Mailbox Monday — April 13

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, the weekly meme where book lovers share the titles they received for review, purchased, or otherwise obtained over the past week. It is now being hosted at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Here’s what I added to the shelves recently:

For review:

Suddenly Mrs. Darcy by Jenetta James — from Meryton Press

Elizabeth Bennett never imagined her own parents would force her to marry a virtual stranger.  But when Mrs. Bennett accuses Fitzwilliam Darcy of compromising her daughter, that is exactly the outcome.  Trapped in a seemingly loveless marriage and far from home, she grows suspicious of her new husband’s heart and further, suspects he is hiding a great secret.  Is there even a chance at love given the happenstance of their hasty marriage?  (publisher’s summary)

Young Jane Austen: Becoming a Writer by Lisa Pliscou — from the author

Drawing upon a wide array of sources, including Jane Austen’s own books and correspondence, Lisa Pliscou’s new biography illuminates the life and creative development of the youthful Jane, and the fascinating connections to her mature work.

Lavishly annotated, designed with a beautifully evocative antique sensibility, and featuring 20 specially commissioned illustrations, Young Jane Austen: Becoming a Writer is sure to captivate anyone interested in Jane Austen, her enduring legacy, and the triumph of the creative spirit.  (publisher’s summary)

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes — from Penguin

Single mother and eternal optimist Jess Thomas has always tried to Do the Right Thing, but life doesn’t make it easy — especially after her math-whiz daughter gets a life-changing opportunity they can’t afford.  Ed Nicholls is a brilliant tech millionaire whose life is falling apart when he happens upon Jess and her family stranded on the side of the road.

In perhaps his first unselfish act ever, Ed agrees to drive them, plus their pungent dog, Norman, to the Maths Olympiad — and to a prize that could change their lives forever — in this hilarious, heartwarming story of family dysfunction, devotion, and love found in the unlikeliest of places.  (publisher’s summary)

Unexpected arrival:

Hit Count by Chris Lynch — from Algonquin

**This one isn’t my cup of tea, so I gave it to my husband, who loves football**

Arlo Brodie loves being at the heart of the action on the football field, getting hit hard and hitting back harder.  That’s where he belongs, leading his team to championships, becoming “Starlo” on his way to the top.  Arlo’s dad cheers him on, but his mother quotes head injury statistics and refuses to watch games.  Arlo’s girlfriend tries to make him see how dangerously he’s playing; when that doesn’t work, she calls time out on their relationship.  Even Arlo’s coaches begin to track his hit count, ready to pull him off the field when he nears the limit.  But Arlo’s not worried about tallying collisions.  The winning plays, the cheering crowds, and the adrenaline rush are enough to convince Arlo that everything is OK — in spite of the pain, the pounding, the dizziness, and the confusion.

Hit Count explores America’s love affair with football and our attempts to reconcile the clear evidence of its dangers with our passion for the game.  (publisher’s summary)

Library sale finds:

The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent by Susan Elia MacNeal

World War II rages on across Europe, but Maggie Hope has finally found a moment of rest on the pastoral coast of western Scotland.  Home from an undercover mission in Berlin, she settles down to teach at her old spy training camp and to heal from the scars on both her body and heart.  Yet instead of enjoying the quieter pace of life, Maggie is quickly drawn into another web of danger and intrigue.  When three ballerinas fall strangely ill in Glasgow — including one of Maggie’s dearest friends — Maggie partners with MI-5 to uncover the truth behind their unusual symptoms.  What she finds points to a series of poisonings that may expose shocking government secrets and put countless British lives at stake.  But it’s the fight brewing in the Pacific that will forever change the course of the war — and indelibly shape Maggie’s fate.  (publisher’s summary)

Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange

The only place Darcy could share his innermost feelings was in the private pages of his diary.  Torn between his sense of duty to his family name and his growing passion for Elizabeth Bennet, all he can do is struggle not to fall in love.  A skillful and graceful imagining of the hero’s point of view in one of the most beloved and enduring love stories of all time.  (publisher’s summary)

