Mailbox Monday, Sept 19

Since I've seriously scaled back on my reviews (and then, frankly, stopped doing pretty much any not associated with a tour, le sigh!), I've not got gotten as many unsolicited copies any more. It bums me out from a blogger perspective, in that it's one big indication that I'm not as active here as I should be, but on the other hand, I'm grateful I don't have to deal with the clutter of books I probably won't read.

I'm still a bit free with my requests for e-book ARCs, however, and I have been chewing through a handful of those this year. Here are some recent arrivals on this Mailbox Monday. What have you gotten? Any of these appeal to you?

Print Copies


Ebook Copies



Kate Howard, The Ornatrix
Sara Flannery Murphy, The Possessions
Laurie Notaro, Crossing the Horizon



Aprilynne Pike, Glitter
Cherie Priest, The Family Plot

Comments

  1. I did just the opposite - I'm only doing a few blog tours and the rest I read on my own schedule. It got to be too much pressure to read/post by a certain date. If I get an unsolicited book I'll read it if it interests me or I'll spotlight and run a giveaway or I'll donate it to the little free library in my neighborhood (if it's a finished copy). I guess what I'm saying is it's nice we can set our own limits and then enjoy reading! Nice to land on your blog today :)

    ReplyDelete

  2. Nice mailbox. Gorgeous covers.

    I haven't been doing too many tours. I am excited about unsolicited books unless it is one that I really won't read. I have been pretty lucky, though. Most of my unsolicited books are books that I have enjoyed.

    Have a wonderful week.

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Mailbox Monday

    ReplyDelete

  3. I like the list you do have here. They look like good reads. I hope that you find more time for blogging. I miss seeing those posts in my email.

    ReplyDelete

  4. Nice mailbox. I miss your reviews though!

    ReplyDelete

  5. Great mailbox! I'm really intrigued by Glitter. Happy reading!

    ReplyDelete

  6. Yep, the lesser number has a silver lining. I've stopped using Netgalley so no more books from there, no tours either, but I've had a few print copies I'm excited about, particularly the latest Peirene.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Winter 2017 Bloggiesta To Do Post

Image
I love Bloggiesta for reminding me to brush up and take of my blog, and doing it "in community", so to speak, makes this housework a little more fun.

Given my earlier whining about feeling out-of-it with my blog, I'm really excited there's a mini-event this coming weekend in which I can do some backend work here.

My to do list is pretty simple:
make a top 10 of 2016 post (even if it is just a list!)review the book I just finished!I'd like to start 2017 without a backlog of reviews, so it feels important I keep up. We'll see if I'll tackle my 2016 backlog. (Perhaps for another Bloggiesta!)
Read more

Top Ten Reads of 2017

Image
In 2017 I read 40 books, and while it's on the leaner side (compared to the years I was aiming for 200+!), it felt like the first year I was really back into reading in a way I hadn't been since I was pregnant in 2014.

I got much closer to my goal of being a free-range reader in 2017, but I still struggled with balancing reading with other activities, and more importantly with regards to this blog, writing about my reads. (Here I am, almost halfway through 2018, and I'm seriously behind on reviews. Ugh!)

In 2017, thirty-four of all the authors I read were women. Seven were authors of color. Four of my reads were audiobooks, which is a first for me! I managed two non-fiction reads: one a memoir, the other a food/how-to guide. Twenty-four of my reads were 2017 releases.

As always, my top ten reads for the year were books that delighted me upon reading and have lingered with me after. All are books I've recommended multiple times and/or won't shut up about. Only one …
Read more

Book Review: Eventide by Therese Bohman

Image
First line: The subway car was packed and she had to stand from Slussen to Östermalmstorg, crammed between people who all seemed to be sweating.

I didn't think I'd so enjoy a book that details the angst of being 40ish and uneasy about one's life. But Bohman's slender novel and her cerebral, melancholy heroine Karolina, are touching, familiar, and wryly funny.

This is a familiar story, but still feels fresh and vibrant. Karolina is 40-ish and newly separated, a decision that she agonizes over. Living alone, she relishes the freedom even as she doubts her own decisions. When her charming graduate student's research reveals an exciting, forgotten female artist, there is the promise of something more.

Bohman's narrative style, as translated by Marlaine Delargy, is both grounded and ethereal: we experience Karolina's grimy commutes through the city as well as float with her during her lofty, meandering ruminations. It's a think-y kind of novel that doesn…
Read more

Book Review: The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

Image
First line: The new doctor took her by surprise.

This book is my catnip: Victorian, gothic, haunted house slash ghost story maybe slash unreliable narrator, plus mysterious deaths and creepy countrysides and, well, this read did not disappoint.

I loved it.

Elsie is a young widow, mere months into her marriage. Her husband died under mysterious circumstances at his family's decrepit country estate and Elsie must go there for his burial, accompanied by a mousy cousin-in-law, Sarah. She finds The Bridge, as the house is called, in shambles, with an clumsy, unprofessional staff surrounded by hostile villagers. She also finds a home, and family, steeped in tragedy.

I don't want to say too much more lest I giveaway a small but meaningful detail, but needless to say, Purcell creates a story with all the shiver-inducing details one wants in a creepy gothic-y horror. Nothing can be trusted: not people, not one's senses, not history, not place.

The title's silent companions are …
Read more