Friday, August 28, 2015

*Mail Call* August 17-28

I skipped a week of mail call, because I only got one book in the mail last week, and it seemed a bit silly to me to write a whole blog post for a single book (especially because it's a children's book), so I'm just including that one book in this weeks post. I think my mail room was just holding out on me last week though, because this week was a great week for mail.


Honk, Honk! Hold Tight by Jessica Souhami


Synopsis

This very funny folktale tells about the princess who will not laugh. Her father says he will give her hand in marriage to the man who can make her laugh â?? and one boy plus a golden goose set off to the palace to try their luckâ?¿ As they go along, the animals and people they meet all try to steal one of the golden goose's feathers â?? and they stick fast to the goose. "Honk Honk Hold Tight!" says the boy, and the whole parade soon ends up at the palace. What will the princess do?

A fabulous read-aloud, laugh-out-loud story that has its origins in Italy, Germany, Norway, Sweden and the UK, with variants discovered in Russia and Egypt.





Not You It's Me by Julie Johnson

Synopsis

Gemma Summers is unlucky in love.
She’s known it since third grade, when her first crush blew a spitball into her hair, and a decade-long string of bad dates, boring sex, and abysmal morning-afters has done nothing to improve her prospects. 
But when a random radio call-in contest lands her courtside tickets to the hottest playoff game of the season, Gemma’s luck may finally be on the upswing — even if it doesn’t exactly seem like it when the dreaded jumbotron kiss-cam lands on her and her date, who’s too busy ignoring her to notice… 

Chase Croft doesn’t date.
Despite ample opportunity as Boston’s most eligible bachelor, the reformed bad-boy would rather put his energy into taking over the family business than weed through a world of gold-diggers to find an honest woman. 
But when the beautiful girl in the seat next to him becomes a courtside spectacle at the hands of her loser boyfriend, he can’t help but step in and save the day. 

One kiss. Two strangers. No strings attached.
The only problem is, Chase is used to getting whatever he wants. And after kissing Gemma once, he knows one thing…
He wants more.

NOT YOU IT’S ME is a full-length, standalone contemporary romance about a girl who doesn’t believe in love… and the man who changes her mind. Due to sexy-times and strong language, it is intended for readers 17 and up.


Diary of a Single Wedding Planner by Violet Howe

Synopsis

Wedding planner Tyler Warren left heartbreak behind when she ran away from her small Southern hometown and started a new life in a big city. Years later, she wants to believe in the fairy-tale endings her job promotes, but the clients she meets day after day seem to be more “Crazily Ever After” than “Happily Ever After.” 

Meanwhile, her own attempts at romance play out as bizarre comedies rather than love stories, and she’s starting to think Prince Charming either fell off his horse or got eaten by a dragon. When unresolved issues from Tyler’s past complicate things even further, she discovers she may yet have some things to figure out before she can find her own happy ending. 

This delightful first book in the Tales Behind the Veils series chronicles Tyler’s wacky misadventures, both personal and professional. Whether she’s getting insane requests from brides or outlandish requests on dates, you’re sure to be charmed and entertained by the Diary of a Single Wedding Planner.
 



The Fifth House of the Heart by Ben Tripp

Synopsis

Filled with characters as menacing as they are memorable, this chilling twist on vampire fiction packs a punch in the bestselling tradition of ’Salem’s Lot by Stephen King.

Asmodeus “Sax” Saxon-Tang, a vainglorious and well-established antiques dealer, has made a fortune over many years by globetrotting for the finest lost objects in the world. Only Sax knows the true secret to his success: at certain points of his life, he’s killed vampires for their priceless hoards of treasure.

But now Sax’s past actions are quite literally coming back to haunt him, and the lives of those he holds most dear are in mortal danger. To counter this unnatural threat, and with the blessing of the Holy Roman Church, a cowardly but cunning Sax must travel across Europe in pursuit of incalculable evil—and immeasurable wealth—with a ragtag team of mercenaries and vampire killers to hunt a terrifying, ageless monster…one who is hunting Sax in turn.

From author Ben Tripp, whose first horror novel Rise Again “raises the stakes so high that the book becomes nearly impossible to put down” (Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother), The Fifth House of the Heart is a powerful story that will haunt you long after its final pages.


Facing the Blitz by Jeff Kemp

Synopsis

Popular Speaker Reveals that Every Trial 
Is an Opportunity 
In football, a blitz is an all-out attack, aiming to force the quarterback into a mistake and create mayhem and destruction. But by its nature, the blitz also creates an opportunity for the quarterback, as it leaves holes in the defense. What looks like the worst play can become the best play. 
During a life "blitz," when everything seems like it's collapsing--financially, relationally, spiritually, or physically--if you take initiative you can do more than just survive. You can grow, succeed, and advance. In "Facing the Blitz "Jeff shares lessons he's learned through all kinds of life blitzes, both personal and professional. He teaches how life is about transformation and being others-oriented, and how having the right mindset can turn unnecessary fear and misery into courage, growth, and joy. Includes end-of-chapter questions for assessment and application.




