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Mailbox Monday #346

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog.

To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links.  Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Vicki, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what I received:

Coming Up Hot: Eight New Poets from the Caribbean for review from Akashic Books.

Featuring poems from Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné, Danielle Jennings, Ruel Johnson, Monica Minott, Debra Providence, Shivanee Ramlochan, Colin Robinson, and Sassy Ross. With an introduction by Kwame Dawes.

With a generous sample from each poet, this anthology is an opportunity to discover some of the best, new, unpublished voices from the Caribbean. This is a generation that has absorbed Derek Walcott, Kamau Brathwaite, Martin Carter, and Lorna Goodison, while finding its own distinctive voice.

Peekash Press is a collaboration between Akashic and UK-based publisher Peepal Tree Press, with a focus on publishing writers from and still living in the Caribbean. The debut title from Peekash, Pepperpot: Best New Stories from the Caribbean, was published in 2014.

Over the River & Through the Wood: A Holiday Adventure by Linda Ashman and illustrated by Kimberly Smith from Sterling Children’s Books for review.

The classic song gets a fresh new twist! The fun begins when Grandma and Grandpa send invitations to their far-flung, modern, and multiracial family: Come to our house for the holidays—and bring your favorite pie! Off everyone goes, driving down snowy roads, riding the train, boarding a plane . . . even sailing along in a hot-air balloon. As each family faces an obstacle that delays their trip, they learn that sometimes the most old-fashioned form of transportation works best . . . NEIGH!

Lego DC Universe Super Heroes Phonics Boxed Set by Quinlan B. Lee, illustrated by Dave White, one of the first orders by my daughter from her Scholastic book club.

Phonics comes to life with LEGO (R) DC Super Heroes (TM) Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and more! Learn to read with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and all the other characters in the LEGO(R) DC UniverseTM)!

These books will readily appeal to a wide audience–from LEGO fans to DC Super Hero fans! Beginning readers will enjoy LEGO DC Universe’s well-recognized heroes from movies, TV, comics, video games, and more. This set includes ten books and two workbooks (focusing on short and long vowels), all held in a sturdy box with plastic handle.

Frozen: An Amazing Snowman by Barbara Jean Hicks, illustrated by Olga T. Mosqueda, a second book she ordered.

Featuring Olaf, the happy-go-lucky comic relief of Disney’s Frozen, this humorous tale of what it means to dream is told in verse and features charming illustrations.

 

Frozen: A Day in the Sun illustrated by Frank Berrios, her third book.

Love this GoodReads description: “Boys ages 3 to 7 will love this full-color storybook that features Kristoff and Sven from Disney’s Frozen!”

 

My Little Pony: Tricks and Treats by D. Jakobs, her fourth book selection.

It’s Nightmare Night in Ponyville! Join the ponies and their pals as they celebrate their version of Halloween. They dress up in silly costumes, collect lots of candy, and tell spooky stories about the evil Nightmare Moon!

 

 

Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman for review from TLC Book Tours and HarperCollins.

In this new anthology, Neil Gaiman pierces the veil of reality to reveal the enigmatic, shadowy world that lies beneath. Trigger Warning includes previously published pieces of short fiction–stories, verse, and a very special Doctor Who story that was written for the fiftieth anniversary of the beloved series in 2013–as well “Black Dog,” a new tale that revisits the world of American Gods, exclusive to this collection.

Trigger Warning explores the masks we all wear and the people we are beneath them to reveal our vulnerabilities and our truest selves. Here is a rich cornucopia of horror and ghosts stories, science fiction and fairy tales, fabulism and poetry that explore the realm of experience and emotion.

What did you receive?

Mailbox Monday #345

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog.

To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links.  Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Vicki, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

EMPTY! Now I can catch up on the other books in the TBR.

What did you receive?

Mailbox Monday #344

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog.

To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links.  Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Vicki, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what I received:

1. Seriously, You Have to Eat by Adam Mansbach, illustrated by Owen Brozman for review from LibraryThing Early Reviewers!

On the heels of the New York Times best seller You Have to F**king Eat (a sequel to the worldwide mega-best seller Go the F**k to Sleep), now comes the version that is entirely appropriate to read to–and with–children. While the message and humor will be similar to the adult version, there will, of course, be no profanity whatsoever.

