Thursday 23 April 2009

Book Giveaway #1: Note to Self by Andrea Buchanan

April 23 is a symbolic date for world literature for on this date and in the same year of 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo.

Beginning today, this blog will be giving away a book a week for the next seven weeks or so. I'll post the name of the book on Thursday and anyone who'd like a chance to win it should leave a comment to this effect. The winner will be chosen and announced the following Thursday when the new title is posted. Capiche? Wherever you are in the world, I'll mail your prize to you. In addition to sharing the joy of reading, I'll be making some much needed space on my bookshelves! :)
First up: Note to Self: 30 Women on Hardship, Humiliation, Heartbreak, and Overcoming It All by Andrea Buchanan. Brand new. Hard cover. Simon & Schuster January 2009.

40 comments:

Rachel Green said...

My name in the hat, please :)

Would you mind if I did the same offer? I've been looking at my full-to-bursting bookshelves recently.

Stephe said...

Awesome giveaway, Liane. Mine in the hat too, please?

I wasn't aware of the literary symbolism of this day, so I am digging this post. Today is my boy's birthday, too. Isn't that a hoot? Thanks for all the info, my dear.

KeVin K. said...

Terrific idea.

I'd do something similar, except my book boxes (don't have many shelves) are full of pulp novels from the fifties and sixties. We're talking 25-cent cover prices here. And not a lot of book-binding quality. Few would survive being mailed anywhere.

My name is NOT in the hat for this one, since you already owe me a book.

Liane Spicer said...

Leatherdykeuk, thanks for joining in! Go ahead and do it - the more the merrier. That KeVin guy (you might know him...) mentioned somewhere that once he reads a book he passes it along and I think it's a great idea, rather than having it moldering on a shelf forever. I'm very possessive about all things paper so I'm trying to learn to let go. :)

Liane Spicer said...

Stephe, you're welcome! There you go... it's in. And a great big Happy Birthday to the man! He's 26 now, isn't he? Mine will be 26 in September. I need to pull out his baby albums as therapy - I'm still not over this growing up stuff that they do!

Liane Spicer said...

KeVin, you started me thinking about this, sorta. (See my response to LD.) I have a shelf in my bedhead, then I stack stuff on top of it, and I also use a shelf in a closet. These are the newer books. All the older ones are in boxes. The boxed books range from 10 to 30 and more years in age and are in pretty much the condition you describe. Can't give those away.

If that book I promised you is not on your doorstep today the postal service owes me an explanation!

Rachel Green said...

Me too!
I'm terribly possesive about books.

KeVin and I are on a couple of forums but we've never met, and his beard is longer.

Sandra K321 said...

Yes, I knew that they all died on the same day and also that it may also have been Shakespeare's birthday and is the date that it is celebrated (the records show we was baptized on the 26th so they think he may have been born on the 23rd.) Oh well, enough trivia. I do know it's my birthday and I would love to win this book.

Anonymous said...

This sounds fantastic, a great idea.

CJ xx

jemscout425 said...

count me in too. i'm trying to get my husband to build me another bookshelf, he just growls, but i never give away my books and he collections grow

A Reader said...

This sounds great!
Thanks for giveaway!
kimspam66(at)yahoo(dot)com

Liane Spicer said...

Leatherdykeuk, KeVin has a beard? Oh yeah, I see it!

Welcome, Mindy! You're in.

cstironkat said...

This looks like a great book. Please enter me in your giveaway. I donate my books to book sales for charity. That way they make a difference in my community.

Liane Spicer said...

Sandra K321, thanks for joining in and Happy Birthday! I've read about the mystery surrounding Shakespeare's actual date of birth, but obviously the historians think it's so much more poetic to believe that he was born and died on the same date - and I agree with them!

Crystal Jigsaw, thanks for joining in!

Jemscout425, I love your alias! Mockingbird is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE stories. Welcome, and good luck!

Liane66, another Liane! Welcome!

Liane Spicer said...

Cstironcat, I'm beginning to think that recycling books that way trumps hoarding them - although you'd have to surgically separate me from some of my oldies! Good luck in the draw!

wendy wallach said...

I lov reading these types of books..you can read one story at a a time and then take as long as you need to digest it and appreciate it without breaking your stride

Emilie said...

Ooh, this sounds great-- thanks for the chance! (my name in the hat, too, please!)

emvark at gmail dot com

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

Definately put my name in the hat please. A book competition is my idea of heaven.

