Book Bullying Babe is a feature here on Ruby’s Reads where I highlight a series (or just a book) that I highly recommend. Then, if I can, I also give away a copy of it. I call it book bullying–but I do it with L-O-V-E. And as scary as the girl on the button looks, she’s not me and I’m not her. For one thing, I would never get a tattoo–not even one that supports my obsession with reading. Also, don’t tell anyone I said this, (lowers voice to a whisper) but I think she’s kind of scary. Maybe it’s just the gun?

     In 2007, Speak (an imprint of Penguin) did me a huge favor by reissuing A Countess Below Stairs. I picked up a shiny new copy of my own on from the new releases shelf at my Borders (remember Borders?), and promptly fell in love. Why? I don’t know if I can properly express my adoration of Eva Ibbotson, so I’ve just decided to make a list:

1. I want to be best friends with Every Single One of Eva Ibbotson’s heroines. They’re just a little bit quirky, always good with children, lovers of nature, funny, 3% drama queen…they’re kindred spirits. And speaking of Anne Shirley, I feel sure she would have liked Ibbtson’s heroines, too. 
2. The heroes. Especially Quin, from The Morning Gift. I’m having heart palpitations just thinking about him. And Rom, from A Company of Swans. *drool* All without so much as one topless scene.
3. Ibbotson created settings like Nobody’s Business. I’m serious. From Vienna to Cambridge to Brazil, Ibbotson always makes me feel like I’m there with her characters. And without actually saying or doing anything, she reminds me to find beauty in my surroundings. 
4. Even the supporting characters are awesome. She breathes life into every human interaction she portrays. 
5. The stories are intensely romantic and stirring despite the fact that all sex takes place behind closed doors. 
6. Ibbotson had a delightful sense of humor. It’s decidedly English. (Side note: Eva Ibbotson was born in Austria and emigrated to England when Hitler rose to power.) She had kind of an outsider’s and an insider’s view of England all at once. Brilliant. 

      The romances (shown above) are my personal favorite examples of Ibbotson’s work. Of those five, The Morning Gift and A Company of Swans are the two that rate a ten on my six-point rating scale of books. I love them, and constantly reread them. I haven’t reviewed any of them because they were all read before I started blogging. If you’re interested in checking out some reviews, I highly recommend the ones at All About Romance:

• A Countess Below Stairs
• A Reluctant Heiress (Originally Magic Flutes)
• A Company of Swans
• Madensky Square (which has not been reissued)
• Dragonfly Pool (The last book Ibbotson published before her death in 2010)

     Ibbotson also wrote a number of Middle Grade books, a few of which I have read aloud to my students: The Star of Kazan, Island of the Aunts, and Journey to the River Sea. Ibbotson was also the author of The Secret of Platform 13, which you may remember as the book that some suggested might have inspired J.K. Rowling’s Platform 9 3/4. 

For this month’s Book Bullying Babe giveaway, I’m offering the choice of a copy of one of the five novels pictured above to one lucky winner. Fill out the Rafflecopter form below to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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