Winners! Winners! Winners!

I know you stopped by to see if you won.

I know it isn't really my charming personality, my ability to make the most random comments or my great hair straightening techniques that draw you in. It was bribery, wasn't it? You can admit it, you succumbed to my wooing by offering loads of AWESOME signed books by Elizabeth Scott and you just couldn't help yourself.

It's okay. I won't take it personally. I probably woulda done the same thing because, like you, I've got that whole “I'm in love with books” problem too.

Anyway, let me get the fine print out of the way because people sometimes forget to read on after they've found out they won.

If you're one of the LUCKY 10 winners of a book by Awesome Elizabeth Scott, please email the address you want the books sent to (again, US only) to me at windy (dot) aphayrath (at) gmail (dot) com also please make sure and let me know if you've read any of the books shown below so I can try to make sure you get one you haven't read yet. Unless you have no preference, then just tell me that too.

And without further ado, the winners are . . .

Kristen from Take It As It Comes
Kelly from The Book Hunter
Readerly Person
Shannon Whitney Messenger
Taffy of Taffy’s Candy
Rebecca L. Sutton
Pam Harris
Aik of The Bookaholics
Kimberly from The Brown Eyes Have It
The Blue Lipstick Samurai

Congrats to all the winners! Don’t forget to send me your info.

And thanks to EVERYONE for coming along for the ride on this first contest adventure and of course, a HUGE-UNGOUS thank you to the uber-fantastic, amazing and overall AWESOME Elizabeth Scott for all her generosity, allowing me to make this contest absolutely fabulous.

As ever, Happy Reading!

Twitterly-dee, Twitterly-do

I love Twitter.

There, I said it.

You don't have to like Twitter, but of all social networking I couldn't give up at this point, it would be Twitter. Why, you ask? I've personally got a couple reasons.

#1) It's 140 characters. That's it. No extras. Unless you really want then, then you can go off and sign up for them. (TwitPic, Twishorts, etc)

#2) The opportunity to "chat" with people I wouldn't otherwise get to talk to. Like I've had convo's with Cindy Pon about sushi and persimmons and discussed my love for Tobey Bell with Susane Colasanti (go read her book When It Happens if you don't know who he is) while getting the latest news updates and participating in discussions with publishing pros with #askagent, #kidlitchat and #yalitchat

Oh, and I guess there's one more... a very important one, I think.

#3) Research. That's right. I said it. I thought I left it behind with my senior thesis in college too, but alas, no.  You see, I hate research. Oh, there are few things I despise more than research ... but what is not to love about how quickly you can get an answer on Twitter? Yes, you can do this with your FB status update too, I suppose, but I've found there's something so much more personal about commenting on someone's FB that often I hesitate to say anything if I don't know them. Twitter takes away the "wallflower" aspect for me.

What about you? Which Social Networking medium could you not live without if you could only pick one?

P.S. If you haven't already, don't forget to enter my Elizabeth Scott is Awesome contest - it's running through Sunday at Noon, EST.  Oh, and you can follow her on twitter too @escottwrites :)

Tweet, tweet!

Awesomeness Everywhere!

If you missed out on yesterday's huge-ungous blogfest to Spread the Awesome, because you were sick or on vacation or living under a rock or something ;), you can check out all the books/authors featured at Elana Johnson's blog. There are still a ton of contests open, so poke around to see if you can get hooked up with free books - some signed by the awesome authors!

Holy wow! There were so many awesome books out there, some I already had on my TBR list, but so many others I was just getting introduced to. Love discovering new books.

I'm off to see what I can find at the library and bookstore.

And in case you haven't yet, don't forget to head over to my post on Elizabeth Scott's Awesomeness for a chance to win one of TEN signed copies of her books - contest open until Sunday, May 9!

Spread the Awesome with Elizabeth Scott Sprinkles!

I'm back! And since you guys were so patient while I was gone, I decided we needed to start things off with some fun: First some awesome spreading, then a CONTEST!

Thanks to Elana Johnson for pulling together this blogfest of Awesome Fun, with over 60 wirters talking about their favorite books! I ended up not being able to choose just one book, but several by the amazing Elizabeth Scott.

