Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Marcia at the Printed Page. This is a peek at the books that have come into my house this week, and the various ways they’ve arrived:
My neighbor, Debbie, and I had a yard sale to raise money for our Breast Cancer 3-Day walk. All the neighbors donated goods to be sold, 
and we did heavy advertising in the local newspaper, Craigslist, and signs posted around town. The sale was a success, and I picked up two books from the book table! One was Elizabeth Berg’s Say When; I haven’t read anything by this author, but I recognize her name from various blogs I read. My second yard sale find was Tracy Chevalier’s The Virgin Blue. I loved The Girl with a Pearl Earring, and have high hopes for this other novel.
PaperBack Swap came through with a copy of Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief! I thought this was a YA book, but based on the font and number of pages, it looks like regular adult fiction to me. Am I way off base, or is this a successful crossover book, a la Harry Potter?
I won a few books in the past week, which is always a very fun and exciting way to add to my reading lists! W. W. Norton and Co. publishers and the Poems Out Loud ran a giveaway for a signed (by Robert Pinsky, Sharon Olds, Philip Schultz, Mark Strand, and C. K. Williams) copy of the new Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud. The book contains a CD with a selection of poems read by Robert Pinsky. I am so excited about this book, especially since one of my goals for the next year or so is to read and familiarize myself with more poetry.
Another win came from the Read Street blog of the Baltimore Sun. I won an adorable picture book called First Dog; it’s about an un-named dog who comes to live at a certain address on Pennsylvania Avenue. The second book in the giveaway was Bastard Tonguesby Derek Bickerton. Bickerton was a professor of linguistics;
this book discusses “what language is, how it works, and how it passes from generation to generation, even where historical accidents have made normal transmission almost impossible.”
Lastly, I’m pleased to share the title of a book written by my neighbor, Gwen Acton. The Bluffer’s Guide to Genetics promises to give me enough information about DNA, genomes and cloning to talk my way through any cocktail party. The Bluffer’s Guides are a series from the UK, similar to the Dummies series. I’m finding it quite readable for a non-scientist, and look forward to my first attempt at bluffing!
I love this mix of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and children’s picture book … never a dull moment on my bookcase! What’s new on your shelf this week?
Some lovely books here.
I think ‘The book Thief” is a crossover book. I had read somewhere that this was supposed to be an adult novel but it was promoted as YA. No idea why.
What a great variety of books you have this week. I have no new books this week, thank goodness. I will be finishing up my books that I started last week. Have a great week everyone.
You got some great books last week. I bought The Book Thief on Buy Indie Day and I was surprised at how thick it is too. It says Random House teens so I’m pretty sure it is classified as YA.
These look like great books. I loved The Book Thief, by the way.
Violet – I’m glad I’m not imagining it!
ann marie – you too! I hope you’re enjoying whatever it is you’re reading this week.
Kathy – When you get ready to read it we could have a “conversation” about THE BOOK THIEF.
Carol – I’ll go back and re-read your review.
The Book Thief is a crossover book. Mature 8th graders and up. It won a Printz honor. An amazing story with a very unique narrator. Don’t go getting too excited about The Virgin Blue. I, at least, was disappointed. But I couldn’t expect another Pearl Earring, I guess. hope you had a great Mother’s Day!
Bastard Tongues sounds particularly interesting to me. Enjoy your books!
I pitched The Book Thief to my book club last January and they would not read it because of its YA classification. However, every adult that has read it since then says it’s great so I am anxious to hear what you think of it.
Erin – thanks for the input on THE BOOK THIEF and THE VIRGIN BLUE. I know, PEARL EARRING was *so good* it would be hard to hit that high again!
Avis – the one class I dropped out of in college was all about Middle English! I love language and learning about the origins and morphing of words.
Ti – How could they turn you down?!? I’ve heard such good things about THE BOOK THIEF … I’ll let you know
My daughter has The Book Thief and I keep meaning to read it.
Hopefully, that’ll happen this summer. Love the cover of First Dog!
Such variety!
I came home from a wonderful weekend in our cottage today, expecting to find three Scandinavian books I ordered last week. They had not come, but happily a really good friend had sent me two British crime novels!
I am interested in hearing your review about the Bluffer’s Guide to Genetics. Perhaps we can have cocktails and I can rate the book for you (after a bit of quizzing). . . ;} :}
I’m reading The Virgin Blue right now. It was a little slow for me to get into, but I am really enjoying it now.
I Loved the Book Thief!! Enjoy your new books
JoAnn – we’ve read First Dog several times since it came in the mail; my kids have allergies, so a book is as close as they’ll get!
Dorte – a surprise delivery of two books, and you’re expecting 3 more … sounds like a happy homecoming!
Nicole – you better do the quizzing before the cocktails!
Melissa – I think it will be a summer vacation read for me; I’ll look for your review.
Wendy – I read so many great reviews that I put it on my wish list over at PBS – ta-da! wish granted!
Lucky you! I’ve got The Book Thief on my wish list on PBS – it sounds like a wonderful book!!
Hope your sale was a HUGE success – it is for a wonderful cause.
Here’s my Mailbox! ~ Wendi
I am particularly intrigued by this book and your thoughts: “Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud.”
I am so glad that you are going to take the time to get back into poetry and contemporary poetry in particular….I may be rubbing off on you!
I can’t wait to see what other books you treat yourself to in this genre. I hope you are enjoying my contemporary poet interview series with 32 poems as well…that can help you find some new-to-you poets as well.
I am looking forward to BEA!
Looks like you got some good stuff this week! I have been wanting to read The Virgin Blue for awhile now, The Girl with the Pearl Earring was a great book, so I have high hopes!
Looks like you got a lot of good books this week. I love anything Elizabeth Berg and the cover of First Dog is just too cute. Enjoy!
Thank you for stopping by the mailbox this week. Once again I’m in the minority on a book but that doesn’t surprise me much. I didn’t finish The Book Thief. It just never caught my attention. Enjoy your books!
I absolutely loved The Book Thief. Hope you enjoy it, too. My mailbox is here.