Mailbox Monday (09-07-09)

Mailbox Monday is brought to us by The Printed Page. In my mailbox last week I got:

Winnings...
The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser
Won from Libby's Library News

Tom Loxley, an Indian-Australian professor, is less concerned with finishing his book on Henry James than with finding his dog, who is lost in the Australian bush.

Joining his daily hunt is Nelly Zhang, an artist whose husband disappeared mysteriously years before Tom met her. Although Nelly helps him search for his beloved pet, Tom isn't sure if he should trust this new friend.

Tom has preoccupations other than his book and Nelly and his missing dog, mainly concerning his mother, who is suffering from the various indignities of old age. He is constantly drawn from the cerebral to the primitive—by his mother's infirmities, as well as by Nelly's attractions. THE LOST DOG makes brilliant use of the conventions of suspense and atmosphere while leading us to see anew the ever-present conflicts between our bodies and our minds, the present and the past, the primal and the civilized.

Throw Out Fifty Things by Gail Blanke
Won from Libby's Library News

"Our lives are so filled with junk from the past-from dried up tubes of glue to old grudges-that it's a wonder we can get up in the morning," exclaims motivator, best-selling author, columnist, and life coach Gail Blanke.

"If you want to grow, you gotta let go," is Blanke's mantra; and that means eliminating all the clutter-physical and emotional-that holds you back, weighs you down, or just makes you feel bad about yourself.

In THROW OUT FIFTY THINGS she takes us through each room of the house-from the attic to the garage-and even to the far reaches of our minds. Through poignant and humorous stories, she inspires us to get rid of the "life plaque" we've allowed to build-up there.

* That junk drawer (you know that drawer) in the kitchen? Empty it!
* Those old regrets? Throw 'em out!
* That make-up from your "old" look? Toss it!
* That relationship that depresses you? Dump it!

Once you've hit fifty-you'll be surprised how easy it is to get there-and once you've thrown out that too-tight belt and too-small view of yourself, you'll be ready to step out into the clearing and into the next, and greatest, segment of your life.

I also won Mrs. Meyer's Clean Home along with it, but since I already won this book I'll be giving it away.

Amigoland by Oscar Casares
Won from Sweeps4Bloggers

In a small town on the Mexican border live two brothers, Don Fidencio and Don Celestino. Stubborn and independent, they now must face the facts: they are old, and they have let a family argument stand between them for too long. Don Celestino's good-natured housekeeper encourages him to make amends—while he still can. They secretly liberate Don Fidencio from his nursing home and travel into Mexico to solve the mystery at the heart of their dispute: the family legend of their grandfather's kidnapping. As the unlikely trio travels, the brothers learn it's never too late for a new beginning.

With winsome prose and heartfelt humor, Oscar Casares's debut novel of family lost and found radiates with generosity and grace and confirms the arrival of a uniquely talented new writer.




I also won a set of the Beach Bag Books from A Sea of Books

• THE SECRET SPEECH by Tom Rob Smith
• JULIE AND JULIA by Julie Powell
• SWIMSUIT by James Patterson, Maxine Paetro
• OBAMA'S BLACKBERRY by Kasper Hauser
• A SUMMER AFFAIR by Elin Hilderbrand
• WHEN YOU ARE ENGULFED IN FLAMES by David Sedaris
• ANY MINUTE by Joyce Meyer, Deborah Bedford
• THE BOOK OF LIES by Brad Meltzer
• MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE by "Kip" Gayden

I was also supposed to get KILL FOR ME by Karen Rose, but there seems to have been an error in my shipment and instead I received The Clique #8: Sealed with a Diss: A Clique Novel (Clique Series)by Lisi Harrison

Received for review...
The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran

In ancient Egypt, a forgotten princess must overcome her family’s past and remake history.

The winds of change are blowing through Thebes. A devastating palace fire has killed the Eighteenth Dynasty’s royal family–with the exception of Nefertari, the niece of the reviled former queen, Nefertiti. The girl’s deceased family has been branded as heretical, and no one in Egypt will speak their names. Nefertari is pushed aside, an unimportant princess left to run wild in the palace. But this changes when she is taken under the wing of the Pharaoh’s aunt, then brought to the Temple of Hathor, where she is educated in a manner befitting a future queen.

Soon Nefertari catches the eye of the Crown Prince, and despite her family’s history, they fall in love and wish to marry. Yet all of Egypt opposes this union between the rising star of a new dynasty and the fading star of an old, heretical one. While political adversity sets the country on edge, Nefertari becomes the wife of Ramesses the Great. Destined to be the most powerful Pharaoh in Egypt, he is also the man who must confront the most famous exodus in history.

Please see my current giveaway for your chance to win this book, and Michelle's new novel Cleopatra's Daughter, due out 9/15.

Thanks so much to everyone!