Mailbox Monday, August 13

A small but deeply satisfying and super eclectic Mailbox Monday this week (hosted in August at 5 Minutes for Books). To learn more about any book, click on a cover and the link will automatically open in a new tab/window. 

What did you get?  Have any of these?

For Review





Comments

  1. Diana LeighAugust 12, 2012 at 11:27 AM

    Super eclectic is good! I've heard of a few of these books, but have not read them. Hope you enjoy!
    My Mailbox Post

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AudraAugust 12, 2012 at 12:08 PM

      I do love the wide range of genres here -- will make for interesting days ahead!

      Delete
  2. Harvee LauAugust 12, 2012 at 12:07 PM

    You will like Broken Harbor if you like suspense. The Vivaldi book looks very interesting. Nice mailbox this week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AudraAugust 12, 2012 at 12:09 PM

      Sometimes suspense kills me -- we'll see if I can survive the night reading that one! I'm v excited about the Vivaldi novel -- it's so right up my alley!

      Delete
  3. rhapsodyinbooksAugust 12, 2012 at 12:54 PM

    I got Broken Harbor this week too, and I'm super excited over it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AudraAugust 12, 2012 at 2:34 PM

      It'll be my first Tana French novel -- v excited!

      Delete
  4. JennaAugust 12, 2012 at 2:21 PM

    I have heard great things about Broken Harbor, but have not read any of her books (I want to!). I am actually reading Brooklyn by Toibin right now and am liking it. I am interested to see his new book- is it fiction or non-fiction?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AudraAugust 12, 2012 at 2:34 PM

      Jenna -- it's fiction -- his imagining of Mary's life following Jesus' death. I'm particularly keen to read this as I had the chance to go to site in Turkey where it is said Mary ascended -- it's a lovely pilgrimage site now -- and I'm fond of Catholic hagiography.

      Delete
  5. bermudaonionAugust 12, 2012 at 3:00 PM

    I got The Meryl Streep Movie Club as well. Broken Harbor should be fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  6. SerenaAugust 12, 2012 at 6:53 PM

    Still have not read any Tana French yet...maybe I should get on that. Enjoy your books.

    ReplyDelete
  7. MysticaAugust 13, 2012 at 9:21 AM

    What a fabulous selection of reads. The Testament of Mary, the Meryl Streep and the Vivaldi books have really caught my interest

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mrs Q Book AddictAugust 13, 2012 at 9:31 AM

    I've heard great things about Tana French, but I haven't read any of her books. Enjoy all your new books.

    ReplyDelete
  9. nomadreaderAugust 13, 2012 at 10:33 AM

    Ooh: I'm super excited for The Testament of Mary! Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  10. AmyAugust 13, 2012 at 1:09 PM

    Oh Audra, this post of yours has me drooling (à la Homer Simpson & donuts!) and slightly envious, if I'm being honest!, and that's just from the first 2 books, Broken Harbor and Vivaldi's Music. Then I read the synopsis of Defiant Brides which sounds quite good. I'm also intrigued by Colm Toibin's book about Masry.

    Enjoy you new books, Audra and I'll be eagerly anticipating your review posts!

    ReplyDelete
  11. ZibileeAugust 13, 2012 at 2:59 PM

    Oooh, the new Tana French! Lots of people are gonna be jealous that you got that one! I have yet to read her, but people tell me not to wait, so I will be getting started with her first very soon! Great mailbox today!

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnnaAugust 14, 2012 at 2:00 PM

    Vivaldi's Muse and Defiant Brides look especially interesting. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kaoru Mori's Emma, #1

Image
 ...for this world allows you no more than a cupful of dreams. So be stingy with your time. And run.

Or something like that.

I think if I had known manga was similar to graphic novels, I might not have waited so long to make my first attempt. As it were, thanks to Read Harder 2019, I begged the internet to recommend some historical romance manga, and across the board, folks recommended this series.

Holy crap, it was so charming.

Emma, Vol. 01 by Kaoru Mori (森 薫)
CMX, 2006
Copy from public library
Historical Fiction and Read Harder challenges

Set in 1885 London, our heroine, Emma, is a maid for a retired governess. The governess' former ward, William Jones, is now a young man tasked with managing his family's business and fortune. He's immediately smitten by the quiet Emma but social constraints prevent him from openly pursuing her.

There's not much more to the story than that, and the delight is in William and Emma and their circles. William's classmate Hakim visits …
Read more

Wordless Wednesday, Jan 23

Image
My Wordless Wednesday offering for this week: my newest read, Alyssa Cole's An Extraordinary Union, which I've wanted to read for forever and it ticks one of the boxes for this year's Read Harder challenge. Woot!

Survived my first super snowy weekend in our new place, and I'm enjoying rural-y snowy views rather than my usual quickly-muddy urban slushy ones.

What are you reading right now?
Read more

Sarah Perry's Melmoth

Image
Oh my friend, my darling—won't you take my hand? I've been so lonely!

I told my wife this book reminded me, in a way, of the tv show, Hannibal. Not because of any actual plot similarity (Perry's novel is devoid of serial killers) but more in the opulent, baroque, and ominous style in both.

Melmoth by Sarah Perry
Custom House, 2018
Copy from public library

It's extravagant. Melodramatic. Wuthering Heights and mezzo-sopranos dying on stage. Tea-and-rainy-day moody. A bit like Byatt's Possession, only far more brief. It has all the atmosphere and setting of a book I love, so I'm especially crushed that I didn't love it!

Inspired by a Victorian novel about a man named Melmoth, Perry instead imagines that Melmoth is a haunted woman who sees people's sins and invites them to spend eternity with her. Helen, ex-pat in Prague and suffering self-imposed punishment, learns about Melmoth from a friend, who learns about Melmoth from a friend. An urban legend of sorts…
Read more

Weekend reads, or it's that time of year...

Image
This weekend I won't be reading since my family will be attending the New Bedford Whaling Museum's annual Moby Dick Marathon, a weekend event where passionate fans read Moby Dick aloud.

Moby Dick is my wife's all time favorite book so when we discovered this event, it immediately became an annual affair for us. This is our fifth year going, and my wife is an official reader for her second year in a row. She's very excited.

I'm not a Moby Dick fan but I do love geeks, and it's impossible not to enjoy this when surrounded by passionate fans. The read happens at the museum, which only enhances the story, and there are all kinds of fun nods to the story -- there's a celebrity Ishmael to open the reading every year, the mayor reads the section of Ishmael walking thru Bedford, and the worship scene happens at the Seaman's Bethel, etc.

So, it's not my preferred read, but it'll do. What are you reading this weekend?
Read more