Raven Stole the Moon (& 2 book giveaway)!

Mar 03

Raven Stole the Moon (& 2 book giveaway)!

By Stephanie book reviews, giveaway Add comments

Hello there and welcome to Stephanie's Written Word! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.

When I first heard about Raven Stole the Moon by Garth Stein, I thought it was a new book by the author of one of my favorite books, The Art of Racing in the Rain (which I reviewed last year). In fact, Raven Stole the Moon was the author’s first book, written in the late 90’s, and is now being re-released by Harper Collins.

The story is about grief stricken Jenna, a woman living in Seattle with her husband Robert. Her marriage and life has fallen to pieces after the drowning death of her son two years prior at an Alaskan resort.

On a whim, even though Jenna has resolved never to step back on Alaskan soil, she hops on a boat and goes to the town of Wrangell Alaska, where her long dead grandmother used to live. She isn’t sure why she feels drawn back to Alaska, but hopes that the trip will help her resolve her grief and allow her to move forward with her life. What she doesn’t expect are the strange occurrences that have been happening to her since arriving up North. Between thumps in the attic, feeling like she is being watched while in the shower and being chased by some strange man while hiking through the woods, Jenna is starting to feel freaked out. After befriending a dog she names Oscar and renting a room from local fisherman Eddie, Jenna starts to find out about Tlingit Indian legend and the mysterious, menacing shape-changing spirits the Kushtaka and thinks that her sons death maybe wasn’t as accidental as she thought. With help from Eddie and a local Tlingit shaman Jenna tries to find out the truth about her son and in doing so attempt puts the pieces of her life back together.

Raven Stole the Moon is a totally different book that Stein’s most recent bestseller and I think it’s a hard one to categorize. With a bit of family drama, some fantasy thrown (with lots of mystical Native American legend stories) and some really spine-tingling creepy parts, Raven Stole the Moon was a completely engrossing read. Even though it’s not at all what I expected, I was pleasantly surprised to find such a cohesive story about a mother’s anguish and her quest for answers. Stein has the gift of being a sharp-edged story teller, weaving a haunting story of Tlingit theology and human emotions. Add the parts that were a bit hair-raising and you have one interesting read. In fact, the eerie elements were reminicent of one of my favorite reads from a few years ago, The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly (you can read my review here).

All in all, I would highly recommend Raven Stole the Moon if you are in the mood for the type of book that will suck you in and won’t let you go. Raven Stole the Moon will be out in paperback on March 9th. Thank you Terra Communications for sending me a copy of the book for review.

Now for the giveaway!

I have one copy of Raven Stole the Moon and one copy of The Art of Racing in the Rain up for grabs! For a chance to win, just leave a comment on this post (with a valid e-mail address) telling me which book you would most like to win. For an extra entry, tweet about this giveaway – @SWrittenWord is giving away 2 Garth Stein books! Check it out here: http://tinyurl.com/ylz6h9l.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only. You have until Thursday, March 11th @ 12 noon EST time to win. I will then e-mail the winners directly. Good luck!

26 Comments

At 2010.03.03 21:20, Katie J said:

Tough choice Stephanie, but I think I’ll go for The Art of Racing in the Rain.

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At 2010.03.03 21:37, Lisa said:

Thanks for another great review! I’d like to give Raven Stole the Moon a shot.

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At 2010.03.03 21:50, Susan said:

Stephanie, I’ve just started reading this book. It’s good to know that you found it engrossing.

I’d love to win The Art of Racing in the Rain, which I have not read.

suko95(at)gmail(dot)com

Thanks!

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At 2010.03.03 22:23, Bookfool, aka Nancy said:

I just came here to read the review and now I want to read the book! So, sign me up for Raven Stole the Moon. I love books set in Alaska. My son’s former swim coach is from the Tlingit/Haida region (and he’s a native Alaskan), so that gives me extra incentive to read to learn more.

bookfoolery at gmail dot com

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At 2010.03.03 22:48, Sandy said:

I did really enjoy The Art of Racing in the Rain, although it was pretty predictable and still made me cry like a fool! This book sounds like it has something for everyone…I’d love to read it!

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At 2010.03.04 08:49, Andi said:

I’m hosting a Raven giveaway, too, so I needn’t be in the drawing. I had much the same reaction you did. Was totally surprised and engrossed by this book, and I LOVED the creepy. I think the Book of Lost Things is a good comparison.

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At 2010.03.04 08:56, Jeane said:

Wow, those look like such good books, I want to read them both! But I think I’d like The Art of Racing in the Rain more, so please enter me for that one.

