Devourer of Books

Sunday Salon – Out and About

May 192013

If I haven’t been around as much as usual this week, it is because I’ve pretty much either been working or I’ve been outside. For the past two weeks now I’ve been trying to get our yard in shape and have been, in particular, waging war against dandelions. I seem to be winning at the moment, but it is a war that requires Constant Vigilance. (We don’t want to be using weed killer on the lawn while the girls are at an age where they crawl around on it). So, anyway, I’ve pretty much been outside Doing Things or inside taking care of the children or trying to squeeze in sufficient work time. ALSO, yesterday I got a Fitbit Zip, so I made a point of taking TWO walks, one really quite long and the other with a significant detour. I did manage to get in over 18,500 steps yesterday after the mail came at 10:30, so I’m really rather happy about that. Plus all this moving around outside stuff has meant I’ve gotten in a lot of audiobook time (if not much in the way of print-book time). Here’s what I finished this week:

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This week I announced what is next for BOOK CLUB this summer, and also posted two book reviews:

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And now I am off again because we are digging up weeds and ground cover in a nearly-barren patch of lawn in order to re-seed. Hopefully before the girls get back up.

D.E.A.R. – May 2013

May 132013

Do you remember D.E.A.R? At my elementary school that meant “Drop Everything And Read,” something we typically did for 10 or 15 minutes every day. Best part of my day, really. As my TBR and Library piles are battling for supremacy and trying to sneak in around the review copies who have staked out places on my calendar, I’m thinking back to the simpler days of D.E.A.R., when I believed I had time to get to any book I wanted. And that, of course, got me fantasizing about a world where I really could just Drop Everything And Read for more than just 15 minutes a day.

There are upsides and downsides to getting lots of books. On the upside, so many great books! Lots of options to choose from! On the downside, particularly when you’re reading less than you have for quite some time, there are so many wonderful books that simply sit on the shelves sad and unread. May is a particularly painful month, because so many fabulous things are being published this month. Below are just a few I’d love to Drop Everything And Read. What’s on your list?

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra – May 7, 2013
Is This Tomorrow by Caroline Leavitt – May 7, 2013
A Small Fortune by Rosie Dastgir – May 7, 2013
Royal Mistress by Anne Easter Smith – May 7, 2013
We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo – May 21, 2013
The First Rule of Swimming by Courtney Angela Brkic – May 28, 2013

April 2013 Reading Wrap-Up

May 052013

In April I read a total of 14 books, 9 of which were print/ebooks and 5 of which were audio. This ended up being a total of about 2800 pages and 54 hours of audio. This is a bit disappointing after the old days of getting to 15 or 16 print/ebooks and 5 or 6 audios, but it does mean that I’m now keeping up with my new posting schedule, so if I can keep this up and this schedule allows me enough time to do my job then the blog is in a good place. I would really hate to have to cut back to only 2 total reviews per week, instead of the three (two print and an audio) I’m doing now. How was your month?

What I Reviewed:

Audiobooks
Frances and Bernard by Carlene Bauer, narrated by Angela Brazil and Stephen R. Thorne
Life after Life by Kate Atkinson, narrated by Fenella Woolgar
Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss, narrated by Scott Brick

Fiction
Life after Life by Kate Atkinson
The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
The Best of Us by Sarah Pekkanen
End Me a Tenor by Joelle Charbonneau
Angelopolis by Danielle Turssoni

Historical Fiction
The Liars’ Gospel by Naomi Alderman
The Edge of the Earth by Christina Schwarz
A White Wind Blew by James Markert

Other Posts:
So is it a Fantasy? – Guest post by Beverly Swerling, author of Bristol House
BOOK CLUB – The Liars’ Gospel by Naomi Alderman
The Attraction of Cults – Guest post by Peggy Riley, author of Amity & Sorrow
D.E.A.R. – April 2013
On Audiobook Week

Pick of the Month:

Considering the number of books I reviewed this month I should, by rights, only be picking one book here, but I read and reviewed so much this month that was truly phenomenal that I just can’t help myself. Here are my (far too many) picks of the month:

Sunday Salon – Readathon

Apr 282013

So, for the first time since Daniel (who is almost 4, by the way) was just a few months old I was able to participate in the Readathon this weekend. I got to head to an empty condo with my lovely ladies Michelle from That’s What She Read and Julie from Girls Just Reading for some reading fun while my husband hung out with the kids.

During the time we were actually reading and not talking I tried the tactic of alternating books every 50 pages. It kept me going very nicely, but it also meant that I didn’t finish my first book until just before midnight. I finished one more around 1:30 or so, and started two others before heading to bed around 3 (okay, actually I’m writing this at 3 and will very likely still be asleep when it posts, but SHHH, I’m going to bed in a minute).

I read about 800 pages all told and had LOTS of fun, not least with Michelle’s brilliant idea of doing all hourly updates on Instagram (and posting those to Tumblr). Although there were some hours where picture ideas were tough to come by, it was still a much faster and lower-stress method of updating than getting on the computer and typing something up, and it served to keep us less distracted by the world of social media.

So here are the books I finished this week, first pre-Readathon, then Readathon:

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I know I typically also link you to what I reviewed in a given week, but I’m falling asleep in my keyboard, so I will trust that you are all capable of going back and checking that out on your own.

Did you read anything good this weekend?

