Mailbox Monday: Birthday!

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

It's been a long time since I did a Mailbox Monday, but I received a wonderful book for my birthday yesterday that I just had to share.

The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder, by Marta McDowell, went to the top of my wish list as soon as I heard about it. It's a new book, published in September, and it will be a perfect addition to my LIW collection. 

Here's what Amazon had to say about it:

The universal appeal of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books springs from a life lived in partnership with the land, on farms she and her family settled across the Northeast and Midwest. In this revealing exploration of Wilder’s deep connection with the natural world, Marta McDowell follows the wagon trail of the beloved Little House series. You’ll learn details about Wilder’s life and inspirations, pinpoint the Ingalls and Wilder homestead claims on authentic archival maps, and learn to grow the plants and vegetables featured in the series. Excerpts from Wilder’s books, letters, and diaries bring to light her profound appreciation for the landscapes at the heart of her world. Featuring the beloved illustrations by Helen Sewell and Garth Williams, plus hundreds of historic and contemporary photographs, The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder is a treasure for anyone enchanted by Laura’s wild and beautiful life. 

Maps, inventories of flora and fauna of the prairies, illustrations, photos - what a treat I have in store this winter. I may just drop everything and read it next!

If you want to find out what others bloggers received last week, visit the Mailbox Monday site. Great source of new ideas for your reading lists.

Mailbox Monday

It's been awhile since I did a Mailbox Monday, but with a good selection of Christmas books that I received, it seems a natural for an early January post.  Stop on by Mailbox Monday to see what other reading bloggers are excited about this week.

I've already blogged about Well-Read Women, water color portraits of literature's leading ladies by artist Samantha Hahn.  I know many of my internet and blogger friends will love this book too.

In the book about books category, I also received By the Book, Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from the The New York Times Book Review.

Also in this category is Lewis Buzbee's The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop, which I received from Bev of My Reader's Block, who was my Bookish Secret Santa this year.

In fiction, I received and am excited to read Ann Patchett's This is the Story of a Happy Marriage.  But first, I have to read her State of Wonder, which is the first book I'm reading on my TBR Pile Challenge this year.

My son gave me First Impressions, the Austenesque novel by Charlie Lovett, which I cannot wait to read.  Seems like a fun, fresh approach to Austenmania.

And finally, the piece de resistance, is a hardbound, with cover book of Audubon's early drawings of birds.  This was a gift from my husband--we started birding just over a year ago, and it is a treasured addition in the gorgeous book category.

Mailbox Monday - Unaccustomed Earth

I haven't done Mailbox Monday in a while because I have been trying to read from my shelves and resist acquiring more than I can handle.

However, I met my sister for lunch yesterday and we did some book trading over mimosas and omelettes.

She gave me a copy of Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri, and said it was fantastic.  So that's my new book for this month!  I'm excited to read it because it is eight interconnected short stories set in Cambridge, Seattle, India, and Thailand.  I don't get to India and Thailand much in my reading and I've been wanting to, so this will be perfect.

Here's what Amazon had to say:

These eight stories by beloved and bestselling author Jhumpa Lahiri take us from Cambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand, as they explore the secrets at the heart of family life. Here they enter the worlds of sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers, daughters and sons, friends and lovers. Rich with the signature gifts that have established Jhumpa Lahiri as one of our most essential writers,Unaccustomed Earth exquisitely renders the most intricate workings of the heart and mind.

Anyone read this book or anything by Lahiri.  The cover of this book said she won a Pulitzer Prize for The Namesake.

Mailbox Monday - From Scratch

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.  Visit Mailbox Monday to see what others are reading.

I have watched the Food Network since it debuted 21 years ago (April 19, 1993).  I thought it a brilliant idea then and I still do, though I'm not thrilled with the current obsession with weird competitions that are less about cooking than about "winning."  Anyway, my first faves were "Ready, Set, Cook," "How to Boil Water," and "Too Hot Tamales."

The only book I got last week was From Scratch: Inside the Food Network, by Allen Salkin.  Honestly, I can't wait to read this one.  I'll probably take it with me on a road trip we're doing in May.  I'm sure it will go quickly, be easy to read in small bursts, and totally fun.

