Blogoversary Contest

One year ago today, I started a little blog I called Laina Has Too Much Spare Time. I had exactly one follower, the friend who had convinced me to start my blog by telling me she loved my reviews. Being the genius I am, I told her, "They're not reviews, they're just what I think about books I've read." But she'd planted the idea in my head and I figured I might as well go ahead and do it, since I didn't have anything much to do and I was bored.

On October 4th, 2008, I wrote my first blog post, which consisted mostly of an introduction to myself. Anyone want to see it anyways?

Hi, I'm Laina, but I guess you kind of guessed that. So it's official. I have waaaay too much spare time. Hence the name, right?
Anyway, this is my blog. It's probably going to be mostly about books, but maybe with some music, some stuff I like and maybe a random recipe now and then.
Hey, sorry about the lone song in the player. I haven't uploaded more yet, but I will soon. I'm still having loads of fun with the gadgets.
So... I think that's all for now. Leave a comment if you want and come back soon to see what I've done with the place.
Yours, Laina.

Since then, the look of my blog has changed (when I started blogging, I knew nothing about html or photo editing for headers or anything), my reviewing style has changed, even my sign off has changed, evolved and grown, I hope. Anyways, I'm rambling a bit. I just can't believe I've been blogging a year and I really just want to thank everyone who's helped me get this far. Thank you for following my blog, for leaving comments, for linking to me, for awards (even though I don't post about those, I am so grateful for getting them) and for simply reading my blog! Okay, getting mushy, moving on.

Now, to celebrate my year of blogging, I have a contest for you guys! I'm giving away this:

Boy Toy by Barry Lyga

Josh Mendel has a secret. Unfortunately, everyone knows what it is.

Five years ago, Josh’s life changed. Drastically. And everyone in his school, his town—seems like the world—thinks they understand. But they don’t—they can’t. And now, about to graduate from high school, Josh is still trying to sort through the pieces. First there’s Rachel, the girl he thought he’d lost years ago. She’s back, and she’s determined to be part of his life, whether he wants her there or not.Then there are college decisions to make, and the toughest baseball game of his life coming up, and a coach who won’t stop pushing Josh all the way to the brink. And then there’s Eve. Her return brings with it all the memories of Josh’s past. It’s time for Josh to face the truth about what happened.

If only he knew what the truth was...

(Summary from goodreads.)

Thanks to Barry Lyga for sending me this so I could give it away! It's unread, too, I never got the chance to read it. Plus, I would have felt slightly guilty reading it when I was going to give it away.

So, the rundown on this contest.

The Prizes:

First place: A signed (SIGNED!!) paperback copy of Boy Toy, along with three postcards. One is for The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, one is for Goth Girl Rising, and one is for Boy Toy. Remember, these are not the books themselves, they are just postcards for them. :)

Second place: The same postcards, Fanboy and Goth Girl, Boy Toy and Goth Girl Rising.

The Rules:

It's open *gulp* internationally. Let's hope this doesn't run me too much in shipping.

You must enter by 11:59pm on Saturday, october 31st, 2009, my time. To check what time it is where I live, go here. I don't live there, but it's the same time.

To Enter:

Leave a comment with your email address. No email address, no entry. If you don't feel comfortable leaving your email address in a comment, you can email your entry to me at Laina1312@gmail.com

Extra entries:

+1 Become a follower (If you use a feed reader such as Google Reader, that's fine, just let me know.)
+2 Be a current follower. (Again, google reader is fine.)
+1 Start following me on Twitter. Be sure to tell me who you are so I know and don't block you.
+2 Be a current follower on twitter. (Please tell me who you are here, too.)
+2 Link to this contest somewhere. You can do that in a blog post, in your blog sidebar, on Twitter, on a message board, whatever you can think of, but it only counts once per place. A sidebar link and a blog post link do, however, count as seperate entries.

Remember, you do not have to do the extra entries. You only need to leave me a comment with your email address or email me that you want to enter. That's it. The rest is completely optional.

And please try to keep it all in one comment. Obviously if you forget something or need to change something, you can post again, but please don't comment once per entry, that drives me nuts. (Sorry, but it fills up my inbox like crazy.)

Okay! So, to recap.
Prize: A signed copy of Boy Toy and some Barry Lyga postcards, and a second place prize of 3 Barry Lyga postcards.
Open to: Everyone in the whole wide world.
Open until: 11:59pm Saturday, October 31st, 2009, my time.

Let the race begin!
Peace and cookies,
Laina