Ten Books I Recently Added to my TBR.

Top Ten Tuesday was created and is  hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  

Yes like every reader I know I am always adding books to my TBR pile that I want to read. I own eight of them and two are on my wish list for future purchase.  I've only included ones here that I will indeed read at some point. I have others that have been added around the same time. This is a sample!!

1.  

This is a book I have been wanting to read for awhile, the beginning of a series. It is Steampunk/Mystery/Romance. So now it is firmly on my TBR shelf as a paperback.

2.

This is on my actual paperback TBR shelf, I have just recently bought it. I love Cathy Lamb books, unfortunately I have nearly read all her backlist now. Women's Fiction.

3.

Christine Nolfi asked me to read and review a coming book of hers, I decided I would see what this one was like first.  It's the first in her Liberty series and when I added it to Goodreads I saw 5 stars from Laurel-Rain, so with no further reason I bought it in Kindle version. It seems to be women's fiction and the story line appeals to me. It will be the first time reading this author for me.

4.

One sister has everything. The other hates it for it.  I was drawn in by the 5 stars given by a reader I follow on Goodreads and I always note what she 5 stars. I think I might enjoy this one. Never read or heard of Dianne Dixon before. Only on my TBR wishlist as yet, I haven't bought it - yet!

5.

I like Emilie Richards' writing and this one and the one that follows are a couple of her earlier books, so from her backlist. Set in New Orleans. I found both of them at the book fair so it was great to find the two I hadn't read.

6.

I bought this one recently on my Kindle. #7 and the last one in her Survivor series which I have enjoyed very much. So looking forward to this one.

7.

 

This is a a series I have been reading by an Australian author and when I found this was becoming available it was added to my reading list.  Contemporary Romance.

8.

I won this recently so it is on my TBR paperback shelf and hopefully I'll get to it sooner rather than later.

9.

This one was another 5 star noted read from a reader I respect. I won't read it straight away, I want to go back and read the first book written by this author, she is one on my radar I want to read because seen some good reviews for her and I think they will be my kind of reading. It is on my recent TBR wish list to remind me to go back and read the first one.

10.

Another one from Jane Green's backlist that I haven't read and found at the book fair I went to so it's on my paperback TBR.
Women's Fiction.

Take Control of your TBR Pile Challenge in March

This challenge is taking place over at Caffeinated Book Reviewer for the month of March.  This is a chance to focus on books on your TBR released before March 1st 2015.  They can be audio, ebook or a physical book.  Head on over to the Caffeinated Book Reviewer post to get the full details.

Goals:

List of books I hope to read and clear either from my actual shelves or my eReader or iPod.

The following books not necessarily in the following order.  If I read these I will add more as the month goes by.
                                         

• Outback Blaze                        Rachael Johns   Read
• Thief With No Shadow          Emily Gee        Read.
• White Balance                        Ainslie Paton   Read
• Marking Time                         Marie Force    Treading Water #2  Read
• The Arrangement                    Mary Balogh   Survivors' Club #2 Read
• The Luckiest Lady in London        Sherry Thomas    Read.
• Written in Red                         Anne Bishop        -  audiobook Read
• Angel Mine                             Sherryl Woods      -  audiobook  Read
• By Bread Alone                      Sarah Kate Lynch  Read
• Last Time I Was Me              Cathy Lamb  Read.
• The Martian                            Andy Weir   audiobook Read
• Before the Storm                    Diane Chamberlain Read
• Shadow Spell                          Nora Roberts  Read

Goal achieved - just in time!  Review books meant I didn't go beyond my thirteen!

Arabella

Publisher: Sourcebooks 2009              TBR Challenge
First Published: Heinemann 1949
Pages:  312
Format:  Paperback
Genre: Historical Romance - Regency.
Summary from Goodreads.

Arabella, daughter of a modest country clergyman is on her way to London, when her carriage breaks down outside the hunting lodge of the wealthy Mr. Robert Beaumaris. Her pride stung when she overhears a remark of her host, Arabella pretends to be an heiress, a pretense that amuses the jaded Beaumaris. To counter her lie, launches her into high society and thereby subjects her to all kinds of fortune hunters and other embarrassments.

When compassionate Arabella rescues a mistreated chimney sweep and an ill treated dog, she foists them on Beaumaris.....

My thoughts:
This month the challenge option was to choose a classic from our book shelves.  A few years ago I picked up a few Georgette Heyer books at a book fair, out of nostalgia really.  I hadn't read Georgette Heyer since my teen years - when romance novels were scarce and I read whatever I could lay my hands on. I have no idea which ones they were!  I have figured that these are about the most classic books adorning my shelves!

