I had a very full mailbox this week...and I'm not quite sure when I'll be able to read anything? This week requires business travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota for an overnight trip, and then Sunday I am going to Portland, Oregon for two days. Neither trip will provide me time to blog or to visit with any bookstore in the area, unfortunately. However, I will have time on the flights to read, so that is an upside, I suppose...

Thanks to Laura at I'm Booking It and to Sheila at Book Journey!

From top to bottom:

• The Brave, by Nicholas Evans. An audio book that I won from Metroreader and provided by Hatchette Audio! This is from the same author as The Horse Whisperer.
• Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough, by Ruth Pennebaker. I have heard a lot of wonderful and hilarious things about this one! Received from Penguin through PR by the Book.
• Night Road, by Kristin Hannah. I believe I got this one from Shelf Awareness email announcements. This is being released March 29th, 2011, and it is published by St. Martin's Press. From the New York Times Bestselling Author of Firefly Lane.
• Veganist, by Kathy Freston. A gift from family (thanks!). I'm a vegetarian, but am trying to return back to my vegan ways. My pitiful attempts are sparingly recorded at The Wanna Be Vegan blog.
• Skipping a Beat, by Sarah Pekkanen. I'm really looking forward to this one! Published by Washington Square Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. I received this from the author.
• The Ground is Burning, by Samuel Black. This is a chunkster of a book that I won at The Literary Amnesiac's site. I also received a gorgeous bookmark with The Literary Amnesiac on it (thank you, I love it!) This book is set in Italy in the 1500s! It will definitely be a book to read this year for my Italy in Books Reading Challenge hosted by Book After Book. Published by Faber and Faber Limited, Bloomsbury House in London.
• The Memory Palace, by Mira Bartok - I've been a bit jealous of those who have read this so far and the kind folks at Simon & Schuster sent it my way!

Have you read any of these? Let me know your thoughts!

Happy Reading,

Coffee and a Book Chick

First, THANK YOU to Sheila at Book Journey! I won her anniversary giveaway and woke up this  morning to find a $20 Amazon gift card in my email! *dance* Woot!!

Thanks to Library of Clean Reads for Mailbox Monday and Sheila at Book Journey for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

• In the Belly of Jonah, by Sandra Brannan - This has been so well received and I'm excited to get a chance to read it. And this one is autographed! *squeals* Here's the first couple paragraphs: "A window cut into a girl's body sets off a desperate search for a serial killer with an artistic bent. Liv "Boots" Bergen is shocked when the body of a stunning college intern working in her Colorado limestone quarry is found on the shores of a nearby reservoir. Clues are scarce - except that the crime scene appears to be a macabre, intricately staged tableau."
• Book of Days, by James L. Rubart - Although something I don't normally pick up, it's a Christian fiction book that definitely hooked me. Doesn't this sound different? "Young Cameron Vaux's mind is slipping. Memories of his wife, killed two years earlier in a car accident, are vanishing just as his dad predicted they would. Memories he knows he has to remember. His father tells Cameron that to save his mind he must find 'the book with all days in it' - the past and future record of every dole on earth." Something about it just drew me in.

Thanks to Marissa at JKS Communications!

Happy Reading,

Coffee and a Book Chick

Welcome to Coffee and a Book Chick!

Please stop by and read my review of Bury Your Dead, by Louise Penny.

Set in the deep winter of Canada, and thrust in a maze of mysteries, Chief Inspector Gamache is unofficially back on a case with a ghost from his recent past keeping up with him. With stunning visual imagery, Louise Penny captures life in the cold snow amidst a murder investigation that goes much further than just the body hidden in the basement of the Literary and Historical Society. The investigation goes deeper into almost three hundred years before in the history of Old Quebec, with the location of the remains of the city's founder Samuel de Champlain still being tracked. 

...Coffee and a Book Chick...

Thanks to The Printed Page and Library of Clean Reads, along with Book Journey!

• Caribou Island, by David Vann (HarperCollins - released January 2011) - I'm so excited to read this one! I've seen so many incredible reviews!
• Here, Home, Hope, by Kaira Rouda (Greenleaf Book Group Press - To Be Released May 2011) - New fiction debut author Kaira Rouda introduces readers to what is called Desperate Housewives meets The Middle Place in this absorbing, witty story about one suburban mother's journey from a midlife crisis to reinvention with the help of her husband, friends, and neighbors. She also has a great Facebook fan site in which she's hosting giveaways.
• The Second Duchess, by Elizabeth Loupas (Penguin - released January 2011) - Debut author Elizabeth Loupas delves into historical fiction set in Italy. You say Italy? I say, yes, please! The excerpt on her site really drew me in.
• Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger (Simon and Schuster) - I am the only person on the planet who hasn't read either The Time Traveller's Wife or this one so I'm way behind. Picked this one up from Paperbackswap.
• Lucifer's Tears, by James Thompson (G.P. Putnam's Sons, a member of Penguin Group - To Be Released March 2011) - The front tag line reads, "If you loved Stieg Larsson, try James Thompson." I loved The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, so hopefully it's like that one.
• The Water Wars, by Cameron Stracher (Sourcebooks Fire - released January 2011) - I couldn't find a website for this author, so I included the Amazon link. This is a Young Adult novel and it seems intriguing. The jacket starts out with "Welcome to a future where water is more precious than oil or gold..." I've read mixed thoughts on this, so I'm eager to jump into the fray and have a go at it.

What about you? What did you pick up at the store, library, or in the mail?

Happy Reading,
Coffee and a Book Chick

(Updated with beautiful new image).  Thanks to all of our Mailbox Monday hosts!  Created by Marcia at The Printed Page and on tour this month with Rose City Reader.  A thank you as well to host Sheila at Book Journey!

It's been a while since I took part in this meme, and I will blame it all on work!  What a crazy start to 2011 already.


From top to bottom in the picture:

• The Oracle of Stamboul, by Michael David Lukas (Publication Date February 2011 - HarperCollins Publishers) - it arrives in a wonderful self-contained dark purple covering.  So creative in how you have to open it and pull the book out!
• Exit the Actress, by Priya Parmar (Publication Date February 2011 - Simon & Schuster) - soooo excited to read this one!
• Devotion: A Memoir, by Dani Shapiro (Publication Date January 2010 - HarperCollins Publishers)
• State of Mind, by Sven Michael Davison (Publication Date March 2011 - Bedouin Press)
• One Day, by David Nicholls (Publication Date June 2010 - Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) - Received by Paperbackswap
• After Isaactown, by Ward Jones (Publication Date January 2011 - CreateSpace, publisher)
• Habit of a Foreign Sky, by Xu Xi (Publication Date October 2010 - Haven Books)
• The Fifth Servant, by Kenneth Wishnia (Publication Date February 2011 - HarperCollins Publishers)
• Pearl: A Life Too Short, A Death Too Long, by Darlene Cox (Publication Date November 2010 - Outskirts Press)
• The Other Life, by Ellen Meister (Publication Date February 2011 - Penguin Group)

What about you?  What wonderful selections came for you?  I'd love to hear about it - feel free to post the link to your blog post, and if you don't have a blog, drop me a comment below and tell me what books you picked up, or are dying to get your hands on!

Happy Reading,

Coffee and a Book Chick

Thanks to all of our Mailbox Monday hosts!  Created by Marcia at The Printed Page and on tour this month with Jenny at Let Them Read Books.  A thank you as well to Sheila at Book Journey!

I'm excited about this past week - do take a look and let me know what you received as well.  Have you read the books that I received?  Did you like them?

• The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery - received from Paperbackswap
• Hera: Book One of The Goddess Chronicles, by Julien Longo - received from Fire Raven Press through Mariko at Fired Up Communications

And...

TWO autographed copies of Susan Gregg Gilmore's books thanks to Bermudaonion's giveaway.  Thanks, Kathy!  The books are:

• Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen, by Susan Gregg Gilmore
• The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove, by Susan Gregg Gilmore

What did you get this week?

Happy Reading,
Coffee and a Book Chick

Thanks to all our Mailbox Monday hosts!  Julie at Knitting and Sundries is hosting this month, and thanks to Sheila at Book Journey as well for her Mailbox hosting!

This was a good week, check it out!




Have you read any of these? If so, which one should I start with?

From My Reader's Block, I won a giveaway for the following books:

• In the Last Analysis, by Amanda Cross
• Murder at Bertram's Tower, by Cynthia Peale
• Maisie Dobbs, by Jacqueline Winspear

From Raging Bibliomania, Heather was kind enough to send to me:

• Room, by Emma Donoghue
• Stash, by David Klein

From The Literary Feline, I received:

• Blue Nude, by Elizabeth Rosner

And the rest I received from Paperbackswap, purchased at my local independent bookstore, The BookMark in Atlantic Beach, Florida, or purchased at a church sale yesterday:

• And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie
• The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
• Martha Peake, Patrick MCGrath
• What Alice Knew, by Paula Marantz Cohen
• Hotel Du Lac, by Anita Brookner (recommended by Vintage Reads, check out her review!)
• Trauma, by Patrick McGrath
• Summer at Tiffany, by Marjorie Hart (recommended by The Maiden's Court, check out her review!)
• Psycho, by Robert Bloch
• Don't Look Now, by Daphne du Maurier, with an introduction by Patrick McGrath (recommended by The Literary Stew, check out her review!)
• The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing, by Melissa Bank
• The Love of Stones, by Tobias Hill

Happy Reading!

Coffee and a Book Chick

It was a great week for the Mailbox last week! Where, oh where, do I put these books, and when, oh when, can I read them??

Thanks to all of the fabulous Mailbox Monday hosts!  The Printed Page and Avis of She Reads and Reads.  A thank you to Sheila from Book Journey as well!

Here's the stack!  I received the Georgette Heyer books from the new blog Austen Authors.  It's a new site that celebrates all the Austen-inspired fiction that is out there, and I'm happy to have won their Grand Prize Giveaway in September! Still can't believe it, and it came in the mail so quickly last week!  Check out my Georgette Heyer collection!! *screams with excitement*

I also received from Erin Grace with Peachtree Publishers the superbly illustrated Martina, the Beautiful Cockroach.  From Paperbackswap, I received Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson and Rembrandt's Whore, by Sylvie Matton.

Woohoo!  What are you reading this week?

Happy Reading!
Coffee and a Book Chick