Books That Caught Our Eye

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Here at Mailbox Monday, we want to encourage participants to not only share the books they received, but to check out the books others have received.We encourage you to share the books that caught your eye in the comments.

Here are the books that caught our eye this week:

LESLIE:

Night Night, Sleep Tight by Hallie Ephron @Rainy Days and Mondays

From the award-winning author of There Was an Old Woman comes a riveting tale of domestic noir, infused with old Hollywood folklore and glamour, set in a town rife with egotism and backstabbing and where fame and infamy are often interchangeable.

Los Angeles 1986: When Deirdre Unger arrived in Beverly Hills to help her bitter, disappointed father sell his dilapidated house, she discovers his lifeless body floating face down in the swimming pool. At first, Deirdre assumes her father’s death was a tragic accident. But the longer she stays in town, the more she suspects that it is merely the third act in a story that has long been in the making.

The Dead Lands by Benjamin Percy @The Reading Date

In Benjamin Percy’s new thriller, a post-apocalyptic reimagining of the Lewis and Clark saga, a super flu and nuclear fallout have made a husk of the world we know. A few humans carry on, living in outposts such as the Sanctuary-the remains of St. Louis-a shielded community that owes its survival to its militant defense and fear-mongering leaders.

Then a rider comes from the wasteland beyond its walls. She reports on the outside world: west of the Cascades, rain falls, crops grow, civilization thrives. But there is danger too: the rising power of an army that pillages and enslaves every community they happen upon.

VICKI:

French Coast by Anita Hughes @The Reading Date

Serena has the job she’s always dreamed of and Chase, the man her heart never dared to. As a new editor at Vogue, she bags the biggest interview of the year with Yvette Renault, the infamous former editor of French Vogue, in The Carlton-InterContinental Hotel during the Cannes Film Festival. She eagerly jets off to France while Chase stays home, working with her father, a former senator, on his upcoming mayoral campaign.

Everything feels unbelievably perfect…until it doesn’t.

The Summer’s End by Mary Alice Monroe @Posting for Now and Bermudaonion

It is summer’s end and Sea Breeze, the family’s beloved estate on Sullivan’s Island, must be sold. It is an emotional time of transition as Mamaw and the three sisters each must face loss and find a new place in the world.

Harper, the youngest sister, arrived at Sea Breeze intending to stay only a weekend, but a rift with her wealthy, influential mother left her without direction or a home. During this remarkable summer, free from her mother’s tyranny and with the help of her half sisters, Harper discovered her talents and independent spirit.

But summer is ending, and the fate of Sea Breeze hinges on Harper’s courage to decide the course of her own life. To do so she must release her insecurities and recognize her newfound strengths. She must accept love fully into her life—the love of Mamaw, Carson, and Dora, the love of Sea Breeze and the lowcountry, and most of all, the love of a Wounded Warrior who has claimed her heart.

SERENA:

Donna Bell’s Bake Shop: Recipes and Stories of Family, Friends, and Food by Pauley Perrette, Darren Greenblatt, and Matthew Sandusky @I’d Rather Be at the Beach

The heartwarming story of how NCIS star Pauley Perrette and her two best friends created a Southern-style bake shop in Manhattan, a celebration of love and friendship with gorgeous photographs and delicious recipes.

Nestled in the heart of midtown New York is a little shop with a big story. An all-natural bake shop that specializes in Southern baked goods, Donna Bell’s is owned by Pauley Perrette, the actress who plays Abby Sciuto on CBS’s NCIS and her two best friends, Darren Greenblatt and Matthew Sandusky. It was named in honor of Pauley’s late mother, who is the beloved inspiration for everything they bake.

I just love NCIS and Abby Sciuto, but Pauley Perrette is awesome in all the interviews I’ve seen.  I love bakeries and this sounds like a bakery of love.

The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen, translated by Lola Rogers @Sam Still Reading

A highly contagious book virus, a literary society and a Snow Queen-like disappearing author ‘She came to realise that under one reality there’s always another. And another one under that.’ Only very special people are chosen by children’s author Laura White to join ‘The Society’, an elite group of writers in the small town of Rabbit Back. Now a tenth member has been selected: Ella, literature teacher and possessor of beautifully curving lips. But soon Ella discovers that the Society is not what it seems. What is its mysterious ritual, ‘The Game’? What explains the strange disappearance that occurs at Laura’s winter party, in a whirlwind of snow? Why are the words inside books starting to rearrange themselves? Was there once another tenth member, before her? Slowly, disturbing secrets that had been buried come to light… In this chilling, darkly funny novel, the uncanny brushes up against the everyday in the most beguiling and unexpected of ways.

This will be a great addition to those thrillers I’ve been reading that are translations and this is translated from Finnish, which should be interesting since I haven’t come across many, if any, of those.

What books caught your eyes this week?

Mailbox Monday

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I am ready for spring but winter seems to want to hold on a little longer, as we’ve had some freezing temperatures here in the Washington, D.C., area. It doesn’t make planning the garden planting any easier though. Bummer. But our daughter had a good weekend with her birthday party at the bowling alley with her friends. They had a great time, even though some of them have not bowled before and were a little shy. That’s four-year-old kids for you! They all warmed up to it eventually.  It was a good time, and they all played in the arcade afterward!

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Join in by adding your Mailbox Monday post to the linky below:

Be sure to stop back here on Wednesday when I will post a selection of Books That Caught Our Eye.

Books That Caught Our Eye

6 Comments

Here at Mailbox Monday, we want to encourage participants to not only share the books they received, but to check out the books others have received.We encourage you to share the books that caught your eye in the comments.

Here are the books that caught our eye this week:

Leslie:

Under a Dark Summer Sky by Vanessa Lafaye @Kim’s Cozy Book Nook

Heron Key is already weighed down with secrets when a random act of violence and a rush to judgment viscerally tear the town apart. As the little island burns under the sun and the weight of its inhabitants’ secrets, a devastating storm approaches, matching the volatile atmosphere in the town with the unstable sky above.

Beautifully written and seductive, Under a Dark Summer Sky is at once a glorious love story, a fascinating slice of social history, and a mesmerizing account of what it’s like to be in the eye of a hurricane.

This just sounds so good!

If She Did It by Jessica Treadway @Sam Still Reading

When Dawn introduces her family to her new boyfriend, Rud, they hide their unsettled feelings because they’re glad that Dawn, always an awkward child, seems to have finally blossomed.

Then Dawn’s parents are savagely beaten in their own bed, and though Hanna survives, Rud stands trial for Joe’s murder. Claiming her boyfriend’s innocence, Dawn initially estranges herself from everyone she knows, but when Rud wins an appeal, Dawn returns home saying she wants to support her mother.

Hanna knows that if she could only remember the details of that traumatic night, she could ensure her husband’s murderer remains in jail. But Hanna hadn’t realised that those memories may cause her to question everything she thought she knew about her daughter…

Thrillers…. I’m always drawn to the thrillers.

Vicki:

Finding Jake by Bryan Reardon @The Reading Date

While his successful wife goes off to her law office each day, Simon Connolly takes care of their kids, Jake and Laney. Now that they are in high school, the angst-ridden father should feel more relaxed, but he doesn’t. He’s seen the statistics, read the headlines. And now, his darkest fear is coming true. There has been a shooting at school.

Simon races to the rendezvous point, where he’s forced to wait. Do they know who did it? How many victims were there? Why did this happen? One by one, parents are led out of the room to reunite with their children. Their numbers dwindle, until Simon is alone.

Diamond Head by Cecily Wong @Bermudaonion

At the turn of the nineteenth-century, Frank Leong, a fabulously wealthy shipping industrialist, moves his family from China to the island of Oahu. But something ancient follows the Leongs to Hawaii, haunting them. The parable of the red string of fate, the cord which binds one intended beloved to her perfect match, also punishes for mistakes in love, passing a destructive knot down the family line.

