I even used her "how to write an MLA bibliography" sheet that she gave us.  I think she's just crazy.

On to something happier though.  And much less stressful.

I finished The Guernsey Literary and Potatoe Peel Pie Society last night!  I LOVED it!  It is seriously going down as one of my all-time favorite reads.  I'll have a raving review posted soon.  I also got a review book in the mail that I won from LibraryThing.com.  It's called The Lost Child.  I've heard mixed reviews of it and I'm looking forward to reading it and seeing how I feel about it. 

Oh and after knitting for....like 15 years.....I came to the conclusion yesterday while waiting for my Gramma to get out of Dialysis that I'm a failure.  I'm almost (was almost) done with the second sock in a pair for my mom.  Yesterday in the waiting room I was apparently in my own little world, and I slipped half my stitches off a needle.  Epic Fail.  I'm good at picking up lost stitches, except for this was a whole row of them.  And I picked them up, but it looks terrible.  I'm just going to have to frog the whole sock :'(  I'm very upset.

What has everyone else been reading this week? 

Hop + Nanowrimo!

Don't Forget to Enter My Halloween Giveaway!  It's International!

Oh my gosh it's finally Friday!  I have barely been home all week, which explains my lack of posting.  What with work, school, and French Club events, life has gotten a bit crazy.  Thankfully next week looks like it's gonna be a bit more "low key".  On to the Hop.....

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly hop hosted by Crazy-for-Books and is a way for bloggers to find other great blogs to read and make new friends in the blogging world.

This week's question is:
Where is your favorite place to read?  Curled up on the sofa?  In bed?  In the garden?

My answer:
I will read pretty much anywhere because my house if full of comfy places to sit.  We just got new furniture this summer :)  I love reading by a window though, especially when it's sunny out.  But I also love sitting by a window when it's rainy, windy, or snowy outside.  I love the beauty of nature no matter what it's doing :)  In the Summer, I try to read outside on our patio because we have a great swing.  But there are lots of bees, and I'm afraid of bees.  So I don't sit out there all day, just at certain times of the day when the bees aren't around.  I like reading in bed too, but my back gets sore easily from that. 

I read on someone's blog that they love reading in the bathtub!  I need to try that.  It sounds awesome!


And on to Nanowrimo.....
I heard about Nanowrimo for the first time a few weeks ago and it looks awesome!  I can't remember who's blog I read about it on, otherwise that person would totally get a shoutout :)  This will be my first time participating, and I'm really excited because I used to write constantly growing up but haven't had much time since starting college years ago.  I am in desperate need of writing buddies to cheer me on.  And I'd love to cheer you on to if you are participating!  Here is my Nano page.  If that link doesn't work, my username is tomgirl571 ;)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Review: The Girl Who Played With Fire

The Girl Who Played With Fire is the second installment in the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson's thrilling trilogy about hacker Lisbeth Salander and journalist Mikael Blomkvist.  The two haven't seen each other in a while and are brought back together by three murders.  Lisbeth is the prime suspect, and she is hiding out from the police and other people who are trying to find her.  Blomkvist, determined of her innocence, sets out on his own investigation to discover the truth behind the murders and Lisbeth's troubled past.  Does the sex trafficking expose one of the murder victims was writing have something to do with the killings, and Lisbeth herself?

I loved the first book, so I pretty much knew I'd love this one too.  Larsson's a fantastic writer and keeps me on the edge of my seat as I'm reading.  I don't have a ton to say about this book because I don't want to give anything away.  And to be honest, I was too engrossed in the book to remember to take notes as I read!

I once again adored the characters.  A former boxer comes into the picture and ends up being really awesome.  I love him.  Lisbeth's friend Mirium Wu is in this book again and I love her strong, feisty, no-nonsense attutitude.  I also loved the chemisty between the detectives.  They seem to get on like a family, some are cranky and rude and some are tight-knit, but they all have to work together to try to solve the murders.

Then there's the bad guys.  They scared me because they seemed so real.  And I'm a tiny girl, so I wouldn't stand a chance against any of them (unless of course I could outsmart them with my genius brain.....).  The hulking Ronald Niedermann, who can't feel pain andis built like a monster is one person I'd NEVER want to meet.  And Zala is freaky too, probably just because we spend most of the book wondering who he is.

