Monday, August 11, 2008

Bloggy Book Club Winner! Finally!

I lay around half of today with some undefined illness. I thought it was a cold, but then my skin started hurting. So then I decided I was dying. Maybe it's because I don't drink coffee. According to this article on coffee consumption, I no longer need to worry about my husband's several-cups-a-day coffee habit. Apparently, coffee is so beneficial, those of us who don't indulge should probably pay higher medical and life insurance rates. So now I have to worry about the fact that I cannot stand the stuff and am therefore more likely to suffer from heart disease and Parkinsons than is Larry. Somehow, that doesn't seem fair, as I am not the one with an addiction.

And this article is suggesting that we switch to a kangaroo-meat burger. The scientist pushing for the idea stops just short of saying that kangaroo tastes like chicken (but I'll bet he is thinking it). Unfortunately, the article features a picture of a mommy kangaroo with a joey in her pouch; so the whole idea comes off as seeming rather mean. Plus, I've read Katy No-Pocket a few too many times to think about slathering her kin in ketchup and feeding them to my brood.

And finally, the moment you have all given up waiting for...the winner of last week's (no, wait, 2 weeks ago) Bloggy Book Club giveaway is...Rebecca of...wait a sec...hmmm...I'm not sure.

(Give me a break - this is harder than it looks, okay?)

I think it might be Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm - no, stop that! - of The Upside-Down World. That's a Wordpress blog, but I let her win anyway. Because I'm honest like that.

Perusing Rebecca's blog (if this is indeed the correct Rebecca), you will find that she possesses an analytical mind which produces a well-thought-out opinion about absolutely everything. Her mental acumen impresses me, as I seem to have reached a point in my life where all I think about are blog posts, what to make for dinner, and how much longer is it until bedtime, anyway? So I read her blog and pretend I'm thinking about all that other stuff, too, just to make myself feel better.

I'm living a lie, I know.

So, Rebecca, if you wish to receive your copy of Leave The Building Quickly, just let me know your address, okay? And, really, I am going to mail all these books out this week. I have a plan.

And this week's book? Hmmm....how about Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott? (I know, I know, another memoir - I told you, I'm addicted to these things. Can't read just one!) Ms. Lamott is a liberal Christian writer (meaning that both those aspects of her personality are front and center in her writing). The stories of her life (her childhood as a tennis star, her alcohol abuse, her single motherdom, her conversion) make for some very interesting and entertaining reading - unlike, say, the stories of my life would make.

Tell me, am I the only person in the world who did absolutely nothing growing up besides go to school, visit the mall, and talk on the phone? Occasionally I'd mix it up a bit by going to a friend's house on a Friday night, where we would eat Doritos and watch The Loveboat - but that was as wild as it got.

Oh, and I went bowling once. I think.

Anyway, I have no hilarious/heartwarming/thought-provoking tales to tell of broken curfews, crazy parties, the fallout of divorce, or the like. None. Nada. Zilch. I blame my parents.

So I live vicariously (or, at least, voyeuristically) through Anne Lamott's stories. Some of the events described are pretty messed up (at least, that's the way they seem to a Miss Goody Two-Shoes like me), but the author tells them well with a sort of endearing, self-deprecating (but not deadpan) sense of humor.

I suspect the NY Review of Books is not going to be calling me anytime soon to write for them.

[Rules are as always: in the comments, tell me that you are interested in the book; I'll hold a drawing next week (or maybe I'll figure out that random number generator thing - miracles do happen). The winner is expected to review the book in his/her blog and then give it away to another blogger to do the same.]

30 comments:

  1. I'll bite on this one. I generally like Anne Lamott's writing.

    Also, consider yourself lucky. I have some childhood stories that would make your hair stand on end.

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  2. I would have to remember what I read and review it? I can barely remember my name some days. Though I always answer to "MOM!"

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  3. Take it from me, Kangaroo meat does NOT taste anything like chicken. It tastes like very strongly-flavoured old, tough beef. I have been told it's like buffalo, but I've never eaten a buffalo.

    Crocodile tastes a bit like fish.

    Camel is not a good idea.

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  4. Okay, we've rented a (very cheap) cottage next week and I need something to read. I'm also bored with my own life and need to live through someone elses for a while.

    Pick number one! and send me the book.

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  5. I love your writing. Too funny! I would also love to read this book. I think I would like it, and I am far too broke to go to the book store and too lazy to go to the library. Actually, that's a lie, I'm too broke to go to the library and pay my fines. I do promise however, should I win, to promptly (?)have a contest on my blog when I'm done reading it, and pass it on.

