I'm a Winner!

If you recall, last month I directed readers to enter a drawing for a free book (pictured below). Well, I won! However, I used my "junk email" address as I always do and neglected checking it. I didn't see the notice until after the deadline had passed--she had already shipped the book to another entry. Darn it!


Not to despair however. She graciously offered to send me another selection from several that she had. I chose Stardust by Neil Gaiman. I really enjoyed Anansi Boys by Gaiman and I loved the Stardust movie so I thought that might be a good selection.

(This is the cover from the first UK edition. I just liked it.)

A few months ago, I happened to enter another book drawing at a different website. And I won that one too. It was a signed copy of The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale (my beloved author of YA fiction including Goose Girl and Book of a Thousand Days). This book has been much maligned in some circles. While it has a Mormon author and a Mormon character, it is not Mormon literature written for the Mormon audience. It is general audience fiction. It is an entertaining read that explores a ridiculous fantasy--what if you were an ordinary housewife who met and became best friends with your favorite mega-celebrity. Not gonna happen and so not a ton of realism here--just a lot of fun. Also explored is platonic friendship between opposite sexes and how this may or may not impact a marriage. And if you are best friends with someone of the opposite sex does this necessarily mean you'd make a good love match if both of you were free to marry?