2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Not a lofty, ambitious to-be-read list consisting of 100+ book titles. Just a simple plan for the upcoming week — what I’m reading now, what I plan to read next, and what I’m hoping to squeeze in among the nooks and crannies.

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

The Geography of You and Me Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet California

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith: Done! My review is here.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford: Done! My review is here.

California by Edan Lepucki: Done! I liked (but didn’t love) this very-hyped book. The ending seemed unfinished to me. Is there a sequel pending, or was it just supposed to be ominously open-ended? California was a quick and compelling read, but ultimately less satisfying than I’d hoped.

Fresh Catch:

I received this book for review, and I think it looks amazing!

Horrorstor: A Novel

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

The Museum of Extraordinary Things Big Little Lies

I’m having a hard time deciding what I really feel like reading this week. My immediate reading plans include:

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman: I actually started reading this one via ARC last week, but the formatting was so horrible that I had to quit. One library trip later, I’m ready to try again.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty: I lucked out and snagged a copy at the library!

The Far West (Frontier Magic, #3) And in children’s lit, I’m continued onward with The Far West, book #3 in Patricia C. Wrede’s Frontier Magic trilogy. The kiddo and I are both enjoying.

Ongoing book club reads:

The Scarlet Pimpernel A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander, #6)

With Outlander Book Club:

Classic Read: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy.

In-depth re-read and discussion: A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon: We’ll be reading and discussing two chapters per week starting September 2nd.

Want to join one or both of the group reads? Let me know and I’ll provide the links!

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

Happy reading!

17Aug2014

The Monday Agenda 8/18/2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

My reading this past week had a very structural focus — I had a house, a hotel, and a museum on my reading list!

Henna House Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet The Museum of Extraordinary Things

Henna House by Nomi Eve: Done! My review is here.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford: Done! I just finished this lovely book late on Sunday. Review to follow.

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman: Just getting started, still a long way to go!

The Far West (Frontier Magic, #3) My son and I read the first few chapters of The Far West, book #2 in Patricia C. Wrede’s Frontier Magic trilogy.

Fresh Catch:

No new books this week!

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

The Museum of Extraordinary Things The Geography of You and Me California

My immediate reading plans include:

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

California by Edan Lepucki

Pop-culture goodness:

Just eating up the new episodes of Outlander on TV! And absolutely thrilled that it’s been renewed for a 2nd season! Here’s the sneak peek at the next episode:

Ongoing book club reads:

The Scarlet Pimpernel A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander, #6)

With Outlander Book Club:

Classic Read (starting August 18th): The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy.

In-depth re-read and discussion: A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon: We’ll be reading and discussing two chapters per week starting September 2nd.

Want to join one or both of the group reads? Let me know and I’ll provide the links!

And in real life:

We celebrated my little guy’s 12th birthday this week! At his request, we spent his birthday on a whitewater rafting adventure. He was thrilled, and we all had a blast. My baby is growing up! I’ll just be a shamelessly bragging mom for a minute and say that I’m so proud of my kiddo and the person he’s becoming. (Now if only I could get him to read once in a while… )

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

Happy reading!

11Aug2014

The Monday Agenda 8/11/2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

Landline Just Like the Movies Since You've Been Gone

Landline by Rainbow Rowell: Done! My review is here.

Just Like the Movies by Kelly Fior: Done! My review is here.

Since You’ve Been Gone by Anouska Knight: Done! My review is here.

Across the Great Barrier (Frontier Magic, #2) The kiddo and I just finished up book #2 in Patricia C. Wrede’s Frontier Magic trilogy, and can’t wait to dive into #3!

Fresh Catch:

Two of my pre-orders arrived this week:

The Wraith Spike: Into The Light

Plus, two of my library holds came in as well:

The Geography of You and Me The Far West (Frontier Magic, #3)

And then there are the two books I picked up at the neighborhood used book store:

Songs of Willow Frost Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

Henna House Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet The Museum of Extraordinary Things

I haven’t quite decided on the reading order yet, but the next three books on my reading agenda will be:

Henna House by Nomi Eve

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

Pop-culture goodness:

Have I mentioned that I’m one of the moderators over at Outlander Book Club? Maybe one or two or five hundred times?? We were absolutely thrilled this week to see that the newest issue of Entertainment Weekly includes a two-page spread about how to go on an Outlander binge — and guess who’s listed (in ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY!!) as one of the fansites?

