Mailbox Monday - January 8

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 Monday! I hope you had a great weekend. It's been a weekend of record-breaking low temperatures around here. A lot of people are dealing with frozen pipes and some communities have experienced water main breaks. We are due for a bit of snow tomorrow, but by the end of the week we should hit 40 or so.

This is the news from my book world:

I finished The Body in the Casket by Katherine Hall Page, which will be reviewed at The Book Connection on January 10.

On Friday, I shared my review of Too Big by Judy Dearborn Nill at Christian Children's Authors.

I also posted about my STORYSTORM progress at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection. I've been participating in this annual event for years. Authors agree to come up with 30 story ideas over the 31 days of January. This used to be Picture Book Idea Month in November. The founder, Tara Lazar, moved it to January and re-titled the event to include authors of all genres last year.

My mailbox was a bit skinny last week. That's okay, I'm focusing on writing at the moment. I finished Chapter 17 of Amelia's Mission. Hope to begin the next chapter at writing group tomorrow night.

I'm reviewing the following book:

Graylin Alexander is a model fourteen-year-old. When his adolescent curiosity gets the best of him, Graylin finds himself embroiled in a sexting scandal that threatens to ruin his life. Jenny Ungerman, the attorney hired to defend Graylin, is smart, confident and committed. She isn’t thrilled, however, when ex-prosecutor Angela Evans joins Graylin’s defense team. The two women instantly butt heads. Can they put aside their differences long enough to ensure Graylin gets justice?

Unbeknownst to Angela, her boyfriend Dre is wrestling with his own drama. Someone from his past wants him dead. For Dre, his response is simple—kill or be killed.

I picked up this one from the library:

There's a serial killer on the loose, bent on working his way through the alphabet. And as a macabre calling card he leaves beside each victim's corpe the ABC Railway Guide open at the name of the town where the murder has taken place. Having begun with Andover, Bexhill and then Churston, there seems little chance of the murderer being caught - until he makes the crucial and vain mistake of challenging Hercule Poirot to frustrate his plans.

I pray you have a great week and stay warm. Feel free to share what arrived in your mailbox last week.