Book Giveaway: Brought together by books (or Dracula).

Note: look for the book giveaway at the end of the post. Comments will close November 13th and a winner will be selected by random draw.

Tomorrow night, my sister is taking me to see a new ‘modern’ production of Dracula at our local theater. I’m really looking forward to it and it got me to thinking about the magic of story and most especially books. Story has been bringing people together forever, probably right back to some cave men huddled around a fire, and the invention of printed books made it possible for a story to reach many more people.

When Bram Stoker wrote Dracula he was building upon legend and myth (aka story) that had been handed down through generations. His book shaped that evolving story in a form that continues to reach new readers every day, but the story continued to evolve. Today we have many, many vampire stories—from True Blood, to the Anita Blake Vampire Slayer novels, to the play my sister and I will see tomorrow.

A few years ago we went to the Romantic Times Book Lovers Convention. We met readers from across the country and we stood in line for a very long time to meet Laurell K Hamilton.

Laurell K Hamilton

A few years before that, I’d given my sister a copy of one of LKH’s books. When my sis told Laurell that I’d introduced her to the Anita Blake books and that she in turn had introduced her friends to them, Laurell smiled a beautiful smile and thanked us for the compliment of sharing her books with others. I think it was a pretty cool moment for all three of us. We all shared a love of books, a love of story, and yes, a love of vampires.

I wanted to share this story with you because I started this blog to recapture that joy of connecting with others who love story as much as I do. To be honest, I didn’t really expect it to work. I thought I’d blog a bit and no one would turn up. But you did turn up, and more and more of you keep turning up each week. I am so grateful for each of you.

So tell me, have you had an experience where story or books has brought you closer to someone else?  

For the next week I will be spending time with my sister (who is visiting from the UK) so I won’t be posting, but I will be checking in to the blog. Each person who comments on this post with their own experience of sharing or connecting through books will be entered to win my very first contest. I’ll be giving away two vampire stories: a hard cover copy of Meg Cabot’s Insatiable and an autographed mass market of Jeaniene Frost’s At Grave’s End.   And if you’re not a fan of vamps, don’t let that stop you from commenting (just let me know you opt out of the contest).

      

Be sure to check back Nov 13 for an announcement of the winner!

14 thoughts on “Book Giveaway: Brought together by books (or Dracula).”

  1. Have fun with your sister!

    I don’t think one specific book brought my husband and I together, but I remember the first time we read DUNE, by Frank Herbert. We couldn’t wait for the other to finish a section so we could discuss it. It was so much fun.

    We still do things like that.

  2. Books have been my obsession, my passion and my dearest friends since early childhood when I finally learned how to read them! This passion was fostered by my Father at a young age when he would read to me, we shared a love of reading westerns and horror stories until the day he died.. Being an only child those books created a bond with my Dad that has spread to the world of blogging.. There are so many of us who love to read that are in a family or circle of friends of non-readers. Iit is a wonderful joy to be able to share with like minded people, that we probably will never see in real life, the book or books that we each find entertaining even sometimes encouraging..
    As far as liking vampires they have been my constant source of reading pleasure for my entire life… You picked two great reads, I already have and have read “At Grave’s End” so if win the autographed copy will then pass my MMPB copy on to someone else to fall in love with Cat and Bones! ”

    Have a great first contest Charlie and thanks for the chance at some books!

    jackie >_<

    • Hi Jackie! Thanks for sharing your story about your dad. My dad used to tell me stories, usually scary. I credit him with my love of monsters.

  3. Great story! Enjoy the play! Author Mia Watts and I became friends after I read her work, Claimed by Darkness – the prose is out of this world. And I’m not an m/m reader, but she writes pretty amazing stuff. We’ve gotten together since, even though we live many states apart!

  4. Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander. If I find out someone hasn’t read it, I tell them to.

    My dental hygienist took me at my word. Now every time we go for a cleaning, we talk about the books and the possible movie and the graphic novel … okay, well, she talks, and then tries to decipher what I say while my mouth is wide open! (she’s pretty good at it, too.)

    I have the books, so if I win, you can pass them on to someone else. 🙂

    -Abigail

  5. There are too many examples of booksharing making my world a sweeter place to list. One of my favorite is definitely when I read the first and second Harry Potter books (purchased at the same time) to my son who many times had vowed an eternal hatred for reading. He was about 9 at the time and was entranced in the stories I was reading to him. After years of waiting, I finally heard from him, “Ah, come on, mom, just one more chapter! Please?!”

    Then one Saturday afternoon, days after we’d finished both books, quite out of the blue he said, “Mom, I think your curse has finally taken.”

    “What curse?” I asked.

    “The reading curse. You know, when you told me I was doomed to like reading because everyone else in my family liked it… Well, you were right.” He paused, then asked, “Can we go to the bookstore?”

    He’s been an avid reader ever since, which has brought us closer and let us share a world he didn’t even know existed before.

    And, yes, I did read the other HP books to him, too, although he could easily read them himself. It became “our” thing.

  6. Sorry to read (earlier in the comments) that the play wasn’t so great. I hope you’re having a great time with your sister, though!

    I’ve foisted the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews onto my friends. Not one of them has been disappointed yet. 🙂

    • Would you believe I’ve never read Ilona Andrews? I keep thinking I must pick one up, but somehow it hasn’t happened. So many good books, so little time!

  7. Over the years my husband has been introducing me to all his favourite movies, from the time he was a kid and well into adulthood. In return, I’ve been introducing him to some of my favourite books, the most recent being Stephen King’s The Stand. I started reading it outloud to him when we went camping in Sandbanks National Park this year, and after every few sections, we would stop and discuss the characters, what we thought of the story so far and applaud Stephen for not being afraid to discuss anything in his books. The process has brought us closer together because my husband’s developing a better understanding of what it takes to be a good writer and tell a good story. He’s developed a deeper understanding of what I’m going through while writing a novel for nearly two years, and I’ve developed a deeper appreciation for b-grade movies and my husband’s inner boy.

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