Mother’s Day ~ Time for Book Giveaways
Happy Mother’s Day to all of my readers out there. I hope that your day was special and full of love. Mine certainly was. I got a gift basket full of wonderful bath accoutrements and a pair of vibrating slippers. Ooo, la, la! I got the morning to myself in which to nearly finish Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne Du Maurier and took a nice, long, hot, refreshing shower. I then went outside with the family and we played badminton (poorly) and had a great time. God really could not have given mothers in the Roanoke Valley a nicer day to enjoy.
I also want to hold a fun book giveaway filled with books related to mothers in some way, shape or form. I meant to have this up earlier today, but Frenchman’s Creek was so good and Danny and I watched a movie last night… I know, excuses, excuses… So, as a treat to all the mothers out there (or just those who have mothers), I’m hosting a chance to win the following books:
The Marge Book by Matt Groening is an illustrated book of wisdom from Springfield’s most beloved mother, Marge Simpson. This really is a cute book and fun to flip through for some chuckles. Here is the description from the HarperCollins website:
Marge Simpson, the woman with the impossibly blue and improbably high hairdo, is a complex woman with an inner life, hopes and dreams, and an incorrigible family that she holds together with a healthy homemade helping of common sense. Join the coupon-clipping queen of discount shopping at the nearby Sprawl-Mart, at a meeting of the school PTA, in the middle of a bodice-ripping romance novel, at a theatrical performance of her one-woman show, or in her crusade against cartoon violence, domestic strife, and suburbia’s quiet life of desperation . . . or at least her desperate hop that no one will hold anything that Homer or Bart does against her personally.
Thank you to Greg at HarperCollins for providing this copy of the book!
From Harvey River: a memoir of my mother and her island by Lorna Goodison. Here is the description from the HarperCollins website:
When Doris Harvey’s English grandfather, William Harvey, discovers a clearing at the end of a path cut by the feet of those running from slavery, he gives his name to what will become his family’s home for generations. For Doris, Harvey River is the place she always called home, the place where she was one of the “fabulous Harvey girls,” and where the rich local bounty of Lucea yams, pimentos, and mangoes went hand in hand with the Victorian niceties of her parents’ house. It is a place she will return to in dreams when her fortunes change, years later, and she and her husband, Marcus Goodison, relocate to “hard life” Kingston and encounter the harsh realities of urban living in close quarters.
In Lorna Goodison’s luminous memoir of her forebears, we meet a cast of wonderfully drawn characters, including George O’Brian Wilson, the Irish patriarch of the family who marries a Guinea woman after coming to Jamaica in the mid-1800s; Doris’s parents, Margaret and David, childhood sweethearts who become the first family of Harvey River; and Margaret and David’s eight children.
In lush, vivid prose, textured with the cadences of Creole speech, Lorna Goodison weaves together memory and mythology to create a vivid tapestry. She takes us deep into the heart of a complete world to tell a universal story of family and the ties that bind us to the place we call home.
Thank you to Jocelyn from HarperCollins for providing this copy of the book!
Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Real Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do by Wednesday Martin, Ph.D. Here’s a description from the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt website:
A groundbreaking and truly stepmother-centered way of understanding the tensions that seem to define relations between women and their stepchildren.
Half of all women in the United States will live with or marry a man with children. And what woman with stepchildren has not—in order to defuse the often overwhelming challenges of the role—referred to herself as a “stepmonster”?
As Hope Edelman does in her book for motherless daughters, Wednesday Martin’s empowering and original Stepmonster unlocks the emotional mysteries of why stepmothers think and feel and act the way they do. Martin draws upon her own experience as a stepmother, interviews with other stepmothers and stepchildren, and fascinating insights from literature, anthropology, psychology, and evolutionary biology to reveal the little-understood realities of this most demanding role.
Stepmonster illuminates the harrowing process of becoming a stepmother, considers the myths and realities of being married to a man with children, counteracts the cultural notion that stepmothers are solely responsible for the challenges they encounter, identifies the “Five Step-Dilemmas That Create Conflict,” and considers the emotional and social challenges men with children face when they remarry.
