Friday, June 15, 2012

A Victorian Celebration: Shirley Giveaway!

I have to tell you guys, you are making me feel like I'm not reading fast enough. There are so many wonderful posts on the Master post! Keep up the great work!

It's time for the weekly giveaway (have you caught on that there is at least one giveaway a week? Because there is!).

This week's giveaway is for a book I haven't had a chance to read yet, but will sometime in the future. Shirley by Charlotte Bronte, is one of those books I know I'll be reading sooner, rather than later. I've loved the other titles by Charlotte that I've read, and I'm hoping someone will love this one too!

Some more information taken from Goodreads.com:

"Following the tremendous popular success of Jane Eyre, which earned her lifelong notoriety as a moral revolutionary, Charlotte Brontë vowed to write a sweeping social chronicle that focused on "something real and unromantic as Monday morning." Set in the industrializing England of the Napoleonic wars and Luddite revolts of 1811-12, Shirley (1849) is the story of two contrasting heroines. One is the shy Caroline Helstone, who is trapped in the oppressive atmosphere of a Yorkshire rectory and whose bare life symbolizes the plight of single women in the nineteenth century. The other is the vivacious Shirley Keeldar, who inherits a local estate and whose wealth liberates her from convention.

A work that combines social commentary with the more private preoccupations of Jane Eyre, Shirley demonstrates the full range of Brontë's literary talent. "Shirley is a revolutionary novel," wrote Brontë biographer Lyndall Gordon. "Shirley follows Jane Eyre as a new exemplar but so much a forerunner of the feminist of the later twentieth century that it is hard to believe in her actual existence in 1811-12. She is a theoretic possibility: what a woman might be if she combined independence and means of her own with intellect. Charlotte Brontë imagined a new form of power, equal to that of men, in a confident young woman [whose] extraordinary freedom has accustomed her to think for herself....Shirley [is] Brontë's most feminist novel.""


I can't wait to get to this one too!

Up for grabs is a new Penguin Classics edition of Charlotte Bronte's Shirley. To enter, read the rules and comment below!

  • This giveaway will be open to any residents of the U.S. or Canada (my international participants, I have special giveaways planned for you later on).
  • You MUST be a participant of A Victorian Celebration to enter.
  • You MUST be 13 years or older
  • You do not have to follow me or subscribe to qualify
  • You MUST leave me your e-mail so that I contact you if you win
  • The winner will have 48 hours to respond or I will pick a new winner.
  • To enter, comment on this post and answer the following question: What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
  • The giveaway will be open until 11:59 PM on Friday, June 22, 2012 EST.
Good luck and keep up the great job reading!

29 comments:

  1. My favorite flavor of ice cream is actually gelato -- there's an AMAZING gelateria near me called Paciugo. My favorite flavor is sea salt caramel. It sounds weird, but the hint of salt makes the caramel even more delicious. If you love salty and sweet together, like maple-cured bacon, you'd love it!

    Great giveaway by the way! I haven't read Shirley but I'm always looking to read more Victorians!

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    1. I've never had gelato....I feel like I'm missing out. But sea salt caramel? Sounds AMAZING.

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  2. I'm not entering the (very generous!!) giveaway because I already own this book, but OH MY! This sounds so very good! I can't wait to read it. :D

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    1. I know....I wrote all that out and now I want to read it... lol.

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  3. Oh gee, I love ice cream, and it's hard to pick a flavor. You will laugh but it's probably Thrifty's chocolate malted krunch flavor! Mmmm.

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  4. Moose tracks for me! Vanilla ice cream with fudge swirl and little bitty peanut butter cups. Mmm!

    How does Shirley compare to Villette? (Which I've also never read, sadly!)

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    1. I'm pretty partial to peanut butter in my ice cream...love it.

      I actually haven't read Shirley! But Villette is wonderful. I loved it more than Jane Eyre...and I love Jane Eyre a great deal.

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  5. The easy answer is whatever is in the house, but when confronted with 34 or so flavors I almost always choose Butter Pecan.

    Haven't read Shirley, though I loved Jane Eyre.

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    1. haha. My husband is already bringing home new flavors. But butter pecan...yummmy.

      I haven't read it either!

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  6. Anything with peanut butter! (Mad yummy, peanut butter is...)

    And I've never read Shirley but I love Bronte's work. I can't wait to read more, thank you for the awesome giveaway!

    kimie142002 (at) hotmail (dot) com

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    1. Oh, you are a girl after my own heart. I LOVE peanut butter in ice cream. Delish!

      You're welcome!

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  7. Homemade vanilla ice cream is my favorite, I then add choc. syrup, whipped cream and a cherry.
    Thank you for this opportunity.
    bellevieanne@yahoo.com

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    1. Homemade?? Are you going to send me some? ;) I have always wanted to try making my own, but haven't done it yet.

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  8. I couldn't sign up due to time constraints, but I did manage to read The Woman in White this past week! Yay!

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    1. Yay! And that totally counts as participating!

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  9. Shirley, in my mind, is the best Charlotte Bronte novel! :) (I have a copy, so not entering, but hope the person who wins loves it as much as I do!).

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    1. Oh, well now I am even MORE anxious to read it!

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  10. Since childhood, my favorite ice cream flavor has been Pralines and Cream (BaskinRobbins) - vanilla with caramel ribbons, and sugared pralines.

    Shirley is the only Charlotte Bronte novel I have not read! It sounds interesting, too.

    I'm at cmylks [*] yahoo [.] com

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    1. Ummm, yum? I don't think I've ever tried that flavor!

      I haven't read it either!

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  11. Actually, I'm not a big fan of ice cream, but when I am in the mood for it, it has to be combined with one of my favorite things...so it's...Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough!

    No, I guess I didn't realize about the weekly giveaways! I'm so behind in my Google Reader. I'm now subscribing to you via email. It's much easier for me to keep up that way. Thanks for another great giveaway!

    truebookaddictATgmailDOTcom

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    1. Oh cookie dough! I'm a big fan as well!

      Usually the giveaways go up on fridays (well, there will be one giveaway EVERY friday), and maybe an additional one at some other point in the week. :)

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  12. My favorite flavor is Tillamook Strawberry.

    Jane Eyre is one of my all-time favorites and I would love to try out Shirley

    bzzz61@hotmail.com

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    1. Never had that flavor!

      Jane Eyre is great, isn't it?

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  13. Ah, Summery questions! Makes me happy. My favorite ice cream flavor is Mint Chocolate Chip. I almost never eat ice cream, but if I do - it has to be MCC!

    Thanks for the chance at Shirley. After reading Agnes Grey, I realized that I need to make it a goal to read all of the Bronte works. I've LOVED the three I've read so far... what an incredible trio of talented sisters, they were.

    roofbeamreader(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. I used to be obsessed with Mint Chocolate Chip as a kid, but haven't had it in ages...

      Agreed. It amazes me that they had that much talent (although, I have read Anne yet). Would you believe I had NEVER read a Bronte until my project?

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  14. I'm a mint chocolate chip girl myself! Also, I'm excited about this giveaway because I'm in the midst of Villette right now and I love Jane Eure, but I don't have a copy of this one! Thanks Allie!

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