Elizabeth writes YA because, in her words, "Being a teenager is both the most amazing and most frightening thing--there's so much going on . . . it can be really exciting, but it's also a lot to deal with!" With that in mind, she's said she could never see herself writing anything else! Thank goodness for us!

And thanks to Elizabeth's generosity, I have 10 . . . that's right TEN of her books, signed and ready to giveaway! Keep reading for the deets.

The Unwritten Rule
Sarah's liked Ryan since forever, it seems. Sarah's best friend Brianna is all things Sarah thinks she's not: beautiful, perky, popular, oh, and Ryan's girlfriend. But one night changes everything and when the truth comes out, it shines a light on more than Sarah expected. A great story putting friendship and loyalty into perspective.

Living Dead Girl
Ray kidnapped Alice several years ago, holding her captive as his little girl. But Alice is swiftly growing up and out of the little girl shell Ray has tried to keep her in. All she wants is to go home. Dealing with a heavy topic and at times disturbing, this is a beautiful and haunting story of love and human nature.

Something, Maybe
Hannah's parents take the cake on the embarrassment scale: her mom's a sometimes employed former TV starlet running a website in her underwear; her dad's rich, old and manipulative, always surrounded with plastic surgery enhanced women for his reality show. When Hannah's finally noticed by her longtime crush, it turns out being in love with someone and being in love with the idea of them are very different. Hilarious, emotional and so real!

Stealing Heaven
Danielle's spent most of her life as her mother's right hand in the family business: silver theft. When her mom cases out the small town of Heaven for their next heist, Danielle expects it to be like any other job. But heaven turns out to be completely different from any place Danielle's ever known and for the first time, she finds herself questioning if the life she lives is the life she wants. A great story about understanding, love and loyalty, another amazing read!

You can check out more about Elizabeth and her awesome books on her website, follow her on Twitter, or Fan her on FB!

Still with me? Okay, now for the Contest-o'-Awesome!

For your chance to win a signed copy of one of the books shown above, all you have to do, is enter! (And have a shipping address in the United States - sorry to international peeps.) The contest will be open from right this second through 12:00 PM on Sunday, May 9. I'll announce all winners in a week!

How do you enter, you ask?

• Comment on this post (otherwise, how will I know you want to be entered? Lol!)

And, for some extra entries, let me know if you're

• Already a follower +2
• A new follower +1
• Following me on Twitter (@windyaphayrath) +1
• Tweet / Blog the contest +1
• Friend me on Facebook +1

Email me at windy (dot) aphayrath (at) gmail (dot) com if you've got questions, and good luck!

If you want to find out about another great book, check out Paul Greci's blog about Carol Lynch Williams' The Chosen One. Or you can check out the entire list of Awesome books you should add to your TBR piles on Elana's blog.

Happy Reading!

Recent Reads: Angels, Demons and Clues ... on a Wednesday

Book: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Book Count: 32

Nora's new lab partner has the hots for her. Either that or he's a psycho who is stalking her and plotting her death. But Patch is way more than he seems and Nora quickly learns that he may be the only one she can trust. Even if he's fallen from grace.

The only thing I dislike about this? It's the first of a series. I was oh-so trying to not start any new series because I get all anxious about when the next one's coming out.

Book: Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

Book Count: 33

This is the story of Alice. Ray kidnapped Alice several years ago and is now holding her captive. At 15, Alice is swiftly growing up and out of the little girl shell Ray has tried to keep her in for all these years.

Be forewarned, this book covers a heavy topic and at times (most of the time) is pretty disturbing. But it is a beautifully told story from Alice's perspective. It is a story of survival and love and human nature, the good side and the bad.

If you didn't already know, I am a HUGE Elizabeth Scott fan. I've read almost every single one of her books and have loved all of them. This one included.

Book: Paper Towns by John Green

Book Count: 34

Margo is the girl Quentin's been in love with since they were little kids. As they grow up, they grow apart: he becomes a school band groupie (because his 2 best friends are in the band) and she becomes the girl he'll never get. When Margo suddenly disappears after having spent the night before with Q, exacting revenge, Q begins to question who Margo really was.

Seriously I was laughing out loud. And books like that are always fantastical. Just sayin.