Mailbox Monday

Monday, June 16, 2014
Welcome to Mailbox Monday! Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.

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

This past week I received the following Advance reviews copies from the publishers via NetGalley.

The Moonlight Palace By Liz Rosenberg 
Lake Union Publishing
Pub Date Oct 1 2014
Description:
Agnes Hussein, descendant of the last sultan of Singapore and the last surviving member of her immediate family, has grown up among her eccentric relatives in the crumbling Kampong Glam palace, a once-opulent relic given to her family in exchange for handing over Singapore to the British.

Now Agnes is seventeen and her family has fallen into genteel poverty, surviving on her grandfather’s pension and the meager income they receive from a varied cast of boarders. As outside forces conspire to steal the palace out from under them, Agnes struggles to save her family and finds bravery, love, and loyalty in the most unexpected places. The Moonlight Palace is a coming-of-age tale rich with historical detail and unforgettable characters set against the backdrop of dazzling 1920s Singapore.

A Sudden Light A Novel By Garth Stein
Simon & Schuster
Pub Date Sep 30 2014
Description:
When a boy tries to save his parents’ marriage, he uncovers a legacy of family secrets in a coming-of-age ghost story by the author of the internationally bestselling phenomenon, The Art of Racing in the Rain.

In the summer of 1990, fourteen-year-old Trevor Riddell gets his first glimpse of Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant, whole trees, and is set on a huge estate overlooking Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have begun a trial separation, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with his sister, Serena, dispatch Grandpa Samuel—who is flickering in and out of dementia—to a graduated living facility, sell off the house and property for development into “tract housing for millionaires,” divide up the profits, and live happily ever after.

But Trevor soon discovers there’s someone else living in Riddell House: a ghost with an agenda of his own. For while the land holds tremendous value, it is also burdened by the final wishes of the family patriarch, Elijah, who mandated it be allowed to return to untamed forestland as a penance for the millions of trees harvested over the decades by the Riddell Timber company. The ghost will not rest until Elijah’s wish is fulfilled, and Trevor’s willingness to face the past holds the key to his family’s future.

And, I also received the following title through GoodReads Giveaways:
 
The Hundred-Year House 
By Rebecca Makkai
Viking Adult
Pub Date July 10 2014
Description:
Meet the Devohrs: Zee, a Marxist literary scholar who detests her parents’ wealth but nevertheless finds herself living in their carriage house; Gracie, her mother, who claims she can tell your lot in life by looking at your teeth; and Bruce, her step-father, stockpiling supplies for the Y2K apocalypse and perpetually late for his tee time. Then there’s Violet Devohr, Zee’s great-grandmother, who they say took her own life somewhere in the vast house, and whose massive oil portrait still hangs in the dining room.

Violet’s portrait was known to terrify the artists who resided at the house from the 1920s to the 1950s, when it served as the Laurelfield Arts Colony—and this is exactly the period Zee’s husband, Doug, is interested in. An out-of-work academic whose only hope of a future position is securing a book deal, Doug is stalled on his biography of the poet Edwin Parfitt, once in residence at the colony. All he needs to get the book back on track—besides some motivation and self-esteem—is access to the colony records, rotting away in the attic for decades. But when Doug begins to poke around where he shouldn’t, he finds Gracie guards the files with a strange ferocity, raising questions about what she might be hiding. The secrets of the hundred-year house would turn everything Doug and Zee think they know about her family on its head—that is, if they were to ever uncover them.

In this brilliantly conceived, ambitious, and deeply rewarding novel, Rebecca Makkai unfolds a generational saga in reverse, leading the reader back in time on a literary scavenger hunt as we seek to uncover the truth about these strange people and this mysterious house. With intelligence and humor, a daring narrative approach, and a lovingly satirical voice, Rebecca Makkai has crafted an unforgettable novel about family, fate and the incredible surprises life can offer.



7 comments:

  1. The Hundred Year House sounds interesting. Have a good week!

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  2. I'm really excited about the new Garth Stein book even though it looks very different from The Art of Racing in the Rain. Enjoy your new books!

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  3. Very nice choices. Did you get these at The Speed Dating Session at the BEA? I recall seeing them.

    I love Garth Stein...his new book most likely will be just as good. I loved The Art of Racing in The Rain.

    I also LOVE your scrolling books at the top. I see you have The Forgotten Seamstress in the list. That book was wonderful.

    Have a terrific reading week.

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Mailbox Monday

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  4. I can't use the Amazon Widget. It is too large for my blog columns. It is really nice. You can't shrink it either.

    Well...I can just enjoy yours. :)

    THANKS, and thanks for stopping by my blog.

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  5. I have been noticing The Hundred-Year House, and now I want to know more. Enjoy your books...and here's MY WEEKLY SUNDAY/MONDAY UPDATES POST

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  6. Hope you like your mailbox! Happy reading!

    Here is my post.

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  7. The Moonlight Palace is an historical novel I'd love to read. Looking forward to your comments. Happy reading!

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