I have a pile of books to give away. They are either review copies or books that I bought at used book sales, not realizing that I already had them at home. I'd love to pass them along to EDIWTB readers who'd like to read them.
If you're interested in one or more of these books, leave a comment below and let me know which one(s) you want and why. I'll do a drawing in a few days and will email you if you've won. Also, if I don't already have your email address, be sure to leave it for me.
1. Folly – Susan Minot. I haven't read this one, but I adored Evening. Here's what it's about:
Lillian Eliot is the product of Brahmin Boston, whose traditions and socially correct attitudes have been instilled in her. She has been cast in the mold. Yet at times she longs to break free, to be someone different. Lillian sees that her choice of a husband will determine her future, but she finds herself most comfortable with what is familiar and marries accordingly. Later in life she is again faced with the choice–to break free or stay. In making her choice, Lillian finally discovers herself. This is a book of the inner workings of the heart and the mind. In elegant, eloquent prose, Minot captures the essence and the impact of life's decisions."
2. Breaking Her Fall – Stephen Goodwin. I loved this book, and reviewed it here. I saw it in a used book sale for $2 and had to rescue it and get it to a good home.
3. Abide With Me - Elizabeth Strout. I have another copy of this book and wrote about it here. I haven't read it yet.
4. Money Changes Everything: Twenty-Two Writers Tackle the Last Taboo with Tales of Sudden Windfalls, Staggering Debts, and Other Surprising Turns of Fortune - Jenny Offill and Elissa Schappell. I discussed this book here.
5. Have You Seen The Horizon Lately?– Jamie Rich. From Amazon:
World-famous author Percival Mendelssohn and his wife Iris were the toast of literary society until her shocking suicide exposed the emptiness behind the couple's idyllic public image. Convinced that there was no love left in the modern world, Percival decided he would abandon it, disappearing from the face of the Earth and leaving stunned fans to forever wonder what happened to their favorite writer. Now, nearly a decade has passed, and one girl is determined to find her authorial guru and get some answers. Julia Jimenez has traveled halfway around the planet to Beijing, and she's convinced the strange man she's found hiding in a Chinese home is the one everybody's been looking for. In fact, the more he denies it, the more sure of her discovery Julia becomes. Insinuating her way into his life of isolation, she slowly tries to draw Percival back out amongst the living. Can she prove to him that his safe and precious life, tucked away with his books and an army of cats, can't protect him from the harsh realities he's trying to deny? Or has he become so broken by the failure of his romantic ideals, he can never be at peace again?
6. Only Child - Deborah Siegel, Daphne Uviller. From Deborah Siegel's website:
In this unprecedented collection, writers like Judith Thurman, Kathryn Harrison, John Hodgman and Peter Ho Davies reflect on the single, transforming episode that defined each of them as an only child. For some it came while lurking around the edges of a friend’s boisterous family, longing to be part of the chaos. For others, it came in sterile hospital halls, while caring for a parent with cancer. They write about the parents who raised them, from the devoted to the dismissive. They describe what it’s like to be an only child of divorce, an only because of the death of a sibling, to be onlies who reveled in it and onlies who wished they weren’t.
Good luck!