Welcome to another Monday From the Interior, spotlighting Mailbox Monday and What Are You Reading?
Mailbox Monday will be hosted through November by The Mailbox Monday blog; and What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila, at Book Journey.
MAILBOX MONDAY:
This week, I received one review book, three books I purchased, and one download for Sparky, my Kindle.
Here’s what I got:
1. One Voice Too Many, by Paul Martin Midden (from the publisher)
Do we really know each other? Jeremy Walker seemed like a decent human being: hardworking, independent, intelligent. But he has a past that he can not quite shake and a terrible secret that only he knew. Despite a history of rocky relationships, he was determined to make a success of his relationship with Macy, an attractive woman who was similarly smart and independent. Will he succeed? The obstacles loom large.
2. Dirty Secret, by Jessie Sholl
To be the child of a compulsive hoarder is to live in a permanent state of unease. Because if my mother is one of those crazy junk-house people, then what does that make me?When her divorced mother was diagnosed with cancer, New York City writer Jessie Sholl returned to her hometown of Minneapolis to help her prepare for her upcoming surgery and get her affairs in order. While a daunting task for any adult dealing with an aging parent, it’s compounded for Sholl by one lifelong, complex, and confounding truth: her mother is a compulsive hoarder. Dirty Secret is a daughter’s powerful memoir of confronting her mother’s disorder, of searching for the normalcy that was never hers as a child, and, finally, cleaning out the clutter of her mother’s home in the hopes of salvaging the true heart of their relationship—before it’s too late.
Growing up, young Jessie knew her mother wasn’t like other mothers: chronically disorganized, she might forgo picking Jessie up from kindergarten to spend the afternoon thrift store shopping. Now, tracing the downward spiral in her mother’s hoarding behavior to the death of a long-time boyfriend, she bravely wades into a pathological sea of stuff: broken appliances, moldy cowboy boots, twenty identical pairs of graying bargain-bin sneakers, abandoned arts and crafts, newspapers, magazines, a dresser drawer crammed with discarded eyeglasses, shovelfuls of junk mail . . . the things that become a hoarder’s “treasures.” With candor, wit, and not a drop of sentimentality, Jessie Sholl explores the many personal and psychological ramifications of hoarding while telling an unforgettable mother-daughter tale.
3. The Corn Maiden, by Joyce Carol Oates
An incomparable master storyteller in all forms, in The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares Joyce Carol Oates spins six imaginative tales of suspense. “The Corn Maiden” is the gut-wrenching story of Marissa, a beautiful and sweet eleven-year-old girl with hair the color of corn silk. Taken by an older girl from her school who has told two friends in her thrall of the Indian legend of the Corn Maiden, in which a girl is sacrificed to ensure a good crop, Marissa is kept in a secluded basement and convinced that the world has ended. Marissa’s seemingly inevitable fate becomes ever more terrifying as the older girl relishes her power, giving the tale unbearable tension with a shocking conclusion. In “Helping Hands,” published here for the first time, a lonely woman meets a man in the unlikely clutter of a dingy charity shop and extends friendship. She has no idea what kinds of doors she may be opening. The powerful stories in this extraordinary collection further enhance Joyce Carol Oates’s standing as one of the world’s greatest writers of suspense.
4. 11/22/63 – Stephen King
On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? Stephen King’s heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination—a thousand page tour de force.
Following his massively successful novel Under the Dome, King sweeps readers back in time to another moment—a real life moment—when everything went wrong: the JFK assassination. And he introduces readers to a character who has the power to change the course of history.
Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.
A tribute to a simpler era and a devastating exercise in escalating suspense, 11/22/63 is Stephen King at his epic best.
5. Mudbound (e-book), by Hillary Jordan
Jordan’s beautiful debut (winner of the 2006 Bellwether Prize for literature of social responsibility) carries echoes of As I Lay Dying, complete with shifts in narrative voice, a body needing burial, flood and more. In 1946, Laura McAllan, a college-educated Memphis schoolteacher, becomes a reluctant farmer’s wife when her husband, Henry, buys a farm on the Mississippi Delta, a farm she aptly nicknames Mudbound. Laura has difficulty adjusting to life without electricity, indoor plumbing, readily accessible medical care for her two children and, worst of all, life with her live-in misogynous, racist, father-in-law. Her days become easier after Florence, the wife of Hap Jackson, one of their black tenants, becomes more important to Laura as companion than as hired help. Catastrophe is inevitable when two young WWII veterans, Henry’s brother, Jamie, and the Jacksons’ son, Ronsel, arrive, both battling nightmares from horrors they’ve seen, and both unable to bow to Mississippi rules after eye-opening years in Europe. Jordan convincingly inhabits each of her narrators, though some descriptive passages can be overly florid, and the denouement is a bit maudlin. But these are minor blemishes on a superbly rendered depiction of the fury and terror wrought by racism. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
***
WHAT ARE YOU READING?
