Wednesday, June 16, 2010

What I've been reading and ROOM giveaway

I will be posting the Artist Arthur community interview post later this week. We are waiting for the Manifest swag to arrive and as soon as it does, I'll get it up!

Until then, I wanted to chat about what I've read lately and host my first post BEA giveaway. Woo-hoo!

I finished Dracula a month or so ago and just loved it. The journal format was perfect for seamlessly offering the variety of perspectives that come about as the story unfolds across several countries. It did get a bit, 'Oh the Lady! Dote, fawn, How is the Lady? Protect the Lady from the evil of the world! Her delicate ears shall not be marred by such evil as the utterance of his name!' and on and on. Sometimes the doting on Mina chapters dragged on a bit, but it was written in 1897, so what can you do?

It does remind me of an SNL skit I remember seeing a long time ago where two actors were dressed up in Renaissance or maybe Elizabethan garb and made a great show of bowing flourishing their hands and bowing and saying, 'Yeeeeeeeees'. Wish I could find that skit. Seeing it would probably help what I'm trying to illustrate here. :-)

But anyway, it was a wonderful book. And I just love that the entire book centers around a character that makes a minimal number of appearances. So intriguing!

I also read ROOM by Emma Donoghue. I tore through it in about a day and a half and it was pretty amazing. The narrator is 5 years old, and while his speech patterns are highly elevated for someone so young, I still really had to think about what he was describing sometimes. It works so well because the author doesn't shy away from giving the reader some of the confusion of an adolescent perspective.

The book ended with me wanting more. There's a bit of an empty part in me from it that feels unsatisfied. Not to be read as a failure on the author's part though. With my life experience, perhaps this is exactly what I was supposed to walk away from this with. That closing emotion will be different for everyone, which is part of what makes this book so wonderful.

And to help give you the opportunity to share your thoughts, I am giving a copy of ROOM away! Along with a Quirk Books tote bag and a cute pink, reading light that was a gift from BBC (I already have a simliar one). Ta-daaa!


Now! To Enter:
You must leave a comment to be entered (you only need to leave your email address if I don't already have it), and if you have a Twitter account, I give you an extra entry if you RT the giveaway. Contest is open internationally.

That's all. I will announce the winner on Monday, June 21. Good Luuuuck!

39 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awesome! kelseyrdickson@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Awesome, thanks! kelseyrdickson@gmail.com

eeeschen said...

I'm really intrigued, this sounds great!
eeeschen (at) gmail (dot) com

Unknown said...

Great contest!

McKenzie
mac.attack17(at)yahoo(dot)com

Ari said...

Sweet! Book light would come in handy for books and for glow in the dark strings concerts! and then book bag will make the library a wee bit less angry at my needing assistance to lug books out O.o

You have my email! :)
Ari

Ari said...

You have my email!! and i tweeted it *by accident oops*

http://twitter.com/sheba201/status/16327955532

Ari!

Heather said...

Thanks for the giveaway! Room sounds like a great read.

http://twitter.com/bibliophileprds/status/16327961663

abibliophilesparadise@gmail.com

--Heather

Alessandra said...

Please enter me, too :)

Alessandra
outofblue1(at)gmail(dot)com

Josie Baker said...

awesome contest!
josiebakerbooks[at]gmail[dot]com

RT:http://twitter.com/MrsJasperHale08/statuses/16327973622

Anonymous said...

Awesome giveaway. I like the book light!

Ddoogg04@aol.com

Retweeted @DforDarla

Unknown said...

Great review! Now I want to know what happens... egdeedy (at) gmail (dot) com

Andi said...

How exciting! ROOM sounds great, so I'd love to be put into the hopper. You already have my e-mail addy. And I'll RT.

Glad you enjoyed Dracula. The part where he shimmies down the side of the tower made my skin crawl.

Anonymous said...

Great giveaway. Room sounds interesting.

carolsnotebook at yahoo dot com

Amanda said...

Hi Lisa! I think you have my email already. Anyway, I'd love to be entered for this. I didn't know anything about Room before I went to BEA and only heard about it afterward. It sounds lovely. :)

Thanks for your generosity!

Dana Bridges said...

Awesome giveaway

Bridges@sympatico.ca

Spav said...

