Mailbox Monday

It's Mailbox Monday again! Join Marcia at
The Printed Page to see what everyone else got in their mailboxes this week.

I received another two BookMooch books. And they are a continuation of my attempts to beef up my science fiction reading. They are both Andre Norton books: Daybreak 2250 A.D. (also published as Star Man's Son) and Witch World. The WW book is the very first one in the series. I'd like to collect them all (though God knows when I'll get a chance to read them).

In other news, Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-Thon is coming up this weekend! This is one of my favorite blogosphere events. I cannot wait to spend my entire Saturday (and part of Sunday?) READING. I need to stock up on snacks, but I'm set for caffeine and books.

I made Rachael Ray's recipe for Aglio Olio (garlic and oil pasta) tonight. Usually I take a pic and post it, but this didn't really look spectacular. It was okay taste-wise (although I suspect that the hubby didn't really like it), but the finished product didn't really LOOK like much...plain ol' pasta! I have leftovers for work this week, at least. Next up, I'd like to try a homemade salad dressing from her original 30 Minute Meals cookbook. I'm really enjoying getting back into the kitchen!

Mailbox Monday

Well, it's once again time to list our new arrivals for the week. I haven't participated in a while, what with the move and everything being so crazy around here, but I'm trying to get back to regular posting.

I received three books this week. One I've already posted about, an advanced readers' edition of Sometimes We're Always Real Same-Same by Mattox Roesch, received from Unbridled Books by way of LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. I'm going to be part of a blog tour for the book in September, so stay tuned!

From BookMooch, I received the first two Mrs. Murphy mysteries. A cat solving mysteries with her owner's help...sounds perfect for me!!! I thought it was a tad cute for my tastes at first, but I've seen multiple reviews posted around the internet that seem to indicate that I needn't worry. Ah well, I got a good deal (um, free) on the books, so if I decide I don't like them, they can always be re-Mooched.

That's it for me this Mailbox Monday. What did you get in your mailbox this week?

Can't...Stop....POSTING!

Okay, the Read-a-Thon is officially over, I've had more hits on my blog than ever before, and I've read and blogged my little heart out, but there are a couple of loose, book-related ends that I still need to catch up on.

First of all, I have been negligent when it comes to Mailbox Mondays. For a few weeks I wasn't getting anything, but last week I did get a Mooched book that I didn't mention. I Mooched and received Andre Norton's No Night Without Stars. This is some serious sci-fi right here. I haven't read much sci-fi, but that's something I'm looking to remedy.

Also, last week I received, via LibraryThing (too tired to put in links...Google it, if you don't already have it bookmarked), Richard Currey's Fatal Light, a story about Currey's experiences in the Vietnam War. Not sure if it's more memoir, or just based on his time there, but this is a newly reissued printing on the book's twentieth anniversary. LibraryThing has been sending me a lot of war books lately...wonder why. These things seem to go in cycles, though. For a while it was cookbooks, then books about the Jewish experience during the Holocaust. So, to LibraryThing, I'm a cooking, Jewish war fanatic? HA!


Finally, while reading through my new Bookmarks magazine, I came across a book that I've never heard of and am strangely fascinated by: Amberville by Tim Davys. It's rare that I peruse the pages of Bookmarks without having heard at least some buzz on my friends' blogs about a novel as innovative and, let's face it, downright strange-sounding as this one. Amberville is, and I am not kidding you about this, a teddy bear noir mystery. Yes, you heard me right...TEDDY BEAR NOIR. It is quite possibly the weirdest genre I've ever heard of and I WANT TO READ IT. I think I'm going to have to put everything on hold and go to the library to see if I can find this book.


Have any of you read it yet? Has anyone even HEARD of it? It's getting pretty good reviews. Let me know if you know anything else about it, including who the mysterious Tim Davys might be.

Edited to Add: Damn! My library doesn't have it! Guess I'll just have to keep a weather eye out for it. Oh, and Harper Collins? If you want to send me a copy? I'll drop everything to read and review it.

Mailbox Monday and an AWARD!

Well, it's Mailbox Monday and I actually have something to report. Thursday, I received a copy of Laurie R. King's The Moor. This is another book in her Mary Russell series, detailing the marriage between Ms. Russell and Sherlock Holmes. I Mooched this book a couple of weeks ago. I have one or two others in the series, although I haven't read them yet. They look good enough, though, that I want to get all of them and check out the whole series.

Unfortunately, that's all I brought home this week!



