In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren … and I end up adding a ton of books to my wish list every week.

All my IMM posts can be found here!

Hey, just realized I did get a book this week! It was such a lousy week that it totally slipped my mind since it came in on Tuesday (which feels like a lifetime away right now). Oh! Wait! I got a book last week, too! And the week before! Gah! This month was dubbed Sucktober by my two closest friends this week - only one of them just had a fantastic surprise this weekend and I don't think she thinks this month sucks as much right now. ;)So..THIS WEEK:Vanishing Girl: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, #3by Shane Peacock

The third case in the compelling Boy Sherlock Holmes series is full of as many twists and turns as the backstreets of Victorian London.When a wealthy young girl vanishes as if by magic in Hyde Park, Sherlock is once again driven to prove himself. In a heart-stopping race against time, an innocent boy’s survival depends on Sherlock’s ability to solve the mysterious puzzle of the Vanishing Girl. As complex as the maze that protects the missing girl’s hiding place, this case takes Sherlock racing to the countryside, the coast, and into the lair of a menagerie of exotic, dangerous creatures.Haunted by memories of his shattered family, goaded by his enemies, driven to heal the fragile relationship between him and the beautiful Irene Doyle, Sherlock makes an almost fatal mistake. In the end, his brilliant powers of deduction and the steadfast eccentric Sigerson Bell save the day. Soon, very soon, the world will come to know him as the master detective of all time.

Thanks to LibraryThing's Early Reviews program for this one. It's been a while since I was lucky enough to receive a book through that program. I've flipped through it and it looks like it should be pretty interesting!LAST WEEK:Dragon Seerby Janet McNaughton

Although she was forced into slavery as a child, Madoca never felt like a slave. At the annual Gathering of her people, inside a circle of ancient standing stones, she is chosen to become the next dragon seer and overnight, her life changes. Now, she must train to become a leader of her people, and one who will care for the dragons and master their ancient magic. (from the author's website)

This lovely book is courtesy of HarperCollins Canada. I think it was sent because of an email from ages ago where I mentioned it looked interesting. ;) I am looking forward to reading it, too.THE WEEK BEFORE: Ballads of Suburbiaby Stephanie Kuehnert

Ballads are the kind of songs that Kara McNaughton likes best. Not the cliched ones where a diva hits her highest note or a rock band tones it down a couple of notches for the ladies, but the true ballads: the punk rocker or the country crooner telling the story of their life in three minutes, the chorus reminding their listeners of the numerous ways to screw things up. In high school, Kara helped maintain the "Stories of Suburbia" notebook, which contained newspaper articles about bizarre and often tragic events from suburbs all over and personal vignettes that Kara dubbed "ballads" written by her friends in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago. Those "ballads" were heartbreakingly honest tales of the moments when life changes and a kid is forced to grow up too soon. But Kara never wrote her own ballad. Before she could figure out what her song was about, she was leaving town after a series of disastrous events at the end of her junior year. Four years later, Kara returns to face the music, and tells the tale of her first three years of high school with her friends' "ballads" interspersed throughout.

I won this book from James at Book Chic Club! I was so excited because I rarely read anything and I have been chomping at the bit to read the book since I met Stephanie while in NYC this past May. I am sure she thought I was some crazy Canadian stalker because we kept showing up at the same places, but I swear it wasn't planned! I think people with awesome dyed hair are drawn to each other cosmically. ha! I even gathered up all my courage to go speak to her about hair colour products and I felt SO awkward and lame doing it, but she just looked so cool! Argh. I hate when I get shy about things. Anyhow, Stephanie is such a great person and now I only stalk her via twitter. ;)So, that's my October!  I have been in a major reading funk, to the point that even getting the books in the mail for various reasons didn't fill me with the joy and excitement I normally get. Which of course resulted in my forgetting about them! Bad, Cat!