For the Love of Books: National Library Week--and a Giveaway!

It's Tuesday, which is supposed to be set aside for meetings of the "Grace-filled Tuesdays" book club. There will be no meeting today; but we will talk books.  Oh yes we will.

You've probably guessed this about me already, but...I am a big fan of books.  The biggest.  This meme really speaks to me.

A non-reader might say that reading makes a person boring, but I beg to differ. (Please, I beg you, don't think I'm boring!)

 

Full disclosure: I've always got a stack of reading material on my nightstand--mostly novels, but every now and then a non-fiction title sneaks its way into the line-up.  This is what my "to read" pile looked like a few months ago here at my son's house in VA.

Part of the reason I shared this picture with you is that I wanted you to see that framed drawing of the Blessed Mother, lovingly rendered in pencil by a friend of my daughter-in-law Preciosa.  I'm so glad that this beautiful drawing lives in the guest room that my husband and I are using while we're here!   Such beauty cries out to be shared.

I have already read the top three books in that stack up there.  And a number of others, not pictured.  But I've finally just started the one on the bottom, Fulcrum, by my on-line pal Dan Flaherty (who, incidentally, interviewed my first and third sons and their wives about meeting on CatholicMatch.com and wrote articles about them for the Catholic Match website).

I've actually been wanting to read Dan's book for a long time now, but since it's a story about Irish-Catholics in America, I was afraid to read it while working on my own story about Irish immigrants, Erin's Ring, because I thought the subject matter might be too similar.  For instance, in my book there is a real neighborhood in Dover that was nicknamed "Dublin," and in Dan's there is fictional one in Boston called "Shamrock."  But actually, I don't like to read any other novels while writing one of my own.  (For me, reading and writing fiction simultaneously is kind of like trying to dribble and chew gum at the same time--and if you can do that, my hat's off to you.)  But listen to this enticing synopsis on the back cover of Fulcrum:

A fictional neighborhood of Shamrock in the historic city of Boston is the setting for this Irish-American drama. Set in the immediate postwar period, Fulcrum portrays the lives of six teenagers who see their traditional neighborhood changing and wrestle with a response that will be true to their roots and to their conscience.

The tale is set against the backdrop of a classic Red Sox-Yankees pennant race, an old-fashioned mayoral campaign and the passion of football in autumn, all intertwined with the powerful presence, teaching and piety of the Catholic Church.

Fulcrum is an epic blend of Field of Dreams, The Last Hurrah and The Bells of St. Mary all rolled up into one, and destined to be a classic of Irish Catholic fiction.

This book is obviously a must-read for a Hibernophile like me!  (Yes, I just learned a new word, and I could hardly wait to use it.)

Okay, we've established my love of books.  And mind you, I mean the kind made out of ink and paper--and stored at an establishment that I hope will not go the way of the dinosaurs, now that eBooks are so popular: the public library.

And that was my neat little segue into my next topic: National Library Week.

In honor of National Library Week, I'm going to give away one copy of each of my novels here at the blog.

Tuesday April 14 is "National Library Workers Day," and I thought that was a perfect reason to give away a copy of Erin's Ring--a book that features the public library and a kindly and helpful librarian who works there.  If you win, perhaps you could give it to a special librarian in your life as a gift (or then again, you could keep it and share it with your favorite reader, middle school-aged and up).

Thursday April 16 is "Celebrate Teen Literature Day," and I thought that was a perfect reason to give away a copy of Finding Grace--a book that I wrote with high school-aged readers in mind.  If you win, perhaps you could give it to your favorite teen as a gift (or your favorite adult, for that matter!).

To enter the giveaway: leave me a comment anytime between now and Saturday April 18.  In your comment, let me know which of the two titles you would prefer to win.  It's a short window of opportunity, so if you want to throw your name into the hat, don't shilly-shally!

I look forward to your comments, fellow bookworms!