Category Archives: giveaways

two giveaways for two years of for the bookish!

April 3, 2016 Emily 37 Comments

TODAY IS A VERY SPECIAL DAY, BOOKWORMS.

Two years ago today, lonely little ole me decided she had had enough. No one in her school or her family or her extra curriculars read books. NO ONE, I say. Waitwaitwait: let me rephrase. No one read the books she read. And that made her sad.

And somewhere in her brilliant little head (which is, I may add, still brilliant today, bookworms), she thought: “I know! I shall start a blog for fellow BOOKWORMS.” And since little ole me lucked out with a dad with an awesome job, she sat him down on the couch one night with her laptop and said, “I want a website.” So little ole me’s father, who is the internet genius (it says so on his website and license plate, I kid you not), built her a beautiful blog. And the rest is history. (As you know.)

SO, UM, you may have noticed something a little different about my blog theme?? IT HAS BEEN BORN ANEW. I know I get many compliments on my old theme, but I thought it was time for something fresh. I was half-convinced one could never replace my old theme, but look, the internet genius did it again. I’m kind of sort of obsessed with my new blog design.

Unfortunately, when my dad helped me redesign FTB, we also moved my URL (as in, I own forthebookish.com not forthebookish.insert-web-creator-here.com) to a new host, and in doing that, I lost all my email subscribers! So it would mean a ton to me if you all could resubscribe to my blog and have your favorite blog posts in your email again. I lost all of you, so tell your mom and your dad and your friends and your friends’ friends that Emily would really really adore you if you entered your email there. (Not to mention that if you do, you can be entered in the giveaways below!)

OHHHH and that reminds me: did you see the title up there?? Hmm? That’s right: I’m bringing you not one but two giveaways for two whole years of For the Bookish. But first *ahem* a word.

As cheesy as this may sound, I wouldn’t be blogging if it weren’t for you! Half the fun is not just writing posts and designing the blog and all the technical stuff… but chatting with YOU, dear bookworms. I have made so many wonderful friends – some of them I even like to think of as best friends – through book blogging. I’m so thankful for this experience and hobby. So here’s a little shout-out to all my “regulars,” the ladies who are sweet enough to subscribe, comment, share, email with me, fangirl with me, and just always be around for a chat. If you’re not following these blogs yet (those that are linked), I don’t know what you’re doing.

Izel ♥ Grace ♥ {The Other} Grace ♥ Ana ♥ Katie Grace ♥ Brooke ♥ Lu ♥ Trisha ♥ Madi ♥ Amanda ♥ Olivia

(I’m sorry if I forgot anybody; you’re all fab, darlings, just fabulous.) (oops – oh look, my wolfgang is showing. MDBC humor for you wormies.)

NOW, enough of the sappiness! Are you ready to WIN SOME FREE STUFF? (because i don’t know about you but i am, which stinks, because it wouldn’t be right to enter my own giveaway.) (even though i’m awesome and always deserve free books, *hint hint*)

… but first. le rules.

GIVEAWAY RULES:
Please read the following rules carefully before entering the giveaway(s).

The giveaways are open April 3 – April 24, 2016.
I will email the winners, but if he/she do not respond within 48 hours, I will have to pick a new winner(s).
The Thrift Books gift card giveaway is open internationally. I will send the gift card via email.
The necklace giveaway is open to US residents only. I will have the necklace shipped directly to the winner from Etsy.
I reserve the right to disqualify any entry if I find that anyone is not following the rules accordingly or is cheating the system. (Rafflecopter.)
I am not responsible for stolen or lost packages.

