Welcome to this week’s edition of Mailbox Monday hosted this month by Metroreader.

Visit Metroreader 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.

A tantalizing array of books arrived at my house this week:

Jenny Lawson’s blog is on my daily must-read list. Better known as The Bloggess, she is painfully funny and outrageous. Her often inappropriate humor just makes me laugh. So when I saw she was publishing her first book, a memoir, I was eager to get my hands on it. I literally begged my contact at Penguin. I think I even offered to kill if it would help me get a copy of the book for review. So imagine my joy when Let’s Pretend This Never Happened arrived at my doorstep! Due for release in April 2012 through Amy Einhorn, the book is being described as “adorably offensive,” and “hilarious, snarky, witty, totally inappropriate.“  Lawson says out loud what most of us just think privately. I am going to try to wait until April to read Lawson’s memoir – but don’t be surprised if I break down and get to it sooner.

Jenny Lawson writes for Good Mom/Bad Mom on the Houston Chronicle. She also writes a satirical sex column and  a parenting column.  Her blog is outrageously entertaining. Lawson lives with her long-suffering husband and daughter. She also has three cats: Posey, Rolly and Ferris Mewler.

Blue Monday by Nicci French arrived through Pamela Dorman Books (due for release in early March). This novel is the first in a new series of psychological thrillers and introduces Freida Klein, a solitary, incisive brilliant psychotherapist, who spends her sleepless nights walking the streets of London. When a five-year old boy is abducted, Frieda is left troubled: “one of her patients has been relating dreams in which he has a hunger for a child. A child he can describe in perfect detail, a child the spitting image of Matthew.“  Before long, Frieda is at the centre of the race to track the kidnapper. “But her race isn’t physical. She must chase down the darkest paths of a psychopath’s mind to find the answers to Matthew Farraday’s whereabouts.” I’ll be offering a giveaway of this book toward the end of February…so keep an eye on my blog if you want a chance to win a copy!

Nicci French is the nom de plume of bestselling writing partners Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. Nicci Gerrard graduated with a first class honours degree in English Literature from Oxford University and taught English Literature in Sheffield, London and Los Angeles in the early 80′s. She moved into publishing in 1985 with the launch of Women’s Review, a magazine for women on art, literature and female issues. She eventually became acting literary editor at the New Statesman, before moving to the Observer, where she was deputy literary editor for five years, and then a feature writer and executive editor.

Sean French also studied English Literature at Oxford University at the same time as Nicci, but their paths didn’t cross until 1990. In 1981 he won Vogue magazine’s Writing Talent Contest, and from 1981 to 1986 he was their theatre critic. During that time he also worked at the Sunday Times as deputy literary editor and television critic, and was the film critic for Marie Claire and deputy editor of New Society. Sean and Nicci were married in 1990 and began work on their first joint novel in 1995, adopting the pseudonym of Nicci French. Learn more about the couple and their work by visiting the Nicci French website.

How The Dog Became The Dog: From Wolves to Our Best Friends by Mark Derr arrived from The Overlook Press (published October 2011). I stumbled upon an article on Brain Pickings about The Silver Fox Experiment and this book. Embedded in the article is a wonderful video excerpt from BBC’s excellent The Secret Life of the Dog. After watching the entire footage, I knew I needed to read Derr’s book as well, which explores the science and history of dogs as well as the dog-human relationship and how it has shaped our development and history.  Check out this terrific piece on NPR about the book.

Mark Derr is the author of Dog’s Best Friend and A Dog’s History of America. He is an expert on the subject of dogs and writes for The New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, Natural History and Smithsonian. Learn more about Derr and his work by following the author’s blog.

Hyperion Voice sent me an Advance Readers Edition of The Red Book by Deborah Copaken Kogan (due for publication April 2012). I read Copaken Kogan’s debut novel Between Here and April which I really enjoyed (read my review), and so I was happy to receive a copy of her most recent book. The Red Book is described as a cross between “The Big Chill” and Mary McCarthy’s “The Group.” It centers around a once-close circle of Harvard alumni who meet up at their 20 year class reunion.

Deborah Copaken Kogan is the author of Shutterbabe, her best selling memoir about her years as a war photographer. She has also published one previous novel. She has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, Elle, O: The Oprah Magazine, and Slate. She lives in New York with her husband and three children. Learn more about Copaken Kogan by visiting the author’s website.

