Hi…

I am still not feeling well, but I wanted to let you know that I have some fun things planned for the October…

Here’s what I have planned for the rest of this week…

Tomorrow:  It’s the blog’s One-Year Anniversary!  YAY!  Look for a big giveaway with that one!

Thursday:  Poll opens for November’s Book-of-the-month!  Be sure to visit to see which books are up for the vote and to cast your vote.  You have until Oct. 1 to get your suggestions for November in!

Friday:  Unleash Your Story Wrap-up!  I’ll share my final tallies for the Unleash Your Story fundraiser (there’s still time to donate…*hint hint*) and have a BIG giveaway since I met my goals!

Saturday:  Reading Goals Check-in…I’ll share September’s reads (and give one away).  September was my best month yet so be prepared for a BIG list!

The rest of the month will be filled with reviews, guests, and more!!!

Sorry…

Just wanted to let y’all know that I am sorry I didn’t get a post up today.  I got hit with the flu or a virus or something and I feel awful…really, really, really awful.

Hope everyone else’s week is starting off better!

What’s everyone reading?

Oh, and I am still taking suggestions for November’s Book-of-the-month until October 2 so get those suggestions in if you haven’t already (see previous posts for details).
E.T.A:  Even if you don’t plan on participating, your suggestions are welcome!

Update…

Please see today’s post below…

***FUNDRAISER UPDATE:  I have learned that I only need $15 more donated to reach $200!  Come on, people!  We can do it!!!***

I reached $200!!!!  I am amazed, but I did it!  But don’t let that stop you from donating!
The last I heard the Unleash Your Story fundraisers had raised a total of $9428, which is just a little shy of our overall goal of $10000, so any amount will help!

You can make your donation by clicking here or on the image in today’s post.
Fundraiser ends Sept. 30!

Unleash Your Story Progress…final week

First, I have some winners to announce…
Winner of a copy of The Undead Next Door is:  Cathy M.
Winner of a surprise prize from last week’s UYS update is:  Liza
Please send me your mailing addies!
And I am still looking for recommendations for November’s Book-of-the-Month…details can be found by clicking here.

Well, we are nearing the end of the Unleash Your Story fundraiser.  It wraps up September 30 and we are very close to reaching the goal of $10,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (last I saw we had raised $8,273), but we could use some more donations to help us reach that goal and make a difference!

As you can tell from the progress bar in the sidebar, I have more than met my goal for the read-a-thon…I’ll give everyone a final page total once the fundraiser has ended, but this was a great reading month for me…in fact, it was the best month so far this year.

And thanks to some wonderful friends and family members I have also met my fundraising goal!  YAY!!!  But you know…that doesn’t mean it’s too late for you to donate. 

Hmm…I am only $40 away from raising $200…that’s a nice round number…if 2 of you donated $20…or if 4 of you gave $10…or 8 of you donated $5…well, you get the picture.  If some of you donated today, I could reach $200 and the Unleash Your Story fundraiser would be one step closer to reaching the final goal of $10,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  You’d also be helping to support life-saving research for a cure for CF. 

The Unleash Your Story fundraiser ends Tuesday, Sept. 30 so if you would like to donate click here or the image above.  Any amount helps and is appreciated!

To learn more about CF and the CFF visit:  www.cff.org

As promised since I met BOTH of my goals for the fundraiser, I will have a BIG giveaway…watch for details on that soon.

A big thanks to all of you for supporting me and bearing with me this month during this fundraiser.  I know I probably got annoying, but it was for a good cause… 🙂

More on the Book-of-the-Month…need suggestions

So earlier today, I announced October’s Book-of-the-Month (my choice)…The Undead Next Door by Kerrelyn Sparks.   And now I am going to go ahead and ask for suggestions now for November’s pick…you can post your suggestion in the comments or e-mail it to me.   Here are the guidelines for suggestion:

 

• Must be a romance, but can be any subgenre/type of romance (sorry to limit it, but I like my happy endings) ETA:  As long as there is an element of romance, anything goes…just wanted to clarify.
• Can be an old or a new release, but it must be readily available in stores or online
• Must be a print book (this could change in the future, but for now we are going with print releases)
• No hardcovers (I don’t want anyone…including myself…going broke trying to participate)
• No more than two suggestions per person! 

