What I'm Reading Right Now #12

This week has not been a good reading week. I realized on Tuesday that if everything happens when it is currently scheduled than we are moving in about three weeks. Which means I'm really behind on packing. So that has been my focus this week...Well, sort of. Truthfully I haven't been able to focus on much at all since I feel like everything needs to be done at once. I keep starting one thing then thinking of something else that needs to be done, so I go start that, and then I think of something else, and its a pretty nasty cycle. And it means that my house is a torn apart disaster area and nothing is actually finished. Since the house is torn apart I don't have anywhere I can sit and relax to read, so reading hasn't happened much, not that I could relax much anyways with so much stuff that needs to be done.

However, I realized yesterday that this presents a new opportunity. I can listen to books! I had an Audible subscription a few years ago and bought a ton of audiobooks but only ever listened to a handful, so yesterday I started listening to a book, and I really enjoyed it. I only got about halfway through the first chapter but I found listening easier if I sped up the audio to x1.50, Listening at the normal x1 was just too slow and any faster and I couldn't even hear the words.

As far as the RMSC, I've made no progress this week. Only the audiobook will count towards it for my currently reading books. Still at 9 out of 25 but I've still got the rest of the year to finish so I'm not worried. I expected things to slow down around moving time, so I'm sure it will pick back up once we get settled in the new house.

Books I Finished This Week

Image from Goodreads

The Furthest Station (Peter Grant 5.7) by Ben Aaronovitch - I got an E-ARC of this book from
the publisher, through NetGalley. I'm doing a full review of it closer to the actual release date but let me tell you, this book is pretty awesome. The whole premise of the series is cops who hunt ghosts on the London Underground (subway), and I love it! Release date it June 30th, so look for the full review in a few weeks!

Image from Goodreads

The Chilbury Ladies Choir by Jennifer Ryan - I got a free copy of this book through Blogging for Books. When I first started it I wasn't sure I liked
it. Some of the first characters we're introduced too are pretty unlikable people and I wasn't sure I wanted to read about them, but I kept going and I'm pretty glad I did. I'm doing a full review of this one next week so look for that on Monday or Tuesday!

The Perfect Girl by Gilly MacMillan - This book is a mystery/thriller book and I don't usually read a ton of those but lately they've been cropping up more and more. This one I really enjoyed. The main character is Zoe, a teenage piano prodigy, who was convicted three years ago of killing three

Image from Goodreads

other teens in a drunken car accident. When we meet her in the book it is the night of her first concert since her release from jail, she's performing with her new stepbrother as her mother and new stepfather watch. But the concert is interrupted and by the next morning Zoe's mother is dead and Zoe finds herself facing the police again.
I have some mixed feelings about this book. I found it interesting but not for the 'who killed the mother' plot line, it was the story of what happened to Zoe the night of the car accident and afterward that kept me reading. I didn't really get into the death of Zoe's mother until the end because I just knew in my gut that Zoe didn't do it. The ending was interesting, Zoe got the ending she wanted, probably what was best for her, her stepbrother, and baby sister, but not in the most ethical way. She found a way to use everything she learned from her own trial and in 'The Unit' to her advantage. The thing I didn't like about the ending is that we don't get to see how everything turned out for everyone. I don't like endings that tie things up too neatly but this one I felt left too many loose ends. How did Uncle Richard deal with his alcohol abuse, did he go to AA like he said he would? Is Tessa still seeing Sam behind Richard's back or did she and Richard make up and find a way to save their marriage? What happened to Zoe's dad? Tom Barlow? Sam with his health issues?
I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Book I'm Reading Right Now

Images from Goodreads and NetGalley

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - I've packed up most of my books so this one is the only paper book I'm reading right now. I'm going to try and focus on one paper book and one e-book at a time right now, so hopefully I can get though this one this week.

Canivalesque by Neil Jordon - This one is an E-ARC and I'm going though it pretty quickly, I started it this morning and I'm already at 15%.

