Mailbox Monday – March 4, 2013

Welcome to this week’s Mailbox Monday and which is hosted by Caitlin at Chaotic Compendiums this month. Visit the dedicated blog for the  meme to see the complete tour schedule in the right sidebar.

I got some really wonderful books this week.

 The wonderful Lydia with Penguin Books sent me three terrific titles:

A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams (G.P. Putnam, June 2013) is the second novel by this talented author. You can catch my review of her first book (Overseas) here. Her newest effort is set in Rhode Island in 1938 and centers around Lily Dane, a New York Socialite. When Nick and Budgie Greenwald arrive unexpectedly on the coast, the truth of their marriage surfaces, while a cataclysmic hurricane barrels into New England…and Lily must confront her own emotional past with Nick which will change their worlds forever.

Beatriz Williams is a graduate of Stanford University with an MBA from Columbia. She spent several years in New York and London as a corporate and communications strategy consultant, and then as an at-home producer of small persons. Williams is the author of the international bestseller, Overseas. She now lives with her husband and four children near the Connecticut shore. Learn more about Williams and her work by visiting the author’s website.

The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell (Amy Einhorn Books, May 2013) is a debut novel. I have really come to appreciate the books that are published under Amy Einhorn…and this one looks particularly good. Rose Baker is a typist in the NY City Police Department and with just a few strokes of the keyboard, she can send a person away for life in prison. It is 1923, and a new era for women. When glamorous Odalie, a new girl, joins the typing pool, despite her best intentions the prudish Rose falls under Odalie’s spell. “As the two women navigate between the sparkling underworld of speakeasies by night and their work at the station by day, Rose is drawn fully into Odalie’s high-stakes world. And soon her fascination with Odalie turns into an obsession from which she may never recover.”

Suzanne Rindell is a doctoral student in American modernist literature at Rice University. The Other Typist is her first novel. She lives in New York City and is currently working on a second novel. Learn more about Rindell and her work by visiting the author’s website.

The Yonahlosseee Riding Camp For Girls by Anton Disclafani (Riverhead Books, June 2013) is getting some amazing early reviews – which should not be surprising given that Riverhead reportedly gave the author a $1 million advance for the book. It is 1930 during the Great Depression, and Thea Atwell has been cast our of her Florida home at the age of fifteen. Sent to an equestrienne boarding school for Southern debutantes, high in the Blue Ridge mountains, Thea is far removed from her family’s citrus farm. She finds herself enmeshed in a new order which will change her sense of herself, her family and her country. Described as “part scandalous love story, part heartbreaking family drama,” the novel promises a vivid read about sex, love, money, class, home and horses.

Anton DiSclafani grew up in Northern Florida where she competed in horseback riding on a national level. She graduated from Emory University and received her MFA from Washington University. She lives in St. Louis where she teaches creative writing at Washington University.

All You Could Ask For by Mike Greenberg (April 2013) arrived from William Morrow for a TLC Book Tour in April. This debut novel by Mike Greenberg (cohost of ESPN’s Mike and Mike in the Morning) is billed as “a tender and insightful story of friendship and love, heartbreak and renewal, played out in the lives of three unforgettable women.” Brooke, Samantha, and Katherine don’t know each other, but their stories are about to intertwine in ways no one could have imagined. “All three are about to discover the power of friendship to conquer adversity, the satisfaction of unexpected delights, the incredible difference one human being can have on other lives–and that they have all they could ask for, as long as they have each other.”

Mike Greenberg is the author of two previous New York Times bestsellers. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and a native of New York City. He lives with his wife, Stacy, and their two children in Connecticut. In conjunction with the release of this book, Mike and Stacy have created a foundation called Heidi’s Angels, through which all of the author’s profits from the sale of this book will be donated to The V Foundation for Cancer Research to combat breast cancer.

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger (March 2013) arrived from Atria Books. This novel is set in New Bremen, Minnesota in 1961. Thirteen-year-old Frank Drum suffers a grim summer in which death visits frequently and in many forms. Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder. Frank finds himself thrust into an adult world full of secrets, lies, adultery, and betrayal. Narrated from Frank’s perspective forty years after that fateful summer, Ordinary Grace is a “brilliantly moving account of a boy standing at the door of his young manhood, trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him. It is an unforgettable novel about discovering the terrible price of wisdom and the enduring grace of God.”

William Kent Krueger is the award-winning author of twelve previous Cork O’Connor novels, including Northwest Angle and Trickster’s Point, as well as the novel Ordinary Grace. He lives in the Twin Cities with his family. Learn more about Krueger and his work by visiting the author’s website.

Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape by Jenna Miscavige Hill (with Lisa Pulitzer) arrived from William Morrow. Jenna Miscavige Hill, niece of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige, was raised as a Scientologist but left the controversial religion in 2005. In this memoir, she shares her true story of life inside the upper ranks of the sect, details her experiences as a member Sea Org—the church’s highest ministry, speaks of her “disconnection” from family outside of the organization, and tells the story of her ultimate escape.

Jenna Miscavige Hill is one of the most prominent critics of Scientology. She co-founded the website Ex-Scientology Kids which features the stories of current and former Scientologists and supports those who choose to leave the organization. She lives in Southern California.

Lisa Pulitzer is a former correspondent for the New York Times and coauthor of more than a dozen nonfiction titles, including New York Times bestsellers Stolen Innocence, Imperfect Justice, and Mob Daughter.

Did any wonderful books arrive at YOUR home this week?