GRAND PRIZE WINNERS:
Lynne G from South Bend, IN (Facebook) and  @ilanastein from Johannesburg, South Africa (Twitter)

SECOND PRIZE WINNERS:
From Twitter:  @sweepscat713 – San Jose, CA, @akritical – Charlottesville, VA, @canaryred – Baltimore, MD, @synical – Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, @dianadoll – Coarsegold, CA, @kkhoulden – Oak Ridge, NC, @jseniar – Enfield, NH, @rikostan – Rose, NY, @cmizerski – St. Clair Shores, MI.

And From Facebook: Desiy L. – Burnaby, Canada, Lydia S. – Jacksonville, FL, Jessica K. – Chantily, VA, Holly C. – Effort, PA, Meghan M. – Fridley, MN, Paulina A. – Bali, Indonesia, Kristen L. – Sanford, FL, Kimm G. – Ontario, Canada, Naga C. – Bangalore, India.

It’s back… the Better World Books “Year of Books” contest is back and better than ever!

How is it better, you ask?

1.  Well first of all it starts today, whereas last year’s contest is over.

2.  This year there will be 2 grand prize winners compared with only 1 lonely winner last year.  That’s twice the winners!  These lucky ducks will not only get a year of books, but they will also get a snazzy Better World Books t-shirt AND a fabulous Better World Books tote bag.

3.  But wait, there’s more… last year we had 9 second place winners… this year we’re doubling the fun and giving a whopping 18 second prizes which consist of one $10 Better World Books gift certificate, the snazzy BWB shirt and the fab BWB tote.

“Enough,” you may say, “I’m in. Now how the heck do I enter?”   Well this year we’re all about more.  Last year there was only one way to enter… this year there are two:

1. Follow Better World Books on Twitter and then click this link or copy and paste the following message to your Twitter followers to enter: “I just entered the @BWBooks ‘Year of Books’ Contest. I can win a year’s supply of books! (http://bit.ly/bwbyearofbooks) #bwbcontest”

2. Like Better World Books on Facebook and enter the Year of Books Sweepstakes. Fill out the required form and share the contest entry with your friends with the following message: “I just entered the Better World Books ‘Year of Books’ Contest. I can win a year’s supply of books!”  And guess what, for every friend you tell on Facebook that enters, you get an extra entry.

Have questions?  Need more info?  Check out our FAQ and the Terms & Conditions.

What are you still doing here?  Go enter.  The contest starts today – but you only have until the end of June to enter!

Good luck!  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this is your lucky year!  Okay go… go already!

-Getting books to Liberia, one book at a time
-Grammar Girl, teaching your humble blogger
-Getting your input about Shakespeare
-Shakespeare and Facebook, combined at last!
-Factoid, and why you should stop using the word
-Beedle the Bard and Brisingr, embrace your fantasy

I figured in talking about Shakespeare on the previous post I would delve a little deeper.  New coworker, Eddie, passed this on to me, which captures my Junior year of high school (a semester studying Hamlet and writing a huge and (and hugely tiresome) research paper) and the Junior year of the average student today (using Facebook).

From McSweeney’s

HAMLET
FACEBOOK NEWS FEED EDITION

- – - -

Horatio thinks he saw a ghost.

Hamlet thinks it’s annoying when your uncle marries your mother right after your dad dies.

The king thinks Hamlet’s annoying.

Laertes thinks Ophelia can do better.

Hamlet’s father is now a zombie.

- – - -

The king poked the queen.

The queen poked the king back.

Hamlet and the queen are no longer friends.

Marcellus is pretty sure something’s rotten around here.

Hamlet became a fan of daggers.

- – - -

Polonius says Hamlet’s crazy … crazy in love!

Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Hamlet are now friends.

Hamlet wonders if he should continue to exist. Or not.

Hamlet thinks Ophelia might be happier in a convent.

Ophelia removed “moody princes” from her interests.

Hamlet posted an event: A Play That’s Totally Fictional and In No Way About My Family

The king commented on Hamlet’s play: “What is wrong with you?”

Polonius thinks this curtain looks like a good thing to hide behind.

Polonius is no longer online.

- – - -

Hamlet added England to the Places I’ve Been application.

The queen is worried about Ophelia.

Ophelia loves flowers. Flowers flowers flowers flowers flowers. Oh, look, a river.

Ophelia joined the group Maidens Who Don’t Float.

Laertes wonders what the hell happened while he was gone.

- – - -

The king sent Hamlet a goblet of wine.

The queen likes wine!

The king likes … oh crap.

The queen, the king, Laertes, and Hamlet are now zombies.

Horatio says well that was tragic.

Fortinbras, Prince of Norway, says yes, tragic. We’ll take it from here.

Denmark is now Norwegian.

- – - -

Are you up to the challenge?

Here are some highlights from the (latest) posts on our Facebook Fan Page: (currently with 1300 fans!!!)

Rose from Singapore: Bye Amazon

Ambassador Tom Amolo: I am an eclectic reader, this is home.

Reika from Australia: Great job! I found old books from my teenage years which I missed. Being so far away from the US, I couldn’t get my hands on all the books I want at such a cheap shipping rate. You’ve really solved my problem on that! Thanks!

James from (my beloved) Ireland: Great job guys I just picked up two books for cheaper from you than from a bookshop in Ireland! Keep it up!

Randy and Sharon: Amazing! Im a phenomenal book addict and just discovered the joys of shopping online! lol… Looks to me that BetterWorld Books will be my new fave site!!!

And Chris from Dupage captures it neatly: I’ve contributed to the past to non-profit organizations, but nowadays I just can’t afford it. I feel like I am indirectly actually doing something for the common good just buying books from BetterWorld. And free shipping!! Awesome!

Also, if you check our YouTube channel (yeah, we’re kind of a big deal) then you can check out the latest videos and some of our favorite videos as well.

If you’re feeling a little lazy and already added us on Facebook you can check out one video here…