Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

I only went to the library tonight because I was away and there were 9 items already waiting for me. the thing is that I know that there will be at least two more waiting for me tomorrow so I really need to get reading!

I wanted to give a special shout out today to Renee from Renee's Book Addiction who participated in Library Loot for the first time last week! This will be my last turn to host Mr Linky before Christmas, so I also wanted to take this opportunity to wish all the Library Loot participants a very happy and safe holidays!

Mr Linky will be at the end of this post.

Here's my loot for this week:

Walking on a Dream by Empire of the Sun - This Melbourne band scooped the prizes at the recent ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Awards, but I only had heard a couple of their songs that get played on the radio so I thought I would borrow the CD and see what I thought of it.

Blindspot: by a Gentleman in Exile and a Lady in Disguise by Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore - This book was reviewed by Leya as part of the Historical Tapestry challenge - Alphabet in Historical Fiction. It sounded so good I requested it straight away.

The Boundless Deep by Kate Brallier - This is another book that I heard about as a result of the Alphabet in Historical Fiction, this time from Sarah at Reading the Past.

Shadowfae by Erica Hayes - This book was being talked about on Twitter a few weeks ago. I am thinking that it is a little bit outside my normal comfort zone, but it is also by an Aussie author, so I will give it a go!

Chances by Nora Roberts - contains two of her novels Opposites Attract and A Will and a Way.

The House on Tradd Street by Karen White - I've been seeing this book everywhere around book blogs and finally have decided to pick it up and see what the fuss is about.

A Carrion Death by Michael Stanley - Ages ago I joined a group of mystery readers and I have been incredibly slack at reading along with them. This book is February's book, so I am hoping to actually read this in time to discuss!

Emperor: The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden - Having now finished reading all the books in the Conqueror series about Genghis Khan, I am now going back to read Iggulden's first series, about Julius Caesar.

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory - This is my only reloot this week. Hopefully I will read it this time.

So, that's my loot for this week! How about you? Do you have some loot you would like to share. Leave your link in Mr Linky below so we can come and check out your loot!

Teaser Tuesday: The Conquest by Elizabeth Chadwick

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Since reading my first Elizabeth Chadwick novel just over three years ago, I have been slowly working my way through her backlist, savouring each new read, and trying to draw out the experience as long as possible, knowing full well there will come a day where I won't have anything new to me to read while I wait for each new book to be written.


At the moment, I am reading The Conquest, set around 1066, the time of the Norman Conquest of England. The teaser comes from pages 321 and 322:

Benedict said nothing. They entered the stone coldness of the church, standing amidst but aloof from the May Day celebrations, the hall of God, so different from the vast, starlit hall of the Goddess. He had worshipped at the altar of one; now he came to do penance at the altar of the other, and his heart was stone within him.

Elizabeth Chadwick's next book, To Defy a King is due to be released in the first half of next year. I really have only one question in relation to it. Is it May yet?

Happy birthday Grandad!

Today is a pretty amazing day in my family.

My grandfather, Alfred Taylor, turns 100 today. I can't even begin to think about the changes that he has seen during his life time. Just living through WWI and WWII and huge social and cultural changes is hard to contemplate, before we talk about things like television. During WWII my grandparents lived very close to the local air base and so was prepared to do what had to done if the Japanese had landed anywhere nearby.  He is the father of four children, the eldest of which is my dad, grandfather to 12 grandchildren of which I am the eldest granddaughter, and great grandfather to 16 children (as far as I can remember).

He was the third child out of 10 children, and now there are only a couple of the Taylor kids left.

He was the kind of grandfather who would encourage you to drink your milk out of the bottom of the cereal bowl, because he knew it would wind my grandmother up, the kind of grandfather who never left the house without his hat, unless it happened to be on the head of one of his grandchildren. When he was inside there was always a cup of tea nearby with a tin containing lots of licorice and other lollies, and there was always a supply of Kool Mints in his car and in his shed. The fact that part of the reason for the mints was to hide his secret smoking from my grandmother is something we won't talk about!

He spent a lot of his working life as a shearer, a tough job. Recently when I visited Perth, we were talking about those days and he talked a bit about being a bit of a gun shearer. From what I can gather he was a fairly tough father when he wasn't away. When he was home he was a small time farmer. When he retired, my grandparents moved to the place where they still live now, and he spent his time wheeling and dealing in second hand goods, fixing mechanical items like lawn mowers, and renovating sulkies (open carriages). For a long time he drove around in his ute, with his dog always along for the ride.

These days he is pretty good mentally, but the body is struggling. Not really all that surprising given that he had his first stroke nearly 25 years ago, and has had two hip replacements in that time. He is nearly blind, and nearly deaf, but other than that he is very, very healthy, and he is determined that he is not going to leave his house.

My mum moved states with my sister and I when I was 10, so we have lived away from them for nearly 29 years. When I was visiting them earlier this year, he asked if I remembered the day we moved. The short answer is I really don't, probably for a couple of reasons. The first is that I really don't remember a lot of my childhood. It's like I have supressed most of my memories due to some things that happened later. The second reason is that I don't believe that at 10 and 7 my sister and I understood the significance of moving to a different state. We were going to Adelaide on a plane. I don't know that we got that we weren't ever moving back. He said that he remembered it like it was yesterday. I don't think he ever really forgave my mother, or got over it. Funny thing is, the next day he asked me the same question again!

For the last twenty years at least, the hardest thing about going to visit both my grandfather and my grandmother (who at 89 is no spring chicken herself) has been saying goodbye, because each time there was a fair chance that it was the last time, and yet, everyone is travelling back to Perth to celebrate this milestone!

This photo of our grandfather was taken by my brother in law a few years ago now. It is a picture which shows so much of how we remember him. Always dressed in his flannelette shirts, no matter how hot it was, hat in hand, sitting in his favourite chair just resting his eyes, phone in hand with lots of lawnmowers in the background. I am sure that the dog isn't too far away either!

Happy birthday Granddad! We love you.

Alphabet in Historical Fiction: B is for Blixt

When we talked about starting the Alphabet in Historical Fiction at Historical Tapestry, it really wasn't my intention to be reposting reviews each time. Last letter I reposted my review of Anita Arrezvani's Blood of Flowers, and this tiem as I was looking through my list of possible subjects, this one caught my eye! Given how much I loved this book, and how few mentions I have seen about in blogland, I didn't really hesitate to post this review again as my entry for B!

In 1314, seventeen year old Pietro Alighieri travels to Verona with his father, the infamous poet Dante, at the invitation of its leader, the legendary Francesco “Cangrande” della Scala. A sneak attack from Padua leads Pietro into his first battle, fighting alongside the charismatic Cangrande, and into a tight friendship with Mariotto Montecchio and Antonio Capulletto. Behind the scenes, repeated attempts are made against the life of a child believed to be Cangrande’s illegitimate son and possible heir.

Pietro is drawn into the web of intrigue around the child and the tension building between Mariotto and Antonio over a woman betrothed to one and in love with the other – a situation that will sever a friendship, divide a city, and ultimately lead to the events of the best known tragic romance in the world.

Inspired by the plays of Shakespeare, the poetry of Dante, and the events of history, The Master of Verona is a compelling novel of politics, loyalty, conspiracy and star-crossed romance.

Sometimes it happens that I really love a book, but I still don't get around to writing a review for it straight away (or at all, but we won't think about all those unwritten reviews just now!). This is one of those books.

My interest was initially drawn to the idea of setting a book at the time of Romeo and Juliet, but this is much more than a retelling of that famous tale. It isn't even the main action within the novel, but it is an important component.

The story is more about Pietro Alighieri, son and reluctant heir to his father, the famous and controversial poet Dante Alighieri. I say reluctant because for many years Pietro was the second son of a famous man, not really expected to do much in terms of continuing his father's legacy, but with the death of his older brother, Pietro finds himself fulfilling a role that he is ill suited for.

