Mailbox Monday

This meme is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. I am super excited about this week's Mailbox Monday because two of the books I've received are from John Valeri's book giveaway and they're not just any books. They're by Wendy Markham (literary alter ego of Wendy Corsi Staub). Thank you, John!

Here are the books from John:

When Clara wakes up on Christmas morning next to her husband Drew, she's filled with joy because she has the perfect present: She's seven weeks pregnant with their first child. It's the fairy-tale beginning that the couple has been wishing for.

But no sooner does Clara tell Drew the news than an earthquake strikes in nearby San Francisco. The next thing Clara knows, she wakes up in bed-alone-and discovers she's three years in the future. Where is her husband and what has happened to the child she was expecting? Clara is no stranger to unusual occurrences, but the last thing on her Christmas list was time traveling...again.

Actress Clara McCallum isn't looking forward to spending Christmas alone in New York City, especially since she's still reeling after a diagnosis of breast cancer. But she has to be on location in the city for her next movie. She's playing a woman in love with Jed Landry, an American solder doomed to die in Normandy...

Imagine Clara's astonishment when she steps off an old-fashioned locomotive from the set and finds herself whisked back in time-and into the arms of the real-life Jed. She's convinced it's some sort of hallucination brought on by her diagnosis. But before long, she finds herself swept away by this handsome soldier and wondering if maybe her plunge into the past could change the course of the future-and turn out to be the best Christmas present ever...

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Besides the two wonderful books I've won from John's blog, I have also bought three novels by Suzanne Brockmann in her Troubleshooters Series. Out of the three, two had arrived from The Book Depository. I'm still waiting for the third book, Over the Edge.

1. The Unsung Hero
2. The Defiant Hero

And that's not all, Julia will be reading the first book with me. YAY!! She's a big fan of this series that features the remarkable U.S. Navy SEALs, and for her, it is a re-read. Thank you for doing this with me, Julia! This is going to be so much fun!

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All right, that's not all. I also bought some books from the bookstore yesterday. This is what I've got at MPH, The Curve, after watching the movie Old Dogs with my family:

1. House to House: An Epic Memoir of War by David Bellavia
2. Making the Corps by Thomas E. Ricks
3. Nothing to Lose by Lee Child

I am aware that the third book listed above is a 12th Jack Reacher novel, but I've read in the interview by Jeff Ayers with Lee Child in the January 2010 issue of The Writer magazine that all the Reacher novels are standalones. I'm intrigued by his character described as a guy who 'comes into town, takes care of business and leaves--still the "mysterious stranger."' It sounds very good to me. I'm going to give him a shot and if I like what I read, I'll start from Book 1, Killing Floor.

Happy reading, everybody!

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Updated @ 8.10 p.m.: I just realized that this post contains mostly books involving the US Military or Army. With this, I also want to dedicate this post to Timothy David Freeman, a great friend who is currently serving the US Army. Dude, you rock and you're a hero!