MONDAY MEMES: MAILBOX & WHAT ARE YOU READING? — JULY 25

READING REFLECTIONS

Good morning, and welcome to another Monday in which we celebrate bookish things.

Mailbox Monday is hosted through this month by A Sea of Books.

What Are You Reading? is hosted by Book Journey.

I like planning out my reading week, so Monday is kind of that day of inventory.  We look at the books we received, read, and what we’re planning next.

 

MAILBOX MONDAY:

 

 

This past week, I received one book from another blogger, and the rest were my purchases from Amazon or Borders (going out of business sale).

 

1.  Hot House Flower, by Margot Berwin (Received from Staci, at Life in the Thumb).

Berwin delivers a bangup debut packed with adventure, betrayal, love and, naturally, rare plants. New York ad woman Lila Nova, increasingly disillusioned with her job and the city, becomes enchanted by David Exley, a handsome guy selling plants at a green market. Soon, she’s hooked on him, and her budding fascination with tropical plants leads her to a Laundromat that has a rare fern displayed in the window. Proprietor Armand quickly befriends Lila and gives her a trimming from the fern to take home, telling her if it forms roots, he’ll show her the nine special plants he keeps in the back room. When Exley sees the fern trimming, Lila tells him about Armand’s special plants, and soon the plants have been stolen and Exley has disappeared. Armand guilts Lila into coming to Mexico with him to find replacement plants, and there’s magic, romance, greenery and greed as Lila and Armand venture through the Yucatan, hooking up with potential love-interest Diego and running into the devious Exley. It’s a fun page-turner—escapist and wonderfully entertaining….

2.  Rock Bottom, by Erin Brockovich

Environmental and consumer advocate Brockovich has created a protagonist in her own image in this highly melodramatic thriller, the first in a new series. Angela Joy “AJ” Palladino left Scotia, W.Va., population 867, as an unwed 17-year-old mother following a terrible accident that almost killed her. Ten years later, after success and fame in a battle against Capital Power that earned her the sobriquet “the People’s Champion,” she returns to Scotia, to assist lawyer Zachariah Hardy in a fight against Masterson Mining’s new mountaintop removal project. When Hardy dies before AJ’s arrival, she teams with Hardy’s lawyer daughter, Elizabeth, to combat the company owned by dastardly Kyle Masterson and run by Kyle’s son, Cole, father of AJ’s son, David. As the two women wage an uphill battle against murderous opposition, Brockovich’s environmental message gets buried in a sludge pile of clichés….

3.  Burnt Mountain (e-book), by Anne Rivers Siddons

From one of our most acclaimed writers comes this dramatic tale of a well-born Southern woman whose life is forever changed by the betrayal of her mother and by the man she loves…

4.  An Uncertain Refuge (e-book), by Carolyn Rose

A child orphaned by violence. A woman sworn to protect and raise him. A killer come to claim him. A few deadly minutes in An Uncertain Refuge.

Kate Dalton lives by the rules of honesty and fair play until she steps between a battered woman and the man intent on killing her. Amanda Blake barely survives; her ex-husband dies by Kate’s hand. The repercussions force Kate from her job at a domestic violence shelter. Fleeing unwanted publicity and yearning to break with her past, she heads to the Oregon coast, burdened by a coerced promise to Amanda—to care for the nine-year-old son of the man she killed and shield him from the truth.

For several weeks Kate holds a tattered web of lies together. Then Way-Ray’s vengeful uncle murders Amanda, an ambush journalist tells the story, and the boy bolts in horror. Aided by a dangerous man she only half-trusts, Kate searches for the boy she’s come to love. But a sadistic killer intent on claiming his kin is watching every move.

 

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WHAT ARE YOU READING?

 

 

In a week filled with blogging, writing, and reading, it’s good to have a chance to reflect on it all.

ON THE BLOGS:

Excerpt from Chapter One of “Embrace the Whirlwind”

Updates in Row 80 Writing Challenge

 

BOOKS READ & REVIEWED-CLICK TITLES FOR REVIEWS:

1.  Never Knowing, by Chevy Stevens

2.  Escape, by Barbara Delinsky

3.  Heat Wave (e-book), by Nancy Thayer

4.  Goodie One Shoes, by Roz Siegel

 

WHAT’S UP NEXT?

1.  The Beach Trees, by Karen White

2.  Then Came You, by Jennifer Weiner

3.  Summer Rental (e-book), by Mary Kay Andrews

4.  Treasure Me (e-book), by Christine Nolfi

 

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So that’s it for this week…and since this is the final week in July, next week I’ll be posting my Monthly Wrap-Up, too.

I hope you all are having a great reading week and I’ll see you on the blog hop.