My Wassailing Inbox

(Yeah, I know; the title of this post...  What can I say?  I have a SuperToddler.  We watch "A Claymation Christmas" A LOT around here.  A LOT.)

ANYway, my Christmas-y little Inbox had a rather exciting week (and frankly, that was a happy thing, since this was a pretty sad week for me overall).  Without further ado, the newest inbox inhabitants are as follows.

FOR REVIEW:

The Dragons of Chiril
by Donita K. Paul

Did YOU know that there is now a Christian Fantasy subgenre?!  Because this was a new one on me.  Last I knew, the Evangelical community--and therefore their publishers--were still heavily frowning on this sort of thing, denouncing Harry Potter, all his pomp and all his works.  But it exists now, and has for a while, and this book will be my first foray into it.  Good or bad, it should at the very least be INTERESTING.

The Magic Room: A Story About the Love We Wish for Our Daughters (ARC)
by Jeffrey Zaslow

The eponymous "magic room" here is the fitting room at a bridal gown shop.  I'm hoping this one will be a nice, fluffy read, and informative, since I definitely did not have the cash--or the patience--to go that route for my own wedding.

WON:

Yes, I won a HUGE giveaway this week, and am REALLY excited about it!  Maria Grazia at Fly High held a giveaway of Katherine Ashe's four-volume historical fiction series about Simon de Montfort, a collossal figure in medieval English history, and I WON!  I LOVE books about medieval England, fiction, non-fiction and everything in between, so I was thrilled to find out I'd won these, and my Kindle got four books richer, which is ALWAYS a good thing.

So, the rest of my week kind of sucked, but my Inbox had a stellar time of it, which perked my own days up considerably.  Hope yours filled up, too!

My Tiny Little Inbox

I only got one book to report on this week.  I confess, that makes me feel just a bit sorry for myself.  Wait!  This is actually an omnibus volume, so I really got FOUR books this week!  There now; I feel better already.  Anyway, let me just say that I'm getting VERY impatient for one of the publishers for whom I review to get SOMETHING available that I have even a remote interest in reading; their failure to do so is cutting into my supply!  I finally gave up waiting on one of the others, and just requested something of theirs that I wouldn't normally read at all.  That's probably healthy for me, though; it helps broaden my horizons.  It hasn't arrived yet, but at least I'll have something to write about next Sunday.

SO, enough grousing.  With the arrival this week of The Betsy-Tacy Treasury: The First Four Betsy-Tacy Books, I now have the entire Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace.  Once again, this is a Christmas present I ordered for myself, which means that it will be wrapped and opened at the proper time, so I can't read it now.  That's just as well, however, since I've got two Christmas books to read before January 6th, and I'm also hoping to finish my requirements for The Regency and Victorian Challenge as soon as possible, in order to start off fresh on the challenges of 2012.  My friends Betsy, Tacy and Tib will have to wait a while for me to come play on the Big Hill.

Vive l'Inbox!

Well, I must admit that my inbox had rather a disappointing week, due in no small part to the fact that two of the three publishers for whom I review have absolutely NOTHING that I'm interested in requesting right now.  :(  !  So, I'm branching out a bit into unorthodox territory for this post.

Photo by Matt Reinbold

But first, here's a book that came in the mail this week, that I bought for myself as a Christmas present.  In our house, I buy the Christmas presents for everybody on Amazon, and my husband wraps them all (except his own) because he's much better and more artistic at it than I am.  I'm guaranteed to get things I actually want, I pretend to be surprised (or actually am surprised, because I forget by then what I ordered), and everyone is happy.

Okay, yes, I admit it--I already owned a copy of this book.  But this is the 30th anniversary edition!  AND the copy I got is turtleback, you know, library bound, a binding I just love because it will stand up to anything short of being run over by a tank.  Thus, I finally have a sturdily-bound copy of one of my all-time favorite books, plus new material by the author.  Yay!  Merry Christmas to me!

