In My Mailbox

This weekly meme is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren! Check out her blog to see what others are reading.

I received the following books to review and am expecting a few more this week.

The Journal Keeper: A Memior by Phyllis Theroux
cover:
The Journal Keeper is a memoir of six years in writer Phyllis Theroux's life. A natural storyteller, she slips her arm companionably into yours like an old friend just going for a stroll. But Theroux's stride is long and her eyes sharp, and she swings easily between subjects that occupy us all: love, loneliness, growing old, financial worries, spiritual growth, and watching her remarkable mother prepare for death.

As Theroux invites us to walk along with her, the path brings friends, worries, and revelations. Her home opens to us as easily as to her countless friends and neighbors, and each turn of the page brings another impromtu "hello" that quickly becomes three hours of shared laughter. But despite the ease with which Theroux moves on to the thoughts of a nw day, the common thread is the joy she finds in quiet moments with pen and paper. It's a joy sometimes threatened by worries caused by a dwindling bank account or fears of the future, but ultimately reinvigorated by the thrill of new discoveries and pearls of old wisdom.

I also received....

The Longbridge Decision by Robert M. Brown, Jr.

cover:   The sudden, inexplicable death of a senior partner at Wall Street's oldest and most prestigious law firm sparks an improbable chain reaction that rapidly includes the framing of a murder suspect, a relentless national manhunt, a shocking attempt to gain control of the US Supreme Court and the uncovering of a covert labyrinth of deadly political decisions along the way.

Set against a fermenting background  of political and moral corruption that starts beneath the lone star of the Texas capitol building and stretches all the way to the office of the President of the United States itself, Robert M. Brown, Jr,'s frighteningly plausible, lightning-paced thriller reveals an alarming and chilling vision of a theocratic United States of America that is just one decision short of becoming reality. One disturbing question remains, however--whose decision will it be?

As you can see I received great variety this week. I also made a trip to the library and picked up the following:

Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

Synopsis (Barnes and Noble)

Meet the Roncalli and Angelini families, a vibrant cast of colorful characters who navigate tricky family dynamics with hilarity and brio, from magical Manhattan to the picturesque hills of bella Italia. Very Valentine is the first novel in a trilogy and is sure to be the new favorite of Trigiani's millions of fans around the world.

In this luscious, contemporary family saga, the Angelini Shoe Company, makers of exquisite wedding shoes since 1903, is one of the last family-owned businesses in Greenwich Village. The company is on the verge of financial collapse. It falls to thirty-three-year-old Valentine Roncalli, the talented and determined apprentice to her grandmother, the master artisan Teodora Angelini, to bring the family's old-world craftsmanship into the twenty-first century and save the company from ruin.

While juggling a budding romance with dashing chef Roman Falconi, her duty to her family, and a design challenge presented by a prestigious department store, Valentine returns to Italy with her grandmother to learn new techniques and seek one-of-a-kind materials for building a pair of glorious shoes to beat their rivals. There, in Tuscany, Naples, and on the Isle of Capri, a family secret is revealed as Valentine discovers her artistic voice and much more, turning her life and the family business upside down in ways she never expected. Very Valentine is a sumptuous treat, a journey of dreams fulfilled, a celebration of love and loss filled with Trigiani's trademark heart and humor.


I got to this late this week. Please forgive me. Life got very busy suddenly and I couldn't get to the computer. I am also having trouble with the images today and will work on getting the problem fixed.