I'm not above gossip and I love behind-the-scenes stories.  My biggest regret on my recent visits to NYC is that you can't go to tapings of the shows or get any kind of studio tour.  Forget NBC, I would love to get a tour of the Food Network!

Mailbox Monday - an ode to book blogging

Lest anyone doubt the efficacy of book blogs to publicize books amongst readers, I am noting that 5 of the 6 books I received over the past couple of weeks are ones I specifically sought out due to reading reviews on fellow book blogger sites.  Thanks for the great recommendations!

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy,
toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.  Visit Here to view other Mailbox Monday lists.

Here's what I can't wait to read...

Blonde, by Joyce Carol Oates - I have never read anything by this classic American author, and it's high time I did.  I read about this book on BooksPlease and thought it sounded fascinating.  I have always admired Marilyn Monroe since I stumbled across Bus Stop on TV when I was a kid and I was just mesmerized by her.

The Thirty-Nine Steps, by John Buchan - I also learned about this from Margaret on BooksPlease. I am trying to read more classic mysteries, and this sounded terrific.  I love that it takes place in Scotland.  Short--a good airplane book.

Mount Joy, by Daisy Newman - I heard about this from CLM from Staircase Wit.  I'm always on the lookout for books about the Camino de Santiago--so many, like the Shirley MacLaine one and the Paolo Coelho one, are quasi-mystical, mumbo-jumbo--but this looks good.  Published in 1968, it's a novel about a college-age girl who walks the Camino.

Young Romantics: The Shelleys, Byron, and Other Tangled Lives by Daisy Hay - this has been on my wish list for years--I can't remember where I first heard about it, but I know it was an internet book friend. Here's the Amazon blurb:

The book focuses on the network of writers and readers who gathered around Percy Bysshe Shelley and the campaigning journalist Leigh Hunt. They included Lord Byron, John Keats, and Mary Shelley, as well as a host of fascinating lesser-known figures: Mary Shelley’s stepsister and Byron’s mistress, Claire Clairmont; Hunt’s botanist sister-in-law, Elizabeth Kent; the musician Vincent Novello; the painters Benjamin Haydon and Joseph Severn; and writers such as Charles and Mary Lamb, Thomas Love Peacock, and William Hazlitt. They were characterized by talent, idealism, and youthful ardor, and these qualities shaped and informed their politically oppositional stances—as did their chaotic family arrangements, which often left the young women, despite their talents, facing the consequences of the men’s philosophies.

I Know This Much is True, by Wally Lamb - I've been hearing a lot about Lamb and Joann at Lakeside Musing recommended this book as one of his best.  It's a chunkster at 900 pages, but I think it will go quickly.

Winter Study, by Nevada Barr - Next in the Anna Pigeon series for me--I'm a few years behind--always a fun read.  I'm heading off on a road trip to 4-5 National Parks in May, so this will get me in the spirit for NP exploring.

Mailbox Monday: staggering piles

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.  Visit MailBox Monday to find out what other bloggers received over the past week--you may find your next favorite book in their piles!

After going for weeks without doing a Mailbox Monday, here I am doing two in a row, but I have had a lot of books flying into my house over the past week.

Here's what I got:

Trains and Lovers, by Alexander McCall Smith - the stories of four strangers on an Edinburgh to London train.  I love stuff like this--maybe because I'm one of those people who imagines the stories of strangers on mass transit myself.  I really enjoyed his 44 Scotland Street series, and like the man-on-the-Scottish-street type of story.

The Last Kingdom, by Bernard Cornwell - book #1 in the Saxon Chronicles, this one has the Danes invading Britain. I've heard great things about this series so I'm eager to dive back in time.

Moon Tiger, by Penelope Lively - I enjoyed her Heat Wave so much that I wanted to read another Lively novel, and this Booker Prize winner seemed like a good choice.

Homeland and Other Stories, by Barbara Kingsolver - a collection of twelve stories, published in 1989.  I didn't start reading Kingsolver until just a few years ago, so I'm trying to fill in the gaps from her early years.

The Heather Blazing, by Colm Toibin - I seem to be on a Toibin kick lately, and like his work.  I found this at a book sale for $.50 so I figured I had nothing to lose.  I really liked his Brooklyn.

