Goodbye 2011 and Hello 2012!

Wow, what an awesome year in the book world it has been. I myself have read so many wonderful books as well as found so many amazing authors who I never knew were out there. With so many books out there and not enough time to read everyone I want to each year. I thought since this is the day before a new year why not tell everyone my book highlights from this year. So before I begin I want to once again thank every author this year who asked me to read your books and wish you all the best of luck in the years to come. Also to all my followers who have stuck with me and I hope each and everyone of you enjoy Bittersweet Enchantment. 

My 2011 wrap up:

Books Read: 103 (my goal was 100)

Pages Read: 30515

Blog Post: 235

So here are three new year resolutions for the new year - 

1. Read more than last year

2. Blog more than last year

3. Do more book reviews

My Top 10 Books I read for 2011: ( does not mean the book was published in 2011)

As for the books I am looking forward to next year, well only time will tell. I know there will be a lot of awesome one coming out as well as ones I really need to read from my TBR list.  I am really thinking that 2011 will be a great year for me and I hope it will be for you as well. :)

Best of 2011 Hop!

Hosted by http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/

Hello all everyone! So this is my first time doing a giveaway hop and I am so excited to be able to join in this time. I am so happy to be able to share with you one of my favorite books from 2011.  Thank you so much Kathy for giving us the opportunity to let everyone know what books we loved reading this year. 

The book I have chosen to giveaway is "The Wedding Gift" by Kathleen McKenna. I so adored this book and just know others will love it too, given the chance.  I have a review written for the book here. 

There will be 3 prizes - ONE paperback and TWO e-book copies.

( The First winner chosen will receive the paperback and so on. )

Rules:

• The paperback is only open for USA/Canada residents - The ebook copies are open to everyone.
• You must be 13 years or old to enter. 
• Email addresses must be included with each entry in the Rafflecopter form. I will only use the email addresses to contact the winner.
• There is only one mandatory entry - it's to GFC follow my blog. Extra entry may be earned by tweeting this giveaway post. 
• The winners will be contacted by email and will have 72 hours to respond with a mailing address.

Please us the rafflecoper form below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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7. My Reading Pile (US)

8. Author K. C. Neal (Int)

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10. ~Mercurial Musings (Int)

11. Lindsey @ Babies, Books, and Signs (Int)

12. A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust (US)

13. ~The Non Reluctant Reader (Int)

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16. Alexis @ Reflections of a Bookaholic (US)

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26. Cheri Schmidt, author of YA Fantasy Romance (US)

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73. The Garden of Books (Int)

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76. storymaker (US)

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78. ~Hippies, Beauty, and Books Oh My! (US)

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91. ~The Hook (US)

92. ~Joan Holub Goddess Girls Artemis the Loyal (US)

93. ~Mostly Reviews (Int)

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95. ~Nicci @ Paper Dreams -YA (Int)

96. Jennifer Lane Books (Int)

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104. Reflect (US)

105. Bittersweet Enchantment (US)

106. Just Another Book Lovin Girl (Int)

107. Prissy Fit (US)

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109. CMash Loves to Read (US)

110. ???LIFE IS . . . FICTION??? (Int)

111. ~Lindsey @ Babies, Books, and Signs

{Guest Post & Giveaway} Cicada by Belle Whittington

Hello my lovely followers. I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday. Today I would love to share with everyone a guest post written by author Belle Whittington. I was asked to read her new book, Cicada and while I do not have the time right now Belle and I decided she would write up a guest post for my readers. She would also like offer my readers ONE free e-book as a giveaway. Very cool! Cicada sounds like amazing book and I am sure the winner will love it.  I hope everyone will enjoy this post and learn more about the new young adult author,  Belle Whittington and her new book.

About Cicada:

Summertime had always been carefree and fun for Blair Reynolds and her friends--until they came upon something that was not human. As the group of friends band together in a fight for their lives, Blair's true love becomes something more than human...something unnatural. And their existence relies on their ability to keep a secret.

Author Guest-Post:  Belle Whittington

I have been daydreaming stories for as long as I can remember.  My first recollection of wanting to be a writer was when I was in the second grade, and my teacher, Mrs. Rambin, would have us lay our heads on our desks after lunch while she read us stories full of magic and imagination.

Most of my early writings were stories with a twist of science fiction…even my earliest poems.  I remember sitting on the dam of a neighbor’s pond around the time I was eleven, writing a story about space travel.  In fact, I still have that little handwritten story.  It’s still bound in the same yellow notebook that I put it in way back in the sixth grade!

Growing up in Nacogdoches, the oldest town in Texas, afforded me summers full of adventure with my friends.  I call on those adventures and memories a great deal for my YA stories.  Cicada has a lot of the energy of those childhood adventures spun throughout.  One of them is something that actually happened to me when I was thirteen years old.  I was on one of my adventures in the woods with my dog, Dusty.  We made our way through the woods to a neighboring pasture and crawled through the barbed wire fence.  When we got to the top of one of the rolling hills in the grassy field, I realized I was standing in the middle of a giant circle imprinted in the pasture grass.  No one had ever told me about crop circles at that time in my life, so I just thought it was an odd occurrence that there was a strange circle in the tall grass.   Now that circle is forever memorialized in a YA novel, Cicada!

Nowadays, I work at a day job in higher education and spin my tales during those off hours that I’m not working on assignments for my English classes at University of Houston, where I’m earning my degree in hopes of teaching English at the college level one day.

You can find me online at these locations. I’d love for you to stop by!

·       Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Belle-Whittington-Author/192785624106142

· Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5046101.Belle_Whittington

· Tumblr:  http://bellewhittington.tumblr.com/

· Twitter:  http://twitter.com/AuthorofCicada

· Cicada is currently available in paperback at: https://www.createspace.com/3611155 and http://tinyurl.com/Cicada-on-Amazon

About The Author:

Belle resides somewhere north of Houston, Texas in a small inconsequential town with the smallest most inconsequential name. There, in the shady reaches of the pines, elms, and oaks, she daydreams of adventures and secrets that she weaves throughout her stories. 


As a student of literature, Belle is earning her degree in English at the University of Houston. She hopes to teach literature at the college level some day. 

                 

        

I hope everyone enjoyed the guest post from author Belle Whittington and loved learning more about herself and her book. So Here is the fun part - The Giveaway! =D  Belle has agreed to give away a free e-book copy of her new book to 1 LUCKY reader of my blog.  So please enter and have fun! Good luck to everyone!

Please use the form (rafflecopter): 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

{ Giveaway Winner } Dark Seeker by Taryn Browning

Hello everyone.  Yes, I am here to announce yet another giveaway winner. Before I do let me thank each of you who entered in the giveaway and read the lovely guestpost from new author, Taryn Browning.  I hope everyone enjoyed the giveaway and there will be another giveaway up sometime tomorrow hopefully. 

Thank you ever so much for hosting this wonderful giveaway, Taryn! 

So without futher ado... the winner of the e-book copy of the book, Dark Seeker is -

Danielle!!!

( she won for leaving a blog post comment )

 Danielle you have won a e-book copy (any format) of her book, Dark Seeker.  

 I will be getting in touch with you through e-mail to get you your free copy of the book. I hope you will love and enjoy reading the book. Thank you again for everyone who entered this giveaway.

Here is the guest-post once again for those who missed it.  ( Dark Seeker )