WWW Wednesdays

WWW Wednesdays—August 17, 2011

WWW WednesdaysTo 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?

I am currently reading a wonderful book by Sharyn McCrumb called [amazon_link id=”0451202503″ target=”_blank” ]The Songcatcher[/amazon_link]. I am so in love with this book! It’s definitely running on five stars and is, so far, one of my favorite reads of the year. I keep thinking it would make a great movie along the lines of [amazon_link id=”B0001MDP3G” target=”_blank” ]Cold Mountain[/amazon_link] or [amazon_link id=”B00005JLTZ” target=”_blank” ]Coal Miner’s Daughter[/amazon_link]. I’ll tell you one thing: It gives me even more appreciation for my ancestors who settled in North Carolina, Georgia, and points west when it was truly wilderness.

I recently read [amazon_link id=”0061579289″ target=”_blank” ]Adam & Eve[/amazon_link] by Sena Jeter Naslund (review).

I think I am going to dive into [amazon_link id=”0451197399″ target=”_blank” ]The Ballad of Frankie Silver[/amazon_link] by Sharyn McCrumb next, as I am loving The Songcatcher so much. Her latest book, [amazon_link id=”0312558171″ target=”_blank” ]The Ballad of Tom Dooley[/amazon_link] will be out before too long. I can’t wait to read that one.

What about you?

WWW Wednesdays

WWW Wednesdays—August 10, 2011

WWW WednesdaysTo 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?

I’m currently reading Sena Jeter Naslund’s [amazon_link id=”0061579289″ target=”_blank” ]Adam & Eve[/amazon_link] for a TLC Book Tour. I am about halfway through. I have to say that so far, it’s not bad. I wouldn’t have chosen the book if I had not been asked whether or not I wanted to participate in the tour, but I have read a lot of reviews that pan the book, and it’s averaging three stars on Amazon and less than that on Goodreads, so perhaps it spins out somewhere in the second half. I’m keeping an open mind.

I recently finished [amazon_link id=”0451531388″ target=”_blank” ]A Room With a View[/amazon_link] by E.M. Forster (review), which I truly enjoyed. Great read!

I have a large TBR pile, and I plan to pull one of the following books next:

  • [amazon_link id=”0451202503″ target=”_blank” ]The Songcatcher[/amazon_link] by Sharyn McCrumb
  • [amazon_link id=”0451197399″ target=”_blank” ]The Ballad of Frankie Silver[/amazon_link] by Sharyn McCrumb
  • [amazon_link id=”0679781587″ target=”_blank” ]Memoirs of a Geisha[/amazon_link] by Arthur Golden
  • [amazon_link id=”0152053107″ target=”_blank” ]A Northern Light[/amazon_link] by Jennifer Donnelly
  • [amazon_link id=”0312304358″ target=”_blank” ]Moloka’i[/amazon_link] by Alan Brennert
  • [amazon_link id=”0060791586″ target=”_blank” ]The Widow’s War[/amazon_link] by Sally Gunning
  • [amazon_link id=”0452289076″ target=”_blank” ]Burning Bright[/amazon_link] by Tracy Chevalier

I’m leaning to the Sharyn McCrumbs just because her ideas about using old Appalachian murder ballads and stories appeals to me. I come from old Appalachian hill folks on my dad’s side, and something about Appalachians has always spoken to me.

Booking Through Thursday: Anticipation

This week’s Booking Through Thursday prompt asks:

What’s the last book you were really EXCITED to read?

And, were you excited about it in advance? Or did the excitement bloom while you were reading it?

Are there any books you’re excited about right NOW?

I think the last book I was really excited to read was probably [amazon_link id=”0439023513″ target=”_blank” ]Mockingjay[/amazon_link] by Suzanne Collins (review), which I read last September (almost a year ago!). I had just finished the first two [amazon_link id=”0545265355″ target=”_blank” ]Hunger Games[/amazon_link] books, and I just couldn’t stop turning the pages. I suppose the last time I enjoyed a book so much might have been [amazon_link id=”0545139708″ target=”_blank” ]Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows[/amazon_link]. I didn’t really have enough time to be excited about it in advance because by the time I became intrigued enough by Hunger Games to read it, the third novel had already been published. I bought it at the Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, and I remember carrying it around that day at the Decatur Book Festival, anticipating cracking it open when I went home later.

