Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, totally worn out and screaming,
"WOO HOO, what a ride!"

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Mailbox Monday


Mailbox Monday at The Printed Page (this month at Knitting and Sundries) is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! I certainly did, and although the food was amazing, spending time with my family was the best part of the day. I did get a chance to get in some quality reading too. Now that the weather is getting colder and darker I'm spending less time outside (I do miss my hammock) and more time inside, snuggled up near the fireplace. So what goodies made their way to your house last week?

Blind Your Ponies
by Stanley Gordon West


From Algonquin Books

Hope is hard to come by in the hard-luck town of Willow Creek. Sam Pickett and five young men are about to change that. Sam Pickett never expected to settle in this dried-up shell of a town on the western edge of the world. He's come here to hide from the violence and madness that have shattered his life, but what he finds is what he least expects. There's a spirit that endures in Willow Cree, Montana. It seems that every inhabitant of this forgotten outpost has a story, a reason for taking a detour to this place--or a reason for staying. As the coach of the hapless high school basketball team (zero wins, ninety-three losses), Sam can't help but be moved by the bravery he witnesses in the everyday lives of people--including his own young players--bearing their sorrows and broken dreams. How do they carry on, believing in a future that seems to be based on the flimsiest of promises? Drawing on the strength of the boys on the team, sharing the hope they display despite insurmountable odds, Sam finally begins to see a future worth living. Author Stanley Gordon West has filled the town of Willow Creek with characters so vividly cast that they become real as relatives, and their stories--so full of humor and passion, loss and determination--illuminate a path into the human heart.

Night Road
by Kristen Hannah


From LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Jude Farraday is a happily married, stay-at-home mom who puts everyone’s needs above her own. Her twins, Mia and Zach, are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill enters their lives, no one is more supportive than Jude. A former foster child with a dark past, Lexi quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable. But senior year of high school brings unexpected dangers and one night, Jude’s worst fears are confirmed: there is an accident. In an instant, her idyllic life is shattered and her close-knit community is torn apart. People—and Jude—demand justice, and when the finger of blame is pointed, it lands solely on eighteen-year-old Lexi Baill. In a heartbeat, their love for each other will be shattered, the family broken. Lexi gives up everything that matters to her—the boy she loves, her place in the family, the best friend she ever had—while Jude loses even more. When Lexi returns, older and wiser, she demands a reckoning. Long buried feelings will rise again, and Jude will finally have to face the woman she has become. She must decide whether to remain broken or try to forgive both Lexi…and herself. Night Road is a vivid, emotionally complex novel that raises profound questions about motherhood, loss, identity, and forgiveness. It is an exquisite, heartbreaking novel that speaks to women everywhere about the things that matter most.

7 comments:

  1. Kristin Hannah's novels have such eye-catching covers. I hope it's a good read.

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  2. OOOh, a new Kristin Hannah - Enjoy that one!! Glad to see you got your LT book already. Have a great week!

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  3. I got Night Road too, and can't wait to read it. Happy reading!

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  4. I received for review Season of Seduction by Jennifer Haymore from The Book Tree.

    Although the widowed Lady Rebecca has sworn off marriage, men are another matter. London's cold winter nights have her dreaming of warmer pursuits-like finding a lover to satisfy her hungry heart. Someone handsome, discreet, and most importantly as uninterested in marriage as she is. Someone like Jack Fulton.

    A known adventurer and playboy, Jack seems like the perfect choice. There's just one problem: Jack isn't interested in an affair. He needs the beautiful, mysterious Lady Rebecca to be his wife. And he doesn't have much time to persuade her. A secret from Jack's past is about to surface, and by Christmas Day he'll be either married to Rebecca or dead.

    ***

    I received for review A Very Simple Crime by Grant Jerkins from Berkley Trade.

    A twisting debut novel of murder and dark family secrets from a riveting new voice in crime fiction.

    A murdered woman. A grieving husband. And their son-a mentally handicapped adult with a history of violent outbursts. A very simple case. Or is it?

    Leo Hewitt, an Assistant DA once blamed for setting free a notorious child-killer, is eager to redeem himself with this intimate and grisly crime. As he digs below the surface he discovers more than he ever anticipated-including an emotionally disturbed wife, a husband who'd do anything to escape his disastrous marriage, and an accused young man with no apparent means of defense. But with each shocking new revelation, Leo is only led deeper and deeper into the darkness-an inescapable trap of blood bonds and twisted family secrets.

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  5. Both new to me. Enjoy the reading.

    My mailbox is up. Please do visit.

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  6. I received both of these books this past week also. I love the covers on both of them and they both sound like books I will enjoy! I hope do too!

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  7. I received Blind Your Ponies, too. As a big fan of "Hoosiers" and "Remember the Titans", I just know that I will love this book. Night Road seems as though it will be a complex, interesting read. I look forward to your thoughts on it.

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