If you’ve got a child of upper elementary or middle school age who enjoys reading and likes spooky stories, you’ll definitely want to check out Ghosts of Rockville: Search for fhe Dominion Glass, a new book by Justin Heimberg. It’s the first book in the Ghosts of Rockville series, and it has not only a great story but also a very unique twist on involving your young reader in the investigation. And at 275 pages, it’s got plenty of twists, turns, and mysteries that will entertain your young reader and have them anxiously awaiting the June 2012 release of Book 2.

The story takes place in the town of Rockville, a town full of oddities known as the Seven Unnatural Wonders that includes crop circles, a spooky forest, the Cave of Shadows, and an ominous location called the Cliffs of Death. Readers will follow the adventures of four young supernatural investigators as they take on an assignment to locate the famed Dominion Glass, a relic that apparently allows the user to talk to and control spirits.

First, there’s Jay — his dad disappeared years earlier under mysterious circumstances and Jay has an experience that gets him interested in the paranormal. He’s the leader of the group, and he’s got his own agenda when it comes to the Dominion Glass. He’s good at researching, too, and that skill will be beneficial to the remaining members of his team.

Pam comes from a family of mediums, and her mother and sister are well known in the town for offering up their skills for cash. Unfortunately, the supernatural powers don’t seem to have trickled down to Pam, and she finds herself constantly frustrated at her lack of success when her team puts her to the test. But she’s in for a surprise (and so is her team) when she soon discovers her skills slowly building up in reliability.

Brian is the odd man out — a popular kid at school, he’s also one of the smartest kids around. But he hides his intelligence by acting dumb and failing tests. It puts a strain on his investigator friends who must find new and interesting ways to talk to him so he doesn’t blow his cover with his popular girlfriend and the rest of the school. Brian has a superb memory and is good at puzzle solving… and it’s going to come in handy for hunting the Dominion Glass.

Finally, there’s my favorite character… Danni. She’s a kid-sized version of CSI, always willing to string up police tape and start an investigation. From determining who turned a squirrel into roadkill to examine handwriting and fingerprints on various clues that the team receives during their investigation, she’s an entertaining character, and her puns are hilarious. (Think CSI: Miami‘s Horatio Caine’s play on words at the beginning of each episode, and you’ve got the idea.)

The team helps fellow students battle poltergeists, find lost items, and other minor activities, but when they get a major assignment from a secretive organization (hiding in plain sight) to find the Dominion Glass, the risks really ramp up fast as they are chased and threatened by living and dead foes. At various points, each team member begins to question his or her role and value to the team, but they each will discover they have important contributions to make if the team is to succeed.

I loved the story — the four young investigators are well-written and each has a unique personality. The mystery is original, and the puzzles the team encounters are fun to figure out using a unique method called MagicView. The book comes with a small plastic square called the MagicView Lens that is placed over the various images included in the book. Depending on how the square is placed over the image, different hidden images and text are revealed. There are four letters scattered around the edges of the square that correspond to the first letter of the team members’ names — J, B, P, and D. If Jay is looking at a book page for example (and that book page is shown as a figure), you place the MagicView Lens so that the J letter is at top and see what appears. If all team members are looking at something, you simply rotate the square 45 degrees three more times to see what the other team members see… some images have only one hidden image and some have a full four hidden images.

The MagicView Lens is also an interesting method for providing the solution to a handful of puzzles provided in the book — it allows readers to first try their hands at solving the puzzle before using the square to see the answer. A few puzzles I was able to figure out on my own, but there are a couple that I could not and had to reach for the MagicView Lens. Fun stuff.

Ghosts of Rockville Book 1 is available now in hardback.

For those of us that love memories and biographies my I suggest Bona Vita by Ross Machitto. Bona Vita is a family history told in a style that evokes fire side chats with the grandfather you always wanted. The story traces a families journey from Italy to California farm country and a mans journey from a potential baseball career to starting his own business. With the great depression and World War II as a back drop Bona Vita is part history lesson and part tale of the value of hard work and a good education. If you love family histories and tales of perseverance than check out Bona Vita for an easy and enjoyable read that will leave you with a smile on your face.