The good folks over at Tor Forge sent me a finished copy of Living Proof by Kira Peikoff (being released later this month). Set in the future in 2027, this debut novel explores a current and relevant topic and adds a futuristic twist. This imagined future proposes that destroying an embryo is considered first-degree murder. A brilliant young doctor by the name of Arianna Drake seems to be thriving in the spotlight until she comes under investigation for possible illegal activity. Described as “a celebration of love and life that cuts to the core of a major cultural debate of our time,” this promises to be a thrilling debut.

Kira Peikoff has written for  New York Daily News, The Orange County Register, Newsday, and New York magazine. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from NYU. Living Proof is her first novel. Learn more about Piekoff and her work by visiting the author’s website.

Did any wonderful books arrive at YOUR home this week?

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 on Monday 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.

I found some good books in my mailbox this week:

In the last couple of years I have discovered some amazing collections of short stories. So when Langan contacted me from Viking/Penguin, I could not resist accepting Drifting House by Krys Lee (release date February 2012). Lee’s writing is described as being in the tradition of Chang-rae and Jhumpa Lahiri. Her debut collection, which includes stories set in both Korea and the US, “explores love, identity, war, and the homes we make for ourselves.” The stories set in Korea examine characters whose lives are “threatened by civil war, military dictatorships, and the psychological fallout that tore Korea apart for decades.” Lee’s American characters find themselves in “cramped shared apartments and vacant strip malls of Koreatowns.” Reviewers are calling this a “sublime debut collection” whose stories are “breathtaking,” “haunting,” and “affecting.”

Read an interview with the author.

Krys Lee was born n Seoul, South Korea, and raised in California and Washington. She has studied in both the United States and England. A finalist for Best New American Voices in 2006, Lee received a special mention in the 2012 Pushcart Prize XXXVI, and her work has appeared in The Kenyon Review, Narrative, California Quarterly, Asia Weekly, and the Guardian. She lives in Seoul with intervals in San Francisco. Learn more about Lee and her work by visiting the author’s website.

No Mark Upon Her by Deborah Crombie arrived from William Morrow (due for release in February). his suspense-thriller looks tailor-made for me. When a K-9 search and rescue team discovers a woman’s body, Scotland yard superintendent Duncan Kincaid finds himself heading an investigation filled with complications. When someone tries to kill the search and rescue team members who found the victim’s body, the case becomes even more dangerous.

Deborah Crombie is a native Texan who has lived in both England and Scotland. She is a three-time Macavity Award winner, an Edgar Award nominee, and a New York Times Notable author. She has authored more than a dozen novels. Crombie lives in Texas with her husband, three cats and two German Shepherds. Read more about Crombie and her work by visiting the author’s website.

The good folks from Ballantine Books sent me an unsolicited copy of Four of a Kind by Valerie Frankel (due for release February 2012). This novel is described as “a hilarious and thoughtful story about four very different New York City moms who surprise themselves by becoming the very closest of friends over a weekly game of poker.” Instead of betting with chips or money, the four women play for intimate secrets about their lives.

Valerie Frankel received critical acclaim for her bestselling memoirs: Thin is the New Happy and It’s Hard Not to Hate You. She is the author of fifteen novels. Her writing has appeared in O: The Oprah Magazine, Allure, Self, Good Housekeeping, and The New York Times. She lives in Brooklyn Heights with her two daughters, four cats, and husband. Learn more about Frankel and her work by visiting the author’s website.

I also purchased a book which I have been dying to read (and the cover is gorgeous, too!):

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (Hachette Book Group)

Did any wonderful books arrive at YOUR house this week?

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?

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.

I had not expected any books this week, but I was thrilled beyond belief to find an Advance Readers Edition of Beth Kephart’s newest book, Small Damages (Philomel, July 2012),  in my mailbox. Not only was I very excited to get my hands on this novel, but I was even more excited to see that Beth had autographed it for me as well. Beth Kephart was first a favorite author and has now become a dear friend and I cannot wait to read Small Damages which is set in Spain. Kenzie, a bright and ambitious young woman in her senior year of high school, has just discovered she is pregnant. Sent to live in an old corijo in Spain, she must “find a way to endure until her baby is safe in an adoptive couple’s hands.” Small Damages is a tribute to a country that Beth loves and is a story “steeped in both the real and the imagined.“ Check out the opening lines on Beth Kephart’s blog. Go ahead, I’ll wait. *taps foot* Beautiful, right?

