Suddenly Sunday

It's time for this week's edition of Suddenly Sunday,  a weekly meme hosted by Svea over at The Muse in the Fog Book Review.   

This past week was a productive one for me blog-wise, although I didn't post my review of Suzanne Desrochers' Bride of New France as I had originally intended.  It will go up this coming week instead, as will my review of Susan Higginbotham's Hugh and Bess. 

I've decided to play around with memes in the weeks ahead.  My  Travel Tuesday feature is now going to be a bi-weekly event.  While in the past I've occasionally posted my own Wish List Wednesday feature,  I think from now on I'll go with the established Waiting on Wednesday meme to share some of the items on my wish list. 

In Book Challenge news, I decided this past week to opt out of the 2011 Victorian Literature Challenge.   I had very good intentions at the start of the year to read some of the many classics sitting on my shelves unread.   While I generally love classic literature, I have to be in the right mood to read it.   This year I just haven't felt like cracking any of my classics open.   Maybe next year?

That's all from me for now.   I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

 

Suddenly Sunday

It's time for Suddenly Sunday, a weekly meme hosted by Svea over at The Muse in the Fog. 

It's been a busy few weeks, leaving me with little time to blog or even read recently.   I did, however, manage to get a couple of books read - both quick reads - and one review posted here on my blog.   The review was for India Black by Carol K. Carr.   Despite all my excitement for the release of George R.R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons, I've gotten no further than the first page!  Things should start to get quieter around here over the next week or two, so that's when I plan to start to sink my teeth into it.   For the time being I've picked back up Elizabeth Chadwick's The Lady of the English and should finish it in the next day or two.   

Things should also start to pick up on my blog in the week ahead.  I'll post my review of Y.S. Lee's YA historical mystery The Agency: A Spy in the House, as well as my review of The Lady of the English.   Mailbox Monday will be back this week, too, after I missed last week's edition. 

On a social media-related note, I've just joined Twitter!  I'm still getting a feel for the service, but my husband tells me it's simple and that I'll catch on in no time :-)  You can follow me by clicking on the link on my sidebar. 

I hope everyone has a great week!

Suddenly Sunday

Welcome to another addition of Suddenly Sunday, a weekly meme hosted by Svea at The Muse in the Fog where we share the exciting things that happened on our blog this past week.

It's been yet another quiet blogging week for me.   While I've been enjoying reading posts on other blogs, other than Mailbox Monday I had none of my own to share.   So, if I haven't been blogging, what have I been up to?  Well, I've been completely immersed in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.   Still working through my series re-read, which I'm almost finished, in preparation for my read of A Dance with Dragons.  Martin's latest novel, which was released this past Tuesday, is now sitting on my shelf waiting to be read and I should be ready for it early next week.   I can't wait! 

Has anyone been to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II?  It's receiving fantastic reviews.   I hope to see it next weekend.   As much as I'm looking forward to seeing the movie it will also be a little sad knowing that once it's finished the series really will be over :-( 

Since the focus of my reading attention has been solely on A Song of Ice and Fire lately, I don't have much coming up by way of book reviews.  I will have my usual Mailbox Monday post this week and will try to post another Travel Tuesdays should I have time, but next week may be just as quiet blogging-wise as this past one.

I hope everyone has a great week.

Suddenly Sunday

Welcome to another addition of Suddenly Sunday, a weekly meme hosted by Svea at The Muse in the Fog where we share the exciting things that happened on our blog this past week.

Well, I didn't accomplish nearly as much on my blog this week as I had hoped I would.   I still haven't posted - or even written - my review of Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs.   I've temporarily set aside Elizabeth Chadwick's Lady of the English to concentrate on my re-read of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, so my review of the Chadwick novel will be delayed.    

In non-reading matters, I'd like to wish my Canadian followers a Happy Belated Canada Day.   It was extra special this year having the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge celebrate with us.   I didn't make it to Parliament Hill for the celebrations this year - way too many people for me - but did join the crowd waiting to see William and Catherine at the National War Memorial on the day of their arrival in Ottawa.  I managed to catch a good glimpse of Prince William in his car as his and the Duchess' motorcade made its way to the Memorial.   Unfortunately, my glimpse of the Duchess wasn't as good, although I guess it was better than none at all :-)

I hope everyone has a great reading week!  My Travel Tuesday feature will pay tribute to Prince Edward Island this coming week and I hope to finally have my review of Maisie Dobbs ready.

Before signing off I'd especially like to wish my American followers a great Fourth of July!

Suddenly Sunday

Welcome to another addition of Suddenly Sunday, a weekly meme hosted by Svea at The Muse in the Fog where we share the exciting things that happened on our blog this past week.

This past week was another quiet one for me.   My only post was a new feature I've decided to start called Travel Tuesdays.  This feature will give me an opportunity to share some of the many photos I've taken on my recent travels and, when I'm able, I'll link the locations to books I've read.

Coming up next week I hope to post my review of Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear.   I quite enjoyed the novel, but admit to having a hard time drafting a review for it that says more than "this book was good." 


I'm now reading Elizabeth Chadwick's Lady of the English - look for my review of it close to the end of next week or early the week after.    I'm also re-reading George R.R. Martin's A Clash of Kings, book two in his A Song of Ice and Fire series.  Only a few weeks to go before the release of book five, A Dance with Dragons!!

