The Ultimate Shelf-Cleaning Book Giveaway Applauds Banned Book Week

Oh, it's free book time again and this time Tim is the winner of the Emily Dickenson poems, the Faulkner collection, and The Teachings of Don B. I believe Tim sent a little extra mojo out to The Perfect Grandson, because he fiddled and swished quite a bit before he picked the winning paper wad with Tim's name on it. Congratulations, Mister Sisk!

More books out of the shelves and into your houses. (Note - I'm a little late with Tricksey Pixie's shipment and Joseph never sent me his address. Tricksey - they're going out by week's end and Joseph, email me your mailing address, dahlink). Due to a fortuitous ad at UCA, I cleaned out an entire shelf in one fell swoop. The upside? It looks like I'll be opening up some of those book boxes in the garage this weekend. New titles!

I'm cleaning up the list a bit this week and dropping a few books no one ever seems to want. The list is shorter, but still free. Remember - I ship to the lower 48 only unless you've got that special request to send a banned book to the Governor's office in Alaska. I'm always all about doing that. That way you could help me clean out my bookshelves and make a political statement, however lame. This is Banned Book Week, by the way, so go read something edgy while you're waiting for Thursday's Vice Presidential Debate to begin.

I'm also dreaming up something for next month. It will be my One Year Blogiversary in November and there's no telling what I might do to start the celebration. I'm open to ideas, though, so sling them at me.

Deadline - October 15

Choose three free books from the list:

Zelda, Nancy Mitford (HC)
Ugly Ways, Tina McElroy Ansa (HC)
Mr. Sammler's Planet, Saul Bellow (HC)
Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden (PB)
Like Water for Chocolate, Laura Esquivel (HC)
Leaving Cold Sassy, Olive Ann Burns (HC)
Evelina, Fanny Burney (PB)
Flappers and Philosophers, F. Scott Fitzgerald (PB)
William Faulkner and Southern History, Joel Williamson (HC)
Possession, A.S. Byatt (PB)
Lucky Jim, Kingsly Amis (PB)
Freud's Women, Appignanesi and Foresster (HC)
Brother Odd, Dean Koontz (HC)
Odd Hours, Dean Koontz (HC)
Essays, Poems, and Addresses, Ralph Waldo Emerson (HC)
Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man, Fannie Flagg (PB)
Until I Find You, John Irving (PB)
Bastard Out of Carolina, Dorothy Allison (PB)
Blue Diary, Alice Hoffman (HC)
The Rector of Justin, Louis Auchincloss (HC)
Certain Things Last: The Collected Short Stories of Sherwood Anderson (HC)
False Gods, Louis Auchincloss (HC)
The Crack-Up, F. Scott Fitzgerald (PB)
Manhattan Transfer, John Dos Passos (ancient PB)
Thirteen Moons, Charles Frazier (HC)

Remember - these are used books. They're not meant to look like new because they've been loved and actually read. They're free. Who cares if they're perfect.

Help a girl out - choose a few books.

Note on the Fridge to Moleskine

Oh, dear. For the past couple of months I've been frantic for more Extra Large Ruled Cahier Moleskine notebooks, and you appear to have ceased production. Can't find them anywhere - not even the sad Kraft paperbag covered ones.

This simply won't do. I've a special fondness for these notebooks - EXACTLY these notebooks - and it frightens me a little that I may never see another one. Sure, I know you make scads of other sizes and strange gridded things, but my level of desperation for the lovely lined beauties has made me look elsewhere for scribble notebooks.

Elsewhere, I tell you. And it's not a pretty experiment.

Ladies - you know what it's like when you've got to find a new lipstick, hairspray, shampoo, whatever? We buy and buy brand upon brand, always finding something that's almost right, but never quite what we're looking for. Countertops and make-up cases groan under the weight of unused products. Same with the Moleskine.

Apica, chemistry notebooks, cute composition books, expensive leather journals from miscellaneous book stores - they're all functional and in their own ways a delight, but they're not the Moleskine's that slip perfectly into my purse, the ones with the flexible black covers, the ones with the perfect line spacing on exquisite paper.

