Free books for bloggers/ PaperBackSwap

Do you love to read? And love to write reviews? Well...here are several great ways to get entirely
 FREE Christian books for yourself! (of course writing a 200 word review isn't work!)

Naturally, these are Christian books written in 2011/2012, so they don't have the deep content of books written decades ago. Often the doctrine is wrong. But I have happened across several good books anyhow!

Books I received for FREE from January to March 2012!
5 of these were worth keeping; pretty good for free. :)

BookSneeze, the first program for which I signed up, has proved to be the easiest and best still:

(BOOKSNEEZE)

Christian books published by Thomas Nelson publishers.

Bloggers get free books- signing up is very easy; you give your blog address where you will be posting the reviews. This is the easiest site to request books on, as well as to send in your review since you just post the links to your review on their website....and they have had a large variety of not only e-book, but also print books available in the past! I have enjoyed and kept most of the books which I chose from them. 

(BLOGGING FOR BOOKS)
Another site of Christian books. Set up is simple, as well. As is the process of entering your review links, and requesting your next book.


My second-favorite company is: 

BOOK CRASH

Christian books from small companies- I have received over four books through them, so it's safe, although it's not as professional as the other companies.  When you sign up, you have to wait for an email, and to request a book, just visit their page of available books (link provided in an email they send you) and click on the request button under the book you desire to review: this will open up an email to send to them; make sure you include your mailing address. 

(click on icon above)
TYNDALE PUBLISHERS (Christian books- system works through your email: you sign up, they decide if you qualify, then they send you names of books available through email. Pretty good, although there aren't many books available.)

BETHANY HOUSE BOOK REVIEWERS program
My least favorite program, this one is pretty simple as well, although I haven't cared much for their books. They always notify through emails....so make sure you check your email if you want to know about books! They will also send you an email when you request a book, and they will tell you where to send your review....

New Leaf publishing
Books from Answers In Genesis, and more, this program looks exciting to me. I look forward to requesting good books from them.
The company has to make the decision before letting you join.....But it's worth a try!

LASTLY....what do you do with these books if you DON'T want to keep them after reading them? Why....SWAP them, of course! :) You are not allowed to sell the books you received in exchange for a review, but definitely suggest swapping through this fantastic program: PaperbackSwap!

Signing up:
When you sign up, through the below link, they will ask you on the page if anyone referred you. I would be SO happy if you would say I referred you! (my name on the site is ''Mazzou'')
 THANKS A BUNCH.


More about the site....
You simply join, just start listing books you have which are in good condition, and when a book is requested from you, you package the book and pay for its shipping. When the book is received by the other member, you will get a credit (1 credit per book!) to use to request any book off the site for YOURSELF! :)
As a special incentive, when you list 10 books, the company automatically gives you 2 credits as a gift.  And the referral system gives you 1 credit every time a friend lists 10 books.
I must admit that not all your favorite books will be available immediately. However, each person gets to add as many as 200 books to their wishlist which will enable you to keep in line as you wait for your desired book to be posted by another member. (I am sure this sometimes takes years....but oh well! I am grateful for the wishlist system.) I actually have received a couple books already from my wishlist!

Book quality:
 I have, so far, received over 4 great books in like-new condition! Very exciting. (if you do not want any books worse than ''new'' condition, you can specify that on your paperbackswap club account!) You can swap books which are in good condition, or newer. There is even a forum on the site for swapping damaged books.

My success story:
In fact, two like-new Christian historical fiction books which I recently received I would have paid over $12.00 each if I had purchased them from the company we usually do....through PaperBackSwap I ended up paying only $3.17 for both!(where do I get this $3.17? from the cost it sent me to mail out 2 books previously in order to obtain the 2 credits to spend on these two books I requested!) See what I mean....it's great!

Choosing books to swap:
Note: If you don't have books in your home which you want to get rid of on PaperBackSwap, you can always purchase books from your thrift shop, library, etc. I suggest you look out for lightweight books, so you can spend less for your credit. Also, you might want to contemplate which books are highly desired in the club....you can find this out, and more, on the site!

Comment on this post if you have any questions, or if you already use PaperBackSwap!

Photos: Tamburitzans show part 2

As promised.... more pictures from the Tamburitzans show I mentioned in a previous post:
One of the best shows! The second half was especially colorful, as you will see in the following pictures! I had SO much fun taking pictures. :) I was torn between my desire to just WATCH, and my wish to keep clicking pictures! So I did both. :) I especially like photographing dances which we have seen in the past because I know when the most amazing parts of the dance come; and whether I should attempt to take pictures or not at those great times!
For this final half of the show, there were vibrant dances from Russia, Ukraine, Slovak gypsies, Roma (Romanian gypsies-yay!), Romania, and Bulgaria! There were also beautiful pieces of music and song, but since I can't share the sounds of them with you, I'll focus on pictures of the dances...

Duquesne University Tamburitzans 75th season show part 2:
Russian dance: ''Summer'' (made famous by Moiseyev dance ensemble)

Alot of Ukrainian performers in the Tamburitzans group this year; the main dancers Natalia and Vassili are Ukrainian which was very fitting. :)

And the dance begins! I love the way it starts slowly....but reaches a beautiful climax!

My camera is not quick enough to catch the amazing athletics! But I love these. :)

This is definitely a favorite dance, and the Tamburitzans did a marvelous job with it! One of the best renditions.)

Here....is the Moiseyev dance group doing the same dance (Summer), and I want you to watch one of the best climaxes ever in a dance! Start at 4:00 on this video of the Moiseyev Ballet company!(You can watch all of it, if you like- but specifically 4:00 onwards. :) LOVE it!)

