It's my blog birthday this week and my actual birthday next week so I thought I would celebrate by having a giveaway. There are no rules. Just sign up in the comments if you want to win with your email address. I do have a question which I will reveal in a second but it's up to you if you want to answer it or not. I just thought adding the question would be fun. I am giving away a Penguin Deluxe Edition of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. My first and last giveaway was a classic too and since it proved so popular I though I would give away one that I actually liked. This is one of my favourite books and I picked up this lovely edition especially so it's completely unread. The cover was design by Ruben Toledo in watercolour. The pages are made to look unevenly cut. It really is a lovely book and I was almost tempted to keep it myself. I'll announce the winner on the 28th of August so you have until then to sign up.So since it's a birthday giveaway my question is were you ever given a book as a gift that you loved in the end? If so what was it? You can answer the question under comments or leave a link. I'm looking forward to reading your answers.
My family were limited when it came to gift buying so they always put lots of thought into it. My aunt would always find out what we were into and we would receive something related to that. For my sister it was art supplies for me it was books. She gave me many fantastic books over the years and quite a few of them I class as my favourites. The one that always springs to mind though is "Emily of New Moon" by L. M. Montgomery. The author is more well known for the Anne of Green Gables books and I certainly had only heard of these at that point. It's similar to the Anne books in that Emily is an orphan but she is taken in by a reluctant Aunt who then grows to love her. I think I read somewhere that Emily was more like the author than Anne and mirrored some of her life (I could be wrong). Anyway it wasn't just the story that I loved but the atmosphere. It seemed a little darker than the Anne books and I loved the setting of it too. I honestly don't know how many times I read that book. Thankfully my mum realised how much I loved it and I received the rest of the trilogy one Christmas. Again I devoured those and they were reread constantly along with the first one. Sadly my mum gave most of my childhood books away, including these. The books are out of print now although I am sure they are available second hand. I honestly don't know why they are out of print as I think they were far superior to the Anne books. Anyway, that was my most memorable book gift.
I once received Wizardology by Dugald Steer as a birthday gift and absolutely loved it! I love the cover for this copy Jane Eyre, please include me in the giveaway and thanks so much :)
ReplyDeletetirachii(at)yahoo(dot)com
I'm jealous of people who have received books as gifts that they loved, that's never happened to me. I always wind up reading the books I'm given out of obligation, so now people just give me gift certificates or ask me for a list of books I'd want.
ReplyDeleteThat cover of Jane Eyre is awesome. I remember reading JE as a young'un, but can't recall anything about it. I'm thus signing up for the giveaway foreverbrokentree(at)hotmail(dot)com
I'm not signing up for the giveaway because I've read Jane Eyre often enough and am unlikely to read it again anytime soon. Plus, I love using my library and classics are always to be had there.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, the Emily books are not out of print. Maybe you mean the editions you read as a child are no longer available but I assure you all three of the novels are still available.
http://www.amazon.com/Emily-New-Moon-Novels/dp/055323370X
I got Chicken Soup For The Chocolate Lovers Soul from my best friend for my eighteenth birthday:)Its no secret that I'm a choco-holic and I loved the book!She'd written "have a delicious time reading it" on the front page and it is one of the best gifts I've ever received <3
ReplyDeleteGFC-Janhvi Jagtap
justjanhvi at gmail dot com
In general, I tend to supply family with specific book lists at Christmas and my birthday and therefore love everything I get given! Having said that, I remember being in hospital for a minor operation when I was four and my parents giving me a huge book about dinosaurs for being brave when they stuck a needle in my bum. That book meant a lot to me as a kid! Does that count? If so, I'd love to be included in the giveaway - I've never read Jane Eyre and a beautiful copy like that would encourae me to do so, I am sure.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a beautiful copy of Jane Eyre. I've actually been meaning to buy a copy of it since I read it at the beginning of the summer, so this giveaway would be super-cool.
ReplyDeleteMy mom has gotten me a lot of books that I've ended up loving. She was the one who first bought me Pride and Prejudice, and she recently got me a lovely biography of Jane Austen that I've very excited about. My uncle (my mom's brother) got me into LOTR as a kid, and bought me an amazing Tolkien encyclopedia that I must have read 20,000 times. One of my aunts got me Harry Potter for a birthday, and of course I really enjoyed that. My dad recently bought me Anna Karenina, and it's really good so far. I think I've been pretty lucky with the books I've gotten for presents. :)
Emily O
eeoshiel(at)uncg(dot)edu
FBT, I have to give lists now too. People are too scared to buy me books. In saying that my mum has offered to get me a book for my birthday. Mind you it's a textbook and I know which one it is, lol.