Step aside Green Eggs and Ham, there’s a new, 21st-century book in town that will compel all finicky children to eat!

What did you receive?

Mailbox Monday #343

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog.

To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links.  Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Vicki, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what I received:

All the Words Are Yours: Haiku on Love by Tyler Knott Gregson for review from Literary & Lifestyle Publicity.

Every day for the past six years, Tyler Knott Gregson has written a simple haiku about love, and posted it online. These heartfelt poems have attracted a large and loyal following around the world. 

This highly anticipated follow-up to Chasers of the Light, presents Tyler’s favorites, some previously unpublished, accompanied by his signature photographs, which capture the rich texture of daily life.

This vibrant collection reveals the intimate reflections of one of poetry’s most popular new voices — honest, vulnerable, generous, and truly present in the gift that is each moment.

What did you receive?

Mailbox Monday #342

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog.

To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links.  Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Vicki, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what I received:

Water on the Moon by Jean P. Moore for a TLC Book Tour in November.

Early one morning, Lidia Raven, mother of teenage twins, awakens to the sound of a sputtering airplane engine in the distance. After she and her girls miraculously survive the crash that destroys their home, they’re taken in by Lidia’s friend, Polly, a neighbor who lives alone on a sprawling estate. But Lidia has other problems. Her husband has left her for another man, she’s lost her job, and she fears more bad news is on the way when she discovers a connection between her and Tina Calderara, the pilot who crashed into her home. In the months following the crash, Lidia plunges into a mystery that upends every aspect of her life, forcing her to rethink everything she thinks she knows.

Underdays: Poems by Martin Ott, winner of the Ernest Sandeen Prize in Poetry, for review.

Underdays is a dialogue of opposing forces: life/death, love/war, the personal/the political. Ott combines global concerns with personal ones, in conversation between poems or within them, to find meaning in his search for what drives us to love and hate each other. Within many of the poems, a second voice, expressed in italic, hints at an opposing force “under” the surface, or multiple voices in conversation with his older and younger selves—his Underdays—to chart a path forward. What results is a poetic heteroglossia expressing the richness of a complex world.

Mountains Without Handrails by Joseph L. Sax for review.

Focusing on the long-standing and bitter battles over recreational use of our national parklands, Joseph L. Sax proposes a novel scheme for the protection and management of America’s national parks. Drawing upon the most controversial disputes of recent years—Yosemite National Park, the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, and the Disney plan for California’s Mineral King Valley—Sax boldly unites the rich and diverse tradition of nature writing into a coherent thesis that speaks directly to the dilemma of the parks.

The Kingdom and After by Megan Fernandes for review from Tightrope Books.

From Tanzania to Portugal, from India to Iraq, The Kingdom and After charts the 21st-century imaginative echo of empire and displacement in our current moment of terror and globalization. Sometimes written in frank, shrunken lines and other times exploding with surrealist, jurassic imagery, the poems witness an associative mind leaping from bone temples in Tanga to the pumiced surface of extraterrestrial oceans, from a panic attack in Mumbai to the tumbling spirits of the Big Sur coastline. These poems articulate a complex portrait of female sexuality and personhood. Not only excavating the legacy of empire with philosophical rigor, the speaker also dwells in humiliation and wonder, accusation and regret, while trying to envision what indeed remains after the era of kingdoms and kinghood.

Ghost Sick: A Poetry of Witness by Emily Pohl-Weary for review from Tightrope Books.

When a Christmas Eve shooting devastated Pohl-Weary’s community, she began to hunt through the numbness and grief for some understanding and hopefulness about the future.

In the tradition of Carolyn Forché, Ernesto Cardenal and Shu Ting, Ghost Sick is a poetry of witness. It chronicles the impact of violence on an inner-city Toronto neighbourhood, the power of empathy, and the resilience of the human spirit.

What did you receive?

Mailbox Monday #341

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog.

To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links.  Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Vicki, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what I received:

Blue Shoes and Happiness (#7) by Alexander McCall Smith, which I purchased at the library for 50 cents and now I only need to find #9 in the series.

