The Darwin Conspiracy by John Darton, which I won over at Fyrefly’s Book Blog in celebration of Nicki’s brand new doctoral degree. She says it’s a good read (and I believe her), so here’s crossing my finger and hoping for the best.

Then there’s Emma and the Vampires by Jane Austen (of course) and Wayne Josephson which arrived courtesy of Sourcebooks, Inc.

But I have a tiny confession to make: I’ve been so entranced by Pride & Prejudice that I’ve been unable to move on from it and have not yet read Emma. I’ll add that to my reading schedule this weekend so I have something by which to gauge this new title.

On another note, I have this odd feeling that I’m forgetting something. I’m sure it will eventually come to me. When it does (if it does), then I’ll update. ‘Til then, whaddya get?

I’ve already finished (and loved!) Still Missing by Chevy Stevens; the review is forthcoming. I actually set aside Stolen by Lucy Christopher in order to read it. The two books run along similar lines—kidnap victims and the aftermath, though Stolen is for a younger audience and Still Missing is purely adult. Another difference between the two is the pacing: Stolen is slow going and Still Missing flew by at breakneck speed.

After finishing Still Missing, I decided to try my hand at Stolen again and after another thirty agonizingly slow pages, I decided to set it aside (…for the second time) and picked up Rumor Has It by Jill Mansell. While this book took more than a few chapters to get into, I’ve warmed up to the story and the characters. Frankly, though, the Anglicisms are tripping me up and I’m not overly fond of the writing style—but the story is shaping up to be a good one.

And a quick note about the cover of The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson…the image does it no justice. It’s absolutely beautiful and the blue is a lovely hologram-y type of material that reflects and changes as it bends and shifts. Words cannot describe.

Welcome to another edition of Mailbox Monday, hosted by the magnificent Marcia from The Printed Page.

I had another good week this week and brought in three new titles:

The Imposter’s Daughter by Laurie Sandell: Laurie Sandell grew up in awe (and sometimes in terror) of her larger-than-life father, who told jaw-dropping tales of a privileged childhood in Buenos Aires, academic triumphs, heroism during Vietnam, friendships with Kissinger and the Pope. As a young woman, Laurie unconsciously mirrors her dad, trying on several outsized personalities (Tokyo stripper, lesbian seductress, Ambien addict). Later, she lucks into the perfect job–interviewing celebrities for a top women’s magazine. Growing up with her extraordinary father has given Laurie a knack for relating to the stars. But while researching an article on her dad’s life, she makes an astonishing discovery: he’s not the man he says he is–not even close. Now, Laurie begins to puzzle together three decades of lies and the splintered person that resulted from them–herself.

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist: The Unit is a gripping exploration of a society in the throes of an experiment, in which the “dispensable” ones are convinced under gentle coercion of the importance of sacrificing for the “necessary” ones. Ninni Holmqvist has created a debut novel of humor, sorrow, and rage about love, the close bonds of friendship, and about a cynical, utilitarian way of thinking disguised as care.

Swoon by Nina Malkin: Swoon, Connecticut, stands proudly on its heritage and the good behavior of its Lilly Pulitzer–clad inhabitants, so semi-psychic New York transplant Candice (Dice) sticks out like a sore thumb. On the autumnal equinox, Dice’s sweet and gentle cousin Penelope suddenly changes into a dangerous vixen, and only Dice is able to see that she has been possessed. Dice knows she must exorcise Sinclair, the ghost of a handsome young man from the colonial era, but she has fallen deeply in love with the appropriately nicknamed Sin. Finally, Dice follows Sin’s directions for an exorcism, which frees Penelope from his hold and releases Sin into his own physical form. The golem-like Sin finally reveals his goal: to exact revenge on the descendants of those who unjustly hung him for the murder of his fiancée. Since Sin awakens the quaint town’s denizens to all of their suppressed urges, this steamy and suspenseful romance with a psychic slant and time-travel twist will pull mature teens. The paranormal angle and several star-crossed love pairings will appeal to fans of the Twilight series. (via Booklist)

It’s been a little while since I last participated in MM (and truth be told, I’ve had a couple good hauls over the past few weeks), but I’m getting back on track now.

Maybe I’ll update over the course of this week on the other titles I’ve missed out on sharing, but for now, let’s stick with the current big haul.

Dear Success Seeker: Wisdom From Outstanding Women by Michele R. Wright, Ph.D.

When facing obstacles to her own success, Michele R. Wright quickly discovered how valuable it is to have success warriors in your life who can inspire and guide you. With this in mind, Wright assembled luminaries from the entertainment, arts, business, and sports worlds to offer words of inspiration and invaluable advice to those seeking victory in their personal and professional journeys.

In these original pieces, the eighty-three contributors — representing a diverse range of age, background, and experience — share intimate stories of the challenges and triumphs, adventures and mishaps they faced that marked the road to their achievements. Mae Jemison, MD, the first female African-American astronaut, cautions that “‘You can’t’ and ‘You have to’ are two deadly phrases that are stumbling blocks for many success seekers,” and encourages those seeking success to “remain curious and inquisitive.” Tennis great Billie Jean King suggests, “Use your talents to win, not only for yourself, but for generations to come.” These women and award-winning actresses Shirley Jones, Ruby Dee, Mo’Nique, and Phylicia Rashad, Senator Mary L. Landrieu, Nobel Prize winner Rosalyn S. Yalow, New York Times bestselling author Joyce Meyer, and entertainer Patti LaBelle are just a few of the many women offering such pearls of wisdom.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (review)

I’ve read the first few pages of this book and something tells me I’m going to be hooked. I already love the narrative voice; it’s raunchy and real.

I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ.

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She survived—famously testifying that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her.

The Kill Club is a secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details, she hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings…and maybe admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all.

As Libby’s search takes her across the Midwest, the narrative flashes back to the events of that day, replayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members—including Ben, a loner who’d recently begun a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town. Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer.

The Great Perhaps by Joe Meno

The sky is falling for the Caspers, a family of cowards: for Jonathan, a paleontologist, search in vain for a prehistoric giant squid; for his wife, Madeline, an animal behaviorist with a failing experiment; for their daughter, Amelia, a disappointed teenage revolutionary; for her younger sister, Thisbe, on a frustrated search for God; and for grandfather, Henry, who wants to disappear, limiting himself to thirteen words a day, then twelve, then eleven, until he will speak no more. Each fears uncertainty and the possibilities that accompany it. When Jonathan and Madeline suddenly decide to separate, this nuclear family is split, each member forced to confront his or her own cowardice, finally coming to appreciate the cloudiness of the modern age.

Bad Things by Michael Marshall

If the first few pages are any true indication, I’m going to have a difficult time getting into this book. The narrative seems too dry for my tastes, but the story sounds like a good one and it might pick up.

Three years ago, lawyer John Henderson watched his four-year-old son tumble from a jetty into the lake outside their Washington home. In a terrible instant, a life all too brief and innocent ended. But it wasn’t drowning, the fall, or even some previously undetected internal defect that killed the little boy. Scott Henderson had simply, inexplicably…died.

Today, John is a different man—divorced, living a solitary existence in a beach house in Oregon, working as a waiter in a restaurant that caters to the summer crowd. Withdrawn from a life and past too painful to revisit, he touches no one and no one touches him. Then one night he receives a short and profoundly disturbing e-mail message from a stranger. It reads: I know what happened.

It’s enough to pull John back to Black Ridge—the one place on earth he’d hoped never to return to—in search of answers to the mystery that shattered his world. In this small, isolated Pacific Northwest community, populated in large part by descendants of the original settlers, the shadows now seem even darker and more sinister than when tragedy first drove him away—and the wind whipping down out of the primal forest can chill a man to his soul. It seems that bad things have always happened in this town of generations-old secrets—and are happening still.

The deeper John digs into his own past, and into local history, the more danger he draws toward himself…and toward his estranged and helpless family. And though he doesn’t know it, he’s not the only one who’s been called back to Black Ridge.

And that’s a very bad thing….

Welcome to another edition of Mailbox Monday where I regale you with the books I received during the previous week.

