giveaway week: books
Posted on 27. Jun, 2011 by Princess Lasertron in giveaway
Last week my friend Paul tweeted about winning a book online, and his excitement inspired me to do a week of giveaways with each day featuring a different theme. Comment to win a prize package chosen by me based on the theme. Today’s prize will be a few of my favorite books, maybe some cool writing utensils, maybe something like that. Maybe a book bag? Maybe a notebook? Anyway, a package of great stuff.
My top 5 favorite books growing up:
1. The Big Hungry Bear and the Red Ripe Strawberry – my parents read this book to me over and over again when I was a baby. I remember the pictures on the pages, and I remember loving the story. Cut it in two, share half with me, and we’ll eat it all up.
2. How to Decoupage – this book was on the bottom shelf in the art section in the elementary school I went to. Decoupage was a big, unpronouncable word, and it became my favorite volume that I checked out again and again.
3. The Babysitter’s Club series – This series was great because there was someone for every reader to identify with. Any girl who grew up in the 90s worth her salt looked forward to getting these books in book order!
4. How do I Know – I had two big orange hardcover books that had short, paragraph-long questions and answers related to all kinds of scientific topics. I loved reading these books by flashlight at night, and the short blocks of information were so easy to remember and tell my parents about the next day.
5. The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax – I bought this book from my library, meaning I never took it back and paid a million dollars in fines. It had a hard purple cover with gold lettering. In middle school I was really into a “detective story” phase. I often fantasized about meeting Dorothy Gilman, the author.
What is your favorite book now?
What were you reading ten years ago?
Comment to win a package of something that will make you happy.
xo
meg
124 Responses to “giveaway week: books”
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Rachael Dickson
29. Jun, 2011
8:06 am
I loved the big hungry bear and the red ripe strawberry growing up! My niece Maggie loves it now too. It makes me so happy.
Sarah
29. Jun, 2011
5:43 am
I love books, without them my life would be so different. I will read most books, I don’t think I have a fav, I have books that I’ve read 10+ so I guess they could be classed as my favourites, but they range from Harry potter,pride and preduedice,to a book called invisible cities and other books on architects. And of course where would a christian be without her bible, books play a very important part of my life. Myonly hope is my girls grow up to love to read in the same way I do.
Svetlana
28. Jun, 2011
11:14 pm
My favorite book is “Alice in Wonderland” for many, many years. Now I finished reading “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” Douglas Adams.
And “Irish fairy tales.” I live in Russia and for me, “Irish Tales” were surprising and unexpected.
(translated by google translator)
taryn
28. Jun, 2011
7:06 pm
my favorite book is stardust by neil gaiman. i’m in love with the way he describes the characters and sets the scenes. it’s so magical. it’s one of the only books i can read over and over again. i love the twilight series too…did i just heard the nerd alert go off? whatever
i’ve been trying to get into reading again. i haven’t read a full book in about a year. i find it hard to find time to just sit down and read when i can’t catch up on my shows and there’s constantly something new and wonderful on the internet too. one of my resolutions was to get a library card – but i still haven’t done that
10 years ago i was into trashy novels. truthfully there’s nothing better than romance…i liked to envision myself as the leading lady because at 16 i wasn’t getting any real action, ha!
Jenny
28. Jun, 2011
7:01 pm
I read a lot and have a hard time picking a favorite, but I’m currently reading Three Cups of Tea. It is great so far! Ten years ago, my favorite book was probably The Giver.
Emma
28. Jun, 2011
6:37 pm
Right now I’m tackling Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and I loved The Giver by Lois Lowry when I was younger.
Jill
28. Jun, 2011
4:05 pm
I’ve just finished Solar by Ian McEwan – not half as good as Atonement but there are some very funny moments. 10 years ago I loved the saucy (well they seemed like it at the time) Judy Bloom books. I used to read them under the covers and feel very grown up. Maybe it’s time to reread them now for a good laugh!
Charli
28. Jun, 2011
3:56 pm
I just finished reading Atonement by Ian McEwan and was totally blown away…something about his characters. Another favorite of mine currently is The Paper Bag Princess – I read it to my daughter almost every chance I get.
As for 10 years ago… I think I was reading VC Andrews and Harry Potter with equal insatiability. VC Andrews I’ve long given up on, but I still love Harry Potter.
Karli Brooke
28. Jun, 2011
2:15 pm
I can’t think of any books I currently love since I’m in school. However, “Wrinkle in Time” was the first book that really made me love reading and I think it will always be one of my favorites.
Sissy
28. Jun, 2011
2:06 pm
love! My favorite books as a kid and still today are Nancy Drew mysteries. I’ve got a pretty hefty collection going but hope to one day have all of them to read. Adult favorites cycle back and forth between Dave Eggers and Tom Robbins.