Beth Kephart is the award-winning author of more than a dozen books for both adults and young readers. She was named the National Book Award finalist for her book A Slant of Sun: One Child’s Courage. Small Damages is her first book through Philomel – but it won’t be her last, which makes me very happy indeed knowing that we can look forward to more wonderful books by this exceptionally talented author! Learn more about Beth and her work by visiting, the author’s blog.

Three unsolicited books arrived through William Morrow – two of which I hope to read at some point, and one for which I will most likely find a new home because it does not look like my cup of tea, although I think it may appeal to others:

The Face Thief by Eli Gottlieb (January 2012) centers around the charismatic character, Margot, a promising journalist who “morphs from a high-achieving affluent twentysomething into a grifter making her living preying on the weaknesses of men.” The novel moves back and forth in time to gradually reveal Margot as a child as well as a conniving adult. Described as “a hypnotic dance of predator and prey, creating a contemporary landscape where the educated are violent, the beautiful ugly, and the well-intentioned hapless,” this novel is lauded as a book rich in suspense and psychological depth.

Eli Gottlieb’s New York Times Notable Book, The Boy Who Went Away, won the Rome Prize and the 1998 McKitterick Prize from the British Society of Authors. His second novel, Now You See Him, has been translated into eleven languages. He lives in New York City. Learn more about Gottlieb and his work by visiting the author’s website.

Raylan by Elmore Leonard (January 2012) brings back U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, the hero of Pronto, Riding the Rap, and the FX series Justified. When Dickie and Coover Crowe, dope-dealing brothers known for sampling their own supply, decide to branch out into the body business, it’s up to U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens to stop them. The publisher describes Raylan as “dark and droll, a page-turner filled with the sparkling dialogue and sly suspense that are the hallmarks of this modern master.”

Elmore Leonard has written more than forty books during his highly successful writing career, including the bestsellers Road Dogs, Up in Honey’s Room, The Hot Kid, Mr. Paradise, Tishomingo Blues, and the critically acclaimed collection of short stories When the Women Come Out to Dance. Many of his books have been made into movies. Justified, the hit series from FX, is based on Leonard’s character Raylan Givens. Leonard is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from PEN USA and the Grand Master Award of the Mystery Writers of America. He lives in Bloomfield Village, Michigan. Read more about Leonard and his work by visiting the author’s website.

American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History by Navy Seal Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice (January 2012) is a first-person account of the life of U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle who has recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. Iraqi insurgents feared Kyle so much they named him al-Shaitan(“the devil”) and placed a bounty on his head. Kyle is a native Texan who was thrust onto the front lines of the War on Terror following 9/11.

SEAL Team 3 Chief Chris Kyle served four combat tours in Operation Iraqi Freedom and elsewhere. For his bravery in battle, he was awarded two Silver Stars, five Bronze Stars with Valor, two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, and one Navy and Marine Corps Commendation. Additionally, he received the Grateful Nation Award, given by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. Following his combat deployments, he became chief instructor for training Naval Special Warfare Sniper and Counter-Sniper teams, and he authored the Naval Special Warfare Sniper Doctrine, the first Navy SEAL sniper manual. Today, he is president of Craft International, a world-class leader in training and security. He lives with his family in Texas, where he devotes much of his spare time to helping disabled veterans.

Did any amazing books arrive at YOUR house this week?

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.

True to my New Year’s resolution to limit the amount of review books arriving at my house, I did not get any books from publishers this week. BUT, I did have a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble and I took advantage of their recent sale to purchase three books which I am dying to read:

• The Sense of An Ending by Julian Barnes (2011 Booker Prize winner)
• The Vagrants by Yiyun Li (winner of Hemingway/PEN Award)
• Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan

Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think? Did any great books arrive at YOUR house this week?

Welcome to this week’s edition of Mailbox Monday.

This month Mailbox Monday is being hosted by Jenny Q at Let Them Read Books. Check out her 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.