The other exciting things that came in the mail this week are technically books--I mean, bound pieces of paper and all--they're just meant to contain MY writing, instead of consisting of someone else's.  I've talked on this blog before about the wonder that is Clairefontaine writing paper, and this week I bought myself THREE beautiful Clairefontaine notebooks, as well as an inexpensive, hard-wearing fountain pen, to inspire myself for a new writing project.  I've finally come to the realization that I need the tactile experience of hand writing a manuscript of any substantial length.  Typing blog posts is a fun, satisfying experience, but trying to commit a long text straight to the computer screen without the intermediary of the written word just feels too cold and clinical to me, especially when I'm writing about something very close to my heart.  So I bought myself some gorgeous notebooks,

a shiny red fountain pen that claims to be able to write even if you foolishly store it with a full cartridge in it (as I often do),

and am writing away on my new project.  I don't know if anyone else will ever be interested in reading it, but it makes me happy.

P.S.  As you can see, both of the photos above came from WritersBloc.com, and I bought the items in question from them, as well.  I love them, and highly recommend them, and they didn't even sponsor this post or anything, so you know they must be really good for me to give them such high unsolicited praise!

Happy Inbox!

I really wanted to get this post up much earlier in the day, but what the Hell.  My inbox had such a happy week, I still want to share it with everyone.

FREEBIES!  :0)

First of all, I got THREE brand spanking new FREE paperbacks in the mail this week from HarperCollins, courtesy of Sarah from A Library is a Hospital of the Mind, who graciously hosted her 3rd annual Maud Hart Lovelace Reading Challenge, including some yummy giveaways.  Not only did I win three books at one go, but each of them is a collection, part of the re-release of a large series, so each contained three novels within it.  In other words, I won NINE free books, and only have to buy one more such volume to own the entire series.  I TOLD you it was a happy week!

REVIEWEES

I also got an ARC from Waterbook Multnomah's Blogging for Books program, entitled Raised Right: How I Untangled My Faith from Politics by Alisa Harris.  I opened this one shortly after it arrived, thinking I'd just take a quick glance at the first few pages, and have been devouring it at a fairly rapid rate ever since.

And finally, last night I downloaded the Kindle version of Sherman: The Ruthless Victor by Agostino von Hassell and Ed Breslin.  (Is anyone else reminded of the phrase, "the long and short of it," seeing those two authors' names written side by side?)  I'll be reviewing this one for Thomas Nelson's Booksneeze program.

The Saints Go Marching Into My Inbox

WARNING:  I am writing this through the almost impenetrable haze of one nasty head cold.  If I say something incoherent, everyone please take pity on the poor, afflicted blogger.

My inbox had a pretty good week, at least by my standards.  First off, our delightful friends at Amazon sent me two books I've been wanting to own for quite a while, and all I had to give them in return was money.  Has anyone else noticed that one of the weirdest parts about being the Mom is that you now buy your own Christmas presents, and buy them well in advance, because you also handle the budget?  My Amazon haul this week was part of my 2011 Christmas presents.  At least this way, I'm guaranteed to get things I want.  (Amazon also sent me presents for Brigid the SuperToddler this week.  November will be "buy for my sweet, Good Man, Michael" month.)

Monastic and Religious Orders in Britain, 1000-1300

by Janet Burton

I have literally wanted to own this book for at least 15 years, ever since I first spotted it in my hometown library (a hometown I don't even live in anymore).  I got it used for $15, some $30 less than its retail price.  What can I say?  Textbooks are expensive, and I'm a sucker for a good reference on medieval monasticism.  I know; I'm strange.  I've learned to embrace my inner Geek.

Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe

by Simon Singh

About a year ago, I decided that I wanted to improve my knowledge of science, and I figured I'd start where I knew I had gaps, i.e. anything that had to do with Darwin's Evolutionary Theory, or the Big Bang.  Raised as a fire-breathing Pentecostal, and educated in a frighteningly conservative Evangelical high school, I spent more time in my science classes learning how to empirically prove that Noah's Ark is still sitting on some part of a mountain in modern-day Turkey than I ever did on issues like the Big Bang, which was rejected in one or two self-righteous and highly dismissive paragraphs in our text books.  Though I am still a determined Christian, I no longer believe that anything said by a trained scientist must, perforce, be in error, so when I found this book in my local library, I decided it was an excellent place to start.  I enjoyed it thoroughly, but had to take it in small doses, and before I was even 2/3 of the way through, I had to return it or the library was going to put out an APB on me, I'd had it so long.  In other words, this book eventually defeated me, and when I finally finish my brand spanking new copy of it with its shimmering, silvery cover, I am going to gloatingly plant it in my Victory Garden as one of those books which did not, after all, get away.