Welocme to the Farm by Shaye Elliott - This is another E-ARC I picked up through NetGalley. I'm at about the 30% mark and I love this book. I might have to buy a copy so I have one I can write in and mark up, it seems like the kind of book you can make your own like that. Not that I intend to be a farmer at any point...I just want to be able to grow a damn tomato, a skill that has some how alluded me in my 30 years of life.

The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson - This is the audiobook! I'm not very far into it but I'm making progress!

Upcoming Stuff

Bookshelf organization plan for the new house - I intend to do a post on this soon, I need to write it all out to figure out the actual plan.

Bookish crafts with The Toddler - We did fun stuff last week and I'm going to share a bit!

How to get cheap (or free!) e-books - It's very rare that I pay more than 99 cents for an e-book and I'm going to share how I do it.

5 Historical Fiction Authors to Read and Love!

I originally started writing this as a post recommending specific historical fiction novels. I got four or five books listed and then I realized that I was going to have a few authors on the list several times. At that point I decided it would be easier do recommend the authors themselves, rather than listing 10 books by the same three or four authors. I love historical fiction and I've read quite a bit of it so here are my top historical fiction authors.

All cover images from Goodreads.com

Image from Goodreads

1. Philippa Gregory - I love Philippa Gregory's books. The Other Boleyn Girl is my favorite book of all time, it's the bee's knees. Seriously, I talk about it all the time. Just read it. The Boleyn Inheritance, which is kind of a sequel to The Other Boleyn Girl, is excellent and made me love Anne of Cleves. The White Queen, The Virgin's Lover, The Constant Princess, I could go on and on about her books all day. Three Sisters, Three Queens is the next book of her's that is on my TBR pile and I can't wait to get too it, although it will have to wait till after the move. It's about Henry VIII's sisters, Margaret (who becomes Queen of Scotland), and Mary (who is Queen of France for a very short time), and his first wife (Margaret and Mary's sister-in-law) Katherine of Aragon (who is, of course, Queen of England) and the not so smooth relationship they have with each other.

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2. Jeanne Kalogridis - I love her books, too. Jeanne Kalogridis is a close second to Philippa Gregory. The Burning Times was the first book of hers that I read and it is so captivating. It starts during the Black Death, and this is going to sound weird but I love the Black Death, it's such and interesting point in history. The Burning Times has a lot to do with The Inquisition, hence the title, and love, and magic, its a beautiful story.  The Borgia Bride, is another amazing story about Sancha of Aragon who marries one of the sons of Rodrigo Borgia (AKA Pope Alexander VI), and its just full of sex, and love, and politics, and murder, and family drama, and its awesome. The Devil's Queen, is about Catherine de Medici, the woman who came from the famous (and incredibly rich) banking family from Italy, and became Queen of France. Again, it's full of political scheming, and court intrigues, and I just love stories like that.

Image from Alisonweir.org.uk

3. Alison Weir - Alison Weir is one of my favorite non-fiction history writers and I was a little shocked when I saw her name in the fiction section for the first time, but her fiction books are so good! Innocent Traitor is my current favorite, but she has an historical fiction book about Anne Boleyn coming out this year so that might not last. But Innocent Traitor is about Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days Queen, and it is absolutely heartbreaking. Jane's life was so short, and she had very little to do with being put on the throne, I've read several biographies about her and this book really fleshes out the whole story. The Captive Queen, about Eleanor of Aquitaine is excellent also.

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4. Jeanne Plaidy - Plaidy is probably one of the most prolific historical fiction writers ever. She used 7 pen names and, according to wikipedia, published over 200 books. I've read about 10 of her books and they've all been great but with such a prolific author it's hard to know where to start. The best thing you can do with her books is to just pick one. Sometime in the last 30 or so years her books were organized into 'series' by the publisher and the order of these 'series' have absolutely nothing to do with the order in which the books were published so really you can read them in any order. I started with To Hold the Crown, which focuses on Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. The Reluctant Queen, about Anne Neville, the wife of Richard III, is very good, and another one of my favorites. You really can't go wrong with Plaidy, just chose a time period and go for it.

Image from Anneeastersmith.com

5. Anne Easter Smith - The thing I love most about Anne Easter Smith's books is surprisingly, not the history parts. I love how she describes her setting, it just makes the books so beautiful, and easy to get lost in. My favorite one of her books is A Rose for the Crown, which tells the story of Richard III through the eyes of Kate, his mistress and mother of his illegitimate children. Richard is often portrayed as a monster through history, and is often blamed for the disappearance of his two nephews from the Tower of London (which there is no conclusive evidence for), and this book does a good job of portraying him in a more sympathetic light.

Honorable Mentions

A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner - I wouldn't call this strictly historical fiction because part of it does take place in modern day NYC, but its an excellent book. It is about the experiences of two women, one who witnessed the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911 and one who witnessed 9/11, and how they heal from what they saw and what they lost on those days. Warning; it's a tear-jerker.

Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King by Antonia Fraser - This book is non-fiction but it reads like fiction. It's about Louis XIV and his series of 'Maitresse en Titre' or official mistresses. They were an interesting group of women, some holding an immense of amount of political power and 17th century France is an interesting setting for anything.

Through a Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen - I've seen mixed reviews on this book, it appears you either love it or hate, but I loved it. It takes places in the early 1700's, and most of it goes back and forth between the French and English courts. The main character is a young girl named Barbara who is engaged to a much older man, and there's affairs and politics, and basically all the stuff I love in historical fiction.

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff - This is the only book I've read by Ebershoff so I couldn't put him as a 'must read' author but this book is a must read! It's about a young woman who's family follows Joseph Smith, the founder and leader of the Mormon church, and her subsequent marriage to Brigham Young, as his '19th' wife. It also follows the story of a young man who has left a polygamist community in Utah and is trying to get his mother out. It really is a must read.  


Which books should be added to the list? I'm always looking for new authors to love!

Reading Habits Post #2: The Coffee Shop

This is the second post in a series. The first post (Reading Habits Post #1; My Usual Reading Routine) can be found here. 

I love coffee shops! 

When I was in college my friends and I hung out at one near campus that had Dr. Seuss murals on the walls and live music at night. It was open 24 hours a day and had cheap coffee and biscotti. That coffee shop is still there and The Husband and I go there occasionally to reminisce, but these days it's full of high school kids during the day and hipsters at night. Not that that's a bad thing, we just don't really fit into that scene anymore.

When I was away at college The Husband (who was The Boyfriend back then) would come visit me and I'd walk to the building across from my dorm and get us coffee and bagels from Einstein Brothers. Oh, those bagels were amazing. I went there almost every morning, some days I even skipped my first class so I could sit at a small table and read while I sipped my coffee. Skipping classes is not a good idea, just for the record. 

Once The Husband and I moved into an apartment it was a local Tim Horton's, then when I got my full time job I fell in love with Starbucks and their iced lemon pound cake. I still love Starbucks but I can't afford to spend six dollars on coffee everyday. 

Now when I find myself wanting to go sit somewhere and read and drink coffee I usually go to Biggby. The one I go to is near the library, it has a fireplace with big comfy chairs, I can get a drink that's very similar to my Starbucks order, only slightly sweeter. It's quiet and I find that when I'm reading there it's much easier to get absorbed into my book than it is at home.

When I'm reading at home I'm constantly remembering things I need to do, listening for The Toddler to wake up, and fighting the urge to look at Pinterest. When I'm at a coffee shop, alone, none of that seems to matter. I can stop worrying about everything else and just read and it's quite wonderful. 

In the last month or so it's become a weekly thing. It's not always the same night of the week, but once a week I go to Biggby and read. 

Last week I went on Monday night. I usually try to save my mom-cation for a night when I'm truly overwhelmed and really need to just leave the house and relax for a while but this week that night came early. Anxiety sucks. I might even need a second trip to Biggby this week.