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At 2010.03.04 09:37, Julie said:

I’d love both of these books. I thought it was a new book too until I looked at amazon.com. It sounds like a great book. I love it when books are hard to categorize.

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At 2010.03.04 14:24, Kate said:

I loved The Art of Racing in the Rain, so I’d like a chance to read Raven Stole the Moon. Thanks for the giveaway!!

tweet: http://twitter.com/kpic724/status/9986818008

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At 2010.03.04 14:28, carollee kidd said:

The art of Racing in the Rain – but both look so good. Whatever you choose if I won would be perfect.

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At 2010.03.04 14:34, OutnumberedMama said:

Raven Stole the Moon looks like a good read! Would love to have it!

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At 2010.03.04 14:40, Gina said:

Hmm…I would definitely go for THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN. I’ve heard many great things about this particular title…would love a chance to discover it for myself.

Thanks for the great contest! Happy reading!

grgenius(at)gmail(dot)com

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At 2010.03.04 14:46, Lu said:

Man, I loved The Art of Racing in the Rain and I heard an interview with Garth Stein on Book Lust with Nancy Pearl and it made me love it even more. The interview was awesome. The story about how Garth Stein got the book published is pretty great. He had one agent with Raven Stole the Moon and when he wrote The Art of Racing in the Rain, his agent told him he couldn’t sell a book narrated by a dog. So Stein left his agent instead of shelving TAoRitR and got rejection after rejection, until one day he was at a library event with a bunch of other authors and was telling his story to the other authors. This one author leaned over and said, “You should talk to my agent, I wrote a book narrated by a bird!” And now that agent represents Garth Stein and I bet his other agent is kicking himself. Anyway, sorry for that long story, I thought it was cute

I would like to win Raven Stole the Moon because I haven’t read it yet. Thanks so much for this giveaway!

Plus a tweet! http://twitter.com/lulu_bella/status/9987455666

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At 2010.03.04 15:09, Lisa said:

I’ve read The Art of Racing In The Rain and enjoyed it. So I’d love to get my hands on Raven Stole The Moon so I can see what else Stein is capable of.

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At 2010.03.04 15:12, Lee said:

I read The Art of Racing In The Rain not too long ago, I wasn’t aware of another book by this author, thanks for the review. Raven Stole the Moon will be on my TBR list now.

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At 2010.03.04 16:04, Donna said:

Would love to win Raven Stole the Moon!

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At 2010.03.04 19:56, Jennifer @ Mrs.Q: Book Addict said:

I would love to win Raven Stole the Moon. Happy Reading!

quirion (@) me.com

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At 2010.03.04 20:24, J.T. Oldfield said:

I’d love to win Raven Stole the Moon, because I love to read local writers (he’s from Seattle), but I hate dogs, so I have avoided Art of Racing in the Rain at all costs.

Thanks for the chance to win!

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At 2010.03.05 10:54, Sue said:

I’d love to enter for Raven Stole the Moon. I’m not a dog person, but I loved The Art of Racing in the Rain! Thank you for the giveaway.

s.mickelson at gmail dot com

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At 2010.03.05 12:55, the little reader said:

i’ve been meaning to read The Art of Racing in the Rain for a while now, so please sign me up for that one!

thelittlereader (at) gmail (dot) com

and tweeted: http://twitter.com/thelittlereader/statuses/10034779079

thanks!

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At 2010.03.05 18:48, (Hillary) LibraryLove said:

Stephanie, hi! I just saw your blog on Planet Books. I’m about 100 pages from the end and the action just doesn’t quit! I’m really enjoying Raven Stole The Moon. It’s QUITE a departure from Enzo’s tale/tail (hehe) but I love that. I hope to meet Garth Stein one day and ask him about how he gets inspired

Looking forward to checking out your beautiful blog and getting inspired from your reviews

Xoxo,
LibraryLove (Hillary)

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At 2010.03.05 18:59, Katy said:

I’d love to win a copy of The Art of Racing in the Rain.

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At 2010.03.05 19:16, Linda Kish said:

Either would be wonderful. I will say The Art of Racing in the Rain since I have to choose.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

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At 2010.03.05 23:55, Mary S said:

I’d love to win The Art of Racing in the Rain. info(at)mybookbuds(dot)com
I will also tweet this @mybookbuds

Thanks!

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At 2010.03.09 04:51, Sarah E said:

Please enter me to win Raven Stole the Moon!

I tweeted: https://twitter.com/saemmerson/status/10214164511

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At 2010.03.11 12:48, TW said:

Raven would be my choice as I have a copy of the Art of Racing in the Rain (and I’m not loaning it out!)….Enzo’s story was my very favoritest book last year!

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