Finally, in an unexpected twist, Martin shows why the myth of the Wicked Stepmother is our single best tool for understanding who real stepmothers are and how they feel.
Thank you to Megan from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing this copy of the book!
Of Men and Their Mothers by Mameve Medwed. Here is the description from the HarperCollins website:
It’s a truth that the newly unhyphenated Maisie Grey has learned the hard way. After getting rid of her mama’s-boy husband, she happily settles down with her teenage son, Tommy. But she’s still stuck with the hovering presence of her impossible mother-in-law, Tommy’s grandmother, who refuses to exit the family stage gracefully.
Trying to keep it together with her own business and a new relationship with a man who still lives in—where else but?—his mother’s house, Maisie struggles to learn from the MIL-from-hell. She vows that when Tommy brings someone home, she’ll be loving, empathetic, and supportive. But then along comes completely unsuitable September Silva—with her too-short skirts, black nail polish, and stay-out-all-night attitude—who is forcing Maisie to take a flinty, clear-eyed new look at what it means to be a mother.
Thank you to Joseph from William Morrow for providing this copy of the book!
How Not to Be a Domestic Goddess… always go to bed on an argument by Deborah Ross. This book is a collection of items from the author’s popular column in the Daily Mail. There is some really funny tidbits in this book, making it perfect for the woman who takes a more sarcastic look at their various roles. For me, this is made even more funny by the British vernacular. Here is the description from the Profile Books website:
Here are Mrs Ross’s handy tips on every aspect of household management: skincare, fashion and beauty, children, dealing with blackened ovenware*, leftovers** and freezing***. And here is useful advice on how to get a ‘lifestyle’ if you suspect you don’t have a proper one.
Some people have fabulous bodies and accomplished kids and amazing parenting skills and ideal jobs and harmonious marital relationships. This book is not for them. It is for the rest of us: we, the 99 per cent of the population who are not so blessed and cannot decide whether to laugh or cry. Answer: laugh.
*soak, soak, soak, then throw away when nobody is looking.
**decant carefully into Tupperware, place in fridge, leave for a week then throw out when nobody is looking.
***leave for a decade, then throw out when nobody is looking.
Thank you to Rachel from Meryl Zegarek Public Relations, Inc. for prividing this copy of the book!

My Mother, Your Mother: Embracing “Slow Medicine,” the Compassionate Approach to Caring for Your Aging Loved Ones by Dennis McCullough, M.D. Here is the description from the HarperCollins website:
Thanks to advances in science and medicine, our parents are living longer than ever before. But our health-care system doesn’t perform as well when decline eventually sets in. We want to do our best as our loved ones face new complications—more diseases and disabilities—demanding further need for support and careful judgment, but the choices we have to make can seem overwhelming.
Family doctor and geriatrician Dennis McCullough recommends a new approach: Slow Medicine. Shaped by common sense and kindness, it advocates for careful anticipatory “attending” to an elder’s changing needs rather than waiting for crises that force acute medical interventions—thereby improving the quality of elders’ extended late lives without bankrupting their families financially or emotionally. This is not a plan for preparing for death; it is a plan for understanding, for caring, and for helping those you love live well during their final years.
Thank you to HarperCollins for providing this copy of the book!
How to Enter:
To enter this Mother’s Day contest, please leave a separate comment for each book you would like an opportunity to win. This contest is open until Saturday, May 16 at 11:59 pm EST. The winners will be announced after the selections are made using list randomizer on Sunday the 17th. You can earn an extra entry for each book you want by letting people know about this contest through Twitter, email, or by posting about it. Just be sure to let me know you did it. Good luck, and Happy Mother’s Day again!
Comments
66 Responses to “Mother’s Day ~ Time for Book Giveaways”
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Book Club Girl
Posted: May 10th, 2009 at 10:41 pm1Reply to this comment.As a full-time stepmother, I would love to win Stepmonster. There really is so much to examine and deal with as a stepmom and I try to get my hands on everything I can to read, understand and make it work better! Thanks for the chance to win!