He is given the chance to shine when he unexpectedly gets to fight with Francesco "Cangrande" della Scala, charismatic leader of Verona. This engagement also brings him into contact with his new best friends, Mario and Antonio. The boys are friends, but they are also competitors both in the contests of the Palio and for two of them, in love. This very first fight begins with a flying leap off of a balcony onto horseback - a very telling sign of the type of swashbuckling to come throughout the book!

Blixt skilfully deals with the historical figures of Dante and Cangrande, Shakespeare's famous love story, an intriguing suspense subplot plus provides the reader with an engaging, exciting and engrossing story with a large cast of well written characters.

There is lots of action in the pages between the battles and the pageantry associated with medieval Italy. For me, the highlight of the book is definitely the day of the Palio. The colour, the spectacle and the pageantry are incredibly detailed but also very readable with the naming of the new knights, the speech of the oracle where it is declared that "Verona will always be remembered for love" and the crazy midnight foot race where the participants all run naked through the streets coming to life vividly through the words on the page!

This is an excellent historical fiction debut, and I for one, am very much looking forward to reading the next book from David Blixt, which will pick up where the action of this book left off!

When it comes to grading books I think that I am an easy grader when it comes to 4/5 books, but very, very hard when it comes to 5/5 books. This book is one of only three 5/5 books so far this year! I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to read historical fiction.

Another new challenge for 2010

Despite saying that I wasn't going to finish this year's Art History Reading Challenge, I have already signed up for next year!

You can see the full details butThis year there will be four levels of participation:

Curious - Read at least 3 books about art, either fiction or non-fiction.
Fascinated - Read at least 6 books about art, either fiction or non-fiction.
Enamored- Read at least 9 books about art, either fiction or non-fiction.
Utterly enchanted - Read at least 12 books about art, either fiction or non-fiction.

My plan is to sign up at the Curious level. I am planning to start with Sunflowers by Sherry Bundrick and then I will see what else catches my eye after that!

Progressive Dinner Party: Dessert

Welcome to my place for dessert! I am hoping that you have left some room for dessert.

I first saw this recipe over two years ago over at Cakes, Cookies and an Odd Roast Dinner, and immediately bookmarked it. It took me a while to actually make it for the first time, but since then it has become a requested dish for my friends, and they constantly fight over whose turn it is to take the leftovers home. Funnily enough I am never the one who gets to bring them home.

I've never actually taken a photo of the cheesecakes I have made, so the following image comes from the blog where I originally found it (click on the link above).

The recipe itself is from the Kraft.com.au website.

I tend to not use drinking chocolate, but rather sprinkle the top with a Flake bar or chocolate curls. The other thing is that I quite often either skip the caster sugar altogether or just halve it, but I guess it depends on how sweet you like it!

As great as this cheesecake tastes, the best thing about it is how easy it is to make!

Be sure to visit other stops on the Progressive Dinner, including Beth Fish Reads who is serving up Double Chocolate Layer Cake and Debbies World of Books who is sharing Cream Puffs with us. Yum!

You can also see all the other courses on the Progressive Dinner at BookBlogSocialClub.com

Hope you enjoy your cheesecake!

Ingredients:

Base:

1 1/2 cups chocolate cream filled biscuit crumbs (Oreo style biscuits)
60g butter, melted

Filling:

500g block PHILADELPHIA* Light/Regular Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
200g white chocolate buttons, melted
2 teaspoons gelatine, dissolved in 1/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup thickened cream

Topping:

3/4 cup thickened cream, extra, whipped
1 tablespoon drinking chocolate, for dusting

1. Base: Combine biscuit crumbs and butter together; press into the base of a lightly greased 22cm springform pan. Chill.

2. Filling: Beat Philly* and sugar using an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in melted white chocolate and gelatine mixture until well combined. Add cream and continue beating until smooth.