About the Book

About the Author

Paul H. Magid web site:
http://www.paulhmagid.com/

Paul H. Magid Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/KarmaNovel#!/profile.php?id=100002979900843

Lifting the Wheel of Karma Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/KarmaNovel

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186

Lifting the Wheel of Karma blog tour site:
http://liftingthewheelofkarma.blogspot.com/

Amazon buy link
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0984016066?tag=tributebooks-20

Barnes&Noble.com buy link
http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=dcSBhG3Rj8w&offerid=229293.9780984016068&type=2&subid=0

eBook
Price: $9.99

Kindle buy link
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005TJ3I4C?tag=tributebooks-20

My Take on the Book

What was amazing about this book was the way that in a slow but steady pace you are given the opportunity to look at the world in a different way. The book was captivating and engaging and I found that once I started the book I did not want to put it down. The spiritual nature of the book was amazing and I found myself being very interested in what the author had to say and the characters that he used to bring across his message. I think all of us are on a path or a journey in our life and this book makes you look at this path through a new lens and makes you reconsider the possibilities that may lie in front of you in the future as well. This was a great read!
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Winner has 48 hours to contact me or another name will be chosen.

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site’s Disclaimer for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

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About the Books

A Charles Dickens Devotional features some of Dickens’ brightest gems: Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist, and A Christmas Carol, all of which are richly woven stories brimming with the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Add in the topical devotionalthoughts and you have an abundance of insight and guidance for faithful readers.

Short excerpts from Austen’s classics are featured in A Jane Austen Devotional:Northanger Abbey, Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and Emma. Austen’s devotional also includes a daily thought and Scripture that meaningfully translates to women’s everyday lives. Time and time again, Austen shows us through her words what love truly is, a love built on action, character, and honor.

My Take on the Books

Both of these books were beautifully crafted and for those of you that use devotionals on a daily basis, you will find these books to be great additions for your regimen.  What I loved about both books were the short passages that you are able to easily follow and reflect on that are tied back to the writings of the author in question. The authors of these books did a superb job at connecting both spiritual reflection with the writings of such powerful writers. I found myself transfixed in the reading of the books and it opened my eyes and my mind to the ideas that were being presented. I highly recommend both of these books for any and all who enjoy using devotionals as they are different than others that I have used in the past, but in saying that, I also say that they are well written and that the tie to well known writers assist you in staying connected to the spiritual teachings that are also being shared!

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Heard on the Playground is a website featuring funny kid quotes, and the creator of the site, Andrea Sherr, has turned those quotes into a great coffee table book called Heard on the Playground: Funny Things Kids Say.  The brutal honesty of children coupled with their innocent nature provides most of the laughs in this great book.  Today, I will be reviewing the book, and sharing a few quotes with you.  Plus, Andrea has agreed to give away a copy of the book to one of my lucky readers!  There is a giveaway at the end of the review.

From the author… “Children tell it like it is… which often leaves adults hysterical, shocked and amused. As long as it’s not your child, you’ll find these funny kid stories entertaining and good fun. I’ve taken the best stories submitted to my website, HeardonthePlayground, by parents, grandparents, teachers, relatives, and friends from across the nation. The result is a book that’s like KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS on a sugar high with a little 21st century reality thrown in. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Share the laughs.”

As a parent, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  You can’t go wrong with funny kid quotes – ever! If you are a regular visitor here, you know that I am not shy about telling you the hilarious things that my kid says.  This book shows just how amazing our kids really are, and it shows that being a parent, grand parent, teacher, coach or babysitter is a great job because of all the laughter it can provide.  And who doesn’t need a little more joy in their life?

If this were just a book of quotes, that would be entertaining enough, but the book is filled with funny illustrations by kids as well.  Check this one out:

It’s the little things like this that make this book so sweet.  The stories come to life through the eyes of the child.  There are some future “Rembrandts” here for sure.

With chapter titles like “GROSS” “SHOCKING” and “UNCENSORED” you can imagine that this book will entertain for hours.  I recommend it for anyone who is a parent or was a child.  You won’t be disappointed!

I want to thank Andrea for providing me with a copy of the book for this review and agreeing to give away a copy of her book to one of my readers.  Please use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter.

About the Book

Portland resident Scott Hanley published his debut book about fatherhood November 21. The Dad Connection: A Bridge to your Children is available now for purchase online in both print and digital formats.

“I didn’t set out to write a book,” Scott explains. “I began talking into a tape recorder I had put in my truck as I was on my way to different construction sites in Boston. I was trying to record my experiences as a single dad with the idea that someday, many years later, my boys would get a kick out of hearing me talk.”

Those tapes became the basis upon which this book is written, as well as the insights that led to his parenting blog, thedadconnection.com.

After many rounds of editing and re-writes, The Dad Connection became a reality. Scott encourages readers to consider this book a testimony of his experiences and understanding rather than a parenting manual.

“Many of the stories reflect my actual experiences,” explains Hanley. The Dad Connection is a brief overview of his time as a dad and ultimately the basic understanding that “relationships are built, they don’t just happen.”

About the Author

Scott Hanley was born and raised in Indiana. He has managed his own successful four-star restaurant in Cincinnati, a construction company in Boston specializing in urban remodeling, and a construction business in Portland, OR specializing in ultra high-end remodeling – all while raising his two sons as a single father. He was named the Northwest Regional Contractor of the Year in 1999. His expertise and personality earned him guest appearances on the local ABC affiliate morning talk show “AM Northwest,” which eventually grew into a permanent role as one of the show’s weekly celebrities. From 2000 to 2003 he was co-host of Fox 12’s Saturday morning talk show. He currently lives with his family in Portland, OR.
My Take on the Book

Too often when you become a father you do not know what you are doing! Let’s be honest, no parent has a ready made guide to raising kids handed to them when they become parents. With that being said, you have to learn how to be a good father. Many times in my own experience, this comes with trial and error but it does take work and sometimes you will fail.

What I loved about this book was the honesty the the author shares with his readers. He takes his own experiences with his two boys and makes the experience tangible and real and allows others to learn form his successes and from his failures. The book looks at how as a father you can work on making lasting connections with your children which should be the hope of every father (In my humble opinion).

The book was an engaging, quick read and share so many insights that fathers of any child can learn from.

If you are looking to learn more about being a quality father, this is a great book to start you on your path!

Scott Hanley’s book is an insightful account of parenting and loving. Above all Scott teaches his children and us through lines of his book, to love fully and without fear. The reader is enlightened as to the importance and path for raising our children with a bond beyond words and action that lasts a lifetime, long after they leave our daily embrace.”

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site’s Disclaimer  for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

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About the Book
Man Shoes is a must read book for men of all ages, and for the women who love them. The book chronicles the inspiring true story of one man’s journey through loss and love, told with humor and heroism. It is a stunning revelation of one man’s determination to embrace life to its fullest, Man Shoes demonstrates that new beginnings are possible at any age and at any stage of life, no matter what obstacles get in the way.

Tom Watson, Founder and President of Your Better Life, has spent his life enriching and inspiring people to touch the stars in their own careers and personal lives. By focusing on and caring for each individual in his business and personal life, Tom inspires people to reach out and help others while reaching up to achieve their own goals. Backed by a Masters Degree plus 25 years as a customer service specialist and leader in the recreation industry, Tom is a highly successful business owner, consultant and sought after international speaker. His keynote speeches blend business acumen with engaging life stories and a unique sense of humour that inspire and motivate people to realize their best in their own lives.

My Take on the Book
This was a great story that was so inspirational. As a reader you are brought into the story and able to see how one man has taken the pieces of his life and made himself a better person overall. On top of this though the book make you re-examine your own life and think about how you too can go through a similar transformation.

