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 Why am I posting this so late, you may ask? It’s 10:45 pm on my side of the pond. Well, on Saturday my fiance decided to surprise me by buying me the Sims 3. He left just a few hours ago and after making up notes for Thursday’s presentation, I have been playing it constantly. I don’t normally do video game reviews, but it might be worth writing up what I think of this one, and perhaps how much better this version is than the previous two. It will all become normal once I’ve played for long enough but for now, I am already completely obsessed!
 I haven’t been neglecting my reading too much, though. On Friday night I managed to get more than halfway through The Lieutenant’s Lover by Harry Bingham. I’ve started a new program to shrink my TBR pile. Whenever I can’t decide what book to read, which is often, I’m going to read the book that I’ve had for the longest. As most of you know, many of my books are at my parents’ house, so I have some very old ones hanging around, but I’ve had this one for about two years and two months. I got it for £1 the first time I studied abroad in England, the spring semester of my junior year of college. It’s about a couple, Misha and Tonya, who fall in love just after the start of the Russian Revolution. He is an aristocrat and she is a peasant, so after he gets conscripted in the Red Army, he flees Russia, while she stays behind. She plans to follow him, but as so often happens, her life gets in the way. The rest of the book appears to be about their separate lives afterwards and their struggle to get back together 25 years later. As I often find with books that were from this store, which has now closed, it’s a surprisingly good, fast read. I hope to finish it tomorrow morning while volunteering at York Minster Library.
Ideally, I’d like to start a system that rotates. Review book, TBR book, library book, repeat. I know that once I start imposing restrictions on myself, however, that I will internally “rebel”. Does anyone else have this problem? I like to make lists, think about plans for reading, but when it comes down to it I’m a moody reader and I don’t like to follow my own lists. This is why I always, always fail challenges, unless they are solely determined by the number of books I can complete.
How was your weekend? Anything exciting planned for the week ahead? I’m off to go continue satisfying my newest addiction!
It actually has begun to feel like summer this weekend. The last two times I spent the summer in England, it never got there for me. This is probably because by the time I got here, it had already warmed up at home and it very, very rarely goes above 80 degrees in England. Today it’s a gorgeous 72. This time, I’ve been living here since October, so I’m a little more accustomed to English weather. To me, it’s a beautiful day, and I was motivated enough to get a lot done on my work this morning so that I could sit outside and read.
I’ve been working on a couple of more difficult books. The first of these, which is actually really fascinating, is The Last Witch of Langenburg by Thomas Robisheaux. I received this as a review copy an embarrassingly long time ago; I had no idea that I would have such trouble picking up a review copy of a history book. It feels like all I do is history; I didn’t really want more outside of what I have to do. This book is what’s called microhistory. The author focuses on a single witch trial, that of Anna Schmieg and her family in the 17th century Holy Roman Empire, while using it as a base to explore the broader history around the small town, pulling in external facts and creating a much larger picture than it would initially seem. Witch trials are always out of the ordinary, he says, but I feel like I’ve learned a ton about small town life in Langenburg. It’s going slowly simply because I have way too many facts bouncing about in my head, but it’s very interesting and I’m sorry I didn’t pick it up sooner. I love what I called “people history”, history that focuses on a single person to explore wider issues, and it’s what I’m doing in my own work right now, so this book really couldn’t appeal to me more.
My second “difficult” read is Songs My Mother Never Taught Me by Selcuk Altun. This one should not be as hard as it is. It’s meant to be a thriller, but I’m not finding it particularly exciting. It’s only just over 200 pages long and I’m at around 100, so I hope to read 50 pages a day and get it done on Tuesday.
The third book I was reading today, which I have completed, is Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos. I loved this book. It went in a completely different direction than I was expecting it to somewhere around the middle and that is around when I fell in love with it. I spent entirely too long sitting outside to finish it and now my nose is itchy, so I suspect I’ll be blaming the author for a sunburn soon!
I’m not sure what’s next. Since I’ve read my 50 pages in my difficult books for the day, I’ll probably start another book a little later. I have to read Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn before Tuesday, when it’s due back at the library, but Lady of the Roses by Sandra Worth has been calling to me. I guess we will see which book can call the loudest!
