I have noticed it is kind of a Thing to have Giveaways on one’s blog, which I am all for, but never really knew what to giveaway..but now I do, so here it is…My first Giveaway. 
The main motivation for this giving is that I simply LOVED this book. I rarely read these days and when I do I am painfully picky about my books, but this one I literally devoured. I broke this years no reading fast on my recent vacation by reading a whole novel and while wandering through the airport on the way home I picked this up. I didn’t even read the back cover, the title The Language of Flowers and cover photo—little girl in a tutu & muck boots holding flowers—sold me on the spot and I paid the full airport price without hesitation. I started it on the plane & finished in 5 days, I even read the Interview, Review, and Discussion Questions in the back and made a photo copy of the Dictionary of Flowers in the glossary. I am not the only one though, it is a NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER and it seems like sales are doing very well. As the title states, it beautifully weaves the meanings of flowers given as secret messages throughout the book, bringing alive these inanimate objects in a way that truly deepens your reverence for their spirits. This is something that especially rings in me, as this is what I try to do with the Language of Stones through my jewelry and you better believe that when I have a flower farm I will do the same with flowers.
Iris=Message
It was of course a beautiful book, but not just because it is about the secret subtle language of flowers, but because it is about the painful beauty of the human heart. As Paula McLain says in her review, ” Victoria Jones (the main character) is going to break your heart three ways from Sunday.” It is not an easy story, full of struggle in fact, but also forgiveness, growth and learning to love oneself told through the experience of a young woman coming out of the foster care system of California. Because she was a foster parent herself, the author Vanessa Diffenbaugh truly seeks to support this intensely challenging bridge of entering into the world after a life of foster care. She even created a Non-Profit called the Camellia Network to aid young people making this transition.
So there you have it; reverence and respect for nature, the capacity of the human heart and action for social change, what is not to love.
Just leave a comment here between now and Sunday, (by clicking on the little number on the top right hand side of the post) and I will randomly pick a winner from the commenters, wrap up my loved copy and send it their way to be devoured once more.
Cosmos=Joy in Love and Life
