Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Mondays is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page so drop by and see what everyone else got in their box last week!

Can I just say - my husband would kill me if he found out I just bought 11 more books at the thrift store! It is the most wonderful place for books! I just picked up 3 of the hard cover Thomas Kinkade books - Cape Light, Home Song, and The Gathering Place - that I had seen recommended awhile back on another blog - and for a mere $9 I got the rest of these books: (descriptions are from book covers)

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier - Sorely wounded and fatally disillusioned in the fighting at Petersburg, Inman, a Confederate soldier, decides to walk back to his home in the Blue Ridge Mountains and to Ada, the woman he loved there years before. His trek across the disintegrating South brings him into intimate and sometimes lethal converse with slaves and marauders, bounty hunters and witches, both helpful and malign. At the same time, Ada is trying to revive her father's derelict farm and learn to survive in a world where the old certainties have been swept away.

Tell No One by Harlan Coben - For Dr. David Beck, the loss was shattering. And every day for the past eight years, he has relived the horror of what happened. The gleaming lake. The pale moonlight. The piercing screams. The night his wife was taken. The last night he saw her alive.

Everyone tells him it's time to move on, to forget the past once and for all. But for David Beck, there can be no closure. A message has appeared on his computer, a phrase only he and his dead wife know. Suddenly Beck is taunted with the impossible - that somewhere, somehow, his wife is alive..and he's been warned to tell no one.

Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult - Delia Hopkins has led a charmed life. Raised in rural New Hampshire by her beloved, widowed father, she now has a young daughter, a handsome fiance, and her own search-and-rescue bloodhound, which she uses to find missing persons. But as Delia plans her wedding, she is plagued by flashbacks of a life she can't recall . . . until a policeman knocks on her door, revealing a secret about herself that changes the world as she knows it - and threatens to jeopardize her future. With Vanishing Acts, Jodi Picoult explores how life - as we know it - might not turn out the way we imagined; how the people we've loved and trusted can suddenly change before our very eyes; how the memory we thought had vanished could return as a threat.

Rebellion by Nora Roberts - Scotland, 1745. Against the bloody background of the Battle of Culloden, another war was waged and won - the price was honer, the victory, love.

Scottish beauty Serena MacGregor's hatred of all English began as a child when she watched as a band of Englishmen attacked her mother. Her brother's friend Brigham Langston was no exception to Serena's loathing - despite his supposed loyalty to the Scottich cause . . and his good looks.

Although Brigham eventually proves himself worthy of the MacGregor family's respect, Serena is still reluctant to abandon her hatred for him and his heritage. But Brigham has other plans. Serena has captivated him with her beauty, her passion for life and commitment to her beliefs - and he refuses to let her antagonistic attitude keep him from winning her. And Serena must learn to open her mind - as Brigham opens his heart - to see the true love awaiting her.

Black Rose by Nora Roberts - Three women meet at a crossroads in their lives, each searching for new ways to grow - and find in each other the courage to take chances and embrace the future.

Roz is a woman of independent means who thought love was behind her, but when romance takes her by surprise, she won't allow anything to keep her from her second chance at happiness.

In the Dark of the Night by John Saul - For Chicago couple Dan and Merrill Brewster, a summer at Pinecrest, a rambling lakeside house, is an ideal vacation, and for their kids, Eric and Marci, Pinecrest is the perfect place to spend some time exploring. Eric and his friends discover a curious cache of objects stowed in a hidden room, but the boys' strange fascination with the forgotten possessions soon becomes an obsession. When a horrifying discovery surfaces, so does the chilling truth about the terrifying events that rocked the town seven years before, the mysterious disappearance of Pinecrest's previous resident, and a twisted legacy with a malevolent life of its own . . . and a bottomless hunger for new victims.