I'm not a big regency historical reader but I did enjoy this book.  Some of the words I met were strange and are no longer used - or they mean something different now.  I found the story a little slow to begin with, but once Arabella was on the road the pace picked up.  I enjoyed Arabella's fresh country approach to the affected ways of the city people, and her outrage at some of the injustices she met.

Mr. Robert Beaumaris was a little too controlling for my liking, however that's the way the characters and plot worked back then and as such characters go, to be honest he was rather likeable and really all said and done Arabella actually had him tied around her little finger.

Witty and dramatic in many ways.  I began to picture this story as a TV drama or even a well dramatised audiobook.  I have decided that in the future I will listen to another of the Heyer audiobooks on Audible and find out whether it lives up to my hopes.

Summer On Blossom Street.

 

                                                             TBR Challenge.
Title: Summer on Blossom Street.  (Blossom St. #6)
Author: Debbie Macomber
Published: Harlequin: Mira
First published: 2009. This edition 2011.

Summary.
This book continues the lives and stories of many of the Blossom Street characters from previous books.  In my opinion this book is best read after the  others have been read.  However it could be read as a one off if one wished. 

Lydia, the owner of the wool shop decides to start a group - Knit to Quit.  Joining it is Alix who is trying to overcome her smoking addiction, she wants to start a family with Jordan but firstly she needs to beat her addiction. There are two new characters - Phoebe who is getting over a relationship gone wrong, and Hutch who is taking up knitting on the advice of his Doctor as knitting is a way to de stress! He is the owner of a chocolate factory and is being sued by a woman because the chocolates made her fat!

Anne Marie (book shop owner) and her adopted daughter Ellen also feature in this book, Ellen has as one of her twenty wishes wanted to get to know her unknown father.  There is a number of twists and turns to this and it makes for an interesting addition to the book.

Lydia and her family also feature strongly in this book.  Lydia and Brad are wanting to adopt a baby.  Instead they are asked to foster for awhile a twelve year old girl - Casey.  There son Cody is none too pleased with this and so there is tension in the household.

My thoughts.
I enjoyed this Summer on Blossom Street, I have liked all the Blossom Street books so far and was nudged into reading the remainder of the series when a new one was published this year.  I have them all lined up on the shelf ready to go!  I have listened to the audio of the previous ones, however this one received so many poor narrator reviews I decided to buy the actual paperback.

It is a story that explores such issues as stress, addiction, infidelity, adoption, foster care and ageing.  These issues are all set in the context of family, friends and community.  The characters face down challenges that are thrown at them and they make decisions and grow - or not, as the case may be.

One of the issues - that of foster care touched by heart.  Into Lydia's family comes Casey, well used to the foster care system - being passed on from one family to the next, never belonging anywhere.  It reminded me of a superb book I read earlier in the year, One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, ( a Middle Grade book.)  This book explored in depth the experience that Casey has in Summer on Blossom Street. Each book ends differently, yet both explore the same depth of relationships in family and the response to an outsider entering over the threshold.

I liked the quotes at the beginning of some chapters, most by actual people with urls given to reach their websites.  Obviously Debbie Macomber loves knitting.  I liked the first quote in the book because it referred to New Zealand yarn!  ( I live in New Zealand).  I have been able to knit since I was a child and still do, so this book hasn't set me off on a big "I want to learn to knit," splurge as a quilting book might, however it did awaken old interests.  I also liked that there is a pattern given for  a scarf at the beginning of the book.

To finish - a cosy read, something to take my mind off the daily challenges of my own life!

I read this book as part of Wendy's TBR challenge - this month's challenge was to read a book by an author that you have more than one book of theirs in your TBR pile.

The Last Chance Cafe.

The Last Chance Cafe
Linda Lael Miller
Published 2002
Pocket Books
373 pages.

  Summary from back cover.
When a blinding Nevada snowstorm and a broken-down truck force Hallie O'Rourke and her two young daughters into the warmth of the Last Chance Cafe, Hallie could not know she would find a new beginning at the roadside diner. Or that the handsome stranger she meets there would change everything she believes about home and family. Chance Qualtrough is a rancher with deep roots in Primrose Creek, and he's never met a woman as alluring -- or downright stubborn -- as Hallie. An undeniable passion is pulling them together, but Hallie is fleeing a danger so threatening she dares not let Chance into her heart. Will all that Hallie fears come back with full force, destroying her last chance for the life she's always dreamed of?

