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Mailbox Monday #145 and Library Loot #7

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch.  This month our host is Amused by Books.  Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailbox meme.  Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received this week:

1.  To Join the Lost by Seth Steinzor for a TLC Book Tour in November.

2.  The Time in Between by Maria Duenas from Shelf Awareness.

3. Kill Me If You Can by James Patterson and Marshall Karp from my mother.

4. I Curse the River of Time by Per Petterson, which I won from Caribousmom during BBAW.

5. Tracks by Eric D. Goodman, which I received for review from the author.

6. Ladybug Girl Dresses Up! by David Soman and Jacky Davis, which I picked up from Penguin at the National Book Festival — first time books were given away for free.

7. Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner, which I also picked up from Penguin for “Wiggles.”

8. Stagecoach Sal by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Carson Ellis, which is signed by the author and given away to 100 attendees at the Penguin tent.

9. The Chameleon Couch by Yusef Komunyakaa, which I purchased at the National Book Festival and got signed by one of my favorite poets.

Library Loot:

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

1.  Does the Noise in my Head Bother You? by Steven Tyler

What did you get this week?

Mailbox Monday #144

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch.  This month our host is Amused by Books.  Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailbox meme.  Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I picked up from a library sale a weekend or two ago:

1.  American Sublime by Elizabeth Alexander

2.  Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand

3.  Exercises for the Everyday Writer by Lex Runchiman and Francine Weinberg; there are new versions of this reference.

4.  The Penguin Book of First World War Poetry edited by Jon Silkin; I have an older version from 1979.

5.  The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White for “Wiggles”; the version I picked up for her has the blue cover with the drawing of the boy and the swan by a pond; the same version I had as a kid.

These are books I picked up at the 90% off sale at my Borders in its final days:

6.  Under Fishbone Clouds by Sam Meekings

7.  The Wolves of Andover by Kathleen Kent; though looks like this book has been reissued with a different title.

8.  Lady Vernon and Her Daughter by Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino Bradway

9.  Red April by Santiago Roncagliolo, translated by Edith Grossman, which is part of my effort to read more translated works.

10.  The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander

11.  Tethered by Amy MacKinnon

12.  From the Land of the Moon by Milena Agus, translated by Ann Goldstein

13.  Blue Nude by Elizabeth Rosner

14.  These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf

15. Around Germantown (MD) (Then and Now) by Margaret Coleman, which I purchased at my new bookstore Novel Places.

What did you receive this week?

Mailbox Monday #143 & BBAW Welcome

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch.  This month our host is Amused by Books.  Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailbox meme.  Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received this week:

1. Little Black Dress by Susan McBride, which I won from The Girl in the Ghetto.

2. The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove by Susan Gregg Gilmore, which I won from Booking Mama

3. The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson from Shelf Awareness.

What did you receive this week?

Today is also the first day of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, so be aware that there will be multiple posts from me this week, which we all know is not the norm. Please click on the button to find out this week’s daily topics.

I’d like to talk a little bit about community. Online communities like that of the book blogging community inevitably grow, but in our case, we’ve grown exponentially. There are so many great people from real life friends who blog together, people who became friends and work together on a variety of projects, to those of us who have never met in person.

While Dewey of The Hidden Side of a Leaf encouraged me to keep with my blog and spread the poetry love, the rest of you have kept me going through the years. While I haven’t met everyone in the community, not have I seen your blog before, just knowing you are there is a comfort to me.

I encourage people to leave your blog link in the comments, and I will try to visit and comment if I haven’t done either before. Thanks again to everyone.

Today’s giveaway is for Operation Blue Light by Philip Chabot and Laurie Anne Blanchard.

You must be a blogger to enter and you must leave a link to your blog. Open Internationally and deadline is Sept. 16, 2011, at 11:59PM EST.

Mailbox Monday #142

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch.  This month our host is Amused by Books.  Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailbox meme.  Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received this week:

1.  My God, What Have We Done? by Susan V. Weiss for a TLC Book Tour at the end of September.

2. Devil Sent the Rain by Tom Piazza for review.

Books I purchased:

3. Black Hills by Dan Simmons

4. The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries: Origins by L.J. Smith

5. The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries: Bloodlust by L.J. Smith

6. The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries: The Craving by L.J. Smith

7. The Phantom of Pemberley by Regina Jeffers

8. Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory

9. Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman for my mom.

10. Blue Bloods: Keys to the Repository by Melissa de la Cruz

11. Misguided Angel by Melissa de la Cruz

What did you receive this week?

The End of an Era: Weekly Geeks 2011-03

Weekly Geeks, the brainchild of Dewey at The Hidden Side of a Leaf, is over.

I had taken more than a year off from the meme, but had recently begun to participate again.  I had enjoyed the recent memes about what books I’d recommend about my state and my genre prejudices and suggested Weekly Geeks topics.

I was saddened to learn that this meme was closing, but without Dewey’s dedication, I think the meme had waned in popularity.  I also think that the book blogging world had expanded so much so that it got lost in the meme world and was unable to break through the other niches that have emerged as a result.

In a final goodbye to Weekly Geeks, which I would love to revive on my own, we’re asked to post about a favorite memory of Dewey (but honestly, I’ve done that already) or do a post of one of the previous topics covered.  I’m going to do one better.  I’m going to do a few short weekly geeks exercises:

The Readers Bill of Rights was posted on Aug. 25, and I’ve chosen to write about #6. The right to escapism.  This right is important to me because life can just get in the way sometimes, make you feel overwhelmed (like it has for me lately), and just run you ragged.  Books can take you to far off places, slip you into fantastical lives, lives that are easier or more adventurous, and they can make you feel better by providing hope.

