Great Book Club Selection...

Great book club get together last night! Great friends, great food... AND a GREAT BOOK! It's not very often that we all love a book so much that we all give it a 5 out of 5, but that's what we gave The Secret Wife by Gill Paul last night! Historical fiction at its best! Here's the Goodreads blurb:

A Russian grand duchess and an English journalist. Linked by one of the world’s greatest mysteries... 

Love. Guilt. Heartbreak. 

1914: Russia is on the brink of collapse, and the Romanov family faces a terrifyingly uncertain future. Grand Duchess Tatiana has fallen in love with cavalry officer Dmitri, but events take a catastrophic turn, placing their romance—and their lives—in danger...

2016: Kitty Fisher escapes to her great-grandfather’s remote cabin in America, after a devastating revelation makes her flee London. There, on the shores of Lake Akanabee, she discovers the spectacular jewelled pendant that will lead her to a long-buried family secret... 

Haunting, moving and beautifully written, The Secret Wife effortlessly crosses centuries, as past merges with present in an unforgettable story of love, loss and resilience.

Thanks author Gill Paul, for a great read! Look for my review coming soon... and in the meantime, check out what Gill Paul shares with her readers about The Secret Wife on Harper Reach.

Ruby by Cynthia Bond... A Review

What did I think of Ruby by Cynthia Bond? I immediately enjoyed Cynthia Bond's style of writing. She captured me right from the start. Visually stunning in parts, an amazing weave of beauty and pain, and a sad story that could have weighed the book down, but is sprinkled with enough hope and compassion that the reader is pulled in for more.

For the most part, the story takes place in a small Texas town named Liberty, where our characters struggle to exist in the racial inequality of the 1950's. Funny name for a town that is anything but Liberty. After years of violent abuse, Ruby finally escapes her small, gossipy, rural town surroundings for New York, the place her mother disappeared to years before, only to be summoned back years later to get sucked back into what everyone surely thinks is her legacy. She quickly transforms from sophisticated to crazy, as she deals with the guilt and the memories of her sordid past. In walks Ephram, who has loved Ruby Bell from the moment he saw those pigtails she wore as a child. He sees beyond the dirt and crazy; he knows her soul. It is his compassion that becomes the root of Ruby's salvation as the whole town tries to destroy her.

 The story is built with layers, characters and their connections, until finally halfway through I had the "aha" moment. Things started fitting together, and then it was OMG!

The ending? Well, I liked it and I didn't like it. I liked the way it left so many possibilities, and I could imagine what I wanted. BUT, I wanted to have a finale, and I was left with an opening. I have since read that Cynthia Bond had trimmed down Ruby for this first publication, but her intent is to have a trilogy and she's shopping around. I hope she finds that publisher because I definitely want more.

Open the pages of Ruby and meet Ma Tante, who can conjure some powerful black magic with her jars filled with who-knows-what; the Reverend Jennings who preaches in the shadows of the piney woods late at night; Celia Jennings, whose goal in life is to be Church Mother and who can bake up the best Angel food cake this side of Texas; and of course the other men and women of Liberty, who make up an unforgettable town in the wake of lynchings and dark spirits, superstitions and religion.

Should you read it? Yes. You'll be taking a walk into the piney woods with great characters, dialogue and moments. Just remember not to step in the red dust... (you'll understand after you read Ruby!)

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion… A Review

Want a fun, light-hearted read with a good dose of sweetness? A romantic comedy with quirky memorable characters? The Rosie Project by Gaeme Simsion is just that and more! I devoured it in a couple of days and enjoyed every minute of it and wanted more (and I'll get more because there's a sequel coming out!).

Don Tillman is a professor of genetics and is looking for a wife. The problem is that conventional dating is not working very well. Don has some peculiarities that make him seem a bit eccentric. He has difficulty in social situations, has a schedule that he must adhere to (down to the minute!), and has a hard time with expressing his emotions. Don suffers from an undiagnosed case of Aspergers. But when he devises a rigid questionnaire to meet the woman of his dreams, Rosie comes along and turns Don's world upside down.

Rosie is everything not acceptable on the questionnaire! (she smokes, she drinks and a zillion other things as well... except maybe her BMI does measure up). But when Rosie needs a geneticist to help find her biological father, Don becomes her knight in shining armor… and eventually someone realizes that the questionnaire may not be the best way to find a mate.

