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!

Now that some things have gotten squared away I hope to be able to dedicate the time and love to my blogs again that they deserve. I hope to wrap up the Friends Like These giveaway today and hopefully get some of the reviews I had to put on hold out as well.

I thank you all for your patience and understanding and once again I do apologize for my unexpected leave of absence.

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!

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!

Joining the carnival is as easy as can be. Simply go to the carnival’s submission page and fill out the appropriate information. The 20th edition of the carnival will be hosted on June 21, 2009 at Book Dads: Fathers That Read!. Now, without further ado, let’s get this edition underway!

Poetry:

• Christina M Rau reviews Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s A Far Rockaway of the Heart.

Children’s Books:

• Tracy reviews The Wackiest, Wildest Weirdest Animals in the World by Jack Hanna.

Fiction:

• KerrieS reviewed Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn. KerrieS also reviewed Unseen by Mari Jungstedt and Search the Dark by Charles Todd, #3 in the Ian Rutledge series.
• Peter Jones reviews Midnight In Madrid, book two of Noel Hynd’s Russian Trilogy.
• Christa Visperas recommends Wally Lamb’s The Hour I First Believed stating that it’s a great book to curl up with.
• Jeanne reviews Olive Kitteridge – a review of a volume of linked short stories.
• Amy reviews This Song is You.
• Emm Media reviews the Georgina Kincaid series by Richelle Mead. The Georgia Kincaid series is an exciting adult series by Richelle Mead, author of the popular young adult series, Vampire Academy. ‘Succubus Blues’ and ‘Succubus Nights’ are set in the urban fantasy genre and are full of action, adventure, mystery and romance.
• Kristen reviews Storm Glass by Maria V Synder. Kristen also reviewed Anne Bishop’s Dreams Made Flesh and Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
• switch2life reviews White Man Falling by Mike Stock.
• Jim Murdoch reviews Gentlemen by Klas Östergren. This book tells the story of two unusual brothers who have led unusual lives that come together when they discover a secret that could shake Swedish society if it became public. This is a big book that takes its time getting to it denouement. While its getting there we get an interesting tour of Europe during the sixties and seventies. Östergren is a major writer in Sweden and this book is regarded as his masterpiece.
• Jim Murdoch also reviewed Stick Out Your Tongue by Ma Jian. This collection of short stories presents a stark, dispassionate view of Tibet a million miles away from the idealised picture postcard view that most of us have of the country. It is a harsh place in many ways and the question you’ll find ringing in your head when you’ve finished it is: Is this a society that needs to be preserved? Longevity isn’t reason enough. Some if its practices are barbaric but does that give China the right to run roughshod over them? A book to make you think.

Non-Fiction

• Kakie Fitzsimmons reviews Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys. This book explores the state of our society today as it relates to raising boys. It explores how it can affect them and give them the emotional literacy to thrive.
• MB presents Financial Book Reviews.
• jim reviews Money Strategies for Tough Times by Matt Bell.
• Rick Sincere presents . The death of the last survivor of the Titanic inspires a re-look at the book, Titanic Legacy.
• Silicon Valley Blogger is giving away copies of 10,001 Ways To Live Large On A Small Budget along with incentives for those who purchase it through Amazon.com.
• GeekMBS360 presents another review of 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget.
• Heather Stein reviews John Keegan’s The Mask of Command.
• Ms. SP reviews E=mc2 by David Bodanis and claims that it is actually a “relief to actually understand this concept now”.
• Brett Schulte reviews Southern Storm: Sherman’s March to Sea. This book review covers Noah Andre Trudeua’s Southern Storm, a recent book on Sherman’s famous March to the Sea. I found Trudeau’s work to be especially interesting because it overturns many previously held assumptions about the March.
• jim also reviewed How Successful People Think by John C. Maxwell.
• Bruno Vigneault recommends Zero Limits by Joe Vitale.
• Greg Laden reviews When Your Genes Turn Bad.
• Glowing Face Man reviews Steve Pavlina’s Personal Development For Smart People.
• Srinivas Rao reviews There’s More to Life than a Corner Office.
• Tracy Dear reviews Boundaries by Townsend and Cloud.
• Flea reviews Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life by Neil Strauss.

Biographies and Memoirs:

• Kaylia Marie reviews Don’t Call Me A Crook by Bob Moore. Reading a memoir offers the unique experience of seeing someone’s life through their own eyes…. Which can be both a good and a bad thing…
• Eric Gargiulo reviews Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit and the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry. “One of my favorite pro wrestling books is now available in paperback. Matthew Randazzo V’s Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit and the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry is one of the most powerful books ever written on pro wrestling. Regardless of your level of fandom, Ring of Hell will change the way you look at pro wrestling forever.”
• Susan Gaissert reviews Who Do You Think You Are by Alyse Myers, a memoir [that she claims] is truly a fine and worthwhile book.
• Woman Tribune reviews Kinky Gazpacho by Lori Tharps.
• expatriare reviews Jane Austen: A Life, by Carol Shields. This is a fantastic biography which helps provide great insight for reading Jane Austen’s novels.