Samantha
28. Jun, 2011
1:48 pm
Unfortunately I didn’t read for fun when I was younger, although my favorite book was Green Eggs & Ham!! (Sam I Am)
To make up for all that I read all the time now. I read all the Harry Potter books in one summer. I’m reading through the jane Austen novels. I’m reading some Peter Pan books. I’ve read The Hobbit. making up for lost times I guess. I don’t know if I have a favorite yet though. I just have a long list of books I want to read, and my list of books I have read is getting longer.
I love reading!!
Lexie
28. Jun, 2011
12:49 pm
I haven’t found much time to read for myself since having my daughter, so I might have to say that my favorite book right now is the one I most enjoy reading to her: The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I just love the artwork in it, and if we play with the giant stuffed replica of the very hungry caterpillar that my mother-in-law gave us while reading… baby giggles galore! What more could I want from a book?
Ten years ago, I went through a dictionary reading phase. Every night, I would thumb through it until I found a word that I didn’t know, then write it on a post-it note, and stick the note to my wall. In the morning, I would select one of the words and carry it around in my pocket all day and use it as much as possible. I should really start doing that again.
katie w.
28. Jun, 2011
12:04 pm
my favorite book is “the history of love” by allison krauss. i even made my boyfriend read it when we got serious so that i could do some testing on his reaction (which is sort of silly, but..).
i also have one of my favorite lines from “one hundred years of solitude” tattooed on my arm. i could talk about that book for days.
actually, i think i could talk about books forever. <3
Anne Good
28. Jun, 2011
11:49 am
Ah man… this is such a great idea and is giving me so many things to check out for both me and Will! Growing up I loved “The New Kid on the Block” book of poems by Jack Prelutsky. When I was in middle school I loved “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” and other books by Mildred D. Taylor. Then I went through a huge Gone with the Wind phase.
About ten years ago I loved “I Know This Much Is True” by Wally Lamb and “The Poisonwood Bible” by Barbara Kingsolver.
Now I don’t get to read as much as I would like to. Well… actually that’s not true, but they’re all little kids books. Will and I go through a minimum of 20 books a day!
Anne
28. Jun, 2011
10:05 am
When I hit 12 or so, I secretly read as much Stephen King as I could get my hands on. Secretly only because there is quite a bit of adult content in those books.
Ten years ago, I had an incredible amount of wanderlust and restlessness and dove headfirst into all things Jack Kerouac.
Right now, my favorite book of all time is Alice in Wonderland. I love “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.” But, right now I am reading my way through all of Timothy Schaffert’s books and cannot put them down. I’ll be sad when I finish this one, because it is the last.
Dasha
28. Jun, 2011
9:40 am
I remember when I little my mom use to read me this book called Ballerina Bunny Loves to Dance. It was one of those books she would read to me and when it was over I’d say “just read it to me one more time”. It’s probably one of my earliest and best memories.
Jaci
28. Jun, 2011
9:31 am
Growing up, I love the Babysitter’s Club series…now, I cannot pick a favorite! I do love Douglas Adams and Ayn Rand though.
Brook
28. Jun, 2011
9:29 am
What a perfect giveaway!
I have way too many books to just choose one as my current favorite! I suppose I will go with “The Virgin Suicides” by Jeffrey Eugenides. It came out a while back, but I just reread it and fell in love with it all over again.
Ten years ago my favorite book, or more so my favorite book series, was the Sword of Shannara series by Terry Brooks. So good! Hmmm…I might just reread that whole series this summer!
Lindsay
28. Jun, 2011
9:28 am
I LOVE LOVE LOVE to read. Everything (but mostly fiction). Just read Tina Fey’s Bossypants and really enjoyed it. All time favorite, now and 10 years ago, Harry Potter series. There are many more, but that is my true favorite. Thanks!
Lindsay
28. Jun, 2011
9:29 am
… by the way, I just recently read The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (and several others in the series) and really enjoyed it!
Nicole Lindquist
28. Jun, 2011
8:53 am
Yay, I’m worth my salt! I love BSC
I also read every R.L. Stine and Goosebumps book ever published. I’m currently reading textbooks for grad school 
boo): but am excited to read “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” I think you would really like it if you haven’t read it already!
Katie
28. Jun, 2011
8:51 am
I love books – the ones that people display on their shelves say so much about them, and my fingers are itching to pick up and leaf through some of the lovely ones you’ve got.
10 years ago I was just coming to the end of my English degree and had pretty much given up reading for pleasure. My favourite book now? Can I say my Kindle? Much as I love to display books I’ve run out of room in my rented flat and I love the fact that I can now buy new books to read again without having to stress about the old ones I need to get rid of to make room. Currently loving How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran. Feminist, but in an approachable and funny way.
georgia
28. Jun, 2011
8:43 am
10yrs ago i was 13 (nearly 14), and i read the Shivers series, i couldnt get enough of the books they were Horror, but on a kids level. I also read the Sugar book series (Sugar is a uk teen magazine)
My fav book now is- the Twilight saga! cant get enough of them.