When Frank is murdered, his family is thrown into a perilous downward spiral. Left to rebuild in their patriarch’s shadow, the surviving members of the Leong family try their hand at a new, ordinary life, vowing to bury their gilded past. Still, the island continues to whisper—fragmented pieces of truth and chatter, until a letter arrives two decades later, carrying a confession that shatters the family even further.

Serena:

Mommy & Me Bake by DK @Cindy’s Love of Books

Is your child a budding chef, always wanting to help in the kitchen? Do you want to encourage your child’s cooking aspirations, but need recipes that are safe for children and things that you can cook together? Look no further than Mommy & Me Bake, the cookbook designed to offer parent and child the opportunity to work together as a team while teaching basic baking skills. From simple kneading and mixing to creating whimsical designs and decorations that can be customized according to the creativity of your little chef, Mommy & Me Bake is designed to encourage experimentation, build self-esteem in your child, incorporate the silliness of cooking with a child, and encourage bonding and the joy of working together as parent and child. Every single recipe in Mommy & Me Bake is designed to teach, to be fun for children, and to taste delicious, so your child can be proud to share finished recipes at the family table or with friends!

My daughter loves to help out in the kitchen, and this sounds perfect for us.

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta @The Infinite Curio

What if — whoosh, right now, with no explanation — a number of us simply vanished? Would some of us collapse? Would others of us go on, one foot in front of the other, as we did before the world turned upside down? That’s what the bewildered citizens of Mapleton, who lost many of their neighbors, friends and lovers in the event known as the Sudden Departure, have to figure out. Because nothing has been the same since it happened — not marriages, not friendships, not even the relationships between parents and children.

This sounds fantastic, and I cannot imagine what happened to these people. I’d love to see why they disappeared.

What books caught your eyes this week?

Mailbox Monday

9 Comments

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

The weather has been hot and cold lately, and we even had more snow!  Crazy weather.  It’s been a very long weekend, and I’m exhausted.  I really need a nap.  I hope everyone else is enjoying their Sunday.

Join in by adding your Mailbox Monday post to the linky below:

Be sure to stop back here on Wednesday when I will post a selection of Books That Caught Our Eye.

Books That Caught Our Eye

3 Comments

Another big week at work, so I don’t know how much time I’ll have for blogging, commenting, or reading this week.  But I really just need a nap.  The allergy season is just around the corner, and that means my head will be very foggy in the coming months.  I hope you are all feeling well and reading some great books.

Here at Mailbox Monday, we want to encourage participants to not only share the books they received, but to check out the books others have received.We encourage you to share the books that caught your eye in the comments.

Here are the books that caught our eye this week:

Leslie:

Wild Wood by Posie Graeme-Evans @Silver’s Reviews

For fans of Diana Galbaldon’s Outlander series comes a gripping and passionate new historical novel. Intrigue, ancient secrets, fairy tales, and the glorious scenery of the Scottish borders drive the story of a woman who must find out who she really is.

Jesse Marley calls herself a realist; she’s all about the here and now. But in the month before Charles and Diana’s wedding in 1981 all her certainties are blown aside by events she cannot control. First she finds out she’s adopted. Then she’s run down by a motor bike. In a London hospital, unable to speak, she must use her left hand to write. But Jesse’s right-handed. And as if her fingers have a will of their own, she begins to draw places she’s never been, people from another time—a castle, a man in armor. And a woman’s face.

Something a little different for me, but I’m an eclectic reader.

The Wonder Garden by Lauren Acampora @BermudaOnion

In her stunning debut collection, “The Wonder Garden,” Lauren Acampora brings to the page with enchanting realism the myriad lives of a suburban town and lays them bare. These linked stories take a trenchant look at the flawed people of Old Cranbury, incisive tales that reveal at each turn the unseen battles we play out behind drawn blinds, the creeping truths from which we distract ourselves, and the massive dreams we haul quietly with us and hold close.

Short story collections appeal to me when they are linked, or have a common theme. These sound intriguing.

