Monday, September 17, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My Fall 2018 TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana at The Artsy Reader Girl.


This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic is the Books On My Fall 2018 TBR. As I do every time I make one of these lists, it comes with a disclaimer. This is merely a list of books I would like to read this fall, but make no promises that I will. It's a rare season I actually do accomplish an entire list, given my penchant for falling into other books so easily--books not on the list. I do love making these lists though, so here goes . . .



Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ~ This classic horror novel of a scientist and his attempt at creating and better understanding life has long been on my TBR shelf, and this year may be the year I read it! Hopefully.




Making the Monster: The Science Behind Mary Shelley's Frankenstein by Kathryn Harkup ~ A look into Mary Shelley's life, and what was going on in the time she came up with the idea for Frankenstein, including the science trends of the time. I wish I could remember who it was who recommended this would be a good companion read to Frankenstein. It sure sounds like it, doesn't it?




It's a Wonderful Death by Sarah J. Schmitt ~ The grim reaper collected 17 year old RJ's soul a bit too early, and now she must replay three moments in her life and make choices that will win her back her soul. This one promises to be a bit quirky and funny.



The Magicians by Lev Grossman ~ A young man is accepted into an unusual college, one of magic. I really want to watch the TV show, but will not let myself until I read the book. Most people I know loved it. 




Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli ~ A coming of age story about a gay teenager. That's an understatement, isn't it? I have heard nothing but great things about Albertalli's novel and have wanted to read it for some time now. Plus, there's the movie. I can't see the movie until I read the book.




Seal's Honor by Megan Crane ~ The murder of her roommate has Everly seeking help from her brother's old friend, an ex-army SEAL living in Alaska. Romance and suspense all wrapped up in one book. A nice escape that hopefully will make me swoon and keep me on the edge of my seat.




When Winter Comes by V.A. Shannon ~ Memories of the Donner Party's attempt to cross the Sierra Mountains in 1846 have long haunted her, but it is a secret she felt she must keep to protect her own past. Many of my summers were spent in Donner Pass, not too far from where the Donner Party fought for their survival. It's a time period in history that I have always felt connected to as a result.




Go to My Grave by Catriona McPherson ~ The opening of a bed and breakfast, something seems to familiar to the guests, and a broken vow leading to a deadly game. This sounds like it will keep me up all night. I do enjoy McPherson's writing.




Séances Are for Suckers (An Eleanor Wilde Mystery #1) by Tamara Berry ~ Ellie Wilde is a ghost hunter who doesn't believe in ghosts. I like Ellie already.



The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox ~ A family forced out of town because of scandal in 1821 and take up residence at Willow Hall, with all its dark secrets. I do love a good Gothic novel.


Have you read any of these? What books are on your fall TBR pile?


© 2018, 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.

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Bookish Thoughts: Scandal Above Stairs by Jennifer Ashley

The clatter of crockery on the flagstone floor broke my heart. ~ Opening of Scandal Above Stairs


Scandal Above Stairs (Kat Holloway, #2) by Jennifer Ashley
Berkley, 2018
Crime Fiction (Historical/Cozy); 320 pgs
Source: First Reads Program


Kat Holloway takes great pride in her work as head cook for a respected family. She also has a nose for getting to the source of a problem, even if it is the theft of priceless artwork or, God forbid murder. When asked by Miss Cynthia, one of her employers to look into the theft of artwork in one of Cynthia’s friend’s wealthy friends, Kat cannot say no. Could the theft be tied to the recent disappearance of antiques from not only private collections in homes but also the British Museum as well? Searching out her good friend, the mysterious Daniel McAdam, Kat finds him playing pawnbroker out to catch a thief of his own. Only, a murder with Daniel as the lead suspect raises the stakes.

There is a new character thrown into the mix in Scandal Above Stairs, a woman McAdam has sent Kat’s way who seems to be in need of some good polishing and help. Tess is street smart and not always the most eloquent, but a quick learner and Kat decides to give her a chance, despite her reservations—and suspicions that Tess is keeping secrets.

I have so much love for this series. I enjoyed this book just as much, if not more, than the first. We get a little more of a glimpse into who Daniel McAdam is—although he is still a mystery. McAdam is quite devoted to our clever and level-headed cook, even if f she is reluctant to admit it. It was also good to join up with some of my other favorite characters from the series, including the eccentric Miss Cynthia and Mr. Thanos, and Daniel McAdam’s son James. I love how Kat has taken James under her wing and is so protective of him. She can relate somewhat to his situation given her own with her daughter Grace.

The mystery in Scandal Above Stairs kept me guessing, taking the reader from the high end homes of the wealthy to the seedy underbelly of London. Seeing Kat in action is always a pleasure, and I most enjoy getting to know and spending time with the various characters in Jennifer Ashley’s series.


For more information about the author and her books, visit her website. You can also find her on Twitter and Facebook.


 © 2018, 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.

Saturday, September 15, 2018

Poetry Corner: Sunday Sugar by Q. Gibson

Along the journey
we too grew familiar to the night
 and began to love
entirely in Sunday mornings. ~ Opening of Sunday Sugar


Sunday Sugar by Q. Gibson
2017, 178 pgs


I read Sunday Sugar as I waited for my daughter's school to be let out one Friday afternoon several months ago. I cried. I smiled a lot. I felt the warmth emanating from the pages, flowing over me as I read. I found the poems self-affirming and beautiful. It is a collection of poems and aphorisms about healing and and the power of the human spirit. Gibson's poems are often simply written and yet pack so much meaning, giving voice to women, including those whose voices are often ignored or silenced historically. I had planned to talk about the book earlier in the year, but the moment slipped by me. I find myself reading this collection again, feeling the power and hope in Q. Gibson's words. I have not read the author's previous work, which I need to remedy. Hers is a voice this world needs to hear more of.

Here are a few of the Q. Gibsons poems from Sunday Sugar that especially spoke to me:

Some days
the world tries to
end me
so I wake
and create a new one. 

*

She planted her feet
and finally she stood there
blooming from all the places that once withered.

*

And whether I come
carrying a hurricane
or bearing the sun
I am still a woman
I am still allowed to
be a small calamity
a catastrophe and a 
miracle all at once.

*

Tears are a soul teach
a breath away from
lesson
a stream away
from
mending.

*

Though I break
I bare my bones before
the world and do not weep
because the world
breaks too
I have watched it
ample times crumble
and still find its way
into tomorrow.


What do you think? Do any of these poems speak to you? Have you read any poetry lately?


For more information about the author and her writing, visit her website. You can also find her on Twitter.


© 2018, 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.

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Where Is Your Bookmark? (A Peek Into Jane Steele, My Favorite Fictional School, and a Wolfish Cover)

Today I am featuring my current read, which also happens to be my September TBR List poll winner:


Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye
“Reader, I murdered him.” 
A sensitive orphan, Jane Steele suffers first at the hands of her spiteful aunt and predatory cousin, then at a grim school where she fights for her very life until escaping to London, leaving the corpses of her tormentors behind her. After years of hiding from the law while penning macabre “last confessions” of the recently hanged, Jane thrills at discovering an advertisement. Her aunt has died and her childhood home has a new master: Mr. Charles Thornfield, who seeks a governess.
Burning to know whether she is in fact the rightful heir, Jane takes the position incognito, and learns that Highgate House is full of marvelously strange new residents—the fascinating but caustic Mr. Thornfield, an army doctor returned from the Sikh Wars, and the gracious Sikh butler Mr. Sardar Singh, whose history with Mr. Thornfield appears far deeper and darker than they pretend. As Jane catches ominous glimpses of the pair’s violent history and falls in love with the gruffly tragic Mr. Thornfield, she faces a terrible dilemma: can she possess him—body, soul, and secrets—without revealing her own murderous past? 
A satirical romance about identity, guilt, goodness, and the nature of lies, by a writer who Matthew Pearl calls “superstar-caliber” and whose previous works Gillian Flynn declared “spectacular,” Jane Steele is a brilliant and deeply absorbing book inspired by Charlotte Brontë’s classic Jane Eyre. [Goodreads Summary]

A weekly meme where readers share the first sentence of the book they are reading and say what they think. Hosted by the wonderful Gillion Dumas of Rose City Reader.
Of all my many murders, committed for love and for better reasons, the first was the most important. 

My thoughts: And with that, I have to know what put her on her current path. Talk about a hook!

*

A weekly meme in which readers share a random sentence or two from page 56 or 56% of the book they are reading. Hosted by the wonderful Freda of Freda's Voice.
"Poor little mouse has been on a diet of water and brimstone for four entire days now, after the larder raid," Taylor explained, sounding bored.
"The new girl," Clarke's tiny voice called. "Please don't punish her, for I hardly know her name. Steele, I think, and she was very tired, as she only arrived today. Miss Lilyvale told her to say her prayers, and she . . . didn't, sir. She fell asleep." [page 56]

My thoughts: I haven't yet reached this scene, but it appears are Jane Steele has had a rough childhood. I do not care much for Taylor.


What do you think? Does this sound like book you would be interested in reading? 

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Originally hosted by Books by Proxy, Friday Face Off is now hosted by the fabulous Lynn of  Lynn’s Book Blog. Participants are asked to feature two more more covers of the same book with the week's assigned theme, and pick a favorite. 