And now for a look back at last week. On the face of things, it seems like I did more blogging than anything else.
Here’s What Happened:
MONDAY POTPOURRI – PAPER BLIZZARD
MIMOSA TIME: READING/WRITING COMPANION
CHOCOLATE: A “HEALTHY” GUILTY PLEASURE
THE PROTECTIVE LIMBS – A TREE’S STORY
Review: The Accidental Activist, by Alon Shalev (On blog tour, so review will be posted on 11/28/11) – 5/5 stars!
Review: Inseparable, by Dora Heldt (click title for review)
Review: When She Woke (e-book), by Hillary Jordan (click title for review)
What’s Up Next?
1. The Strangers on Montagu Street, by Karen White
2. The Sisters, by Nancy Jensen
3. Armed, by Elaine Macko
4. You Are My Only (e-book), by Beth Kephart
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That’s it for this week. Hope to enjoy this one as much as I did last week. Come on by and share your own reading weeks!
Just reading the synopsis for The Corn Maiden gave me chills. Enjoy your suspenseful reads!
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Oh, I think so, too, Laura! JCO does have a way of giving us a peek into the dark side.
Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your week!
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I really want to read The Corn Maiden. I’ve read only one other short story collection of her’s and I loved it.
Have a great week.
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I’m looking forward to it, too, Ryan. I don’t often like short story collections, but hers are fantastic.
Thanks for stopping by.
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Dirty Secret sounds like a fascinating read! I’m a pack rat, but go on periodic purges to make sure I don’t cross the line. How scary to grow up with a mother like that!
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I collect things, too….and I have to clear out occasionally as well. I think the difference, too, is in what we hang onto. But yes, it’s probably a fine line. Thanks for stopping by, Alexia 561.
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Glad you liked WHEN SHE WOKE. I need to read that one!
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Oh, I liked it so much I had to buy her first one, Mudbound, which you can see above. Thanks for stopping by, Chris.
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I have never read a Stephen King book, but 11/22/63 looks like one I would like to read!
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Yes, I’ve thought so ever since I first saw it….and I’m not one who likes most of what he writes. Thanks for stopping by, Anne.
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A ton of books, great mix. I also want to read A Dirty Secret.
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Yes, Marce, I first heard about Dirty Secret in a contest (which I didn’t win!), but I’ve had my eye on this one. Thanks for stopping by.
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You are my Only looks really good. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
http://brunettelibrarian.blogspot.com/
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I agree, Brunette Librarian. And I’ve never even read this author, but the cover, the blurb…all grabbed me. Thanks for stopping by.
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Sounds like a good week lined up! Love the cover for The Sisters 🙂
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Me too, Crystal. Hope you have a great week, too, and thanks for stopping by.
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Laurel you have some great looking books this week! Enjoy them all!
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Thanks, Sheila, I do plan to! And I’m glad you could stop by. Enjoy your week.
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I wish I lived next door so I could borrow a few of those fab books when you were done. Corn Maiden is about the only one I didn’t just add (or already had) my TBR list.
Enjoy the reading!
Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out
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Yes, wouldn’t it be fun if we could all easily swap the books and not have to buy as many? I’ll soon be running out of space again!
Thanks for stopping by, Shelleyrae.
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You’ve got some good choices this week. I’m listening to the Stephen King book now and even though I’m only on chapter 7, it’s already soooo good.
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I can’t imagine listening to a hefty book like that, but I guess if you’re doing it gradually….Thanks for stopping by, Leslie.
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I listen on my iPod so I get in a few hours a day while doing boring stuff around the house or out in the garden or in the car. So it should take me 2 weeks to listen to it, it’s 30 hours!
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The Corn Maiden sounds awesome, it’s already on my wishlist and I’m looking forward to your thoughts on The Sisters. Hope you enjoy You Are My Only; I did.
Have a wonderful week and happy reading 🙂
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Thanks, Teddyree…I agree about the books; and I have a feeling I’m going to love them! Glad you could stop by…and enjoy your week.
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My book club’s talking about reading the new Stephen King – I’m not sure what I think about that. I hope you love your new books.
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I think the Stephen King might work for a book club…but it is so huge. I’ve certainly read hefty books before, but nothing that long in awhile! Thanks for stopping by, Kathy.
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Busy week! Mudbound is on my to-read list and I want to read Karen White’s Charleston series someday. Enjoy those new books!
