So Many Books, So Little Time

From Goodreads:  Why must it be me? I wondered. When I am so clearly inadequate to my destiny? Raised alongside her numerous brothers and sisters by the formidable empress of Austria, ten-year-old Maria Antonia knew that her idyllic existence would one day be sacrificed to her mother’s political ambitions. What she never anticipated was that the day in question would come so soon. Before she can journey from sunlit picnics with her sisters in Vienna to the glitter, glamour, and gossip of Versailles, Antonia must change everything about herself in order to be accepted as dauphine of France and the wife of the awkward teenage boy who will one day be Louis XVI. Yet nothing can prepare her for the ingenuity and influence it will take to become queen. My Thoughts:  This book was provided to me by NetGalley for review.  I have always felt sympathy for Marie Antoinette and felt like history has been pretty hard on her.    I was really looking forward to this...

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish . This week's topic is:  The Top Ten Books on My TBR (to be read) Pile this Fall Some of these are books coming out this fall but most of them are books I have just been really wanting to read and haven’t gotten to yet.  I am really behind on reading, especially reading the books I own. 1.)     Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran 2.)     Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs 3.)     The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss         --All three of the above books have been on my nook for MONTHS.  4.)     Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie-I can not wait for this to come out in October.   I love Catherine the Great and Massie’s books are always good. 5.)     Mary Boleyn:   The Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir-This book als...

From Goodreads:   Sometimes scholars should be more careful: Youthful researcher Diana Bishop briefly consults an medieval alchemical manuscript; then, after jotting down a few notes, sends it back to its prison in the stacks. Unfortunately for Diana, her quick dabbling has unleashed a long suppressed curse—and now only she can break the spell. Carefully researched, this debut novel will appeal to fans of historical novel infused with strong paranormal elements. My Thoughts:  This was a LONG book but it was so good.   I feel like I haven’t read a really good book in a while and this one definitely broke my not so good book streak.   I loved the mix of paranormal with history.   It makes me wish I knew someone, like Matthew, who had lived through so many historical events and personally knew a bunch of famous historical figures.   I am also glad the author made sure that the paranormal aspects didn’t get ridiculous.   The characters were believa...

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren .  It's a way to showcase the books I purchased, downloaded to my nook and borrowed from the library in the past week. From the library: The Betrayal  by Diane Noble The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir Borrowed from my mother in law (not pictured): Licensed to Pawn by Rick Harrison What goodies you get this week?

The Book Blog Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Jen at Crazy for Books.   It's a great way to connect with other bloggers and check out some cool blogs. This week's question is:  Do you have pets? I have an eight month old puppy named Turbo.  He is an English pointer and is extremely hyper but very cute.  Below is a semi recent picture of him. Happy Friday!!!

From Goodreads:  The fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras. But sadly, their airplane had another idea crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner. What's a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program--or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan--or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up? My Thoughts:  The premise of this book is hilarious and for awhile I really enjoyed this book.  It is sarcastic and makes fun of beauty pageants which cracked me up.  But, it got old after awhile.  I think this book would have been much better if it hadn't been nearly so long.  The jokes started to get old about half way through and then I kind of just waited to...

From Goodreads:  Readers have followed Jen Lancaster through job loss, sucky city living, weight loss attempts, and 1980s nostalgia. Now Jen chronicles her efforts to achieve cultural enlightenment, with some hilarious missteps and genuine moments of inspiration along the way. And she does so by any means necessary: reading canonical literature, viewing classic films, attending the opera, researching artisan cheeses, and even enrolling in etiquette classes to improve her social graces. In Jen's corner is a crack team of experts, including Page Six socialites, gourmet chefs, an opera aficionado, and a master sommelier. She may discover that well-regarded, high-priced stinky cheese tastes exactly as bad as it smells, and that her love for Kraft American Singles is forever. But one thing's for certain: Eliza Doolittle's got nothing on Jen Lancaster-and failure is an option. My Thoughts:  I love Jen Lancaster; her books and her blog are hysterical.   That being said, I...