$10 THRIFT BOOKS GIFT CARD:

thriftbooks.com is an online used bookstore, with free shipping on orders of $10 or more to US or Canada residents. I have personally ordered from this store before and love it! ENTER BELOW:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

MINI BOOK NECKLACE:

Many of you will probably recognize these mini book necklaces from Cait’s Etsy shop! For those of you who aren’t aware, these mini book necklaces come with whatever book cover you want. When I email the winner, I will need their address and cover preference. Please note that I will be shipping the necklace directly to the winner from Etsy, to avoid double shipping costs. ENTER BELOW:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck to everyone who enters the giveaways! I will be announcing the winners on April 25th. In the meantime, look forward to FTB’s regular posting schedule on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays — I’ll be back Wednesday with a March recap! 🙂

giveaways, surveys

2015 survey & christmas giveaway!

December 25, 2015 Emily 22 Comments

MERRY CHRISTMAS, bookworms! I hope you’re all having a wonderful time with family and friends and lots of good food, celebrating the birth of Jesus. I know I’ll be having a blast. (Writing this on Christmas Eve.) In fact, if you’re reading this maybe you’re even on a new electronic or spending a lazy post-Christmas day lounging around reading your favorite blog. Because what else would you want to do?

(photo courtesy)

Since 2015 is coming to a close (man that is CRAZY. I blinked and what happened!) I thought I’d do an end-of-the-year survey, so I can make my blog better for you and see what I’m doing right. This is your chance to be 100% honest, since the survey is anonymous. If you could, take two minutes to answer a few questions for me. And then you’ll have an entry into the GIVEAWAY coming up! (Imagine virtual confetti in the air, okay?)

(If the survey doesn’t work below, you can also take it here.)

NOW. Since you’re all such fabulous bookworms, dahlings, I thought what better way to celebrate Christmas than to give YOU a gift! I want you to know how much you mean to me and how much fun I have doing this blog and talking to you all. So thanks for being such fun to chat with. Are you ready to see what you could get?!

The summer Hattie turns 12, her predictable smalltown life is turned on end when her uncle Adam returns home for the first time in over ten years. Hattie has never met him, never known about him. He’s been institutionalized; his condition invovles schizophrenia and autism. Hattie, a shy girl who prefers the company of adults, takes immediately to her excitable uncle, even when the rest of the family — her parents and grandparents — have trouble dealing with his intense way of seeing the world. And Adam, too, sees that Hattie is special, that her quiet, shy ways are not a disability.

I will be giving away a copy of my favorite book of 2015 (A Corner of The Universe by Ann M. Martin!) AND, for international readers as well, a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card! That’s two seperate giveaways, which means TWO of you will be winning something! But of course, as always, there are a few rules:

The giveaways start December 25, 2015 and ends January 15, 2016.
I will email the winners no later than January 16. If I do not get a reply within 48 hours, I will have to pick another winner.
I will be shipping a paperback copy of A Corner of the Universe and emailing the gift card.
The giveaway entries are hosted by Rafflecopter, and the website will pick a random winner when it is over.
If I find that anyone is cheating the system, they will be disqualified immediately.
I am not responsible for lost or stolen packages.
U.S. residents only, please, for the copy of A Corner of the Universe.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

what are you looking forward to in 2016? what’d ya get for christmas? and if you won the gift card, what you would get? can’t wait to talk to you in the comments!

giveaways, stacking the shelves

stacking the shelves #26 & a christmas melanie dickerson giveaway!

December 12, 2015 Emily 16 Comments

Hi everybody! Gosh, it’s been a while since I’ve done a Stacking the Shelves, hasn’t it? In case you’re not familiar with Stacking the Shelves, it’s all about sharing the books you’ve gotten this week – physical, e-book, from the library, or book store, hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done a STS and I’m excited to finally be back to it, because guys. This stack looks pretty darn awesome.

Whale, it is short… but DON’T JUDGE A STACK BY ITS HEIGHT.

Yesterday my Christmas gifts from the best pen pal in the whole wide world – you know her, she comments on your blog all the time – hi Brooke! – came and ahhhhhh I. Just. Flipped. Out.

