Top Ten Tuesday: New(ish) Series I Want to Start

It's time for Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week's list is:

Top Ten New Series I Want to Start Reading 

(new is defined as first published within the last one to two years)

(1) The Falling Kingdoms series by Morgan Rhodes (YA Fantasy). The first novel is Falling Kingdoms (2012).

(2) The Throne of Glass series by Sarah Maas (YA Fantasy). The first novel is Throne of Glass (2012).

(3) The His Fair Assassin trilogy by Robin LaFevers (YA Fantasy). The first novel is Grave Mercy (2012).

(4)Rick Yancy's 5th Wave series (YA Fantasy). The first novel is The 5th Wave (2013).

(5) Conn Iggulden's Wars of the Roses series (Historical Fiction). The first novel is War of the Roses: Stormbird (2013).

(6) Lindsay Faye's Timothy Wilde series (Historical Mystery). The first novel is Gods of Gotham (2012).

(7) Emma Newman's The Split Worlds novels (Fantasy). The first book is Between Two Thorns (2013).

(8) Django Wexler's Shadow Campaign series (Fantasy). The first novel is The Thousand Names (2013).

(9) Saladin Ahmed's Crescent Moon Kingdoms series (Fantasy). The first novel is Throne of the Crescent Moon (2012).

(10) Sylvia Izzo Hunter's Noctis Magicae series (Fantasy).  The first book is The Midnight Queen (2014). 

Are there any series on this list you'd like to start reading?  Are there any you have started?

Dewey's 24-Hour Read-A-Thon: October 18, 2014

Today's the day to get your reading on with Dewey's 24-hour Read-A-Thon!

I'll use this post to provide updates on my progress throughout the day.   To start, here are my responses to the opening meme:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

I'm reading from Ottawa, Canada's Capital City.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

Probably The Martian by Andy Weir.  This is the book I intend to read first.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

I actually haven't any specific snacks lined up.  I'll just grab stuff out of my cupboards or fridge as the mood strikes me.  I do, however, have lots of tea lined up -- my flavours of choice are Pure Chai and Maple Sugar.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

Well, I love to read obviously, but I also love to travel.  My favourite place to visit is England, and no visit there is complete without a trip to Foyles Bookstore in London!   I'm a huge baseball fan, with the Toronto Blue Jays being my favourite team. 
    
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

I'm a first timer, so I'm looking forward to the whole experience :-)

Happy Reading!

UPDATE NUMBER ONE

Well, we are now through three hours of the Read-A-Thon, and I've only managed to get 85 pages read. I'm not off to as great of a start as I'd hoped, but I am enjoyed the book I selected to start with (The Martian by Andy Weir).

I have participated in one of the mini-challenges: Coffee or Tea?  As a tea addict I'm clearly TeamCSLewis on this one. I hope to take part in more mini-challenges as the day progress. 

I will be taking some time off this afternoon to take my daughter to see Alexander and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (at least it's based on a book), and to buy some groceries (turns out I should have planned some snacks in advance after all). 

Once my afternoon activities are completed I'll plant myself firmly back in my reading chair and get back to it.

How is your Read-A-Thon going?

UPDATE NUMBER TWO

I did it!  I finally finished a book!  It was The Martian by Andy Weir and it took me longer to read than I expected it would.  But that's okay, it was totally worth it since it was a great read.  

My next book will definitely be shorter :-)  This one wasn't included on my Read-A-Thon stack, but I'm going to give The Giver by Lois Lowry a try since it really should be quick read.

On another note, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a really cute movie, and since it's based on a book, I think going to see it was a great way to take a break from the Read-A-Thon. 

I hope the Read-A-Thon is still going well for everyone!

READ-A-THON END OF EVENT MEME

It's hard to believe the Read-A-Thon is already over!  I fell asleep around hour eighteen, intending to get back up and read for the final few hours, but it turns out I slept right through hour twenty-four and then some :-)   So, I'm a little late with my answers to the end of event meme, but here they are:

1.    Which hour was most daunting for you? 

Hour 18, as that is when I determined I needed a bit of sleep or I wouldn't be able to function the next day.  

2.    Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

I think George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series would work well as Read-A-Thon novels.  I found them hard to put down.  Each book in the series is about 1000 pages long though.

3.    Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

None.  This was my first time participating and I thought it was well run and fun!

4.    What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

I enjoyed the fact that people shared their progress on social mediums other than just their blogs, which I admit I had a hard time visiting since I was concentrating on reading.  With Twitter and Instragram I could stay connected without the need to put my book down.

5.    How many books did you read?

Two.  My goal was to finish three, but in retrospect I miscalculated how long it would actually take me to read each book.  

6.    What were the names of the books you read?

The Martian by Andy Weir and The Giver by Lois Lowry.  

7.    Which book did you enjoy most?

Definitely The Martian by Andy Weir.  It was suspenseful, had great characters and surprisingly funny.  

8.    Which did you enjoy least?

The Giver by Lois Lowry.  I recognize this is an award-winning novel, and that lots of people love it, but it didn't work for me.  It was entertaining enough that I could easily finish it, but it left me with a lot of unanswered questions.

