Mailbox Monday 07.30.12

Hosted this month by Mrs.Q: Book Addict.

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.

In a revised and updated edition, the real story of the Brontë sisters, by distinguished scholar and historian Juliet Barker

The story of the tragic Brontë family is familiar to everyone: we all know about the half-mad, repressive father, the drunken, drug-addicted wastrel of a brother, wildly romantic Emily, unrequited Anne, and "poor Charlotte." Or do we? These stereotypes of the popular imagination are precisely that-imaginary-created by amateur biographers like Elizabeth Gaskell who were primarily novelists and were attracted by the tale of an apparently doomed family of genius.

Juliet Barker's landmark book is the first definitive history of the Brontës. It demolishes the myths, yet provides startling new information that is just as compelling-but true. Based on firsthand research among all the Brontë manuscripts and among contemporary historical documents never before used by Brontë biographers, this book is both scholarly and compulsively readable.

The Brontës is a revolutionary picture of the world's favorite literary family.

From Open Road Media via NetGalley. Release date: August 7th.

Meg Wolfe, The Lady of Faire Isle, is a gifted healer who can find a cure for almost any ailment. But she's also the daughter of Cassandra Claire, a mad witch and heretic with a notorious history. Meg's infamous lineage makes her a target from both those who want to use her extraordinary talents for good and those who want to use them for evil. One man in particular needs her special skills: to execute his revenge on a king. History and a kingdom hang in the balance as Meg tries to navigate the delicate line between right and wrong. And what she discovers is that she can no longer trust anyone or anything...not even her own heart.

Book #6 in The Dark Queen Saga.

From Random House via Edelweiss. Release date: December 11th.