Dickensblog

Buy a book, help a good cause

We're selling a brand-new copy of Gary Colledge's book God and Charles Dickens: Recovering the Christian Voice of a Classic Author. I'm currently reading this book, as I mentioned the other day, and recommend it highly. Here's your chance to get it before the official release date of June 1!

The price is $10 (on Amazon it's going for over $13) and the money will go to the charity of your choice from our Dickens Bicentennial Fundraiser list of charities. If you want the book, leave a comment in the comments section or e-mail me at gdalfonzo AT verizon DOT net. First one to contact me gets it. I'll then get in touch with you to arrange the payment. And I'll pay for shipping.

Thanks to Ruth Anderson of Booktalk & More for donating this book to our fundraiser!

(Image copyright Brazos Press)

And the winner of the 'Great Expectations' DVD is . . .

Selenia! Congratulations! Contact me at gdalfonzo AT verizon DOT net with your address!

Big day!

First of all, happy Easter! Second of all, don't forget to watch Great Expectations part 2 and come back for my review/recap (and enter the raffle!).

GE DVD now available in the United States

Amazon has it here -- and don't forget, we're raffling one off, too. Just a small donation to a good cause gets you in. You only have a few days left to enter!

'Great Expectations,' part 1

(Cast list here for your reference.)

Ah, Laura Linney. Last time I saw you, you were mixing up Maria Beadnell and Catherine Dickens. Now you appear to be confusing Great Expectations with David Copperfield ("perhaps his most personal book!"). I guess good help is hard to find . . .

7 Quick Takes Friday

• I called it, I called it! Just a week and a half after I suggested watching for Dickens references on CBS's Person of Interest, they obligingly gave us one. Harold Finch rattled off the title, author, publication dates, and a one-sentence summary of Our Mutual Friend after having been drugged, a feat I'm not at all sure I could accomplish myself. Well played, sir!
• BBC Daytime has commissioned an updated adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby, to air in the fall. Instead of a boarding school, Nicholas (or "Nick") will work in a home for the elderly.
• London is doing its first Cityread, and the book they've chosen is Oliver Twist. Read all about the event here!
• As it happens, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is also featuring Oliver Twist in their One Book/One Community event. Danny Heitman of the Advocate has a nice piece about that here.
• A group of teen artists in New York has put together a special exhibit inspired by the bicentennial, called "Sketching the City."
• How's this for a prize? To raise money for the restoration of his Swiss chalet, the Rochester and Chatham Dickens Fellowship is raffling off a strand of Dickens's hair!
• Speaking of raffles, don't forget to enter ours! We don't have anything quite that cool, but we do have a copy of the Great Expectations miniseries, and your money will go to help either sick kids or human trafficking victims -- your choice.

Win a copy of the 'Great Expectations' miniseries!

We're raffling off one DVD copy of the Original U.K. Edition of Great Expectations to raise money for the Dickensblog Charity Fundraiser. Here's all you have to do:

1. Pick one of the fundraising pages in our readathon: Mo's (for the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital), Trynstje's (also for the hospital), or mine (for the Somaly Mam Foundation against sex trafficking).

2. Make a donation. (My page has a $10 minimum; I don't think the others have any minimum.) Here's a currency converter if you need one.

3. Leave a comment on this post to let me know about your donation. I'll confirm it by checking the person's fundraising page.

And that's it -- you're automatically entered. The winner's name will be drawn and announced on Monday, April 9, at 6 P.M. Eastern.

Thanks to PBS for donating the DVD. They've asked me to provide you with a link to their Charles Dickens Collection (Check out that Dickens doll! How cute is that!?), and to let you know that all purchases at their online shop help support PBS programming.

Now that's dedication

To raise funds for the Alzheimer's Society, 61-year-old Iain Dempster will run the London Marathon dressed as a Victorian gentleman and reading aloud from the works of Dickens.

We haven't given out a Dickensblog Order of Merit in a while, but if Mr. Dempster doesn't deserve one, I don't know who does. Consider it bestowed. And on a more practial note, if you want to sponsor him in the marathon, you can do so at this link.

(Speaking of fundraising, watch this site for a new opportunity in the Dickensblog Charity Fundraiser, coming in the next few days!)

And the winner is . . .

John Crawford has won the drawing for Dickens of London and a donation to the charity of his choice. Congratulations, John! I'll be in touch to get your address, and find out where you want the money to go.

Two important notes on the quiz

First of all, it appears I'm really bad at screening comments. Sorry! It looks like TypePad won't do what I want, which is to let you guys comment while hiding your comments from each other.

So instead, please send your answers to gdalfonzo AT verizon DOT net. I've changed last night's post to reflect that. If you put your answers on the original "Pop quiz" post, that's fine -- I'll count them if you followed the instructions. Which leads me to point two. . . .

Make sure you read the instructions carefully on last night's post. I'm asking for the character names, not the book titles. (I originally asked for both, but last night's post changed that.) If you gave only the book title, you need to go back and give the character names, or you won't be entered in the drawing.

Thanks for your understanding and cooperation!