Mailbox Monday - January 4

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.

Happy New Year! Welcome to the first Mailbox Monday post of 2016. I hope you all enjoyed the holiday. We didn't do much...just hung out and had the in-laws over for a small dinner.

Thanks to setting my writing goals for this year, my mailbox was fairly full this past week.

With more than 4,000 entries and 36,000 synonyms, this updated, award-winning thesaurus encourages young writers to think analytically about their word choices. Entries are arranged in a way that distinguishes between words that are close synonyms and words that differ somewhat in meaning or usage. More than 150 full-color photographs illustrate the many example sentences and make this book as attractive as it is useful. As an added bonus, this updated edition includes an explanation of the major parts of speech, to help young writers establish a firm grasp of language.

This title's unique design ensures that writers speak to their audience with a vocabulary and style they both understand and find appealing. A fast-reference guide meant to be used along with a dictionary, thesaurus and yellow pad of paper, it will help fulfill the dream of becoming a published children's writer. Highlights include: lists of specific words introduced at each of seven reading levels (K-6); a thesaurus of synonyms, annotated with reading levels; advice and tips particular to word usage for each reading level; guideline for sentence length and themes; idea generators for other stories.

I discovered that there is a newer version of the Children's Writer's Word Book. Not sure if I will pick that one up yet. I'll see how this one works out.

This revised and updated dictionary for elementary school children includes more than 93 new entries, from broadband and graphic novel to MP3 and smartphone — for a total of 35,000 words and phrases in all. Each entry is fully explained with its definition, usage, examples, and notes on spelling and punctuation. Word senses have also been refreshed to reflect modern usage, and maps and country statistics have been updated to include new countries, borders, flags, and cities. Throughout this new edition of Merriam-Webster Children's Dictionary, there is a fresh design with a different color-coded border for each letter of the alphabet, plus updated photographs and illustrations for a lively, accessible look that gives kids lots to look at as they build important research skills.

I might return this one. It's a dictionary for kids--hence the title--and in skimming through it, I don't think I'll need it considering the other two resources I purchased.

This was supposed to be a simple summer for Billy: one more lazy expanse of time before college began. He'd fill the hours playing with Jimmy – his canine best buddy – going camping and doing all the things he promised Jimmy they'd do before Billy left. But that was before the accident that shook the entire town. It was before the summer job that turned into something so much more than a way to get a paycheck. And it was before Vicki. This summer was destined to be many things to Billy, things he didn't truly understand until now. But it was definitely not going to be simple.

An enormously touching, richly textured, deeply moving novel of new adulthood, THE CHANGING SEASON is an experience to savor.

This book releases in February. I am hoping to read it before then. Manchester writes emotional stories that pull at the heartstrings.

What are some of the books you received last week? Are you digging into the books Santa put under your tree?