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?

Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss, #3) Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles, #1) Night of a Thousand Stars

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins: Done! My review is here.

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede: My son and I have started a co-read of this four-book series (the Enchanted Forest Chronicles), and so far, we’re (sorry) enchanted. A strong, smart princess who prefers to find her own way rather than being rescued or married off to a handsome prince? Yes, please! We finished book #1 this past week, and we’re plowing right ahead with the rest of the series.

Night of a Thousand Stars by Deanna Raybourn: Just finished! I’ll be posting a review on October 21st, as part of the blog tour for this book.

Fresh Catch:

More library books! Is it crazy to complain that my holds are arriving too quickly?

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

October is the perfect time to focus on horror:

Brood

Horns by Joe Hill: The October pick for Fields & Fantasies Book Club!

Brood by Chase Novak — the sequel to the super-creepy Breed!

And in non-horror reading, I think it’s about time that I finally make a dent in my graphic novel to-read pile, starting with volume 1 of The Unwritten by Mike Carey. Maybe instead of trying to find time to plow through a whole series, I should just make time for one volume per week…

Life and family:

Heading out of town this coming weekend… so there may or may not be a Monday Agenda post next week. Meanwhile, I’m busy pondering the oh-so-important question: What books should I pack for my trip?

Ongoing reads:

One with the kiddo:

Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede: We’ve just started book #2 in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles.

And two book club picks:

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Classic read: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy.

A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander, #6) A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon: Reading and discussing two chapters per week, from now through the end of 2015!

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!

8Oct2014

Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday: We Are Pirates

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

There’s nothing like a Wednesday for thinking about the books we want to read! My Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday post is linking up with two fabulous book memes, Wishlist Wednesday (hosted by Pen to Paper) and Waiting on Wednesday (hosted by Breaking the Spine).

This week’s pick:

We Are Pirates by Daniel Handler
(to be released February 3, 2015)

Mega-bestselling author Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) gives us his long-awaited and most ambitious novel yet: a dark, rollicking, stunningly entertaining human comedy.

A boat has gone missing. Goods have been stolen. There is blood in the water. It is the twenty-first century and a crew of pirates is terrorizing the San Francisco Bay.

Phil is a husband, a father, a struggling radio producer, and the owner of a large condo with a view of the water. But he’d like to be a rebel and a fortune hunter.

Gwen is his daughter. She’s fourteen. She’s a student, a swimmer, and a best friend. But she’d like to be an adventurer and an outlaw.

Phil teams up with his young, attractive assistant. They head for the open road, attending a conference to seal a deal.

Gwen teams up with a new, fierce friend and some restless souls. They head for the open sea, stealing a boat to hunt for treasure.

We Are Pirates is a novel about our desperate searches for happiness and freedom, about our wild journeys beyond the boundaries of our ordinary lives.

Also, it’s about a teenage girl who pulls together a ragtag crew to commit mayhem in the San Francisco Bay, while her hapless father tries to get her home.

Pirates! Daniel Handler! San Francisco! All around, I’d say this book is just full of awesome.

What are you wishing for this Wednesday?

Looking for some bookish fun on Thursdays? Come join me for my regular weekly feature, Thursday Quotables. You can find out more here — come play!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Do you host a book blog meme? Do you participate in a meme that you really, really love? I’m building a Book Blog Meme Directory, and need your help! If you know of a great meme to include — or if you host one yourself — please drop me a note on my Contact page and I’ll be sure to add your info!

6Oct2014

The Monday Agenda 10/6/2014

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

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

Season of Storms Prototype (Archetype #2) Lies We Tell Ourselves

Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley: Although I finished reading this book last week, I didn’t manage to post a review until a few days ago. Check it out here.

Prototype by M. D. Waters: Done! My review is here.

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley: Done! My review is here.

Fresh Catch:

Our local library’s Big Book Sale was last week, and here’s what I came home with:

Not too shabby, right? What could be better than supporting a good cause AND getting armfuls of new books?

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

Mixing things up this week… my agenda includes contemporary YA, historical romance, and horror!

Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss, #3) Night of a Thousand Stars Brood

I’m looking forward to reading:

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Night of a Thousand Stars by Deanna Raybourn

Brood by Chase Novak

Pop culture goodness:

Still pouting over having to wait until April…

Ongoing reads:

One with the kiddo:

Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles, #1)

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

And two book club picks:

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Classic read: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy.