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Oh, I’m looking forward to Mudbound, after loving When She Woke! And I’m totally enjoying The Strangers on Montagu Street. Thanks for stopping by, Jenny Q.
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Mudbound looks good. I may have to try it out since it keeps popping up on my Goodreads recommendations. Happy reading!
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I had my eye on it for awhile, but after reading When She Woke, I had to have it! Thanks for stopping by, Holly, and enjoy your week.
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I see lots of good reading in that stack. Enjoy.
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Hope you enjoy your reading, too, RAnn…and thanks for stopping by.
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Dirty Secret sounds like an interesting, but possibly disturbing, read.
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Oh, I agree, Lisa…but I am definitely curious! Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your week.
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Thanks for stopping by my blog! The hoarder book as well as the Stephen King novel look like interesting reads..
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I think so, too, Book Snob Wannabe…hope you have a great week, and thanks for visiting.
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The Strangers on Montagu Street looks really good! I have written that down on my “DO WANT” list! Sounds like you have a lot of good reads ahead of you!
Here’s mine:
http://mustreadfaster.blogspot.com/2011/11/what-are-you-reading-monday.html
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I’m loving it, Melissa! Hope you have a fabulous week, and thanks for stopping by.
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Enjoy all your new books. I have never read a Stephen King novel.
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Great mailbox, The Corn Maiden caught my eye.
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/11/mailbox-monday_14.html
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Yes, I like the look of that one, too, Nicole. Thanks for stopping by.
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I have heard fantastic things about Mudbound. I picked up a copy at a library sale but haven’t gotten to it. I am wishing really hard for the new Karen White book too! I read the first book in the series and loved it.
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I’m excited about both of them, Beth. Thanks for stopping by…and enjoy your week. I read and liked the first Tradd St. book, too.
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The Sisters has been on my radar, tried to win a copy from Book Trib last week. All your books sound good. Enjoy!!
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Thanks, Lori…I like yours, too. Isn’t it fun to keep adding books to our wish lists? Glad you could stop by.
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Great mailbox! Hope you enjoy all your new books!
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Thanks, Elysium…hope you have a great wee, and I’m glad you could stop by.
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Wow, you have gotten so much reading and reviewing done! I’m very impressed. 🙂 Hopefully I can become a busy blogger like you!
– Jana @ http://thatartsyreadergirl.blogspot.com/
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I hope you enjoy your books. It was a good week for finishing wishlist books. But playing with the new recommendation feature on GoodReads has added even more books to the list! Please come see what I’m wishing for this week.
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Oh, I try to stay away from those features! LOL
Thanks for stopping by, Sarah, and enjoy your week.
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I’m hoping to try the Kephart. Enjoy!
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Thanks for visiting, Beth…I’m hoping to enjoy it really soon.
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Wow – The Corn Maiden sounds sad but interesting. Wonder how it ends up – you got some great sounding books!
Here’s my Mailbox! ~ Wendi
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I think so, too, Wendi….glad you could stop by, and enjoy your week.
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I read Dirty Little Secret which is the same plot as Dirty Secrets. Mudbound was so good.
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Oh, that’s interesting….which is probably why I’m often confused about the title! Thanks for stopping by, Nise.
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Wow, all the books look so good. Enjoy them!
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I definitely hope to do just that, Yvonne. Thanks for stopping by!
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Your mailbox books look so good!
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Thanks, Mary…I agree. Hope you have a great week, and thanks for visiting.
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The Corn Maiden sounds really good, and you almost can’t go wrong with King. I’ve read The House on Tradd Street and liked it. I’m sure I’ll get to the Stranger on Montagu Street someday! Enjoy your week!
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Thanks, Jennifer…I agree about The Corn Maiden and King. I’m loving The Stranger on Montagu Street. Glad you could stop by, and have a good week.
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Excellent looking books..many great reviews to come!
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Thanks, Staci….I love my book list this week. Glad you could stop by, and enjoy your week.
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I liked Mudbound a lot – hope you do as well. Glad to see you couldn’t resist the new S. King book 11/22/63….enjoy
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I think I will, Diane. I like the time period and the setting…and the author. And, sigh, I couldn’t resist 11/22/63. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week.
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I love the list of whats up next. What nice books to look forward to.
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Thanks, Mystica….glad you could stop by and share your thoughts. Have a great week!
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I think Dirty Secret would be a great moviator to purge some of my excess clutter in my spare bedroom. The show Hoarders always does that for me. Hope you enjoy it!
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Oh, I think it will be for me, too, Kim. I have lots of stuff, and while I tell myself (and others, like my daughter!) that it’s nice, decorative stuff, I do have to clear out now and then. Thanks for stopping by.
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