The Printed Page

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

If you’re new to Mailbox Monday welcome! Thank you to everyone who stops by Mailbox Monday. Whether you comment or visit I appreciate your taking the time to drop in.

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Police procedural ~ 9 Dragons by Michael Connelly (Hachette) (Claimed by Zeb)

LAPD Detective Harry Bosch is off the chain in the fastest, fiercest, and highest-stakes case of his life.

Fortune Liquors is a small shop in a tough South L.A. neighborhood, a store Bosch has known for years. The murder of John Li, the store’s owner, hits Bosch hard, and he promises Li’s family that he’ll find the killer.

The world Bosch steps into next is unknown territory. He brings in a detective from the Asian Gang Unit for help with translation–not just of languages but also of the cultural norms and expectations that guided Li’s life. He uncovers a link to a Hong Kong triad, a lethal and far-reaching crime ring that follows many immigrants to their new lives in the U.S.

And instantly his world explodes. The one good thing in Bosch’s life, the person he holds most dear, is taken from him and Bosch travels to Hong Kong in an all-or-nothing bid to regain what he’s lost. In a place known as Nine Dragons, as the city’s Hungry Ghosts festival burns around him, Bosch puts aside everything he knows and risks everything he has in a desperate bid to outmatch the triad’s ferocity.

Fiction ~ The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel by Maureen Lindley (new-to-me author/Shelf Awareness)

An electrifying epic, based on the incredible true story of a Chinese princess turned spy.

Peking, 1914. When the eight-year-old princess Eastern Jewel is caught spying on her father’s liaison with a servant girl, she is banished from the palace, sent to live with a powerful family in Japan. Renamed Yoshiko Kawashima, she quickly falls in love with her adoptive country, where she earns a scandalous reputation, taking fencing lessons, smoking opium, and entertaining numerous lovers. Sent to Mongolia to become an obedient wife, Yoshiko mounts a daring escape and eventually finds her way back to Peking high society—this time with orders from the Japanese secret service.

Based on the true story of a rebellious woman who earned a controversial place in history, The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel is a vibrant reimagining of a thrilling life—a rich historical epic of palace intrigue, sexual manipulation, and international espionage.

Fiction ~ Light of the Desert by Lucette Walters (new-to-me author/publicist contact) (Claimed by Kimm)

Within some very wealthy and elite Middle Eastern families, there is a secret ancient practice rarely heard of in the Western world: honor killing. This unspoken law allows men the right to kill their daughters or female relatives without consequences, if it is believed that they have dishonored their family name. Noora Fendil, the favorite daughter of an influential Middle Eastern businessman, is the victim of such a crime.

Shortly before marrying her childhood sweetheart, Noora is framed by her jealous sister who has devised a diabolical plot to destroy Noora’s happiness. Believing she has shamed him and in order to preserve his family name, Noora’s father attempts to drown her. Unbeknownst to him, she survives and the courageous and remarkable story of Noora, Light of the Desert, begins. Noora’s dangerous path takes her from Jordan to a Bedouin village in the desert, on to Egypt, crossing the Mediterranean to France and eventually, to California. All along her path, she must hide her true identity in the hope of one day returning to prove her innocence, as she is relentlessly stalked by a fundamentalist ex bodyguard who vows to bring her back to “justice.

Action/adventure ~ The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (Kindle eBook; not available for Read It Forward) (It took me 2 tries to read The Da Vinci Code and I loved Angels and Demons so I figured why not. I know I got sucked in but the eBook was only $9.99)

As the story opens, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object–artfully encoded with five symbols–is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation… one meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom.

When Langdon’s beloved mentor, Peter Solomon–a prominent Mason and philanthropist–is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations–all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.

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What books came into your house last week? Don’t forget to leave a link to your Mailbox post or a list of books if you don’t have a blog.

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Read It Forward details