Book Review Index

I'm an organization freak, and having my posts so scattered was driving me nuts. I'll use this post as a reference to all the book reviews I complete.

Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

Anthem

Have a Little Faith

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Mistborn

Percy Jackson and the Olympians One - The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Two - The Sea of Monsters

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Three - The Titan's Curse

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Four - The Battle of the Labyrinth

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Five - The Last Olympian

Peter and the Starcatchers

Secret Sisters

Summer in Paris

The Cleansing of America

The Princess Diaries

Thirteenth Child

Tuesdays with Morrie

Movie Clip Monday: Rocky in Five Seconds

Okay, so I had to make this today's movie clip. All the Rocky movies in five seconds. Enjoy!

Spread-the-Word Book-Giveaway Contest

I've come to the day which every writer celebrates. My very first

Okay, I'm so excited I'm practically bouncing out of my chair. (Those of you who know me well can probably picture this. :-))

For this first official event as a soon-to-be-published author, I'm putting on a Spread-the-Word Contest for my book, The Key of Kilenya (released July 6th with pre-ordering starting on April 6th. Description here.), with lots of fun prizes to be won. So get out your thinking caps and glasses and get ready to enter!

"What will I get?" You ask. And that's a great question. Here's what the winners will receive (are you ready for this?): The opportunity to tell everyone that YOU know a NYT Bestselling Author.

*Applause*

Sigh....

Okay, I can dream, right? :-)

Anyway, without further ado, I give you the contest

I couldn't decide what prizes to give, besides the obvious: personalized copies of my book. So, I decided to give things I myself would like to receive, or things that people I know (including kids) would enjoy. :-)

The prizes are broken into two categories. First, we have prizes that are:

 

• A personalized copy of The Key of Kilenya (to two lucky winners!) 
• A beta fish - My only pet right now is a feisty female beta named Abigill. Abigill tries to kill me every time I feed her (imagine a one-inch fish trying to jump out of the water to bite a finger). She's such a sweet thing. :-) (At least she makes me smile. :-) I'll record her antics someday and post them.) The fish aquarium/container, any shipping required, etc, are not part of the prize, but for those of you out-of-towners, I'll send you a $5 gift certificate to Wal-Mart or PetSmart.)
• Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm (If you've never tried this stuff, you're in for a wonderful, amazing, and life-fulfilling experience!)
• A $5 gift certificate to Sub Zero ice cream (located in American Fork, Orem, and Provo, UT). Ask my editor: this is my FAVORITE place for ice cream!

And second, we have prizes that are:

• Build-a-character coupon. You get to create a character to go in book two of Chronicles of Edana. This means you pick the name, the personality, the physical description, everything.The character can even be named after you. :-) (However, I reserve the right to place the character in any location in the book, whether on this world or on Edana. I also reserve the right to make the character play as small or large a role in the book as needed.)
• A sneak peek at any five pages of my book. (Your choice. The pages have to be consecutive and can be chosen from chapters 1-17 of 18. Also, you have to promise, in writing, that you won't give away any important plot developments. If you have a hard time deciding from which chapters to read, I'll help you pick the more exciting ones. :-)).
• A sneak peek at illustrations that will be included in the book (and some that won't be!). Valor is letting me do my own illustrations, and I'm really enjoying it.

Now, I think the next question would probably be, "What do I have to do to win?"

You all battle it out! Muwahahahaha!

In a totally non-violent, virtual way. :-)

Everything you do will earn you a certain amount of entries in the contest - like pieces of paper in a bowl with your name written on them. Remember that you must report what you do to me, else I won't know that it's happened. Send me an email at ap AT andreapearsonbooks DOT com or comment on this post, letting me know what you've done. :-)

There will be two first place winners: 1. The person with the most entries, and 2. A person randomly chosen from the entries.

There will also be second and third place winners, and possibly a fourth place winner and/or a most-creative winner. :-)

The first place winner (the one with the most entries) will be able to choose one prize - whatever he or she desires from the list above. The other first place winner, the randomly drawn entry (could be someone with only one entry), will then have a choice to pick whatever he or she wants. The second place winner will go next, and so on. Once a prize has been chosen, it is no longer available for the other winners.

For information on how to earn entries through blogs (including your own), go here.

For information on how to earn entries through Facebook, go here.

For information on how to earn entries through Twitter, go here.

For information on how to earn entries through emails, go here.

For information on other ways to earn entries, go here.

The contest opens Monday morning, March 29, 2010 (as soon as this blog posts), and ends Monday morning, April 5, 2010 at 9:00am. I'll be announcing the winners Monday evening. There is no age limit, though I do request that children 18 (or so) or younger have adult supervision. And, if there are kids who want to participate, but don't have the means to do so, a parent or other adult may complete the work on his or her behalf. For those who win the books, please be aware you will not receive them until July, since they won't be released until then.

Thank you to everyone in advance, and I'm super excited to see who the winners will be!

Keep on reading!

Andrea

Book Review: Tuesdays with Morrie

Author: Mitch Albom
True story



Tuesdays with Morrie is about Mitch Albom's college professor who is diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease - a disease which slowly destroys the muscles of the body. Mr. Albom spends several months visiting Morrie every Tuesday where they philosophize over life's distractions and problems.

I absolutely loved this book. It's one of the most touching books I've read in a long time--a dear friend was diagnosed with and passed away from Lou Gehrig's Disease a few years ago, and reading Tuesdays with Morrie helped me completely overcome the lack of closure I experienced. It also assisted me in dealing with other problems in life - fear, discouragement, anger.

Morrie's explanations on the idiosyncrasies around us have staying power, and I highly recommend this book. Savor it one chapter at a time!

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Movie Clip Monday: Vienna Teng's Lullaby for a Stormy Night

Okay, so it's not technically a movie clip, but it is one of my favorite artists. :-)

Vienna Teng's Lullaby for a Stormy Night:

Book Review: The Cleansing of America

Author: Cleon Skousen
Published posthumously by Valor Publishing Group

The Cleansing of America, by Cleon Skousen, is one of the most fascinating books on the last days I've ever read. It outlines the major steps which will occur on the American continent right before Christ's return to the earth, addressing many important topics, including the current state of wickedness in the world, the direct and indirect religious attacks that've been had on the Church, the location of the ten tribes, and even particulars on the scourge which will eliminate the wicked from both the Church and society in general.

One of the main underlying themes I sensed throughout the book, especially in the first few chapters, was the importance of remaining steadfast, righteous, and obedient to God, whatever our religion. We have no reason to fear the Second Coming, because the Lord will take care of and protect His faithful children.

After reading the book, I've found myself constantly thinking about the principles and points Brother Skousen mentions. They are thought provoking, and have given me plenty of material to discuss with friends and family. What is especially interesting to me is the fact that Brother Skousen didn't want the book published until the world was ready for it - sometime after his death. That time is now upon us - and that's a little scary!

I was really excited to learn that my publisher, Valor, was releasing a book written by Cleon Skousen. This man is a legend in my family! He was a good friend of my grandpa's - we heard his name spoken as often as Hugh Nibley's in the Glenn Pearson household.

To see the other reviews on this virtual blog tour, go here. For information on Cleon Skousen, go here. To purchase the book go here.

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Humanitarian Service - Donating Socks!

Tristi Pinkston, the world's best editor, has just released a comedy/mystery book called Secret Sisters. One of the characters in the book, Arlette, is constantly knitting, and Ida Mae, the MC, doesn't know why. She finds out roughly halfway through the book that Arlette knits socks to donate to the homeless shelter.

Tristi had the wonderful idea - a GREAT idea - that people could do the same - buy socks and donate them to a homeless shelter. (You can make them, too, if you'd like. :-)). Read Tristi's post about it here, then check out her book here. Think feisty-seventy-year-old RS president meets Mafia. Hilarity ensues. :-)

Coming tomorrow: my review on The Cleansing of America. I'm so excited! :-)

Movie Clip Monday: Susan Boyle's First Audition (BGT)

Another one that won't let me embed the video here. This is Susan Boyle, another humble, amazing singer from the UK on Britain's Got Talent.

I love her. :-)

Movie Clip Monday: Failblog: News Break Fail

I LOVE Failblog. Here's one that makes me laugh every time. :-)

Book Review: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Author: Douglas Adams



I'm not sure I want to use a star-rating system anymore. *If* I were, however, I'd give this book seven out of five stars. It is amazing! One of the funniest, most refreshing books I've ever read.

It tells the story of Arthur Dent, an Englishman, who barely escapes the earth before it's blown up. The book is nearly pointless - the reader never really sees any objective to what happens to Aurthur - but it's cleverly written, makes wonderful use of cliches, explains many things about the galaxy that we've all wondered about (in a cynical, off-handed, and humorous way. Adams is a genius at coming up with random reasons for everything that goes on in the universe), and gives us the answer to all of life's most important questions. It left me needing more of his books, and I can't wait to get on to the next one!

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Movie Clip Monday: Jon Schmidt's Love Story Meets Viva la Vida

Here I introduce a few of my favorite things. :-) Jon Schmidt, Love Story, Viva la Vida, piano, cello, and amazing music. :-)

The clip is eight minutes long (the song is only five, but Jon includes the story behind the composition at the end) but definitely well worth it. Arranged by Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson.

Enjoy!



I think I've listened to it over 100 times. :-)