It's Day 6 of The 12 Days of Christmas Cookies, and we're just about at the half way point. I hope you are enjoying this week and all of the recipes as much as Kathy and I are. Today is Kathy's day to post a recipe (and it's for rugalah!), but I still wanted to be part of the celebration. So instead of doing something cookie-related, I'm going to giveaway a book -- and it's a good one!Thanks to Kyle at Harper Collins, I have a copy of Wally Lamb's Christmas book WISHIN' AND HOPIN'. I just finished this book a few days ago, and I really liked it. It is the perfect read for this time of year, and it's guaranteed to make you laugh -- a lot!
To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me about the best gift you've ever received. To increase your chances, you can blog and/or tweet about this giveaway with a link back to this post. This contest will be open until Friday, November 27th at 11:59 p.m. ET, and I will notify the winner the following day. This contest is open to those of you with U.S. or Canada mailing addresses only -- no p.o. boxes please. Good luck!
Summary: It's 1964 and ten-year-old Felix is sure of a few things: the birds and the bees are puzzling, television is magical, and this is one Christmas he'll never forget.LBJ and Lady Bird are in the White House, Meet the Beatles is on everyone's turntable, and Felix Funicello (distant cousin of the iconic Annette!) is doing his best to navigate fifth grade—easier said than done when scary movies still give you nightmares and you bear a striking resemblance to a certain adorable cartoon boy.
Back in his beloved fictional town of Three Rivers, Connecticut, with a new cast of endearing characters, Wally Lamb takes his readers straight into the halls of St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parochial School—where Mother Filomina's word is law and goody-two-shoes Rosalie Twerski is sure to be minding everyone's business. But grammar and arithmetic move to the back burner this holiday season with the sudden arrivals of substitute teacher Madame Frechette, straight from Québec, and feisty Russian student Zhenya Kabakova. While Felix learns the meaning of French kissing, cultural misunderstanding, and tableaux vivants, Wishin' and Hopin' barrels toward one outrageous Christmas.
From the Funicello family's bus-station lunch counter to the elementary school playground (with an uproarious stop at the Pillsbury Bake-Off), Wishin' and Hopin' is a vivid slice of 1960s life, a wise and witty holiday tale that celebrates where we've been—and how far we've come. -- Harper
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39 comments:
This looks like a wonderful Christmas book. My favorite gift is probably the GPS that I got last year...it is very helpful on our road trips!
mtakala1 AT yahoo DOT com
i can't wait to read this book--would love to win it :)
hmm my favorite gift is probably the recent necklace my husband gave me for our one year anniversary. so surprised and so delighted to receive such a fun gift!
Many years ago I needed a new car. I thought the slightly used Saturn was perfect, but my husband thought it wasn't quite right. Since it was nearly Christmas, I was sure he had bought it anyway. I was very disappointed when he came home in his pickup truck on Christmas eve. We went to our traditional gathering at his brother's house. After all the gifts had been opened, I was handed a box with a toy car in it. My sneaky husband had bought the car, had it driven to his brother's and had our sister-in-law wrap a giant red bow around it. Needless to say I was surprised and delighted. Can't ever beat that (except maybe the time he (sorta) surprised me with a hot air balloon ride on my 40th birthday).
This is a tough one, because although I love receiving gifts I find that I enjoy giving them more. Probably the best gift I received is when we decided to go to Disney World we didn't exchange a lot of gifts that year...my husband and I considered the tickets our gifts to each other.
joannelong74 AT gmail DOT com
My husband is a wonderful gift giver, and never ceases to surprise me year after year with his thoughtful attention to what I would like. One year he surprised me with an early Christmas gift of a lovely dinner out, and then a walk downtown. As we were walking he said lets go in here. We went in the performance hall where he had already purchased 2 box seat tickets to that nights performance of the Nutcracker.
wmmahaney(at)at(dot)net
It's completely silly, but the best gift I've received was a new curfew. I had been begging for months and years for a later curfew. I had never broken my curfew. Unbeknownst to me, waiting in my stocking on Christmas morning my senior year in high school was a new curfew. It was completely unexpected, and I still remember that moment, twelve years later.
No need to enter me Julie. I'm just dropping by to let you know this is all posted at Win a Book for you. Great giveaway!
oh I'd love to win this book! My best gift was probably my first stereo when I was much younger. My parents kept the gift until the last one on christmas eve. I have pictures of me in my pj's, one by one, opening the box and at one point it looks like I threw out the "jazz hands" in my excitement! The stereo had a record player, am/fm radio (the dial GLOWED blue when the power was on), and double cassette (AH the start of mix tapes!) Its materialistic but my reaction makes it absolutely hilarious and one of my fave memories from childhood.
PUH-Leeze enter me :)
wlcgrad [at] yahoo [dot] com
I will tweet later today! @wlcgrad
Oh, I'd love to win a copy of this book! Thanks for the giveaway.
I have two gifts that I consider the best ever. The Christmas after we were first married, my husband completely surprised me by giving me a brand new laptop. I was so shocked! I couldn't believe he got me such a nice gift.
And the second best gift ever...though, I don't think I knew it at the time. Was a little jar of MnM's with my name hand stitched on a ribbon wrapped around it. I was about 8 when it was given to me by dear old lady who lived near us. She was like a surrogate grandmother to me. My mom kept it all these years and gave it to me along with little jars she had made to match for my husband and children. They sit out at Christmas each year with candy in it for us.
This looks like a good holiday book! My favorite Christmas present of all time was when my husband gave me a diamond ring and asked me to marry him 26 years ago this Christmas Eve. Last year, my son asked his girlfriend to marry him on Christmas, too! It was so sweet.
Happy Holidays!