The Biggby reading routine goes like this;

1. Drive to Biggby. If there's a good song on the radio drive around the block a few times so I can turn up the volume and enjoy it.
2. Order drink. I usually get a Mocha Latte but if it's after 8:30 PM I sometimes switch to hot chocolate. It's yummy and relaxing without keeping me up until midnight.
3. Pick a seat. This can be trickier than it seems. I don't like to sit too close to people or have to talk to anyone, and I like quiet. If there is a group of people sitting together I usually pick a spot as far away from them as I can get, Nine times out of ten I get a seat by the fireplace, but if I can't reasonably sit there and read I prefer a table by the windows. I've also found that if I'm reading a big, chunky, hardcover book the table works better.
4. Read. No explanation needed.

There's not really much I want to change about this particular routine. I thoroughly enjoy my reading time at the coffee shop and I think I really do get the most out of it. The only thing I can think of that would improve my reading time is if Biggby started selling donuts and it's probably a good thing for me that they don't!  

What's your reading routine like? Do you read in coffee shops or no? 

What I'm Reading Right Now #11

This week was an okay week for reading. I had to make the decision to add to the DNF list, which I'm sad about but I needed to do it. I only finished two books, but I'm optimistic for next week looking much better on the reading front.Neither of the two books I finished counted for the RMSC however the 'Whole Deal' post has been updated with the DNF's and can be found here.

Books I Finished

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Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (spoiler free) - In this book we follow Madeline, Celeste, and Jane as they navigate through their children's kindergarten year. There's lots of drama, as someone is bullying in their class and Jane's son Ziggy is accused of being the bully. Ziggy maintains that he isn't the bully but none of the adults seem to believe him and even his own mother questions his innocence as she finally begins to heal from the rather traumatic events surrounding Ziggy's conception.  The school-yard antics of the parents escalate until someone ends up dead at the schools fundraising Trivia Night.

I really enjoyed this book. It had short chapters, I love short chapters. It was nearly 500 pages but I was able to go through it in three days. I also liked that it kept me guessing. I figured out who Ziggy's father was pretty early on, but I never figured out who was murdered. When I read the murder scene I was so glad it wasn't who I thought it was. I also liked that the characters of all the parents where so real. I feel like I know people who are like some of the characters, and they were so well written they seemed to pop off the page. Especially Madeline, she reminded me so much of Jackie Tyler, Rose's mom from Doctor Who. The part that got to me the most was Celeste. Her whole story just made me want to hug her. I gave Big Little Lies 4 out of 5 stars

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Some Practical Magic by Laurie C. Kuna - I received a free copy of Practical Magic through NetGalley for review. I had fun reading it and did a full review, which can be found here.

Books I DNF'd 

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Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson - I had to go ahead and DNF this. I enjoyed what I did read of it, and I fully intend to give it another try, but it just wasn't happening right now. From my experience with this series they're pretty dense, and it takes me a lot to get into them. I really have to be able to give it my full attention and I just can't do that right now.

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The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata - I have found that although
I can read several books at once, I can only do one e-book at a time. Probably because all book look the same on a Kindle whereas paper books all look different. But since I've got four or five ARC's right now, all e-books, I'm not able to keep going with this one. I do still intend to read it but now is not the time for it.

What I'm Reading Right Now

Images from Goodreads

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - I've made a bit of progress with this in the last week and I'm really liking it. I'm going to keep going with it now that I'm getting into it.

The Perfect Girl by Gilly Macmillan - I've wanted to read this for so so long! It a mystery/thiller which I don't usually read a lot of but this one had me hooked when I read a preview of the first chapter a while ago.

The Furthest Station (Peter Grant 5.7) by Ben Aaronovitch - This is a novella of the Peter Grant series, which I got as an ARC from NetGalley. I'm loving it so far and I'm going to read the entire series now.

Upcoming ARC's 

Images from Goodreads.com

These are books that I've recently received for review through NetGalley. 

