Mrs. McGriff's Reading Blog

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Tag Archives: giveaway

August 30, 2011
by Mrs. McGriff
2 Comments

It’s a scavenger hunt!

And you can take part.  All you have to do is head over to Tera Lynn Child’s blog where she has links to all the clues you need along with complete rules and directions, not to mention helpful hints.

What are you looking for?  The title of the second book in her latest trilogy about the Medusa girls.  The first book is called Sweet Venom (and it comes out next week!), but the title of the first book has been a secret until today.  Each blog you visit will provide another letter of the title.  You just have to weed out the duplicates and put the remaining letters in the right order to create the title.

What treasure will you win?  Five lucky winners will win signed copies of Sweet Venom.  The grand prize winner will win a $50 gift card to the bookstore of your choice.  Hey, sign me up for that one!

Here it is if you haven’t guessed already:  this blog is sponsoring the letter of the day, and it is….

W.

Good luck, and happing hunting!

 

February 20, 2011
by Mrs. McGriff
0 comments

And the winners are…

I used the sequence generator at Random.org to pick the five winning comments from the fifteen of you who told me why you wanted to read Sween Venom by Tera Lynn Childs.  Since all of you are in my classes, come see me to claim your bookmark.

  • Kendall B
  • Hank J
  • Zach T
  • Emily D
  • Neal N

Congratulations!  Don’t forget to head to a library or bookstore in October 2011 to find your copy to read.

February 15, 2011
by Mrs. McGriff
36 Comments

It’s a sweet surprise!

medusa girlsToday I am one of 100 blogs across the blogosphere who gets to reveal the cover for Tera Lynn Child’s newest trilogy about three descendents of Medusa.  Isn’t it lovely?  Here’s the teaser found on the bookmarks from the publisher: 

Three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in a world where monsters lurk in plain sight.  You can find out about the three teen beauties–Grace, Gretchen, and Greer–by checking out the character collages Tera Lynn Childs created at the Books, Boys, and Buzz blog.

Sweet Venom is coming to bookstore near you in October 2011.  But while you wait for its release, you can join in the anticipation by checking out these sites:

bookmarksYes, there’s more!  I have signed bookmarks to give away in my blog’s very first swag sweepstakes!  Actually, I don’t have the bookmarks yet, but I have been assured they are in the mail.  If you would like to enter to win one for yourself, leave me a comment telling me why you want to read this book.  I need your comment by midnight on Friday.  This contest is open to US residents only.  If you are not a student in my class, let me know your email so I can contact you to get an address to send the bookmark to.  I will choose a comment with some sort of random selector–computerized if I can figure out how to do it.  Otherwise, the names go on slips and paper to be drawn out of a hat!

February 2, 2011
by Mrs. McGriff
0 comments

Visit the Merry Sisters of Fate

If you are looking for an eerie collection of short stories to entertain your spare moments and haunt your dreams, head over to the Merry Sisters of Fate, where Maggie Steifvator, Tessa Gratton, and Brenna Yovanoff post a new short story every week.  Well, almost every week.  Some weeks they have guests, round table discussions, and CONTESTS!

If you head over this week, you can enter to win an ARC of Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton.  I’ve been eyeing this book ever since I first found Tessa’s blog.  It’s already on my amazon wish list, but I wouldn’t mind reading it early!  All you have to do is blog about your favorite short story on the site and leave your link in the comments.

Of course, my favorite story is by Tessa.  Sorry Maggie and Brenna, but you just can’t top a slightly evil fairy.  Who wants a sweet Barbie fairy when you can encounter something much more interesting.  Go now and read “Thomas and the Fairy Door.”  Is Thomas good or not?  Can’t make up your mind?  Then you can read more Thomas stories here.

September 27, 2010
by Mrs. McGriff
0 comments

Forever…here it comes!

 forever cover

Woohoo!  Here is the cover of Forever, the third book in the Shiver trilogy by Maggie Steifvator.  You can preorder your copy right here:  http://www.fountainbookstore.com/autograph-maggie

Hurry over to Maggie Steifvator’s blog and learn how you, too, can win cool stuff.  And if you haven’t yet read Shiver, grab it off the chalk tray under “Our Favorite Books.”  You won’t regret it.

July 6, 2010
by Mrs. McGriff
0 comments

My best blogs

One book that I keep hearing about is The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson.  I’m definitely going to have to move it up on my TBR pile.  Meanwhile, check out the book trailer for it and a discussion as to how and why science fiction and dystopian literture are different at the League of Extraordinary Writers.  They also mention my current dystopian read, The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

Have you had enough of vampires yet?  If not, check out Christopher Farnworth’s Blood Oath.  Zach Barrows has a new job as assistant to Nathanial Cade.  Let’s just say it’s not his dream job–that would be Chief of Staff for the President.  Instead he learns that vampires–and worse–are real.  Cade is not only a vampire, he is sworn to “to support and defend the nation and its citizens against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”  Check out the review on GuysLit Wire.

One of my students my second year of teaching recommended that I read Garth Nix’s Keys to the Kingdom.  I’m ashamed to say I still haven’t got around to this series of seven books.  Since it keeps showing up, as it does here on GuysLitWire, I’m going to have to move it higher up the pile.  I promise.  I will read them–sometday.

What do you use as a bookmark?  Me–anything I can find lying near me.  Check out this blog by a guy who works at a rare and used book store.  He blogs about the unusual “bookmarks” left behind in the books that make it through his store.

Ever wondered about the difference between science fiction and fantasy?  What about speculative fiction or dystopian literature?  I know, I just dump them altogether on the same shelves in my classroom, but there are differences.  Check out the discussion at the League of Extraordinary Writers.

Elana Johnson says that The Healing Spell by Kimberly Griffiths Little is AWESOME. Head over to her blog to check out the trailer and a chance to win a signed copy along with your very own gator.