Monday, November 29, 2010

Mailbox Monday - November 29th- 2010




Welcome to Mailbox Monday, where readers share with others, all of the books that arrived in their mailbox for the previous week.  This month’s host is Julie from Knitting and Sundries.


Here’s what came my way:




A Cup of Friendship; Deborah Rodriguez  ......(Amazon Vine)....
(Amazon website) From the author of the “bighearted . . . inspiring” (Vogue) memoir Kabul Beauty School comes a fiction debut as compelling as real life: the story of a remarkable coffee shop in the heart of Afghanistan, and the men and women who meet there—thrown together by circumstance, bonded by secrets, and united in an extraordinary friendship.

After hard luck and some bad choices, Sunny has finally found a place to call home—it just happens to be in the middle of a war zone. The thirty-eight-year-old American’s pride and joy is the Kabul Coffee House, where she brings hospitality to the expatriates, misfits, missionaries, and mercenaries who stroll through its doors. She’s especially grateful that the busy days allow her to forget Tommy, the love of her life, who left her in pursuit of money and adventure.Working alongside Sunny is the maternal Halajan, who vividly recalls the days before the Taliban and now must hide a modern romance from her ultratraditional son—who, unbeknownst to her, is facing his own religious doubts. Into the café come Isabel, a British journalist on the trail of a risky story; Jack, who left his family back home in Michigan to earn “danger pay” as a consultant; and Candace, a wealthy and well-connected American whose desire to help threatens to cloud her judgment.

When Yazmina, a young Afghan from a remote village, is kidnapped and left on a city street pregnant and alone, Sunny welcomes her into the café and gives her a home—but Yazmina hides a secret that could put all their lives in jeopardy. As this group of men and women discover that there’s more to one another than meets the eye, they’ll form an unlikely friendship that will change not only their own lives but the lives of an entire country.

Brimming with Deborah Rodriguez’s remarkable gift for depicting the nuances of life in Kabul, and filled with vibrant characters that readers will truly care about, A Cup of Friendship is the best kind of fiction—full of heart yet smart and thought-provoking

Blind Your Ponies; Stanley Gordon West - (shelf awareness) ...Hope is hard to come by in the hard-luck town of Willow Creek. Sam Pickett and five young men are about to change that.Sam Pickett never expected to settle in this dried-up shell of a town on the western edge of the world. He's come here to hide from the violence and madness that have shattered his life, but what he finds is what he least expects. There's a spirit that endures in Willow Cree, Montana. It seems that every inhabitant of this forgotten outpost has a story, a reason for taking a detour to this place--or a reason for staying. As the coach of the hapless high school basketball team (zero wins, ninety-three losses), Sam can't help but be moved by the bravery he witnesses in the everyday lives of people--including his own young players--bearing their sorrows and broken dreams. How do they carry on, believing in a future that seems to be based on the flimsiest of promises? Drawing on the strength of the boys on the team, sharing the hope they display despite insurmountable odds, Sam finally begins to see a future worth living.Author Stanley Gordon West has filled the town of Willow Creek with characters so vividly cast that they become real as relatives, and their stories--so full of humor and passion, loss and determination--illuminate a path into the human heart.  

In the Woods; Tana French -  (win from Jenners) Irish author French expertly walks the line between police procedural and psychological thriller in her debut. When Katy Devlin, a 12-year-old girl from Knocknaree, a Dublin suburb, is found murdered at a local archeological dig, Det. Rob Ryan and his partner, Cassie Maddox, must probe deep into the victim's troubled family history. There are chilling similarities between the Devlin murder and the disappearance 20 years before of two children from the same neighborhood who were Ryan's best friends. Only Maddox knows Ryan was involved in the 1984 case. The plot climaxes with a taut interrogation by Maddox of a potential suspect, and the reader is floored by the eventual identity and motives of the killer. A distracting political subplot involves a pending motorway in Knocknaree, but Ryan and Maddox are empathetic and flawed heroes, whose partnership and friendship elevate the narrative beyond a gory tale of murdered children and repressed childhood trauma. (May)

The Anatomy of Ghosts ; Andrew Teller .....( shelf awareness) 1786, Jerusalem College, Cambridge: they say Jerusalem is haunted by Mrs. Whichcote's ghost. Frank Oldershaw claims he saw her in the garden, where she drowned. Now he's under the care of a physician. Desperate to salvage her son's reputation and restore him to health, Lady Anne Oldershaw employs John Holdsworth, author of The Anatomy of Ghosts, an attack on the existence of ghostly phenomena. But his powers of reason have other challenges. Dreams of his dead wife and Elinor, the Master's wife, haunt him. At the heart of it all is the mystery of what happened to Sylvia Whichcote in the claustrophobic confines of Jerusalem.

Hope your mailbox was filled to the brim.

35 comments:

  1. Well done, you have some interesting books there. I especially like the look and sound of In The Woods.

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  2. Great mailbox, Diane. We've had In The Woods on our shelf for a couple of years. My husband read it (and liked it) but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Maybe 2011 will be the year, lol. Enjoy all your new books!

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  3. A Cup of Friendship sounds very good. I read/listened to Kabul Beauty School so this one intrigues me. Plus, the cover art is inviting. I've heard great things about Tana French's writing. I've taken Into the Woods out of the library but returned it unread. I'll look forward to your reviews.

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  4. In the woods and ghosts, good thing they are not together!

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  5. I also got a copy of The Anatomy of Ghosts and am really excited about it! I usually don't ever read the back flap, and like to go into things blind, but I did read it on this book, and think it sounds amazing. I hope you have a wonderful time with all your new arrivals!

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  6. Good selection of new books, Diane. In the Woods is still on my wish list even though I've read some conflicting reviews about it. Have a great week and enjoy your new books.

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  7. Nice selection of books and got to go read your review of Forgotten Garden. Hope you have The Distant Hours, started it this weekend and AMAZING :)

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  8. "A Cup Of Friendship" definitely sounds like one that I would love to read. Enjoy all of your new additions!

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  9. Nice mailbox Diane.
    I am particularly intrigued by The Anatomy of Ghosts, and will be looking for your review :)

    Enjoy your week reading!

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  10. Ooh, spooky cover on In the Woods...sounds good, too.

    So does A Cup of Friendship...enjoy them all!

    Thanks for visiting my blog.

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  11. Great mailbox, Diane! You have some excellent reading in store for you. :)

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  12. Nice mailbox! I'd like to read one of French's novels someday! Here's my Mailbox. Happy reading!

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  13. I received for review Season of Seduction by Jennifer Haymore from The Book Tree.

    Although the widowed Lady Rebecca has sworn off marriage, men are another matter. London's cold winter nights have her dreaming of warmer pursuits-like finding a lover to satisfy her hungry heart. Someone handsome, discreet, and most importantly as uninterested in marriage as she is. Someone like Jack Fulton.

    A known adventurer and playboy, Jack seems like the perfect choice. There's just one problem: Jack isn't interested in an affair. He needs the beautiful, mysterious Lady Rebecca to be his wife. And he doesn't have much time to persuade her. A secret from Jack's past is about to surface, and by Christmas Day he'll be either married to Rebecca or dead.

    ***

    I received for review A Very Simple Crime by Grant Jerkins from Berkley Trade.

    A twisting debut novel of murder and dark family secrets from a riveting new voice in crime fiction.

    A murdered woman. A grieving husband. And their son-a mentally handicapped adult with a history of violent outbursts. A very simple case. Or is it?

    Leo Hewitt, an Assistant DA once blamed for setting free a notorious child-killer, is eager to redeem himself with this intimate and grisly crime. As he digs below the surface he discovers more than he ever anticipated-including an emotionally disturbed wife, a husband who'd do anything to escape his disastrous marriage, and an accused young man with no apparent means of defense. But with each shocking new revelation, Leo is only led deeper and deeper into the darkness-an inescapable trap of blood bonds and twisted family secrets.

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  14. They all look good! In The Woods is on my TBR shelf too and I've heard lots of good things about it.

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  15. Oh Cup of Friendship looks great!

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  16. I received a copy of The Anatomy of Ghosts from the publisher and I am really excited about it. !

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  17. I got Blind Ponies too and that one sounds pretty awesome..hope we're not disappointed!

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  18. These all sound good -- and they're none I've heard of! I can't wait to see your reviews!

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  19. I loved In the Woods. I have the sequel, The Likeness, in my TBR pile now. Anatomy of Ghosts looks incredible. I can't wait for your review!

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  20. Hmmm...I hadn't heard of any of these before but they all sound good - enjoy your reading this week!

    Sue

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  21. I enjoyed In the Woods (but her next one, The Likeness is even better!). Happy reading!

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  22. A cup of friendship and the Tana French book are the two which are interesting for me!

    Will wait to see what you think of them.

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  23. Another great week Diane! I think A Cup of Friendship looks especially promising.

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  24. I LOVED The Woods! Can't wait to hear what you think of the ending. . .

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  25. I have Blind Your Ponies as well -- looking forward to reading this one. Anatomy of Ghosts is one that I'd love to read!

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  26. Great mailbox. I keep meaning to read In the Woods - so many people have loved it.

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  27. I received Blind Your Ponies as well. I think it looks like it will be very good. A Cup of Friendship sounds very good also and I will be watching for your review of it. Happy reading!

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  28. In the Woods has been on my virtual TBR for far too long. I really need to make time for Tana French! Enjoy!

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  29. I'm curious about In the Woods, so I look forward to your post on that one.

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  30. So nice to see "In The Woods" safely at your home!!! I hope you like it as much as I did!

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  31. Happy reading! I've been wanting to get In the Woods for the longest time.

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  32. In the Woods is fabulous. I hope you'll enjoy it. I actually need to read the third one in that series.

    And, Blind your Ponies - what a title!

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  33. I ended up with A Cup of Friendship as well. I keep considering reading In the Woods, but it sounds a bit too mystery-esque for me. I'll be interested to see what you think of it!

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  34. Very good mailbox this week - In the Woods has a genuinely stark, but yet still creepy cover - I like it. A Cup of Friendship seems as though it will be totally enjoyable. I also have Anatomy of Ghosts and Blind Your Ponies ... they both seem as though they will be awesome reads! Enjoy!

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