Up there on the top of the stack we’ve got The Mysterious Benedict Society, which I’ve been meaning to read since third or fourth grade so it’s about time I get to that. From what Brooke has told me, something about it gives her that Series Of Unfortunate Events feel, even though they’re not very similar. So I’m anxious to read it ’cause fifth grade me would be all over that.

Next… NEXT…. Ohhhh mah Lordy folks, it’s While You Were Gone, the sequel to Now That You’re Here, which I finished at 3 AM because of the cuteness of Danny and Eevee and thanks to my good friend Hayden. Fun fact: Hayden’s mom is a friend of the author, Miss Amy Nichols. It’s that whole 6-people-away-from-knowing-everyone-in-the-world thing, ya know? (Which, on a side note, means I know a lot of cool authors.) Hayden was sweet enough to lend me both books so I returned her the first one in exchange for this one and it’s going to be a fun Christmas break, I can tell you that.

And last, but CERTAINLY not least… we have Cinder. Pretty sure you’ve heard of it? At least on this blog, anyway, huh? Weeeelll I OWN IT NOW! AHHH I love Brooke so so much. But that’s not even the best part.

IT’S SIGNED! By the Marissa Meyer, the author of The Lunar Chronicles, THE Marissa Meyer. And it’s even personalized. To me. Emily. (Insert temporary made-up last name here.) Of course, Brooke had the amazing opportunity to actually meet Marissa Meyer (meanwhile I’m over here drooling when she comes back telling me all about it, so Miss Meyer and I have a lot to talk about why she didn’t come down to The Georgia) annnnnd. AHHHH. I’m just a ball of excitement this morning! I love ya Brooke!

So those were the books of this week! Hopefully it won’t be too much longer till the next Stacking the Shelves because Christmas is just THIRTEEN DAYS AWAY. Thirteen days, thirteen days! Less than two weeks! Which means todaaaayyy, just for fun, because it is the season of giving, I bring you a giveaway hosted by the amazing Melanie Dickerson. (And a shout-out to Miss Dickerson who was kind enough to sponsor the giveaway. Thank you!)

You all know how much I love Melanie Dickerson’s books (you can see my reviews for The Huntress Of Thornbeck Forest, The Princess Spy, and The Captive Maiden), particularly her fairy tale retellings, and her Christian spin on it. That’s why I had such a hard time deciding which book to giveaway, as Miss Dickerson was happy to give a copy of any one of them. But… because it is her newest book, and I know several of you are just as excited as I am to read it, I decided to go with The Golden Braid, which just hit shelves November 17th, and you can learn more about here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So enter and enjoy! The giveaway ends December 19th. I will email Miss Dickerson the winner and she will have your book sent out to you! Oh – and one more thing – the giveaway will be open to U.S. residents ONLY please!

what books did you get this week? and what melanie dickerson books have you read? do you want to read any? which ones? and tell me – what do you think of my copy of cinder??!! ahhhh i’m so so excited!

giveaways

50-follower barnes & noble giftcard giveaway!

November 14, 2015 Emily 13 Comments

So, a few weeks ago this happened.

My bloglovin‘ account hit fifty of you peoples (actually we are now at 52!) and while that’s a small milestone it still deserves to be recognized because I’M EXCITED, you all are so so sweet and I like giveaways and you like giveaways so we’re doing a giveaway. My allowance is small and I’m pinching pennies to buy Christmas presents (seriously, friends/family reading this, if you get a gift from me consider yourselves special because I am BROKE) so it’s only a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card, but hey, ten bucks buys a book and when we hit a hundred… you can bet that giveaway will be big. 🙂

Oh and good news UN-Americans! This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL because I’ll be emailing the giftcard, so whether you live in the U.S. or Timbuktoo you can enter! It’s a party for all!

Please read the rules and then you can get going. 🙂

This giveaway IS open internationally. (Like I just said, obviously, but in case ya missed that. Just so you know.)
I will announce the winner on November 28th on For the Bookish, but I will also be emailing the winner.
If said winner of the giveaway does not respond to the email within 48 hours, I will be picking another person to get the gift card.
Once the winner replies, I will send the gift card via email!
Please; no cheating the system. If I find that you are you will be immediately disqualified.

