Monday Memes

Mailbox Monday is hosted this month by MariReads and is where book bloggers gather to share what showed up in their mailboxes this week, whether those mailboxes received email or snail mail.

No Snail Mail books this week.

I got the following from NetGalley:
Eva Mozes Kor was 10 years old when she arrived in Auschwitz. While her parents and two older sisters were taken to the gas chambers, she and her twin, Miriam, were herded into the care of the man known as the Angel of Death, Dr. Josef Mengele. Mengele's twins were granted the privileges of keeping their own clothes and hair, but they were also subjected to sadistic medical experiments and forced to fight daily for their own survival, as most of the twins died as a result of the experiments or from the disease and hunger pervasive in the camp. In a narrative told with emotion and restraint, readers will learn of a child's endurance and survival in the face of truly extraordinary evil. The book also includes an epilogue on Eva's recovery from this experience and her remarkable decision to publicly forgive the Nazis. Through her museum and her lectures, she has dedicated her life to giving testimony on the Holocaust, providing a message of hope for people who have suffered, and working toward goals of forgiveness, peace, and the elimination of hatred and prejudice in the world.

This superb collection of dessert recipes—from bestselling author of Amish fiction Wanda E. Brunstetter—will transport your taste buds to the slow lane, where life is meant to be savored and appreciated. You’ll be delighted with this wunderbaar gut (wonderful good) volume, as you open your heart (and kitchen) to the delicious desserts and simple ways of the Plain People.




Can you imagine a world without teenagers? Before the early 1900s, the word teenager was not even part of the American vocabulary. The concept of adolescence--those transitional years between childhood and adulthood--simply did not exist. Instead, families needed young people to contribute to the family's earnings as soon as possible. "Everybody worked; it was a part of life, for there was no life without it," wrote Edna Matthews Clifton of her teen years in Texas in the late 1800s. Many young people worked longs days and full weeks on farms or in factories. Such a schedule left little time for school or for fun. Throughout the 1900s, the idea of the teenager gradually began to take shape. A series of reforms put restrictions on child labor. Young people spent less time working and more time in school. They also began spending money on entertainment. Movie theaters and dance halls provided places for them to gather. Thirteen- to nineteen-year-olds established a unique culture that would continue to develop in the coming decades. In the twenty-first century, teens represent vital threads in the American fabric. Their spending choices affect both the economy and the way advertisers market products. Their taste in music, movies, and TV drives pop culture. And teens--for whom technology is a way of life--are the ones who will continue to push the boundaries of our technological future. From the flappers and jazz babies of the 1920s to the digital-savvy teens of the twenty-first century, you're about to follow the fascinating evolution of the American teenager.


Every year, one out of every 100 children in the United States--or six out of every 1,000 young people worldwide--is diagnosed with autism. Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a neurologically based family of developmental disorders that can impact people's communication and social skills. ASD includes both autism and Asperger syndrome. Cutting-edge research and scientific studies are probing into the genetic foundation of ASD. Quoting researcher Stephen Scherer about a recent study, USA TODAY, the Nation's No. 1 Newspaper, notes that, "most individuals with autism are probably genetically quite unique." In this book, you'll find out what it's like to have ASD through reading case studies of people living with the condition. You'll also learn about the impact of the disorders on families. In addition, you'll receive solid information about symptoms, treatment, and research and get the facts you need about how you, your friends, and your family can cope effectively with ASD.


St. Brigid Church was one of San Francisco’s great landmarks in the early 1990s. The church itself had weathered depressions and natural disasters, epic earthquakes and a massive fire. Its loyal congregation was active, vibrant, and growing. But in 1993, without warning, the Catholic archdiocese mysteriously ordered its doors to be closed. 

The Grace of Everyday Saints is the story of how a ragtag group of believers came together in a crusade to save their church. What they discovered would be devastating: that around the country, parishes like theirs were threatened by the higher echelons of the Church, all to hide a terrible secret. Soon there were near-daily headlines that shocked the world. But still this unlikely group of heroes—led by a renegade lawyer, a reformed Catholic, and an antiestablishment priest—continued to meet weekly, to fight, to prove that their beloved St. Brigid was worth saving.

A dramatic narrative that takes readers from the streets of San Francisco to the halls of the Vatican, The Grace of Everyday Saints is about injustice and betrayal, redemption and grace.



A devoted naturalist and native of South Carolina's Low Country, Monroe is in her element when describing the wonders of nature and the ways people relate to it. In her previous book, The Beach House, she sprinkled information about loggerhead turtles throughout her romance. This time around, she caters to bird-watchers. Harris Henderson handles injured birds with ease at his birds of prey rehab center, but he has no idea how to manage his diabetic five-year-old Marion. Enter Ella Majors, a pediatric nurse-turned-nanny. As Ella cares for the girl, she becomes an integral part of the Hendersons' lives and, before long, Harris begins to see her as more than a plain caretaker. Hauntingly beautiful relationships between birds and people add texture to the story. Most notable are the connections among an elderly black man named Lijah and his eagle, Santee, and a rooster that appears to guard both the center and Brady, a troubled teen working off a community service sentence. Monroe (aka Mary Alice Kruesi) successfully combines elements of women's fiction and romance in this lyrical tale. While it follows a more romantic arc than her previous book, it has enough depth and sophistication to appeal to a broad base of readers.





Michelle Au started medical school armed only with a surfeit of idealism, a handful of old ER episodes for reference, and some vague notion about "helping people."

This Won't Hurt a Bit is the story of how she grew up and became a real doctor.

It's a no-holds-barred account of what a modern medical education feels like, from the grim to the ridiculous, from the heartwarming to the obscene. Unlike most medical memoirs, however, this one details the author's struggles to maintain a life outside of the hospital, in the small amount of free time she had to live it. And, after she and her husband have a baby early in both their medical residencies, Au explores the demands of being a parent with those of a physician, two all-consuming jobs in which the lives of others are very literally in her hands.

Au's stories range from hilarious to heartbreaking and hit every note in between, proving more than anything that the creation of a new doctor (and a new parent) is far messier, far more uncertain, and far more gratifying than one could ever expect.

It's Monday, What Are You Reading is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.  She asks what we read or reviewed this week and what we plan to read next week.

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