This week the theme is a book whose cover features a wolf or wolves. 

I chose one of my favorites from Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series, Bitten. 


My eye is most drawn to the night scene with the wolf in the distance, framed by the tree and brush, a silhouette of a kind. I am less sure of the font used for the title, but I can live with it.

Which cover do you prefer? 
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Everyone has a favorite and then we also have something we dislike. Like a coin, there are two sides to every question. Each week, Carrie at The Butterfly Reads and Laura from Blue Eye Books ask participants to list what they like and don't like about that week's topic.


This week's topic is Favorite/Least Favorite Book Set in a School 

I probably should try and pick a lesser known book, but let's be honest. Most of us would go to Hogwarts if we could, even if only to walk its halls and explore the grounds. And I just love all of J.K. Rowlings characters and the world she created in the Harry Potter novels.



My least favorite is a bit tougher. There are plenty of schools I am glad I never attended, but for this selection, I went with a book I just could not get into. The Awakening by L.J. Smith, the first in the Vampire Diaries. I barely finished it. I really liked the television show, however--at least what I saw of it.



Have you read these? What would you say is your favorite book set in a school? Your least favorite?


© 2018, 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.

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Waiting to Read Wednesday: The Christmas Edition (#14)


I know what most of you are thinking. It is way too early to be thinking about holiday-themed books. 

Publishers do not think so, however. And so I give you my early Christmas edition!

The Old(er) 
I have an embarrassing number of unread books sitting on the shelves in my personal library. Carole of Carole's Random Life in Books has given me the perfect excuse to spotlight and discuss those neglected books in her Books from the Backlog feature. After all, even those older books need a bit of love! Not to mention it is reminding me what great books I have waiting for me under my own roof still to read!


Miracle on 5th Avenue (From Manhattan with Love #3) by Sarah Morgan (HQN, 2016)
It will take a Christmas miracle for two very different souls to find each other in this perfectly festive fairy tale of New York! 
Hopeless romantic Eva Jordan loves everything about Christmas. She might be spending the holidays alone this year, but when she's given an opportunity to house-sit a spectacular penthouse on Fifth Avenue, she leaps at the chance. What better place to celebrate than in snow-kissed Manhattan? What she didn't expect was to find the penthouse still occupied by its gorgeous—and mysterious—owner.  
Bestselling crime writer Lucas Blade is having the nightmare before Christmas. With a deadline and the anniversary of his wife's death looming, he's isolated himself in his penthouse with only his grief for company. He wants no interruptions, no decorations and he certainly doesn't appreciate being distracted by his beautiful, bubbly new housekeeper. But when the blizzard of the century leaves Eva snowbound in his apartment, Lucas starts to open up to the magic she brings…This Christmas, is Lucas finally ready to trust that happily-ever-afters do exist? [Goodreads Summary]
Why I want to read it: I have only read one Sarah Morgan romance, and I was smitten. I have been wanting to read more of her books, and what better than through a Christmas themed novel? 


Cardwell Christmas Crime Scene (Cardwell Ranch #5) by B.J. Daniels (Harlequin, 2016)
A conman's daughter takes refuge with the family she never knew she had in New York Times bestseller B.J. Daniels's latest addition to the Cardwell family saga. 
Dee Anna Justice had thought that her convict father was her only living relative. Now Walter Justice, fearing for his daughter's safety, urges her to seek out her cousins in Montana. Calling in a decades-old debt, he also enlists private investigator Beau Tanner to protect her.

Despite their fiery attraction, she resents the bodyguard her dad foists on her. Trust doesn't come easy to DJ. But the warm, embracing family she finds at Cardwell ranch just might begin to soften her suspicious nature, and learning to trust the sexy PI may be the key to saving her life.
[Goodreads Summary]
Why I want to read it: I tend to favor romance novels that add in a bit of suspense, and this one sounds like it has a good mix of both. 

*

The New
Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by the marvelous Tressa at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss upcoming release we are excited about that we have yet to read.


Season of Wonder (Haven Point #9) by RaeAnne Thayne
Release Date: September 25, 2018 by HQN
He’s giving her children a season of wonder…
Dani Capelli seized a chance to start over in a small town with her daughters. Now, facing her first Christmas in Haven Point, she wonders if leaving New York was a mistake. Dani loves working alongside veterinarian Dr. Morales, but her two children aren’t adjusting to small-town life. And then there’s Dr. Morales’s son, Ruben—Dani’s next-door neighbor. Gorgeous, muscled and dependable, the deputy sheriff is everything she secretly craves and can’t bear to risk loving…and losing. 
Ruben never pictured himself falling for a big-city woman like Dani. But beneath her prickly facade, she’s caring and softhearted and she needs all the love and protection he can give. When Dani’s teenage daughter starts acting out, Ruben draws on family traditions to show the girls just how magical a Haven Point Christmas can be. But can he convince Dani that she’s found a home for the holidays—and forever—in his arms? [Goodreads Summary]
Why I want to read it: RaeAnne Thayne is my favorite romance novelist. Her characters are well developed and complex and their romances are always swoon-worthy. I cannot wait to see read her latest. 


