I’m giving away a signed copy of my friend Nina LaCour’s amazing YA novel The Disenchantments! I love this book, and whether you are a young adult or someone who is thirty-eight years old *ahem*, The Disenchantments is pure pleasure to read.
Nina writes books that I wish existed when I was younger, and I’m so glad they exist.
The Disenchantments is out in stores now, with rave reviews from many venues including The LA Times, which proclaimed it “not just for kids.” I totally agree–!
As always, I will sweeten your intrigue with the opening lines of the giveaway book. I don’t know about you, but for me one of the biggest deciding factors in choosing to read a book are the opening lines. Because in the end, no one can tell you which book to like–that’s between you and the book.
Opening lines of the novel:
“Bev says when she’s onstage she feels the world holding its breath for her. She feels electric, louder than a thousand wailing sirens, more powerful than God.
‘I thought you didn’t believe in God,’ I say.
She says, ‘Okay. More powerful than the universe, then.’
Bev is the lead singer of a band called The Disenchantments. They aren’t very good, but they play so loud the speakers crackle and the bass makes your bones tremble. And they look amazing.”
The copy I’m giving away is a brand new hardcover signed by Nina, who has graciously offered up free sticker-tattoos to sweeten the giveaway deal.
Isn’t the book beautiful? And the sticker tattoos, fabulous?
Oh, and have I told you how much I love the sticker tattoos? Here I am, modeling one.
Lately, I’ve been doing, James Lipton-esque, Proust Questionnaire-based interviews with the book giveaway authors via twitter or other messaging (yes, these interviews happen “in real time”). I’m hoping it will give you some insight into the writer behind the book and of course, we always have a bit of fun with these questions. So here we go…
1. What is your favorite occupation?
Nina LaCour: I would love to be a haberdasher so that I could say the word a lot.2. Where would you like to live?
NL: I would like to live exactly where I live: on the border of two beautiful, urban areas of Oakland, but I would turn my apartment into a house with a huge yard and an attic for writing and a front porch where I could sit all day and spy on the neighbors.3. What is your greatest extravagance?
NL: Cheese. I buy really expensive cheese, and I buy it at a fancy cheese counter in a gourmet shop almost every day.
Interested?
Here’s how to enter:
1) Leave a comment below. You can say anything you want–e.g., you can choose to tell me why you want a copy of the book, or tell me about a roadtrip you’ve taken, or share the name of your favorite music band (and if you’re compelled, why you love them). Do fill out your email address when you fill out the fields in the comment box (it won’t be published to the world, but I will need it in order to contact you in case you win)!
2) 1 entry per person. If you tweet about this giveaway (& tag @czilka in your tweet so that I can track it), you get an extra entry.
3) The giveaway is open worldwide.
4) If you win the contest, I will email you for your mailing address.
5) Winners will be chosen by a random number generator.
6) I will be announcing the contest winner on the blog. None of your personal information will be posted, aside from your first name and last initial (or the nickname you choose to list in your comment). If you see that someone else has entered the same name as you, please try to pick a different nickname to call yourself, so as to avoid confusion.
7) If you are below the age of 13, please ask your parents to fill out the comment field with their information.
The deadline to enter a comment/tweet is Monday March 5, 2012 12:00pm EST. The winner (picked at random) will be announced Monday March 5, 2012 by 6:00pm EST.
GOOD LUCK! And I hope you all find your way to a copy of The Disenchantments soon!
UPDATE…
The winner is announced!
Methodology:
As always, I assigned each of you a number in the order you commented. If you RT’d my tweet, or tweeted about the giveaway on twitter, I gave you an additional entry, and I assigned additional numbers in the order you tweeted.
There were a total of 44 entries…and I used random.org to generate the winning entry number. I taped all of this, and if you’d like to watch it live (with a cameo by my unwilling, but deserving husband)…the video is below…
Otherwise, if you don’t feel like watching the video, the winning number is…
*drum roll*
*drum roll*
*drum roll some more*
*take a sip of water*
*drum roll*
*cough*
*drum rolll….*
The winner is #33, also known as “Vanessa Buzeta (@dayzer389), whose comment was:
“I loved her novel, Hold Still. I thought it was amazing and it completely blew me away. I’d love to read her next novel. Thanks for the awesome giveaway.”