On October 2, I will select at least five books from those suggested (and add a choice of my own) and voting will begin! Toward the end of October I’ll announce the book for November as well as post it in the sidebar and hold a contest to win a copy.

 

So go ahead and make a suggestion…even if you can’t participate, I’d love to have suggestions from all of you.  Is there a book you think I should read?  A book you want to know more about?  Go ahead and suggest it.  Making a suggestion does not obligate you to participate in any way!

 

For more details on the Book-of-the-Month, check out earlier posts and look in the sidebar.

Book of the month continued…October’s Pick!

Check out the post from earlier today and see the sidebar for more details on the book-of-the-month, but since this is my first time trying this and I want to get things started in October, I went ahead and chose the first book-of-the-month selection myself because there wasn’t much time left until October begins.  I went with a paranormal romance for the spooky month of October.  However, all future books will be voted on by you and can cover any genre of romance.

 

October’s selection is The Undead Next Door by Kerrelyn Sparks!

 

 

And yes, I realize that it is part of a series (and not the first book in the series either), but I decided to go with it because I want to see how well it stands alone and because the blurb intrigued me.   Plus, I read series out of order all the time.  But for those of you who like to read series in order, I am just letting you know that this is Book 4 in the series, I believe.

 

As I mentioned, I will give a copy of the book selection to one winner, so if you are interested, please post “I’d love to read The Undead Next Door” in the comments below so I know who wants to be entered.  On Sunday, September 28, I’ll randomly select a winner and announce it here on the blog.   By the way, winning the book does not obligate you to join in on the discussion, but I hope you’ll want to!

 

I will discuss The Undead Next Door on October 24!  Check the sidebar for more information as we go.

 

Check back later for details on how to suggest books for November’s Book-of-the-Month!

Book club or something like one…

Okay, so I gave it some thought I decided to go ahead and try to do a book-of-the-month thing here on the blog.  I decided to call it a “Book-of-the-month” because club made it sound like something you HAD to join or participate in…at least to me it did…and since that isn’t the case I figured calling it a book-of-the-month wouldn’t put any pressure on anyone….not to mention that if I am the only one who reads the book, I wouldn’t feel lonely in my “club” of one.  🙂

 

 

You all are basically voting on which book I should read and blog about…and you are welcome to chime in with your thoughts as well if you choose to read or have read the book.  It’s really no different than me posting a review (although the format will be different)…only you all get to choose the book and I encourage you to share your thoughts as well…so there is no pressure on anyone…well, except maybe me.  😉

 

So today is the beginning of Jennifer’s Random Readers Book-of-the-Month…yeah, I am not real creative when it comes to names.  🙂

 

I am going to keep things simple at first and just see how they go before I decide whether to do this long term or not.  We will at least do it until the end of the year, but beyond that I don’t know. 

 

Here are the basic details that I have been working on and how this will work…or at least what you need to know for now.  All of this and more details can be found in the sidebar as well.

 

At the beginning of each month, I will announce the book chosen for the month and ask for suggestions for the following month.  Mid-month I will choose at least 5 books from the suggestions and voting will start…you all get to vote on the book.  Toward the end of the month, I will post about the book and those that have read the chosen book are welcome to share their thoughts on the read.  Participation is optional, but I’d love to have someone besides me babbling about the books.  We will try to limit spoilers though so we don’t ruin the book for others who have not read it.

 

I’ll include more details in future posts as well, but please let me know if you have any questions.  I am new at all this and still trying to work out the kinks.

 

Check back later today for details on October’s book and how to make suggestions for future books.