Check it out!

I try not to post about every give-away out there or else my whole blog would be one huge advertisement for cool prizes. But every now and then I do when I find a blog I want to share and/or a very cool giveaway. This happens to be both.

I am a fan of Bree at The Things We Read and she is giving away What Happened to Anna K. by Irina Reyn. You can enter via this link. Check out her blog and maybe win the book. Maybe it'll inspire me to finish reading Anna Karenina...my last book of my personal challenge.

Also check out West of Mars -- Win a Book! A great blog which posts which sites are having book contests.

Too Many Books

So remember on my first giveaway post that I need to make room on my book shelves. This is why:
Those are all the books I haven't read yet. Ok...so maybe my husband's right and I should stop acquiring books for a bit......yeah right. It's not like I buy them brand new. I've also been super lucky and have won a lot of them.

These are the books I won from Bookshipper in her amazing 14 Book Giveaway from Hachette Books. So cool!!!
And these are recent books I've gotten from the Mid-Manhattan Library Book Sale...if you live in the area check it out (75 cents for paper backs and 2 dollars for hardbacks):And these are some other miscellanous finds/wins. Anna is excited too:
I won Three Cups of Tea from Amanda at Click. The Good News

I won Snow Flower and the Secret Fan from Lisa at Books. Lists. Life

I won Queen of the Road from Julie at Booking Mama

I won The Richest Season from Becca at The Inside Cover

THANKS EVERYONE!!!!!

The other books are various ones I've picked up from used book stores, the free shelf in our laundry room, library sales, the antique store, etc.

I've decided to start giving away some books I've read to make more room. So thank you veryone who's entered my First Giveaway and there will definitely be more.

Book Collecting

I recently read a great post by Emily at Books, The Universe, and Everything about why people might buy copies of books they already own. For instance, she likes J.D. Salinger books. I admit I have a couple copies of Catcher in the Rye myself.

Which brings me to my guilty pleasure...I collect copies of The Count of Monte Cristo. I'm really not sure why. Maybe it's because I love going to used book stores and finding interesting copies of my favorite book. The image to the left was the first copy I owned which I read in high school (and have re-read numerous times) and absolutely LOVE. It's still my favorite copy. I also have an old, water damaged hardback, no copyright information or publisher information which I found by accident in a box of free books from a garage sale. NICE!!

Which brings me to a slight annoyance. In high school I thought the "Count" on the cover was quite cute....which probably enticed me read the book the first time. But since then...seriously...what were the publishers thinking??

This guy is just...well, to me, not that attractive:
And this guy looks way too smug...or maybe he's taken WAY too much cold medicine:
And THIS guy! Boy...he kind of irritates me. Does he looks like he's bent on revenge? He reminds me of someone Jane Austen would have made fun of:
And this one? Yawn!
Anyway...so do you have a book or author that you collect? Why?

First Giveaway!!

I've been very lucky the last few months and have won some amazing books from fellow bloggers. So to return the love (and to make more room on my bookshelves) I am going to be giving away some books. So here's my first book give away.

A hardback copy of Sophia Kensella's book Remember Me?

From Publishers Weekly
Shopaholicpowerhouse Kinsella delights again with her latest, a winning if unoriginal tale of amnesia striking an ambitious shrew and changing her life for the better. After taking a nasty bump on the head, Lexi Smart awakens in a hospital convinced that it's 2004 and that she's just missed her father's funeral. It's actually three years later, and she no longer has crooked teeth, frizzy hair and a loser boyfriend. Initially wowed by what she's become—a gorgeous, cut-throat businesswoman—Lexi soon finds herself attempting to figure out how it happened. As her personality change and lost memory threaten her job, Lexi tries to dredge up some chemistry with her handsome albeit priggish husband, Eric, though the effort is unnecessary with Eric's colleague Jon, who tells Lexi that she was about to leave Eric for him. Amnesia tales may be old hat, but Kinsella keeps things fresh and frothy with workplace politicking, romantic intrigue and a vibrant (though sometimes caricatured) cast. Though the happy ending won't come as a surprise, readers will be rooting for Lexi all along.

The book is pretty cute and was a fun read. All you have to do to win is leave a comment on this blog. The contest is open until Friday, August 22nd and I will announce the winner on Saturday. Please make sure you leave a way for me to contact you or check back on Saturday.

Good luck!!

Addendum: If you have an address, I'll ship it. No matter what country :)

Book Update - Penelopiad

Before this year I had never read a Margaret Atwood book. Since then I've read The Handmaid's Tale and The Blind Assassin. I've been a fan of both books. So when I was walking by our local antique store and saw a cheap hardcover edition of her book Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus I thought I'd check it out.

I've read excerpts of the Odyssey by Homer so I knew a little bit of the back story. But don't worry too much if you haven't. The back story is:

Penelope and Odysseus are married and he is soon sent off to fight in the Trojan War. Penelope is none too happy because A) She is newly married B) She just had a baby C) Helen (her beautiful cousin) started the whole mess D) The war lasts 12 years.

So after waiting 12 years, the war is over and Odysseus should be on his way home but gets waylaid...for numerous years. You can read about his exploits in the Odyssey. So Penelope waits at home, tries to stave off suitors who want to marry her, take care of her lands, and raise a son. When Odysseus finally returns, he proceeds to kill off all her suitors and hangs twelve of her maids. Penelope tells her story from the afterlife and explains why Odysseus decided to kill off the suitors and more importantly...why he would hang the twelve maids.

At first I thought Penelopiad was a pretty good story. I liked Penelope's viewpoint. Whereas the Odyssey glamorizes tales, spins yarns, etc...Penelope is more realistic and often cynical about what is going on. In some ways it reminded me of Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson but without Winterson's flair for the poetic. But towards the end I thought that perhaps Atwood should leave this type of story-telling to others. Points were driven...and then repeatedly driven. And some of the writing was a bit forced. BUT...it is a very small and short book so if you want to give it a try, check it out. Be prepared for quite a bit of, shall I say, feminist leanings.

Since I love covers...here's a couple more interesting versions:



Also reviewed by:

Adventures in Reading
Lost in a Good Story
Books I Done Read
Things Mean A Lot
The Hidden Side of a Leaf
Bold. Blue. Adventure.

A Book Blog. Period.

Booklust (on Penelope)

Random Charlie Post

My dog Charlie doesn't have a lot of tricks up his sleeve. Unlike Anna Bear who can fetch and run and swim really well. But....

He is adorable:

And he can shake:
And he can lick:
And he can wink:
And he can yawn:
And he wears hats well:

And he can be bashful:
And he can glare (when I'm taking too many photos):

Thanks for letting me post pictures from my new camera!!

British Library - Turning the Pages

I have to say that I'm a huge fan of the British Library.

Why you say?

Check out their Turning the Pages section.

You can digitally "turn the pages" of a few original works and books.

For instance, do you want to look at Jane Austin's The History of England, written in her own handwriting and even illustrated with cute pictures of kings and queens?

Or maybe the original Alice's Adventures in Wonderland written and illustrated by Lewis Carroll himself?

Or maybe Mozart's musical diary, or Leonardo da Vinci's sketches?

Most have audio commentary that you can turn on or off, you can zoom in or out, and other fun features.

My favorite....the Lindisfarne Gospels:




Check it out!