Literary Giveaway and Blog Hop Has Begun

The Literary Giveaway Blog Hop hosted by Leeswammes’ Blog, has begun and will run from Saturday,  June 25th through Wednesday, June 29th.  More than (70) bloggers are participating, each will be giving away some great book in the process.

For those of you who may be visiting my blog for the first time, my name is Diane, and I've been blogging for (3) years. I'm in my 50's (sighhhh), married, (2) great adult children who left the nest (14) years ago. My dear husband and I now have (4) cats to entertain us. We love life here in New England.

My blog is a mixture of book reviews: generally, literary or contemporary fiction, and some non fiction. On occasion, I also enjoy reviewing books for younger children.  I also like to profile soon to be released books that appeal to me, and to shake things up a bit, I also like to post occasional photos of of pets, trips and nature sightings.

If you are new to my blog, I hope you will become a regular visitor. If you are an old friend, THANK YOU, as you all make blogging worthwhile. I LOVE COMMENTS.

I selected several books, I hope you'll enjoy if you win my giveaway.  To make it a bit easier for me, (1) lucky winner will win ALL (5) Books. (2) are new trade size softcovers, and (3) are like new ARCs. If you've read a few of these already, and you are the lucky winner, please pass them on with love.

 

 The Dressmaker; Posie Graeme-Evans 

Big girls in 19th-century England don't cry in Graeme-Evans's light tale about a plucky heroine who endures a series of harsh trials on her way to becoming London's leading dressmaker. Things start to go south for curate's daughter Ellen Gowan on her 13th birthday, when the dress Connie, her mother, makes her, entices one of her father's students to steal a kiss. Scandal and ruination seem imminent when her father dies, forcing mother and daughter to seek refuge with Connie's sister, who lives in terror of her baronet husband. There, Ellen's friendship with her cousin, Oriana, blossoms, until once again a young man stirs trouble, and Connie and Ellen land in London, where Connie succumbs to illness and Ellen marries a cad who leaves her pregnant and alone. But with a little help from friends, family, and unlikely sources, Ellen becomes the go-to creator of "all manner of finery" for England's most prominent families. Yes, it's formulaic, far-fetched, and soppy with sentiment, but it's also a lot of fun, and Graeme-Evans (The Innocent) is unapologetic in her celebration of the joys of pretty clothes and the thrills of overcoming adversity.

 

Faith; Jennifer Haigh

It is the spring of 2002 and a perfect storm has hit Boston. Across the city's archdiocese, trusted priests have been accused of the worst possible betrayal of the souls in their care. In Faith, Jennifer Haigh explores the fallout for one devout family, the McGanns.
Estranged for years from her difficult and demanding relatives, Sheila McGann has remained close to her older brother Art, the popular, dynamic pastor of a large suburban parish. When Art finds himself at the center of the maelstrom, Sheila returns to Boston, ready to fight for him and his reputation. What she discovers is more complicated than she imagined. Her strict, lace-curtain-Irish mother is living in a state of angry denial. Sheila's younger brother Mike, to her horror, has already convicted his brother in his heart. But most disturbing of all is Art himself, who persistently dodges Sheila's questions and refuses to defend himself.
As the scandal forces long-buried secrets to surface, Faith explores the corrosive consequences of one family's history of silence—and the resilience its members ultimately find in forgiveness. Throughout, Haigh demonstrates how the truth can shatter our deepest beliefs—and restore them. A gripping, suspenseful tale of one woman's quest for the truth, Faith is a haunting meditation on loyalty and family, doubt and belief. Elegantly crafted, sharply observed, this is Jennifer Haigh's most ambitious novel to date.

 

Little Women Letters; Gabrielle Donnelly

Vibrant, fresh, and intelligent, The Little Women Letters explores the imagined lives of Jo March’s descendants—three sisters who are both thoroughly modern and thoroughly March. As uplifting and essential as Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, Gabrielle Donnelly’s novel will speak to anyone who’s ever fought with a sister, fallen in love with a fabulous pair of shoes, or wondered what on earth life had in store for her.

