Blog Party (with a giveaway)

It's time for another Ultimate Blog Party over at 5 Minutes for Mom. I didn't participate last year because I had just given birth to a beautiful baby girl. This year, I thought I'd jump in on the game.



First, let's start with an introduction and then we'll move on to the giveaway(s).

My name is Carrie and I've been book blogging since 2006. (My reviews for the first couple of years were horrible. Do me a favor and don't read my blog back that far!) I'm a stay-at-home mom who loves to read and finds book blogging to be an outlet of sorts, allowing me a chance to interact with others on subject matters which are near and dear to my heart. I don't necessarily mean that books are near and dear (although they are) but the issues that they cause me to grapple with are. My mother-in-law once wrote down this quote (I have no idea who to attribute it to):

You will be the same person you are five years from now, except for the books you read and the people you meet.

I believe that to be true. Books can be entertaining and sometimes they need to be. Whether or not a book intends to be exclusively a vehicle for entertainment, it is absolutely expressing a world view which the reader must wrestle with. Books open up the world to us in so many ways and change who we are as people. They are of great importance and therefore I blog about them.

As I mentioned, I am a stay-at-home mom to three children - two boys and one girl. My oldest boy, Bookworm1, is 5. Bookworm2 is 3 and my youngest daughter, Bookworm3, will be 1 year old next week! I read and talk about a variety of books on this site for a variety of ages and I've been extremely blessed to make a good many friends doing so. If you'd care to join in on the conversations, we'd be more than happy to have you stick around.

I have a few favorite authors I like to harp on about: Lucy Maud Montgomery and C.S. Lewis. Every January I host the Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge and every July I host the Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge. If you are interested in participating in either, I hope you'll do so!



Now moving on . . .

Because this is a party and we do intend to have fun with this, I'll offer up a few "party favors." My boys really like Elephant & Piggie books by Mo Willems (linked to my thoughts) and I just so happen to have a couple spare copies of the following titles to give away.



That's right! I have a copy of I Am Invited to a Party!, There Is a Bird On Your Head! and My Friend is Sad to give away to one of you. How to win? Well, I like to keep things VERY straight forward around these parts:

1. Simply leave a comment below. Be sure to leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you at. If you do not leave an address (and I don't know you) then I will choose another winner. Must leave an address!

2. BONUS PARTY POINTS: If you are subscribed to Reading to Know feed in your Google reader (or wherever) OR follow Reading to Know on Facebook, you can leave a second comment in order to be entered twice.

You must be a U.S. or Canadian resident in order to be entered into the contest. This contest will be open until the close of the Blog Party, Friday, April 20th.

For our guests, we thank you for stopping by! For the regulars, well, have fun with the contest! There may or may not be very. exciting. contests. springing up on this site throughout the next week in honor of the Ultimate Blog Party. Stick around. ;)