Now go ENTER!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

what do you plan to get with the giftcard if you win??

discussions, giveaways

what makes a 5 star book? // plus giveaway winner!

October 9, 2015 Emily 3 Comments

What makes a 5-star book?

It’s a question that’s been stumping me a lot lately, particularly because I’ve been rethinking my rating system recently. I’m terrible at reviewing books – which you have all heard me say before, I’m sure – and I want to give EVERY stinkin’ book I read 5 stars! And so that brings me to the question at hand.

What I can say is this: it most definitely varies from reader to reader. I’ve seen some bloggers/fellow bookworms never even rate a book 5 stars because “there is no perfect book.” I know some who are super hard on books and only give their absolute FAVORITE book 5 stars. But what about me, you ask?

Well I’m glad you brought that up. Because I’m going to tell you either way.

I do give a lot of books 5 stars. And I feel guilty about that, because sometimes certain books may not deserve 5 stars. But then I feel guilty about not giving a book 5 stars, because I think they DO deserve that rating. I’M JUST TERRIBLE AT IT, okay??! All books are amazing and totally rad, in my opinion, if a human took the time to write something that meant something to THEM and someone else with cool characters and everything and I just hate. rating systems. But that is for a whole other post. Lemme get to the point.

For me, a 5-star book isn’t always a perfect book. NO book is 100% perfect. Let’s compare books to humans for a sec. NOTTAONE is perfect. But it’s our imperfections that make us beautiful! (look at me, going all deep on you.)

A 5-star book – from my point of view – is a book that I a) connected on a deep level to the characters and therefore b) will re-read it. And YES, I will still rate books and cringe at the review a tad later because I would give that a book a different rating now… BUT I never, ever change my initial rating. In the 1st grade, I would have given a Junie B. Jones book 5 stars – but probably wouldn’t now.

So there’s my standpoint on it… for now! I’m a very confuzzled person sometimes – especially when it comes to reviewing books – so I’m going to be doing some more thinking on it. Still not sure about changing my rating system to something that fits my style better, but we shall see!

how do you feel about 5-star books? do you like reviewing/rating books? i need your help! let me know!

Annnnnddd… before I forget! Congratulations to the winner of the notebook giveaway – Amanda H.!!! I hope you love it – I’ll be sending an email to you shortly and hopefully getting it to you soon. Thanks everybody for entering!

P.S. I’m sorry I haven’t been approving/answering comments recently – it’s been a busy week and it’s going to be a busy weekend, but I’ll catch you up soon & I’m still reading all your sweet comments! (They make my day, so thanks.) 😉

giveaways, my writings

writing gives me life! // plus a notebook giveaway!

September 25, 2015 Emily 24 Comments

I truly believe I would go insane if not for writing. No, it’s true! I know people say all the time “I can’t live without books” or “I can’t live without my cat” or “~~I can’t live without chocolate~~” (wait that one is true.) But I WOULD go insane without writing. They’d put me in a place for crazy people. (What’s that called again? An asylum?) There are several reasons that I’ve grown to depend on writing. Like, for instance:

Sometimes people drive me NUTTY! I’m not always good at socializing. Or getting along with people. It’s why I much prefer fictional people; they never get on my nerves. Sometimes – well, MOST of the time – I end up writing furiously in my journals about so-in-so and how they make my blood absolutely, positively BOIL… and yes I cringe at old diary entries but it got my blood back down to a normal temperature at the time. Something about getting my crazy thoughts on paper is so refreshing. And when that backfires because I’m terrified someone might find my diary someday and call the cops, I rename people and kill them off in my stories. Don’t judge. You know you do it too.