Blomkvist and Lisbeth have almost no one-on-one interaction throughout this book.  Salander, as I mentioned above, is in hiding, so they do most of their communicating through computers.  Even so, I still loved the relationship between the hacker and the journalist.  Blomkvist has a tender spot for Lisbeth even though she's sometimes a total jerk to him.  He wants to look out for and protect her, even if it means keeping information from the police.  Lisbeth, on the other hand, tries desperately to distance herself from Blomkvist.  She's sort of flattered that he wants to help her, but weary of the feelings she has for him.

This story ended with a bang and was really unexpected, in a good way ;)  I didn't see it coming!  The story continues in book three, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, which I cannot wait to read!  I think I'll wait a few months to pick it up though.  As I've said many times before, I hate it when a great series comes to an end!  I often try putting off the ending as much as possible!  Plus, my "end of serie" emotions are going to be in overdrive because I'm currently reading the last book in the Pellinor series.  *gasp*  I almost had a heart attack just thinking about it....

And now to the SAAB quotes.

I have to admit, I was really worried the whole book would pass without one quote.  After all, it's a whopping 724 pages long, and I didn't see the word "SAAB" for the first time until page 670!!  Part of me wonders if I just accidentally skipped over some....And I have one little question for Ms Salander-when you bought your car, WHY was it not a SAAB??  They are only like the greatest car ever! 

And a drumroll please.  *DRUMROLL*

~SAAB Quotes~
Page 670: "He has a license for a moose rifle and a shotgun.  He has two cars, a Ford and a SAAB, both older models."
Okay, it's kind of funny that he moose rifle and the SAAB live under the same roof.  I do adore that this person has an older SAAB model.  The older SAABs, like mine from 1999, have hatchbacks and are a lot cooler looking than the newer models.

Page 684: "There were no livestock.  She saw that the barn contained three cars-the white Volvo from Auto-Expert, an old Ford, and a somewhat newer SAAB."
Sure.  Put the lovely SAAB in a barn.  I see how it is.  My Henrick (a.k.a. the name of my car, named after Swedish hockey player and former Buffalo Sabre Henrick Tallinder) would be furious if I left him in a barn.

Happy reading and go out and get yourself a SAAB*!  *wink*

*My neighbor sells used SAABs and Volvos amongst other types of vehicles, so if you live in the WNY area, hit me up ;)  You know you want that SAAB!!


Title: The Girl Who Played With Fire
Author: Stieg Larsson
Date of Publication: 2009?
Number of Pages: 724
Genre: Fiction
Source: personal copy (borrowed from mom)

Book Blogger Hop!

Before moving on to the question of the week, let me remind you all that I have a Halloween giveaway going on!  It's my first ever giveaway and there will be 2 winners.  It ends 10/30.  Info is here.



The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly hop hosted by Crazy-for-Books and is a way for bloggers to find other great blogs to read and make new friends in the blogging world.
This week's question is:
When you read a book that you just can't get into, do you stick it out and keep reading or move to your next title?

My answer:
I hate wasting my time on books that I'm not enjoying.  That being said, I'll usually read between 50-100 pages of a book before deciding if it's worth continuing or not.  I rarely have to scratch reading a book though because I'm pretty particular about what I read. 

What are your thoughts on this?  Do you continue reading no matter how boring/awful a book is or put it down?

I look forward to hopping around to all your blogs :)  Have a great weekend!

Oh, and in case you were waiting for my review of The Time Traveler's Wife, or my review of the book with the bad ending, just scroll down :)  They were both posted this week!

Review: The Time Traveler's Wife

Don't Forget to Enter My Halloween Giveaway :)

It took me a long time to read The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.  You see, I got about halfway in and then misplaced my book.  It was lost in my house, among piles of other books belonging to me, my mom, and my two sisters.  It took me ages to find it, too.  Once I did find it, I practically devoured the rest of the book until I started nearing the end.  I wanted to cherish it.  I loved The Time Traveler's Wife even though there were a few bits I didn't like so much.

