September 2016 Book of the Month & Giveaway #1
October 9, 2016 04:33 PM Posted by juliannadouglas
I had two five-star reads in September, and OMG, what reads they were! Normally when I have multiple five-star reads, one stands out a little above the other, so I would choose that one to highlight and give away. But this month, I simply couldn’t. Each of my favorite reads couldn’t be more different from one another if they tried, but each touched me in a deep and indelible way that I couldn’t ignore. That’s probably why I couldn’t make up my mind between them. That’s great news for you, my readers, though, because my indecision means you get a chance to win two incredible books this month.
My first choice is a literary fiction novel, something that as primarily a genre fiction reader, I never really thought I could get into. It’s not that I disdain literary fiction, but I have perhaps tended to avoid it, because I felt like it might be too heavy or difficult to understand. That was definitely not the case with this book. It’s a very meaty story that readers can really sink their teeth into, but at the same time, it's infinitely readable and extremely engaging. Told by the five female members of the Price family, it’s all about their journey to the Congo in 1959 to become missionaries, how this harsh new land changed everything they took with them, including they themselves, but how it also got into their blood, tying them down. It’s also about one man’s misguided religious zealotry fueled by his relentless pursuit of absolution for his own perceived failures, while driving his own wife and daughters away from the God and the faith he professes. And lastly, this one family’s dramatic and tragic story parallels the political turmoil in the country which they’ve gone to serve as the Congo struggles for post-colonial independence.
It’s almost impossible to explain just how deeply this book touched me. It's a work of pure literary genius incorporating political, social, and religious themes, as well as a deep exploration of the human condition, and it’s all filled with a haunting beauty that I won’t soon forget. I love books that make me think and I'm sure I'll be thinking about this one for a long time to come. It was an elegant, lyrical, intricately layered story with some of the most complex characterizations I've ever read. That’s why I'm naming Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible as my first September Book of the Month. If you enjoy family sagas set in an exotic locale and filled with colorful imagery and metaphor then you should definitely give this book a try. Keep reading to learn how you can win a copy for your own library.
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Cover Blurb- The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it -- from garden seeds to Scripture -- is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa. |
Read my complete review of The Poisonwood Bible.
Giveaway
If you would like to win a copy of The Poisonwood Bible to see how wonderful it is for yourself, just enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below. One lucky winner will receive their choice of an eBook or print copy of the book. If the winner chooses an eBook, I will gift it to them via the eBook retailer of their choice (Amazon, B & N, or OmniLit). If the winner chooses a print copy, I will have it mailed directly to them via Amazon. Good luck!
International Entrants: You are welcome to enter my contest, but please note that not all eBooks are available in all countries due to copyright restrictions. If this is the case, Amazon does offer an option to trade for a gift card (I'm not sure about B & N or OmniLit). If you choose print, I can mail it to you via the Amazon website that services your country, pending availability and cost. Otherwise I will mail it to you via U. S. Amazon's standard international shipping, but it may take up to 6-8 weeks to arrive, and I may not have the capability of tracking the package.
Categories: Book of the Month, Giveaways
Tags: Barbara Kingsolver
