Mailbox Monday-- September 20th

The reason why I love Mondays -- Mailbox Monday hosted this month by Bermudaonion's Weblog. Below are the following advance review copies that I received this week:

1) Oogy by Larry Levin. Publisher's Summary. In the bestselling tradition of Rescuing Sprite comes the story of a puppy brought back from the brink of death, and the family he adopted.

In 2002, Larry Levin and his twin sons, Dan and Noah, took their terminally ill cat to the Ardmore Animal Hospital outside Philadelphia to have the beloved pet put to sleep. What would begin as a terrible day suddenly got brighter as the ugliest dog they had ever seen--one who was missing an ear and had half his face covered in scar tissue--ran up to them and captured their hearts. The dog had been used as bait for fighting dogs when he was just a few months old. He had been thrown in a cage and left to die until the police rescued him and the staff at Ardmore Animal Hospital saved his life. The Levins, whose sons are themselves adopted, were unable to resist Oogy's charms, and decided to take him home.

Heartwarming and redemptive, OOGY is the story of the people who were determined to rescue this dog against all odds, and of the family who took him home, named him "Oogy" (an affectionate derivative of ugly), and made him one of their own.

2) Dare to Take Charge by Judge Glenda Hachett. Publisher's Summary. For nearly ten years, Judge Glenda Hatchett has delighted TV audiences with a brand of justice that turns the everyday into something eminently watchable.

Her message can be distilled into the following two words: Dare Yourself. Whatever obstacles or fears one faces, Judge Hatchett's prescription implores readers to write their own story in this life. With care and conviction, Judge Hatchett uses real life stories from the courtroom and her personal life to counsel readers. Shows them how to find their true purpose and gifts, to be real about their reality and its potential outside of challenging circumstances, and to always be true to themselves.

Interactive as well as inspirational, DARE TO TAKE CHARGE challenges the reader to ask self-reflective questions that lead to moments of self-discovery and a defined pathway to healing. Daring her audience to study the positive with the same interest and intensity that they study the negative, Judge Hatchett uncovers the potential for grace and success in lives that are now punctuated with despair and unfaithfulness.

3) Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. Publisher's Summary. Like many young Americans, Jonathan Safran Foer spent much of his teenage and college years oscillating between enthusiastic carnivore and occasional vegetarian. As he became a husband, and then a father, the moral dimensions of eating became increasingly important to him. Faced with the prospect of being unable to explain why we eat some animals and not others, Foer set out to explore the origins of many eating traditions and the fictions involved with creating them.

Traveling to the darkest corners of our dining habits, Foer raises the unspoken question behind every fish we eat, every chicken we fry, and every burger we grill. Part memoir and part investigative report, Eating Animals is a book that, in the words of the Los Angeles Times, places Jonathan Safran Foer "at the table with our greatest philosophers."

Thanks to Hachette Book Group!

4) Lost and Found by David Trotter. Author's Summary. After 10 years as a pastor, I was burned out and stuck in a life and marriage that lacked passion. My desire for an intimate partnership led me to leave my mistress of ‘ministry’ and run into the arms of a real-life mistress — my wife’s best friend. After moving in with one another and spending forty days together, the woman abruptly left to go back to her husband and four kids, and my life hit rock bottom.

This first-hand account of what led to my burnout and life implosion takes the reader on a raw and intimate journey…from illicit affair to hospitalization and ultimately to reconciliation with my wife and family. This is a powerful story of redemption that will leave the reader both challenged and inspired. (Warning: Although I was a Christian pastor for many years, this is not a “Christian” book per se. It is simply the telling of my raw and life-changing story which is accessible to all readers. Conservative audiences should be aware of language and the topic of sexuality.)

The reason why my wife and I are sharing our story is two-fold:

* To challenge other couples to invest in their current marriage.
* To inspire individuals who have gone through an affair that healing and/or reconciliation is possible.

Thanks to the author!

5) The Eleventh Hour Can't Last Forever by Alison Johnson. Publisher's Summary. "Two tons of silver and gold coins, hundreds of thousands of nickels, dimes, quarters, and gold pieces. They were under our beds, in the kitchen cupboards, up in the attics, in the bottom of dresser drawers, in holes in the ground. My father was obsessed with gathering up these coins and hiding them away in any likely spot in the houses and garages and store buildings he owned in our tiny town on the mid-Western prairie. Nothing could shake his belief that the total collapse of the American economy and government was just around the corner, a collapse that would bring anarchy and rioting in the streets. With this shadow of Armageddon always hanging over him, Dad believed that he could save his family from disaster only by collecting as much gold and silver as he could lay his hands on". Thus begins the saga of the Krotter family.

Alison Johnson's new book, "The Eleventh Hour Can't Last Forever," tells the story of the destructive obsession of her father, Dean Krotter, with buying and hoarding gold and silver coins and her family's problems as they dealt with living in a tiny Nebraska town that she describes as "about as far as one could get from civilization in the United States."


Thanks to Newman Communications.