Please let us know soon the true fate of these XL lined cahiers, because scribbling should be near-perfect tactile experience, and I'm sitting here with almost-but-not-quite notebooks.

Thank you so,

Monda

UPDATE: I wrote a pleading email to Moleskine and received this heart-stopping response...

"Thank you for contacting Customer Care. We appreciate your inquiry. However,both the XL Ruled Journals and the XL Squared Journals have been discontinued by the manufacturer. The only XL Journals we have are Plain. We do offer both the Ruled and Squared Journals in both the Cahier Line and theTraditional Moleskine Notebooks in both Pocket and Large sizes. Please let us know if you have additional questions, or if we can assist insome other way.

Moleskines.com Customer Care

http://www.moleskines.com/

Toll-Free: 1-800-808-7714"

Sweet. Jesus. Say it aint so, Moleskine....

In Memoriam and in Mourning

I don't know what to say. My heart hurts to see such a man go, and while I know he didn't look like this in his final moments, he did once. And that's where I'll keep him.

I believe I'll watch movies all day now.

Ghost Writing a President . . . or, Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

You know, I was going to give this political business a much needed rest. After suffering from Post Traumatic Political Convention Disorder (P.T.P.C.D) for a couple of weeks, I thought it healthier to move on to other things - my life for instance, paying my $350 electric bill, selling things on Ebay for extra gas money, teaching students who may very well be the last generation who can afford to go to college - that kind of thing.

But the ugly just keeps getting uglier and I guess there's to be no relief until the last ballot is counted or stolen.

As if the stock market crisis and Sarah crossing her legs at the knee in front of world leaders weren't enough, Today's Salon.com article just put me over the edge. Ghost writing letters to the editor? Color me crazy, but I thought we needed to collectively and individually be real role models to our young people. If you also look HERE, you'll find the written directives, examples, and talking points for writing your own fictional, heart-wrenching letter to the editor. All you have to do is insert the name of some supporter or other. Are supporters too illiterate to writer their own letters? Looks like the McCain folks think so. Don't worry, the McCain campaign will take care of the rest. Can you write another one?

I don't want to hear one more word from that bunch about "values" or "straight talk." Not. One. More. Word.

The Ultimate Shelf-Cleaning Book Giveaway, better late than never

I'm late! But Tricksy Pixie won't care, because she's the lucky winner of Cat's Eye, Don Juan, and Neverwhere. I have to say, gal, that's a fascinating combo. Dare you to read them all at the same time. Double-dog dare. Congratulations!

So we begin again. For the uninformed, this is an Ultimate Shelf-Cleaning Book Giveaway designed to relieve the sad weight of a lifetime of books. I'm cleaning out and giving books away to those who really do want them. Since I haven't even cracked open the forty boxes of books in my garage, this could go on indefinitely. So be it, I say, because things are out of control here in the shelves.

You choose three books, then leave a comment here on the post. In two weeks (ON TIME, I promise) The Perfect Grandson will draw a name out of the salad bowl and you could be the winner! The next deadline is September 30, but don't wait until the last minute or you'll forget. Due to outrageous shipping charges, only those whose books will ship to the lower forty-eight can play.

Although, if someone wants to choose a banned book and send it to, say...the Governeror's mansion in Alaska...well, I just might break that rule. I'm flexible like that.

