Monday Mailbox

I stumbled a bit on the acqusition front this past week but I can only drum up a small bit of remorse since what did come in was so delicious. ;-) I'll probably be better this coming week, or so it appears so far if I wrack my brain and think about what on earth could possibly still be winging its way through the postal service to me. Then again, memory and age being what it is, it wouldn't be too terribly surprising to see another Monday Mailbox post from me next week too, right?! This past week's mailbox arrivals:

The Return by Victoria Hislop came from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Could you turn down a book with a cover like this one? I mean seriously, how gorgeous is that?! It almost feels greedy to want the content to be appealing too but it is. Granada, civil war, flamenco. Gives me shivers of anticipation.

Evenings at the Argentine Club by Julia Amante was a contest win from Drey's Library.
I have always been drawn to fiction about hyphens, especially the conflict inherent in identifying as more than one thing. In this case, the characters are Argentine-Americans (see the hyphen?). Different generations define themselves differently and that has always grabbed me so despite my once upon a time in school long ago general focus being Asian-Americans, I am curious to see another culture's balancing act.

The Secret of Joy by Melissa Senate came from Sarah at Pocket Books for a blog tour.
Imagine discovering that you have a half-sister only when your father is on his deathbed. Then imagine putting your own life on hold to pursue this half-sister and to try and build a relationship with her. Every family has secrets but I do like the "family secrets exposed, now where do we go from here" books and this one promises to be that, lightly done and highly entertaining.

Children of the Dust by Ali Eteraz came from the very awesome Julie at FSB Associates.
This one was offered to me for review but given my incredible backlog of books, I finally, regretfully said I just couldn't possibly accept it so Julie (have I mentioned that she rocks?) said she'd be happy to send it along to me anyway. I have a sneaking suspicion she knows I'll read and review it without a commitment but not having any sort of deadline for it is definitely lovely. Seriously, tell me you could have turned down a memoir of a Pakistani boy/man who immigrates to America with his family all while trying to hold onto his strict Muslim faith. Eteraz's journey through the winding roads of faith, ideology, and fundamentalism sounds completely fascinating.

Everyone She Loved by Sheila Curran came from Malena at Book End Babes because I registered my book club.
A woman makes her husband vow that if she predeceases him when their kids are still young, he will not remarry without the permission of her sister and close friends. Talk about control from beyond the grave! But really this is billed as a novel about the enduring bonds of friendship and that is enough of a hook for me.

As always, if you'd like to see the marvelous goodies in other people's mailboxes, make sure to visit Marcia at The Printed Page and enjoy seeing how we are all doing our part to keep the USPS and delivery services viable.