Giveaway: The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

"Martha was not a witch. Merely a ferocious woman!"

Congratulations to Brenda, Allison and Lori & Steve! AND Mel! They have won copies of The Heretic's Daughter! And thanks to everyone for entering the contest and joining in on the fun!

Author Kathleen Kent, a direct descendant of the real Martha Carrier, says she grew up hearing stories about Carrier and her tribulations from her mother and grandmother... Here's her fictionalized story of Martha Carrier's life before and after the trial...

Martha Carrier was one of the first women to be accused, tried and hanged as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts. Like her mother, young Sarah Carrier is bright and willful, openly challenging the small, brutal world in which they live. Often at odds with one another, mother and daughter are forced to stand together against the escalating hysteria of the trials and the superstitious tyranny that led to the torture and imprisonment of more than 200 people accused of witchcraft. This is the story of Martha's courageous defiance and ultimate death, as told by the daughter who survived.

Kathleen Kent is a tenth generation descendent of Martha Carrier. She paints a haunting portrait, not just of Puritan New England, but also of one family's deep and abiding love in the face of fear and persecution.

I am so excited to be able to offer The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent for a giveaway! I've always been fascinated with the Salem witch trials and The Heretic's Daughter has gotten such great reviews! Kathleen Kent's personal connection to Martha Carrier makes me all the more eager to read it, because I'm sure that the stories she heard as a child growing up has added depth to her story.

October is National Reading Group Month, and there should be plenty to discuss in a book about the Salem witch trials! Here is a link to the reading group guide for The Heretic's Daughter! Educators are excited about Kathleen's book too, here's a LINK to a teaching guide. Listen to Kathleen Kent talk about her novel, Salem, witches and, of course, Halloween on Blog Talk Radio. Find a link to my review here after I've finished reading it. But in the meantime, let's have some fun!

Courtesy of Valerie of Hachette Book Group, I have 5 copies of The Heretic's Daughter available for a giveaway! Thanks Valerie!

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 US and Canadian residents only.(No PO boxes). The books will be shipped to the winners directly from the publisher. Contest ends 11:59pm EST on Halloween, Oct. 31st. I will randomly pick the winners the next day and email them! (please check your email.. winner must reply to me within 3 days! Thanks!) Good Luck!

*P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!

National Reading Group Month, How to Start a Reading Group, and Some Great Books for Your Group!

October is National Reading Group Month...

Grab a book & a friend and start reading!

National Reading Group Month is "an initiative of the Women's National Book Association (WNBA). Founded in 1917, WNBA promotes literacy, a love of reading, and women's roles in the community of the book." National Reading Group Month (NRGM) is the celebration of reading groups....

Have you ever read a book and were dying to talk to someone about it?! That's what motivated me to start my reading group. I didn't want to wait to discuss the book after lending it to someone! I wanted to talk about it NOW! And so my reading group, Chicks with Books (and Steve) became the place I could share some of the books I loved and wanted to discuss! It was also the place I read books I normally wouldn't choose for myself because as other people started choosing books we saw how everyone in the group loved to read, but not necessarily the same kind of books...

So how do you start a reading group? All you need are a group of people who enjoy to read! I found those people at work, but it could be a family get together or a group of mothers whose children play together, neighbors... Some of the things to think about are... Where you will meet? Someone's home, a library, bookstore... How often? Once a month, every other month... What type of books do you want to read? Fiction, non-fiction, mysteries...

There are some good books to help you get started such as, The Reading Group Handbook: Everything You Need to Know from Choosing Members to Leading Discussions,by Rachel W. Jacobsohn, that helps you understand the "Nuts and Bolts" of a Reading Group and what makes a good one. There are some great sites to help you along too, such as Reading Group Choices, a site that highlights books for reading groups with descriptions, conversation starters and author interviews. And there are a lot of wonderful new books to read about, featured books and even a search engine to look for past recommendations! You can find a whole section HERE for starting your own reading group, the where, when and what kinds of books to read, and tips to make your group even better with tips for making your discussions better and ways to add some creativity to your meetings! Another place to find some great book club suggestions is my favorite podcast Books on the Nightstand! Michael Kindness and Ann Kingman are friends and colleagues who work in the publishing industry, they have a blog, Books on the Nightstand, AND a weekly podcast available directly from their blog or from iTunes. Books on the Nightstand has always been a favorite podcast of mine and they have great suggestions for books every week! Already have a book and would like some discussion help? ReadingGroupGuides.com that has a large selection of reading guides (which are questions that make for a good discussions) for books arranged by book title, author or a list of other categories. They also have a great selection of recommended books for reading groups!