Choose THREE FREE BOOKS from the list:

Zelda, Nancy Mitford (HC)

Mr. Sammler's Planet, Saul Bellow (HC)

Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden (PB)

Leaving Cold Sassy, Olive Ann Burns (HC)

Evelina, Fanny Burney (PB)

The Sound and the Fury / As I Lay Dying / Sanctuary / Intruder in the Dust (all in one big volume), William Faulkner (HC)

William Faulkner and Southern History, Joel Williamson (HC)

Death of a Confederate Colonel: Civil War Stories and a Novella, Pat Carr (PB)

The Teachings of Don B., Donald Barthelme (HC)

Possession, A.S. Byatt (PB)

The Life of Samuel Johnson, James Boswell (PB)

Lucky Jim, Kingsly Amis (PB)

Brother Odd, Dean Koontz (HC)

Odd Hours, Dean Koontz (HC)

Essays, Poems, and Addresses, Ralph Waldo Emerson (HC)

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man, Fannie Flagg (PB)

Until I Find You, John Irving (PB)

Bastard Out of Carolina, Dorothy Allison (PB)

Blue Diary, Alice Hoffman (HC)

I am Anastasia;: The Autobiography of the Grand-Duchess of Russia , Roland Krug von Nidda, translated from the German by Oliver Coburn, 1958 (HC)

The Rector of Justin, Louis Auchincloss (HC)

Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson (PB)

Certain Things Last: The Collected Short Stories of Sherwood Anderson (HC)

False Gods, Louis Auchincloss (HC)

Manhattan Transfer, John Dos Passos (ancient PB)

Thirteen Moons, Charles Frazier (HC)

Remember - these are used books. They're not meant to look like new because they've been loved and actually read. They're free. Who cares if they're perfect.

Help a girl out - choose some free books.

Highlights from the Republican Convention

Oh, I'm such a teacher. Repeat after me, students...

new-kew-ler.

The Museum of Happiness

Jesse Lee Kercheval may very well be my new favorite author. My friend Steph slid this copy of The Museum of Happiness across the table to me a couple of months ago. Like me, she finds too many killer books to read them all in a timely fashion. I love it when the book I put off reading ends up becoming The One.

If you're a reader like me, story is crucial - but it's never enough. There must be a poet somewhere inside every great novelist or I don't stick. That's Kercheval. The Museum of Happiness is like Henry James meets John Irving and shakes hands with Gabriel Garcia Marquez who's reading Suite Francaise. This is the book you want to read in one sitting, but don't because you have to save another chapter for tomorrow.

I'm not giving you a synopsis because I'll give away something vitally important for sure. That, and it's late. Just flash on this: a genetic predisposition to webbed fingers and telepathy, carnies, a dead groom, gypsy-child pickpockets, rooms full of hand-made lace, the stock market crash, a cross-dresser in Full Habit...this is eccentricity at its finest, gorgeously written, addictive.

Get up right now and go find a copy of this book. I'd loan you this one, but Steph hasn't read it yet and, well, it's hers. I'm giving this one a Full Five Stars. Miraculous, considering how literarily jaded I've become.

Note on the Fridge to Governor Palin

You certainly gave a rousing speech last night. At least I think you did. There was an awful lot of cheering and such, but I'll admit I was distracted by the camera flashing back and forth from you to your lovely family down in the good seats. As a mother and a grandmother and a voter and a woman, there are a couple of things that concerned me, Sarah.

1. What in the world were you thinking bringing your four month-old child to a loud and late political convention?

2. How is it possible that angelic child slept through the entirely of it? I know babies, Sarah, and most of them aren't as dandy as yours was when being handed off, person to person, past bedtime and in a room full of screaming people. You must have prayed really, really hard for that kind of peace in the valley. It's a maternal miracle.

3. Your Iraq-bound son is so handsome and you must be terribly proud of him. He seemed a little surprised by the September 11 date of deployment, though. Bless his heart. I'm sure you two talked about it afterward.

4. Watching your daughter and her beau hold hands was sweet. That poor boy looked like he'd been hit by a truck, and she...well, she just makes my heart hurt. I noticed that while everyone passed the sleeping angel down the row, the infant never quite made it into their arms. Oh, Sarah. I know that was a decision made by some Very Important Strategist, but it was a little unnatural. You'll have to agree the young couple (when is the wedding, by the way?) do need the practice.

5. Your husband is a cutie. Watch out for those Washington gals, though. Some of them don't look like Janet Reno.

And my final question/observation...

