Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday started by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books 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). This month Mailbox Monday is being hosted by Mari at MariReads. Stop by there to check out everyone else's mailboxes.

It was Spring book sale time at our local library! That usually results in stacks of new books coming into my house but not this year. I exercised some serious self-control as I am wondering if my house is going to sink down into the earth under the weight of all my TBR books! It was NOT because I thought I was leaving with the rapture and there just wouldn't be time to read. This is what I bought....

From Goodreads: In 1986, Susan Jane Gilman and a classmate embarked on a bold trek around the globe starting in the People's Republic of China. At that point, China had been open to independent backpackers for roughly ten minutes. Armed only with the collected works of Nietzsche and Linda Goodman's Love Signs, the two friends plunged into the dusty streets of Shanghai. Unsurprisingly, they quickly found themselves in over their heads—hungry, disoriented, stripped of everything familiar, and under constant government surveillance. Soon, they began to unravel—one physically, the other psychologically. As their journey became increasingly harrowing, they found themselves facing crises that Susan didn't think they'd survive. But by summoning strengths she never knew she had—and with help from unexpected friends—the two travelers found their way out of a Chinese heart of darkness.This has been on my mental wish list FOREVER - or at least since it made the round on blogs two summers ago! I like the author already because she has such clever book titles - her others are Hypocrite in a Poufy White Dress and Kiss my Tiara so I am going in with high hopes!

From Goodreads: On the Road chronicles Jack Kerouac's years traveling North America with his friend Neal Cassady, "a sideburned hero of the snowy West." As "Sal Paradise" and "Dean Moriarty," the two roam the country in a quest for self-knowledge and experience. Kerouac's love of America, his compassion for humanity, and his sense of language as jazz combine to make On the Road a work of lasting importance. I have had this one on audio for probably a year now and I've thrown it in the CD player twice only to pull it back out again as it didn't hold my attention. When I saw the paperback version sitting on the book sale table, I thought, "Maybe that's the way to go." So I bought it hoping that maybe a combination of print and audio will draw me in. It's one of those books that some people describe as life changing. But, on the other hand, looking at Goodreads there were plenty of one and two star people out there so if I don't succeed, I am not going to beat myself up about it. But I am going to give it one more try!