Cover of the edition I read as a kid several times!

Back to School was posted on Aug. 6, and I’ve chosen to talk about this question, “Do you remember what books you checked out at the school library?”  Yes, I do.  I was in middle school, and we often spent time in the library for English or Reading class, and incidentally, that’s where all those Scholastic Book Fairs were.  Anyway, I discovered this entire 2 shelves full of Nancy Drew books by the librarian’s office.  I would reach into those shelves and grab the next two in the series whenever I got the chance.  Those books started my love of the mystery novel and my love for strong female characters.  Nancy was never afraid of anything, not even adults or the dark.  She was my hero back then, and she was so smart.  My favorite was The Kachina Doll Mystery.

Literary Prizes was posted on July 16, and I don’t follow literary prizes or purposely read books on them.  But I did want to talk about this question: “Do you keep a running tally of the books you’ve read for a particular prize? Share a link to your tracking page.”  I’ve kept track of the Pulitzer Poetry Prize winners, and I’ve probably only read 1-2 of those books and by accident.  I also check out the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction from time to time, and the only time I made a conscious decision to read a book from the list was when it was won by Cormac McCarthy for The Road.

I hope that even if you haven’t participated before, that you’ll check out the Weekly Geeks Archives and try on one of the memes.  Let’s make this a goodbye that makes Dewey’s lingering spirit smile.

Here are some other fantastic goodbye posts.

Mailbox Monday #141

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch.  This month our host is Life in the Thumb.  Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailboxmeme.  Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received this week:

1.  Death in the City of Light by David King from Shelf Awareness.

2.  A Thousand Lives by Julia Scheeres

3. Juliet by Anne Fortier from Shelf Awareness.

What did you receive this week?

Mailbox Monday #140

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch.  This month our host is Life in the Thumb.  Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailboxmeme.  Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received this week:

1.  Seeing Is Believing: [Observations on the Mysteries of Photography] by Errol Morris for review from TLC Book Tours in September.

2.  My Soul to Take by Tananarive Due for review.

What did you receive this week?

Mailbox Monday #139

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch.  This month our host is Life in the Thumb.  Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailboxmeme.  Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received this week:

1.  Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington from the author for review and her BookCrossing.com experiment.

2.  The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman from Penguin for review.

3. Horoscopes for the Dead by Billy Collins, which I purchased for myself after I read it from the library.

4. Bloody Valentine by Melissa De La Cruz, which I purchased from Borders.

5. The Boat by Nam Le, which Anna bought for my birthday gift.

What did you receive this week?

Mailbox Monday #138

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch.  This month our host is Life in the Thumb.  Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailbox meme.  Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received this week:

1.  When She Woke by Hillary Jordan from Algonquin Books for review in October.

2. The McCloud Home for Wayward Girls by Wendy Del Sol, which I received from Berkley for review.

3. The Taste of Salt by Martha Southgate from Algonquin for review.

4. Maman's Homesick Pie by Donia Bijan from unrequested from Algonquin.

What did you receive this week?

Mailbox Monday #137

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch.  This month our host is Life in the Thumb.  Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailbox meme.  Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received this week:

From Borders, which is the only local book store in my town and had the best employees who had great recommendations every time I went in; it also was the only store with a good three-to-four shelves of poetry near me and outside the immediate D.C. city:

1.  The Postcard Killers by James Patterson and Liza Marklund, which I bought for my mom’s birthday (good thing she doesn’t read the blog).

2.  Twilight: The Graphic Novel Volume 1 by Stephenie Meyer and adapted by Young Kim

3.  Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan, which I bought to complete the Ireland Reading Challenge and because I just missed out on the TLC Book Tour.

4.  Ideal Cities by Erika Meitner; yes, this is just one of the books I snagged from the poetry section.

5.  The Broken Word by Adam Foulds

6.  Here, Bullet by Brian Turner

7.  Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea by Nikki Giovanni, which I picked up because I loved her selection of poems in (Hip Hop Speaks to Children (my review)

8.  Ballistics by Billy Collins

9. Falling Up by Shel Silverstein

10. Don't Bump the Glump! by Shel Silverstein

11. Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein

12. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

13. Peter Rabbit's Tale by Beatrix Potter

14. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss; our version says its made with recycled paper.

15. Dr. Seuss's Circus McGurkus 1,2,3! (plush)

From Anna for Wiggles:

16. Winnie the Pooh and Piglet's Book of Opposites

17. Winnie the Pooh All Year Long

18. Adventures of Rusty & Ginger Fox by Tim Ostermeyer

And books that came in the mail for review:

19. The Tree It Was by Sandra Fuhringer

What did you receive this week?

Mailbox Monday #136 and Library Loot #6

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch.  This month our host is A Sea of Books.  Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailboxmeme.  Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received this week:

1.  To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell for review in September from Sourcebooks.

2.  Out of Breath by Blair Richmond for review in October.

3.  Mr. Darcy's Undoing by Abigail Reynolds from Sourcebooks for review in October.

4.  Mr. Darcy's Bite by Mary Lydon Simonsen from Sourcebooks for review in October.

5. Becoming Marie Antoinette by Juliet Grey from Random House for review in the fall.

Library Loot:

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

1.  Now You See Her by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

2.  Sugar in My Bowl by Erica Jong

What did you receive this week?

Mailbox Monday #135

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch.  This month our host is A Sea of Books.  Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailbox meme.  Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received this week:

1.  The Taker by Alma Katsu a win from TheBookTrib

2.  One Day by David Nicholls for review in Sept., but stay tuned for a giveaway in August.

3.  Kindle by Amazon, which I won from the Summer of Gomez event from Graham Parke

What did you receive this week?