My favorite xmas gifts will always be the handmade cards my sons(5) made for me each xmas,,thx for contest..
thehighflyer3(at)hotmail(dot)com
Looks like a fun holiday book! Thanks for the chance to win!
One of my favorite gifts as a kid was my long-awaited Barbie townhouse--it was wonderful! My friends and I played with that for a long time.
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com
I think my best Christmas gift so far was in 2002 when my parents took me on the cruise where I met my husband :) This year will be great too - one of my best friends is coming from Singapore to spend Christmas with us.
melacan at hotmail dot com
The best Christmas gift I remember getting was a CD of Jesse Cook songs and at the beginning of the CD were messages from each of my 3 kids. They wished me Merry Christmas and said "love you Mom". It was really sweet. :)
lgladnick(at)gmail(dot)com
I'd say that's a really hard question to answer except that something popped into my head IMMEDIATELY! One year, now many years ago, my dad gave me a wooden stepladder. He didn't even try to wrap it, just stuck a big red bow on it. At the time, I lived in an apartment with 16-foot-high ceilings. I REALLY needed a ladder! I loved that ladder for the thoughtfulness and humor behind the gift. It moved with me across the states and from place to place. I always left the red bow attached - and that always drew a lot of questions! It's only recently that the ladder had to be retired. Unfortunately, it got left out in the rain -- not by ME! -- and being that it's wooden, it just didn't handle it well. :(
Thanks for the chance to win a copy of this book!
geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com
The best gift I have gotten is probably the necklace I got from my dad last year. He went and picked it out himself, which he has NEVER done when I was growing up. He then wrote a really sweet letter about how proud of me he was and how much he loved me. It was really thoughtful, and I'm totally a daddy's girl!
amandarwest@gmail.com
I would love to get this book! I had been begging, pleading, hinting, asking and begging some more for a down comforter. Finally for my husband got me one for my birthday this year. Now, of course, he wonders how we slept without one! :)
I got my most favorite gift for Christmas back in 1985. My dad was on strike and my mom didn't work so I wasn't looking for much under the tree. But they surprised me with the one thing I wanted that year, a portable radio/cassette player. It wasn't a boom box but it was close enough for me. I used it for years. :0)
Thanks!
librarygrinch at gmail dot com
My best Christmas gift was two tickets to see Blue Rodeo. I was a student and dead poor. I was so happy I started jumping around and almost fell into the tree.
Ok, the best gift I ever received, you are never going to believe this, is a stuffed bunny I received from my nana when I was two. I used to carry him around with me everywhere, and after 30+ years, he is still here with me, though he stays at home these days.
savvyverseandwit AT gmail DOT com
The best gift I ever received was my baby shoes bronzed and painted with my initial and bday. It was perfect.
Please include me, I heart Wally Lamb!
allygotts567 at hotmail dot com
Happy Thanksgiving!
I think the best Christmas gift I ever received was a beautiful robe my daughters saved up to buy me. Even though it's about threadbare I still have it.
seriousreader at live dot com
I'd like to enter!! =) One of the best gifts I can remember was when I got rollerblades as a teenager. I'd been begging for them for so long that I thought it was past possibility that I'd actually get them. It was a great moment. =)
Thanks for this-my husband tried to fly my father out for Christmas as a Christmas present-but he did not want to get on a plane that would have been my favorite present.
I loved a little treasure box my young niece gave me, it had a few coins, hair clips, rocks, etc...
janemaritz at yahoo dot com
We posted about this giveaway at Winning Readings:
http://winningreadings.blogspot.com/2009/11/title-wishin-and-hopin-christmas-story.html
janemaritz at yahoo dot com
The best Christmas gift I recieved was last year at Christmas when my son picked out at his school's Winter Wonderland, a purple ring for me. It's highly treasured!
Mollydawn1981 at aol DOT com
I recieve the best christmas gift every year: the gift of having my family with me.
many thanks for the chance to win!
connieed53 {at}aol{dot}com
My children were the best "gift" ever. Aitmama {{ta}} gmail {{tod}} com
I would have to say that one of the best Christmas gifts I have received is the last Christmas I spent with my dad before he passed away
aunteegem@yahoo.com
The best gift I ever received was a puppy dog. I've had her for 10 years and counting.
gasweetheart211[at]netscape[dot]net
I've wanted to try this author for quite a while, so I appreciate the giveaway.
My favorite Christmas gift of all time is the recipe book my grandmother gave me before she died. She painstakingly wrote all of her beloved recipes by hand for me, and I copied it for my daughter last Christmas.
cjarvis [at] bellsouth [dot] net
I blogged about your contest here.
And just a followup regarding my previous comment about the year we didn't exchange many gifts because we went on trip...we might do that again this year!
joannelong74 AT gmail DOT com
This looks like a fantastic Christmas book! And of course it will be, as it's Wally Lamb! :-)
I just realized I forgot to include my e-mail address to be entered - oops!
zedster.tbb(at)gmail(DOT)com
And to tell you the best gift I ever received, which was a life sized stuffed unicorn. I desperately wanted a real live unicorn that year, so Santa did the best he could. :-)
my favourite gift was a typewriter
karenk
kmkuka(at)yahoo(dot)com
My best gift ever was when my husband bought the family tickets to Disney World - it took us almost a year to find a week free to use them but it was still an awesome present!
theroundfile(at)live(dot)com
The best gift I received was having my 4th son Dec 22nd & getting to come home from the hospital Christmas eve to be able to pull off Christmas for my children. I remember sitting my little one by the tree so he could see the lights, he was up all night, a very fussy baby...thats how the others found us Christmas morning & they always joke & say Santa left him under the tree :)
plb8156@aol.com
I've received many wonderful gifts over the years, but the best one was when my husband asked me to marry him. Thanks!
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