Kinds of Love, by May Sarton - I'm trying to read more contemporary fiction this year, and I have a couple of Sarton books on my TBR shelf, but again, I found this at a book sale, and thought it looked promising.

The Proud Tower, by Barbara Tuchman - part of the WWI reading project.  I have wanted to read this for years, but I had to have it in order to do so!

Mailbox Monday - Gifts and Challenge Books

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.  Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.  

It's been a good long while since I did a Mailbox Monday, so I thought I better fill you in on what I've received recently.  

The Daylight Gate, by Jeanette Winterson - this was a Xmas gift from my husband who heard it reviewed on NPR and thought I would like it. Here's what Amazon has to say about it:

After the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, every Catholic conspirator in England fled to a wild, untamed place far from the reach of London law. On Good Friday, 1612, deep in the woods of Pendle Hill, amid baptismal pools and low, thick fog, a gathering of thirteen is interrupted by the local magistrate. Two of their coven have already been imprisoned for witchcraft and are awaiting trial, but those who remain are vouched for by the wealthy and respected Alice Nutter.

Shrouded in mystery and gifted with eternally youthful beauty, Alice is established in Lancashire society and insulated by her fortune. Yet she is also plagued by rumors of a dark and torrid love affair with another woman, the matriarch of the notorious Demdike clan. As those accused of witchcraft retreat into darkness, Alice stands alone as a realm-crosser, a conjurer of powers that will either destroy her or set her free.

Doesn't that sound delicious?  And the cover is marvelous.  I may save this for October reading, or I may disregard my reading plans and just dive in now.

 A Little History of Literature, by John Sutherland - a Xmas present from my brother Mark, who shares a remarkably similar taste in books to me.  Another book I had not heard of, so another blurb from Amazon:

This 'little history' takes on a very big subject: the glorious span of literature from Greek myth to graphic novels, from The Epic of Gilgamesh to Harry Potter. John Sutherland is perfectly suited to the task. He has researched, taught, and written on virtually every area of literature, and his infectious passion for books and reading has defined his own life. Now he guides young readers and the grown-ups in their lives on an entertaining journey 'through the wardrobe' to a greater awareness of how literature from across the world can transport us and help us to make sense of what it means to be human.

 I am so looking forward to reading this--it will be my non-fiction selection after I finish Bill Bryson's absolutely fabulous One Summer: America, 1927.  It will go nicely with my collection of books about books, which includes Lucy Pollard-Gott's The Fictional 100 and Erin Blakemore's The Heroine's Bookshelf.

Narrow Windows Lives - The Industrial Revolution in Lancashire, by Sue Wilkes - a few years ago, I learned about this book from theauthor's website;and I promised myself I would get a copy so that I could read about the world my grandmother left in 1920 when she emigrated to Montreal.  She had grown up working in a factory in Oldham, and though she died before I was born, I've always wondered about her life and times.

Eight Cousins, by Louisa May Alcott - this is on my Back to the Classics reading list for 2014, so I figured I better have a copy on hand.  I enjoyed Little Women so much when I finally read it a few years ago, and my reading about LMA has been so enjoyable.  This book has recently gotten enough rave reviews that I put it on the list. Jane of Lantern Hill, by L.M. Montgomery - I have heard such wonderful things about this book that I wanted to read it and then I up and joined the L.M. Montgomery Reading Challenge to put it offically on the reading list for this year.  I enjoyed The Blue Castle so much, that I wanted to try another non-Anne book.

Inherit the Wind, by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee - the play that became the movie and which is a fictionalized version of the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" trial.  A classic of American theatre, but a classic I've never seen nor read.  Time to remedy that!

Mailbox Monday

Time for my favorite meme: Mailbox Monday, a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued.  Gina of Book Dragon’s Lair will be hosting the meme for the month of October.   It's been a few weeks since I played the game, and have a few new books that arrived recently to talk about.