I’ve actually had a huge haul Monday, but I’m going to postpone it because of one title I’m very excited about. It’s a book I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get and was lusting after since I found out about it in December.

And the day finally came…

Last Monday, the very nice UPS lady knocked on my door and delivered my shiny new ARC for The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan.

From the back cover…

In Mary’s world, there are simple truths.

The Sisterhood always knows best.

The Guardians will protect and serve.

The Unconsecrated will never relent.

And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village. The fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power. And, when the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.

Now she must choose between her village and her future, between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded by so much death?

I finished reading it last week, but I’ve had to wait to write the review. You can expect that to be published first thing tomorrow morning. But for those of you who are a little anxious, here’s a one sentence sneak-peek: I didn’t connect emotionally with the main character, but still found myself being entertained. There’s a lot more to my review than that though. In fact, it’s a book that’s really causing me to slightly modify my rating system. Oh, I can’t wait.

Welcome to another edition of Mailbox Monday where I regale you with the books I received during the previous week.

The past few weeks have been slow, but the brief respite has allowed me some time to get caught up on a few titles collecting dust on the TBR shelf. Things are beginning to look up, though.

Algernon, Charlie, and I: A Writer’s Journey by Daniel Keyes

In Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes created an unlikely duo-a laboratory mouse and a man-who captured the hearts of millions of readers around the world. Now, in Algernon, Charlie, and I, Keyes reveals his methods of creating fiction as well as the heartbreaks and joys of being published. With admirable insight he shares with readers, writers, teachers, and students the creative life behind his classic novel, included here in its original short-story form.

I opted for this title specifically because it will serve two purposes: 1) it will allow me to read the original story of Flowers for Algernon for the re-reading challenge; and 2) it will allow me to see the process which allowed such a story to come into being.

Now I just need to steel myself for the reading (of Flowers for Algernon). The first time was emotional enough…

Welcome to another edition of Mailbox Monday where I regale you with the books I received during the previous week.

There’s going to be a double helping of Mailbox Monday this week because I didn’t post last week. (It was hectic, what with Christmas only a few days away! That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it….)

Week of Monday the 22^nd

Into the Land of the Unicorns (The Unicorn Chronicles Book 1) by Bruce Coville.

In Luster, Cara meets many wonderful creatures, but the most magnificent of all is Lightfoot, a rebellious young unicorn. Cara’s band of friends comes to include a hairy creature named the Dimblethum and the monkey-like Squijim. Together, they set out to reach the Unicorn Queen before the mysterious man following them does-and to prevent the destruction of all unicorns forever.

I’ve already finished reading this book and found it delightful. Now to actually finish writing the review.

A Technique for Producing Ideas by James Webb Young.

A step-by-step technique for sparking breakthrough creativity in advertising—or any field.

Since its publication in 1965, A Technique for Producing Ideas has helped thousands of advertising copywriters smash through internal barriers to unleash their creativity. Professionals from poets and painters to scientists and engineers have also used the techniques in this concise, powerful book to generate exciting ideas on demand, at any time, on any subject. Now let James Webb Young’s unique insights help you look inside yourself to find that big, elusive idea—and once and for all lift the veil of mystery from the creative process.

Because no living sentient being can ever have too many ideas.

Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti.

Taya soars over Ondinium on metal wings. She is an icarus—a courier privileged to travel freely across the city’s sectors and mingle indiscriminately among its castes. But even she can’t outfly the web of terrorism, loyalty, murder, and intrigue that snares her after a daring mid-air rescue. Taya finds herself entangled with the Forlore brothers, scions of an upperclass family: handsome, brilliant Alister, who sits on the governing council and writes programs for the Great Engine; and awkward, sharp-tongued Cristof, who has exiled himself from his caste and repairs clocks in Ondinium’s lowest sector. Both hid dangerous secrets, in this city that beats to the ticking of a clockwork heart…

Now that I see the book up close, I’m almost positive that is Leelee Sobieski on the cover, or at least her twin sister.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Tales of the Jazz Age by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald’s talent for short fiction is on display in this selection of four of his finest tales, chosen from two collections: Flappers and Philosophers (1920) and Tales of the Jazz Age (1922). Included are “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” a fantasy whose protagonist is born and old man and ages in reverse; “Bernice Bobs Her Hair,” a coming-of-age story about a daring young flapper; “The Jelly-Bean,” a story of disillusionment and love lost; and “Dalyrimple Goes Wrong,” a case of a character torn between self and society.

Because I simply had to read the story before seeing the movie. And for those of you who would like to do the same, you can do so for free; I just prefer having a nicely bound paperback I can read in bed.

This Week (Monday the 29^th)

Tithe A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black

Welcome to the realm of very scary faeries!

Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother’s rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms — a struggle that could very well mean her death.

Uninvited by Amanda Morrone (review)

When rejection comes back to bite you…

Jordan’s life sucks. Her boyfriend, Michael, dumped her, slept his way through half the student body, and then killed himself. But now, somehow, he appears at her window every night, begging her to let him in.

Jordan can’t understand why he wants her, but she feels her resistance wearing down. After all, her life — once a broken record of boring parties, meaningless hookups, and friends she couldn’t relate to — now consists of her drinking alone in her room as she waits for the sun to go down.

Michael needs to be invited in before he can enter. All Jordan has to do is say the words….

Five chapters in and here’s my shotgun review: it’s not that impressive, but it’s not horrendous either.

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

Someone was looking at me, a disturbing sensation if you’re dead.

In the class of the high school English teacher she has been haunting, Helen feels them: For the first time in 130 years, human eyes are looking at her. They belong to a boy, a boy who has not seemed remarkable until now. And Helen–terrified, but intrigued–is drawn to him. The fact that he is in a body and she is not presents this unlikely couple with their first challenge. But as the lovers struggle to find a way to be together, they begin to discover the secrets of their former lives and of the young people they come to possess.

I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder (review)

Girl meets boy.

Girl loses boy.

Girl gets boy back…

…sort of.

Ava can’t see him or touch him, unless she’s dreaming. She can’t hear his voice, except for the faint whispers in her mind. Most would think she’s crazy, but she knows he’s here.

Jackson. The boy Ava thought she’d spend the rest of her life with. He’s back from the dead, as proof that love truly knows no bounds.

I’ve also finished reading this one (was an incredibly quick reading, being a 200+ page verse and all), the review will be up shortly. But if you’re impatient, I will say that I enjoyed it very much.

Defending Angels by Mary Stanton

Being a lawyer has its challenges, but this is downright otherworldly. With a long list of ethereal clients who need her help, Bree’s career choice is beginning to haunt her…

Brianna Winston-Beaufort is taking over her uncle’s law practice in the most haunted city in the world—Savannah. While renovations are made, Bree rents space in an old house located in the middle of an all-murderers’ cemetery. Her first case comes from a local businessman, Benjamin Skinner, who somehow manages to call Bree hours after his suspicious death.

Bree is mystified, but everyone around her thinks this is business as usual. Her landlady, her secretary, and even an attractive PI seem to know more about Bree’s new practice than she does. Skinner needs their help to find his murderer and prove his innocence against the charge of Greed, which comes from the mightiest hand of the law—the Celestial Court. And the verdict in this case could put Bree’s life on the line, as well as her client’s afterlife…

Gotta say that I’m anxious to get to this one. (Just realized that I’m anxious to get to a lot of books on my TBR pile.)

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

I broke down and nabbed this book when I saw it mentioned at almost every site I’ve visited (and because of it’s mysterious ending that, I’ll note, many people refuse to discuss in detail).

I picked up the illustrated edition since it was about $4 cheaper and is illustrated.

It made absolutely no sense to me that a hardcover illustrated version should cost less than a mass market reproduction sans pretty pictures. But OK.

When Wanderers Cease to Roam by Vivian Swift

This one I first learned about from Ms. Bookish and immediately I knew I needed to have it.

This is a time in my life when I don’t much feel like venturing out into the world; I’d rather curl up in the security of my bed and hide from the world.

While I hide, this book looks as though it could keep me company, reminding me to find the beauty all around me. It may also spark some creativity. I have been meaning to get back into sketching and painting.

Now, when I’ve found the time to read both, I’ll surely offer up my reviews.