Sunday, July 28, 2013

Ramblings and the Week to Come 28JUL13

So last week, I felt ill and could barely bring myself to write anything but this week, I am healthy and positively overflowing with words. As usual, I have bolded the topic headings so you can skim and read only what you think sounds most interesting.

Review from my mom:
Yesterday my mom stopped by the blog to do an interview/joint review with me about the delightful historical fiction novel A Hundred Summers. She's gotten a big kick out of your comments and would love for you to leave more (#shamelesscommentrequest ;)

Giveaways:
Last chance to get entries into the Summer of Love Blog Hop! My post is here with links to the other giveaways.

Books Received:
It was a busy week. I received a surprise review copy of the latest Jeannie Lin novel, The Lotus Palace. Can't wait to read her latest release!

Then I got a bunch of books through Amazon Vine/Last Harvest; reviews for all of these will be coming throughout August and September.

Chasing Shadows by Swati Avasthi
Passion and Poison: Tales of Shape-Shifters, Ghosts, and Spirited Women by Janice M. Del Negro
The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde
Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith

Comments:
I feel so blessed by every comment that has ever been left for me and I just wanted to say that I love you guys so much! (I also love you even if you've never commented; I just don't know who you are.) I try not to check my phone during the workday because it distracts me but I usually break down and do so at lunch; though I'm pretty happy at work, my mood immediately lifts upon reading your nice words. I love when you agree with me about a book's flaws and/or merits and I love when you disagree with me because you're always so thoughtful-thank you for the food for thought and keep them coming :)

August Project:
I believe I've mentioned a few times that I adore the Baby-Sitters Club. I read them throughout my childhood and credit them for establishing a deep love of reading. I also trace my love of the contemporary genre and stories about female friendship to this series. So I'm excited to be joining forces with some other fans to read through the books again. My first posts for the project will be starting in August at Sarah Millar's blog and I'll be sure to update you all when it goes live.

Week to Come:
I'm catching up on some older review books to start and then switching gears to adult novels to close out the week. We start with Five Summers by Una LaMarche, which I'm glad I squeezed in to my summer reading. Tuesday is The Wells Bequest by Polly Shulman, the companion novel to the enchanting The Grimm Bequest, which I enjoyed reading way back in 2011. As for adult novels, Wednesday's review is I'll Be Seeing You, a highly recommended epistolary novel set during WWII. Thursday is the beginning of a new month, which means it's time for a War and Peace readalong update. Friday, I'm hosting a stop on the Mr. Monk Helps Himself blog tour reviewing this first book from Hy Conrad, the new author of the mystery series. And we're ending the week strong with the new novel The Lotus Palace from beloved romance author Jeannie Lin.

20 comments:

  1. I'm glad you're feeling better!

    I love the BSC books, too! They were a fave series of mine as a kid :)

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    1. Yay-another BSC fan! Hope you'll stop by once I get some posts up-I'd love to see your reminiscences.

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  2. Glad to hear you had a better week. Sounds like you will have a fairly busy week coming up. Happy reading. :)

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    1. Yep, it's busy and that's the way I like it-I intend to enjoy it fully!

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  3. I enjoyed reading your mom's review!

    It is hard to write when you are feeling under the weather and I'm glad you are having a better week. I like the cover of that Jeannie Lin book and I look forward to reading your review of it. Five Summers and I'll Be Seeing You also sound interesting to me. I think the last one is being described as appealing to fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which I loved. I hope it lived up to all the hype!

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    1. I'm glad you're a loyal follower because there is going to be a Jeannie Lin giveaway next Sunday-hope you enter!

      I'll Be Seeing You definitely is similar to TGLaPPPS (gosh that's a long title) and I would recommend it to fans of such.

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  4. The Lotus looks good, hope you enjoy

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    1. I'm really excited about it-one of my fave authors so I just put a lot of trust in her.

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  5. That's fun your mom helped with a review/interview! I often have my mom and sister help out with posts. :) Glad you're feeling better too!

    -Lauren

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    1. It was so much fun, getting her to write down her thoughts and then going through them with her. Helped the book sink into me more.

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  6. Yay for your mom doing a joint review with you! I have my mom and my mother in law occasionally contribute to the blog as well, it's so much fun to have them join in and share the blog with me. Glad your overflowing with words this week, I hope that continues for you:):)

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    1. Love finding out that others also bring their families in. My mom is a loyal reader of my blog and I loved bringing her on board for a day (and hopefully she'll contribute a few more pieces in the future!)

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  7. Hope you end up liking Wild Awake, and The Beginning of Everything, chica! WA was really different and fascinating if not a favorite read of mine.

    BSC! Aw man, I will have to watch for some of those posts. I loved that series as a kid. :)

    Re: commenting, I just wanted to say thank YOU for being a loyal commenter at my blog. Your comments always make me smile.

    Molli | Once Upon a Prologue

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    1. I am excited for them-love me some contemporary!

      I love your blog Molli-thanks for coming by today :)

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  8. Glad you're feeling better, sounds like you're in for a fun week! I'm off to check out your joint review lol Have a great week and happy, happy reading :)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by the joint review-my mom was so happy to read the comments. Hope your reading is going well too!

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  9. I'm happy that you are feeling better now! :D

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  10. I've heard a lot of things about Yellowcake, good AND bad. Interested to hear your opinion. I think its just awesome that you are doing a reread of The Babysitter's Club and I'm looking forward to reading those posts.

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    1. I haven't seen much about Yellowcake at all so I hope I go into it with an open mind and end up loving it!

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Thank you for commenting-I love to read your thoughts! Feel free to leave a link to your latest post so I can stop by!

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