Joyland by Stephen King - I'm reading this with the Tuesday Book Talk group at GoodReads, picked it up on Saturday, and inhaled the first section.  It is absolutely wonderful.  I haven't read much King, but I'm starting to think I should, even though I don't go much for horror (see my Autumn Tag post, favorite horror story section for evidence). Set in 1973 at an amusement park on the North Carolina coast, it is nostalgic for me.  I was a high school sophomore in the fall of 1973, and while I didn't work in an amusement park, the tone and feel of the novel is spot on for the timeframe.

Bronx Primitive: Portraits in a Childhood, by Kate Simon - my brother recommended this for my NY reading, it's an immigrant memoir, coming-of-age story, focused on life after WWI.

Borrower of the Night, by Elizabeth Peters - the first in the Vicky Bliss mystery series, I found out about this series after Peters (penname for Barbara Mertz) died in August.  Here's a blurb I found that explains why it appeals to me:

Vicky Bliss, a history instructor at a small midwestern college, sets off to Germany to discover a priceless religious shrine that's been missing for hundreds of years. Her quest becomes a competition, but among her colleagues and fellow guests at the ancient castle where the shrine is hidden is a murderer, who will allow no one else to claim the prize.

Heat Wave, by Penelope Lively - I want to read something by Lively, who I've been told on good authority that I will love.  Novel, family angst, England - I'm willing to try.

Through a Glass Darkly, by Donna Leon - the next Inspector Brunetti novel (set in Venice) for me in Leon's magnificent mystery series.  The mysteries are secondary for me--I love reading about life in the city, the Brunetti family, the inner workings of the police department in Venice.  This is a "it's snowing and I'm not moving from this chair today" kind of book.

Interestingly, two of these books have pretty common titles.  Searching on Amazon for "Heat Wave" yielded a plethora of steamy covers and I couldn't find the link I wanted without adding the author's name to the search.  "Through a Glass Darkly" also produced many books, and I suspect it is popular as a title because it is found in the New Testament and drips with poetic possibility--part of why the King James version is still popular and quoted.   You don't get phrases like "through a glass darkly" in modern translations!

Mailbox Monday - Deja Dickens!

Mailbox Monday is a touring meme, and is hosted by Kathy at Bermuda Onion in August.  It's one of my favorite ways to find new bloggers to follow and new books to read.  Stop by and see what everyone else has just gotten to read.

I have two new books that I am very excited to read but that couldn't be more different.

Charles Dickens and the House of Fallen Women, by Jenny Hartley - I have wanted to read this book for years.  Here's the first paragraph of a review Claire Tomalin did of the book in The Guardian:

Jenny Hartley's brilliant book fills a gap in Dickens studies. Vivid, intelligent and enthralling, it is about his setting up in Shepherd's Bush - this is 1847, when Shepherd's Bush was farming land outside London - a house in which girls from the streets, the prisons and the workhouses, girls who stole and prostituted themselves, wrecking their own lives and seemingly helpless to save themselves, might be changed through kindness and discipline, and so prepared for new lives in the colonies.

I've found this project of Dickens' to be a fascinating facet of his multifaceted personality, and I think knowing about it might prove valuable when thinking about his other work (i.e., novel writing).

Deja Dead, by Kathy Reichs - this is the first in the Temperance Brennan mystery series that the TV show Bones is based upon.  I enjoy Bones and have been interested to see whether I like the novels as well.  It's exciting to have a new mystery series to follow.

Mailbox Monday - August 12

Mailbox Monday is a touring meme, and is hosted by Kathy at Bermuda Onion in August.  It's one of my favorite ways to find new bloggers to follow and new books to read.

I have two new books that I am very excited to read.

The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession, by Mark Obmascik

Heres' the Publisher's Weekly blurb from Amazon:

In one of the wackiest competitions around, every year hundreds of obsessed bird watchers participate in a contest known as the North American Big Year. Hoping to be the one to spot the most species during the course of the year, each birder spends 365 days racing around the continental U.S. and Canada compiling lists of birds, all for the glory of being recognized by the American Birding Association as the Big Year birding champion of North America. In this entertaining book, Obmascik, a journalist with the Denver Post, tells the stories of the three top contenders in the 1998 American Big Year: a wisecracking industrial roofing contractor from New Jersey who aims to break his previous record and win for a second time; a suave corporate chief executive from Colorado; and a 225-pound nuclear power plant software engineer from Maryland. Obmascik bases his story on post-competition interviews but writes so well that it sounds as if he had been there every step of the way. In a freewheeling style that moves around as fast as his subjects, the author follows each of the three birding fanatics as they travel thousands of miles in search of such hard-to-find species as the crested myna, the pink-footed goose and the fork-tailed flycatcher, spending thousands of dollars and braving rain, sleet, snowstorms, swamps, deserts, mosquitoes and garbage dumps in their attempts to outdo each other. By not revealing the outcome until the end of the book, Obmascik keeps the reader guessing in this fun account of a whirlwind pursuit of birding fame. 

