Yo Gabba Gabba is a staple in our house.  All of the…monsters are friends of ours and my daughter likes to compare things she sees with the various characters.  And as good as this show is on TV, it’s got to be like a rock concert live!

Yo Gabba Gabba! Live:  There’s Party In My City! is touring major US cities all the way through December 12.  You  have the chance to see your friends DJ Lance and his little action figures live on stage while they sing your favorite songs.  Tour dates are still on sale and you have a lot to pick from – click here to see the schedule.

Also, if you have any cool tricks that you like to do, if you upload a video of one to Facebook, you have a chance to be seen up on the screen at your closest city’s YGG Live show during intermission.  Plus you’ll be entered to win a vacation to a Palladium Hotels & Resorts Property.  Read more about the contest here.

If you like the music of Yo Gabba Gabba!, you can listen to it anytime you want.  Yo Gabba Gabba!: Music is Awesome Volume 2 is now available, featuring the music of Weezer, MGMT, Jimmy Eats World and your other favorite songs.  This CD is available at Target.

If you’re a Yo Gabba Gabba! fan, then enter to win this prize pack:

• Yo Gabba Gabba! Clubhouse DVD that features Erykah Badu, The Killers, Jimmy Eat World and more.
• Yo Gabba Gabba! There’s a Party in My Tummy lift-the-flap book
• Yo Gabba Gabba! Music is Awesome Volume 1 CD featuring The Rotts, the Shins and others.

To enter:

Leave a comment for each entry – be sure that your email address is viewable in some way – if I can’t reach you, you can’t win!

Mandatory entry (must be completed or no other entries will count):
Follow/Join me on Google Friend Connect – leave username in comment

Extra entries – do as many or as few as you want (if you already do something, just leave a comment stating so)

Follow me on Twitter – leave username in comment

Tweet about this giveaway – leave link to tweet in comment – may be done daily:

#Win a Yo Gabba Gabba! prize pack and get down with DJ Lance – http://ow.ly/2yGBo  Ends 9/13 #contest

Blog about this giveaway – leave link to blog post in comment (worth 5 entries – leave a comment for each entry)

Subscribe to Tethered Mommy in a reader (top left in the coffee cup) or via email (near the top of the right sidebar – enter email address into box and be sure to confirm your subscription)  (worth 2 entries – leave a comment for each entry)

Follow Tethered Mommy blog on Networked Blogs – box is in right sidebar (leave some identifying info in your comment so I know you’re following)

“Like” Tethered Mommy on Facebook (just click on link and leave some identifying info in your comment so I know you became a fan)

Enter any of my other giveaways (the list is in the top of the right sidebar) – tell me which one(s) you entered

Giveaway ends Monday, 9/13/10 at 11:59pm EDT.  Winners will be picked using a random number generator.  Winners will have 72 hours to reply to my email.  If no response in that time, a new winner will be picked.  US and Canada only, no PO Boxes, 18 and over please.

I was sent a prize package for myself in exchange for this post.  I was not influenced at all by this.  All opinions are 100% my own.

Even the socialites of Manhattan have had economic troubles!  Read about a group of women and their husband and financial problems in The Recessionistas by Alexandra Lebenthal.  You can win one of 3 copies.  To enter:

Leave a comment for each entry – be sure that your email address is viewable in some way – if I can’t reach you, you can’t win!

Mandatory entry (must be completed or no other entries will count):
Follow/Join me on Google Friend Connect – leave username in comment

Extra entries – do as many or as few as you want (if you already do something, just leave a comment stating so)

Follow me on Twitter – leave username in comment

Tweet about this giveaway – leave link to tweet in comment – may be done daily:

#Win one of 3 copies of The Recessionistas by Alexandra Lebenthal – http://ow.ly/2yw1l Ends 9/13 #contest

Blog about this giveaway – leave link to blog post in comment (worth 5 entries – leave a comment for each entry)

