I bought three books to gift as giveaways for Christmas, but then I decided to do it after the big day, during the recovery, the decompression. Nothing will get you started on the right foot in 2012 like a good book, right?
Dr. Ribi, who I mentioned in my post, Duck or Duct tape?, introduced me to …
… How Green Was My Valley way-back-when. It is one of the most beautifully written books I’ve ever read. I should know. I’ve read it several times. It’s that good.
To join in, sign up, participate in this giveaway, all you have to do is tell me what your favorite book is and WHY? Don’t forget to tell me why, because this is your chance to sell my 500 daily journal readers on YOUR choice. (Ah, Web stats—it’s like throwing a huge party without having to mop the floor afterward. You get the same good feeling but without all the work.) A huge thanks to all of you who show up for a visit every day. I’m a latecomer to blogging but I love, love, love it—the discipline, the sharing, the way it organizes my thoughts, the daily conversation with “friends” outside my world. Prior to blogging, I’d authored a weekly syndicated newspaper column for three years, but I like this new daily gig even better. Thanks for agreeing to bear witness to my life. I am honored. My mother journaled every day of her life (she was also a newspaper columnist at the tender age of 15, each column delivered by Model T to Salt Lake City.) I’m discovering again, in yet another new way, how close this apple fell.
Winners will be selected from a hat by my grandgirl, StellaJane. She’ll announce the three winners in two weeks. We’ll send it to you promptly along with … a little surprise.
Click here to see our winners!
The best I have read in a long while is “Ahab’s Wife” by Sena Jeter Naslund. Her writing is so lyrical, I found my self reading passages several times, just to experience the words rolling by again, and again. I was also amazed at the way she created an entire narrative for a character who is only mentioned in a few lines in “Moby Dick”. Also, which gal doesn’t love the story of a woman who lives a difficult and interesting life, yet manages to find some happiness and love along the way?
My favorite book. This is like picking my favorite cousin (I have 32 first cousins) (or, if I had siblings or children, this would be like picking my favorite kid!) Because Stella is picking names out of a hat I will get no points for picking your book, but YOU, (as in MaryJane’s Lifebook, Sourcebook, Cookbook – For The Farmgirl In All Of Us) MaryJane, make my top ten because I learn so much about myself as I read about you.
I now have chickens, I cook over a campfire on my own property, I make old calendars into darling gift bags, I embroider (fabric not stories), I make gellies with agar-agar kanten -ChillOver – and know the genius and species of this sea vegetable thanks to you. I am not getting a goat to eat my weeds because “CassieMae and Flip will eat anything before they eat bind weed”. I plant and enjoy diakon radish, something I had never heard of before your book. I dry my clothes on a line outside or on racks indoors. I sprout. I eat salad with a spoon. I waste less. I read more. I write more. I am shopping for a scythe. My list of things I do or don’t do because of your book goes on and on…
I look around me now, at my rolling Southern California landscape that is chock full of mustard growing (thanks to the Padres) (and glowing when in bloom -I read once that the vast yellow California acreage of mustard in bloom can be seen from space) and think to myself, if only CALTRANS would read MaryJane, they would plant all the freeways with mustard and harvest it for bio-diesel to run all the cars in the carpool lane.
YOU Karen England are precious. I’ve reread your comment several times. I can’t get the smile off my face:)
Pick just one book?!
My best friend introduced me to “How Green Was My Valley” in junior high–she had seen the movie then read the book. I’ve read it many times since. It’s a classic and beautifully written.
“Ahab’s Wife” is highly recommended as well, for all the reasons Kimberly states above. A great tale about an unforgettable character.
And Mary Jane’s books are within reach for whenever I need to visit that world–love all the photos and graphics. Also really enjoy the forest ranger stories, since that’s my life too.
My favorite book happens to be whatever I am reading at the moment. Right now it’s “Crow Planet” by Lyanda Lynn Haupt. She writes from the radical notion that you can be a serious naturalist wherever you are, which for her is a west Seattle neighborhood. She starts by watching crows and her essays wander all over natural history, raising a family, ecological crisis, what is “wild”, and much more. The book is about paying close attention. I attended a writing workshop taught by Lyanda, and her writing is much like her presence–kind, thought-provoking, curious, informative, and a bit whimsical.
i read every day and love numerous books but a couple of favorites are:
The witching Hour by ann rice (mystery, history, magic n love all combined)
animal vegatable miracle by barbara kingsolver (just cause)
I recently read three books by Jane Kirkpatrick which fascinated me because they tell of women pioneers who came out to Oregon and their struggles and triumphs along the way. The way she writes puts you in the moment.
