Blogiversary Giveaway: Celebrating 13 years of Shaz's Book Blog

I can't believe another year has passed since I set up the blog 13 years ago (technically the anniversary is tomorrow but I've decided to host the giveaway today). Although I'm personally still on a bit of break from reviewing (I've decided I'm probably going to be on a break for the rest of the year and hoping to resume reading and reviewing in the new year), I'm still hosting regular reviews from Emma.

Normally I would host a couple of giveaways, a bundle of goodies as well as a Halloween themed bundle plus a giveaway from Emma for a £10 Amazon evoucher, but due to increased postage costs I've decided to combine them all into one. 

Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a bundle of Halloween themed goodies

As it's Halloween this week it seemed only fitting to include a Halloween themed giveaway as part of this year's blogiversary celebrations but as per usual it took me until the last minute to decide what to include.

In the end I settled on including a copy of Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie (Confession time I have never read an Agatha Christie book although have seen many of the Miss Marple and Poirot films adapted from her books).

When a Hallowe’en party turns deadly, it falls to Hercule Poirot to unmask a murderer…

During a night of party games, Joyce Reynolds boasts that she once witnessed a murder. No one believes her, but then she is found drowned, face down in an apple-bobbing tub.

Set against a night of trickery and the occult, Hercule Poirot and Ariadne Oliver must race to uncover the real evil responsible for this ghastly murder.

Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a bundle of Bookish goodies

I can't believe another year has flown by as it feels like only yesterday we were celebrating last year's blogiversary but here we are on the 12th anniversary of setting up Shaz's Book Blog! 

Sadly for me nothing much has changed in the last year and it's been very hit and miss on the review front and I've read nowhere near as many books as in years gone by. But thankfully Emma has been a trooper with her fantastic reviews, especially over the Summer months when I haven't reviewed anything, so at least there has been something to share on the blog. 

Despite my reading and blogging slump I couldn't let this occasion pass by without running a giveaway or two to celebrate, the first of which is for this bundle of goodies below. 

Emma's Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a £10 Amazon Voucher

Today's final blogiversary giveaway prize has been generously donated by Emma, the chance to win a £10 Amazon UK voucher.  

Even though my reading mojo has vanished, my wishlist hasn't and is increasing daily! There have been so many fab books published this year and I know I'd find it hard to narrow it down to which books to buy. What books are top of your wishlist? Add a comment to let me know although I might regret it if I add more onto mine 😉

Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a Spooky 👻 themed bundle

Over the years I have run a few Halloween themed giveaways so decided to include another one as part of this year's blogiversary celebrations but as always the hardest decision was what to buy to include in the prize bundle. 

I narrowed the book choices down to 2, The Whistling by Rebecca Netley and The Haunting Season, a short story collection featuring new and original tales from Bridget Collins, Imogen Hermes Gowar, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Andrew Michael Hurley, Elizabeth Macneal, Natasha Pulley and Laura Purcell. So to help me choose I ran a poll on Twitter and the winner was...  

Long before Charles Dickens and Henry James popularized the tradition, the shadowy nights of winter have been a time for people to gather together by the flicker of candlelight and experience the intoxicating thrill of a ghost story. 

Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a bundle of Bookish goodies

I know they say time flies as you get older but it doesn't really feel like a year ago since we celebrated the 10th anniversary of setting up this blog. But here we are, another year on and sadly it's been another up and down year for me personally but I'm now on some new medications so I'm hoping that my energy levels will start to improve so that I can get back into the swing of reading and blogging. 

Fortunately, Emma has been holding down the fort with her reviews as otherwise there wouldn't be much to post as I haven't even had the energy to organise guest features with authors but I'm hoping to start featuring guest content again in 2023.

I couldn't let this occasion go by without running a giveaway to celebrate, in fact there will be 3 over the next week. The first is for this bundle of goodies below. 

Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a copy of Afraid of the Shadows eBook (Short Story Collection)

When I saw this short story collection, Afraid of the Shadows, mentioned at a recent online book event I watched I knew that I wanted to include it as part of the blogiversary celebrations especially seeing as it's Halloween weekend and that the profits are being donated to charities. 

