TNBBC has partnered with Leapfrog Press again
to bring you another great author/reader group discussion!
We are giving away 8 copies of Helen Phillips new novel And Yet They Were Happy
4 copies will be offered internationally.
The other 4 will be offered for US residents only.
Here is the book description as it appears on Goodreads.com:
A young couple sets out to build a life together in an unstable world haunted by monsters, plagued by disasters, full of longing—but also one of transformation, wonder, and delight, peopled by the likes of Noah, Bob Dylan, the Virgin Mary, and Anne Frank. Hovering between reality and fantasy, whimsy and darkness, these linked fables describe a universe both surreal and familiar.
**Updated Entry Rules and Deadline Extention**
In order to claim a copy you must:
1 - Simply comment here stating you would like to receive a copy of the book.
2 - Tell us if you are a resident of the US or if you are international (Canada is included as international for this giveaway), and leave me a way to contact you.
*If your comment is missing any of this information, it will be considered ineligible.
3- Agree to participate in a group read book discussion that will run during the month of June over at TNBBC on Goodreads. Helen Phillips has agreed to participate in the discussion and will be available to answer any questions you may have for her.
*If you're comment is chosen as a winner, by accepting the copy you are agreeing to read the book and join the group discussion at TNBBC on Goodreads (the thread for the discussion will be emailed to you at the first of the month).
3- Agree to participate in a group read book discussion that will run during the month of June over at TNBBC on Goodreads. Helen Phillips has agreed to participate in the discussion and will be available to answer any questions you may have for her.
*If you're comment is chosen as a winner, by accepting the copy you are agreeing to read the book and join the group discussion at TNBBC on Goodreads (the thread for the discussion will be emailed to you at the first of the month).
The contest will remain open until May 14th.
Winners will be posted here and contacted via email on May 9th.
Good luck!!
A few years ago I went hiking with my good friend Jen in the woods of New Jersey. We planned to be gone only for the afternoon, so we brought a few energy bars and some water, but not much more. We had a nice time hiking, although the trails were not well marked and it took a few hours longer than expected to make it back to our car. No problem, though; we were out of the woods and could head home. The trouble however, came as we started our hour long drive home. When we got underway, we realized that the gas tank was close to empty. We planned to stop at the first gas station we found, but at that late hour, in rural New Jersey, open gas stations were hard to find.
ReplyDeleteAs our car putted and wheezed up a hill, we saw the glowing light of a shell station in the distance. We whooped and hi-fived each other, and then the engine sputtered and died. No more gas. We sat for a few minutes, staring into the night, and then we began to walk. It was less than a mile to the shell station, although all uphill. We arrived, tired and sweaty, and asked if we could borrow a container and fill it with gas. The attendant wasn't sure what to make of us, but eventually he gave us a bucket and a funnel. We filled the bucket as much as we could and started our trek back down the side of the road. Carrying an open bucket of gasoline is no easy task, and much of it spilled... on us. Jen and I had to stop periodically because we were laughing to hard to keep walking. Our pants and shoes were soaked with gas, and she kept jarring the bucket so more would spill on me. When we reached the car we struggled to lift the bucket and pour the gasoline into the tiny funnel. Needless to say, our clothes got more gas than our tank. It was enough to get us up the hill to the station, and we returned the bucket and filled the tank. We were starved at this point, and another friend called us to meet her at a nearby pub. We walked in, sweaty, dirty, stinking of gas and highly flammable. We ordered burgers and asked the other patrons to be careful with their cigarettes around our clothes.
I am international, as I live in Germany, but during the months of May and June (i.e., the time of the discussion) I will be in the US. So I am international, but my shipping is domestic. Go figure.
My contact info is: my_ewen@yahoo.com
Sounds like a very unusual book. I am also hosting a give away on my blog (my first) and would love a return visit if you have a moment. Thanks. Donna
ReplyDeletehttp://mylife-in-stories.blogspot.com
Thanks for the comment Donna. Was it supposed to be considered as an entry for the contest?
ReplyDeleteI was in school until midnight last week. The internet in our house has been down for over a month and Verizon is backed up until the end of May, so we won't be wired for a while. Of course, as an student, much of my research is conducted over the internet. Therefore, it was necessary for me to stay in school late with my younger sisters to finish our work. On the way home, we got lost. In the dark, things look different and we were all very tired. We were going in the wrong direction, towards Manhattan. I pointed out Coney Island. Usually, we would all be screaming and in foul moods, but at this point, we were all laughing. We stopped at a Dunkin Donuts, got coffee and finally made it home, our ears hurting from our grins. It could be that this was not actually happiness, but we were all VERY overtired.
ReplyDeleteI like in NYC, my contact info is jewishpoets@gmail.com.
1. when helen phillips interrupts her own narrative in one of these whimsical but pithy, wonderful but tough stories -- so tight yet so vast; light as a feather, hefty as a myth -- to address bob dylan directly ("bob dylan, if you ever read this: my name is helen"), normally this would be irksome since we all feel ownership over dylan, the right the address him directly, the sense that his lyrics our so true to our own funny fierce longings that we feel we've written them ourselves; no, bob dylan, *I* am helen, etc. --- but when she does it it is such an odd punky surprising Molloy-esque confident little switch of registers, i see humor in it, and indeed, a bit o genious
ReplyDelete2. i live in mexico city, but i will get my address to you, surely, privately
3. sure, great. never mind that franzen quotation about book clubs treating literature like it's some horrid cruciferous green, to be choked down with a bit of socializing. any reader of helen phillips's is a friend of mine.
Tess, this is the strangest entry to a book giveaway I have ever received :) It is an entry, right???
ReplyDeleteo yes
ReplyDeleteHola!
ReplyDelete1 - Simply comment here stating you would like to receive a copy of the book. COMMENT HERE
2 - Tell us if you are a resident of the US or if you are international (Canada is included as international for this giveaway), and leave me a way to contact you. US RESIDENT CONTACT AT BLUEDAIZY41@HOTMAIL.COM
*If your comment is missing any of this information, it will be considered ineligible. UT OH
3- Agree to participate in a group read book discussion that will run during the month of June over at TNBBC on Goodreads. Helen Phillips has agreed to participate in the discussion and will be available to answer any questions you may have for her. AGREED.
edysicecreamlover18@gmail.com <-for contact? I'll participate in a book discussion. I'm from the USA
ReplyDeleteI would love to recieve a copy!! I'm from the USA! and I would love to join in a group discussion!!!
ReplyDeleteshannonjean14(at)gmail(dot)com
1 sounds like a great book
ReplyDelete2 we have some 'unusual' commenters
3 I'm international - seriously I have dual nationality and the right to a third :0)
4 I would love to join in the discussion as long as it doesn't involve waking up at ungodly hours of the night in order to sync with USians
5 I love this bookclub
6 Yes that is my surname, don't worry I can hardly pronounce it myself
eshchory AT gmail DOT com
Esther, the discussion will run all month long at TNBBC on goodreads, so no need to get up at strange hours. Helen, the author, has wonderfully agreed to participate with us throughout the month...
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an interesting read. I love fantasy!! I'm from the US and I will of course participate in the discussion since that's why I joined TNBBC. My e-mail is rs_athlete1@hotmail.com. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteOops, that will teach me not to read the whole rules first! I would LOVE a copy and be more than happy to participate. I am a US resident and can be reached at charallen at gmail dot com.
ReplyDeleteThanks!!
Great giveaway! I'd love to be entered.
ReplyDeleteI'm an international reader. I'm from Italy.
Please count me in. Thanks.
avalonne83 [at] yahoo [dot] it
Hi everyone,. THanks so much for commenting for a copy to snag AND YET THEY WERE HAPPY! I am very much looking forward to the group discussion this June....
ReplyDeleteWinners are:
Amy, Bracha, Tessbird, Michele, Krystal, LandSsmon, Esther, and Charlotte.
I wish I had copies for the rest of you, but alas, I do not! You can still join in the discussion and chat with Helen, even if you don't have copy!
I would love a copy of the book and I live in the US of A --- Alabama to be exact. Now, we you just love to read an Alabamian's take on this work? :)
ReplyDeleteDavid