Setting up a Mailbox Book Haul

With libraries and book stores around the country having no choice in these difficult times but to close their doors for now, the acquiring of new books to read can be tricky but not impossible.

Yes, there are more important concerns due to the current health crisis yet it's also important to make our collective time indoors as engaging as can be and books are vital for that purpose.

In addition, you can help your local bookseller out by placing online orders and /or pre-orders (many independent book stores are handling such sales as we speak), along with online library resources in your community.

 Plus, if you just want a new stack of solid books, places such as Better World Books do donate a portion of your purchase price to various reading programs and charities. So, with that in mind, I'm sharing with you my latest Mailbox Book Haul(and yes, the You've Got Mail poster up above does tie into that!):

On my last library trip, I was able to borrow the fourth book in Amy Stewart's Kopp Sisters series, Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit, but the title before that one was not on the shelf.

Since I do happen to own the first book(Girl Waits With Gun) and recently read the second(Lady Cop Makes Trouble) as a library loan, it only made sense to pick up the third entry via Better World Books-to me, anyway!

Miss Kopp's Midnight Confessions has our law enforcement leading lady Constance using what influence she has to aid young women being unjustly targeted for "wayward behavior" by those determined to lock them away in a reformatory.

Her worries go beyond the professional when her younger sister Fleurette decides to seek off for an audition with vaudeville star May Ward. Given the sheltered life that Constance and her other sister Norma have given Fleurette(due to the particular origins of her birth), the need to overprotect her is hard to resist. Surprisingly, May Ward turns out to be a useful ally in more ways than one for both Constance and Fleurette.

Constance Kopp was clearly a woman well ahead of her time and the fact that she actually existed makes this set of novels all the more fascinatingly fun to read:

A favorite read of mine from last year was Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors by Sonai Dev(to be followed up later this year with A Recipe For Persuasion) and I thought checking out one of her earlier books would be a good idea right now.

In The Bollywood Bride, famed actress Ria Parkar reunites with her relatives in Chicago for a big family wedding, which not only brings her back down to earth having become an international cinematic sensation but this trip also has her dealing with Vikram, a cousin of a cousin who was her first love.

Their renewed connection is less than pleasant as Vikram has no idea what the real reasons were for Ria's breaking off with him as suddenly as she did ten years ago.  His mixed feelings towards Ria make for an awkward time at best between them on this occasion but when that hidden secret from the past is unexpectedly revealed, both of them may have a chance to right this personal wrong.

I know that this book is part of a series but it does sound like it can be read and appreciated on it's own merits there. Not to mention that this mix of storytelling ingredients-love,family, secrets and a wedding-seem to be the perfect dish to start a literary feast with:

Speaking of weddings, Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand has such an event as it's fictional focal point. As Jenna Carmichael is preparing to marry Stuart Graham, her main source of inspiration is a notebook that her late mother Beth put together as a guide for the perfect wedding.

While that notebook is a comfort to Jenna and her father Doug, this happy time is marred by the fact that Doug is thinking of divorcing his second wife Pauline, who is hoping that by having her own daughter Rhonda as a bridesmaid will  help to endear the two of them more to the whole family.

Meanwhile, Stuart's mother Ann is literally inviting trouble as she asks her husband's former mistress Helen(who also had a son born out of that affair!) to attend. In addition, Jenna's older sister Margot is having a relationship with an older friend of the family who does not want to make their romance public. Will all of this potential for disaster spoil the wedding or make things all the more memorable in the best way possible?

Lately, I've been reading Hilderbrand's Summer of '69 and it's been quite the refresher there. While it might seen a tad early for a good beach read, a family drama like this is most welcome indeed:

In this modern era, email definitely does count and to that end, I'm including this pair of romcom themed reads that were offered to me from the publisher  that way and made available from Netgalley.

Kerry Winfrey's Waiting for Tom Hanks introduces us to Annie, who lives with her D&D playing Uncle Don and dreams of being a screenwriter much like Nora Ephron, whose movies were part of a beloved must-watch ritual between her and her late mother.

When a romantic comedy is being filmed in her home town, Annie is able to get a job on set, thanks to her uncle having been a old college buddy of the director. However, as great as that sounds, she is not happy with the choice of leading man for the film.

 Former TV star Drew Danforth has a reputation as an airhead prankster with little knowledge of the genre that he's currently working in. To make things worse, he seems to be mocking Annie by calling her "Coffee Girl" after an accidental spilling and coat staining incident. Despite her efforts to avoid Drew as much as possible, Annie keeps running into him and finding out that he might be the Tom Hanks of her dreams.

I was offered this book along with it's soon to be released sequel this summer, Not Like The Movies(which gives Annie's best friend Chloe a chance at romance on her own), and I plan to do a back-to-back review of both titles. At the moment, I'm really liking WFTH and one of the reasons for that is how much it references You've Got Mail(see, I told you that poster would make sense in the end!).

It happens to be my favorite of the three famed Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks onscreen team-ups(best wishes for a speedy recovery to Hanks and Rita Wilson) and yes, I like it better than Sleepless in Seattle. Blasphemy, I know, to some but bookstores and New York are my cinematic catnip, folks-what can I say?:

I hope that this notion of Mailbox Book Haul helps you to find some great books to stay home with and just one small piece of advice; a reader can not live by books alone. Take this time out to expand some of your creative horizons online-listen to a new podcast(or try one for the first time!), see what shows that you've never watched before are available for binging or even find a new YouTube channel to dive right into.

For example, I recently discovered Postmodern Jukebox, which takes past and present tunes even further back in time for a bit of classic toe tapping flair. To get you started, take a gander at this Spice Girls song done in the style of the Andrews Sisters and yes, more delights await you here: