Other books from my mailbox
In my last post, I talked about the books I have scheduled for June reads. I’ve received several books for review that I’d very much like to get to during June. I don’t have specific dates on these, but I’ll try to read them as soon as I can.
Old World Daughter, New World Mother: An Education in Love and Freedom by Maria Laurino
is a book I received for review from W.W. Norton. It sounds like a good combination of humor and thought about women’s roles.
From the description: Laurino complicates and deepens the debate between stay-at-home and working moms with the unique predicament of women caught between Old World and New World Values. With great humor and great seriousness, Laurino wisely dissects and ultimately brings peace to these “wars.”
The Crying Tree: A Novel by Naseem Rakha
from Broadway Books is my first Shelf Awareness Book. It sounds like a very intense, touching read. I’m tempted to suggest it for my book club and wait until then to read it, but I probably won’t, I’ll try to read it and get a review up soon.
From the description at GoodReads.com: Irene Stanley thought her world had come to an end when her husband finds their 15-year-old son, Shep, murdered in their Oregon home. Daniel Robbin, who had spent his teenage years in and out of trouble, gave himself up to the police and was given the state’s harshest sentence: death by lethal injection..
Now, nineteen years later, as the superintendent of the state penitentiary prepares to execute Robbin, Irene Stanley must reveal what she has been hiding from her family. That in order to survive the anger and grief she had at losing her son, she not only had forgiven the man who killed him, but had come to be his friend.
The Actor and the Housewife: A Novel by Shannon Hale
from Bloomsbury USA is my second SA book, following closely on the heels of my first. It looks like pure escapist fun, and I can’t wait to get a chance to sit down with it.
From the Goodreads.com description: Mormon housewife Becky Jack is seven months pregnant with her fourth child when she meets celebrity hearththrob Felix Callahan. Twelve hours, one elevator ride, and one alcohol-free dinner later, something has happened…though nothing has happened. It isn’t sexual. It isn’t even quite love. But a month later Felix shows up in Salt Lake City to visit and before they know what’s hit them, Felix and Becky are best friends. Really. Becky’s husband is pretty cool about it. Her children roll their eyes. Her neighbors gossip endlessly. But Felix and Becky have something special…something unusual, something completely impossible to sustain. Or is it? A magical story, The Actor and the Housewife explores what could happen when your not-so-secret celebrity crush walks right into real life and changes everything.
And more!
What apeared in your mailbox in May? Tell me in a comment or link to your blog.
I also bought some books, although I’ve shown a lot of restraint. Yay me! I picked up The Wednesday Sisters when I was at Kepler’s Books for a book club event. Costco impulse purchases include Vision in White by Nora Roberts and Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner. I also thought I’d grabbed Wit’s End by Karen Joy Fowler, but either it is lost in my trunk, or I successfully fought off the urge to buy it.
Of course, like any good book “collector”, I have a really large pile of older books that I still want/need to get to.
Please help!
What I still need is books to listen to! I’ve got a long list of books I want to read, some of which are probably available in audio format. If anyone has suggestions of books, particularly those available from Netlibrary or Overdrive, I’d appreciate them. My library may or may not have them, but I’ll check!
I’ve read 12 books in May, which is well above my expectations– my goal is 4 paper and 4 audio books. To get to twelve, I’ve almost stopped listening to podcasts, and have fallen behind on my TV viewing. My daughter’s class was at science camp, giving me some extra reading time, which certainly helped. I’m not sure this rate will be sustainable :-).
I'm Booking It 