The Sunday Salon... Celebrating My 2nd Blogiversary and The Sunday Salon!

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them, and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....

That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book.

Each Sunday I sit down with a cup of joe in my virtual corner of the reading room and chat books. Lately I've had books wrapped around a theme, like Epistolary Novels or Scholarly Women Heroines. But I've also just chatted about books (and ebooks) that just caught my eye as I wandered my favorite bookstores, taken a trip through the WWW, or opened up a surprise in the mail. This week I celebrate my 2nd Blogiversary, and I hope you'll join me!

Today I wanted to celebrate The Sunday Salon. Have you enjoyed the sneak peeks at the books I highlighted on Sundays? Well, here's your chance to win one! One lucky reader is going to have their choice of any one of the books I've highlighted on the past Blogiversary years' Sunday Salons. What's the past Blogiversary Year Sunday Salons? Any Chick with Books Sunday Salon post between the February 28th, 2010 Sunday Salon, the Sunday Salon after last years Blogiversary celebration, and the February 13th, 2011 Sunday Salon, the last Sunday Salon before my 2nd Blogiversary. How do you take a peek at those older Sunday Salons? I've moved the searchable "Blog Archive" to the left sidebar. All you need to do is click on the month or year to bring up the list of posts, then click on a particular Sunday Salon post and see what books were hot that week! What do you have to do to enter? Just fill out the form below (only I will be able to see your answers!). AND since we're celebrating great books, as part of the giveaway, how about sharing a great book with me?! Here's the particulars of entering...

How to Enter The Sunday Salon Blogiversary Celebration Giveaway...

* Find a book from any of my Sunday Salons from Feb. 28, 2010 through Feb. 13, 2011

* Fill out the form below, which includes a favorite book of yours! (Remember, your information is private, like your mailing address, - only I will be able to see what you write!)

* Anyone can join in on the fun! As long as I can mail a book to you using the US Postal Service or in the case of International Entrants, anywhere The Book Depository can mail a book, you can enter the giveaway!

*This Giveaway will end 11:59 pm EST Feb. 27, 2011. I'll randomly pick a winner the next day. And I'll come back to this post and update it with the name of the lucky winner!

Giveaway! Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran

Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution

by Michelle Moran

And the Winner is... Cheryl (CherylS22)! Congrats!

Thank you to EVERYONE who entered, tweeted, and blogged about this great giveaway!

The world knows Madame Tussaud as a wax artist extraordinaire…but who was this woman and how did she become one of the most famous sculptresses of all time? In these pages, her tumultuous story comes to life as only Michelle Moran could tell it. The year is 1788, and a revolution is about to begin…

Marie Tussaud has learned the secrets of wax sculpting by working alongside her uncle in their celebrated wax museum, the Salon de Cire. From her popular model of the American Ambassador, Thomas Jefferson, to her tableau of the royal family at dinner, Marie’s museum provides Parisians with the very latest news on fashion, gossip, even politics. Her customers hail from every walk of life, and when word arrives that the royals themselves are coming to see their

likenesses, Marie never dreams that the king’s sister will request her presence at Versailles as a royal tutor in wax sculpting. Yet when a letter with a gold seal is delivered to her home, Marie knows she cannot refuse—even if it means time away from her beloved Salon and her increasingly dear friend, Henri Charles.

As Marie becomes acquainted with her pupil, Princess Élisabeth, she is taken to meet both Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI, who introduce her to the glamorous life at court. From lavish parties with more delicacies than she’s ever seen, to rooms filled with candles lit only once before being discarded, Marie steps into to a world entirely different from her home on the Boulevard du Temple, where people are selling their teeth in order to put food on the table.

Meanwhile, many resent the vast separation between rich and poor. In salons and cafés across Paris, people like Camille Desmoulins, Jean-Paul Marat, and Maximilien Robespierre are lashing out against the monarchy. Soon, there’s whispered talk of revolution…Will Marie be able to hold on to both the love of her life and her friendship with the royal family as France approaches civil war? And more importantly, will she be able to fulfill the demands of powerful revolutionaries who ask that she make the death masks of beheaded aristocrats, some of whom she knows?

Spanning five years from the budding revolution to the Reign of Terror, Madame Tussaud brings us into the world of an incredible heroine whose talent for wax modeling saved her life and preserved the faces of a vanished kingdom.

Courtesy of author Michelle Moran, and Crown Publishing, I have a SIGNED COPY of Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution to GIVE AWAY! PLUS, Michelle is including a pair of Marie Antoinette cupcake earrings to the lucky winner!

