Armchair BEA 2011 ~ Giveaway Day!!

Win some Wonderful Books!!

I'm a little late posting my Giveaways in Celebration of Armchair BEA. I apologize for that! I'm in the midst of getting over bronchitis and I'm getting through the days in a kind of fog!

I have 4 books to giveaway, 2 ARCs, one Hardcover, one Paperback. They are all previously, gently read by me. You may enter to win as many of the books as you'd like. There will be 4 winners. This Giveaway ends at 11:59pm this Friday, May 27th

Please leave me a comment letting me know which book you'd like to win. If you want to enter my giveaway for more than one book, please leave a comment for each book. With each comment, please leave your email address so I can contact you if you're the winner!

Good luck!


Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende (Paperback copy) (my review)

Orphaned at birth, Eliza Sommers is raised in the British colony of Valparaíso, Chile, by the well-intentioned Victorian spinster Miss Rose and her more rigid brother Jeremy. Just as she meets and falls in love with the wildly inappropriate Joaquín Andieta, a lowly clerk who works for Jeremy, gold is discovered in the hills of northern California. By 1849, Chileans of every stripe have fallen prey to feverish dreams of wealth. Joaquín takes off for San Francisco to seek his fortune, and Eliza, pregnant with his child, decides to follow him.
So begins Isabel Allende's enchanting new novel, Daughter of Fortune, her most ambitious work of fiction yet.
Daughter of Fortune is a sweeping portrait of an era, a story rich in character, history, violence, and compassion. In Eliza, Allende has created one of her most appealing heroines, an adventurous, independent-minded and highly unconventional young woman who has the courage to reinvent herself and to create her won destiny in a new country. A marvel of storytelling, Daughter of Fortune confirms once again Isabel Allende's extraordinary gift for fiction and her place as one of the world's leading writers.

Cowboy & Wills by Monica Holloway (Hardcover copy) (my review)

In this exceptionally touching memoir, critically acclaimed author Monica Holloway shares the extraordinary, deeply moving story of Cowboy, the golden retriever puppy who changed her son's life.
The day Monica learns that her lovable, brilliant three-year-old son, Wills, has autism spectrum disorder, she takes him to buy an aquarium. It's the first in a string of impulsive trips to the pet store to buy animals as a distraction from the uncontrollable, crushing reality of Wills's diagnosis. But while Wills diligently tends to the growing menagerie, what he really wants is a puppy. And one Christmas, when Wills is six, Cowboy Carol Lawrence joins their family.
Like all dynamic duos, Cowboy and Wills complement each other perfectly. Wills is cautious, fastidious, and irresistibly tenderhearted. Cowboy, a rambunctious golden retriever, is overeager, affectionate, and impulsive. And from the moment Cowboy enters their lives, Monica sees her son step a little farther into the world.
For Monica, her husband, Michael, and their son, Wills, salvation came in the form of a puppy with pale blond fur, chocolate brown eyes, a fondness for chewing the crotch out of underpants, and a limitless capacity for love.

Mr. Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt (ARC copy) (my review)

July 1964. Chartwell, Kent. On the eve of his retirement from Parliament, Sir Winston Churchill has just woken up. There’s someone in the room with him, someone he’s known for a long time, but it’s not a friend. A dark, mute presence is watching him with rapt concentration. Soon after, in London, Esther Hammerhans, a young widowed government secretary, goes to answer the door to her new lodger. Through the windowpane she sees a vast, dark silhouette. Both the eminent statesman and the humble office worker have just been visited by Black Pat, “the black dog” of depression. For the man who saved Western Civilization he’s a familiar presence; for Esther he’s a stranger just come to rent a room. Or is he here to stay?
In this beguiling, inspiring, and completely original debut Rebecca Hunt illuminates the strange point of connection between two very different people and shows how the strength to persevere can pull a person from darkness to light.

Far to Go by Allison Pick (ARC copy) (my review)

Far to Go tells the story of an affluent Czech Jewish family at the onset of the Second World War. The lives of Pavel and Anneliese Bauer are observed through the adoring but misguided eyes of their son’s governess, Marta. A second, unnamed voice addresses the reader from the present. Part mystery, part love story, Far to Go asks questions about the legacy of secrecy and answers them with incredible heart. It is a beautifully written book that appeals not only to the history buff but to anyone who has loved deeply and lost.