Armchair BEA: International Giveaway

So it's day two of Armchair BEA and that means it's giveaway time!  As the theme for the day is favourite reads of 2012, I've decided to offer a giveaway featuring some of my favourite reads for the year so far.

Rules of the giveaway:
* Everyone who enters gets one entry.
* You don't have to be a follower of my blog, although new followers are very much appreciated.
* Giveaway open to anywhere that the Book Depository ships to.
* Choose which book you would like to receive now, but you can always change your mind if you win.
*Closing date - Sunday 10th June 2012 at 12pm GMT.
*The winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to provide a mailing address.

On to the books!

Option 1 - Gillespie and I by Jane Harris:

Gillespie and I is narrated by Harriet Baxter, a spinster looking back at the time she spent with the artist Ned Gillespie at Glasgow's Great Exhibition of 1888.  It was a difficult time for the family, but is Harriet all that she makes herself out to be?

I loved this one for the unreliability and wonderful creepiness of the narrator, Harriet.  It's a book you definitely won't forget.





Option 2 - Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller:

This is a retelling of the Trojan War from the point of view of Patroclus, who has grown up with the famous hero Achilles.  Their friendship grows into something more and the human story of their relationship is told against the backdrop of Greek Mythology.

I wasn't expecting to love this book as I'm not a massive fan of mythology.  But the human story is simply beautiful and Miller is a deserving winner of the Orange Prize.  Regular readers, I'm sorry for yet again going on about this book!





Option 3 - Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch

Jaffy Brown is a child in Victorian London living in poverty.  After a chance encounter with a tiger, he meets Jamrach, owner of a menagerie and goes to work for him. One opportunity leads to another and Jaffy is soon a sailor on an expedition searching for the Komodo Dragon.  But disaster strikes the ship and the sailors face hardship after hardship, leading to horrible consequences.

This is an old-fashioned rip-roaring adventure story with a darker side as the need for survival starts to overtake human ideas.  I can guarantee that this book will stay with you once you have read it.




Option 4 - The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

The story of Jewish resistance to Roman soldiers in the fort of Masada in 70AD, told by four very different women.  Yael's mother died in childbirth and she has been blamed for it ever since. Revka is a baker's wife who witnessed horrific things when her village was destroyed. Aziza wants to be a warrior, but is trapped by her gender. And Shirah has followed the man she loves to the fortress, putting her children in danger.


The Dovekeepers is historical fiction at it's best - it doesn't just tell you about Ancient Israel, it takes you there.


Fill out the form to enter: