You've Got Mail Mondays!

This is a take on Mailbox Mondays, which was started by some smart and innovative blogger many moons ago--and I don't know who that was. My hope is that we'll be seeing a lot more products coming through than books (though I love books too). I'm also not going to just talk about books or products that come in the mail. I might mention catalogs or newspapers that might have articles of interest. I hope you'll give me feedback on this new feature, as I truly want this to be a place you enjoy visiting.

On the books front, I received:

• Promise of the Night by Michaela MacColl. This is a middle grade historical--a market I am writing for now--but I won't be reviewing this book. It is for a giveaway I am running at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection on January 26th.
• Lonestar Angel by Colleen Coble. I ordered this one to review through the Amazon Vine program. I read Coble's The Lightkeeper's Daughter and have been hoping to read more from her. Though I'm not usually one for kidnapped baby stories, this one sounds fabulous, so I thought I would give it a whirl.
• Popular Clone by M.E. Castle. My oldest daughter (the Lil Diva) loves science. I tried to get this book through the Amazon Vine program, but they were out of stock. This copy was sent by Egmont USA unsolicited. I was thrilled, and the Lil Diva said it sounded like her kind of book.
• I also requested The Innkeeper by John Piper from the Amazon Vine program. Keeping in the Christmas spirit, this story celebrates Christ's birth and the power of His resurrection. Two weeks before His Crucifixion, Jesus visits the innkeeper who made a place for Mary and Joseph on the night of His miraculous birth. I can't wait to read this one!

Also in the mail this week came a late Christmas/birthday present for my daughter-in-law. Her birthday is the 28th, so we usually wrap up everything on Christmas day. With being sick I was running behind, and there was a short delay in getting this to us.

This is the Mighty Bright XtraFlex2 Clip-On Light for her Kindle. Our son bought her a Kindle Touch for Christmas, so we thought she would enjoy this. I'll have to see how she likes it and report back on it. Personally, I'm thrilled reading at night is no longer an issue for me thanks to the Kindle Fire Santa brought.

The AAA Times arrived so that we can get started planning our 2012 vacation. This is the newspaper put out by AAA for its members. Not only does it talk about their vacation packages--which we took advantage of last summer for our Disney trip--but it also updates members on other AAA news and offers informative articles.

In this issue, it discusses how RMV services will now be available at their West Springfield branch. Thank God, because budget cuts have forced some of our full and express service RMV branches to close. I don't visit the RMV often, but when I do I don't want to wait in line forever. They now offer AAA driver education at Chicopee Comprehensive High School. There's a fabulous article titled, "5 Ways to Maintain Your Health and Save," an article on Philadelphia, a front page article titled, "Celebrate the Wonders of Winter," that highlights different winter festivals, and an article about the dangers of driving while drowsy.

On Thursdays, the mailman delivers our weekly copy of The Wilbraham-Hampden Times. This is our local paper published by Turley Publications.  The front page, as usual for the end of the year, published photos from the top stories. What tops the list this year? The June 1st tornado--the likes of which hasn't been seen in our area for around 50 years. Though it might seem hard to believe, some families are still picking up the pieces from that mess. Why is that you may ask? Well, it could be thanks to the next two top stories: the October storm that traveled up the Northeast coast, blanketing our area with over a foot of snow and leaving many without power for a week or more, and the July microburst from July 27th, that damaged some of the same areas hardest hit by the June tornado.

What was nice to see is that two of our neighbors made the news as well: one as a hometown hero and the other for leading our high school's football team to the playoffs.

Finally, this week brought my Spring/Summer 2012 children's, adults, and gifts catalogs from Chronicle Books. They are one of my favorite children's publishers. They were the first publisher I began working with when I started The Children's and Teens' Book Connection.

Hope you enjoyed my first of hopefully many You've Got Mail Mondays. Feel free to share something you received in your mailbox last week.


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