Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia of The Printed Page and is now on tour. Bermudaonion is the host of this fun meme for the month of September! According to Marcia, “Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.”

I've been focused on rereading The Life of Charlotte Bronte, by Elizabeth Gaskell in preparation for the blog tour on September 29 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Gaskell's birth. I've also been taking breaks from this book to finish up Diana Gabaldon's A Breath of Snow and Ashes. Reading the latter has made me wonder whether anyone has tallied the number of times that Claire has been kidnapped, incarcerated or otherwise held captive...we're talking at least double digits, and triple digits if you count all abductions involving any member of the extended Fraser family!

Once I'm done with these books and tackled my "must read in September" list, which is rapidly morphing into a "must read before Winter" list, I get to choose from these wonderful new acquisitions that arrived within the last couple of weeks.

The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen - by Jacques Pepin
I can't think of a better follow up to the marvelous Julia Child memoir, My Life in France, than this delectable romp with another world class chef.

Baudolino - by Umberto Eco
I haven't read anything by Eco and it's high time I did. I read about this book on another blog and it really appealed to me, taking place in medieval Italy with a charming chameleon peasant at the heart of a crusade of sorts.

Five Plays by Anton Chekhov
I watched Country Life, starring Sam Neill, a week or so ago and wanted to read Uncle Vanya, which inspired the movie. My knowledge of Russian authors is woeful and I hope to continue correcting that deficiency over the next year, and I do enjoy plays.

The Ninth Daughter - by Barbara Hamilton
The first in "An Abigail Adams Mystery" series. Hey, I gave the Stephanie Barron Jane Austen mystery series a go, so why not see whether Abigail Adams is as least as good a sleuth as Austen. I like the time period - 1773, Massachusetts Colony - and will consider this a nice follow up to A Breath of Snow and Ashes, which is the same time period in history, just a bit further down the Atlantic seaboard.

A Sudden Country - by Karen Fisher
In August, I spent a day following the Oregon Trail in reverse as we drove home to Colorado from Tacoma, and I expressed an interest in finding a good Oregon Trail novel. Rose City Reader recommended this book, which is based on a diary by one of the author's ancestors. The only thing that has me worried is the blurb on the front that declares it "An Instant Classic." Doesn't USA Today know that classics have to stand the test of time...arrggh. I hate it when blurbs undermine my confidence in a book.