Liane Spicer said...

Wendy and Emilie, welcome to the blog and good luck!

Debs, you're in!

MOMFOREVERANDEVER said...

would love to read this and pass it on

Debi said...

Brill idea, Liane. Clever, clever friend ...

KeVin K. said...

Okay, the book arrived. (Not this book, people; the other one she promised me a decade or so back.) It's lovely, and so's the card. Valerie will be reading it right after finals (the book, not the card, she already read that).
But...
$23 in postage?! What's the exchange rate, Trini to US?

Glad to have been the inspiration for this giveaway.
Giving my own copy of books I love to people I love just makes sense. (And there's a great sliding scale built in -- how much you like the person directly relates to how much you like the book you gave them.) I never -- Well, okay: one example comes to mind, so make that 'almost never' -- give friends books I have not read.

And, yes, dear, I do have a beard. With the exception of two stints with employers who did not permit them and a few acting roles, I've worn a beard since I could grow one. Valerie wants me to dye mine these days. She says me having a grey beard makes her look old. I tell her that's nonsense; people just assume I'm a professor dating a coed.

kathy55439 said...

This book looks great and I have a couple friends I would love to pass it on too when I am done this it

Flowerpot said...

Put me in there too please!

guru said...

I would love to read this book. Thanks!

Liane Spicer said...

Momforeverandever, Kathy55439 and Guru, thanks for entering, and good luck!

Debi, my brian had a wave! **choke** :D

Flowerpot, you're in!

Liane Spicer said...

KeVin, nine and a half years do not a decade make! The exchange rate is a scream: US1:TT6.3 It used to be 1:2 like it has been in Barbados since exchange rates were invented, I think, but we've had one devaluation after another, then something called a floating currency... Let me stop here before I start ranting about stuff you can't possibly be interested in.

Your sliding scale book-giveaway method sounds very complicated. And I knew you had a beard - I swear! :) Love Valerie's take on the grey... ROTF!

KeVin K. said...

Exchange rates. Something else USofAers never think about. When I was in England in 1968 the rate was about $5=1 pound. Didn't enter my pointy head that things change. In 2007 I signed a Doctor Who contract for about a third of what I thought I was getting. (Not that I would have haggled much: it was Doctor jumpin' Who fer cryin' out loud.)

Lane Mathias said...

What a lovely idea. I'd love my name dunked in the hat please.

This is such a good idea. I'm tempted to scour my shelves, piles (and boxes etc) and do the same thing. Liane, I think you may have started Blogaway Books:-)

AllyKatt said...

I would love to be included in this drawing. Thanks for the opportunity!

espressogurl at hotmail dot com

Anonymous said...

Enter me please. I would love to help you clear some shelving space!

bsyb100 at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

I don't to win this one but it's a great idea. I will do a promo on my next blog post. Can't wait to see the next six offerings :)

Liane Spicer said...

KeVin, unlike USofAers, it sometimes seems like the exchange rate is ALL we think about!

Lane, you're in. By all means do it if you want to - and trust you to come up with a lovely, catchy name like Blogaway Books! Let's start a movement!

AllyKatt, you're in, and good luck!

Busy Bee, welcome! And thanks for the help!

akalol, I notice you boys don't want to touch this one. That's okay - leave us with our misery-loves-company books and we'll leave you with your motorcycle manuals! :D Looking forward to your promo.

Anonymous said...

I'd love the chance to win a copy of this book.

Renee G said...

I'm still hoping to read this.
rsgrandinetti@yahoo(dot)com

bloggytreasures said...

I'd love to be entered to win!

Liane Spicer said...

Wanda, ReneeG and Quelleheure4 - welcome, and good luck!

Liane Spicer said...

Wendy is the winner or Note to Self by Andrea Buchanan. This week's pick is Lost Hearts in Italy by Andrea Lee. Remember to drop a comment in the trail if you're interested in winning this title.

Thanks for joining in, everyone!

Divine Ms. M said...

I am getting in on the boat real late, but I love your first book giveaway selection, and will plan to find/look for it.

Nice of you to share, so graciously.

Maven/Trinidad

Liane Spicer said...

Hi Maven! Welcome, fellow Trini! Sorry you missed the first giveaway; lots of readers wanted that one. I'm giving away seven in all, so who knows? There might be one in there for you!