Favorite Reads Giveaway: The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian

Readers, this is it! Your final chance to win a Favorite Read of mine. At least, for now. Last week's giveaway was for Sue Monk Kidd's The Mermaid Chair. Congrats to Maria Guajardo. Your copy will be in the mail this week. Yay! for readers around the globe, as Maria hails from Venezuela.

This week, I'm giving away a book by an author whose work I love. Chris Bohjalian has published several novels, including the bestselling Oprah's Book Club pick Midwives and his most recent novel Secrets of Eden, which I reviewed when it was published last year. I loved both of those novels -- and all of his others -- but especially the 2007 novel The Double Bind.

The Double Bind appeals to my love for literature not only because it is an excellent novel in its own right, but also because it includes references to the classic Fitzgerald novel The Great Gatsby. In The Double Bind, Bohjalian blends classic literature to modern fiction with reality-bending results.

Author Jodi Piccoult reviewed the novel for Amazon, and here is some of what she wrote:

"The story centers on Laurel Estabrook, a young social worker and survivor of a near-rape, who stumbles across photographs taken by a formerly homeless client and tries to understand how a man who'd taken snapshots of celebrities in the 50s and 60s might have wound up on the streets. . . . 

Bohjalian resurrects details from The Great Gatsby, which become "real" in the context of his own novel -- Laurel lives in West Egg; part of her hunt for her photographer's past involves meeting with the descendants of Daisy and Tom Buchanan. As a writer who counts The Great Gatsby as one of the books that changed her life, this inclusion was both startling and remarkable for me. Who doesn't want one's favorite characters to come to life--even if it's only within the constraints of another fictional work? . . . . 

The Double Bind may flirt with the classics, but it's not your father's stuffy old tome: it's the sort of book you want to read in one sitting, and it packs a twist at the end that will leave you speechless. It also, worthily, spotlights the cause of homelessness in a way that isn't preachy, but honest and explanatory."

It is an amazing novel, one in which fictional characters become "real" once again to a whole new generation of readers.

Bohjalian has a new novel debuting in the fall titled The Night Strangers which I (of course) can't wait to read. He also writes a column for the Burlington Free Press which can be accessed on his blog, Chris Bohjalian's Idyll Banter.

To enter to win a copy of The Double Bind, fill out the form below:

Favorite Reads Giveaway: The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

Congratulations to Natalie, winner of last week's Favorite Reads Giveaway -- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. I would love to hear some feedback from people who have won my Favorite Reads. So if you have, and you have read it, let me know how it was!

This week I am featuring Sue Monk Kidd's lesser-known novel The Mermaid Chair. I read and loved The Secret Life of Bees, and I know many people loved the movie starring Dakota Fanning and Queen Latifah. But truly, I loved The Mermaid Chair even more.

So much that (for a very, very short while) I contemplated getting some type of a tattoo based on the mermaid chair described in the book. I never did that (thank goodness!), although if I were going to get something inked on my body, I do think it would be literary-related. That just seems appropriate for a book-lover, doesn't it? No tattoos for this girl yet, though. (Or probably ever.)

In The Mermaid Chair, Kidd once again returns to South Carolina, the setting of The Secret Life of Bees. As you know if you've visited me before, southern lit is one of my favorite genres. She also gives readers a strong female main character in Jessie, but one who is flawed in ways that make her quite human.

A synopsis from the author's website:

"Inside the abbey of a Benedictine monastery on Egret Island, just off the coast of South Carolina, resides a beautiful and mysterious chair ornately carved with mermaids and dedicated to a saint, who, legend claims, was a mermaid before her conversion.

When Jessie is summoned home to the island to cope with her eccentric mother’s seemingly inexplicable act of violence, she is living a conventional life with her husband, Hugh. . . . Jessie loves Hugh, but once on the island, she finds herself drawn to Brother Thomas, a monk who is soon to take his final vows.

Amid a rich community of unforgettable island women and the exotic beauty of marshlands, tidal creeks and majestic egrets, Jessie grapples with the tension of desire and the struggle to deny it, with a freedom that feels overwhelmingly right and the immutable force of home and marriage. Is the power of the mermaid chair only a myth? Or will it alter the course of Jessie’s life?"

I fell head over heels for Jessie and especially for that South Carolina island when I read The Mermaid Chair several years ago. The novel was also made into a Lifetime movie about five years ago, starring Kim Basinger as Jessie. It isn't scheduled to be shown on Lifetime anytime in the next six weeks (according to their website), but it is available on DVD.

