Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes: Announcement and 100+ Followers Giveaway


Update: I am extending the deadline for entry until January 31st.  I came across a copy of The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett so I'm adding it to the giveaway.  I'll need all entrants to indicate if they have read Pillars or World Without End.  If you have already entered, just add another comment.  If the entrant I draw (that has not indicated a preference for the Catherine the Great book) has not read both books, then that entrant will win BOTH books!

After much thought and soul searching, I have decided to take The True Book Addict in a (slight) new direction.  I have noticed that I have many historical fiction books in my personal library which isn't really surprising.  History is one of my passions.  I love history so much that when I decided to go back to college in 2003 (at age 34, with a 7 month old and 21 month old at home!), I chose history as my major...later adding English as a double major.  To make a long story short, I'm going to shift the focus of my blog slightly toward historical fiction and non-fiction.  What this will entail will be more reading and reviewing of historical books...mostly fiction, but also some non-fiction.  Since I will be participating in 2 historical fiction challenges next year, I will be reading a lot of these types of books.  I will also feature a weekly event titled "Addicted to the Past"--inspired by Ryan's (Wordsmithonia) Favorite Fictional Character and with some great advice from Lucy (Enchanted by Josephine)--which will highlight a favorite historical figure, place or event.  I think this will be a great way to expose people to the wonder of history and also a way to further my learning of history.  Now this change doesn't mean that I will only be reading historical fiction...I will still read horror, fantasy, etc....whatever strikes my fancy.  But I will have a more general focus on historical fiction and non-fiction.  Please let me know what you think?  I'm hoping this is a good step for me and for my readers!

And now for the giveaway!

In honor of reaching 100+ followers (and to thank you!) and of my new direction, I'm giving away two books that fit nicely with my changes. 

There will be two winners:

First

the sequel (sort of) to one of my favorite books, The Pillars of the Earth:


World Without End by Ken Follett (also one of my favorites)

Here is what the author had to say about his book:

Ever since The Pillars of the Earth was published in 1989, readers have been asking me to write a sequel. The book is so popular that I’ve been nervous about trying to repeat its success. But at last I screwed up my courage, and wrote World Without End.

I couldn’t write another book about building a cathedral, because that would be the same book. And I couldn’t write another story about the same characters, because by the end of 'Pillars' they are all very old or dead. 'World Without End' takes place in the same town, Kingsbridge, and features the descendants of the 'Pillars' characters two centuries later.

The cathedral and the priory are again at the centre of a web of love and hate, greed and pride, ambition and revenge. But at the heart of the story is the greatest natural disaster ever to strike the human race: the plague known as the Black Death, which killed something like half the population of Europe in the fourteenth century. The people of the Middle Ages battled this lethal pestilence and survived – and, in doing so, laid the foundations of modern medicine.

Synopsis:
On the day after Halloween, in the year 1327, four children slip away from the cathedral city of Kingsbridge. They are a thief, a bully, a boy genius and a girl who wants to be a doctor. In the forest they see two men killed.

As adults, their lives will be braided together by ambition, love, greed and revenge. They will see prosperity and famine, plague and war. One boy will travel the world but come home in the end; the other will be a powerful, corrupt nobleman. One girl will defy the might of the medieval church; the other will pursue an impossible love. And always they will live under the long shadow of the unexplained killing they witnessed on that fateful childhood day.

World Without End is the sequel to The Pillars of the Earth. However, it doesn’t matter which you read first. The second book is set in the same town, Kingsbridge, but takes place two hundred years later, and features the descendants of the original characters.

(all of the above from Ken Follett's website)

Second


Catherine the Great: Love, Sex, And Power by Virginia Rounding (non-fiction)

From the acclaimed author of Grandes Horizontales comes a book that the Washington Post calls “a vivid portrait of a sensual and intellectual woman.”

Dutiful daughter, passionate lover, doting grandmother, tireless legislator, generous patron of artists and philosophers---Empress Catherine II was all these things, and more. Her reign, the longest in Russian imperial history, lasted from 1762 until her death in 1796; during these years she realized Peter the Great’s ambition to establish Russia as a major European power and to transform its new capital, St. Petersburg, into a city to rival Paris and London. (from Amazon)

Both books are hardcover and gently used (World Without End is a discarded library book).

Rules, Rules, Rules!
  • U.S. and Canada only...sorry overseas...someday, I promise!
  • There will be TWO winners
  • You MUST leave a comment with your email address and which book you want to win.
  • +2 old follower
  • +1 new follower
  • +1 for each place you spread the word: Twitter, Facebook, blog (sidebar or post)--MUST leave links
  • +1 for following me on Twitter @truebookaddict
  • +5 for every person you refer, if they mention your name/blog name (they will get +5 too!)
This giveaway ends on January 15, 2010 at 12:00 am CT

Good Luck and Happy Reading!

