Top Ten Tuesday: Under the Tree

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic: Top Ten Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Bringing Me.

1. Frozen Heat by Richard Castle - I love the tv series, and the books are just as fun as the show. I showed great restraint in only getting the Season 4 dvds this fall.
2. Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta - I loved Finnikin of the Rock when I listened to it this year. And since for some bloody reason the audiobook has not made it across the Pacific, I need this in print.
3. Reporting the Revolutionary War: Before it was History, It Was News by Todd Andrlik - I always loved the book of NY Times front pages we had as a kid, stealing dad's magnifying glass and reading as much of the articles as I could. This shouldn't be a surprise to my family.
4. The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer - I feel deficient for not having read either of these yet.
5. Nefertiti and The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran - I've loved Ancient Egypt since the fifth grade. I made elaborate tomb with a mummified Barbie for a school project. And I loved Moran's novels that I've read so far. I'd like Cleopatra's Daughter also, but I've read that and not these two, so they are more of a priority.
6. Firefly: A Celebration by Joss Whedon - Oh how I loved Firefly. I called home when in grad school to get my parents to record an episode (they were in a different time zone), because I missed it where I was (the horror!).
7. The Chronicles of Downton Abbey: A New Era - Love the series, and The World of Downton Abbey is just gorgeous.
8. The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer - Loved the medieval one, but for some reason this has not been published this side of the pond D=
9. Queen of the Conqueror: The Life of Matilda, Wife of William I by Tracy Borman - this sound fascinating when discussed in the BBC History magazine some months ago.
10. Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman - I loved how she wrote Richard in her Henry II/Eleanor of Aquitaine series. I think I've had a long enough break from the bad experience with Devil's Brood to pick up another of her books.

Challenges for 2013

I'm going to join a few challenges in the next year. I've started a page up top that will be for tracking progress, but this will be for joining announcements.



Where are you reading is hosted by Book Journey. I did pretty well this year (for not really aiming for specific states), so am giving it another go.



Witches and Witchcraft Reading Challenge is hosted by Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf. I will be aiming for the Initiate level (1-5 books).



Audio Book Challenge is hosted by Teresa's Reading Corner. Since I've read over 40 audiobooks this year, I'll be aiming to the Married (listen to more than 25 audiobooks) level.



Mount TBR Reading Challenge is hosted by My Reader's Block. I didn't do too well on this this year, so am going to try again. I'll be aiming for Mount Blanc: Read 24 books from your TBR pile/s.



Historical Tapestry hosts the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge every year for a few years now. I'll be trying it this coming year, at the Renaissance Reader level (10 books).

That's it for right now. Will probably look out for a library challenge also.

Last Minute Read-a-thon

Vonnie of Vonnie's Reading Corner is hosting the Last Minute Read-a-thon, to take place in one month's time. Spend the final days of December reading with us.

Clear your shelves Giveaway Winners

Congrats to Kylie and Jennee! Emails await you regarding your wins. Thanks for everyone who stopped by! a Rafflecopter giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Hobbit post delayed

The last post for the Hobbit discussion won't go up tomorrow. After the busy that was the start of last week, I've come down with a cold this weekend and haven't been able to do any reading, let alone write the post.

Clear Your Shelves Giveaway Hop- US & US/Can

This giveaway hop is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer. I have been doing a bit of a purge and reorganization of my books and have a few titles I'd like to send along to new homes. One giveaway is US only, the other is open to US and Canada.

Giveaway 1: The Guenevere Trilogy by Rosalind Miles
US Only

I purchased the first book new (Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Coutnry), and it has been read once. I purchased the other two used. The Child of the Holy Grail is in like new condition. The Knight of the Sacred Lake has some minor water damage on the cover, and about 50 pages. The four small thumbnails show the water damage (click for larger view)- not too bad, as you can see. And it definitely does not impede your reading of the book. And plus, free for you! Due to weight, this is open only to US readers.

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Giveaway 2: Arc of The Philosopher's Kiss by Peter Prange
US or Canada


I recieved this through the Goodreads First Reads giveaways. It's been read once. You can read my review here.




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Be sure to visit the other blogs participating!

