Mailbox Monday! (May 2, 2011)

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

 

 

Graveminder

by Melissa Marr

 

Maylene Barrow bears a special responsibility in the town of Claysville, a duty to the newly departed that keeps all she knows and loves safe.

 

Rebekkah Barrow, Maylene's granddaughter, left Claysville a decade ago, trying to put painful memories behind her.

 

William Montgomery was Claysville's Undertaker and Maylene's best friend for a lifetime.

 

Byron Montgomery, following in his father's footsteps as the town's new Undertaker, is tied to the Barrow women -- first Rebekkah's dead sister, Ella, and now Rebekkah -- in ways he is only beginning to understand.

 

But evil has been let loose in Claysville, and now Maylene is dead.  It falls to Rebekkah to return to the town -- and the man -- she left behind to stop a monster and keep the dead in their place.

 

 

A Dog Named Slugger

by Leigh Brill

 

"I have cerebral palsy. I walk funny and my balance is bad. I fall a lot. My hands shake, too. That means I'm not so good at carrying things. And if I drop stuff, sometimes it's hard to just bend down and get it." I waited anxiously for the interviewer's response. She smiled. "It sounds like a service dog could be great for you."


So began Leigh Brill's journey toward independence and confidence, all thanks to a trained companion dog named Slugger. The struggling college student and the Labrador with "a coat like sunshine" and a tail that never stopped wagging became an instant team. Together, they transformed a challenge into a triumph, eventually inspiring and educating all whom they met.

 

The Soldier's Wife

by Margaret Leroy

 

A lush, atmospheric story of love, war and sacrifice set during the occupation of the small Channel Island of Guernsey during World War II asks the question:

"How well do you really know someone?"

 

As the war draws closer and closer to Guernsey and her home, Vivienne de la Mare knows that there will be sacrifices to be made.  Not just for herself, but for her two young daughters and for her mother-in-law, for whom she cares while her husband is away fighting.

 

What she does not know nor expect is that she will fall in love with one of the enigmatic German soldiers who take up residence in the house next door to her home.  As their relationship intensifies, so do the pressures on Vivienne.  Food and resources grow scant, dementia takes hold of her mother-in-law, and the restrictions placed upon the residents of the island grow with each passing week.  Though Vivienne knows the perils of her love affair with Gunther, she believes that she can keep their relationship -- and her family -- safe.  But when her young daughter befriends a prisoner from a work camp, she must decide if she is willing to risk her personal happiness for the life of a stranger.

 

A novel full of grand passion and intensity, The Soldier's Wife makes readers take pause and wonder "What would you do for your family?"  "What should you do for a stranger?"  and "What would you do for love?"

 

 

Wildefire

by Karsten Knight

 

Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She's struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life.  When Eve's violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California's redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her.

 

But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn't go as planned.  Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school -- being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot local park ranger -- Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood. . . and she's one of them.  To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she's got some strange abilities of her own.  With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time. . .

 

And when warm and cold fronts collide, there's guaranteed to be a storm.

 

 

Enclave

by Ann Aguirre

 

WELCOME TO THE APOCALYPSE

 

Deuce lives in an enclave, deep underground. Her friends are her family; her life revolves around training to become a Huntress, one of the elite cadres who protect the enclave.

 

Deuce is partnered with a mysterious Hunter named Fade, who is said to have lived in the surface world as a young boy.  When she and Fade discover that the neighboring enclave has been decimated by the tunnel monsters -- or Freaks -- which seem to be growing more and more organized, the elders refuse to listen to warnings.  And when Deuce and Fade are exiled from the enclave, the girl born in darkness must survive in daylight, in the ruins of a city whose population has dwindled to a few dangerous gangs.  As the two are guided by Fade's long-ago memories, they face dangers, and feelings, unlike any they've ever known.

 

 

A Time for Patriots

by Dale Brown

 

When murderous bands of militiamen begin roaming the western United States and attacking government agencies, it will take a dedicated group of the nation's finest and toughest civilian airmen to put an end to the homegrown insurgency.  U.S. Air Force Lieutenant-General Patrick McLanahan vows to take to the skies to join the fight, but when his son, Bradley, also signs up, they find themselves caught in a deadly game against a shadowy opponent.

 

When the stock markets crash and the U.S. economy falls into a crippling recession, everything changes for newly elected president Kenneth Phoenix.  Politically exhausted from a bruising and divisive election, Phoenix must order a series of massive tax cuts and wipe out entire cabinet-level departments to reduce government spending.  With reductions in education and transportation, an incapacitated National Guard, and the loss of public safety budgets, entire communities of armed citizens band together for survival and mutual protection.  Against this dismal backdrop, a SWAT team is ambushed and radioactive materials are stolen by a group calling themselves the Knights of the True Republic.  Is the battle against the government about to be taken to a new and deadlier level?

 

In this time of crisis, a citizen organization rises to the task of protecting their fellow countrymen:  the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), the U.S. Air Force auxiliary.  The Nevada Wing -- led by retired Air Force Lieutenant-General Patrick McLanahan, his son, Bradley, and other volunteers -- uses their military skills in the sky and on the ground to hunt down violent terrorists.  But how will Patrick respond when extremists launch a catastrophic dirty bomb attack in Reno, spreading radiological fallout for miles?  And when Bradley is caught in a deadly double-cross that jeopardizes the CAP, Patrick will have to fight to find out where his friends' loyalties lie:  Are they with him and the CAP or with the terrorists?

 

With A Time for Patriots, the New York Times bestselling master of the modern thriller Dale Brown brings the battle home to explore a terrifying possibility -- the collapse of the American republic.

 

 

Original Sin

by Beth McMullen

 

Seeing Lucy Hamilton, you would think she is just like any other suburban stay-at-home San Francisco mom.  She takes her three-year-old son Theo to the beach, playground, and the zoo.  She makes organic applesauce, folds laundry, and plays on the floor with Matchbox cars until her knees ache.  What no one knows about Lucy, not even her adoring husband Will, is that for nine years she was known as Sally Sin, a spy for the USAWMD (United States Agency for Weapons of Mass Destruction).  And that's just the way Lucy wants to keep it -- a secret.

 

Ian Blackford, a notorious illegal arms dealer and Lucy's long-forgotten nemesis, returns to the USAWMD's radar, and they are forced to call Lucy back to action to lure Blackford out into the open.  As she races to unravel the mystery that surrounds Blackford's return (and get dinner on the table), she realizes that the answers she needs lie in a past that she's tried very hard to forget.  In a race against time, Lucy must fight to save herself, her family -- and, oh yes -- the world.

 

Now, True Lies meets I Don't Know How She Does It in a rollicking debut novel that reminds us all that "some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall."

 

 

 

E-Books received:

Echoes of Savanna

by Lucinda Moebius

 

Every generation has their defining moments, events that change history and turn the course of lives. Forever will the children of that generation be identified by those moments. Savanna Taylor is a medical doctor in 2036, the same year terrorists release a series of plagues and viruses into the world. She is a nineteen year old Brain Trust whose task it is to find a cure for the diseases and develop vaccines to prevent their further spread. The world is thrown in turmoil and Savanna needs to find a way to survive with her sanity and family intact. Can Savanna cope in a world in constant flux brought on by war and disease? Can she save the world and protect her loved ones or will she make the ultimate sacrifice? How will she be defined?



What books came home to you last week?