This book has sat for at the very least three years on my TBR pile.  As I am involved in a couple of TBR challenges I finally picked up this book - turning away from some of the 2012/3 books.  I have read a number of Miller's historical fiction and enjoyed them but they weren't books that I would rave over. Hence this one sat and sat.......

I found I really enjoyed this story - it was contemporary, and I have to admit I do warm to contemporary more generally.  Not that a great historical will not have me raving about it - it will.  There was a heroine in trouble and on the run, also two adorable twin girls - Hallie's daughters who added to the charm of the story.  The hero was very likeable and ready to help Hallie shoulder her burdens.  In the background were a delightful array of small time characters in the community.  Throw in a few baddies out to get Hallie and it had all the elements that kept me entertained.

It was a predictable plot, when as a reader you read these kind of stories, you do know what is going to possibly happen, but you enjoy the story anyway.  Sometimes a book like this is just the read for me. When I sit up at night to finish a book I know I was hooked by it.

Ceremony in Death. TBR Challenge.

Ceremony in Death
J. D. Robb.
Published by Berkley Books.
Published May 1997.

Goodreads Summary.
Even in an age of cutting-edge technology, old beliefs die hard...

Conducting a top secret investigation into the death of a fellow police officer has Lieutenant Eve Dallas treading on dangerous ground. She must put professional ethics personal loyalties. But when a dead body is placed outside her home, Eve takes the warning personally.

I enjoyed this book, the writing was good, the suspense along with a little romance made a good recipe for a read that kept me actively thinking all the way through.  It had an interesting exploration of white and black witchcraft as a central part of the story.  And while the violence is a little gory, the humour is a good foil for it.

I particularly enjoyed the role young Jamie played in this book, he seemed a good match in skill for both Eve and Roarke.  I hope we meet him in future books somewhere.

I am way behind in this series, however that is good as I can read them as soon as I chase down the next one. 

The Rosie Black Chronicles: Genesis. TBR challenge.

The Rosie Black Chronicles: Genesis
By Lara Morgan  (Australian author)
Walker Books:2010

Summary from Goodreads.
Five hundred years into the future, the world is a different place. The Melt has sunk most of the coastal cities and Newperth is divided into the haves, the “Centrals”; the have-nots, the “Bankers”; and the fringe dwellers, the “Ferals”.

Rosie Black is a Banker. When Rosie finds an unusual box, she has no idea of the grave consequences of her discovery. A mysterious organisation wants it – and will kill to get it.

Forced to rely on two strangers, Rosie is on the run. But who can she trust? Pip, the too attractive Feral, or the secretive man he calls boss?

This is a YA dystopian  science fiction book, full of action and adventure. While it begins on Earth, it moves to outer space and Mars.  It was recommended to me by one of my students.  It is the first of a trilogy and I will definitely read Equinox the next one very soon.  I am looking forward to it. 

While this is written for the 12 to 16 year old, I think anyone of any age who likes this type of story would enjoy it.

This book was part of Wendy's TBR challenge February

This book was also part of Evie's TBR challenge.

Bookish TBR 2013 Reading Challenge

I have decided to enter this challenge as it ties in with a personal challenge I was setting myself anyway and it means some interaction with other readers.  It sounds like a lot of fun and giveaways are open to international readers, what is not to like about that, when you live in New Zealand!

About the Challenge: From the Bookish Blog.

6 BLOGGERS, 12 MINI-CHALLENGES, 24 BOOKS TO WIN!!! 

We all have those books. We buy them, win them, they're gifted to us.. Then we put them up on a bookshelf and there they stay, collecting dust, waiting for the time when we'll finally decide to pick them up..

Join us on a quest to dust off your TBR Pile and read all the books you've been telling yourself you'll read next time you'll get a chance.. This is your chance! And we've got PRIZES!!! :D

Challenge Guidelines:

