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I have won several books from the ŷ������ Giveaway program and even though they haven't been mysteries I think this is such a great program (I mean, come on, free books) that I thought we should have a special thread where we can share information about the books we win. I try to give all of the books I read a review but I just feel like I should do more to promote the authors and publishers that share these books with us.

I hope that everyone that wins a book will post it here and tell a little about it and if you like it or not.

I just received my new book in today's mail. The title is A User's Guide to the Universe: Surviving the Perils of Black Holes, Time Paradoxes, and Quantum Uncertainty by Dave Goldberg and Jeff Blomquist. All of the previous books that I have won have been paperbacks. This is a beautiful hardback book. I love reading about black holes (became facinated with the subject when I was in college taking Astronomy) and time paradoxes. I watched a Nova program several years ago that talked about time paradoxes and said that if we could travel at the speed of light time would stand still. I don't proclaim to understand that but the concept is mind boggling to me. A User's Guide to the Universe: Surviving the Perils of Black Holes, Time Paradoxes, and Quantum Uncertainty looks like it is written in layman's terms (but even that I'm not sure I will fully understand as I have tried reading other physics books "for dummies" and I guess my mind just doesn't think like that.

Anyway, I look forward to reading my new book and I will share info about it here in this thread.

I look forward to hearing about what others win.

I won a book from Susan McBride. It's 2nd in her "Debs" series. I just picked the first book so I could read them in order.

I just started entering these two months ago and already won two books! I received and read Get Lucky. It is a chick lit book about a woman who loses her job and goes back home. I really loved it, and in fact am planning on reading the authors other books because of it. I just won Hearts on a String: A Novel, but have not received it yet - it is another chick lit book.

I am currently giving away two copies of my mystery novel Twenty-Five Years Ago Today - ending in about 5 days, if anyone is interested in signing up. It is listed under giveaways ending soon.

I am also running an author Q&A chat at
through April 4. You can also get the link under Discussions on the Twenty-Five Years Ago Today ŷ������ page. I will e-mail 5 electronics ARCs of the novel to 5 chat group members who express interest in a PDF copy and who are interested in potentially writing a review on ŷ������. If more than five chat group members request a PDF copy, then I will have a drawing. I will send out the PDFs when the group ends, after April 4, 2010. In the meantime, I'm happy to answer questions during the chat. Hope to see some of you there!

Stacy Juba

Heidi wrote: "I just started entering these two months ago and already won two books! I received and read Get Lucky. It is a chick lit book about a woman who loses her job and goes back home. I..."

Heidi: Isn't the giveaway program fabulous? I was one of those people who said they never win anything and I have won 5 books through the giveaway program.

Your book,Get Lucky, sounds good. I think I will add it to my TBR stack.

Stacy wrote: "I am currently giving away two copies of my mystery novel Twenty-Five Years Ago Today - ending in about 5 days, if anyone is interested in signing up. It is listed under giveaways ending soon.

I a..."

Stacy: I am going to head over to Giveaways and sign up for the Twenty-Five Years Ago Today giveaway. Thanks for the post.

I won Susan McBride's first "Deb" book here on ŷ������ a year or so ago. Didn't realize that it was a YA book when I entered for it. I've read mysteries she's written and thought that was what it was. I passed the book to one of my nieces. I like YA books, just not that particular type. That's the only win I've had.

I won The Botticelli Secret by Marina Fiorato at end of November. Planned on reading it next, but after finishing Blood Ties last night, I decided I needed something a bit lighter between the heavier books. So, guess TSB is what I'll be reading over the next weekend.

I wqas lucky enough awhile back to winThe Brutal Telling by, Louise Penny I'd never heard of her before and now I am addicted to the Three Pines Series! I may never have discovered these without the giveaway!

I'm so excited, I just won my first giveaway. I wonPride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls

Sherrie - I registered for that, but didn't win. Let me know if it is good. I just got my second book I won in the mail yesterday - will hopefully read in the next few weeks. I am obsessed with the giveaways - I check every few days for newly listed ones.

Heidi wrote: "Sherrie - I registered for that, but didn't win. Let me know if it is good. I just got my second book I won in the mail yesterday - will hopefully read in the next few weeks. I am obsessed with ..."

I will let you know what I think when I finish Heidi. Now I have to wait for it to get here.

I just won Live to Tell by Lisa Gardner. The wonderful thing about this program is being exposed to writers we might not have read before.

Oh Kaye you are soo lucky I wanted to win that!!She's a great author!

LOVE Lisa Gardner - that was one I had entered for as well. Congrats on the win, Kaye!

Thanks, I am still giddy over it myself! Don't you just love GR? :)

I just won Queen Victoria: Demon Hunterthey did a second 2 day giveaway and I just barely signed up yesterday!Gotta love it!

After reading part and browsing the rest of A User's Guide to the Universe I did a brief review but have to say I was disappointed. The book appears to be for non-scientific/non-mathmatical people (ie ME), but I still found the explanations too complex for my poor brain. The book is really nice and I will keep it for reference but I can't say that I would have bought the book. I really hate having to say that. Bummer.

Just got the e mail this morning that I won
Sounds like a riveting read!

Congrats, Kaye!

Where do you sign up for the ŷ������ Giveaways?

Julie,

Click on the "explore books" tab at top of the screen and select "books" when the drop-down menu opens. When the books page opens, look for the "giveaways" tab. You can then scroll through the listings for titles or authors that interest you. New books are added every week.

Thank you so much Heather. I think I found it myself about the same time you answered my question. There are so many books. This is fun!!

I just won by Tracy Richardson.

I just won Love Finds You in Lahaina, Hawaii by Bodie Thoene. I never win anything. Yea, meeee!!

Congrats Julie.

Congrats, Kate and Julie!

I won and just received Blood Song by Cat Adams. I'm looking forward to reading it, but have to wait until tomorrow as it is on some of my June challenges.

Congratulations, Diane!

Received First Comes Marriage by Mary Balogh. I got it last week and had totally forgot I registered to win it, so it was a very nice surprise :) It's now sitting in my TBR pile, waiting patiently to be read.

Congratulations, Kelley!

I won A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolffe a few months ago. I finally got around to reading it I really enjoyed it. Now I look at the used books I read and wonder about the people that read it before me.In the story its about buying vintage clothing and how you are buying something that belongs to someones past.

I won My Sister's Voice few months back, read it and didn't like it all that much. I can't pan it completely, though, because it may be interesting to others. My main complaint was that there was an over abundance of metaphors. The story was all over the place, not giving the reader enough time to get to know any of the characters. There were a few awkward sexual situations that were not written very well and really didn't need to be included.

Diane (deebotte) wrote: "I won and just received Blood Song by Cat Adams. I'm looking forward to reading it, but have to wait until tomorrow as it is on some of my June challenges.

"

So, I finished the book and really enjoyed it.

Well that was an exciting ride. Celia Graves is a bodyguard and when her assignment goes bad, she ends up becoming an abomination (not quite a vampire, but not human either). The world is pretty interesting and different. There is a lot happening in this story and it was sometimes hard to keep all the characters straight, but it was a compelling read with some very interesting twists at the end. While it mostly wrapped up this story, it also introduced the groundwork for book 2.


** I received this book for free through ŷ������ First Reads

So, my question is has anyone won more than 1 book? The notes say the drawing is random, but they also say you have a better chance if you've reviewed a book you won.

In the 17 months since I joined ŷ������, I've won 6. Two of them were in the last 3 weeks.

Thanks! Good to know.

I've only won one and it turned out to be a teenage romance. I enjoy YA but only if it has a supernatural ben to it. I gave the book to one of my nieces. I had read the author before and mistakenly assumed the book was a mystery when I entered for it.

I've only received one book, back at the end of November 2009. It was a historical fiction. Not one of my prefered genres, but was really good. I've put my name in for a ton of books since, but have not won anything else.

Heather L wrote: "I've only received one book, back at the end of November 2009. It was a historical fiction. Not one of my prefered genres, but was really good. I've put my name in for a ton of books since, but hav..."

Did you write a review of it? I'm curious how much that affects whether you will win again or not.

I have won two in less than a year. I did review the first one, but still have not reviewed or read one of them.

Diane: I do have a short (very short, I admit it - I struggle writing reviews, always have) review of the book up, and I always rate books, even if I don't post any review comments. Don't know if that helps or hurts. I also admit that I was not able to read the book right away (family issues), but did read and post about it (here and on my blog) before the book was released. Still, I've seen new members to the site win 3 or 4 books their first time out, while those who have been here a few years have never won any. Boggles the mind...

Interesting. Thanks everyone for sharing!

I have won 4 books since last fall 3 good onesMornings in Jenin,The Brutal Telling&Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter and one clunkerA Life Revealed.

Diane (deebotte) wrote: "Did you write a review of it? I'm curious how much that affects whether you will win again or not.."

I have won 5 books, have reviewed all of them, gave 1 a 5 star, 2 got 4 stars, 1 a 2 star and 1 a 1 star. I haven't won any for quite a while. I spent over an hour the other night right before the June 1 drawings putting my name in for a bunch of books and I didn't win any of them. It gets discouraging sometimes spending a lot of time reading the giveaways and putting your name in for them and then not winning anything but heck, I really have never won anything in the past so 5 books is pretty good. Wish it were more though. :-)

A friend living in Europe has won 2 first read giveaways but never received the books. I don't blame her for not signing up again.

I just checked and I have WON my FIRST ŷ������ Giveaway. I have to be honest and say that I only started entering the giveaways about 4 weeks ago. I honestly didn't know anything about the giveaways until I read a discussion between members here in Cozy Mysteries.

I won a romance "The Lovers: A Novel" by Vendela Vida (which is a new author for me). The drawing just ended yesterday so I will be looking for the book in the mail over the next several weeks. I'm just excited that I won (and after reading some of the other posts, I hope I actually receive it in the mail).

Good Luck to all other giveaway participants!!

Congrats, Tammy!

Diane (deebotte) wrote: "So, my question is has anyone won more than 1 book? The notes say the drawing is random, but they also say you have a better chance if you've reviewed a book you won."

Since I joined GoodReads (late 2008) I've won 3 books.

Congrats Tammy.