Mailbox Monday – January 23, 2012

Welcome to this week’s edition of Mailbox Monday.

This month Mailbox Monday is being hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books. Check out Alyce’s blog today to get links to other readers’ mailboxes.

Go to the dedicated blog for the meme to see the complete tour schedule in the left hand sidebar.

Two fantastic books arrived at my house this week:

Algonquin Books sent me a copy of Running the Rift by Naomi Benaron (January 2012) as part of BOOK CLUB. We’ll be discussing this book over on Jen’s blog on January 31st. This debut novel won the 2011 Bellweather Prize for Fiction for its treatment of compelling social issues. Set in Rwanda, Running the Rift centers around Jean Patrick Nkuba who dreams of an Olympic medal in track. But as a Tutsi, he is caught up in the tensions between the Hutu and his people and as his world becomes more unsettled and brutal, Jean Patrick must make some difficult decisions. Benaron’s novel is told from the point of view of an unforgettable boy as he comes of age during Rwanda’s tragic history. Described as “unflinching,” “finely crafted,” and “an auspicious debut,” this is a novel I am eager to read.

Naomi Benaron holds a master of fine arts degree from Antioch University and a master of science degree in earth sciences from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She is an Ironman triathlete. She teaches at UCLA Extension Writers’ Program and mentors for the Afghan Women’s Writing Project. Benaron works as an advocate for African refugees in the community and has worked extensively with genocide survivor groups in Rwanda. She is the winner of the G.S. Sharat Chandra Prize for Short Fiction, and the 2005 Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition. Learn more about Benaron and her work by visiting the author’s website.

Unbridled Books sent me an Advance Readers Edition of Hollywood Boulevard by Janyce Stefan-Cole (April 2012). The novel is a noir psychological thriller centered around Ardennes Thrush, an award winning movie star who finds herself at the Hotel Muse with her husband Andre. When a box of dead roses is delivered to her suite, Ardennes suspects she is being stalked. Enter a Beverly Hills detective who comes to investigate, and “a powerful attraction becomes unexpectedly unprofessional and quickly carnal.”

Janyce Stefan-Cole writes fiction, essay and freelance journalism. A finalist for the James Jones First Novel Fellowship, she is included in the Boston Globe bestselling anthology, Dick for a Day (Villard Books), The Healing Muse and Knock Literary Arts Magazine; a story will be published, January 2012, in the Editions Bibliotekos anthology, Being Human: The Call of the Wild. A fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, she attended the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, and resides with her husband in Brooklyn, NY, and Freedom, NH.

Did any amazing books arrive at YOUR house this week?