I am excited about some books coming out or in my to-read list. I really want to read [amazon_link id=”0312558171″ target=”_blank” ]The Ballad of Tom Dooley[/amazon_link] by Sharyn McCrumb. I’m also looking forward to the R.I.P. Challenge, when I plan to read Ransom Riggs’s [amazon_link id=”1594744769″ target=”_blank” ]Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children[/amazon_link]. I am excited for Katherine Howe’s next book (I read and reviewed [amazon_link id=”1401341330″ target=”_blank”]The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane[/amazon_link]). I follow her on Twitter, so I know she’s editing it right now. I’m also excited for the sequel to Deborah Harkness’s [amazon_link id=”0670022411″ target=”_blank” ]A Discovery of Witches[/amazon_link] (review). I’m also looking forward to [amazon_link id=”031262168X” target=”_blank” ]The Witch’s Daughter[/amazon_link] by Paula Brackston. It’s not a book, but I’m mad with anticipation over the unveiling of Pottermore. I managed to get a beta registration, and I’m waiting on tenterhooks for my welcome email saying I can officially get in the site.

photo credit: Lori Greig

Friday Finds

Friday Finds—July 29, 2011

Friday FindsI found a few interesting books this week. First, in searching out more information about [amazon_link id=”0312558171″ target=”_blank” ]The Ballad of Tom Dooley[/amazon_link] by Sharyn McCrumb, I discovered she has written a whole series of novels based on Appalachian murder ballads (I know, slow me). Anyway, I added her novels [amazon_link id=”0451202503″ target=”_blank” ]The Songcatcher[/amazon_link] and [amazon_link id=”0451197399″ target=”_blank” ]The Ballad of Frankie Silver[/amazon_link] to my TBR list.

I read about [amazon_link id=”1401323901″ target=”_blank” ]Witches of East End[/amazon_link] by Melissa de la Cruz in a Washington Post review by Brunonia Barry. It’s the first in a series, and it looks interesting. Plus I love witches.

Stephanie at Reviews by Lola recently reviewed [amazon_link id=”1590514440″ target=”_blank”]The Reservoir[/amazon_link]. It crossed my radar before, and I can’t recall where, but it looks good, and Stephanie’s review prompted me to add it to my list.

This morning my Any New Books email mentioned Richard Miles’s history [amazon_link id=”0670022667″ target=”_blank” ]Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization[/amazon_link]. I immediately remembered my college Latin exercise in Wheelock in which I translated Cato’s famous “Carthago delenda est.” I had mistranslated it as “Carthage must go.” Latin scholars: is that a more literal translation? Or just flat out wrong?

I remember my professor helping us with that one because, no joke, it was clear that many classmates had the most trouble with what on earth “Carthago” meant because it wasn’t in our glossary or word bank. I had at least figured that part out. I wasn’t shocked by my classmates’ lack of knowledge or anything because I didn’t and still don’t know much about Carthage either beyond two things: 1) Dido was a queen in love with Aeneas, or so the stories say (I plead ignorance on the history), and 2) their great general Hannibal rode over the Alps on elephants, which is totally badass. Now, I can’t tell you why I remember it because I even misremembered “Carthago delenda est” as a quote by Cicero. Thank goodness for Google so I don’t look like too much of an idiot. After recalling this whole event from college, my interest was piqued. So naturally, this book looks like a great opportunity to learn, and it’s available on Kindle, which is a requirement for all history books I read now so that I can highlight and take notes without feeling like I’m defiling a book.

Has anyone read it? I am so scared it will be dry, which is why I tentatively put it on my pile until I can gather more evidence that I will enjoy it while I’m learning something from it. Plus, it is really expensive on Kindle, so I want to be sure it’s good.

