Welcome to another edition of our Monday Memes, including Mailbox Monday, hosted this month by Bluestocking; and What Are You Reading?, hosted by Book Journey.
MAILBOX MONDAY:
I received two books in the mail this week: one I purchased from Amazon, and the other I won in a contest at the lovely Socrates blog. Thanks, Yvonne!
1. The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, by Joshilyn Jackson (contest win)
“… buoyant and moving ….beautifully balanced between magical and realist fiction… closer in tone and voice to Alice Sebold’s ‘The Lovely Bones’ or Richard Ford’s Frank Bascombe trilogy.”
–Atlanta Journal Constitution“A ghost story, family psychodrama, and murder mystery all in one. Jackson’s latest is a wild, smartly calibrated achievement. A-.”
–Entertainment Weekly
2. The Little Women Letters, by Gabrielle Donnelly
“Gabrielle Donnelly’s THE LITTLE WOMEN LETTERS radiates a rare warmth and charm that had me smiling from beginning to end. The characters absolutely live, and the story is utterly compelling. I quite simply love Donnelly’s voice!” —Santa Montefiore, author of The French Gardener and The Mermaid Garden
“Witty, warm, and bubbling over with voice, The Little Women Letters is a love letter to and from a set of unforgettable heroines. Gabrielle Donnelly’s homage is just what a literary tribute should be: full of compassion, heart, and fun.” – – Erin Blakemore, author of The Heroine’s Bookshelf: Life Lessons, from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder
***
WHAT ARE YOU READING?
Last week I felt myself moving seamlessly from blogging to reading, with the occasional venture into my writing territory. I’m now polishing and tweaking my WIP.
Here Are a Few Blog Posts:
SPREADING HER WINGS – AN EXCERPT
6-12 CHECK-IN POST — POLISHING
SATURDAY POTPOURRI — SCENTS & SECRETS
Books Read & Reviewed – Click Titles for Reviews:
1. Disturbing the Peace, by Richard Yates
2. The Violets of March, by Sarah Jio
3. The Pumpkin Eater, by Penelope Mortimer
4. The Midwife’s Confession, by Diane Chamberlain
So What’s Up Next?
1. Whitethorn Woods, by Maeve Binchy (from the TBRs)
Nestled outside the once sleepy Irish village of Rossmore in a copse known as Whitethorn Woods is the shrine of St. Ann’s Well, which attracts so many of the faithful and hopeful that the little town overflows with visitors. This prompts a controversial proposal to construct a bypass highway that would divert traffic, ironically, right through the Woods, thus destroying the source of the town’s popularity. Worried that the shrine’s days are numbered, villagers flock to the Well, where they plead for everything from the restoration of a faltering love affair to the recognition of an ancestor’s legacy….
2. Dismantled, by Jennifer McMahon
“Dismantlement equals freedom.” “To understand the nature of a thing, it must be taken apart.” These are the credos of the Compassionate Dismantlers, a subversive clique of art majors in a Vermont college spearheaded by a sexy and diabolical prankster. Suz purports to be an eco-saboteur, but jealousy and revenge are her primary motives. How strangely bewitched her followers are, how dangerous their actions become, and how wretchedly things go wrong. Nine years after the outlaw group’s catastrophic demise, survivors Henry and Tess live isolated in the countryside, harboring a ruinous secret. Now it seems that the time of reckoning is at hand….
3. Dedication, by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus (from the TBRs)
The team behind The Nanny Diaries and Citizen Girl returns with another breezy chick lit portrayal of a woman wronged and, eventually, empowered….
4. The Year We Left Home (e-book), by Jean Thompson
“Lovely . . . Told with extraordinary grace . . . The clan at the center of Jean Thompson’s spare, startlingly resonant new novel remain inextricably linked to the place that made them, even as they reach for lives richer in both geography and purpose. But even minor characters receive the full attention of the author’s prodigious talents; each one is drawn so vividly that they never feel less than utterly real.” —Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly
***
So that’s my week, past and upcoming…I hope you will stop by and share your own tidbits.
Thanks for reminding me to buy The Girl Who Stopped Swimming. Thanks for participating.
LikeLike
Yes, isn’t it fun to be reminded of all the great books out there? thanks for stopping by, Brooke.
LikeLike
I have been wanting to read The Little Women Letters, hope you enjoy it.
LikeLike
Yes, I’m happy to have it, Anne…thanks for stopping by.
LikeLike
The Girl Who Stopped Swimming is good, but it’s probably my least favorite of all of Jackson’s work. I’m excited about The Little Women Letters.
LikeLike
Oh, interesting, Kathy…I haven’t read any of Joshilyn Jackson’s books yet, so I guess it will only get better. Thanks for stopping by.
LikeLike
A couple of good books in your mailbox. I enjoyed The Girl Who Stopped Swimming. The Little Women Letters is on my TBR list. Have a great week!
