January 11, 2015

#Tuck40th: Tuck Everlasting (Reflection + Giveaway)

I'm excited to be a part of the #Tuck40th blog tour celebrating the release of the 40th anniversary edition of Tuck Everlasting! The anniversary edition comes out on January 20, but you can already pre-order your very own copy here. For those of you unfamiliar with Tuck Everlasting, here's a little bit about the book:


Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Publisher: Farrar, Strous & Giroux (BYR)
Publication Date: January 20, 2015 (orig. 1975)

Blessed with—or doomed to—eternal life after drinking from a magic spring, the Tuck family wanders about trying to live as inconspicuously and comfortably as they can. When ten-year-old Winnie Foster stumbles on their secret, the Tucks take her home and explain why living forever at one age is less of a blessing than it might seem. Complications arise when Winnie is followed by a stranger who wants to market the spring water for a fortune.

A brand-new introduction from Gregory Maguire, the author of Wicked, and additional bonus materials make this special edition of Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting a must-have for lovers of the book and a great way to introduce a new generation to a classic. (from Goodreads)




If you've never read the book (or seen the film!), I highly encourage you to do so! Tuck Everlasting is one of my favorite stories, and personally, I'm looking forward to the opportunity to indulge in a reread this year. Now, for the blog tour, all of us were asked to answer this question:

Answering a question like this is a difficult task. As with any choice one faces, there are pros and cons. If I lived forever, I would never fear death. I would be more easygoing about the mistakes I've made, knowing I have time to change or fix things. I would be assured that I would be able to do it all, see it all, be it all. I would try all sorts of careers and looks and cities too.

But if I lived forever, I would watch the people I loved grow old and die around me. And living life would become monotonous to a certain extent, until one day, it lost all its luster. And as someone who believes in life after death, I would never get to experience the serenity of that afterlife.

So, you see, I'm torn between the choice of living forever - or living just one precious life.

While I was thinking about my answer, I started thinking about the way I live my life now. I have always had my mind set on making the most out of my days, particularly as I've gotten older. There is nothing I consider more important than having meaningful, fun experiences that I can look back on with pride and joy. There are three songs that really just popped immediately into my head when I thought about living life to the fullest now and I wanted to share them with you in today's post:




And suddenly, upon reflection, I've realized that not only is this one life we're given special, but equally significant and valuable are the people we get to live it with. I couldn't imagine living a life where the people I love were no longer with me through good and through bad! So, there you have it. Knowing that you have this one precious life with the people you love in it is clear motivation to make sure you live it with your whole heart and soul.

Whew, okay, that's enough reflection for today (though I do think there's more than enough to write an entirely different post!). Now, the moment you've all been waiting for - a giveaway! I'm giving away a paperback of Tuck Everlasting so that one lucky reader will have the chance to read (or reread) this timeless tale.

Note: This giveaway is open to residents of the US, ages 13 and older. Please note that any personal information (like mailing address) will only be used to send you the book, and not for any other thing.

15 Comments:

  1. I'd love to live forever, as long as, like the Tucks, I could bring my loved ones with me, and stay young. If I had to grow old and still live forever while my friends and family died around me, that would suck. I think knowing I would live forever would take a lot of the pressure off of life. There would be no need to hurry, or rush through things, and I'd have time to learn all the things I want to learn (plus read all the books I want to read!)

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  2. I know we only have one life to live and I want to live that life to the fullest. I feel like eventually living forever would get old. I do agree with Sierra that it would take pressure off life to get stuff done. I would love to see the whole world, but I know I probably won't. I would get the chance to read all the books which would be a plus. I love Long Live by Taylor Swift. One of my favorites.

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  3. I love all the pictures you share on your blog, Alexa! Looks like you always have so much fun. :) Just finished Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke and loved it! If you liked the first book you should feel the same about this one.
    Happy January to you!

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  4. If I could live forever I would finish all the books I want to read, help people, do all the things I want to do then do the things that I would never do, and write. I would do it since I love life very much but even if all my family members die then i'll watch over the next generation and I would miss them but I think I can handle it. I love living very much but with my one life I am living to my fullest. In the end I doesn't matter since we all die a little when people close to us die. So yes, I would like to live forever but at the same time maybe not.

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  5. Awesome flow-chart, and this is a truly good idea!

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  6. OMG I love this book so much! I read it back in middle school and have loved it ever since. It's a pretty short read too, from what I remember. I would totally live forever, as long as I didn't have to do it alone! Being the only person who lives forever would get really lonely. As long as I could share it with someone, I'm all over it!

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  7. Hmmm.....live forever, as long as everyone I love does the same.

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  8. I love that flow chart! Often when I am considering requesting a book on netgalley I go to goodreads and check out the negative reviews to discourage me form requesting a book I don't really want to read. I had a book today that had no reviews on goodreads yet, so I hit the request button immediately, oops.

    I wish you both good luck with the picky pledge!

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  9. AH!! I love Long Live by Taylor Swift! Such a great song! I would not want to live forever. I just can't even fathom that honestly. How would I occupy my life. Then part of me is like but I could read SO MANY BOOKS!

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  10. I would not want to, one life well lived is enough.

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  11. I love this idea and that there is a flowchart involved. I'm trying to be more conscientious about reading myself so I am excited to see how this goes for you both!

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  12. This is adorable! Good luck. I know you two can do this.

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  13. Such a great post, especially the flowchart. I'm so guilty of buying on impulse which is so bad for my wallet and my self control, haha! I think this will be a huge help to a lot of people.

    - Barbara @ My Bibliophile Mind

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  14. This is a really good idea and I am already doing it in my own way :) I stopped requesting ARCs a while ago and now I try to use NetGalley sporadically and only for books I am super excited about. I'd like to be more picky about what I read from now on because I feel like I wasted a lot of time in 2014 reading things I felt obliged to read rather than books I really wanted.

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