This giveaway is open Worldwide! Michelle will send the lucky winner their book ANYWHERE in the world! (Hey, Michelle's a world traveler, why would she mind her book traveling a little too!) Contest ends 11:59pm EST on February 22nd, 2011. I will randomly pick the winners the next day and email them! Good Luck!

**Now, I'm trying out a NEW form for the giveaways (OK, new to me...). So, to enter the giveaway, you need to click on the link below. It will take you to a form, for my eyes only... that means no one will see your email or any of your information but me, and you don't have to have a google account to enter either.

*For this giveaway, Get an extra entry for following my blog! There's a place on the form to let me know! ( Not a follower yet? No problem, sign up by clicking on the 'followers" button on the sidebar to the left! ) You'll also get an extra entry for blogging or tweeting about the giveaway, and there's a place on the form for that too! OK, ready?! ...

Enter the Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Clicking Here!

International Giveaway & Review... The Sari Shop Widow by Shobhan Bantwal

A rare and insightful glimpse into the vibrant world of Indian-American fashions and immigrant culture. A young businesswoman rediscovers the magic of love, family, and tradition as she fights to save her failing sari boutique in New Jersey…

Congrats to Amanda who won the signed copy of The Sari Shop Widow! And Thank you to EVERYONE for joining in on the fun!

Since becoming a widow at age twenty-seven, Anjali Kapadia has devoted herself to transforming her parents' sari shop into a chic boutique, brimming with exquisite jewelry and clothing. Now, ten years later, it stands out like a proud maharani amid Edison’s bustling Little India. But when Anjali learns the shop is on the brink of bankruptcy, she feels her world unraveling…

To the rescue comes Anjali’s wealthy, dictatorial Uncle Jeevan and his business partner, Rishi Shah—a mysterious Londoner, complete with British accent, cool gray eyes, and skin so fair it makes it hard to believe he’s Indian. Rishi’s cool, foreign demeanor triggers distrust in Anjali and her mother. But for Anjali, he also stirs something else, a powerful attraction she hasn’t felt in a decade. And the feeling is mutual…

Love disappointed Anjali once before and she’s vowed to live without it—though Rishi is slowly melting her resolve and, as the shop regains its footing, gaining her trust. But when a secret from Rishi’s past is revealed, Anjali must turn to her family and her strong cultural upbringing to guide her in finding the truth…

"In my books, I try to weave social themes into stories of romance, intrigue, drama, and high emotion. My aim is to educate, inform, and entertain readers who may not ordinarily have an opportunity to learn about women's issues in India and other similar cultures." ...And in the Sari Shop Widow Shobhan Bantwal certainly does that! Shobhan's writing flows easily across the page as we enter the world of India. With the wonderful descriptions of Indian food and beautiful fabrics, we are taken into the sari shop of 27 year old widow Anjali Kapadia and can almost touch everything around us, but we are there to see how life can take some heartbreaking turns, and how the resolve of this one woman can overcome quite a lot while still holding on to the traditions of her upbringing.

Wonderful writing, characters that almost walk off the page and a great story, make The Sari Shop Widow a must read. And a great book club pick too! Here is a link to some great discussion questions. Would you like to read an excerpt? Here is a link to the first chapter. And if you missed Shobhan Bantwal's guest post earlier this month on Chick with Books, Here is the link to her insightful post on starting her writing career after age 50!

Would you like a chance to win an autographed copy of The Sari Shop Widow? And enter the world of Anjali Kapadia? Thanks to Jaime of Pump up Your Book, who is promoting Shobhan Bantwal's Book Tour this month, I have a extra copy of The Sari Shop Widow, signed by the author to give away!

To Enter This Giveaway...

*For one entry leave me a comment with your email address!

*Get an extra entry for following my blog! Just leave a comment letting me know you're a follower! ( Not a follower yet? No problem, sign up by clicking on the 'followers" button! Just let me know you became a new follower!)

*Blog or tweet about this giveaway and leave me the link.

This giveaway is open to U.S. Residents and Internationally! If I can mail a book to you thru the U.S. Postal Service you are eligible to enter! Contest ends 11:59pm EST on Nov. 14th. I will randomly pick the winner the next day and email him or her! (please check your email.. winner must reply to me within 3 days! Thanks!) Good Luck!

And Thanks Jaime for the review copy of The Sari Shop Widow! It was a wonderful read!

P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!