a little giveaway

remember this post? after i shared the pages i love to get lost in, many of you expressed an interest in one book in particular, love is a mix tape. and i don't blame you. this book is gorgeous. the love story between rob and renee is a real one. it's beautiful and serious and playful and funny and feel-it-in-your-gut sad.

so i started thinking. over a cup of warm hazelnut coffee. because that's where i do my best thinking.

what if this book could be passed around between us? around the states, around the world? what if the same spine and dustcover could travel thousands of miles, all in the name of a good story? would you guys be up for that? 

i present to you:

here's how it will work:

1. leave a comment on here and tell me your favorite love story, along with an e-mail address or link to your blog.
2. at midnight on march 6 (sunday), i will randomly choose one person and mail you the book. {note: this is a new book, not my own copy.}
3. read the book. go ahead and read it slowly and savor it.
4. pass it along. to anyone you choose. you can do a giveaway on your own blog, or just pass it to someone you think will enjoy it. but the catch is that everyone has to pass the book along. no bookshelf dust collecting!

{the really fun part: i'm going to put a little sticker in the front of the book with my name, e-mail, blog URL, and a request for new "owners" to e-mail me a brief note whenever they get the book. this way, we can keep track of where this baby ends up, and possibly do a sort of Flat Stanley series with pictures of the book in various places around the world}

i just love the idea of sharing the gift of reading. because you're all my friends, and if you can't share something like this with your friends, what are you going to do with it?

p.s. that picture of me looks a bit like a mug shot and for that, i am sorry.

the books of my life

last week, the ethereal beauty that is amber blue bird graced me with a sweet award, the honest scrap, with a challenge to write five facts about myself.

amber's blog is one of my daily reads. i swear the girl could wear a burlap sack and i would wonder which agricultural feed and seed store she got it from. she's just that pretty, and just that stylish.

i'm supposed to list five facts about myself, so i'm compiling my five favorite books of all time. because honestly, a person's favorite book choice speaks volumes, and mine will tell you more about me than my favorite color or restaurant, hands down.

they are:

1. the Bible: because it's a map, and for someone terrible with directions, it's a daily necessity. and because it's the most tangible connection i have to my Father, and like an old pocket watch handed down generations, it has meaning and history to me that is deep and personal.

2. of mice and men: john steinbeck. the first book that made me cry. i sympathize with lennie so much. with loving something so tightly, so feverishly and so overwhelmingly that you crush it. and squeeze it. that steinbeck, his words get me every time.

3. love in the time of cholera: gabriel garcia marquez. the movie was an utter disappointment, but this novel is breathtaking. i've highlighted and underlined almost every paragraph in my worn copy. i lost it for about six months when robert and i moved into our little cottage, and my heart broke. imagine my great joy when i found it in the basement! that taught me a valuable lesson: take care of the books you love. yes, you can get a new copy from any barnes and noble. but your original copy, the one held between your fingers as you read the words for the first time-that is special and sacred and irreplaceable.

4. the way the crow flies: ann-marie macdonald. this is a lengthy, thick, doozy of a book. one that should take whole months. but i read it on a long train ride to visit a friend. it was that engrossing. a beautiful study on how children interpret their environments. how the little intricacies weave together with the big events to play on and manipulate their psyche. heartbreaking and honest, and holds all adults accountable.

5. love is a mix tape: rob sheffield. never before has love transcended pages so deeply. and the funny thing is, rob doesn't get mushy or romantic in this book. but the way he describes the way he met, courted and lost the love of his life is as tender as it gets.

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these books are my heartbeat, and to share them is special. cherish reading. savor it. because life is life. but sometimes, we can escape into an adventure. and who doesn't love that?

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p.s.

i'm passing this fun award to:

1. shalyn of laugh until your cheeks hurt
2. melissa of perfect peace
3. becca of adorable optimism
4. kristin of kristin in america
5. jenni of jenni austria germany