Lost Hills and Books I'm Looking Forward to Reading

Lee Goldberg's Lost Hills has gotten an unusual amount of attention.  I've seen quite a few professional reviews as well as blog reviews recently.  He is a prolific writer of both novels and television shows which may explain his high profile in the press.  

His new series features Deputy Sheriff Eve Ronin, who was filmed making an off duty arrest of a popular movie star who was abusing his female companion.  The video went viral, earning Eve the name of Death Fist and a promotion to homicide.  The promotion, intended to counteract negative press the department has incurred, is not well-received by the rank and file.

Partnered with Duncan Parone, who is counting the days until retirement, Eve's first case is a multiple homicide--but the bodies are missing.   So...not just find the killer, but find the bodies, which have been dismembered and removed from the scene.  Eve doesn't have the experience for this case, but she does have the driving need to succeed, instinct, and some unexpected support from her partner.

Lost Hills is a fast-paced introduction to Goldberg's new series, and Eve Ronin is a likable and resourceful protagonist.

Kindle Unlimited/Thomas & Mercer
Police Procedural.  2020.  Print length:  237 pages.

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My TBR queue is quite long again, but there are several new additions I'm looking forward to reading soon:

Safe House by Jo Jakeman
Hidden on the Fens by Joy Ellis
Seven Days in July by Kerry Wilkinson

I've started Why Writing Matters by Nicholas Delbanco.  It is an uncorrected proof so there are some areas that are a little confusing, more like episodes of memory as he discusses his mentors and friends, like John Updike, John Gardener, and James Baldwin.  His respect and fondness for his mentors have a genuine warmth.  I love the section in which Delbanco discusses imitation and the way authors build and often invert on the work of other authors.  

Initially, I planned to read a little of Why Writing Matters at a time, put it down, read a mystery, then come back to it.  As it turns out, I read about half of it--each time I put it down, I was eager to pick it up again and read more.  The book will be published in March, and I may have to buy a physical copy to keep -- I want to read the edited final edition.
   

Comic-Con 2012

On our way back from Baton Rouge the other day, we were listening to interviews from Comic-Con -- the program kept us captivated with interviews with Joss Whedon (my hero); Gale Ann Hurd (executive producer of The Walking Dead); Rian and Nathan Johnson about Looper, the concept and the musical score; comments on Farscape, the Australian science fiction series that I thoroughly enjoyed; an interview with Paolo Bacigalupi, author of The Drowned Cities, The Windup Girl, and Shipbreaker (I ordered The Windup Girl and Shipbreaker as soon as I got home); an interview with Tracy Hickman--and more!

Looper is definitely on my list of Must See Movies.



We listened on SiriusXM Comic-Con Radio.  Other interviews that we didn't get to hear were with Peter Jackson, Tim Burton, Stan Lee, and cast and crew members from Iron Man, Dr. Who, True Blood, and Twilight.

TBR

Recently arrived in the mail:  4 ARCs and 1 uncorrected proof.

The Wedding Guests by Meredith Goldstein:

"From Meredith Goldstein, the author of the Boston Globe's hilarious 'Love Letters' advice column, comes her debut novel The Wedding Guests. This light-hearted, witty tale about five tricky wedding guests is perfect for fans of the box office smash hit comedy Bridesmaids."

On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves:  

"Anna Emerson is a thirty-year-old English teacher desperately in need of adventure. Worn down by the cold Chicago winters and a relationship that’s going nowhere, she jumps at the chance to spend the summer on a tropical island tutoring sixteen-year-old T.J.

T.J. Callahan has no desire to go anywhere. His cancer is in remission and he wants to get back to his normal life. But his parents are insisting he spend the summer in the Maldives catching up on all the school he missed last year.

Anna and T.J. board a private plane headed to the Callahan’s summer home, and as they fly over the Maldives’ twelve hundred islands, the unthinkable happens. Their plane crashes in shark-infested waters. They make it to shore, but soon discover that they’re stranded on an uninhabited island."

