World Book Night Giveaway

Tomorrow is World Book Night  and I was chosen to be a book giver. I have 24 copies of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak to distribute to people in my community. The books are given away free of charge and are designed to be passed on from one person to another. Each book has a unique tracking number so that the journey of the book can be traced to see where it ends up. 


'World Book Night is a celebration of reading and books which sees tens of thousands of passionate volunteers gift books in their communities to share their love of reading.1,000,000 books are given out in total - half of these are donated directly to hospitals, prisons and care homes, and the other half go to the Givers to distribute amongst individuals in their communities.'
- WorldBookNight.org


As my blog is such a huge part of my life and a community I love being a part of, I could not overlook all you wonderful people who read my blog. So I have decided to hold a giveaway. If you would like to take part, please fill in the Rafflecopter form. You can enter by leaving a blog comment telling me what your favourite book is. You can also tweet about this giveaway and 'like' the World Book Night Facebook page to gain extra entries. There will be one winner and they will be chosen at random on the 25th of April at 8pm. 


I absolutely loved reading this book which is why I chose this book to give away. It is a thought provoking novel which produces tears as well as laughter. I cried on the last page of this book, not because it was sad but because it was finished. Here is the blurb from the book . . . 


HERE IS A SMALL FACT - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE 

1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier. Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall. 

SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION - THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH 

It’s a small story, about: 
a girl 
an accordionist 
some fanatical Germans 
a Jewish fist fighter 
and quite a lot of thievery. 

ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD KNOW - DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES

A Well Deserved Break

I took a blogging break last week and I think it has done me some good. I was getting a bit stuck in a rut and choosing to stay in and blog (during JC's naps) rather than getting myself ready to go out when he woke up. So last week I was really busy and was out and about all week. I have to say I feel much better and more eager to get out and about this week too. Here is a run down of what I got up to last week for those of you who have missed me . . .

Monday
Was pretty relaxed and we mostly got our housework done in the morning (JC was a great help)

Then we went for a walk in the afternoon with the beasts.






Tuesday

Without fail, the busiest day of the week! We got the train through to Edinburgh in the morning as I had an appointment with the CrossReach PND clinic in Haymarket. I am going to be doing some fundraising for them in the near future so watch this space. JC spent some time in their crèche, which was a first for him but he absolutely loved it!  Then we got the train back to Larbert and we met up with our local Netmums group for the first time. The girls were all really nice and friendly and I am looking forward to our next catch up. Then we went through to Linlithgow for JC's swimming lesson. The great thing was that he was an angel all day!

Wednesday

We went down to Fife to visit my Mother in law (JC's Gran) and JC's great Gran was there too. We had a lovely day and John was in a fab mood.








Thursday 

courtesy of photos by Carolyn

We went into Stirling today to do some shopping and just a mooch around the shops. At night I went back to my band rehearsals for the first time since stopping to have wee JC. A few minutes after I walked in I was told that the band is disbanding after the New Year and that we will be going our separate ways. This was pretty upsetting as it more of a hobby for me than a second job. I won't be stopping though. Never fear though because Fee and I have plans in place for 2012 so watch this space!

Friday 


I don't go back to work until August and I am hoping to go back part time but I am already starting to explore my childcare options. I have had my name down for a nursery from August last year but there is a 18 month waiting list so I went to visit a local childminder. She seems really nice and I felt quite confident that we would be happy leaving JC in her care. So Scuba Steve and I are going back together for a second visit next week.

Saturday

World Book Night!!! I was chosen to be a World Book Night giver and I spent the afternoon holding an afternoon tea, cakes and book swapping event at my house. The book that I was chosen to give out was Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche. It is a wonderful and beautifully written book about the the civil war in Nigeria from the personal perspective of three different characters. I read this book when I was stuck in Czech Republic last year during the 'volcanic ash chaos'. It really is a gripping and thought provoking read. Thanks to my Step Dad Big Gallot for his donation of brownies!



Sunday

Very drunk here, BJC (Before JC)

I left JC in the very capable care of my husband and I went to Ravelstone House Hotel in Musselburgh with my good friend Jemma. We had afternoon tea with very tasty cakes and a good catch up. We haven't really had a good catch up since JC was born as it's pretty difficult to have adult conversation when he is in the room, he is far too cute to ignore! It was a lovely day.




I am exhausted after such an action packed week but I think the break was positive for me and I think I have a better perspective on things now. It's good to be back though ;)

Cx