I was lucky enough to have been given the Blog Friends Award by Staci at Life in the Thumb! This is my first blog award and I am SO EXCITED! Here's what it's all about:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I'm supposed to tag eight people. There are so many people that I read and love, but I'll try to tag those with whom other readers may not be as familiar...

SuziQOregon at Whimpulsive

Heather at Book Addiction

Bellezza at Dolce Bellezza

Sharon at Ex Libris

Framed at Framed and Booked

Megan at Leafing through Life

Mary at Mary's Library

and

Morsie (Karen) at Morsie Reads

There are so many more people I could have tagged, but I'll get them all the next time around. Check these folks out; their blogs are informative and, of course, full of great books!

Mailbox Monday

Lots of good stuff came in this week:

From the remains of my Christmas Barnes & Noble gift cards, which I used online, I received three books.

First, Sons, by Pearl Buck, is the sequel to The Good Earth, which I own, but have not read yet. The third book in the trilogy, A House Divided, also came in this B&N shipment. I plan to read all three sometime in the future, although probably not this year, and next year isn't lookin' too hot, either.




Thirdly, from Barnes & Noble, I received Joanna Kavenna's Inglorious. (The cover is so pretty, I can't resist posting it!) The only review I can remember was lukewarm, but the book, about a journalist having some sort of mid-life crisis, sounds interesting to me.

Finally, from my friends at BookMooch, I received a copy of Jennifer Lauck's memoir Blackbird: A Childhood Lost and Found. Someone recommended this one, too, but I never can remember where the recommendations come from...

In other book news, I JUST POSTED Katherine Neville's The Eight on BookMooch and someone has already requested it. Popular. So now I get to decide which book I should Mooch next. Hmm...

Mailbox Monday...on Tuesday

I seem to be a day behind this week. I've been sick, so I'm a little delayed in posting my Mailbox Monday. Let's see what I've received lately!

On Saturday (I think), I received a Mooched copy of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. (BTW: Am I the only one who continuously gets Upton Sinclair and Sinclair Lewis confused?!) This book is one of the recent spate of "classics" I've been trying to read. From what I hear, I very well may come away from this one a vegetarian.

My lunch hour today included a stop at Barnes & Noble. While there, I was seduced into purchasing my very own copies of John Green's Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines. Katherines was only FOUR DOLLARS! While I cannot believe that B&N has low-balled my literary crush that way, I was totally excited that my slim pocketbook could thus afford not ONE, but TWO, of his literary masterpieces. Unfortunately, Paper Towns was both too expensive and too...hardback...for me. (Not a hardback fan...too unwieldy while reading.) So I am now beginning my very own John Green library.

I also picked up a copy of Jerry Spinelli's Eggs. I saw a review of this somewhere (Book Nut or Bookshelves of Doom, perhaps?), and it sounded good, and I found myself in the teen/juvenile fiction section by way of John Green anyway...so...what's a girl to do but buy another book?!

The Books Just Keep on Comin'

Soooo many books received this week!

First: Matrimony by Joshua Henkin. After trying to get a copy of this book in giveaway after giveaway, I finally won a copy on Megan's blog. Yes, I could have just picked up a copy at the local bookstore, but I'm Type A...I want to WIN, dammit! So thanks to Joshua Henkin and Megan for giving me that thrill!

Next, another BookMooch acquisition: Doctor Zhivago. I have never read this classic, but I've heard SO MANY people talk about how great and sad it is. And the movie version figures heavily in one of my beloved John Cusack's movies, Must Love Dogs. So I figured it is a must-read for me at some point. And also? I CAN'T STOP MOOCHING. There is always something else I want/need.

Including...Marian Keyes' Angels, another Mooch. Something a little lighter, to break up the string of classics I seem to be picking up.

Finally, on the book front, I received a copy of Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. I believe I won this during the 24-Hour Read-a-Thon, but my eyes were so crossed by all the reading I did and my mind so fogged with the lack of sleep, that I just can't be sure. So if you gave this book away during the Read-a-Thon, and I won it, THANKS!

And last but by no means least, my lovely, lovely, wonderful journal from our own BookGirl, Iliana. I was so excited to have won the journal, which I simply don't have the free cash to out and out PURCHASE from her, and now it is here and it is GORGEOUS. I was thrilled to be able to see the craftsmanship that I've followed on her blog, up close and personal. You guys should all travel over to her Etsy shop and buy up all her stock!

