Of Interest

Hey guys! Jamie here! Thought it would be fun to give you a quickie rundown of what's going on that may be of interest to you.

• Panels discusses how to read comics on a budget which is a topic I've been mulling over as I've just gotten into comics over the past couple months. For right now I'm just getting trades from the library but I know I'm going to want to purchase some single issues especially with some new comics I'm eye-ing up right now or ones I plan to catch up with.

• Amazon plans to open up brick and mortar shops. INNNNTERESTING. I mean, I shop all over the place -- indies, chains and online with Amazon -- but I just feel weird about this considering Amazon killed so many indies. How do youuuu feel about this

• 100 books to read before they are movies. Get crackin' on these!  

• I'm so impressed with this little girl and inspired by her honestly.  Love her #1000BlackGirlBooks project!!

• McDonalds is going to experiment with putting books as the happy meal prize? Not that my mom really took us there that much as kids but DAMN I would have loved this so much more than half the crap I got in Happy meals back in the 80's and early 90's. Not a big fast food fan but I'm interested to see how this will be received!

• There is a children's book about Donald Trump's hair. BAHAHAHAH. 

• Author Marissa Meyers (love her Lunar Chronicles series from the two books I've read thus far) is writing graphic novels set in the same world as The Lunar Chronicles!!! 

• Leonardo DiCaprio is set to produce an adaptation of a post-apocalyptic book I've never heard of....and that has zero info on Goodreads. Throw me a bone here.

• Interesting survey about publishing. And the results are in....publishing is very white. Surprising and shocking to probably not many people who are paying attention to the diversity in publishing convo happening online.

•  15 Life Lessons Anne of Green Gables Has Taught Us --- oh this list makes me want to revisit these books!!

• If the Hot Dudes Reading instagram makes you drool, prepare your fainting couch  because it's coming to you in coffee table book form. You think my husband would think it's weird if this ends up on our coffee table? Ehhh he probably wouldn't even notice it because he's numb to books laying around everywhere that he just ignores them.  

Let's discuss all the things. Also, am I missing anything of interest??

Top Ten Historical Settings We Love

For future Top Ten Tuesday topics & info on how to participate, click here!

This week's prompt: Top Ten Historical Settings You Love / Top Ten Historical Settings You'd Love To See or Top Ten Futuristic Books You Love/Ten Futuristic Societies I'd Love To Read in Books --- basically this week is all about the past or the future....spin it however you choose!

Jamie's Picks

1 -- Old West: I have memories of watching Westerns with my grandfather as well as with my "Uncle" Bobby (RIP -- this man was the husband of my old babysitter/family friend and we adored him).  Such good memories. But out of all the historical stuff I read, I never read stuff set during this time. I've been loving the Wild West/American Frontier settings as of lately! Just gimme the Oregon Trail and Gold Rush stuff!

2 -- WWII France, Germany and England: I can't help it. I will never tired of this setting. I just won't... ever. They are often hard to read, but I've read some of my favorite historical books ever in this setting. I've always loved history and my stepdad and I would often watch lots of WWII docs on the History Channel (when it was, like, still the History Channel full of history stuff).

3 -- Tudor England: I just... can't get enough. Honestly. Esp Henry VIII court.

4 -- Civil Rights Era in U.S.: I think this period interests me because it's still so present in our society today. It's not that far removed... our parents and grandparents saw it. There's still generations who lived through it in our society. We can see the effects today and are largely still working on racial issues in today's society so I've just always been interested in it and inspired by people who sacrificed so much for rights I've just been born with and never had to fight for. I remember learning about this time in school and thinking, "Man, I can't believe this stuff happened not that long ago. Weren't we more evolved as a people than to treat people like that?" And while progress has been made because of this era, it's more evident than ever that this is still a dire issue in our country.

Lauren's Picks

5 -- When Egypt Ruled The World: I can't stop reading every single historical fiction book set during... well, any time in Egypt. Every single ruler or person of note has a rich background full of Egyptian culture that seizes my soul. Must Reads: Cleopatra's Daughter, The Heretic Queen, Nefertiti, Lily of the Nile, Cleopatra: A Life

6 -- India: This country's culture and society is so full of color and AMAZINGNESS that I am in awe every time I finish a book set in India. You will be too. Must Read: Rebel Queen, The God of Small Things, A Fine Balance, The White Tiger

7 -- Hawaii: This state has seen it's fair share of tragedy and loss, and sadly... many people don't realize it. When someone says, "Hawaii," people automatically think... vacation! I think of the suffering and obstacles so many had to overcome there in the past. It is truly an amazing and determined state that has now become one of the best places to vacation. Must Read: Moloka'i, Honolulu

8 -- Ancient Greece: Besides the obvious... GREEK MYTHOLOGY IS LIFE... other cultural aspects of this time period spark my imagination and I tend to pick up any book set in ancient Greece. Must Read: Sirena, The Iliad, Last of the Amazons, Gates of Fire, Helen of Sparta, Flow Down Like Silver

