Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.
It was a big book week for me. Our library's spring book sale attracted my attention, so I picked up several books. I also received a box of children's books from Clavis--which I won't list because there are so many of them, in addition to a picture book from Cuento De Luz.
This is one book in Shelby Foote's The Civil War: A Narrative series. This hardcover 40th Anniversary Edition includes events of the first ten months of the conflict from Fort Sumter to Fort Henry largely through the lives of Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln. The glossy pages include numerous historical photographs. Picking this book up for only $1 was a steal.
How women emerged as a distinctive class in the burgeoning society of New York City in the pre-Civil War era is explored from an original viewpoint in this interesting study. Female class relations, ``ladies'' and working women, were symbiotic. The laborers had their sexual and social demeanor regulated by their middle-class sisters, who had the leisure to act as ``self-appointed exemplars of virtue.'' The women of the working class come to life in Stansell's identification of their lot. Adrift from family ties, they entered the labor force, many resorting to prostitution and crime, which provoked the philanthropy of genteel bourgeois women, social reformers and the rise of the settlement house movement. The neighborhoods of the poor, the tenements and bawdy houses of 19th century New York are portrayed as important elements in women's history.
You never know what you'll use for research purposes. I thought this title looked interesting. Another $1 steal.
New England's most acclaimed award-winning crime and mystery writers, along with several exciting new voices, weave twenty-seven original tales from the region's dark side. Praise for Level Best Books "...twenty-five of the most cleverly written and thought-provoking crime stories ever assembled in one collection." Brenda Scott, Manchester Examiner "Clearly the editors of this anthology have poured their energy into selecting the very best from the New England area, and they have succeeded, brilliantly." Christine Zibas, Reviewing the Evidence
I love crime stories, but that these are set in New England is a bonus. I like reading stories set in areas I am familiar with. I paid a whopping thirty-four cents for this one.
Book 8
It’s Independence Day, and Ivy Bay is decked out for the holiday. Mary is enjoying the annual Fourth of July parade until the July Queen, a local high school student named Amanda Branson, disappears from her float in the middle of the festivities. The police immediately begin searching for the missing girl, but she seems to have vanished without a trace. Deepening the mystery, Mary thinks she saw Amanda at the docks shortly after the parade. She can’t be sure it was really Amanda, though, so Chief McArthur won’t listen to her.
Every day that passes makes it less likely that Amanda is unharmed, but Mary is determined to bring her home safely. Then her investigation reveals a startling possibility: Does Mary’s granddaughter Daisy hold the key to finding Amanda?
Book 15
Christmas is coming, and Mary is excited that both of her children are bringing their families to Ivy Bay for the holiday. Grace Church is putting on its first ever living Nativity, and the congregation members are all pitching in, including Mary and Betty. But only a week before Christmas, the costumes go missing. Then the sheep escapes from its pen and the flyers around town have all been torn down. Someone is sabotaging the living Nativity! As Mary investigates the strange mishaps, she discovers that the truth is far more complicated than she expected. Can she save the Nativity - and the church's "goodwill toward men" - before Christmas?
Book 17
When Mary tries to refinance the mortgage on the bookshop, her application is denied because of the large balance on her new credit card. But she hasn't opened a new account and certainly hasn't been on any spending spree. Mary is the victim of identity theft!
Mary has to prove the credit card isn't hers, which means finding the person who stole her personal information. Who has access? The postal carrier who keeps redirecting mail to his own pockets? The nurse of the women's clinic where Mary applied to volunteer? Or the woman in charge of the matchmaking fund-raiser that Mary was persuaded to sign up for? As she races to clear her name, she realizes that the true identity of her identity theft could be the person she least suspects.
I had no idea where in the series these books fit when I bought them, but I love cozy mysteries. The price was right too.
Although he works as a train mechanic, Andy’s real passion is gardening: he loves flowers so much that his little apartment is full of plants of all shapes and sizes. When a company offers him a new job with a good salary and a house with a big garden, Andy accepts without hesitation, unaware that maybe he’s putting at risk things much more important than his job or his hobby…
Overflowing with imagination and illustrations that capture all of the beauty of the world of flowers, The Gardener’s Surprise is a moving story about the importance of our beliefs in our daily lives, as well as a celebration of personal passions as excellent ways of achieving happiness.
As you can see, it was a busy book week here. What was in your mailbox?
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