What a week of book blessings. Thanks to everyone who has hosted a giveaway and/or donated prizes for the Read-a-Thon. I'm so lucky to have brought in this haul!

Mailbox Monday

Short post today...I'm WIPED. Spent literally all day in court, with no break for lunch. Well, we had a break, but since people bombarded me with issues as soon as I walked in the door of the office, I didn't have time to eat. Sigh.

ANYWAY...this week, I received The Good Earth from a fellow BookMoocher. and I received Angela Carter's Shaking a Leg from a seller at Amazon. I forget where I heard about Angela Carter or this book, but it sounded interesting. It's a compilation of her writings on all topics, but mostly non-fiction. I'm trying to inject a little non-fiction reading into my schedule every once in a while, to balance out all the fiction I tend to gorge on.

Started Little Altars Everywhere by Rebecca Wells last night. So far, it's pretty good.

Mailbox Monday Once Again!

It's Mailbox Monday again, and I actually have some acquisitions to report! From the folks at LibraryThing and Andrews McMeel Publishing, I received a new cookbook, Pamela Sheldon Johns' 50 Great Appetizers. I LOVE COOKBOOKS! And I love to try new recipes. I wish I cooked more often, but our office is having a Halloween party at the end of the month, so I'll be trying out one of these appetizers on my unsuspecting guinea pigs. Heh.

I also received Leaving Cold Sassy, the sequel to Olive Ann Burns' Cold Sassy Tree. I Mooched this from the same lovely lady at BookMooch who sent me the first book. I'm looking forward to reading these classics that I've yet to get to.

Finally, I received November's Glamour magazine. I still love Glamour, despite the fact that I cannot afford any of the clothes and no longer really need the makeup tips (since I hardly ever go out anymore) and find it all just a little...repetitive. I've subscribed for YEARS, at least since college, and it's a habit I don't think I can break at this point. I do enjoy their articles on world events and the political coverage, and there are definitely still other "fluff" articles that I enjoy. It's kind of like brain candy for me. And I'm ready to dive in once again this month.

So, a fruitful harvest, overall this week. It could be a while before I receive many more books, as I'm topped out on BookMooch and the Fiance' and I are "saving money." But we shall see, we shall see. I have a feeling, like any good bibliophile, that I will find a way to bring more books into the house, regardless.

Mailbox Monday

I received several books this past week, most of them from BookMooch. Last Tuesday, I received an Advance Reading Copy of Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland, through St. Martin's Press and LibraryThing. On Tuesday, I also received a Mooched copy of
The Eight by Katherine Neville, the prequel to The Fire, which I received last week from the publisher (totally unsolicited, ROCK!). I wanted to read the first book first, because I am OCD like that.

On Wednesday, I received a Mooched copy of Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, which I plan to re-read soon.

And on Thursday, I received ANOTHER Mooched book, Beloved by Toni Morrison, which I have, shockingly, never read. This is yet another book in my attempt to read more "classics" and "modern classics."

These new books go onto my already stuffed and bulging To Be Read shelves. Sigh. So many books, so little time.

Mailbox Monday

So, I've decided to participate in Mailbox Monday, hosted by Marcia at
The Printed Page. I think it's a great way to round up the week's new arrivals.

This week, I received a copy of The Great Gatsby, which I ordered from BookMooch. I also received a really nice surprise...the lovely folks at Random House sent me an Advance Readers' Copy of The Fire by Katherine Neville, through LibraryThing, apparently. I realized that it was the second of a duo (or series?), so I also Mooched the first book, The Eight. That should be arriving soon.

In addition to those books, my new Glamour is here, and I'm currently engrossed in the latest issue of Bookmarks. I have a lot of reading ahead of me, so I'm off to dive in.

Oh, P.S. Happy first day of Book Blogger Appreciation Week!!! Head on over to My Friend Amy to see what's happening during this exciting week.

Survivors

Well, we made it safely through Tropical Storm Fay, with no more damage than some puddles and a broken umbrella. I got to miss work on Tuesday and Wednesday, which SHOULD have made for more reading time, but instead made for more play-drunken-board-games-with-friends time. And the Olympics. They are killing my reading time! And, pretty soon, it will be a new TV season, which means there will be new shows to watch and old favorites to get back into. I can't wait for Heroes and Chuck, particularly, to start back up, as well as The Office and 30 Rock. (I swear, not all of my TV-watching is on NBC, but you wouldn't know it from this post!)