I enjoy western romance and suspense.
My favorite book is “The Egg & I” by Betty MacDonald. I kept my husband awake several nights from laughing so hard! Loved it!
Happy New Years Farm Girls!
I have a few favorite books. I cannot live without an old Betty Crocker cookbook my Mom gave me and Summer just isn’t the same without my old Ball food preservation book. I got it from an old friend that is no longer with us. My favorite “reader” is anything by William Shakespeare. I love Romeo & Juliet. We all know the tragedy of the story. It’s been recreated over and over on screen and in print. I never tire of the intensity of the young lovers’ feelings or the many other themes ie: the danger of anger/hate, denying your true self, loyalty and honor. My favorite FUN Shakespeare read would have to be A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream. From start to finish the mischief and errors keep me in stitches every read. What a great laugh and who doesn’t like fairies?
I really like the Anne of Green Gables books. I reread them periodically. Anne’s use of superlative adjectives is wonderful and my favorite remembrance is the term “kindred spirit”.
My favorite all time book is “A Lantern in Her Hand” by Bess Streeter Aldrich. Next to the Bible it is my “life book”. It is me in a nut shell. It is what I hope to be, do, and pass on to my children. It shares in a poignant way that all the hustle and bustle out there is not what life is all about! Love it! Have read it numerous times and it is required reading here in our homeschool LOL
I came over from Deborah Jeans blog. I love to read, and do so very often. My all time favorite is Gone with the Wind.
I love to read, so it is hard to choose a favorite book. I usually read historical books about places I have lived or am visiting. One such book is Once Upon an Island by David Conover. I also in enjoy novels by Paulo Coelho, like The Alchemist and The Fifth Mountain.
I enjoy reading but don’t do it often enough. Francine Rivers Scarlet Thread is a great one. The book that really touched my life last year and I’m reading again this year is JESUS CALLING-a daily devotional written from His point of view. Mary Jane, I really like your books and your magazine is a treat all year!Thanks for your generous give-away and fun blog.
All time favorite is to Kill A Mockingbird. No matter how many times I read it I still find myself completely engrossed in the book and falling in love over and over again with the characters.
Got to be “Jane Eyre”. I don’t even know how many times I’ve read it, but I love it every time.
That’s tuff …I read everyday from my Bible devotions to suspense novels by Michael Palmer. Goodness I have a ton of books. I can’t pick a favorite cause I love so many!
Owen Glen by Ben Ames Williams is another great Welsh coal mining novel. My great grandfather was a coal miner in Wales. He was beaten for striking and his pregnant wife rushed to his aid. She lost the baby she was carrying–one of thirteen children. She buried a baby, had a baby and had a stroke all on the same day. They later emigrated to the Kansas. He had come over earlier so she brought seven children–one of whom was my two month old grandmother–on a ship. Must have been quite a journey. They were tough people.
My favorite book is Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott. The bond between the sisters and their mother is how you wish the world was. They are independent surviving woman. Having Jo wanting to become a published writer at that time was inspiring when you think about it. It is through thick and thin they make it thru closer than ever even with loss.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott – all time favorite book. I think is all because of the bond of sisterhood – sisters forever and when
a sister becomes a friend, life is very good.
Jesus Calling is hard to beat but my favorite book is Indian Creek Chronicles, I love stories of independence and survival. I found it to be inspirational.
My favorite book is The Bronze Bow. I need to reread it as I haven’t read it in a while.
My Mom said she was turned on to reading by reading the book you are giving away. I would love to have a copy. My favorite book is actually a series. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the A.D. Chronicles by Brock and Bodie Thoene. It brought all the Bible stories to life as if you lived then. I will never read my Bible the same way after reading those.
My favorite book of all time is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I love it because my Mom read it to my sister and I the summer after I finished sixth grade. We had just moved to a new town and I felt lonely. This was a very special bonding moment with my sister and Mom. Not only do I love the book because it was read to me at an important time in my life, but the book itself was read to me when I was blossoming into a young woman, just like the young women in the story. The world Alcott created was a time in history that I love, where families supported, loved, and sustained one another. I love all of the characters in this book and hope to read it to my little girl one day.
First of all .. I adore MJF! I keep all my magazines and read the posts each day. Thank you for taking the stress from our lives!
I haven’t read this book, but would love to. If I have to pick a fav I’ve read so far, it will have to be “Prayers For Sale” by Sandra Dallas. A retired woman befriends a new young bride living on the plains .. teaching her survival, quilting and homemaking. Awesome book! I could just feel myself being back there in time.
I’d love to read “How Green Was My Valley” .. please send one my way!
Have an awesome 2012 and keep on keeping us all inspired!
One favorite book is like trying to pick one favorite food – yikes! However, I’ll vote for The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Talk about an author who knows how to write…I was sucked into this book and didn’t want to let go.
Another person above mentioned The Egg and I…I read that one several years ago and loved it. Another one of my faves. To read about farm life, especially long ago is so cool…and the author has an amazing sense of humor and lyrical writing.
xoxo
My favorite book is The Good Earth by Pearl Buck. This explains it better than I can: “· Wang Lung’s desire for wealth and status clashes with his simple respect for the earth and his adherence to old Chinese traditions of religious and filial piety. Later, Wang comes into conflict with his uncle’s family and with his children, as they exploit his wealth and disregard his wishes.” This book has a lot of good lessons for all of us.
I never would have dreamed when I received your Lifebook for Christmas three years ago that it would change my life as it did. I have gone from just a regular Denver suburban wife and mother who discovered she was a Farmgirl at heart, to a true blue Idaho Farmgirl who milks her Jersey cow each morning and laughs at her chickens all day. Amazing.
~
Trying to decide on a favorite book is hard as I love so many! Little Women, Little Dorritt, A Little Princess, Pride & Prejudice, Wives & Daughters, Anne of Green Gables, Bleak House, A Secret Garden~~They are all treasures to me and I reread them all. Just one…I would have to say Anne of Green Gables. She taught me how to truly see the world and in doing so has shown me many kindred spirits indeed.
It’s so hard to pick one, but one I keep going back and re-reading is Amish Peace by Suzanne Woods Fisher. I am fascinated with the Amish because of their simplicity. This book gives you “Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World”. BTW, I love MaryJaneFarm Magazine! I haven’t missed an issue, and always look forward to next one.
My favorite book is “Gone With the Wind”, because being from the South, I love reading what life used to be like for a Southern girl/woman. I first read it in eighth grade, and have read it two more times since then. Each time a different stage in my life meant certain things stood out. As I write this I think I want to read it again,it has been quite a few years.
As others have said, how can I pick one favorite. I’d like to think that I am still searching for the ‘one’, discovering great books all the time. My preference is usually nonfiction. “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch bears mention but I would say my favorite is “Tuesdays with Morrie”. Mitch Albom guides us through the last days of dying professor and friend Morrie Schwartz. Morrie guides Mitch through the art of living life with value, love and grace. He teaches us all how to live in the moment and make the most of each day. Important life lessons.
My favorite book is A Goat Song by Brad Kessler….I love this book because I have several goaties and they are such a huge part of my life…Brad make you feel like you are right there in the pages and all of his experiences come alive! It is by far my favorite! Barbara Kingsolvers Prodigal Summer is a very close second! Have a fabulous day everyone and Mary Jane….Happy New Year~
Well, my current favorite book (and when I say current, I mean this minute because it really does change that often) is People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. I love all the various times of history interwoven into the book. The story follows the history of a Jewish book. All the people and places it went through before. Truly a fascinating read!
My fav book to date has been _The Good Life_ by Helen and Scott Nearing. “Helen and Scott Nearing are the great-grand-parents of the back-to-the-land movement, having abandoned the city in 1932 for a rural life based on self-reliance, good health, and a minimum of cash.” -Wash Post. I’ve read, re-read, and re-read parts and pieces of this book on their amazing life skills, gaining inspiration for being a farm gal. If only it had the great photos and art that are in Mary Jane’s Farm magazine!!
Wow – favorite ONE? How about 2? I loved reading The King Must Die by Mary Renault. History, legend and myth in story form… it pulled me right in and kept me reading. My other selection (because I’m trying) is How to Cook a Wolf by MFK Fisher. I love this book because it is not just making due (written during war time shortages) but enjoying what you are eating.
When I started thinking about my all time favorite book and what would it be I right away thought about a childrens book that I read over and over and over, “Corgiville Fair”, by Tasha Tudor. I loved finding and counting the boggarts, reading about the naughty Edgar Tomcat and looking at the amazing pictures (especially of the adorable corgie dogs). This book, I believe, hooked me on reading books for life.
StellaJane, Has it been 2 weeks yet? Who did you pick? I’m so excited…
Karen
This Thursday! Will let you know.
Oh goody!
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