And last, but certainly not least One Language would like to present a list of Literary Choices for Students of English as a Second Language

That concludes this edition of the Book Review Blog Carnival. Don’t forget to tune in for the next edition which will be on June 21st, 2009 at Book Dads: Fathers That Read!

I really wanted to get this taken care of and focused most of my time on finding the issues rather than writing up reviews. Because, let’s be honest, what good is a published review if everyone coming to the blog is seeing nothing but those annoying “Error 505: Internal Server Error” messages? Not a whole lot of good to be honest. Initially I thought the Amazon ad unit was what was causing the hangups on the index page and after removing it I couldn’t fathom why the problem persisted. So after a lot of trial and error I finally located and fixed the problem.

So yes, keep your eyes peeled for new content to come in the coming days.

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!

If you have a book review you would like to submit to the carnival, don’t be shy, submit it today!

Children’s Books:

Tanya Turek reviewed The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley at Children’s Books: What, When & How to Read Them. This is a new series of books filled with fairy tale characters that both kids and adults will love!

Erin of iRead Fiction has begun to read and analyze The Tale Of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. Be sure to check back regularly for updates on this book.

Fiction:

Heather J. of Age 30+ … A Lifetime of Books reviewed The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff which is a combination of two stories. The first – and larger – story is that of Ann Eliza Young, the 19th wife of Mormon prophet Brigham Young, in the late 1800s. The second story is that of Jordon Scott, a former member of a modern day polygamist cult, whose father was supposedly killed by his own 19th wife, Jordan’s mother.

Heather J. also submitted a review of Jules Verne’s The Mysterious Island. In the midst of the American Civil War several Northerners are trapped in a Southern-held city. They manage to escape the city via hot air balloon only to crash land on a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean.

NathanKP at Inkweaver Review reviewed Letters from a Slave Boy – The Story of Joseph Jacobs by Mary E. Lyons which is A historical fiction novel about a young slave boy’s search for freedom.

NathanKP also reviewed The Time Travelers by Linda Buckley-Archer, which is a unique time travel science fiction adventure.

Keira reviews Pemberley by the Sea by Abigail Reynolds at Love Romance Passion. Do you love Jane Austen? Wish she’d made a really long version of Pride and Prejudice? Abigail Reynolds rewrites the classic favorite in a modern setting with woes and trials that echo the hardships of the original couple and yet transport you into a setting all their own.

*lynne* of Life After Work reviewed Alex Bledsoe’s The Sword-Edged Blonde … don’t be put off by the awkward title and weird artwork! The Sword-Edged Blonde is a fun fantasy-meets-whodunnit novel featuring a Sam Spade-like private investigator. Check it out!

Alyce reviewed Divine Justice by David Baldacci at At Home With Books. Oliver Stone is running from the law after killing two very important men and unintentionally ends up hiding in a small town that is less innocent than it appears. The longer he stays in the town of Divine, the more entangled he becomes in the lethal conflicts between the various town members, and the dangerous secrets they are concealing.

Michael at Bent Bindings reviewed The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, an epic that spans several generations of characters, and covers large areas of the world. All of which is packed into a book that, according to Michael, could strain your arms while trying to hold it.

switch2life reviewed The 3 Mistakes of My Life by Chetan Bhagat which, at first glance, sounds like a good book. However, it would appear that the book might be cut from a too-similar mold.

Ruth Schaller of Books Books and more Books! reviews Dark Hunger by Sara Reinke, which is the second book in this series. If you love vampires then this may be the series for you! I know I’ll be checking it out.

Charli has reviewed Christine Freehan’s Mind Game, the second book in the Ghost Walkers Series, at Bloody Kisses.

B_G of B_G talkies read and reviewed A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Books are personal, very much so, and they deserve to be talked of in a
similar vein.

Non-Fiction:

GrrlScientist reviewed The Owl and the Woodpecker: Encounters With North America’s Most Iconic Birds by Paul Bannick at Living the Scientific Life. Most Americans have not seen all of the 41 species of owls and woodpeckers that share the North American continent with us, but not only has Paul Bannick seen them all, but he has photographed them all, too. And when I say “photographed”, I am not talking about those blurry snapshots that most of us snap, but instead, his images are big, sharp, clear and .. for want of a better phrase, absolutely stunning.

GrrlScientist also reviewed a new book by Alvin Powell entitled The Race to Save the World’s Rarest Bird: The Discovery and Death of the Po’ouli, which tells the desperate struggle to save the world’s rarest bird. This book reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the US Endangered Species Act.

Barry Wright III of 3stylelife has reviewed Fashion Statements by Francesca Alfano Miglietti. Fashion Statements is a collection of interviews with fashion designers and apparently focuses on the idea of mutations, and the interrelation between fashion and art.

Malia Russel of Homemaking 911 reviewed Rebekah Wilson’s The Pastor’s Assignment (A Pocket Full of Nickels). Which consists of stories told about the Nickel family as they go about their normal lives and each section teaches a lesson in a very casual and natural way.

At the Personal Financier, Dorian Wales reviews The Gone Fishin’ Portfolio by Alex Green which offers a framework for saving, sound investment wisdom and no less important a step by step approach to their practical application up to a detailed asset allocation.