Subscribe to Tethered Mommy in a reader (top left in the coffee cup) or via email (near the top of the right sidebar – enter email address into box and be sure to confirm your subscription)  (worth 2 entries – leave a comment for each entry)

Follow Tethered Mommy blog on Networked Blogs – box is in right sidebar (leave some identifying info in your comment so I know you’re following)

“Like” Tethered Mommy on Facebook (just click on link and leave some identifying info in your comment so I know you became a fan)

Enter any of my other giveaways (the list is in the top of the right sidebar) – tell me which one(s) you entered

Giveaway ends Monday, 9/13/10 at 11:59pm EDT.  Winners will be picked using a random number generator.  Winners will have 72 hours to reply to my email.  If no response in that time, a new winner will be picked.  US and Canada only, no PO Boxes, 18 and over please.

Hachette is providing the prizes for this giveaway.

The Glamour of Grammar is a non-fiction book by Roy Peter Clark.

From Hachette:

Early in the history of English, the words “grammar” and “glamour” meant the same thing: the power to charm. Roy Peter Clark, author of Writing Tools, aims to put the glamour back in grammar with this fun, engaging alternative to stuffy instructionals. In this practical guide, readers will learn everything from the different parts of speech to why effective writers prefer concrete nouns and active verbs. THE GLAMOUR OF GRAMMAR gives readers all the tools they need to”live inside the language”–to take advantage of grammar to perfect their use of English, to instill meaning, and to charm through their writing.

To enter to win one of 3 copies of The Glamour of Grammar by Roy Peter Clark:

Leave a comment for each entry – be sure that your email address is viewable in some way – if I can’t reach you, you can’t win!

Mandatory entry (must be completed or no other entries will count):
Follow/Join me on Google Friend Connect – leave username in comment

Extra entries – do as many or as few as you want (if you already do something, just leave a comment stating so)

Follow me on Twitter – leave username in comment

Tweet about this giveaway – leave link to tweet in comment – may be done daily:

#Win one of 3 copies of The Glamour of Grammar by Roy Peter Clark – http://ow.ly/2yw1l Ends 9/13 #contest

Blog about this giveaway – leave link to blog post in comment (worth 5 entries – leave a comment for each entry)

Subscribe to Tethered Mommy in a reader (top left in the coffee cup) or via email (near the top of the right sidebar – enter email address into box and be sure to confirm your subscription)  (worth 2 entries – leave a comment for each entry)

Follow Tethered Mommy blog on Networked Blogs – box is in right sidebar (leave some identifying info in your comment so I know you’re following)

“Like” Tethered Mommy on Facebook (just click on link and leave some identifying info in your comment so I know you became a fan)

Enter any of my other giveaways (the list is in the top of the right sidebar) – tell me which one(s) you entered

Giveaway ends Monday, 9/13/10 at 11:59pm EDT.  Winners will be picked using a random number generator.  Winners will have 72 hours to reply to my email.  If no response in that time, a new winner will be picked.  US and Canada only, no PO Boxes, 18 and over please.

Hachette is providing the prizes for this giveaway.

This stinks but I’ve lost everything since July, posts, comments, sidebar updates.  Just take me as your lesson that if you’re self-hosting on your own server, take frequent database backups! Anyway, we have no idea what happened but it’s pretty bad.

I’m going to start putting up the contests that were up.  At this point there will be no reviews posted, just the giveaway portion, just to get them up.  If I ever do get a chance, I will go back in and fill in some reviews.  I will have most contests ending Monday 9/13.  Some will end next Thursday 9/9 as they have to be completed sooner.  It’s an entry free-for-all so get to it.  I apologize greatly but I didn’t do any of this on purpose and I wish there was another way to do it.  I figure this is the fairest.

Again, use the Contact Me Form to email me if you need to get in touch.  I generally don’t read comments on contest-related posts until I am picking a winner.