I just watched the movie, starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson and have decided to become a birder as well.  I got my list of Birds of Boulder County checklist, dusted off the binoculars and am ready to become obsessed.

How to Make an American Quilt - A Novel, by Whitney Otto

The stories of the lives of the women who constitute a sewing circle...that's all I know about it, other than it was also made into a movie that people seem to like...a lot.

I enjoy quilting off and on, and this happens to be an on year, so I am currently working on my fourth quilt since March!   

Mailbox Monday - Memorial Day 2013

Time for my favorite meme, Mailbox Monday, where book lovers share the titles they received for review, purchased, or otherwise obtained over the past week. This month’s host is 4 the LOVE of BOOKS--stop by and check out what other books are being profiled this week.

I've had a great new set of books enter my house via all sorts of paths.

Here's my new acquisitions...

Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year, by Anne Lamott - I really enjoy Lamott's non-fiction.  Her honesty, story-telling, and fresh prose is always a joy to read. Really looking forward to this memoir of babyhood as my own nest empties this summer.

The Widow Waltz, by Sally Koslow - this is a review copy from a publicist; I don't accept many review copies because I tend to read books that have been out for awhile, but this one, about a newly widowed mother in NYC, appealed to me.

Highland River, by Neil M. Gunn - I found this author and title in Robert Macfarlane's wonderful book about distance walking, The Old Ways, and wanted to add it to my collection of books on walking.  Here's the Amazon blurb:

Ken is a scientist, with a scientist's dispassionate eye for the material world, as he reviews his life from the difficult 1930s, through the slaughter of World War I, back to an idyllic boyhood in the Highlands. When the mature man finally reaches the source of the river that has haunted his imagination for so many years, he finds that the wellsprings of magic and delight were always there, in the world all around him at the time, inexhaustible and irreverent. Awarded the James Tait Memorial Prize 1937, Highland River is written in prose as cool and clear as the water it describes, and is the simplest, most poetic, and perhaps the greatest of Neil Gunn's novels.

Sorcery & Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, by Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer - I've read about this novel on many other blogs and it sounds fun.  Another witchie read after The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, which I just finished.

Testament of Youth, by Vera Brittain - this book has been recommended for years, so I finally got a copy so that I could finally read it.  Here's the Amazon blurb:

Much of what we know and feel about the First World War we owe to Vera Brittain’s elegiac yet unsparing book, which set a standard for memoirists from Martha Gellhorn to Lillian Hellman. Abandoning her studies at Oxford in 1915 to enlist as a nurse in the armed services, Brittain served in London, in Malta, and on the Western Front. By war’s end she had lost virtually everyone she loved. Testament of Youth is both a record of what she lived through and an elegy for a vanished generation. Hailed by the Times Literary Supplement as a book that helped "both form and define the mood of its time," it speaks to any generation that has been irrevocably changed by war.

The Plantagenets: the  Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England, by Dan Jones - lent to me by a brother who came out to visit and who insisted I borrow it because I will love it.  I will--starting this week!

Mailbox Monday - May 6

Mailbox Monday is hosted by 4 the LOVE of BOOKS--stop by the site to see what other bloggers just added to their TBR shelves.

I picked up a copy of A Little House Sampler--no it's not about cross-stitch that Laura and Mary did--instead it is a collection of fiction, essays, articles, columns, poems, drafts, unpublished manuscripts, notes, and musings of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her journalist-novelist daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. 

I'm looking forward to reading a new novel that's just on the horizon,  A Wilder Rose: Rose Wilder Lane, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Their Little Houses, by Susan Wittig Albert, and I wanted to get a flavor of their non-Little House writings first.  While I've read the LH series many times, I haven't really read much else that they wrote.