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  6. I can't believe I'm delurking to tell you kangaroo does NOT taste like chicken. It's red meat, and needs to be eaten quite rare, or else it is especially tough. But it's actually pretty good. And not only do kangaroos produce less methane (heh!) the meat is also very low in fat. Erm, have I convinced you yet...?

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  7. I hate coffee too, drink tea - you can get all the same bad stuff. No time to read so don't put me into the raffle.

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  8. I love Anne Lamott but have not read that book.

    I share the exact ame opinion on coffee and the unfairness of the whole coffee/health situation as you.

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  9. That would be the same not the ame.

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  10. That's how I grew up too. Except I didn't watch the Love Boat. :) We ate Doritos and Twinkies (together, ick!) and watched....I don't remember. That's how interesting it was! :) But I lived vicariously through my best friend who had the craziest life- and still does! :)

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  11. mmm, coffee. delicious and nutritious...

    this sounds like a very interesting book.

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  12. I love to read, so enter me for what sounds like an incredibly interesting read.

    As a coffee addict, who is sipping away as I type, I'm just thrilled to be reminded that it is, indeed, good for me. Mmmmm. It's the little things.

    No real teenage angst here, although I do have a few stories of stalker boyfriends. And driving before I was old enough. And skipping play practice to meet boys. And. . . Well, never mind. Apparently I do have stories.

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  13. Sorry to hear you're not feeling well--I'm sure with the help of WEB MD you'll figure out what ails you:)
    I adore Anne Lamott. I agree, however, that not all of us have childhoods that are bookworthy. Just as well, if you ask me. Imagine a planet if everyone was David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs. Yowza!

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  14. You never snuck out? At all? Ever?! Wow! I think you should write your memoirs, I think I had a fairly mundane childhood but I wouldn't even know what that looked like.

    Throw my name in the hat please.

    Oh and,good luck with the dying thing.

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  15. I am ALWAYS interested in a book..
    We stole booze from our parents basements, played spin the bottle, kick ball and shot bottle rockets at each other..

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  16. Sounds interesting. I might take break from fiction to read that...if I don't win, maybe I'll "rent" it from the library. (BTW I love your library tales. I just finally scraped enough change to be able to legally use the library again.) know what I also like? How many little hyperlinks you always have in your article. I think you must be a highly distractible person like me. :)

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  17. I'm interested! I love Anne Lamott. Darn, I probably have examples of all those stories. Good thing there are Goody-2Shoes like you around to keep the world straight!

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  18. I don't drink coffee, but do you think that several cans of Diet Dr. Pepper a day would be just as good?

    I don't have any exciting stories about growing up either. I never cut any classes at school because I didn't have any place to go. One time when my parents were out of town, me and my brother tried to convince our neighbor to tell our mom that we had a huge, noisy party and someone called the police to quiet things down. She just laughed and said "Realy, like anybody would believe that!"

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  19. I get so frustrated with the whole this is good, no wait, this is bad, no wait, eat this or you will die tomorrow thing that I have decided from now on I will just eat popcorn and hohos. That way at least I KNOW I'll die of a heart attack at 40.

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  20. I'd love to read the book. Count me in. I'll drink my daily mocha as I read it.

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  21. Some of us got your share of drama. :-)

    I'll let someone else win the book (no surprise, right?). My shipping pile hasn't budged.

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  22. Sounds like fun. Count me in.

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  23. Pick me! Pick me! Pick me! Pick me! Pick me! Pick me! Pick me! Pick me! Pick me! Pick me! Pick me! Pick me! Is there a prize for being the most annoying entry?

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  24. Anne Lamott is one of my favourite authors. Someone gave me Operating Instructions when my son was newborn and it kept me sane.

    I'm pleased to hear my coffee addiction is good for me. It's about time one of my addictions was! ;)

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  25. Add me to the boat of a boring childhood. I suppose now I should call it idealistic and happy. Ah well, I've still got fodder for my therapist. Just not enough to entertain anyone whom I am not paying to listen to me whine....

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  26. I just had a friend tell me that I would LOVE anne Lamott. Glad I got in before the deadline! I have been crazed these past few weeks.

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  27. Who could eat Katy No-Pocket?

    I'll throw my name in. I love memoirs.

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  28. Maybe a late entry will bring me luck. :-)

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  29. Wow, a chance to get mail that's not a bill, isn't a flyer for landscaping (these guys must take one look at our lawn and see $$$$) or have 3rd notice written boldly across the front of it?

    Okay, that and I'd really like to read the book.

    Count me in.

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  30. I'm living a lie, I know.

    Best line of the morning.

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