Mailbox Monday and What I'm reading

Mailbox Monday is currently hosted by Metro Reader.

I spent half of the last two weeks working out in the desert, so I have book build ups, and didn't get much reading done on account of being tired from wandering for 8-9 miles daily through the desert.

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by The Countess of Carnarvon ~ Won from Fodors and Random House. Thank you!
Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
The Burning Land by Bernard Cornwell
The World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes
Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell (From the fantasticness that is Bookperk)
Lovely blackwork knight bookmark won from Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books. Thanks Daphne!

I also went to the library to pick up a hold on a physical book. Which mean the obligatory roam of the book sale.
When Christ and his Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman
The Darling Strumpet by Gillian Bagwell
The Merry Monarch's Wife: The Story of Catherine of Braganza by Jean Plaidy
Queen of this Realm: The Story of Elizabeth I by Jean Plaidy
Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig
Mary Called Magdaline by Margaret George

Checked out
Wither by Lauren DeStefano

I also have checked out via Overdrive:
Audiobooks:
The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Room by Emma Donoghue

e-books:
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame Smith
Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

What I'm reading is hosted by Book Journey:

I finished:
Lady MacBeth by Susan Fraser King
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

I am reading:
Hearts Restored by Prue Phillipson
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Broken Sword by Robert Joseph Lewis
The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan

Up Next:
The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame Smith
Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Room by Emma Donoghue

And I suspect I've already finished my Library reading challenge, due to my binge on the audiobooks. But they make record searches and transects go much faster.

Waiting on Wednesday: The House of Velvet and Glass

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine

This week, I am waiting on The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe, which just had the cover design released. Publication date is April 10, 2012.

Synopsis:

Katherine Howe, author of the phenomenal New York Times bestseller The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, returns with an entrancing historical novel set in Boston in 1915, where a young woman stands on the cusp of a new century, torn between loss and love, driven to seek answers in the depths of a crystal ball.

Still reeling from the deaths of her mother and sister on the Titanic, Sibyl Allston is living a life of quiet desperation with her taciturn father and scandal-plagued brother in an elegant town house in Boston's Back Bay. Trapped in a world over which she has no control, Sibyl flees for solace to the parlor of a table-turning medium.

But when her brother is suddenly kicked out of Harvard under mysterious circumstances and falls under the sway of a strange young woman, Sibyl turns for help to psychology professor Benton Derby, despite the unspoken tensions of their shared past. As Benton and Sibyl work together to solve a harrowing mystery, their long-simmering spark flares to life, and they realize that there may be something even more magical between them than a medium's scrying glass.

From the opium dens of Boston's Chinatown to the opulent salons of high society, from the back alleys of colonial Shanghai to the decks of the Titanic, The House of Velvet and Glass weaves together meticulous period detail, intoxicating romance, and a final shocking twist that will leave readers breathless.

Another gorgeous cover design, and publication date will make this be a gift to myself. I can't wait for it.

Mailbox Monday

February's host is Metroreader

This week I received the following for review:


And got the following on my Nook:


I'll be out of town for work in the next week, so will be using the time to catch up on some of the reviews I was going to write.

Monday Musings

Found a new meme that sounds a bit interesting. Monday Musings is hosted by Should Be Reading. This week’s musing asks…

Did you do any reading in lieu of watching the football game, yesterday, or were you foregoing reading to watch the game? If you read a book (or books) what did you choose?

I *hate* American Football, and there is too much painful things (annoying sport, bad halftime shows, bad commercials...) for the rare few decent commercials. So my tv stayed off yesterday. Instead I worked on my audio library book binge, and listened to Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. Needed to finish it so I could upload a few new ones to the device before my work trip.

Mailbox Monday and what I'm reading

Mailbox Monday is a traveling meme host this January by Alyce of At Home With Books.

Only two books entered into my possession last week:
Purchases:

What are you reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey

Last week, I finished:


Currently reading:


Up Next:


I didn't get a chance for any quickie reviews this weekend, but might have time later this week.

Also, did get my map for Where are you reading? updated.

Mailbox Monday and What I'm Reading

Mailbox Monday is a traveling meme host this January by Alyce of At Home With Books

Nook:

I have this in paperback copy, but its BN's "Free Friday" selection (though it's been free all week), so I went and downloaded it. My junior year of high school, my history class had his Don't know much about History as assigned reading, and I loved it. Great way to get history to those who aren't big on reading it.

Purchases:


Headed down to the farmer's market for my annual pummelo hunt last weekend, and stopped into the used bookstore there, and found these two there. I already have the Cleopatra book in paperback to read, but hardcover, with cover and in good condition for $6, how do I pass that up?

What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey.
Finished:


Reading:


Up Next:


I'll probably post thoughts on The Kingmaking once the discussion questions in the group get going.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish. This week's theme is...

Top Ten Authors I Wish Would Write Another Book:

1. J. K. Rowling - I hope she is working on the Scottish Book, or some more of the text books, or even something entirely unrelated to Harry Potter.

2. Ariana Franklin - I really enjoyed the Mistress of the Art of Death series, but Diana Norman, who wrote under the pen name Ariana Franklin, died nearly a year ago. I still hope that maybe her family finds a nearly finished manuscript in her papers.

3. Michael Crichton - I really enjoyed his brand of science fiction, and his work on ER. It saddened me when he died a few years back. Though more would be great, they are still unfinished, and you can tell when those don't have the author's final polish on them.