LikeLike
Thanks for stopping by, Mary. I am looking forward to both of these.
LikeLike
Little Women letters looks fascinating.
LikeLike
Thanks for stopping by, RAnn. Hope you have a great week.
LikeLike
So many very good books here. Enjoy them all.
LikeLike
Thanks for visiting, Mystica…have a great week!
LikeLike
Dismantled! What a cover! I have the Monday post up now 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks for stopping by, Sheila. Hope you have a great week. Yes, that Dismantled cover has been “spooking” me for awhile, so I finally grabbed it. LOL
LikeLike
Looks like you’ve got a great line-up! Have a great reading week.
And thanks for stopping by!
LikeLike
Thanks, Bev…glad you could stop by!
LikeLike
Thanks for stopping by my blog this morning! All of those books on your list sound very interesting! I’m definately adding The Girl Who Stopped Swimming to my list 🙂
LikeLike
Oh, glad you could return the visit, Bumps in the Road. I am excited about the books, too. Have a great week!
LikeLike
I’m going to have to check out The Girl who Stopped Swimming. Great books! Happy reading.
LikeLike
Thanks for stopping by, Mrs. Q. I am excited about that book, too.
LikeLike
Wow! You have been impressively prolific. I see quite a few titles I’ve been wanting to read. I guess I need to check out all those reviews now!
LikeLike
Thanks for stopping by, Lisa. Yes, it was a good week. Hope you have a good one, too.
LikeLike
The Little Women Letters seems to be a new favourite! Enjoy!!
My Bookshelf IMM
LikeLike
Thanks for visiting, Shirley. I am so looking forward to The Little Women Letters.
LikeLike
Fantastic haul! Looking forward to your thoughts!
LikeLike
Thanks, Nancy…I do hope to share some good thoughts soon.
LikeLike
Enjoy your mailbox, sounds good.
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/06/mailbox-monday-repairing-rainbows-by.html
LikeLike
Thanks, Mary Ann…you too!
LikeLike
The Little Women Letters sounds like my kind of read. Enjoy all your books!
LikeLike
I only recently discovered this one, and I can’t wait to dive in! Thanks for stopping by, Laura.
LikeLike
I celebrated 24 years of keeping a book diary. The flu kept me from reading at my usually insane pace but I did finish some books. Come see what they were.
LikeLike
I wish that I had kept a journal in my teens and twenties…or even later. I do remember a lot of what was happening, but it would have been better to have the details of a journal. Thanks for stopping by, Sarah.
LikeLike
I have The Little Women Letters and look forward to reading it. Little Women is one of my all time favorite reads so this book caught my eye.
LikeLike
Oh, mine too, Beth. I reread Little Women last year for a challenge and was happy that I still loved it. Looking forward to The Little Women Letters. Thanks for stopping by.
LikeLike
Every once in a while I like to go from Urban Fantasy to reading something like Maeve Binchy. Looks like you had a huge reading week. 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks for stopping by, Mardel…Yes, I had a good one. I liked the mix of books I had on my stack.
LikeLike
Dismantled sounds intriguing! I purchased one of her others, Promise Not to Tell, recently. Happy reading!
LikeLike
I’ve had Dismantled for quite awhile, and when I started seeing the newer one (Promise Not to Tell), I decided I’d better hurry and read this one…LOL
Thanks for stopping by, Dixie.
LikeLike
What a great reading/reviewing week you had! Very productive! The Girl Who Stopped Swimming seems like a great read. I’ll be interested in your opinion on The Little Women Letters – I love the cover, but the reviews I’ve read so far have been mixed at best. Dismantled – bought it, read it … didn’t really like it, though … maybe I’m not a fan of a whole lot of neuroses all in one group … but … there was a twist or two at the end that made it worth the read. The Year We Left Home went down as a DNF for me; maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood for it when I started it … I may try it again. Off to read some of your reviews!
LikeLike
It should be an interesting week, Julie. Thanks for stopping by…hope I do like them, but sometimes, when I think I’ll love a book, the opposite turns out to be true.
LikeLike
The Girl Who Stopped Swimming was a good book! Enjoy.
LikeLike
Thanks for stopping by, Nise…this will be my first time out with this author.
LikeLike
These sound fantastic, several of them are on my TBR list already 🙂 Hope you enjoy them!
LikeLike
Thanks for stopping by, Crystal…have a great week!
LikeLike
Great mailbox! I read The Girl Who Stopped Swimming last year!
Here is my Mailbox
LikeLike
Oh, that’s good to know, Andrea…thanks for stopping by.
LikeLike
I’m really curious about the Little Women Letters. Happy reading!
LikeLike
I’m looking forward to it, Anna…thanks for stopping by.
LikeLike
I love the cover for The Year We Left Home. I hope your week is going great!
LikeLike
So do I, Ryan….I have it on my Kindle, so I don’t get to look at it while I read…sigh. Thanks for stopping by.
LikeLike