I’m happy a faithful reader of Nina LaCour’s work is now the proud owner of a free copy of The Disenchantments. 🙂
And I hope the rest of you find yourself a copy of The Disenchantments soon!
80,000 words 
I would love to win a copy of The Disenchantments! My favorite band, since you ask, is The Shins, mostly because they sing poetry (and they aren’t afraid to use words longer than two syllables in their lyrics).
Yay! I’d love to read this. I love the idea of a book about a girl rocker, and I like stories about how friendships change during/after high school.
I logged in with Twitter, so in case my e-mail address doesn’t show up, here it is: sjs@sarahjamilastevenson.com
Thanks for running the giveaway!
I absolutely adore the cover for The Disenchantments! I can’t wait to read it 🙂
As for a favorite band? My new fave is SafetySuit! Check them out on YouTube. Stay and These Times will rock your world!
Thanks for a great giveaway!
I hadn’t heard too much about this book, but then John Green recommended it the other day and now I’m seeing it everywhere. Sounds really interesting.
The worst road trip I’ve ever taken was my senior year of high school. 6 of us drove down to Florida (from Wisconsin). I don’t understand how we could’ve possibly thought it was a good idea to cram 6 teenage girls and all of their luggage in a mini van. Still have a few good memories from the trip too though 🙂
Thanks for the giveaway!
I tweeted: https://twitter.com/#!/Dani_Nguyen/status/172878005436289025
Sounds great! I’d love to read it!
I have wanted this book since I first heard about it months ago, it sounds amazing! Thanks so much for doing the giveaway, and those tattoos are awesome!
The best road trip I ever went on (so far!) was when I was 22 and my senior year in college, myself and 19 friends took 3 cars from Orange County (where we all went to school) and drove through Utah and Arizona to visit Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, Arches National Park and Zion National Park. It was an added element that 17 of those friends were foreign exchange students (Italy, France and Japan), so it was only 3 of us who were native English speakers. It was phenomenal, with breathtaking sights and landscapes that I never knew could exist in the world, much less just a day’s drive away from me. It was definitely one of those movie/book-like trips that had craziness and chaotic messes, but I had the best time of my life and have never felt so centered, loved and alive in my entire life. I cherish that feeling.
Thanks again for the giveaway!
I loved her novel, Hold Still. I thought it was amazing and it completely blew me away. I’d love to read her next novel. 🙂 Thanks for the awesome giveaway.
i want a copy of the book because hold still blew my mind, basically, and i think nina lacour’s latest will do it again. jimmy eat world is the closest i get to a favorite band. i don’t have a good road trip story, though.
In college, my friends and I took a roadtrip to Canada. On the 10-hour drive back, I got into a fight with one of my friends. I decided this was the perfect time to tell her exactly what I thought of her actions and how she was treating people. I blurted it all out and she just sat and listened. She didn’t respond and the whole car went silent. I was driving. It was late at night, we were somewhere in Pennsylvania, and it was super foggy. I had to drive on through all of that in total silence — no one else in the car dared to speak, either. Most awkward drive back EVER. And it was all my fault.
Also, I want this book and the sticker tattoo. 🙂
I took my most memorable road trip during my exchange year in Austria – we bought a used car and drove through Eastern Europe for three weeks. The car broke down, of course. We were stranded somewhere in the Hungarian woods, no civilization around for miles, and it was beginning to get dark. We spent the night (awake) in the backseat and trunk, eating tons of sweets (luckily, we had stocked up on “road trip food” at the last gas station) and after a few hours, we were able to laugh at the whole situation. And the three-hour walk the next morning to the nearest village was surprisingly fun, too.
Love road trips and books about road trips 🙂
I would love to win this book! I have been dying to read it! Thanks for the giveaway.
Sara @ upon a love story
I teased myself by reading just the first few pages and was hooked but unable to keep the copy. I would love to win this book–I’m told it’s right up my alley. 🙂
Thanks for the giveaway! and thanks for making in international 😀 *waves from Germany!*
The longest road trip I have taken: Maryland to Las Vegas – Las Vegas to Grand Canyon – Texas – Back to Maryland. We had a blast…we discovered so many areas and we did talk about a bear sleeping on our car because he fell in love with our friend…(long story) 😀
(sighs longlingly) Recently life has turned into an overcast of gray cloudy coldness. The wind blows rashly, with no rhyme or reason. The loose gutter on the side of the house bangs against the siding. Leaving me lying awake in quiet wandering. Surely things will brighten up soon.