The best writing is emotional. I write all the time, even when I’m chill. But when I’m downright bloody mad or sobbing with salty, pitiful tears running down my ruddy cheeks (see? emotional!)… that’s when my writing is the best. It’s raw. It may seem a tad melodramatic later (because I am a very dramatic person, and I may have been an actor in another life) but it’s REAL.

MY writing could someday give someone else life, too! Isn’t that the most amazing thought? If you’re a writer, or a reader (which I know the majority of you are, unless you’re my cousin who says she dislikes books and makes me downright BLOODY MAD… oh hey, Sydney) you know what I mean. Don’t we LOVE books that make us think, that make us cry? The writer of those stories thought to share their writings and it affected us in a great way. Shared writing is incredible; powerful, even. In fact, I may make another post on why books give me life. WE WRITERS MUST STICK TOGETHER!

It’s much more reliable than talking. Oh, I’m a mess of a talker. True, I love discussing things and debating and sharing my thoughts with my family and friends… but I feel like it all comes out warbled and messy – my words are just all over the place! For example, if I was talking with my mom or dad about why writing gives me life, here I would have said “It comes out so much better than talking.” Now doesn’t “I’m a mess of a talker, it comes out warbled, much more reliable” sound loads better?? I stopped for a moment and googled synonyms and thought to myself “now what could I say here…” and it looks much nicer. My words on a screen or paper – whatever it may be – make me feel something more.

Writing is timeless. Look at Jane Austen. Look at Emily Dickinson, or Charles Dickens. They could never have imagined how long their writing would LIVE. They died years ago, but their writing is still very much alive. And even though they wrote it in another time, another place, CENTURIES ago… it still affects people. I like to think that my kids and grand kids will thumb through all the journals that take up so much space in my room (seriously. so. much. space.) and laugh at tiny 11-year-old or 12 or 13 or 14-year-old Emily and think “if Grandma could survive little sisters and mean girls at school, so can I!” Even if the only people who ever read what I wrote is my family, it’s enough. It’s enough to know that someone understood me, and it’s fascinating to have parts of my life documented.

Looking back. That brings me to my next point, and I’ve said it many, many times here. I LOVE reading my old writing. I can see how far I’ve come in just a few weeks, months, or years. I can see how I felt then. I can laugh at myself or cry or just smile. It’s COOL, okay?! Again, it’s just fascinating to have parts of my life documented – even if it’s only for my eyes to see.

If you don’t write already, you SHOULD. I don’t write all the time. Sometimes I won’t touch a notebook for weeks or months. I have notebooks where I write ideas for stories, and notebooks where I write about my everyday life. (“I had a PB&J for lunch.” “I lost my cat today.”) If that’s all you write, it’s still important! It’s like a physical “Time Hop.” (That’s an app where you can see what you posted one, two, three, and so forth, years ago on this day.)

SO, in honor of writing, and in hopes that you’ll take up a notebook and write anything at all down, I’m giving away this journal! It’s from Barnes & Noble, and pictures are below. Plus I just bought it for myself, so whoever wins can be notebook twinsies with me! 🙂 Please read the guidelines below and get going! 🙂

You have two weeks to enter. The giveaway ends on October 9, 2015. The winner will be announced shortly after on my blog and will receive an email from me.
The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email; if you don’t respond sooner I will choose another winner.
The giveaway is open to US residents only, please. Sorry to any international blog readers! (INT giveaways are headed your way soon, I promise!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

so do YOU write? what about? why? is there anything i forgot on my list? can’t wait to read your writings below. 🙂

giveaways, reviews

the huntress of thornbeck forest by melanie dickerson // and a giveaway!!!

