“Read It Forward” Book Giveaway

Julie at Foursons and Elizabeth at Confessions From A Working Mom are debuting a new blog hop designed specifically with book lovers in mind, called Read it Forward. Once a month participating bloggers will link up, posting a review on their blog for a book, which they’ll then give away to another blogger.

I’m over the moon excited about this link-up. Why?

• Because I love to read. Reading is my escape, my stress-relief, my doorway to other worlds, other times, other experiences.
• Because I love books. I love to collect books, to line them up on my sagging bookshelves, to return to my favorites again and again, and also to share those memorable, remarkable books that have touched my heart with as many other people as I can.
• Because I love the opportunity to learn about books and authors that I may never have stumbled upon myself. (And I love being introduced to new blogs and bloggers as well, through link-ups like these!)

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The Rules:

If you’d like to receive any of the books participating bloggers have reviewed on our blogs today, leave a comment on that participating post. The winner will be selected using Random.org, just like a standard giveaway. If you have a book you’d like to give away on your own blog, please write up a short review, grab the button, and add your name to the InLinkz (found here on either Julie or Elizabeth‘s blogs).

Once a month, they’ll host this blog hop to give you a chance to pass a book you love on to another blogger. All they ask is…

1) If you receive a book from another blogger during this book hop, please promise that you’ll ultimately pass it on using this blog hop as well. It can be the next month, or two months, or three months down the road– not everyone has a whole bunch of time to read, so the timeline is yours to decide!

2) Once you receive a book, make sure to add your blog name and URL to the inside cover. That way, the people who receive that book in the future will know where it’s been.

3) You can add a book to the blog hop at any time. So if you don’t have a book you’d like to give away this month, don’t worry! You can add something next month, or the month after, or the month after!

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The book I’m reviewing and giving away this month:

Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts

 

Blurb from the back of the book:

Talk about unlucky sevens. An hour ago, seventeen-year-old, seven months pregnant Novalee Nation was heading for California with her boyfriend. Now she finds herself stranded at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, with just $7.77 in change. But Novalee is about to discover hidden treasures in this small Southwest town–a group of down-to-earth, deeply caring people willing to help a homeless, jobless girl living secretly in a Wal-Mart. From Bible-thumping blue-haired Sister Thelma Husband to eccentric librarian Forney Hull who loves Novalee more than she loves herself, they are about to take her–and you, too–on a moving, funny, and unforgettable journey to . . . Where the Heart Is.

    

My review:

I’ll be honest, it’s been quite a while since I’ve read this book, so I’m hazy on the details.  Hazy enough that I spent my son’s nap time flipping back through the pages, reacquainting myself with the characters, the plot, and the writing.  I didn’t re-read word for word, but found myself getting caught up again in passages, falling back under the spell of this warm book and it’s quirky characters, and recollecting more of the feelings this book generated, rather than with the nitty-gritty details of the plot. 

I remember crying as I read certain parts, tissues wadded up in my hand as I wept for the characters.  I remember laughing, smiling to myself as I read.  I remember feeling compelled to share, and reading short sections out-loud to my mother, while we sat side-by-side in our beach chairs at the lake during the summer I was pregnant. 

 

This may not be award-winning literature, but it’s a book full of love, and a book that will leave you with wonderful feelings after you close it that last time.  And for a summer beach read, what more could you ask for?  

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How to enter my Where the Heart Is giveaway:

– Leave a comment below telling me why you’d like to win this book…and if you’d like, also share the title of a recent book you’ve read that you’ve enjoyed. I’m always up for book recommendations!

I’ll announce the winner on Saturday, April 17th.