The clock flashes 4:00 a.m The day hasn’t even started and I’m already worn out.
(I didn’t know what to post so I just wrote this)
I’d love to win a copy of The Disenchantments. Thank you for the chance 🙂
I’ve only ever been on one road trip. From Germany, through Belgium, France. Then took the ferry in Calais to Dover, England and to London. Took the same route with a stop in Birmingham to visit family on the way back. It was a long, but fun trip. The highways are mostly surrounding by fields and nature. I like the fact there is still so much nature around, since in some parts of the world that isn’t really the case.
One of my favourite bands is Paramore because I can relate to a lot of their songs. I can’t imagine not listen to their music in the future unlike some musicians where my interests fades in and out. I’m really looking forward to hearing what they release next.
At the moment, I feel that my favorite band is the Beatles. Their music just always puts a smile on my face and sticks in my head for hours and hours. I love it when bands can do that, and the Beatles are so classic, how can you not love them?
I am also a big fan of Paramore. Hayley Williams’ voice is amazing and I love to sing along (horribly) to their songs. Listening to them can make anyone feel like they can sing along and not sound as bad as usual. Hayley Williams just does that to people.
My students would love to win a copy of The Disenchantments!
Hmmm this post made me happy! Yes Good morning Sunshine!
One trip I took was the summer after I finished high school. I hitchhiked from Toronto to Vancouver. The next year I went from Vancouver to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, then down to Florida and back to Toronto. It was fun.
It Tweeted about the giveaway as well: https://twitter.com/#!/carlrscott/status/174292864212279296
I would love a copy of this book!
Thanks for the great giveaway! I would love to win The Disenchantments – I loved Hold Still, and this one sounds even more amazing. And the cover is gorgeous!
I tweeted: https://twitter.com/#!/PbackTreasures/status/174524294943080448
I would love to win a copy of this book!! I’ve been wanting to read it for ages so this is perfect!
Sounds like an interesting book!
I’ve never been on a road trip, unless 800 km by foot counts? I walked Camino de Santiago in Spain, I cherished the sandals I walked in, because they didn’t give me blisters (they must have been made by feet-angels, the angels that take care of your feet). The sandals were stolen 5 months later in Bangalore, of all places… I’m thinking of walking the Camino again, just so that I can point to a pair of sandals/shoes and boast that I walked 800 km in them. 🙂 But right now it seems I don’t have 30 days to spare for the trip.
I adored Hold Still. It was one of the best books I have ever read. I know The Disenchantments will be the same. My favorite band changes all the time, but right now I’m really into The Civil Wars. Thanks for the giveaway.
Wow! You make a good pitch, but your first commenter really sold me – I’d read the toilet paper package if John Green recommended it 😉 Seriously though, congrats to Nina, and I look forward to reading the book sooner or later!
I really want this book, because I love books about roadtrips. Also, the cover is gorgeous!
😉 Tweet : https://twitter.com/#!/CatheeBooks/status/176472091418308608
Yay for that giveaway! I really want to win it! My favorite band these days is OneRepublic.
Thanks for making it international!
I’ve been so anxious to get my hands on this book! I love road trip stories – they make it so easy for a non-driver like me to take that trip 🙂
Thanks so much for hosting a giveaway!
I’d love to win this book because a friend recently reviewed it for Wit & Fancy (ww.witandfancy.com) and I’ve been dying to read it! 🙂
I know none of this really matters but I’ll write ya something anyway! I’m currently a high school English teacher, though I am also an aspiring writer. I’ve dabbled in a few different genres but my best work seems to be in personal essays. However, one of my favorite fiction genres to write would be young adult and I love getting my hands on new YA lit! Glad I stumbled across this little contest so hopefully I’ll win a copy of The Disenchantments!
Thank you everyone for entering the giveaway! I’ll be back to announce the winner later in the day! Good luck to all of you.