Since Facebook supposedly changed their rules and won’t allow contest/giveaways anymore, it looks like we’ll just have to do this the old-fashioned way. Please leave a comment below and let me know which of these 2 books you’re interested in. (If you’re interested in both, that’s fine.) You have until the end of this month to enter, and then I’ll draw names at random and announce the winners on Friday, June 3rd. (Must have US mailing address — sorry, international friends!)
THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING
By Alaa Al Aswany
This controversial bestselling novel in the Arab world reveals the political corruption, sexual repression, religious extremism, and modern hopes of Egypt today.
All manner of flawed and fragile humanity reside in the Yacoubian Building, a once-elegant temple of Art Deco splendor now slowly decaying in the smog and bustle of downtown Cairo: a fading aristocrat and self-proclaimed “scientist of women”; a sultry, voluptuous siren; a devout young student, feeling the irresistible pull toward fundamentalism; a newspaper editor helplessly in love with a policeman; a corrupt and corpulent politician, twisting the Koran to justify his desires.
These disparate lives careen toward an explosive conclusion in Alaa Al Aswany’s remarkable international bestseller. Teeming with frank sexuality and heartfelt compassion, this book is an important window on to the experience of loss and love in the Arab world.
THREAD OF SKY
By Deanna Fei
When her husband of thirty years is killed in a devastating accident, Irene Shen and her three daughters are set adrift. Nora, the eldest, retreats into her high-powered New York job and a troubled relationship. Kay, the headstrong middle child, escapes to China to learn the language and heritage of her parents. Sophie, the sensitive and artistic youngest, is trapped at home until college, increasingly estranged from her family-and herself. Terrified of being left alone with her grief, Irene plans a tour of mainland China’s must sees, reuniting three generations of women-her three daughters, her distant poet sister, and her formidable eighty-year-old mother-in a desperate attempt to heal her fractured family.
If only it was so easy. Each woman arrives bearing secrets big and small, and as they travel-visiting untouched sections of the Great Wall and the seedy bars of Shanghai, the beautiful ancient temples and cold, modern shopping emporiums-they begin to wonder if they will ever find the China they seek, the one their family fled long ago.
Over days and miles they slowly find their way toward a new understanding of themselves, of one another, and of the vast complexity of their homeland, only to have their new bonds tested as never before when the darkest, most carefully guarded secret of all tumbles to the surface and threatens to tear their family apart forever. A Thread of Sky is a beautifully written and deeply haunting story about love and sacrifice, history and memory, sisterhood and motherhood, and the connections that endure.
(Images and descriptions courtesy of GoodReads and Amazon)
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Ooooh Thread of Sky definitely.
They both sound fabulous. I’m interested in either one! Adding the first to my TBR list anyhow.
Count me in for both, Kristan!
The giveaway idea is awesome, Kristan! I would be most interested in the Yacoubian Building most, but either would be great.
Kudos to you on your latest writing adjustments. It makes a big difference to get all organized. BTW – I’ve been debating about “killing the internet” during my writing time, too. :)
They both sound good. I’ll definitely have to add these to my TBR list as well.
Thread Of Sky sounds like a wonderful story. So “we’ll just have to do this the old-fashioned way” – funny that the old fashion way is over the internet. ;)
I’d happily take either!
Both sound great.
Btw, found you through Writers Unboxed. That is so cool that you do your own web work. More power to you!
Thread of Sky, only because I have read the Yacoubian Building and agree it’s fantastic.
OOOOh! I wasn’t going to enter b/c I won a book last time but Thread of Sky looks really good. :?