Cover to Cover

This post sort of goes along with Booking Through Thursday’s weekly question of “what are you reading” but I’m expanding on it to include what I have recently read and what I plan to read in the near future.

First off, I’m in the middle of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Honestly, I’ve been reading it for about a  month now, embarrassingly enough, which is why I haven’t really been talking about it. It’s my second Jane Austen book and WHEW! I wish I could get it finished. Seriously. It’s been getting rave reviews for decades and I find myself thinking that the characters are tedious and the plot thin. That’s not my final opinion though because for me, the ending is everything.

I’m still plodding through War and Peace, The Reagan Diaries, and the first Spiderwick book. In my defense, War and Peace is…Okay. I have no defense. I put it down in favor of more interesting (to me) books. Will I ever finish it? Your guess is as good as mine. The Reagan Diaries is the type of book where you can put it down and pick it back up whenever you’d like. And Spiderwick was meant to be read with my oldest child and she stopped reading it weeks ago and is now in Ohio. We’ll finish it when she gets home.

Despite actively reading Sense and Sensibility, I’ve managed to finish reading several other books recently. I’ll start at the end and work my way back.

1. Yesterday, I finished reading Odd Hours by Dean Koontz. It was a fantastic installment in the Odd Thomas series. Action, suspense, a mysterious girl, a ghost dog, and the ghost of Frank Sinatra. I loved every page of the book. Before that I read In Odd We Trust, the first graphic novel for the Odd Thomas series, which I already talked about in a previous post. However, in the back, Dean Koontz said that he sees the series being finished with six books. That means TWO more. Yay! I can’t wait to see what happens with Odd and Stormy.

2. The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory. Wonderful. Truly. Until this book, I had only read about the Tudors from the main point of things; Henry VIII or the Boleyns. Katherine of Aragon was a fascinating woman and I learned a great deal about her. Turns out that she wasn’t just the queen that was pushed aside which is usually all you see in the movies and that was all you saw of her on The Tudors. I really could go on and on. I plan on reading more about her and about her parents as well. I’d rate it4 out of 5 if I had a rating system. ;)

3. Life’s a Beach by Claire Cook. This was the June read for Readers Anonymous. Wasn’t a favorite of mine. It was a light and easy read but I think it was too light. There wasn't enough conflict and what conflict there was, was annoying. Other works of Clair Cook include Must Love Dogs. I've only seen the movie, but I didn't like that either for many of the same reasons. I just don't think Clair Cook is an author for me.

4. Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by Stephanie Barron. You can read what I wrote about it on a previous post. Click me.

5. Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir. This novel is the first fiction novel Weir has written. She's better known for her nonfiction works on the Tudors and other royal historical figures. You can definitely see evidence of her extensive historical knowledge in Innocent Traitor. I could actually pick out passages that she had referenced in some of her other books specifically, The Princes in the Tower. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you haven't realized it yet, I'm a fan of historical fiction, lol. I love learning as I'm reading for enjoyment. Lady Jane Grey was an interesting character. In the beginning, I felt sorry for her and her horrible childhood. Then as she becomes older and a little fanatical about religion, my sympathy for her edged back. She was so intelligent yet she wouldn't allow herself to see the other side of the argument. In the end though, you'd have to be pretty coldhearted not to feel for her and the way she was used by her own father in his plots for power. She was England's queen for 9 days, the shortest reign in its history. Yet one more historical figure that I'd like to learn more about.

There are more books that I've finished recently but I think that's more than enough for now. I'll save the rest for another day.

As for my future reads, I just got a box of books delivered from B&N yesterday. FUN!! This box included the following:

• The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir. Weir's second fiction novel. Very excited about this one.
• A Rose for the Crown by Anne Easter Smith.
• The True Life of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots by John Guy. It's a nonfiction biography.
• Marie Antoinette:  The Journey by Antonia Fraser. This is a nonfiction biography as well.
• Abundance by Sena Jeter Naslund. This is a historical fiction novel about Marie Antoinette.

