Sunday, October 3, 2010

Mailbox Monday (October 4)

Mailbox Monday buttonMailbox 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—and I’m thrilled to be hosting during the month of October!

I received one book for review in the mail this past week: Dirty Secret: A Daughter Comes Clean about Her Mother’s Compulsive Hoarding by Jessie Sholl, which is for a blog tour in January.

Here’s part of the blurb on the back:

When her divorced mother was diagnosed with cancer, New York City writer Jessie Sholl returned to her hometown of Minneapolis to help her prepare for her upcoming surgery and get her affairs in order. While a daunting task for any adult dealing with an aging parent, it’s compounded for Sholl by one lifelong, complex, and confounding truth: her mother’s is a compulsive hoarder. Dirty Secret is a daughter’s powerful memoir of confronting her mother’s disorder, of searching for the normalcy that was never hers as a child, and, finally, cleaning out the clutter of her mother’s home in the hopes of salvaging the true heart of their relationship—before it’s too late.

I forgot to mention last week that I also bought the second book in the Maisie Dobbs series (after reading and loving the first), Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear.

Here’s part of the blurb on the back:

Birds of a Feather finds Maisie on another dangerously intriguing adventure in London between the wars. It is the
spring of 1930, and Maisie has been hired to find a runaway heiress. When three of the heiress’s old friends are found dead, Maisie must race to find out who would want to kill these seemingly respectable young women before it’s too late. As Maisie investigates, she discovers that the answers lie in the unforgettable agony of the Great War.



What did you find in your mailbox this past week? Let us know by leaving a link to your post below! (Note that
I’m posting particularly early this week because I’m off on vacation later this morning [after some sleep!]. Generally, I’m planning to post late on Sundays.)


28 comments:

  1. Interesting books!I will add them to my TBR.
    Here's what I got In My Mailbox

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  2. Have a great vacation Avis!

    Enjoy the time off and sending you lots of sun... we need it after all the rain last week.

    Great new books, and love the cover for Birds of a Feather. Very European style in terms of look.

    here's your invite to Aisle B
    http://aisleb.tumblr.com/post/1234388612/mailbox-monday-in-my-mailbox

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  3. That title sounds great. I watch the Hoarder shows on t.v. and can't believe how these people function in their homes and in their lives.

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  4. The hoarding book makes me a bit anxious. It will probably be an interesting read. I've heard good things about the Maisie Dobbs series. Enjoy!
    Thanks for hosting :)

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  5. The hoarder book sounds really interesting. I've seen some of these hoarder's houses on TV and I can't believe they actually live like that. I'm a compulsive cleaner (the type that goes through the house every year and throws away everything I can't find a use for).

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  6. I'll be doing The Dirty Secret blog tour too. I'll be back in the morning to link up!

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  7. The Dirty Secret sounds great. Thanks for hosting this month!!

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  8. The Dirty Secret sounds interesting! Thanks for hosting this month :)

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  9. These are new to me titles! Hope you like them.

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  10. Enjoy your new books, and enjoy your vacation. Mine is coming up on the 15th! Thank you for hosting this month.

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  11. I'm very interested in Dirty Secrets. I'm sure it's a very powerful memoir especially since there seems to be a lot of shame & secrets behind the hoarding compulsion. Hoarding freaks me out a little bit, I admit, mostly because of the bugs and things that tend to gather and grow under years and years of piles of stuff.

    Enjoy your vacation!
    ~ Amy

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  12. Have a great vacation!

    I had an interesting variety of books this week. Check it out here: http://historicalfictionnotebook.blogspot.com/2010/10/mailbox-monday.html

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  13. Thanks for hosting this fun meme, Avis! Enjoy your vacation and your new books. :)

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  14. Hi Avis! Thanks for hosting this fun meme....Dirty Secrets sounds good (I have a copy but have not read it yet) Hoarding is mind boggling to me :)

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  15. Dirty Secret sounds really good! Have a great, relaxing vacation :)

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  16. Oh, the one about hoarding sounds really good. My daughter thinks I have too much stuff...I should have her read this one!

    Thanks for hosting this month....

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  17. Dirty Secret sounds nice! I will need to check this one up!

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  18. Dirty Secret sounds really interesting. I'll keep an eye out for your review. Thanks for hosting!

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  19. I am really looking forward to your review for Dirty Secret. It sounds like a fascinating memoir.

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  20. Thank you for hosting this month!! Enjoy your vacation and as an avid reader, the books are already packed. I am a new follower and am looking forward to your future postings. My MM is here.
    CMash

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  21. That book about hoarding would be scary to read if you ask me!

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  22. This is my first time participating in this meme! Thank you for hosting!

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  23. Hoarding is such a fascinating topic. That book sounds interesting. Thanks so much for hosting and have a great vacation!

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  24. Thanks for hosting this month. I can't watch those hoarding shows so I doubt I could read that book. Birds of a Feather sounds like it might be more my pace!

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  25. I cannot wait to read Dirty Little Secret! As an obsessive clean freak I am fascinated with those who hoard (I am watching Hoarders right now even)!

    I have an award for you over at my blog!
    http://booklovingmommy.blogspot.com/2010/10/life-is-good-award.html

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  26. Hey! I just found your blog over at Book Loving Mommy... lovin it so far! I am a new follower. You can check out my blog and follow me back if you want...have a great day!
    Pris
    www.benterudbookshelf.blogspot.com

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  27. I am fascinated by the whole hoarding thing and have always wondered about the effects this behavior has on the other family members.

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  28. Everytime I watch a hoarding show, I'm always vastly uncomfortable with all the random junk I have laying around.

    I posted my MM here: http://melaniesmusings.net/mailbox-monday-the-september-stash/

    A whole month's worth!

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