I’m having big problems with my database.  As it stands, all contests that ended from yesterday on appear to be lost.  I apologize but I’m waiting on my husband to try to ask his friends to help him out.  At this point, there is nothing I can do.  To those that I owe posts to, please contact me at maggie at tethered mommy dot com and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

So it’s finally here – the first Got Books? event starts now!  I hope you’re as excited as I am – I will be spending the whole day clicking my heart off, entering the contests too.  So read on to see what I have for you to win!

The following books are up for grabs: (each one is linked to the review that I posted for each book)

Please note that these are all used copies.  Most of them are like new but at least one has a torn binding (Scars and Stilettos). Please do not enter if you are not okay with receiving used books!

How to enter?  Read on:

Leave a comment for each entry – be sure that your email address is viewable in some way – if I can’t reach you, you can’t win!

Mandatory entry (must be completed or no other entries will count):

Tell me which three of these books you would most like to read, in order of preference (most desired first).  I will pick three winners – the first will get their first pick, the second will get whatever is available and highest on their list, same for the third.

Extra entries – do as many or as few as you want (if you already do something, just leave a comment stating so)

Follow/Join me on Google Friend Connect – leave username in comment

Follow me on Twitter – leave username in comment

Tweet about this giveaway – leave link to tweet in comment – may be done hourly:

Win one of 10 books (you choose!) from @tetheredmommy during #GotBooks 7/23-7/24 ONLY!  Enter at http://www.tetheredmommy.com/?p=1275

Subscribe to Tethered Mommy in a reader (top left in the coffee cup) or via email (near the top of the right sidebar – enter email address into box and be sure toconfirm your subscription)  (worth 2 entries – leave a comment for each entry)

Follow Tethered Mommy blog on Networked Blogs – box is in right sidebar (leave some identifying info in your comment so I know you’re following)

“Like” Tethered Mommy on Facebook (just click on link and leave some identifying info in your comment so I know you became a fan)

Enter any of my other giveaways (the list is iop of the right sidebar) – tell me which one(s) you entered

Giveaway ends Saturday, 7/24/10 at 11:59PM EDT.  Winners will be picked using a random number generator.  Winners will have 72 hours to reply to my email.  If no response in that time, a new winner will be picked.  US only, 13 and over please.

Want to enter more Got Books? giveaways? – click here!

The winner of The Imposter’s Daughter by Laurie Snell is:

#28, Bailey, who told us that The Imposter’s Daughter was featured in The Wall Street Journal.  Congrats Bailey, you have been emailed!

Don’t forget – tomorrow is the first day of the Got Books? two-day book blogger giveaway event.  Be sure to stop by for your pick of books I’ve reviewed.  If you didn’t win a copy the first time, you may have another chance tomorrow and Saturday!  At this point, 108 book blogs are participating – a great chance to score some booky prizes!

Forget You by Jennifer Echols is a young adult novel.  Zoey is captain of the swim team and hates Doug with all of her guts.  The feeling is mutual.  Zoey decides to have sex with her best guy friend, Brandon, which she feels make them an item, but Brandon disagrees.   Amidst all of this, Zoey has to deal with a suicidal mother and the fact that her father impregnated a 24 year old.   Further adding to the confusion is Zoey’s car accident, which leads to a romantic embrace with Doug, and him treating her like his girlfriend.
Zoey can’t remember what happened and tries to piece together the events of that night.

This book reminds me a lot of the movie The Hangover, just on a bit more of a teenage level.  Zoey has to piece together the events leading up to her accident and then the morning after by talking to other people and piecing together the facts.  I really enjoyed this, as it was a bit of mystery.

However, there were some aspects that I’m not as crazy about.  It seemed to me that Zoey’s character veered wildly from one type to another.  I don’t know if this was done on purpose, to demonstrate her uncertainty with her life at this time.  If it was, I don’t feel it was done well.  Also, some of the events seemed a bit improbable, like Zoey sleeping with her best friend and then declaring him her boyfriend, all the while watching him give signals that he didn’t care about her at all.  I know that teenagers are somewhat…oblivious in this area, but I think this is a bit improbable.  And, of course, this book follows the predictable pattern – boy fights for girl, they get together, girl gets mad, they get back together, boy gets mad, they get back together, the end.  I’ve seen it before but perhaps it would be fresher (and more appreciated) by the audience for which it was intended.