Life is good for Mma Ramotswe as she sets out with her usual resolve to solve people’s problems, heal their misfortunes, and untangle the mysteries that make life interesting. And life is never dull on Tlokweng Road. A new and rather too brusque advice columnist is appearing in the local paper. Then, a cobra is found in the offices of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Recently, the Mokolodi Game Preserve manager feels an infectious fear spreading among his workers, and a local doctor may be falsifying blood pressure readings. To further complicate matters, Grace Makutsi may have scared off her own fiancé. Mma Ramotswe, however, is always up to the challenge.

These came in a box from my friend and her daughter in Colorado:

Pinkalicious: Pinkie Promise by Victoria Kann

When Pinkalicious uses all of Alison’s pink paint in class, Pinkalicious knows just how to make it up to her best friend!

 

A Fairy Ballet: Rainbow Magic by Daisy Meadows

The Weather Fairies are putting on a ballet!

Fairyland’s Fairy Godmother is putting together a show for the King and Queen, and she’s asked the Weather Fairies to perform. The fairy sisters work very hard and decide to put on a ballet celebrating the changing seasons and weather. All their hard work pays off, as they get a standing ovation! Bravo!

The Fairy Berry Bake-Off by Daisy Alberto

TARTS, CUPCAKES, PIES galore! The baking-talent fairies are hard at work, making the sweetest treats in Pixie Hollow. But when Dulcie and Ginger begin competing against each other, flour starts flying and chaos ensues. Find out who is the best baker in all of Pixie Hollow in this Step 4 reader.

 

Amelia Bedelia’s First Apple Pie by Herman Parish, Lynn Avril

Amelia Bedelia is sure she will love everything about autumn.

The colorful trees
Jumping in the leaves
Apples, apples, apples
Warm apple pie
Fun family projects

Amelia Bedelia can’t wait. What could be better? Autumn! Hooray for apples and fall!

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: A Read-Aloud Storybook by Liza Baker

Relive the classic story of Walt Disney’s first-ever animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs! This limited collector’s edition Read-Aloud Storybook includes a beautiful pull-out poster and will be available just in time to celebrate the release of the Platinum Edition DVD in fall 2009.

 

Frozen Sing-Along Storybook

This deluxe picture book features a full retelling of Frozen, plus lyrics to your favorite songs! As an added bonus, the book includes a CD featuring three instrumental tracks!

What did you receive?

Mailbox Monday #340

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog.

To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links.  Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Vicki, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what I received:

The Color Monster: A Pop-Up Book of Feelings by Anna Llenas from Sterling Children’s Books for review.

We teach toddlers to identify colors, numbers, shapes, and letters—but what about their feelings? By illustrating such common emotions as happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and calm, this sensitive book gently encourages young children to open up with parents, teachers, and daycare providers. And kids will LOVE the bright illustrations and amazing 3-D pop-ups on every page!

Mind Your Monsters by Catherine Bailey, illustrated by Oriol Vidal from Sterling Children’s Books for review.

Vampires and werewolves and zombies—oh my! It’s a monster invasion, and the stinky-smelling creatures are destroying Wally’s peaceful little town. They scare the kids, knock over the lampposts, and make a mess of everything. And no one can stop them—until, fed up, Wally says . . . the magic word, “PLEASE.” Learning good manners has never been as monstrously fun!

Monster Trouble! by Lane Fredrickson, illustrated by Michael Robertson for review from Sterling Children’s Books.

Nothing frightens Winifred Schnitzel—but she DOES need her sleep, and the neighborhood monsters WON’T let her be! Every night they sneak in, growling and belching and making a ruckus. Winifred constructs clever traps, but nothing stops these crafty creatures. What’s a girl to do? (Hint: Monsters HATE kisses!) The delightfully sweet ending will have every kid—and little monster—begging for an encore.

Dining With … Monsters: A Disgusting Way to Count to 10! by Agnese Baruzzi from Sterling Children’s Books for review.

What do hungry monsters like to eat? 1 spider swallowed whole, 2 leaping frogs, and 3 entire whales for the ogre with gigantic claws and scales! And for Mr. One-Eye, four mice are very nice. Kids will enjoy this fun feast of a counting book, with 10 colorful creatures and their meals of grasshoppers, scorpions, owls, and prickly porcupines. Foldout pages and simple, humorous rhyming text make this a delight to read aloud.

A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest, which I got for 99 cents on a Kindle sale.

On the evening of Sofia Claremont’s seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake.  A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood.

She is kidnapped to an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine.  An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains.

