1. Becki
2. Jennifer
3. Amanda
4. Danika
5. Charity

Congratulations to the winners! I will be emailing you shortly with details on how to claim your prize.

I’d like to thank everyone who entered and helped to promote this giveaway as well as Hachette Book Group for sponsoring this giveaway. If you didn’t win this time don’t despair, you can still purchase a copy of Friends Like These at stores like Amazon.com. There are also still a handful of giveaways going on in the blog tour so be sure to check those out as well. I also have a few more giveaways coming up, so be sure to check back regularly!

Danny Wallace has friends. He has a wife and goes to brunch, and his new house has a couch with throw pillows on it.

But as he nears thirty, he can’t help wondering about his childhood friends. His first friends. Where are they now – and where, really, is he?

When Danny finds an address book in which he’d inscribed the names and numbers of the twelve best friends he has as a kid, he comes to a stunning realization. They were probably all turning thirty, too! Were they also trying to cope with the confusing new fog of adulthood? Did they have a couch with throw pillows on it?

Journeying from London to Berlin, Tokyo, Australia, and California, he risks rejection and ridicule to show up on his old pals’ doorsteps. Memories of his 1980s childhood – from Michael Jackson and Michael J. Fox to Ghostbusters and Goonies – reappear as he meets former buddies who have blossomed into rappers and ninjas, time-traveling pioneers, chain-restaurant managers, and even Fijian royalty.

Proving that as things change they also remain the same, Danny re-befriends them all, giving remarkable new resonance to the age-old mantra “friends forever!”

Guidelines:

• To Enter just leave a comment on this post with a valid email address. There is no need to include your email in the comment itself as you must enter a valid email in the form and I can see that.
• This giveaway is open to residents of U.S. and Canada only. At the publisher’s request no P.O. Boxes will be accepted.
• If, by chance, you have entered a giveaway for this same book at another blog and have won please excuse yourself from this giveaway. Let‘s let others have a chance.

The giveaway begins today September 30 and runs until October 15, 2009. The winner will be drawn and announced on the 16th of October. As always, there are a few ways that you can gain additional entries to increase your odds.

Extra Entries:

• Twitter – Tweet about this giveaway for an additional entry. Be sure to include @joanana in your tweet and mention it in a comment on this post.
• Follow me on Twitter for an additional entry. Be sure to mention it in a comment. If you are already following me be sure to mention that as well as that will gain you 2 entries instead.
• Subscribe to The Symposium’s RSS feed or email subscriptions for an additional entry. Again, if you are already subscribed either one (or both) be sure to mention it double the entries.
• You may also comment on my review of this book for an additional entry as well.

Best of luck to all the entrants, and don’t forget, this giveaway is only running from September 30 through October 15, 2009. So hurry and enter today!

1. Julie
2. Mik
3. Jenn

Congratulations to the winners! I will be emailing you shortly with details on how to claim your prize.

I’d like to thank everyone who entered and helped to promote this giveaway as well as Hachette Book Group for sponsoring this giveaway. If you didn’t win this time don’t despair, you can still purchase a copy of NurtureShock at stores like Amazon.com. There are also still a handful of giveaways going on in the blog tour so be sure to check those out as well. I also have a few more giveaways coming up, so be sure to check back regularly!

Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman have written what is destined to become one of the most provocative and influential books about children of our time. The force and wisdom of these award-winning journalists’ work have been apparent since the publication of their cover story, “The Inverse Power of Praise,” in New York magazine. Literally overnight, parents changed how they talked to children. Schools assigned the article as homework for teachers, while business leaders discussed how it would change the way they rewarded employees. Over w,000 bloggers typed away, while legislators and religious leaders considered how the aritcle could transform the larger society.

But Bronson and Merryman’s insight on praise is just part of the first chapter of NurtureShock. There are nine more equally groundbreaking chapters after that. Among the topics covered:

• Why the most brutal person in a child’s life is often a sibling, and how a single aspect of their preschool-aged play can determine their relationship as adults.
• When is it too soon – or too late – to teach a child about race? Children in diverse schools are less likely to have a cross-racial friendship, not more – so is school diversity backfiring?
• Millions of families are fighting to get their kids into private schools and advanced programs as early as possible. But schools are missing the best kids 73% of the time – the new neuroscience explains why.
• Why are kids – even those from the best of homes – still aggressive and cruel? The answer is found in a rethinking of parental conflict, discipline, television’s unexpected influence, and social dominance.
• Parents are desperate to jump-start infants’ language skills. Recently, scientists have discovered a series of natural techniques that are astonishing in their efficacy – it’s not baby videos, sign language, or even the richness of language exposure. It’s nothing you’ve heard before.