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison:

Title will be released on August 28.  I read and enjoyed West of Here by Evison, so I'm interested in this one.

"Benjamin Benjamin has lost virtually everything—his wife, his family, his home, his livelihood. With few options, Ben enrolls in a night class called The Fundamentals of Caregiving, where he is instructed in the art of inserting catheters and avoiding liability, about professionalism, and on how to keep physical and emotional distance between client and provider.

But when Ben is assigned to tyrannical nineteen-year-old Trevor, who is in the advanced stages of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, he soon discovers that the endless mnemonics and service plan checklists have done little to prepare him for the reality of caring for a fiercely stubborn, sexually frustrated adolescent with an ax to grind with the world at large.

Though begun with mutual misgivings, the relationship between Trev and Ben evolves into a close camaraderie, and the traditional boundaries between patient and caregiver begin to blur as they embark on a road trip to visit Trev’s ailing father. A series of must-see roadside attractions divert them into an impulsive adventure interrupted by one birth, two arrests, a freakish dust storm, and a six-hundred-mile cat-and-mouse pursuit by a mysterious brown Buick Skylark.

Bursting with energy, this big-hearted and inspired novel ponders life’s terrible surprises and the heart’s uncanny capacity to mend."

Five O'Clock Follies (uncorrected proof) by Theasa Tuohy: 

Kirkus Review--"A freelance writer struggles to find her place among hard-nosed newsmen covering the Vietnam War in this depiction of wartime journalists.

In her debut, former Associated Press editor Tuohy describes the Vietnam War through a journalist’s lens. Freelance writer Angela Martinelli arrives in Saigon in 1968, wearing her “greenness” in the form of high-heeled shoes and a gorgeous mane of red hair. As one of the few women correspondents in a war zone, Angela is greeted with misogyny, skepticism or disdain by her male colleagues, except for Nick, who works for a Chicago newspaper and gives her the benefit of the doubt."

Night Watch by Linda Fairstein:

I've enjoyed several of Fairstein's Alexandra Cooper novels and look forward to this one.

"Forty-eight hours after Alexandra Cooper arrives in France to visit her boyfriend and famed restaurateur, Luc Rouget, her vacation in paradise is cut short when a young woman from the village is found murdered. The only evidence discovered on the body is one of Luc’s matchboxes promoting his new restaurant in New York. But before the investigation begins, Alex is summoned back to New York to handle a high profile case."

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I'm really interested in the Evison and Fairstein novels because I'm familiar with the authors.  The other three sound more like romance novels, so I'm not too sure about them.

How Far Behind...

can I get in reading blogs?  Very, very far.

As I try to catch up, I have to stop and write down titles of books and names of authors, check them out on Amazon, add some to the wish list and, after reading several reviews of Moonwalking with Einstein, finally placing an order.  I could have waited to get a copy at the library, but this is one of the "brain" books that I'm sure I'll want to keep.

Algonquin has sent me a bunch more ARCs, I have books I've purchased sitting in a stack by my reading chair, I have overdue library books.  A surfeit of reading material and still not reading at my usual pace.

I do have a couple of books to review and have 3 books in progress, but I'm still spending most of my time upstairs in the studio stitching away on prayer flags.  I love the idea of having these little flags sending prayers on the breeze.

"Traditionally, prayer flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. The flags do not carry prayers to gods, a common misconception; rather, the Tibetans believe the prayers and mantras will be blown by the wind to spread the good will and compassion into all pervading space. Therefore, prayer flags are thought to bring benefit to all."


Mine aren't the traditional Tibetan version with their bright, symbolic primary colors.  Mine are usually more subdued, but I've had fun choosing words to include on my flags and embroidering each flag is a meditative process.

I think I've made about eight so far.  I spend hours each night stitching while watching Netflix, instead of reading, which is my usual evening activity.

However, I really must return my library books, read some of the backlog of books that have accumulated, and write a couple of reviews!

Book Parties and Wish Lists

I've discovered a new book blog that takes an original approach to book blogging.  ButteryBooks combines cooking and book reviews and gives party planning tips based on the books the book club reads.  Take a look at the suggestions for a Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities.  Decorations, music, menu, wine choices, discussion questions, and other resources.

