Welcome to Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia of To Be Continued, a place where readers share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.
After several years of being on tour with different blogs as the monthly host, the Mailbox Monday Blog is now the permanent home for the meme.
Here’s what arrived last week…
New Arrivals
Mother of Eden (Dark Eden #2) by Chris Beckett from Read It Forward
Now, humanity has spread across Eden, and two kingdoms have emerged. Both are sustained by violence and dominated by men – and both claim to be the favored children of Gela, the woman who came to Eden long ago on a boat that could cross the stars, and became the mother of them all.
Audio Downloads
From Audiobook Jukebox
The Memory Painter by Gwendolyn Womack from Blackstone Audio.
Two lovers who have traveled across time. A team of scientists at the cutting edge of memory research. A miracle drug that unlocks an ancient mystery.
Aquarium by David Vann from Blackstone Audio.
In crystalline, chiseled, yet graceful prose, Aquarium takes us into the heart of a brave young girl whose longing for love and capacity for forgiveness transforms the damaged people around her.
———
Still time to enter the giveaway for…
Stella Rose by Tammy Flanders Hetrick
When Abby’s cherished best friend, Stella Rose, is dying from cancer, she asks Abby to assume custody of her teenage daughter. Although Abby has no experience with children, she says yes. Because that’s what best friends do. They say yes.
Enter on or before May 16th. US and Canada only.
——————————–
© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
A Rapid Review
The Last Bookaneer by Matthew Pearl
Publisher: Penguin Audio | April 2015
Format: Audio Download | 13 hours | Rating: 3 stars
Audio Listening Level: Intermediate
book’a-neer’ (bŏŏk’kå-nēr’), n. a literary pirate; an individual capable of doing all that must be done in the universe of books that publishers, authors, and readers must not have a part in.
on the eve of the twentieth century, a new international treaty is signed to protect authors and grind this literary underground to a sharp halt. The bookaneers, of course, would become extinct. In The Last Bookaneer, Matthew Pearl gives us a historical novel set inside the lost world of these doomed outlaws and the incredible heist that brought their era to a close.
Rival manuscript thieves racing to Samoa to steal Robert Louis Stevenson’s final manuscript before the new laws are enacted against the background of a colonial war between British, American, and German interests should have created an engaging, action-packed fictitious history. And while it was a clever and well written story, the pace was often excruciatingly slow. I did find the story interesting, and I don’t want to discourage anyone from reading it, it just didn’t have the excitement I was looking for.
Audio production:
The audio was superbly narrated by Simon Vance and J.D. Jackson. It was a pleasure to listen to and much of what kept me from giving up on what was, for me, a slow-moving story.
——————————–
Source: Review copy provided by Penguin Audio.
© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
Stella Rose by Tammy Flanders Hetrick
Today I have a special feature and the opportunity for one of my readers to win a copy of Stella Rose by Tammy Flanders Hetrick.
About the Book
Stella Rose
by Tammy Flanders Hetrick
Publisher: She Writes Press
Publication Date: April 2015
Format: Paperback | 343 pages
Upon Stella Rose’s death, her best friend, Abby, moves to rural Vermont to take care of her sixteen-year-old daughter, Olivia. But Abby struggles to connect with Olivia and she soon finds guardianship of a headstrong teenager daunting beyond her wildest misgivings. Despite her best efforts, and the help of friends old and new, she is unable to keep Olivia from self-destruction. As Abby’s journey unfolds, she grapples with raising a grieving teenager, realizes she didn’t know Stella as well as she thought, and discovers just how far she will go to save the most precious thing in her life.
About the Author
Tammy Flanders Hetrick has been telling stories all her life, refining her skills at age ten through marathon tag-team storytelling with her best friend, honing her craft through decades of business writing, and ultimately finding joy in extracurricular 
creative writing. She has published short stories in Your Teen Magazine, Blue Ocean Institute’s Sea Stories, and Route 7 Literary Journal. In 2009 she was recognized with the Outdoor Industries Women’s Coalition’s Pioneering Woman Award for coaching and mentoring women in the workplace. Hetrick lives in Vermont with her husband of thirty years, their two cats, and a beagle/miniature bull mix.
Connect with Tammy
Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Webpage
Giveaway Information
Courtesy of the publicist, I have one copy of Stella Rose, print or ebook, to give away to a reader with a mailing address in the US or Canada. To enter, fill out the form below on or before midnight, Saturday, May 16th. For an extra entry, tweet or blog about the giveaway. The winner will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond.
[Giveaway has ended]
Winner: Suko at Suko’s Notebook
——————————–
© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Source: Giveaway provided by Caitlin Hamilton Marketing.
——————————–
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
Almost wordless: Although this wildflower is called ‘prairie’ trillium, it’s actually a woodland spring ephemeral.
——————————–
More Wordless Wednesday. © 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
A Rapid Review
The Year My Mother Came Back by Alice Eve Cohen
Publisher: HighBridge | March 2015
Format: Audio Download | 6 hours | Rating: 4 stars
Audio Listening Level: Easy
Thirty years after her death, Alice’s mother appears to her, seemingly in the flesh, and continues to do so during the hardest year Alice has had to face: the year her youngest daughter needs surgery, her eldest daughter decides to track down her birth mother, and the year Alice gets a daunting diagnosis.
In this candid memoir about a difficult year in the author’s life, she comes to terms with her relationship with her mother and events from her childhood. Through conversations with her mother, we learn of her mom’s own battle with cancer, its secrecy and shame, her unhappiness at being the stay-at-home mom expected of her in those days, and her unfulfilled dreams.
A complex and ultimately heartfelt memoir about being a mother, being a daughter, and reconciling the circumstances of our past.
Audio production:
The author performs the narration and beautifully brings her story—and her mother—to life. The book was a pleasure to listen to and, at only six hours long, I finished it in one day. An excellent choice over print, especially for listeners new to the format or those that don’t usually choose audio.
Audio Sample:
——————————–
Source: Review copy provided by the publisher through Audiobook Jukebox.
© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
Welcome to Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia of To Be Continued, a place where readers share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.
After several years of being on tour with different blogs as the monthly host, the Mailbox Monday Blog is now the permanent home for the meme.
Spring has finally arrived. Buds are bursting, flowers are blooming, and pollen is everywhere—which means lots of sneezing and allergies. It also means lots of migrating birds. I was out with my bird club this weekend and saw over 50 species. I even got some gardening done, and have a few aches and pains to prove it.
Here’s what arrived in my mailbox last week…
New Arrivals
Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan from Penguin.
Sharp and incisive, Daughter of Deep Silence by bestselling author Carrie Ryan is a deliciously smart revenge thriller that examines perceptions of identity, love, and the lengths to which one girl is willing to go when she thinks she has nothing to lose.
Freedom’s Child by Jax Miller from Random House.
Written with a ferocious wit and a breakneck pace, Freedom’s Child is a thrilling, emotional portrait of a woman who risks everything to make amends for a past that haunts her still.
Second Life by S.J. Watson from Harper.
She loves her husband. She’s obsessed by a stranger. She’s a devoted mother. She’s prepared to lose everything. She knows what she’s doing. She’s out of control. She’s innocent. She’s guilty as sin. She’s living two lives. She might lose both …
Love May Fail by Matthew Quick from Harper.
Love May Fail is a story of the great highs and lows of existence: the heartache and daring choices it takes to become the person you know (deep down) you are meant to be.
How Business Works by DK Publishing from AmazonVine.
Understand the sometimes-confusing business world with How Business Works, a user-friendly guide to understanding business jargon and corporate structure.
How was your week?
——————————–
© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
Thank you to everyone that stopped by to enter the giveaway last week for a copy of Losing Faith by Adam Mitzner.
Winner: Stacy @ Stacy’s Books
——————————–
© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
Under My Apple Tree 