Saturday, May 19, 2012

In My Mailbox #26

This is a two week's worth, done-with-exams edition. I'm hoping to spend way more time reading and blogging than I have during the school year, especially since I'm trying to read down Mount-To-Be-Read before I go off to college in the fall. Dorm rooms are not very conducive to bringing in your personal library...

For review:
The Planets by Sergio Chejfec (GoodReads First Look)
The title is intriguing, it's by an Argentinian author, and the plot sounds interestingly odd.
Puppet by Eva Wiseman (LibraryThing Early Reviewers)
I read/reviewed Wiseman's novel The Last Song back in March. This historical novel is about the blood libel trials of Jews in Eastern Europe, a subject about which I know next to nothing.
The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian (publisher)
Usually I shy away from historical reads that switch between the past and the present, but there's so little written about the Armenian genocide...
A Once Crowded Sky by Tom King (publisher)
I'm also not normally one for superhero books, but this looked too good to pass up.

Won:
The Perfect Man: The Muscular Life and Times of Eugen Sandow, Victorian Strongman by David Waller (thanks, Catherine from Victorian Secrets Press!)
Biographies are not my normal nonfiction read, but I've been following Victorian Secrets for their reprints of Victorian novels and am interested in seeing what any of their books are like. The guy on the cover IS wearing a leaf, by the way.
Revealing Eden by Victoria Foyt (thanks, Jessica at Book Sake!)
To feed my dystopia habit...


Purchased:
Snow White, Blood Red ed. by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
I've heard of a lot of Ellen Datlow's books but never read any, and I do love fairy tale retellings.
Tomorrow, When the World Began (Tomorrow series #1) by John Marsden
I've been after this YA sci-fi (dystopia? post-apoc?) series for a while; I've only seen Scholastic's edition before and didn't realize the series is actually from the early 1990s.
The Van Alen Legacy (Blue Bloods #4) by Melissa de la Cruz
I'm not sure when/if I'll finish this series (#4 is the only one I haven't read); vampires were my thing a couple years ago. so I'm not sure if I'll still enjoy the books post-Twilight phase.
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
I've seen the movie adaptation of this, which is the only movie where I cried pretty much the entire freakin' time.
I Am Not Esther by Fleur Beale
YA novel involving cults...interesting.
Grace by Elizabeth Scott
I've avoided this for a while, thinking it some weird self-published thing (I hate the cover) rather than a slightly pre-dystopian craze dystopia.
Lie Down in Darkness by William Styron
Southern lit! I have a passing knowledge of Styron's two most famous novels from American lit last year (thank you, Wikipedia synopses) and would like to actually try his books.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Morrison is another modern author that I need to try reading...
All of the purchased books, except for the first, came from the local library's book sale today.


What came in your mailbox this week?

7 comments:

  1. I read The Lovely Bones awhile back and it was pretty good! I hope you enjoy everything, here's my IMM!

    http://paigebradish1996.blogspot.com/2012/05/in-my-mailbox-35-weekly-wrap-up.html

    ~Paige @ Comfort Books

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! One of my friends has also read The Lovely Bones - she thought it was weirder than the movie and didn't particularly like it, but I'll give it a try. :)

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  2. I haven't heard of a lot of these novels. I remember trying to read The Bluest Eye on my own and couldn't get through it. Interesting stack this week.

    Just spotted your comment on one of my posts. Thanks for giving your input,
    @ Livin' Life Through Books.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Felicia! I haven't read anything by Toni Morrison yet, but it will probably take me a while to get around to The Bluest Eye. I think it's supposed to be one of Morrison's best and most famous books, but there's always some of those where you can never figure out why others like them so much.

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  3. Snow WHite Blood Red looks so cool. Love that cover :)

    http://carabosseslibrary.blogspot.com/2012/05/in-my-mailbox_20.html

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  4. Awesome Book Haul! Snow White Blood Red actually seems really good, its probably because of the title and the cover itself. Let us know what you thought of the book once you finish it, so we know if we should put it on our TBR pile or not :)

    -Calamity & Chaos

    http://mugglemadnesss.blogspot.ca/2012/05/in-my-our-mailbox-imm-2.html

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  5. Only a few books to keep you busy! My, what a list.

    I didn't know Chris Bohjalian had a new book coming out. I enjoyed The Night Strangers last year.

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