Wouldn't it be a fun way to have a book club discussion?  Check out their post on Cowboys Never Cry and the Western themed party.  Or any of these!

I've plenty on my plate (or in the stacks) right now, but I've been adding to my TBR list with delighted abandon:


The Rescue Artist by Edward Dolnick (via Jenny'sBooks) -- NF-- an account of the theft and recovery of Edvard Munch's The Scream   and the efforts of Charley Hill of the Scotland Yard Art Squad.

Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal ( via Dorothy W.) -- described as a fable, it is about a man whose job as a waste paper compactor leads him to rescue books.

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown (???) - I love Shakespeare and this novel featuring the three sisters Bianca, Cordelia, and Rosalind captures my interest from just the title, which conjures up images of Macbeth's encounter on the heath.

Pondering the State of Stacks

I've got several books in progress at the moment, but some of them are the kind you can pick up, read a little, and return to them later.  I've mentioned them before and all are rereads-- Kaminoff's Yoga Anatomy, Gary Kraftsow's Yoga for Wellness, and Sharon Lovejoy's Toad Cottages and Shooting Stars. 

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell needs more continuity because it is fiction and therefore, a continuing narrative that compels me to return to it for longer periods.

Mitchell's Black Swan Green was one of my favorite books in 2006, and I'm enjoying this one very much.  I haven't read The Cloud Atlas, but tried and abandoned  Ghostwritten.

I just finished Except the Queen by Midori Snyder and Jane Yolen and very much enjoyed it; I'll be reviewing that one soon. 

Books in the Mail:

My copy of The Vigorous Mind arrived on Saturday, and I'm going to be slowly rereading this one and taking note of authors and books that I want to pursue. 



The Film Club:  A Memoir -David Gilmour (rec. by Beauty Is a Sleeping Cat)-  Canadian film critic and tv host, David Gilmour allows his 15-year-old son to drop out of school if he will watch 3 movies a week with his father.  From Publishers Weekly:  "... a unique blend of film history and personal memoir."

A Time to Keep Silence - Patrick Lee Fermor (can't remember where I saw this reviewed), but it sounded good, and when perusing my Amazon Wish List, I saw it and ordered it. From the product review: More than a history or travel journal, however, this beautiful short book is a meditation on the meaning of silence and solitude for modern life.   

All That's True - Jackie Lee Miles.  A recent ARC.  A coming-of-age story.

State of Mind - Sven Michael Davison.  Another recent ARC.  Science Fiction--your thoughts are not your own.

Added to the above are my recent library acquisitions, of which Except the Queen and The Thousand Autumns are two.

Have you read any of these? 

New Year Possibilities

What I'm reading right now:

I'm rereading Kaminoff's Yoga Anatomy (but then, I'm almost always rereading my yoga books) and rereading Sharon Lovejoy's Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars (a wonderful book for parents and grandparents--so many great ideas).  These are both nonfiction and are good for rereading in short periods of time then coming back to later.

Also reading Except for the Queen by Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder.  When I started it yesterday, I wasn't thrilled with the beginning and almost put it aside, but I'm so glad I didn't because when it got good, it got really good!

I've not been reading as much in the first couple of weeks of this new year because I've been so busy with other things.  You know, those new year things that seem to take precedence with the advent of a new year...cleaning, organizing, catching up with reviews, emptying book shelves and closets and drawers and purging the clutter.  It feels good to have a fresh start and a clean slate even when one knows it won't last long.

I do have a couple of books to review that I'll be getting around to soon.

This past year is not a reading year that I was particularly proud of as most of it was escape fiction; although there were some excellent books, most were not especially memorable.

I'm going to be making an effort to have a better, more varied mix of books in 2011.  I've ordered another copy of The Vigorous Mind  because I loaned my copy to someone who asked about it, and although I emphasized that I did want it back because I was using it as a reference, I've realized it isn't going to be returned.  I'm a little disappointed because I'd highlighted so many things in it including book titles and authors, but highlighting can be done again.