Great characters, a heart-warming story, and wonderful writing! A quirky love story ready to melt the most jaded reader. A Charming tale of true love! My recommendation…. READ IT!

The Sunday Salon and Wonderful Children's Books

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! It's that time of the week we all get to kick back and relax and talk about books! So, grab a cup of joe and find a comfy chair and let's talk books. And this week it's children's books. I love children's books. A simple story with beautiful illustrations just blows me away sometimes. Even though I have no children, I can appreciate the beauty and artistry that goes into some of these wonderful books. As adults we can find meaning in some of these children's books that hit a chord with our own lives. Sometimes the story can be silly, with humor that we can appreciate as adults, sometimes the story can make us pause to look at the world around us. In my travels this week, I came upon 3 books that I thought were simply wonderful...

Paul Meets Bernadette by Rosy Lamb... "Paul is a fish who used to go around in circles. He made big circles and little circles. He circled from left to right and from right to left. He circled from top to bottom and from bottom to top. What else was there to do? Until one day Bernadette drops in and shows Paul that there is a whole world out there, right outside his bowl, with so many things to see. A banana-shaped boat! A blue elephant with a spoutlike trunk (be quiet when she’s feeding her babies)! A lovely lunetta butterfly, with tortoise-shell rims! Simple saturated paintings play off this charming ode to an active imagination — and the way that life changes when a bewitching creature opens your eyes."

This book has gotten a lot of praise from it's wonderful story to the beautiful simple paintings that Rosy Lamb has created to go along it. Teaching children the power of imagination,  I'm sure if we open our eyes that we too can re-imagine the world in all it's beauty. Published by Candlewick, this book will be released Dec. 10th! And can be pre-ordered in Hardcover .


Once Upon a Memory by Nina Laden... Does a feather remember it once was a bird? Does a book remember it once was a word? When a feather drifts through a child's window, a magical journey begins. As the boy follows the feather, he is swept away to a world filled with adorable animals, where fantasy and reality come together in surprising and playful ways. From the cake that once was grain to the ocean that once was rain, whimsical "before" and "after" scenes offer readers a peek at the world as seen through the eyes of a curious child, ultimately asking the question, "What will you remember?"

The words to this story, a poem in reality, just stuck me as thought-provoking and beautiful. Do we really pay attention to the things around us and reflect on their origins? I think maybe not enough, but this wonderful book nudges us in the right direction to ponder the wonders all around us. This book has garnered a lot of great reviews and has a starred review in Publisher's Weekly to boot. Once Upon a Memory will be available in Hardcover on Dec. 3rd! And is available for pre-order.

Cinders: A Chicken Cinderella by Jan Brett...  Tasha feeds her flock in the old tower and falls asleep on a bed of straw.  So begins a magical night...  In Jan Brett's version of a favorite fairy tale, Cinders is pushed around by her comical sisters, Pecky and Bossy, and their haughty mother, Largessa. This night the chickens fly off to Prince Cockerel's Ice Palace.   All except poor Cinders until a Silkie flies in with her magic wand and transforms the little hen into a beautiful and mysterious guest at the ball.  Fanciful illustrations capture the grandeur of eighteenth-century Russia while Jan's chicken characters provide the fun and romance that she brings to the Cinderella story. Jan traveled to Russia and readers will be in awe of the Ice Palace aglow under a deep blue moonlit sky, exquisite ball gowns on the comely pullets, uniforms with gold braids and buttons on the cockerels, striking Russian architecture transformed into ice in the borders, and a very funny flock of chickens who provide an appealing, original look at this snowy Cinderella. 

I love Jan Brett's beautiful illustrations in her many books. This story should be no exception. And the story should be just plain fun! Of course being a "Chick with Books", I'm a bit partial to "Chick" books and this just was calling my name. Not just a wonderful take on a fairy tale we are all familiar with, but a beautiful wintry tale as well that would make a great gift book during the snowy season. Published by Putnam for Young Readers, Cinders: A Chicken Cinderella is being released this tuesday, Nov. 5th! It will be available in Hardcover AND for Kindle as well!

The Week in Review...

Tuesday Oct. 29th I posted New Releases that are meant to inspire you! Including a new book by Richard Paul Evans. In case you missed them, here is the link!

For Halloween, I posted that famous Halloween poem, The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe. Here's the link!