Mailbox Monday - April 22, 2013

Time for my favorite meme, Mailbox Monday, hosted in April by MariReads.  

"Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists. It was started by Marcia, previously of The Printed Page and is now a Blog Tour, hosted by a different book blog each month."

I have a lot of new books on my shelf--I suppose doing so well with my TBR Pile challenge has given me license to acquire books to fill the empty slots.

Waverley, by Sir Walter Scott - I have wanted to read Scott for the longest time--he was one of Austen's favorite authors, and a favorite of so many other of my favorite authors that I really would like to have a personal knowledge of his stories.  The back of my brand-new Penguin Classics copy promises that this is "the first romantic historical novel and international bestseller."  Published in 1814, it will be a nice complement to the Outlander series as it also tells the story of the Jacobite rising in Scotland.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, by Katherine Howe - this is the May book for Tuesday Book Talk on Goodreads.  I've been a member for a few months but haven't participated in the discussions yet.  Here's part of the blurb on Goodreads and what prompted me to vote for it:

Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie's grandmother's abandoned home near Salem, she can't refuse. As she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an ancient key within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest--to find out who this woman was and to unearth a rare artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge.

The Sherlockian, by Graham Moore - time to find out what all the fuss is about. As a long-time reader of Sherlock Holmes stories, this promises to be a fun summer read.  I have a couple of long airline flights in June that I think this will be perfect for.

Chesapeake, by James A. Michener - a fellow blogger mentioned this book on her blog and I remembered that I have been wanting to read it for years.  I absolutely love sprawling millenium-spanning novels about specific places.  I love Edward Rutherford's books, and it's been a long time since I read a Michener.

The Eight, by Katherine Neville - Ryan at Wordsmithonia mentioned this book, and I decided it sounded so interesting that I just had to get it.  Here's the Amazon blurb:

Katherine Neville's debut novel is a postmodern thriller set in 1972 ... and 1790. In the 20th century, Catherine Velis is a computer expert with a flair for music, painting, and chess who, on her way to Algeria at the behest of the accounting firm where she is employed, is invited to take a mysterious moonlighting assignment: recover the pieces of an old chess set missing for centuries.
In the midst of the French Revolution, a young novice discovers that her abbey is the hiding place of a chess set, once owned by the great Charlemagne, which allows those who play it to tap into incredible powers beyond the imagination. She eventually comes into contact with the major historical figures of the day, from Robespierre to Napoleon, each of whom has an agenda.
The Eight is a non-stop ride that recalls the swashbuckling adventures of Indiana Jones as well as the historical puzzles of Umberto Eco which, since its first publication in 1988, has gone on to acquire a substantial cult following.

Jane Austen: Women, Politics, and the Novel, by Claudia L. Johnson - I recently attended Austen at Altitude, a conference co-sponsered by the two JASNA organizations in Colorado and held in Denver.  Claudia Johnson was the keynote speaker and I was so interested in her talk--on the sublime in Austen--that I wanted to get one of her books for a little lit crit indulgence reading.  The wonderful Tattered Cover bookstore, one of Denver's crown jewels, had a book fair at the Saturday afternoon performance of the Sense and Sensibility, the Musical that was going on during the conference, and so I picked this one up at their table.

Mailbox Monday - February 4

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.  Mailbox Monday is being hosted in February at Unabridged Chick. Click over to add your link and check out other bloggers’ mailboxes!

I have been diligent about reading from my TBR pile, but I did acquire a few new books this week.

Here Be Dragons, by Sharon Kay Penman - I loved Sunne in Splendour so much that I decided to read more of Penman's novels and this is not only highly recommended but is the first in a trilogy.  Huzzah!  Here's the Amazon blurb:

Thirteenth-century Wales is a divided country, ever at the mercy of England’s ruthless, power-hungry King John. Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, secures an uneasy truce by marrying the English king’s beloved illegitimate daughter, Joanna, who slowly grows to love her charismatic and courageous husband. But as John’s attentions turn again and again to subduing Wales---and Llewelyn---Joanna must decide where her love and loyalties truly lie.