3. Topping: Pour mixture onto prepared base and refrigerate 3 hours or overnight until set. To serve, remove cheesecake from pan, spread over whipped cream and dust generously with drinking chocolate.

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Eva will have the Mr Linky this week.

I have Loot this week! Yay! In fact, I went to the library on Sunday and picked up my loot, then checked my account an hour later and there was already something else there ready to pick up. It will have to wait though until I get back.

Here's my loot for this week:

Fearless by Taylor Swift - I have only recently started to borrow CDs from the library, but it is a great way to get a taste for an album if you are not sure if you want to go out and buy it straight away. I buy CDs so rarely that I like to be sure that I am going to like it if I can be!

The Girl from Junchow by Kate Furnivall - I have enjoyed all the books that I read by this author, and I am especially looking forward to this one as it is the sequel to The Russian Concubine which I read a couple of years ago now (but never reviewed).

Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts - I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and I am looking forward to getting into this one!

Away with the Fairies by Kerry Greenwood -I have no idea what I was thinking when I requested this book, because I actually already had it out. I therefore currently have two copies of the same book borrowed - one is large print, and the other not, but I figure I will still only read it once, so this one will most likely go back soon.

Teaser Tuesday - Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week my teaser comes from Bones of the Hills, the third book in the Conqueror series, which is about Genghis Khan. The teaser comes from page 277:


He could have cursed Chakahai for spoiling the day, but it had been a short break from the bloody work he faced. He felt his mind begin to fill with the plans and stratagems he needed, settling into the cold rhythms that would take cities and scour the sands clean of all who resisted them.


Sounds pretty fearsome doesn't he!

November reading round up

Before we get too much further into December, I really should do my November round up! At first I thought that I had had a pretty good month when it comes down purely to numbers but I might have been a bit wrong.

This month I managed to read 11 books. One of those, Night Play, was a reread. I don't often do rereads, but in this case I had gone to my friend's house for a cocktail party and was up at 6am despite the late night we had had the night before. I actually didn't take a book with me, but I have been lending my friend quite a few vampire romances so this one was at her house. I couldn't help but to keep reading once I had started! Mmmm....Vane.

Here are the books that I read in November.

A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson 4.5/5
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger 4.5/5
Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin 4/5
Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning 4/5
Heart of the Sea by Nora Roberts 4/5
When the Duke Returns by Eloisa James 4/5
The Food of Love by Anthony Capella 4/5
The Golden One by Elizabeth Peters 4/5
Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell 4.5/5
Night Play by Sherrilyn Kenyon 4.5/5
Painting Mona Lisa by Jeanne Kalogridis 4/5

Do you have a scientific method for grading your books. For me, the grading is purely a gut reaction, and not really something that I can define enough to say well I gave this book 4 out of 5 and this one 4.5 out of 5 and these are the differences between the two books. The reason I mention this is that there is at least one book in there that I would probably have graded differently if I was to assign a grade to it now.

As far as challenges go, the year is coming to an end, and I think I have been pretty good at finishing most of the challenges I signed up for. The other thing that the end of the year means is that next year's challenges are all being announced, and it is fair to say that I have been signing up for more than I have been finishing!

One challenge that I don't think I will be completing this year is the Art History Challenge, although I did manage to finish one book for it during November. Painting Mona Lisa gives us a story behind one of the most famous faces in the world. It was a pretty good read. In order to complete the challenge you need to read 6 books, but I think this is only my third one so far.

The Harry Potter Reading Challenge doesn't finish until the middle of next year, but there is a fair chance that I am not going to finish that one either. When I originally signed up it was because my brother had told me that he had bought me all of the audio books narrated by Jim Dale so my plan was to listen to them. So far, I have not yet sighted those audio books, and I am not sure if I am really going to any time soon.

I have been waiting for what seems an eternity for the first book in the L J Smith series, The Vampire Diaries. It has just come into the library so I am planning to go and pick it up in the next week or so.

