Monday Mailbox #2

Monday Mailbox is a weekly segment wherein I cover my most recent acquisitions, whether via purchase, library, early reviewers, Librarything.com Member Givaway Program or gift.


One of the benefits of being a member of the LibraryThing.com community is the give-aways. There are two parts to this - the first is the Early Reviewers which provides a limited number of free pre-release books to members willing to review them (you sign up for a chance to get a copy, and then publishers determine who gets a copy based on the frequency of your already-posted reviews on the site). The second part is Member Giveaways, which allows members (as opposed to publishing houses and other industry folk) to provide books to members willing to review them. The caveat there is that it's not always a necessarily new book - rather, it's often someone trying to get rid of extra copies of something, or an early reviewer recipient who has no more use for their books, and even sometimes authors who are trying to unload extra copies of their own books in an effort to get the word out about it. 


The more diligent you are about posting your reviews on the website, the more likely it is that you'll receive more books in the future. I post most of my reviews here on the blog, and then copy them into the review form on LibraryThing, giving me a great advantage when decision-making time comes for those selecting book recipients.  

The Haunting of Wolfe Haven, by Debbie A. Heaton

This novel was gifted through Member Giveaways by the author herself. According to the back cover, author Debbie Heaton is a therapist "specializing in mental health, substance abuse, domestic violence, and families with children." Oddly enough, the book doesn't (according to the back cover descriptors) seem to be about any of those things, which is kind of a relief. Often times authors who are professionals in another field become very technical and border on boring when writing about what they know, so hopefully this will be better than that. 

At least I hope so. The back cover of it basically makes it sound like the film "Twister", but replacing tornados with ghosts. I mean "Twister" (in case you've never seen it) goes something like this: 

"Jo Harding is gorgeous, smart, and successful...Some time ago her husband Bill walked away from their marriage, believing there was no hope for the relationship...Bill, as handsome and accomplished as ever, is planning to get remarried, but first he must divorce Jo. To save her broken heart, Jo must confront her feelings for Bill and his wicked good storm-chasing skills...As Jo and Bill try to find love with each other a second time around, they come to grips with tornados and flying oil tankers. If Jo isn't careful, she may fall prey to other storm-chasers, led by Wesley from 'The Princess Bride'."

and here's the back cover of The Haunting of Wolfe Haven:

"Riley Russell is gorgeous, smart, and successful....Three years ago, she walked away from her marriage to entrepreneur Tristan Russell, believing there was no hope for the relationship...Tristan, as handsome and accomplished as ever, is planning to get remarried, but first he must divorce Riley. To save her broken heart, Riley must confront her feelings for Tristan, his family, and his haunted ancestral house, Wolfe Haven...As Riley and Tristan try to find love with each other a second time around, they come to grips with things that go bump in the night. If Riley isn't careful, she may fall prey to enemies that are closer than she thinks."

I mean seriously, throw Cary Elwes into this book, and it's basically Twister. At least that's what I'm getting from the cover. Once I actually read it, I'll hopefully have a better 
opinion of it.   




The Daydreamer by Ian McEwan

A program in which I participate, called E-Rewards, has members fill out surveys in exchange for "money." You can then use that "money" to get certain gifts and such. That's how I ended up with a 2-year subscription to Food & Wine Magazine (which I love) and, once a year, it helps me buy a book. 


In the $15 level, there's the option to add $15 Borders Bucks to your Borders Rewards. You can only do it once every calendar year, and they're only good for one month (the one following the one in which you activate the points). This year, I bought another Ian McEwan novel (thankfully in the same edition as the others that I like) written in 1994 called The Daydreamer. 


It looks like the kind of adult-child fantasy book that I enjoy (à la The Book of Lost Things, but less creepy). Kind of The Book of Lost Things meets "Big," meets "Toy Story," meets Kafka's "The Metamorphosis." I'm excited.