Flight of Dreams Giveaway Winner! (& A Note about the TST Reader Survey Results)

Giveaway Results

First, let me say thank you to everyone who entered the Flight of Dreams giveaway! I was blown away by your enthusiasm for this novel and for historical fiction in general. 

Two things I learned from reading all of your recommendations:

1. I really, really need to read The Nightingale. It was probably the most popular pick for your favorite historical fiction novel!

2. Ruta Sepetys is an author I need to get behind. So, so many of you loved her books (and there were a few titles of hers that kept coming up)! Consider it noted, friends.

Now, for the winner!

Congratulations to Laura, who recommended to us Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig, and I am Livia by Phyllis T. Smith!

Laura, please get in touch with me at topshelftext@gmail.com with your full name and mailing address so that I can get your prize in the mail ASAP!

I also want to say here that I have read a few of the books in the Secret History of the Pink Carnation series and love them for when I need a light historical fiction read. I also read I am Livia back in 2014 and loved that too! If you like historical fiction set in ancient times, then that is the book for you. 

Thanks again to all who entered -- come back tomorrow for a new giveaway featuring a completely different genre!

***

Reader Survey Results

If you also took my reader survey, again let me say thank you! It was so helpful seeing some of the demographics of my readership, as well as getting to know you all through your favorite reads, Hogwarts Houses, and your reader recommendation picks!

Here's some of the results from the survey that you might be interested in knowing:

- The TST readership is 98% women -- hello ladies (and my very few gentleman readers)!

- The most represented Hogwarts House is Gryffindor, followed closely by Ravenclaw, with Hufflepuff coming in third and a small percentage of readers belonging to Slytherin. 

- Plus, a good number of you who do not know your house -- to you I say, take this quiz. 

- And, a decent number of you who are not Harry Potter fans -- to you I say, shame.

- The genres that you enjoy reading most are (in order): historical fiction, literary fiction, contemporary fiction, and mystery.

-You like to get most of your books from the local library (hooray!), then from Amazon and independent booksellers.

-Your top four favorite reads of this year have been:

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

(I'm glad we're all in the Backman fan club together, friends.)

Reader Recommendations

There were so many of you who would like to do a reader recommendation post here on Top Shelf Text. You all had me completely giddy with your enthusiasm for sharing your favorite reads.

If you submitted recommendations, you'll receive an email from topshelftext@gmail.com sometime today with more details about how I plan to make this work. 

IF YOU SUBMITTED READER RECOMMENDATION PICKS 

AND DO NOT RECEIVE AN EMAIL:

First, check your spam folder. 

If you still don't see it, you might have been one of the readers who gave me picks but forgot to include an email address. Don't be embarrassed -- there were quite a few of you! And I know that talking about books makes us all excited and frazzled (or is that just me?) so, if this is you, PLEASE send me an email at topshelftext@gmail.com with "Reader Recommendations" in the subject line and include your picks so that I can enter you into my Reader Recommendations database. Every single one of you had great picks and I want you to be included!

***

Thanks again for being a reader of TST, friends. This venture is a lot of work, but so worth it when I get to connect with fellow readers like you!

Happy Reading!