Sunday Post: New Books, Blogging & May TBR List Poll

The Sunday Post is hosted by the wonderful Kim, the Caffeinated Book Reviewer, and gives us all a chance to recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. 

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! I hope you are enjoying your special day. I am unable to spend the day with my own mom, but I am sure I will enjoy the day with my own daughter and husband.

My mom and I

I am a little late getting my May TBR List Poll up. You'll find it at the bottom of this overly long post. This is what happens when you are away from my blog for too long. I hope you will take the time to vote!

What are you up to today?

Every Friday Coffee Addicted Writer from Coffee Addicted Writer poses a question which participants respond on their own blogs within the week (Friday through Thursday). They then share their links at the main site and visit other participants blogs.

Why did you start your blog? (submitted by Elizabeth) 

This will not be a new story to those of you who have been following my blog for awhile now. I started my blog at my husband's urging, nearly ten years ago. I had been keeping a reading journal for a number of years before that, jotting down my bookish thoughts, occasionally sharing bits and pieces on the online book groups I was in. It seemed a natural progression, really, to start a book blog, combining my passion for books with my love of writing. While my blogging habits have changed over the years, the spirit of my blog has remained the same: a casual and friendly place where I can talk about the books I read, their impact on me, and sometimes even about my life outside of books. The book blogging community has made my blogging experience all the richer. I no longer think of reading as just a solitary pursuit.

What about you? If you have a blog, what got you started?


New On My Shelves:

I do not often get print books in the mail anymore, and so was excited to find two in my mailbox recently. Both were sent by the publishers. Reader, I Married Him is a collection of short stories by various authors as a tribute to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.  The other book is a nonfiction book called Love Wins: The Lovers and Lawyers who fought the Landmark Case for Marriage Equality by Debbie Cenziper and Jim Obergefell.

I also got these titles recently from NetGalley:

Mercer Girls by Libbie Hawker 

Thief's Magic by Trudi Canavan  

The Rule of Luck by Catherine Cerveny

I have been wanting to try another book box subscription, one that might appeal to me more than the other one I tried a year or so ago. After researching a variety of them, I decided to try My Lit Box, a subscription book box that focuses on celebrating diversity and authors of color, which I found especially appealing. I was excited when my first book box arrived. Not only did I receive a book by an author I have been wanting to read, but it's set during World War II. You all know I can't resist a book set during that time period. The book is The Book of Harlan by Bernice L. McFadden. My daughter has already run off with the two buttons that came in the package, but she's letting me keep the rest: the bag and the bookmark, as well as the book. I can live with that.

What I Am Reading: I read my average amount of books in the month of April, a mixture of historical fiction, fantasy and general fiction. My favorite was Nadia Hashimi's When the Moon Is Low, which I will be reviewing this week on my blog. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman swept me off my feet just as many of you said it would. I dove wrote into the sequel Shadow Scale upon finishing it.

I am now reading The House for Happy Mothers by Amulya Malladi for an upcoming tour. I "met" the author briefly when she belonged to one of my online reading books many years ago. I have enjoyed her past books and was curious to read her latest. The House for Happy Mothers takes a look at two very different women: one from the Western world, steeped in privilege, but longing for a baby of her own, and the other a young mother trying to make ends meet in India who agrees to be a surrogate mother to the other woman.

What I Am Watching: I am finally caught up with Fear of the Walking Dead. At least I will be until tonight. I am not as enamoured by the show as I am with the original show, The Walking Dead. I just have not connected with any of the characters, although something keeps me watching. Strand is fascinating--good or bad? Both, maybe? Is anyone else watching it?

I had every intention of going to see the new Captain America movie this past Friday, but it did not happen. We watched Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which we had seen before, but all enjoy. Mouse and I are big fans of Rey, the female lead.

Around the Blogosphere:

• Author Michael Robotham talks about The First Book I Ever "Earned". Such a great article. I think many of us have memories like this in some form or another.
• Andi makes a powerful statement with her post My Body is For Commentary But I Own It. I can relate and love her attitude.
• Maureen gives us a glimpse into A Day in The Life of a Nurse. I have such love and admiration for nurses. I'm glad to know Maureen, even if only through her blog.
• I am too embarrassed to share how many book are in my TBR collection, but Stacy isn't: Book problem, year 9. I love this annual feature of hers, and wish I was brave enough to do the same.

