Monday, May 21, 2012

Mailbox Monday!

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, a weekly meme originally created and hosted by Marcia of A girl and her books and hosted this month by Martha at Martha‘s Bookshelf. Below are the titles I received for review, purchased, or otherwise obtained over the course of the past week.

Ninepins by Rosy Thornton (from author for review)
Deep in the Cambridgeshire fens, Laura is living alone with her 12-year old daughter Beth, in the old tollhouse known as Ninepins. She's in the habit of renting out the pumphouse, once a fen drainage station, to students, but this year she's been persuaded to take in 17-year-old Willow, a care-leaver with a dubious past, on the recommendation of her social worker, Vince. Is Willow dangerous or just vulnerable? It's possible she was once guilty of arson; her mother's hippy life is gradually revealed as something more sinister; and Beth is in trouble at school and out of it. Laura's carefully ordered world seems to be getting out of control. With the tension of a thriller, Ninepins explores the idea of family, and the volatile and changing relationships between mothers and daughters, in a landscape that is beautiful but - as they all discover - perilous

Shadows Walking by Douglas R. Skopp (win from Anna at Diary of an Eccentric)
Johann Brenner, an idealistic physician and ardent German nationalist, has joined the Nazi Party and willingly participated in its "crimes against humanity." His Jewish childhood friend, Philipp Stein, has also become a doctor. Their lives inevitably intersect until their last, fateful meeting.

After the war, Brenner, with stolen papers and a new name, has become a janitor in the courthouse where the Nuremberg Trials are being held. Hoping to "heal himself" and wishing to begin a new life with his estranged wife, he decides that he must write her a letter telling what he has done and why.

Brenner's letter sets the theme for each chapter of Shadows Walking. Through his letter, we see him admit his choices and their consequences as he slips deeper and deeper into the brutality of the Third Reich.

House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomon (win from Kaye at Pudgy Penguin Perusals)
It's the spring of 1938 and no longer safe to be a Jew in Vienna. Nineteen-year-old Elise Landau is forced to leave her glittering life of parties and champagne to become a parlor maid in England. She arrives at Tyneford, the great house on the bay, where servants polish silver and serve drinks on the lawn. But war is coming, and the world is changing. When the master of Tyneford's young son, Kit, returns home, he and Elise strike up an unlikely friendship that will transform Tyneford-and Elise-forever.

18 comments:

  1. Hi Amy, glad to see you got your book. I hope you love it as much as I did. Have a great week and happy reading!

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  2. Enjoy your new books! That Tyneford one looks like a goodie to me!

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  3. Yay! So glad Shadows Walking arrived so quickly. I can't wait to discuss it with you. I found The House at Tyneford at the library recently and I hope to get to it soon. Enjoy your new books!

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  4. I have just finished Ninepins and loved it! I'm guessing you will too! Nice set of books this week!

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  5. The House Of Tyneford looks like a great read.

    http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2012/05/mailbox-monday_21.html

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  6. Oh, you know that WWII book caught my eye!

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  7. I read another book by Natasha Solomons and I loved it so I bet The House of Tyneford is great!

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  8. Great books. The House of Tynford is on my want to listen to list.

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  9. Ninepins sounds good to me. Enjoy reading!

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  10. Good ones Amy - enjoy. Waiting for the N. Soloman one in audio from the library.

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  11. I also got Ninepins and The House at Tyneford, so we will be reading twins, at least for awhile! Very cool new additions. I hope that you enjoy all of them!

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  12. Great selection of books you received. I hope you enjoy them!

    Have a lovely week!

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  13. Enjoy your books - The House at Tyneford looks great!

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  14. I've seen Ninepins on a few blogs... it looks good.

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  15. House of Tyneford sounds like a story I would enjoy. I will look forward to your thoughts on it!

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  16. Sounds like you have three good ones to look forward to. Enjoy!

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