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 the Mailbox Monday blog.
Here’s what I received:
The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton, from Newman Communications, Inc. for review (Amazon/IndieBound)
During a summer party at the family farm in the English countryside, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson has escaped to her childhood tree house and is happily dreaming of the future. She spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and watches as her mother speaks to him. Before the afternoon is over, Laurel will witness a shocking crime. A crime that challenges everything she knows about her family and especially her mother, Dorothy — her vivacious, loving, nearly perfect mother.
Now, fifty years later, Laurel is a successful and well-regarded actress living in London. The family is gathering at Greenacres farm for Dorothy’s ninetieth birthday. Realizing that this may be her last chance, Laurel searches for answers to the questions that still haunt her from that long-ago day, answers that can only be found in Dorothy’s past.
Dorothy’s story takes the reader from pre-WWII England through the blitz, to the ’60s and beyond. It is the secret history of three strangers from vastly different worlds — Dorothy, Vivien, and Jimmy — who meet by chance in wartime London and whose lives are forever entwined.
The Secret Keeper explores longings and dreams and the unexpected consequences they sometimes bring. It is an unforgettable story of lovers and friends, deception and passion that is told — in Morton’s signature style — against a backdrop of events that changed the world. (publisher’s summary)
The Liberator: One World War II Soldier’s 500-Day Odyssey From the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau by Alex Kershaw, from Crown via LibraryThing for review (Amazon/IndieBound)
From July 10, 1943, the date of the Allied landing in Sicily, to May 8, 1945, when victory in Europe was declared — the entire time it took to liberate Europe — no regiment saw more action, and no single platoon, company, or battalion endured worse, than the ones commanded by Felix Sparks, who had entered the war as a greenhorn second lieutenant of the 157th “Eager for Duty” Infantry Regiment of the 45th “Thunderbird” Division. When the odds on the battlefield were even and the fortunes of the Allies hung in the balance, the Thunderbirds would demonstrate again and again that the difference between defeat and victory was a matter of character, not tactics or armor.
Drawing on extensive interviews with Sparks and dozens of his men, as well as more than five years of research, historian Alex Kershaw masterfully recounts one of the most inspiring and heroic journeys in military history: Sparks’s rise from captain to colonel as he battled from the beaches of Sicily through the mountains of Italy and France, ultimately enduring bitter and desperate winter combat against the die-hard SS on the Fatherland’s borders; his leadership of a final charge to Bavaria to hunt down Adolf Hitler; and the Thunderbirds’ heartrending liberation of Dachau, Hitler’s first and most notorious concentration camp.
Written with the narrative drive and vivid immediacy of Kershaw’s previous bestselling books about American infantrymen in World War II, The Liberator is a story for the ages, an intensely human and dramatic account of one of history’s greatest warriors and his unheralded role in America’s finest achievement — the defeat of Nazi Germany. (publisher’s summary)
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.
Looks good 🙂 Happy reading
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They both look good but The Liberator has your name written all over it. Enjoy your new books!
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The Secret Keeper looks soooo good! Enjoy your reads, and thanks for visiting my blog.
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Snap! I got The Secret Keeper – wish I could start it tonight, but must read book club book first!
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Both your books look good. The cover of The Liberator with that lone soldier says so much. Makes me want to read it.
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I would love to read The Secret Keeper by Kate Morgan.
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I am really looking forward to reading this Kate Morton book!
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The Secret Keeper is the one I am eyeing.!
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Looks like you got some good reads coming up.
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I see THE SECRET KEEPER again. I want that book. I love Kate Morton’s books.
ENJOY!!!
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
http://silversolara.blogspot.com/2012/10/mailbox-monday-10142012.html
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I’m looking forward to Secret Keeper, I got that one a few weeks ago. The Liberator sounds like a perfect choice for you.
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I keep seeing such raves about Kate Morton’s books. I’m going to have to try one soon.
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“The Secret Keeper” sounds interesting to me. It may go on my ‘wishlist’ for now.
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I have the Morton book and it looks lovely! The Liberator looks great!
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I’ve seen the Secret Keeper around and it sounds like a terrific read. Enjoy!
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Anna, I hope you enjoy both of these books. I look forward to your reviews of them.
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Both books look great and I hope you enjoy them!
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They both sound like good reads, enjoy 🙂
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I was hoping to start the new Kate Morton book this past weekend, but no such luck –maybe next week. Enjoy Anna
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I’m very curious to hear what you think of The Liberator. I considered getting it for review, but I decided to wait. I’m trying to slow down on the review requests right now in prep for the holidays.
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I’m looking forward to reading The Secret Keeper!
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The Secret Keeper sounds really good! I hope you enjoy both your books!
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These look like good ones! How intriguing both sound
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I am looking forward to reading The Secret Keeper. The Liberator sounds like a book you will enjoy very much!
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Your mailbox reminds me I still need to read a Kate Morton book!
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Thank you all for checking out my mailbox. Happy reading!
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