Look What I Won! (Forgotten Bookmarks!)

It's easy to feel unlucky in the art of winning prizes and awards.  Those pesky odds.  When I left a comment to enter one of Forgotten Bookmarks' giveaways, I held little hope of actually winning.  I don't enter there often, but I couldn't resist trying when he offered an old etiquette book.

After entering the contest I promptly fell into a fever-induced state of forgetfulness about the whole thing, making me completely miss out on the whole state of anticipation.  Imagine my shock then, when - still in a feverish frame of mind - I tried to comprehend the email I received telling me I'd won the book!

Manners, Culture & Dress is packed with wonderfully helpful tidbits, from directions for removing freckles to Trifling With a Man's Feelings.  Imagine a time when peer pressure was so intense that there were scores of books offering guidance and assistance...oh wait, that applies to the current day also, doesn't it?  Somehow, the social anxiety of a bygone era seems so much simpler and quaint.

Anyhow, thanks to Michael at Forgotten Bookmarks for the lovely book - such a treat!

Giveaway Winners!

Thanks to all who joined in the Literary Blog Hop and Giveaway hosted by Judith @ Leeswammes!

The winners have been emailed...if I don't get responses by Monday then the rest of you have another chance.  :)  Congratulations!

      

Let Me Give You a Book!

It's time for the Literary Giveaway Blog Hop!

(Big thanks to Judith @ Leeswammes for hosting!  Be sure to visit her site as well as the other blogs participating (linky list below) to enter to win even more books!)

It's your lucky month, because I'm giving away 2 Books.

The first is a product of impulse (a.k.a. me buying books I already own) and is a perfectly new, lovely copy of Willa Cather's The Professor's House.  Since I'm shipping this book out, it is available only to addresses within the US.

The second is available internationally, though only to those countries to which Book Depository will ship. (If you are unsure, check out their list here.)  After gushing (and going on and on and on and ON) about my recent re-read of Persuasion, I think it's only right that I give you all an opportunity to enjoy the incredibly beautiful annotated version for yourself.  This one is a treat!

• You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you do need a post-office recognized address.  
• US residents may enter for both books, though only eligible to win one (please leave me a note on the form if you prefer one over the other, otherwise Persuasion will be first.)  
• Giveaway will close on Wednesday, February 13th, and the winners will be chosen by Friday, February 15th.
• I will email the winners and announce them on my blog.  You must respond within 3 days (by the end of the day on Monday, February 18th) or the book will be awarded to someone else.

[EDIT: Giveaway has been closed--thank you so much for joining in!  Winners will be announced soon!]

Too Much of a Good Thing: a Giveaway!

Sometimes too much of a good thing is still just that: too much.  Other times, too much of a good thing is wonderful.  Today, two examples:

1. Too Much:  Interviews.  In the past I've thought that I dislike reading interviews, but somewhere along my adventure in book-blogging I've realized that it isn't the interviews I dislike--finding out details about authors and fellow bloggers can be quite fun--it's the length of the answers.  5 Paragraph Essay Answers to each simple question leave me feeling like it is all too much.  I like getting Bill Bryson-esque bite-sized factoids...they satisfy my curiosity and leave me wanting to know more.  

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed for The Book Base (my interview appeared yesterday--check it out!) which does a good job of keeping interviews interesting.  One of the things I really like about how the interviews are structured on this site is that the questions are the same, and the answers are all fairly brief.  It makes it easy to digest and discover new bloggers.

2.  Wonderful: Classic Novellas.  In gearing up for the Art of the Novella Challenge starting August 1st, I've been doing a lot of thinking about how I want to approach these wonderful little tidbits of classic literature.  I ended up (under the influence of my husband, no less) buying the entire 42 volume series.  For me, they're classic literature.  For him, they're modern decor. Win/Win.  Even with a licence to buy, this splurge means that I feel obligated to put maximum effort into reading every single one of them in August.  Still, they're gorgeous and exciting...even if there are too many to get through next month, I can't help but feel that they are only wonderful.

One of the things that I love about the novellas that Melville House Publishing has chosen (apart from the general idea of classic novellas) is that most of the titles sport a reputation or a history.  From Mary Shelley's Mathilda with its shocking themes, to Cervantes' The Dialogue of the Dogs (the first talking dog story in Western Literature) these selections go beyond the typical canon of classics.

On that note, I've decided to host a giveaway!  Whether you are interested in joining the challenge in August or not, you have to admit that these novellas are enticing.  Who wouldn't want to own a couple? or four??  Fill out the form below before July 31st, selecting which 4 classic novellas you would most love to own, and stay tuned for my Challenge Kick-Off post on July 31st when I announce the winner.  The winner will be chosen randomly, and the giveaway is open internationally.  Good luck!

Head over to Melville House to see the 42 classic novellas you can choose from and to read the descriptions.  Happy reading!

Finders Keepers

New books for me, new books for you...I'm doing some shopping and some purging, how much fun is that?

Mine:
I allowed myself into a bookstore this week, on the pretense that I needed to do some Christmas shopping...and I did buy a couple of things for my Secret Santa exchange people...but I found even more exciting things for my own shelves.  As a side note, I love how my Indie Book Shop has separated Literary Fiction from other Adult Fiction, although it caught me off guard how many times I found myself internally scoffing and sending hate vibes at certain titles.  The Alchemist? Gah! *rolls eyes*  Despite my protestations, I came home with 7 new treasures:

1. The Road (will be reading this for my Back to Classics Challenge in 2011)
2. The Faulkner Reader (A review on Tinkers made me think I might like Faulkner.  We shall find out.)
3. Snow (I've already read this, but passed it on...needed it back on my shelf.)
4. Anna Karenina (I've read this already as well, but it was ages ago and I didn't have my own copy.)
5. Slaughterhouse Five (Literary Science Fiction?  If anything can make me appreciate SF, this might be it.)
6. The Elephant Vanishes (I'm hoping that I'll find something in here to foist onto the guys in my house)
7. Angle of Repose (Stegner's name has popped up a few times lately, and as this one's a Pulitzer, I figured I'd be buying it sooner or later anyhow.)

Yours:
These books are either ARCs that I'm ready to pass on, or titles that I'm replacing with a prettier copy.  All are in very good condition.  Do you want one?  Leave me a comment and it's yours, (first come, first serve, US only because of cost--sorry!) available for the next week or so...when I'll find somewhere else for them to go.

1. The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Buchanan (ARC, novel centered around the history of Niagara Falls)
2. Dubliners by James Joyce (Inexpensive Dover Thrift copy, bottom edge wasn't cut very well, but otherwise pretty much perfect.)
3. My Antonia by Willa Cather (Barnes and Noble edition)
4. Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor (LOVED this book...will definitely find someone to pass it on to if you guys don't want it.)
5. Anne Bradstreet by D.B. Kellogg (short biography on this Puritan poet's life.)
6. Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
7. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
8. The Troll Garden by Willa Cather (Cather's 2nd published work; a collection of short stories.)