Thursday, January 28, 2016

BEYOND THE BOOKS #2

THINGS I HAVE WON
BEYOND THE BOOKS is a weekly meme where KissinBlueKaren throws out a topic (mostly non-bookis) and we blog about it.

I have been book blogging a little over two years and I have won some pretty fabulous things in that time. Here are the biggest and the best.
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I know this is only a single ARC, but trying to win this baby is how I accidentally started my blog, which morphed into a book blog when I reviewed it's predecessor, Splintered. I was trying to verify Rafflecopter entries for Unhinged, and somehow ended up with a blog instead of a Google+ account! I did not win that particular Rafflecopter contest, but I did win it in another giveaway.
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My first Rafflecopter win was a doozie!
It was a beautifully embossed wooden Grisha box with three scented candle tins and a Ruin and Rising chapter sampler. I use the box to store notes, cards, mementos, and letters from authors; and special bookmarks I have been sent from both authors and other book bloggers.
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The very first YA I read (knowingly) was Across the Universe. I say it was my YA gateway drug. I was OVER THE MOON when I won the AtU complete trilogy in paperback, SIGNED, and a limited edition The Body Electric, numbered and SIGNED! Plus, a boatload of swiggity-swag that my sister pillaged before it even got into the house because Beth is her favorite author. It was a big mistake opening the box in her car. Hehe. The first thing she nabbed was the water bottle. After thinking about having the signed trilogy of her favorite author I felt guilty, so I gave her the numbered and signed The Body Electric, and the rest of the swag she hadn't already swiped, for her birthday. I won this for a blog post I did on the symbolism in TBE.
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I won a paperback copy of Blinded by the Light, a $20 Amazon gift card, and a custom tote hand-painted by Becca from PIVOT BOOK TOTES in a BBtL blog tour giveaway. I already had the paperback, so seeing that it was an international contest, I had the author send it to my blogging Buddy, Pili. As you can see, I had Becca use my TELL ME TUESDAY design.
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My son and I read the first four Worst Witch books from the library when he was little, and also loved the television show that was on HBO, so I was excited to win these from the publisher when they re-released the paperbacks with new cover art. They are a fabulous addition to the library I have started for my someday grandchildren.
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Again, I won a single ARC of Ensnared the last book in the SPLINTERED TRILOGY (the Splintered flip ARC in the pic I traded for so that I would have all three), but this giveaway had 16,389 entries, so it was a miracle that I won. I wanted this book so incredibly much that I did every possible entry, including tweeting every day for a month and sharing the cover image on one of my five book related social media platforms every day. 
That's my son holding my beloved series ARCs.
Perks of knowing the author; she personalized it to me.
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I loved this win of all the Candlewick Press Distinguished Book Award winners because it had the Edward Tulane book I had been wanting to read, a title from one of my favorite authors, Cecil Castellucci and a hardcover illustrated first edition of A MONSTER CALLS
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I won the July NOVL BOX giveaway curated by author Libba Bray, and I was grinning because I knew she was one of my blogging buddy Elizabeth's favorite authors. I kept the tote for myself (and ate the Swedish Fish), gave the nail polish to my mani-pedi freak sister, and the rest I sent to Elizabeth!
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I won a huge stack of books from a giveaway by Penguin Publishers newsletter.
 I received 16 books, most of them hardcovers. Included in this mega-pile are: The Rose Society (which I have already given away to my blogging buddy Michelle), Blood and Salt, and The Witch of Lime Street. The three books I was excited about were: M Train by my punk rock idol Patty Smith, Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rudshdie, and Lost Ocean a high end adult coloring book.
This image is from WINK BOOK'S post about this book because as you can see from the above stack photo... KINDLE CAMERAS SUCK SO BADLY THEY CAN CREATE BLACKHOLES!
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My heart of hearts win was this book...
OF BREAKABLE THINGS got me out of a leviathan of a month long reading slump. I also re-read it almost immediately because it gave me this strange comforting feeling like Harry Potter. Anyway, I read the ebook and was itching to have it on my shelves and I won it! Again, I did both of the every day entries faithfully. Perks of getting to know the author... not only did she send me her last author copy because she liked the formatting better, she personalized it and sent me a beautiful letter. 
What are some of your favorite wins?

16 comments:

  1. You have been killing it with your giveaway wins! I love the tote bag and I love the Grisha box. That's just gorgeous! Great winnings!

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    1. Thanks! I don't win as much as I used to because I don't do the rabid Rafflecoptering anymore. The Novel Box and the Penguin House stack were just one entry contests, so I was super lucky.

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  2. Holy Cow, you are a lucky person. Just look at all those wins! I love the Ruin and Rising box as well as the huge pile from Penguin. Congrats on being so lucky!

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    1. Thanks! I don't have time to "work" the Rafflecopters every day now, so I don't win as much as I used to.

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  3. Mercy me, you have won a ton of books and swag you lucky lady!

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    1. Thanks, I really cherish them. Plus I love giving the ones I don't care about to people who do. :)

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  4. Omg you are a LUCKY FISH THAT IS WHAT. WOW!! I used to win a lot of stuff...but never to this extent. xD hehe. (And so much Splintered love. <3) Although, oh oh, I can't forget, I won an Aussie giveaway in December of about 10 surprise books!! SO THAT WAS EXCITING. And I won my book club giveaway of all 4 Throne of Glass books. :P Eeep!
    I LOVE THAT GRISHA BOX.

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    1. Did you love having a surprise box? The Penguin books were all a surprise and I kind of loved it. :)

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  5. Wow, some great wins! That's a great story about how your blog started! And the Grisha box- very cool. I can see why you'd store things in it, very nice.

    I've been wanting to read the across the Universe series, is more a romance or more a scifi adventure? Just wondering, trying to deicde if it's for me. Nice coloring book too!

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    1. I really do not care for romance, so you are safe. There is some, but infrequent, an pretty mild. :)

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  6. You are so lucky and have won some incredible prizes! I'm starting the Splintered series this year and I love the covers.

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    1. I know, the Spintered covers are delicious! I have my ARCs and all of the books on my Kindle, including the novella and the new epilogue compilation. I am waiting to see if there will be a boxed set before I buy the hardcovers. I do hope there will be. :)

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  7. I just won this gorgeous copy of More than Magic with really sweet swag, and my 2nd favorite win was a $25 Amazon gift card that I got a few books that I wanted, but wow you have an awesome collection of swag!! DO you collect it also? I have some doubles...
    if you're interested let me know. I enjoyed this post, and am very happy for you!!
    http://thebestbasicblogger.blogspot.com/2016/01/stacking-shelves8.html

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    1. Thanks! I usually end up giving most of my swag away, except for book marks. :D

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  8. Those are so serious awesome giveaway wins! And you're awesome for spreading the good karma by sending some of your winnings to other friends!!

    Gotta love that Becca tote!!

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    1. Becca is the best! I have another tote of hers that says, "Nitwit. Blubber. Oddment. Tweak. Ha Ha. I keep my crocheting stuff in it. :)

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