Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday (started at The Printed Page and now a traveling meme) is at Amused By Books this month and 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.

Whew, it's been some time since I've been here and I have some catching up to do! I didn't get a lot of books over the summer but I still had plenty to read. These are the goodies I got recently. I hope your mailbox was full of goodies too!


The Stranger You Seek (ARC) by Kyle Williams
From Random House for review

The papers have called me a monster. You’ve either concluded that I am a braggart as well as a sadist or that I have a deep and driving need to be caught and punished.

In the sweltering heat of an Atlanta summer, a killer is pushing the city to its breaking point, preying on the unsuspecting, writing taunting letters to the media, promising more death. Desperate to stop the Wishbone Killer before another victim meets a shattering end, A.P.D. lieutenant Aaron Rauser turns to the one person he knows can penetrate a deranged mind: ex–FBI profiler Keye Street.

And you must certainly be wondering if I am, in fact, the stranger you seek.

Keye was a rising young star at the Bureau until addiction derailed her career and her life. Now sober and fighting to stay so, Keye picks up jobs where she can get them: catching adulterers, serving subpoenas, chasing down bailjumpers, and dodging the occasional bullet. With multiple victims, little to go on, and an entire police force looking for direction, the last thing Keye wants is to be pulled into the firestorm of Atlanta’s worst nightmare.
Shall I convince you?

And then it suddenly becomes clear that the hunter has become the hunted—and the stranger she seeks is far closer than she ever dared imagine.An electrifying thriller debut, The Stranger You Seek introduces a brash, flawed, and unforgettable heroine in a complex, twisting novel that takes readers deep into a sultry Southern summer, a city in the grips of chaos, and a harrowing cat-and-mouse game no reader will ever forget.

All These Things I've Done (ARC) by Gabrielle Zevin

From Macmillan for review

 In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant D.A.'s son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidently poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she's to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight--at school, in the news, and most importantly, within her mafia family.

You Don't Sweat Much For A Fat Girl: Observations On Life From The Shallow End Of The Pool  (ARC) by Celia Rivenbark
From Wunderkind PR for review and giveaway

From the bestselling, award-winning author of "You Can't Drink All Day If You Don't Start in the Morning" comes another collection of hilarious observations that are sure to resonate with women, mothers, and girlfriends everywhere.

Coming Up For Air (ARC) by Patti Callahan Henry

From Wunderkind PR for review and giveaway

On the coast of Alabama, there is a house cloaked in mystery, a place that reveals the truth and changes lives...
Ellie Calvin is caught in a dying marriage, and she knows this. With her beloved daughter away at college and a growing gap between her and her husband – between her reality and the woman she wants to be – she doesn’t quite seem to fit into her own life.
But everything changes after her controlling mother, Lillian, passes away. Ellie’s world turns upside down when she sees her ex-boyfriend, Hutch, at her mother’s funeral and learns that he is in charge of a documentary that involved Lillian before her death. He wants answers to questions that Ellie’s not sure she can face, until, in the painful midst of going through her mother’s things, she discovers a hidden diary – and a window onto stories buried long ago.

As Ellie and Hutch start speaking for the first time in years, Ellie’s closed heart slowly begins to open. Fighting their feelings, they set out together to dig into Lillian’s history. Using both the diary and a trip to the Summer House, a mysterious and seductive bayside home, they gamble that they can work together and not fall in love again. But in piecing together a decades-old unrequited-love story, they just might uncover the secrets in their own hearts… 

Firespell by Chloe Neill

From Paperback Swap

New Girl.
New School.
Old Evil.

From the author of the Chicagoland Vampires novels.

A new series about a boarding school filled with something worse than homework.

Lily's parents have sent her to a fancy boarding school in Chicago filled with the ultra-rich. If that wasn't bad enough, she's hearing and seeing bizarre things on St. Sophie's creepy campus. Her roommate, Scout, keeps her sane, but keeps disappearing at night. When one day Lily finds Scout running from real-life monsters, she learns the hard way that Scout is involved in a splinter group of rebel teens.