And speaking of suggestions, there is a selection committee involved with with NRGM (National Reading Group Month) and the 2009 Great Group Reads include:

Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie, An absorbing three-generation saga of two families, forever intertwined in fateful ways as the politics of India, Pakistan, and the U.S. play havoc with their lives and beliefs from the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki to 9/11. I'm reading Burnt Shadows now and am loving it! The writing is wonderful, and I can see how it would make a perfect group read with plenty of discussion material.

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist, Set in a dystopian world where childless men and women over a certain age are considered dispensable and used for

organ harvesting, Holmqvist's unusual story forces us to think about some complex ethical and moral questions.

Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal by Julie Metz, When Metz's husband dies unexpectedly, she uncovers a trail of infidelities, exposing years of manipulation and self-deception. Her anger and obsession to uncover the truth make this an unusually candid and courageous memoir.

You can find the complete list HERE at the National Reading Group Month website.

So this month let's celebrate National Reading Group Month together! It's a great way to promote the love of reading and form lasting friendships! Here is the LINK to Women's National Book Association's website for National Reading Group Month. Share something about your book club here! Are you a member of a book club? What's your book club called? What kinds of books do you read? What fun things do you do in your meeting? Stop by all this month to read about Book Clubs and 'The Stuff' that makes them GREAT! (And that includes food- and a great recipe book perfect for book club dinners & a giveaway for a copy!)

*P.S. Burnt Shadows, The Unit, & Perfection are all Kindle Ready!

The Sunday Salon... National Reading Group Month, Books you might have missed, and Books with Buzz!

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...

The week has seemed to slip away... I've had my nose in a book, of

course, and that book was Michael Connelly's newest book, 9 Dragons. Michael Connelly's detective Harry Bosch is back, traveling to an

exotic location for a not so glamourous reason. The book will be available in bookstores on tuesday, and so will my review. Chick with Books is part of Michael Connelly's Book Blog Tour that starts tuesday!

Something else starts this week at Chick with Books... the celebration of National Reading Group Month. October is National Reading Group Month and wednesday I'll start the week off by talking about reading groups and how to start your very own! Plus resources to help you along...

A few books you may have missed, but should remember to add to your reading list are Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger, author of one of my favorite books The Time Travelers Wife. In her newest book, "The endurance of love animates this gothic story set in and around Highgate Cemetery, in London. When Elspeth Noblin dies of cancer, she leaves her estate, including an apartment overlooking the graveyard, to the twin daughters of her twin sister, from whom she has been estranged for twenty years. When Valentina and Julia show up to claim their inheritance, they soon discover that Elspeth is still in residence, in ghostly form..." I love a good ghost story and I like Audrey Niffenegger's writing, so I can't wait to crack the spine on this book! As soon as I do, I'll let you know all about it in a review!

OK, for you Jamie and Claire fans, Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon was released a few weeks ago. The time traveling romance of Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall continues in the highly anticipated (the last book came out 4 years ago!) 7th novel of the series! If you haven't read any of the books in the series, and you like romance, go out and buy Outlander! It's the first book in the series and you will fall in love! It is a magical adventure! Diana Gabaldon writes wonderfully, and creates such a believable world and great characters! If you own a KINDLE you can download Outlander by Diana Gabaldon for the bargain price of $2.39!

On to a new book that caught my eye this weekend... The Owl Killers by Karen Maitland. I know you aren't suppose to judge a book by it's cover, but I picked this book up because of the cover... the colors of the owl mask on the front cover just jumped out at me. When I read what the book was about I was giddy! I love medieval times! This is being called a medieval mystery, and here's the blurb from Random House, "England, 1321. The tiny village of Ulewic teeters between survival and destruction, faith and doubt, God and demons. For shadowing the villagers’ lives are men cloaked in masks and secrecy, ruling with violence, intimidation, and terrifying fiery rites: the Owl Masters... But another force is touching Ulewic—a newly formed community built and served only by women. Called a beguinage, it is a safe harbor of service and faith in defiance of the all-powerful Church. Behind the walls of this sanctuary, womenhave gathered from all walks of life: a skilled physician, a towering former prostitute, a cook, a local convert... But life in Ulewic is growing more dangerous with each passing day. The women are the subject of rumors, envy, scorn, and fury…until the daughter of Ulewic’s most powerful man is cast out of her home and accepted into the beguinage—and battle lines are drawn... Into this drama are swept innocents and conspirators: a parish priest trying to save himself from his own sins…a village teenager, pregnant and terrified…a woman once on the verge of sainthood, now cast out of the Church.…With Ulewic ravaged by flood and disease, and with villagers driven by fear, a secret inside the beguinage will draw the desperate and the depraved—until masks are dropped, faith is tested…and every lie is exposed." I'm anticipating a great read. It kind of reminds me of Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett... you have read that one, right?!