August 17, 2015 Emily 18 Comments

I loved this book. (As I usually do with Melanie Dickerson’s books! See my reviews for her other books: The Captive Maiden and The Princess Spy.) I won it in a giveaway on Goodreads way back in May, but it took me a while to read it. The back of the book sounded really familiar; it sounded a lot like Dauntless, and other books in the Christian fiction genre. I just wasn’t ready for a plot I’d read before, and quite honestly, I was nervous The Huntress Of Thornbeck Forest wouldn’t meet the high standards I had for Melanie’s other books in the Fairy Tales series. (This book is the start of a new series, Medieval Fairy Tale Romance.) But I finally got to it, and I have to say, I was so wrong, and it was so good!

Title: The Huntress Of Thornbeck Forest

Author: Melanie Dickerson

Series: Medieval Fairy Tale Romance #1

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publishing Date: May 12, 2015

Source: won in a Goodreads giveaway

Synopsis: “Swan Lake” meets Robin Hood when the beautiful daughter of a wealthy merchant by day becomes the region’s most notorious poacher by night, and falls in love with the forester.

Jorgen is the forester for the wealthy margrave, and must find and capture the poacher who has been killing and stealing the margrave’s game. When he meets the lovely and refined Odette at the festival and shares a connection during a dance, he has no idea she is the one who has been poaching the margrave’s game.

Odette justifies her crime of poaching because she thinks the game is going to feed the poor, who are all but starving, both in the city and just outside its walls. But will the discovery of a local poaching ring reveal a terrible secret? Has the meat she thought she was providing for the poor actually been sold on the black market, profiting no one except the ring of black market sellers?

The one person Odette knows can help her could also find out her own secret and turn her over to the margrave, but she has no choice. Jorgen and Odette will band together to stop the dangerous poaching ring . . . and fall in love. But what will the margrave do when he discovers his forester is protecting a notorious poacher?

Right when you start the book, the two main characters are established: Odette, who is secretly poaching the king’s deer to feed the poor, and Jorgen, the margrave’s forester in charge of catching the poacher. Both are falling in love with each other, but know they can’t marry each other. Thus, the plot thickens.

I really liked Odette, but she seemed a little dull to me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of Melanie Dickerson’s books, but Odette seemed to blend together with all of her other characters. There wasn’t anything very unique about her that stood out to me; she was a brave young woman far ahead of her time who was in love with someone who she couldn’t possibly marry. Jorgen was much the same, and yet I absolutely shipped the two, and you know me! I’m such a romantic, and they absolutely had to be together. So I kept reading.

As I read in-between that space where I wasn’t quite in the beginning, but not the middle of the book, either, Odette’s love triangle was a tough one. Jorgen was so sweet, and Odette clearly had feelings for him, but he wasn’t exactly a possible suitor. Mathis, however, the burgomeister’s son, treated Odette well and indulged her interests in reading and learning, and helping the poor. I really liked both of them! Then I got farther in, and soon a mystery unfolded that totally took me by surprise! I was not expecting it! And by the time I got to the last thirty or forty pages, I was thinking, “There’s no way all these problems can be solved in what’s left of the book!”

Of course, the ending was great. I was a little disappointed about who the “bad guy” turned out to be. Although, I wasn’t even sure who the bad guy was throughout the book. In his search for the poacher, Jorgen did find that venison was being sold on the black market, but obviously I knew that Odette was selling the meat, since she was giving the deer she poached to the poor. So yes, very confused Emily! 😉 That is to say, I was a little taken back at how it ended… but it was good!

I give The Huntress Of Thornbeck Forest by Melanie Dickerson four stars!

emily emily emily emily

SO! ARE YOU READY FOR A GIVEAWAY??!

Please read these guidelines:

I’ll be choosing ONE winner to give a paperback copy of The Huntress Of Thornbeck Forest by Melanie Dickerson to. You have two weeks to enter, so get going! The contest ends on August 31, and I will announce the winner on that same day. I can only ship to the US (sorry!), so please only enter if you live in the states. When the contest is over, I’ll announce the winner on my blog and then email the winner; you have 48 hours to respond, but if you don’t answer within that time, I’ll have to pick another winner. So go enter! ENJOY!

a Rafflecopter giveaway