Strong as Death, by Sharan Newman - recommended by fellow blogger, who recommended it because of my interest in walking El Camino de Santiago.  Here's the Amazon blurb:

As a former novitiate in the Order of the Paraclete, Catherine LeVendeur has had more than her share of adventures. In fact, intrigue—and murder—seem to dog her path. When Catherine chose love over churchly devotion by falling in love with her Saxon nobleman, Edgar, her family had the earnest hope that married life would settle this most headstrong and unusual woman. But fate has a way of playing with mortals, and after suffering several miscarriages and the birth of a stillborn child, Catherine is inspired by a prophetic dream. She and Edgar will embark on a pilgrimage to the fabled monastery of Compostela, to petition St. James for a child, to take the holy waters, and to pray.


During their journey Catherine and Edgar encounter mad monks, some less-than-penitent crusaders, and a motley collection of pilgrims whose past deeds bind them all in a bizarre game of chance. When several pilgrims are gruesomely murdered, the trail of evidence points to an old sin left unshriven and a hidden villain whose quest for revenge may end in Catherine's death.

Sounds great, right?  I've enjoyed two other medieval mystery series, the Brother Cadfael stories and those about Roger the Chapman, by Kate Sedley, so I'm sure I'll like this as well...if the writing is decent.

The final book that arrived was A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.  This has been on my TBR shelf for years, but the actual copy I had was a small, yellowed book that was difficult to read, so I decided to get a Penquin Classics version.  I like the notes and format and readability of Penquin Classics.

BTW, this cover really reminds me of the "Master of the House" scene in Les Misérables.

Mailbox Monday, December 10: Groaning TBR Shelf

It's been awhile since I did a Mailbox Monday, and my TBR shelves are groaning again from a slew of recent acquisitions.

Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme created by Marcia where book lovers share the titles they obtained over the past week. Mailbox Monday currently is on tour, and this month’s host is Suko’s Notebook.  I encourage you to hop on over to see what books other bloggers are excited about reading.

Love and War, by John Jakes - second in his North and South trilogy on the American Civil War.  Looking forward to sailing into this one in January.  I'm watching the mini-series at the same time, and am enjoying both the books and the circa 1980 TV series quite a bit. There are a couple of characters who are pretty different from those depicted in the book, but the series is following the books remarkably well.

The Eagle Catcher, by Margaret Coel - the first in a mystery series that takes place on Wyoming's Wind River Reservation.  Coel is a fellow Coloradoan and I hang my head in shame whenever I must admit that I haven't read any of her novels yet.

Dr. Thorne, by Anthony Trollope - the third in Trollope's Barchester Series and definitely on my classics reading list for 2013.

Mystery Mile, by Margery Allingham - P.D. James raved about Allingham in her book, Talking About Detective Fiction, and I've been wanting to sample her work ever since.  I've heard that Albert Campion is her best detective, and this is the book where he first appears.  I do like reading books in order!

The Camino: A Journey of the Spirit, by Shirley MacLaine - I watched The Way earlier this year, which prompted me to read Seven Tips to Make the Most of the Camino de Santiago, which I got for my birthday in November.  Cheri Powell, author of Seven Tips, recommended MacLaine's memoir of her experiences on the pilgrimage, so I got a copy. 

A Passage to India, by E.M. Forster - I absolutely love A Room With a View, but haven't read anything else by Forster besides Howard's End, but that was so long ago that it hardly counts.  I know shamefully little about India, and I can't go on pretending to understand Victorian lit without getting a better understanding about the relationship between England and India.  This seemed as good a place as any to start learning.

On the Shores of the Mediterranean, by Eric Newby - Wanderlust has been hitting me hard these days...maybe it's that old mid-life crisis, gotta-make-a-bucket list mindset that is driving me, but I long for the open road.  Newby has been recommended as a wonderful travel writer, and since the Mediterranean is the area I most dream about these days, I thought this was an essential book to read this winter.

A Book of Travellers' Tales, assembled by Eric Newby - I don't imagine I will read this cover to cover but will dive in as interests surface. From Hannibal to Samuel Johnson to Jack Kerouac, and including Robert Louis Stevenson, David Livingstone, and scores of other notable travellers, authors, and personages, this promises to be a great reference book.