This week, I read:
- Shanghai Girls – Lisa See
- Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict – Laurie Viera Rigler
- Fugitive Pieces – Anne Michaels
- The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane – Katherine Howe
- Tethered – Amy MacKinnon
- Simply Love – Mary Balogh
- Beauty – Robin McKinley
- Love Walked In – Marisa de los Santos
I reviewed:
I also participated in Weekly Geeks and posted about my “No BEA? Books Anyway!” purchases.
For all of those who attended Book Expo America in New York City this weekend, I hope you all had a blast and have a safe trip home. I’ll be looking forward to your posts!
First things first: I have been remiss in announcing the winner of Tea and Other Ayama Na Tales. The lucky winner is Claire, lucky commenter number 5 (but lucky entrant number 4), thanks to random.org. Claire, I will be emailing you shortly, but if you happen to see this post before I do, please send me an email. Thanks!
I just spent a somewhat interesting day in Leeds, a bigger city which is only a 20 minute train ride away. My initial purpose was to copy a couple of articles from a journal to which that university subscribes, but since I was paying train fare, I also decided to stop by the Royal Armouries Museum. I was disappointed that they weren’t holding a joust today since it’s “Wild West Week”, but otherwise I thought it was awesome. Keith preferred the modern guns, but I was all about the medieval armour. Who would have guessed?
Here’s a picture from the museum, full body 15th century armour:
 They also had a clever display where you could stick your head into a helmet and try to see what was going on in a virtual battle. It was nearly impossible; I can’t say I’d want to face someone with nearly all of my vision blocked!
As for reading, I’m about halfway into Shanghai Girls by Lisa See. For all that it isn’t as good as Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, I’m loving it. These days I feel that I love fewer and fewer books, although I like almost all that I read; maybe I just read too many of them these days and I’m learning to separate the wheat from the chaff a little better. With this book, however, I would have preferred knowing a bit less about the plot. I’m at the middle of the book and the last event that the back cover promised has just happened, albeit with a surprise in between. I try to give away as little as possible in my reviews and this is why; I dislike feeling impatient to get to a part I don’t expect. I’m now excited to see what happens next and hope to finish the book either later today or early tomorrow. Next up is Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler, a library book which is due back on Thursday, and then I’ve got to get to The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe.
I’m quite pleased with my reading since last Sunday. I completed:
- Atlas of Unknowns by Tania James
- The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
- Undead and Unwelcome by MaryJanice Davidson
- Starfinder by John Marco
- The Bridge of the Golden Horn by Emine Sevgi Ozdamar
- Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
- Warrior Daughter by Janet Paisley
As a result, my TBR mountain has dropped below 350. I’m very pleased with myself, although I’m going to a library sale on Friday and will probably undo all the good work I’ve done. Oh well. It’s worth it for a bag of books for £3.50.
This week, I reviewed:
All in all, a very good week! How is everyone else doing? Anything exciting planned for the week?
As many of you who follow me on twitter know, I had a fabulous week last week. I did very well on my second essay, I got notified that I have a job interview at a library (a job which I would LOVE), my dissertation is progressing very well, and I was contacted by new publishers here in the UK for reviews. I’ve been quite pleased with myself and thrilled that things are going at least a little bit in the direction that I would like. A few roadblocks have presented themselves in the past couple of days, but I’m hoping to surmount them anyway.
Not much time for this post today as my lovely fiance is currently making us lunch! I’m very lucky.  I’m reading Atlas of Unknowns by Tania James, an absolutely fabulous book about an Indian girl who uses her sister’s talent to get a visa for the USA, only to get caught in a huge web of her own lies and struggle with who she is and what she wants to get out of her life. I anticipate finishing it a little later today, and then I plan on starting The Bridge of the Golden Horn by Emile Sevgi Ozdamar. That one appears to be a memoir about a sixteen-year-old girl who flees Istanbul to work on an assembly line in a factory in Germany. I think it sounds interesting, and I know I need to read more books set outside the USA and the UK, so I’m looking forward to it.
I’m also looking forward to watching more of Season 2 of LOST, courtesy of Amy, who is certainly an amazing friend! We are loving this show. Tomorrow morning I’ll be heading back to York to work on my dissertation; I’m digging deep into the primary sources for the next two weeks in search of useful mentions of Anthony Woodville.
