Giveaway: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

I was organizing my bookshelves and notice I have two copies of The Handmaid's Tale, one with my penciled annotations and underlines and another that looks as though it was never read. Since The Handmaid's Tale is one of my favorite Atwoods, I decided to give the clean copy away. The Handmaid's Tale was the first Margaret Atwood novel I read and I think it's a really good one to start with. So, if you haven't read this book and would like a copy sent you way, just leave a comment and be sure to include an email address.

Blurb from Goodreads: Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining fertility, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now... Funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing, The Handmaid's Tale is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force.

This giveaway is limited to US and Canadian residents only. I'll announce the winner Tuesday, January 17th.

The Joy of Books

This video has been making the rounds and I wanted to share it with those of you who haven't yet seen it. Filmed at a bookstore in Toronto, Type, this magical video is a wonderful testament to the fascination of physical books. 

Forgotten Bookmarks: A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages by Michael Popek

It's happened to all of us: we're reading a book, something interrupts us, and we grab the closest thing at hand to mark our spot. It could be a train ticket, a letter, an advertisement, a photograph, or a four-leaf clover. Eventually the book finds its way into the world-a library, a flea market, other people's bookshelves, or to a used bookstore. But what becomes of those forgotten bookmarks? What stories could they tell?

By day, Michael Popek works in his family's used bookstore. By night, he's the voyeuristic force behind www.forgottenbookmarks.com, where he shares the weird objects he has found among the stacks at his store.

Forgotten Bookmarks is a scrapbook of Popek's most interesting finds. Sure, there are actual bookmarks, but there are also pictures and ticket stubs, old recipes and notes, valentines, unsent letters, four-leaf clovers, and various sordid, heartbreaking, and bizarre keepsakes. Together this collection of lost treasures offers a glimpse into other readers' lives that they never intended for us to see.

I have been following Michael Popek's blog Forgotten Bookmarks for well over two years now and I was delighted to have won a Friday giveaway a few weeks back in which Michael gave book titles that had been featured on his blog (and in his book), as well as a signed copy of his book. A week or so later I recieved a box of books that contained the following:

Photo from Forgotten Bookmarks

Not only was I excited to have won some of the same editions that I had seen featured on the blog, but I was also happy that Michael Popek had included a copy of his own book, which I had had my eye on ever since it was featured on NPR's Book Seller's Picks of the year's freshest reads. If you follow the blog Forgotten Bookmarks, you'll find the book to be quite similar in content, but even better because it's in book format.

If you've ever read a used book and found something stuck between the pages, left behind from a past reader, and felt a jolt of curiosity, even excitement, then you'll enjoy this book. There are chapters that include, among others, "Photographs," "Letters, Cards, and Correspondence," and" The Old Curiosity Shop: From Four-Leaf Clovers to Razor Blades." Popek explains his love of forgotten bookmarks in the introduction of the book, including several anecdotes describing the first few memorable pieces of ephemera he came across as a used bookseller:

One day, I came across a copy of a fairly common microwave cookbook - the sort of published by the appliance manufacturer to make a few extra dollars. By then, it was habit for me to flip through the pages looking for a lost treasure, and this book didn't disappoint. Near the end of the book, I spread the pages to discover a very large marijuana leaf, dried and pressed and in perfect condition. There was something about a pot leaf stuck inside this hurry-up cookbook that sent me into hysterics. I had visions of the impatient stoner, desperate with hunger, reaching for the book and marking a recipe with the item closest at hand.

Some of the "bookmarks" featured are funny, some angry, some sad, but all interesting. Even better, I found a treat inside the pages of Popek's book itself. He was kind enough to include one of the original forgotten bookmarks that he featured in his book. It is pictured on page 93 and was found in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig, published by William Morrow and Company, 1974. (I also received a copy of this book in the prize pack.) I was delighted to find this forgotten bookmark and share some of the excitement that Popek experiences when he finds other forgotten bookmarks.

All in all, this book was a delight to read. Popek keeps the commentary to a minimum throughout, explaining that he would rather present the "material in this book more like a museum curator than a critic." I found that Forgotten Bookmarks speaks to the importance of physical books, as keepsakes and depositories, highlighting a time before ereaders, even before emails, when writing letters and developing film were the norm. For me it evoked an odd sense of nostalgia for a time that I barely got to experience for myself. It really is a testament to books and the unique ways reading can bring us together.

Publisher: Perigee Trade, 2011

Authors I Wish Would Write Another Book

We all have authors who we can't get enough of. For me, more often than not, these authors only publish a novel every couple of years or so. Of course the writing process is one that takes time to perfect, but I wish these authors would work double time so I could read more of their books. The list includes debut authors, authors who have seemed to take a writing hiatus, and those that just take awhile to write a book.

I'm not complaining, I would hate to see these talented authors mass produce novels like they were one of James Patterson's ghost writers. I just wish they would giddie up is all.

1. Audrey Niffenegger - Last published a novel in September of 2009.

2. Jhumpa Lahiri - Last published a novel September 2004, though she has a more recent short story collection, I'm aching for another novel.

3. Zadie Smith - Last published novel January of 2005.

4. Miranda July - Aside from the two McSweeny's Irregular books she published in 2011 and 2009, (irregular books of irregular content in irregular intervals) Miranda July last published a short story collection in 2007. I'm ready for more from her.

5. Johnathan Safran Foer - Last published novel 2005. (I am not counting The Tree of Codes, published 2010, as it is considered more a work of visual art than a novel.)

6. Robert Sloan - Sloan wrote this pretty awesome short story entitled Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore and word on the street is that it is going to be published as a novel by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. I can't wait.

7. Alison Bechdel - I'd love to see another graphic novel out of her. She last published Fun Home in 2006.

8. Chad Harbach - Ok to be fair he just published his first novel this year, but he worked on it for nine years. I'm really hoping his second won't take him quite so long.