If you are also a fan of Sue Monk Kidd and you haven't yet read The Mermaid Chair, be sure to register to win a copy. I only have one last Favorite Reads Giveaway to do for next week... More may come in the future, but for now this is your next-to-last chance!

Favorite Reads Giveaway: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

Many of my Favorite Reads giveaways have featured older books, going back to 1989 in publication date. I've been giving them away in order of release date, and with this latest book we are firmly in the 2000s (2003 if we are being precise).

Mark Haddon's first adult novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, is one of those books that got passed around so much I eventually lost track and bought another copy. I fell head over heels for the main character and first-person narrator of the book Christopher John Francis Boone when I read this novel.

Publicists hyped the book as one written in the voice of a young man with Asperger syndrome (and, in fact, labeled it as such on the book's cover). While Haddon has stated he did no research on autism spectrum disorders, when reading the book you do notice symptoms that do seem to align with individuals on the spectrum.

Haddon wrote about this topic on his blog, which I find highly interesting:

"curious incident is not a book about asperger’s. it’s a novel whose central character describes himself as ‘a mathematician with some behavioural difficulties’. . . . if anything it’s a novel about difference, about being an outsider, about seeing the world in a surprising and revealing way. . . . labels say nothing about a person. they say only how the rest of us categorise that person. good literature is always about peeling labels off. . . . i would much rather spend my time writing more novels, standing up for difference and trying to understand outsiders who see the world in surprising and revealing ways."

Despite capitalization errors (which can be forgiven when writing on a personal blog, I suppose), you see in that short passage what an exceptional wordsmith Haddon is.

So instead, a synopsis of the novel (leaving out labels like Asperger's) from Wikipedia:

"Christopher, a fifteen-year-old boy with behavioral problems, lives with his father; he explains that his mother, Judy, died two years ago. He discovers the dead body of Wellington, the neighbor's dog, speared by a garden fork. Mrs Shears, Wellington's owner, calls the police, and Christopher comes under suspicion. When a policeman touches him, he hits the policeman, and is arrested, then released with a caution. He decides to investigate the dog's death, despite his father's orders to stay out of other people's business. However, he is severely limited by his fears and difficulties when interpreting the world around him. Throughout his adventures, Christopher records his experiences in a book: a 'murder mystery novel'. During his investigation, Christopher meets people whom he has never before encountered, even though they live on the same street."

Don't be put off by the YA-sounding plot. I assure you the book is excellent and you will immensely enjoy it should you win a copy!

Oh, and by the way -- congratulations to Miranda Furbee and Jenna Valdespino, who won copies of The Bake-Off in last week's "New Reads" giveaway. Your addresses were sent to the publisher, who should be sending you copies soon. Enjoy!

Enter to win a copy of Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time:

Favorite Reads Giveaway: The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman

I cannot believe it's already been six weeks since I started the Favorite Reads Giveaway series, but this week will mark the sixth book I've given away. The winner of last week's giveaway for Joyce Carol Oates' novel We Were the Mulvaneys is Kristin Staley. Congratulations! The book will be mailed to you this week.

The Favorite Read Giveaway for this week is Carol Goodman's The Lake of Dead Languages. This is Goodman's first novel, and also the first novel of hers that I read (although by the time I read it, others had been published). Goodman is one of my favorite writers because her fiction emcompasses so many things that I love. She writes suspenseful thrillers/ mysteries for one thing. Mysteries are among my favorite books. But rather than writing your everyday, rote mystery, Goodman takes it a step further. Her novels are usually placed in academic settings (private boarding schools, universities), and the plot always involves some type of fine art.

Goodman often includes art in her novels, but she also sometimes focuses on a main character who is a writer or a professor. In The Lake of Dead Languages, she sets the novel at an all-girls private school in upstate New York. Teacher Jane Hudson attempts to solve a mystery that is decades old, dating back to her own student days at the school where she now works. A synopsis from the author's website:

"Twenty years ago, Jane Hudson fled the Heart Lake School for Girls in the Adirondacks after a terrible tragedy. The week before her graduation, in that sheltered wonderland, three lives were taken, all victims of suicide. Only Jane was left to carry the burden of a mystery that has stayed hidden in the depths of Heart Lake for more than two decades. Now Jane has returned to the school as a Latin teacher, recently separated and hoping to make a fresh start with her young daughter. But ominous messages from the past dredge up forgotten memories. And young, troubled girls are beginning to die again--as piece by piece the shattering truth slowly floats to the surface..."