What’s ahead for you this week? Anything exciting?
As of Friday, my time has been freed up quite a bit. My exams are over, my papers and my full dissertation proposal are in, and now I am full speed ahead towards research. My dissertation is officially focusing on Anthony Woodville as a chivalric case study. Since I wrote my BA thesis on Richard III, I am finding this quietly amusing. For those who are not similarly obsessed with the fifteenth century, Richard III ordered Anthony Woodville’s execution. They are accused of feeling a great deal of animosity towards each other, although I personally don’t think it was quite as severe as some historians would like to imagine. At least not on Anthony’s side.
I have never decided whether or not I am a Ricardian. It seems to me that to go one way or the other would require ignoring a great deal of historical opinion and I can’t say I know enough yet to ignore all the options and interpretations. Since I’m looking at Anthony Woodville in a chivalric rather than political light (although as ever, everything in history is connected and divisions are obviously made by the historian), I don’t have to decide just yet. I do have to pin down just where he was, what he was doing, and when, which is a harder task than you’d imagine, before I can consider the whys of it all. Today, I’m consulting Edward IV by Charles Ross and Richard III: A Study in Service by Rosemary Horrox (which I love and highly recommend), as well as several minor sources. I’m secretly hoping that I will have to go to London and look at original documents. There are a few which I can track down that involve him and I really, really want to try my hand at reading more fifteenth century handwriting.
Today, I’m starting The Founding by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. This book has been languishing in my library pile for months. Finally, someone has requested it, so I must get it read by the 14th. I’ve been somewhat wary about it. I need to stop reading fiction set in the late fifteenth century because I know too much. I’m also planning on making a little bit of progress on my review pile with A Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer. My review pile is actually diminishing. I’m lingering under this pleasant delusion because all of my post-late-June review copies are collecting in my parents’ house. I’m also excited to start The Reincarnationist by M.J. Rose today. This book is featured for By The Chapter this week with Marcia and Amy. I was a very lucky winner of Amy’s contest to read along with them. Thank you!
This week, I finished:
The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire by C.M. Mayo
Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
The World in Half by Cristina Henriquez
The Vampire of Ropraz by Jacques Chessex
I reviewed:
Duchess By Night by Eloisa James
The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
The Wonder Singer by George Rabasa
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
And I participated in Booking Through Thursday about comic books.
Finally and most importantly, Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers out there, and especially to my own, whom I love very much. I regret that I can’t spend this day with her.
Remember how I said I was overwhelmed with exams/essays/wrapping up my foreseeable academic career, aside from my dissertation, this month? It certainly felt that way, but you’d never know from my reading! Numbers correspond to total books read in 2009.
65. Breaking Dawn – Stephenie Meyer
66. The Sugar Queen – Sarah Addison Allen
67. Thirteen Reasons Why – Jay Asher
68. The Red Siren – M.L. Tyndall
69. The Love We Share Without Knowing – Christopher Barzak
70. Palace Circle – Rebecca Dean
71. Briar Rose – Jane Yolen
72. Wicked Lovely – Melissa Marr
73. The Traitor’s Wife – Susan Higginbotham
74. Queen’s Cross – Lawrence Schoonover
75. Simply Perfect – Mary Balogh
76. What Would Jane Austen Do? – Laurie Brown
77. Frenchman’s Creek – Daphne du Maurier
78. Old Man’s War – John Scalzi
79. Dead Until Dark – Charlaine Harris
80. The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever – Julia Quinn
81. Living Dead in Dallas – Charlaine Harris
82. Oakleaf Bearers – John Flanagan
83. And Only to Deceive – Tasha Alexander
84. Tea and Other Ayama Na Tales – Eleanor Bluestein
85. Hotel du Lac – Anita Brookner
86. The Wonder Singer – George Rabasa
87. Follow Me – Joanna Scott
88. How to Marry a Marquis – Julia Quinn
89. The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet – Reif Larsen
90. The Host – Stephenie Meyer
91. The Last Queen – C.W. Gortner
I completely outdid myself this month. I read 27 books, which is the most ever. You’d think I’d stop reading when I had stressful things to get done. Nope, I just read more. Although I had reason, considering I had a flight on which I read maybe four books and during the 24 hour read-a-thon I finished 5 and later completed a 6th. The funniest part is that I was truly shocked. For most of this month, I felt I had no time to read, and while I do keep a list, I didn’t look at it much until composing this post today. It’s very strange how my perception of reality did not tally at all with actual reality.
