This Is Not a Joke!

Happy First Day of the April 2007 BAFAB Week! That's right, it's once again time for you to buy a friend a book—not for a birthday, not to replace the one you borrowed and dropped in the tub, and not as a thank-you for a favor. Do it just because it's good karma to buy a friend a book.

I've decided to double my good karma this quarter by giving away two books to you, my faithful readers! Sometime before Saturday night (April 7), please submit a comment to this post, in which you give the name of a paperback book you'd like to own, and tell me why.  When I wake up on Sunday April 8, I will write all of the entrants' names on post-it notes and scatter them, sticky-side up, all over the rug in my bedroom. I will then go find the cats and let them loose. The first two post-its that stick to the cats' fur are the winners! (I will try to capture this photographically, but I'm not promising anything.) So you see, it doesn't matter what book you choose, and it doesn't matter why—everyone gets a fair shake at this. Just be prepared to provide me with your snail-mail address if you are one of the winners. Feel free to tell your friends, and good luck!

Comments

[scott]

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/037571457X/

[Deborah]

The Pope's Daughter: The Extraordinary Life of Felice della Rovere by Caroline Murphy; amzon link: http://www.amazon.com/Popes-Daughter-Extraordinary-Felice-Rovere/dp/0195312015/ref=sr_1_2/103-4710860-0200656?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175443704&sr=1-2

[Marianne]

Hmmm... I'm going for "Body Trauma: A Writer's Guide to Wounds and Injuries" by David W. Page, M.D.

BTW, I've linked you to my BAFABW contest list on my blog. Hope that's okay :-)

[Write From Karen]

Queen of Babble: A Novel by Meg Cabot.

Why? Because I love Meg Cabot. *grin*

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060851988/ref=wl_it_dp/103-2488979-3403003?ie=UTF8&coliid=I32NTWUN1TJ71L&colid=15XJVC2IWJOK

[booklogged]

I would like to win Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear. Why? I've read the first 3 in this series and really enjoyed them. I think Winspear does an excellent job of capturing the time period and providing an intriguing novel.

[JP]

"Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame The Debate"

...because to convince people you need to communicate beyond the people who already agree with you and share similar values. Or, rather, I do.

[Judy]

I would like What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist-The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England because I've an idea for a novel set in that time period. Also, I'm giving you a little linky-love on my blog.

[Elisson]

How can I resist?

Alternate Generals III by Harry Turtledove.

[I see Scott is hoping to score a copy of Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel. Elder Daughter actually interviewed Satrapi for one of the Boston-area community papers a few years ago. Great book...]

[Wendy]

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Why? Because I've wanted to read it for years, and been intimidated by its size. Because it is so long that I'd have to renew it a zillion times if I got it from the library. And mostly, because I loved his essay on Bryan Garner's Dictionary of American Usage.

[Mark]

Well, I never did pick up last year's Best American Short Stories. Why do do I want it? Two words - Mun. Ro.

http://www.amazon.com/Best-American-Short-Stories-2006/dp/061854352X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-1324745-5319862?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175553471&sr=8-1

[Framed]

I think "East" by Edith Pattou comes in a paperback, doesn't it? Please come over and enter my contest as well.

[di]

I shouldn't even be entering because I am a slacker reader and book blogger. I've been on vacation since Friday...OK, I know my life is a vacation, but I've been AWAY on vacation since Friday...and haven't read a word of any of the four books I brought. But I beat my husband out of $2.50 on the golf course and almost broke 100 on Sunday. So I have a different set of priorities here.

I looked through my extensive TBR list and came up with The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those who Survived the Great American Dustbowl by Timothy Egan. Here's the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Worst-Hard-Time-Survived-American/dp/0618773479/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-2620148-4581652?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175611338&sr=8-1

Also, all verbatim readers should feel free to come visit my Southern themed BAFAB contest:
http://dibookblogetc.typepad.com/my_weblog/

[Sara]

What a great idea!

The Symbolic Species: The Co-Evolution of Language and the Brain by Terrence Deacon because it is a fascinating subject I would like to learn more about, and Deacon is brilliant!

[dreama]

First timer here. I just found your site today via a Google image search which turned up drowning Dora bath toys (don't ask). What better time to make a new friend than when they're giving away free stuff? :-)

If I wind up stuck somewhere on your cat (preferably not his butt), I'd like Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas. Between chasing a toddler and schlepping kids to soccer, I'm forced to be a light reader.

[Literary Feline]

Thanks for having the contest--and I love your selection process! Maybe I should enlist my dog and cat to help chose a winner for me. :-)

I think I'll throw my name in for The Liars' Club by Mary Karr. It's been on my wishlist forever, but I never seem to get around to getting a copy.

[Loren]

Thanks to the recommendation of a dear friend:
Chez Jacques by Jacques Pepin.

[Cap'n Ganch]

"The Elements of Style" by Strunk & White ... just because I'm finally getting back to grad school.

[Deborah]

only 1? lol. mine would be The Art of Standing Still by Penny Culliford

[steve]

I just finished reading "The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary" by Simon Winchester. With your proclivity for language, I think you'd really enjoy both the story and the writing.

In fact, I so enjoyed the book that now I'd like to read "The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology," also by Simon Winchester. In paperback.

Question: do you often find your cats with post-it notes stuck to their fur, or is this just something you made up?

[Nicole]

"Knitting Rules!" by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, because I've heard a lot of good things about it but it always seems to be out of my library.

[Janeen]

I can't believe I've waited so long to enter this. Hope I'm not too late. Anyway, I would like The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri because I was first captivated by this story when a chapter was excerpted years ago (probably in The New Yorker), and now I've seen the movie (highly recommended), so I'd like to read the whole novel. Are we allowed to try and bribe the kitties with catnip?