They protect Chicago from demons, vamps, and dark magic users. It's too bad Lily doesn't have powers of her own to help. At least, none that she's discovered yet... 

Scorched by Sharon Ashwood

From Paperback Swap


Ex-detective Macmillan has a taste for bad girls, but his last lover really took the cake-and his humanity. Now a half-demon, Mac's lost his friends, his family, and his job. Then a beguiling vampire asks for his help to find her son. Suddenly, Mac has a case to work-one that leads him deeps into the supernatural prison where Mac learns that cracking the case will cost him his last scrap of humanity.

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday (started at The Printed Page and now a traveling meme) is at Mari Reads this month and 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.

Lots of goodies last week and quite a variety too! It looks like I'll have some rainy days to read inside but hopefully more and more sunny days to read outside. I hope you get plenty of good books and sunshine too!


Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne
From Random House for review

In Noah Barleywater Runs Away, bestselling author John Boyne explores the world of childhood and the adventures that we can all have there. Noah is running away from his problems, or at least that's what he thinks, the day he takes the untrodden path through the forest. When he comes across a very unusual toyshop and meets the even more unusual toymaker he's not sure what to expect. But the toymaker has a story to tell, a story full of adventure, and wonder and broken promises. And Noah travels with him on a journey that will change his life for ever. A thought-provoking fable for our modern world from the author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

Graveminder by Melissa Marr
From HarperCollins

The New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series delivers her first novel for adults, a story about the living, the dead, and a curse that binds them.

Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville, the town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn’t a funeral that Maylene didn’t attend, and at each Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual: three sips from a small silver flask followed by the words “Sleep well, and stay where I put you.”

Now Maylene is dead and Bek must go back to the place—and the man—she left a decade ago. But what she soon discovers is that Maylene was murdered and that there was good reason for her odd traditions. It turns out that in placid Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected. Beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D—a place from which the dead will return if their graves are not properly minded. Only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk.

A Time For Patriots by Dale Brown
From HarperCollins

Welcome to Battlefield America

When murderous bands of militiamen begin roaming the western United States and attacking government agencies, it will take a dedicated group of the nation's finest and toughest civilian airmen to put an end to the homegrown insurgency. U.S. Air Force Lieutenant-General Patrick McLanahan vows to take to the skies to join the fight, but when his son, Bradley, also signs up, they find themselves caught in a deadly game against a shadowy opponent.

When the stock markets crash and the U.S. economy falls into a crippling recession, everything changes for newly elected president Kenneth Phoenix. Politically exhausted from a bruising and divisive election, Phoenix must order a series of massive tax cuts and wipe out entire cabinet-level departments to reduce government spending. With reductions in education and transportation, an incapacitated National Guard, and the loss of public safety budgets, entire communities of armed citizens band together for survival and mutual protection. Against this dismal backdrop, a SWAT team is ambushed and radioactive materials are stolen by a group calling themselves the Knights of the True Republic. Is the battle against the government about to be taken to a new and deadlier level?

In this time of crisis, a citizen organization rises to the task of protecting their fellow countrymen: the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), the U.S. Air Force auxiliary. The Nevada Wing—led by retired Air Force Lieutenant-General Patrick McLanahan, his son, Bradley, and other volunteers—uses their military skills in the sky and on the ground to hunt down violent terrorists. But how will Patrick respond when extremists launch a catastrophic dirty bomb attack in Reno, spreading radiological fallout for miles? And when Bradley is caught in a deadly double-cross that jeopardizes the CAP, Patrick will have to fight to find out where his friends' loyalties lie: Are they with him and the CAP or with the terrorists?

With A Time for Patriots, the New York Times bestselling master of the modern thriller Dale Brown brings the battle home to explore a terrifying possibility—the collapse of the American Republic.

Wildefire by Karsten Knight
From Simon & Schuster

Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.

Joy For Beginners by Erica Bauermeister
From Putnam

At an intimate, festive dinner party in Seattle, six women gather to celebrate their friend Kate's recovery from cancer. Wineglass in hand, Kate strikes a bargain with them. To celebrate her new lease on life, she'll do the one thing that's always terrified her: white-water rafting. But if she goes, all of them will also do something they always swore they'd never do-and Kate is going to choose their adventures.