Another book with a lot of buzz is The Blue Notebook by James Levine. The Blue Notebook is "the story of Batuk, an Indian girl who is taken to Mumbai from the countryside and sold into prostitution by her father; the blue notebook is her diary, in which she recalls her early childhood, records her life on the Common Street, and makes up beautiful and fantastic tales about a silver-eyed leopard and a poor boy who fells a giant with a single gold coin." An interesting part of how this book came to be was that Dr. James Levine was part of a medical research team interviewing homeless children on a street in Mumbai where child prostitutes work. He noticed a young woman writing in a notebook (outside her cage) and the image haunted him... "Even as the novel humanizes and addresses the devastating global issue of child prostitution, it also delivers an inspiring message about the uplifting power of words and reading–a message that is so important to hold on to, especially in difficult times. Dr. Levine is donating all his U.S. proceeds from this book to help exploited children."

Finally something for those of you who enjoy a bit of sci-fi... Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. "In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born. But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead. Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history. His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive." Cherie writes on her website..."If you have any interest whatsoever in steampunk pulp adventuring, alternate history, dirigibles, pirates, zombies, secret criminal societies, and Bonus! extended deleted scenes from the Civil War, this book may well be right up your alley!" A little bit of Dystopia, referred to as Steampunk and it all adds up to what looks to be an interesting read! And it's on my nightstand right now!

So, what have you been reading lately!? Any recommendations?! Have you read any Dystopia or Steampunk before? Let me know what's on your nightstand or TBR pile! It's a busy week on the blog this week, so come back and check out Michael Connelly's Blog Tour tuesday and a guest post with Shobhan Bantwal author of The Sari Shop Widow! A few book reviews and the start of recognizing National Reading Group Month...

*P.S. All these books are Kindle Ready , except for Boneshaker - which is in the works for Kindle...

Happy Reading.... Suzanne

OH, and if you haven't entered the Banned Books Week giveaway, there's still time! Drawing ends tonight, Oct. 11th at midnight! Here are the Details...

Banned Books Week! National Reading Group Month! and a Book that fits into BOTH catagories... their eyes were watching god by Zora Neale Hurston

"I have the nerve to walk my own way, however hard, in my search for reality, rather than climb upon the rattling wagon of wishful illusions."

Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) was one of the most significant collectors and interpreters of Southern African American culture, writer, folklorist & anthropologist. A graduate of Howard University and Barnard College, she then spent 2 years in graduate studies in anthropology at Columbia University. Her other love was writing , which she combined with her research in folklore and anthropology.

"She refused simply to record the ways of her people and thereby condemn her “studies” to dusty library shelves where only researchers would consider them. Rather Zora used her creative genius to being the unique and wonderful culture of African Americans to mainstream America via captivating novels, short stories and dramatic presentations. The woman from Eatonville, Florida, has captured the attention of a worldwide audience with her interpretation of African American culture as a part of the human saga."

She worked with Langston Hughes, influenced writers such as Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison and Alice Walker. But she was also a controversial writer... Thinking like a folklorist, Hurston strove to represent speech patterns of the period which she documented through her research. But other African American writers criticized her for using language that represented a "stereotype". Eventually she fell out of favor with the times and wound up broke and working as a maid at the time of her death. She was buried in an unmarked grave. A terribly sad ending. The writer Alice Walker went to pay her respects to Zora Neale Hurston who's book their eyes were watching god "speaks to me as no novel, past or present, has ever done." and decided that the writer deserved more than an unmarked grave. Her writing was so inspiring to Ms. Walker, that she brought Zora Neale Hurston out of obscurity and back into the limelight...

their eyes were watching god is the best known work by Zora Neale Hurston. Initially published in 1937, this novel about a proud, independent black woman's quest for identity, a journey that takes her through three marriages and back to her roots, has been one of the most widely read and highly acclaimed novels in African-American literature. It's a story about Janie Crawford, an attractive, confident, middle-aged black woman, who returns to Eatonville, Florida, after a long absence. The black townspeople gossip about her and speculate about where she's been and what happened to her husband, Tea Cake. They take her confidence as her being snobbish, but Janie’s friend Pheoby sticks up for her. Pheoby visits her to find out what happened. And that's the beginning of a story filled with failed marriages, strong women and finally true love... And a CHALLENGED BOOK! Why? Because of it's language and sexual explicitness. Most recently challenged in 1998.

Have you read their eyes were watching god? It's been on my bookshelf waiting for me to crack the spine! Time magazines literary critic listed their eyes were watching god as one of the 100 best English-Language novels from 1923 - 2005. Would you like to read an excerpt? Here's a link to Chapter One! their eyes were watching god has a reading group guide available from Harper Collins HERE. Zora Neale Hurston's choice of writing style & dialect, and use of folklore are some of the discussion points.