So, have you started thinking about the challenges you are going to sign up for next year? I have been signing up to a few. I am particularly partial to challenges for lovely buttons.

The first new challenge that I have signed up for this month is the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which is being hosted by Royal Reviews. I will be going to aim for the top level which is Obsessed and read 20 novels. Full details of the challenge can be found here.

Another challenge being hosted by Royal Reviews is the Romance Reading Challenge. Again, I will be aiming for the highest level, Obsessed, and try and read 20 romances during the year.

There are at least two challenges that I am waiting for announcements on so that I can formally sign up for. Of  course, there is also my own Terry Pratchett challenge which I will also be trying to read for as well!

I can't help but feel that there is another challenge somewhere that I said I would particpate in, but at the moment I can't think what it is. It will come to me eventually.

2010 Support Your Local Library Challenge

This is another no brainer challenge for me. Generally I get around 80% of the books that I read from the library. I am going to be brave and say that I am going to go for Super Size Me option, despite the fact that I am a bit worried about even making it to 100 books read for next year. This year, I would have made it to this level!

Here are the rules as adapted from J Kaye's blog post announcing the challenge.

1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.To learn how to sign up without having a blog, click here.

2. There are four levels:

--The Mini – Check out and read 25 library books.

--Just My Size – Check out and read 50 library books.

--Stepping It Up – Check out and read 75 library books.

--Super Size Me – Check out and read 100 library books.

(Aim high. As long as you read 25 by the end of 2010, you are a winner.)

3. Audio, Re-reads, eBooks, YA, Young Reader – any book as long as it is checked out from the library count. Checked out like with a library card, not purchased at a library sale.

4. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.

5. Crossovers from other reading challenges count.

6. Challenge begins January 1st thru December, 2010.

7. When you sign up under Mr. Linky, put the direct link to your post where your library books will be listed. Include the URL to this post so that other viewers can find this fun challenge. If you’d prefer to put your list in the sidebar of your blog, please leave your viewers the link to the sign up page. Again, so viewers can join the challenge too.

100+ Reading Challenge

Even with my recent cut in reading time due to my much reduced commute, I think I will most likely still get through 100 books next year. It will be much more of a challenge to do so though.

Bearing that in mind, this is my sign up post for J Kaye's 2010 100+ Reading Challenge. Once we get to January, I will set up a post which will be my list of reads for the year. Hopefully we will meet the target of 100 books. Here are the rules as adapted from J Kaye's blog post announcing the challenge.

1. The goal is to read 100 or more books. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate. (To learn how to sign up without having a blog, click here.)

2. Audio, Re-reads, eBooks, YA, Library books, Young Reader, Nonfiction – as long as the book has an ISBN or equivalent or can be purchased as such, the book counts.

3. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.

4. Crossovers from other reading challenges count.

5. Challenge begins January 1st thru December, 2010. Books started before the 1st do not count.

6. When you sign up under Mr. Linky, put the direct link to your post where your books will be listed. Include the URL to this post so that other viewers can find this fun challenge. If you’d prefer to put your list in the sidebar of your blog, please leave your viewers the link to the sign up page. Again, so viewers can join the challenge too.

Library Loot - another no loot edition

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

For the second time in a couple of weeks I have no loot! And once again, it isn't because there isn't loot there to be picked up, but it is because I have a couple of overdue books that I am trying to finish so that I can take them back and pick up the books I have onl hold. I need to do so before tomorrow as that is when my hold expires. Oh, the pressure! Especially seeing as I am out again tonight and tomorrow night!

I am hoping to see lots of loot when I come to visit you all though. Leave a link to your Library Loot post in Mr Linky, so we can all come and be a bit nosy and see what you picked up from your library this week.

