Mailbox Monday (August 16)

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books they received during the previous week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists! Mailbox Monday, which was started by Marcia at The Printed Page, is on blog tour—this month, it’s hosted by Chick Loves Lit.

I found two books in my mailbox this week: Vanishing and Other Stories by Deborah Willis, courtesy of Harper Perennial, for a TLC book tour in September, and Stardrop by Mark Oakley, which my mum sent me.

In Vanishing and Other Stories, secrets are both kept and unearthed, and lives are shaped by missing lovers, parents, and children. With wisdom and dexterity, moments of dark humor, and a remarkable economy of words, Deborah Willis captures an incredible array of characters that linger in the imagination and prove that nothing is ever truly forgotten. Vanishing and Other Stories was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction in 2009.

Life in the Galactic Empire was no good; Ashelle simply did not fit in. And so, the enterprising space princess had decided to run away from home—to hide on a distant planet far from the political intrigues of her family and the military might of the Empire—on an adorable blue planet with just the cutest human settlements... Collected from the original Nova Scotian comic strip series by acclaimed Canadian cartoonist Mark Oakley, Star Drop tells an inspiring tale about travelling away from home.

I also bought two books at my local second-hand bookshop: To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism edited by Rebecca Walker and Walking on the Water: Women Talk about Spirituality edited by Jo Garcia and Sara Maitland.

Determined to extend the boundaries of feminism to embrace social, political and economic equality for all humanity, these exciting young activists and thinkers recast the concepts of feminism to reflect their own experiences and beliefs. Inspired by activist and writer Rebecca Walker, they speak out, challenging many of their own assumptions about the women’s movement and demanding that readers recognize a new relationship between the personal and the political. Black and white, male and female, gay and straight, they fearlessly describe their liberation from the feminist “ideals” that conflict with the reality of who they are, expose “shocking” secrets, and acknowledge long-hidden accommodations and anomalies.

Walking on Water is a unique collection designed to make visible the variety and depth of women’s concerns about spirituality and religion. The editors, Jo Garcia and Sara Maitland, have sought out women who want to proclaim and share both orthodox and unorthodox beliefs and experiences as well as women who question, and indeed oppose, such convictions. They have gathered together writings on myth and religion, feminism and Christianity, love, sexuality, bereavement, women priests, Jewish feminism and much else. First published in 1983, this provocative and moving book was the first of its kind to be published in Britain.

What did you find in your mailbox this past week? For other Mailbox Monday posts, head over to Chick Loves Lit.