I'm Getting Excited About Banned Books Week.

Banned Book Week is a month away and I've been busy planning events for the week long celebration. The 8 day celebration and blog hop are going to be busy days here. I've lined up guest posts by authors and bloggers, there are a couple of reviews of banned or challenged books, and giveaways! The giveaways are a mix of book and gift cards; some are US only and others are international.

I've been pestering asking authors and publicists to participate and have gotten a very good response. Only one author so far has turned me down, I'm waiting to hear back from a few people and the following people have generously agreed to donate their time, banned or challenged books, or gift cards. In no particular order, participants currently confirmed are:

Authors

Kelley Armstrong
Angela Addams
D.B. Reynolds
J.A. Campbell
Morgan Ashbury
Nicole Peeler
Laura Anne Gilman
Kari Lee Townsend
Charlotte Bennardo
Keri Arthur
Mike Mullin
Linda Poitevin
Krista D Ball
Chris Redding

Bloggers

Drosdelnoch from The Falcata Times
Ceilidh from Book Lantern

Don't forget that you can get out and do your part too - attend meetings when a book is challenged at your local school or library, help organize or run a local event in honor of our right to choose our own reading material, donate time or money to organizations that support literacy and reading. Get involved, and don't forget to read!

Saturday's Winner for BANNED BOOK WEEK CELEBRATION

Banned Book Week is over now, here on the East Coast anyway, and I have one final winner. Thanks to everyone who entered and who has supported the freedom to choose what they read.

The last winner is:  -Melissa-

Send me an email within 48 hours with your choice of a book, and your mailing addy and name.

Congratulations!!!!!

SPEAK Winners!!!!

Ok, Banned Book Week is officially over here on the East Coast, and winners have been chosen. As promised, there are 2 winners. Each one wins a copy of "Speak" and any one book from the ALA's list of banned books. The latter can't cost more than $10US. Look around on The Book Depository and send me an email with a link to your choice, and your mailing address and name. If I don't hear from you within 48 hours, then I draw a new winner.

And now, the winners:

Ashley

Maddie M



CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Thanks to everyone who entered and posted. You're the best. :)

Friday's Winner. Today is the last day to enter!!!

Friday's winner is whateveramber. Send me an email with your info. Congratulations :)

Today is the last day for both of my giveaways.  I appreciate everyone who has entered, who has read and commented, and I really appreciate everyone who has spread the word about banned books and done something to support banned books.

Thursday's Winner!!

Banned Book Week is almost over, it ends tomorrow night, and so does the giveaway. I'm curious, what have you been doing to spread the word and celebrate this week? Have you talked it up amongst your family, friends, and co-workers? Have you talked it up on facebook, twitter, or any other social network? Gone and supported a community event? What was your contribution this past week to the freedom of speech?

And, before I forget, Thursday's winner is Leanne. You know the drill. :P Congrats!

Wednesday's Winner

The winner for Wednesday's draw is Kristina Barnes :) As usual, email me with your name, mailing addy, and of course, your book selection.

And, if you haven't won yet, enter again. The giveaway runs through midnight EST of Saturday October 2nd, which is also when Banned Book Week ends.

CafePress was running a tee shirt sale and I treated myself to several, including one that says "I read Banned Books" and then lists a dozen or so titles. I will try to get a pic up in the next day or so.

More Winners!

First, my apologies. I completely spaced out yesterday about needing to choose a winner for Monday. **blush** So today, we have two winners, one for Monday  and one for Tusday.

Monday's winner is Kulsuma.

Tusday's winner is Kai@Amaterasureads.


Please send me an email with your mailing address, name and the book that you want.

Thanks everyone, and sorry for the delay.

Remember, if your name wasn't chosen, you can keep entering until the contest is over.

Sunday Giveaway Winner

The winner for Sunday's giveaway in the Celebration of Banned Book Week is The Itzel Library. Please send me your mailing addy, a name for mailing and the book you want. If I don't hear from you in 48 hours I will draw a new winner.

Congrats!

WINNER! The winner of the giveaway for Saturday 9/25/2010

We have a winner for the first day of my book-a-day Banned Book Week giveaway. The lucky winner is xlacrimax. You have 48 hours to email with your mailing addy and name and the book that you want from the list in the giveaway post. I will order it from Book Depository and they will send it to you.

A couple of notes: there were several people who didn't follow the directions on how to enter. I went ahead and entered them this time but starting today and for the rest of the giveaway, if you don't follow the directions, then you will not be entered.

However, since each day is a different giveaway, you can enter every day if you want. If you win something, you are no longer eligible to enter this giveaway. This giveaway runs through midnight EST of October 2nd, 2010.

Spread the word! Bring your friends along! Fight censorship and possibly win a book. :)

A Giveaway in Celebration of Banned Book Week

The American Library Association keeps track of books throughout the US that have been banned or challenged from public libraries and schools. The ALA supports freedom of speech and the right to read and battles censorship. Every year they devote a week to celebrating and promoting banned books. They help organize events and encourage libraries and book stores to have events and/or  displays involving banned books. For more information, click here.

This year Banned Book Week is Saturday September 25th through Saturday October 2nd. The ALA has a page just for BBW. My effort to encourage reading in general and support for all books will be to do giveaways. I have chosen books from the ALA's list of banned and challenged books and each day of BBW,  I will giveaway one of those books. A total of eight books will be given away, one for each day of BBW. To enter, just reply to this post.

I will be ordering the Hbooks from Book Depository so as long as you live in a country where they ship, you can enter this giveaway. Each day I will use random.org to pick the previous day's winner and post their name here on my blog. Once the winner's name is announced, they have 48 hours to contact me with their name, mailing address and the book they want. All books are paperback only. You can enter every day but only win once. If the winner fails to contact me within 48 hours, I will choose a new winner. I am not responsible for any books that are lost or damaged in shipping. Email me at baconnorsATgmailDOTcom with your info and put "BBW Giveaway" in the subject line so your email doesn't get deleted as spam.

LIST OF BOOKS FOR GIVEAWAY:  Paperback editions only

Any book from the Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey

Any book from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Any book from the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman

Any book from the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer

Any book from the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead

"A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle

"Beloved" by Toni Morrison

"Blood and Chocolate" by Annette Curtis Klause

"Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson

"The Call of the Wild" by Jack London

"The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger

"The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier

"The Color Purple" by Alice Walker

"The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank

"Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley

"Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell

"Hamlet" by William Shakespeare

"Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou 

"In the Night Kitchen" by Maurice Sendak

"Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George

"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

"My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult

"Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck

"Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee