Mailbox Mayhem (Sept 27 - Oct 3)

In My Mailbox is hosted Sundays at The Story Siren.  Mailbox Monday's host for October is Avis at She Reads and Reads. Please visit these posts and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week!

FOR REVIEW:

Daily Guideposts 2011

"Growing in Love" is the theme for this gala thirty-fifth anniversary edition of Daily Guideposts.  We've asked our fifty-five writers, including reader favoirites such as Patricia Lorenz, Scott Walker, Marion Bond West, Brian Doyle, Elizabeth Sherrill, Debbie Macomber and Oscar Greene, to explore the ways God uses people and the things that are part of their everyday lives to help them grow in love for their family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers as they draw closer to Him.

The stories that they tell will help you deepen the love in your own heart as you share the bittersweet joy of a mother and father watching their child get ready to leave the nest, find the gifts of growth God gives us even in our worries, and discover the love-expanding properties of a money house, a friendly dog or a tiny church.

Every day you'll find food for your spirit in Daily Guidepost 2011's scripture verses, stories and prayers. And every day you'll find a friend ready to help you grow into the likeness of the One Whose very nature is love.

Incredible Dreams

by Sandra Edwards

Incredible Dreams is the story of a modern-day ghost whisperer who travels through time to save the life of a WWII fighter pilot and ends up jeopardizing her own existence.

Izzy Miller prefers to call herself a spiritual therapist because she thinks it makes her sound more professional than plain old ghost whisperer. She expects her latest project to be quick and easy because exorcising military personnel is pretty routine.

But there's nothing easy or routine about Captain Jack Baker -- he's a rather forgetful spirit and somewhat mischievous. And even though he's intrigued by the US Government's latest attempt to remove him from the only place he can ever remember being...he has no intentions of going anywhere.

Plans to exorcise Jack are quickly sidelined when Izzy discovers a portal into the past inside her dreams and sets out to change his fate.  Trouble is...when she gets back there, she can't remember anything but her name.  She still sees ghosts, but is far less accepting of her gift.  And, to make matters worse, a demonic force pretending to be the forgetful heroine's sister has plans of her own -- to steal Izzy's soul.

Kasey to the Rescue

by Ellen Rogers

The remarkable and surprising story of how a capuchin monkey brought hope, humor, and happiness to a family facing their greatest challenge.

A single mother of five, Ellen Rogers had endured her fair share of tragedy, having lost both a husband and stepdaughter to cancer.  But nothing could have prepared her for the June 2005 car accident that left her son Ned - then twenty-two years old - a quadriplegic with a brain injury.

The road to recovery was long and discouraging, but then Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers for the Disabled stepped in to provide Ned with a service animal to help him cope with his disabilities.  Kasey - an adorable, fun-loving capuchin monkey - helped Ned and his family to see the world in a new way.

In this extraordinary memoir, told with equal parts heart and humor, author Ellen Rogers paints a vivid portrait of a large and loving family, and the challenges that they faced together.  Kasey to the Rescue follows them from the phone call that changed her son's life to the monkey play that led to Ned's increased mobility.  The story of an ordinary family thrust into extraordinary circumstances, this inspiring book proves that old adage, where there's life, there's hope.

Without a Word

by Jill Kelly

"Your son has been diagnosed with a fatal genetic disease called Krabbe Leukodystrophy.  There is no treatment and no cure.  I will do everything I can to help your son.  But the disease has already progressed so fast that I don't think he will live to see his second birthday."

With these words, pro football Hall of Famer Jim Kelly and his wife, Jill, were catapulted from a seemingly fairy-tale life of celebrity into a world of private struggle and medical uncertainty.  What the public didn't know, however, was that behind the scenes lurked more than a family's pain at the dire prognosis of their only son.  Hunter's illness exposed the troubled depths of a marriage that had long been shadowed by uncertainties of its own.

For eight years the future was unwritten, with Hunter defying all medical odds and his parents pursuing every means to save his life.  Meanwhile, Jim and Jill's marriage continued to fail yet was held together only by their love for their kids and their determined hope for Hunter.

Though Hunter's illness prevented him from ever speaking a word, his will and unconditional love spoke volumes to his family and all who knew him.  And in time, the light of Hunter's silent, all-too-brief life shone into the darkened corners of Jim and Jill's lives, leading them to authentic faith, a restored relationship, and the establishment of a foundation that is reaching other families with terminally ill children around the world.

More than a memoir, this book contains a mother's heart -- pieces of precious, journaled memories engraved on the author's soul -- as well as her long journey from resentment to forgiveness as a wife.  Here, too, are intimate reflections from Jim and from those who walked with the Kellys through the shadow of death and into the light of hope.

Without a Word transparently shares it all: The heartbreaking moments...and those Jill would love to relive..  Moments that add up to a time filled with unimaginable pain...and indescribable joy.  Moments that silently transformed the hearts of every member of her family...and changed their lives forever.  Moments that may even change your heart and life, too.

WON FROM A HOME BETWEEN THE PAGES:

 

The Secret of Lost Things

by Sheridan Hay

Eighteen years old and completely alone, Rosemary arrives in New York from Tasmania with little other than her love of books and an eagerness to explore the city.  Taking a job at a vast, chaotic emporium of used and rare books called the Arcade, she knows she has found a home. But when Rosemary reads a letter from someone seeking to "place" a lost manuscript by Herman Melville, the bookstore erupts with simmering ambitions and rivalries.  Including actual correspondence by Melville, The Secret of Lost Things is at once a literary adventure and evocative portrait of a young woman making a life for herself in the city.