And on Friday, Nov. 1st, I reviewed The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-mi Hwang. It's a modern classic tale translated from Korean for the first time. It has been on the best seller list in South Korea for a decade and now we in the Unites States have a chance to enjoy it. I really enjoyed it. Here is the link to read the review.

This week in reading...

Well, I started reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, and I am hooked! And I downloaded Wild by Cheryl Strayed, which I am almost done with and have enjoyed in a different kind of way. Cheryl's writing is wonderful, but she's draws me into her world so much that I am really feeling a roller coaster of emotions as she hikes the Pacific Coast Trail reflecting back on losing her Mother, screwing up her marriage and hitting the lowest of the low in her life. I decided to read it because I've heard so many great reviews and it was also one of the World Book Night choices. Look for a review coming soon.

My reading group has chosen The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman  as this months pick. What's it about? Here's a bit from the publisher...  Tom Sherbourne is a lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, a tiny island a half day’s boat journey from the coast of Western Australia. When a baby washes up in a rowboat, he and his young wife Isabel decide to raise the child as their own. The baby seems like a gift from God, and the couple’s reasoning for keeping her seduces the reader into entering the waters of treacherous morality. A good book choice for a reading group is one that has potential for a good discussion, and The Light Between Oceans seems to fit that mark. I'll let you know how how the group enjoyed it next month.

So, how was your reading week?! What do you think about children's books? Can we as adults enjoy them too?

Happy reading... Suzanne

Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky... A Review

Sometimes I just love to linger in the moment after I read a really good book. I just don't want to let go of the characters... I'm experiencing that right now....

I felt the passion, the betrayal, the calmness as I wrapped myself into the story of Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky. I could smell the lavender and the jasmine. I began to love Quinnipeague as though it were real. And it did seem real. Barbara Delinsky created such a wonderful story, but also one full of depth, not only with the characters that could almost walk off the pages, but with the island itself; from the smells wafting from the herb gardens of the infamous Cecily Cole to the taste of Dorey Jewett's Chowdah at The Chowder House. Every detail beautifully and effortlessly painted.

What can I say... I loved this book! I loved the story of Charlotte & Nicole and how their friendship grows and develops through the story; and how the betrayal of one has us question what is forgivable and if we ourselves could forgive such an act.

I LOVED the love story and the passion between Charlotte and her Man. No names here, you'll have to read it to see who it is! And boy was it passionate!!! I loved the way the fictional book SALT, that everyone was reading in the story, vaguely mimicked Charlottes love story. (And Barbara, if you're reading this, I was so afraid that Charlotte's romance was going to end like SALT that it made me read feverishly into the wee hours of the morning!) The book within the book was a great addition to the plot!

I could empathize with what Nicole and her husband Julian were going through (a serious medical condition), but I didn't particularly like either one of these characters. In Julian's case, maybe a testament to the writing, because if Barbara Delinsky meant for Julian to be so shallow and self absorbed, and I didn't think the serious medical condition attributed to that at all, she did a good job. But this "subplot" added such substance to the story, and served as the thread that makes this book so much more than a romance.

Favorite character? Charlotte hands down, Leo a close second! And Bear just stole my heart!

Read this book! I could not put it down at the end... Light, airy, passionate, and well worth reading! Reading groups will have a field day discussing the depths of this book too!  And that's what my reading group will be discussing in September.

Into The Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea... A Review & Giveaway!

Giveaway Has Ended!

Congrats to Cindy, Dawn and Krystal!

It's a story of a small dusty Mexican town where electricity was too modernizing for some of the residents of Tres Camarones, the peso was almost worthless, and there was no work. The town seemed to be slowly disintegrating... and then the men left to go north... to find work... making Tres Camorones easy prey for the banditos, the drug dealers, to settle in and take over the town... But our 19 year old heroine Nayeli has other ideas...

From the Publisher...Nineteen-year-old Nayeli works at a taco shop in her Mexican village and dreams about her father, who journeyed to the US when she was young. Recently, it has dawned on her that he isn't the only man who has left town. In fact, there are almost no men in the village--they've all gone north. While watching The Magnificent Seven, Nayeli decides to go north herself and recruit seven men--her own "Siete Magníficos"--to repopulate her hometown and protect it from the bandidos who plan on taking it over.