9.    How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

So long as future Read-A-Thon's don't fall on holiday weekends, I definitely plan to participate again -- and hopefully make it longer than hour 18 before falling asleep :-)

24-Hour Readathon: Book Stack

This coming Saturday I'll be taking part in the Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon for the very first time (click here for more information).  After following previous Readathon's via Twitter, I'm super happy that I'm finally able to participate! 

After careful consideration of my tremendously large TBR pile, I've decided upon the following books for my readathon stack:

Melissa's 24-Hour Readathon Book Stack

While there is no way I'll possibly be able to read all of the books on my reading stack, I like having options to chose from.  My goal will be to read three of the seven books I've picked. 

Has anyone read any of the books I've selected?  Are there any books I simply must make sure I read on Saturday?   Are there any I should stay away from?

Happy Reading! 

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Places Books Have Made Me Want to Visit

It's time for Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week's list is:

Top Ten Places Books Have Made Me Want to Visit (real or fictional)

I'm going to divide this list in two, the first five spots will focus on the real places I'd like to visit thanks to books, while the remaining five spots will focus on the fictional places I'd like to visit. 

Real Places:

(1) The Scottish Highlands -- thanks, in part, to Diana Gabaldon's Outlander novels.  I've had the opportunity to visit Edinburgh, Scotland, but never made it as far as the Highlands, a place of stunning beauty that Gabaldon vividly brings to life in her novels.    

(2) Australia -- thanks to The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough. This was one of my favourite books as a teenager, and I've wanted to go to Australia ever since I finished reading it.  

(3) Northern Wales -- thanks to Sharon Kay Penman's England/Wales historical fiction trilogy.  I've been to Cardiff and Caerphilly, Wales, but ever since reading Sharon Kay Penman's England/Wales trilogy I've longed to go to Northern Wales and visit the castles of Caernarvon, Beaumaris and Conwy.  

(4) Pompeii, Italy -- thanks to Robert Harris' historical novel, Pompeii.  My next trip to Italy will include a stop to see the ruins of Pompeii. 

(5) Versailles, France -- thanks to pretty much every historical novel I've read set in France.  I've visited France several times, but somehow none of my trips included a visit to the palace of Versailles. 

Fictional Places:

(6) Hogwarts -- I don't think I even need to explain why or what books inspired this selection :-)

(7) Middle Earth -- thanks to JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings novels.  I do imagine it would look exactly as envisioned on the big screen by Peter Jackson...which means I also want to visit New Zealand where the movies were filmed.

(8) Westeros -- thanks to George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.  I'd love to visit Westeros as a whole, keeping clear of all the fighting!, but I'm most interested in seeing The Wall up close...and maybe visit Jon Snow while I'm there. 

(9) Anne Shirley-era Green Gables in Prince Edward Island -- thanks to Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables novels.  While Prince Edward Island isn't fictional, and I've visited several times (including stops at "Green Gables"), I'd like to go back in time and visit PEI and Green Gables during the era in which the Anne of Green Gables novels are set. 

(10) Thursday Next's England -- inspired by Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next novels.  Any place that features literary detectives and allows you to jump into a book is a place I'd like to visit. 

Where would you like to travel thanks to books?

Blogging Update and Giveaway Winner

Hello fellow book bloggers!

As you may have noticed, it has been two months since I last posted here. While I've generally enjoyed my time as a book blogger, over the course of 2014 I lost my blogging mojo -- not only in terms of writing up my own posts, but also in taking the time to visit other blogs. I blame much of this on the fact that I over committed to reviews during the past year. Even though I only accepted review copies of books I genuinely felt I would enjoy, the number of books I accepted meant that all of my reading time became devoted to finishing these books and writing reviews of them. My own (extremely large) TBR pile was neglected, leaving me wondering if I'd ever get to it again, and blogging (and reading) began to feel less like a hobby and more like a job. As a result, I decided to go on hiatus. This hiatus has been good for me. I've only read books from my own TBR pile, and have been able to choose what I want to read based solely on my reading mood, and not on a requirement to meet a review deadline.

Now that I feel my reading life is getting back to where I want it to be, I've decided it's time to give blogging another shot. My approach will be different this time, however. I'm no longer going to accept any books for review -- no matter how badly I might want to say 'yes'. Instead, any reviews I post from here on out will be for books I purchase myself and want to share with other readers. Although the focus of this blog has primarily been on historical fiction novels, my reading tastes are much broader than this one genre, and my new approach will reflect this -- although there is no need to worry historical fiction fans, I still plan to share my thoughts on titles in this genre too :-)

In addition to recommitting myself to blogging, I also plan to become active once again in the blogging community. I've missed interacting with others. My TBR pile is the size of small mountain in large part due to the great posts, reviews, and lists created by my fellow book bloggers.  

Happy Reading and Blogging!

The Lost Duchess by Jenny Barden - Giveaway Winner

I do have one giveaway winner to announce, one that I should have announced a long time ago!  My apologies for the delay.   I'm pleased to announce that Sarah from A Geek's Bookshelf has been selected (using Random.org) as the winner for my giveaway of Jenny Barden's The Lost Duchess.  Many thanks to Jenny for offering a giveaway copy.   The winner has been notified by email.