What I loved about the book was how the author allows you to truly feel the passion and love that he had for the people that entered his life. For me, I can only hope that I can be half the man that Tom has become and show that much love too.

The book is set up to help you on your own journey giving you suggestions in each chapter which allow you to examine your own life and do what you need to be able to move yourself forward.

No matter if you are a man or a woman, this book is one that I would highly recommend!

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All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site’s Disclaimer for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

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About the Book

101 Daily Devotions to Inspire and Support You in Times of Need

Struggles test us all, but readers will find counsel and reassurance in these devotional stories of faith, strength, and prayer. This collection is filled with stories that show God’s presence during times of trouble — from illness, addictions, job loss, grief, and much more — providing a boost and reminder of God’s ever-present love. Readers will find encouragement, solace, and hope in these personal stories and prayers.

Purpose of the Books

After 15 years of bringing real people and their stories together to touch the lives of others, Chicken Soup for the Soul® has gone beyond the bookstore to become a world leader in life improvement. Chicken Soup for the Soul is home to the largest catalog of user-generated, life-changing stories. Through books, movies, DVDs, online resources and other partnerships it brings hope, courage, inspiration and love to hundreds of millions of people around the world. Chicken Soup for the Soul authors and readers belong to a one-of-a-kind global community that shares advice, support, guidance, comfort, and knowledge.

About the Company
Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC, publishes all the latest titles in the famous Chicken Soup for the Soul book series which are distributed through Simon and Schuster, Inc. Since 1993, books in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series have sold more than 112 million copies, with titles translated into more than 40 languages. Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing also licenses the right to use its famous trademark to high quality licensees through IMG, the world’s premier licensing agent. The company is currently implementing a plan to expand into all media, is working with TV networks on several TV shows and is developing a major Internet presence dedicated to life improvement, emotional support and inspiration. In 2007, USA Today named Chicken Soup for the Soul one of the five most memorable and impactful books in the last quarter century. For more information visit: http://www.chickensoup.com/.

Facts About The Reach of The Books

• Total retail sales of Chicken Soup for the Soul branded merchandise have topped $1.3 billion.
• The Chicken Soup for the Soul book series of over 200 titles has sold over 112 million copies, with titles translated into more than 40 languages.
• In 2008, Chicken Soup for the Soul became the best-selling trade paperback series in the history of publishing.
• Chicken Soup for the Soul is one of the world’s most well-known brands– 88.7% of the US public not only recognizes the Chicken Soup for the Soul brand, but knows what it is (source—Harris Polls).
• Chicken Soup for the Soul holds the world record for having the most titles on the New York Times bestseller list at one time.
• Chicken Soup for the Soul receives millions of monthly media impressions, with cross-promotion relationships in place with top media brands like King Features, Woman’s World, BeliefNet and others.
• Many of the world’s leading consumer brands have looked to Chicken Soup for the Soul for co-branding opportunities, including American Idol®, Coke®, NASCAR®, Marriott®, Campbell’s®, Arby’s®, Golf Digest® and others.
• Time Magazine called the Chicken Soup for the Soul series the “Publishing phenomenon of the decade.”
• In 2007, USA Today named Chicken Soup for the Soul one of the five most memorable and impactful books in the last quarter century.
• In 2008, Chicken Soup for the Soul and dick clark productions entered into an agreement to develop a television series based on the brand.

My Take On The Book
As a part of the award winning Chicken Soup for the Soul books, this book does a great job at continuing the tradition of great motivational and inspiring stories that readers have come to expect within these books.

What I loved about this book was that it shared the stories of real people who have gone through some very tough times and their stories were very inspirational. Although many of the stores were sad and hard to imagine, they still touched your heart as you usually find in these books. The one thing that was unique in this book though were the prayers that were shared after each story. I thought this was a great addition and added much to the stories themselves.