I hope everyone has a fantastic week. 

Suddenly Sunday

Suddenly Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Svea over at The Muse in the Fog and the purpose is to share the exciting activities that happened on your blog over the past week.

I had a quiet blogging week once again with the only activity on my blog being posting of my review of Angus Donald's Outlaw.   Next week will be quieter still since I'm not currently reading anything that I'll be posting a review about.   I will, however,  have some goodies to share in my Mailbox Monday post :-)  

I'm actually in a bit of a reading funk at the moment. and it feels as if I've been reading Brandon Sanderson's The Well of Ascension forever!   I'm only halfway through the novel, which I'm enjoying, but I started it over a week ago.   It rarely takes me longer than a week to read anything regardless of book length, but I'm just not drawn to reading at the moment.   I'm sure I'll snap out of my reading funk soon though, and it will be back to business as usual.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Suddenly Sunday

 

Suddenly Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Svea at The Muse in the Fog, and the purpose of this meme is to share all the events that have occurred on your blog throughout the week.

Hard to believe it is Sunday yet again, and that May is just about over!  Where does the time go?  I was a little more active than usual on my blog this week, although I posted no reviews - I'll save those for next week.   In addition to my regular Mailbox Monday post, I also posted about Victoria Day (a Canadian national holiday) and some Queen Victoria/Victorian era-related books I'd like to read.    Finally, I participated, for the first time, in the weekly Book Blog Hop.   Don't know that I'll be a regular participant, but I like the idea of using the meme as a way to introduce myself to book blogs I otherwise wouldn't be aware of. 


I finished a couple of books this past week, The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick and Exit the Actress by Priya Parmar, and will post reviews for both next week.  

I hope everyone has a great week!

Suddenly Sunday

Sunday Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Svea at Confessions & Ramblings of a Muse in the Fog.  The purpose of this meme is to share all the events that have occurred on your blog throughout the week.

Hard to believe it is Sunday once again.  I'm happy to report that spring has finally arrived here.  After what seemed to be endless days of rain and cooler temperatures, the sun made an appearance yesterday!   To celebrate I sat outside on my front porch to read for the first time this year.   Unfortunately, we are expecting rain again today.

Another quiet week for me on the blog front, as I only posted my mailbox Monday and one review:

• Elizabeth I by Margaret George.

I'm currently reading Helen Hollick's The Forever Queen, which is about Queen Emma of England and is set in the years right before the Norman Conquest.   I don't know if I'll finish in time to have a review posted prior to the end of the coming week, especially since I'm alternating between it and my continued re-reading of George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones. 

I hope everyone has a great reading week!

Suddenly Sunday

Sunday Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Svea at Confessions & Ramblings of a Muse in the Fog.  The purpose of this meme is to share all the events that have occurred on your blog throughout the week.

I can't believe Sunday is upon us once again!  I hope it is bright and sunny where you are, as it's pouring rain and a little chilly here today...although this makes it a perfect day for curling up with a big cup of tea and a good book :-)

I posted a couple of reviews here on my blog this past week:

• The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley (I lost a couple of comments, however, due to the Blogger outage); and

•  Virgin Widow by Anne O'Brien. 

I also finished Gail Carriger's fantasy(steampunk) novel Soulless.  I won't be posting a review, but I did find the book to be delightfully funny.  I'm not normally a fan of anything involving werewolves and vampires, but Carriger's book worked for me and I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series, which I've already ordered.

This coming week I expect to finish Margaret George's latest release, Elizabeth I, which I am enjoying very much.   I hope to have my review ready by the end of the week.  I'll also continue working my way through the first book in George R.R. Martin's excellent A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series, A Game of Thrones.   I've just started my re-read of the series in preparation for the release of book five, A Dance With Dragons, this coming July. 

I hope everyone has a great week!

Suddenly Sunday

Sunday Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Svea at Confessions & Ramblings of a Muse in the Fog.  The purpose of this meme is to share all the events that have occurred on your blog throughout the week.

As sometimes happens, life got in the way of my blogging efforts this past week and, as a result, my only post was my Mailbox Monday.    To make up for my poor showing last week I hope to post a couple of reviews in the week ahead:

• The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley; and

• Virgin Widow by Anne O'Brien. 

On a non-book related note, I hope all the mothers out there had a wonderful Mother's Day!  My husband and daughter gave me a couple of gift cards to my favourite book store in honour of the day and I can assure you it won't take me long to put them to good use :-)

Suddenly Sunday

Sunday Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Svea at Confessions & Ramblings of a Muse in the Fog.  The purpose of this meme is to share all the events that have occurred on your blog throughout the week.

I posted two reviews this week:

(1) Brethren by Robyn Young, a work of historical fiction about the Knights Templar; and

(2) Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran, another work of historical fiction, this one set during the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror.   

The most exciting event of the week for me had nothing to do with reading, however.   I got up well before dawn (4am EST) to watch the Royal Wedding!   Catherine Middleton's dress was exquisite, and Prince William made such a dashing groom in his Irish Guards uniform.   It was a simply beautiful wedding, one that was definitely worth waking up super early for.