9 -- Medieval: Who doesn't want to know about those crazy ass torture devices and what was knocking around in these peoples' minds regarding well... just staying alive? Must Read: Pope Joan, The Midwife's Apprentice, Incarceren, A Game of Thrones

10 -- Italy/Renaissance: So much happened. So many beautiful things were created. How can you not want to know more? Must Read: The Birth of Venus, In the Company of the Courtesan, The City of Falling Angels, Juliet, The Monster of Florence 

Broke and Bookish Book Haul for 1/17 - 1/30

Daisy's Book Haul

Bought:
-Night Study by Maria V. Snyder: I'm starting this book next, because holy wow I totally need to know what happens next!! So much love for Maria V. Snyder and particularly her books about Yelena!
-Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton: I've heard many amazing things about this so I'm excited to start it soonish :)
-My American Duchess by Eloisa James: Eloisa James knows how to write historical romance, I am always down for one of her books!
-Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner: So I LOVED the first book in this series and I really need to catch up and read this last one, cause the beauties are just sitting on my shelf.
-The Godless by Ben Peek: I think this book came up on my radar because one of my friends added it on Goodreads, turned out to be a total bargain on Amazon, so I ordered it :)
-The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman: because always YES to a new release by Alison Goodman!
-Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandeira: this sounds UBER CUTE! So I need it. NOW.
-The Chocolate Thief by Laura Florand: I've heard good things about this and then the price dropped a LOT on Amazon and I just clicked order.

Bridget Reviews THE PASSENGER by Lisa Lutz

The Passenger - Lisa Lutz
Published: March 1, 2016 (upcoming) by Simon & Schuster
Source: ARC
Rating: 4 Stars

When Tanya Dubois discovers her husband dead on the floor of their home, she doesn’t cry, doesn’t call the police, and doesn’t stick around. 48 hours later, she’s in a new town with a new name, new IDs, new hair color. And this isn’t the first time.

But then she meets Blue, who looks almost as hunted as Tanya feels. After committing the unthinkable, the two women form an uneasy alliance—but Tanya can’t help but wonder about Blue’s motives…

When I first picked this up, I definitely anticipated a “Catch Me If You Can” spy-type novel. The Passenger is not that; instead, it’s the story of an average woman, like you or me, trapped by impossible circumstances into running for her life. She’s been running for a decade, and now it’s all she knows.

Naturally, you don’t find out the full story—why Tanya is running—until the end. You can pick up bits and pieces along the way, though, and by the time I got the entire story, the only things I hadn’t pretty much figured out were the details. I don’t mean to say it was predictable, necessarily; the hints and vague exposition seemed pretty deliberate, and I enjoyed being able to slowly put the pieces together rather than getting to the end and needing it spelled out for me (which happens more than I would like to admit!).

The prose is spare, but it gets the job done, and drives home the point that Tanya—or Sonia, or Emma, or Amelia, or whatever name she’s currently going by—is focused entirely on doing what it takes to survive. There’s no time for long winded, flowery descriptions of her surroundings or her emotions when her money is running out and she needs to find shelter. Tanya keeps her readers at arms length (which, when you find out her history, is more than understandable).

In some ways, this style was refreshing: it told me everything I needed to know without going into unnecessary or confusing detail. It was very straightforward, which I can definitely appreciate. On the other hand, I live in the details; I like intimate stories, and I often have little patience for narrators keeping me at arms length. In some spots, it also almost felt like an outline of a story, as if Lutz was writing brief storyline notes and planned to go back and fill them in later. This didn’t happen often, but when several days or a week passed in the span of a page, it did take me out of the experience a little bit.

The truly important thing to know about this book is that it took me a mere five hours to read, so if you’re looking for something that’s going to grab you and not let go, The Passenger is it!

Lori Talks The Biggest Book Purge of All

I've written numerous times in the past about being completely overwhelmed by the number of books I own.  I've written about doing book purges in the past.  And I've written about doing the KonMari method of clearing out crap.  I got rid of a good 300 books the first go around.  I had so much crap that I actually did the KonMari method a second time to get rid of even more.  Except the second time sort of failed because I still haven't taken the stuff to a place to actually get rid of it...But I won't focus on that.  The stuff has been separated from the main part of my stuff, which is the goal, and when I finally do dispose of the stuff, I will be rid of another 50 plus books.

Anyway, the title of the post is "Biggest Book Purge of All."  I've mentioned getting rid of a good 350 books, which is pretty extreme, so how could I get rid of even more?  I moved.

When I moved back in November, I made the conscious decision to limit the amount of stuff I brought so that I could streamline my life.  I've followed an internet friend's decision of limiting her wardrobe to mostly black, white, and gray because it all goes together and totally streamlines my mornings.  I decided to not bring a bunch of kitchen gadgets because I don't have much time to cook and I hate having a lot of items I rarely, if ever, use just lying around.  We don't keep a ton of food in our fridge or cabinets and the food we buy actually gets eaten instead of becoming a science project!  I didn't bring a bunch of movies because I don't have time to watch movies.  Etc.

