Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme created by Marcia 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 Library of Clean Reads.
Here’s what I received last week:
Inkblot: Drip, Splat, and Squish Your Way to Creativity by Margaret Peot, from publicist Diane Saarinen and Boyds Mills Press (Amazon)
Leonardo da Vinci saw landscapes and battles in the swirls of a marble wall. The novelist Victor Hugo splashed coffee and wine on paper and found castles and monsters in the spatters. Now Margaret Peot shows how anyone can use inkblots as keys to creativity.
For decades, the author has been using the inkblots she makes to spark her own creativity. Now she shares her insights and techniques in this beautiful treatment of the subject. From basic tips on paper and ink to advanced approaches for transforming splatters and ink blobs into works of art, she sets readers on a path to creating their own inkblots. Her enthusiastic text and step-by-step approach will encourage even the most reluctant artist, and her stunning artworks will inspire readers to create inkblots that are uniquely their own. (publisher’s summary)
Something for Nothing by David Anthony, unrequested from Algonquin Books (IndieBound, Amazon)
Martin Anderson has a racehorse, a deep-sea fishing boat, a vacation home in Tahoe, and a Caddy in the garage. But his life is in freefall. It’s the 1970s, and with the arrival of the oil crisis and gas rationing, his small aircraft business is tanking, as is his extravagant suburban lifestyle. Martin keeps many secrets from his wife, from his mounting debt to his penchant for sneaking into neighborhood homes and making off with small keepsakes. So when he’s given the opportunity to clear his debt by using one of his planes to make a few drug runs between California and Mexico, Martin doesn’t think twice…or at all, for that matter.
Things quickly spiral out of control when Martin’s simple plan lands him in the midst of gun-toting Mexican thugs. After a narcotics agent arrives on his doorstep, he becomes increasingly paranoid, both about the police and about his associates in the drug world — a feeling that seems justified when he stumbles upon the scene of a brutal double murder. Martin wants out, but he wants his money, too.
Both deeply funny and sobering — think Fargo meets A Simple Plan — David Anthony’s novel is a perfect snapshot of the excesses of American culture. (publisher’s summary)
What You See in the Dark by Manuel Muñoz, unrequested from Algonquin Books (IndieBound, Amazon)
The setting is Bakersfield, California, in the late 1950s. A dusty, quiet town, too far from Los Angeles to share that city’s energy yet close enough to Hollywood to fill its citizens with the kinds of dreams they discover in the darkness of the movie theater. For Teresa, a young, aspiring singer who works at a shoe store, dreams lie in the music her mother shared with her, plaintive songs of love and longing. In Dan Watson, the most desirable young man in Bakersfield, she believes she has found someone to help her realize those dreams.
When a famous actress arrives from Hollywood with a great and already legendary director, local gossip about the young lovers turns to speculation about the celebrated visitors there to work on what will become an iconic, groundbreaking film of madness and murder at a roadside motel. No one in Bakersfield anticipates how the ill-fated love affair between Dan and Teresa will soon rival anything the director could ever put on screen.
A penetrating look at people searching for meaning and authenticity in lives played out under watchful eyes, this thoroughly original work is intense and fascinating in its juxtapositions of tenderness and menace, violence and regret, and its atmospheric re-creation of a place on the brink of change. (publisher’s summary)
When Tito Loved Clara by Jon Michaud, unrequested from Algonquin Books (IndieBound, Amazon)
Clara Lugo grew up in a home that would have rattled the most grounded of children. Through brains and determination, she has long since slipped the bonds of her confining Dominican neighborhood in the northern reaches of Manhattan. Now she tries to live a quiet professional life with her American husband and her son — often thwarted by her relatives who don’t understand her gringa ways.
Then Tito, a former boyfriend from fifteen years earlier, reappears. Something has impeded his passage into adulthood. His mother calls him An Unfinished Man. He still carries a torch for Clara; and she harbors a secret from their past. Their reacquaintance sets in motion an unraveling of both of their lives.
This immensely entertaining debut — filled with wit and compassion — marks the debut of a fine writer. (publisher’s summary)
What books did you add to your shelves recently?
Disclosure: I am an IndieBound affiliate and an Amazon associate.
© 2011 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
Wow, I think these are all new-to-me books! Thanks for the heads up on these. I’m feeling quite enabled. 😀
LikeLike
My pleasure! I love to further people’s book addictions.
