Shows how little I know

I was a little surprised to hear that Stef Penney won the Costa Prize this week for The Tenderness of Wolves. Whilst it was an okay read, I wouldn't have thought it was a prize winner!

Shows how little I know really doesn't it!

Cool!

I went to the letter box today and found that I had received two books!

One was Archangel by Sharon Shinn which I won from Twisted Kingdom not too long ago and the other was the School for Heiresses anthology that a friend from one of my groups sent me!

Woo-hoo!


Thanks guys!

Slave to series!

One of the recent release books that I want to buy as opposed to get from the library is the School for Heiresses anthology that features novellas by Sabrina Jeffries, Liz Carlyle, Julia London and Renee Bernard, but I do have a bit of a dilemma, and it is one that will come up more and more I think as I read more and more series.

The stories in the anthology are part of series (actually I don't know about the Renee Barnard one, but the others are). The Sabrina Jeffries follows on from the two books in her current School for Heiresses series, which I haven't read. I have only read one of her books and have another one out from the library at the moment, but they are part of the Royal Brotherhood series not her current series.

Next up, the Liz Carlyle is like an introduction to her upcoming trilogy so there is no issue about reading that.

With the Julia London, her novella features characters that are introduced in The Hazards of Hunting a Duke, which I own but haven't read yet.

So my dilemma is how to read this anthology without buggering up reading the series - if I only read the two stories that aren't part of series how do I count that on my reading stats, and can I cope with only reading half a book now and then another bit later, and then another bit later than that!

What?..............................Anal you say? Well, they're important issues to me!!

Woo-hoo!!

I won one of the books being given away at Twisted Kingdom! So Archangel by Sharon Shinn will be winging it's way to me soon!! Yippee! Got to love getting a free book!

So here's the thing right....

I am approximately 20 book reviews behind. It's not that I am in a reading slump, because I have been reading as much as ever - just in a 'I'm so far behind I don't know where to start' blogging slump. So in order to get caught up, I am going to start doing some mini reviews - particularly for those books I read ages ago where I remember the story but not enough to give a proper review. Hopefully, by doing this I will be able to start the new year with a clean slate.

Another book giveaway

The girls over at Sanctuary's Finest are giving away books - and you get to choose your won! Pop over to Sanctuary's Finest and have a look!

Free Books anyone?

The lovely, slightly twisted ladies over at Twisted Kingdom are giving away some books!!

They are giving away Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop, Poison Study by Maria V Snyder, Ill Wind by Rachel Caine and Archangel by Sharon Shinn. Now there is only one of those that I haven't read (not bad for someone who isn't a fantasy reader!!), but I would love to own any of the others as well!

To be eligible you just need to post their banner thingamajiggy on your blog and provide a link! Easy huh? Or alternatively, copy their whole post, and then leave a comment to let them know that you have done it!

Links to reviews!

One of these days I will get back to posting in order! Here's a link to my review of To Sir Phillip with Love.

Joint review and coming soon to a blog near you...

Kailana and I are reading the In Death series of books together...well kind of together! My review of Vengeance in Death is buried in the archives, but Kailana has taken my review and added her thoughts to them here.

There will be another joint review coming up for The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls in the next couple of days so keep an eye out for that as well!

Also coming up in the next day or so are some more details on the 2006 Christmaas Blog Tour....just too tired to do it tonight!

Sometime in the near future I have reviews for about 10 other books as well. I am so far behind on my reviews it isn't funny! Fortunately Blogger seems to have finally fixed itself so that should at least help!

Links to posts!

I've been posting a bit all over the place again!

This is a link to my review of Kleypas - Lisa - Midnight Angel by Lisa Kleypas. I will update this post until I catch up again!

**************Edited to say******************



Updated to add that here is a link to my review of The Dawn Stag by Jules Watson.

A question though....when I went to add a couple of new posts today I noticed that the Edit Posts section has changed, and you no longer have any formatting options, including adding pictures etc. Has anyone else's Blogger account changed like this? I hope they change it back again because even after doing this for over a year, I am still HTML challenged!


And edited again to say.............



This is a link to Ill Wind by Rachel Caine, the first book in the Weather Warden series...and book number 200 for this year!

What to read...what to read

I have just checked and I have 10 books that I need to have finished by 30 November which is when they need to be returned to the library. The books are

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin - started this one already

Dreaming The Eagle by Manda Scott - just finishing a book about Roman times so might need to read this one in a few days time

In the Prince's Bed by Sabrina Jeffries - Never read this author but have heard good things.

The Expected One by Kathleen McGowan

The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters

The Observations by Jane Harris

The Dawn Stag by Jules Watson - just finishing this one off

Ill Wind by Rachel Caine - really want to read this series

Light in Shadow by Jayne Ann Krentz - Highly recommended by quite a few people

Anybody Out There by Marian Keyes - Last book in the Walsh sisters series, and then I would be completely up to date with that series.

To Sir Philip with Love by Julia Quinn - really enjoy this romance series


Note that there is no mention in there of any of the books that I said I would read for either the November challenge and only one of the From the Stacks challenge!


So the question is....what do I read next? I'm thinking that I am going to have to return at least a couple of these! Oh...the shame! And then I will have to reborrow them at a later date!

What Kind of Reader are you?

Saw this on Dylan's blog and thought I would share here!

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Literate Good Citizen
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

Designer book covers

Saw these book covers over on the Penguin blog - especially commissioned to help celebrate the 60th anniversary of Penguin classics.

Very, very nice! Probably a bit out of my price range though!

Obsession?

I am a bit of a fan of the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, although I haven't read any for ages, and I really have been meaning too, but I am not sure that I would ever be as much as a fan as some others.

Click on the link to see pictures of a wedding cake that has been made based on Discworld.

What about you? Is anyone else so obsessed with a character, or a series of books that they would consider making a wedding cake for it, or some other odd tribute?

Book Bags

Saw this on the Powells Book Blog.

How cool!! Which one would you choose?

Another review link

Here is a link to Vengeance in Death. I am going to catch up soon so that my posting isn't so all over the place!!

Future of reviewing?

Is this the book review of the future??

I might need to learn some new skills if it is!!

Good job Jane!

Links to reviews!

Until I get a bit caught up, some of my posts are going to be all out of order. I will therefore put the links to any reviews that will be appearing out of order here until I get things under control again!

Here is a link to my review of The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde and this takes you to my review of Dark Lover by JR Ward. My review of Heir to the Shadows by Anne Bishop is here and here is Simply Love by Mary Balogh.

A dilemna

I am going on holidays tomorrow for a week. In theory there will be warmer weather and sunshine...yay!!! That means me in my beach gear....not so yay!

So have I started packing my stuff? Nope.

How about my son's stuff? Nope.

Thought about games and entertainment and things to keep two 7 year olds entertained on a plane and at nights? Nope.

So what's the hold up? Well......I can't decide what books to take with me. In my head I have changed the list of books that I am taking with me at least three times. And that was before my friend rang me and said "Can you bring me some books to read too?". I have no idea what she likes to read!! The pressure is on!

What's that you say? My priorities are a bit wrong? Maybe, but what can a say...I'm a reader!!!

Oh, and I have one more review to write before I go, but I probably should do that later tonight when everything else is ready to go!

I might see you before, but if not.....see you next week!

A Little Hasty

So, it's 3am and I've just finished Morning Glory. Maybe I was a little hasty earlier when I said it wasn't really grabbing me!

Will say more later. Now....I am off to sleep!