Reading matters

The winner of 'New Beginnings' is...

Thanks to everyone who entered my competition to win an early copy of New Beginnings by Jill Barnett. Either not many people were interested in reading this book or very few saw the post, because only five of you dared enter!

To select the lucky winner I used a playing card shuffler. The deck included all suits (clubs, hearts, spades and diamonds) but only included aces, twos, threes, fours and fives. I then allowed the computer to draw a card, and this is what came up:

Here is your 1 card, drawn from a total of 20:

Timestamp: 2008-12-10 21:59:00 UTC

That means Leslie, who left the fourth comment, of Leslie's Psyche is the winner. Congrats! I'll be in touch shortly to find out your mailing address.

Win an early copy of 'New Beginnings' by Jill Barnett

Time to get into the spirit of Christmas, right? What better way than to host another book giveaway.

I received an unsolicited review copy of Jill Barnett's New Beginnings in the post from Harper Collins earlier this week. Unfortunately, it's not the type of book I would normally read, so I thought I'd offer it up to the blogosphere because I know there's bound to be someone out there who will appreciate it!

The book isn't published until the end of the month, so here's your chance to get your hands on it before anyone else.

If you'd like to enter the draw then simply leave a comment below telling me the name of an author you've discovered this year.

I will close the comments on Wednesday (December 10). The competition is open to anyone, regardless of where you live, but you can only enter once. Good luck!

And a signed copy of 'The Gargoyle' goes to...

Thanks to everyone who entered my competition to win a signed copy of Andrew Davidson's debut novel The Gargoyle. I had an amazing response, more than triple the usual number of entries whenever I run a giveaway, helped no doubt by many kind souls who blogged about my competition and linked directly to my post.

Anyway, without further ado, it's time to name the lucky recipient of the prize.

As usual, I used an online random number generator to select the winner.

That means the lucky winner was the 3rd person to leave a comment...

So congratulations to Mad Asthmatic. I'll contact you shortly to find out your postal address.

Win a signed copy of 'The Gargoyle'

Fancy winning a signed copy of Andrew Davidson's The Gargoyle?

Canongate, the publisher of the book, has very kindly offered me a large format paperback signed by Davidson to give away. Apparently there are only a handful of these books available in the UK at the moment, so this is a rare chance to win something rather special.

As regular readers of this blog will know, I read The Gargoyle a few weeks back and thought it was "a truly entertaining rainy-day kind of read filled with quirky but wholly believable characters and a heart-hammering good plot".

If you'd like to enter the draw then simply leave a comment below telling me the name of the most enjoyable book you've read this year.

I will close the comments next Saturday (November 22). The competition is open to anyone, regardless of where you live, but you can only enter once. Good luck!

And the diary goes to...

I'm back from my little sojourn to Manhattan. Thanks to everyone who entered my competition to win a bookish diary in my absence.

I used an online random number generator to select the winner.

That means the lucky winner was the 31st person to leave a comment... So congratulations to Chris King of Full of Bull? I'll contact you shortly to find out your postal address.

Win a bookish diary

I'm going to take a small break from blogging. But in the meantime I thought I'd run a small competition to win a 2009 diary.

Faber & Faber sent me this lovely hardcover diary a couple of months back, but I don't use paper diaries any more, so here's your chance to win my unused copy.

Displaying a week to a view, and illustrated in colour throughout with book designs, letters and poems, the diary commemorates Faber's 80th birthday next year.

To be in the running all you have to do is leave a comment below telling me what book you're reading now.

I will close the comments next Saturday evening (November 8) and randomly select a winner, using a method I've not yet determined!

Please note you can only enter once. Good luck!

And 'Sulphuric Acid' goes to...

Thanks to everyone who entered my competition to win a copy of Amélie Nothomb's Sulphuric Acid.

I used an online random number generator to select the winner.

That means the lucky winner was the 6th person to leave a comment...

So congratulations to jeniwren. I'll contact you shortly to find out your postal address.

Win a book

Fancy winning a book? Then I have some good news for you.

I have a copy of Amélie Nothomb's Sulphuric Acid -- a dystopian novel that looks at our obsession with reality television -- to give away to one lucky reader. It's a rather slim volume but deals with very weighty -- and occasionally distressing -- subjects, so may not be to everyone's taste. You can find out more by reading my review.

To be in the running all you have to do is leave a comment below telling me the name of your favourite novel of the year so far.

The competition is open to anyone anywhere. Entries close this coming Saturday at 9am GMT.

The winner will be chosen via a random number generator or some other yet-to-be-determined method.

Good luck!

And the winner is...

Thanks to everyone who entered the draw to win a copy of Yasmina Khadra's The Attack.

I was going to be mean and exclude the entries that failed to name a novel that had had a profound effect on them, but what the heck, this is my blog so I'm allowed to break the rules if I want.

All up there were seven entries, so I thought I'd try something different and use a playing card shuffler to chose the winner. The deck included all suits (clubs, hearts, spades and diamonds) but only included aces, twos, threes, fours, fives, sixes and sevens. I then allowed the computer to draw a card, and this is what came up:

Book giveaway

Fancy winning my somewhat battered copy of Yasmina Khadra's The Attack, which I raved about in this review?

If so, please leave a comment below and name a novel that has had a profound effect on you. I'll close the comments next Saturday and draw a winner out of a hat (or some such object) shortly after.