MICHELLE MORAN BOOK GIVEAWAY!!

We've waited and waited, and on Sept. 16, THE HERETIC QUEEN by Michelle Moran, sequel to the amazing novel NEFERTITI, will finally be released. Many of us will be racing off to the bookstore, but you, my friends, have an opportunity to WIN AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY!!! But that's not all! There are three chances to win in this giveaway and here are the prizes:

GRAND PRIZE:

The Grand Prize Winner will receive not only a brand-spankin' new copy of THE HERETIC QUEEN autographed personally by Michelle Moran, but this lucky person will ALSO receive a HARDCOVER COPY OF NEFERTITI with an autographed bookplate. That's TWO autographed hardcovers for our Grand Prize Winner!!


SECOND PRIZE:

Second Prize is a new paperback copy of NEFERTITI with an autographed bookplate!


THIRD PRIZE:

Our Third Prize winner will receive a new paperback copy of NEFERTITI.



And how do you win these fabulous prizes? There are three ways to get your name in Peter's Tommy Bahama Panama hat:

1) Leave a comment on this post that you would like to enter the Michelle Moran giveaway and you'll get your name entered once.

2) Let me know you've posted about this giveaway on your blog, and you'll get your name put in a second time.

3) For every person who visits Books 'N Border Collies and lets me know they heard about it from you, I'll put your name in again!

Three ways to win three great prizes!! International entries will be accepted.

The winners will be announced on the release date for THE HERETIC QUEEN, Tues., Sept. 16.

Good Luck, Everyone!!

The Minnesota State Fair Rocked!

Whew! 85 degrees and hundreds of people, but Tony and I rocked the Minnesota State Fair for four hours yesterday. What a blast! Peter filmed some of it, so I should have a clip for you before too long. I want to thank everyone who came to visit and all the new folks we met who made the day such fun!

Meanwhile, the details for the Michelle Moran Book Giveaway will be posted at midnight tonight. Wait until you see what we have in store for that!!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!

My Friend Tony

I've talked about what I do when I'm not reading, my alter ego -- DIVA, but it occurs to me that I haven't given my partner in that endeavor anywhere near enough credit for his part. Tony has been my best friend for nearly 20 years. He's an amazing guitar player, and it is due to his musical and technological wizardry (at least, that's what it looks like to me) that I get to put on Tina Turner-like dresses and KISS-like boots and play rock star like I do. Thanks, Tony! :-)

In anticipation of our Minnesota State Fair show tomorrow, and in his honor, I share with you one of my favorite songs Tony sings during our show. We call this one, "The Nutcracker Suite". You'll hear why. . .



How cute is that?? Grown men singing silly. We just posted this plus three more new video clips on www.DivaRocksMN.com. Stop on over and check them out!

Have a fantastic holiday weekend, everyone!

WHEN YOU ARE ENGULFED IN FLAMES

by David Sedaris



There are no praises I can sing David Sedaris that have not been sung a million times over on the many book blogs that have reviewed this or any other of Sedaris's books. Suffice it to say that I have not laughed this hard since I read Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys. But the author is not all fun and games. There are serious, soul-searching moments also, and that is what keeps his work from being frivolous and shelved in the "Humor" section of the bookstore. You'll find yourself laughing until you cry, then trying to swallow the lump in your throat. And some of the little things in life will never look quite the same again.

During my commute, I listened to David Sedaris himself read When You Are Engulfed in Flames on an audiobook. Instead of trying to explain how I was continually having difficulty driving while attempting to clear tears of hysterical laughter from my eyes, here is a clip from David Letterman of Sedaris reading an excerpt from this book. Don't watch this while eating or drinking or your keyboard will be in grave danger. :-)



Now I know exactly which books to look for when I need to ease those winter blues in a couple of months! :-)

I Couldn't Quit Laughing!

So, of course, I had to share:


More Animals

Make it stop! My face hurts from laughing!!

Thank you, Thank you!

Zetor at Mog's Blog has nominated me for this fun award! Thank you, thank you! For me, the greatest part of being a member of the book blog community (besides learning about everyone's great reads, of course!) is the ability to chat with each other and make new friends all over the world. Receiving and leaving comments are what brings us all together and makes book blogs soooooo much more interesting than print media reviews. The only rule for this award is to pass it on to seven other bloggers. Hmmmmm. . . It's tough to pick only seven, but here goes:

Dar at Peeking Between the Pages
Chartroose at Bloody Hell, It's A Book Barrage!
J. Kaye at J. Kaye's Book Blog
Joanna at Lost In A Good Story
Teddy Rose at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
Andi at Tripping Towards Lucidity
Jeane at Dog Ear Diary

Thanks for all the great comments over the months from everyone! And if you haven't commented on this blog yet, go ahead! Say hi! I even answer! :-)

THE CONCUBINE

by Norah Lofts



The Concubine, a reissue from best-selling British author Norah Lofts, is an excellent telling of the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn, particularly for readers who are already familiar with the big picture of Anne, Catherine of Aragon, and Henry VIII's "Great Matter". In fact, it would be helpful to have a bit of background knowledge of this period of Tudor history before reading this book. If The Concubine is a reader's first foray into this story it may be easy to get a bit confused, because there are a lot of famous events and personages mentioned in passing and the reader is assumed to have some knowledge of what is being discussed. You don't have to be a Tudor scholar, but if you're at least somewhat familiar with that time period, your mind will easily fill in the background necessary to follow those descriptions and conversations.

The nice thing about those assumptions is that those of us who read a lot of Tudor books will not be bored to tears by extensive passages explaining things we already know. The Concubine moves quickly through the years from Henry's courtship of Anne, the eventual divorce from Catherine and through Anne's short time as queen, her bogus "trial" and her sad end. But we get to hear glimpses of thoughts and see actions of many famous and lesser- or unknown people as history plays out: The thoughts of Anne's closest ladies, Wolsey's musings as his power is eroded, Mark Smeaton as he realizes he's being used by Cromwell, the lords on Anne's jury who do not dare to defy the king despite the obviously manufactured evidence of her adultery and treason.

While not an innovative telling of an infamous affair, Norah Loft's deft handling of the insights of minor characters and her ability to vividly capture of the cloud of insecurity and apprehension that hung over the every level of court life keeps the reader interested in what happens next.

Christmas in August!

I know it's technically better to give than to receive, but judging by the deliveries to my home this week, I'm wondering if that's really true. . .




However, the "giving" part will be taken to heart, because an autographed copy of The Heretic Queen and three copies of Nefertiti will be given away at this very blog in September! And that's not all!! Author Michelle Moran (my new best friend for telling me all about http://icanhascheezburger.com) has included some other goodies to be included also and has graciously offered to answer any questions readers of Books 'N Border Collies may have about her books once the contest entries have begun. I'm sooooo excited about this contest! The official post will come on Sept. 1, so make sure you come back to learn how you can have multiple chances to win!

In the meantime, back to my pile of awesome ARCs!
Happy reading, Everyone!!



PS Make sure you stop in at Michelle site to see the cool trailer for Nefertiti!