Forget You was the perfect read for me to get involved in and finish quickly.  I was glad it was an easy read and resolved all nice and neatly at the end.  I do feel that this book appeals to both young adults and females into their thirties (I guess I just gave my age away, didn’t I?)

And now you get to decide how you feel about this book for yourself – I have two copies of Forget You by Jennifer Echols up for grabs!

Leave a comment for each entry – be sure that your email address is viewable in some way – if I can’t reach you, you can’t win!

Mandatory entry (must be completed or no other entries will count):
Visit Jennifer Echols’ website and tell me another book of hers that you would like to read

Extra entries – do as many or as few as you want (if you already do something, just leave a comment stating so)

Follow/Join me on Google Friend Connect – leave username in comment

Follow me on Twitter – leave username in comment

Follow Jennifer Echols on Twitter – leave username in comment

Tweet about this giveaway – leave link to tweet in comment – may be done daily:

#Win one of two copies of Forget You by @JenniferEchols – http://ow.ly/2eNP9 Ends 8/6 #contest

Blog about this giveaway – leave link to blog post in comment (worth 5 entries – leave a comment for each entry)

Subscribe to Tethered Mommy in a reader (top left in the coffee cup) or via email (near the top of the right sidebar – enter email address into box and be sure to confirm your subscription)  (worth 2 entries – leave a comment for each entry)

Follow Tethered Mommy blog on Networked Blogs – box is in right sidebar (leave some identifying info in your comment so I know you’re following)

“Like” Tethered Mommy on Facebook (just click on link and leave some identifying info in your comment so I know you became a fan)

Add Jennifer Echols as a friend on Facebook (just click on link and leave some identifying info in your comment so I know you are a friend)

Enter any of my other giveaways (the list is in the top of the right sidebar) – tell me which one(s) you entered

Vote up this giveaway on Prizey (may not be available immediately)

Tell me how you found this giveaway (please be specific if possible, ie, if it was a linky, please tell me what blog it was on)

Giveaway ends Friday, 8/6/10 at 11:59pm EDT.  Winners will be picked using a random number generator.  Winners will have 72 hours to reply to my email.  If no response in that time, a new winner will be picked.  US only, 13 and over please.

I received the product mentioned above in order to perform the review.  This did not influence my review in any way.  All opinions are 100% my own.

Foxy is a memoir of the actress Pam Grier’s life.  Many members of my generation probably know Pam Grier best as the title character in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. Those who be a bit “wiser” than me would better recognizer Grier from one of the most renowned blaxpoitation films, Foxy Brown.  The book is just a general description of her life, 99% of which I did not know.

A few things I learned from reading was her serious relationship with Kareem Abdul Jabar, as he changed his religion to Muslim.  They clashed on the role that women play as Muslims and therefore split up.  Grier also dated Richard Pryor while he was addicted to cocaine and also split from him.  I also learned that Grier was diagnosed with cancer but is know in remission after a long battle.

I think the most informative portion of this book was Grier’s description of her youth.  Her father was in the military and was passing as white.  However, his family was definitely black, and he was punished for his race.  They were sent to off-base housing that was far inferior to the on-base housing.  Also, there was general persecution just for being black.  We read about how Grier’s mother must walk with her children because there are particular buses for black people.  Segregation was highly rampant.  It is sickening to read how everybody perpetrated this act and just kept the practice going.

I enjoyed Foxy.  It’s not something I would have picked up on my own so I’m glad I was given a chance to review it.  I learned more about a well-known actress, things I probably never would have found out on my own.

Foxy by Pam Grier is available from various book retailers.

I was given a copy of this book to perform a review.  This did not influence my opinion at all.  All thoughts are 100% my own.