You could probably hear me hyperventilating from clear across the country.

Upcoming book club reads:

I have a few book club picks coming up:

Fields & Fantasies:

Join us for a discussion of The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman at the end of August. You can read more about Fields & Fantasies here.

Outlander Book Club:

All are welcome to join in for any of the upcoming group reads at OBC:

Classics read: OBC will be reading and discussing The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emma Orczy (one chapter per week) starting August 18th.

Book of the Month: The August BOTM pick is The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. Discussion opens August 20th.

A Breath of Snow and Ashes re-read: We’ll be reading and discussing two chapters per week starting September 2nd.

Want to join in the fun for any of the group reads? Let me know and I’ll provide the links!

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

Happy reading!

4Aug2014

The Monday Agenda 8/4/2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy, #3) 6990472 Where She Went (If I Stay, #2)

I finally finished The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness! It felt like I was reading it forever. My review is here.

I read both If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman, and loved them both. If there was any doubt (and there really wasn’t), it’s now official: I’ll happily read anything and everything that Gayle Forman decides to write!

Fresh Catch:

One new addition to my shelves this week:

The Unwritten, Vol. 9: The Unwritten Fables

It’s a Fables/Unwritten cross-over! I haven’t started the Unwritten series yet, but I do love everything related to Fables. It’s clear to me that I need a good week or two of undiluted graphic novel time!

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

Landline Just Like the Movies Since You've Been Gone

After staring at it longingly from across the room for a few weeks, it’s finally time to read Landline by Rainbow Rowell. I’ve read about half so far — and like every other Rainbow Rowell book, it’s terrific.

Once I finish Landline, I think I’d better try to catch up on my backlog of ARCs. I intend to read Just Like the Movies by Kelly Fiore and Since You’ve Been Gone (don’t you love that cover?) by Anouska Knight, for starters.

Pop-culture goodness:

I had a blissfully fangirlish day this past week. On Wednesday, I took a day off work and headed downtown to a wonderful book signing/reading by Deborah Harkness. She was funny, smart (of course), gracious, and so friendly toward us all. What a pleasure!

From there, I hopped in my car and drove about an hour to get to the theater showing a preview screening of the first episode of Outlander. Arriving early, I had a great time hanging out with other fans for a couple of hours. The screening itself? What can I say? It was everything I’d hoped for. Amazing cast, beautiful settings, fantastic production… and so true to the book! Simply beautiful.

The first episode is available as a free preview via http://www.starz.com!

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

Happy reading!

28Jul2014

The Monday Agenda 7/28/2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy, #3)

I am STILL reading The Book of Life, and getting frustrated by how long it’s taking me. Granted, I’ve had a crazy week with little to no reading time, but still. Argh. I did make the executive decision not to re-read Shadow of Night after all — thanks to a good, thorough synopsis via a wiki site, I managed to get myself up to speed enough to be able to enjoy The Book of Life and not get completely lost!

Fresh Catch:

Once again… no new books! I think I still have one or two in my house to read. Or a dozen or so. At the very least.

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy, #3) Landline 6990472

Well, obviously, it’s all about The Book of Life right now. Deborah Harkness is doing an appearance at a local bookstore this week, and my goal is to have finished the book by the time I get in the signing line!

As soon as I finish The Book of Life, I’ll be starting Landline by Rainbow Rowell — which has been calling my name for a couple of weeks now…

… although I do also want to read If I Stay by Gayle Forman before the movie comes out!

Pop-culture goodness:

The big day is coming:

… and Starz has just released the opening credits sequence for Outlander, which left me absolutely teary-eyed and speechless. Check out how beautiful this is!

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

Happy reading!

21Jul2014

The Monday Agenda 7/21/2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

The Curiosity The Fever The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy, #3)

The Curiosity by Stephen P. Kiernan: Done! Check out my review and blog tour post from earlier today.

The Fever by Megan Abbott: Done! The Fever is the first book to be featured in the new Fields & Fantasies Book Club, co-hosted by yours truly and Diana of Strahbary’s Fields. Watch for our posts on July 31st!

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness: Just getting started… and realizing, after about 70 pages, that I really should have re-read the previous books first.