This week I've received Barbara Taylor Bradford's
A Woman of Substance from BookMooch, as well as a copy of The Empress of Weehawken from Picador and LibraryThing. Now I just need to read and review it!

Hope everyone has a great weekend for reading!

More New Books

As if we weren't having money trouble, I ordered a bunch of books from Amazon last week. Those, along with a Mooched book, arrived today. So I now have the complete Earth's Children series, by Jean Auel. And I also now have the complete Avalon series by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I hope I like these. I fully expect to be reciprocally Mooching them in the future, though. I have a bad habit of acquiring books I don't intend to keep.

Good Things

Lots of good things happening today. The Fiance' found a new part-time job, which helps alleviate some of the money worries we were having.

Also, I received some new BookMooch acquisitions in the mail. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, and Beach Music by Pat Conroy all made their way to my home today. I love getting books in the mail.

In addition, a pair of shoes that I ordered a MILLION years ago from Newport News also arrived today. And I ordered several new suits from an online store, since all of my old suits are falling off my body.

Things to be happy about, indeed!

Oh, one more thing to be happy about? Velocipedes.

Finally Saturday Again

It's been a long week. I've been bummed, work has been rough, we have no money, and I don't get paid till Thursday. The best thing I can say about this week is that it's over.

The good news is that I have a couple of Mooched books on the way. AND......I am getting a copy of The Empress of Weehawken from LibraryThing as part of the Early Reviewers program. That was a surprise, since I've never reviewed anything for them before.

My newly rekindled obsession with reading is even wearing off on the Fiance'. He's bought a few new books and is taking reading material to work with him. I'm excited that he's falling in love with reading now too. We don't really share the same taste in books (I tend to gravitate towards classics, general fiction, and mysteries, whereas he prefers humor and memoirs), but it's nice that we are both into having some quiet reading time...

A Little Date on a Lazy Sunday

The fiance' and I went out for a mini-date. We had Panera Bread for lunch (mmm, portobella and mozzarella panini) and ran some errands, including a stop at Barnes & Noble. (We have nothing but big box stores around here...no indies, with the exception of a small used-book store that I haven't made it to yet). Anyway, I wanted particularly to pick up a copy of Bookmarks magazine. I'm debating ordering a subscription, so I wanted to see if it was any good. It's sitting on the recliner, taunting me, right now.

I also found an unabridged paperback copy of Les Miserables. I've been looking on BookMooch for a copy, but all that are offered are abridged copies. I mean, what's the point? Who wants to read an abridged copy? So I talked myself into buying it. Sigh. As if I needed another book to be added to the humongous list of things to be read. But I can't walk out of the bookstore without a book. It is physically impossible.

After the bookstore, we went to CVS to get a few things and then to TJMaxx, whose stock of pants suitable for work was incredible lame. I found two pair, but neither fit right. Ross was far superior in its selection. Who knew?

And so we are back at home, the fiance' headed out again to pick up Subway, while I peruse book blogs, my new magazine, and, perhaps, the end of Jane Eyre.

Another One!!!

Yesterday, I received in the mail The Shelters of Stone by Jean Auel, another in the Earth's Children series, which I intend to read soon in its entirety.

The Mooched books are coming fast and furious now. I'm a little worried that one of my brood didn't reach its intended Moocher, but things have also been running slow...I hope it gets there soon.

New Books

Over the last week, I've received several more books that I Mooched. I got The Clan of the Cave Bear and The Valley of Horses, both by Jean Auel, on the same day. Later this week I received The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. My bookshelves are quickly being restocked with books I want to read (or re-read). Also, my boss loaned a book about public defenders in Cook County, IL to one of my co-workers, which I intend to snag before it makes its way back to my boss' desk. Maybe I'll read that this weekend and it will give me the kick in the pants I need for trial week next week.

Saturday Night's All Right

Woo hoo! Two of my Mooched books arrived...The Plains of Passage and Ya-Yas in Bloom.

I went to Ross today to find new clothes for work. I love losing the weight, but it's killing my pocketbook. I'm now down 48 pounds since January, and I am going through work clothes like a maniac. I still haven't paid off the last batch that I bought from Old Navy and Macy's. Since I got two skirts, a pair of pants and seven tops for $100, though, I won't feel too bad if I only get to wear them once or twice before I have to get new ones.

A Posting Fool

I know I've already posted twice today, but how exciting! I'm already getting rid of two of my used books to people on BookMooch. I'm up to three points, which means I can receive three books!!! Now I just have to go decide what I want...

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!