Monday, June 08, 2009

Mailbox Monday-- Even Steven!


Not too bad this week! I sent 6 books out to new Paperback Swap foster homes and received 6 in their place. You'd almost think I planned it!

Here's what arrived in my mailbox this past week:

--The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist (ARC from Other Press).
"One day in early spring, Dorrit Weger is checked into the Second Reserve Bank Unit for biological material. She is promised a nicely furnished apartment inside the Unit, where she will make new friends, enjoy the state of the art recreation facilities, and live the few remaining days of her life in comfort with people who are just like her. Here, women over the age of fifty and men over sixty–single, childless, and without jobs in progressive industries–are sequestered for their final few years; they are considered outsiders. In the Unit they are expected to contribute themselves for drug and psychological testing, and ultimately donate their organs, little by little, until the final donation. Despite the ruthless nature of this practice, the ethos of this near-future society and the Unit is to take care of others, and Dorrit finds herself living under very pleasant conditions: well-housed, well-fed, and well-attended. She is resigned to her fate and discovers her days there to be rather consoling and peaceful. But when she meets a man inside the Unit and falls in love, the extraordinary becomes a reality and life suddenly turns unbearable. Dorrit is faced with compliance or escape, and…well, then what?"

--Going Wild: Adventures With Birds in the Suburban Wilderness by Robert Winkler (PBS).
"The suburbs are home to a surprising number of bird and animal species, and one doesn't have to go far to experience wildlife drama firsthand. In a series of vignettes, Winkler celebrates the joys of birding. Whether it involves hiking through a forest at zero degrees and encountering tiny, golden-crowned kinglets, attending a riotous warbler migration party in mid-May, avoiding dive-bombing goshawks as he inadvertently enters their nesting territory, or discovering a rare white pelican right next to an interstate overpass, the author brings the reader along as his birding companion. Birds closer to home also get their due, as the visitors to Winkler's bird feeders learn to avoid the hawks attracted to their concentrated numbers."

--The Boreal Owl Murder by Jan Dunlap (PBS).
"Meet Bob White. An avid birder with a well-earned reputation for spotting birds, Bob has a natural talent for counseling high school drama queens and an unfortunate knack of discovering dead bodies. In his first adventure, The Boreal Owl Murder, Bob has set his sights on finding the elusive Boreal Owl in the Superior National Forest, but when he stumbles across a corpse instead, his hunt for the owl becomes entangled with a shady tree supplier, an environmental activist who looks like his mother, academic rivalries, and dangerous deer hooves. Will Bob get his bird or just another speeding ticket to add to his growing collection?"

--A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (PBS).
"When Catherine Land, who's survived a traumatic early life by using her wits and sexuality as weapons, happens on a newspaper ad from a well-to-do businessman in need of a "reliable wife," she invents a plan to benefit from his riches and his need. Her new husband, Ralph Truitt, discovers she's deceived him the moment she arrives in his remote hometown. Driven by a complex mix of emotions and simple animal attraction, he marries her anyway. After the wedding, Catherine helps Ralph search for his estranged son and, despite growing misgivings, begins to poison him with small doses of arsenic. Ralph sickens but doesn't die, and their story unfolds in ways neither they nor the reader expect."

--The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu by Michael Stanley (Amazon). "
Deceptively dangerous Assistant Superintendent Kubu stars in a brilliant sequel to last year’s Carrion Death. When two guests turn up dead at tourist camp, Kubu crosses Botswana to investigate. The case seems likely to link back to the Zimbabwe civil war, as fingerprint records show the dead man on the casualty lists of a 1980 farm raid. Stanley (the pseudonym for the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollop) is not content with a single plot line, effectively juggling the murders with cross-border drug smuggling and the circumstances surrounding an upcoming African Union meeting. Kubu, a dedicated gourmand, is just one of many fully fleshed and charmingly realistic characters."

--Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why It Matters by Bill Tancer (PBS).
"Tancer, a search-engine data miner, takes a look at our culture by evaluating the millions of search queries on the Internet. He crunches the numbers to quantify our desires, our fears, our quest for knowledge, and our aspirations."

A big Thank You to Marcia of The Printed Page for hosting this meme. If you'd like to participate or just read more responses, click on that hungry-looking mailbox at the top of this post!



12 comments:

  1. I got The Unit too and I see you're already reading it! I can't wait to read your review.

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  2. Hope you enjoy The Unit can't wait to read your review on it.

    I don't think you could have planned that any better. I would take part in the PBS but shipping from Canada is expensive.

    Enjoy your books. I have my mailbox posted on my blog.

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  3. I actually bought A Reliable Wife a few weeks ago but haven't read it yet. Hope it's good!

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  4. I can honestly say I would like to read all six of your books. They look both interesting and fun. Happy reading to you.

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  5. I'm especially curious to hear what you think of The Unit; it sounds really good. Enjoy your books!

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  6. hi Cathy, stop by for a visit and pick up the award I just gave you. Have a great day!

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  7. I passed on the Unit - curious to read your review. Loved The Reliable Wife though!

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  8. The Unit sounds really good - I'll have to put that one on my list. I have The Reliable Wife, but haven't had a chance to read it yet. Enjoy your books.

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  9. I am so jealous that you got a copy of A Reliable Wife -- can't wait to hear your thoughts on it.

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  10. Kathy--I hope to have my review up Tuesday. I'm more than a little behind since I was out of town without the internet most of this week!

    Cindy--I wish they could come up with a system that would work with Canada!

    Mary--If I get it read before you do, I'll let you know! ;)

    Thanks, Margot. I think this is the first time that anyone's said they would be happy to read every single book!

    Thanks, Blodeuedd!

    Avis--The Unit is very thought provoking. I'm still not sure what I'm going to say about it (other than the fact that I liked it)!

    Kaye--Thanks so much! I'll try my best to pick it up in the next day or two. I've been out of town most of the week and I just now am getting around to playing catch-up!

    Luanne--I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed The Reliable Wife. I've seen some fairly mixed reviews about it.

    Thanks, Crystal!

    Diane--I'm glad you like the photo. It's a bit how I look at the mailbox when I'm waiting for the mail carrier to come fill it up!

    Jess--I should be reading it soon. Thanks for stopping by!

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Thank you for taking the time to make a comment. I really appreciate it!