February Pay It Forward Book Exchange

For this month I am giving away one of the first books I received in a book exchange. I really enjoyed this book. I discovered that my local library had a copy of a movie made from this book. I watched the movie after reading the book and I will say I enjoyed the book far more than the movie. So if you win you could check you library and do the same, compare the two. I enjoy doing this with books. So do you want to know the title? Here it is!

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

From Amazon:

Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain wants to become a writer. Trouble is, she's the daughter of a once-famous author with a severe case of writer's block. Her family--beautiful sister Rose, brooding father James, ethereal stepmother Topaz--is barely scraping by in a crumbling English castle they leased when times were good. Now there's very little furniture, hardly any food, and just a few pages of notebook paper left to write on. Bravely making the best of things, Cassandra gets hold of a journal and begins her literary apprenticeship by refusing to face the facts. She writes, "I have just remarked to Rose that our situation is really rather romantic, two girls in this strange and lonely house. She replied that she saw nothing romantic about being shut up in a crumbling ruin surrounded by a sea of mud."
Rose longs for suitors and new tea dresses while Cassandra scorns romance: "I know all about the facts of life. And I don't think much of them." But romantic isolation comes to an end both for the family and for Cassandra's heart when the wealthy, adventurous Cotton family takes over the nearby estate. Cassandra is a witty, pensive, observant heroine, just the right voice for chronicling the perilous cusp of adulthood. Some people have compared I Capture the Castle to the novels of Jane Austen, and it's just as well-plotted and witty. But the Mortmains are more bohemian--as much like the Addams Family as like any of Austen's characters. Dodie Smith, author of 101 Dalmations, wrote this novel in 1948. And though the story is set in the 1930s, it still feels fresh, and well deserves its reputation as a modern classic. --Maria Dolan --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Here are the rules to enter. Yes, there are some rules!

If you win this book you must host a giveaway on your blog. If you don't have a blog then you will give the book to a local shelter, library, etc.

You do not need a blog to participate. If you don't have one just please leave your e-mail so that in the event you should win I can get a hold of you.

You need to leave a comment to this post by Sunday, Febraury 17 by midnight. I will randomly draw a name on Monday and post the winner here. Also, I will contact the winner by e-mail or blog.

Please click over to Overwhelmed with Joy to see the many other book exchanges happening this month.

Thanks for playing and Good Luck!