Mailbox Monday has become a tradition in the blogging world, and many of us thank Marcia of The Printed Page for creating it.

It now has its own blog where book bloggers can link up their own mailbox posts and share which books they bought or which they received for review from publishers, authors, and more.

Velvet, Martha, and I also will share our picks from everyone’s links in the new feature Books that Caught Our Eye. We hope you’ll join us.

Here’s what I received:

Fairy Tale by Stephen King, which I purchased from Audible.

Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. When Charlie is seventeen, he meets a dog named Radar and her aging master, Howard Bowditch, a recluse in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. Sometimes strange sounds emerge from it.

Charlie starts doing jobs for Mr. Bowditch and loses his heart to Radar. Then, when Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie a cassette tape telling a story no one would believe. What Bowditch knows, and has kept secret all his long life, is that inside the shed is a portal to another world.

King’s storytelling in Fairy Tale soars. This is a magnificent and terrifying tale in which good is pitted against overwhelming evil, and a heroic boy—and his dog—must lead the battle.

Early in the Pandemic, King asked himself: “What could you write that would make you happy?”

“As if my imagination had been waiting for the question to be asked, I saw a vast deserted city—deserted but alive. I saw the empty streets, the haunted buildings, a gargoyle head lying overturned in the street. I saw smashed statues (of what I didn’t know, but I eventually found out). I saw a huge, sprawling palace with glass towers so high their tips pierced the clouds. Those images released the story I wanted to tell.”

Persuading the Captain by Rachel John, a Kindle freebie.

Romance at a family reunion is usually the start of a bad joke, but when the hunky neighbor everyone’s talking about turns out to be Anne’s ex, her plans for a relaxing cabin retreat fly out the window. Eight years ago, Anne broke off their engagement, afraid they were too young. It was a decision she’s regretted ever since. But Eric seems fine, and even suggests they stop avoiding each other and enjoy having mutual friends.

Eric Wentworth is not fine. He’s sort of accidentally dating one of Anne’s relatives. He’s introduced his lovelorn best friend to Anne and they’ve hit it off. Worst of all, they won’t be parting at the end of week like he thought. Anne lives in the city he’s moving to, and cutting her out of his life is impossible when she’s taken over his.

They swore they’d never give each other a second chance, but sometimes life has other plans…

What did you receive?