Free ebooks (not sure if any of them are still free, though):

A Winter Wrong by Elizabeth Ann West

When Jane Bennet’s illness at Netherfield ends up not being just a trifling cold, but an epidemic that sweeps through Hertfordshire, the lives at Longbourn are turned upside down.  Elizabeth Bennet finds herself lost without a cherished loved one and the interferences of one Fitzwilliam Darcy most aggravating.  Combating the bombastic behavior of Mr. Collins, Elizabeth runs to London for the protection of her aunt and uncle.  But acquaintances and introductions bring Mr. Darcy back into her life and Elizabeth discovers he might just mend her broken heart.

A sweetheart romantic novella, A Winter Wrong is the first in a series of seasonal episodes following the Bennet family after the loss of their patriarch.  Winter explores the feelings of grief and loss we all have experienced, while still retaining a silver lining for that dark cloud.  (publisher’s summary)

Chosen by Sarah Johnson

The Bennet family changed dramatically when Mr Bennet nearly lost his life.  The rekindled love between him and his wife encouraged a unifying bond amongst their five daughters.  Their story unfolds as each eligible young lady walks down the aisle, taking her husband’s hand and forever leaving the name of Bennet behind.

Fitzwilliam Darcy was a tormented man.  His sister’s recent accident and the lifelong difficulties she was now to face plagued him.  While visiting his friend, Darcy crosses paths with a young lady.  He is immediately captivated and soon seeks out an introduction and dance with Elizabeth Bennet.  Could it be that his parents, though they are no longer with him, are leading him right to the arms of a family who can help both he and his sister heal from all they have suffered?  Will the instant connection Darcy and Elizabeth both feel for each other be able to weather the storms that come when a secret past connection is revealed?  (publisher’s summary)

No, Not That Jane Austen by Marilyn Grey

This is a short story prequel to the Best of Fools.

The complete opposite of her parents, Jane doesn’t like reading love stories and can’t stand all things romance, but most especially she hates her name.  “No, not that Jane Austen,” she’s said so many times to so many teachers, friends, and strangers, while lamenting the fact that her parents named her after one of their favorite authors, the very author who sparked their own love story.

Jane isn’t looking for a love story, and on the eve of her 18th birthday she happily considers changing her name and finally steering her life away from the self-imposed expectations that come with it, but … she meets a charming British boy on his way back home and everything she’s fought hard to control suddenly becomes irresistible.  (publisher’s summary)

A Pride and Prejudice Sequel: Life After the Wedding (Novella, Part One) by Denise O’Hara

Romance at it’s best, Jane Austen style!  The Bingleys are honeymooning in Ireland.  There Jane meets her new mother-in-law and his lively Aunt Jeanie!  How did likable Charles Bingley & self-important Caroline come from the same family?  Jane learns much of the Bingley family’s untold story.

Back at Netherfield they are reunited with the Darcys and Bennetts.  Mrs. Bennett never changes but Lizzy must help her dearest sister who is beginning to see things differently now that she has a family of her own.  Why do the Bingleys leave Netherfield after only a twelth month?

Pemberly has a new Mistress!  The Darcys have true love but they still have very different personalities.  How will they deal with problems in day to day life after the wedding?

Enjoy the continuing story as beloved characters stay true to themselves!  (publisher’s summary)

The Janeite’s Dream Book of Trivia by Trudy Barnes & Tiffany Bascom

How’s your Austen?  Are you and your friends true Janeites?  This is a comprehensive set of trivia questions about the beloved Jane Austen.  It’s a chance to see what you know and explore new territory.  The questions are categorized by type: Book Questions (plot details), Character Quips (who says the quote or whom it’s about), Jane in Other Media (her influence in other books, movies, etc.), Jane’s Life and Times (facts of her life, etc.), and Regarding Jane (what others say about her).  The questions are “shuffled” so they can be used to play trivia games.  They are also separated into chapters of 25 questions each so you can test yourself.  It’s time to see if you are a true proficient!  (publisher’s summary)

