It's National Give A Friend A Book Day!

August 31st is National 
Give A Friend A Book Day! 

To celebrate, we're giving you books to give away. To enter, either share this post on Facebook or Twitter, or leave a comment telling us to whom you will give the book if you win. Remember to use the hashtag #giveabook and tell them the authors at Mystery Lovers Kitchen are all in favor! We're giving away eight books to eight people, so be sure to enter!

The books we are giving away today!

Share your love of books!

From Daryl aka Avery:

I love books. I love giving books. I love finding a book in my Christmas stocking. I remember sharing books with my mother, way back when. In fact, she gave me my first "set" of books, the Nancy Drew Collection. That's when I fell in love with reading.

So, in hopes that one of you will "fall in love with reading" all over again, and give a friend/family/whomever the chance to fall in love, too, I'll give the first in the Cookbook Nook Mystery series, FINAL SENTENCE, to a friendly reader who shares a book!

What's Final Sentence about?  In need of a change, Jenna Hart leaves the high-pressure world of advertising to help her aunt Vera open a culinary bookshop and café. Back with her family in Crystal Cove, California, Jenna seems to have all the right ingredients for a fresh start—until someone adds a dash of murder.

And give your reader a recipe for a tasty treat, like PIRATE BOOTY FUDGE a recipe from my latest, FUDGING THE BOOKS.

From Victoria aka Mary Jane:

I love giving and receiving books! Books are the gift of choice at Christmas and birthdays around here and there's so much pleasure in picking the right book for someone you care about.

Right now I am enjoying a gift from my friend, Lexa: The Golden Age of Murder, by Martin Edwards (also a friend).  This is a great research read for our book collector mysteries and so it will be a gift that keeps on giving.

Speaking of, I'm offering The Christie Curse, the first of the book collector mysteries.  Jordan Bingham, assistant to the curmudgeonly book collector, Vera Van Alst (the most hated woman in Harrison Falls, N.Y.) is tasked with finding an unpublished play by Agatha Christie. No one mentioned that her predecessor died on the same mission.



You might want to enjoy a slice of chocolate-gingerbread loaf  Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf with your friend too.






From Cleo Coyle:

Once upon a time...four simple words that open up worlds of wonder for all of us. And what a beautiful gift to give a friend—a trip to a world you've enjoyed.

My husband and I have been writing the world of The Coffeehouse Mysteries for more than ten years now.

Once Upon a Grind is the 14th in our series, and we are delighted to offer this signed paperback edition (newly released this week!) to help you celebrate this day of giving the gift of stories.




TOTE BAG CONTEST HERE.


For a chance to win this TOTE BAG and a second chance to win a signed copy of Once Upon a Grind, be sure to stop by my How to Make a Better No Churn Ice Cream blog post and enter my Tote Bag and Book Giveaway. Good luck to you and may you always read with joy!

From Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib)

Books, books, books, I'm addicted and I freely admit it! And books are my favorite go-to gift--novels for Christmas and birthdays, cookbooks for newly-weds, and memoirs and mysteries and women's fiction for me:).

I'd be happy to have someone share their love of books with a friend, by offering AN APPETITE FOR MURDER, book one in the Key West food critic mysteries. From the Richmond Times Dispatch: "Burdette laces "An Appetite for Murder" with a clever plot, a determined if occasionally ditzy heroine and a wealth of local color about Key West and its inhabitants. You'll eat it up."

From Leslie Budewitz:

From Dr. Seuss, the Happy Hollisters, the Bobbsey Twins, and Nancy Drew to the Cowgirl Chef and A Lady's Ranch Life in Montana (first published in 1887!), I've been given books all my life -- and do my best to return the favor at every chance.

And I think most readers feel that way -- we love a book, we want to share it. So you can do the same, I'm offering a signed copy of BUTTER OFF DEAD, the third book in the Food Lovers' Village Mysteries, featuring Erin Murphy and the first annual Food Lovers' Film Festival, in the village of Jewel Bay, Montana. The Billings Outpost says: "A tasty treat. ... The character development is top notch, and Erin is a truly likable heroine."

Pair the book with a batch of Jewel Bay Critter Crunch, and you'll have a friend for life!

From Peg Cochran:

  

I am a huge book lover (and have the crowded book shelves to prove it) but oddly enough people rarely give me books.  I do remember my godmother giving me a book when I was a 'tween--I don't remember the name but it starred Barbie if you can imagine that! My mother gave me a book on entertaining in style when I was a newlywed and my husband gave me (at my request) the latest P.D. James for Christmas--I spent the whole day after Christmas curled up on the couch reading!  So that you can give a book to a friend, I'm giving away Berried Secrets, the first book in my new Cranberry Cove series.

Reading a book while eating a sweet treat is the perfect way to relax!

Pair a good book with some

homemade ice cream

From Sheila Connolly:

If ever you don't hear from me for a week or more, it's probably because my endless collection of books has fallen down and buried me (but what a way to go!). I can't remember  not being able to read. One of my earliest memories is waking up one morning and finding that someone had mysteriously left a copy of Harold and the Purple Crayon next to my bed, probably around the time it was first published. I can't tell you who got me started on the Nancy Drew series, but at one point I had at least twenty of them, all purchased with my own allowance--that's probably where my love of series started.

The latest book in the Orchard Mysteries, A Gala Event, will be released next month. But I like to read series in order, so I'm offering a signed copy of the first book, One Bad Apple.

And of course you should enjoy it with one of my all-time favorite recipes, for Apple Cake. In fact, it's the first recipe I ever posted here on MLK, and it's still one I go to all the time!






From Krista Davis:

Would you believe that I still have some the children's books that I read as a child? Does anyone else remember FOUR LITTLE KITTENS? I actually bought a reprint of it because I loved it so much. What books do you cherish that you would swoop up if you could find them?

The powers at Berkley Prime Crime have moved the release of MURDER MOST HOWL from December to (drum roll, please!) November 24th! Since I don't have a copy to give away yet, I'm offering THE DIVA STEALS A CHOCOLATE KISS, which may have my prettiest cover ever!








For a little nosh while you read, I recommend my favorite Autumn Spice Cupcakes, made with applesauce and topped with Caramel Frosting. You don't have to make them with lion faces like you'll see on the recipe page. In the photo below, they're mini-cupcakes. Barely a bite, which means no guilt!

Happy National Give A Friend a Book Day from all of us at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen! 

To whom are you giving a book today?