Sunday, April 25, 2010

Mailbox Monday,


Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.



This little combo came to me as a giveaway from Vicki, Reading on the Beach, it was most timely. Thanks Vicki.







Shushybye sleepover Surpreis, Written by Stephen Syatt, Illustrated by Frank Caruso

Oh! My, my... Shushybye!
That's just what little ones will be singing as they listen to this charming read-aloud, sing-along series! The CD inside features the story plus 3 Shushybye tunes-



Then there is some big girl reading,

Product Description
In this irresistible follow-up to her New York Times bestselling debut, Garden Spells, author Sarah Addison Allen tells the tale of a young woman whose family secrets—and secret passions—are about to change her life forever.

Twenty-seven-year-old Josey Cirrini is sure of three things: winter in her North Carolina hometown is her favorite season, she’s a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her hidden closet. For while Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother’s house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night…. Until she finds it harboring none other than local waitress Della Lee Baker, a tough-talking, tenderhearted woman who is one part nemesis—and two parts fairy godmother…

Fleeing a life of bad luck and big mistakes, Della Lee has decided Josey’s clandestine closet is the safest place to crash. In return she’s going to change Josey’s life—because, clearly, it is not the closet of a happy woman. With Della Lee’s tough love, Josey is soon forgoing pecan rolls and caramels, tapping into her startlingly keen feminine instincts, and finding her narrow existence quickly expanding.

Before long, Josey bonds with Chloe Finley, a young woman who makes the best sandwiches in town, is hounded by books that inexplicably appear whenever she needs them, and—most amazing of all—has a close connection to Josey’s longtime crush.

As little by little Josey dares to step outside herself, she discovers a world where the color red has astonishing power, passion can make eggs fry in their cartons, and romance can blossom at any time—even for her. It seems that Della Lee’s work is done, and it’s time for her to move on. But the truth about where she’s going, why she showed up in the first place—and what Chloe has to do with it all—is about to add one more unexpected chapter to Josey’s fast-changing life.

Brimming with warmth, wit, and a sprinkling of magic, here is a spellbinding tale of friendship, love—and the enchanting possibilities of every new day.





From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Nigerian-born Jesuit priest Akpan transports the reader into gritty scenes of chaos and fear in his rich debut collection of five long stories set in war-torn Africa. An Ex-mas Feast tells the heartbreaking story of eight-year-old Jigana, a Kenyan boy whose 12-year-old sister, Maisha, works as a prostitute to support her family. Jigana's mother quells the children's hunger by having them sniff glue while they wait for Maisha to earn enough to bring home a holiday meal. In Luxurious Hearses, Jubril, a teenage Muslim, flees the violence in northern Nigeria. Attacked by his own Muslim neighbors, his only way out is on a bus transporting Christians to the south. In Fattening for Gabon, 10-year-old Kotchikpa and his younger sister are sent by their sick parents to live with their uncle, Fofo Kpee, who in turn explains to the children that they are going to live with their prosperous godparents, who, as Kotchikpa pieces together, are actually human traffickers. Akpan's prose is beautiful and his stories are insightful and revealing, made even more harrowing because all the horror—and there is much—is seen through the eyes of children.



Sister of My Heart spans many years and zigzags between India and America as the cousins first grow apart and then eventually reunite. Divakaruni invests this domestic drama with poetry as she traces her heroines' lives from infancy to motherhood, but it is Sudha and Anju who give the story its backbone. Anju might speak for both when she says, "In spite of all my insecurities, in spite of the oceans that'll be between us soon and the men that are between us already, I can never stop loving Sudha. It's my habit, and it's my fate." Book lovers may well discover that reading Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is habit-forming as well


In "The Love Detectives", confusion reigns when Sir James Dwighton is murdered. Illicit love results in too many confessions. Luckily, his broken clock tells the tale--or does it?







I got some serious reading to do.

9 comments:

gautami tripathy said...

I like serious reading. Have a great reading week.

Mailbox Mondays

bermudaonion said...

You got some great books last week! Say You're One of Them isn't always easy to read, but it's a powerful book. Happy Reading!

Alayne said...

I loved The Sugar Queen! Happy reading! My mailbox is at The Crowded Leaf.

Beth(bookaholicmom) said...

The Sugar Queen looks very good. Congratulations on the new addition to the family! And you have new books to start her out on! Enjoy

DCMetroreader said...

Shushbye looks like a cute read!

PS Congrats on the new niece -- she's adorable!

fredamans said...

Say You're One of Them is a great one!

http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com/2010/04/mailbox-weekly_24.html

Alyce said...

Looks like you got lots of good books. Sugar Queen was my favorite Sarah Addison Allen book.

Susan Williamson said...

Oh no! More books that I want to read ...there should be a place to apply to for a three-month reading grant. i.e. to buy the books, hire the cook and masseuse and choose a spectacular view.

Jenners said...

I've heard lots of good things about "The Sugar Queen" and that author.

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to my wonderful son,  it's bee 33wonderful years. Hope this year proves to be the best yet.