As I'm sure most of you know, this book is a love story between two people-Clare and Henry.  Henry is a time traveler.  He doesn't want to be one-his body just vanishes whether he wants to time travel or not.  When they first meet, Clare is 6 and Henry is 36 and time traveling.  Henry is already in love with grown-up Clare, who met Henry when she was 6.  Does this make sense?  This is a story about love and loss and waiting.  It is happy and sad and at times funny, and if you're a hopefully romantic like me, you'll probably love it.

When I first started reading The Time Traveler's Wife, I wasn't sure I'd like the way it was written.  It flips between the viewpoints of Henry and Clare, at various ages in their lives.  I grew to love this form of story telling though.  I think it had to be told this way for the book to work.  Especially because Clare has known Henry her whole life, while Henry doesn't meet Clare until he is 28 and she is 20.

I was also afraid this would be one of those hopelessly confusing books where I never really know what's going on.  I was wrong about that too.  Niffenegger did a superb job writing this book in a clear and concise way, and I think she did a great job at giving us a glimpse of "time travel". 

My only real beef with the book has to do with the ending.  Not the way it ended per say, but more with a certain part in the ending.  Oh, and I'm including spoilers.  If you don't want to know what happens, skip this next bold red part and go to the end of the review.

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I'm fine with Henry dying.  I expected it and it was heart wrenching and I cried.  But death is a part of life, so I'm not going to say "Oh no he can't die!!".  What I didn't like was how the story just seemed to drag on after his death.  Sure, it was interesting to see how Clare delt with his death, but I think we all knew she was going to be heart-broken and sad and alone..  It should have, in my opinion, ended either with the letter Henry leaves for Clare, or just jumped from Clare reading the letter to her being an old lady and waiting for Henry.  For those who have read this book, what's you opinion????


And two memorable quotes that could spoil things:
Page 498: Henry- "There are a few faint lines, at the corners of her eyes and mouth, that are the merest suggestion of the beginnings of Clare's face in middle age.  I will never see that face of hers, and I regret it bitterly, the face with which Clare will go on without me, which will never be kissed by me, which will belong to a world that I won't know, except as a memory of Clare's, relegated finally to a definite past."


Page 511: Clare- "I can't believe this.  I knew that it was coming, soon, had to come sooner or later, but here it is, and we are just lying here, waiting...."
-I love this quote, and really the whole passage it's from because it captures that feeling I know all too well of knowing someone you love will soon be dead, and there is nothing you can do about it.


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END OF SPOILERS!

This was a beautiful and heart-wrenching love story about two people who yearn to be together but are often separated.  I think that the fact that Clare had to wait so much for Henry actually strengthened her love for him, like I often hear people in real life saying about long distance relationships they are in.  It truly is a lovely story, but also kind of haunting.  I've been thinking about that book a lot since finishing it.  It's also in a way very uplifting.  People really can love each other their whole lives (even if it's just in books).  And in a world where so many people divorce, it gave me hope for my own relationship with my boyfriend of almost four years.  It also didn't hurt that Henry totally reminded me of Boyfriend!  They have similar personalities, and so often Henry would say or do something just like my boyfriend.

I connected really well with the characters in this book too, which is always a plus.  They aren't perfect.  Yes, Henry and Clare love each other, but that doesn't mean they don't get mad at or really annoyed with each other.  This seemed to make the story even more real.

I know this book had a lot of mixed reviews.  Some people loved it and some really did not like it.  As you can tell, I loved it.  To me, it was one of those timeless love stories that make you feel warm and happy inside for the love that they share, while also making you sad because you know they can't be together for long.  If you are on the fence about it, give it a try and see how you feel.  I plan on watching the movie soon, although I'm sure it's not nearly as good as the book.  Rachel McAdams is in it though, and I've got such a big girl crush on her (plus, ERIC BANA!!) that I can't resist!

A memorable quote:
Page 239: Clare- "'But don't you think,' I persist, "that it's better to be extremely happy for a short while, even if you lose it, than to be just okay for your whole life?'"
How lovely and true is that?!  I 100% agree with that quote :)


Title: The Time Traveler's Wife
Author: Audrey Niffenegger
Date of Publication: 2003
Number of Pages: 537
Genre: Fiction
Source: personal copy (borrowed from mom)

Our Kind of Traitor (The Book With the Bad Ending)

DON'T FORGET ABOUT MY HALLOWEEN GIVEAWAY!

