Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia, formerly from The Printed Page, where book lovers share the titles they received for review, purchased, or otherwise obtained over the past week. Mailbox Monday currently is on tour, and this month’s host is BookNAround.
I bought these for a whopping $1.75 (total!) at the library sale:
The Gospel of Judas by Simon Mawer (Amazon/IndieBound)
A Roman Catholic priest experiences a crisis of faith — at the same time that he finds himself attracted to a married woman. A scroll is discovered near Jerusalem that, if authentic, could open Christianity to a complete reinterpretation. A dangerous passion ignites and secretly smolders in Fascist-dominated Rome during World War II. These and other brilliant threads are woven into a magnificent literary entertainment — a novel that resonates with tales of love and betrayal as it deals profoundly with questions of faith, identity, individual responsibility, and what it means to believe. (publisher’s summary)
My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck by Mary Pope Osborne (Amazon/IndieBound)
In a diary that brings to life the dramatic happenings on the home front during World War II, Madeline Beck is living in a boardinghouse with her mother while her father is on an aircraft carrier guarding the Pacific Coast. After discovering that a German U-boat has landed near her home — a little-known, true incident on Long Island — she and her classmates form “Kids Fight for Freedom” and participate in the home front war effort. (publisher’s summary)
Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy (Amazon/IndieBound)
In 1939, the Germans invaded the town of Lodz, Poland, and moved the Jewish population into a small part of the city called a ghetto. As the war progressed, 270,000 people were forced to settle in the ghetto under impossible conditions.
At the end of the war, there were about 800 survivors. Of those who survived, only twelve were children. This is the story of one of the twelve. (publisher’s summary)
Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac (Amazon/IndieBound)
Throughout World War Two, in the conflict fought against Japan, Navajo Code Talkers were a crucial part of the U.S. effort, sending messages back and forth in an unbreakable code that used their native language. The Navajo Marines saved countless American lives, yet these brave soldiers weren’t able to tell anyone — not even their families — about their contribution.
Until now. (publisher’s summary)
Ya-Yas in Bloom by Rebecca Wells (Amazon/IndieBound)
An emotionally charged addition to Rebecca Wells’ award-winning bestseller Little Altars Everywhere and the #1 New York Times bestseller Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Ya-Yas in Bloom reveals the roots of the Ya-Yas’ friendship in the 1930s and roars with all the raw power of Vivi Abbott Walker’s 1962 T-Bird through sixty years of marriage, children, and hair-raising family secrets.
When four-year-old Teensy Whitman prisses one time too many and stuffs a pecan up her nose, she sets off the chain of events that leads Vivi, Teensy, Caro, and Necie to become true sister-friends. Told in alternating voices, Ya-Yas in Bloom shows us the Ya-Yas in love and at war with convention, through crises of faith and hilarious lapses of parenting skills, brushes with alcoholism and glimpses of the dark reality of racial bigotry. (publisher’s summary)
I also added these to my shelves:
Sheltered From the Swastika by Peter Kory, from McFarland for review (Amazon/IndieBound)
In the short span of 17 years, the first 17 years of his life, he was known as Peter Korytowski, Pierre Engglenger and Pierre Boivin, depending on who was hunting him at the time. Nine years old and his world had collapsed. It was 1940 and Hitler had unleashed the Blitzkrieg — bombs were exploding all around him, changing everything. This moment of terror catapulted him into an epic nine-year adventure during the Second World War. He was forced to abandon his home, his family and his childhood. Like a bad dream from which he could not awake, he began an alternate existence — that of a refugee, prey for the Nazis, part of old French nobility, a resistance participant and a rebellious orphan. But most of all, he learned how to be a survivor. (publisher’s summary)
Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman, unsolicited from Penguin Group (Amazon/IndieBound)
The year is 1348. Thomas, a disgraced knight, has found a young girl alone in a dead Norman village. An orphan of the Black Death, and an almost unnerving picture of innocence, she tells Thomas that the plague is only part of a larger cataclysm — that the fallen angels under Lucifer are rising in a second war on Heaven, and that the world of men has fallen behind the lines of conflict.