Fresh Catch:

I wasn’t going to pick up any new books this week… except I had a Groupon for a local used bookstore burning a hole in my pocket… so I came home with a bagful of books, including some Stephen King, Agatha Christie, and more! All sorts of goodies to dive into… eventually.

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy, #2) The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy, #3) Landline

I’m forcing myself to slow down and back up — which means that I’m putting on the brakes and re-reading Shadow of Night before continuing with The Book of Life. Even though I’m impatient at the thought of taking this approach, I know that I’ll enjoy the end of the trilogy more this way.

In any case, I’m hoping to move quickly through Shadow of Night so I can also start The Book of Life this week. Wish me luck!

And if I need a little break from the world of vampires and witches, I can always switch over to Landline by Rainbow Rowell.

Pop-culture goodness:

In preparation for…

… I finally started my Starz subscription… and have become obsessed with Black Sails. I watched all eight episodes of season 1 in the last few days. Avast, me hardies! Give me more pirates!

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

Happy reading!

14Jul2014

The Monday Agenda 7/14/2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Happy Blogoversary to Me!

Somehow or another, I totally lost track of the fact that I’ve been blogging away for two whole years now! Today is the official anniversary of my very first blog post. Wow, how time flies! I decided not to do a big post about it, but just to smile, read some of my older pieces, and enjoy the idea that I’m still having fun as a blogger! And reading some really awesome books along the way.

Back to the Monday Agenda post:

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

Skin Game (The Dresden Files, #15) Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands The Curiosity

Skin Game by Jim Butcher: Finished reading last week, but wrote a review this week. Check it out here. (And now I sadly face the fact that it’ll be another year before I get to read more Dresden!)

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian: Done! My review is here.

The Curiosity by Stephen P. Kiernan: Reading now, about 1/3 left to go. Next week, I’ll be participating in the blog tour for this book’s paperback release, so be sure to check back for my post!

Fresh Catch:

I was delighted to receive my copy of this new release — although I might not have time to read it for another week or two:

Landline

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

The Fever The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy, #3)

First up is The Fever by Megan Abbott, the July pick for the brand new Fields & Fantasies Book Club!

And then I need to clear the decks, because book #3 in Deborah Harkness’s All Souls trilogy arrives! I’m hoping that I actually remember enough of the first two books to enjoy the 3rd without requiring a rereading marathon.

Pop-culture goodness:

How’s everyone’s summer entertainment going so far? I’m loving the new season of Defiance on Syfy, have enjoyed watching Vicious on PBS, and I have to give The Leftovers a try as well. I haven’t seen many summer movies so far, but I did just see The Fault in Our Stars over the weekend, and damn — it made me cry, even though I was sure I’d remain dry-eyed since I already knew what would happen from reading the book. Nope. Waterworks. Very good adaptation — I’m glad I finally got a chance to see it.

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

Happy reading!

7Jul2014

The Monday Agenda 7/7/2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Life:

Busy, busy week… thus, not much reading or reviewing! We had relatives visiting for most of the week, which was delightful. Plus, 4th of July celebrations! And my little guy (who’s not so little) left for three weeks of summer camp yesterday, which meant that I spent a good chunk of the weekend ironing name tags into clothes. (If you’ve ever gone to summer camp, you’ll understand!)

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

Skin Game (The Dresden Files, #15) Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands

Skin Game by Jim Butcher: Done! Another excellent entry in the Dresden Files series. Review to follow.

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian: Just started.

Fresh Catch:

No new books this week!

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands Landline The Awakening of Miss Prim: A Novel

I’ll be continuing with Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands (of course).

The new Rainbow Rowell book arrives this week! I’m really looking forward to reading Landline.

And if there’s time, I’ll be starting The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalie Sanmartin Fenollera.

Meanwhile, I really need to clear some space in my reading life for new week’s big release, The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness. Finally, book 3 in the All Souls Trilogy!

Across the Great Barrier (Frontier Magic, #2) The kiddo and I are still enjoying Across the Great Barrier by Patricia C. Wrede — although it’s now on hold for a few weeks, until he gets back from camp.

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

Happy reading!

30Jun2014

The Monday Agenda 6/30/2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Life:

Diana Gabaldon. Me. A signed first edition of Written in My Own Heart’s Blood. Happiness!

I went to Phoenix for a day! I missed Diana Gabaldon when she came to my town earlier this month, so I flew to Phoenix (may the gods bless the inventor of airline mileage!) to catch her appearance there. And it was awesome. I’ll write more about it sometime soon, I swear!

