Literary Giveaway Blog Hop, February 2013

The Literary Giveaway Blog Hop, hosted and organised by the lovely Judith at Leeswammes’ Blog, is such fun I naturally signed up for it once again. I’m a complete book hoarder and I don’t even like lending people books, but I love gifting my favourites to friends and family and, well, YOU.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time going through my books, trying to decide what to offer up this time (which is dependent on whether The Book Depository actually has it – I would love to offer up a couple of Canadian books, but TBD rarely has them). It was a hard choice (made a bit easier by the knowledge that there’s always another giveaway in the future!) but I finally settled on these two:

The Precipice by Virginia Duigan

This was pretty much the first book I read this year, and it also turned out to be a much-loved one. Set in the Blue Mountains it’s the story of a retired teacher and principal now in her late 70s, forced to sell the beautiful house she had built because of bad investments that have made her broke. At first, Thea’s determined to have nothing to do with the young couple and their twelve-year-old niece who moves in, but she still lives in the old cottage across the road and can’t avoid them. With her preoccupation with her neighbours growing into a kind of protective obsession, especially at Frank’s lazy disregard to keep his work – borderline pornographic – away from his niece, Kim, the line separating right from wrong becomes blurred and Thea’s past experience – of doing too little, too late and the horrible consequences – take over her moral reasoning. This is a wonderful, subtle novel, told in Thea’s very distinct voice. Keep your expectations low (don’t expect some kind of big thriller or anything) and you’ll be very impressed with this literary novel. My review.

Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter

I read this for a class at uni, can’t remember which one now but it’s such an excellent book, and I want to share the love. I’ll let the publisher’s summary describe it for you, since it’s been a long time since I read it: “Sophi Fevvers – the toast of Europe’s capitals, courted by the Prince of Wales, painted by Toulouse-Lautrec – is an “aerialiste extraordinaire,” star of Colonel Kearney’s circus. She is also part woman, part swan. Jack Walser, an American journalist, is on a quest to discover Fevvers’s true identity: Is she part swan or all fake? Dazzled by his love for Fevvers, and desperate for the scoop of a lifetime, Walser joins the circus on its tour. The journey takes him – and the reader – on an intoxicating trip through turn-of-the-century London, St. Petersburg, and Siberia – a tour so magical that only Angela Carter could have created it.” There’s some great magical realism at work here, but it’s also historical fiction, a mystery and a thought-provoking story on the nature of identity, belief and hope. A classic.

___________________________

THE RULES

This giveaway will run from Saturday 9th to Wednesday 13th of February.

To enter, leave a comment on this post telling me which book you would like to win. Please include an email address.

One entry per person please.

Anyone can enter. You do not need to have a blog.

This giveaway is open internationally, as long as The Book Depository ships to your country (you can check the list here). Post office boxes not accepted.

You do not have to be a follower or become a follower, although if you like my blog I hope you will! You can follow by email or by RSS (see buttons in the side bar on the right).

Winners will be selected randomly by computer, not chosen by me.

The giveaway will end on Wednesday 13th February at midnight, Toronto time.

Winners will be notified by email on the 14th of February. The winners need to answer my email within 3 days, or I’ll announce a new winner.

That’s it! Good luck and thanks for playing, and don’t forget to visit the other participating blogs to enter more giveaways! (see the list below)

Linky List:

Kelly

February 11, 2013 at 9:13 am · Reply

Great giveaway! I’d love to win The Precipice. thewellreadredhead at gmail dot com
Kelly recently posted..Book Review: Indiscretion by Charles Dubow

[Reply]

Shamara

February 11, 2013 at 10:06 am · Reply

I would love to win a copy of The Precipice

sweetsindy93 at gmail dot com

Dita

February 11, 2013 at 10:33 am · Reply

I`d love to win Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter.
I just love this kind of bog hops where readers are introduced with so many great books because sometimes I get really sick of all those mainstream YA books that sometimes have no literal value at all (no hate, I love good YA).
Thanks for your great prizes!
Liked you on Facebook: Dita Škarste

dita(dot)skarste(at)gmail(dot)com

Amy

February 11, 2013 at 1:02 pm · Reply

I would like to read Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter.

Roxana Z.

February 11, 2013 at 1:25 pm · Reply

I’d love to win The Precipice by Virginia Duigan because I have Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter.
Thank you for the giveaway!
roxana(dot)zuziac(at)yahoo(dot)com