Friday Finds (Dec. 30) - 8 New Finds

Please visit the links to discover more about the books!

ADDED TO TBR: A Watershed Year by Susan Schoenberger
THANKS TO: Goodreads Recommendation
GENRE: General Fiction

ADDED TO TBR: Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan
THANKS TO: Staci of Life in the Thumb
GENRE: Memoir

ADDED TO TBR: The Seed by Fola
THANKS TO: Goodreads Recommendation
GENRE: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Short Stories


ADDED TO TBR: Queen Hereafter: A Novel of Margaret of Scotland by Susan Fraser King
THANKS TO: Amy of Passages to the Past
GENRE: Historical Fiction


ADDED TO TBR: Nutcracker and the Mouse King by Eta Hoffman
THANKS TO: Tasha of Truth Beauty Freedom Books
GENRE: Fiction, Fantasy


ADDED TO TBR: Half-Past Dawn by Richard Doetsch
THANKS TO: Jill of Rhapsody in Books
GENRE: Fast-Paced Thriller


ADDED TO TBR: Dreaming of Mr. Darcy by Victoria Connelly
THANKS TO: Staci of Life in the Thumb
GENRE: Historical Fiction, Austen-Inspired


ADDED TO TBR: A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor
THANKS TO: Jen of Devourer of Books
GENRE: Nonfiction, History


What books have you added to your to-read list lately?

Theme Thursday: OLD

Theme Thursdays is hosted by Reading Between the Pages.

Today's theme is OLD.

"In the years I had been away, it was as if someone had taken a painting and left it out in the sun, allowing it to fade, then crack, and finally peel."

-The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran

Nefertiti by Michelle Moran

This was my third book by Michelle Moran even though it was her first book. I read her second and third books, The Heretic Queen and Cleopatra's Daughter, respectively, first. But loving them the way I do I had to be sure and read Nefertiti, too. I wasn't disappointed.

Nefertiti is, of course, about the Egyptian Queen, but it's also about her younger sister, Mutnodjmet, whom her sister lovingly calls "Mutny." Nefertiti is married to Amunhotep who is the next in line to be Pharaoh. It is hoped by all that her strong personality will rein in Amunhotep's heretical desire to abandon Egypt's ancient gods and introduce a new, unknown sun god, Aten, for his people to worship. However, in order to make Amunhotep desire her and need her above his first wife, Kiya, especially since she has yet to produce a son as Kiya has, Nefertiti plays along with Amunhotep and helps him to create a new religion to Aten. Mutny disapproves and tries desperately to keep her sister and the Pharaoh from letting things get too out of control- before disaster strikes and the people of Egypt rebel.

I really loved the way Moran told the sisters stories. Mutny was actually more interesting to me than Nefertiti because Mutny was so multi-layered. Perhaps because the story was told from Mutny's perspective. However, I think I do like the perspective Moran takes in her next books where she tells the story from the perspective of the queen. Nevertheless just like the other two books this one was compelling and entertaining and I couldn't stop turning the pages.

RATING: ****

Historical Fiction Challenge 2012

The team at Historical Tapestry is handling the HF Reading Challenge this year. Head on over to sign up! Here are the rules:

Each month, a new post dedicated to the HF Challenge will be created. To participate, you only have to follow the rules:

• everyone can participate, even those who don't have a blog (you can add your book title and thoughts in the comment section if you wish)

• add the link(s) of your review(s) including your name and book title to the Mister Linky we’ll be adding to our monthly post (please, do not add your blog link, but the correct address that will guide us directly to your review)

• any kind of historical fiction is accepted (HF fantasy, HF young adult,...)

• During these following 12 months you can choose one of the different reading levels:

1. Severe Bookaholism: 20 books
2. Undoubtedly Obsessed: 15 books
3. Struggling the Addiction: 10 books
4. Daring & Curious: 5 books
5. Out of My Comfort Zone: 2 books

Since I am a pretty big Historical Fiction fan I am choosing the "Struggling the Addiction" level of 10 books.

My List:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Essay Reading Challenge for 2012

Carrie of Books and Movies is hosting the fourth Essay Reading Challenge. I participated in this in 2010 and would like to again this year.

I am choosing a goal of 10 essays for this year. I haven't decided on my list yet but I do know that Ralph Waldo Emerson will be on that list as I have a book of his essays I have yet to finish.

MY LIST:
1. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Would you like to join in on this reading challenge?? Visit Books and Movies to sign up!

Friday Finds (Dec. 16)

Please visit the links to discover more about the books.

