Mary & Me: One Year Anniversary Giveaway

It's been nearly a year since the publication of Mary & Me: A Lasting Link Through Ink. The authors, to celebrate, are generously hosting a giveaway of a copy to one of our readers. Kathy and I had a unique opportunity to write the forward for the book. The book follows their thousands of letters through their thirty year friendship. It's always a distinct pleasure to see pen pals with strong and lengthy correspondences. 

"For thirty years, the Marys have maintained their correspondence, their connection empowered by sheets of paper. Through their letters, these two friends have been able to get through extremely difficult moments and grow as mothers, friends, and community members. Their commitment to each other is apparent within these pages. One cannot help but smile when reading how Mary Kenyon and Mary Humston have flourished through their friendship with each other." 

To win a copy of your own, please leave a comment recommending us a book. A winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday morning, the 31st of August, 2016. Standard L.W.A. contest rules apply (AKA you'll be asked to provide your member number to claim your prize).  **Contest Closed**

Comments

[Cynthia]

I recommend Letters from Wupatki by Courtney Reader Jones.
It is relevant in this year of the National Park Service 100th Anniversary.

[Connie Rose]

I recommend The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund deWaal. Not letters, but a beautiful family history/memoir.

[jenclair]

I recommend Neither Snow Nor Rain: A History of the United States Post office. I reviewed the book in February--loved it.

And Sorcery & Cecilia by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. The two authors wrote in the persona of two cousins. A form of the letter writing game that turned into a novel. Great fun.

[Candyce]

It looks so interesting!

[Christy]

I recommended Pioneer Girl by Laura Ingalls Wilder the Annotated Autobiography. I too have had an over thirty year letter correspondence with my friend C, so you could say C and C.

Would love to read this.

Christy

[cathy]

I recommend The Lost Garden by Helen Humphries or Cultivating Delight by Diane Ackerman. Neither are 'how to' just interesting garden reads.

[Amanda]

The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters. But this is a fat tome, so you have to be at least somewhat interested in the Mitford sisters. (Which I totally am. They're fascinating!)

Thanks for offering the giveaway!

[Leah Sawkins]

I recommend Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart. I couldn't put it down! :O)

[StoneZebra]

This is a wonderful book that I read when it first came out. Just recently passed it on to one of the Marys in my life.

[Lillian]

I recommend Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper. It's part epistolary novel, part stream of consciousness. Haunting and beautiful.

[Kim]

I recommend The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz - this is a dystopian novel about a society who stand in a never moving line for government services. Just finished and I really loved it.

[Janet]

I recommend The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rugen, by Elizabeth von Arnim. Rugen is a tiny island in the Baltic sea, and Elizabeth decided to drive around it (drive meaning horse and carriage) in the early years of the 20th century.

[Linda]

Letters to an American Lady is a book that compiles the written correspondence C.S. Lewis kept with a friend whom he never met, but would keep in touch with his entire life.

[Sarah Carter]

I recommend Clara and Mr. Tiffany, one of my favorite period novels.

[Jane B.]

I recommend "The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet" an adventure novel by Reif Larsen (2009). Although it is not a book about letters, there are letters in the book (in particular p. 323). The entire design/layout of the book is enchanting -- with annotations in the margins consisting of maps and notes and diagrams and detailed drawings. It's just a fun read and a great concept for an adventure book.

[Kim Locke]

I just finished reading, "Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms: Magic, Mystery and a Very Strange Adventure." It's a wonderfully written children's book that will have you believing in magic all over again. Horten has to find his long lost grandfather's magic workshop while thwarting his evil aunt that wants to take the items in the workshop and sell them for profit. Horten's grandfather communicates to him through a series of cards, puzzles, and letters. I loved the book and read it in a rainy afternoon with tea :)

[Carrie Bohrer]

You've got to read Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole! It's a fantastic book told completely by the exchange of letters. Takes place in the 1910's and 1940's. Fantastic!

[Valerie DeMarco]

I read Buddha in the Attic a while ago, but its story comes to mind often. It is a haunting tale of the journey taken by Japanese women coming to San Francisco as brides for American men after WWI. It accounts their struggles once they arrive and try to assimilate into American culture. It is written as plural first person, so the narrative reads as a tale from the group. It's a short book, but the story stays with you for a long time. BTW, I have also had a long term pen relationship with a woman in California. We have corresponded for over 45 years. Quite a special friendship!

[rachel]

I recommend The Blue Umbrella by Mike Mason. Fantastical and whimsical. The follow up The Violet Flash is great, too! They both make weather fun!

[Margaret]

I recommend "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" by Nina Sankovich. It's a basic history of the letter but framed by the author's son going away to college (and will he write letters to report on how he's doing??).

[Lu Harvey]

One of my favorite books of all time is A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle. It's an absolutely delightful read - especially for these last fleeting days of summer!

[Anna Clayton]

Everyone should read The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Both books will leave you with a "book hangover"

[Frankie]

I recommend Gilead by Marilynne Robinson!! A different use of letters as narration and a very moving look at the meanings of life.