Mailbox Monday 3-23-09

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.

Here are some books from my mailbox!

Katt's in the Cradle by Ginger Kolbaba and Christy Scannell was received for a First Wild Card Tour. It has already been read and reviewed here.

Deadly Charms by Claudia Mair Burney was also received for a First Wild Card Tour. I have started this book and will be posting my review on Thursday - come back and check it out.

Description: When the ominous Thunders roll into Dr. Amanda Bell Brown's town, the sassy sleuth sees a storm brewing. Disgraced playboy preacher Ezekiel Thunder and his seductive first lady, Nikki, are on the comeback trail, but Bell is less than charmed by the pair. When their toddler, Baby Zeekie, is found dead from an accidental drowning, forensic psychologist Bell suspects foul play in the fatal family, especially after the mama in mourning flirts with Bell's estranged husband, Jazz. Bell is sickened by the woman's behavior and the thought of someone murdering an innocent child -- or is it morning sickness that's plaguing her? Between babies and bodies, she pushes past the limits to discover the deadly truth.

Yesterday's Embers by Deborah Raney was received for a First Wild Card Tour that is happening on Friday. Come back and see my review then!

From book cover: He never thought he'd be widowed. . .with five young children.

She never thought she'd be thirty and still single.

But is falling in need the same thing as falling in love?

On Thanksgiving Day, Douglas DeVore kissed his beloved wife good-bye, unaware that it would be the last time he'd see her-or their precious daughter Rachel. Left with five kids to raise on his own, and already juggling two jobs to make ends meet, Doug wonders how he'll manage moment by moment, much less day after day, without Kaye's love and support.

When Mickey Valdez, a daycare teacher, hears of the tragedy, she offers to lend a helping hand. After all, it isn't like she has a family of her own waiting for her at home. Her brothers are all happily married, but love seems to have passed her by.

Then a spark ignites. . .but will the flame be too hot to handle.

Hunger: A Gone Novel by Michael Grant was received from Harper Collins/Teen through Shelf Awareness.

The food ran out weeks ago. Kids are starving, but no one wants to come up with a solution. And each day, more and more kids are evolving, developing supernatural abilities that set them apart from the kids without powers.

Tension rises, and when an unthinkable tragedy occurs, chaos descends upon the town. It's the normal kids against the mutants. Each kid is out for himself, and even the good ones turn murderous.

But a larger problem looms. The Darkness, a sinister creature that has lived buried deep in the hills, begins calling to some of the teens in the FAYZ. Calling to them, guiding them, manipulating them.

The Darkness has awakened. And it is hungry.

The Lost Hours by Karen White I received after posting about it in a Waiting on Wednesday post. I am going to be hosting the author here around April 20th. So please come back and meet her!

Every woman should have a daughter to tell her stories to. Otherwise, the lessons learned are as useless as spare buttons from a discarded shirt. And all that is left is a fading name and the shape of a nose or the color of hair. The men who write the history books will tell you the stories of battles and conquests. But the women will tell you the stories of people's hearts.

Surviving the tragic accident that killed her parents has always made Piper Mills feel invincible. That is, until fate strikes again and a near-fatal fall from a horse destroys her dreams o becoming an Olympic equestrian. Feeling more fragile than ever, Piper returns to Savannah, and to the home she inherited from her grandparents, to retreat, recover, and reflect on all that she has lost.

It's during her recuperation that Piper discovers a secret room and torn pages from an old scrapbook that allude to a tragedy in her grandmother's past. Determined to untangle the mystery, Piper tracks down her grandmother's childhood friend, a woman named Lily, who clearly knows he truth - and the dark secrets hidden in the house. But Lily has secrets f her own - secrets she believes are better left forgotten. And for Piper to unearth the truth, she will have to be willing to open her heart to new relationships, heal the heartaches of the past, and find the courage to embrace the future.

And the last one I have time for tonight - When Skateboards Will Be Free by Said Sayrafiezadeh. I received this from Random House through Shelf Awareness.

With a profound gift for capturing the absurd in life, and a deadpan wisdom that comes from surviving a surreal childhood in the Socialist Workers Party, Said Sayrafiezadeh has crafted an unsentimental, funny, heartbreaking memoir.

Said's Iranian-born father and American Jewish mother had one thing in common: their unshakable conviction that the workers' revolution was coming. Separated since their son was nine months old, they each pursued a dream of the perfect socialist society. Pinballing with his mother between makeshift Pittsburgh apartments, falling asleep at party meetings, longing for the luxuries he's taught to despise, Said waits for the revolution that never, ever arrives. "Soon," is mother assures him, while his long-absent father quixotically runs as a socialist candidate for president in an Iran about to fall under the ayatollahs. Then comes the hostage crisis. The uproar that follows is the first time Said hears the word "Iran" in school. There he is suddenly forced to confront the combustible stew of hi identity: as an American, an Iranian, a Jew, a socialist. . .and a middle-school kid who loves football and video games.

Poised perfectly between tragedy and farce, here is a story by a brilliant young writer struggling to break away from the powerful mythologies of his upbringing and create a life - and a voice - of his own. Said Sayrafiezadeh's memoir is unforgettable.