Added to TBR: The Printmaker's Daughter by Katherine Govier
Thanks to: Staci of Life in the Thumb
Genre: Historical Fiction

Added to TBR: Blue Christmas: Holiday Stories for the Rest of Us by Various Authors
Thanks to: Jenners of Life...with Books
Genre: Short Stories

Added to TBR: Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher
Thanks to: Steph of Reviewer X
Genre: Historical Fiction, YA

Added to TBR: Halflings (Halflings #1) by Heather Burch
Thanks to: Goodreads Recommendation
Genre: YA Fantasy

Added to TBR: Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors
Thanks to: Goodreads Recommendation
Genre: Historical Fiction

Added to TBR: Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint
Thanks to: Jen of The Introverted Reader
Genre: Fantasy

What have you added to your TBR list lately?

Off the Shelf Reading Challenge

My second challenge I have signed up for for 2012 is the Off the Shelf challenge hosted by Bookish Ardour. The goal is to read books that are in your collection, as long as the books were in your collection before January 1, 2012. It is not a book buying ban, it is just a focus on the books you have been meaning to read for a while. And, man, do I have books I have been meaning to read for a while! I am going to whittle the list down!

So I am going to go with the "Trying" Challenge Level, which is 15 books that I have in my collection now. I want to do the next level up but I am not sure I will attain that goal. I am working on keeping realistic with the challenges this year!!

If you want to sign up for this challenge, visit here.

REVIEWS FOR THIS CHALLENGE:
1.

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3. Lisbeth Salander's Legacy- Meet the Scandanavian Crime Queens

4. You CAN judge a book its cover- How good cover design can save paper books from being wiped out by e-readers.

What I'm Reading Monday

What I'm Reading Monday

Nefertiti by Michelle Moran

Pg. 221 of 457

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

(on Kindle Cloud)

Chapter 5

Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist

by Michael J. Fox

Pg. 71 of 276

What are you currently reading?

2012 South Asian Reading Challenge

As those of you who have known me for a while know, I am pretty obsessed with South Asian culture (especially India). So now that I am over my challenge hiatus of 2011 I am jumping back in with Swapna's challenge, which you can learn more about and sign up for here.

I am keeping my goal in the low range. I figure if I go over my goal, great, but since I have been reading slower this year I want to make my goals attainable. I am going for 4 books in this challenge. I already have at least a couple dozen books about South Asia and I can't wait for this excuse to read them!

Invitation to My Fictional Character Dinner Party

Smash of Smash Attack Reads! gave me food for thought when she asked the question on her Goodreads profile, "Who would you invite to dinner (dead/alive/fictional) and why?" Well, it took me a few minutes to figure that out because I thought up an entire dinner party! So I decided to expand on that question and invite an entire dinner party of fictional characters right here on my blog. I invite you to my Fictional Character Dinner Party!

The ideal dinner party, in my opinion, is about 8 people. That is enough to keep the conversation from lulls and not so many that everyone cannot participate in the same conversations. So here are the seven I would invite to join me:

(I love historical fiction but obviously, technically, the characters are only partially fictional, so I didn't include any of them here.)

NAME: Nurdane

BOOK WHERE WE MET: The Virgin's Knot by Holly Payne

QUESTIONS I WOULD LIKE TO ASK:

"What do you wish other people knew about what living with polio is like?"

"Why did you make the choice you did at the end of the story?"

NAME: Chiyo/Sayuri

BOOK WHERE WE MET: Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

QUESTIONS I WOULD LIKE TO ASK:

"What emotions were you feeling when Mameha negotiated the biddings for your mizuage (virginity)?"

NAME: Nathan Price

BOOK WHERE WE MET: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

QUESTIONS I WOULD LIKE TO ASK:

"Would you still take your family to the Congo as missionaries if you had a do-over?"

"Do you blame yourself for what happened?"

NAME: Saira Qader

BOOK WHERE WE MET: The Writing on My Forehead by Nafisa Haji

QUESTIONS I WOULD LIKE TO ASK:

"What would you like to tell others about embracing their family's culture versus shunning it?"

NAME: Peter Brown

BOOK WHERE WE MET: Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell

QUESTIONS I WOULD LIKE TO ASK:

"Tell me everything. In a slightly mysterious way."

NAME: Lisbeth Salander

BOOK WHERE WE MET: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson

QUESTIONS I WOULD LIKE TO ASK:

"Do you feel vindicated after what happened with your guardian? What about with your father?"

"Tell me something about your relationship with Mikhail that isn't shown in the books?"

NAME: Maximum Ride

BOOK WHERE WE MET: When the Wind Blows and then again in The Angel Experiment both by James Patterson (two slightly different tales with same character, which is why I include both here)

QUESTIONS I WOULD LIKE TO ASK:

"Will you and the flock take me flying? I want to experience what you describe in the book when you take flight."

Who would you invite to your fictional character dinner party???