I’m also absurdly pleased with myself because in the month of April, I added just 8 books to my TBR pile and managed to clear a massive 22 from it. That’s a net loss of 14, which for someone like me is awesome! I guess I had time to read but not any time to visit the bookstore.
It’s also virtually impossible to pick a favorite. I’d probably recommend anything on that list up there, with perhaps the exception of The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, Breaking Dawn, or Palace Circle. I enjoyed everything else. I’ve gotten really good at picking out what I like and sticking to it.
Today, I’m going to start The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire by C.M. Mayo. I’m also really looking forward to discussing The English Patient with my online book club later on. Keith and I are also going to watch more of LOST. We’re 6 episodes away from the end of season 1 and avoiding spoilers has gotten much more difficult now that I know who many of the characters are and actually have an interest!
First, though, time to get some work done.
How was your reading month?
Since I’m buried in work (and writing this post well in advance), I thought that rather than post about what I don’t have time to read today, I’d post a question! I’ve noticed lately that Keith and I prefer different book covers. He almost always prefers the British cover and I almost always prefer the American cover. Obviously, this isn’t always the case, but the trend is quite marked. It’s had me wondering whether it’s a result of years of one style resulting in a aesthetic preference or whether it’s just coincidence. So, since they released both covers for the absolutely fabulous Michelle Moran‘s next book, Cleopatra’s Daughter, (which I saw on Historical Tapestry, many thanks to those lovely ladies, and about which I am very excited), I thought I’d see which one you prefer.
I find both covers appealing, but one sticks out to me as more so. Which appeals more to you?
| Number of Books |
6 |
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Books Read |
Old Man’s War |
| Pages Read |
1792 |
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Dead Until Dark |
| Time Spent Reading |
12:31 |
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The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever |
| Time Spent Blogging |
3:27 |
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Living Dead in Dallas |
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Oakleaf Bearers |
That puts my participation at roughly 16 hours. I was sleeping for 7. I’m not sure how I lost an hour there! I did start And Only to Deceive and let me tell you, I am loving it. This is a fantastic book. Despite the fact that I read for 12 1/2 hours out of the last 24, I’m definitely going to finish it today.
The Read-a-Thon was a LOT of fun. I’m really sorry that I didn’t manage to stay up later. I actually think I would have done better if I’d been at home in the US, because I think I would have stayed up later and read for longer if my start time was at 8 am rather than at 1 pm. I wake up around then anyway, and I know I can stay up until 3 or so if I try, so I’d have only lost 5 hours rather than 7.
Anyway, on to the end survey:
1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Definitely the last one at night, from 2-3 am. I always find it really difficult to get past 3 am. My best guess is that I made it to 3:15 before falling asleep with my book still in my hands.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Old Man’s War, the Sookie Stackhouse series, Oakleaf Bearers, and finally And Only to Deceive were all fabulous choices. They were all fast-moving, interesting reads that kept me going even if I was tired. I’d recommend any of them.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
I liked it! I had trouble participating in the mini-challenges because I thought they would take up too much time, though, I’ll be honest about that. I liked the surveys we could post during our own updates the best. I think that someone who was more interested in taking breaks and had trouble reading for longer would appreciate them more than me, though. I just wanted to get back to my book after a few minutes.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
To be honest, I thought everything worked really well. It seemed very well-run. I’m impressed by you three!
5. How many books did you read?
5 1/2 in total. Well, 216/310 of And Only to Deceive, which is more than halfway.
6. What were the names of the books you read?
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi, Dead Until Dark and Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris, The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn, Oakleaf Bearers by John Flanagan, and And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander.
7. Which book did you enjoy most?
This is an impossible question. It’s between Old Man’s War, the Sookie books, and And Only to Deceive. Don’t make me choose!
8. Which did you enjoy least?
The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever. Normally I love Julia Quinn. I think she writes believable, funny romance that also elucidates genuine human failings and emotions, which is something romance can do really well. This one I wanted to throw against the wall and I disliked the main characters by the end. Never happened before with a Quinn. I decided not to read any more straight romance because I didn’t want to deal with that happening again while I was reading.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
I wasn’t a cheerleader!