I also made the decision to not bring a bunch of books.  I really haven't looked back, to be honest.  I don't spend a lot of my reading time wishing I had this book or that book on hand.  I brought two book cases.  They are comfortably full (as opposed to being crammed full or having piles of books on the floor without a home).  When I have the time and inclination to read, I can quickly find something, instead of spending huge amounts of time having an existential crisis about what I should read next.

The two book cases aren't huge by any means, but they hold the books I want to be reading.  I love the idea that the books we buy are an entryway into who we aspire to be at a given time.  I'm old enough to be comfortable enough to just take myself as I am and not aspire to be too much else or someone vastly different from who I really am.  That's not to say I don't still try to get outside my comfort zones (I recently bought two Philip K. Dick books), but I'm not interested in reading the complete history of every subject I encounter or buying an author's complete backlist.

Without all of the book clutter, I feel like I can take things as they come.  I can read and enjoy myself, or I can watch TV and enjoy myself--all without feeling guilty about what I am or am not reading.  That kind of freedom is priceless.

Top Ten Books We're Dying to Reread (But We Keep Reading New Books Instead)

For future Top Ten Tuesday topics & info on how to participate, click here!

This week is FREEEBIE WEEK! *jazz hands* We chose to talk about 10 books we are dying to reread but...keep putting off because NEW BOOKS WOO.

One of the perils of book blogging is that, thanks to constantly feeling obligated to keep up the flow of new reviews, it's almost impossible to squeeze in a reread when you have so many unread books on your shelf. Here are a few books that your favorite broke bloggers are dying to reread, but just haven't had a chance to yet!

Bridget's Picks

1. The Magicians - Lev Grossman. My husband, after a year-plus of me annoying him, has finally read the first book in this series. Naturally, it made me want to snatch the book out of his hands and read it again myself, but I didn't, because I'm a nice person.

2. The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman. Shortly after reading this for the first time, I let a friend of mine borrow it...and I haven't seen it since. This actually isn't a bad thing, because that same friend doesn't still have it—she's passed it on to several others and I'm honestly not quite sure where it is at the moment, but everyone who has read it has loved it. But I do want it back!!

3. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn. I actually just got this one back from my mom, who made it about 3/4 of the way through before putting it down for a year and making me tell her the ending. In the meantime, I've read her other novels at least twice each. Gone Girl is sitting on my kitchen counter and it's calling my name, but so are all the other books I got for Christmas and my birthday and at BEA...

Jamie's Picks

 

4. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath: This used to be one of my favorite books in high school and college and I haven't read it since! Curious to see how it holds up!!

5. On the Road by Jack Kerouac: Again, another high school/college fave book but I want to check it out again now that I'm 30 to see if I can say that it's still a fave.

6. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell: To be honest, I'd love to revisit both Fangirl and Eleanor & Park because I loved them both so much and I'm just craving a reread. They are just two favorites that deserve to be reread!

7. Where She Went by Gayle Forman: I reread If I Stay last year and this year hope to reread Where She Went because it's honestly one of my favorite books ever!

Lori's Picks

8. The Secret History by Donna Tartt:  I flew through this book when I first read it!  It was a great read, but now that I know what happens, I don't know if I can read it again.  So, not only would I like to read this one again, I want to forget what I know!

9. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller: I read this one my senior year of high school and LOVED it. I've been wanting to reread it ever since. May have to make time soon.

10. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: I was really trying to not include this one, but the truth of the matter is that I miss this book. It was my absolute favorite, but I haven't read it since high school.

Julia Reviews Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare

Title/Author: Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare

Publisher/Year Published: 2015 by Avon

How I got this book: I bought it from B&N when it was on an eBook sale

Why I read this book: I liked the last Dare book I read, and it was a good price.

Rating: 4 stars

It's been awhile since I was able to sit and just read. The holidays really take all the time away from my reading. But as I was stuck on a five hour cross country plane ride, I was sucked in to a tale of castles, scarred heroes and tenacious heroines. 

Romancing the Duke is the first in Tessa Dare's new Castle's Ever After series. First we meet our heroine, Izzy. She is literally almost penniless as her father has just died, leaving her nothing, when she gets a letter talking about an inheritance from a man whom her father knew when she was younger. She figures maybe she gets a hundred pounds if she is lucky, but low and behold she gets a castle. A castle that the current owner, an injured in a way I don't want to say because it's spoils the fun, duke. 

They have to figure out how to handle who actually owns the castle while learning to get along with each other. And all the romance explodes from there. 

I enjoyed this story. It was sort of a play on the beauty and the beast story, with a dash of the impoverished maiden thrown in, but it didn't feel like it was an overused trope. Dare always writes with a comedic ease that makes the pages fly by. She reminds me of Julia Quinn in her earlier days. 

The characters are full of life and pop off the page. The romance between the leads is wonderful in it's tension and heat.  Overall this was just a great book to read on my flight. It kept me engaged and entertained. 

I would totally recommend it for people who are interested in historical romance. There hasn't been much in that genre of romance lately, but this is a great start to a series that I will definitely be continuing.