*P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready! AND at a BARGAIN price of $3.95!

The Sunday Salon... Banned Books, National Reading Group Month and some Books with Buzz!

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...

As a person who loves reading, it surprises me that there are stilled banned and challenged books. Most of the time, these challenges are to protect children from inappropriate material, but in some instances, such as the challenging of Charlotte's Web by E.B. White for the "unnatural" depiction of talking animals, I am left scratching my head. All this came to mind this week after I read that the annual celebration for your Freedom of Reading was coming! Banned Books Week (BBW): Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September and has been observed each year since 1982. "This annual ALA event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted." The American Library Association (ALA) keeps track of all challenged and banned books. The ALA believes "Frequently, challenges are motivated by the desire to protect children. While the intent is commendable this method of protection contains hazards far greater than exposure to the "evil" against which it is leveled... Individuals may restrict what they themselves or their children read, but they must not call on government or public agencies to prevent others from reading or seeing that material." I think parents should have the right to restrict what their children read and that "adult" books shouldn't be in the children's section... But taking the books off the shelf for all of us? What do you think? This year Banned Book Week is Sept.26th - Oct.3rd. I plan on reading Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger... I mention all this ahead of time, to see if you want to participate in Banned Book Week!? If you have a blog, would you like to link up that week and post about Banned Book Week, either about a particular banned or challenged book, a review of a banned or challenged book, or just talking about the books you love? Here's the ALA list of the top 100 Classic Novels that were either banned or challenged. At the bottom of the page Here you can find links to the lists of the Banned or Challenged Books for the last 5 years. Let me know if you'd like to participate, send me a link to your blog and we'll link up.

In October, The Women's National Book Association celebrates National Reading Group Month! "Reading groups are proving that good books bring people together. National Reading Group Month salutes reading groups. It fosters their growth and promotes the love of literature. It's an opportunity for reading groups to reflect on their accomplishments and plan for the future — the perfect time to join or start a group." There will be nation-wide events, and reading group recommendations. Click on the highlighted link for more info. And next month we'll talk more about reading groups and the great things we get out of them! Do you belong to a reading group? I'd love to hear about i! Don't wait until next month, let me know what you're group is all about now!

Now that I've talked about the freedom to read what you want, and mentioned about next months celebration of Reading Groups... let's talk a little about some books with buzz..

The much anticipated book by Newbery Medal winner Kate DiCamillo,The Magician's Elephant, tells the tale of Peter Augustus Duchene, a ten-year-old orphan who receives an unbelievable piece of information from the local fortuneteller. Peter learns that his fate is tied to an elephant that has inexplicably fallen from the sky when a magician's trick goes terribly wrong. A small adorable 200 page hardcover book about the size of a trade paperback, written in chapters and peppered in beautifully dark pencil drawings by well known illustrator Yoko Tanaka, has generated a lot of buzz before and after it's recent release. Kate DiCamillo is known for her wonderful tales beautifully & simply written and this should be no different. A book for children, ages 8-13, I picked up a copy of this for myself... look for the review next week!

Next book with Buzz for us women... The Invisible Mountain by Carolina De Robertis. In the author's own words she describes her book... "The Invisible Mountain traverses ninety years of Uruguayan history and culture through the eyes of three generations of women. From rural gaucho life and Italian immigrant experiences at the turn of the 20th century, to the revolutionary 60’s and the dictatorship that followed." Provocative, heartbreaking and ultimately life-affirming, The Invisible Mountain is a poignant celebration of the potency of familial love, the will to survive in the most hopeless of circumstances, and, above all, the fierce, fortifying connection between mother and daughter. I love stories with strong women and this looks like it will be a wonderful read! Not only for the story, but the writing of Carolina De Robertis is also getting high praise... I can't wait to start reading this!

And finally, I have to admit buying another book for The Japanese Literature Challenge! Gnoe who I met thru The Japanese Literature Challenge, and who has a wonderful blog called Graasland, recommended Strangers by Taichi Yamada. A haunting tale of middle-aged, jaded and divorced, TV scriptwriter Harada who returns one night to the old dilapidated downtown district of Tokyo where he grew up. There, at the theatre, he meets a man who looks exactly like his long-dead father. And so begins Harada's ordeal, as he's thrust into a reality where his parents appear to be alive at the exact age they died so many years before... Thanks Gnoe for the recommendation! Another book I am really looking forward to reading! So many books in the TBR pile!

What are you reading this week!? Any books you want to recommend? I'd love to hear about them! And don't forget about Banned Book Week! Let me know what you think!

Happy Reading.... Suzanne