Category Archives: meme

Welcome to Mailbox Monday!

Mailbox Monday is a place to share all the wonderful books that have come to live in your home– including paper books, e-books and audio books.

Mailbox Monday was started by Marcia, who is now blogging at A girl and her books. When Marcia was ready to move on from being the weekly host, she was kind enough to set up the Mailbox Monday Blog Tour,

Bluestocking @ The Bluestocking Guide is the June host!

As for my mailbox:

Books for review:

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Dr. Marina Singh, a research scientist with a Minnesota pharmaceutical company, is sent to Brazil to track down her former mentor, Dr. Annick Swenson, who seems to have all but disappeared in the Amazon while working on what is destined to be an extremely valuable new drug, the development of which has already cost the company a fortune. Nothing about Marina’s assignment is easy: not only does no one know where Dr. Swenson is, but the last person who was sent to find her, Marina’s research partner Anders Eckman, died before he could complete his mission. Plagued by trepidation, Marina embarks on an odyssey into the insect-infested jungle in hopes of finding her former mentor as well as answers to several troubling questions about her friend’s death, the state of her company’s future, and her own past.

Once found, Dr. Swenson, now in her seventies, is as ruthless and uncompromising as she ever was back in the days of Grand Rounds at Johns Hopkins. With a combination of science and subterfuge, she dominates her research team and the natives she is studying with the force of an imperial ruler. But while she is as threatening as anything the jungle has to offer, the greatest sacrifices to be made are the ones Dr. Swenson asks of herself, and will ultimately ask of Marina, who finds she may still be unable to live up to her teacher’s expectations.

I’m reading this for an upcoming TLC Book Tour, and I’m excited!

Your turn

What came in your mailbox this week? Let me know, then go to The Bluestocking Guide to check out others!

Welcome to Mailbox Monday!

Mailbox Monday is a place to share all the wonderful books that have come to live in your home– including paper books, e-books and audio books.

Mailbox Monday was started by Marcia, who is now blogging at A girl and her books. When Marcia was ready to move on from being the weekly host, she was kind enough to set up the Mailbox Monday Blog Tour,

Bluestocking @ The Bluestocking Guide is the June host!

As for my mailbox:

Books for review:

The Urban Fantasy Anthology Edited by Peter S. Beagle, Joe R. Lansdale

Star-studded and comprehensive, this imaginative anthology brings a myriad of modern fantasy voices under one roof. Previously difficult for readers to discover in its new modes, urban fantasy is represented here in all three of its distinct styles—playful new mythologies, sexy paranormal romances, and gritty urban noir. Whether they feature tattooed demon-hunters, angst-ridden vampires, supernatural gumshoes, or pixelated pixies, these authors—including Patricia Briggs, Neil Gaiman, and Charles de Lint—mash-up traditional fare with pop culture, creating iconic characters, conflicted moralities, and complex settings. The result is starkly original fiction that has broad-based appeal and is immensely entertaining.

I’m really excited by this– it has my favorite UF authors (Charles de Lint, Neil Gaiman) mixed with others I’ve been wanting to read, It looks like a great way to try them out without committing to a full book…

The Art of Saying Goodbye by Ellyn Bache

She was the thread that wove their tapestry together.

With a group of women as diverse as the ladies from Brightwood Trace, you might not think them to be close. There’s Julianne, a nurse with an unsettling psychic ability that allows her to literally feel what her patients feel, Andrea, a strong fortress sheltering a faltering core, Ginger, a mother torn between being a stay-at-home mom or following her career aspirations, and Iona, the oldest, whose feisty, no-nonsense attitude disarms even toughest of the tough. Not exactly the ingredients for the most cohesive cocktail . . . Until you add Paisely, the liveliest and friendliest of the clan, who breathed life into them all.

But when their glowing leader falls ill with cancer, it’s up to these women to do what Paisely has done for them since the beginning: lift her up. Overcoming and accepting the inevitability of loss, the women draw closer than ever; finding together the strength to embrace and cherish their lives with acceptance, gratitude and most importantly, love. Finally living with the vigor that Paisely has shown them from the start, they are able to see their lives in a new light, while learning to say goodbye to the brightest star they’ve ever known. Over the course of just three months, these four women will undergo a magnificent transformation that leaves nobody unchanged.