Live to Air by Jeffrey L. Diamond

Synopsis

Television, politics, and the Russian mob: Live to Air is a riveting crime thriller, jam-packed with intrigue and unforgettable characters.

Ethan Benson is a charming and principled-if sometimes difficult-television producer in New York City who detests doing crime stories. But that's of no significance to his high-powered boss at the network, and Benson finds himself assigned to investigating a bloody shoot-out in the Meatpacking District, whose old grime and new glitz provide a symbolic background for a sensational murder that has dominated the headlines.

As he pieces together his story, Benson literally covers New York-from Central Park and Fifth Avenue to Little Russia in Brooklyn and Rikers Island in Queens-crossing paths with a fascinating cast of characters on both sides of the law. Unknown to Benson, organized crime may be only one facet of the thrilling investigation. With his wife and son in hiding and his life in danger, Benson draws closer to a resolution that will have explosive results for the criminals-and for some members of New York City's political elite as well.


Gone Without a Trace by Patricia Bradley

Synopsis

It's been more than two years since homicide detective Livy Reynolds's cousin disappeared from Logan Point. Unlike most people in her hometown, Livy has never believed that Robyn left voluntarily. When Dallas private investigator Alex Jennings contacts Livy concerning a missing senator's daughter who was last seen in Logan Point, she notices eerie similarities between the two disappearances. But with self-doubt plaguing her and an almost instant dislike of Jennings, Livy is finding this investigation an uphill battle. With her future in law enforcement on the line, can she find a way to work with a man who is her polar opposite?








The Curse of Crow Hollow by Billy Coffey

Synopsis

Stories are told of a witch who lives in the woods outside of town. But where does truth end and legend begin?A group of teenagers find strange prints seared into the ground around their campsite. They follow the tracks, thinking it will lead to fun.But it doesn't. They eventually arrive at the edge of Alvaretta Graves's property--house of the legendary Riverwood Witch. When an agrument that arises turns violent, Alvaretta places a curse on them.The sickness comes the next day, gripping residents one by one. Fear overtakes the town, and panic soon follows.The posse that makes its way back to the witch's home is armed with guns and Bibles and is searching for an end to the sickness and violence. But they are in no way prepared for what they discover there.






Some Desperate Glory by Max Egremont

Synopsis

The story of World War I, through the lives and words of its poets

The hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of what many believed would be the war to end all wars is in 2014. And while World War I devastated Europe, it inspired profound poetry—words in which the atmosphere and landscape of battle are evoked perhaps more vividly than anywhere else.

The poets—many of whom were killed—show not only the war’s tragedy but also the hopes and disappointments of a generation of men. In Some Desperate Glory, the historian and biographer Max Egremont gives us a transfiguring look at the life and work of this assemblage of poets. Wilfred Owen with his flaring genius; the intense, compassionate Siegfried Sassoon; the composer Ivor Gurney; Robert Graves, who would later spurn his war poems; the nature-loving Edward Thomas; the glamorous Fabian Socialist Rupert Brooke; and the shell-shocked Robert Nichols—all fought in the war, and their poetry is a bold act of creativity in the face of unprecedented destruction.

Some Desperate Glory includes a chronological anthology of the poets’ works, telling the story of the war not only through the lives of these writers but also through their art. This unique volume unites the poetry and the history of the war—so often treated separately—granting readers the pride, strife, and sorrow of the individual soldier’s experience coupled with a panoramic view of the war’s toll on an entire nation.


Leaving Home by Duane A. Eide

Synopsis

Ten year old Shane Stenlund resented life on the farm. With his parents and sister, Danni four years older, Shane lived on a productive farm in Minnesota's Red River Valley. To Shane life on the farm was oppressive and boring. Instead of daily chores picking eggs, feeding pigs and milking cows, he dreamed of life either on the open range where he could ride his closest friend and companion, First Mate, his shetland pony, or in the big city free from the onerous daily farm duties.

His dissatisfaction with life on the farm was fueled by his perception of his older sister who, in his opinion, did nothing but fix her hair or smile at herself in the mirror. A Christmas vacation ski accident commenced a series of events that intensified Shane's troubling rejection of life on the farm. Academic deficiency during his high school senior year and a devastating conclusion to the senior prom served as the final ingredients in his decision to leave home.

Shane sought refuge in the big city, ironically in his sister's Minneapolis condo. With dismay, he discovered life in the big city did not comply with his earlier vision of the freedom life there would allow. Not until he met Max Hawkins and Alisha Sanders, both homeless teens, and Nick Karpin, a local entrepreneur, did his life begin to change.


So there you have it. That's my last two weeks worth of book mail. I'm most looking forward to reading The Fifth House of the Heart and Diary of a Single Wedding Planner (everything about that cover appeals to me for some reason). Which one of these books are you most interested in hearing my thoughts on? - Katie 

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