Some of my posts about The Vigorous Mind can be found here, here, and here.  It was a book that truly had an impact on my life and on my reading; I'm looking forward to reading this one again.  I was proud of my 2009 reading year, not so much in 2010.

Two books that I'm looking forward to reading:

Damage by John Lescroart - I love Lescroart's series and his characters.
Three Seconds by Roslund & Hellstrom, a series that I read about first in the paper and then saw that Nicole (Linus's Blanket) has it in her stacks.

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Yesterday was library day for me.  I indulged in a bunch of mysteries and some YA novels that I've been reading about in the blog world.  This is the Library Loot for Friday:

The Grave Tattoo--Val McDermid
Death Echo--Elizabeth Lowell
Bury Your Dead--Louise Penny
Mortal Engines--Philip Reeve
Predator's Gold--Philip Reeve
The Hunchback Assignments--Arthur Slade






I read The Hunchback Assignments by Slade last night and enjoyed it! 

Still haven't finished reviewing books read during the last week, but I'm getting to them gradually.

Don't forget to check this post for the give away.

Black Friday and TBR Pile

Want to do a little shopping on Black Friday without leaving the house?  Visit The French Cupboard!

I've never experienced Black Friday except by watching the news or reading the paper.  Shopping in a crushing sea of people would be an unbearable experience for someone who dislikes crowds.

But shopping online?  Sounds like a good idea and many online shops are participating in BF sales from the comfort of your home.

I've finished Operation Mincemeat and will review soon.  It just happens to be one of those books that can send me scurrying to research names,events, and historical accounts. Fascinating if you are interested in WWII espionage; this work of nonfiction has so many real people who could inspire a dozen fictional novels. 

Because I haven't been reading as much lately, my TBR pile just keeps increasing.  I went ahead and started the latest Jacqueline Winspear last night because it is so hard to resist Maisie Dobbs. 

Also in progress, Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle, and I'm still moving through The Bard on the Brain:  Understanding the Mind Through the Art of Shakespeare and the Science of Brain Imaging , which has been disappointing.  Maybe I just haven't been in the mood for it, but it hasn't captured my attention as I'd hoped.


In the TBR pile (the ones that are really calling me):
 
A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Turner that I can't wait to begin.  I love her YA series and have thoroughly enjoyed the previous three novels.  I actually buy these instead of checking them out at the library because I want to have them for Mila (precious brown-eyed granddaughter) to read.

Class Collision: Fall from Grace by Annette Mackey which is set in the  Depression Era.

An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd.  Although I wasn't as impressed with the first Bess Crawford mystery as I'd hoped, I've loved the Ian Rutledge series over the years, and hope that Bess can eventually satisfy me.  It often takes a series a while to settle into a niche with plot, characters, pacing, and time period nicely intertwined.  So while A Duty to the Dead, the first Bess Crawford, didn't measure up to Ian Rutledge for me, I expect this one will work better.


The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer (not the same as the new film).  "Milo Weaver used to be a 'tourist' for the CIA..."   I think that line on the book jacket got my attention.  I was wondering about its connection to the new Johnny Depp film-- but two different stories, although both involve intrigue.

What are you reading?  What books are edging to the top of your TBR pile?

Eccentricities

Four eccentric figures in progress, a bit steam-punkish, a lot odd.  Appropriate.

I have gotten some of the books I ordered, but not all of them.  Still waiting on several.  Eagerly.  I love anticipating mail, and I've ordered a couple of things from Etsy, too, so it should be a good mail week!

Some of the books I've ordered are for me, but several are for the grandkids.  Maybe I should  begin reviewing children's books...I read enough of them.  Most of them, however, are the same ones over and over.  :)

 Have several  of Jon Muth's books on order, including Zen Ghosts, Zen Shorts, Zen Ties, and Three Questions (Based on a story by Leo Tolstoy).  My husband heard an NPR interview  with Jon Muth and called to tell me; he was so impressed, I ordered them immediately.

