Mailbox Monday + Blogger Meet-up (March 22)

Remember I mentioned last week that I had won a giveaway over at Jeanne’s blog, Necromancy Never Pays? Well, I got a great package in the mail this past week, directly from author Joan Slonczewski. In it was a signed first edition of A Door into Ocean (which is what I had won) plus a surprise: a signed hardcover copy of The Children Star! This means that I now have three* copies of A Door into Ocean and two copies of The Children Star. I guess that officially makes me a collector of Joan’s work! I’m thinking I need to read the four books in the Elysium Cycle this year; is anyone interested in joining me?

My mum also sent me a package, which contained (among other things) a copy of The Frenchy’s Connection: The Pottersfield Guide to Second-Hand Clothing Stores in the Maritimes. For those of you not in the know, Frenchy’s is the name of a loose chain of stores specializing in used clothing with outlets in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Going Frenchy shopping is quite the pastime on the East Coast (and has nothing to do with whether or not you can afford to buy new clothes—almost everyone goes to Frenchy’s!). I’ve already zipped through this book and it’s a fun read (thanks, Mum!)—although it did make me wish there were Frenchy’s in Montreal. Other thrift stores don’t quite measure up to the Frenchy experience!

Yesterday was also my monthly get-together with fellow Montreal book bloggers Cindy (Cindy’s Love of Books), Donna (BookBound), Linda (Better with Books) and Tina (Bookshipper). As usual, we had tea and hot apple cider (and cake!), talked about our trip to BEA in May (it’s official: we’re all going!) and exchanged books. I came home with quite a pile!

Tina gave me:

Back Home by Julia Keller (oops, this one actually came from Donna!)
The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen
The Reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
Nice Recovery by Susan Juby

Cindy passed on:

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven: A Memoir by Susan Jane Gilman

and Donna gave me (or maybe I just kinda grabbed this one while no one else was looking**):

Fodor’s New York City 2009 by Fodor’s

What did you find in your mailbox this past week? For other Mailbox Monday posts, head over to Marcia’s blog, The Printed Page.

*One of these I actually bought for my sister Brogan and the second copy has now become my reading copy. (The latest is obviously a collector’s copy!)
**It was up for grabs—I’m just not sure in the end if anyone else wanted it too!