Sounds spooky, doesn't it? And it is. Goodman is a master at haunted suspense, mixed with a healthy dose of academia. While I have enjoyed almost all of her novels (most recently I reviewed Arcadia Falls), I think The Lake of Dead Languages is probably my favorite.

Want to read more? Win a copy by entering the giveaway contest this week:

Favorite Reads Giveaway: We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates

I have tried to be a Joyce Carol Oates fan. The truth is, I am not. Her writing and her books are as varied as they come. She has written adult, YA, essays, literary fiction, mystery, poetry, short stories -- you name it. As a result, I can never count on liking books by her. The style and subject matter vary so much that I just never know.

However, I read We Were the Mulvaneys way back in high school, and I absolutely fell in love. Written in semi-stream of consciousness, it was to me a successful attempt at writing something different. (This was in direct opposition to Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, also written in stream-of-consciousness and utterly baffling.)

A short synopsis (from Wikipedia):

"The Mulvaneys, a family living in the small, rural town of Mt. Ephraim, New York, during the later part of the 20th century, are the perfect family: four kids, the owners of a successful roofing business, and a high social status. We Were the Mulvaneys tells the tale of the demise of this perfect family—an incident that is hushed up in town and never spoken of again. It is this incident that shatters the family fabric with tragic consequences."

We Were the Mulvaneys is not a happy fairy tale of a book. It is, once again, not a book my mom would touch with a ten-foot pole. Although we often like the same books, she loathes the kind of books I so often love -- dark tales with small rays of hope.

This novel was, as many of my older favorite reads were, an Oprah's Book Club choice in 2001. It was also made into a Lifetime Television movie starring Beau Bridges and Blythe Danner, which received three Emmy nominations. It is available for purchase at Amazon. (This is such a cool thing I am discovering about my old favorite reads and film versions; often they can be found on DVD!)

Oates' book marks the fifth week of my Favorite Reads Giveaway series. Last week's winner of Connie May Fowler's Before Women Had Wings was Michael McNally. Michael, the email address I tried for you bounced back to me. Send me an email at awornpathbooks at gmail dot com with your mailing address, and I will send it out to you!

To win We Were the Mulvaneys, fill out the form below:

Favorite Reads Giveaway: Before Women Had Wings by Connie May Fowler

I have had the pleasure of introducing you to three of my all-time favorite books during the giveaway series I began at the end of March. The Favorite Reads book stack is still pretty tall, so here it is -- another Favorite Read from A Worn Path.

First, let me congratulate Kristi Wilson on being the winner of Kaye Gibbons' second novel A Virtuous Woman from last week's giveaway. It's awesome that she won this book, because Kristi and I went to high school and graduated together. Since then, she and her husband -- also a classmate of ours -- moved to Vienna, Austria, where Jeremy has been a trombonist for the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra since 2007.

I have followed their blog The Vienna Wilsons, about everyday aspects of living overseas as Americans, for quite some time. Jeremy also writes an orchestra-related blog called Back Row Perspectives. Isn't it wonderful when people you know go on to do fabulous things, and (thanks to the internet and blog world) you can live vicariously through them? I love reading about even daily life in Vienna, as it is decidedly different from my own back home in Tennessee. Enjoy, Kristi!

This week, I present to you as the current Favorite Reads Giveaway, Connie May Fowler's Before Women Had Wings. Published in 1996, Fowler's third novel garnered praise from both critics and from other authors. The novel won the Southern Book Critics Circle Award that year, and was also awarded the Francis Buck Award. The novel was made into an ABC Network television movie in conjunction with Oprah Winfrey; the movie was subsequently awarded an Emmy. (You can watch it online here -- in several parts, and not great quality, but it can be watched!)

Words from authors I love (who also apparently love Fowler):

• Lee Smith: "Achingly real, yet more than real, Before Women Had Wings has the authentic ring of truth and myth combined."
• Amy Tan: "Stinging with tenderness, this is her best yet."

And also a couple of excellent media quotes:

• LA Times: "Strong prose . . . Rings real and authentic."
• The Atlanta Journal & Constitution: "[Fowler] triumphs. . . . [Her] prose is never less than as sinewy as cypress trees and as rich as Christmas cake. . . . Few writers capture poverty's weird chemistry of aching hope and grinding pessimism like Fowler. . . . This novel will make you hurt in the best way -- and make your mind, like Bird's, fly high over pure, paradise seas."
• Southern Living: "Clearly [it] ended too soon because weeks after finishing this book I still think about it. That's the hallmark of this writer's work. She makes me care beyond sense what happens to a cast of troubled characters."

Short Synopsis via Amazon:

A nine-year-old narrator whose voice is heavy with sorrow, but who learns truths about the heart, is the focus. The reader learns lessons about a child's love for her parents, even when that child is the helpless victim of their physical and emotional abuse. Avocet Jackson, called Bird, lives with her parents, Billy and Glory Marie, and her older sister, Phoebe, in a roach-infested Florida shack. When Billy (a frustrated country music singer who has squandered his talent in booze) commits suicide, a desperate Glory Marie takes the girls to the outskirts of Tampa, where they move into a dilapidated trailer.

Terrorized by her mother's alcohol-fueled rages, Bird is further confused by the fire-and-brimstone scriptures of the Bible, which she takes literally. She feels that Jesus and the devil are battling for control over her life, and when her mother becomes more violent and calls her "fat, lazy, [and a] liar," she concludes that Jesus has spurned her. Fowler brilliantly conveys a child's bewilderment when the sources that should provide succor -- parents and religion -- instead inspire fear. Her depictions of physical violence -- Glory Marie's beating at the hands of a man hired by her jealous husband, or her own brutal attacks on Bird and Phoebe -- spare no harrowing details. Fowler mixes the squalid details of Bird's life with the child's magical dreams of hope and healing.

You may notice a trend in my Favorite Reads Giveaways so far: they all seem to focus on dark aspects of life. I would agree that yes, I have definitely read a lot of fiction that dwells on abuse, marital problems, alcoholism, etc. However, what makes me like these novels is a) that they depict life as it is (in other words, real) but b) they also present an enormous sense of hope amidst and in spite of all the negativity. I believe that this, also, is very realistic. Children, in particular, are very resilient; not without problems after facing childhood abuse or family issues, but resilient. They maintain a sense of hope that often defies all reasoning, but nevertheless can sometimes carry them through to the other side. I like that hope, and so I have read these novels. (My mom, on the other hand, refuses.)

To enter the Favorite Reads Giveaway for Connie May Fowler's Before Women Had Wings, just fill out the form below. Extra entries for sharing on Facebook, on Twitter, on your own website or blog, or just for following!

24-Hour Read-a-thon Wrap-Up & Favorite Reads Giveaway: A Virtuous Woman by Kaye Gibbons

24-Hour Read-a-thon Wrap-Up

Over the weekend, I (semi-) participated in the twice-a-year Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-thon. I came in with a late start, and did not read for 24 hours straight without stopping, but still managed to finish three books during the read-a-thon. All were books I had already begun and not yet finished. I still felt a sense of accomplishment for adding three titles to my April book list, though!

End of Event Survey Questions:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? I read as I wanted to, so I can't really say; I enjoyed every minute I was reading, and enjoyed other things when I wasn't. No daunting hour here. 
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I had been listening to The Help on audiobook from Audible long before the read-a-thon. I found that listening to it -- and finishing it -- on my iPod helped me stick with "reading" for the read-a-thon, but still allowed me to get housework done that I needed to complete over the weekend. 
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? None! 
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? I really enjoyed Tweeting with the #readathon hashtag. It helped me feel like I was part of the Read-a-thon without putting too much time or effort into creating actual blog posts. 
5. How many books did you read? I finished three (all already begun before the read-a-thon). 
6. What were the names of the books you read? I read The Help by Kathryn Stockett, My Wife's Affair by Nancy Woodrull, and Semi-Sweet by Roisin Meaney. 
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Well, probably The Help. But I really enjoyed all three a lot. They were very different books, which I think is important. Three similar books would have been difficult to finish all at once; I liked that I had options. 
8. Which did you enjoy least? N/A 
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? Not a cheerleader :) 
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Fairly likely to participate again. Probably just as a reader next time; if the event happened in the summer, I could spend more time on it. As it is (in April and October), it falls smack mid-semester for me, so I'm pretty busy teaching through the week & trying to keep my house under control on the weekends!

 I had a fabulous time reading books and catching up on other participants' experiences via Twitter (#readathon hashtag for those of you who would like to see what it was all about). Look for reviews of the books I read coming up this week (The Help and My Wife's Affair) and later in April (Semi-Sweet).