Sofia’s life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is the one selected out of hundreds of girls to join the harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal Prince.  Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.

The Runaway Pumpkin: A Halloween Adventure Story by Anne Margaret Lewis, Aaron Zenz for review.

A cute little Halloween pumpkin announces that he is ready for a Halloween adventure. So he prepares to set out on the exploration of a lifetime. However, his ever watchful and caring mother wants to make sure he’s prepared before he takes that first step outside.

The little pumpkin will begin his adventure on a witch’s broom, where he will fly through the skies. Next, he’ll dare to venture through the very spookiest haunted house. And to celebrate the night, he’ll dance to the “Monster Mash”! It’s scary out there on Halloween night, but his mother is packing a parachute just in case he falls, a blankie for reassurance, and his favorite monster shoes so he can boogie-woogie all night long. Whatever adventures he has, he is sure to be prepared. Halloween isn’t so scary when you have a mother pumpkin making sure you’re ready for whatever frights might come your way!

I Want to Eat Your Books by Karin Lefranc, Tyler Parker for review.

He’s limping strangely down the hall with outstretched arms and a groaning drawl. A zombie! Could it really be? You race to class, but turn to see he’s sitting in the desk right next to you!

But odds are you’ll probably be okay, because this is no ordinary zombie. This zombie doesn’t want to eat your brains—he wants to eat your books! Hide your textbooks and your fairy tales, because the little zombie is hungry and he doesn’t discriminate between genres. Will the school library be devoured, or will the children discover something the zombie likes to do with books even more than eating them?

Ava the Monster Slayer by Lisa Maggiore, Ross Felton for review.

Don’t underestimate Ava just because she’s “cute” and wears “adorable glasses”—she’s really a fierce monster slayer. And when her beloved Piggy is left in the dryer in the basement, Ava knows she’ll have to face the ferocious monsters lurking in the dark if she wants to rescue her favorite stuffed animal. So she puts on her brother’s superhero cape, grips his sword tight, puts on her pink rain boots and sparkly princess crown, and creeps downstairs.

Not even the roar of the greenest and hairiest monster is going to stop this spunky girl. Even though she’s scared and the monsters smell terrible, Ava is determined to rescue Piggy. Ross Felten’s brisk, sketch-like illustrations help bring energy and humor to this story of bravery and loyalty. Young readers will relate to Ava’s mission and delight in her victory over the monsters. Ava the Monster Slayer is sure to appeal to children worried about monsters in their own homes and kids devoted to their own stuffed animals.

What did you receive?

Mailbox Monday #339

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog.

To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links.  Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Vicki, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what I received:

1. The Witch’s Market by Mingmei Yip for review from the author.

Chinese-American assistant professor Eileen Chen specializes in folk religion at her San Francisco college. Though her grandmother made her living as a shamaness, Eileen publicly dismisses witchcraft as mere superstition. Yet privately, the subject intrigues her.

When a research project takes her to the Canary Islands—long rumored to be home to real witches—Eileen is struck by the lush beauty of Tenerife and its blend of Spanish and Moroccan culture. A stranger invites her to a local market where women sell amulets, charms, and love spells. Gradually Eileen immerses herself in her exotic surroundings, finding romance with a handsome young furniture maker. But as she learns more about the lives of these self-proclaimed witches, Eileen must choose how much trust to place in this new and seductive world, where love, greed, and vengeance can be as powerful, or as destructive, as any magic.

2. LOVE by Beth Kephart, which I purchased.

This volume of personal essays and photographs celebrates the intersection of memory and place. Kephart writes lovingly, reflectively about what Philadelphia means to her. She muses about meandering on SEPTA trains, spending hours among the armor in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and taking shelter at Independence Mall during a downpour.

In Love, Kephart shares her loveof Reading Terminal Market at Thanksgiving: “This abundant, bristling market is, in November, the most unlonesome place around.” She waxes poetic about the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, the mustard in a Salumeria sandwich, and the “coins slipped between the lips of Philbert the pig.”

3. The Edge of Lost by Kristina McMorris for review from the author.

On a cold night in October 1937, searchlights cut through the darkness around Alcatraz. A prison guard’s only daughter—one of the youngest civilians who lives on the island—has gone missing. Tending the warden’s greenhouse, convicted bank robber Tommy Capello waits anxiously. Only he knows the truth about the little girl’s whereabouts, and that both of their lives depend on the search’s outcome.

