BEA'S BOOK NOOK "I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once." C. S. Lewis “If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” ― Oscar Wilde

Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts

Monday, September 6, 2021

It's The Blog's Birthday! And There's A Giveaway!


Found on Pinterest; click photo to go to site.

11 years old! We're almost a teenager, eeeep. When I started the blog, I never thought the blog would last this long. I'm an erratic poster the last few years but I'm still around. Co-bloggers have come and gone, one cat has died and two more have moved in, fish have come and gone, but the blog and I are still here.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Happy 80th Birthday to The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien!

Stack of Hobbit books and tea cup, Bea's Book Nook
My print  copies of The Hobbit and one of my teacups


80 years ago today a delightful little book by an English professor was released and became not only an instant hit but a lasting success and a classic. Little people who lived in holes in the ground, different little people who lived underground mining, mysterious folk of the woods, fire breathing lizards who guarded their hoard, a twisted lonely creature who loved riddles; yes, I'm talking about The Hobbit. It was first published on September 21, 1937.

I grew up reading myths and fairy tales, soaking up heroes and monsters like a sponge soaks up water. But I didn't discover fantasy until 5th grade when my English teacher would take time at the end of class to read from The Hobbit. To be honest, I don't remember what we learned that year but I remember her reading this book. She didn't read it everyday but on those days when she got through her lesson plan early and we'd behaved, she would read aloud to us. At that rate, it took most of the school year but I was hooked. My parents, one of whom was also an English teacher, happily bought me my own copy.

I loved everything about The Hobbit - the world, the humor, the adventures, the people, the excitement and the wonder and the thrills. And the dragon! I loved dragons in the myths and fairy tales I'd read but encountering one in more recent writings was exciting. Later I moved to The Lord of Rings which was a different, more sober take on Tolkien's world but was still exciting and full adventure and wondrous beings. But The Hobbit holds a special place in my heart to this day. I own multiple editions but sadly it's been years since I read any of them. I think it's time for a re-read. And tea and cakes of course.

image found on Pinterest

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Sunday Book Share #157 - A Birthday, A Milestone & A Package!

 
http://www.talksupeblog.com/search/label/Bought%20Borrowed%20and%20Bagged

 I'm participating in The Sunday Post, hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer; Showcase Sunday hosted by Books, Biscuits and Tea; Stacking the Shelves, hosted by Tynga's Reviews; and Bought Borrowed and Bagged, hosted by TalkSupe. All of these memes are about sharing the print and digital books received and/or posts and events on the blog.

The blog turned five years old last week, on Friday September 4th. When I first started, I thought I'd blog for maybe a couple of years, if that long, as I've never been any good at keeping a journal or diary. :D Yet five years, I'm still here and going strong. :)

On Wednesday, two days shy of its birthday, the blog reached a million page views! *throws confetti*

Friday, September 4, 2015

5 Year Blogaversary!!!!!


Today marks the blog's 5th birthday. Five years ago, I posted my first review on this blog. Previously, I posted a couple reviews on my personal blog but then started this one. I copied and pasted those reviews over here. My first review unique to this blog was posted shortly thereafter. 

Saturday, April 12, 2014

It's My Birthday! Party Time!

 

Yep, today is my birthday! And you all gave me a present this week by bringing the blog up to 500,000 page views. It took 3 years, 7 months, and 6 days, an average of 381.39 views per day. I remember when I first started and I would get excited when I got 100 page views a day. :) I've actually had days with 1,000+ views and I just squee when that happens.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

It's A Party! Astraea Press is Two Years Old & Giving YOU the Presents!


My publisher, Astraea Press, is two years old this month and having a party to celebrate. Every day in February we are giving away 2 books! Yes, 2 books a day, every day, for 28 days. How do you get them? Check Astraea's blog every day to see what that day's offerings are. Have a problem getting or downloading your free book? Email reviewcoordinator@att.net.

Also stop by Astraea's Birthday page on facebook for more events and info during the month and invite your friends. We want to reach as many readers as possible. 

Astraea was founded in 2010 by author Stephanie Taylor. She saw a need for a non-erotic e-publisher that offers wholesome reads, but still maintains the quality of mainstream romance. The first titles were launched in February 2011.

With over six years experience in the publishing industry and an avid reader, Stephanie, the owner and editor-in-chief, looks forward to working with her authors, having fun, and bringing you the reader the best books available. 2012 was a fantastic year for us.

In 2012, we sold our first foreign rights, acquired a NY Times bestselling author, two USA Today bestselling authors, numerous number one bestsellers, award winning titles, and even secured a NY agent to handle foreign rights and audio. Astraea Press is moving on up!

I know I have been very happy working for Astraea and I buy our books. Have you tried us  out yet? This month is a wonderful opportunity to try us for the first time, find new-to-you authors, and get free books!

DISCLOSURE: I work for Astraea Press. I am not being compensated in any way for posting this. Some info in this post came from Astraea's website and from it's blog

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Happy Birthday J.R.R. Tolkien!





It's J.R.R. Tolkien's birthday today. If he were still alive, he'd be 121 years old, practically a teenager in the elven world.