Great contest.
Count me in, please!

Tweet: http://twitter.com/Sparima/status/16336609244

spav05(at)gmail(dot)com

Blueicegal ♥ said...

The book looks great and the bag is major cuteness!! appreciate you making it international

i re tweeted the contest on twitter and tweeted it myself
http://twitter.com/blueicefiesta

Thanks for this! :)

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

I would love a chance to win ROOM; thanks so much

bibliophilebythesea AT gmail DOT com

skyla11377 said...

What A Really Great Giveaway. An Awesome Book, A Bag To Carry It In, And A Light To Read The Book By When It Gets Dark. That Is Such A Perfect Combo To Me.

I Tweeted About This Giveaway On Twitter (@skyla11377).
http://twitter.com/skyla11377/status/16339327281

skyla11377(At)AOL(Dot)Com

Heather said...

I want to read that book sooooo bad. I love Emma Donoghue's work and this one just sounds like another awesome book from her. You have my email, but I'll throw it up there again :)

hsfargis @ bellsouth . net

Thanks!

Melody said...

Room sounds interesting to me! I'd love to read it, so please enter me. :) And the tote bag is lovely too!

Thanks, Lisa!

melreadingcorner (AT) gmail (DOT) com

Heather J. @ TLC Book Tours said...

Dracula was surprisingly good, wasn't it?! I loved it - unexpectedly - when I read it a while back.

(no need to enter me)

Liz @ Cleverly Inked said...

Wow, This is awesome!

I have not heard of this book. but boy does it sound amazing

Cleverlyinked@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

I read Dracula a long time back but I remember loving it too.

Never heard of Room, but it does sound great.

violetc dot books at gmail dot com

I lost 2 book lights recently :(

Shelly B said...

I have been seeing a lot of buzz about Room. Would love to read it!

shelcows AT gmail DOT com

eglentyne said...

Fun! Thanks for the giveaway. :-)

eglentyne +at+ gmail +dot+ com

Melwyk said...

I enjoy Emma Donoghue & think that Room sounds wonderful. The tote bag is also cute - so lucky that you got to attend BEA!

My email is mkindrach [at] hotmail [dot] com

And I'll tweet it too :)

Michelle said...

Thank you for being so generous for this giveaway! I know Rooms is one hot book from BEA. The tote and booklight are adorable too!

I believe I re-tweeted this but will do so again just in case!

jmchshannon (at) gmail (dot) com
@whatsheread

LuAnn said...

Sounds like a book I'd enjoy reading!

reading_frenzy at yahoo dot com

Shooting Stars Mag said...

This book sounds amazing. I really wish I'd picked up a copy at BEA myself, so if I can enter, that would be wonderful.

I still need to read Dracula. I will someday. :)


Lauren
lauren51990 at aol dot com

rhonda said...

book sounds really interesting.Please enter me in contest.lomazowr@gmail.com

God's gal said...

Oh this is great! (scared you might mangle me if I said "awesome" :-p)

Tweeted as well: http://twitter.com/VamPoet/status/16470652590

Jade
legally_write@hotmail.com

Clea Simon said...

I love Emma Donoghue! This sounds like it may not be her best, but I don't care. And happy to retweet - that's how I found out about this contest and your blog

Clea
cleas@earthlink.net
@Clea_Simon

Jennifer-Girls Gone Reading said...

Hoping to win. And I RT on Twitter :)
girlsgonereading (at) yahoo (dot) com

Yvonne said...

Great giveaway! I will be posting the giveaway on my site http://www.divasbookcase.blogspot.com
and tweet it. Email is thedivasbookcase@gmail.com

Unknown said...

Wow, a narrator that is only five. I'm fascinated!

Thanks for the contest.

thebookette@googlemail.com

bookaholic said...

This sounds like a very interesting read. I 'd love to read what a five year old has to say! Please enter me.
Tweeted- http://twitter.com/Debasmitadhar/status/16594308586

frndz.debas@gmail.com

Erika Powell said...

great post and i retweeted (erika_lynn_c)

sports[dot]erikalynn[at]gmail[dot]com

Mel (He Followed Me Home) said...

oh the ROOM looks great! I just saw this the other day & was curious :)

hefollowedme AT gmail DOT com

Thanks!
Mel