 

The Heart Specialist; Claire Holden-Rothman

Set in Quebec at the turn of the 19th to 20th century, The Heart Specialist is the epic story of Agnes White, a lonely orphaned girl fascinated by the "wrong" things—microscopes, dissections, and anatomy instead of more ladylike interests—who rises to the status of one of the world's most celebrated pioneering women doctors. Not only does she break through patriarchal academic barriers; she masters the science of the human heart, becoming a scholar of international fame, all in a place and time inimical to intelligent women.

Netherland; Joseph O'Neill

New York Times Book Review Best Book of the Year 

In a New York City made phantasmagorical by the events of 9/11, and left alone after his English wife and son return to London, Hans van den Broek stumbles upon the vibrant New York subculture of cricket, where he revisits his lost childhood and, thanks to a friendship with a charismatic and charming Trinidadian named Chuck Ramkissoon, begins to reconnect with his life and his adopted country. As the two men share their vastly different experiences of contemporary immigrant life in America, an unforgettable portrait emerges of an "other" New York populated by immigrants and strivers of every race and nationality.

DETAILS for a Chance to Win

•  Loyal followers; just leave a comment, I'll find you if you win, I'm sure!
• If you are new to my blog and have never commented on my blog before, you MUST become a follower to be entered in giveaway.
• GOOD LUCK EVERYONE who comments and THANKS so much for stopping by. I hope you'll all become regular visitors here.

Here is a list of the blogs who have signed up for the Literary Giveaway event. Be sure to visit them, discover some new blogs, and leave a comment with a way to contact you in case you win.

1. Leeswammes (Int)
2. The Book Whisperer (Int)
3. Kristi Loves Books (Int)
4. Teadevotee (Int)
5. Bookworm with a View (Int)
6. Bibliosue (Int)
7. Sarah Reads Too Much (Int)
8. write meg! (USA)
9. My Love Affair With Books (Int)
10. Seaside Book Nook (Int)
11. Uniflame Creates (Int)
12. Always Cooking Up Something (Int)
13. Book Journey (Int)
14. ThirtyCreativeStudio (Int)
15. Col Reads (Int)
16. The Book Diva’s Reads (Int)
17. The Scarlet Letter (USA)
18. The Parrish Lantern (Int)
19. Lizzy’s Literary Life (Int)
20. Read, Write & Live (Int)
21. Book’d Out (Int)
22. The Readers’ Suite (Int)
23. I Am A Reader, Not A Writer (USA)
24. Ephemeral Digest (Int)
25. Miel et lait (Int)
26. Bibliophile By the Sea (Int)
27. Polychrome Interest (Int)
28. Book World In My Head (Int)
29. In Spring it is the Dawn (Int)
30. everybookhasasoul (Int)
31. Nishita’s Rants and Raves (Int)
32. Fresh Ink Books (Int)
33. Teach with Picture Books (USA)
34. How to Teach a Novel (USA)
35. The Blue Bookcase (Int)
36. Gaskella (Int)
37. Reflections from the Hinterland (USA)
38. chasing bawa (Int)
39. 51stories (Int)
40. No Page Left Behind (USA)Silver’s Reviews (USA)

41. Nose in a book (Int)
42. Lit in the Last Frontier (Int)
43. The Book Club Blog (Int)
44. Under My Apple Tree (Int)
45. Caribousmom (USA)
46. breienineking (Netherlands)
47. Let’s Go on a Picnic! (Int)
48. Rikki’s Teleidoscope (Int)
49. De Boekblogger (Netherlands)
50. Knitting and Sundries (Int)
51. Elle Lit (USA)
52. Indie Reader Houston (Int)
53. The Book Stop (Int)
54. Eliza Does Very Little (Int)
55. Joy’s Book Blog (Int)
56. Lit Endeavors (USA)
57. Roof Beam Reader (Int)
58. The House of the Seven Tails (Int)
59. Tony’s Reading List (Int)
60. Sabrina @ Thinking About Loud! (Int)
61. Rebecca Reads (Int)
62. Kinna Reads (Int)
63. In One Eye, Out the Other (USA)
64. Books in the City (Int)
65. Lucybird’s Book Blog (Europe)
66. Book Clutter (USA)
67. Exurbanis (Int)
68. Lu’s Raves and Rants (USA & Canada)
69. Sam Still Reading (Int)
70. Dolce Bellezza (Int)
71. Lena Sledge’s Blog…Books, Reviews and Interviews (Int)
72. a Thousand Books with Quotes (Int)