Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share what books that we found in our mailboxes last week. And I am adding what I purchased. Here's what I received during the last week:Happy Monday to everyone!
Won from the BEA09 Twitter Party via BookLady'sBlog this interesting pair of children's books: (I was quite confuzzled when they arrived, I had no idea where they came from until I remembered the Twitter Party!)
"The Battle for Duncragglin" by Andrew H. Vanderwal
"Set in the time of William Wallace, this is historical fiction at its bloody best!One of history’s most turbulent times comes to vivid life in this thrilling new novel. Twelve-year-old Alex has been raised by his uncle since his parents disappeared on a trip to Scotland many years ago. He’s resigned to spending the summer in Scotland with yet another relative and finds himself on a farm near the ruined remnants of an ancient castle that is rumored to be haunted. Could it have a connection to his parents’ disappearance?"
"Finn the Half-Great" by Theo Caldwell
704 pages!
"The story of a time when giants roamed the earth. Finn the half-Great, Theo Caldwell’s first novel for young adults, tells the story of Ireland’s most beloved heroes with humor and heart. Finn McCool, at fourteen feet, thinks he is the tallest thing in the Emerald Isle. That is, until he ventures outside his childhood valley. Finn soon discovers that ancient Britain is a land of giants, dragons, wizards, and men, in which he is only one little fellow."
When I entered this contest for children's books, I had my 7 year old in mind, turns out these are more for like an 11 year old, but both of them look interesting enough for me to read! I may break them out and read along with my daughter if she enjoys the storyline, but I don't think she has the mind for that right now with the insanity of summer upon us.
From a giveaway from Elizabeth at Thoughts from an Evil Overlord:
"The Scarecrow" by Michael Connelly "Forced out of the Los Angeles Times amid the latest budget cuts, newspaperman Jack McEvoy decides to go out with a bang, using his final days at the paper to write the definitive murder story of his career.
He focuses on Alonzo Winslow, a 16-year-old drug dealer in jail after confessing to a brutal murder. But as he delves into the story, Jack realizes that Winslow's so-called confession is bogus. The kid might actually be innocent.
Jack is soon running with his biggest story since The Poet made his career years ago. He is tracking a killer who operates completely below police radar--and with perfect knowledge of any move against him. Including Jack's."
From Sourcebooks to Review:
"The Other Mr. Darcy" by Monica Fairview, ISBN 9781402225130, Pub. date 10/2009
Interesting enough, my cover is VERY different than the one on her blog, although the one shown on Amazon and my actual copy is keeping more inline with other Austen sequels. So I nosed around and I believe it is the difference of two different publishers, perhaps the Robert Hale edition is UK. Mystery solved.And she says on that blog that her next installment after this one will be coming out from Robert Hale in February 2010, and from Sourcebooks in the Spring of 2010.
"Did you know that Mr. Darcy had an American cousin?!
In this highly original Pride and Prejudice sequel by British author Monica Fairview, Caroline Bingley is our heroine. Caroline is sincerely broken-hearted when Mr. Darcy marries Lizzy Bennet— that is, until she meets his charming and sympathetic American cousin…
Mr. Robert Darcy is as charming as Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy is proud, and he is stunned to find the beautiful Caroline weeping at his cousin's wedding. Such depth of love, he thinks, is rare and precious. For him, it's nearly love at first sight. But these British can be so haughty and off-putting. How can he let the young lady, who was understandably mortified to be discovered in such a vulnerable moment, know how much he feels for and sympathizes with her?"
"The Tudor Rose: A Novel of Elizabeth of York", by Margaret Campbell Barnes, ISBN 9781402224683, REISSUE from Sourcebooks Pub. 10/2009
"One woman holds the key to England's most glorious empire in this intimate retelling of the launch of the Tudor dynasty:
A magnificent portrait of Elizabeth of York, set against the dramatic background of fifteenth century England. Elizabeth, the only living descendant of Edward IV, has the most valuable possession in all of England—a legitimate claim to the crown. Two princes battle to win Britain's most rightful heiress for a bride and her kingdom for his own. On one side is her uncle Richard, the last Plantagenet King, whom she fears is the murderer of her two brothers, the would-be kings. On the other side is Henry Tudor, the exiled knight. Can he save her from a horrifying marriage to a cut-throat soldier?