I’m reading this for TLC Book Tour. I have my own photo rather than the usual official cover shot because I wanted to show the pretty ribbon.

Your turn

What came in your mailbox this week? Let me know, then go to The Bluestocking Guide to check out others!

Welcome to Mailbox Monday!

Mailbox Monday is a place to share all the wonderful books that have come to live in your home– including paper books, e-books and audio books.

Mailbox Monday was started by Marcia, who is now blogging at A girl and her books. When Marcia was ready to move on from being the weekly host, she was kind enough to set up the Mailbox Monday Blog Tour,

Mari @ Mari Reads is the May host!  In June, it is moving on to Bluestocking.

As for my mailbox:

Books for review!

The Case for the Only Child: Your Essential Guide by Susan Newman

What’s really wrong with having one child? Is one enough for you? For your partner? What constitutes a complete, happy family? Will your only child be lonely, spoiled, bossy, selfish? Read this book and find out.

My daughter is an only child, and I’ve long since come to peace with this being the right decision for our family, but I’m always interested in data on the subject.  When I was offered a chance to review it for a TLC tour, I jumped on it– even though my June schedule was already nuts.  I’m a little skeptical, of course, but definitely excited to pick it up.

Grace Interrupted (Manor of Murder, #2) by Julie Hyzy

On the grounds of Marshfield Manor, Civil War re-enactors have set up camp. And what a dedicated troupe! One of them has really been killed..

I liked the first book in this series, and was eager to read the second!

Dire Threads (Threadville Mystery, #1) by Janet Bolin

Willow Vanderling’s quaint new embroidery shop is not a hit with the local zoning commissioner. When he’s murdered, the evidence is stacked against Willow.

And that’s pretty much all I know about this one. Still, I was in the mood to start reading some new cozy series, and so I took a chance!

Books Won!

My American Unhappiness

by Dean Bakopoulos

“Why are you so unhappy?” That’s the question that Zeke Pappas, a thirty-three-year-old scholar, asks almost everybody he meets as part of an obsessive project, “The Inventory of American Unhappiness.” The answers he receives—a mix of true sadness and absurd complaint—create a collage of woe. Zeke, meanwhile, remains delightfully oblivious to the increasingly harsh realities that threaten his daily routine, opting instead to focus his energy on finding the perfect mate so that he can gain custody of his orphaned nieces. Following steps outlined in a women’s magazine, the ever-optimistic Zeke identifies some “prospects”: a newly divorced neighbor, a coffeehouse barista, his administrative assistant, and Sofia Coppola (“Why not aim high?”).

A clairvoyant when it comes to the Starbucks orders of strangers, a quixotic renegade when it comes to the federal bureaucracy, and a devoted believer in the afternoon cocktail and the evening binge, Zeke has an irreverent voice that is a marvel of lacerating wit and heart-on-sleeve emotion, underscored by a creeping paranoia and made more urgent by the hope that if he can only find a wife, he might have a second chance at life.

The Book Maven said to tweet a favorite book club read to be entered to win a copy of this  book.  I tweeted, and I won!  Yay!

Books Bought:

At Audible.com, I bought The Sins of the Fathers: The First Matthew Scudder Mystery, which I’ve wanted to read since finishing A Drop of the Hard Stuff.

I also took the advice My Friend Amy gave when I interviewed her, and bought Patricia Hickman’s The Pirate Queen on my Nook.

Your turn

What came in your mailbox this week? Let me know, then go to Mari Reads to check out others!

Welcome to Mailbox Monday!

Mailbox Monday is a place to share all the wonderful books that have come to live in your home– including paper books, e-books and audio books.

Mailbox Monday was started by Marcia, who is now blogging at A girl and her books. When Marcia was ready to move on from being the weekly host, she was kind enough to set up the Mailbox Monday Blog Tour,

Mari @ Mari Reads is the May host!

