Book Giveaway and a Personality Quiz!

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There are many things I love about my job, but near the top of the list is helping readers find a brand-new author. That’s why I’m excited that Whose Waves These Are by Amanda Dykes entered the bookish world this month.

First Lines: “One minute a guy is splitting wood in the northeastern corner of the country, stomach rumbling and heart afire with ambition in the wake of his eighteenth birthday, and the next minute he’s pumping water from the old kitchen sink to clean the work off his hands and pick up a letter from the president of the United States of America himself. It lies there on the red, paint-chipped kitchen table, like an old friend who has let himself in and put his feet up, the most natural thing in the world. But it’s anything but natural.”

Plot Summary: In the wake of WWII, a grieving fisherman submits a poem to a local newspaper: a rallying cry for hope, purpose . . . and rocks. Its message? Send me a rock for the person you lost, and I will build something life-giving. When the poem spreads farther than he ever intended, Robert Bliss’s humble words change the tide of a nation. Boxes of rocks inundate the harbor village on the coast of Maine, and he sets his callused hands to work.

Decades later, Annie Bliss is summoned back to Ansel-by-the-Sea when GrandBob, the man who gave her refuge during the hardest summer of her youth, is the one in need of help. But what greets her is a mystery: a wall of heavy boxes hiding in his home. Memories of stone ruins on a nearby island ignite a fire in her anthropologist soul to uncover answers.

Together with the handsome and enigmatic town postman, Annie uncovers the story layer by layer, yearning to resurrect the hope GrandBob once held so dear and to know the truth behind the chasm in her family’s past. But mending what has been broken for so long may require more of her and those she loves than they are prepared to give.

To celebrate this debut novel’s release, we’re having some fun on the blog. First, take the personality quiz below that tells you which location in the charming town of Ansel-by-the-Sea best fits your personality.

Then, comment on this post with the location result you got from the quiz, and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win a copy of Whose Waves These Are! I’ll choose three winners by May 27, 2019. Have fun!

103 thoughts on “Book Giveaway and a Personality Quiz!”

  3. I got The Galley!
    Like The Galley, you bring flavor, color, spunk, and character to life! You have a way of connecting people, warming the atmosphere around you, and helping others feel cared for in both practical ways as well as on a heart-level.

  5. Sailor’s Rest and it sounds absolutely perfect! Historic homes are something I love to visit and one with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves? OH YEAH! Looking forward to reading this book. Have been seeing it everywhere and those that have read it are raving about it!

  9. I am “The Glad Tidings.” I like that it said I was aware of the details and important happenings of those around me, and I definitely try!

  17. You are…The Glad Tidings

    The Glad Tidings’s friendly blue hull can be spotted around Ansel Harbor any day of the week. It delivers mail, checks in on residents, ferries kids from their island and harbor homes to school, and plays home to the man who came to Ansel-by-the-Sea to be its sole EMT and ended up as the unsuspecting postman, too. Though an unassuming vessel, it is the glue that holds the community together. At the end of the day, it docks and offers rest to its brooding, enigmatic resident, only to embark again before dawn to carry him off to a mysterious location every morning without fail.

    Like the Glad Tidings, you are keenly aware of the details in the lives of people around you. You are the sort of friend who remembers to check in on happenings you know to be important to their lives. Even practical tasks take on significance to you, and like the houseboat, the depths of your heart run deep.

  18. Thank you for this fun quiz! I got Glad Tidings. I liked the statements about the houseboat’s “unassuming” importance to the community, the mysterious morning journeys, and that it symbolizes rest for Jeremiah. I have just finished the book and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

    • The Gables.

      Like The Gables, you can dive into adventure just as wholeheartedly as you can embrace the finer things. It is this two-armed approach to life that helps you live in a way that doesn’t shy away from the rough patches, but rather pour yourself into whatever endeavor is in front of you to make a lasting, restoring difference

  40. I got Sailor’s Rest ….which fits me so incredibly well! What a fun, fun quiz! Thank you for this chance to read this one!

