WIN an ARC of THE CABINET OF EARTHS!!
The contest has ended and the winner notified! Thanks for playing.
The Cabinet of Earths is a fantastic middle-grade novel from debut author Anne Nesbet. It’s coming from HarperCollins Childrens on January 3rd, and it’s beautifully written and compelling, with a terrific girl protagonist, Maya.
You can win an ARC–an advanced reader copy–of the book and read it before everybody else!
All you have to do to enter is pick a number between 1 and 256 and post it in the comments. I’ll respond with a line from that page in the book. When we’re all done (12:00 mid-day on Thursday), I’ll do a random number generator thingy and that person will be the winner. Be sure to include your email when you leave your comment so I can contact you if you win.
Come back and read all the comments, and you’ll get some awesome sneak peeks of this wonderful book!
[Oh, and if two (or more!) people pick the same page, that’s fine–if that page number is the winner, I’ll just do another random generator thingie for that page.]
Guys, I LOVED this book! Don’t believe me? Here’s the back cover:
And, so you can see what I’m talking about, a close-up of a line on the back cover:
Here’s the flap copy:
To protect her baby brother James, 13-year-old Maya has to take on the magical underworld of Paris, in which houses have bronze salamanders for door handles, the most beautiful people are all hooked on the sweet-smelling “anbar,” and a shimmering glass Cabinet of Earths has chosen Maya to be its next keeper.
Good luck!
10/04/2011 at 8:33 am
Ooh, that looks fabulous! I’ll pick 222.
10/04/2011 at 8:38 am
Steph, it is sooooo good! And now a line from page 222:
“Be really, really quiet,” said Maya into her brother’s ear.
10/04/2011 at 8:38 am
This sounds fantastic! Will the book be published in the UK too do we know? @LizUK on Twitter.
And randomly, I choose, page 33.
10/04/2011 at 8:43 am
Liz, I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it picked up over there. Here is a line from page 33:
“Maya!” said her mother. “A whole church fell on her!”
10/04/2011 at 8:49 am
Sounds like something right up my street!
My chosen number is 57 please and thank you.
Susannah
10/04/2011 at 8:53 am
You’re very welcome! From page 57:
“We carry that betrayal in our bones, his descendants.”
10/04/2011 at 8:52 am
Sounds like a fun book!
I choose page 9.
Thanks!
10/04/2011 at 8:55 am
Sure thing! From page 9:
It was dim in the lobby, and Maya (trying so very hard to be helpful and cheerful) was hauling the umpteenth suitcase in from outside when a shadowy figure caught her eye and made her jump.
10/04/2011 at 9:17 am
I still say 47 is better than 42.
10/04/2011 at 9:37 am
Then your geek cred suffers!
From page 47:
It was not unlike talking to a wall, or a haystack, or an empty chair.
10/04/2011 at 9:11 pm
Ahem! It is merely DIFFERENT geek cred! See, one of the writers for Star Trek: The Next Generation’s favorite number was 47, and he made it a point to write it into every episode he wrote. The tradition continued on into the other Star Trek series, so 47 and variations (“And that was stored on deck four?” “No, seven.”) show up in the show a lot. It’s a subtle little injoke that’s easy to miss, but once you do notice, it really is far outside of random.
I WILL DEFEND MY GEEK CRED, MADAM!
10/04/2011 at 9:15 pm
For real!??
Then you win ALL the geek cred points!! 😀
10/04/2011 at 10:59 pm
For real! Well, I may have gotten the story *slightly* wrong. But the essence remains! http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/47
o/
10/04/2011 at 9:19 am
im going with page 188!
alainala @ hotmail DOT ca
this does sound really good!
10/04/2011 at 9:36 am
It’s so good! Here’s a line from page 188:
Maya stood next to her mother, swaying as the train wound its way back under the Seine, and her heart felt raw somehow, as if it had been scalded by spilled tea or exposed slightly too long to an open flame.
10/04/2011 at 9:21 am
I’ll take page 113.
This is a great idea.
10/04/2011 at 9:34 am
I’m glad you think so! Visit again, because soon I’ll be running a contest for my next book, Winterling.
And here’s a line from page 113:
Oh, but thinking of her mother now made Maya’s stomach hurt.