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All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site’sDisclaimer for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

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This article, which I wrote, was first published as Book Review: Crazy Things Parents Text by Stephen and Wayne Miltz on Blogcritics. But I liked the book so much, I contacted the author’s reps and we’re doing a giveaway on Daddy by Default. More about that at the end of the post.

Crazy Things Parents Text is a new book from Stephen and Wayne Miltz about the wonderful relationship between children, their parents, and technology. Wait, don’t stop reading yet, it’s not what you think. This book is actually funny. Very funny.

You won’t find any extreme graphics, pop-up dialogue boxes, high res pictures of cute babies, or disheveled parents trying to figure out a cell phone while changing diapers. What you will find are 352 pages filled with the craziest, most unbelievable text messages sent between kids and their parents, covering topics ranging from sports, school, the use of technology (or the parent’s lack thereof), and of course… sex!

The Gen-X generation will be the last whose parents don’t understand or use technology. Sure, some of our parents know their way around a computer, and all of them carry cell phones. But not many text on a regular basis, and even fewer understand the netiquette used on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. And that’s what makes Crazy Things Parents Text so funny.

The authors collected thousands of texts from parents, children, and online sources; culled through them for the most outrageous, and printed them for your viewing pleasure. Part of the book is dedicated to our clueless parents who try to keep up with the younger generation in regard to technology. They make an effort to interact in our lives, to understand our lingo, and in general — to be cool. Most times, they fail miserably and Crazy Things Parents Text captures those failures. Take this one, for example:

Mom: I saw your twat pic you posted, it was cute.
Daughter: What?
Mom: Isn’t that what you said pictures on Twitter were called?

Another part of the book is dedicated to those gems of wisdom our elders have been known to pass down through the generations. What was once rich oral tradition is now passed on through snippets of less than 140 characters, like this one:

From Mom:

Remember this very important thing, when you’re high, stop smoking. You won’t get any higher, you’ll just have less weed.

When I first picked up the book I thought it would take about 15 minutes to read and after that I’d never glance back at it again. I was so wrong.

Here’s what I experienced reading Crazy Things Parents Text (with annotations for our clueless parents):

The introduction had me LOL (laughing out loud). About 20 pages in I was BWL (bursting with laughter). A few more pages and I was FOMCL (falling off my chair laughing), and by the time I was done I had been ROTFLMAO (rolling on the floor laughing my ass off) for about 30 minutes.

Since reading it, I’ve quoted a few texts to family and friends, and now my wife has even picked up the book to read a few lines in her “spare” time (read as: on the toilet).

The book does include sensitive subject matter. It features stories about grandpas taking dumps, kids having sex, drugs, vaginas, penises (D=======8), and many curses. IMOHO (my own humble opinion), that just makes the book funnier, and more realistic.

If you want to experience some crazy dialogue between parents and their kids checkout the book, or head over to the authors’ website where you can submit your own crazy texts at www.crazythingsparentstext.com. You’ll find more texts like this:

Either way you go, Crazy Things Parents Text is sure to entertain, and fun for both the parents and the kids.

Now, for the really fun part. I’m giving away two copies of this book, one to each of two winners. The giveaway post with details will go live tomorrow, so make sure to check back. I’ll post a link here, and list it as a new blog post so you won’t miss it if you follow Daddy by Default on Twitter, Facebook, or RSS.

In the meantime, if you’d like to read a few more Reviews, visit the Product and Entertainment Review Page, and if you’ve experienced some pretty crazy texts from your parents (or kids) leave them in a comment below.

When it comes to reading, I can admit that I don’t do a lot of it. Other than blogs that I read, there is not a lot of literature in my life. It takes something special in a book for me to sit down with it, dig into it, and really immerse myself in it. There has to be that something special within its words to captivate my (sometimes intensely short) attention. Today, it is my pleasure to bring one of those books that has done just that. From cover to cover, “Fathermucker” by Greg Olear kept me digging on through, pounding the eyeball pavement wanting to read more. Please welcome this book as the first review and giveaway to come to the new blog. Let’s get going shall we?