(''Summer'' dance performed by Moiseyev dance company)

I also found this: start at 4:57!  :)

That is the same ''climax'' that I'm talking about!

(The whole thing looks pretty neat, but I might lose you if you start watching it from the beginning- it's 7 minutes long!)

Oh- and girls only (on account of short skirt): watch from 6:35 to 6:45....isn't that what you've always wanted to do?

Some twirling!!! :)

Anyway....that's the same dance the Tammies did. :)

The Tamburitzans ''doing the climax''!!! YAY!

Some dancers (Denitsa Tuneva in front)watching a soloist twirl across the stage (like in movie, if you watched far enough)

The Tammies were, in a way BETTER than the Moiseyev ballet company, since they added a whole part to the dance with AMAZING men's acrobatics. :) yay!

OH! The ending is fabulous, as well! (make sure you watch it on video above!) The Tamburitzans did it JUST as great-ly as the Moiseyev company! So thrilling.

Triumphant ending

Nikola Vranjasevic

This was a fun piece with all men playing instruments and each would hand his instrument to another while he ''showed off'' with amazing dance steps (gypsy), and then switch so another could show his talents! Good stuff. :)

Alex Cartwright, accordionist

The all-girls dance was a combination of sweetness and playfulness: Laundry girls from Ukraine! Plenty of beautiful twirling, which Ukrainians are talented at! (Note:the Tamburitzans would have presented this dance even if they didn't happen to have a lot of Ukrainian girls as performers, but this year they just happened to, so the dance looked especially good. I mean....Bulgarian girls can do it, but it just wouldn't look the same!:))

Ukrainian laundry girls:Natalia Tarasiuk, Natalka Karaman, Irena Goudimiak....

Another dance in the show:

A Slovak Gypsy dance called ''Dance of the Violins''!  A very pretty dance, half traditional, half stylized, with the movements based on the motions of playing a violin.....a beautiful choreographed dance, and the costumes were a girls' dream! (well....mine at least ;))

Although I could not get any clear pictures, I think the blurry-ness just adds to the colorful ''gypsy'' feel, don't you?

Look at the girl on the left:isn't that pretty, with it being all fuzzy, and she's looking down, and her toes are pointed, and the color of red is so lovely....

The end (note the position of their arms, as if they were playing violin....very neat! Oh, and it's fun because they all dance so well, but each has her unique style! Note: every dancer was Ukrainian! They've never had so many Ukrainian solo dancers before!:))

NEXT....pictures from the ROMA dances! Yay! The Romanian gypsy dances are more sophisticated than what you might be imagining from seeing Russian, Slovakian or even Spanish gypsy dances, and with just enough fun gypsy stuff to make you LOVE watching it. (seriously, they are good dances)

We specifically enjoy watching the men's solos, with their amazing footwork, stamping and clapping.

(a tiny note to friends: if you ever wonder what my brother is trying to be when he's clapping and stamping at our dance practices-specifically during the Virginia Reel- it's a gypsy. Just thought I'd tell you. :)

And it's a worthy endeavor, I assure you!)

Romanian gypsies couples dance

Ahh....vibrancy!!!

We also always enjoy the Greek bouzouki music and songs:

Andrew Dorfner playing bouzoukee

Nikola Vranjasevic playing bouzoukee

And now...drum roll....the best costumed dance of the show! We LOVE these colours! The women's outfit is spectacular. :)
This is a Romanian dance, and every picture I am going to show you from it is a favorite! (I was particularly able to snap good pictures of the beginning of this dance because it is very elegant and slow, and because I had already seen a previous rendition of it, so I was prepared. :))

LOVE this scene!

The dance speeds up!

You think this women's costume can't get any better.....but then they turn and you see that there's a golden butterfly embroidered on the backs of the vests! Amazing! :)

The beautiful Natalka Karaman!

Surprisingly....that dance wasn't the finale of the evening. There was more music, and a sweet Jewish song/dance, before the exciting finale dance!

Freshmen Tammies

....That finale dance was a Bulgarian Shope dance!!! Very intense, energetic, and exciting:

The men

The girls coming forward

Everyone dancing together

Waving goodbye until another year!

The Tamburitzans were very busy that night: they drove in just to perform for us in Illinois, then straightways after had to drive back to Pittsburgh PA to perform the following day! Thank you!

(although the Tammies were rushed to leave, we managed to continue our ''picture with a Tammie'' tradition. Happily, that Tammie happened to be Nick Jovonovich, a great family favorite!

From left to right:Nikola, Élodie, Sam, Nick, Marjo/Alexandre, Jessie/Valérie, and in front: Katia and Laura-Lise.

Good memories of a delightful event. :)

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures, and were inspired!!!

See even more pictures from this show here in my facebook album!

Before you leave, I want to assure you:

you NEED to see this show. You will NOT be disappointed. The way they present their show is priceless. The costumes, music, choreographies are both authentic and beautifully arranged.

(note to my conservative friends: this show is wonderful for the whole family! I can not say that about every single show, but this season was perfect for all of your family to watch and ENJOY! And I will give you a heads up when their new season begins....and whether I think it is entirely ''family friendly'' or not. :) )

Although the group is finishing its performance routine this season, you can still catch a show!

If you are in Pittsburgh PA, Williamsport PA, or New York City NY: You still have time to catch a show before the Tamburitzans finish their 75th season!
http://www.duq.edu/tamburitzans/sch_03mar.cfm (click that)

If you are in Paramus NJ, McHenry MD, Allentown PA, Euclid OH, you can still see the group in April!
click here: http://www.duq.edu/tamburitzans/sch_04apr.cfm

And I'll post again when the Tamburitzans announce the 76th season show, and give you a ''preview'' of what the show will be like.....:) I hope many of you will go enjoy this group this season or next!