A Berlin Story by Tiffani Burnett-Velez

Annalise Bergen is seeking shelter among the rubble of a fallen Berlin, after members of the Red Army have held her prisoner for two weeks in her apartment.  She is released by a kind Ukrainian officer, who disappears almost as soon as he appears.  Annalise cannot get the image of him out of her mind, but finding him means losing the safety net his kindness has created for her.  She survives by living on meager rations and by feigning interest in American GI’s.  Eventually, she finds the soldier again, but her discovery also means a loss to her freedom and safety. (publisher’s summary)

Geli Hilter by David Roman

It’s 1931, Germany’s democracy in on death throes and the Nazis on the brink of securing power.  In Adolf Hitler’s apartment in Munich, Geli Raubal, the Fuhrer’s beloved niece, is found dead.  The official cause is suicide, but not many are convinced by the story: why would a beautiful young woman kill herself with a shot to her chest?  Bernd Maier, a detective with the Munich police who is married to a Jewish woman terrified of the Nazis’ rise, takes up the case at the prompting of his boss, who suspects the Nazis want to bury the truth, whatever it is.  After a series of twists and turns, and close encounters with the coming masters of Germany, Maier finds out that Geli’s case is even more complex that he had expected.  (publisher’s summary)

Children to a Degree: Growing Up Under the Third Reich by Horst Christian

Based on a true story about a young boy growing up under the Third Reich.

Karl Veth, the oldest of three children, was born in Berlin, Germany in 1930.  By the time he was old enough to start school and begin his education, Hitler had already established a firm death-grip on the country.  Children were fed a steady diet of Nazi propaganda and were often encouraged to turn on their family and friends, but contrary to popular belief, not all of them bought into it.

Karl is an intelligent young boy who strives to excel in his studies, but he questions everything.  Dangerous questions during a time when people are closely monitored.  Karl’s father and grandfather are not blind followers and they have their own opinions about Hitler and his regime.  The lessons they teach Karl often contradict what he is taught in school, yet they also inspire him to think on his own and form his own opinions.

German law mandates that all children must become members of the Hitler Youth and at the age of 10, Karl enters the Jungvolk, the junior branch of the Hitler Youth.  He must wade through the propaganda and everything he is taught to decide for himself what is right and what it wrong.  Little does he know at the time, but many of his grandfather’s predictions about the future of the Third Reich will eventually come to pass.  The lessons he learns now and the opinions he forms will determine his fate in dangerous times ahead.  (publisher’s summary)

The End of Sorrow by JV Love

A love that would not die…
A city that would not surrender…
A war that knew no bounds…

The date is June 21st, 1941, and Adolf Hitler is about to lead Germany into what would become one of the bloodiest, most barbaric wars the world would ever know.  His invasion plan, Operation: Barbarossa, calls for taking the northern Russian city of Leningrad in a matter of weeks, but as the troops reach the outside border of the city, the Soviet resistance stiffens and a stalemate ensues.  Hitler calls for continual bombardment of the city and cutting off all outside supplies.  He boasts that the city will starve to death and the German forces will march into a ghost town.

Follow a cast of lovers, heroes, and fiends some real-to-life as they struggle through one of the most horrific human dramas ever created.  For 900 days, the citizens and soldiers of Leningrad, Russia endured one of the worst sieges in the history of mankind.  Some would find the inner strength that would make them a light unto the darkness.  Others would descend into madness.  (publisher’s summary)

Brothers Beyond Blood by Don Kafrissen

Can two young men who meet in a Nazi concentration camp become friends?  It’s possible and even probable, but suppose one of them is a prisoner and the other is a guard?

When Herschel and Hans Rothberg die, a lawyer hands the children a manuscript that completely turns their world upside down.  Can they believe what is written?

From the closing months of WWII to the men’s departure for America from a Displaced Persons camp, the manuscript chronicles their troubled journey.  (publisher’s summary)

What books did you add to your shelves recently?

© 2015 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.

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