Shimmering with warmth, wit, and insight, Joy for Beginners is a celebration of life: unexpected, lyrical, and deeply satisfying.

Do you remember Golden Books?

Is there anyone out there who didn't read Golden Books at some point in their life? I loved them as a kid and I enjoyed reading them to my own kids so I found this so interesting.

Check out this Golden Books dress! I couldn't imagine how they did it but there are photos of the whole process. Read about how they used the different parts too. I'm not one to take books apart but this is very clever. Wow!

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.

Now that the holiday season is upon us I hope you are still finding time to enjoy reading. We need to take a break from roasting turkeys and shopping for the perfect gifts. Of course receiving the perfect gift (like a pile of new books) is always a good thing! What have you gotten lately?

The Emerald Atlas
by John Stephens

for review from Random House

Kate, Michael, and Emma have been in one orphanage after another for the last ten years, passed along like lost baggage. Yet these unwanted children are more remarkable than they could possibly imagine. Ripped from their parents as babies, they are being protected from a horrible evil of devastating power, an evil they know nothing about. Until now. Before long, Kate, Michael, and Emma are on a journey to dangerous and secret corners of the world...a journey of allies and enemies, of magic and mayhem. And—if an ancient prophesy is correct—what they do can change history, and it is up to them to set things right. The Emerald Atlas brims with humor and action as it charts Kate, Michael, and Emma's extraordinary adventures through an unforgettable, enchanted world.

(You know you're curious about this next one!)
Why You Should Store Your Farts in a Jar
by David Haviland

for review from Penguin

The national bestseller Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers & Other Useless or Gross Information About Your Body uncovered everything one might want to know (and a few things one might not) about the human body. The follow-up bestseller Why Fish Fart & Other Useless or Gross Information About the World contained an artful selection of odd and/or unsavory facts about the world. Why Dogs Eat Poop scoured the animal kingdom for gross and or off-color facts about animals. In this delightfully disgusting new book in the series, David Haviland plumbs the world of medicine to uncover the answers to such vitally important questions as: *What exactly is urine therapy? *Is it safe to fly with breast implants? *How did a nine-and-a-half-inch spatula find its way into a surgery patient's body? *Why do some boxers drink their own pee? *What is cyclic vomiting syndrome and how can one avoid it? Any fan of the absurd and/or obscure is sure to delight in this strange (and slightly stomach-turning) book.

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday at The Printed Page 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.

Another busy week but it sure doesn't feel like I accomplished much! It was great for books though and I have quite a variety of new goodies to enjoy. I hope you also had a bountiful week and a wonderful Easter!

The Passage
by Justin Cronin

From Random House

"It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born."

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he's done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterful prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.

A Field Guide to Aliens
by Johan Olander

From Marshall Cavandish Children's Books

Concluding after years of reports and direct observations that approximately 45 percent of the world's monsters are actually aliens, Olander, author of A Field Guide to Monsters (2007), offers illustrated notes on 28 types of interstellar interloper-from the harmless Intergalactic Worrywarts of Planet Insecura and sewage-eating Sliver-Slurpers to more ominous False Santas, robotic onesie-clad Bebies and, scariest of all, Boogie-doods (aka Discos) from Planet Funk. On pages designed to look like well-thumbed scrapbook leaves, each entry includes extensive comments on diet, distinguishing features and details of Close Encounters, all sandwiched between a carefully drawn full-"body" portrait and a set of quicker "eyewitness" sketches and supposed snapshots. Though no replacement for Andrew Donkins's Alien Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Alien A-Z (1999), this makes a worthy addition to our too-thin store of space-alien lore and will leave younger readers on the alert for glimpses of Clustors, Liverpudlins and other nonhuman visitors. (Fiction? 10-12)

She's So Dead To Us
by Kieran Scott

From Simon & Schuster

When having money is all that matters, what happens when you lose it all?