Aside from Ariel, the mermaid, and Richard Scarry books and Olivia, Bryce Eleanor loves A Dignity of Dragons: Collective Nouns for Magical Beasts.  Who can resist collective nouns like a dignity of dragons, a splash of mermaids, a grace of unicorns, a vengeance of harpies, a chord of sirens?  The illustrations are beautiful; it is an altogether charming book for children and adults.

I really am going to review some books later today.  Need to do that before I go to the library!

New Books and To Be Reviewed

 In the mail:

I won the copy of Commuters from Kay at My Random Acts of Reading!  Thanks, Kay! 

 Barnacle Love--"a father and son narrate a revelatory, if disjointed, story spanning two generations of Portuguese-Canadian immigrants."  Publishers Weekly


 Heart of Lies --  "Leo Hoffman was born with a gift for languages. When his dreams for the future are destroyed by World War I, the dashing young Hungarian attempts to use his rare talent to rebuild his life, only to find himself inadvertently embroiled in an international counterfeiting scheme. " Product Description.

New library books.

 I've finished The Dark Vineyard: a Mystery of the French Countryside by Martin Walker and am excited to have found a new author and a new series that I like.

Currently reading This Body of Death: An Inspector Lynley Novel by Elizabeth George.  Lynley is returning to work, having finished his walking tour of Cornwall.

Still trying to catch up on reviews.  Blah!  If I would only review the book immediately, it wouldn't become such a chore.

Left to review:

His Majesty's Dragon :)
61 Hours :)
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest :)
The Dark Vineyard :)
Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings :)

Second Half of the Year Has Begun

Finished the review of my last June book!

To be reviewed:

The Nobodies Album - Carolyn Parkhurst  (I liked both of these)
The Darkest Room - Johan Theorin

In progress:
The God of the Hive - Laurie R. King
Heresy - S.J. Parris

On deck: 
Walking to Gatlinburg - Howard Frank Mosher
Citizens of London: Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour - Lynne Olson (NF)
Echo Burning - Lee Child
Village of the Ghost Bears - Stan Jones
Hush - Kate White

Reading and on the Shelf

I'm still working on To Serve Them All Their Days (and loving it) and Haunted Bombay (and half a dozen others, that are on hold), but I have finished The Baker Street Letters and need to review it.

Between sewing and crafting and occasional blogging at Bayou Quilts, yoga classes (I've just begun teaching a class on Mon. & Wed., and I'm taking classes, too), and all the other details of life, keeping up with my reading has become difficult. Since I can't seem to live without books, I continue to persevere. :)

When I returned my last batch of books to the library, I told myself I wouldn't check out any more. Somehow, I still ended up coming home with these.Finished The Baker Street Letters and Haunted Bombay is in progress; the rest are on deck.

Dante's Numbers by David Hewson; a mystery about a film version of Dante's Inferno.

How to Buy a Love of Reading by Tanya Egan Gibson; adolescent girl doesn't like to read...how to her parents persuade her to change her attitude...

By Heresies Distressed by David Weber; third book in Weber's Safehold series.

Weather here is awful so it is a perfect day to catch up on blogging and reading.

In Progress and TBR

I'm back to reading God Is an Englishman by R.F. Delderfield (thanks to Sourcebooks, who sent me this ARC) and to my chagrin, I must apologize because it should have been reviewed in September, and I still haven't finished it. I can blame a lot of factors, but the fact remains -- it wasn't finished and reviewed in the agreed upon time. The sad part is that it an excellent book, and I had plenty of time to read it, but I waited and life interfered.


Sourcebooks also sent me a copy of To Serve Them All My Days, another Delderfield classic.





Although I don't remember any contact concerning this book, I received Marcel Proust's Search for Lost Time: A Reader's Guide to The Rembrance of Things Past by Patrick Alexander. Many of you have read at least one volume of Proust, but not I (slacker that I am); this may be just the thing for me, and I'm looking forward to it. This one is thanks to Random House.


