MRLR November Pre-Holiday Book Lover's Contest and October Winner!

                                                                   

 

As promised, this month's contest is a BIGGIE! :<)

 

 

Not 5, not 10 but 15 wonderful books in a variety of genres, will be won by one lucky winner. And just in time for the holidays too!

 

Total value for this prize package over $300!

 

 

Here are details and links for each of the books:

 

 

 

 

The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger is a BIG bread book! A bread-maker's 'bible"so to speak. This is a must-have book for anyone who enjoys baking breads of all types and not just from the bread-maker. Lots of tips on bread making basics too.

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Instant Karma by Barbara Ann Kipfer is one of my fav new inspirational books to pick up and enjoy every day. Featuring 8,879 Ways to Give Yourself and Others Good Fortune Right Now. A great way to refocus and reinspire yourself, or as a gift for someone you love!

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101 Designer One-Skein Wonders. I am loving this yarn book! I've already made the Guilty Pleasure Socks and they came out great. Have several other projects picked out for gifts and for myself too. A beautifully presented craft book that is chock full of one-skein wonders! Everything from socks, mitts, baby hats, a couple of wonderful vests, felted bags. Truly amazing that all of these beautiful designs were crafted from just one skein of yarn!

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How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds of Less by Nicholas Boothman If you've ever struggled with meeting new people, making a good first impression, felt shy or withdrawn at a social function, this is a gem of a self-help book you won't want to miss. I found some excellent pointers throughout that I've been implementing (with good results) since reading this book.

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Paper Jewelry by Denise Brown is a unique and beautifully designed craft book featuring jewelry designs crafted from paper! If you are envisioning papier mache from your childhood days, formed into "clunky, chunky crafts" think again. This is designer quality jewelry, each one a work of art! Definitely a book perfect for the adventurous crafter looking for new creative challenges.

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All 5 of these quality books and hundreds more are available at/via Thomas Allen & Son. A great way to cut your gift list down to size, in no time at all. Stop by their website for a book browse soon, you won't be disappointed. It's one of my fav online stops! Only downside, so much temptation for any book-lover !!! ;<)

 

                                                          

 

John Lennon & the Mercy St. Cafe by William Hammett (click through for my complete review) is one of my all-time favorite novels. If you are a fan of John Lennon, the Beatles or just love finding a book that is an engaging read from start to finish, this is one you won't want to miss. I recently picked up and re-read this book on of all days: October 9th: John Lennon's birthday! Talk about a fun coincidence. It was just as enjoyable, the second time around.

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10- Minute Feng Shui by Skye Alexander  (click through for my complete review) made me a believer when it comes to all things Feng Shui. This little gem of a book is packed with all kinds of suggestions how to easily incorporate Feng Shui components and accents into your home and office environments.

Author Skye Alexander is a prolific author and has written numerous fiction and non-fiction books on a wide variety of topics, with an emphasis on body, mind and spirit.  Stop by her website to read about all her books, interests and passions. This is one amazing  and talented woman!

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Sea Glass Hearts by Josie Iselin (click through for my complete review). If you aren't familiar with this author/artist's work, she uses a process called Scannography (click to read more) and takes seemingly ordinary objects like stones and shells and transforms them into images, books, prints and collections that are uniquely beautiful. As I said in my review: you are in for a visual treat when you visit  Josie's blog and also enjoy her numerous stunning books. Some great gift ideas too, that are truly unique.

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Haiku Reflections; The Four Seasons and My Poetic Path by Geraldine Hartman. Now for a bit of (shameless) self-promotion. ;<).

Haiku Reflections: The Four Seasons: takes the reader on  a seasonal tour of Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter shared in 120 haiku poems. Haiku is one of my favorite forms of poetry and one that I continue to enjoy more and more, as a poet and a reader too. It was a joy to create each of these poems and to bring this collection together, with full-color details in this edition.

My Poetic Path : is a compilation of traditional poems with contemporary themes that I wrote between 2000-2010. Exploring the wonders of nature and the changing seasons. The ebb and flow of life and love. Timeless themes that will resonate with many readers. 

And do stop by my poetry/writing blog: My Poetic Path. I'd love to have you visit me there too!

Finding Kate Huntley by Theresa Ragan (click through for my complete review) is the first Theresa Ragan novel I've read. This was a compelling page-turner from start to finish, with plenty of action, romance and intrigue. If you haven't read any of this author's numerous novels already, they are definitely worth checking out.

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Crafting With Cat Hair by Kaori Tsutaya (click through for Mr. Cheddar's complete review) this is a book that Mr. Cheddar and I BOTH love! What a fun idea, using cat hair to create all sorts of wonderful small crafts and accents. I'm still saving up Ched's cat fur from his weekly grooming session and plan to try a couple of the craft projects in this book in the near future. Ched's review includes some great pics of the Chedster too, so make sure to click through for a look! :<)

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Down & Dirty (gardening book) by Ellen Zachos (click through for my complete review) is the first gardening book that actually convinced me that I could be a gardener who could grow more than the absolute basics, and succeed. When I've had small garden plots in the past, I always stuck to the easy stuff like: potatoes, carrots, beets....but never beyond that. When I do have a garden again (hopefully soon) Ellen's gorgeous gardening book will be the one I'll turn to for inspiration and advice. This is a wonderful book!

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Orchid Growing for Wimps by Ellen Zachos is another beautiful gardening book by Ellen Zachos. Orchids are a type of flower that I love, can usually identify as such and that's about it! But I do know of people who are absolutely smitten with growing these beauties themselves. And from the title of this book, it appears that you don't have to be an expert to actually make that happen!

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The Vegetarian Slow-Cooker by Judith Finlayson is one of my new fav "go-to" cookbooks, when I'm using my slow-cooker. This is a gorgeous cookbook with full-color photos throughout and over 200 delicious, tested, slow-cooker recipes with everything from appetizers, breads (yes breads), cheesecake, soups, pasta, grain and vegetable dishes....it's all here.

Slow-cooking has come a LONG way from the days of just cooking a big "slab" of meat or a whole chicken, in one of these small appliances. As a vegetarian, I use mine all the time and love the convenience and great results. I blogged about the Sweet Potato Lasagna from this cookbook a while back at my cooking and craft blog. Do click through to enjoy this wonderful and hearty pasta recipe you'll want to make again and again. I'm actually making it again today! :<)

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So there's the line-up!

One lucky winner will win all 15 of these great books! :<)
                         

And for everyone who's reading along, I'm sure you'll find at least a couple of great gift inspirations here, with the festive season just around the corner.

Books are always a welcome gift. And one that can be enjoyed for years to come.



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This Month's Contest details

-To enter: leave a comment below including the name of one of your all-time favorite books and a bit about why it is one of your favorites. I'm always looking for good book suggestions! :<)

-Contest is open to US and Canadian residents. Exception: void in Quebec you can read why here. I've had to add this to my contests. Provincial laws in Quebec regarding contests are hard to understand but I'm not able to by-pass these restrictions.

 

-No anonymous comments please. Please sign in with a valid blog account, if at all possible.

 

-Winner picked by a random system and will have 2 weeks to claim their prize. If prize package not claimed within two weeks, an alternate winner will be chosen.

Optional: If you'd like to have an additional entry, subscribe to My Real Life Reviews (see right sidebar for subscription link) and mention that you have subscribed in your comment. My stats continue to go up every month, but the subscriptions haven't. ;<)

Contest closes November 30th. Stop by the first week in December to see if you're the winner.

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And the winner of the October: Caf-Lib and Cookies contest is: Miss T !
Congrats to Miss T. You have two weeks to claim your prize package.


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A big "thank you" to all the authors and publishers that supplied books for this contest. 

PS: I'm finishing up an important offline project so I won't be posting any product reviews here for the rest of this month. I will be back in December with some new reviews and gift suggestions, just in time for the holidays!


Good luck to everyone and Happy Reading!