Monday, March 22, 2010

Mailbox Monday + Blogger Meet-up (March 22)

Mailbox Monday buttonRemember 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**):

Fodors 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!

14 comments:

  1. Not only was your mailbox good to you but so were your friends!!!! Enjoy the goodies!

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  2. What a nice mailbox and what a fun meet-up! Are the Montreal bloggers going to wear matching t-shirts in New York?

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  3. Great mailbox week! And how wonderful that you have bloggers you can get together with locally!

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  4. Hmmmm, I'm pretty sure Back Home was me! Well, I think I am...Tina can correct me if I'm wrong.

    The cover of Frenchy's is really funny and vaguely familiar looking. Not the book exactly, but that posture - one I've seen and probably done myself at thrift sales many times!

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  5. Joan wanted you to have a copy of The Children Star with the other cover art!

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  6. Great post Avis and Donna was right Back Home was from her LOL I only remember that because she got that at BEA last year. :)

    Hmm matching tshirts what do you guys think?

    Avis I have to admit being an east coaster (NB) I have gone into a few frenchy's. They have a pretty good selection at least the ones I went to. Hmm perhaps we need a road trip is there any close to the QC border?

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  7. Staci, this is definitely one of the advantages of knowing other local bloggers! (Now if only I could get straight who gave me what before I posted about it...)

    Kathy, what a great idea! We need to get some BBAM or Team Montreal t-shirts made! LOL!

    Alyce, it's definitely fun to connect with other book bloggers (and not just because I come home with so many books!).

    Donna, I'm so sorry about that! I just assumed the book came from Tina since it's YA. That'll teach me to come late to our meetings!

    Jeanne, please thank Joan again for me! It was very sweet of her to send me the second book too!

    Cindy, I must confess that I love Frenchy's and always go to at least a couple of them when I'm visiting my mum and sister in Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, I don't think there are any very close to the border...

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  8. Wow ...great week in books! A lot of these are new to me; enjoy

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  9. Lol, I didn't notice where the NY guide book went (but now I know in who's hands it ended up in!) =)

    I've heard of Frenchy's! Think there was this documentary on TV this once and it intrigued me.

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  10. Thanks, Diane!

    Linda, I did feel like I was being a bit sneaky when I slid the NYC book towards my pile... In the Frenchy's book, they mention a French documentary that was made about Frenchy's -- I wonder if that's what you saw. I'd love to track it down and watch it!

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  11. What a great week for you! The Fodor's guide helped a lot last year when I went to BEA, and I've already used it to plan for this year.

    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric

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  12. Anna, I've only used it to look up bookstores so far, but I'm sure it will come in very handy in NYC!

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  13. I am sooo excited about BEA!

    I just reviewed Back Home this week.

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  14. Me too, Lenore! I'm looking forward to meeting you there. I haven't had a chance to read your review of Back Home, but I will!

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