Here is what came into my home this week:

Lindsay at Penguin sent me an Advance Readers Edition of Glow by Jessica Maria Tuccelli (due for release March 2012). This debut novel sounds wonderful. “When Amelia J. McGee, an outspoken pamphleteer for the NAACP, hastily sends her daughter, Ella, alone on a bus home to Georgia in the middle of the night in 1941—a desperate action that is met with dire consequences when the child encounters two drifters and is left for dead on the side of the road. Ella awakens to find herself in the homestead of Willie Mae Cotton, a hoodoo practitioner and former slave, and her partner, Mary-Mary Freeborn, tucked away in the fertile Takatoka Forest. As Ella begins to heal, the legacies of her lineage are revealed.” The novel moves from Washington, D.C., on the brink of World War II to 1836 and into the mountain coves of Hopewell County, Georgia and illuminates “the tragedy of human frailty, the power of friendship and hope, and the fiercest of all human bonds—mother-love.”

Jessica Maria Tuccelli is a graduate of MIT. She currently lives in New York City. This is her first novel. Learn more about Tuccelli and her work by visiting the author’s website.

Aurora at Picador sent me a finished copy of Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses by Claire Dederer (due for release January 2012). Dederer’s memoir is being lauded as “powerfully honest” and “ruefully funny.” Ten years ago, while breastfeeding her daughter, Dederer put her back out and in so doing, discovered the healing power of yoga. At the same time, she is confronting the mistakes of her generation: “Daughters of women who ran away to find themselves and made a few messes along the way…” and the “determination to be good, good, good – even if this meant feeling hemmed in by the smugness of their organic-buying, attachment-parenting, anxiously conscientious little world.” What Dederer did not anticipate was how the yoga poses tested her most basic ideas of what makes a good mother, daughter, friend, and wife.

Claire Dederer is a longtime contributor to The New York Times. Her articles have appeared in Vogue, Real Simple, The Nation, New York, Yoga Journal, on Slate and Salon, and in newspapers across the country. Her writing has encompassed criticism, reporting, and the personal essay. Dederer’s essays have appeared in the anthologies Money Changes Everything and Heavy Rotation. Before becoming a freelance journalist, she was the chief film critic at Seattle Weekly. She has co-taught writing at the University of Washington and currently works with private students. She lives on Bainbridge Island in Puget Sound with her family. Learn more about Dederer and her work by visiting the author’s website.

Did any wonderful books arrive at YOUR house this week?

Welcome to this week’s edition of Mailbox Monday.

This month Mailbox Monday is being hosted by Jenny Q at Let Them Read Books. Check out her 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.

In keeping with my new resolution to decrease the amount of books flowing into my home, I have only one book in my mailbox this week:

Aurora with Picador sent me a copy of Alice in Bed by Cathleen Schine (a re-issue slated to be released in January). I read The Three Weissmans of Westport this year and really enjoyed Schine’s writing (read my review), so this was a hard one to say “no” to. Alice in Bed centers around college sophomore Alice Brody who has suddenly lost the use of her legs.  The publisher blurb says: “As she convalesces in a Manhattan hospital, Alice finds herself attended by a motley group of visitors: indifferent nurses, doctors both good and bad, divorcing parents, and eccentric relatives. But Alice is a creature of many charms, whose wit can enchant those bearing even the worst bedside manner. With a captivating heroine of great comic depth, Alice in Bed is balm for whatever ails you.”

Cathleen Schine is the author of The Three Weissmanns of Westport, To the Birdhouse, The New Yorkers, and The Love Letter, among other novels. She has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, and The New York Times Book Review. She grew up in Westport, Connecticut, and lives in New York City and Venice, California. Read more about Schine and her work by visiting the author’s website.

Did any wonderful books find their way into YOUR home this week?

Welcome to this week’s edition of Mailbox Monday.

This month Mailbox Monday is being hosted by Jenny Q at Let Them Read Books. Check out her 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.

It must be almost Christmas, because I got a ton of books in my mailbox this week – some I expected, some were unsolicited.