As for my mailbox:

Books for review:

From Harper Collins, I received

Quarantine: Stories By Rahul Mehta

The characters in Quarantine—openly gay Indian-American men—are Westernized in some ways, with cosmopolitan views on friendship and sex, while struggling to maintain relationships with their families and cultural traditions. Grappling with the issues that concern all gay men—social acceptance, the right to pursue happiness, and the heavy toll of listening to their hearts and bodies—they confront an elder generation’s attachment to old-country ways. Estranged from their cultural in-group and still set apart from larger society, the young men in these lyrical, provocative, emotionally wrenching, yet frequently funny stories find themselves quarantined.

I received another beautiful box of childrens/YA audiobooks from Brilliance Audio!

Included were

• Mosquitoes are ruining my summer! by Alan Katz (Ages 6+)
• Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer by  Megan McDonald (Ages 6 +)
• Troubletwisters by Garth Nix and Sean Williams (Ages 8+)
• Aliens on Vacation by Clete Barrett Smith
• A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine (Ages 9+)
• The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
  by Catherynne M. Valente (Ages 10+)
• Hero by Perry Moore (Ages 12+)
• Everfound by Neal Shusterman (Ages 12+)
• The Magnolia League by Katie Crouch (ages 15 +)
• Carter’s Big Break by Brent Crawford (ages 15+)

(Has anyone read The Magnolia League?  My 13 year old daughter and I are embarking on a road trip in a few weeks, and she suggested listening to it.  I’m not sure what’s giving it the 15+ suggested age range, and I’m not sure either of us is looking for fodder for mother daughter talks on this particular trip).

Your turn

What came in your mailbox this week? Let me know, then go to Mari Reads to check out others!

Welcome to Mailbox Monday!

Mailbox Monday is a place to share all the wonderful books that have come to live in your home– including paper books, e-books and audio books.

Mailbox Monday was started by Marcia, who is now blogging at A girl and her books. When Marcia was ready to move on from being the weekly host, she was kind enough to set up the Mailbox Monday Blog Tour,

Mari @ Mari Reads is the May host!

As for my mailbox:

Books for review:

The Upside of Irrationality by Dan Ariely

Why can large bonuses make CEOs less productive?

• How can confusing directions actually help us?
• Why is revenge so important to us?
• Why is there such a big difference between what we think will make us happy and what really makes us happy?

In his groundbreaking book Predictably Irrational, social scientist Dan Ariely revealed the multiple biases that lead us into making unwise decisions. Now, in The Upside of Irrationality, he exposes the surprising negative and positive effects irrationality can have on our lives. Focusing on our behaviors at work and in relationships, he offers new insights and eye-opening truths about what really motivates us on the job, how one unwise action can become a long-term habit, how we learn to love the ones we’re with, and more.

Drawing on the same experimental methods that made Predictably Irrational one of the most talked-about bestsellers of the past few years, Ariely uses data from his own original and entertaining experiments to draw arresting conclusions about how—and why—we behave the way we do. From our office attitudes, to our romantic relationships, to our search for purpose in life, Ariely explains how to break through our negative patterns of thought and behavior to make better decisions. The Upside of Irrationality will change the way we see ourselves at work and at home—and cast our irrational behaviors in a more nuanced light.

Last week, my daughter grabbed one of my review books before I had a chance to do anything with it. It isn’t unusual for her to want something that comes in for me. This week, it was my husband’s turn to do so, which is a far rarer occurrence. Granted, one of the reasons I requested this for review was that he really liked Predictably Irrational, so I wasn’t surprised that he was interested. As long as he gives his thoughts for review (same with my daughter), all is well.

The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris by John Baxter

Thrust into the unlikely role of professional “literary walking tour” guide, an expat writer provides the most irresistibly witty and revealing tour of Paris in years.

In this enchanting memoir, acclaimed author and long- time Paris resident John Baxter remembers his yearlong experience of giving “literary walking tours” through the city. Baxter sets off with unsuspecting tourists in tow on the trail of Paris’s legendary artists and writers of the past. Along the way, he tells the history of Paris through a brilliant cast of characters: the favorite cafÉs of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and James Joyce; Pablo Picasso’s underground Montmartre haunts; the bustling boulevards of the late-nineteenth-century flÂneurs; the secluded “Little Luxembourg” gardens beloved by Gertrude Stein; the alleys where revolutionaries plotted; and finally Baxter’s own favorite walk near his home in Saint-Germain-des-PrÉs.