20 comments:

Thank you for visiting and taking the time to comment. It means so much.

I apologize for word verification, but as soon as I changed the settings from only users with Google accounts, I started receiving a ton of spam comments...within one hour of changing the settings. The bots are on high alert apparently.

  1. I'm excited to see where you take your blog in the new year and I'm thrilled I was able to inspire a regular feature on it.

    I'm also excited for the contest!

    +2 old follower
    +1 Follow on Twitter

    fforgnayr@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congrats on 100+ followers!

    It is cool to see the changes. I am looking forward to seeing them. Now which book? They both sound really good. I think I am going to say...World Without End. Although I could probably go for both.

    +2 old follower
    +1 follow on Twitter

    hayden392@comcast.net

    ReplyDelete
  3. I look forward to your reviews of historical fiction, some I love and sometimes I get a lemon.

    I would love to win Catherine the Great, I love Russian history.

    +2 old follower
    +1 twitter follower

    bookmagic418@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. The new direction sounds like a great idea. Congrats on 100 followers! I've been fascinated by Catherine The Great since I first read about her when I was in grade school.

    litandlifeATgmailDOTcom

    ReplyDelete
  5. I don't have either book, so I would welcome any of them.

    Thanks for adding a book.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congratulations on breaking 100! Isn't it the coolest thing to think that over 100 people like your blog enough to become followers? I just broke the 100 mark as well. Very exciting!

    +2 I'm an "old" follower
    +1 Follow you on Twitter as well

    Please enter me for the book about Catherine the Great, as I've never read anything about her.

    Thanks! And congrats again! :-)
    Alexia561@yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congrats on the 100+! I just passed that recently too! The Catherine book sounds cool and I would love to win it - especially as I have just taken more of an interest in her (thanks for letting me know about this giveaway).

    +1 New Follower
    +1 Twitter follower [@dolleygurl]
    +1 Sidebar Post http://themaidenscourt.blogspot.com/

    Thanks so much and best wishes with the new change in direction.

    dolleygurl[at]hotmail[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  8. I just found your blog over at Passages to the Past, and I'm so glad I did! I haven't read Pillars or World Without End. I'd be happy winning any of the giveaway books! Congratulations on 100+ followers, and here's one more new one!

    +1 new follower
    +1 follower on Twitter (I'm @bookmonstrosity)

    fitz12383(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm looking forward to checking in to watch you as you go in a new direction Michelle! :) I love history (I've got a MA in US History) and am addicted to historical fiction right now.

    I've read Pillars of the Earth (loved it!) and I own a copy of World Without End (which I haven't read yet), so I'd be interested in the book on Catherine the Great.

    +1 I'm a new Google Friend Connect follower!

    srfbluemama at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am a Twitter follower (@afewmorepages)

    Tweet: http://twitter.com/afewmorepages/status/7604992691

    srfbluemama at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  11. I just learned about your blog from Marg at Historical Tapestry.

    And, now I'm a follower.

    Having recently become interested in Russian history, I would love to win the book about Catherine.

    lcbrower40(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'd love to read about Catherine the Great... she is so interesting. Thanks for the giveaway!

    Rachelhwallen@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Congrats for all your followers! I'm right behind you in the count! And thanks for hosting the giveaway. I've started reading Pillars, so having a copy of World Without End all ready to go would be great.

    My email: CalicoCritic at gmail dot com

    I'm an "old" follower

    I do follower on Twitter: @LHartness

    Here's my tweet: http://twitter.com/lhartness/status/7612791198

    I added the giveaway to my sidebar: http://CalicoCritic.blogspot.com

    Thanks again!

    Laura Hartness
    The Calico Critic

    ReplyDelete
  14. Please enter me

    +5 I was referred by Maiden'sCourt

    chocolate and croissants at yahoo dot com

    I will come back to follow-I just cannot find the link

    ReplyDelete
  15. cococroissants

    http://thetruebookaddict.blogspot.com/2009/12/ch-ch-ch-ch-changes-announcement-and.html Historical book giveaway

    chocolate and croissants at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  16. Both books sounds great.

    Thanks for the chance.

    +1 new follower

    sharon54220@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. HISTORICAL FICTION is my favorite genre i am anew follower cant wait to se ehwats next

    ReplyDelete
  18. I have heard nothing but good things about Pillars of the Earth and The World Without End -- please enter me in the drawing for these two books.
    I follow you on twitter (@bibliosue) and am about to follow your blog as well.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I've heard a lot about the Ken Follett books and would be interested in winning those!

    ronnica (at) ignoranthistorian (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  20. Congrats on 100+ followers, I like your reveiws.
    I would love to win Catherine the Great, I love Russian history. I have not read any of the choices so any book will be ok. Thanks for the great giveaway.

    +1 I am a new follower
    +5 Ellz Readz sent me

    misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
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