Oh John le Carré!  I really thought all your books were boring (even though I've only attempted one before this), but you've redeemed yourself with Our Kind of Traitor!

For those of you unaware of my relationship with le Carré, it all started this past summer when I picked up one of his most well-known novels, The Constant Gardener.  Both my twin sister (who's currently in France and blogging all about it here) and my mom loved it.  I thought I would too.  I was wrong.  It was just too hard to get into.  The plot istelf is interesting enough, but for some reason, I was bored.  I read about 150 pages and decided to put The Constant Gardener on hold.  Why??  For one, the main character seemed fake and annoying and boring.  Also, the writing just didn't flow like it should have.  I could not finish the book!  (I do, however, really want to see the movie!  I mean, c'mon-Evie from The Mummy is in it!!)

So when I saw that le Carré had a new book coming out, I was surprised when I actually found myself requesting a copy for review.  I guess I wanted to give this world-renowned spy-novelist a second chance.  And I was ridiculously surprised when I started reading Our Kind of Traitor and could not put it down!  Now, I don't normally find myself flocking to spy novels, but I love a good one every so often.  This one, while it had its flaws (specifically the ending), was really entertaining.

Our Kind of Traitor follows an English couple, Gail and Perry, to Antigua, where they have decided to take a much needed vacation from their hectic lives.  There, they meet a Russian business man named Dima, who won't leave them alone and treats the couple like old friends.  Dima and Perry both adore tennis, which becomes kind of important.  (The tennis parts can be a bit boring at first because you don't really get what's happening.  Then they get better.)  When Dima tells Perry a secret and asks him to barter with British intelligence for him, Gail and Perry end up in a wholly different world than the one they live in, a world where money laundering and mafias are the norm and corruption is a way of life.  Are Perry and Gail getting in over their heads as they become pawns in British intelligence's game of cat and mouse?

I think what I loved most about Our Kind of Traitor were the characters.  Unlike in The Constant Gardener, these characters-Perry, Gail, Dima, and even Britain's spies-have wonderful and lively personalities.  Perry and Gail really are those normal people who get in way over their heads.  Le Carré captured the personalities and quirks of his characters beautifully, to the point where you really feel like a lot of the characters are old friends of yours. 

Another aspect I loved that kept me engrossed was the way le Carré told the story.  Most of the book is either present tense or told in stories.  Perry and Gail spend a good part of the book sitting with British intelligence recounting what happened in Antigua.  You only get pieces of the story at a time, and I was constantly pondering, "OMG what happened?!".

The story itself was great, which then leads me to the not-so-fabulous ending.  Remember my little rant about books that end with a bang, a bad bang?  Well that post referred to this book.  I don't want to give anything away, but let me just say that I was disappointed.  Not that I didn't see this coming, it's just that there are so many loose ends that were never tied up.  And the ending, in my opinion, came too abruptly.  Things aren't explained.  But I guess we're just left to make up our own conclusions.  If you've read this or are planning on reading it, hit me up on Twitter (my username is tomgirl571), because I'd love to hear your take on how Our Kind of Traitor ended. 

The ending aside, I really enjoyed this book.  I would have really loved it if the ending had been better, but I'm still glad I read it.  I'd recommend this to anyone who's a fan of good spy novels.  It was entertaining, fast-paced, and just an overall great read.  Just be prepared for a less-than-stellar ending.  I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of John le Carré's books in the future.  If they are anything like this, I'm sure I'll love them.

I might even give The Constant Gardener a second chance ;)  (Or not..)

Our Kind of Traitor was written by John le Carré and is out today, October 12th!  For more info on the book or author, check out johnlecarre.com.

Title: Our Kind of Traitor
Author: John le Carré
Date of Publication: October 12, 2010
Number of Pages: 320
Genre: Fiction
Source: Review copy from publisher

My First (Halloween!) Giveaway + Ghost Hunters in Buffalo!