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

Goodnight June One Plus One

Goodnight June by Sarah Jio: Done! My review is here.

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes: Done! My review is here.

Fresh Catch:

A couple of library books and a couple of review books came my way this week:

Skin Game (The Dresden Files, #15) Trains and Lovers Prototype (Archetype #2) World of Trouble (The Last Policeman, #3)

Elsewhere on the blog:

Following up on my Give Me Liberty post… I’m enjoying my less-pressure approach to blogging! I notice that my stats are a bit lower, but that’s okay. Less stress = more happiness!

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

Skin Game (The Dresden Files, #15) Mr. Mercedes Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands

Skin Game by Jim Butcher. Welcome back, Harry Dresden!

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

If by some miracle I have time to start a 3rd book, it’ll be Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian.

Across the Great Barrier (Frontier Magic, #2) And in the world of reading with my kiddo, we’re enjoying Across the Great Barrier by Patricia C. Wrede.

So many book, so little time…

shelf2cropped
That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

Happy reading!

23Jun2014

The Monday Agenda 6/23/2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Life:

I’m back! I had a wonderful few weeks on vacation with my family… and kinda appreciate my forced break from blogging, to be honest. Not that I’m not ready to dive back in — but it was nice not to have deadlines or commitments to think about. I relaxed, I hung out with the kiddo and the rest of the gang, and I read whatever I felt like reading, whenever I felt like it. Now that’s a vacation!

Thank you to my friendly readers who stuck with me while I was away! Now that I’m back, I’ll be picking up where I left off…

How did I do with my vacation reading agenda?

Here’s what I read while I was away:

The Girl with All the Gifts Empire Girls Rebecca

The Girl With All The Gifts by M. R. Carey: My review is here.

Empire Girls by Suzanne Hayes and Loretta Nyhan: My review is here.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: I’m so glad I decided to re-read Rebecca, about 20 or so years since I first read it! Amazing how little I actually remembered about the plot… I’ll be featuring Rebecca in an upcoming Flashback Friday post, so stay tuned!

Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede: My son and I finished this one during our trip, and despite a few hesitations (mostly on my part), enjoyed it enough to want to read more of the series. My thoughts on this book are here.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson: I’ve had this book on my shelf for ages, and finally read it… and felt kind of meh about it. Maybe I wasn’t in the right mood to appreciate it or my timing was just off. While I recognize the artistry of the writing, it just wasn’t scary. Maybe I’ve become too jaded by more modern horror novels? I’m glad I read it, but I didn’t come away from it feeling like I’d read a masterpiece.

Finally, the centerpiece of my vacation reading:

I had to balance spending time with family with my need to obsessively read Written in My Own Heart’s Blood every possible second. Maybe not the best course of action during a family vacation, but after waiting for this book for years, there was simply no way I wasn’t going to read it as soon as the download arrived on my Kindle. Short review? Loved it. I’m sure I’ll be writing more about this book in the coming week or two. Bottom line: If you’re an Outlander fan, you’ll love every moment.

Fresh Catch:

I may have been away from home, but that doesn’t mean that the new books stopped coming! A few of my preorders and other books arrived while I was away:

Mr. Mercedes Fairest, Vol. 3: The Return of the Maharaja (Fairest, #3) The Undertaking of Lily Chen Rivers of London (Peter Grant, #1)

Also this week, I treated myself to this:

That would be Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon, in Hebrew, faithfully guarded by Pocket Jamie.

Elsewhere on the blog:

I wrote a mini-manifesto (“Give Me Liberty!”) on my need to read whatever I feel like and cut back on obligations. Check it out here.

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

I’m having a bit of a book hangover after finishing Written In My Own Heart’s Blood, and I’m seriously tempted to just start it again from the beginning. Still, there’s so much else to read, and here’s what’s next on my agenda:

Goodnight June One Plus One Mr. Mercedes

Goodnight June by Sarah Jio: I’ve read about a third so far. Gotta love a book set at a bookstore!

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

Across the Great Barrier (Frontier Magic, #2) And in the world of reading with my kiddo, we’ve just begun book 2 in Patricia C. Wrede’s Frontier Magic series, Across the Great Barrier.

So many book, so little time…

shelf2cropped
That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

Happy reading!