What's Going On Off the Blog: It has been a busy two weeks. I was emotionally exhausted and not feeling up to spending too much time on the computer, much less blogging. I at least was reading when I could. The week before last I attended a conference on sexual assault and rape culture which I enjoyed. They provided lunch, which was actually pretty decent. The venue was not too far from my home, which was an added advantage.

 Roses from one of my rose bushes

Mouse's dental visit went well. Her pediatric dentist and the other staff that work in the office are so good with the children. In addition, my husband and I attended Mouse's kindergarten orientation this past week. It was held fifteen minutes after school let out. Oh, my gosh, the traffic! I have heard about school drop off and pick up traffic, but had never really experienced it myself. How do you deal with it?! While the school traffic is something to fear, I left the orientation feeling optimistic about the coming school year.

My husband introduced Mouse to Pathfinder Adventure on his cell phone, and she insisted we play the actual card game this weekend. Soon she'll be wanting to play the role playing game, I have no doubt. The card game was actually lots of fun. We won, but not by much. Admittedly, my husband did most of the strategizing telling us what to do. I am sure we'll be old hands at the game in no time.

Swim Lesson

Friday Mouse started her new swim class,  this one being one-on-one. The cost of the classes put me off initially, but after last year's debacle with one of the city's swim teachers and Mouse's fear of swimming as a result of that, we felt this might be a good way to ease her back in. I wasn't sure she would have a lesson, given the rain and threat of thunderstorms. Evidently the downpour we got on our side of the city did not extend to the side with the pool. It was raining when we left the house and raining when we got back--but no rain at all at the pool. Last week's soccer class was cancelled because of the rain. Despite the dark clouds and threats of rain this Saturday, however, it was a dry morning at the park and class went on as usual.

Running the Obstacle Course

 Worn out after battling the tissue paper

I have been finding little odds and ends here and there each morning when I wake up. A Lego or a barrette, for instance. Never where they are supposed to be. While it would be easy to blame my five year old, I am pretty sure it is my three year old cat, Gracie, who is the culprit. Parker just takes it all in stride. He's moving slower these days, but seems to have more good days than not. This morning he was too lazy to burrow under the covers on his own and woke me up so I could hold them up for him. He settled in near my feet.

"Where are my treats?"

Help me decide what book from my TBR collection I should read next:

My TBR List is a meme hosted by the awesome Michelle at Because Reading. It’s a fun way to choose a book from your TBR pile to read. The 1st Sunday of every month, I will list 3 books I am considering reading and take a poll as to which you think I should read. I will read the winner that month, and my review will follow. While I will attempt to post my review that same month, I make no promises--it may go up the following month. 

I had hoped to post this poll the first Sunday of the month, but it did not happen. I did not want to skip it all together, however. I have already surpassed my goal to read one book for the Once Upon a Time Challenge (although not by much), and thought maybe I would continue along in the same vein. This month I have selected three urban fantasy novels that have been sitting on my shelf demanding my attention. All three sound good. It is just a coincidence the covers all have men on them. Which one do you think I should read?

The Shadow Revolution by Clay and Susan Griffith ~ Werewolves prowl the streets of Victorian London in this urban fantasy novel. Coming together, each with their own unique talents of magic, science and alchemy, our group of heroes is the best hope the city has.

Charming by Elliott James ~ Once a dragon slayer and witch-finder, John Charming now leads a peaceful life, tending bar. That is, until a vampire and blonde walk through the door. Compared the Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, this book has definitely piqued my interest.

Stone Guardian by Danielle Monsch  ~ This one has a little bit of everything from the sounds of it. Romance, gryphons, gargoyles, wizards, and that's just for starters. Necromancers seem to be targetting history teacher Larissa Miller, and Terak, the leader of the gargoyles, is determined to find out why.

I hope you all have a great week! Happy Reading!

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© 2016, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.