6. While I understand it's not terribly Vice Presidential to be holding babies all the time (who is that Very Important Strategist, anyway?) I'm a little befuddled by a woman who's never seen holding her own newborn. Ever.

Oh, Sarah. Don't parade your family around if you don't want us watching. I realize I'm looking at you through bifocals instead of my old pair of Gloria Steinem aviators now, but that's what happened to a lot of old feminists - they became mothers and grandmothers and realigned a few things. Go on out there and run a country if you must, and more power to you for the effort and all that, just be sure to vacuum up all that cracked glass ceiling before you let the baby crawl on the floor.

The Ultimate Shelf-Cleaning Book Giveaway continues, despite hurricanes and Republican Conventions

Another drawing, another winner! This time The Perfect Grandson was in fine form for the drawing, and spent a great deal of time swishing all the entries and grinning with three hard-won teeth. That what I love about the Ultimate Shelf-Cleaning Book Giveaway - everyone ends up with a smile on their face. Especially me, since the shelves are showing a few empty spaces now and it's almost time to dig into the the Forty Boxes in the Garage. So congratulations, Joseph Gallo, you've won Little Big Man, Divining Women (fabulous book), and The Silence of the Llano. Everyone should slide over to Joseph's site and give it a read - he's a particularly fine poet.

I've added four new books, two with a Southern biographical slant. Ah, leftovers from my misspent grad years. I miss walking around in a fog of symbol and double-entendre. I even miss reading journal articles with "the sexual politics of..." in the subtitle. Those were the days.

The deadline for this go-round is August 15th. For those new to the game, twice a month I'm giving away three free books in an effort to clean out the old shelves and make room for new books. In all honesty, it could take a while. All you have to do is choose the three you want, leave a comment with the titles included, and wait to win. Isn't this great? You must understand this is just as much fun for me as it is for you.

Please remember - Only those in the lower forty-eight can play. I have recently received a request from a dedicated fellow teaching English overseas who would like to win a few free books. Bless his heart. If you're listening, Ryan, should The Perfect Grandson draw your name I'll be happy to mail books to someone in the States to forward to you. Just let me know.

Choose THREE FREE BOOKS from the list:

Zelda, Nancy Mitford (HC)
Mr. Sammler's Planet, Saul Bellow (HC)
Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden (PB)
Leaving Cold Sassy, Olive Ann Burns (HC)
Evelina, Fanny Burney (PB)
The Sound and the Fury / As I Lay Dying / Sanctuary / Intruder in the Dust (all in one big volume), William Faulkner (HC)
William Faulkner and Southern History, Joel Williamson (HC)
Death of a Confederate Colonel: Civil War Stories and a Novella, Pat Carr (PB)
The Teachings of Don B., Donald Barthelme (HC)
Possession, A.S. Byatt (PB)
The Life of Samuel Johnson, James Boswell (PB)
Lucky Jim, Kingsly Amis (PB)
Brother Odd, Dean Koontz (HC)
Odd Hours, Dean Koontz (HC)
Essays, Poems, and Addresses, Ralph Waldo Emerson (HC)
Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man, Fannie Flagg (PB)
Until I Find You, John Irving (PB)
Cat's Eye,Margaret Atwood (HC)
Bastard Out of Carolina, Dorothy Allison (PB)
Blue Diary, Alice Hoffman (HC)
I am Anastasia;: The Autobiography of the Grand-Duchess of Russia , Roland Krug von Nidda, translated from the German by Oliver Coburn, 1958 (HC)
Don Juan, Byron (HB)
Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman (PB)
The Rector of Justin, Louis Auchincloss (HC)
Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson (PB)
Certain Things Last: The Collected Short Stories of Sherwood Anderson (HC)
False Gods, Louis Auchincloss (HC)
Manhattan Transfer, John Dos Passos (ancient PB)
Thirteen Moons, Charles Frazier (HC)

Remember - these are used books. They're not meant to look like new because they've been loved and actually read. They're free. Who cares if they're perfect.

Help a girl out - choose some free books.