I've been away from the computer for quite a while for various reasons. We decided to move at the beginning of December, found a house very quickly, packed up, moved on December 15th, managed to get Christmas stuff up, had children and grandchildren for the Christmas weekend, baby sat Bryce Eleanor for an additional 5 or 6 days while her parents took their first trip alone in two years, did without any computer for a couple of weeks, and since then, have both gotten out of the computer habit and been overwhelmed by the number of emails to be read, blogs to read, etc.
Here is a list of the December books that never got reviewed, and I'm not going to give them separate reviews. Stars indicate level of enjoyment--3 stars are the ones that I enjoyed most.
Slightly Abridged by Ellen Pall *
A False Mirror by Charles Todd ***
Dust by Martha Grimes **
Act of Will by A.J. Hartley **
The Joys of My Life by Alys Clare **
Coyote Horizon by Allen Steele ***
Taos Chill by Linda Lea Castle *
Bitter Tide by Ann Stamos ***
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale ***
Enna Burning by Shannon Hale **
River Secrets by Shannon Hale ***
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale ***
I won a copy of The Goose Girl from Kate at Kate's Book Club, and as expected, loved it. Thanks so much, Kate! I've been meaning to read it for a long time based on Booklogged's original enthusiasm and subsequent comments over the last couple of years. As you can see, I wanted more about the kingdom of Bayern, and read the next two in the series as well as Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. These are all YA novels, but great fun!
When I finished reading all that the library had, I went to the book store and bought several books for my niece for Christmas, first and foremost was The Goose Girl! I wasn't about to give away my copy. :)
I now have 6 more books to review and one in progress that will probably be finished tonight; I hope I get around to writing actual reviews...
Hope everyone had wonderful Christmas and New Year Celebrations!
Glad you're back! I will definitely check out The Goose Girl.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
My, my, you have had a busy time, haven't you? Glad to hear from you. I know you had a wonderful time babysitting that little one and you still got a lot of reading done. Hope you enjoy your new house. Take care!
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see you back. I've been wondering what was happening in your world.
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering where you've been - you have been busy! Congratulations on the move.
ReplyDeleteI will have to see about getting a copy of The Goose Girl - it sounds delightful and your enthusiasm has me sold!
My goodness, you've been busy! Sometimes I wish I could get out of the computer habit. I hate it when I fall behind in my blog-hopping and responding to comments, not to mention all the reviews that are waiting to be written. But I'm addicted to reading blogs just as much as I am to reading books.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you, too!
We moved house two weeks before Christmas, so I know how busy you've been. I hope you enjoy your new house.
ReplyDeleteI was away from the computer for a while too and am way behind with writing about the books I've read from November onwards (although I only managed one in December!). I may not bother and just start from January's books.
Sounds like a busy December! Glad to see you are back around, though!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year! So glad to see you back blogging. We moved to a house right before the holidays too and it was a bit crazy. We are finally starting to feel settled and it's a good feeling. Hope you are enjoying your new home!
ReplyDeleteKim - Thanks, I'm glad to be getting back into the swing of things!
ReplyDeleteKay - I did have a great time with the baby sitting and used her nap time to relax and read!
Sam - :) Thanks, Sam! It has certainly been a hectic 6 weeks, but things are definitely calming down.
Lesley - The Goose Girl is a re-telling of the fairy tale, and I'm glad Hale decided to expand it into a series featuring some of the minor characters. I needed a little fairy tale feeling in December.
BooksPlease - Oh, yes, I imagine you do know! It really takes a while to organize and remember how and why I put things where I did!
Hope you are enjoying your new house, too!
Kailana - Glad to be back and a little less addled!
Iliana - Another new home! Moving calls for a lot of adjustments, but when things settle down, it is worth it. Hope you are enjoying your new home as well!
I'm pondering skipping over some of my December reviews but I haven't decided. It's easy to just stop blogging completely, after you get out of the habit, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteWow, you moved quickly! We've been pondering making a move for *months*, but we have a lot of repairs to make before selling our house and we're not sure whether we want to stay in Vicksburg or move to Clinton, so we've only occasionally looked at houses online and driven through neighborhoods. Did you move within the same town?
I think moving in December keeps one very focused. Once you've decorated for Christmas, it really begins to feel like home.
ReplyDeletebookfool-- We did move quickly! Even before the tornado, I'd been trying to de-clutter and pare down. After the tornado, it seemed like an even better idea. We haven't sold the other house yet, too many repairs are still in progress. Our new house in a neighboring subdivision, not far at all.
ReplyDeleteHope you find the house and location of your dreams!
Camille - You are so right about decorating for Christmas making a house feel like home right away! I hated taking things down this year.
Wow, you have been busy! Happy New Year & glad to see you back.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're back. Off to the library site now to see if Shannon Hale is available in the UK.
ReplyDeleteThe Goose Girl - is a great book. My girls loved it when they were younger. I met Shannon Hale some years ago in England when she was on tour here - she and I did a double act at the Cheltenham Festival, and she was brilliant - all the little girls were riveted as she wore a tiara on her head and told them teasingly that she was a real American princess...
ReplyDeleteLove your blog, and will follow!
Bybee - It has been a hectic time, but I have my reading chair and books and escape when necessary!
ReplyDeleteAnn - I do hope your library has some of Hale's books as I think you would really enjoy them!
Katherine - I've just visited your blog and thoroughly enjoyed the visit! And came away with some great titles. :)