In My Mailbox (53)

Library:

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, 2005.

Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth's surface.

After much encouragement from Dahlia, I finally decided to check out Airborn from the library (she says it's an amazing read), and it's sounds like a pretty good read.  
 

Borrowed:

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, 2009.

On the eve of World War I, the machine-loving Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their big steam-powered Clankers. Inspired by Darwin, the British have fabricated animals into warships. Their mothership is called "Leviathan," and she is a whale-dirigible.

And here's another book that Dahlia's been trying to get me to read, and after almost a hole year I have finally read it (and it was fantastic). Can't wait for the sequel.

Bought:

Dragonriders of Pern (Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon) by Anne McCaffrey, 1968, 1971, 1978; Dragonriders of Pern (books 1-3).

Dragonflight:
HOW CAN ONE GIRL SAVE AN ENTIRE WORLD? To the nobles who live in Benden Weyr, Lessa is nothing but a ragged kitchen girl. For most of her life she has survived by serving those who betrayed her father and took over his lands. Now the time has come for Lessa to shed her disguise—and take back her stolen birthright. But everything changes when she meets a queen dragon. The bond they share will be deep and last forever. It will protect them when, for the first time in centuries, Lessa’s world is threatened by Thread, an evil substance that falls like rain and destroys everything it touches. Dragons and their Riders once protected the planet from Thread, but there are very few of them left these days. Now brave Lessa must risk her life, and the life of her beloved dragon, to save her beautiful world. . . .

 Dragonquest:
Another Turn, and the deadly silver Threads began falling again. So the bold dragonriders took to the air once more and their magnificent flying dragons swirled and swooped, belching flames that destroyed the shimmering strands before they reach the ground. But F'lar knew he had to find a better way to protect his beloved Pern, and he had to find it before the rebellious Oldtimers could breed anymore dissent... before his brother F'nor would be foolhardy enough to launch another suicide mission... and before those dratted fire-lizards could stir up any more trouble!

The White Dragon:
Never had there been as close a bonding as the one that existed between the daring and adventurous young Lord Jaxom and his extraordinary white dragon, Ruth. Pure white and incredibly agile, Ruth was a dragon of many talents, though almost everyone on Pern thought he was a runt that would never amount to anything.


But Jaxom knew better, knew he could teach his dragon to fly and to destroy the deadly silver Threads that fell from the sky. Disobeying all rules, Jaxom and Ruth trained in secret. Their illicit flights seemed but a minor disobedience - until they found themselves in the path of danger and in a position to prevent the biggest disaster of all!

Oh my gosh! I couldn't believe how lucky I was to find a binding of the first three books in the Dragonriders of Pern series, and for only $1. I totally cannot wait to read it. 

The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation) , 1951, 1952, 1953; Foundation series (books 1-3) 

A THOUSAND-YEAR EPIC, A GALACTIC STRUGGLE, A MONUMENTAL WORK IN THE ANNALS OF SCIENCE FICTION FOUNDATION begins a new chapter in the story of man's future. As the Old Empire crumbles into barbarism throughout the million worlds of the galaxy, Hari Seldon and his band of psychologists must create a new entity, the Foundation-dedicated to art, science, and technology-as the beginning of a new empire.
FOUNDATION AND EMPIRE describes the mighty struggle for power amid the chaos of the stars in which man stands at the threshold of a new enlightened life which could easily be destroyed by the old forces of barbarism.

SECOND FOUNDATION follows the Seldon Plan after the First Empire's defeat and describes its greatest threat-a dangerous mutant strain gone wild, which produces a mind capable of bending men's wills, directing their thoughts, reshaping their desires, and destroying the universe.

Now that I have the first three books in the Foundaion series, I think I'll be getting around to reading them sometime in the near future.  

Shadowmancer by G.P. Taylor, 2002; Shadowmancer (book 1)

Obadiah Demurral no longer wants to worship God...He wants to be God! Vicar Obadiah Demurral isn't satisfied running the affairs of his village—he foolishly wants to control the world. And if his plan works, he will obtain a weapon so powerful that all of creation will fall down at his feet. Demurral will stop at nothing—even commanding restless souls to do his bidding.

Who will stand against him? Raphah, a young man on a godly mission, has come a long distance to reclaim the ancient relic Demurral has stolen—dangerously volatile in the wrong hands—but he can't do it alone. Even younger are Thomas and Kate, accidentally drawn into this ongoing war between good and evil. Their struggle against Demurral brings them face-to-face with the powers of darkness in this unforgettable epic battle.

I've been wanting to read Shadowmancer for a few years and now I finally can *yay for me*.

Library Paperback Swap:
 The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman, 1966; Mrs. Pollifax (book 1)

Mrs. Virgil (Emily) Pollifax of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was a widow with grown children. She was tired of attending her Garden Club meetings. She wanted to do something good for her country. So, naturally, she became a CIA agent. This time, the assignment sounds as tasty as a taco. A quick trip to Mexico City is on her agenda. Unfortunately, something goes wrong, and our dear Mrs. Pollifax finds herself embroilied in quite a hot Cold War—and her country's enemies find themsleves entangled with one unbelievably feisty lady.

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax sounds like a mix between Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and her Tommy and Tuppence series (minus tommy that is). I just hope it's as good as it sounds.

Well that's it for me this week in books. Hope y'all have had an awesome book week too.