Mailbox Monday

Ohh - I am so excited!  I can actually participate in Mailbox Monday hosted by Marcia at the Printed Page.


Each week I read all of your posts with a tinge of envy.  Of course I am happy for all your wonderful bookish mail, but deep inside I wish that my mailbox had been filled with literary delights too.  Well, this week I received a very special box from Amazon.  I really hadn't intended to buy this many books, honest.  But you know....they had this special promotion of buy 3 books get the 4th one free and I had already selected 3 books that I really needed wanted to buy.  So finding a fourth was mandatory!  And I absolutely, positively loved Dog Gone It and vowed to purchase the second book in the series when it became available.  The fact that it was on-sale made that an imperative buy as well.  AND....I did have all those Christmas gift cards that needed to be spent.


So as you can see, this box of 6 books was really not an impulse purchase; it was simply meant to be.

• Surviving Hitler by Andrea Warren.  I reviewed this book a couple of weeks ago (here), and I simply knew that I needed to include it as part of my own personal library.
• Thereby Hangs a Tail by Spencer Quinn.  Most of you know by now that I am a sucker for any dog story.  I read the author's first book in this series, Dog Gone It, and absolutely loved the plot, the characters, and the voice of  Chet the dog.  I am very anxious to read this second book.
• Mr. Dixon Disappears by Ian Sansom.  I reviewed the first in this series, The Case of the Missing Books, and absolutely loved it!!  When I obtained this book from the library (the second book in the series), I knew by the end of the first paragraph that it was one that I needed to own - not just borrow!
• Eye of the Crow by Shane Peacock.  I read the first few chapters of this book and was completely enthralled (thank you, Belle, for the recommendation).  Since I will be teaching a unit on Sherlock Holmes' mysteries later this semester, I thought this would be a nice recommendation for summer reading for my 7th grade class.
• Fablehaven by Brandon Mull.  This is actually a book that I purchased "sight unseen."  It was suggested as a possible next read if you liked Harry Potter and Percy Jackson.  Since both of these series are hot buttons for my students, I thought I might try this one for myself.  I had read the first two chapters of a library edition and was definitely intrigued.
• The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan.  I have had two students breeze through this entire series over the course of two weeks.  Because of their high praise, I have had three more students begin the series.  I figure if this book is good enough to encourage 5 middle schoolers to read --- it must be investigated.  I would like to try to read this one ASAP so that I can go to the movie and do a compare and contrast.

I would not be completely honest if I did not let you know of a few books that managed to find their way into my home, bypassing the mailbox.  Again, I am really not to blame.  See, Half Priced books had a 20% off coupon in celebration of Valentine's Day and I just couldn't let that kind of a deal go to waste.  In my defense, I used great restraint and only purchased 4 books for a total of $16.00.

• The Unauthorized Harry Potter Companion by Colin Duriez.  As many of you know, I am listening to this series on audio book.  For a visual learner like myself, I feel that I can benefit from a dictionary of sorts to show me the correct spelling of wizard and muggle words, and to refresh my memory of significant events, characters, places, and such.  This was found in the clearance section and I simply could not pass it up.
• The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins.  I have wanted to start this series for quite some time - both from the standpoint of being a Pride and Prejudice fan - and from a writer's point of view.  I am fascinated that this author could write a 7 book series detailing the lives of these classic characters after the joyful ending of the original work.  I also think I will use this book to show my Brit Lit students the lasting power and presence of Jane Austen - some 200 years after her death.
• The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde.  I enjoyed The Eyre Affair, and I am interested in reading Shades of Grey, but there is something about the concept of bringing fairy tale characters to life in this nursery crime series that has me very intrigued.
• The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald.  This book has been reviewed on several book blogs lately and I am always interested in reading books about books - so when I saw it sitting forlornly on the clearance bookshelf, I felt as though it was calling my name.

So how about you?  Have you come across any must-have books this week that you simply could not refuse to bring home?