I've been wanting to do my very first giveaway for a while now, and I think this is the PERFECT opportunity!  As some of you may know, my all-time favorite TV show ever, which I'm officially obsessed with, is a show on SyFy called "Ghost Hunters".  It follows members of TAPS, or The Atlantic Paranormal Society, on ghost investigations around the country.  What I love the most about this show is their method.  They try to prove ghosts through science and go into every house/building with the intent of disproving the haunting.  This way, anything they pick up that can possibly be caused by something besides the paranormal is thrown out as evidence.

I freaked out two years ago when Ghost Hunters came to Buffalo in TWO episodes.  Three I guess if you count that winery in Appleton, NY (which has excellent wine, by the way)....  And I freaked out even more when the newest member of the team, Adam Berry, announced on Twitter that the live Halloween episode (which has been going on for years-every Halloween the investigation is broadcast live in SyFy for a few hours!) was going to take place in my beloved city of Buffalo.  At the Central Terminal, which is very near and dear to my heart.  My mom grew up right down the street from it and my dad used to drive us to the (scary) East Side of Buffalo just to look at it. 

So, tune in to SyFy on October 31st, or watch from syfy.com. 

Now for the GIVEAWAY!!

In honor of Ghost Hunters filming live on Halloween in my city, I am going to be giving away the first two books that Jason and Grant from the show wrote.  They have some of their most chilling stories of investigations they've done since starting TAPS ages ago.  Book One is called Ghost Hunting: True Stories of Unexplained Phenomena from the Atlantic Paranormal Society.  Book Two is called Seeking Spirits: The Lost Cases of the Atlantic Paranormal Society.  Whether you believe in ghosts or not, these true stories will really freak you out!  I still get spooked at night when I think about these experiences.

There will be TWO winners for this giveaway.  Each winner will win either Book One or Book Two.  This giveaway IS INTERNATIONAL.  You do NOT need to be a follower to enter.  All you need to do to enter is either leave a comment with your email address or (if you don't want your email public on my page) send me an email with the subject "Giveaway" with your name and email address.  I will put each entry into a list based on when you enter and then the two winners will be chosen from random.org.  You can only enter once.  Giveaway ends on October 30 and I will announce the two winners on October 31st, Halloween!

Feel free to share this giveaway with anyone you think might be interested!  And if you live in the US, don't forget to watch Ghost Hunters live in Buffalo, NY on October 31st at 7 PM!

Weekend Reads + 2010 Green Books Campaign

I am so excited that there are no classes tomorrow!  What my school used to called "Columbus Day Break" is now being called "Autumn Vacation".  Because, ya know, Columbus was really a mean, evil person who enslaved the natives.  I'm working tomorrow, but just for a few hours in the evening.  I can sleep in!

I went to the book store this week and bought two books: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, which I meant to get from the library but has been on hold for ages, and The Little Stranger, which I think will be perfect for a creepy Halloween read.

I also signed up for the 2010 Green Books Campaign.  I just found out about it this weekend, actually.  It's a campaign to promote books that are printed sustainably, on recycled paper or what have you.  I'm so glad I found this because I am a huge supporter of rycycling and saving trees.  And I often feel really guilty about buying books because I know they were once beautiful trees.  They are still looking for bloggers interested in reviewing books!  They have a PDF list of books to choose from, and the ones that don't have blog links next to them are still available.  Basically you get the book from the publisher and then post your review on November 10th.  To look at the list of books, go here.  They want a total of 200 bloggers and have room still for more :)

I wish everyone a happy week to come, and if you have tomorrow off, happy "Autumn Vacation"!  I have a week full of reviews to post, so watch out for those!  And hello to all my new followers from the Book Blogger Hop!

Book Blogger Hop!

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly hop hosted by Crazy-for-Books and is a way for bloggers to find other great blogs to read and make new friends in the blogging world.

This week's question is:
What's your favorite beverage while reading or blogging, if any? Is it tea, coffee, water, a glass of wine, or something else?