A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander, #6) A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon: Reading and discussing two chapters per week, from now through the end of 2015!

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!

29Sep2014

The Monday Agenda 9/29/2014

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

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

Season of Storms Archetype Prototype (Archetype #2)

Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley: Done! Review to follow.

I did a re-read of Archetype by M. D. Waters, and I’m so glad I did! I enjoyed it every bit as much the 2nd time around (you can read my original review of Archetype here), and re-reading was a perfect lead-in to starting the sequel, Prototype.

Fresh Catch:

The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Ship That Sank Twice

I’m so excited to have received an ARC of Us by David Nicholls! I’ll be participating in a blog tour for this book in early November.

My other new arrival: The latest Unwritten release… despite the fact that I haven’t read any of the volumes already on my shelves. Soon…

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

Prototype (Archetype #2) Lies We Tell Ourselves 100 Sideways Miles

I’m about half-way through Prototype by M. D. Waters, and if only I didn’t have to sleep, work, and interact with my family, I’d finish it today!

Coming up next:

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith

Pop culture goodness:

It’s hard to believe we’ve reached the mid-season finale of Outlander already! What an amazing experience it’s been watching the book I love come to life through such a creative and devoted production. And now, we wait…

Ongoing reads:

One with the kiddo:

Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles, #1)

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

And two book club picks:

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Classic read: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy.

A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander, #6) A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon: Reading and discussing two chapters per week, from now through the end of 2015!

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!

24Sep2014

Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday: Beastkeeper

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

My most wished-for book this week is:

Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen
(to be released February 3, 2015)

Sarah has always been on the move. Her mother hates the cold, so every few months her parents pack their bags and drag her off after the sun. She’s grown up lonely and longing for magic. She doesn’t know that it’s magic her parents are running from.

When Sarah’s mother walks out on their family, all the strange old magic they have tried to hide from comes rising into their mundane world. Her father begins to change into something wild and beastly, but before his transformation is complete, he takes Sarah to her grandparents—people she has never met, didn’t even know were still alive.

Deep in the forest, in a crumbling ruin of a castle, Sarah begins to untangle the layers of curses affecting her family bloodlines, until she discovers that the curse has carried over to her, too. The day she falls in love for the first time, Sarah will transform into a beast . . . unless she can figure out a way to break the curse forever.

I haven’t picked a YA book or a fairy tale retelling for a while… so I guess it’s time! I like the sound of this one quite a bit, and that amazing cover is what grabbed me in the first place.

What are you wishing for this Wednesday?

Looking for some bookish fun on Thursdays? Come join me for my regular weekly feature, Thursday Quotables. You can find out more here — come play!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

22Sep2014

The Monday Agenda 9/22/2014

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

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

The Moment of Everything Horrorstor: A Novel

The Moment of Everything by Shelly King: Done! My review is here.

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix: Done! My review is here.

Fresh Catch:

Look what came this week!

The Infinite Sea (The Fifth Wave #2)

Of course, I need to re-read The 5th Wave before I’ll be ready to dive in… but still, I’m so excited that it’s here!

Also new this week, thanks to my wonderful neighborhood library branch:

Winger (Winger, #1) 100 Sideways Miles

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

Season of Storms Prototype (Archetype #2)

Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley: I’m about 1/3 of the way into this one. Susanna Kearsley never disappoints.

I’m so excited to start Prototype by M. D. Waters, although I think I need to take a quick read back through Archetype first so the details will be fresh in my mind.

I have a mini-trip coming up at the end of the week and haven’t quite settled on my airplane reading yet. So many choices!

Ongoing reads:

One with the kiddo:

Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles, #1)

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

And two book club picks:

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Classic read: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy.

A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander, #6) A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon: Reading and discussing two chapters per week, from now through the end of 2015!

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!

16Sep2014

Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday: The Magician’s Lie

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

My most wished-for book this week is:

The Magician’s Lie by Greer Macallister
(to be released January 13, 2015)

Water for Elephants meets The Night Circus in The Magician’s Lie, a debut novel in which the country’s most notorious female illusionist stands accused of her husband’s murder –and she has only one night to convince a small-town policeman of her innocence.

The Amazing Arden is the most famous female illusionist of her day, renowned for her notorious trick of sawing a man in half on stage. One night in Waterloo, Iowa, with young policeman Virgil Holt watching from the audience, she swaps her trademark saw for a fire ax. Is it a new version of the illusion, or an all-too-real murder? When Arden’s husband is found lifeless beneath the stage later that night, the answer seems clear.