Almost two decades earlier and thousands of miles away, a young boy named Shanley Keagan ekes out a living as an aspiring vaudevillian in Dublin pubs. Talented and shrewd, Shan dreams of shedding his dingy existence and finding his real father in America. The chance finally comes to cross the Atlantic, but when tragedy strikes, Shan must summon all his ingenuity to forge a new life in a volatile and foreign world.

What did you receive?

 

Mailbox Monday #338

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog.

To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links.  Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Vicki, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what I received:

1. Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore for review from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.  So EXCITED!

In San Francisco, the souls of the dead are mysteriously disappearing—and you know that can’t be good—in New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore’s delightfully funny sequel to A Dirty Job.

Something really strange is happening in the City by the Bay. People are dying, but their souls are not being collected. Someone—or something—is stealing them and no one knows where they are going, or why, but it has something to do with that big orange bridge. Death Merchant Charlie Asher is just as flummoxed as everyone else. He’s trapped in the body of a fourteen-inch-tall “meat” waiting for his Buddhist nun girlfriend, Audrey, to find him a suitable new body to play host.

To get to the bottom of this abomination, a motley crew of heroes will band together: the seven-foot-tall death merchant Minty Fresh; retired policeman turned bookseller Alphonse Rivera; the Emperor of San Francisco and his dogs, Bummer and Lazarus; and Lily, the former Goth girl. Now if only they can get little Sophie to stop babbling about the coming battle for the very soul of humankind.

2. The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath by Kimberly Knutsen for review from MBM Book Publicity.

Set in the frozen wasteland of Midwestern academia, The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath introduces Wilson A. Lavender, father of three, instructor of women’s studies, and self-proclaimed genius who is beginning to think he knows nothing about women. He spends much of his time in his office not working on his dissertation, a creative piece titled “The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath.” A sober alcoholic, he also spends much of his time not drinking, until he hooks up with his office mate, Alice Cherry, an undercover stripper who introduces him to “the buffer”—the chemical solution to his woes.

Wilson’s wife, Katie, is an anxious hippie, genuine earth mother, and recent PhD with no plans other than to read People magazine, eat chocolate, and seduce her young neighbor—a community college student who has built a bar in his garage. Intelligent and funny, Katie is haunted by a violent childhood. Her husband’s “tortured genius” both exhausts and amuses her.

The Lavenders’ stagnant world is roiled when Katie’s pregnant sister, January, moves in. Obsessed with her lost love, ’80s rocker Stevie Flame, January is on a quest to reconnect with her glittery, big-haired past. A free spirit to the point of using other people’s toothbrushes without asking, she drives Wilson crazy.

What did you receive?

Mailbox Monday #337

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog.

To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links.  Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Vicki, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what I received:

1. The Visitant: A Venetian Ghost Story by Megan Chance for review with TLC Book Tours.

After she nearly ruins her family with a terrible misstep, Elena Spira is sent to Venice to escape disgrace and to atone by caring for the ailing Samuel Farber. But the crumbling and decaying Ca’ Basilio palazzo, where Samuel is ensconced, holds tragic secrets, and little does Elena know how profoundly they will impact her. Soon she begins to sense that she is being watched by something. And when Samuel begins to have hallucinations that make him violent and unpredictable, she can’t deny she’s in mortal danger.

Then impoverished nobleman Nero Basilio, Samuel’s closest friend and the owner of the palazzo, arrives. Elena finds herself entangled with both men in a world where the past seeps into the present and nothing is as it seems. As Elena struggles to discover the haunting truth before it destroys her, a dark force seems to hold Samuel and the Basilio in thrall—is it madness, or something more sinister?

2.  How the Trees Got Their Voices by Susan Andra Lion for review.

Awarded 11 national awards and honors! While camping with a group of girls, Susan Andra Lion was given this tale about trees, nature and also the relationship of living things within a forest ecosystem. This highly visual story book not only presents a fascinating story that children ages 3 and older will enjoy, but also tells a second story about animals, plants, birds, and the Earth itself. Children will learn about the integrated way in which Earth’s inhabitants live in relationship to each other, and learn the value of respect for each form of life. This is a unique and marvelous book helps its readers to regard their world as a complex tapestry of life and living things. Children will be delighted by the thumbnail descriptions which surround the outside of each page, inviting them in and helping them learn about the world of the forest and greater ecosystem of Mother Earth.

