Hello Book Lovers! Thanks to some awesome publicists, I’ve got some great giveaways for you, so let’s get going!
Up first is SHADOW OF NIGHT by Deborah Harkness, along with a pack of exclusive buttons!
A Discovery of Witches introduced Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and reluctant witch, and the handsome geneticist and vampire Matthew Clairmont; together they found themselves at the center of a supernatural battle over an enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782. Drawn to one another despite longstanding taboos, and in pursuit of Diana’s spellbound powers, the two embark upon a time-walking journey.
Book Two of the All Souls Trilogy plunges Diana and Matthew into Elizabethan London, a world of spies and subterfuge, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the mysterious School of Night. The mission is to locate a witch to tutor Diana and to find traces of Ashmole 782, but as the net of Matthew’s past tightens around them they embark on a very different journey, one that takes them into heart of the 1,500 year old vampire’s shadowed history and secrets. For Matthew Clairmont, time travel is no simple matter; nor is Diana’s search for the key to understanding her legacy.
THE BOYS IN THE BOAT is a perfect combination of a compelling and beautifully written narrative and a little-known piece of history that illuminates an entire era. Daniel James Brown’s inspiring book tells the story of the University of Washington’s 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal. The sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the boys defeated elite rivals first from eastern and British universities and finally the German crew rowing for Adolf Hitler in the Olympic games in Berlin, 1936.
The impressive scope of this book spans continents: Brown explores America’s struggles during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, and sets the stage for the Nazi party’s rise to power. You’ll get an inside look at Hitler’s Germany during the Olympic preparations, into Joseph Goebbels’ powerful Ministry of Propaganda and behind Leni Riefenstahl’s cameras as she captures her imposing propaganda films. Timothy Egan, bestselling author of The Worst Hard Time, is already a fan and praised, “Every sport needs its laureate. With THE BOYS IN THE BOAT, crew has found its voice in Daniel James Brown, who tells a thrilling, heart-thumping tale of a most remarkable band of rowing brothers who upstaged Adolf Hitler at the 1936 Olympics. Well-told history, packed with suspense and a likable bunch of underdogs at the heart of an improbable triumph.”
Alexandra Aldrich, direct descendant of Old New York aristocracies the Astors and the Livingstons, grew up in the ancestral mansion in the Hudson River Valley. But any notions of Gilded Age wealth and splendor are quickly dispelled in her candid memoir, THE ASTOR ORPHAN — for Aldrich’s Grey Gardens-esque childhood was marked by a life of genteel poverty at Rokeby, the crumbling 43-room edifice she and the eccentric family called home. Bohemian pursuits and what she calls the “undisciplined, orphaned spirit” which governed the house took precedence over gainful employment, even as the ancestral property deteriorated around them.
Alexandra’s father, uncle, and aunt were the three heirs to Rokeby, built in 1815 on 450 prime acres along the Hudson River. Furnished with antiques, heirlooms, and art, the mansion continues to evoke its glorious past, but its upkeep has strapped each succeeding generation. “To keep the house as it was then,” Aldrich writes, “we sacrifice any resources that might have been invested in current generations. In return, the house gives each of us—the impoverished descendants—an identity. And we live off the remains of our ancestral grandeur.”
While chronicling Aldrich’s own strained childhood and need to make order out of chaos, THE ASTOR ORPHAN also reaches back to the glory days of her ancestors. It is a story populated by wealth and influence. The Astors, the Roosevelts (both Theodore and Franklin), “Battle Hymn” poet Julia Ward Howe, statesmen Hamilton Fish and Samuel Ward, architect Stanford White—all play a role in the celebrated history of Rokeby.
Psychologically astute and expertly observed, Alexandra Aldrich’s unflinching memoir captures the peculiarities of her singularly American family and the house that has come to define them.
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So, to win one of these prizes please leave a comment below with the following info:
1. First name
2. Email address in the following format – name (at) domain (dot) com [it helps prevent spam]
3. Tell me which book you want to win, and why it interests you.
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED.
Winners: I will email you for your mailing address. Your book will be sent to you from the publisher.
Shadow of Night & Buttons: Angela D.
Boys In the Boat: Christine
The Astor Orphan: Shannon
Congratulations!