Mailbox Monday

I've never participated in this meme before, but I have had quite a few books enter my life in the past few weeks so I thought I would highlight them.

Of course, I got some wonderful books thanks to Christmas. I found I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced in my stocking, which will be great for the Middle East Challenge in which I am currently participating. My handsome husband bought me The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee, one of my most anticipated reads this year.

This next batch came thanks to my mother's eccentric hairdresser. She also did my hair in high school, and really liked me because I was heavily involved in competitive classical piano. Her son is a cellist and I think her dearest hope is for him to become the next Yo Yo Ma (he is even half Asian!) Anyway, this lady, who I will just call K., has always had CDs she wants me to listen to, movies she wants me to watch, etc. The last time my mom went to her, she had several books that she had read and wanted to pass along to me. So nice of her! The books are...

• The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. I haven't read any Atwood yet, so I am excited to get started. Also, it is a beautiful hardback edition, and my husband and I are trying to build a library, so I'm excited to include it.
• North to the Orient by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. This is about Charles Lindbergh and the author's trip to the Orient. Probably not a book I would choose for myself, but as I own it now, I will probably read it.
• Mockingbird by Charles J. Shields. This is about Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird. I am looking forward to this one, especially because I am rereading To Kill a Mockingbird for the Back to the Classics Challenge.
• The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan by Robert Kanigel. I don't really know anything about this book, but I might be able to use it in the South Asian Challenge.

I also acquired some gift cards to Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and have already bought a few books. They are:

• Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (Reviewed here)
• In the Dark Streets Shineth by David McCullough (Reviewed here)
• Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonsen (Can't wait for this one)
• An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks. Also looks like a winner - the title story is about an autistic person, one of my main areas of interest in neuroscience right now, so I'm hoping to get to that one soon.

I can't wait to use the rest of the money. Part of me wants to hoard it until some irresistible book comes out, and the other part of me wants to spend it all right now. My husband also received a Barnes and Noble card, and I am hoping his purchases benefit me as well. :)