Into The Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea is wonderful. The prose flows easily and paints a vivid portrait of hot dusty roads and the people who live near them. The sprinkling of Spanish among the narrative also gives the landscape authenticity. Tres Camarones, where the story begins, is where we meet our heroine Nayeli, who works in the little restaurant The Fallen Hand Taco Shop, her best friends Yolo, who works as a pin tender at a 3 lane bowling alley, and Vampi, who works as a shrimp peeler and is the only "goth" girl in the little Mexican town. We are immediately caught up in their friendship and their simple pleaures of life. On first thought, the town seems like a deadend, hopeless. But the girls and the other women surrounding them breathe life in this town and into the story. We meet Tia Irma, a feisty woman who was running to replace the Municipal President (she had after all leadership experience as the Sinoloa's retired Lady Bowling Champion), Nayeli's hypochondriac mother Maria, and of course Tacho, the owner of The Fallen Hand who was gay.

When banditos threaten to take over the little town, 19 year-old Nayeli along with Yolo, Vampi and Tacho, with the idea of The Magnificent Seven fresh in Nayeli's head, go in search of help. It is that journey, which is truly more of a journey of self discovery than just over the boarder that makes this book special.

The narrative is what moves the story along, and it is honest, fresh and enjoyable. There were many issues that came to mind as I read Into The Beautiful North such as immigration, small town life, and deciding to pursue ones dreams no matter what. A perfect pick for a reading group because of the questions this book stirs. Luis Alberto Urrea suggests topics for a book club to discuss on his website:

*Immigration

*Choices faced by young people in Mexico

*Life-changing road trips

*Friendships between young women

*How movies inspire our actions

*The power of a postcard

*Small town Mexico as mirrored in small town America

*Does midwestern America seem "magic realist" to small town Mexico?

*The growing power of women in Mexico

*The Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven

If you enjoy friendships, small towns and great narrative, wrap yourself in Into The Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea. It's one of my favorite reads this year!

Courtesy of Valerie of Hachette Book Group, I have 3 copies of Into The Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea to GIVE AWAY! Here's how to Enter...

To Enter this giveaway...

*For one entry leave me a comment with your email address!

*Get an extra entry for following my blog! Just leave a comment letting me know you're a follower! ( Not a follower yet? No problem, sign up by clicking on the 'followers" button on the sidebar to the left! Just let me know you became a new follower!)

*Blog or tweet about this giveaway and leave me the link.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only (No PO boxes). The books will be shipped to the winners directly from the publisher. Contest ends 11:59pm EST on July 17th. I will randomly pick the winners the next day and email them! (please check your email.. winner must reply to me within 3 days! Thanks!) Good Luck!

The Cradle by Patrick Somerville... A Review & Giveaway!

"There are two kinds of people in the world," Marissa said.

"There are people who understand that everything matters and people who don't understand that everything matters."

Congratulations to Linda, Darcy & Ashley who each won a copy of The Cradle! Thanks to EVERYONE who joined the fun, blogged and tweeted!

The Cradle by Patrick Somerville opens with a very pregnant Marissa describing "the cradle" that she was rocked in as a child, that was supposedly from the Civil War, and went missing after her mother abandoned the family when Marissa was 15, and a mysterious break-in occurred shortly there after. Marissa asks her husband Matt to find it. She wants the cradle for her baby, just as she had it as a baby. It is important to her... he wouldn't understand because he was an orphan... What this means is finding Marissa's mother, even though Marissa has no idea where she is... Matt is a hero to her, he's pretty good at finding keys, why should a cradle be so different?

The next chapter fast forwards 10 years to another family, Rene Owen and her husband Bill, dealing with their 19 year old son going off to war. Rene is desperate not to have her son go off to war. The reason is a deep down pain, a lost love in another war many years before, and a secret that she's kept hidden just as long.

How Patrick Somerville weaves these two stories together is what is magical. When I started reading The Cradle, I thought I was in for a light read. What I got was a deceptively complicated story, that surprised and delighted me. When Matt makes the simple gesture of humoring his wife and trying to find the cradle, little does he know that he's going on quite an adventure that will take him all the way to Antarctica! As he follows the trail of the cradle, he stumbles upon long kept secrets of Marissa's family, which stir his own childhood memories and dormant feelings. Rene Owen's story alternates with Matt and his search for "the cradle", and in doing so the anticipation of each story grows. Hints of a connection are sprinkled in both story lines and there are no earth shattering revelations, but that is what makes the story special- the seamless connection you find at the end. Along the way, the author challenges the reader to think about what being a family means, what being a parent means, and what value a human life holds. The characters are believable, the writing is good, and the story innocently captures your attention. Thought-provoking and at times heartbreaking, The Cradle by Patrick Somerville is a very satisfying read in a mere 200 pages. The search may have started out for the cradle, but everyone finds something different at the end of the story. One thing we all find at the end is hope...