In Calabria by Peter S. Beagle - Publication date 2/14/17

Practicing Normal by Cara Sue Achterberg - Publication date 6/6/17

Brenna Morgan and the Iron Key by Katie Masters - Publication date 5/2/17

Mightier Than the Sword by K.J. Parker - Publication date 6/30/17

Review of Some Practical Magic by Laurie C. Kuna (spoiler free)

Image from Goodreads

"Kitchen Witch" Cassandra Hathorne doesn't know what she's getting herself into. To escape her mother's relentless matchmaking, Cassie jumps at the opportunity to go on a book tour headlined by blockbuster horror novelist M. S. Kazimer. Even though Mick's not one of her own kind, sparks fly between them.

But Mick has a secret more disturbing than Cassie's own secret of being a real witch. A serial killer, one who's been copycatting the murders in M. S. Kazimer's books, is now stalking the tour. And Cassie must choose between keeping Mick's love and protecting them all with her practical magic.

I had a lot of fun reading this book! I love reading about witches, and I love a good romance. Cassie was so like-able, and the relationship between her and her familiar, Endora (Yes, that's the name of Samantha's mom in Bewitched), was really refreshing for me. I read a lot of romance books where the main female and male characters are pretty much it as far as cast of the story goes, so to have other characters who are more than just passing by was nice. I liked Cassie mother, Medusa, also. She reminded me of Debbie Reynolds character from the Disney movie, Halloweentown, which is a movie I still love to watch whenever it's on TV. Medusa was a little meddling, but had her daughters best interests at heart and was able to see when she needed to step back and when to interfere. 

Agatha Cromwell (Debbie Reynolds) in Halloweentown.
Image from Buzzfeed

The serial killer thing was something I feel like I've seen on an episode of Law & Order: SVU. It kept the tension up towards the end of the story and brought everyone together when they needed to be though. The romance moved a little fast. I don't have a problem with insta-love but it went from 'hey, he's cute' to 'hey, let's get married' in less than a week, and moving that quickly towards marriage didn't seem to fit with either characters personality. Mick is reserved, and thoughtful, and was still getting over his relationship with Jennifer ending. And Cassie is sensible, and independent, and it just didn't seem to fit with either of them. It did get really mushy towards the end of the story too, with both Cassie and Mick talking incessantly about how much they loved each other. I'm not a very mushy person so that was a little annoying. 

Overall, not terribly original but still a fun book with good characters. 3 out of 5 stars. 

Note: I received a free copy of this book for review, from the publisher.

6 Books I Want to Re-read

Recently I've been trying to better organize my online bookshelves on both Goodreads and LibraryThing. I went and made shelves for most genres and I'm slowly filtering through my lists of books and putting them in the correct genre. On Goodreads I'm just working on the books I've marked as 'Read' since my 'Want to Read' shelf is totally out of control and full of books I don't own and probably never will. LibraryThing is easier since I scanned in all my books over the summer, so my 'Library' list is pretty under control. However going through all the books has made me realize how many of them I want to re-read.

There was a time, mostly when I was in college, that I always read books twice, just to make sure I fully grasped the plot and the characters and everything the author was trying to get across to the reader. In recent years I've given up on reading twice, which is a bit of a shame and something I intend to try to change, at least a little bit. There are a few books that I really want to read again. This doesn't mean I'll get to them any time soon. Maybe it's a challenge for another year? But here is a list of the books I most want to re-read.

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1. The Name of the Wind & The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss - So this is two books. The first two books in the King Killer Chronicles series. The third book, Doors of Stone, is not out yet and as far as I know does not have a release date yet. Rothfuss is following in George R.R. Martin's footsteps as far as keeping his readers waiting for an insane amount of time, as it's been over five years since The Wise Man's Fear came out. However, the first two books were awesome, I'm still excited for book 3 and I really want to re-read these gigantic books. These books follow the life of Kvothe, our hero, who has yet to kill a king. They have a really dark background, lots of war, and fear, and death but they're full of magic, and mystery, and are just really great reads.