1. This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2013 - Dec 31, 2013.
2. Anyone can enter! You don't have to be a blogger, as long as you review the book you've read! (On your blog, Amazon or Goodreads/Shelfari!)
3. Any genre, length or format of book counts, as long as it is a book that's been sitting on your shelf for some time now. Only books released in 2012 and earlier! NO  2013 ARCs and 2013 fresh-off-the-press releases allowed!
4. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
5. When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the 2013 TBR PILE Reading Challenge. (If you don't have a blog, post about it on Facebook or Tweet!)
6. You can move up levels, but no moving down.
7. Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2013, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.
8. On the 20th of each month one of the hosts will post a wrap-up. Every wrap-up will have it's unique theme, a mini-challenge, a giveaway and place for you to link up your reviews from this month. For each review you link up, you will get one entry in a drawing of one book of choice from Book Depository. It's open to INTERNATIONALS. The giveaway will be open until the next wrap up post goes up! (i.e. the entire month)
9. If you miss a wrap-up post + giveaway, you can link up your reviews next month. Do not, however, try to link up one review twice - we will be checking ;) 
10. December is a wrap-up for the whole year. All the book reviews you linked up January-November + the ones you'll link up in December will be entered into a HUGE giveaway - a box of books. 
11. You don't have to follow all the hosts to join the challenge, but you do have to follow all of us to be entered in giveaways!

Levels:
(how many books you're planning to read for this challenge in 2013)

1-10 - A Firm Handshake
11-20 - A Friendly Hug
21-30 - A Sweet Kiss
31-40 - Love At First Sight
41-50 - Married With Children

I am planning on 20.  A Friendly Hug.  

The Devaneys.                    Sherryl Woods.               

The Flamenco Academy.    Sarah Bird                        

Rapture in Death.                J. D. Robb                                      

The Witness                        Sandra Brown                  

The Tender Texan               Jodi Thomas                     

These Old Shades               Georgette Heyer             

Devotion                             Katherine Sutcliffe            

The Secret Sister                 Elizabeth Lowell              

Ride a Painted Pony            Kathleen Eagle                

Talk of the Town                 Lisa Wingate                   

Second Chance at the Sugar

Shack                                 Candis Terry                    

Any Given Christmas           Candis Terry                                      )     

The Fixer Upper                  Mary Kay Andrews        

The Governess Affair          Courtney Millan                

Mai Tai One On                  J. M. Landis                     

              

TBR Book Challenge

This year I am going to take part in the TBR book pile challenge. What reader doesn't have a huge TBR pile? Mine got a lot larger when I joined the Susan Elizabeth Phillips Board some years ago, and the Seppies had so many book recommendations I was soon in trouble!  So this challenge will help me focus a little, and besides it doesn't sound too onerous.

Here it is - through the enthusiasm of Wendy the Super Librarian.

Monthly Review Dates And Theme Suggestions

January 16 - We Love Short Shorts! (Short stories, Novellas, category romance)
February 20 - Recommended Read (something recommended by a fellow reader)
March 20 - Series Catch-Up (pick a book from a series you're behind on)
April 17 - New-To-You Author
May 15 - More Than One (An author who has more than one book in your TBR pile).
June 19 - Lovely RITA (RWA RITA nominees OR winners.  Past winners can be found here.  Googling "past rita nominees" turns up several options from previous years).
July 17 - The Classics (Something classic within the romance genre - an author, a specific book, a trope/theme - I'm open to wide interpretations here!)
August 21 - Steamy reads (Erotic romance, erotica, something spicy!)
September 18 - Western (Contemporary or historical)
October 16 - Paranormal or romantic suspense
November 20 - All About The Hype (a book that created such chatter that it was inescapable).
December 18 - Holiday themes (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, it's all good!)

An InLinkz Link-up

Starting Up.

I have started up a new blog.  I want to use it only for reading and books, while I do track what I read at Goodreads, a book blog is something that I can use for the purpose of tracking challenges and interacting with other readers.

I tend to read what I like, and I know that what I like is not what someone else might like.  I may give 3 stars to a book that someone else gives 5 stars.  For me it is about personal taste.  If the book takes me away from the present into the book's world and I don't want to come back from it, then I am likely to give it 5 stars.  A book that has a great plot, engaging characters, is well written, and makes me think about my life and others, usually gets a big tick.

Recently on Amazon I gave one star to a book that 23 others had given 5 stars. The plot was good but the writing was pedestrian.  I skim read it.  That's the trouble with a Kindle, I buy more books that are likely to not be to my taste.  I must put the brake on and be a little more discerning.  Not get fooled by a lot of top stars in one place, note to self check it out elsewhere first.

I have heaps of books in my TBR pile, eek - sometimes I have bought a book twice unknowingly. One in on my Kindle and in paperback. I hate that. Because I have a large TBR pile I am going to begin 2013 by taking part in a challenge directed to whittling down the TBR pile. Really? I guess there won't be any whittling down, because while I am reading from it, I am adding to it.

An InLinkz Link-up