Tonight is Christmas Day and the first night of Hanukkah.
Get ready, we’re going into the new year with candles and jelly donuts and latkes and it’s going to be a party!
Traditionally, I do giveaways for each night of Hanukkah, but this year, I want to do something different: care packages!
Yup, we’re sending you a care package just in time for the beginning of 2025.
First: my Hanukkah wishes for you tonight and for the next eight: may you bring light with you into the future, and may you share your light with everyone who needs a glimmer in the darkness. May there be peace in our lifetime.
Now, let’s talk about what’s in the care packages. This has been a lot of fun, especially since my children don’t go to sleepaway camp, and my care package skills have not been used to their full potential.
I reached out to folks I know in publishing, and have assorted books, of course! There will be several books in each package, including some major titles from this year. And maybe an ARC or two (shhh!).
Plus, I want to send you some cozy feelings in the form of fuzzy socks, hand cream, my favorite easy-to-find lip balm (so you can get more if you love it, too) and a small scented candle in a very pretty tin.
The socks come in a package that looks like a cupcake and I am DELIGHTED about this. They are very warm and fuzzy and COME IN A CUPCAKE SHAPE.
You’ll also get an assortment of stickers, too, and whatever else I can fit in the box that is fun, festive and full of Fuzzy Feelings.
Plus, Elyse has put together a care package, too!
For this care package I’m giving away a 40 oz insulated tumbler from The Pawffee Shop Cat Cafe where the Letters from Lady Whiskerdown are composed. I’m also including a big ol box of books, some of which are December new releases.
Thank you so much for being part of yet another lovely year here at SBTB. We are still here, and it’s because of you hanging out with us each day.
SO, ready to enter to win?
To enter, please comment and tell us what book (or anything!) that you found at SBTB that you most enjoyed? It doesn’t have to be a 2024 book, of course. Any book that you haven’t read is a new book! But what did you discover this year at SBTB that you really liked?
Standard disclaimers apply: We are not being compensated for this giveaway. Void where prohibited. Open to international residents where permitted by applicable law. Must be over 18 and ready to be warm and cozy and be-socked with books and candles and other fun things. May cause increased feelings of security, warmth, and delight.
Comments will close 2 January 2025 at or near 11:59am ET, and winner will be announced shortly afterward.
Thank you to Erin Galloway at Berkley, and to Kristen Dwyer of LeoPR for their generosity!
Good luck, Happy Hanukkah, and thank you for being part of Smart Bitches! May you have a lovely holiday, and for everyone, a peaceful new year.
Winner update:
The care package winners are:
The Murderbot diaries
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year.
Picked up Alice Coldbreath’s A Foolish Flirtation based on the reviews of her books last year.
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year for me too!
Ooh, a friend recommended Thursday Murder Club series to me and it did not disappoint. Hardly an underground pick;-) but it particularly intrigued me because we’re “romance friends” generally and not “mystery friends” (I have both).I really loved them and my dad did too and it’s rare we like the same things these days. Best wishes to all for the incoming year!
Molly Molloy and the Angel of Death… I finished it two weeks ago and I can’t stop thinking about it!
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy. I have gotten into light fantasy in a big way.
There was a review of My Season of Scandal by Julie Anne Long that made me pick it up and boy am I glad I did. It was full of emotions and one of my favorite reads of the year
We Could Be So Good and the sequel – really I owe SBTB for all my Cat Sebastian and KJ Charles reading
Len Pennie and her book of poetry. Normally, I don’t like poetry at all. However, after learning more about Pennie, I listened to her audiobook “Poyums” on Hoopla. It was hands down my favorite book of the year and I can still hardly believe it.
What a beautiful wish, Sarah! My favorite book of 2024 was “Cher: the Memoir: Part 1.”
Definitely “Cher: The Memoir: Part 1.”
I was really intrigued with Earls Trip by Jenny Holiday. This historical is a fun departure from her contemporary books and has moments that just got me in the feels. Thanks to SBTB for showcasing this one
It’s always going to be Lord of the Scoundrels. It holds a special place in my heart.
Willow Dixon, thanks to @DiscoDollyDeb and WAYR 🙂
I’m pretty sure I first heard about Killers of a Certain Age on SBTB. And now there’s a sequel!
I’m reading my way through Tamora Pierce’s backlist and enjoying all the books/series.
Oh my goodness, I misread the prompt. (Facepalm) I saw the 2024 part first
T. Kingfisher, definitely! Not something I would have found without the Smart Bitches.
Do Me A Favor by Cathy Yardley
Whoever recommended Emmy Sanders’s TO CATCH A FIREFLY in a WAYR post, thank you. It was a lovely book, and it would have flown under my radar without this site.
If I’m Being Honest by Austin Siegemund-Broka and Emily Wibberley. Discovered here when it came out and finally moved off my TBR this year (and onto my faves!)
Blitzen’ Fated Mate
I’m in a Terrible Book Club and this book kicked us off. It was given an F+ on Smart Bitches and does not disappoint.
Oh wait, I misread, I think, since I didn’t discover it here in 2024? Hmm, I usually read from my backlog first, so this one is hard now! I guess Laura Lee Guhrke’s Bookshop Cinderella then?
Two nonfiction books stood out for me this year: “A Woman of No Importance” and “All in Her Head.” Then the election happened and I’m back to the escape and hope fiction brings. Courtney Milan, Olivia Atwater, T Kingfisher, and many other fantastic authors I learned of here first.
I really liked Love in the Time of Self-Publishing, which I would never have encountered if not for you fine folks!
Murderbot!
TO SHAPE A DRAGON’S BREATH by Moniquill Blackgoose was recommended on podcast #596. (Thank you Lisa!!!) I made a note, picked it up on sale, and was blown away by it this summer. It was good enough that I’m willing to pay full price for book 2, whenever it releases. And I’m planning on giving a copy to my tween-to-teen nephews.
Thursday Murder Club
Gaming recommendations! Finally picked up Hades this year because I remembered it being talked about and well-reviewed here a few years ago. I’m having the best time and I cannot wait for Hades II!
(Honorable mentions to Unpacking and Tiny Glade as well.)
There are too many to remember them all, but I did find KJ Charles here.
I read It Had To Be You, assassins for hire in lurve, based on a rec here!
The Luminaries by Susan Dennard. I can’t wait for book 3!!
It has been a tough year for reading. I’m going to say The Murderbot series.
Jodi McAlister’s “Marry Me Juliet” series— thanks for the recommendation, SBTB!
I found Jennifer Ashley on the site, the Below Stairs series. Also the Rivers of London series.
Georgie All Along by Kate Clayborn. I don’t normally like small town contemporary due to being myself a small town contemporary and knowing that the truth is much darker than the fiction. But this book was so emotionally validating on so many levels that I even wrote the author to thank her. And thanks, SBTB, for the rec!
This year I’d say thank you for recommending Rules for Ghosting, by Shelly Kay Stone (which was also listed as a KDD yesterday I think). Happy holiday to everyone celebrating today!
I think it would have to be The Reformatory by Tananarive Due. Saw it on a Hide Your Wallet, immediately recognized the conceit involved (I live a county over from where the Dozier School was located), and snapped it up like I was Jaws. I then held on to it for my holiday break, because I knew it was a “will have to glom” kind of book (it was).
But I also discovered Olivia Dade and several other authors due to this site, so yanno…..
Women of Good Fortune by Sophie Wan was my absolute favorite recommendation from Amanda this year. This Shanghainese girl heist was exactly what I needed at the time I listened to the audiobook.
Cathy Yardley! Through sale posts and podcast. Absolutely love her books especially “Do me a favor” and “Role playing”.