STORIES THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT

Crime fighting duo, Tilly and Poe solve a mystery from inside a pantomime horse in an exclusive short by Gold Dagger winner, M.W. Craven. A psychopath takes Trick or Treating a step too far. And a woman's dream of a quiet life is shattered by a knock on the door.

Afraid Of The Shadows is a collection of gripping- sometimes funny, always spooky- short stories from some of the biggest names in crime fiction.

From possessed sweaters to creepy wardrobes and disco shape shifters, there’s something for everyone in this Halloween bucket of short story goodies making it the perfect companion to snuggle up with as the nights draw in. Though be warned, you might want to leave the lights on...

Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a 'My Weekend is All Booked' Kindle Sleeve

The giveaways to celebrate 10 years of blogging are drawing to a close but I have to confess today's prize is one of my personal favourites, a Kindle Sleeve that I bought from NeedlesRiddles on Etsy. There were so many fantastic designs to choose from but in the end I settled with 'My Weekend is All Booked' as it seemed fitting as a bookish theme and I'm sure it's a sentiment that many of us can relate to... well I'm hoping so when my reading mojo finally returns so that I can catch up with the many fantastic books that I want to read 📚.

Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a copy of Strictly Murder (Whitstable Pearl Mysteries) by Julie Wassmer

Today I'm throwing a bonus giveaway for a copy of Strictly Murder, the latest book in the Whitstable Pearl Mystery series by Julie Wassmer. I've recently started watching the Whitstable Pearl series on Acorn TV so when I saw that the latest book in the series was on offer I decided to buy a copy as a extra giveaway prize. Although part of a series, each book can be read as a standalone so if you've not read any of the previous books it doesn't really matter although if you're anything like me you'll be tempted to get copies of the rest of the series to read as well! 

It really is murder on the dance floor. . .

Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a handmade Fabric Bookmark

I have previously purchased both bookish face masks and bookmarks from AmandaAtAmpersand and always get compliments whenever I wear/use them so decided to order another bookmark from her to give away as part of the blogiversary celebrations (I might have also ordered a few other items for Christmas as well 😉). 

All of her items come beautifully packaged so I haven't opened the Pages Print bookmark for this giveaway so have included the photo that Amanda has sent me. I think you'll agree with me that it's absolutely gorgeous and will be a perfect addition to any book 😍. If you'd like to see what other designs she has, check out her Etsy store here. 

Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a pair of Novelty Bookshelves Socks (Size 6-12)

When I was planning the 10th anniversary blog giveaways I wanted to try and find some quirky bookish items as potential prizes so when I saw these socks on eBay I immediately purchased them. But the moral of the story is never impulse buy when insomnia strikes as I was clearly still half-asleep and didn't read the listing fully or properly as when they arrived I discovered that they were mens, not unisex, socks 😳 so definitely too big for me or any of my friends who I could have given these to. 

But I decided not to waste them so decided to go ahead and run the giveaway anyway as I'm sure there might be a few followers out there who have bigger feet than me (I'm only a size 3.5/4) or have a friend/partner who would like to receive these as a novelty stocking filler present this Christmas! 

Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a Vintage Books Cushion Cover

When I was starting to plan the giveaways for the 10th anniversary of the blog I knew I wanted to try and find bookish gifts that were a little different so couldn't resist buying a pair of Vintage Books cushion covers that I found on eBay. 

But when they arrived I decided to keep one of them for myself as they're pretty big so one alone would be perfect on any reading chair. Photo below is cover with cushion insert on my sofa although I actually have mine on my desk chair whilst I'm working all day. 

Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a Halloween themed bundle of Goodies

Although I have had this Halloween themed giveaway bundle planned for a while I couldn't decide whether to run it this weekend for just a couple of days so that I could post to the winner in time for Halloween weekend, or whether to host the giveaway over the Halloween weekend which would mean that the prize wouldn't arrive until early November. So yesterday I ran a poll on Twitter to see what people thought and it was a close run thing but the end result was to run the giveaway today. 

Regulars who follow me on social media will have probably seen me post links or pictures of things that I've either bought or have added to my wishlist to buy at a later date. I'm always on the look out for small bookish items that would make great gifts for friends or potential future giveaway prizes. A couple of the items in this bundle have already been shared previously on Instagram and Twitter. 