Texas Review Press sent me a copy of In The Time of the Feast of Flowers by Tina Egnoski (January 2012). This novella opens in small-town Florida in 1976 where life is “squeaky-clean.” When seventeen-year-old Abby Newman and her best friend Dana push the boundaries, including sexual exploration and breaking into homes, teenager pranks turn criminal. The coming of age story explores loyalty, betrayal, and the power of forgiveness. Egnoski’s writing has been described as poetic and compared to such authors as Annie Proulx and Philip Roth.

Tina Egnoski was born in Melbourne, Florida and attended the University of Florida and Emerson College, where she earned her MFA in 1997.  In the Time of the Feast of Flowers won the 2010 Clay Reynolds Novella Prize, while her previous collection of short stories, Perishables, won the 2008  Black River Chapbook Competition. Egnoski has received literature fellowships from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and the Colorado Council on the Arts and Humanities. Her work, both fiction and poetry, has appeared in a number of literary journals, including The Carolina Quarterly, Cimarron Review, Folio and Hawaii Pacific Review. She lives in Barrington, Rhode Island. Read more about Egnoski and her work by visiting the author’s website.

Two books arrived through Library Thing’s Early Reviewer Program:

Hougton Mifflin Harcourt sent me an Advance Readers Edition of The Artist of Disappearanceby Anita Desai (December 2011). This book is a collection of three novellas which are set in India in the not-too-distant past. The stories ruminate on “art and memory, illusion and disillusion, and the sharp divide between life’s expectations and its realities.” The publisher description reads: “Overwhelmed by their own lack of purpose, the men and women who populate these tales set out on unexpected journeys that present them with a fresh sense hope and opportunity. Like so many flies in a spider’s web, however, they cannot escape their surroundings—as none of us can.” Check out this piece on NPR about the book.

Anita Desai was born and educated in India who is especially noted for her sensitive portrayal of the inner life of her female characters. She is the award-winning author of over a dozen novels and collection. Desai has been short-listed three times for the prestigious Man Booker Prize (in 1980, 1984, and 1999) and won the Alberto Moravia Prize for Literature in 2000. She lives in New York.

Bloomsbury USA sent me a hardcover edition of Hand Me Down Worldby Lloyd Jones (December 2011). In his ninth novel, Jones examines a young African mother’s journey to reclaim the infant son heartlessly stolen from her. Beginning in Tunisia, where she is employed as a hotel maid, the mother makes an illegal, near-death crossing of the Mediterranean, then up the length of Italy, across the Alps, and on to Berlin, where her child has been given a new home. Her story is narrated through the voices of the people she meets along the way, and then is retold in her own words. Described as compelling, vivid, and intense with an original story structure,  Hand Me Down World has gotten a lot of buzz.

Lloyd Jones is the author of eight previous novels. His novel, Mister Pip, won the 2006 Commonwealth Writers Prize and was short listed for the Man Book Prize in 2007. Born in New Zealand, he attended Victoria University of Wellington but was denied his degree due to library fines owing at the time he completed his course of study. He was the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Victoria University in May 2009.

FSB Associates sent me three crime novels published by Tyrus Books:

El Gavilan by Craig McDonald (December 2011) is a crime novel ripped from the headlines. Set in Ohio in a town grappling with waves of undocumented workers, three very different kinds of cops scramble to maintain control and impose order. When a Mexican-American woman is raped and murdered, a brutal chain of events is triggered. Described as “a novel of shifting alliances and whiplash switchbacks,” El Gavilan examines families divided, careers and lives threatened, and the loyalties of friends and lovers.

Edgar-nominee Craig McDonald is an award-winning journalist, editor and fiction writer. His short fiction has appeared in literary magazines, anthologies and several online crime fiction sites. His debut novel, Head Games, was nominated for an Edgar Best First Novel and a finalist for the Anthony Prize in 2008. He recently won national awards for his profiles of crime novelists James Crumley, Daniel Woodrell, James Sallis and Elmore Leonard. Learn more about McDonald and his work by visiting the author’s website.

Getting Lucky by D.C. Brod (December 2011) centers around a freelance writer named Robyn Guthrie who agrees to finish a story by a young reporter who has been killed in a hit and run accident. But nothing is as simple as it seems as Robyn uncovers shady land deals and an old high school nemesis.

D.C. Brod grew up in LaGrange, Illinois. She has penned several novels including five books featuring the fictional investigator Quint McCauley. Getting Lucky is the second novel in the Getting Even series featuring protagonist Robyn Guthrie. Learn more about Brod and her work by visiting the author’s website.

Hurt Machineby Reed Farrel Coleman (December 2011) is the seventh book in the Noe Prager Mystery series. Moe Prager is approached by his ex-wife and former PI partner Carmella Melendez at a pre-wedding party for his daughter, Sarah. Apparently Carmella’s estranged sister, Alta, has been brutally murdered and no one seems motivated to solve the crime. As Moe attempts to solve the mystery, he “discovers a cancer roiling just below the surface, a cancer whose symptoms include bureaucratic greed, sexual harassment, and blackmail. But is any of it connected to Alta’s brutal murder?”

Edgar Award nominee Reed Farrel Coleman has been called a hard-boiled poet by NPR’s Maureen Corrigan. He is the former executive vice president of Mystery Writers of America and has published twelve novels in three series—the Moe Prager Mystery series (7), Joe Serpe/Bob Healy series (2), and Dylan Klein series (3)—and two stand-alones. Reed’s novels have been translated into seven languages. He is a three-time recipient of the Shamus Award for Best Detective Novel of the Year and is a two-time Edgar Award nominee. His short fiction, essays, and poetry have appeared in The Long Island Quarterly, Wall Street Noir, Brooklyn Noir 3, The Darker Mask, These Guns For Hire, Crimespree Magazine, and several other publications. Reed is an adjunct professor at Hofstra University and an instructor for MWA U. He lives with his family on Long Island. Learn more about Reed and his work by visiting the author’s website.

Finally, an Advance Readers Edition of Me Before You by Jojo Moyes arrived via Penguin UK (January 2012 UK Publication). The novel revolves around Lou Clark who is questioning her relationship with her boyfriend and is about to lose her job, and Will Traynor whose desire to live ended with a motorcycle accident. When Lou bursts into Will’s live “in a riot of color,” their lives will change for all time.

Jojo Moyes was raised in London. She received a degree from Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, London University. Moyes worked at The Independent for ten years, including stints as Assistant news editor and Arts and Media Correspondent. She writes for the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Red and Woman & Home, and has been a full time novelist since 2002, when her first book, Sheltering Rain, was published. She lives with her husband and their three children on a farm in Essex, England.  Learn more about Moyes and her work by visiting the author’s website.

Did any books arrive at YOUR house this week?

Welcome to this week’s edition of Mailbox Monday.

This month Mailbox Monday is being hosted by Jenny Q at Let Them Read Books. Check out her blog today to get links to other readers’ mailboxes.

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

Here is what arrived at my house this week:

Erin from WW Norton sent me a hard copy edition of White Truffles in Winter by N.M. Kelby (released November 2011). The publisher writes: “This novel imagines the world of the remarkable French chef Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935), who changed how we eat through his legendary restaurants at the Savoy and the Ritz. A man of contradictions—kind yet imperious, food-obsessed yet rarely hungry—Escoffier was also torn between two women: the famous, beautiful, and reckless actress Sarah Bernhardt and his wife, the independent and sublime poet Delphine Daffis, who refused to ever leave Monte Carlo.” Reviewers are all writing about Kelby’s rich descriptions of food and describe the novel as “beautifully layered, “seductive,” and “evocative.”

N. M. Kelby is the critically acclaimed author of In the Company of Angels, Whale Season, and the Florida Book Award winner A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts, among others. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Read more about Kelby and her work by visiting the author’s website.

Pantheon Books sent me a copy of The Forgotten Affairs of Youth by Alexander McCall Smith (slated for release this week) which is the 8th book in the Isabel Dalhousie series. In this latest novel, Isabel and her fiancé help Jane Cooper, a visiting Australian philosopher on sabbatical in Edinburgh, find her biological father. The book asks: “Should the forgotten affairs of youth be left in the past, or can the memories help us understand the present?” and along the way Isabel leads readers to a new understanding of the meaning of family.

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the beloved bestselling No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, the 44 Scotland Street series, and the Corduroy Mansions series. He is also the author of numerous children’s books. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh and has served on many national and international organizations concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and taught law at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland. Learn more about Smith by visiting the author’s website.

Did any fantastic books arrive at YOUR house this week?