NurtureShock provides a revolutionary new perspective on childhood that upends a library’s worth of conventional wisdom. Nothing like a parenting manual, NurtureShock gets to the core of how we grow, learn, and live.

Guidelines:

• You must provide a working email in the email field of your comment so that I can notify you should you win.
• Books are being shipped directly from the publisher, as such, the contest is only open to residents of the U.S. and Canada and no P.O. Boxes will be accepted.
• Winner will be notified via email and has 72 hours (3 days) to respond with a mailing address. If the winning contestant does not respond after 72 hours a new winner will be drawn.
• Winners will be randomly selected using Random.org
• This giveaway and review are a part of the NurtureShock Blog Tour, of which, several other blogs are also hosting giveaways. Should you win a copy of this book on another blog please be kind enough to remove yourself from this giveaway so that those who have not won a copy may have a chance.

How to Enter

• Comment on this post. (1 entry)
• Comment on my review of NurtureShock for another entry. (1 entry)
• Follow me on Twitter for the duration of the giveaway (1 entry). Be sure to tell me your username in your comment. If you’re already following be sure to let me know as well and you will receive 2 entries instead of 1.
• You may also tweet about this giveaway on Twitter for an additional entry.

Giveaway will run from September 10th until midnight on September 18th. Winners will be drawn on September 19th.

The Symposium is proud to participate in the NurtureShock Blog Tour by hosting a review and giveaway. Be sure to check out the other fine blogs participating in the tour!

Participating Blogs:
Bookin’ With Bingo – Aug. 31 Q&A, review and giveaway
Sage and Savvy – Aug. 31 review and giveaway
Readaholic – Aug. 31 giveaway
MomDotCom.net – Sept. 1 giveaway
Debbie’s World of Books – Sept. 1 giveaway
Starting Fresh – Sept. 1 giveaway
Busy Julie Blog – Sept. 1 review and giveaway
Metroreader: Reading One Mile At a Time – Sept. 2 review and giveaway (audiobook)
Book Soulmates – Sept. 2 giveaway
Bibliophiles ‘R’ Us – Sept. 3 giveaway
Mama Latina Tips – Sept. 4 review and giveaway
Review From Here – Sept. 5
Take Me Away – Sept. 5 Q&A and giveaway
Just Another New Blog – Sept. 5 review and giveaway (audiobook)
Global Arts – Sept. 5 review and giveaway
Reading at the Beach – Sept. 6 Q&A, review, and giveaway (hardcover and audio).
A Journey of Books – Sept. 7 Q&A and giveaway
Blog Business World – Sept. 7 Q&A and review
This Book for Free – Sept. 7 review and giveaway (book and audiobook)
Beth’s Book Review Blog – Sept 7 review; Sept. 8 Q&A and giveaway
A Park Avenue Princess – Sept. 9 review and giveaway
Knit Purl Gurl – Sept. 10 giveaway
The Symposium – Sept. 10 review and giveaway
Today’s Adventure – Sept. 11 review and giveaway
Library Queue – Sept. 11 review.

There were a grand total of sixteen entries in this giveaway, including the extra entries a few of the entrants garnered, and using Random.org’s list randomizer, I have my five winners:

1. Sharon Walling
2. Anne Taylor
3. Beth
4. Gahome2mom
5. Charity

Congratulations ladies! You five are the lucky winners of your very own copy of James Brown’s Role of a Lifetime before you can buy it! I hope you all enjoy the book as much as the upcoming NFL season. Let’s see which teams make it all the way this year! I will be contacting the lucky winners shortly.

If you didn’t win this time around, have no fear. Role of a Lifetime will be available to buy online and in book stores on September 24, 2009. There are also more giveaways coming to The Symposium in the near future – so keep your eyes peeled!

Role of a Lifetime by James Brown with Nathan Whitaker and Tony Dungy

Book Description: We live in a world that all too often operates under the overriding template of self-promotion, embracing a “hooray for me” attitude, and which measures success in increasingly small timeframes dotted with markers of temporal value.

Millions of viewers know James Brown as a sports commentator and former athlete. With ROLE OF A LIFETIME, James reveals a different side of his character. Brown rose from a middle-class home to earn a scholarship to Harvard and a chance at a professional sports career before moving on to broadcast journalism. Part memoir and part self-help, this book draws on James’ lessons from his faith and life experiences to guide readers to find fulfillment and significance. He offers values and encouragement to others of all generations, assisting them in their search for meaning in navigating a world that increasingly promotes transient values, if any at all. His message that shortcuts and gimmicks are counterproductive to a person’s success provides hope that there is a God who cares about them and their futures.