Favorite Reads Giveaway: A Virtuous Woman by Kaye Gibbons

Three weeks ago, I kicked off my new giveaway series with Gibbons' first novel, Ellen Foster. Last week, I introduced The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton as another favorite read of mine. (The winner for last week's giveaway is Meredith Miller. Meredith, I hope you enjoy Jane Hamilton's The Book of Ruth!)

While Ellen Foster is one of my favorite books, this week I'm bringing you my absolute favorite Gibbons novel: A Virtuous Woman. Also an Oprah's Book Club pick, A Virtuous Woman is the story of a marriage. The title comes from the Bible verse regarding marriage:

"Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies." (Proverbs 31:10) 

Husband and wife Jack and Ruby alternate narrating this tale, recounting scenes from their life together. The novel is short, as is Ellen Foster, but it is a beautiful story about the blessings that come from sharing life with another person. As in all of her novels, Gibbons depicts both the good and the bad; ultimately, however, good shines through and humanity is celebrated.

To enter the Favorite Reads Giveaway for A Virtuous Woman, fill out the entry form below:

Favorite Reads Giveaway: Jane Hamilton's The Book of Ruth

Another week, another favorite read. The winner of last week's Favorite Reads Giveaway is Donna Vandygriff from Mrs. V's Place. I can't wait for you to get your hands on Ellen Foster. You will devour it in one sitting if you like it as much as I did. Also, several years ago a television movie based on the novel was created. Jena Malone played an excellent on-screen version of the spunky book character, and you can still purchase the DVD from Amazon.

This week, I am featuring Jane Hamilton's debut novel The Book of Ruth. The novel was chosen for Oprah's Book Club in November 1996. It also won several awards, including the Hemingway Foundation/ PEN award, when it was published in 1989. The book was made into a Lifetime movie in 2004, but still plays from time to time. (In fact, Lifetime's website says it will be shown on April 24. And as a total aside to the topic at hand, did you know MyLifetime.com lets you set reminders that email you before a movie on Lifetime shows? I just set one for The Book of Ruth, because I can't set my DVR that far in advance.)

Synopsis: Main character Ruth lives in a small town in Illinois with a cast of characters who do nothing for her. Her mother May is by turns cruel and neglectful. Her brother Matt is a math prodigy who escapes after high school to Boston to attend college, leaving Ruth behind with their mother. Her only friend, Daisy, gets her into trouble. When Ruth meets Ruby, her future husband, she believes he is just the thing to rescue her from her life. But Ruby is no knight on a white horse; instead, he moves into Ruth's family home with her and May. His inability to hold down a job and issues with drugs and alcohol only worsen Ruth's situation. Ruth finds some solace in a new baby, as well as from letters from her Aunt Sid, but little seems to shine brightly in her hometown of Honey Creek.

Brief Review: Although Hamilton's first novel is anything but light reading, she draws Ruth's life with such skill it is impossible not to love this novel. Beautifully written, with characters so rich they fairly jump off the page, Hamilton has created a piece of literature most writers only dream of writing. Although I'm not an Oprah fan in general (I know, I know -- everyone loves her), I have to admit that her Book Club choices often end up being some of my favorite books. This one is no exception. Don't be surprised at a grisly, terrible ending for this story. Ruth seems to head down a pathway that can only end in heartbreak, and Hamilton doesn't sugarcoat anything. Despite the heavy themes, there is a certain sense of hope in the end.

Interested in reading The Book of Ruth for yourself? Enter the giveaway for this week by filling out the form below. Better your chances of winning by posting a link to your friends on Facebook, tweeting about the giveaway on Twitter, posting about it on your own website or blog, or becoming a follower of A Worn Path. Good luck and happy reading!

Book News: Music Industry Books Abound & I Get Obsessed With Book Lists

Some weeks seem heavy on book-related movie news. This week, news from the book world seems to be largely music-related. Some highlights:

• Pretty Hate Machine by Daphne Carr: Journalist Carr wrote this book as an in-depth look at Nine Inch Nails' debut album. Galleycat reported this week that she is also selling a handcrafted edition on Etsy for only $25.
• Radiohead gave away free copies of the newspaper The Universal Sigh this week at various points around New York City. According to Galleycat, this was part of the promotion for their recently self-released album King of Limbs.