  42. I am The Glad Tidings! This is such a twell-designed quiz – I really had to ponder each of my responses. Thank you and congratulations on the release of your debut novel!

  43. My result: The Gables. Sounds like a great place. This is based in my favorite time period. I love this story line…can’t wait to read it!!!

  59. Glad Tidings! I must say that is a total surprise. The description sounds as if I have a deeply hidden dream. I need to look further into this!

  67. This was sooo fun! I got
    You are…Everlea Estate

    A stately Victorian mansion on its own island, Everlea Estate includes several cottages once used to house the cook, tutor, governess, laundry house, creamery, and other luxuries of a wealthy family in the late 1800’s when summering in their private paradise. The house is adorned with beauty in every detail, with space for taking tea, reading in the light-flooded sitting room, or enjoying music in the conservatory. Its current owner is a mountain woman who has inherited the house and doesn’t know a scone from a croissant, much less what to do with an expansive mansion. She’s determined to breathe life back into the house’s bones, starting with the garden outside.

    Like Everlea, you hold a timelessness about you, as well as a keen sensibility for the arts. You seek ways to bring beauty through creativity and relationships, and in doing so, cultivate a life-giving atmosphere around you.

  69. My location is The Glad Tidings! It’s actually pretty accurate. 🙂
    The Glad Tidings’s friendly blue hull can be spotted around Ansel Harbor any day of the week. It delivers mail, checks in on residents, ferries kids from their island and harbor homes to school, and plays home to the man who came to Ansel-by-the-Sea to be its sole EMT and ended up as the unsuspecting postman, too. Though an unassuming vessel, it is the glue that holds the community together. At the end of the day, it docks and offers rest to its brooding, enigmatic resident, only to embark again before dawn to carry him off to a mysterious location every morning without fail.

    Like the Glad Tidings, you are keenly aware of the details in the lives of people around you. You are the sort of friend who remembers to check in on happenings you know to be important to their lives. Even practical tasks take on significance to you, and like the houseboat, the depths of your heart run deep.

  71. I got Sailor’s Rest, which sounds just perfect for me. 🙂 Thank you for this wonderful giveaway and the chance to win!!

  72. The Driftwood Cottage. I would love this place. Tho I probably wouldn’t watch the tide and stay overnight. And watch the stars..listen to the waves. smell the ocean air.

  74. I I got Sailors Rest….sounds splendid. I live in Maine about five miles from the ocean. It’s beautiful here, but the winters can be long and harsh.

  81. The Driftwood Cottage–will need plenty of books, candles, and chocolate–also driftwood for the little wood stove to make my coffee!

  82. I’m the Driftwood Cottage! I am really looking forward to reading this book! It sounds so good! Thanks so much for the chance to win!

  83. Sailor’s Rest! A nice description of a place I probably would enjoy being at, and, hopefully, have many CF print books to read! Would love to win a print copy of this book! Thanks for the opportunity to enter an exciting giveaway!

  84. I got Sailor’s Rest. I just finished reading another book that had an island just off the coast of Maine for its setting and now I really want to visit there!

  94. I got Sailor’s Rest. I thought I would post the descriptions because it sounds so beautiful and inviting. I really enjoyed the quiz and reading through the other responses. Can;t wait to read the book now. I just downloaded Up from the Sea to read first.

    A historic New England captain’s house, Sailor’s Rest has stood fast against storms near the head of the harbor for over a century. It welcomes the weary and provides rest and comfort from its crackling hearth fire, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves flanking a bay window seat, and quaint but warm kitchen, a place where “comfort food” may well have been invented. Creaking floorboards, a spinning globe, an attic housing tales of the past, and a door beckoning visitors make this a world full of charm and welcome.

    Like Sailor’s Rest, you are drawn to storied places and have a heart for welcoming people, sheltering hearts, and cultivating a life of richness in the details. You have a way of making people feel at home.

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