The Readathon is Here!

Apr 272013

Hello, friends! For the first time in more than three years I am READATHONING. The last time I was able to do it was for the October 2009 Readathon and I have MISSED IT like a crazy person. I don’t want to clog up everyone’s feed readers, so I’m not going to be updating here. If you want to see how I’m progressing check out my Tumblr blog.

But just in case you want to see my book pile without clicking over, VOILA.

D.E.A.R. – April 2013

Apr 242013

Damn you, April! *shakes fist* Why do you have so many fascinating books and no time for me to read them? Seriously, there are ALL THE THINGS that came out in April that I want to read still, and here I am moving on to June books for Bloggers Recommend. I have SO many April books languishing on the shelves, in fact, that this month I am going to forgo the descriptions and just give you pretty pictures and titles (links go to Indiebound, where you can find descriptions).

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline – April 2, 2013
A Nearly Perfect Copy by Allison Amend – April 9, 2013
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer – April 9, 2013
Fear in the Sunlight by Nicola Upson – April 9, 2013
The Movement of Stars by Amy Brill – April 18, 2013
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker – April 23, 2013

What books are you dying to Drop Everything And Read this month?

Sunday Salon – 4/21/13

Apr 212013

When a story about someone trying to send ricin to the president and a senator gets largely overlooked, you know it is a crazy, crappy week. None of the news drama effected me directly, but I did find myself staying up far too late too many nights glued to Twitter for the next report. I saw lots of complaints about the cable news networks, particularly CNN, but all my attention was on what was being tweeted and retweeted by those in the print media, particularly the Boston Globe. We also had some fun torrential rains here last week, particularly Wednesday night, and when I checked my basement Thursday morning I had nice, damp carpet and a non-functional sump pump. My husband was traveling, but luckily my inlaws live nearby and my father-in-law came over and took care of it. Not quite sure what I would have done…

Despite all that, I did actually get some reading done. I think I was trying to dive into fiction to escape some of the madness of reality.

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This week I posted a giveaway for Nathaniel Philbrick’s new Bunker Hill and a guest post with Amity & Sorrow author Peggy Riley, as well as two book reviews:

What did you do to get you through this week?

Sunday Salon – 4/14/13

Apr 142013

Well this was a fun week! My parents were in town and both of my sets of grandparents came up. The girls took a little time to warm up, but Daniel was super excited and ran around like a crazy person to see everyone. I did manage to squeeze a little reading around the edges, though. Here’s what I finished:

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This week I also hosted BOOK CLUB for the fascinating novel The Liars’ Gospel by Naomi Alderman, as well as reviewing the following books:

Sunday Salon! 4-7-13

Apr 072013

Um… I don’t have a whole lot to say about this past week (except Elizabeth stood on her own three times yesterday). So, without further ado, recent baby pictures!

As far as what I finished this week, that is less exciting, picture-wise, because the one print book I finished this week does not yet have a cover image. It is Jillian Cantor’s Margo, coming in September from Riverhead Books. Other than that, here’s what I finished:

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And here’s what I reviewed:

March 2013 Reading Wrap-Up

Mar 312013

Oh, hey, reading, I sort of miss you. I read a total of 12 books in March, including 3 audiobooks for about 3000 pages and 29 hours of audio. But this month was extra crazy because it was the launch not only of Foreword Literary Agency, but also of Bloggers Recommend. I’m guessing Bloggers Recommend will be interesting to more of you, so for those of you who are looking for a literary agent, I’ll just tell you to see my Submissions page.

Bloggers Recommend is another project that Nicole and I started. Basically it is an aggregate of bloggers, well, recommendations for the best new books coming out in a given month. The March newsletter was primarily recommendations from myself and Nicole, but the April newsletter showcases much of our advisory board. Readers, we’d love for you to subscribe and get our future (once a month) email lists; bloggers, we want your recommendations (by April 20th for the May newsletter)!

What I Reviewed:

Audiobooks
Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman, narrated by Kathe Mazur
The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson, narrated by Robin Miles, Charlotte Parry, and Tim Gerard Reynolds
Heft by Liz Moore, narrated by Kirby Heyborne and Keith Szarabajka
Hand Me Down by Melanie Thorne, narrated by Ali Ahn
Jungeland: A Mysterious Lost City, A WWII Spy, and a True Story of Deadly Adventure by Christopher S. Stewart, narrated by Jef Brick

Fiction
The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper
The Crooked Branch by Jeanine Cummins

Historical Fiction
Above All Things by Tanis Rideout
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler
The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau
Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear

Nonfiction
The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies? by Jared Diamond
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain

Other Posts:
Bloggers Recommend
Announcing: Foreword Literary Agency
Bookish Pretties – Custom Ereader Cover from Honeysuckle Salvage
D.E.A.R. – March 2013

Sunday Salon – Out and About

D.E.A.R. – May 2013

April 2013 Reading Wrap-Up

What I Reviewed:

Pick of the Month:

Other Books Read, Watch for Reviews:

Sunday Salon – Readathon

The Readathon is Here!

D.E.A.R. – April 2013

Sunday Salon – 4/21/13

Sunday Salon – 4/14/13

Sunday Salon! 4-7-13

March 2013 Reading Wrap-Up

What I Reviewed:

Pick of the Month:

Other Books Read, Watch for Reviews: