In My Mailbox and Mailbox Monday 10/25

IMM is a meme started at The Story Siren with some inspiration from Alea of Pop Culture Junkie.

Anyone can participate in IMM and you are not limited to only sharing books that arrive via your mailbox. You can also share books that you've bought or books that you've gotten at the library.

Mailbox Monday can be found at: The Printed Page

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.   

I got 9 books these week. One of them I won through the Iron Seas challenge on vvb32's blog; that was The Iron Duke (The Iron Seas, Book 1) by Meljean Brook.  I am super excited to read this book.  Thanks to vvb32 for hosting this challenge :-)

I got the following books through paperbackswap.com: The 13th Element: The Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire, and Phosphorus by John Emsley, Magic to the Bone (Allie Beckstrom, Book 1) by Devon Monk, Magic in the Blood (Allie Beckstrom, Book 2) by Devon Monk, and Hallowed Circle (Persephone Alcmedi, Book 1) by Linda Robertson.

I got two books through the United Way Sale at work, for 50 cents a book I just couldn't resist: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and World Without End by Ken Follett.

I bought one e-book for my Kindle: Forever Frost by Kailin Gow.  And got one book from the library: Ascendant (Sequel to Rampant) by Diana Peterfreund.

Anyway you can find more info on the above mentioned books below.  I hope that you all have a great week of reading!



The Iron Duke (The Iron Seas, Book 1) by Meljean Brook

First Sentence: "Mina hadn't predicted that sugar would wreck the Marchioness of Hartington's ball; she'd thought the dancing would."
From Amazon.com: "After the Iron Duke freed England from Horde control, he instantly became a national hero. Now Rhys Trahaearn has built a merchant empire on the power-and fear-of his name. And when a dead body is dropped from an airship onto his doorstep, bringing Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into his dangerous world, he intends to make her his next possession. 

But when Mina uncovers the victim's identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and treacherous oceans-and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen, as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke."


The 13th Element: The Sordid Tale of Murder, Fire, and Phosphorus by John Emsley
 
First Sentence: "The Shocking History of Phosphorus is the first biography of a chemical element, told through the stories of a rich tableau of characters who were involved with it during its 300-year history of curious, bizarre and horrific events."

From Amazon.com: " Discovered by alchemists, prescribed by apothecaries, exploited by nineteenth-century industrialists, and abused by twentieth-century combatants, phosphorus is one of nature's deadliest- and most fascinating- creations. Now award-winning author John Emsley combines his gift for storytelling with his scientific expertise to present an enthralling account of this eerily luminescent element. From murders-by-phosphorus where the bodies glowed green, to the match factory strike that helped end child labor in England, to the irony of the World War II firebombing of Hamburg, to even deadlier compounds derived from phosphorus today. The 13th Element weaves together a rich tableau of brilliant and oddball characters, social upheavals, and curious, bizarre, and horrific events that comprise the surprising 300-year history of nature's most nefarious element."

Magic to the Bone (Allie Beckstrom, Book 1) by Devon Monk

 
First Sentence: "It was the morning of my twenty-fifth birthday, and all I wanted was a decent cup of coffee, a hot breakfast, and a couple hours away from the stink of used magic that seeped through the walls of my apartment building every time it rained."
From Amazon.com: "Using magic means it uses you back, and every spell exacts a price from its user. But some people get out of it by Offloading the cost of magic onto an innocent. Then it’s Allison Beckstrom’s job to identify the spell-caster. Allie would rather live a hand-to-mouth existence than accept the family fortune—and the strings that come with it. But when she finds a boy dying from a magical Offload that has her father’s signature all over it, Allie is thrown back into his world of black magic. And the forces she calls on in her quest for the truth will make her capable of things that some will do anything to control..."

Magic in the Blood (Allie Beckstrom, Book 2) by Devon Monk

First Sentence: "I dunked my head under the warm spray of shower and rubbed shampoo into my hair, wondering where my next Hounding job, and paycheck, were coming from."

