Monday Mailbox

This past week's mailbox arrivals:

The Confectioner's Tale by Laura Madeleine came from Thomas Dunne Books.

Is there any doubt that I can't resist a novel about a love affair at a Paris patisserie and the granddaughter of one of the lovers uncovering the tale many years later? There shouldn't be. Because I can't. ;-)

Dreaming in Chocolate by Susan Bishop Crispell came from St. Martin's Griffin.

As if I need another reason to be interested in this one besides the luscious hot chocolate on the cover, this is the tale of a mother trying to fulfill her terminal little girl's wish list, tops on which is a specific dad. ::swoon::

Mothers of Sparta by Dawn Davies came from Flatiron Books.

A fiercely honest book about motherhood by a mother who has never been interested in comparing her mothering with others, this looks like a fantastic read for those of us who are mothers but without the socially sanctioned (and wholly created) maternal gene we read about so frequently anymore.

I Found My Tribe by Ruth Fitzmaurice came from Bloomsbury.

I can't wait to read this memoir of a woman who has surrounded herself with her tribe, a tribe that supports and nourishes her given her husband's ALS diagnosis, that swims with her in the freezing cold Irish Sea, and that helps her live this life.

The Lost Season of Love and Snow by Jennifer Laam came from St. Martin's Griffin.

The lives of famous author's wives fascinate me so I am definitely looking forward to this fictionalization of Natalya Goncharova Pushkin's life, the wife whose honor Pushkin died defending.

The Italian Party by Christina Lynch came from St. Martin's Press.

An American couple in Italy in the 1950s keeping secrets from each other? Oh, please don't fro me in that briar patch!!!

Points North by Howard Frank Mosher came from St. Martin's Press.

A collection of stories set in the Northeast Kingdom, I enjoy tales about these sorts of normal people I don't often run across in my own suburban daily life.

The Little French Guesthouse by Helen Pollard came from me to me.

Can't you tell this is a foreign publication just by the cover? And that it's about a young woman who goes on holiday with her boyfriend only to have him run off with the guesthouse owner's wife makes it just that much more delectable.

Flying by the Seat of My Knickers by Eliza Watson came from me to me.

Any book with knickers in the title must be good and hilarious, right? I am betting so with this first in a series about a woman who is trying to prove herself at her new job in Dublin.

Surfing with Sartre by Aaron James came from Doubleday as an Instagram contest win.

Surfing and philosophy seem like unlikely bedfellows so I am curious to see how the author pulls them together. And as a side note, this has the perfect cover for this content.

Pieces of Happiness by Anne Ostby came from Doubleday as an Instagram contest win.

About a group of high school friends in their sixties reuniting to live at one of the friends' cocoa farm in Fiji, what's not to love about this premise? I mean, aside from the fact that I can't possibly ever be invited to do the same thing since I don't have an old high school friend with a cocoa farm in Fiji.

The Goddesses by Swan Huntley came from Doubleday as an Instagram contest win.

A novel about manipulation, friendship, and marriage set in the lushness of Kona, Hawaii? Yep, right up my alley.

If you want to see the marvelous goodies in other people's mailboxes, make sure to visit Mailbox Monday and have fun seeing how we are all doing our part to keep the USPS and delivery services viable.