From Pantheon, The Locust and the Bird by Hanan Al-Shayk, the story of her mother, a Lebanese woman who made some unorthodox decisions; the book is called both a tribute and a critique of a woman whose choices were controversial for the time and place. I like the sound of this one even if the cover doesn't appeal.


From Chandra Prasad, Breathe the Sky; Prasad is the author of On Borrowed Wings, which I reviewed some time ago. This novel is inspired by the life of Amelia Earhart, who has always been a bit of an icon in our family. Since my youngest daughter is named Amelia (she of the recent scare with meningitis, and who is now back to normal), we both have an interest in the exploits of Amelia Earhart.

These are on my TBR shelf along with several others. There are also a couple of reviews to finish up.

Animals, Animals, Animals

In a recent conversation, the topic of "animal books" came up. So many of us love a good story about a beloved animal even if, given the shorter life span of pets, there is also an element of sadness.

I'm reading The Art of Racing in the Rain, which is beautifully written and so moving, but I can read only a little at a time because so many emotions keep arising.

Enzo is a dog who feels he should be a man and fully expects another lifetime as a man with the gift of a manageable tongue for speech and opposable thumbs. He sees himself as training for his reincarnation, but truthfully, he is already far more human than most people. I could wish that Stein had included fewer elements of sadness and more of the joy, but there is so much to think about in this novel that although I resent having to put it aside frequently because of being so emotional, I simply must have more Enzo philosophy, more Enzo world vision, more Enzo. Remember Old Yeller, another wonderful, loving, and devoted dog? Just imagine the story told from Old Yeller's perspective. (Kailana mentioned in a previous comment that she liked this one, too.) I don't have much time for reading right now and can't read it for very long at a time, but I hope to finish it soon.

Of course, if you enjoy stories about animals in general, nothing beats James Herriot's books! All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, and All Things Wise and Wonderful are my all-time favorites in animal stories. A veterinarian in Yorkshire, Herriot's many books about his experiences are hilarious and moving. These remain some of my most beloved comfort reads; just thinking about some of his experiences, some of the animals and their owners, some of the events with Siegfried and Tristan make me smile.

I loved the three memoirs of Peter Gethers (televison and film script writer, editor, founder of Villard Books, editor-at-large for Random House, etc.) about his life with Norton, the Perfect Cat. The first one is The Cat Who Went to Paris, and all three of them are wonderful! Gethers' was a cat-hater until his life tangled up with Norton.




I still have Dewey, the Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World on my TBR list and there is another version specifically for children.





Somewhere I read about Gobbolino, the Witch's Cat by Ursula Moray Williams, first published in the 1940's and still a children's classic. Gobbolino, born into a witchy family, wants to be a hearth cat, a kitchen cat. Unfortunately, his reputation as a witch's cat follows him.... The book has been on my TBR list for a while; maybe I'll begin a Reading Trail on either animal books or children's books.



Diane Ackerman's The Moon by Whale Light is a delightful adventure. Ackerman's essays are a wonderfully poetic scientific look at penguins, bats, whales, and alligators and the importance of these creatures in nature. Great scientific story-telling and encouragement for conservation.


Robin, at A Fondness for Reading, has also contributed to my TBR list with her post about Irene Pepperberg's book Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence--and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process.

Ooops, out of time for this post and so many good books about animals unmentioned!

What are some of your favorite animal books --for children or adults, fiction or nonfiction?

This Week's Mail

I've finished The Three-Pound Enigma and am happily reading an excellent biography of Flannery O'Connor.

The last couple of days have seen the arrival of several new books: Two Guys Read Jane Austen which Nicole of Linus's Blanket kindly offered to send me when I said I was adding it to my TBR list. I sent her Wild Life in return.

Another "brain" book, Steven Pinker's How the Mind Works. Read about this one on Stefanie's So Many Books, and it was a perfect choice for my brain books so I ordered it. My Reading Trail on the brain is getting along slowly, but surely.

Two ARC's that look good: Atlas of Unknowns and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. I'm looking forward to both of these.

And my library book, Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor by Brad Gooch, which caught me up so quickly that I'm nearly half-way through.

