Monday, July 20, 2009

Mailbox Monday-- Express Order for Extra Eyes and Hands, Please!

Last week I sent 6 books to new Paperback Swap foster homes, and received 7 from various sources. I also received an invitation for the Amazon Vine program which means that I've just gained another source for free books.

"Hello. My name is Cathy, and I'm a book addict."

Here's the rundown on the 7 books I received last week:

-- Eat This Not That! The Supermarket Survival Guide by David Zinczenko (Target). Ostensibly to tell people how to lose weight by making smarter choices when buying groceries, I'm finding it a very eye-opening reading experience.

--South of Broad by Pat Conroy (ARC). I almost jumped up and down and squealed like a little girl when I opened the package to this one. Pat Conroy is one of the authors whose books I will always get my hands on, one way or the other. I quite simply love the way he writes. As soon as I learned the title of the book, I knew where it took place because I spent a very magical day in Charleston, South Carolina several years ago.

--Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey (Amazon). This is a debut mystery set in Ghana that I can't wait to read!

--The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny (ARC), the latest of the marvelous Inspector Gamache mysteries set in Quebec.

--The Crazy School by Cornelia Read (PBS). I was quite impressed with the voice of character Madeline Dare in Read's first book, A Field of Darkness, and I can't wait to see what happens to her next.

--Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34 by Bryan Burrough (Target). Seeing Bonnie and Clyde when I was a teenager got me interested in the Depression and in gangsters. The Untouchables is one of my favorite movies. Sounds like this book is a natural for me, eh?

--Crow Stone by Jenni Mills (PBS) is about a young engineer working on shoring up the ancient quarries underneath Bath, England. She's spent most of her life trying to forget what happened when she was fourteen. But things are conspiring against her.

That's it! I've got some excellent reading ahead of me just in this stack of books. I wish I had about three more heads and pairs of hands!

If you'd like to see what arrived in other folks' mailboxes last week, click on that hungry-looking mailbox at the top of this post to be taken to The Printed Page, home of Marcia, the hostess extraordinaire!

17 comments:

  1. Congratulations on making it onto the amazon vine programme! I would love to make it on to that! Can I ask how long you have been posting reviews on amazon and what your reviewer ranking was when they invited you - had you just reached a milestone - like top 1000 reviewer?

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  2. I'm with you - I did a little happy dance when South of Broad showed up at my house. Ooh, Target has Public Enemies? I may have to go get that one - I want to read it after seeing the movie. Talk about organized - I love the little post it's on your spines. I got into the Vine Program too!

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  3. There must have been squealing all over the country when South of Broad showed up. I created a few tremors jumping up and down in FL when it arrived. I'm so glad you got a copy!

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  4. Great mailbox as always :D
    Mine is so empty these days, I don't mean books. I don't even get bills or junk mail, so weird

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  5. Well, I'm jealous all of you got the new Conroy!! Can't wait to read the reviews. Happy reading : )

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  6. Cathy you got some really good books. I have my fingers crossed that I will get that Louise Penny one. She is a local author for me.

    Happy reading. I have my MM on my blog.

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  7. I love the look of this blog. have you changed things around?

    Great list of books. I'm jealous about Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey; I keep looking at reviews and telling myself I am banned from buying books.

    Happy reading.

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  8. Hurrah for new books. I am a bit jealous over your ARC for the Louise Penny book :)

    Enjoy them all - they look good!

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  9. Those sound really good. Happy reading!

    My Mailbox post is here.

    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric

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  10. How fun! You've got some great books.
    Wife of Gods sounds like an interesting one, i'll have to look into that one.
    Hope you have a great week and i have an award for you too.
    Natalie :0)

    http://thebookinn.blogspot.com/

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  11. Eat This Not That is a great book! I learned a lot from it and ummm....unfortunately found a new favorite ice cream.... Breyerly's fat free churned..... sooooo goood!

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  12. Great list! And congrats on the Vine program.

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  13. A fine bunch there! I am looking forward to hearing more about that Louise Penny.

    I received two books this week. A surprise gift from a good friend: a Declan Burke and an author I had never heard about, Shamini Flint.

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  14. Totally jealous about South of Broad. I tried to get it from Bookbrowse and didn't :-(

    I saw Public Enemies on a display at Borders before I even knew the movie was on the way. I added it to my list, but haven't purchased it yet.

    Love your new layout!!

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  15. Jackie--I haven't been posting reviews all that long. I've read 91 books so far this year, and I have about 65 reviews on Amazon. 74% "helpful" rating, and my New Reviewer Rank was 5813 when I received the invite. Hope that helps! Personally I have no clue what Amazon's criteria are. I hope you get your invitation soon!

    Kathy--I had to laugh. When I was posting about Public Enemies, Bonnie & Clyde and The Untouchables, I could see my LT widget, and it was showing my bios of Pretty Boy Floyd and Jesse James. I have to have those post-its on the ARC spines so I get the books read and reviews posted on time. I also noticed that you and I got our invites at about the same time. :)

    Kaye--So am I! I never know if I'm going to get a book when I request it through Shelf Awareness, so it's just like Christmas. A special Christmas, seeing that this time it was Pat Conroy!

    Blodeuedd--No bills?!? Please share your secret!

    Mary--Now I feel badly that you didn't get a copy! :(

    Cindy--I hope you get Penny's latest, too. I enjoy her books so much!

    Serena--I know... I keep telling myself that I'm banned, too, but Wife of the Gods just forced itself on me....

    Iliana--Looks like Penny and Conroy are the hits of my mailbox!

    Anna--I just wish I was that Indian goddess with all those hands (of course I'd have to have an extra pair of eyes for each pair of hands)... just think of all the reading I could do!!

    Natalie--Thank you so much! I'm up to my eyeballs in work at the moment, but I'll post about it within the next couple of days.

    Sheila--Oh oh...I hadn't gotten to the Breyer's part yet.....

    Beth--Thanks!

    Dorte--I haven't heard of Flint either. I just made a note to myself to look that author up!

    Suzi--Thanks for the thumbs up on my new look!

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  16. I got South of Broad too! That's a terrific stack o'books! I'm looking forward to reading your reviews! Happy reading!

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  17. Kelly--Several of us got lucky receiving a copy of South of Broad!

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