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
Oh, extremely likely. Barring some unavoidable event next time, you’ll find me right here, reading once again. Well, I won’t be living here, but you will find me on this blog. I loved it!
I would once again like to thank everyone who dropped by and commented while I was reading and everyone who was extremely encouraging on twitter. It would have been much less fun without you!
To all of you who celebrate, Happy Easter! When I was little, Easter was my favorite holiday. According to my mom, I wouldn’t leave the mall until I’d seen the Easter bunny – every time! I’m used to Easters away from my family, though, because my undergrad university, Brandeis, had vacations mainly for Jewish holidays, so I always had Passover off, but spent Easter weekend at school since we rarely had more than Good Friday off. This year is no different; instead I’m spending the day with my fiance and a library copy of Tournaments in England from 1100-1400 by Juliet Barker. Exciting stuff, isn’t it? =)
Actually, what I’m really excited about is next weekend’s 24 hour Read-a-Thon. I never got involved while Dewey was alive and I regret that, so I’m throwing myself into this one with quite a bit of excitement. I’ve always been good at marathon reading – I used to pride myself on the numbers of books I could read when home sick – and I’m hoping I can both knock a few titles off my TBR pile and have a lot of fun. I’ll have quite a bit of work to do this week to free up those 24 hours, but I bet it will be worth it! My fiance has made me a spreadsheet so I can keep track of my time, books and pages read without much effort and I’ve got a neat little stack of books waiting. I’ll probably only add to it as this week goes on just to give myself more choices, though. At the moment, I have:
- Ender’s Shadow, Orson Scott Card
- It Happened One Autumn, Lisa Kleypas
- Oakleaf Bearers, John Flanagan
- The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, Julia Quinn
- Old Man’s War, John Scalzi
- Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris
- And Only to Deceive, Tasha Alexander
- Everything is Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer
- The Well of Lost Plots, Jasper Fforde
So far, I’ve attempted to pick books that aren’t serious and aren’t too deep or that I’m very, very excited about reading, with lots of choices in case one doesn’t grab me. I’d have more YA, but don’t have much with me, so I think a trip to the library may be in order before Saturday. I haven’t included any review copies since I think they require more attention than I’ll be able to give them while sleep-deprived and with several books going around in my brain at once.
Are you taking part in the Read-a-Thon? Any exciting books on your list or advice for a first-timer?
Some of you on Twitter may have noticed that I spent yesterday out with my parents picking up my mom’s new baby rabbit and getting her outfitted for her new life at my parents’ house. I thought that everyone could do with a few adorable bunny pictures, so here’s the new addition to my family, although I won’t be seeing her too often. Please ignore the fact that I’m not a great photographer and she’s quite an active subject!
In her carrier on the way home, not too pleased with the car:
 And in her temporary home trying desperately to escape:
Wondering what that big silver thing is:
Violet is an orange Netherland Dwarf rabbit, the same breed my Chocolate was. While we were at her breeder’s deciding between her and a baby red rabbit, she was perfectly calm. Now that we’re home, she’s very active and doesn’t just want to sit on anyone’s lap, she’s ready to explore. I think she’ll settle down once she is in her permanent home later today and has a chance to exercise and get acquainted with all the funny smells around here. We have two other rabbits, so I’m sure she’s getting accustomed to their smells too.
Now, since I’m home making sure she doesn’t escape while my parents are off getting more equipment for her, I also have a chance to get some reading done. Today I’m planning on finishing The Tory Widow by Christine Blevins, a historical novel set in New York City during the Revolutionary War. I’m really enjoying it so far. I have a huge stack of ARCs to read soon, but this has been at the top of my list for so long that I had to read it first.
Next I’m planning on reading Serendipity by Louise Shaffer, a book I received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer’s program, and then The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen, the sequel to Garden Spells which I read last August and enjoyed very much. I also have to start Chivalry by Maurice Keen for my dissertation, but that is definitely less fun. I’m sure I will not manage to get all that reading done today, especially not after my parents get back, but it’s worth a try and gives me a schedule for the week.
Have a great week everyone!
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