Give-Away & TBR

I've received two ARC copies of The Lost Hours by Karen White in yesterday's mail. If you would like one, just leave a comment saying so on this post. I'll use the Random Number Generator for a drawing next Friday.

White is the author of The House on Tradd Street, which I have not read, but I remember having read some favorable blog reviews for it.

Received my Amazon order yesterday, too. Now I have some books for the Once Upon A Time Challenge III. I couldn't resist beginning The Thief by Megan Whaley Turner (because I don't have enough books in progress!) and am really enjoying it.

So... more books join the stacks (there are currently way too many already in those stacks).

Two for the Once Upon a Time: The Sharing Knife and TheThief from last year's lists (both are first books in a series); two new ARC copies of The Lost Hours (one for a give away); and one more "brain" book (How the Mind Works by Stephen Pinker via So Many Books).

Almost Caught Up

I've only two more books to review...unless I finish one of the ones in progress.

Currently still working on Yoga as Medicine and have begun The Three Pound Enigma: the Human Brain and the Quest to Unlock Its Mysteries, and The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club. I tried Knit Two by Kate Jacobs, but abandoned it for lack of interest; however, so far, I'm enjoying Beach Street.

I also received an ARC from Curtiss Ann Matlock: Chin Up, Honey which I'm eager to get to. Thanks, Curtiss Ann!

In the meantime, I'm busy adding to my TBR list:

This Is Your Brain on Music (via Robin, the Gentle Reader)

The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl (via Bybee)

Little Women and the Feminist Imagination (Bybee, again)

Despite my love for fantasy, I've only one book in my stacks that will fit Carl's Once Upon a Time III Challenge. The only two challenges I participate in any more are Carl's R.I.P Challenge and his Once Upon a Time Challenge. What better excuse to indulge my love of Gothic & the supernatural and fantasy & fairy tale! Library this week!

What else is going on? Gardening and sewing. What should be going on? Decluttering and organizing. Ah, well...

Painting, Reading, Adding to Lists

I've been busy the last few days painting the room that will be my new sewing and computer room. Painting completed yesterday , and now it time for the really difficult part--moving in.

I'm almost finished with the Jane Austen biography, but have 4-5 books going at the same time, so each one of them is going slowly. Well, except for Among the Mad by Winspear, which I dashed through because I couldn't wait to find out what Maisie Dobbs was up to!

In the meantime, even as I have wonderful books waiting in my stacks, the TBR list grows:

A Journey into Dorothy Parker's New York by Kevin Fitzpatrick (via Worducopia)

Waiting for Gertrude by Bill Richardson (via Framed)

The Help by Kathryn Stockett (via My Random Acts of Reading)

The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein (via Ramya's Bookshelf)

The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes (via Kim)

These join my long list of books that I want to read!

Now, must write the review of The Uncommon Reader and Among the Mad.

Book give-away post here.

Sometimes there is a surfeit of good books! So many great choices in the TBR stack that choosing becomes a dilemma.
Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear (Newest Maisie Dobbs adventure. Thanks, Danielle, can't wait to begin this one!)

The Four Corners of the Sky by Michael Malone (an ARC- have to wait to read this one as they want the review posted in May)

The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge (Interlibrary Loan - I couldn't resist reading the first chapter - amazing!)

Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge by B. Alan Wallace (another ILL and part of the Columbia Series on Science and Religion)

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett (ILL - and oops, this shouldn't have been in the stack because I read this little jewel the other night- need to review it)

Becoming Enlightened by the Dalai Lama (ARC - I've read a bit of this one, but I'm so inundated with great possibilities that I haven't gotten very far)

Drood by Dan Simmons (I'm 168 pages into this one, but have to admit that it is not really grabbing me)

Still in progress: Claire Tomlin's Jane Austen: A Life and Yoga as Medicine, both of which I'm really enjoying.

And a Give-Away - Leave a comment if you'd like a copy of My Lady of Cleves by Margaret Campbell Barnes. I'll draw a winner on Monday, March 9th.