Friday, February 05, 2010

Book giveaway!

I've finally started inventorying my possessions to figure out what I want to bring to Australia with me (not very much), what I want to keep here in storage, and what I want to get rid of (a lot). First of all, I own four wigs, which seems a bit ridiculous. I also found dozens of nail clippers- I keep buying them because I can never find one when I need one, and now all of the sudden there is one lurking in every single drawer or box I open.

Since I won't be hauling my books to Australia with me, I'm going to hold on to a few favorites and give away the rest. I figure I'd check with people I know before dropping them off at Goodwill, so if you want any of them, leave me a line in the comments and I'll figure out how to get them to you. Here's a list of titles:

Netherland- Joseph O'Neill
Dracula- Bram Stoker
Holidays on Ice- David Sedaris
Me Talk Pretty one Day- David Sedaris
What is the What- Dave Eggers
The Four Agreements- Don Miguel Ruiz
Lady Chatterly's Lover- DH Lawrence
Valley of the Dolls- Jacqueline Susann
Cloud Atlas- David Mitchell
Flowers in the Attic- VC Andrews
The Iliad- Homer
The Aeneid- Virgil
On The Road- Jack Kerouac
Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility- Jane Austen
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings- Maya Angelou
The Sun Also Rises- Ernest Hemingway
Midnight's Children- Salman Rushdie
Blood Meridian- Cormac McCarthy
No Country for Old Men- Cormac McCarthy
The Road- Cormac McCarthy
One Hundred Years of Solitude- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Water for Elephants- Sara Gruen
Selected Poems- WB Yeats
Angela's Ashes- Frank McCourt
A Town Like Alice- Nevil Shute
Ordinary People- Judith Guest
Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer- Joseph Conrad
The Barrytown Trilogy- Roddy Doyle
The English Patient- Michael Ondaatje

14 comments:

Maria said...

I'm interested in some of your books. Maybe Valley of the Dolls and anything else you recommend.

Tom said...

Don't make it a giveaway! Turn your library into a forced-borrowing book-travelling program!

Print some book plates (or handwrite a note inside the cover) Something like "Please enjoy this book, and when finished, give it to a friend, or! leave it in a safe, dry place for someone else to find and enjoy! (park bench, train seat, coworker's desk)"

Or something. I'd recommend taking some time to compose a message that is nice and actually encourages anonymous lending (and makes sense)

You could also ask the readers to take a picture with the book near a landmark and email them to you. It would be a little like Flat Stanley, but with books, and reading.

Thoughts?

eileen said...

MJ- I'll save you VotD and a couple more for when I see you next weekend!

Tom- I like your idea. Originally, I was thinking of selling the books for $5 each and donating the proceeds to Haiti but figure it would be too hard to organize collecting the money. But maybe I will make some fun labels to paste inside like you suggested...I am a fan of the read and pass along school of (transient) book ownership.

Unknown said...

I'll take Yeats, Virgil and Rushdie off your hands.

Ryan said...

Um. Netherland is mine, don't give it away just because you for some reason did not like it!

Ryan said...

I'll also take What is the What off your hands.

Jeff said...

I've seen One Hundred Years of Solitude and Cloud Atlas dozens of times at used books stores. If they're still available I'd take them.

Although if the logistics of handing them off prove too difficult please just bury A Sun Also Rises deep in the ground somewhere remote so no one else reads it.

eileen said...

Whoops, sorry Ry- I thought you had lent me Eat, Pray, Love. I'll send you Netherland and What it the What with Eri.

Al- I'll bring them to Lir.
Jeff- are you going to soccer on Monday? I can bring them then.

Kim said...

Can I have Water for Elephants and Angela's Ashes?

Jeff said...

I'll be there.

brigita said...

I'd be interested in What is the What or The Four Agreements...thx!

Suldog said...

Is "The Barrytown Trilogy" made up of "The Commitments", "The Van", and "The Snapper"? If so, I've got them. If not, I'll gladly have it! Also, "Lady Chatterley's Lover", as I've heard about it since I was a kid, but have never actually read it. Can I send you postage or something? How can we make this work?

my e-mail: suldog@aol.com

Amanda said...

Holidays on Ice and Heart of Darkness, por favor. I'll come all the way to Boston to collect them this weekend.

Kevin said...

Do you have "The English Patient" as a movie? I LOVE that movie - not!