Bells, Spells, and Murders (Witch City Mystery #7) by Carol J. Perry
Release Date: September 25, 2018 by Kensington
Someone's spreading deadly holiday cheer through Salem, Mass . . .

Lee Barrett has landed her dream job at Salem's WICH-TV. As the new field reporter, she'll be covering events live as they're unfolding. Next on her holiday checklist is an interview with the beloved chairman of a popular walking tour through Salem's historic districts. But it may be his ghost walking this snowy Noel season after Lee finds him murdered in his stately offices, bloody Santa hat askew.

With her police detective boyfriend working the case and a witch's brew of suspects--including some bell-ringing Santas--Lee chases down leads aided and abetted by her wise cat O'Ryan and some unsettling psychic visions of her own. When a revealing clue leads to another dead body, not even a monster blizzard can stop Lee from inching closer to the truth . . . and a scoop that could spell her own demise this killer Christmas.
[Goodreads Summary]
Why I want to read it: I cannot let this holiday season slip by without a Christmas themed cozy mystery. Add in a witch and a cat? I do not know why I have not tried this series before! 


Oh My Stars by Sally Kilpatrick
Release Date: September 25, 2018 by Kensington
A heartwarming, hilarious Christmas story with a Southern twist. 
Like most things in Ellery, Tennessee, this year's Drive Thru Nativity is a little unconventional. The Dollar General parking lot doubles as a Bethlehem stable, and widowed writer Ivy Long, who's been roped into playing Mary, sure as heck isn't a virgin. But then comes an unexpected development: a genuine, real-life baby left in the manger, with only a brief note. And somehow, in the kerfuffle that follows, Ivy finds her life is about to change . . .

The holidays are a bittersweet time for Ivy--filled with memories of her beloved late husband and reminders that life doesn't always offer the happily-ever-afters her readers expect. So when Ivy ends up with custody of the baby, she can only chalk it up to a Christmas miracle. She doesn't know if it will be forever, but with help from family, she'll make little Zuzu's first Christmas a good one. The nativity's Joseph, aka Gabe Ledbetter, has a pediatrics background that's coming in mighty handy. In turn, Ivy is helping Gabe find his place in the quirky community. If that place turns out to be somewhere near Ivy, well, maybe this particular Christmas story will turn out to be merry and bright after all . . .
[Goodreads Summary]
Why I want to read it: A touch of the Christmas spirit seems strong in this one. I have a feeling I will enjoy getting to know Ivy and Gabe and the "quirky" folks in Ellery, Tennessee.


Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge (A Jaine Austen Mystery) by Laura Levine
Release Date: September 25, 2018 by Kensington
Freelance writer Jaine Austen is feeling festive about spending Christmas house-sitting at a posh Bel Air mansion, accompanied by her friend Lance and her cat, Prozac. But when a grumpy neighbor gets himself iced, she’ll have to find the culprit or she may spend the New Year in jail . . . 
Scotty Parker is a former child star who once played Tiny Tim, but now he’s grown up into the role of neighborhood Scrooge. He cuts the wires on his neighbors’ Christmas lights and tells local kids that Santa had a stroke. And his miserly, bah-humbug attitude lasts year-round—a fact known all too well by his current wife, his ex-wife, his maid, and many more. 
Scotty thinks he can stage a comeback with the screenplay he’s working on (The Return of Tiny Tim: Vengeance Is Mine!), and Jaine’s been reluctantly helping him edit it. So when Scotty is bludgeoned with a frozen chocolate yule log and the police start making a list of suspects and checking it twice, Jaine’s name is unfortunately included. True, she’s been under some stress, with Lance trying to set her up on dates and her fickle feline taking a sudden liking to someone else—but she’s not guilty of murder. Now she just has to prove it, by using her gift for detection and figuring out who committed this holiday homicide. [Goodreads Summary]
Why I want to read it: Laura Levine is one of those authors I have been meaning to try for awhile now, but just haven't managed to. Her Jaine Austen series is a long running one, but this one seems like a good place to jump in. A little mystery to break up the holiday romance.



Do any of these books appeal to you? Have you read them?


© 2018, 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.