Thrust into the intrigue and drama of the War of the Roses, Elizabeth has a country within her grasp—if she can find the strength to unite a kingdom torn apart by a thirst for power. A richly drawn tale of the woman who launched one of the most dramatic dynasties England has ever seen, The Tudor Rose is a vibrant, imaginative look at the power of a queen."
"Sacred Hearts" by Sarah Dunant from Random House
"The year is 1570, and in the convent of Santa Caterina, in the Italian city of Ferrara, noblewomen find space to pursue their lives under God’s protection. But any community, however smoothly run, suffers tremors when it takes in someone by force. And the arrival of Santa Caterina’s new novice sets in motion a chain of events that will shake the convent to its core.Ripped by her family from an illicit love affair, sixteen-year-old Serafina is willful, emotional, sharp, and defiant–young enough to have a life to look forward to and old enough to know when that life is being cut short. Her first night inside the walls is spent in an incandescent rage so violent that the dispensary mistress, Suora Zuana, is dispatched to the girl’s cell to sedate her. Thus begins a complex relationship of trust and betrayal between the young rebel and the clever, scholarly nun, for whom the girl becomes the daughter she will never have.
As Serafina rails against her incarceration, others are drawn into the drama: the ancient, mysterious Suora Magdalena–with her history of visions and ecstasies–locked in her cell; the ferociously devout novice mistress Suora Umiliana, who comes to see in the postulant a way to extend her influence; and, watching it all, the abbess, Madonna Chiara, a woman as fluent in politics as she is in prayer. As disorder and rebellion mount, it is the abbess’s job to keep the convent stable while, outside its walls, the dictates of the Counter-Reformation begin to purge the Catholic Church and impose on the nunneries a regime of terrible oppression."
"Gifts of War" by Mackenzie Ford 
from Random House
"During the Christmas Truce of 1914, Hal Montgomery, a British soldier, is given a photo by a German soldier, Wilhelm Wetzlar, and they make a pact. Hal promises to find his enemy’s English girlfriend, Sam, and let her know her fiancé is alive and thinking of her. Several weeks later, Hal—now injured—is discharged from the army and goes to Stratford on Avon to fulfill his promise. But things take an unexpected turn when he meets the woman in the photo and falls in love with her himself. As their romance blossoms, Sam shares with Hal her most private confidence: Her newborn son is of German lineage, information that threatens her reputation and her job as a schoolteacher. Fearful that he will lose Sam, Hal holds tight to the secret–and the photograph–that brought them together.
The scene shifts to London, where Hal becomes involved with military intelligence and is introduced to Sam’s sisters and a different kind of secrecy. Against the broader landscape of England in wartime, Gifts of War captures the era and the fates of men and women caught in the sweep of history. A vivid tale of romance, adventure, and intrigue, the novel is a remarkable narrative that explores what made War World I so tragic, so revolutionary, and so exciting. It also announces a gifted new novelist."
And I stopped by my local used bookstore, Roma's Preread Books, and bought all the following for $12.00:
"The Poe Shadow" by Matthew Pearl
"A compelling thriller centered on the mysterious end of Edgar Allan Poe, who perished in Baltimore in 1849. Poe's ignominious funeral catches the notice of Quentin Clark, a young, idealistic attorney, who finds himself obsessed with rescuing Poe's reputation amid rumors that the writer died from an excess of drink. Clark's preoccupation soon becomes all-consuming, imperiling his practice and his engagement, especially after he learns that Poe's legendary master sleuth, the Chevalier Auguste Dupin, was modeled after a real person."
By Victoria Holt (aka Jean Plaidy), when I saw that they had all these, I couldn't pass it up:
The Landower Legacy
The Black Opal
The Silk Vendetta
The Road to Paradise Island
The Demon Lover
The Curse of The Kings
I got some great books, I am looking forward to them! What book did you get that you are really looking forward to? I am looking forward to Dunant's and Margaret Barnes the most!
And FYI, I still have last week's Perseverance book to giveaway, and also Perfection. The other two giveaways on the sidebar are still open as well.
.JPG)