Tim Gebhart at A Progressive on the Prairie reviewed Gordon B. Arnold’s Conspiracy Theory in Film, Television and Politics. Conspiracy theory is part and parcel of American culture, and admittedly, even I’ve got a few conspiracy theories that I suspect are more truth than fiction.

Clark Bjorke at I’ll Never Forget the Day I Read a Book! submitted a review of The Invisible Constitution by Lawrence Tribe, Harvard Law School constitutional law professor, in which he explains how the U.S. constitution is interpreted and where those rights are found that no one can find in the text.

All bloggers who are currently, or are considering, publishing a blog using Blogger should read Callista’s review of Publishing a Blog with Blogger by Elizabeth Castro at SMS Book Reviews.

Shamelle at Enhance Life reviewed Brian Tracy’s Eat That Frog- Get More Done In Less Time – an informative and helpful book that will show you how to get the task you are most likely to procrastinate over done and out of the way so you can move on with your day.

Heather J. of Age 30+ … A Lifetime of Books reviewed Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: A Life by Donald Spoto. Any biography written about this woman is a must read in my opinion.

Heather J. also reviewed The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, a memoir by the author that tells the tale of her hectic and abusive childhood. I too have been leery of reading this book, but after reading this review, I shall be adding it to my wishlist.

LAL at Living Almost Large reviewed Birth of Plenty by Dr. William Bernstein. Be sure to leave a comment on the post and LAL will enter you in a drawing to win the book which will be given away next Wednesday 11/12/08 @ 10 pm.

Diane Saarinen reviewed Doomed Queens Among Us, a very interesting book, which is a bit macabre, but explores females in power in a unique way, at Wavelength Tarot.

Looking for another use for your enormous stash of scrapbooking supplies? According to Annette Berlin of Craft Stew, Great Paper Crafts by Judy Ritchie has the answer.

At Great New Books that Are a Must Read Flash Gordon reviewed a few books by Rachelle Knight in order to compile An Essential Resource for All Serious Book Readers.

Manoj Thulasidas at Unreal Blog presents Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, which Manoj would like to point out, is reviewed more from a philosophical rather than a literary perspective.

Mac reviews Kate Moss: The Complete Picture by Laura Collins at Actorlicious. Kate Moss fans should definately consider reading this reveal-all book.

Poetry:

sarah at SARAHSPY has stumbled upon Siobhan Adcock’s Hipster Haiku, an amusing collection of haikus for the current day and age. Of the samples she’s listed, I’m especially partial to one about blogging daily.

Jim Murdoch at The Truth About Lies provides an in-depth review of Whispers a poetry collection by Jonathan Russell.

Christina M. Rau has reviewed Maraca by Victor Hernandez at Livin’ The Dream (One Loser At A Time). Spanglish never sounded so pretty than in this collection of poetry.

Recommended Reading:

Naren Ghimire at the Spiritual Pub has compiled a list of 10 Books That May Bring a Revolution in Your Life. A collection of some great books in spirituality, philosophy, and motivation.

Yield to Pedestrian at Yield To Pedestrian: All the Cool, All the Time has compiled a list of Ten Great Books That Will Change Your Life. Quite an assortment of books from different genres that are all worth taking a look at.

GrokCode provides a List of Recommended Programming Books which consists of reviews of 6 recommended programming books. These are all must have books in the programming / hacking field.

That concludes this edition of the Book Review Carnival. Be sure to tune in for the 5th edition which will be released on on November 23rd, 2008 at Clark Bjorke’s blog: I’ll Never Forget the Day I Read a Book!

Since I know I didn’t get a chance to write up any reviews this past week, I would like to take a moment and direct you to a single source of over forty well written book reviews. Yes, that’s right folks, the third edition of the Book Review Blog Carnival has been posted over at Ruth’s blog, Books Books and More Books!

To submit your own book review to an upcoming edition just follow this link to the carnival’s submission page at BookCarnival.com.

And don’t forget guys, the fourth edition of the Book Review Blog Carnival will be hosted right here at the The Symposium on November 9th.

First of all, the second edition of the Book Review Carnival was posted over at Novel Bloggers yesterday. So if you haven’t had a chance to check out all of the reviews that were submitted to the carnival this time around then head on over now. If you review books then come join in on the fun by submitting your book review to the carnival.

Unlike years past, this year I will be able to participate in the 24 Hour Read-a-thon that is coming up. The Read-a-thon officially starts on October 18, 2008, at noon GMT – that would make it 06:00 MST for me – and it ends on the 19th at noon GMT. Twenty-four hours of reading – doesn’t that just sound exciting? On October 18th I’ll be posting updates all day long to the blog to keep everyone up to date on my progress. I might even get to squeeze in a few reviews too.

To make it even better, there is now a R.I.P mini-challenge to coincide with the 24 hour read-a-thon. On October 18th, from 10pm to 2am PST participants of the mini-challenge shall be reading R.I.P.-appropriate material. And to make it even sweeter, there are goodies to be won as well. Be sure to head on over to Carl’s blog for more details and to sign up.