Book Club Girl’s last blog post..Dads! It’s Not Too Late to Buy a Great Book for Mother’s Day!
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Janelle @ Brimful Curiosities
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 12:18 am2Reply to this comment.I think I’d enjoy “How Not to Be a Domestic Goddess… always go to bed on an argument” by Deborah Ross. Sounds fun. I received a tissue paper flower for Mother’s Day. Made my day!
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claire
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 12:19 am3Reply to this comment.Happy mother’s day! And what a wonderful giveaway! I would love to win From Harvey River. Anything about island living intrigues me. Thanks.
claire’s last blog post..Sunday Salon: Mother’s Day
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Sharon Walling
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 1:13 am4Reply to this comment.WOW!! What a variety.
I actually would be interested in several.
1st choice – From Harvey River
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Sharon Walling
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 1:14 am5 -
Sharon Walling
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 1:15 am6 -
Sharon Walling
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 1:16 am7 -
Liyana
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 7:13 am8Reply to this comment.I’d love to win The Marge Book! It seems so cute!
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Liyana
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 7:15 am9Reply to this comment.2nd choice: How NOT to be a domestic goddess
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Kathy
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 7:43 am10Reply to this comment.I’m so glad you had a nice Mother’s Day – you certainly deserve it. I’d like to be entered for From Harvey River.
Kathy’s last blog post..Mailbox Monday
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Kathy
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 7:44 am11Reply to this comment.I’d also like to be entered for Of Men and Their Mothers. Thanks for the great giveaway.
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chartroose
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 2:52 pm12Reply to this comment.I’d like a chance to win “Of Men and their Mothers.” Thanks (although my TBR pile is huge, and I really don’t need it).
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Kiki
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 6:47 pm13Reply to this comment.Oh please, let me win Stepmonster! Since, apparently, I am one!
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mindy
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 7:23 pm14Reply to this comment.stepmonster sounds great thanks for the giveaway
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mindy
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 7:24 pm15Reply to this comment.domestic goddess is another one that looks like a lot of fun thanks for the giveaway
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mindy
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 7:25 pm16Reply to this comment.from harvey river looks like another good one thanks for the giveaway
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mindy
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 7:26 pm17Reply to this comment.and finally of men and their mothers thanks for ALL the wonderful giveaways
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Sandra K321
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 7:38 pm18Reply to this comment.I would love to get the book Marge. My niece collects everything Simpson and she would love this for her birthday.
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Sandra K321
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 7:41 pm19Reply to this comment.From Harvey Rive sounds like a good book for me to read. I don’t like flowery romance book; I prefer historical fiction or books that develop the characters.
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chris swan
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 8:14 pm20Reply to this comment.I would love the Simpsons book it sounds funny and I need some light reading now.
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kim v
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 9:19 pm21Reply to this comment.I would like to win #1 Stepmonster.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Kimspam66(at)yahoo(dot)com -
kim v
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 9:20 pm22Reply to this comment.My second choice would be Men and their mothers.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Kimspam66(at)yahoo(dot)com -
kim v
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 9:20 pm23Reply to this comment.My third choice is My Mother Your Mother.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Kimspam66(at)yahoo(dot)com -
kim v
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 9:21 pm24Reply to this comment.My fourth choice is How to Be a Domestic Goddess.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Kimspam66(at)yahoo(dot)com -
Valerie
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 10:02 pm25Reply to this comment.The Marge Book
Love the Simpsons -
J Chaborek
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 10:48 pm26Reply to this comment.The Marge Book by Matt Groening! I love Marge`s hair & where did she get that dress!
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Emilie S
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 11:33 pm27Reply to this comment.LOL, The Marge Book!
emvark at gmail dot com
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Emilie S
Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 11:33 pm28Reply to this comment.Or, How Not to be a Domestic Goddess (although I’m not one to begin with, LOL!)
emvark at gmail dot com
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Sandy G.
