Mailbox Monday – 9/6

Mailbox Monday can be found at: The Printed Page 

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.    

It was another pretty big week for books for me.  Eight books entered my house this week from a variety of sources. 

The following items were delivered through the Amazon Vine program: How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack by Chuck Sambuchino and Venom and Song (The Berinfell Prophecies, Book 2) by Wayne Thomas Batson and Christopher Hopper.

I got two books through paperbackswap.com that are older.  Silent in the Grave was one I read a review on and it sounded awesome so I ordered it.  The Wolf’s Hour was also ordered through paperbackswap.  I was actually telling someone how much I loved McCammon’s Swan Song and then decided to go order a couple other of his awesome books.

I also got three e-books.  Bitter Frost is one that had a beautiful cover and sounded really neat; it was only $2.99 for my Kindle…I had had it on my wishlist for a while so I jumped at this low price.  The Accidental Demon Slayer and Crimson City are two first books from different series that I have pondered reading off and on; they were available for FREE on Kindle this weekend…so well I figured I’d grab them since you can’t beat that price…

Lastly I got the new Twenty Palaces Novel by Harry Connolly called Game of Cages from the library.  I read the first book in this series (which I got from Vine) and really enjoyed it.  So I am looking forward to reading this one.

For more info on books see below.  I hope you all have a great week reading!


How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack by Chuck Sambuchino

First Sentence: “Keep reading if you want to live.”
From Amazon.com: “There’s a new threat in town—and it’s only twelve inches tall. How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack is the only comprehensive survival guide that will help you prevent, prepare for, and ward off an imminent home invasion by the common garden gnome. Once thought of as harmless yard decorations, evidence is mounting that these smiling lawn statues are poised and ready to wreck havoc. The danger is real. And it’s here.   
   Class 1 gnome-slayer and gnome defense expert Chuck Sambuchino has developed a proven system—Assess, Protect, Defend, Apply—for safeguarding property, possessions, and loved ones. Strategies include step-by-step instructions for gnome-proofing the average dwelling, recognizing and interpreting the signs of a gathering hoard, and—in the event that a secured perimeter is breached—confronting and combating the attackers at close range”

Venom and Song (The Berinfell Prophecies, Book 2) by Wayne Thomas Batson and Christopher Hopper
 
First Sentence: “From a rocky perch high on the Dark Veil in Allyra, a pair of narrow green eyes tracked the two lines of creatures racing ever closer.”
From Amazon.com: “In a rigorous training program that makes boot camp look like Disneyland, the Seven must quickly learn to harness their own powers, work as one, and elude the Spider King-s spies. But as the ancient Berinfell Prophecies are revealed, the Seven soon discover their training might not be enough. To stop the Spider King they must also unravel the secrets of the Rainsong, travel to a creepy, trap-infested fortress to find the legendary keystone, and lead the Berinfell Elves in an attack on the Spider King-s own turf. An epic adventure with powerful messages about true strength, forgiveness, and working together as one body that will grab the attention of intermediate readers. Learn more about The Berinfell Prophecies at www.heedtheprophecies.com.”
 
Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
 
First Sentence: “To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband’s dead body is not entirely accurate.  Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.”
From Amazon.com: “”Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.”
These ominous words are the last threat that Sir Edward Grey receives from his killer. Before he can show them to Nicholas Brisbane, the private inquiry agent he has retained for his protection, he collapses and dies at his London home, in the presence of his wife, Julia, and a roomful of dinner guests.
Prepared to accept that Edward’s death was due to a long-standing physical infirmity, Julia is outraged when Brisbane visits and suggests that her husband was murdered. It is a reaction she comes to regret when she discovers damning evidence for herself, and realizes the truth.
Determined to bring the murderer to justice, Julia engages the enigmatic Brisbane to help her investigate Edward’s demise. Dismissing his warnings that the investigation will be difficult, if not impossible, Julia presses forward, following a trail of clues that lead her to even more unpleasant truths, and ever closer to a killer who waits expectantly for her arrival”


The Wolf’s Hour by Robert R. McCammon

First Sentence: “The war went on.”
From Amazon.com: “First published in 1989, The Wolf’s Hour remains one of Robert McCammon’s most indelible creations. Ranging freely and with great authority through realms of history, folklore, and myth, it combines two seemingly disparate genres the World War II action thriller and the paranormal romance into a seamless, irresistible whole.

McCammon’s hero is Michael Gallatin, embattled inhabitant of two different worlds. Born into the Russian aristocracy, but ‘changed’ and raised by a pack of werewolves, Michael’s journey takes him from the wild regions of his native Russia to the battle-scarred landscapes of a world at war. Offering his unique talents to the Allied cause, Michael becomes a sort of secret weapon aimed at the destruction of Hitler and his ‘Thousand Year Reich.’ His adventures take him from the deserts of North Africa to the German-occupied countries of Western Europe. There, with the aid of a vivid assortment of friends, comrades, and lovers, he uncovers a horrific conspiracy known as ‘Iron Fist,’ which threatens to disrupt the Allies’ long-planned invasion of Europe and to alter the very outcome of the war.

Both a scrupulously researched historical thriller and a brilliant re-imagining of the traditional werewolf tale, The Wolf’s Hour offers pleasure, excitement, and illumination on virtually every page. Exotic, enthralling, and endlessly inventive, it is the work of a master storyteller in full command of his matchless narrative gifts.”
eBooks:

Bitter Frost by Kailin Gow
 
First Sentence: “The dream had come again, like the sun after a storm.”
From Amazon.com: “All her life, Breena had always dreamed about fairies as though she lived among them…beautiful fairies living among mortals and living in Feyland. In her dreams, he was always there the breathtakingly handsome but dangerous Winter Prince, Kian, who is her intended. When Breena turns sixteen, she begins seeing fairies and other creatures mortals don t see. Her best friend Logan, suddenly acts very protective. Then she sees Kian, who seems intent on finding her and carrying her off to Feyland. That’s fine and all, but for the fact that humans rarely survive a trip to Feyland, a kiss from a fairy generally means death to the human unless that human has fairy blood in them or is very strong, and although Kian seemed to be her intended, he seems to hate her and wants her dead. Official Book Trailer at: youtube.com/watch?v=GixhLsnx8cU&NR=1

The Accidental Demon Slayer by Angie Fox
 
First Sentence: “When I opened the door to greet my grandmother for the very first time, I’m not sure what I was expecting.  I know I hadn’t envisioned an apple-shaped woman in a Kiss My Asphalt T-shirt, with wind-burned cheeks and a sagging tattoo of a phoenix on her arm.”
From Amazon.com: “It’s never a good day when an ancient demon shows up on your toilet bowl. For Lizzie Brown, that’s just the beginning. Soon her hyperactive terrier starts talking, and her long-lost biker witch Grandma is hurling Smuckers jars filled with magic. Just when she thinks she’s seen it all, Lizzie learns she’s a demon slayer-and all hell is after her.
Of course, that’s not the only thing after her. Dimitri Kallinikos, a devastatingly handsome shape-shifting griffin needs Lizzie to slay a demon of his own. But how do you talk a girl you’ve never met into going straight to the underworld? Lie. And if that doesn’t work, how dangerous could a little seduction be…?”


Crimson City by Liz Maverick
 
First Sentence: “Fleur Dumont flung herself out of the ninety-third-floor window and somersaulted along the vertical length of the skyscraper.”
From Amazon.com: “Once, this was the City of Angels. The angels are no longer in charge. From the extravagant appetites of the vampire world above, to the gritty defiance of the werewolves below, the specter of darkness lives around every corner, the hope of paradise in every heart. All walk freely with humans in a tentative peace, but to live in Los Angeles is to balance on the edge of a knife. One woman knows better than most that death lurks here in nights of bliss or hails of UV bullets. She’s about to be tested, to taste true thirst. She’s about to regain the power she’s long been denied. And Fleur Dumont is about to meet the one man who may understand her: a tormented protector who’s lost his way and all he loved.”
Library:

Game of Cages (Twenty Palaces, Book 2) by Harry Connolly

First Sentence: “It was three days before Christmas, and I was not in prison.”
From Amazon.com: “ As a wealthy few gather to bid on a predator capable of destroying all life on earth, the sorcerers of the Twenty Palace Society mobilize to stop them. Caught up in the scramble is Ray Lilly, the lowest of the low in the society—an ex–car thief and the expendable assistant of a powerful sorcerer. Ray possesses exactly one spell to his name, along with a strong left hook. But when he arrives in the small town in the North Cascades where the bidding is to take place, the predator has escaped and the society’s most powerful enemies are desperate to recapture it. All Ray has to do is survive until help arrives. But it may already be too late.”