The Cradle would make a great reading group pick. There is definitely great material for a discussion! Here's the Reading Group Guide for The Cradle. You can learn more about Patrick Somerville by visiting his website, and Patrick also has a wonderful essay about how the story for The Cradle came about at Hachette Book Group. I want to also thank Valerie of Hachette Book Group for sending me a copy of The Cradle for review!

Courtesy of Hachette Book Group I also have 3 copies of The Cradle by Patrick Somerville to give away! Here's how to enter...

To Enter this giveaway...

*For one entry leave me a comment with your email address!

*Get an extra entry for following my blog! Just leave a comment letting me know you're a follower! ( Not a follower yet? No problem, sign up by clicking on the 'followers" button on the sidebar to the right! Just let me know you became a new follower!)

*Blog or tweet about this giveaway and leave me the link.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only (No PO boxes). The books will be shipped to the winners directly from the publisher. Contest ends 11:59pm EST on May 8th. I will randomly pick the winners the next day and email them! (please check your email.. winner must reply to me within 3 days! Thanks!) Good Luck!

*P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!

The Sunday Salon... Books Coming soon to a shelf near you... and Kindle for Mac!

It's been a beautiful week in Connecticut! The sun is finally showing its face and the crocuses have too. Taking your reading outside is such a treat after a long winter, and that's exactly what I did this week. I've spent the last week walking to Gatlinburg with Morgan Kinneson from King County and have enjoyed every step. Along the way, Morgan and I met a handful of quirky characters that brought a smile to my face. This week I'll be posting my review of Walking to Gatlinburg by Howard Frank Mosher... Exciting news for John Sanford fans as the 20th Prey Novel will soon come out. The name is Storm Prey, it's a new Lucas Davenport thriller, and I happen to have an uncorrected proof of it in my hands! The publisher is finalizing some fun marketing campaigns, stay tuned for more news about that next month... Ted Dekker also has a new thriller coming out in April 13th called The Bride Collector. I can't say too much about it yet, but suffice it to say it I have a better appreciation of serial killers... Emily St. John Mandell, who wrote the wonderful book Last Night in Montreal, is coming out with her second novel, The Singer's Gun... On to some great Kindle news for Mac owners! Kindle for Mac is now available! It's a free application for Macintosh owners. If you have a Kindle already, you can access your books, bookmarks & annotations right from your Mac! This application has been available for a while for PC, but as with most Mac applications is a PC world Macintosh owners had to wait just a bit longer. I love seeing my book covers in full color on the computer screen too!

Here are two other wonderful books to be on the lookout for...

A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White... Back of the Book, For more than ten years, Naomi and Phil Harrison enjoyed a marriage of heady romance, tempered only by the needs of their children. But on a vacation alone, the couple perishes in a flight over the Grand Canyon. After the funeral, their daughters, Ruthie and Julia, are shocked by the provisions in their will... Spanning nearly two decades, the sisters’ journeys take them from their familiar home in Atlanta to sophisticated bohemian San Francisco, a mountain town in Virginia, the campus of Berkeley, and lofts in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. As they heal from loss, search for love, and begin careers, their sisterhood, once an oasis, becomes complicated by resentment, anger, and jealousy. It seems as though the echoes of their parents’ deaths will never stop reverberating—until another shocking accident changes everything once again. I received a copy of A Soft Place to Land this week and it looks to be a wonderful story. I did read a little and found the writing to be so enjoyable. I can't wait to dive in now. I can see this to be a good reading group selection and there are wonderful praises for A Soft Place to Land including one by Kathryn Stockett (The Help), who says, "It's smart, funny, moving and wise." I also really love the cover, it just reminds me of lazy summer days as a teenager. It's due to be released April 6th by Simon & Schuster. I'll have a few review after I finish.