Review: This Republic of Suffering by Drew Gilpin Faust

This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust
Publisher: In print: Alfred A. Knopf, division of Random House, Inc./ Audio: Blackstone Audio
Narrator: Lorna Raver
346 pages / 10 hours, 55 minutes
Checked out from the library

With its cloud of skirmishers in advance,
With now the sound of a single shot snapping like a whip, and now an irregular volley,
The swarming ranks press on and on, the dense brigades press on,
Glittering dimly, toiling under the sun- the dust-cover'd men,
In columns rise and fall to the undulations of the ground,
With artillery interspers'd the wheels rumble, the horses sweat,
As the army corps advances.

An Army Corps on the March

Walt Whitman

We are currently in the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War (1861-1865), so reading This Republic of Suffering right now is a timely read. I had read her Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War in grad school, which was well written and very informative. So when I noticed the CROAH group on Shelfari had read this, I put it on my tbr. I am also fascinated by the culture of death- mourning traditions, mourning jewelry, cemetery art, etc. So yes, the word death caught my attention.

It is estimated that at least 620,000 soldiers died from battle or disease during the Civil War, which "is approximately equal to the total American fatalities in the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, The Spanish American War, World War I, World War II and the Korean War combined" (p.xi). These numbers are staggering, and for a time when people were more used to death than we are today, they weren't ready for this.

Gilpin Faust discusses the notion of dying well, and how soldiers had to justify trying to kill others, even though it was against their beliefs. But then she goes into some subjects that were a bit surprising to me. Today, soldiers killed in combat or on the job, their remains are returned home to their families, and there are numerous National Cemeteries for them to be buried in. But many of these practices grew out of the Civil War. There was no formal method of identifying soldiers, no formal system for burying the fallen, or transporting them back to their families.

Gilpin Faust does a good job presenting the similarities and contrasts to the ordeals of those from the North and those from the South. There are lots of primary source materials, and a great deal of information in the end notes as well. There are a great deal of images in this rather short history book, but some people will likely find some of the photographs disturbing. This was the rise of photography, and people like Mathew Brady served as early photo-journalists, photographing camps, battlefields shortly after battles ended, or even sometime afterwards. So there are photographs of the dead- some lying where they fell, some along the process of burial, and one being embalmed before being sent to his family. These photographs, while squeamish, are necessary to demonstrate the various points she makes throughout the book.

A well written and documented book, I found it fascinating. If you would like to read up on a not often discussed social issues coming out of the Civil War, I highly recommend this book. This fall, the PBS program American Experience aired an episode entitled "Death and the Civil War", which is based on this book, which I would also recommend.

Cat Thursday

Its a day to share your favorite cat pictures! Hosted by The True Book Addict.

I just got my first smart phone, so internet peoples, you will suffer my experimenting with photos! I admit, I'm a crazy cat lady, so odds are they will be of one of my cats. This is Pooh. My phone has nifty filters, some better than Instagram, like this one.

Classics Club List

I've heard mentions of The Classics Club, but seeing Wallace's post about it this morning, I finally I had a look. 50 classics in 5 years, that doesn't seem unreasonable. So I put together a list. There's some plays, novels, and some non-fiction and mythology books. Ones with (r) are rereads.

Now I can't start now, so I am setting my start date as December 1, 2012, making my end date December 1, 2017. I've set up a nifty spreadsheet to make updating the list easy, and I'm going to add it as a page (linked up top).



So, do you participate in Classics Club?

The Hobbit Read-along Chapters 10-12

The land about them grew bleak and barren, though once, as Thorin told them, it had been green and fair. There was little grass, and before long there was neither bush nor tree, and only broken and blackened stumps to speak of ones long vanished. They were come to the Desolation of the Dragon, and they were come at the waning of the year.

Well the troupe has made it to Laketown, and the dwarves are out of the barrels. They are given supplies by the Mayor, who is eager to see the backs of them, and they head into the Desolation of Smaug. Once they find the moon door, its time for Bilbo to earn his keep, and see if the treasure still remains with the dragons. Bilbo just didn't count on Smaug having a sense of smell like a turkey, being able to smell the hobbit and missing gold.

I really liked the chapter with the dragon. Its one I remembered from when I read it before. Between his moon door riddle solving, and his conversation with Smaug, it was a strong part of the story. I may or may not have been imagining how the conversation between Smaug and Bilbo scene may end up very Sherlock-y, especially since it is the same actors playing the characters. The image has gotten rather stuck in my head.

The hunt for the moon door was another of those scenes that are reminiscent of what Tolkien does later in LOTR.

Next week its Chapters 13-15, then one more week after that!