And the Winner is...

The draw for the Mapp and Lucia Vintage edition giveaway took place today at 09:55 UK time.  A number was assigned to each person who left a comment and the range entered into a random number generator.  The winning number is... lucky number 7....

CONGRATULATIONS DARLENE!  Please e-mail me at rochesterreader@gmail.com with your name and postal address so I can get your prize dispatched to you as soon as possible.

Thank you to everyone who participated and left such interesting and lovely comments!  Sadly, there can only be one winner but I hope that you will be able to get hold of a copy of Mapp and Lucia and be introduced to the wonderful world of Tilling!

Book Giveaway Reminder

A quick reminder for those of you who haven't entered yet that the giveaway closes this Thursday at 23:59 UK time.  I will draw a winner at random using a random numbers generator on Friday morning and will post the winner's name on my blog, so please do check back to see if you were lucky!

You can still enter by leaving a comment here - this giveaway is open to all and if you don't have a blog, please leave your e-mail address in the comments too.  Thank you to all who have left such kind and interesting comments so far.  Good luck!

New Collections of Mapp & Lucia and a Giveaway!

I was very happy to discover these new editions of the Mapp and Lucia sextet recently.  They're only due to be published on the 15th April but at a super-economical retail price of £1.99 (and currently on pre-order at the Book Depository at £1.49), I thought it was worth a mention.

Wordsworth Classics have always striven to provide access to classic literature at an affordable price and I'm so glad that these witty tales have been added to their illustrious ranks.

I quite like the cover art as it appears to depict the river in Rye (a.k.a. Tilling in some of the novels).  The first volume reminds me of Lucia's first home in Tilling, Grebe, located among the marshes and the second volume appears to be a view of the canal from a vantage point in the town.

I'm tempted to buy these, even though I have the lovely Black Swan paperbacks, the Penguin volumes and the exquisite Folio edition (an extra birthday present from a very special friend).  Naughty, I know, but at such a wonderful price I think I might not feel guilty for too long.

So... as a celebration of the enduring appeal of Benson's Mapp and Lucia novels (and as a belated blog birthday gift), I'm holding a Giveaway. The prize is a brand new copy of the gorgeous recently published Vintage edition of Mapp and Lucia.

To entice those of you new to Mapp and Lucia, the blurb below (from the Prion edition) gives a humorous outline of the series and this book is an excellent place to begin:

"Mapp and Lucia is the centrepiece of E.F. Benson's series of Lucia novels - bringing together for the first time the eponymous middle-aged doyennes of polite 1930s society, Miss Elizabeth Mapp and Emmeline Lucas (Lucia to her friends).

Lucia, recently widowed, is the newcomer to the village of Tilling and eager to wrest the reins of social supremacy from the incumbant Miss Mapp and install herself as its benevolent dictator. In their polite acts of sabotage and ruthless jockeying for the position of cultural arbiter Mapp and Lucia tear up the conventions of drawing-room bridge evenings as their deadly weapons.

Things finally come to a head with Miss Mapp's audacious attempt to steal her rival's celebrated Lobster a la Riseholme. E.F. Benson's charming satrical bent turns the pretensions and snobberies of English village life into a vicious comedy."

Anyone can enter - whether you'd like to read M&L for the first time, simply covet this edition or would like to add it to the rest of your collection - everyone is welcome!  To enter, please leave a comment and I will hold a random draw on Friday, 25 February 2011. I am happy to post anywhere in the world (to be fulfilled by the Book Depository) so please don't hesitate. Good luck!

And the Winner is...

Firstly, thank you to all you lovely bloggers who participated in the competition.  My trusty assistant Angus placed the names into a 'hat', shook it well and drew a winner (no peeking!).

Congratulations to Cottage Garden! You have won a copy of The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith. Please e-mail me at rochesterreader@gmail.com with your address so I can pop this into the post early next week.

As we had such few entries, I would also like to give a small Rochester-related consolation prize to Book Psmith and A Bookish Space. Could you each please e-mail me at rochesterreader@gmail.com with your addresses.
Thanks again for your participation and I hope that Cottage Garden will enjoy the book as much as I did.

World Book Day! (and Giveaway Reminder)

It's World Book Day today!  Celebrate by giving a relative/friend/colleague/aquaintance a book to promote the joy of reading or check out the website for events near you.

Don't forget to enter my book giveaway by the end of Friday.  You can enter by leaving a quick comment here.  Good luck and happy reading!

World Book Day and a Giveaway

It's World Book Day on Thursday, 4 March 2010 and it is a day to promote, share and enjoy the pleasure of reading books.  This year sees events taking place in various areas around the UK.  You can visit the World Book Day website for a list of events or check out your library, favourite bookstore and local newspaper for additional events, promotions and talks.

To celebrate World Book Day, and in anticipation of the next book in this series to be published in July, I am giving away a brand new, unread hardback by one of my favourite writers, Alexander McCall Smith.  The book is The Unbearable Lightness of Scones and is the fifth instalment in the 44 Scotland Street series.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this series, it was originally published in The Scotsman newspaper in daily instalments and follows the comings and goings of a group of people who share an address in Scotland Street.  It bears McCall Smith's characteristic humour and charm with a dash of philosophical musings (usually witty) and each chapter is a self-contained gem, making it easy to read in small bites if required. 

Edinburgh is a beautiful character in this series and many places are featured in the book.  Check out this link for a free location guide to 44 Scotland Street - a handy little guide (which opens in pdf format) for when you're next in Edinburgh and hoping to place the book in context.

Whether you're a McCall Smith fan, or McCall Smith curious, please feel free to enter your name in the draw by leaving a comment on this post.  I am happy to post anywhere in the world.  This draw is open until the end of Friday, 5 March 2010 (UK time).  The winner will be drawn from a hat and announced on Saturday, 6 March 2010.  Good luck!