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2. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly - I read this a few years ago and loved it. It is set
during WWII, in Britain. A boy, named David, goes through his mother's death and his father getting remarried and having a baby with his new wife. David is angry, and lonely, and still grieving his mother. He retreats more and more into his imagination and when a bomb lands on the countryside property his family is staying at, David finds his way into a world full of fairy tales characters, who aren't exactly what you'd expect. This whole book was not what I expected it too be in the very best way and I can't wait to pick it up again.

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3. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - In this book we follow Theo, who lives with his mother in New York. His mother is killed in a terrorist attack on a museum and in his shocked/concussed state Theo tries to help a dying man
and 'rescues' a painting. We follow Theo as he moves from his friends uptown apartment to Las Vegas with his estranged father, and back to New York again. All the time bringing with him the 'rescued' painting that he never found a proper way to return. There are some amazing characters in this book. Boris, the friend Theo makes in Las Vegas, is one of my favorite characters of all time. Boris is just amazing. The reason I most want to reread it is that this book is a chunker. I believe it was just over 900 pages. I feel like reading it once, and really quickly at that, was just not enough to really grasp the details, to really understand the characters and the story.

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4. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - I don't remember a whole lot of details about this book. I know there is a 'game' being played by two magicians using their apprentices as pieces, and a love story between those two apprentices, but I read it so long ago that the details escape me. What I do remember, is the otherworldly feeling, the ethereal writing, the darkness, and the beauty of this book. This was my first real 'book hangover' and I did not experience another one like it until I read A Court of Mist and Fury (which I'm obsessed with right now). It left me stuck in the world of this book for days after I finished it, stuck with the feels these characters and story left me with. It was glorious and I have been meaning to reread it for a while.

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5. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness - This book is about a woman, a witch who hates her magic, who is doing research in the library at
Oxford and finds an ancient book, a book that is also being sought by a vampire. She has to team up with said vampire for...something? I honestly did not like this book the first time I read it. In fact as soon as I was done with it I gave it away. But I have had a feeling I should read it again for a while now. The first time I read it I loved the beginning. Misty, rainy fall days at Oxford. Hot tea and big sweaters. But then it turned into a Twilight level vampire obsession thing, with the main female character seeming pretty weak and needing to be protected and coddled and I hate that. However, I spotted a copy of it at the used book store last week and I've been fighting the urge to go buy it again. I'll probably go pick it up on Saturday.

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6. Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy - I read this book in a tenth grade English class. I remember almost nothing of it except the ending and even that is vague. The teacher of the class was incompetent at best; when we did Hamlet we never actually read any of the play, we watched one scene from the Lawrence Olivier version of the movie over and over again for a week, I had to borrow the book from another teacher so I could read Hamlet. However, for Tess of the D'Urbervilles Mr. Incompetent actually passed out copies of the book, so I went ahead and read it while the rest of the class was waiting for Mr. Incompetent to get his act together. (He never did. He got fired after having an affair with one of the librarians and telling his sixth hour class all about it.) But for as much as I don't remember the story, I remember how I felt after reading about Tess. It was the first book that me go 'WOW! I love this!' I mean, I loved reading before then because it was an escape, I read mostly Young Adult or middle grade fantasy back then and this was the first time I read what I guess would be considered a Classic on my own. I want to reread so I can maybe remember the story this time.

Those are just six of the many books I want to reread. Maybe, if I'm doing well with the RMSC I can do a mini-challenge later this year, just for rereads! There are quite a few series I want to finish that would require rereading earlier books also, but that is another post! What books are you planning to reread?

March Wrap-Up and Spring Reads

It's hard to think that March is over already! It seems like it went by so quickly. So much happened with our house selling, and inspections, and paperwork, it seemed like I had almost no time to read! However I got in a lot more reading than I did in February and made quite a bit of progress with the RMSC.