Teaser Tuesday - Swing by Sailor by Catherine Dyson

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Wow, talk about a lack of blogging! It's not like I don't have things to post. The Virtual Advent tour kicks off today, the Terry Pratchett Challenge starts today, I have some guest posts to write, as well as picking the winners of my blogiversary giveaway! Lots to do. The thing is though, I am child free this week! He's at camp, so we spent all last weekend getting ready for camp, and this week I have been to the movies twice so far, and there are still a couple of nights before he comes home! Of course, I miss him, but it's nice to have a few days to be able to be social! I went to see Time Traveller's Wife on Monday night. I rated it as a two tissue movie. Not as my grade out of 5, but for how many tissues I used whilst watching it! Tonight I went to see New Moon (no tissues required), but I would give that at least 3 inappropriate laughs! You know, the number of times you laughed where it really wasn't meant to be funny!

Anyway, onto this week's Teaser Tuesday.

A few years ago now I read a book called Ship of Brides by JoJo Moyes. That novel was based on the story of the 600 war brides who made the trip from Australia to Britain on the ship HMS Victorious. This book, Swing by Sailor by Catherine Dyson, is a non fiction telling of the stories of approximately 15 of those women. So far it has covered what it was like in war time Australia, how they met their husbands and the stories of their some times very brief courtships and engagements, and their trips on the ship. I am expecting to read something of their lives once they got back to Britain as well. So far it is a very interesting read.

My teaser comes from page 118:

We were all standing on the deck crying, and seeing my family waving to me from the dockside I thought, Will I ever see them again? That was about the only time I had the feeling I'd like to run down the gangway. But then, Cliff was waiting for me to get there.

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

After last week's no loot edition, this week I have quite a large library loot! It's always interesting carrying such a large pile of books out of the library!

Here's my loot for this week:

Black Hills by Nora Roberts - It feels as though I have been waiting forever for this one to come in. Only have this one for two weeks and can't be renewed so hopefully I will get to it.

Bravo, Mr William Shakespeare by Marcia Williams

This is actually a picture book. I saw a mention of one of this author's other books on someone's blogs (sorry, can't remember who) and they said it was a scrapbook style look at history which I thought sounded quite interesting. My library didn't have the book they mentioned so I thought I would try this one and see if I like the style or not.

Children of the Storm by Elizabeth Peters.

The next book in the Amelia Peabody series.

Cool Stuff and How it Works 2.0 by John Woodcock and Chris Woodford

This was for my son. I am not 100% sure why we didn't use his library card instead of mine but never mind!

The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart

Having recently read the first two book in Helen Hollick's Pendragon's Banner trilogy, I have acquired an interest in Arthurian literature. Aarti has recommended this book as one place to start.



Dance of Seduction by Elle Kennedy

It always surprises me a little when my library has erotic romance on the shelves. This is a bit outside my comfort zone, which is perfect from a challenge that I am doing in a group I am in which encourages us to do just that.

Dance Upon the Air by Nora Roberts

Normally I don't pick up three books by the same author in one lot of loot but I did this week. I recently finished reading the Daughters of Ardmore trilogy, so it is time to start the next trilogy while I wait for the next new book to come in.

To Desire a Devil by Elizabeth Hoyt

Elizabeth Hoyt is normally an autobuy author for me, but I am a bit broke at the moment so when I saw it was on the catalogue I had to request it straight away. I will probably buy it a bit later

Lost Art of Gratitude by Alexander McCall Smith

The next Isabel Dalhousie novel.

The Outlander by Gil Adamson

Heard lots of good things about this one.

Remember When by Nora Roberts and J D Robb

This is the next In Death book. All this loot, but this is my only reloot!


Before I put up the Mr Linky, I just wanted to specially welcome Miss Moppet to Library Loot! She participated in Library Loot for the first time last week. And now, it is your turn to participate. Leave a link to your Library Loot post in Mr Linky, so we can all come and be a bit nosy and see what you picked up from your library this week.

Teaser Tuesday - Painting Mona Lisa by Jeanne Kalogridis

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

One of my favourite books that I read preblogging days was Jeanne Kalogridis' excellent The Borgia Bride. Over the last few months I have been eagerly anticipating reading her latest book, The Devil's Queen until I realised that some how I had never actually read her last book, which is published here under the title Painting Mona Lisa. I think it was called I, Mona Lisa in some other parts of the world.

