My blogiversary giveaways results & some ponderings on blogging.

The giveaways ended, the anniversary has come and gone (time does fly pretty quickly) and soon it's time for Christmas tree, presents and such. The important ponderings I mentioned in the title concern my blogging of course (what else?). You all know (or most of you at least) how there are always some stumbling blocks in our 'blogging career'. There were for me in the past year, more than I care to list. The fear of failing kept me going through the tough times, my newly found deep interest in blogging helped me most of the time. I did catch myself noticing how easy it would be to just forget about the whole book blogging thing several times in the past year. I would get sick, not post for two weeks and then get thoughts of 'why even bother' kind. Or, I would just have emotional issues to work through and those emotional issues would drain all the energy and passion for anything out of me. I noticed that this type of funk was the most dangerous for me and I had to be on constant vigil to know when it was happening and not let it get in the way of my blogging to the point where I could give up and not look back. As the full year of blogging was coming around I was very close again to asking myself this horrid, dreaded question, " What is the point of blogging?". But then when I posted about my first anniversary, I got comments like this:

I wanted to say Congratulations, Lilly! That is so exciting! It is a big milestone in this world of blog here one day, blog gone the next. You should feel very proud of your accomplishment. Mine is coming up in January. I can't believe it! You seem to me like you have been blogging so much longer than I have. You are so good at it!

from Rebecca who has a quite awesome blog, Lost In Books, I might add.

or like this:

I just wanted to say Happy Blogiversary and I'm so happy to have met you!

from sweet, sweet Dar, the owner of lovely Peeking Between the Pages

or like this:

Woohoo Lilly, Happy 1st Blogoversary!!! It has been an absolute pleasure visiting your blog the past year!

from Teddyree, the most life-loving girl I ever had the pleasure to meet whose blog, The Eclectic Reader, is equally lovely.

And then there are congratulations and best wishes coming from my (may I say) personal blogging gurus, J. Kaye and Beth F. who have been there pretty much from the very beginning.

And Anna from Diary of an Eccentric, Amy from House of Seven Tails, and many many more wonderful bloggers who share the passion for reading with me.

This is what makes it all better, what gives what I do here meaning and real quality. All the wonderful, motivated, funny, inspirational people I had the honor to meet online in this blogging world. I simply wouldn't have the heart in the end to not only say goodbye to book blogging but to all of the girls I have met and look forward to what they write daily and the prospect of meeting many more of fellow bookaholics. How can I say no to that? I can't.

I thank you all for visiting my blog throughout the year and stopping by to congratulate me (trust me, I read every single comment) and I hope my life will not get in the way too much next year.

Whew, let's move on to what you really want to know. I have chosen the winners of all three giveaways.

The winner of my romance giveaway is:

Blodeuedd from Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell!!!

The winner of the thrillers' giveaway is:

Carol M.!!!

The winner of the sci-fi giveaway is:

Evelyn!!!

The winners have been notified by email and I have received the responses to the first two giveaways. However, I still haven't heard from winner n0. 3 (sci-fi) and I hope that I will withing the next two days. If not, then on Monday I will choose another winner.

Okay, this is it. No more rumblings of my demented mind for today.

First Anniversary Giveaway No. 3

For the last giveaway I am offering two Sci-Fi titles and again both books will go to one winner. I am very happy with the response so far and thank you all who left me warm and encouraging comments regarding my blogiversary. It was very heartwarming to read them all. And now the books:

1. Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Synopsis:

On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all. On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope--and a terrible secret. And one may hold the

fate of humanity in his hands.

2. Titan by Stephen Baxter

Synopsis:

Humankind's greatest—and last—adventure!

Possible signs of organic life have been found on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. A group of visionaries led by NASA's Paula Benacerraf plan a daring one-way mission that will cost them everything. Taking nearly a decade, the billion-mile voyage includes a "slingshot" transit of Venus, a catastrophic solar storm, and a constant struggle to keep the ship and crew functioning. But it is on the icy surface of Titan itself that the true adventure begins. In the orange methane slush the astronauts will discover the secret of life's origins and reach for a human destiny beyond their wildest dreams.

Giveaway rules:

1. All three titles are one prize for one (1) winner.

2. The giveaway will last until November 30th so some lucky person will get a nice Christmas present.

3. Because I appreciate all of you, the giveaway is open to all countries, all over the world.

4. All you have to do is just leave me a comment with your email address if I can't contact you any other way.

Good luck to you all!

First Anniversary Giveaway No. 2

As promised, today I have a 'thrilling' giveaway in lieu of my blog's first birthday. Below are the three books descriptions and the whole bounty will go to one winner.

