My Second Blogoversary and a Giveaway!

Exactly two years ago today I posted my very first blog entry.  This blog was supposed to be about books and chocolate, but the chocolate and cooking entries seem to have fallen by the wayside.  I haven't blogged nearly as much as I wanted to lately -- I recently started a wonderful part-time job at the public library, and I'm continuing with Spanish classes.  That and my home life keep me pretty busy.  But I did want to thank all the people who have read and commented on my blog the past two years, so again I've decided to celebrate by giving away one of my favorite reads since my previous blogoversary.

Here are the rules:  ONE winner will receive a paperback copy of the following books, his or her choice, shipped via The Book Depository [if the winner resides in the U.S., I reserve the right to ship via Amazon or Barnes & Noble].   To see if The Book Depository will ship to you, click here.  I'll choose a lovely edition for you.

To enter: please select one of the following books, some of my favorite reads from 2010-2011.  


In the comment section below, please tell me why you'd like to read it, or why you liked the review.  You MUST include a link or email address so I can contact you if you win! 

One entry per person.  UPDATED:  The deadline for entry is now midnight Saturday,  September 17, 2011, Central Standard Time.  

At Home: A History of Private Life by Bill Bryson.  A long book about the social history of Victorian houses and so much more!  This was probably my favorite nonfiction read of 2011.

Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope.  Dear Trollope!  Backstabbing and bitchery among the clergy in a small Victorian English town.  It's a great introduction to Trollope.

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym.  A great, subtle novel about a spinster in 1950s England and her eccentric neighbors.  Pym has been compared to Jane Austen, and I love her wry observations.

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin.  Completely unlike most of my other reading, but so good!  It will get you completely sucked into the world of Winterfell and the Seven Kingdoms.

Germinal OR Pot-Bouille by Emile Zola.  Two very different books from Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle of novels.  Both were wonderful, so the winner could choose either one.

Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon.  A GREAT Victorian sensation novel and my most recent posting.  I had to include it!

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.  Another book for the person who's read all of Jane Austen.

Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley.  A charming novella about books, booksellers, and finding love.

The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton.  My favorite so far of the NYRB Classics, about the residents of a small boarding house in WWII era London, trapped by life and circumstances.  I loved it.

Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple.  I had to include at least one Persephone, and this is one of my favorites.  Whipple is the best-selling author in the Persephone book catalog, and it's easy to see why.

Very Good, Jeeves! by P. G. Wodehouse.  I didn't technically write a complete post on this book, I've read a lot of P. G. Wodehouse the past few months and I couldn't keep him off the list!  I feel the need to spread the humor of Wodehouse, and this is a great starting place.

Good luck and happy reading!

My Blogiversary and a Giveaway!

Exactly one year ago today, I posted my first blog entry.  Though I haven't read or posted nearly as much as I wanted, I'm pretty pleased with the results so far.  I've read some great books and added LOTS to my to-read list, and I've also discovered lots of other great bloggers.

Just for fun, I thought I'd look back over the past year and compile a few stats about some of the books I reviewed (sadly, I haven't reviewed every single book I've read.  That would leave less time for reading).  Anyway:

Blog entries: 93
Books reviewed: 74

Classic books:  30
Contemporary fiction: 18
Nonfiction/Memoirs: 4
Juvenile books: 9
Young adult books: 4
Short story collections: 5
Horror/SciFi/Fantasy: 4
Gothic/Mystery/Crime: 10
Plays: 1
Books in translation: 7
Books by nonwhite writers: 4
Books by men: 33
Books by women: 37

Note: these stats don't always add up evenly because books may fall under two categories or have multiple authors, i.e., short story collections.  Anyway, I thought it was quite interesting -- my split between male and female authors was pretty even.  I'm definitely going to try and read more world lit and books in translation, and books by nonwhite authors.  Of course, since I'm trying to read lots of classics, most of the authors are dead white males.  But I suppose that can't be helped.

I've had a lot of fun writing this blog, and discovered some great authors.  This week I'll be posting more thoughts using topics from Book Blogger Appreciation Week, which I'll start tomorrow.  In honor of my one-year blogiversary, and in honor of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, I'm giving away a book!   Since this blog is all about sharing my favorite books, I'm giving away a paperback copy of one of my favorite books reviewed in the past year.  If you'd like to be entered in the drawing, please choose a book from the list below and leave a comment.  Tell me what you liked about the review or why the book interests you. Each title has links to my original review for your reading pleasure. The drawing ends Friday at 3 p.m, Central Standard Time. All eligible applicants will be entered into a drawing, and the winner will be chosen at random.  One entry per person, and be  sure and leave your email address so I can contact you! The paperback book (I'll select the edition) will be mailed worldwide from The Book Depository.  Here are your choices, in no particular order:


NOTE:  The book giveaway is now over.  Thanks for all the entries and comments!

1.  Daddy Long-Legs and Dear Enemy by Jean Webster (Penguin Classics edition).  Charming epistolary fiction, and an unappreciated classic.  The book that inspired this blog.

2.  Bleak House by Charles Dickens.  It's long, it's complicated, there are far too many unbelievable coincidences -- it's Dickens!!  What's not to like?

3.  Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.  A joy and a delight, and my first Persephone Classic.

4.  Fingersmith by Sarah Waters.  A twisty-turny Dickensian page turner.  Wowza.  I've never read a 500-page book so quickly.

5.  My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell.  A delightful true story of a quirky family of British expats living in Greece, told from the point of view of the youngest child.

6.  A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot.  A French bestseller about the horrors of WWI and a disabled woman's search for her missing fiance.  Brilliant, and beautifully adapted into film.  So worth reading.

7. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham.  Kitty Fane is the bored wife of bacteriologist Walter Fane, who decides to take his adulterous wife to a remote village in China during a cholera outbreak in the 1920s.  Sound promising? Well, it's Maugham, so it's tragic, but fascinating.  Kitty is one of my favorite trainwreck heroines.

8.  Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories.  Particularly appropriate this time of year, especially for those signed up for the RIP Challenge.

9.  The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen by Jacques Pepin. A great food memoir -- with recipes.

10.  The Belly of Paris by Emile Zola.  A French classic AND great food writing!

11.  When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.  The 2009 Newbery Award winner.  I couldn't put it down, and it made me bawl like a little kid.  I loved it.

12.  Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome.  Imagine if Bertie Wooster and his two equally clueless friends went on a pleasure trip down the Thames, but instead of Jeeves they brought a fox terrier.  Lots of digressions and silly observations about life.  It's hilarious, and it never ceases to amaze me that this book was written 100 years ago.  One of the funniest things I've ever read.