About the Author
Greg Olear  is the senior editor over at The Nervous Breakdown, an online literary magazine, and is the author the novels “Totally Killer” (Harper, 2009) and the book in this review, “Fathermucker” (Harper, 2011). He also teaches fiction writing at Manhattanville College and has appeared in numerous other spots including The Rumpus, The Millions, Babble, Chronogram, and Hudson Valley Magazine. Greg lives with his family in New Paltz, NY.

“Fathermucker” Book Description
A day in the life of a dad on the brink: Josh Lansky—second-rate screenwriter, fledgling freelancer, and stay-at-home dad of two preschoolers—has held everything together while his wife is away on business . . . until this morning’s playdate, when he finds out through the mommy grapevine that she might be having an affair. What Josh needs is a break. He’s not going to get one.

My Take on “Fathermucker”
Let me start off with the writing style. It’s something I can only describe as one part novel, one part screen play, and one part script. The overall effect of this is nothing but 100% awesomeness. I have never read a novel written quite like this. From the chapters broken up into a timeline and the way the “scripts” come in out of play make the style of writing a hard one to just put down. I have to give Greg some major credit with this as it has just captivated my literary wonderment.

As for the content, let me lead you on and tease you with a selection from the first chapter of the book:

Good fathers combat the Seven Deadly Sins with the Seven Cardinal Virtues: humility, charity, kindness, patience, temperance,prudence, and, oh yes, chastity. Good fathers emulate good fathers of another kind, priestly, offering blessing and balm, repressingcarnal yearnings, sacrificing their own desires for the salvation of others.

That’s what good fathers do.

I strive to be a good father, but when your three-year-old daughter won’t stop kicking you, and your five-year-old son swats at you with his fork when you try to take away his Lego catalog, and the two of them come to blows over matters of great import, such as who gets to play with the Us Weekly magazine insert they found on the mildewy foor near the toilet, this can be a challenging — nay,an impossible — duty to uphold.

Which calls to mind another axiom of my austere and lonely office: Fatherhood is failure.

This book, witty, funny, and real, captures the embodiment of fatherhood in a mosaic of words and thoughts. Being a stay-at-home-dad in this day is not unusual thing, but it does have it’s points of chaos, tension, confused states, and flat out doubts. Greg does a great job in this book capturing all of the different parts of the role in one day of the life of Josh Lansky. Josh is a freelance writer and a SAHD. The token of male pride in a circle of moms at playgroup in New Paltz, New York. As if a rocky, dead stopped career and balancing two children, one with Asperger’s, wasn’t enough, this one day is about to take a turn for the worst.

Through the gossip vine of the playgroup, Josh learns that his wife may be having an affair while away on “business”. Through Josh Lansky’s voice in the novel Olear takes us down the many thoughts, raw emotions, worries, fears, and even those things that will piss a man off to his core, including what happens when being called “Mr. Mom”.

Personal opinion: This book is a must read, not just for stay-at-home dads, but for all dads. Through his own way of working with words, projecting raw imagery, and mastering the power of drawing out these emotions with words, Greg Olear has certainly created a masterpiece to take the typical mold of dad, and smash into a million pieces.

Giveaway Details


Thanks to the wonderful peeps at HarperCollinsPublishers, I am excited for the opportunity to host a giveaway and give one lucky reader the chance to win a copy of “Fathermucker” by Greg Olear. Being the first giveaway on the new blog, then we will make the entries easy. Here are the deets!

The giveaway will end on Thursday, November 3rd, at 11:59pm EST. 


Mandatory Entry – Comment below with why you would like to be the lucky winner of this giveaway. (hint) For a little more of what you are in store for, check out excerpts from the book on Amazon.


Additional Entries

• Tweet about the giveaway: “Oh Fathermucker! Just entered to win a copy of “Fathermucker” by Greg Olear from @TheDaddyYoDude – http://bit.ly/fathermucker ” *One tweet per day please*

• Take a look at the first chapter on Scribd, and comment with your favorite excerpt and what about it captured you the most.