FOR REVIEW:

The Unnamed

by Joshua Ferris

Tim Farnsworth is a handsome, healthy man, aging with the grace of a matinee idol.  His wife, Jane, still loves him, and for all its quiet trials, their marriage is still stronger than most.  Despite long hours at the office, he remains passionate about his work, and his partnership at a prestigious Manhattan law firm means that the work he does is important. And even as his daughter, Becka, retreats behind her guitar, her dreadlocks, and her puppy fat, he offers her every one of a father's honest lies about her being the most beautiful girl in the world.

He loves his wife, his family, his work, his home.

And then one day he stands up and walks out.  And keeps walking.

The Unnamed is a dazzling novel about a marriage and a family and the unseen forces of nature and desire that seem to threaten them both.  It is the heartbreaking story of a life taken for granted and what happens when that life is abruptly and irrevocably taken away.

A Rogue, A Pirate, and a Dry Martini

by Marcy Casterline

Cancelled, dumped and told to retire all in one morning in Hollywood, our heroine, the former star of Morgan Sidney, the Laughing PI, thinks it can't get any worse until her agent tricks her into working on some real low end, Loserville production where everybody smokes all the time and drinks martinis between scenes. No special effects, no car chases, just actors she's never heard of playing scenes. And her co-stars! Who are these guys? Sophisticated, witty, and sexy, the kind of men you wouldn't mind a bit doing a nude scene with, but for some reason in these movies there's no humping. All they do is kiss. But after a martini or two, kissing these guys (and our heroine makes it her business to kiss them all) is better than sex. No kidding. It's all great fun, even if it is guaranteed to ruin her career. So what's going on? Nobody makes movies like this anymore. And where the Hell are they getting all these unfiltered Chesterfields? So what happens if the guy you're crazy about turns out to be somebody you've probably watched on Turner Classic Movies? And you're pretty sure (if only you'd paid more attention in history class) that it's the middle of the Great Depression and World War II is on its way. Does any of that matter if you're in love for the first time in your life?

Red Wolf

by Liza Marklund


Drawn into a small underground world of violence, terrorism, and thwarted passion, Swedish crime reporter Annika Bengtzon realizes that she can trust no one and that the dark past is ever present.

In the middle of a freezing winter, a journalist is murdered in a northern Swedish town.  Annika Bengtzon suspects that the killing is linked to a long-ago attack against an isolated air base.  Against the explicit orders of her boss, she investigates the death, which is soon followed by a series of shocking murders.  Annika knows the murders are connected and she also comes to know that some very powerful people do not want that connection made.  At the same time, Annika begins to suspect that her husband is hiding something.  And behind everything lurks the figure of the Red Wolf, a cold-blooded killer with the soul of a lover.  In the end, Annika is not only compelled to discover the truth behind the murders but also the lies that are destroying her own family.

To Fetch a Thief

by Spencer Quinn

We were outnumbered, some big number against two.  When it comes to numbers, two is as far as I go, but it's enough, in my opinion...

"Sit," Bernie said.

I sat. Bernie would think of something -- he always did. That was one of the things that made the Little Detective Agency such a success, except for the finances part...

Chet has smelled a lot of unusual things in his years as trusted companion and partner to P.I. Bernie Little, but nothing has prepared him for the exotic scenes he encounters when an old-fashioned traveling circus comes to town.  Bernie scores tickets to this less-than-greatest-show-on-earth because his son Charlie is crazy about elephants. The only problem is that Peanut, the headlining pachyderm of this particular one-ring circus, has gone missing -- along with her trainer, Uri DeLeath. Stranger still, no one saw them leave.  How does an elephant vanish without a trace?

At first there's nothing Bernie and Chet can do -- it's a police matter and they have no standing in the case. But then they're hired by Popo the Clown, who has his own reasons for wanting to find out what has become of the mysteriously missing duo.  After Chet takes a few sniffs in Peanut's trailer and picks up her one-of-a-kind scent, he and Bernie are in hot pursuit, heading far away from the bright lights of the traveling show and into the dark desert night.

Some very dangerous people would prefer that Chet and Bernie disappear for good and will go to any lengths to make that happen.  Across the border in Mexico and separated from Bernie, Chet must use all his natural strength and doggy smarts to try to save himself -- not to mention Bernie and a decidedly uncooperative Peanut, too.

WON FROM A LIFE BOUND BY BOOKS:



Crusade

by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie

The ultimate battle.

The ultimate love.

For the past two years, Jenn has lived and trained at Spain's Sacred Heart Academy Against the Cursed Ones.  She is among the few who have pledged to defend humanity or die trying. But the vampires are gaining power, and the battle has only just begun.

Forced to return home after death takes a member of her family, Jenn discovers that San Francisco is now a vampire stronghold.  As a lone hunter apart from her team, Jenn is isolated -- and at risk.  She craves the company of her fighting partner, Antonio: his protection, his reassurance, his touch. But a relationship with Antonio comes with its own dangers, and the more they share of themselves, the more Jenn stands to lose.

Then Jenn is betrayed by one who was once bound to protect her, causing her to doubt all she has held as true.  To survive, Jenn must find the courage to trust herself -- and her heart.

WHAT BOOKS FOUND A HOME WITH YOU THIS WEEK?