Freebie Friday
Happy Freebie Friday, everyone! How happy is it? So happy that we're giving away not one but TWO books.
"But Nancy," you may be asking, "Who won last week's book?" Well, that would be Kelly! It's a little lighter than the Salem witch trials, but I hope it brings you joy.
And onto this week's giveaways.
The first book made me squeal with delight: First Dog, written by J. Patrick Lewis and Beth Zappitello, with illustrations by Tim Bowers. See? See how cute that is? And if you think they didn't take the opportunity to drop the president's biggest campaign slogan in, you can think again.
But I don't want to overwhelm you with two children's books in two weeks, so I'm going to sweeten the pot with Bastard Tongues: A Trailblazing Linguist Finds Clues to Our Common Humanity in the World's Lowliest Languages, by Derek Bickerton.
Call me a nerd if you will, and you wouldn't be the first, but this is exactly the type of book I like to curl up with, and then jump up and read random passages to the first person I can grab.
That's exactly what I've been doing with The Partly Cloudy Patriot, by Sarah Vowell, which I finished up this week. There isn't an essay she's written that hasn't made me think about the world a little bit differently. If you've never read one of her works, I suggest any of them wholeheartedly.
Comments
I've been trying all week to finish Robert Parker's Night and Day. (I've been all but passing out as soon as I sit down in the evening.) My lunch book (there have been so many layoffs and transfers here that it's good to be able to entertain myself at lunch!) has been Carolyn Hart's Ghost at Work which is amusing and probably interesting, but I'm not super-enthused about it. (Could be some of that above-mentioned tiredness.)
The book I've read the most this week has been Grandson's If You Give A Mouse A Cookie He and I have spent most of this week's evenings together, so we've developed a rhythm where I read the "if" part of each sentence and he "reads" the results.
Posted by: Eve | April 24, 2009 10:02 AM
Nancy, you hooked me this week. I don't usually participate but 1) Kiddo would love the dog book, 2) I would love the other book, and 3) the Vowell book you' read is on my TBR list already.
So ... what am I reading this week?
* The Lost Men: The Harrowing Sage of Shackleton's Ross Sea Party - by Kelly Tyler-Lewis - this is a fascinating look at the lesser known part of Shackleton's Antarctic adventure from 1914-1917.
* Evelina - by Fanny Burney - this book is from the 1700s and is the amusing story of a young, sheltered girl's introduction to high society.
Posted by: Heather J. | April 24, 2009 11:01 AM
Thanks! :) Cannot wait to read The Wind in the Willows. (I feel like I may have read a much abridged version when I was younger, because I remember Badger and Toad--and, more specifically, Toad's driving which, unfortunately, is probably pretty similar to mine.)
Posted by: Kelly | April 24, 2009 11:30 AM
I would love these books. I just started "Words on Fire: The Unfinished Story of Yiddish." Reading about languages is really interesting!
Posted by: rhapsodyinbooks | April 24, 2009 11:43 AM
I just started reading a book of seven short stories first published in the 1890s: The Experiences of Loveday Brooke-Lady Detective by C. L. Pirkis. I read about it on DorothyL. I read the first story (it was about a jewelry heist) so far, and I liked it a lot. Loveday Brooke is a unique kind of Victorian woman. She's a career detective who is independent, very smart, and has a mind of her own. I don't know about her name though. It sounds like it belongs in a 2009 story in PEOPLE magazine....
Heather, you mentioned on another thread that you enjoy the Mary Russell books written by Laurie R. King. You may like to give the Loveday Brooke short stories a try. I'm reading them on the Kindle, but the entire book is also available as a free eBook at this link:
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/pirkis/brooke/brooke.html
Posted by: Gail Farrelly | April 24, 2009 12:54 PM
These both sound interesting. I finished Mystic River earlier this week and yesterday I started The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. I am only 50-some pages in and he's already made me laugh out loud several times. Always a good sign, I think.
Posted by: Amy | April 24, 2009 2:30 PM
I'd love to add FIRST DOG to our home library (for the kids, of course!).
I'm thisclose to finishing THE PAINTER FROM SHANGHAI by Jennifer Cody Epstein. Based on the life of Chinese Postimpressionist painter Pan Yuliang.
Posted by: Dawn - She Is Too Fond Of Books | April 24, 2009 3:03 PM
Nancy what a great feature on Fridays! I'm a little late on the uptake here, but wanted to share what I'm reading this week, which is The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. It's a bit hard to get thru the first 30 pages or so because the protagonist is a burn victim and he retells the actual accident blow by blow and what therapy is in a burn unit. But can't seem to put it down!
Posted by: Suzanne | April 26, 2009 2:28 PM