Mailbox Monday November 9, 2009

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What is God by Jacob Needleman
I received this advance copy for review from Tarcher Books

From the Back:
In this new book, Jacob Needleman--whose voice and ideas have done so much to open the West to esoteric and Eastern religious ideas in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries--intimately considers humanity's most vital question: What is God?

With rich, vivid examples from his experiences in the classroom and other walks of life, and always writing with uncompromised realism. Needleman draws us closer to the meaning and nature of this needed change--and shows how our present confusion about the purpose of religion and the concept of God reflects a widespread psychological starvation for this specific quality of thought and experience. In varied detail, the book describes this inner experience, and how almost all of us--atheists and believers alike--actually have been visited by it, but without understanding what it means and why its intentional cultivation is imperatively necessary for the fullness of our existence.



The Information Officer by Mark Mills
I received this advance copy for review from Random House.

From the Back:
Summer 1942. A small, windswept island in the middle of the Mediterranean has become the most bombed patch of earth on the planet, as a fiercely independent people withstand relentless siege. Max Chadwick is the British officer charged with manipulating the news on Malta to bolster the fragile esprit de corps. That is all, along with a few battle-worn fighter planes, that stands in the face of German occupation--and perhaps even victory.

When Max learns of the brutal murder of a young island woman--along with evidence that it was committed by a British officer--he knows that the Maltese loyalty to the war effort could be instantly shattered. With the clock ticking down toward all-out invasion, he must investigate the murder, hidden from the eyes of his superiors, friends, and the woman he loves.



Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
I received this book from Anna over at FSB Associates.

From the Back:
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters expands the original text of the beloved Jane Austen novel with all-knew scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents, and other biological monstrosities. As out story opens, the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. While sensible Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrars, her romantic sister Marianne is courted by both the handsome Willoughby and the hideous man-monster Colonel Brandon. Can the Dashwood sisters triumph over meddlesome matriarchs and unscrupulous rogues to find true love? Or will they fall prey to the tentacles that are forever snapping at their heels? This masterful portrait of Regency England blends Jane Austen's biting social commentary with ultraviolent depictions of sea monsters biting. It's survival of the fittest--and only the swiftest swimmers will find true love!