In My Mailbox (8)

As always, In My Mailbox is the creation of The Story Siren, who was inspired by Alea.

Not a bad week this week. :)

Received:

Chicken Soup for the Soul Teens Talk Getting In... To College

These days, colleges are deluged with applications and the college application process has become the most traumatic thing that most students and their parents have ever experienced. Lots of books tell you how to get into college, but this book uniquely provides emotional, instead of tactical, support.

The stories in the book are written by kids who have been there and want to pass on their words of support to the kids behind them. Stories cover topics such as parental and peer pressure, the stress of grades and SATs/ACTs, college applications and interviews, recruiting, disappointments and success. These stories provide moral support and encouragement to high school students going through one of the most stressful events of their lives. Parents will find Getting In...to College a great source of support and inspiration as well.

Summary from amazon.com

Firewall by Henning Mankell

A body is found at an ATM the apparent victim of heart attack. Then two teenage girls are arrested for the brutal murder of a cab driver. The girls confess to the crime showing no remorse whatsoever. Two open and shut cases. At first these two incidents seem to have nothing in common, but as Wallander delves deeper into the mystery of why the girls murdered the cab driver he begins to unravel a plot much more involved complicated than he initially suspected. The two cases become one and lead to conspiracy that stretches to encompass a world larger than the borders of Sweden.

Summary from publisher's website.

Side-Tracked by Henning Mankell

In the award-winning Side-Tracked, Kurt Wallander is called to a nearby rapeseed field where a teenage girl has been loitering all day long. He arrives just in time to watch her douse herself in gasoline and set herself aflame. The next day he is called to a beach where Sweden’s former Minister of Justice has been axed to death and scalped. The murder has the obvious markings of a demented serial killer, and Wallander is frantic to find him before he strikes again. But his investigation is beset with a handful of obstacles—a department distracted by the threat of impending cutbacks and the frivolity of World Cup soccer, a tenuous long-distance relationship with a murdered policeman’s widow, and the unshakably haunting preoccupation with the young girl who set herself on fire. Fascinating and astute, Side-Tracked is a compelling mystery enhanced by keen social awareness.

Summary from publisher's website.

One Step Behind by Henning Mankell

On Midsummer’s Eve, three role-playing teens dressed in eighteenth-century garb are shot in a secluded Swedish meadow. When one of Inspector Kurt Wallander’s most trusted colleagues–someone whose help he hoped to rely on to solve the crime–also turns up dead, Wallander knows the murders are related. But with his only clue a picture of a woman no one in Sweden seems to know, he can’t begin to imagine how. Reeling from his own father’s death and facing his own deteriorating health, Wallander tracks the lethal progress of the killer. Locked in a desperate effort to catch him before he strikes again, Wallander always seems to be just one step behind.

Summary from publisher's website.

These three are fourth, six, and seventh in the series, so I'm going to have to order the others from the library because I could never read them out of order. It'd drive me insane.

Borrowed (from the library):

Joker by Ranulfo

It spits, snarls, screams, curses, and laughs at the world. It mocks leaders and followers. Restores our faith in love and security or drives us mad.

Australian author Ranulfo has cracked open the story of Hamlet. This is what he's glued back together.

Summary from publisher's website.

I also got a new charger to replace mine that was fraying really badly and dying and an adorable nosewarmer from Sarah Quigley which is now decorating one of my cat salt and pepper shakers because it's the perfect size for it. I'd show you guys, but I can't find my camera right now.

Also, sorry this is so late. I forgot about it most of yesterday and then was too tired to do it once I remembered.

Better late than never, though!
Peace and cookies,
Laina