Vicki:

The Cozy Cookbook by a group of mystery writers @Book Dilettante

Great meals don’t have to be a mystery—but they can come from a mystery. Selecting the most delicious recipes from some of the most popular names in crime solving, The Cozy Cookbook serves up mouth-watering appetizers, entrèes, and desserts that will leave your family or book club group asking, “Whodunit?”

In addition to recipes, choose a sleuth du jour from our menu of mystery series and get a taste of each of our authors’ bread and butter—page-turning puzzles and stay-up-all-night suspense in excerpts from their bestselling works.

Whether you like your meals sautéed, roasted, baked, or served cold like revenge, The Cozy Cookbook has something to satisfy every mystery fan.

Cozy Food by Nancy Lynn Jarvis @Fiction Books

What happens when 128 cozy mystery writers get together to do a cookbook? You get more than 220 recipes that are as varied and interesting as an amateur sleuth’s day job. Regional recipes come from every part of the United States and England — a couple find their way from Australia and Italy, too — and from diverse times. There are recipes from people looking to keep gluten out of their lives, eat vegetarian, or make a treat or two for their furry four-legged friends. And yes, there are recipes that appeal to the sweet tooth, lots of them, in fact. There’s no mystery about what happens when cozy writers get together. They bring the wit, inventiveness, and adventure found in their books right along with their recipes. The recipes are introduced by their authors and linked to the writer bios in the back of the book. You can look up your favorite cozy writer and see which recipes are their favorites; they’ll tell you what the recipe means to them. Or you can enjoy a dish and then link to the recipe’s author’s biography and books. Either way you enjoy the cookbook, you’re sure to find great new recipes to make and terrific new cozy authors to read.

Serena:

You Know What I’m Sayin’?: Poetry * Drama by Daniel García Ordaz @Reviews by Martha’s Bookshelf

El Zarape Press presents its first collection of poetry by the eclectic Daniel Garcia Ordaz, The Poet Mariachi, “the voice of the Rio Grande Valley” (Texas). You Know What I’m Sayin’? is a celebration of the common experience of language and culture transfiguring time and place and juxtaposing the politics of urban hip-hop America with the lyricism of rural deep South Texas, a retelling of ancient history sung by a contemporary voice. With an introduction by Fulbright Scholar Dr. Debbie Cole, a linguistic anthropologist. Mainly English; some bilingual (English/Spanish) pieces.

I love when I see poetry in other bloggers’ mailboxes, and I cannot resist adding them to my own TBR list.

The Cozy Cookbook by a variety of authors @Book Dilettante

Great meals don’t have to be a mystery—but they can come from a mystery. Selecting the most delicious recipes from some of the most popular names in crime solving, The Cozy Cookbook serves up mouth-watering appetizers, entrèes, and desserts that will leave your family or book club group asking, “Whodunit?”

In addition to recipes, choose a sleuth du jour from our menu of mystery series and get a taste of each of our authors’ bread and butter—page-turning puzzles and stay-up-all-night suspense in excerpts from their bestselling works.

Whether you like your meals sautéed, roasted, baked, or served cold like revenge, The Cozy Cookbook has something to satisfy every mystery fan.

I am loving these cookbooks showing up in people’s mailboxes!  I always like trying out new recipes.

What books caught your eyes this week?

Mailbox Monday

8 Comments

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

This past week has left me exhausted with all of the doctors appointments, ballet, and swimming lessons, plus she had picture day at her daycare. My daughter was all excited to bring her ninja turtle for one of her poses, and she was excited to spend her birthday and Valentine’s Day money from her Nana and Grampie on something to organize her room. We did all of that in the last 5 days. I’m ready for a nap, but I’ll probably be reading. What have you been up to?

Join in by adding your Mailbox Monday post to the linky below:

 

Be sure to stop back here on Wednesday when I will post a selection of Books That Caught Our Eye.

Books That Caught Our Eye

9 Comments

I’m so glad I was able to find a few minutes to get the mailbox post up this weekend, even as we had a birthday bash for our now 4-year-old girl!  How time flies.  She had a great time with friends, and of course, a My Little Pony birthday cake and decorations.

But I digress, we’re here to talk about books.