1. A Simple Plan by Scott Smith

From Publishers Weekly:

Once one accepts the bizarre premise of Smith's astonishingly adept, ingeniously plotted debut thriller, the book fulfills every expectation of a novel of suspense, leading the reader on a wild exploration of the banality of evil. Indeed, it is difficult to believe that a tyro writer could have produced so controlled and assured a narrative. When Hank Mitchell, his obese, feckless brother Jacob and Jacob's

smarmy friend Lou accidentally find a wrecked

small plane and its dead pilot in the woods near their small Ohio town, they decide not to tell the authorities about the $4.4 million stuffed into a duffel bag. Instead, they agree to hide the money and later divide it among themselves. The "simple plan'' sets in motion a spiral of blackmail, betrayal and multiple murder which Smith manipulates with consummate skill, increasing the tension exponentially with plot twists that are inevitable and unpredictable at the same time. In choosing to make his protagonist an ordinary middle-class man -- Hank is an accountant in a feed and grain store -- Smith demonstrates the eerie ease with which the mundane can descend to the unthinkable. Hank commits the first murder to protect his brother and their secret; he eerily rationalizes the ensuing coldblooded deeds while remaining outwardly normal, hardly an obvious psychopath. Smith's imagination never palls; the writing peaks in a gory liquor store scene that's worthy of comparison to Stephen King at his best.

2. On the Fifth Day by A. J. Hartley

From Publishers Weekly:

In Hartley's newest, disgraced English teacher Thomas Knight confronts a church conspiracy of silence surrounding the death of his brother, Father Edward Knight, while on a research trip in the Philippines. Looking to make sense of it all, Thomas's search leads him from Italy to Japan to the site of his brother's death, all the while narrowly escaping agents of unknown origin who seem hellbent on stopping him. With the distinction between friends and enemies becoming more fluid all the time, Knight falls in with his ex-wife at the State Department, a priestly colleague of his brother's and a murderous biologist to discover a secret that threatens, yes, the very foundations of Christianity. Not only is Hartley's novel well paced, with enough twists and turns to keep most thriller fans satisfied, he avoids the missteps of most attempts to cash in on the Da Vinci Codezeitgeist by focusing on the faithful rather than freewheeling conspiracies; his is a welcome take that considers thoughtfully, if at times clumsily, issues of belief and doubt. Though the action occasionally snags on some repetitive character details, this slam-bang title is a very fun, surprisingly satisfying read.

3. The Killing Ground by Jack Higgins

From Publishers Weekly:

After almost two score books, many of them bestsellers, Higgins ("Without Mercy") knows how to fire up a thriller. In the first half-dozen pages, he establishes his London locale; reintroduces recurring lead Sean Dillon, the colorful former IRA man turned British intelligence antiterrorism op; has Sean shoot a smalltime hood's ear off; and intimates there are much bigger fish to fry beyond the hood's Russian employer. The real villain is a Muslim extremist of the al-Qaeda variety: Hussein Rashid, aka the Hammer of God, and one of the most successful assassins alive, with 27 certified kills of American and British soldiers and Iraqi politicians. Hussein has his sights set on Charles Ferguson, head of British intelligence. It's a longstanding grudge, complicated by the recent kidnapping of Hussein's promised bride, his 13-year-old cousin Sara, who was earlier kidnapped by Hussein himself. The proceedings are complicated; it helps if the reader is a veteran of this long-running series. But it's all pure Higgins: almost every shot hits square between the eyes, and all the characters are hard lads indeed.

Giveaway rules:

1. All three titles are one prize for one (1) winner.

2. The giveaway will last until November 30th so some lucky person will get a nice Christmas present.

3. Because I appreciate all of you, the giveaway is open to all countries, all over the world.

4. All you have to do is just leave me a comment with your email address if I can't contact you any other way.

Good luck to you all and remember to come back tomorrow for a Science-fiction giveaway.

Happy First Birthday to Reading Extravaganza!!!!

Today is the day I didn't think would arrive when I launched my blog a year ago. The whole idea was pretty much a spur of the moment but today I am very proud of this little project I have going on and I truly hope that there will be many more blogiversaries for Reading Extravaganza.

The one most important thing I want to say is THANK YOU to each and every person who visited and keeps visiting my blog and reading the creations of my sometimes quite deranged mind :) (well, it really isn't that bad yet but I like the sound of this word).

With that said, I have three giveaways with three different books each. The first giveaway starts today, the second tomorrow and the third one on Friday.

Today I have something for all the romance lovers out there and all of you who never tried it but would love to.

The titles I am giving away are:

1. Trouble in High Heels by Leanne Banks

2. Seducing a Scottish Bride by Sue-Ellen Welfonder

3. Bound to Please by Lilli Feisty

Giveaway rules:

1. All three titles are one prize for one (1) winner.

2. The giveaway will last until November 31st so some lucky person will get a nice Christmas present.

3. Because I appreciate all of you, the giveaway is open to all countries, all over the world.

4. All you have to do is just leave me a comment with your email address if I can't contact you any other way.

Good luck to you all and remember to come back tomorrow for a 'thrilling' giveaway.