Apologies

Going on hiatus while college friends are in town. Should resume regular posting in a week or so.

Brief update on my writing before I go...

I finished the first draft of Grave of the Goddess last Tuesday. (A million hip hip hoorays because it's only the second full draft of something I've ever finished!) I'm not looking at it for the rest of the month while my beta readers tear it apart. Planning to edit it into a query-worthy draft during June and July. Wish me luck because this will be the first time I have attempted to edit an entire draft like this.

That's it for now. See you next week sometime!

Teaser Tuesday: The Beauty Bride

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Current read: The Beauty Bride by Claire Delacroix

Synopsis: Alexander has a problem. It's that he has to marry off his sister Madeline, who has refused to ever wed. Madeline's betrothed died on the same boat as their parents and she won't even discuss it. So Alexander is forced to take matters into his own hands by auctioning Madeline off. He never intended Rhys Fitzhenry to take part. Rhys is a warrior who has fought the king to gain land. Clever and resourceful, he knows he needs an heir, and this auction is the perfect way to get one. Furious that her brother would dare auction her off, Madeline flees...but Rhys won't be cast aside so easily. Can this strong and witty warrior catch his impetuous and bold bride?

Teaser:

Rhys had always found women somewhat incomprehensible and a goodly amount of trouble. It was small consolation that his new wife proved his earlier conclusions to be valid.

I picked this up for free on my Kindle. (I am always looking for free romance novels to read via the Kindle app on my phone when I'm caught somewhere without a book.) For a historical romance with a pretty insane premise, its main characters are rather endearing. I'll say more about it when I finish it!

Musing Monday: A home without books is no home at all!

Musing Mondays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Just muse about one of the following each week:

Describe one of your reading habits.
Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

Last week I mused about how I am a "messy" reader - and got some interesting responses. It seems a lot of people fall into extremes with their reading style, either being messy like me or neat as a pin like my dear BFF.

This week, I think I'll continue to muse about my reading habits. After all, the best part about a blog is talking about yourself!

Reading Habit #2

Before I talk about my reading habit, I think we need some background information. Because not only do I think a well-worn book is a well-loved book... I also think a house that looks more like a library is the only kind of house for me. Fortunately for me, my boyfriend agrees! Our house currently has six standalone bookcases, and at least five shelves on other pieces of furniture that I have turned into bookcases. There are regularly piles of books on both coffee tables, both of our nightstands, the filing cabinet in my office, the end table in the living room, and sometimes the kitchen table.

Of course, we spend a lot of time in the Barnes and Noble cafe reading books we don't own as well.

 ...we own a lot of books. I counted all of them when we first moved in together (and actually took them all out of boxes) and we had four hundred and some odd books. That was three years ago. Since then, we've moved into an actual house and managed to rescue nearly all of the books that remained at our respective parents' houses. I wanted to count our new collection when we put up the bookshelves here... But it was far too daunting a task. I would assume we own over a thousand books now.

Yep. And they are in every room of the house EXCEPT the bathrooms. Which is silly because we both definitely read in the bathroom! (Maybe that can be the subject of another Musing Monday.)

I took this picture when I had finished counting all the books we had in our first apartment together.

So, my second reading habit is this: I delight in finding new places to read in much the same way that I am always looking for new places to write. Having bookcases all over the house really aids in this venture. I can say with certainty that I've lived here for less than a year and I have spent time reading in each and every room of the house - as well as on the porch and the deck out back!

Are you like me, always seeking the next reading nook? Or do you like to curl up in the same chair every time you open a book?

As for me... I'm so intrigued by listing all of my book-y assets that I'm thinking some pictures of my collection might be in order soon...

Friday Finds

This is another meme from Should Be Reading

FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased). 

I am constantly adding books to my TBR list. Recent examples from haunting our local Barnes & Noble:

The Witch's Daughter

The Winter Witch

The Midnight Witch

All by Paula Brackston. You can guess why I'm interested in these. (Hint: I really like stories about witches.) I actually checked out The Witch's Daughter from the library, but got caught up in reading other things and didn't get to it. For what it's worth, the first two chapters were beautifully written. I hope I can get back to it sometime soon.

Also stumbled across these YA books via Youtube reviews and thought they sounded good:

The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher

Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith

Has anyone else read any of these and have feelings about them?

WWW Wednesdays

Another meme found at Should Be Reading

 

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

My currently reading list is always about a mile long. But I tend to be reading-reading one book out of the many. I realize that doesn't make any real sense so you'll just have to trust me.

Right now I'm actually reading The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander. I cannot believe I didn't read this classic fantasy series until I was in college! This is the first time I'm rereading, and I'm just as in love as before.

I recently finished reading The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson which was a fantastic end to a fantastic YA Fantasy trilogy. I cannot say enough good things about that series. If you want a seriously awesome female protagonist, look no farther. 

Also just read Long Time Coming by Edie Claire. I downloaded this for free on my Kindle and read it in a 24 hour time span. She has an excellent writing style although the plot was somewhat cliched. I think of romantic suspense stories like these as popcorn, and this one fit the bill perfectly. 

As for what I'll read next... I've got a few new exciting romance novels on my Kindle that I might blaze through. Or I might go back to rereading The Vampire Chronicles in preparation for Anne Rice releasing a new Lestat book this year (!). And there's always the next Chronicles of Pyrdain book. Knowing me, I'll see something new and shiny and glomp onto that so... Stay tuned?