Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Mailbox Monday 3-30-2009

Before you look at the books that I got - make some books appear in your mailbox! Check out the memoir giveaways from Hachette either in my right sidebar or here and here.


I received Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead from Doubleday Books.

From the back cover: The year is 1985. Benji Cooper is one of the only black students at an elite prep school in Manattan. He spends is falls an winters going to roller-disco bar mitzvahs, playing too much Dungeons and Dragons, and trying to catch glimpses of nudity on late-night cable TV. After a tragic mishap on his first day of high school - when Benji reveals his deep enthusiasm for the horror movie magazine - Fangoria - his social doom is sealed for the next four years.

But every summer, Benji and his brother, Reggie, escape to the East End of Long Island, to Sag Harbor, where a small coummunity of African-American professionals have built a world of their own. Because their parents come out only on weekends, he and his friends are left to their own devices for three glorious months. Except Benji is just as confused about this all-black refuge as he is about the white world he negotiates during the school year. There's always acomplicated new handshake to fumble through, state-of-the-art profanity to master, and his fantasies of hooking up with the opposite sex are no match for his own awkwardness. And let's nt get started on his misshapen haircut (which seems to have a will of its own), the New Coke Tragedy of '85, and his secret Lite FM addiction.

In this deeply affectionate and fiercely funny coming-of-age novel, Whitehead - using te perpetual mortification of teenage existence and the desperate quest fr reinvention - beautifully explores racial and class identity, illustrating how it is impossible to define an individual in isolation from his family's commnal history.





The Girl She Used To Be by David Cristofano I received from Miriam at Hachette Books. (Thank you Miriam!)

From the book jacket: When Melody Grace McCartney was six years old, she and her parents witnessed an act of violence so brutal that it changed their lives forever. The federal government lured them into the Witness Protection Program with the promise of safety, but the program took Melody's name, her home, her family, and ultimately her innocence. Now, twenty years later and still on the run, she's been May Adams, Karen Smith, Anne Johnson, and countless others. But the one person she longs to be is Melody Grace McCartney.

So when the feds spirit her off to begin yet another new life in yet another new town, she's stunned by a man who accosts her and calls her by her real name. Jonathan Bovaro, the mafioso sent to find her, knows her, the real her, and it's a thrill Melody can't resist. Defying the feds, she goes willingly with him. To the Justice Department, she's nothing more than a pawn in the government's war against the Bovaro family. But, as dangerous as Jonathan is, he presents her with the chance of a lifetime - the chance to embrace her past and present, and choose a future all her own.




I received The Unquiet Bones by Melvin R. Starr as part of a First Wild Card Tour happening on April 20th.

From the back cover: Uctred thought he had discovered pig bones. He did not know or care why they were in the cesspit at the base of Bampton Castle wall.

Then he found the skull. Uctred is a tenant, bound to the land of Lord Gilbert, third Baron Talbot, lord of Bampton Castle, and had slaughtered many pigs. He knew the difference between human and pig skulls.

Lord Gilbert called for me to inspect the bones. All knew whose bones they must be.

They were not.

Hugh de Singleton, fourth son of a minor knight in Wyclif's England, had had some good fortune. Newly trained as a surgeon, he was staring from his Oxford window, hoping for clients, when Lord Gilbert was kicked by his groom's horse. Hugh's successful treatment of the suffering Lord led to an invitation to set up his practice in the village of Bampton - and, before long, the request to identify some bones. . .



I received Fatal Illusions by Adam Blumer as part of a First Wild Card Tour happening April 17th.

From the back cover: Haydon Owens wants to be the next Houdini. He has been practicing his craft and has already made four women disappear. All it took was a bit of rope and his two bare hands.

The Thayer family has come to the north woods of Newberry, Michigan, looking for refuge, a peaceful sanctuary from a shattered past. But they are not alone. Little do they know that they are about to become part of Haydon's next act.

Time is running out and already the killer has spotted his next victim. Who will escape alive?



Visit Mailbox Mondays over at The Printed Page and see what everyone else received! (All descriptions are from book covers unless otherwise noted.) and you can also go to In Your Mailbox at The Story Siren on Sundays!

15 comments:

bermudaonion said...

I really enjoyed The Girl She Used to Be and hope you do too.

Staci said...

This is so weird, because I'm sitting here at my kitchen table reading your blog and while I wait for pages to load (still have dial-up!) I read my book which happens to be.....The Girl She Used To Be. This book is fantastic!! I'm about 1/2 through it and I have nothing but good things to say about it. Love the writing. Looks like you got some great stuff!!

Blodeuedd said...

Nice week for you :D
Have fun reading

Kaye said...

Wow, I guess I should put The Girl She Used to Be on my wish list. Thanks for the reco. Here ismy mailbox

Unknown said...

Enjoy the books! Especially Cristofan's book sounds interesting...
My mailbox can be found here :-)

susan said...

Good week and The Girl sounds really interesting.

Serena said...

wow, I've only heard of Sag Harbor! Those other books look great too.

here's my mailbox: http://savvyverseandwit.blogspot.com/2009/03/mailbox-monday-23.html

the story siren said...

what a great book week! lots of interesting titles! happy reading!

Wendy said...

Lucky you getting Sag Harbor! I have the Girl She Used to Be...but haven't read it yet. Nice haul this week!

Wendi said...

Wow - Fatal Illusions looks sinister!!

Here's my Mailbox! ~ Wendi

Book Lover Lisa said...

I also got sag harbor.

Teddy Rose said...

Enjoy you books Kristi!

Anna said...

The Girl She Used to Be sounds so good. Hope you enjoy it.

--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric

Michelle Olsen Sasak said...

I really liked The Girl She Used To Be. Sag Harbor was okay, but way too wordy. I'm interested to see what you think of the books :)

Marcia said...

Thank you for stopping by the mailbox this week. 'The Girl She Used To Be' is sitting my TBR pile.

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