Darkfall by Dean Koontz - Strange Days ... Winter gripped the city. Terror gripped it, too. They found four corpses in four days, each more hideous than the last. Strange Nights ... At first the cops thought they were dealing with a psychopath. But soon they heard eerie sounds in the ventilation system - and saw unearthly silver eyes in the snow-slashed night. Final Hours... In a city paralyzed by a blizzard, something watches, something stalks...... DARKFALL.

The Reef - by Nora Roberts Marine archeologist Tate Beaumont has a passion for treasure-hunting. Over the years, she and her father have uncovered many fabulous riches, but one treasure has always eluded them: Angelique's Curse - a jeweled amulet heavy with history, dark with legend, and tainted with blood. In order to find this precious artifact, the Beaumonts reluctantly form a partnership with salvagers Buck and Matthew Lassiter.

Having to share this dream is more than Tate can bear, but she has little choice. As the Beaumonts and Lassiters pool their resources to locate Angelique's Curse, the Caribbean waters thicken and darken with shadowy deceptions and hidden threats. Their partnership is placed in jeopardy when Matthew refuses to share information - including the truth behind his father's mysterious death several years earlier. For now, Tate and Matthew continue their uneasy alliance - until danger and desire begin to rise to the surface .. .


And if you are still with me - I also got three books in the mail! (Bonanza week for me!) - {Descriptions are from Amazon.com}

Gatekeepers by Robert Liparulo

In the third novel of this young adult series, the mystery deepens in a house that is more than meets the eye. (I just finished the first book in this series - read my review here.)

It's hard to believe that things could have gotten worse for the King family-but they have. Dad's in handcuffs, the school bully has just found the secret portal that leads from the high school to the house, and Xander is sure he's found Mom, but they can't get back to her. Then Jesse arrives, and he seems to be a virtual Obi Wan of knowledge about the place. But is he the key they need to unlock the secrets, or just a crazy old man?
Dangers are increasing from within and without when Xander makes a startling discovery that explains why they haven't found any rooms that lead to the future. Alongside the threats, though, they're also starting to find some surprising allies.
All they have to do is get organized, get psyched, and get Mom. But that isn't nearly as easy as it sounds.

Grace for the Afflicted: A Clinical and Biblical Perspective on Mental Illness by Matthew S. Stanford, Ph.D.

Each day men and women diagnosed with mental disorders are told they need to pray more and turn from their sin. Mental illness is equated with demonic possession, weak faith and generational sin. Why is it that the church has struggled in ministering to those with mental illnesses? As both a church leader and professor of psychology and neuroscience, Dr. Stanford has seen far too many mentally ill brothers and sisters damaged by well meaning believers who respond to them out of fear or misinformation rather than grace. Grace for the Afflicted is written to educate Christians about mental illness from both biblical and scientific perspectives. Dr. Stanford presents insights into our physical and spiritual nature and discusses the appropriate role of psychology and psychiatry in the life of the believer. Describing common mental disorders, Dr. Stanford asks of each What does science say and what does the Bible say about this illness? Mental illnesses addressed in the book include Mood Disorders Anxiety Disorders Schizophrenia Dissociative Disorders AttentionDeficit Hyperactivity Disorder Eating Disorders Substance Use Disorders Borderline Personality Disorder

Be Strong & Curvaceous by Shelley Adina

After spending spring break in Mexico with her grandparents, Carly Aragon can't wait to get back to school at SpencerAcademy in San Francisco. With Lissa Mansfield and Gillian Chang by her side, she's ready for anything . . . except a new roommate.Lady Lindsay MacPhail, flamboyant daughter of the Earl of Strathcairn, quickly becomes Carly's worst nightmare. "Mac" not only swoops in and steals Carly's privacy, she's also dating Brett Loyola--Carly's biggest crush!But when Mac starts receiving strange, threatening e-mails, she and Carly must come together to figure out who's behind them and why. In the end, the fate of one girl will lie in the other's hands. Will the two learn to trust one another and trust God?

Happy Reading!