Now then, as for books which came to me free for review, I finally got two of those long-awaited beauties, as well, which made my week quite a cheerful place.

Bound for Glory: Celebrating the Gift of African American Spirituals Through Expressive Calligraphy

by Timothy R. Botts and Patricia Raybon

This book is exactly what the subtitle describes it to be, so there is little more to say except that it is, as you can probably guess, a coffee table book, and therefore it did not take long to read and review it.  Also, that it came from Tyndale Press, and that I liked it pretty well.

And last but absolutely not least (in as much as I've read of it thus far, anyway), a book I've been anxious to read since I first heard about it a few weeks ago.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

by Peter Leithart

As regular readers of this blog already know, I am an Eastern Orthodox Christian.  Dostoevsky, being a Russian Christian and quite devout for the majority of his life, was also Eastern Orthodox, so when I found out that an Evangelical publisher (in this case Thomas Nelson) had issued a biography of the great author and was offering it for free in exchange for a review I jumped at the chance.  When I first became Orthodox nearly seven years ago, I went into a very well-known Evangelical bookstore one day, because I was shopping with my mother and she wanted to stop there.  Just to get a feel for how inter-denominational relations were going between us and the Evangelical community, I asked a shop assistance if they had any books on Eastern Orthodoxy.  To my surprise, she said, "I think we may have one or two over here."  I was about to be quite impressed, until I realized that this college-age girl was leading me toward the section on CULTS, at which point I said, "Um, I meant, did you have anything POSITIVE about Eastern Orthodoxy."  She seemed baffled by that idea, and replied, "No.  If we have anything, it will be in this section."  After that, I think you can imagine why I was pleasantly surprised to see Thomas Nelson Publishing openly admitting that Fyodor Dostoevsky was actually a Christian at all!  I'm enjoying the book so far, and can't wait to finish it.

Sailing Into the Inbox

Once again, it's time to link up with The Story Siren for In My Inbox, and this week, I had three arrivals.  All three of them were books I bought, unfortunately, because my latest shipments of books for review have not arrived yet, much to my disappointment.  I know I have at least two wending their postal way to me right now, and a third that should be shipped within the next couple of days, but they haven't come yet.  :(  Oh, well, more for next week's Inbox story!  :)

Anyway, my intake this week includes The Pickwick Papers, which I've been determined to read for years, and have even tried more than once, so it will be proudly displayed in my Victory Garden once I finally polish it off.  Jane Eyre is officially on the TBR pile, after putting it off for far too long.  As for Around the World in 80 Days, Jules Verne has always featured prominently in my mental list entitled "I really do mean to get around to reading that someday".  He shot very quickly up the charts, however, when I watched Michael Palin's travelogue for the BBC by this same title a few months ago.  I really enjoyed it, especially since Michael Palin is one of my favorite Pythons, and he talked so much about the original book throughout the series that I decided I had to read it for myself.

As you've probably observed, all three of these books are by the same publisher, Collector's Library.  Of course, lots of us bibliomaniacs want matched sets of our books if possible, right?  And if you like reading classic literature, and haven't yet discovered the Collector's Library, indulge me for a moment while I close with a rhapsody to them, okay?  Because you really need these beautiful little books in your life.

As a graduate student, I had access to a really huge, impressive library for the first time in my life, and I could lay my hands on some copies of my favorite authors' works that were published closer to the times in which they actually lived.  This was my first real exposure to the kind of diminutive, pocket-sized volumes that characters are constantly reading in Regency period pieces, especially Jane Austen film adaptations, and I just loved them.  When you're a college student, weighted down everywhere you go by a bookbag filled with at least five textbooks, and insist on having a piece of fiction about your person at all times to safeguard your own sanity, pocket-sized is a VERY good thing.

All of the Collector's Library books are this size, and they just feel so satisfying to hold while you read; they fit so snugly into the hand.  Most of them contain the original illustrations, especially if those illustrations were a well-known and integral part of the first publication.  They're clothbound hardbacks, always unabridged, yet their pages are a good deal thicker than the Bible-like tissue paper you might expect from a large volume such as The Pickwick Papers.  Each has a ribbon bookmark sewn into the binding.  Best of all, they're ridiculously low-priced!  Honestly, no one from this publisher has ever contacted me, or offered me so much as a plug nickel.  I just had to talk them up because, with the economy in the state it's in, I don't want the Collector's Library to be the next casualty and go the way of Borders (R.I.P.); I would be horrified if I didn't have my beautiful little editions of the great classics available to buy anymore!