Winner of the Moonbeam Children’s Literacy Award — Mind, Body, Spirit Category. Winner of the Mom’s Choice Award Gold Medal; Winner of Creative Child Magazine 2014 Book of the Year; Overall Winner, 2015 Next Generation Indie Awards, Best Design Fiction; Finalist, 2015 Next Generation Indie Awards, New Age Category; National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) Silver award winner; Coalition of Visionary Resources: Winner — Visionary Fiction Category; Winner — People’s Choice Award Book of the Year 2015; Finalist, Children’s and Teens Books; Finalist, Conscious Living Books; Winner 2015 International Book Awards: Children’s Mind/Body/Spirit category.

3. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, which I purchased at the library for 50 cents.

On the faded Island Books sign hanging over the porch of the Victorian cottage is the motto “No Man Is an Island; Every Book Is a World.” A. J. Fikry, the irascible owner, is about to discover just what that truly means.

A. J. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island-from Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who’s always felt kindly toward Fikry; from Ismay, his sister-in-law who is hell-bent on saving him from his dreary self; from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who keeps on taking the ferry over to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J.’s bad attitude. Even the books in his store have stopped holding pleasure for him. These days, A.J. can only see them as a sign of a world that is changing too rapidly.

What did you receive?

Mailbox Monday #336

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog.

To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links.  Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Vicki, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what I received:

1.  Red Sox Rhymes: Verses and Curses by Dick Flavin for review from William Morrow.  See my review.

From the voice of Fenway Park comes a collection of sixty-four humorous and nostalgic poems celebrating the Boston Red Sox.

A commonwealth institution and popular local television personality who is also the announcer, ambassador, and poet laureate for Fenway Park, Dick Flavin has entertained audiences with his incredible poetic talent and abiding love for the Red Sox before countless home games for more than twenty years. Now, this legendary talent’s poems are gathered together for the first time in this keepsake volume.

As a beloved Red Sox insider, Flavin has been privileged to watch history in the making, from the team’s 2004 World Series victory that finally broke its nearly century-long “curse,” to road-tripping with Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky, to witnessing Ted Williams final appearance at the plate. His pithy and comedic verses—including such gems as “The Beards of Summer,” “Long Live Fenway Park,” and his best known, “Teddy at the Bat”—pay homage to the American pastime, New England’s favorite team and players (and the curses and legends that have followed it), and the passionate Nation that has remained faithful through victory and defeat.

Illustrated with more than fifty photos from the official Red Sox archives, Red Sox Rhymes honors all of Red Sox fandom and is an essential memento for every BoSox fan.

What did you receive?

Mailbox Monday #335

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog.

To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links.  Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Vicki, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what I received:

1.  The Gates of Rutherford by Elizabeth Cooke, a surprise from Penguin.

Charlotte Cavendish has been dreaming of her old home at Rutherford Park. It is April 1917; she is nineteen years old. And everywhere there is change. The war still rages on the Continent, where her brother fights for the Royal Flying Corps. Her parents’ marriage is in jeopardy, with her mother falling for a charming American in London.

But not all is grim. Charlotte is marrying Preston, the blinded soldier whom she nursed back to health. Her parents couldn’t be happier about this. The young man hails from a well-established and wealthy family in Kent, and he’s solid and respectable. They hope he’s the one to tame their notoriously headstrong daughter.

But as time passes, Charlotte slowly comes to the realization that she is not truly happy. And for a reason she is only just beginning to understand. A reason she dare not reveal to the family—or the world.

WET SILENCE BOOK COVER2.  Wet Silence by Sweta Srivastava Vikram, for review from the publisher Modern History Press.

Wet Silence bears moving accounts of Hindu widows in India. The book raises concern about the treatment of widowed women by society; lends their stories a voice; shares their unheard tales about marriage; reveals the heavy hand of patriarchy; and, addresses the lack of companionship and sensuality in their lives. This collection of poems covers a myriad of social evils such as misogyny, infidelity, gender inequality, and celibacy amongst other things. The poems in the collection are bold, unapologetic, and visceral. The collection will haunt you.

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