What Happened to My Sister by Elizabeth Flock from Paperback Swap
Amy:
Buying In by Laura Hemphill, won from Debutante Ball
Twisted Sisters by Jen Lancaster from Penguin (Berkley)
Jami:
Second Star to the Right by/from Mary Alice Monroe (e-book)
Becky:
It Felt Like a Kiss by Sarra Manning from Corgi
Just for Christmas by Scarlett Bailey from Ebury Publishing
Take a Look at Me Now by Miranda Dickinson from Avon
The Forever of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorenson from Little, Brown
How to Fall in Love by Cecelia Ahern from HarperCollins UK
Finding It by Cora Carmack from Ebury Press
What could be in YOUR mail:
Ava Lancet has lost her job, her marriage, and her baby when she discovers she has inherited her grandmother’s dilapidated farmhouse in a tiny village in central Greece. With the kind of emotional impulsiveness that has frustrated her stony-faced husband for years, she decides to move there and recover from life’s sorrows. It only takes a few minutes in her new home to realize just what a dump it is, and how ridiculously rash her decision was. Yet Ava perseveres, and thanks to her grandmother’s legacy, is welcomed into the village... as well as by handsome widower Andreas Lethikos.
When an elderly woman in the village mistakes Ava for her grandmother, telling her, with tears trickling down her face, that she is so sorry, Ava is both touched and intrigued. What is the woman sorry for, and what secrets did her grandmother keep? With the help of a local schoolteacher who is interviewing the remaining Second World War survivors in central Greece, Ava discovers the surprising threads of her grandmother’s life... and they help to weave her own life back together.
In 1942, in Italian and Nazi-occupied Greece, Ava’s grandmother Sophia Paranoussis is fighting to keep her family, and especially her impulsive sister Angelika, safe. When she is approached by a stranger to help with the local Resistance, she longs to refuse, yet a sense of both duty and honor compel her to agree. Frightened and yet with growing courage, Sophia begins to aid twelve British SOEs who have parachuted into Greece to blow up the Gorgopotamos viaduct--and falls in impossible love with one of them.
Spanning three generations and exploring the lives of two very different and yet surprisingly similar women, The Other Side of The Bridge will remind you how a fragile hope can spring from both tragedy and despair. Written by USA Today bestselling author Kate Hewitt, writing as Katharine Swartz. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)
How to win:
Find and share an interesting fact about any holiday that is celebrated in a culture different than your own. Ex: A holiday that is celebrated in another country that is not celebrated where you live or a holiday celebrated by a religion that you do not practice. (Or about a way that a different culture celebrates the same holiday as you. Ex: How Christmas might be celebrated in a different country.)
One entry per person.
Please include your e-mail address or another way to reach you if you win. Entries without contact information will NOT be counted.
Worldwide. Giveaway ends November 26th at midnight EST.
My grandparents lived in France, on the German border so we often spent christmas there. On christmas morning, instead of a stocking, there was a huge plate of fruits, nuts and candy.... Featuring clementines.
ReplyDeleteI try to do that here but my kids think it is boring!
pascale.poitras@verizon.net
I always think it's cute how in England they call Santa Claus 'Father Christmas'. I love it!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
-Jessica M
walkingcorpse11@hotmail.com
My family celebrates Christmas but my parents celebrate Hanukkah. My mother converted when she married my step-father. So, I have learned a little bit there. But, we still do Christmas day when me and my husband will go visit them. I looked up Christmas traditions in Hungary (since that is my heritage). I found this interesting fact. Children are given gifts twice during the season. The first time is on Dec 6, the day of St Nicholas. The second is on Christmas Eve. The children are told angels or baby Jesus brought the gifts. Here's the link if anyone is interested in reading it:
ReplyDeletehttp://goeasteurope.about.com/od/hungary/a/hungarychristmastraditions.htm
I would love to travel to a different country and see first hand how the holidays are celebrated in different places.
kinini01@hotmail.com
I live in Paris but some of my family live in the South of France and in Provence, the tradition for Christmas is to present 13 (!) desserts at the end of Christmas dinner on the 24th December. It is a christian symbol that represents Jesus and his twelve apostles. Some of those desserts are very simple like dry fruits so do not get too impressed imagining 13 huge French pastries with cream and chocolate!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for organising this giveaway and open it internationally.
cyrano123(at)live(dot)fr
In Italy, One of the most important ways of celebrating Christmas in Italy is the Nativity crib scene. Cribs are traditionally put out on the 8th December. But the figure of the baby Jesus isn't put into the crib until the evening/night of December 24th!
ReplyDeletesparkle40175@hotmail.com
Boxing Day is celebrated in England.
ReplyDeletemauback55 at gmail dot com
I learned that in Sweden, on the morning of December 13, boys dress up as star boys in long white shirts and pointed hats and carry star wands.
ReplyDeletejentam777 at gmail dot com
The Russian Santa Claus is named Ded Moroz, or Father Frost.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
St. Nicholas' day is on the 6th December, but in Holland, the major celebrations are held on the 5th December. The name Santa Claus comes from the name Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas puts the presents in wooden shoes the children have left out.
ReplyDeletelittleone AT shaw DoT ca
In Germany, people put real candles on their Christmas trees
ReplyDeletesendsusanmail at gmail dot com
Thanks for sharing these interesting holiday traditions with us!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Katharine Swartz for sharing her book with our readers.
Random.org chose THREE winners from all entries with contact info (one entry per person).
Congrats to:
1-Pascale
6-Melanie Backus
9-PoCoKat
Congratulations, Ladies! Enjoy!
ReplyDelete