LikeLike
I got those same books from Algonquin. Inkblots looks interesting. My mailbox will be up tomorrow.
LikeLike
These books are making the rounds this week.
LikeLike
All of these look really good.
Here is mine
LikeLike
Thanks for stopping by!
LikeLike
Big week for Algonquin! Sometimes these are nice surprises, except when do we read them?
LikeLike
That’s the big question, isn’t it? 😉
LikeLike
Interesting books. I have to admit I haven’t heard of them but they sound good. I am waiting for Inkblot to come in probably this week.
Enjoy and happy reading
LikeLike
Thanks, Cindy!
LikeLike
I got that Algonquin package too and it was such a pleasant surprise. Inkblot looks like a lot of fun.
LikeLike
Algonquin has been all about surprises lately. 🙂
LikeLike
I haven’t heard of any of these, but they look good! Enjoy….
Here’s MY MONDAY MEMES POST
LikeLike
Thanks, Laurel!
LikeLike
All new titles and authors to me…enjoy your reads 😀
LikeLike
Thanks, Staci!
LikeLike
I heard some good things about When Tito Loved Clara, and the cover looks nice as well. Enjoy reading!
Take a look at what I found in my Mailbox last week.
LikeLike
Out of the three from Algonquin, that one caught my eye. The other two I’m not sure are my cup ‘o tea.
LikeLike
I also haven’t heard of them but they all sound interesting.
LikeLike
They certainly sound worth giving a try.
LikeLike
These are all new to me. What You See in the Dark sounds intersting. Enjoy!
LikeLike
Thanks, Elysium!
LikeLike
Both of those Algonquin books are ones on my wish list; lucky you Anna.
LikeLike
Thanks, Diane! If only I had more time to read the surprises that make their way to me.
LikeLike
Hmm, some of these look very familiar! Enjoy!
LikeLike
Thanks! These books sure are making the rounds this week.
LikeLike
Looks great! Nice set of reads this week! You can find my mailbox over here if you’d like: http://blog.juliealindsey.com/
LikeLike
Thanks for stopping by, Julie! I will check out your mailbox as well.
LikeLike
Great mailbox. When Tito Loved Clara sounds so good.
LikeLike
Thanks! That’s the book I’m most curious about out of these.
LikeLike
All books are new to me. Is the first a children’s book?
LikeLike
It looks like it’s geared toward children, but upon first glance, I think even adults could benefit from it.
LikeLike
Happy reading Anna 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks! 🙂
LikeLike
here’s mine http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/02/mailbox-monday-imperfect-endings.html
LikeLike
Thanks for stopping by, Mary Ann!
LikeLike
I haven’t heard of any of these either. I hope you enjoy them!
LikeLike
Thanks, Kailana!
LikeLike
I also got the last three books you did. I especially like the sound of When Tito Loved Clara. Enjoy them!
LikeLike
Me, too. Looking forward to your thoughts.
LikeLike
These are all new to me – hope you enjoy them!
LikeLike
Thanks, Mary!
LikeLike
That cover of What you see in the Dark really stands out, doesn’t it? That sounds like a book I should check out!
LikeLike
It is an interesting cover. Hope you have a chance to read it.
LikeLike
All new titles for me too. Sometimes the unrequested ones turn out to be nice discoveries.
LikeLike
So true! Thanks for stopping by!
LikeLike
nkblot: Drip, Splat, and Squish Your Way to Creativity looks like a blast.
I received 3 books, one is my most coveted of 2011.
LikeLike
I’m going to visit your mailbox to find out what book you’ve been coveting the most!
LikeLike
I haven’t heard of any of these but they do sound interesting. I’ll be looking forward to your reviews.
LikeLike
Thanks, Beth!
LikeLike
Those look like some great books – the last two are new to me and look right up my alley. I can’t wait to see what you think of them!
LikeLike
Thanks! They were new to me, too. Hopefully I’ll have time to read them soon, but I’m not too confident about that.
LikeLike
Nice set of reads and all of them are new to me. Love the title for Something for Nothing. For some odd reason I keep thinking of the song … something for nothing and the chick for free… I betcha I got that song way OFF. Hmmm tune of “I want my MTV…. “
LikeLike
Too funny! I don’t remember that song, though I kept thinking the book title sounded familiar for some reason.
LikeLike