I also ordered seven more books from B&N yesterday. I couldn't resist. They're having a sale, lol. This next shipment will have the following:

• The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell.
• Anne of Green Gables #1 by L.M. Montgomery. This is for the 1st in a Series reading challenge.
• Haunted Ground by Erin Hart.
• Angels Fall by Nora Roberts
• The Myth of You and Me:  A Novel of Friendship by Leah Stewart.
• The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall
• Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc by Loraine Despres

Other books that aren't coming from B&N that I have waiting for me are:

• Hornet's Nest by Patricia Cornwell. This is another for the 1st in a Series Challenge.
• The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. This is Readers Anonymous' pick for July.

If you want to know what any of them are about, look it up at B&N. I'm not your personal shopper, heheh. ;)

It's Monday. Again

I really hate Mondays. (I have the song in my head again, btw.) Why do they have to suck so bad? And it's COLD again. 51 degrees and my heat is running right now. What is up with that? It's so much harder to face a Monday when you know it's cold outside. It also doesn't help when you start your day with your kids sniping at each other the whole morning while they are getting ready for school. You know nothing good comes from grounding your first child at 7:00 in the morning. I also got to start my Monday out by being confused. I thought I was supposed to go with my preggo friend for her first ultrasound today but it's not until tomorrow. Oh well. I have a hard enough time keeping my own appointments straight let alone someone else's.

Is anyone else watching The Tudors? This season so far, is awesome. I still think it's funny that Henry looks so young when at this point in show, he would have been about 42 years old. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is 30 years old and looks 30 years old.

Reading. Have I mentioned any books lately on my blog? For a while, that's all I talked about then I veered off course I think. Anyway, I've been a reading fool. Last week I finished Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: The Prodigal Son and Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods which was for my book group. I had mixed feelings about Koontz's book. I hesitate to say anything bad about his writing but I thought his saying that Shelley's Frankenstein was actually a work of nonfiction was too easy. He could have come up with a better, more original way of bringing his monster to life. As for Bryson's book, if you want to know my thoughts, check them out at the group. I had a lot to say. ;) My next read is as yet undetermined. I have several books in my TBR pile but I don't know what I want to attack next. Pretty unusual for me. The Mister is reading the second Frankenstein book so I'll read that after he's done and I'm reading the first Spiderwick with the oldest child but I'm reading it at her pace. I'm just not sure what I'm in the mood to read right now. When I figure it out, I'll let you know.

The Weekend

After Thursday night's ordeal, I'm feeling much better now. I know I said that before but I actually mean it this time. I slept in my own bed for the first time in several days Friday night and didn't wake up coughing at all. I knew going to the doctor was unnecessary. ;)

Aside from that, the weekend was pretty dull. It was chilly and rainy here all weekend. We had some early morning excitement here in New Bern though. Turns out that our Arby's burned to the ground this morning. Well, the walls are still there but the roof is now inside the walls and the rest of the building is pretty much gutted. I haven't heard on the news what happened but the guy at the infamous Shell station across the street (we were only buying a newspaper) said it started about 8 this morning. I'm not sure if Arby's does breakfast, but I hope nobody was hurt.

I made it through my Spanish midterm. I'm not sure how I did yet. It's really hard to tell on the oral portion since I won't know what mistakes I made until I get my grade back. The written part was easy though. On the flip side, I rushed my editing midterm getting ready to go to California and paid the price. I didn't fail it, but I didn't get an A either which is a first. It was my own stupid fault and now I get the reap the benefits of being hasty.

Also, I watched the season 2 premier of The Tudors tonight. It was FABULOUS!! I just love that show. It's hard to believe that's it's a tv show with the costumes and the sets and the scenery. I also like that it pulls some of the actual history of Henry VIII into the story which makes it more real and believable. Anne Boleyn is such a bitch, lol. I can't wait for next week's episode.

Tomorrow, the kids go back to school after their spring break and I couldn't be more excited. It'll be the first day that I've had to myself since the 18th and I'm totally looking forward to the peace and quiet. Peace and quiet. I'm not even sure I remember what that is.