I generally don’t listen to “kids” music.  I tried Laurie Berkner, and there’s a couple of her songs that I like, but not really my style.  And while my kids will still let me do it, I try to listen to my old music (within reason, I can’t scream along to Buck Cherry when they’re in the car).

But now there’s no more line between kids and adult music.  The Not-Its! have taken that line and rocked it on its side with Time Out To Rock, their second album.  Trust me, your kids will be begging you to turn on this music and you’ll have to pretend to be hesitant because if you give in too easily they’ll get suspicious.  But trust me, this is a long way from Barney and Raffi – like miles away.

From reading the bios of the band members, I saw that one of the singers, Sarah Shannon, was the lead singer of Velocity Girl (remember them?).  So now you can be sure you have authentically rocking music because it is from a former member of a grunge band.

So I popped this CD into the car stereo, not really expecting much, when I was blown away.  The title track, “Time Out To Rock,” is reminiscent of Kiss.  I swear.  Just enough to where you’re jamming along (steering wheel drums and all) and enjoying it but it’s still original and new.  And then “Helicopter” is very Bens Fold.  Other tracks reminded me of Weezer, the Meat Puppets and other bands that I loved and still love.   So you can see that The Not-It’s! appeal to the wide range of parents’ musical tastes too (unless you’re into country – sorry).

The words are great for kids but also reminded me of when I was little.  “Welcome To Our School” is really cute – it is welcoming a new student and they’re offering to help him/her make friends and show him/her around.  While I never changed schools, it’s a great song for those that are changing schools and other kids who can be receptive and helpful to new students.    “Accidentally” is a song about not blaming others for accidents, especially when it’s something you do yourself to somebody else, and they’re willing to forgive your “accident”.

I loved this album, and that’s saying a lot because I generally don’t like whole albums of even my own music.  This had just enough mellow songs but not too many.  Mostly, I was just rocking out and being happy because I wasn’t exposing my children to possibly questionable lyrics.

Time Out To Rock by The Not-Its! is released today!  And totally unrelated to that fact, I have a copy to give to one of you!  Read on for your chance to win.

Leave a comment for each entry – be sure that your email address is viewable in some way – if I can’t reach you, you can’t win!

Mandatory entry (must be completed or no other entries will count):
Visit the page for Time Out To Rock and tell me which song you like the best

Extra entries – do as many or as few as you want (if you already do something, just leave a comment stating so)

Follow/Join me on Google Friend Connect – leave username in comment

Follow me on Twitter – leave username in comment

Follow The Not-Its! on Twitter – leave username in comment

Tweet about this giveaway – leave link to tweet in comment – may be done daily:

#Win Time Out To Rock by @The_Not_Its ~ music for kids that will have you rocking too! http://ow.ly/2dSxe (8/5) @tetheredmommy

Blog about this giveaway – leave link to blog post in comment (worth 5 entries – leave a comment for each entry)

Subscribe to Tethered Mommy in a reader (top left in the coffee cup) or via email (near the top of the right sidebar – enter email address into box and be sure to confirm your subscription)  (worth 2 entries – leave a comment for each entry)

Follow Tethered Mommy blog on Networked Blogs – box is in right sidebar (leave some identifying info in your comment so I know you’re following)

“Like” Tethered Mommy on Facebook (just click on link and leave some identifying info in your comment so I know you became a fan)

“Like” The Not-It’s! on Facebook (just click on link and leave some identifying info in your comment so I know you became a fan)

Enter any of my other giveaways – tell me which one(s) you entered

Vote up this giveaway on Prizey (may not be available immediately)

Tell me how you found this giveaway (please be specific if possible, ie, if it was a linky, please tell me what blog it was on)

Giveaway ends Thursday, 8/5/10 at 11:59pm EDT.  Winner will be picked using a random number generator.  Winner will have 72 hours to reply to my email.  If no response in that time, a new winner will be picked.  US only, 18 and over.

I received the product mentioned above in order to perform the review.  This did not influence my review in any way.  All opinions are 100% my own.