Paris, by custom and design, is a pedestrian’s city—each block a revelation, every neighborhood a new feast for the senses, a place rich with history and romance at every turn. The Most Beautiful Walk in the World is your guide, par excellence, to the true, off-the-beaten-path heart of the City of Lights.

The End of Everything by Megan Abbott

Thirteen-year old Lizzie Hood and her next door neighbor Evie Verver are inseparable. They are best friends who swap bathing suits and field-hockey sticks, and share everything that’s happened to them. Together they live in the shadow of Evie’s glamorous older sister Dusty, who provides a window on the exotic, intoxicating possibilities of their own teenage horizons. To Lizzie, the Verver household, presided over by Evie’s big-hearted father, is the world’s most perfect place.

And then, one afternoon, Evie disappears. The only clue: a maroon sedan Lizzie spotted driving past the two girls earlier in the day. As a rabid, giddy panic spreads through the Midwestern suburban community, everyone looks to Lizzie for answers. Was Evie unhappy, troubled, upset? Had she mentioned being followed? Would she have gotten into the car of a stranger?

Lizzie takes up her own furtive pursuit of the truth, prowling nights through backyards, peering through windows, pushing herself to the dark center of Evie’s world. Haunted by dreams of her lost friend and titillated by her own new power at the center of the disappearance, Lizzie uncovers secrets and lies that make her wonder if she knew her best friend at all.

Your turn

What came in your mailbox this week? Let me know, then go to Mari Reads to check out others!

Welcome to Mailbox Monday!

Mailbox Monday is a place to share all the wonderful books that have come to live in your home– including paper books, e-books and audio books.

Mailbox Monday was started by Marcia, who is now blogging at A girl and her books. When Marcia was ready to move on from being the weekly host, she was kind enough to set up the Mailbox Monday Blog Tour,

Mari @ Mari Reads is the May host!

As for my mailbox:

Books for review:

This was an amazingly cool week for me as a book blogger.  I had two packages arrive, both unexpectedly.  One was a book by one of my all time favorite authors.  One was an audiobook by an author my daughter really enjoys!

Promises to Keep by Charles de Lint

Jilly Coppercorn, one of de Lint’s beloved characters, is faced with a life-changing choice. With the help of a mentor and an anonymous benefactor, Jilly has overcome abuse, addiction, and even a stint in juvie. Though she still struggles to stay clean and make ends meet, Jilly feels safe and loved by her newly-formed family, including her loyal best friend Geordie, the lovely artist Sophie Etoile, and her caseworker, the angel of Grasso Street.

Then Jilly is given a tempting opportunity riding in from the past on an oversized motorcycle. Her best friend Donna from the bad old days, now transformed into a tattooed bass-player in a rockabilly band, takes Jilly into a beautiful, mysterious city. It is a place full of wonderful opportunities and delights that at first seems perfect.

But increasingly loud whispers arising from the city’s canals are reminding Jilly that she still has unfinished business in Newford.

Charles de Lint has been writing Urban Fantasy since before Urban Fantasy was popular, and he writes it beautifully! I’m looking forward to learning more about Jilly’s past and her journey to the Jilly in the later Newford books.

The Throne of Fire (Kane Chronicles, Book 2) by Rick Riordan  (Author) and Kevin R. Free and Katherine Kellgren  (Narrators)

Ever since the gods of Ancient Egypt were unleashed in the modern world, Carter Kane and his sister Sadie have been in trouble. As descendants of the House of Life, the Kanes have some powers at their command, but the devious gods haven’t given them much time to master their skills at Brooklyn House, which has become a training ground for young magicians. And now their most threatening enemy yet–the chaos snake Apophis–is rising. If they don’t prevent him from breaking free in a few days’ time, the world will come to an end. In other words, it’s a typical week for the Kane family. To have any chance of battling the Forces of Chaos, the Kanes must revive the sun god Ra. But that would be a feat more powerful than any magician has ever accomplished. First they have to search the world for the three sections of the Book of Ra, then they have to learn how to chant its spells. Oh, and did we mention that no one knows where Ra is exactly? Narrated in two different wisecracking voices, featuring a large cast of new and unforgettable characters, and with adventures spanning the globe, this second installment in the Kane Chronicles is nothing short of a thrill ride.