My answer:
I'm a coffee addict through and through.  It could be 100 degrees outside and I'd still be drinking my scolding hot coffee.  So most of the time, I drink coffee when I read.  I'm also really big on tea, so I drink that a lot while I read.  If it's later in the evening, I've been getting into my mom's habit of having a glass of wine every night, so when I read late at night I do drink wine when I read.  And of course as soon as the snow starts to fall I'll be drinking hot chocolate! 

What about everyone else?? 

I finished The Time Traveler's Wife and I'm almost done with The Girl Who Played With Fire, so expect reviews of those this week, plus a review of the book I mentioned a few weeks ago with the really bad ending.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Weekend Reads

Wow this week went by fast.  And this weekend was....a blur.  It started out Friday night by a phone call from my darling Gramma, asking if I could spend the night with her.  She hurt her hand somehow and it was all puffy and red and she was in excruciating pain.  So I went over to help her out because she could not move it.  Around 12:15 she woke up and couldn't take the pain anymore, so we called 911.  I followed her to the ER and spent ALL NIGHT sitting with her, waiting for test results.  Tests were inconclusive, but they did give her pain medication and an anti-inflammatory so her hand is much better now.  And she didn't break it or anything, we're wondering if it's a pinched nerve.  So we got out of the hospital at 7 am and went to her apartment to get her ready for dialysis.  Picked up her meds from the pharmacy on the way and then I finally got home and slept for 3 hours around 11.  I hate all-nighers!

A lot of people have been asking me lately how I'm liking The Time Traveler's Wife.  I have less than a hundred pages to go and I LOVE it!  I can't believe I didn't read it sooner!  I am, however, sobbing as I read, even though nothing particularly sad has happened yet.  I know something is going to happen though, and the love between Clare and Henry is so beautiful that I am bawling my eyes out because I don't want them to be torn apart!  Lol, I am SO emotional this weekend (probably from the lack of sleep!).  I'll be finishing that book this week.

So much going on in school this week it's ridiculous, and I'm so stressed out!  I have 4 tests (and it's not even midterm week!) and a paper and a phone conversation with a French person for my business French class to practice being a French receptionist!  I'm so nervous about that..

To make things a bit harder, tomorrow starts the beginning of two weeks that are probably always going to be hard for me and my family.  Two years ago tomorrow, my dad had a heart attack which put him in a coma in the hospital.  October 7th would be his birthday.  And October 15th is the day we were finally able to take him off of life support and donate his organs and tissue to other people who needed them more than him.  I miss him everyday but these two weeks I know are going to be really tough.  Boyfriend is going away for a few days at the end of this week too, so he won't be here with me.  So if I'm not posting a lot, it might just be because I'm not in the mood.

And on a happier note, I just saw that the author of Shutter Island is doing a reading and signing in Buffalo on Thursday.  I might go, if I'm up to it.

I hope everyone has a great week, and I honestly cannot wait for this week and next week to be over with.

Hop + Guest Post at The Book on the Hill!

It's finally Friday again!  I can't wait to get through my 2 classes today, go to work and clean as fast as possible, and come home to my cozy house and read.  I have a cold and I'm not really feeling good at all.  Hope you all feel much better than me :)

Before answering this week's Hop question, I wanted to let you all know that my very first guest post (ever!) will be up this weekend at The Book on the Hill!  I wrote about my relationship with the French language, and I think you should all check it out, and check out the rest of Charlotte's blog too, because it's awesome!  If anyone else is interested in doing a "French Friday" guest post for Charlotte, there is info on her blog.  She's also looking for more bloggers for her Book Blogging Around the World feature, so check that out as well.

This week's Hop question is:
How do you spread the word about your blog?

My answer:
I've tried a few things, but my favorite way to get new followers is just to comment on other blogs.  I love checking out new blogs, but I also love commenting on blogs I've been following for a long time.  If I had the time, I would comment a ton every single day.  Unfortunately my schedule doesn't allow me to do so, but I still try.  The Hop is a great way to find new blogs.  I don't have an account at the Book Blog Ning, but I do browse there on occasion and find some great blogs through that aswell.  I have a Twitter account, but I do not understand Twitter at all, so I'm still kind of figuring out how that whole thing works. 

I can't wait to get home this evening and read what everyone else has to say for this week's question!