9. Margaret Atwood - Last published novel 2009. She is working on the third book for the MaddAddam series, but I enjoyed Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood so much I can't wait.

10. Sylvia Plath - It's not exactly possible that she write another book, but even so I wish we could have one more.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Love Begins in Winter by Simon Van Booy

I received a copy of this collection of short stories after Book Lush hosted a giveaway of sorts (literally she just gave a huge stack of her books away to make room on her self - no tweets or signing up required, which is my kind of giveaway.) I had been hoping to get my hands on a collection of stories by Van Booy for awhile, so I was super excited to see it was available on her list of giveaway books. I'm normally not a huge fan of short stories, as I tend to gravitate and enjoy longer narrative works, but I like to sprinkle them into my reading diet nonetheless.

Unfortunately, Love Beings in Winter was not a collection that ultimately satisfied me. While there were instances of fascination and curiosity, the majority of the stories fell flat for me. Each character seemed a little too delicate and many instances too exaggerated to enjoy the meaning of the story at hand. This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy any of the stories in the collection. There was one story that I found utterly charming, and there were passages in each story that were notable; I found myself underlining more lines in this book than I do in most. It should be said that Van Booy certainly isn't lacking in ideas and he manages to convey those ideas with eloquent and sobering prose.

Children are the closest we are to wisdom, and they become adults the moment that final drop of everything mysterious is strained from them. I think it happens quietly to every one of us -- like crossing a state line when you're asleep.

But in a collection of five stories, enjoying only one just seems like it misses the mark. I can say that while I didn't abhor this book, I don't think it will stay with me for very long. I probably won't be seeking out Van Booy's other collection of short stories anytime soon, though I do love the title The Secret Lives of People in Love. However, I would be willing to give his novel, Everything Beautiful Began After, a try.

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2009

Books I'm Excited to Read in 2012

2012 is here which means, among other things, a brand new reading slate beings. Below are the books I am most looking forward to reading this year. Some are new releases and others are old classics.

1. 11/22/63 by Stephen King: I am waiting to start this one until I'm craving a real page-turner. I'm sure you all know the premise by now, and I'm really looking forward to giving it a go.

2. The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon: According to Carlos Ruiz Zafon's website, The Prisoner of Heaven will be released in June of 2012 and returns to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. It begins one year after the close of The Shadow of the Wind when a mysterious stranger enters the shop looking for a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo.

3. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins: I adored The Moonstone when I read it in college, but I never got around to The Woman in White. This is the year.

4. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood: This one was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1996 and is a work of Atwood's fiction I've been looking forward to for awhile.

5. How to Read the Air by Dinaw Mengestu: I've had this one on my TBR wishlist since last year and eventually found it at Half Price Books at the end of 2011. I'm super pumped to get to it at last.

6. In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson: I've read mixed reviews on this one, but since I'm a sucker for almost anything related to WWII Germany, I think I'll get into this one.

7. When I Was A Child I Read Books by Marilynne Robinson: Another 2012 release that I'm anticipating, this one is a collection of essays that explore "faith in modern life and the contradictions inherit in human nature." Not to mention the title sums up my life from the age of six to twelve.

8. Q: A Novel by Evan Mandery: This one has such an interesting premise I can't help but think it will make for a fun read.

9. In the Garden of Earthly Delights by Joyce Carol Oates: This is the first book in the Wonderland Quartet (no need to read them all in order) and since I liked the third so much, I went out and bought this.

10. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: Another classic that I've heard great things about, but haven't managed to read yet.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
photo via prettybooks.

Happy New Year!

I'm all packed up and headed out of town tonight for a long weekend. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend ringing in the new year. I'll be back next week.

Cheers and GO BADGERS!

Windows on the World by Frédéric Beigbeder

 

"this isn't a thriller; it is simply an attempt - doomed, perhaps - to describe the indescribable."

For those of you like me who never visited Manhattan prior to 9/11 (I had a sweet 16 trip planned for my birthday on September 13th, 2001, which was obviously postponed) the Windows on the World was the restaurant that sat atop the 107th story of the north tower. After Flight 11 hit the north tower, those who were in the restaurant survived the impact, but all eventually died. Beigbeder's novel Windows of the World is the fictional account of a father and his two sons who became trapped in the restaurant of the twin towers after the attacks commenced.

As you can probably guess, this novel was truly heartbreaking and incredibly moving. No one trapped above the crash site survived so at its center, this is a story about death. I decided to pick it up shortly before Christmas and wouldn't you know, it was the first book I read all year that made me cry. Aside from the poignant subject matter, Beigebeder structures the novel to emphasize the heartbreaking and catastrophic details of that tragic morning; each chapter represents one minute beginning at 8:30am and finishes when the tower falls at 10:29am. Each chapter alternates between the story of the family trapped inside the tower and the point of view of an unnamed French author, ruminating about the nature of America, childhood, 9/11, and the role of a writer. By weaving these two stories together, not only does The Windows of the World memorialize the thousands of lives lost on that tragic day, but it also reflects on what it means to be an American, both pre and post 9/11, and what it means to be human. It explores themes of love and redemption; what we may do differently when faced with death and what becomes important when the end of your life is imminent.

What I wanted to tell my sons was that you should never stay with someone you don't love; that you should only be faithful to love and love alone; that you should tell society to piss off as often as possible.

The novel as a whole is bizarre and disjointed (as many post-modernist French novels are), but also incredibly powerful and unique. Though certain passages are perhaps brash, self-indulgent, and controversial, the novel is captivating and incredibly philosophical. It will have you reflecting on your own life and the nature of literature itself.

Publisher: Miramax Books, 2004

A big thanks to my friend Ben for gifting this book to me.