Monday, May 7, 2012

Mailbox Monday - 5/7/12

Mailbox Monday is being hosted by Martha's Bookshelf for the month of May.

Here are the new books I got this week:

Crewel by Gennifer Albin

Incapable. Awkward. Artless.
That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.
Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.
Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.
Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.
Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.


Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl

Seventeen-year-old Althea is the sole support of her entire family, and she must marry well. But there are few wealthy suitors--or suitors of any kind--in their small Yorkshire town of Lesser Hoo. Then, the young and attractive (and very rich) Lord Boring arrives, and Althea sets her plans in motion. There's only one problem; his friend and business manager Mr. Fredericks keeps getting in the way. And, as it turns out, Fredericks has his own set of plans . . . This witty take on the classic Regency--Patrice Kindl's first novel in a decade--is like literary champagne!


Venom by Fiona Paul

Cassandra Caravello is one of Renaissance Venice’s lucky elite: with elegant gowns, sparkling jewels, her own lady’s maid, and a wealthy fiancĂ©, she has everything a girl could desire. Yet ever since her parents’ death, Cassandra has felt trapped, alone in a city of water, where the dark and labyrinthine canals whisper of escape.
When Cass stumbles upon a murdered woman—practically in her own backyard—she’s drawn into a dangerous world of courtesans, killers, and secret societies. Soon, she finds herself falling for Falco, a mysterious artist with a mischievous grin... and a spectacular skill for trouble. Can Cassandra find the murderer, before he finds her? And will she stay true to her fiancĂ©, or succumb to her uncontrollable feelings for Falco?
Beauty, love, romance, and mystery weave together in a stunning novel that’s as seductive and surprising as the city of Venice itself.


Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Garriger

It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to finishing school.
Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea--and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.
But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right--but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deceit, espionage, and the modern weaponries. Sophronia and her friends are going to have a rousing first year at school.
First in a four book YA series set 25 years before the Parasol Protectorate but in the same universe.


Day of the Cyclone by Penny Draper

June, 1912. 12-year-old Ella is surprised by an unusual birthday gift from her father: a Brownie camera and the advice to seek pictures of things that 'don't belong'. This is how Ella first notices Billy, a boy at her school. They become good friends, although Ella is sure Billy is keeping something from her.
Ella soon realizes there are others to whom the 'don't belong' tag applies. They include herself! Helping out at her mother's IODE group, Ella finds out about women's rights - or the lack of them.
When Ella's mother's purse is raided, suspicion falls on Billy. Then, just as Ella is learning surprising things about both her mother and her mysterious friend, the cyclone arrives. The substandard housing of the poor is worst-hit. How can Ella, armed only with her camera, help her friend?


Our Australian Girl: Alice and the Apple Blossom Fair by Davina Bell

It's 1918, and Alice has never felt lonelier. Her father is missing at sea, her brother Teddy is away at war, and she's not allowed to speak to her best friend anymore. Alice tries to forget her worries by having a stall at the Apple Blossom Fair. But when strange events start happening in the town, everything goes wrong … Will the war ever be over, and will life for Alice ever be the same again?
Follow Alice on her adventure in the second of four stories about a gifted girl in a time of war.


Our Australian Girl: Nellie and the Secret Letter by Penny Matthews

It's 1849, and Nellie is starting her new life as a kitchen maid in a grand Adelaide house with her best friend, Mary. But Nellie's desire to live out her dreams soon leads to a battle with the spiteful cook, Bessie Rudge… Can Nellie keep her temper and avoid being thrown out to beg on the streets? And why is Mary acting so strangely?
Follow Nellie on the second of four exciting stories about an Irish girl with a big heart, in search of the freedom to be herself.

2 comments:

The Princess of Everything said...

Yay!!! You are gonna LOVE Keeping The Castle! :) I can't wait to see what you think of it after you read it. :)

Unknown said...

What a selection. Thank you for sharing I will def read those !

 
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