Here at Mailbox Monday, we want to encourage participants to not only share the books they received, but to check out the books others have received.We encourage you to share the books that caught your eye in the comments.

Here are the books that caught our eye this week:

Leslie:

Born with Teeth, A Memoir by Kate Mulgrew @BermudaOnion.

We know Kate Mulgrew for the strong women she’s played–Captain Janeway on Star Trek; the tough-as-nails “Red” on Orange is the New Black. Now, we meet the most inspiring and memorable character of all: herself. By turns irreverent and soulful, laugh-out-loud funny and heart-piercingly sad, BORN WITH TEETH is the breathtaking memoir of a woman who dares to live life to the fullest, on her own terms.

I’m a Trek fan and I didn’t know Kate Mulgrew wrote a memoir. Should be interesting!

Girl in the Moonlight by Charles Dubow @Book Dilettante.

The author of Indiscretion returns with a scorching tale of love, passion, and obsession, about one man’s all-consuming desire for a beautiful, bewitching, and beguiling woman.

Since childhood, Wylie Rose has been drawn to the charming, close-knit Bonet siblings. But none affected him more than the enchanting Cesca, a girl blessed with incandescent beauty and a wild, irrepressible spirit.

Growing up, Wylie’s friendship with her brother, Aurelio, a budding painter of singular talent, brings him near Cesca’s circle. A young woman confident in her charms, Cesca is amused by Wylie’s youthful sensuality and trusting innocence. Toying with his devotion, she draws him closer to her fire—ultimately ruining him for any other woman.

Anyone else notice that a lot of books have the word ‘girl’ in the title?

Vicki:

The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook by assorted mystery writers @Bermudaonion

The Mystery Writers of America have joined forces to deliver this superb collection of more than 100 wickedly good recipes. From Mary Higgins Clark’s Game Night Chili and Harlan Coben’s Crab Meat Dip to Scott Turow’s Innocent Frittata and Kathy Reich’s Shrimp Scampi, this cookbook offers one tasty treat after another. Complete with a glamorous art-deco design and intriguing sidebars on the surprising—and sometimes deadly—links between food and foul play, this is the ultimate cookbook for crime aficionados.

Daughter by Jane Shemilt @Tribute Books Mama

Jenny is a successful family doctor, the mother of three great teenagers, married to a celebrated neurosurgeon.

But when her youngest child, fifteen-year-old Naomi, doesn’t come home after her school play, Jenny’s seemingly ideal life begins to crumble. The authorities launch a nationwide search with no success. Naomi has vanished, and her family is broken.

As the months pass, the worst-case scenarios—kidnapping, murder—seem less plausible. The trail has gone cold. Yet for a desperate Jenny, the search has barely begun. More than a year after her daughter’s disappearance, she’s still digging for answers—and what she finds disturbs her. Everyone she’s trusted, everyone she thought she knew, has been keeping secrets, especially Naomi. Piecing together the traces her daughter left behind, Jenny discovers a very different Naomi from the girl she thought she’d raised.

Serena:

The Body Electric by Beth Revis @Infinite Curio

Ella Shepherd has dedicated her life to using her unique gift—the ability to enter people’s dreams and memories using technology developed by her mother—to help others relive their happy memories.

But not all is at it seems.

Ella starts seeing impossible things—images of her dead father, warnings of who she cannot trust. Her government recruits her to spy on a rebel group, using her ability to experience—and influence—the memories of traitors. But the leader of the rebels claims they used to be in love—even though Ella’s never met him before in her life. Which can only mean one thing…

The first thing that attracted me was the cover, but I also enjoy these books about rebels and memory influencing. Couldn’t resist this one this week.

The Cherry Harvest by Lucy Sanna @Book Dilettante

A coming-of-age story and love story, laced with suspense, which explores a hidden side of the home front during World War II, when German POWs were put to work in a Wisconsin farm community . . . with dark and unexpected consequences.

WWII books are always was draw for me, and I like to learn about aspects that I’m not as familiar with, like German POW camps in the United States.

What books caught your eyes this week?
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