Emma's Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a £10 Amazon Voucher donated by Emma

Today's giveaway prize has been generously donated by Emma, the chance to win a £10 Amazon UK voucher.  

If you're like me your wishlist is never ending, so what book(s) would you treat yourself to? 

Shaz's Book Blog is 10 today!

If you had asked me 10 years ago when I set up this blog would I still be blogging today I honestly don't think I would have believed it. When I set it up I had no idea what I was doing and didn't think anyone would be interested in reading anything I wrote and quite often at times I still feel that way!  

The last couple of years have definitely been quieter on the review front from me as I've struggled both physically and mentally with a few health issues as well as adapting to the new norm of staying safe in this pandemic world and working full-time from home. But one of the plus points of not being able to travel is the increase in book events going online meaning that I've been able to watch more events that I would have missed if they were in-person events. To be honest I'm still extremely wary of travelling and attending events so I'm not sure when I'll bite the bullet and make plans to travel. There's already a few scheduled for next year but I'm not going to make any decisions until nearer the time. 

One of the best things that has come out of setting up this blog is being welcomed into the book world with open arms. Some of the bloggers and fellow bookworms I first spoke to online have become close friends in real-life. On that note I need to do a shout hand to my right-hand woman on the blog Emma who has been a trooper again this year picking up the slack with reviews, despite having a busy teaching job herself. It's hard to believe that we have never met in person, due to Emma living in Ireland and me in England, but we have known each other online for what feels like a lifetime as we first met as part of an online forum before I even set up the blog. 

Shaz's Book Blog is 9 today 📚

I can't believe that it's that time of the year again especially when this year has been such a strange one but I couldn't let my blog anniversary go by without doing a giveaway to say thank you for all your support over the last 9 years. 

As you may have noticed I have been struggling with reading and blogging over the last year or so but thankfully the blogging and book community are always on hand for moral support, both in good times and the bad. And on that note I want to give a massive shout out to my blog sidekick Emma to thank her for her friendship over the years and for her fab reviews... she has single-handedly carried the blog over the last few months whilst my reading and blogging mojo has gone AWOL... if anyone knows where it is, can you send it back my way!  

In previous years I have run a number of giveaways between the anniversary date until Halloween but sadly this year I can't afford the cost of postage for multiple parcels so instead there will just be one combined giveaway for this bundle below. 

Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a metal Skeleton Bookmark

Today is the final day of this year's blogiversary celebrations and as it's also Halloween I could resist doing a giveaway for this cute metal Skeleton bookmark I bought from eBay.

Blogiversary Giveaway: Take your pick from a selection of Women's Fiction Books

Today it's time for the other TBR giveaway, the chance for the winner to select one of the books currently languishing in my review piles that realistically I'm unlikely to read anytime soon. If you missed Monday's giveaway post explaining what the TBR giveaways are about, you can read it here.

The broad genre I'm using today is Women's Fiction as I have a mixture of books that cover Contemporary fiction, Romantic Comedy, Romance or Saga and I think in the selection of books below these are widely covered. As mentioned previously these are either duplicate copies where I already have a proof copy or eBook to review or have been received out of the blue and I'm unlikely to be reading for review in the near future.

Blogiversary Giveaway: Win a 'Designated Reader' slogan tote bag

The tote bag giveaways always prove popular so I couldn't do these blogiversary celebrations without doing a giveaway for another one.

I recently ran a poll on Twitter with a choice of 4 options as have been buying tote bags whenever I see them in the sale and the resounding winner with 54% of the vote was this Designated Reader tote from Gibbs Smith.   

Blogiversary Giveaway: Take your pick from a selection of Crime/Thriller Books

You've heard the saying 'So Many Books, So Little Time' but sadly for me at the moment that is so true as looking at my current TBR piles it's made me realistically think about what I can actually read versus what I would like to read... I would like to read every single book but realistically it's just not possible!

So I've decided to run a couple of giveaways this week, as part of the blogiversary celebrations, offering someone the chance to win one of a selection of books that is either a duplicate (I already have proof copy or eBook) or has been received unsolicited from a publisher.  I've decided to split this into genres so today's books of choice are Crime or Thrillers.