From Amazon.com: "Working as a Hound-tracing illegal spells back to their casters-has taken its toll on Allison Beckstrom. But even though magic has given her migraines and stolen her recent memory, Allie isn't about to quit. Then the police's magic enforcement division asks her to consult on a missing persons case. But what seems to be a straightforward job turns out to be anything but, as Allie finds herself drawn into the underworld of criminals, ghosts, and blood magic."

Hallowed Circle (Persephone Alcmedi, Book 1) by Linda Robertson 

First Sentence: "What do you mean, you nominated me? "

From Amazon.com: "Persephone Alcmedi has been persuaded to compete for the position of High Priestess of the Cleveland, Ohio, coven -- now that the former priestess, Vivian Diamond, has strangely gone missing. Unfortunately, there are a few small problems with the idea. Not only does Seph know rather more about Vivian's disappearance than the other witches realize, but the epic struggle she's just survived has left her with some highly unusual powers -- ones that could be dangerous to reveal. Despite her reluctance, she agrees to participate, if only to prevent snooty Hunter Hopewell, an obnoxious but talented witch, from ending up in the winner's circle. Can Seph hide her secrets -- including her connection to the master vampire-wizard Menessos -- from the terrifyingly wise judges? Plus, there's her rock 'n' roll werewolf boyfriend, Johnny, and some angry fairies to deal with....

Once the competition begins, a finalist turns up dead. It looks as if one of the contestants is willing to do anything -- including murder -- to win. Suddenly Seph has even more on her plate than she thought: from solving a murder to working out what her new powers really are...and exactly why they're creating so much havoc in her love life."

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood 


First Sentence: "We slept in what had once been the gymnasium."
From Amazon.com: "A gripping vision of our society radically overturned by a theocratic revolution, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid's Tale has become one of the most powerful and most widely read novels of our time.

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife. She may go out once a day to markets whose signs are now pictures because women are not allowed to read. She must pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, for in a time of declining birthrates her value lies in her fertility, and failure means exile to the dangerously polluted Colonies. Offred can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name. Now she navigates the intimate secrets of those who control her every move, risking her life in breaking the rules.

Like Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Handmaid's Tale has endured not only as a literary landmark but as a warning of a possible future that is still chillingly relevant."

World Without End by Ken Follett
 
First Sentence: "Gwenda was eight years old, but she was not afraid of the dark."
From Amazon.com: "Ken Follett astonished the literary world with The Pillars of the Earth, a sweeping epic novel set in twelfth-century England that centered on the building of a cathedral and the men, women, and children whose lives it changed forever. Now, two centuries after the townspeople of Kingsbridge finished building the exquisite edifice, four children slip into the forest and witness a killing-an event that will bind them all by ambition, love, greed, and revenge..."


Ebooks: 
Forever Frost by Kailin Gow

First Sentence: "The world of my dreams had become reality."
From Amazon.com: "Breena's entry into Feyland is marred by danger and beauty. A prisoner in her own palace, she longs to see and touch her forbidden prince Kian. Yet her heart is also still with her friend Logan. The discovery of a long-lost figure in Breena's life propels Breena into the heart of fae politics. In a stunning turn of events, Breena suddenly finds herself faced with the most heartbreaking decision in her entire life."

From Library:

Ascendant (Sequel to Rampant) by Diana Peterfreund

First Sentence: "The unicorn drew its last breath."

From Amazon.com: "Astrid Llewelyn is now a fully trained unicorn hunter, but she can’t solve all her problems with just a bow and arrow. Her boyfriend, Giovanni, has decided to leave Rome, the Cloisters is in dire financial straits, her best friend’s powers seem to be mysteriously disintegrating, and Astrid can’t help but feel that school, home, and her hopes of becoming a scientist are nothing but impossible dreams.

So when she’s given the opportunity to leave the Cloisters and put her skills to use as part of a scientific quest to discover the Remedy, Astrid leaps at the chance. Finally, she can have exactly what she wants—or can she? At Gordian headquarters, deep in the French countryside, Astrid begins to question everything she thought she believed: her love for Giovanni, her loyalty to the Cloisters, and—most of all—her duty as a hunter. Should Astrid be saving the world from killer unicorns, or saving the unicorns from the world?"