[amazon_image id=”0451202503″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Songcatcher[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”0451197399″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Ballad of Frankie Silver[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”1401323901″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Witches of East End (The Beauchamp Family)[/amazon_image]

[amazon_image id=”1590514440″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium”]The Reservoir[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”0670022667″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization[/amazon_image]

WWW Wednesdays

WWW Wednesdays—July 27, 2011

WWW WednesdaysTo 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?

I am currently reading Susanna Kearsley’s [amazon_link id=”1402241372″ target=”_blank” ]The Winter Sea[/amazon_link]. I am close to half way finished with it. Incidentally, there is a really good deal on the [amazon_link id=”B004DCB32K” target=”_blank” ]Kindle version[/amazon_link] of this book right now. I was glad I happened upon that sale price because I had wanted to read this book for a while, but I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to get it at its full price (either on Kindle or paperback).

I recently finished reading [amazon_link id=”B000BLNPIW” target=”_blank” ]More Than You Know[/amazon_link] by Beth Gutcheon, which was OK, but did not light my fire (review).

I am not sure what I am going to read next. Last week, I said it would be Tracy Chevalier’s [amazon_link id=”0452289076″ target=”_blank” ]Burning Bright[/amazon_link], but that was before the Kindle book deal I snagged on The Winter Sea. I may still go ahead and read it next, or I may read [amazon_link id=”0312304358″ target=”_blank” ]Moloka’i[/amazon_link] by Alan Brennert, [amazon_link id=”0152053107″ target=”_blank” ]A Northern Light[/amazon_link] by Jennifer Donnelly,  [amazon_link id=”0060791586″ target=”_blank” ]The Widow’s War[/amazon_link] by Sally Gunning, or [amazon_link id=”0679781587″ target=”_blank” ]Memoirs of a Geisha[/amazon_link] by Arther Golden, all of which I received in the mail this week via PaperBackSwap. Lots of good books to choose from! But do you know what book I’m dying to read? [amazon_link id=”0312558171″ target=”_blank” ]The Ballad of Tom Dooley[/amazon_link] by Sharyn McCrumb. Alas, it doesn’t come out until around the end of August. She had such a smart idea, creating novels out of those old Appalachian murder ballads. (I love murder ballads, by the way. I made a murder ballad playlist on Spotify, which you can listen to if you have Spotify.)

Friday Finds

Friday Finds—July 8, 2011

Friday FindsI have been immersed in Jennifer Donnelly’s “Rose” trilogy the past week. I haven’t actually scouted new books that much, but I have found a few to put on my TBR pile.

The first is [amazon_link id=”0312658656″ target=”_blank” ]The American Heiress[/amazon_link] by Daisy Goodwin. It is the story of Cora Cash, daughter of wealthy American family, who marries Ivo, Duke of Wareham, and finds herself navigating the treacherous waters of English society. Should be good for anyone with [amazon_link id=”B0047H7QD6″ target=”_blank” ]Downton Abbey[/amazon_link] withdrawal.

I can’t remember how I came across this next book, but I think it was offered as a giveaway at Goodreads and caught my eye there first. [amazon_link id=”0312558171″ target=”_blank” ]The Ballad of Tom Dooley[/amazon_link] by Sharyn McCrumb is a fictional retelling of the famous Appalachian murder ballad. True confession: I love murder ballads—great old Scottish, Irish, or Appalachian murder ballads are the kinds of songs that stick with you. I really can’t wait to read this one.

Susanna Kearsley’s novel [amazon_link id=”1402241372″ target=”_blank” ]The Winter Sea[/amazon_link] is the story of Carrie McClelland, who travels to Scotland to do research for her novel. As she begins writing, she starts recalling memories that are not her own, and she wonders if she is somehow channeling a Scottish ancestor. Sometimes I wonder if we do somehow inherit memories in our DNA. One of the places I have felt the most at “home” is Athens, when I was a student at UGA. Later, I discovered my family had lived there in the nineteenth century (or near enough). I don’t know. Just a coincidence, I guess, but I am intrigued by the family history aspect of this book.

[amazon_image id=”0312658656″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The American Heiress: A Novel[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”0312558171″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Ballad of Tom Dooley: A Ballad Novel (Appalachian Ballad)[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”1402241372″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Winter Sea[/amazon_image]

Did you find any good books this week?