She-Rain by Michael Cogdill... Back of the Book, In the early 20th Century, a pair of North Carolina mountain children sow the seed of a love that becomes their only solace in the hard yet beautiful world they know. They grow it from steep ground of poverty, ignorance, and violence. A landscape so brutal it can kill hope long before claiming life... Bloodshed years later finally sends Frank Locke on the run, deep into wilderness, abandoning his extraordinary love, Mary Lizbeth. When a whitewater river washes this desperate soul into the hands of Sophia, he discovers a luminous woman steeped in mystery, trapped in a tragically brilliant life. Far ahead of her time. Secreted from the world. As she awakens Frank’s mind, they rise to meet a love that binds three people for a lifetime. Michael Cogdill's prose is beautiful. Written in an Appalachian voice, this love story will have you turning the pages. It reminds me of Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain a bit. Not so much for the time period of the Civil War, but the flavor of the book and the characters. Release date is scheduled for March 31st! A full review coming soon!

What are you reading this week?! Hope you enjoy the week ahead! Stop back this week for a review of Walking to Gatlinburg by Howard Frank Mosher, and a review of The Favorites by Mary Yukari Waters...

Happy Reading... Suzanne

International Giveaway & Review... The Sari Shop Widow by Shobhan Bantwal

A rare and insightful glimpse into the vibrant world of Indian-American fashions and immigrant culture. A young businesswoman rediscovers the magic of love, family, and tradition as she fights to save her failing sari boutique in New Jersey…

Congrats to Amanda who won the signed copy of The Sari Shop Widow! And Thank you to EVERYONE for joining in on the fun!

Since becoming a widow at age twenty-seven, Anjali Kapadia has devoted herself to transforming her parents' sari shop into a chic boutique, brimming with exquisite jewelry and clothing. Now, ten years later, it stands out like a proud maharani amid Edison’s bustling Little India. But when Anjali learns the shop is on the brink of bankruptcy, she feels her world unraveling…

To the rescue comes Anjali’s wealthy, dictatorial Uncle Jeevan and his business partner, Rishi Shah—a mysterious Londoner, complete with British accent, cool gray eyes, and skin so fair it makes it hard to believe he’s Indian. Rishi’s cool, foreign demeanor triggers distrust in Anjali and her mother. But for Anjali, he also stirs something else, a powerful attraction she hasn’t felt in a decade. And the feeling is mutual…

Love disappointed Anjali once before and she’s vowed to live without it—though Rishi is slowly melting her resolve and, as the shop regains its footing, gaining her trust. But when a secret from Rishi’s past is revealed, Anjali must turn to her family and her strong cultural upbringing to guide her in finding the truth…

"In my books, I try to weave social themes into stories of romance, intrigue, drama, and high emotion. My aim is to educate, inform, and entertain readers who may not ordinarily have an opportunity to learn about women's issues in India and other similar cultures." ...And in the Sari Shop Widow Shobhan Bantwal certainly does that! Shobhan's writing flows easily across the page as we enter the world of India. With the wonderful descriptions of Indian food and beautiful fabrics, we are taken into the sari shop of 27 year old widow Anjali Kapadia and can almost touch everything around us, but we are there to see how life can take some heartbreaking turns, and how the resolve of this one woman can overcome quite a lot while still holding on to the traditions of her upbringing.

Wonderful writing, characters that almost walk off the page and a great story, make The Sari Shop Widow a must read. And a great book club pick too! Here is a link to some great discussion questions. Would you like to read an excerpt? Here is a link to the first chapter. And if you missed Shobhan Bantwal's guest post earlier this month on Chick with Books, Here is the link to her insightful post on starting her writing career after age 50!

Would you like a chance to win an autographed copy of The Sari Shop Widow? And enter the world of Anjali Kapadia? Thanks to Jaime of Pump up Your Book, who is promoting Shobhan Bantwal's Book Tour this month, I have a extra copy of The Sari Shop Widow, signed by the author to give away!

To Enter This Giveaway...

*For one entry leave me a comment with your email address!

*Get an extra entry for following my blog! Just leave a comment letting me know you're a follower! ( Not a follower yet? No problem, sign up by clicking on the 'followers" button! Just let me know you became a new follower!)

*Blog or tweet about this giveaway and leave me the link.

This giveaway is open to U.S. Residents and Internationally! If I can mail a book to you thru the U.S. Postal Service you are eligible to enter! Contest ends 11:59pm EST on Nov. 14th. I will randomly pick the winner the next day and email him or her! (please check your email.. winner must reply to me within 3 days! Thanks!) Good Luck!

And Thanks Jaime for the review copy of The Sari Shop Widow! It was a wonderful read!

P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!