Posted: May 12th, 2009 at 1:40 am29Reply to this comment.I’d love to read From Harvey River….please enter me in your giveaway. Thank you! Have a good evening.
Sandy G.
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Ali (Worducopia)
Posted: May 12th, 2009 at 1:54 am30Reply to this comment.I’d like to win My Mother, Your Mother! Thanks!
Ali (Worducopia)’s last blog post..Contests!
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Mary Ward
Posted: May 12th, 2009 at 11:16 am31Reply to this comment.I’d love to win Of Men and Their Mothers. I’ve read all of Ms. Medwed’s other books and loved them.
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Jason
Posted: May 12th, 2009 at 11:56 am32Reply to this comment.My mom would love The Marge book. She loves Marge Simpson. Thanks for the chance
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hawkgirl_16@hotmail.com
Posted: May 12th, 2009 at 12:20 pm33Reply to this comment.I would love to read How Not to Be a Domestic Goddess! Thanks for the chance!
hawkgirl_16@hotmail.com’s last blog post..My heart is breaking
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hawkgirl_16@hotmail.com
Posted: May 12th, 2009 at 12:21 pm34Reply to this comment.I would also really like to read Of Men and Their Mothers! Thanks again!
hawkgirl_16@hotmail.com’s last blog post..My heart is breaking
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Sharon A
Posted: May 12th, 2009 at 2:02 pm35Reply to this comment.I would like to read From Harvey River.
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Sharon A
Posted: May 12th, 2009 at 2:02 pm36Reply to this comment.How Not to be a Domestic Goddess sounds like fun.
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wendy wallach
Posted: May 12th, 2009 at 9:18 pm37Reply to this comment.My sister is a Simpsons nut, so i would love to win the Marge book for her.
madamerkf at aol dot com
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wendy wallach
Posted: May 12th, 2009 at 9:19 pm38Reply to this comment.Harvey river sounds interesting because of the Creole leaning so I would like to win that too.
madamerkf at aol dot com
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wendy wallach
Posted: May 12th, 2009 at 9:20 pm39Reply to this comment.Of Women and their Mothers sounds toungue in cheek so I would like to win that too.
madamerkf at aol dot com
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wendy wallach
Posted: May 12th, 2009 at 9:21 pm40Reply to this comment.How Not to be a Domestic Goddess sounds right up my own mothers alley!
madamerkf at aol dot com
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wendy wallach
Posted: May 12th, 2009 at 9:22 pm41Reply to this comment.My Mother Your Mother interests me because I work in Health Care.
madamerkf at aol dot com
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Gaby317
Posted: May 13th, 2009 at 12:44 am42Reply to this comment.The Marge Book sounds hilarious – my husband and I love the Simpsons. Pls count me in!
gaby317nyc AT gmail DOT com
Gaby317’s last blog post..Free Zagat Guides in exchange for your review & One Literature Nut’s award!!
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gaby317
Posted: May 13th, 2009 at 12:48 am43Reply to this comment.From Harvey River sounds like an engrossing read! I very much enjoy family sagas and literature from the Caribbean. Please count me in!
gaby317nyc AT gmail DOT com
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gaby317
Posted: May 13th, 2009 at 12:51 am44Reply to this comment.The book Your Mother, My Mother sounds very interesting. My grandmother passed away last year and we felt that the doctors were so focused on trying to keep her alive with little sympathy for much else. Please count me in for this!
gaby317nyc AT gmail DOT com
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pingback:
Posted: May 13th, 2009 at 7:04 am45#162 ~ Frenchman’s Creek ~ Review and Giveaway : literatehousewife.comReply to this comment.[...] Mother’s Day ~ Time for Book Giveaways [...]
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Belinda
Posted: May 13th, 2009 at 7:47 am46Reply to this comment.I would love to read “The Marge Book”. Thanks!
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Elizabeth Sprague
Posted: May 13th, 2009 at 12:44 pm47Reply to this comment.I would love to read a few on your list!