My teaser comes from page 347:

My father sat, one shoulder pressed hard against the inner wall, his body slumped diagonally; he gingerly held one hand out to his side. The skin over his cheekbone was tight, violet, so puffed up that I could not see his eye. And his hand...

Library Loot - the no loot edition!

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

I haven't actually been to the library in the last week. It's not that there aren't books to pick up, it's just that I have a bit of a guilty conscience because I have two overdue library books. Like most people I do my best to avoid overdue library books, but if I have started a book I don't like to retun it until I have finished. I am not too far from the end of those two books, but I don't think I will pick up my holds until Saturday probably.

Eva has the Mr Linky this week, so head over to share the loot you got from the library.

I've got a lot on...

There's a lot going on in my little corner of blogland! I'll start with something new, and then work my way up to a couple of reminders.



I guest posted over at The Written World as part of Kailana's ongoing guest blogger series, Music Mondays. I took the opportunity to focus on some of the acts that I saw at Sound Relief earlier this year. Head on over for some good Aussie music, including some Midnight Oil, and Crowded House.

Now for reminders!

Have you signed up for the Virtual Advent Tour yet? So far the turn out has been great, but we would love to have more people sharing their holiday moments with us all. Head over the Virtual Advent Tour for all the details on how to sign up. It's always been a lot of fun, and I am certain this year will be no exception.

Also, don't forget that I am going to be hosting my very first reading challenge here at Reading Adventures. Do you enjoy reading Terry Pratchett's books, or perhaps you have heard about them, and think you would like them, but haven't yet tried them? Sign up for the Terry Pratchett 2010 challenge and join me in the fun!

I nearly forgot my blogiversary giveaway. You can win your choice of one of four books. Check out all the details here.

I wanted to finish with a blog challenge etiquette question. There's a challenge that I love participating in every year. At the beginning of this year there hadn't been a lot of noise about it being on  so I emailed the host and asked if they were hosting it again. I didn't hear back, and it did run, but in the last couple of weeks they have said that they are stepping away from blogging. So here's the deal. I am contemplating asking the host if I could take over the challenge for next year. Would you be offended if someone asked you that? Should I wait and see what happens in the next month or so? Should I just let it go and see if someone else picks it up? What say you?

Teaser Tuesday - Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Back in August, Book Smugglers hosted YA Appreciation month, and as part of that I posted a bit about my Young Adult reads at that time. I also asked for recommendations of both YAs with a historical setting, and YA books by Australian authors. One of the books that was recommended was Everything Beautiful by Australian author Simmone Howell and this week's teaser comes from page 11:

All year I'd been hurtling towards catastrophe. There was the thing with the bucket bong my almost failing mid-terms, my schizo MO - hugging Dad one day, railing at him the next - but the tipping point was when a group of us broke into the local pool for a spot of night-swimming.

So far it's been an interesting read, although there have been a couple of times when I have been pulled out of the story a little bit by either one of the things that happens or the terminology used. For example, at one point the main character talks about her 'mules'. I am getting on a bit age wise now, but I don't think that mules is a term that young people here in Australia would use for shoes. I certainly don't!

Don't forget to enter my blogiversary giveaway!

International Kindle Giveaway

I have been lusting after an ebook reader, any ebook reader, for a while now. Whilst there are a couple of readers available here in Australia, they are very expensive, and the fact is, it would be irresponsible of me to use my money on one at the moment, as much as I want one.

Have you heard about the International Kindle giveaway that is being held by Bibliofreak. There are up to 15 on offer, and yes, it is international, which is awesome!

In order to be in the draw you need to sign up to get your individual code. You can check out the details here. By signing up using my individual code, then I will get an extra entry into the draw, so please, sign up!

Maybe I can win one instead of having to buy one! And once you sign up, then you can spread the word and be in the draw as well!