10/04/2011 at 9:40 am
Ooh, I’ve been looking forward to Anne’s book for a LONG time! 117, please.
10/04/2011 at 9:43 am
Mike, it is worth the wait! Thanks for entering, and here’s a line from page 117:
The apartment seemed very dark and cold and strange, even after Cousin Louise had made her methodical way from room to room, turning on lights and taking eggs out of the refrigerator for an omelette.
10/04/2011 at 10:09 am
Lucky #13.
10/04/2011 at 10:12 am
Thanks for entering, Tracy! Here’s a line from page 13:
Her mother had a saying for bad days: Life is full of lessons, and the grades aren’t fair.
10/04/2011 at 10:13 am
18
10/04/2011 at 10:21 am
18 it is!
The door was so alive with creatures and curlicues, and when it swung open, the salamander looked back over its bronze shoulder at you in the most disconcerting way.
10/05/2011 at 10:44 pm
I was hoping I got the salamander! 🙂
10/06/2011 at 6:51 am
There’s lots of salamander!
10/04/2011 at 10:18 am
77 for me, please! 🙂
10/04/2011 at 10:24 am
Thanks for playing, Becky!
“Looming” was a word that turned up from time to time in books Maya had read, but she saw now that nothing on earth–not crises, shortages, dangers, icebergs–could possibly loom as convincingly as the Eiffel Tower, which grew larger and vaster with every step you took in its direction.
10/04/2011 at 10:40 am
I recently read this, but I had to pass the ARC along. I’d LOVE my own. 3 is my number, and my number is 3.
10/04/2011 at 10:43 am
Here’s from page 3!
Oh, I walked in magic every day as a girl, but what did I know?
10/04/2011 at 10:51 am
These snippets are enticing! I’ll choose 50.
10/04/2011 at 10:54 am
Aren’t they? Here’s a line from page 50:
The second courtyard was small and crooked, the cobblestones very rough underfoot and the walls rising up all around them slightly green with age and dampness, as if, with another few days of rain, they might just sprout right out in a thick layer of moss.
10/04/2011 at 11:55 am
I’ve been wanting to read this for a long time. Now I just want to read it more. I love the snippets you’re choosing from each page. I choose #144
10/04/2011 at 11:58 am
Katy, it is SO worth the wait! Here’s a snippet from page 144:
They were in the studio now, and light came whispering in through all the windows, and the hundreds of little figures in their elaborate boxes seemed to lean forward to watch.
10/04/2011 at 12:05 pm
What a great teaser – I can hardly wait for the January release so an ARC would be perfect! I choose 167.
10/04/2011 at 12:58 pm
I can’t wait, either–to re-read it!
Here’s a line from page 167: (this is Maya’s mother talking):
“It’s hard to have to admit to your own children, when they’re little, how sad the world can be.”
10/04/2011 at 1:29 pm
It’s on my wish-list! I choose 212.
10/04/2011 at 1:56 pm
Cool! Here’s a line from page 212:
All of that twining loveliness wrapped around a huddled little figure, its eyes tightly closed against the light.
10/04/2011 at 1:44 pm
I cannot wait to read this book! I’ll take number 108
10/04/2011 at 1:58 pm
Then I hope you don’t have to wait too long! From page 108:
“Caution,” said Cousin Louise under her breath. “Caution.”
10/04/2011 at 1:44 pm
171. Yesssss, that’s the winner.
10/04/2011 at 1:59 pm
Preciousssss page 171!
It’s a lot harder to feel awkward and stuck when you’re walking.
10/04/2011 at 1:55 pm
I was eager to read it before, but you’ve raised the ante on anticipation. I’ll pick 127.
10/04/2011 at 2:01 pm
Sounds like a winning hand to me! From page 127:
“Could it be–I mean, it looks to me like it, really it does–some type of magic?”
10/04/2011 at 3:15 pm
People keep taking my lucky numbers!! (13, grr!) I’ll go for 63. (And what a great idea, might I add.)
10/04/2011 at 3:25 pm
Thanks for entering! Here’s a line from page 63:
“Ah, no wonder, then, that the Cabinet wants you.”
10/04/2011 at 4:46 pm
Page 24 please! I’ve been looking forward to this for AGES!!
10/04/2011 at 6:32 pm
Yay, Rae!