1892 Christmas card of the Tolkien family

I used to read both "The Hobbit" and The Lord of the Rings" every summer right up until college. My re-readings since then have been sporadic but I've read some of his other works. I was hesitant when it was first announced that The LotR was being made into a movie, certain they would not do justice to the books. I was pleasantly surprised and while I don't love adaptation of "The Hobbit", I'm glad it was done. Tolkien had an incredible imagination, combined with tremendous scholarship and his works have given me many hours of pleasure.


Monday, September 26, 2011

Red's Wolf Winner!


First, let me say thank you to everyone who responded. There were some beautiful responses, I was tearing up reading them.

Ok, our winner is......................Angela Addams! Send me an email at beasbooknook@gmail.com letting me what format you want, a mailing addy for the cover flats, and if you want the soap. Congrats!


Sunday, September 18, 2011

Birthday Giveaway! Red's Wolf by PJ Schnyder






September 25th would have been my mother's 86th birthday. She died when she was 58, after a 2 year battle with breast cancer. I was a senior in high school. My oldest sibling had died six months earlier in a car accident and her doctor warned us at the time that we would probably see a deterioration in her condition in response to his death. We did. Parents aren't supposed to outlive their children. Still, she didn't give up fighting entirely and she even continued to smoke cigarettes until she was put on oxygen. When she was first diagnosed with cancer, they checked her lungs since she was a heavy smoker for 30+ years. Her lungs were clear, surprisingly so, and so she kept smoking until she absolutely couldn't.

So what does all of that have to do with the giveaway? Well, the publisher of "Red's Wolf", Decadent Publishing, has a program called "Read for a Cure". Each month, they choose one book and donate all of the the publisher profits to the Relay for Life, a series of annual events (marathons, etc.) that benefit the American Cancer Society.  This month's book is "Red's Wolf".


The author of "Red's Wolf" also had her birthday this month and is an acquaintance of mine. My mother, before she had to retire due to her cancer, was an English teacher and loved books and reading. She introduced me to my first romance book (I'm pretty sure it was a Rosemary Rogers title; I have no clue what my mother was thinking, lol.)

Soooo, in honor of my mother, to celebrate her birthday, and as an easy way to donate to the American Cancer Society, I am giving away a Kindle version of this book. It's open internationally. The winner will have the book Kindle gifted to them from me via Amazon. You don't have to actually have a Kindle, you can have the app on your computer or smart phone. Go here to see the options and download the app, if you want it. Using the app, you  can purchase (or receive) Kindle books and read them without ever buying a Kindle.

ETA: I just looked at Barnes & Noble and it's available there too, so the winner can choose the Kindle book or the Nook book. They also have free apps for reading their digital books so you don't actually need a Nook.

There's more! PJ has offered to donate some signed cover flats. I'll mail those out to the lucky winner of the book. And, if the winner is interested, I'll also throw in a bar of hand made glycerin soap with the breast cancer ribbon on it. The winner can choose from unscented, rose, lavender or lavender vanilla.




What do you have to do to win all this? Well, I'd love it if you made a donation to whatever organization in your state/province/country works to fight cancer, but that's not a requirement. Leave a comment about something you might do, or have done, in honor of your parents. Simple as that. Oh, don't forget to read the giveaway policy.

The giveaway will run from now through 11:59 PM EST of September 25th. If in doubt about the time, see the clock widget in the right hand column.


Tuesday, September 6, 2011

One Year Old! It's My Birthday



Well, more specifically, it's the blog's birthday. I realized, as I was working on the blog yesterday, that its anniversary or birthday was coming up soon. So I looked it up and it's today. I had thought about it a while back. I thought about doing some big bash but decided against it. I was already working on plans for Banned Book Week and wanted to keep my focus on that. It's coming up in a few weeks, Saturday September 24 to Saturday October 1. I have guest posts, reviews of banned books and giveaways. It's my first big event here on the blog and honestly, it matters more to me than the blog's birthday. I got so busy that I forgot about it until now. Although, that doesn't mean I'm not happy that the blog has made it this long.

It's been a crazy year, with ups and downs, mistakes, and lots of challenges: no Internet access at home (some day I will), my laptop died and it was several months before I could buy a new one, learning how to write reviews (that's an ongoing challenge, getting it just right), health issues, working up the nerve to approach authors, publicists and publishers, learning how to use Blogger and take advantage of it's extras, etc.

It's been a good year too. I added my friend Jax as a part-time reviewer, made friends and acquaintances and  connected with bloggers, reviewers, editors, authors, etc., I've read many books that I might not have otherwise, even got a part-time job as a result of my reviewing (that still blows my mind). I think the best part, maybe even better than all of the books I've read, is all of the people I've met. Whether I met them on here, on another blog, or on Twitter, I've met some awesome people as the result of this blog.

So thank you to all of you - the blog readers, the followers, the people who have taken the time to comment, the people who have done guest posts and guest reviews, all of the authors, publishers, and publicists who have asked Jax and I to review or said yes when we asked to review a book, the people who have stood by me when I have screwed up, the people who have generously shared their time and expertise, and the people who have replied on twitter when I've given a panicked shout for help (some days I want to throw Blogger off of a really high cliff).

Thank You to all of you. I hope this coming year will be as good as or even better than the first.