Monday Mailbox - Birthday Showers

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. The host for November is: Kathy at http://bermudaonion.net/ where you can find other bloggers who are bragging about their new books too!

My wonderful family showered me with birthday presents this morning--yes, I am lucky enough to have a Guy Fawkes Day birthday!  So, I thought I would share with you what I received this beautiful Monday morning. Note - all blurbs below are lifted from Amazon.

Walking in the Dolomites:

This guide leads you through breathtaking alpine scenery flanked by well-graded paths and excellent mountain refuges that verge on hotels, which are easily accessible with the excellent network of public transport from major towns and travel hubs, such as Venice, Verona, Munich and Innsbruck.Any one of these fabulous multi-day walks make for a memorable holiday in Italy's breathtaking Dolomite mountains. This full colour revised edition has a wealth of inspiring photos, detailed maps, myriad new routes and heaps of practical help on travelling, sleeping and eating.

Walking in Britain:

From ancient trails in southern England and coastal paths in Wales, to windswept moors in northern England and mountain ascents in Scotland, your opportunities for walking in Britain are as varied as the landscapes, people and cultures of this island.

Seven Tips to Make the Most of the Camino de Santiago:

It is not a travelogue or a guide, but rather a preparation manual that gives practical advice on the different aspects of undertaking the spiritual journey of a lifetime. The Seven Tips cover everything from what to take to the history of the Camino to calculating the cost. Thought provoking questions are posed to help set realistic expectations in the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and logistical areas. In short, it is the organizational tool you need while planning your trip.

Do you see a trend emerging?  Although I'm hoping to do some serious walking in the Dolomites in 2014, and perhaps even sooner in Britain, the Camino de Santiago book is the one I started on first because I think it will be useful for walking/trekking anywhere.

My final book was from my mother, Bobby Flay's Bar Americain Cookbook.  I really enjoy visiting this restaurant in NYC, and just flipping through it I found several recipes that look great.  How about Fried Green Tomato Salad with smoked trout, fava beans, roasted beets, and sweet and sour dressing?

One last gift I want to mention is a set of postcards my daughter sent to me--they're all of posters from the Glasgow-based Anchor Line that provided transatlantic steamship passenger service starting in 1856.

I absolutely love travel posters so this is a real treat!

Mailbox Monday - Oct 29

I love Mondays because I love Mailbox Monday--it's such fun to bop around the blog-o-sphere and see what everyone else is excited about reading.

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.


Visit Mailbox Monday for a list of other bloggers who have posted about their latest acquisitions.

Here's a look at my new books, which fall neatly into the two primary reading fronts I'm currently working on.

Civil War

Love and War, by John Jakes - second book in his North and South trilogy.  I'm also watching the mini-series while I'm reading these bestsellers from the 1980s.  I'm impressed with how accurate the books are and how complete a picture they paint of the Civil War era. 

Civil War Hospital Sketches, by Louisa May Alcott.  Here's how the Amazon blurb described this slender book.

Before Little Women brought her wider fame, Alcott achieved recognition for her accounts of her work as a volunteer nurse in an army hospital. Written during the winter of 1862-63, her lively dispatches revealed the desperate realities of battlefield medicine as well as the tentative first steps of women in military service.

I would like to read more first-hand accounts of the war and this seemed like a great way to start, especially given my recent foray into Alcott's life and work.

Venice

Across the River and Into the Trees, by Ernest Hemingway - it's been years since I read anything by Hemingway, but I always liked him, back in my high school and college days.  I had to get this book and put it on my Classics Challenge list for 2013 when I discovered it was set in Venice.  Here's part of the Amazon blurb about this book:  

In the fall of 1948, Ernest Hemingway made his first extended visit to Italy in thirty years. His reacquaintance with Venice, a city he loved, provided the inspiration for Across the River and into the Trees, the story of Richard Cantwell, a war-ravaged American colonel stationed in Italy at the close of the Second World War, and his love for a young Italian countess. A poignant, bittersweet homage to love that overpowers reason, to the resilience of the human spirit, and to the worldweary beauty and majesty of Venice,