But when Virgil happens upon the fleeing magician and takes her into custody, she has a very different story to tell. Even handcuffed and alone, Arden is far from powerless—and what she reveals is as unbelievable as it is spellbinding. Over the course of one eerie night, Virgil must decide whether to turn Arden in or set her free… and it will take all he has to see through the smoke and mirrors.

I don’t usually like stories about magicians (it’s a thing…), but I like the sound of this one!

What are you wishing for this Wednesday?

Looking for some bookish fun on Thursdays? Come join me for my regular weekly feature, Thursday Quotables. You can find out more here — come play!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

15Sep2014

The Monday Agenda 9/15/2014

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

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson Annihilation (Southern Reach Trilogy, #1)

The Far West (Frontier Magic, #3) Sway

Shifting Shadows by Patricia Briggs: Done! My review is here.

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer: Finished, barely. Weird and creepy — which I usually like — this one just didn’t work for me. I had to force myself to finish, and I’ll admit that I resorted to skimming for the last 40 pages or so. I won’t be reading the other two books in the trilogy.

The Far West by Patricia C. Wrede: Done! I wrote a wrap-up piece about the Frontier Magic trilogy; you can read it here.

Sway by Kat Spears: Done! My review is here.

Fresh Catch:

One new book this week:

A Little Something Different

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

One that looks like total quirky fun:

Horrorstor: A Novel

Plus two more that seem like great escapist fiction:

The Moment of Everything Season of Storms

I’m not sure in what order I’ll feel like reading all of these, but as of now, these are the ones on the top of the pile!

Oh, and the kiddo and I need to figure out what to read next.

Ongoing book club reads:

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Classic read: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy.

A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander, #6) A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon: Reading and discussing two chapters per week, from now through the end of 2015!

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!

10Sep2014

Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday: 100 Sideways Miles

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

My most wished-for book this week is:

100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith
(released September 2, 2014)

Finn Easton sees the world through miles instead of minutes. It’s how he makes sense of the world, and how he tries to convince himself that he’s a real boy and not just a character in his father’s bestselling cult-classic book. Finn has two things going for him: his best friend, the possibly-insane-but-definitely-excellent Cade Hernandez, and Julia Bishop, the first girl he’s ever loved.

Then Julia moves away, and Finn is heartbroken. Feeling restless and trapped in the book, Finn embarks on a road trip with Cade to visit their college of choice in Oklahoma. When an unexpected accident happens and the boys become unlikely heroes, they take an eye-opening detour away from everything they thought they had planned—and learn how to write their own destiny.

I really loved Andrew Smith’s Grasshopper Jungle, and this new release sounds off-beat enough to make me want to read it.

What are you wishing for this Wednesday?

Looking for some bookish fun on Thursdays? Come join me for my regular weekly feature, Thursday Quotables. You can find out more here — come play!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

8Sep2014

The Monday Agenda 9/8/2014

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

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

The Museum of Extraordinary Things Big Little Lies Fables, Vol. 20: Camelot (Fables, #20)

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman: I posted my Fields & Fantasies book club feature this past week — check it out here.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty: Done! My review is here.

Fables, volume 20: Camelot: Done! I love the Fables series so, so much, and the latest volume definitely does not disappoint. Want to know more about Fables? Check out my recent post, all about why you need to be reading this amazing series.

Fresh Catch:

The newest Susanna Kearsley book (actually, a reissue of an older novel) was released this week!

Season of Storms

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

Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson Annihilation (Southern Reach Trilogy, #1) Sway

Shifting Shadows by Patricia Briggs: I’m about halfway through this collection of stories from the world of Mercy Thompson.

Next up:

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer (book 1 in the Southern Reach trilogy)

Sway by Kat Spears

The Far West (Frontier Magic, #3) Only a few chapters left in The Far West, book #3 in Patricia C. Wrede’s Frontier Magic trilogy. The kiddo and I should be finishing up this week.

Pop culture goodness:

Outlander is just killing it, week after week. Brilliant production by Starz! Next week’s episode, “The Garrison Commander”, looks frighteningly intense:

And in other TV updates — I’m a little scared for the season premiere of Sons of Anarchy this week. I don’t know if I’m ready for the brutal violence that just has to be in store for the final season.

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: Now underway, and so much fun!

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!