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.

I really didn’t expect any review/Read It Forward books this week but a couple showed up. This week’s edition of MM is a combination of vacation book spree, part 2 and review/Read It Forward books. Read It Forward books will start mailing in January after vacation and the holidays.

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Review/Read It Forward books

The Murdered House by Pierre Magnan (new-to-me author/publicist contact) (Claimed by Gina)

One dark night in the winter of 1896, in remote upper Provence, a family is brutally massacred. Only a three-week-old baby miraculously survives. In 1920, the orphan, Seraphin Monge, finally returns home from the war to pursue the truth. Haunted by the image of his mother’s dying moments, he turns on the house that has seen such misery, destroying it stone by stone. As the walls crumble, the killers’ identities are laid bare and his anger turns to vengeance. But for every murder Seraphin plots, another hand silently executes it in his place.

The Silent Gift by Michael Landon Jr, and Cindy Kelley (new-to-me authors/publicist) (Claimed by Martha)

The 1930s were a decade of enormous uncertainty–for the world, for America, and in particular for one lonely, struggling mother and her disabled son. Their story is one of love and enormous sacrifices in the face of circumstances horrendous beyond belief. When her husband leaves her for someone whose time isn’t wrapped up in a silent, handicapped kid, Mary and little Jack are out on their own in a world that has no room for the poor and disabled. Especially not at a time when most Americans are simply trying to survive their economic woes and job losses. But then arrives The Gift…where has it come from, and why? How can a young boy who can neither hear nor speak provide comfort, direction, and sometimes challenges to seekers who learn of the special ability? Whatever the source, its presence brings a single shaft of light and hope to Mary and her beloved Jack. Will it be enough?

Vacation book spree, part 2 (all are Kindle eBooks and not available for Read It Forward)
The Twilight Saga Collection by Stephenie Meyer (new-to-me author)

This stunning set, complete with all four books, makes the perfect gift for fans of the bestselling vampire love story.

Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn capture the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires.

I bought the Twilight saga for one reason only and that is Amazon so drastically under priced this collection (for 3 hours, possibly a blue light special?) that I couldn’t resist. I paid $5.27 for all 4 eBooks. I am not a fan of vampire fiction and really have no plans to read these books. But if I should ever have a change of mind I own them. Don’t be looking for my take on them any time soon.

Body of Lies by David Ignatius (new-to-me author)

idealistic CIA agent Roger Ferris, newly stationed in Jordan after being wounded in Iraq. After a failed initiative to flush out a terrorist mastermind known as Suleiman, Ferris, who’s dedicated to forestalling further al-Qaeda attacks, develops an intricate scheme modeled after a British plan used successfully against the Nazis. Ferris’s plot to turn the terrorists against each other by sowing seeds of suspicion that their leaders are collaborating with the Americans puts his personal life in turmoil and threatens his professional relationship with the head of Jordanian intelligence.

Honolulu by Alan Brennert (I snagged his other novel Moloka’i from a bargain bin and loved it)

Emboldened by her desire to be educated, Regret commits herself as a mail-order bride to a prosperous man in Hawaii, where girls are allowed to attend school. But when she arrives, she finds her new husband is a callous plantation worker with drinking and gambling problems. Soon, Regret (now known as Jin) and her fellow picture brides must discover their own ways to prosper in America and find that camaraderie and faith in themselves goes a long way.

The Concubine’s Daughter by Pai Kit Fai (new-to-me author)

An epic, heart-wrenching story of a mother and daughter’s journey to their destiny. L”otus Feet. He would give his daughter the dainty feet of a courtesan. This would enhance her beauty and her price, making her future shine like a new coin. He smiled to himself, pouring fresh tea. And it would stop her from running away…” When the young concubine of an old farmer in rural China gives birth to a daughter called Li-Xia, or “Beautiful One,” the child seems destined to become a concubine herself. Li refuses to submit to her fate, outwitting her father’s orders to bind her feet and escaping the silk farm with an English sea captain. Li takes her first steps toward fulfilling her mother’s dreams of becoming a scholar–but her final triumph must be left to her daughter, Su Sing, “Little Star,” in a journey that will take her from remote mountain refuges to the perils of Hong Kong on the eve of World War II.

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Read It Forward details