4. Helen Fielding - I didn't care for either of her Bridget Jones books- those were too down the chick lit path and I'm not into that in books. But I really enjoyed her other two novels, Cause Celeb and Olivia Joules and The Overactive Imagination

5. Jonathan Stroud - I love that snarky djinn Bartemaeus and the quasi historical settings. I'd love more in this series, or others that carry the same sort of humor.

6. Eoin Colfer - I am looking forward to more in the Artemis Fowl series.

7. Susanna Clarke - I enjoyed Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and thought the time to get through it worth it in the end, and the stories in Ladies of Grace Adieu. Its been almost six years since the later was published. Supposedly she had been working on another book, but the article referenced on Wikipedia is five years old, so who knows. Hopefully....

8. Lloyd Alexander - This is what I read in elementary school. I loved the Prydain Chronicles, and while I've not read all of his works, I still wish there were more.

9. Katherine Howe - The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane was a favorite of mine, and a I can't wait for The House of Velvet and Glass to come out, hopefully this spring.

10. Elizabeth Gaskell - I got introduced to her writings by the miniseries Wives and Daughters, and now have read half of her novels. Wives and Daughters was her last, and unfinished

Where Are you Reading 2012

Ok, one more challenge. This seemed fun. You just plot the main location of the books you read on the map. Sign-up post here, if you are curious. I am only listing the books I've read this year which have a setting linked to the real world.

My Map: Where are you reading 2012?

United States:

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona

• Eve by Anna Carey

Arkansas
California

• The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
• The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
• Legend by Marie Lu
• The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns by Margaret Dilloway

Colorado

• Across the Universe by Beth Revis
• Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

Connecticut
Delaware
Florida

• Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Georgia

• Fallen by Lauren Kate

Hawaii

• The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

Idaho
Illinois

• Something Wicked this Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

Indiana

• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Iowa
Kansas

• The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine

• Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Maryland

• Kindred by Octavia Butler

Massachusetts

• The Post Mistress by Sarah Blake
• Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
• Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
• The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe

Michigan

• The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Minnesota

• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Mississippi
Missouri

• The Lightening Theif by Rick Riordan
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Montana
Nebraska
Nevada

• The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

New Hampshire
New Jersey

• Tithe by Holly Black

New Mexico

• The Rise of Nine

New York

• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Soer
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff

North Carolina

• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma

• Ready Player One

Oregon

• The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

Pennsylvania

• Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

Rhode Island
South Carolina

• The Restorer by Amanda Stevens
• The Kingdom by Amanda Stevens

South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas

• When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
• The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

Utah
Vermont
Virginia

• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Washington
West Virginia

• Midnight Rising by Tony Horwitz

Wisconsin
Wyoming

International:

Canada

• Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Czech Republic

• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

China

• Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Egypt

• Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
• The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan

England

• Hearts Restored by Prue Phillipson
• The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue
• Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England by Thomas Penn
• Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
• The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
• Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
• Gilt by Katherine Longshore

Germany

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

Indian Ocean

• The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje

Ireland

• Princes of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd

Italy

• Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran

Scotland

• Lady MacBeth by Susan Fraser King

Spain

• Tides of War by Stella Tillyard
• The Broken Sword by Joseph Robert Lewis

Switzerland

• Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Ukraine

• The Rose of Sebastopol by Katharine McMahon

Wales

• The King Making by Helen Hollick

Former Yugoslavia

• The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht

Mailbox Monday, What I'm Reading, and other sundry things

Mailbox Monday is a traveling meme host this January by Alyce of At Home With Books

Purchases:

Review:

What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey

Finished:

Currently Reading:

Up Next:

And Sundry things...

I've gotten a little irritated with blogger's....tantrums lets call it. It has some glitch with coding, or who it lets comment, etc. I have hosting for other hobbies of mine, so I've decided to get over my issues with Wordpress, and will sometime during the year I will move over to it. I need to root through my files and find some of the saved WP layouts I have, design one then will redirect and let y'all know.

I will get to formally writing my review policy. It just hasn't happened yet.

January is a month for book reads/read-alongs for me. I owned several that were chosen for various Shelfari group reads, so that's what I'm doing. I have no idea if I will review any of them. Maybe just quick short ones. We'll see.

February I'll be back to reading and reviewing what I have for review- still have a bunch from Library Things member giveaways. Boy those seem to come in droves when you get them. But I will get through them. I just probably won't be accepting books for review until I get some headway on them.

I'm thinking of doing a Renaissance Man type of challenge. The Dewey Decimal one doesn't sound like what I want. I was thinking of aiming for reading a certain number of books in different genres. Mostly because last year I let some things like history and classics slide from my reading list. Please let me know if something like this already exist.

If you want to see my 2012 challenges, there is a tag for that, in the sidebar.

2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge

This challenge is hosted by Reading with Tequila. The point of the challenge is to select books from a list recommended by various bloggers.

The Levels:
Level I - Read 5 books from the 2011 Book Blogger Recommendation List
Level II - Read 10 books
Level III - Read 15 books
Level IV - Read 20 books
Level V - Read 20+ books

The list can be found HERE.

I am going to aim for Level II - Read 10 Books. Going through the list, I made a list of the ones I currently own and a couple I will likely own before the year is out. They will be my main choices to start from.

Divergent by Veroncia Roth
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
Legend by Marie Lu
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Restorer by Amanda Stevens
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Katherine by Anya Seton

Completed:
1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
2. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
3. Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
4. Wither by Lauren DeStefano
5. Across the Universe by Beth Revis
6. Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
7. Legend by Marie Lu
8. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
9. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
10.