Anyway, that's my inbox for the past week, and I'm greatly looking forward to diving into each one--somewhere around mid-2012, I should imagine.  *sigh*

Lonely Inbox

My Inbox had a very quiet week, with only one book coming in.  My latest free-book-in-exchange-for-blogging arrived from Multnomah Waterbrook Press, and I have a feeling it and I are going to be major challenges for each other.  Indeed, that's why I chose it; thought I'd dive into the whole "leaving my comfort zone" cliche a bit.  Out of a Far Country was co-written by Christopher and Angela Yuan, a mother and son who are both Evangelical Christians.  According to the blurb, it is the story of the son's "coming out," the mom's attempt to mentally deal with the shock, and the path to Christopher Yuan getting "cured" of his homosexuality.  Deep, murky waters here.  First-of-all, my Church does consider homosexuality a sin, but we also don't usually endorse forcing our beliefs on members of other faiths or on those who hold no particular faith whatsoever.  We DON'T do the whole, "Having these feelings is a sin, whether you act on them or not" thing that I've heard about a few Christian groups believing, and I don't think I've ever heard an Orthodox priest advise someone to get the therapy they needed to "fix" their homosexuality.  That's not to say it's never happened, but I've never heard it happen.  In other words, we try to take a more nuanced approach than that to major cultural issues, so it will be interesting to see how this book handles the situation, and how it affects me.  Review coming soon, obviously.

In My Inbox 1

Yes, I've discovered yet another weekly meme/blog hop.  When I see several bloggers that I like and faithfully follow posting about a meme, I figure it's probably too good to pass up, and as it so happens, this one is right up my street, even though I haven't been blogging long.  It's actually called "In My Mailbox," but since I receive books both through my mailbox and by Kindle in this modern age (with all its new-fangled technology), I thought "inbox" might be more appropriate.

So, The Story Siren hosts this meme every Sunday, and it's just a way to update everyone on what you've bought, checked out from the library, or otherwise received in the world of books lately.  "Now wait a minute!" I can already hear you declare.  "What happened to 'reading your own library'?  What happened to swearing off acquiring anything new until you've whittled away some of what you already have?"  And the answer is, nothing has happened to it.  I am diligently working my way through not one but two books simultaneously that fit the requirements of my challenge.  However, like many bloggers, I blog for books, meaning that I receive FREE books periodically, in return for posting (sometimes brutally) frank reviews about them.  I am also a member of Paperback Swap--and if you're not, you're really cheating yourself out of an awesome way to get rid of books and get different ones in return--which means I get more free books.  Besides, I bought the few used ones I've recently gotten in the mail from Amazon BEFORE the challenge started; they just took a while to get here by media mail.  (I LOVE media mail when I'm SENDING, not so much when I'm receiving.)

Anyway, here's what came into my inbox recently, and by coincidence, all of these did actually come through the post.

-And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie--free through Paperback Swap; saw another blogger's review and had to read it.  I've already reviewed it.

-A Study in Scarlet, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Also already reviewed here.  It and all those by Doyle that follow were obtained used for about $1 each on Amazon.  I told you all I had suddenly developed Sherlock Holmes mania!
-The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (Doyle)
-His Last Bow (Doyle)
-The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (Doyle)
-The Return of Sherlock Holmes (Doyle
-The Sign of Four (Doyle)
-The Valley of Fear (Doyle)

-Whose Body?, by Dorothy L. Sayers.  Another author I saw reviewed recently and decided I had to finally give her a shot, after thinking about doing so for years.  The review was actually for a later volume in the series, but of course I had to start at the beginning.  This one was also from Paperback Swap.

-Pershing: Commander of the Great War, by John Perry.  Thomas Nelson Publishers sent me this one free, and are now patiently waiting for me to hurry up and review it.  I better get on that project soon.

Those are the books which have stacked up around me recently.  Now you see why I challenged myself to not acquire any more books for a while until I've gotten through the ones I have!