ReplyDeleteFalaise, it does indeed count. Great story.
Satia, ooh, thanks for that. It was out of print here in the UK last time I checked. I did have another look and they must have been reprinted here recently because they are now available. Dare I buy them again?
Thanks everyone for joining in and sharing your stories. I loved reading them.
I was given a ton of books as a kid that I loved, but since my teen years, generally I get more of giftcards to bookstores or give people lists since I have so many books and people don't want to risk giving me a duplicate :) Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeletebrookea_2006@yahoo.com
Happy Blogoversary and Happy Birthday! You have two busy weeks coming up.
ReplyDeleteMost of my friends don't buy books for me, cause they know I'm picky, but not on a predictable level.
I did get a whole bunch of Agatha Christie books for Christmas in 5th grade, and I loved them.
Thanks for the giveaway.
fforgnayr@yahoo.com
Happy Birthday! I'm actually reading Jane Eyre right at this moment! But unfortunately the copy I have has someone else's comments and interpretations all through it which is incredibly distracting. So I definitely need to get my hands on a new copy and this one has such a wonderful cover.
ReplyDeleteSadly I no longer receive books as gifts. Mainly because my family and friends can never remember what books I don't have so the generally play it safe and get me vouchers or some other type of gift.
Thanks for the follow and happy birthday, though it's a bit belated!
ReplyDeleteAny book I get as a gift is a special treasure, though the Harry Potter books and A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly are especially treasured. :)
Ryan, I am so jealous of your Agatha Christie gifts. I love her. That would be the best present.
ReplyDeleteRachel, that's a shame. There is nothing worse than when people have written in the book you are trying to read. It's hard not to focus on it.
Sarah, thank you. You're not late. My actual birthday is not until next Saturday although my blog birthday was last week. I thought I got the book early so decided to set it up between the two.
Thanks for joining in everyone.
I can't think of any that I've been given as an adult that I actually LOVED (even though some of them were specific books that I asked for). I was a big reader even in childhood, though, and I remember my mom giving me a copy of The Diary of Anne Frank. It affected me so much that I re-read it right away. It gave me my first taste of real empathy and made me determined never to dislike someone simply because they were different.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday AND Happy Blogoversary!
knittingandsundries(at)gmail(dot)com
I won you first one so I'll take a raincheck for this one, although I read and really love Jane Eyre and I thought this deluxe edition is so beautiful! :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid I didn't like to read too much, but I remember that my mom gave me a book, a book for kids with some pictures and a lovely story. I loved that one and I read it over and over again. Right now, after so many years I still remember what the story was about, but I don't remember the name or the author... I've tried and tried to look for it in different places, on the internet, the library, but... it disappeared with my childhood... I would like to find it some day, to read it again, and in a future give it to my children. But well, I need to keep looking. At least I have Harry Potter, another great book that I read when I was 11 years old, and it was also an amazing gift from my mom... : )
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Jane Eyre is amazing... One of my favorite books ever... and you know what? It was another gift from my mom! : )
Happy Birthday and Happy Blogoversary!
idroskicinia(at)aol(dot)com
That is a gorgeous edition of Jane Eyre! I own a very plain paperback copy but would love to have a beautiful one! Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI've always gotten a lot of books for every gift-giving occasion, so it's hard for me to think of one in particular. I love your story about Emily of New Moon. I prefer Anne, but I've slowly collected all of Montgomery's books (and read them all multiple times). A little bookstore at the beach we went to every year when I was younger always stocked a good collection, so it was the highlight of my vacation to go choose my new Montgomery book(s).
theintrovertedreader at gmail dot com
Thanks for joining in everyone. I have loved reading all your gift stories. It's nice to see so many Jane Eyre fans too.
ReplyDeleteJulie, The Diary of Anne Frank is one of my favourite books too. I read it at school and came home to discover my parents had a copy. I think that was the only time I didn't give a book back (I'm sure they know it made it's way from their book pile to mine, lol).
thanks bibliojunkie, it is a lovely copy. There were a few other classics in the same range. Worth checking out.
That's a shame you can't remember your favourite kids book. I hate it when that happens. There are a few books I read growing up that I loved and can't remember the title or the author. Unfortunately I can now barely remember what they were about to describe them. I just remember enjoying them so much. I loved Harry Potter too.
Jen, your vacation book shop sounds amazing. I'm not sure if I had all the books in the Anne series but I do remember reading them all. I think I got most out the library but I am sure the first few were a gift from my mum. Although I preferred Emily I still loved the Anne books.