I read a total of nine books in March, compared to only three in February. Six of the nine books count for the RMSC!
1. The Relic Master by Christopher Buckley (Review)
2. Bookish by Olivia Long
3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
4. Bury the Hatchet (Tulsa Thunderbirds #1) by Catherine Gayle
5. Last Play by Taylor Hart
6. Naughty Professor by S.J. Bishop and Jeni Brown
7. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
8. Mary Boleyn; Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir
9. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Those six books put me at 9 out of 25 for the RMSC. Which means I've caught up (since I was behind one book at the end of February) and if I read 2 books a month for the RMSC I will meet the goal of 25!

Reading Habits

Last month I was out of my favorite tea and I'm still out. Finding time to go to the tea shop has been harder than I thought it would be and I just found out my favorite tea shop is closing. The owner is retiring to spend time with her granddaughter, which is nice for her but now I'm scrambling for tea! I've been drinking a different tea and its working out well, except for I'm almost out of that tea too. However, I did find a coffee that I *love* and its from Starbucks! But its pre-ground and sold in bags at my grocery store so I can get it at a decent price. I've still been going to Biggby to read at least once a week, I usually get in some good reading time there. I have a new found love for shortbread cookies in the last month. I think it's because the tea I've been drinking is a Scottish tea and it goes so perfectly with the shortbread.

Goals for March

-Read 2 and a half books for the RMSC (exceeded!)

-Buy some coffee and tea (I bought coffee but tea is still lacking)

-Buy a toddler-proof bookmark ( I bought one and The Toddler stole it from the kitchen table and I haven't seen it since)

Goals for April

-Find the bookmark I bought last month

-Find my reading glasses (stolen by The Toddler also)

-Eat more baby carrots and less shortbread cookies

-Read 2 books for the RMSC

Spring Reading

It's hard for me to make a list of books I'm going to read, generally because I choose what to read by how I'm feeling. However, I can kind of give a general idea of the kinds of things I'm feeling like reading right now. 

I'm thinking a lot of Kindle books are going to happen this spring, for several reasons. First, we're moving. The books are getting packed first, and will probably not be the first thing that gets unpacked. The Kindle will be accessible when my physical books are not. Secondly, time. Most of the books on my Kindle are romance, and most of those are on the short side. They'll be easy quick reads when I'm stressed out from packing/unpacking. Third, content. I know that moving will probably not be easy with my anxiety and reading something heavy, or dark, or that I will have to work to get into won't really work or me. Most of the romance novels I have waiting for me are pretty light and that is exactly what I'm going to need. 

However, one exception to the fluff books will be, without a doubt, A Court of Wings and Ruin! I'm so beyond excited for this book. I haven't been waiting this anxiously for a book since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. For Deathly Hallows I went to a midnight release party at Borders, and spent the next 24 hours doing nothing but reading, drinking coffee, and eating lunchables. For A Court of Wings and Ruin there are no release party's, at least none that I know of, and with The Toddler needing to actually sleep at night I probably couldn't go to one anyways. But I have preordered and it should get delivered on release day! So unless our actual moving day happens to be May 2nd, I will be spending that day and night and probably the next day, absolutely devouring A Court of Wings and Ruin. I'm still suffering the book hangover from A Court of Mist and Fury, I can't get into anything right now, even the books I'm currently reading I just want to put them down and go pick up Mist and Fury again. I need A Court of Wings and Ruin, like yesterday. 

I'm trying to decide on a few books to keep out of the boxes just so I have some options. I'll probably keep 3 or 4 out. I'm going to keep going with Deadhouse Gates and Outlander. I've got to read Big Little Lies for the book club meeting on the 28th. I'm thinking I'll also keep out The Perfect Girl and Throne of Glass, so that's a total of five. I guess five isn't bad. 

I'm really looking forward to April. There's going to be a lot of changes in the next two months but I can't wait to do a post (or four) on the book organization process in the new house! It's going to be a fun month! Happy reading!