Mailbox Monday -- September 27th

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) The Power by Rhonda Byrne. Amazon Product Description. The Secret revealed the law of attraction. Now Rhonda Byrne reveals the greatest power in the universe -- The Power to have anything you want.

In this book you will come to understand that all it takes is just one thing to change your relationships, money, health, happiness, career, and your entire life.

Every discovery, invention, and human creation comes from The Power. Perfect health, incredible relationships, a career you love, a life filled with happiness, and the money you need to be, do, and have everything you want, all come from The Power.

The life of your dreams has always been closer to you than you realized, because The Power -- to have everything good in your life -- is inside you.

To create anything, to change anything, all it takes is just one thing…THE POWER.

Thanks to Atria Books!

2) Bloody Crimes by James Swanson. Publisher's Summary. On the morning of April 2, 1865, Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, received a telegram from General Robert E. Lee. There is no more time—the Yankees are coming, it warned. Shortly before midnight, Davis boarded a train from Richmond and fled the capital, setting off an intense and thrilling chase in which Union cavalry hunted the Confederate president.

Two weeks later, President Lincoln was assassinated, and the nation was convinced that Davis was involved in the conspiracy that led to the crime. Lincoln's murder, autopsy, and White House funeral transfixed the nation. His final journey began when soldiers placed his corpse aboard a special train that would carry him home on the 1,600-mile trip to Springfield. Along the way, more than a million Americans looked upon their martyr's face, and several million watched the funeral train roll by. It was the largest and most magnificent funeral pageant in American history.

To the Union, Davis was no longer merely a traitor. He became a murderer, a wanted man with a $100,000 bounty on his head. Davis was hunted down and placed in captivity, the beginning of an intense and dramatic odyssey that would transform him into a martyr of the South's Lost Cause.

The saga that began with Manhunt continues with the suspenseful and electrifying Bloody Crimes. James Swanson masterfully weaves together the stories of two fallen leaders as they made their last expeditions through the bloody landscape of a wounded nation.

Thanks to Harper Collins!

3) And Then There Was One by Patricia Gussin. Publisher's Summary. One is the loneliest number.Nine years ago, Katie and Scott Monroe were blessed beyond their wildest dreams with identical triplets, Sammie, Alex, and Jackie. Three beautiful daughters and two adoring parents formed the picture-perfect party of five. But this tight-knit family unravels when the three little girls go to see a movie, but only one emerges from the darkness of the theater. How could Sammie and Alex vanish without a trace?Plunged into the abyss of a parent’s worst fear, Katie and Scott hang by a thread—waiting, worrying, not knowing, and confronting the terrifying realization that the kidnapping may not have been a random act.Who took Sammie and Alex? Why? Where are they? When will they be found? And what if they’re never found, or not found alive?When Jackie, the remaining triplet, crumbles under the weight of grief and survivor’s guilt, Katie and Scott struggle to hold out hope and hold on to what remains of their family.Until—or unless—Sammie and Alex are found safe, this picture-perfect family can’t be put back together again.

Thanks to Oceanview Publishing!

4) The World is Bigger Now by Euna Lee. Publisher's Summary. For the first time, Euna Lee—the young wife, mother, and film editor detained in North Korea—tells a harrowing, but ultimately inspiring, story of survival and faith in one of the most isolated parts of the world.

On March 17, 2009, Lee and her Current TV colleague Laura Ling were working on a documentary about the desperate lives of North Koreans fleeing their homeland for a chance at freedom when they were violently apprehended by North Korean soldiers. For nearly five months they remained detained while friends and family in the United States were given little information about their status or conditions. For Lee, detention would prove especially harrowing. Imprisoned just TK miles from where she was born and where her parents still live in Seoul, South Korea, she was branded as a betrayer of her Korean blood by her North Korean captors. After representing herself in her trial before North Korea’s highest court, she received a sentence of twelve years of hard labor in the country’s notorious prison camps, leading her to fear she might not ever see her husband and daughter again.

The World Is Bigger Now draws us deep into Euna Lee’s life before and after this experience: what led to her arrival in North Korea, her efforts to survive the agonizing months of detainment, and how she and her fellow captive, Ling, were finally released thanks to the efforts of many individuals, including Bill Clinton. Lee explains in unforgettable detail what it was like to lose, and then miraculously regain, life as she knew it.

The World Is Bigger Now is the story of faith and love and Euna Lee’s personal
conviction that God will sustain and protect us, even in our darkest hours.

Thanks to Random House!

5) The Human Bobby by Gabe Rotter. Publisher's Summary. A new baby, a loving wife, a solid career, a dream house in Beverly Hills: Dr. Bobby Flopkowski has it all. Until a complicated series of events snowball into a disaster that changes the course of his life forever.

Now, with a tent on the beach as his only home and an addiction that has cut him off from everyone he once loved, Bobby has a revelation that could put him back on track: he believes he has solved the puzzling crime that led to his downfall. But as the reality he's always known slips farther away, will he be able to convince someone—anyone—that his suspicions aren't merely the pleas of a desperate man?

Thanks to Simon and Schuster!

6) Life in the Slow Lane by Thomas Sullivan. Author's Summary. Life In The Slow Lane recounts a year the author spent teaching driver education for a cut-rate company in Portland, Oregon. The business playbook for this family-run operation was similar to that of BP -- use something until it breaks, apologize effusively, and then don't change. However, the company became the largest operator in the state primarily because the other companies were worse.

Set in a boomtown suburb being overrun by subdivisions and new Starbucks stores, this story is a microcosm of a mid-decade America shifting from business integrity to growth and profit by any means possible. It is also a darkly comic warning about the pitfalls of privatizing essential community functions in an attempt to save money. Yet, Life In The Slow Lane also reveals the humor and perseverance of kids who forge ahead while the cars they use break down and die.

Thanks to the Author!

7) God and Dog by Wendy Francisco. Publisher's Summary. GOD AND DOG is a phenomenon. First appearing on YouTube, the video of Wendy Francisco's charming animated illustrations and moving song tells of the unconditional love of both God and Dog.

With over 2 million YouTube viewings to date, Francisco's story appeals to all ages, to animal enthusiasts, to people of religious persuasions, and especially to anyone who has been loved by a dog.

Now in book format, Wendy's touching narrative will be expanded on through additional lyrics, illustrations, photographs and some of the powerful mail that is continually being sent to Francisco.

Thanks to Hachette Book Group!