My Favorite Reads Giveaway Hop

Welcome to My Favorite Reads Giveaway Hop, sponsored by I Am a Reader, Not a Writer and Rachelle Writes. I'm excited about this giveaway, because I get to share with you one of my favorite reads. My giveaway is a book I discovered last year, called The Eagle of the Ninth, by Rosemary Sutcliff. I'd read a few previous books by Sutcliff, enough to know that I wanted to read more, but this particular story captivated me. Even when I reached the end, I found I wasn't finished. I kept returning to favorite passages and reading them again and again. This isn't a romance. It's a historical novel. But there is a theme of friendship woven through the book that somehow touched me deeply. And even today, the closing lines of this book often return to my mind. I will never think of whistling in the same way again. :-)

Here is the back cover blurb to The Eagle of the Ninth:

In A.D. 119 the Ninth Roman Legion marched north into the wilds of Britain beyond Agricola's Wall and disappeared without a trace. Fifteen years later, Marcus Flavius Aquila, the son of the unit's commander, embarks on a quest to recover the lost eagle standard of the Ninth, symbol of a legion's--and his family's--honor.

This is technically a YA book, but can easily be enjoyed by adults as well. The winner will receive a print, paperback copy of this book. Deadline for entries is midnight EST, June 6. USA entries only this time, please.

If you'd like a chance to win this book, enter via the Rafflecopter form below, then hop on along to the links below to find some more great Favorite Reads Giveaways!

OFFICIAL RULES: NO PURCHASE NECESSSARY. Entrants must be 18 years or older. Winners will be selected on June 7 and have 48 hours to respond to an email notifying them of their win. Prizes not claimed within 48 hours will be reawarded. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Questions? Contact me at jdipastena@yahoo.com.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Medieval Madness Award!

The beautiful and incredibly talented writer/artist/illustrator Deirdra A. Eden just awarded my JDP NEWS blog the Medieval Madness Award. Isn't it cool? I wonder if she'd mind if I added it to my Medieval Research with Joyce blog, as well? I'm pretty mad about the Middle Ages over there, too. I'll have to ask her. :-)

Visit Deirdra's website at A Storybook World.

Tuesday Teaser

Tuesday Teaser is a weekly bookish meme (rhymes with “cream"), hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. (I’ve borrowed it from LDS Women’s Book Review.) Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share at least two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

I'm adapting the rules slightly. I'll be quoting some random lines from the last chapter I read before I post a teaser. I'm a slow reader, so you may get multiple teasers per book from me. Here's a second teaser from The Conquering Family, by Thomas B. Costain:

Two events group themselves in the mind: Richard in his burnished armor on which the fierce sun glinted, riding slowly down the flinty trail and refusing to turn back for a sight of the walls and towers of Jerusalem against the sky line because he had failed; and his passionately ambitious father, dying amid the ruins of his shattered glory and crying, "Shame, shame on a conquered king!"

Father and son shared one trait: they could be great in defeat.

From The Conquering Family, p 172

(The Conquering Family is  a non-fiction book that tells the story of three kings of England: Henry II, Richard I (the Lion Heart) and John. This excerpt is from the section on Richard I.)

If you'd like to share a teaser from a book you're currently reading, I'd love you to do so in the comment section. And you don't even have to share it on a Tuesday! Be sure to include the title, author, and page number in case others would like to check out the book you're reading.

Summary Sunday

Still laboring away on the 1st draft of Emilie's story. Here are some new sentences from this week's writing sessions.

Monday: "She introduced me to him, as she did to many of her former acquaintances, and when I queried her about the curious embroidery he always wore on his sleeves, she told me that he had brought the affectation with him from Italy." 

Tuesday: (Out of town all day, too tired to write when I got home)

Wednesday: “I-I did not mean with me.” 

Thursday: "I do not know a more enchanting place on the earth than Queen Eleanor’s gardens.”

Friday: (Out of town all day, too tired to write when I got home)

Saturday: Perhaps he stood torn between revulsion of her and curiosity, wondering if her tainted blood would prove stronger than her Christian training.

Book Review: "Surviving Denmark on a bag of peach rings", by Tina Scott

A good friend of mine, Tina Scott, recently sent me a copy of her just published travel book, Surviving Denmark on a bag of peach rings and tips for enjoying travel to the oldest kingdom in the world. Tina had shared with me a few of her experiences visiting Denmark during a writers retreat and writers conference that we attended together, so I was eager to read “the full story.” Her book did not disappoint. Reading Surviving Denmark on a bag of peach rings brought back memories and comparisons with a trip to Italy I took with my sister, and I can testify that the travel tips Tina threads throughout her book will be highly helpful to anyone contemplating not only a trip to Denmark, but to any of the countries of Europe. I’ve already highlighted many places in Denmark that I am eager to visit for myself someday…some Viking museums, some Danish castles, and of course, the Hans Christian Andersen Museum, to name only a few! Whether you are an armchair traveler or lucky enough to be planning a trip of your own to Denmark, Surviving Denmark on a bag of peach rings will be well worth your time to study and enjoy!

Before your next trip, learn things the experts don’t tell you. Surviving Denmark on a bag of peach rings is loaded with photos, ratings, and over 30 tips on how to better prepare yourself before leaving home, and as a result, can help you to survive your own vacation.

Surviving Denmark on a bag of peach rings is available in a variety of e-formats on Smashwords.

Summary Sunday

Still laboring away on the 1st draft of Emilie's story. Here are some new sentences from this week's writing sessions.

Monday: Instead, she traced her fingers slowly down his, allowing their fingertips to linger against each other’s, noting with a dismaying mixture of pleasure and alarm how he forced her to be the first to break their contact…and the reluctance with which she finally did so.

Tuesday: “Speak the word, my lady,” Crespin said, “only give me so much so much as a hint it would please you, and I shall thrash the scurrilous knave senseless.”

Wednesday: If to him, what hope that Sir Jaques should prove discrete enough not to betray Noel’s girlhood folly to her husband’s men?

Thursday: Her hand flew to her nose too late to retrieve the inelegant sound.

Friday: "She was his one love…or so I thought, until tonight."

Saturday: "Listen, and then I will tell you again of the beautiful gardens and the chivalrous young men and the beautiful, beautiful queen who was so kind to me.”

LDS Authors Giveaway Hop: Winner!

Congratulations to Amy Swihart, winner of the LDS Authors Giveaway Hop here at JDP NEWS! Amy has won a copy of my sweet medieval romance, Dangerous Favor.

Tuesday Teaser

Tuesday Teaser is a weekly bookish meme (rhymes with “cream"), hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. (I’ve borrowed it from LDS Women’s Book Review.) Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share at least two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

I'm adapting the rules slightly. I'll be quoting some random lines from the last chapter I read before I post a teaser. I'm a slow reader, so you may get multiple teasers per book from me. Here's a teaser from The Conquering Family, by Thomas B. Costain:

[Strongbow] answered his monarch's command as follows:

Most puissant prince and my dread sovereign: I came into this land with Your Majesty's leave (as far as I remember) to aid your servant MacMorogh. What I won was with the sword. What was given me, I give you.

I am yours, life and living.

From The Conquering Family, p 100

If you'd like to share a teaser from a book you're currently reading, I'd love you to do so in the comment section. And you don't even have to share it on a Tuesday! Be sure to include the title, author, and page number in case others would like to check out the book you're reading.