Mary B.
28. Jun, 2011
8:36 am
Right now I’m in a re-reading phase: I just went through the entire Harry Potter series, and am about to start going through my Tamora Pierce collection. I always loved her books because they were so detailed, but also sexy. A birth control charm? Best magical invention EVER! Memoir is big on my list, I just finished “schuyler’s monster” and am looking forward to “the boy in the moon”.
Belly-baby has been treated to Zen Shorts, anything by Jan Brett (her illustrations are gorgeous), and The Balloon Tree, in recent days. I’ve been building my personal children’s lit collection for over a decade now!
EmilyM
28. Jun, 2011
8:26 am
My favorite book that I checked out over and over and over was “Where The Sidewalk Ends”. All of those poems…oh, I loved them. Some I can still remember!
http://www.amazon.com/Where-Sidewalk-Ends-Poems-Drawings/dp/0060256672/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1309267557&sr=8-2
The book that my kids have latched on to is, “Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See.”
stephanie
28. Jun, 2011
8:26 am
i’m reading a book about checklists & geeking out over it!
Madi
28. Jun, 2011
8:17 am
My all time favorite book has to be The Kite Runner, I read it in 3 days and loved every single word. I just couldn’t put it down, a sign of a good book is one that gets read quickly. I think reading is delicious. I’m so happy that my daughter loves looking at books and at 20 months is addicted to her bedtime story of the classic Tiger who came to Tea. This was also my favorite book when I was little and you can’t beat Each Peach Pear Plum as a classic!
If you ever need to escape, pick up a book and get lost in the words.
chepkirui
28. Jun, 2011
8:04 am
I was just home visiting my mom, and happily re-reading my favorite children’s books, including Noel Streatfield (Ballet Shoes, Theatre Shoes, Skating Shoes….); Laura Ingalls Wilder; Elizabeth Goudge (The White Horse); L.M Montgomery… Delicious.
Karli
28. Jun, 2011
7:51 am
Ten years ago, I was almost 14 and pretty sure my favorite book was THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS. As a child, I loved the Golden books, the Berenstein Bears, Amelia Bedelia, The American Girl Books, etc etc.
I have some really special memories of reading with my mom. She would have me read out loud to hear starting at a youngish age I think and that was our “time” together. Good stuff.
Just last year I got really big into Harry Potter – better late than never, right?! A few other favorite authors: David Sedaris & Lorrie Moore. And you can’t forget the classics.. It’s been a while, but I think A TALE OF TWO CITEIS was my favorite required reading in high school.
Anna
28. Jun, 2011
7:36 am
My favourite book as a child was “Tomte und der Fuchs” written by Astrid Lindgren. She wrote the most imaginative and lovely books for children.
Kate A
28. Jun, 2011
6:56 am
my favourite books, wow, this is tricky.
I love ‘Luna’ by Sharon Butala, which incidently is the book I was reading and loving 10 years ago as well.
I love the ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’, those Beaudelaires! I love the play on words in those books.
I love Harry Potter.
I definitely love anything by Roald Dahl.
I love books!
it’s like you can tell a bit about where you are/were in life when you read them.
Kate A
Alison
28. Jun, 2011
5:31 am
I’m not going to lie .. The Sookie Stackhouse Series. I know, I know …
That said, I LOVED the babysitter club series when I was a kid. And anything by Judy Bloom.
Rach
28. Jun, 2011
4:28 am
I would say my favourite book right now is…damn, pick just one? I love Persuasion by Jane Austen and could read it over and over, but the same goes for The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman. It depends on my mood…
Ten years ago it was probably Rilla of Ingleside, the last of the Anne of Green Gables series. I was fifteen and a hopeless romantic. Now, I’m 25 and still a hopeless romantic! Ha!
Rosy
28. Jun, 2011
4:13 am
My favourite book is The Time Travellers Wife, a sort of guilty pleasure book that I can get lost in every time I read it! Ten years ago I was reading my way through the teen fiction section at my local library. My mum worked as a library cataloguer and she would bring home new books every week for us before they had to be sent out to the libraries
Miss Alice
28. Jun, 2011
4:03 am
Favourite: The Red Tree by Shaun Tan – exsqusitely illustrated and an encouraging story for little humans with big feelings.
10 years ago: On The Road by Jack Kerouac – when I wanted to run away and burn, burn, burn.
CaLynn
28. Jun, 2011
3:42 am
Recently: Joe Abercrombie wrote a thunderous series, The First Law. (Mr. Lasertron may approve).
10 years ago I read the same genre, but more prose & poetry and less thunder & gruel: Guy Gavriel Kay’s Fionavar Tapestry.