If you ask my daughter, she’ll say she likes audiobooks.   However, she rarely listens, and when we put one on in the car she usually tunes out very quickly.  She has listened to a few all the way through, but I’d begun to think she likes the idea more than the actual act of listening.

I’d barely had a chance to open the box containing this one before she grabbed it from me.  Most of the time when she’s at her computer, she has it playing, and she’s making great progress through it, so I think I can already say it’s a hit.  I wish it’d arrived before our recent road trip for her last rhythmic gymnastics competition of the season!

Your turn

What came in your mailbox this week? Let me know, then go to Mari Reads to check out others!

Welcome to Mailbox Monday!

Mailbox Monday is a place to share all the wonderful books that have come to live in your home– including paper books, e-books and audio books.

Mailbox Monday was started by Marcia, who is now blogging at A girl and her books. When Marcia was ready to move on from being the weekly host, she was kind enough to set up the Mailbox Monday Blog Tour,

Mari @ Mari Reads is the May host!

As for my mailbox:

Books for review:

Fool’s Republic by Gordon W. Dale

As Fool’s Republic opens, Simon Wyley floats in a tiny all-white cell. A short-order cook with a genius-level IQ, Wyley has had a steady job for twenty years, paid his taxes, kept to himself. A dedicated husband and father, he’s a model citizen. So why is he being held?

Wyley is accused of committing crimes against the state—the charges are always implied, never specified—and is being held without formal charge, benefit of counsel, or due process of law. He confuses and confounds his interrogators using the only weapons at his disposal, irony and whimsy, to challenge their arrogance and false assumptions. As Wyley’s journey proceeds, we develop a deeper understanding of the man behind the wisecracks and of the society that has imprisoned him.

Exhibiting a crackling narrative energy and vivid prose, Fool’s Republic is about freedom—freedom of action, freedom of thought and, ultimately, the freedom to be human. It is the story of a man’s struggle to come to terms with himself and the culture in which he lives.

Books Bought:

Well, I didn’t buy any for me.   But it was my daughter’s birthday, so I bought several for her.  And it just so happens I might want to borrow some of them…

Your turn

What came in your mailbox this week? Let me know, then go to Mari Reads to check out others!

Welcome to Mailbox Monday!

Mailbox Monday is a place to share all the wonderful books that have come to live in your home– including paper books, e-books and audio books.

Mailbox Monday was started by Marcia, who is now blogging at A girl and her books. When Marcia was ready to move on from being the weekly host, she was kind enough to set up the Mailbox Monday Blog Tour,

Amy at Passages to the Past is this month’s host!  Next month, Mailbox Monday moves on to Mari @ Mari Reads.

As for my mailbox:

Books for review:

22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson

Publisher’s summary:

“Housekeeper or housewife?” the soldier asks Silvana as she and eight- year-old Aurek board the ship that will take them from Poland to England at the end of World War II. There her husband, Janusz, is already waiting for them at the little house at 22 Britannia Road. But the war has changed them all so utterly that they’ll barely recognize one another when they are reunited. “Survivor,” she answers.

Silvana and Aurek spent the war hiding in the forests of Poland. Wild, almost feral Aurek doesn’t know how to tie his own shoes or sleep in a bed. Janusz is an Englishman now-determined to forget Poland, forget his own ghosts from the way, and begin a new life as a proper English family. But for Silvana, who cannot escape the painful memory of a shattering wartime act, forgetting is not a possibility.

The Ridge by Michael Koryta

Publisher’s Summary:

On an isolated ridge in the Kentucky woods stands a homemade lighthouse, hundreds of miles from any substantial body of water. Local reporter Roy Darmus has always found it an amusing oddity- until he is selected as the recipient of a suicide note from its builder. Roy enters the bizarre structure to find the walls covered in maps bearing the names of the dead–including his own parents, who were killed in a car accident when he was a boy. Roy soon has a storytelling assignment more daunting than anything he’s seen before: convincing people that an age-old legend has in fact come to life. With haunting atmosphere and tension-coiled plot, The Ridge is a terrifying journey into the heart of darkness.

Your turn

What came in your mailbox this week? Let me know, then go to Passages to the Past to check out others!