This is a definite must-read for any sports fan! Now, to celebrate the start of the 2009 NFL Preseason I have 5 copies of James Brown’s Role of a Lifetime to give away to five lucky winners courtesy of Anna Balasi at the Hachette Book Group:

Role of a Lifetime is set for release on September 24, 2009, but five lucky winners will have the chance to read this book before everyone else! The giveaway will run from August 13, 2009 until midnight on August 27, 2009. Winners will be drawn and notified on the 28th of August. This gives the lucky winners a chance to enjoy the rest of the preseason and get some quality reading in before the start of the season!

Guidelines:

• You must provide a working email in the email field of your comment so that I can notify you should you win.
• Contest is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only as the books will be shipped directly from the publishers, for this reason no P.O. Boxes be accepted.
• Winners will be randomly selected using Random.org
• Winner will be notified via email and has 72 hours (three days) to respond with a mailing address. If the winning contestant does not respond after 72 hours a new winner will be drawn.

How to Enter

• To enter, simply leave a comment on this post telling me which team you’ll be cheering for.
• You can gain 1 additional entry for each of the following: Follow me on Twitter, sign up to receive email notifications of new posts, subscribe to my RSS feed, or Favorite this blog on Technorati. 4 extra entries total!
• You can also Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter for an additional entry as well.
• Blog about this giveaway for an additional 3 entries. Be sure to provide a link to the post in your comment

Don’t forget, the giveaway only runs from August 13th, 2009 until midnight on August 27th, 2009. Winners will be announced on August 28th so hurry and enter today!

Entering is very simple and there additional methods of entry you can gain as well. To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on the giveaway post and tell Melissa what you would spend the $20 gift card on if you won. You can also follow Melissa on Twitter for an additional entry among other things.

The giveaway runs until 11:59pm on Saturday, May 9th 2009. The winner will be selected and announced on May 10th. So hurry on over and enter today.

There were a grand total of 63 entries in this giveaway, including the multiple entries that some earned by posting about the giveaway or subscribing to feeds. Using the list randomizer at Random.org I placed all of the entries into a list and hit “randomize”. The lucky winner is…

Congratulations Paradox you are the winner of your very own copy of J.K. Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard. I will be contacting momentarily.

If you didn’t win this time around, have no fear, there are more giveaways coming up in the near future. So keep your eyes peeled folks for more awesome prizes here at The Symposium!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

With that said…

Would you like to have your very own copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling to add to your personal library? If your answer is yes then you’ve come to the right place! In light of the holidays, I thought I’d give a little something to my readers. When I picked up my copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard I picked up an extra one as well. This of course means that I have a brand new, never been read, copy laying right here on my desk ready and waiting to be sent to out to an eager reader to enjoy, for free, this holiday season.

There are three ways to enter:

1. Comment on this post! Just leave a comment on this post and you‘ll be automatically entered into the drawing. (1 entry)
2. Subscribe to either this blog’s email notifications or RSS feed! Be sure to let me know, via comment or email that you did this of course.(1 entry per subscription method)
3. Mention this giveaway! Just make a brief mention of this giveaway on your blog, or a message board post, to gain an additional entry. (1 entry per post)

If you’re going to take advantage of the additional methods to gain entries, please be sure to mention them in your comment or in an email so that I know about them.

Giveaway begins December 7th, 2008 and runs until midnight (MST) December 13th, 2008. I will draw the winner via Random.org on December 14th so that I can hopefully get the book sent out that Monday or Tuesday and the winner can receive it in time for Christmas. The winner will be announced here on the blog and notified via email, so please be sure to provide a working address that is checked regularly!

This giveaway is open to all readers, whether you have a blog or not. You should be comfortable in giving me your mailing address so that I can ship the book out to you. Any personal information obtained will only be used to contact the rightful winner and will not be distributed or used in any other manner.

Twenty-two entries were received, including those who gained a second entry by commenting and blogging about the giveaway. Using Random.org I input everyone’s name and smacked the randomize button. The results were:

Congratulations Christine, you are the lucky winner of The Symposium’s first book giveaway! I will be contacting you shortly about shipping.

A big thank you, goes out to all the entrants. If you didn’t win this time, have no fear, there will be more giveaways coming up!