Perfect, picturesque Orchard Hill. It was the last thing Ally Ryan saw in the rear-view mirror as her mother drove them out of town and away from the shame of the scandal her father caused when his hedge fund went south and practically bankrupted all their friends — friends that liked having trust funds and new cars, and that didn't like constant reminders that they had been swindled. So it was adios, Orchard Hill. Thanks for nothing.

Now, two years later, Ally's mother has landed a job back at the site of their downfall. So instead of Ally's new low-key, happy life, it'll be back into the snake pit with the likes of Shannen Moore and Hammond Ross.

But then there's Jake Graydon. Handsome, wealthy, bored Jake Graydon. He moved to town after Ally left and knows nothing of her scandal, but does know that he likes her. And she likes him. So off into the sunset they can go, right? Too bad Jake's friends have a problem with his new crush since it would make Ally happy. And if anyone deserves to be unhappy, it's Ally Ryan.

Ally was hoping to have left all the drama in the past, but some things just can't be forgotten. Isn't there more to life than money?

Bitten
by Kelley Armstrong

From PaperBack Swap

I've got to get out of here - I don't have a lot of time left. Philip doesn't stir when I slip from the bed. There's a pile of clothing tucked underneath my dresser so I won't have to risk the squeaks and groans of opening drawers and closets. I pick up my keys, clasping my fist around them so they don't jangle, ease open the door and creep into the hallway. My legs now itch as well as hurt and I curl my toes to see if the itching stops. It doesn't. It's too late to drive to a safe place now-the itching has crystallized into a sharp burn. I stride out onto the streets, looking for a quiet place to Change. Young, beautiful, and successful, Elena Michaels seems to have it all. Her happy, organized life follows a predictable pattern: filing stories for her job as a journalist, working out at the gym, living with her architect boyfriend, and lunching with her girlfriends from the office. And once a week, in the dead of night, she streaks through a downtown ravine, naked and furred, tearing at the throats of her animal prey. Elena Michaels is a werewolf. The man who made her one has been left behind, but his dark legacy has not. And though Elena struggles to maintain the normal life she's worked so hard to create, she cannot resist the call of the elite pack of werewolves from her past. Her feral instincts will lead her back to them and into a desperate war for survival that will test her own understanding of who, and what, she is.

Numbers
by Rachel Ward

From Secret Dreamworld of a Bookaholic

Ever since she was child, Jem has kept a secret: Whenever she meets someone new, no matter who, as soon as she looks into their eyes, a number pops into her head. That number is a date: the date they will die. Burdened with such awful awareness, Jem avoids relationships. Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance. The two plan a trip to the city. But while waiting to ride the Eye ferris wheel, Jem is terrified to see that all the other tourists in line flash the same number. Today's number. Today's date. Terrorists are going to attack London. Jem's world is about to explode!

Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson

From Secret Dreamworld of a Bookaholic

Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute... Laurie Halse Anderson's first novel is a stunning and sympathetic tribute to the teenage outcast. The triumphant ending, in which Melinda finds her voice, is cause for cheering (while many readers might also shed a tear or two). After reading Speak, it will be hard for any teen to look at the class scapegoat again without a measure of compassion and understanding for that person--who may be screaming beneath the silence. (Ages 13 and older)

Mailbox Monday

The Printed Page is our host each week where we leave a link to share what we got in our mailboxes last week. Join the fun and let us know what goodies you received too!





Limelight
by Melody Carlson

for Fun Fiction Fall tour - Waterbrook Multnomah

Claudette Fiore relished the glamorous life in Hollywood because she had what it takes: money, youth, fame and above all, beauty. But age has withered her beauty and a crooked accountant has taken her wealth. Penniless and alone, the widow returns to her shabby little hometown and her estranged sister. As she slowly begins to make friends she sees her old life in a new light and begins to question her old values. Is it too late for Claudette to attain true beauty?