 I love lists more than the average person. It probably stems from my slight OCD. (Okay -- full on OCD in some cases -- as in: Don't. Touch. Things. On. My. Desk. This works particularly well with my middle school-age students, as you might imagine. Also, towels must be folded just so. Papers -- while there can be stacks of them -- must be straight and at right angles to whatever surface they are laying on... Yes. It just goes on and on.) The LA Times: Books website is one of my favorite book-news-related destinations because it is the king of lists -- for books, anyway. Be still my heart. Two amazing lists came out this week:

• "10 Mad Men Books to keep you going until 2012" via their book blog Jacket Copy: I'm not even a Mad Men watcher, but I  know that millions watch the AMC series. One of these days, I will get around to watching it. Perhaps these books will make me finally take the plunge!
• "The Reading Life: The nine best baseball books": I am always on the lookout for books about sports, especially to give as gifts to the males in my life (my dad, boyfriend's dad, even boyfriend on occasion).

Another fun site for book lists is LibraryBookLists.org. Featured lists include:

• Death at the Theater: Mysteries with Drama (literally)
• Drowned Towns (both fictional and non)
• Murder by Toaster: Mysteries with Surprisingly Lethal Weapons (bonsai trees, computer mouse cords, exploding cows, and more)

Since this has turned into a list-y kind of Book News post, here are three more book list links:

• EW's 12 Real Books by Fake People  (Whose authors are primarily soap opera actresses, but with Castle and How I Met Your Mother stars, too.)
• NPR's ongoing Three Books... series (Devoted to explaining our world using three books per topic. According to their website: "Why three? We live in a three-dimensional world, colored with hues that break down into a trio of primary colors. Three is a number that allows for conversation, completion, and understanding.")
• NPR's Reading List: Books to Help You Understand Japan (Lengthier than the 'Three Books...' segments. It works in tandem with the LA Times list I posted several weeks ago featuring books about earthquakes.)

Don't forget to sign up for this week's first-ever Favorite Reads Giveaway (Kaye Gibbons' Ellen Foster). Visit the blog on Monday for this week's winner and to find out what the next Favorite Reads Giveaway book will be!

This weekend, I will be continuing to enjoy The Help on audiobook from Audible.com, River Jordan's new memoir Praying for Strangers, and the upcoming (previously released in Ireland) Semi-Sweet by Roisin Meaney. All are excellent so far. Happy reading, and have a wonderful weekend!

First Favorite Read Giveaway: Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons

I came up with this giveaway idea while browsing shelves in my favorite used book store this week. Each time I happened upon a favorite book (already sitting on my shelves at home), I had to squash the impulse to put it in my cart. Finally, I decided to give in and share these books with you! It's a win-win situation: you get great books to read, and I get to rescue my favorites.

All of the books I'll be giving away are unique in that they are some of my favorite reads. They are also not new releases, but span from 1987 to 2007 in date of publication. Each week I'll feature a new Favorite Read, with a brief summary and review. Then, you can sign up to enter to win!

Here is a list of upcoming Favorite Read Giveaways:

• Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons (1987)
• The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton (1988)
• A Virtuous Woman by Kaye Gibbons (1989)
• Before Women Had Wings by Connie May Fowler (1996)
• We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates (1996)
• The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman (2002)
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon (2003)
• The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd (2005)
• The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian (2007)

This week, Kaye Gibbons' first novel Ellen Foster is up for grabs.

Summary: In Ellen Foster, the title character is an 11-year-old whose mother has died and whose father is by turns abusive and neglectful. She is thrust into one house and then another in a seemingly never-ending series of foster homes. Above it all, she has capabilities beyond her years to remove herself from her often terrible situations, and to make the best of anything. The novel deals with dark subject matter, but manages to stay hopeful.

Review: I devoured Ellen Foster when I was in high school, and then quickly gobbled up every book Gibbons wrote afterward. My favorite novel of hers is A Virtuous Woman, but there is no denying the appeal of this 11-year-old narrator. Ellen is a precocious young girl, wise beyond her years. The novel is a short 126 pages, but in that short span of pages Gibbons manages to draw an in-depth picture of Ellen's world. My favorite genre is southern literature, and Gibbons' first book is the epitome of everything that is grand about writing south of the Mason-Dixon line. The first line should convince you: "When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy."

Fill out the entry form below for your chance to win. (Extra entries for following, tweeting, posting, and sharing on Facebook.) Come back next week for a chance for another A Worn Path Favorite Read! Comments don't count for entry, but are welcome, as always!