From page 24, Maya’s chemist dad talking:
“The Society of Philosophical Chemistry–I think that’s what they call themselves.”
10/04/2011 at 5:19 pm
This is awesome. 242, please!
10/04/2011 at 6:30 pm
Glad you think so! Here’s a line from page 242:
“Revenge is another kind of poison, ma fille.”
10/04/2011 at 8:09 pm
I’m very excited about this book.
251
10/04/2011 at 8:11 pm
Me too!
From page 251:
Her hands were as blind as her eyes.
10/04/2011 at 8:54 pm
Er, how about page 92 (I see someone has already selected 47…, lol)
10/04/2011 at 9:00 pm
Excellent choice! From page 92:
And suspended over the candle fire was another, smaller bowl, and in it, melting, was something translucent and gold, like honey, but harder than honey.
10/04/2011 at 8:56 pm
I’m so excited to read this book! What about page 100?
10/04/2011 at 9:02 pm
Just the snippets are making me want to read it again! From page 100:
It was a little unsettling, to tell the truth.
10/04/2011 at 9:52 pm
102!!
Someone told me this book was very very good 🙂
10/04/2011 at 10:04 pm
I may have mentioned it once or twice, yes….
From page 102:
It was beyond weird, when you thought about it.
10/04/2011 at 11:35 pm
Cool! I request page 32.
10/05/2011 at 7:35 am
Okay! From page 32:
“For all you know, she could be an axe murderer!”
10/05/2011 at 12:12 am
Hi I’m in grade seven and I really love your Magic Thief trilogy. You use great figurative language and the book has twists and turns, which is always unpredictable. I extremely look forward to your next book Arc of The Cabinet. I guess 127.
10/05/2011 at 7:37 am
Thanks for the Magic Thief love, Perry!!! Just so you know, my next book isn’t the The Cabinet of Earths, but another book called Winterling, which is out in January (the same day as The Cabinet of Earths, as it happens). Anyway, from page 127:
His eyes were such a comfortable shade of gray; you could almost see the thoughts in them, busily working themselves into actual words.
10/05/2011 at 12:28 am
Great idea. I’m going with 1–cuz that’s my favorite page!
10/05/2011 at 7:38 am
😀 Page one it is!
They were dark and cold, the first days of 1944 in Paris, and between the winter and the war, everything was bad.
10/05/2011 at 1:43 pm
I love this game. I choose 111. 🙂
10/05/2011 at 3:05 pm
Sure thing, Eugene–thanks for playing. From page 111:
And here and there in the pattern and branches and leaves, just the slightest hint–glinty silk eyes or flickery tail–of a salamander.
10/05/2011 at 10:10 pm
I say, 15 please
Thank you,
Angie
10/05/2011 at 10:24 pm
Thanks for coming over here to enter, Angie!! Here’s a line from page 15:
“Hey,” she said. “I take it back. That is a salamander.”
10/06/2011 at 1:09 am
I love to read books! Let’s see how this book is. I like the idea of it being based in Paris. Hmmm, what number shall I pick? I’ll pick 55. 🙂
10/06/2011 at 6:54 am
Well, I hope you get to read this one soon. From page 55:
“I have been all morning making sheep.”
10/06/2011 at 10:50 am
Page 28. I can’t wait to read this book and to give to my daughters … and their friends.
10/06/2011 at 10:59 am
Cara–excellent! Here’s a line from page 28:
“You were only three,” he said, with some relish. “And the church crumbled down around you, and you became famous.”
10/06/2011 at 2:37 pm
Page 127
10/16/2011 at 8:11 pm
Christina, sorry it took me so long to approve this comment! I just now found it in the spam folder. Argh! Do come back and visit again–I’ll be giving away another book this week, and others soon.
10/07/2011 at 4:44 am
Because Ann is one of my very favorite people in the world (and so are her daughters)….I’ll pick 3.
10/07/2011 at 7:26 am
SO sorry, Carol, but the contest has ended. Do try again some other time–I do lots of these contests.
12/01/2011 at 3:19 pm
I would like page 123 🙂
12/01/2011 at 3:39 pm
Thanks for entering, Barb, but I’m afraid the contest has ended. Sorry about that! Do come back next week, because I’ll be giving away a terrific ARC from a debut author.