Mailbox Monday- Vacation Edition

I recently went on vacation to Gettysburg and Pennsylvania, so let me show you the bookish things that came home with me.

Widow's Weeds and Weeping Veils: Mourning Rituals in 19th Century America by Bernadette Loeffel-Atkins
Amazing Women of the Civil War by Webb Garrison
Now The Drum of War: Wal Whitman and his Brothers in the Civil War by Robert Roper
The Gettysburg Story: Battlefield Auto Tour by Gabor and Jake Boritt, performed by Stephen Lang

Pilgrim Places: Civil War Battlefields, Historic Preservation, and America's First National Military Parks, 1863-1900 by Richard West Sellars
The Red Queen Dies by Frankie Y. Bailey (won via Goodreads)

I can't wait for Amazing Women of the Civil War. The first chapter is about Sarah Edmunds, who is featured in A Soldier's Secret that I have from Arcycling, so I will pair those two together. And if you are planning on going to Gettysburg to tour the battlefields, I highly recommend this audio tour. It is the most expensive offered, but the narrator is great and the script does a good job on directing your attention around the stops. Plus it is made in the USA (A+++++). Therefore, I splurged. That Gabor Boritt helped creat the Lincoln Prize and is the battlefield tour guide of presidents doesn't hurt either. The booklet has photos, maps, blurbs and quotes in it. If there was a comparable one for Antietam, I would have gotten one, but there wasn't.

Since I had to watch the weight of my suitcase, I binged on bookmarks instead of books. Yay for each park selling bookmarks.

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme hosted this December by Suko's Notebook.

I haven't done one of these in a while. Its not that I haven't gotten anything, but got in a bit of a funk about not wanting too. Which is the story of the last month or so. I got sick the week before Thankgiving, one of those pesky lingering cold. Worst part last about a week, screws with your sleeping habits kind of cold, with a lingering cough. Sorry, TMI. But the point of the story is it also screwed with my reading habits, and having trouble starting anything new that isn't an audiobook since.

So, the book for review I wanted posted already (At Drake's Command by David Wesley Hill will be a little later, sometime this month.

From Sawcat's Book Blog

These lovelies I found at a neighbor's yard sale: Labyrinth by Kate Moss (looks unread); Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (same publisher & era as my Great Gatsby); One for the Money by Janet Evanovich; and for my nephews, an early reader of The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto by Natalie Standiford; and Classics Illustrated (ie. Classics turned into comic books) editions of A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne and The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper. I am determined to get at least one of my nephews into reading, so I figure these comic book versions might draw them in a bit more.

So what did you get?

ALA Edition of Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is a traveling meme. Burton Book Review has been hosting it for the month of June.

ALA (American Library Association) Annual Conference is being held this year in Anaheim, CA. It is open to the public, and since it is only an hour from where I live, I decided to go for a day. Boy was it worth it!



I was hoping for an ARC. But they had finished copies for her signing, super cheap! That made the whole trip and parking madness worth it! I probably should try to finish The Tiger's Wife first.



Finished copies:
The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson - signed (I wasn't there Friday when she signed the arcs for the second book and I didn't ask if any were left)
Faery Tales & Nightmares by Melissa Marr - signed
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor - signed (I already had, but unsigned. And it was super cheap)
A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd
LA Theater Works productions of Romeo and Juliet, Copenhagen by Michael Frayn and Photograph 51 by Anna Ziegler



Advance Read copies:
The Diviners by Libba Bray - Signed
Wards of Faerie by Terry Brooks
The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns by Margaret Dilloway
The Mongoliad by Bear, Bear, Brassey, deBirmingham, Moo, Stephenson and Teppo
Sanctum: Guards of the Shadowlands by Sarah Fine
The Ruins of Lace by Iris Anthony
Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr - signed
Amber House by Kelly Moore, Tucker Reed and Larkin Reed
Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer (sampler)
Days of Blood and Starlight by Taini Taylor (preview)



Assorted swag. I also bought a package of Banned Book Week bookmarks to giveaway during Banned Book Week

The ALA has their schedule of the Midwinter and Annuals through 2017, so if one of them is coming around your way, I would highly recommend it. Exhibit only passes are cheap and gets you into all the booths. And most of the arc signings are free (Penguin was giving the Prodigy arcs as a gift with purchase of Legend for the signing, which is why you don't see it on my list. I just got Legend & had it signed a couple months ago, and the price here wasn't quite cheap enough for me to repurchase).

Mailbox Monday, What I'm Reading, and a plain old What's up

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Martha's Bookshelf this month. What I'm Reading, hosted by Sheila of Book Journey

Reading has been slow this past week. I spent the weekend upgrading my computer and doing a clean install of Vista before upgrading to Windows 7, and only just got some of the basic programs I need for work. But boy, this new case and its big fans is super quiet. I'm guessing not much reading done either this week, as I finish installing things, copying files from old primary and reformating it to be used as an external for work files (will be less stress on desktop when want to work from laptop elsewhere). But to the books!