Kalle
28. Jun, 2011
2:48 am
Books are my besties! I am reading lots of wedding planning/crafting books right now, also the M.C. Beaton oeuvre for distraction. Ten years ago I was reading the Little House series on repeat. So good for a prairie girl like me!
Malinda
28. Jun, 2011
2:40 am
My favorite books growing up were the Box Car Children, Anne of Green Gables and Island of the Blue Dolphins. Ten years ago I was reading Lord of the Rings and Jane Austen for the first time. Today I’m reading Neil Gaiman’s the Graveyard Book and Lord of the Rings again!
Amanda
28. Jun, 2011
12:28 am
My favorite book right now is the Chicagoland Vampire series or the Parasol Protectorate Series. They both make me happy.
10 years ago? My favorite books were parenting books since I was trying to figure out how not to mess up the child I had while still in high school. I read every single one I could get my hands on (which was a lot). Took some ideas and used them, discarded others that I didn’t think would work for me.
Chriss
27. Jun, 2011
11:50 pm
What is the white camera on your bookshelf?
Current read: Stephen King “Nightmares & Dreamscapes
Favorite Growing Up: Judy Blume and Stephen King, “Black Stallion”, “Dr. Dolittle” (only if read by my dad), “Island of the Blue Dolphins”
Emms
27. Jun, 2011
11:34 pm
I have a wonderful need for teenage girl literature at the moment. I can read Tamora Pierce’s books over and over and over. But when I was a kid I was much more mature. I read anything i could get my hands on. But Laura Ingalls Wilder was my favorite. But I also had a wonderful old library book of ‘Starring Sally J. Freedman as herself!’
Katie
27. Jun, 2011
10:44 pm
BSC forever! I was just thinking about how 4 of my friends could easily be assigned BSC counterparts.
I’m re-reading another “childhood” favorite – Harry Potter!
Jessica
27. Jun, 2011
10:32 pm
Hmmmm, I loved The Secret Garden as a kid. 10 years ago I was obsessively reading Francesca Lia Block. Now? Hmmmm, I love Amazing Grace by Kathleen Norris. Just started reading Life is a Verb by Patti Digh.
Jessica
27. Jun, 2011
10:17 pm
I’ve never read any of these books.
Laurie
27. Jun, 2011
10:03 pm
What I’m reading now: “Poisonwood Bible”, a book on sign language, and photography books.
10 years ago: “What to Expect when you’re expecting”
As a child: “Little House” books…. dreaming of life on the prairie, as the heroine……
Love love the magic of books….
Erin
27. Jun, 2011
9:59 pm
I also LOVED The Babysitters Club books! My first job in high school was at a book shop called BooKids and they had all the BSC books and I re-read every single one! I wish I had all my old copies for my daughter to read someday. Right now I’m reading “The Help” and I’m so happy to be reading an actual novel instead of a book about pregnancy or parenting which is pretty much all I’ve been reading for the past year. Sounds like you have some great books in this giveaway–even if I don’t win I’m totally buying Big Hungry Bear and the Red Ripe Strawberry for my little girl!
Claire
27. Jun, 2011
9:33 pm
What is your favorite book now?
“The World to Come” by Dara Horn
What were you reading ten years ago?
I am only 21 so I was reading a lot of advanced chapter books 10 years ago. Probably my favorite was Judy Blume’s “Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself”
ashlie
27. Jun, 2011
9:31 pm
Oh how I love to read. Since having my daughter 7 months ago, I haven’t had nearly enough time though! It’s so nice to rediscover old favourites with her though! My favourite book is probably House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski – it’s like nothing I’ve ever read, and it’s definitely something you could read over and over and over again and find something new every time.
Ten years ago what was I reading? Let’s see – I would have been 18, so I was probably still reading every V.C. Andrews book I could get my hands on!
alison
28. Jun, 2011
5:32 am
V.C. Andrews!!! Those books were killer
Brenna
27. Jun, 2011
9:21 pm
My favorite book now is White Knight by Jim Butcher. Ten years ago it was Turn of the Screw. My favorite growing up were Babysitters Club and The Boxcar Children. I do still have a soft spot for the Bronte Sisters though. Oh and I love the book Lace, they made into a mini series in the 1980′s good book and good rainy day girly movie.
Megan H.
27. Jun, 2011
8:40 pm
( hit enter too soon!!! )
My favorite book ten years ago was anything by Meg Cabot! I loved her books!
Now I’m reading anything by Jodi Piccoult! I’ve loved her since I read My Sister’s Keeper. She writes a new book each year and after this last weekend, I officially have read them all!
Scott
27. Jun, 2011
8:37 pm
My favorite books growing up were comic books; especially anything with Dead Pool. Now I still like to read the comic books! I guess I haven’t grown up!