1st choice – How Not To Be A Domestic Goddess -
Elizabeth Sprague
Posted: May 13th, 2009 at 12:45 pm48Reply to this comment.2nd choice – Of Men and their Mothers… I have three boys and my husband is an only child, I think I could get something out of this book
Elizabeth Sprague’s last blog post..Baby Sign Language In Daycare
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Elizabeth Sprague
Posted: May 13th, 2009 at 12:46 pm49Reply to this comment.3rd choice – My Mother, Your Mother This would be very useful for our family right now.
Elizabeth Sprague’s last blog post..Baby Sign Language In Daycare
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Elizabeth Sprague
Posted: May 13th, 2009 at 12:48 pm50Reply to this comment.I Twittered this giveaway http://twitter.com/ElizabethSigns/status/1786082014
Elizabeth Sprague’s last blog post..Baby Sign Language In Daycare
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Serena (Savvy Verse & Wit)
Posted: May 13th, 2009 at 1:06 pm51Reply to this comment.no need to enter me, but I wanted to drop in and say those are lovely books and some of those covers are very striking.
Serena (Savvy Verse & Wit)’s last blog post..Interview With Poet Sidney Wade
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Carol M
Posted: May 13th, 2009 at 3:33 pm52Reply to this comment.I would love to win The Marge Book for my son. He is a big Simpsons fan.
mittens0831 AT aol.com -
Vera
Posted: May 14th, 2009 at 1:59 pm53Reply to this comment.An entry for “How Not to be a Domestic Goddess”.
Thanks! vvperesk@gmail.com
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Vera
Posted: May 14th, 2009 at 2:00 pm54Reply to this comment.An entry for “Of Men and Their Mothers”.
Thanks! vvperesk@gmail.com
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Heather M
Posted: May 14th, 2009 at 10:36 pm55Reply to this comment.What a great line up of books!
1st Choice: How Not To Be a domestic Goddess!
Thanks -
Heather M
Posted: May 14th, 2009 at 10:37 pm56Reply to this comment.2nd Choice: Of Men and Their Mothers
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Heather M
Posted: May 14th, 2009 at 10:37 pm57Reply to this comment.3rd choice: Marge Book! Thanks
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Just Mom
Posted: May 15th, 2009 at 9:09 pm58Reply to this comment.My first choice is The Marge Book – we are Simpsons fans here!
Just Mom’s last blog post..The Firemaster’s Mistress by Christie Dickason
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Just Mom
Posted: May 15th, 2009 at 9:10 pm59Reply to this comment.My second choice is How Not To Be a Domestic Goddess!
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Just Mom
Posted: May 15th, 2009 at 9:12 pm60Reply to this comment.Third choice – Of Men and their Mothers.
Just Mom’s last blog post..The Firemaster’s Mistress by Christie Dickason
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Carlene
Posted: May 16th, 2009 at 11:27 am61Reply to this comment.Please inlcude me in your giveaway for Stepmonster.
Thanks
Carlene
iluvreading(at)verizon.net -
Carlene
Posted: May 16th, 2009 at 11:27 am62Reply to this comment.Please inlcude me in your giveaway for Of Men and Their Mothers.
Thanks
Carlene
iluvreading(at)verizon.net -
Carlene
Posted: May 16th, 2009 at 11:28 am63Reply to this comment.Please inlcude me in your giveaway for My Mother, Your Mother.
Thanks
Carlene
iluvreading(at)verizon.net -
MJ
Posted: May 16th, 2009 at 5:55 pm64Reply to this comment.Please enter me for Of Men and Their Mothers.
Thanks!
mj.coward[at]gmail.com
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MJ
Posted: May 16th, 2009 at 5:56 pm65Reply to this comment.I’d love From Harvey River.
mj.coward[at]gmail.com
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Anita Yancey
Posted: May 16th, 2009 at 7:29 pm66Reply to this comment.I would love to be entered to win Of Men and Their Mothers. Sounds like a cool book.
ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net
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