Acquisitions:
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt (audio)
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (audio)
Soulless by Gail Carriger (Nook - $0.99 for May)
Sabriel by Garth Nix (Nook - available for $1.99 w/ bonus materials)
The Rose of Winslow Street by Elizabeth Camden (Nook) - works well since was curious about it and it was free at the time
Ghost Knight by Cornelia Funke

Library:
Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

I finished:
The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe
Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War

I'm Reading:
The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan (The Kane Chronicles #3)
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen (The Ascendance Trilogy #1)
Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame Smith

Up Next:
Hide Me Among the Graves by Tim Powers
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
catch up on reviews and commenting

That's all folks. I just really need to ditch this feeling like I'm Homer Simpson sleeping on the job.

Mailbox Monday and What I'm Reading: Lazy Blogger edition

Yeah, you may have noticed that I've sort of been missing from the blog. Last Monday afternoon, I went to the kitchen, came back to the computer and had a ton of little lines all over the screen. Tried restarting the computer, and it no longer turns on. Because the video card fried, which is unfortunate since I got a video game expansion pack for my birthday that I wanted to install. So I've been spending a great many hours in the evenings last week researching and comparing upgrades for my desktop. I also started a daily art challenge in a pixel art forum I visit, which requires something made every day. So distracted I have been, yes.

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Martha's Bookshelf this month.

This will cover a few weeks, due to forgetting and just not posting.

From Paperback Swap:


Purchase (yay for gift cards!):
(Freebie Friday selection)(Still 99 cents for Nook)

Audible:


Wins:
Signed copy from a twitter contest held by Quirk Books.
ARC won from Random House's #secretread twitter giveaway. Thanks to both publishers!


What I'm Reading, hosted by Sheila of Book Journey

Finished recently:


Did not finish:


Currently reading:


Up Next:

Mailbox Monday: Festival of Books edition aka YA Binge

This weekend was the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, and I was finally able to go. Up until the last year or two, it was held at UCLA, which is usually a 2 hour drive from where I live. Now it is held at USC near Downtown LA, which can be as little as an hour drive. So this is the FoB edition of Mailbox Monday, hosted by Cindy's Love of Books this month.

Left Stack::Previously Purchased Books ~ Got signed at FoB
Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (the couple I met at the Riggs signing told me to ask for the horse)
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Center Stack:: Purchased at FoB for Signings
Messy by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (ARC - They gave them away to the first few visitors at both signings)
Legend by Marie Lu
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (actually got at BN on way home since hadn't seen Saturday)
Starters by Lissa Price

Right Stack:: Unsigned Purchases or Pre-Signed
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Grave Mercy by R. L. LaFevers
Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
Daughter of Smoke and Bone

One of the indie bookstores that was at the festival had some already signed copies for sale in their tent, and the prices weren't marked up any. Both Beautiful Creatures books, Cinder, and When She Woke are all signed. Which solved a problem for me since Hillary Jordan's signing conflicted with another one I wanted to go to, and I didn't have to run back over to YA for the Beautiful Creatures authors signing.

I missed Josephine Angelini's and R.L. Fever's signings, since I had "paid" for tickets to both panels Deborah Harkness participated in, which was at the same time. But Josephine Angelini will be in the area in May for an appearance, so I'll go to that.

I also got some bookish shirts. From Literary Threads, Support your local bookstore and All you need is...books. From Novel-T, I got Mr. Darcy (it was soooo hard to pick one). And for the latter, $1 from each shirt sale goes toward 826nyc, founded by Dave Eggers.

I'll post some of the pictures I took come Saturday.

Mailbox Monday and What I'm reading

I working on quick reviews of most of my audiobook listenings. I just don't seem to have much focus at a time lately (I'm going to just say I'm savoring Clash of Kings). Which is strange since work has been a bit non-existant this past week, so not had much doing there.

Mailbox Monday is currently hosted by Cindy's Love of Books.




From the Library

I also got for my birthday a Barnes and Nobles gift card, and cash to use at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books this coming weekend.

What I'm Reading is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey

Finished:

Reading:

Up Next:

Mailbox Monday and What I'm Reading for April 2nd, 2012

Mailbox Monday is a traveling meme, and is currently hosted by Cindy's Love of Books for April.

Posting this early since I will be on my way to Lancaster for work not so bright and early tomorrow.

I got tired of waiting for one of the libraries to have The Song of Achilles. So figures that a few days after I bought it, guess what popped up on the LA county overdrive? *rollseyes*

I also got myself some Nook books as an early birthday present to myself. Pottermore Shop has opened, so you can get e-books and audiobooks for download. Alas, you cannot get the UK ebooks when you live in the US.

What I'm Reading is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey.

Last week, I finished reading:

I am currently reading:

Up next is:

I'd love to have more to post today, but I've got a birthday party in a couple hours for my nephew and have to get things ready so I can 1) be able to leave the house by 5am tomorrow and 2)hopefully have time to watch Game of Thrones tonight. Will be working on another batch of mini-reviews of audio books for later in the week. And if you are curious, I did update my Where are you reading? page and map last night. Link is in the sidebar if interested.