What I’m Reading This Week (May 31)

Read:

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett (audio) — this was good and I love all the stories from book dealers. Towards the end of the book I wished for a little more about the bookdealer/detective she introduced us too, and realize the thief’s story was getting a little repetitive.

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs — Another excellent Mercy Thompson read. I really like her characters and enjoy spending time with them. I was about half way into the book when I realized that I didn’t really know what the mystery was, but it evolved into something I wasn’t expecting. The timing of this book felt compressed, I feel like I should go back and see how many days it covered.

The Secret Lives of Princesses by Philippe Lechermeier and illustrated by Rebecca Dautremer — I had really high hopes for this book after the first few pages, but sadly I felt the premise got old as you read on; there were still a few things that made me smile. I think that this field guide to little known princesses is one of those book better dipped into at random rather than read from cover to cover like I did. The art work on the other hand is worth the price of admission. I love Dautremer’s use of color. If you haven’t seen this book yet, you should at least take a look at it.

Shermit’s Adventure to Sprinkle Island by Katherine Borgatti — this is a simple children’s picture book with nice, bright and cheery illustrations about a hermit crab and shrimp who find a treasure map to donuts. The author dropped this off at work for us to take a look at. I believe she is self-published and is presenting the story to local schools.

Reading:

The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers by Thomas Mullen (audio) — the moment the narrator opened his mouth, I knew I’d heard him before. William Dufris is the narrator of Woken Furies by Richard Morgan. I like his voice and it worked well with the hard-boiled world in Morgan’s book and it will probably work well in Mullen’s. The problem is that Firefly Brothers’ opening feels like a scene plucked for Woken Furies or any of the other titles in Morgan’s Takesi Kovacs series. I have to remind myself that this isn’t Kovacs talking but Jason. I have to remind myself that this isn’t some far off distant planet but the American Mid-West circa the 30’s. I am confidant once I am further into the book I will be more firmly grounded in the world of the Firefly Brothers.

The Prince of Frogs by Annaliese Evans – I purchased this one because the cover was so strikingly different for all the romance novels surrounding it, the couple were already married, and it seemed to have ties to fairy tales. It’s been on my TBR shelf a while. I hope it’s good.

–Still reading Alison’s Wonderland edited by Alison Tyler, Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the Eighteenth Century (Metropolitan Museum of Art) by Harold Koda, Andrew Bolton, and Mimi Hellman (I would love to see this ballet based on the original Dangerous Liaisons.), and Climbing Your Family Tree by Ira Wolfman–

Wish List:

I found Dona Nicanora’s Hat Shop by Kirstan Hawkins on Leeswammes’s Blog, but I haven’t been able to spot a U.S. edition.

Sur La Lune mentioned The Strange Case of the Composer and the Judge that seems intriguing. Another title that’s released abroad, but this one has a U.S. edition arriving in July.

Arrived in Mail:

Remembrance by Theresa Breslin and Anatomy of Deception by Lawrence Goldstone both via Book Mooch

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading is organized by Sheila over at Book Journey. Be sure to stop by her site and read the great blogs of the other participates.

What I’m Reading this Week (May 24th)

Read:
Changeless by Gail Carriger (my review is here.)

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson — I don’t have much to say about this one. I was drawn to it by the cover, and it meandered pleasantly along. Don’t go into it expecting it to “pick-up,” because it isn’t that kind of book really. There are a few action packed pages at the very end. It was story of family and pride and manners and mores. Of old ways versus new times and breaking traditions. Some where in the midst of thinking it is boring, you realize you care about these characters and want to know how it ends.  It is all narrated by the Major who is 68 and has at the opening of the story received news that his brother has died. It is about his tenuous and growing relationship with Mrs. Ali, a widow who runs the local show and is from a different cultural background then the country gentry of the small and stayed English Villagers, and the social pressure they experience from family and friends alike.

Reading:

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs
– just started. I’ve loved all the other books in the Mercy Thompson series.

(Still reading Alison’s Wonderland edited by Alison Tyler and Climbing Your Family Tree by Ira Wolfman)

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett ; I’m listening to this on audio. Sometimes I’ve trouble focusing on audio non-fiction at the beginning, but this one is holding my interest from the get go.

Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the Eighteenth Century (Metropolitan Museum of Art) by Harold Koda, Andrew Bolton, and Mimi Hellman

* Dangerous Liaisons is one of my favorite stories. I’ve read the original book by Choderlos de Laclos, seen half dozen film adaptations, and a theatricality retelling setting the whole thing in Germany before WWII. One of the things I love about the Close and Malkovich movie is the clothes. There is something about the sumptuous clothes and furnishing that help set the mood for the characters despicable sport.  In Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the Eighteenth Century (of which I’m only in the introduction) is attempting to lay out a coloration between those aspects. The book is basically a museum’s catalog that laid out it art (clothes, furniture, painting, etc) in dioramas that loaned an air of theater to the exhibit while also humanizing the living space. At least that’s what I’ve gleaned so far. I can’t wait to finish this one.

The Secret Lives of Princesses – Illustrated by Rebecca Dautremer and Words by Philippe Lechermeier
* You’ll fall in love with Dautremer’s illustrations the moment you see them. Their bright colors and whimsy drew me in from the start and I knew I had to have the book no matter what the words were. I’m currently several princesses into the book and Lechermerier’s creative mythology has had me laughing out loud in places. While all of us reader would probably identify with Princess Paige, there is a quiz on the website to uncover your true Princess Personality. It turns out that I’m whimsical, who’d have guessed?

That is probably more then I can chew this week, but we will see how it goes.I still have to pick something for the Southern Women book salon on July 11th.

Wish List:

I discovered The Blind Contessa’s New Machine by Carey Wallace over at The Crowed Leaf.

I also discovered Not Quite Paradise: An American Sojourn in Sri Lanka by Adele Barker at Reading Extensively.

Arrived in the Mail:

The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry — an advance copy, with a lovely cover. I do believe the book is actually out on shelves already.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading is organized by Sheila over at Book Journey. Be sure to stop by her site and read the great blogs of the other participates.