Is it delirium or is it faith? She believes she has seen the angels of God. She believes the righteous dead speak to her in dreams. And now she has convinced the faithless Thomas to shepherd her across a depraved landscape to Avignon. There, she tells Thomas, she will fulfill her mission: to confront the evil that has devastated the earth, and to restore to this betrayed, murderous knight the nobility and hope of salvation he long abandoned.
As Hell unleashes its wrath, and as the true nature of the girl is revealed, Thomas will find himself on a macabre battleground of angels and demons, saints, and the risen dead, and in the midst of a desperate struggle for nothing less than the soul of man. (publisher’s summary)
King Solomon’s Ring by Konrad Z. Lorenz, which I purchased for my book club (Amazon/IndieBound)
A rare phenomenon of a book bursting with data about animal species and instincts. Translating animal terms into everyday language that brings vividly alive the fascination inherent in the animal kingdom.
A pioneering classic that mixes a profound knowledge of animal behavior with rare insight into human actions. (publisher’s summary)
And, last but not least, some giveaway wins:
An “In My Book” greeting card/bookmark from Rhapsody in Books (Thanks, Jill!)
A handcrafted journal from the talented Iliana at bookgirl’s nightstand (Thank you!)
What books did you add to your shelves recently?
Disclosure: I am an IndieBound affiliate and an Amazon associate.
© 2012 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
I surprisingly, for me, really like Rebecca Wells books. I read Ya-Yas in Bloom way back when it came out…
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I’ll have to start the whole series over, I think. I barely remember the first book. LOL
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That Yellow Star book sounds familiar to me. Enjoy your reading week, and Have a great anniversary lunch with hubby.
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Thanks, Serena! I read Yellow Star during my most recent vacation, so keep your eyes open for the review.
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Anna, you received so good books , but many seem so heavy — subject wise. I would be depressed if I read to many in a row:) enjoy they do sound good.
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I try not to read too many depressing ones back-to-back, but I find that I enjoy heavier books that make me think more than light and fluffy reads, though there are times when I crave those!
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You found some real gems at the sale. Have a great week, Anna, and happy reading!
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You found some bargains at the book sale. Will you and the Girl be fighting over My Secret War? Enjoy your new books!
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We might…but she’s more into YA dystopia these days. So I think it’s safe on my shelf for the time being. 😉
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I got that last one too. It was a head scratching moment, “did i request this?” “It looks good, so maybe I did..” “But I am not accepting anymore reads, did I really request this?” LOL
Love your giveaway wins!
And Mary Pope Osborne, I know her from the Jack and Annie books 😉
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King Solomon’s Ring is very good. I remember when I first heard about it I didn’t have any interest because the title suggested some kind of historical fiction or romance to me! I had no idea it was about animal behavior until a good college friend pushed it into my hands. So glad she did.
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Glad you enjoyed it. I’m kind of intimidated by it.
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I’m quite curious about “My Secret War” and will watch for your review!
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Beautiful books! Hope you enjoy them all. I love the cover of Ya Yas in Bloom.
Here’s MY MONDAY MEMES POST
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Great books! Yellow Star is on my wish list. Happy reading!
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Enjoy all your new books. Yellow Star looks really interesting. Happy reading!
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Your books sound interesting! Have a great reading week…
Here is my Monday post!!
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What a great mailbox! I love the Dear Canada series, which are the similar to the Dear America series. Enjoy your new books.
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I adore library book sales for this exact reason! Nice finds!
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Nice library sale , nice mix in your mailbox.
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2012/09/mailbox-monday_17.html
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Awesome 🙂
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You got a great deal! My kids both read Code Talkers for school in 7th grade. The boy liked it better than the girl. Will be curious to see what you think.
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You have a marvelous mailbox, Anna! Enjoy!!
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These look so good. I like the history angle on two ofyour books!
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A lot of WWII in your mix, wow.
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I love those library sales, they are so difficult to resist. You did well this week.
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Great sale!!! I love the Dear America books even as an adult!! Enjoy all of your awesome finds!!! Code Talker, according to my students that have checked it out, is really good!!
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They all look REALLY good. Enjoy the reads.
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
http://silversolara.blogspot.com/2012/09/mailbox-monday-9172012.html
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Thank you all for stopping by to check out my Mailbox. Happy reading!
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