What Matters Most - Diary of a Teenage Girl
by Melody Carlson

for Fun Fiction Fall tour - Waterbrook Multnomah

(from series)
Sixteen-year-old Maya has a lot to deal with. She can graduate early and is seriously considering it when the popular cheerleader makes her life miserable. Her mother will also be getting released from prison soon and adds stress when she decides she wants Maya to live with her again. When she discovers she has a talent for playing her fathers' guitar, new options open up for her. She has to decide if she wants a normal or glamorous life and what truly matters most.

Leaving Carolina
by Tamara Leigh

for Fun Fiction Fall tour - Waterbrook Multnomah

When Piper Wick left her hometown in North Carolina twelve years ago she also left her old life behind. She has reinvented herself in a high powered career in Los Angeles and is in a relationship with a U.S. Congressman. But when a reclusive uncle decides to change his will to
make amends for past family misdeeds, Piper knows family secrets will be revealed and she must return home and prepare for battle. When she arrives at her uncle's house she is unprepared for the rugged, blue-eyed gardener and his thoughts on making amends. Is it really about more than just making restitution? Only the truth will set her free.

Century - Book 1
by P.D. Baccalario

from Random House - YA

Every hundred years, humankind is put to the test. Every hundred years, four young people must take an enormous challenge. Another century has passed, and the children have been chosen. The challenge begins in Rome, the city of fire. There is a mystery that will take four cities and these four extraordinary children to solve.

White Picket Fences
by Susan Meissner

Waterbrook Multnomah tour

The Janviers have the idyllic life - a beautiful home, great jobs, and two wonderful kids - and surrounding it all is the proverbial white picket fence that protects them, offers them a sense of security...and hides all their secrets.



Secrets of a Christmas Box
by Steven Hornby

from Ecky Thump Books - children

When the Christmas "Tree-Dwellers" wake up after the long sleep in the Christmas box they find that one of their members are missing. Desperate to find him before the 25th, a small group escapes down the tree and into the house to look for clues. In this unfamiliar world they discover a dark secret and they must find their way back to warn the others before time runs out.

Harry Potter books 1,2,3
by J.K. Rowling

won from Book Giveaway

I'm sharing these with my nephews!

Mailbox Monday

3Here it is again! That time when we get to list the books we received during the last week. Thanks so much to Marcia, our host every week for Mailbox Monday. Join in and leave a link for your books too!



The Maze Runner
by James Dashner
request from Shelf Awareness and Random House Children's Books

YA ARC book #1 in trilogy

When Thomas wakes up in the lift he has no memory of anything except his first name. When the door opens he finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade, a large expanse enclosed by stone walls. None of them have any memory either and don't know why they are here. Every morning the doors open to the maze that surrounds them and every night the doors close tight. No one wants to be left in the maze after dark. Every thirty days a new boy arrives in the lift. But the day after Thomas arrives a girl is sent. She is the first girl ever and she has a message. The Gladers are convinced that if they can solve the mystery of the maze they can find a way out but the maze seems unsolvable. With the girl's arrival Thomas has the feeling that he might have some of the answers. Now he just needs a way to retrieve them from his own mind.

Dark Hunger
by Ritta Herron
Hatchette Book Group blog tour and giveaway

Book #2 in The Demonborn series, paranormal romance

Reporter Annabelle Armstrong will do anything for a story, even track down Quinton Valtrez who she thinks is an assassin. Quinton had fought his demon powers since he was a child and now uses his gifts for the good of national security. He can't be distracted by the beautiful Annabelle although he desires her and she is drawn to him. A wicked enemy will use this attraction to force Quinton into a life of evil by using Annabelle as bait. Can he tame the sinister force before it claims him forever?

Sworn to Silence
by Linda Castillo
LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Book #1 in series set in Amish Country

Sixteen years ago a series of brutal murders shattered the peaceful farming community of Painters Mill, Ohio. One young Amish girl, Kate Burkholder, survived and realized that this community wasn't for her anymore. Now she has been asked to return as the new police chief. Her roots here and her background in big-city law enforcement make her the perfect candidate. She is sure her tragedy has been put behind her until a body is found in the snow. Kate is determined to stop this killer but she will need to betray her family and her Amish past and expose a dark secret.