Sunday Post #14: Top Ten Tuesday

Sunday PostSunday? Tuesday? What is she on about? I keep forgetting to check in with the Top Ten Tuesday meme, so I’m plucking a couple of recent topics and posting about them today for the Sunday Post.

First up, “Ten Books You Recently Added To Your To-Be-Read List.” These are the ten books most recently added to my Goodreads to-read list in order from most recent to least:

It might be fun to list the novels I added to my to-read pile each week in my Sunday Post. I think I might just do that.

Next up:

Top Ten Characters You’d Like To Check In With (meaning, the book or series is over and you so just wish you could peek in on the “life” you imagine they are leading years down the line after the story ends). Does this prompt make sense?? It makes sense in my head! Let me know and I can clarify haha

In no real particular order:

  • Harry Potter and the gang. I’d read any TNG or even Marauders books Rowling might want to write, but I’m not sure she’s keen.
  • Scout Finch. And guess what? We get to! This summer!
  • Holden Caulfield. I often ask my students to write a new ending chapter because the end of his book is so ambiguous. Is he going to be okay?
  • Huck Finn. I think Twain wrote some stuff about Huck and Tom as adults. I am curious as to how he turned out in the end.
  • Samwise Gamgee. I know he had a bunch of children, but I sure would like to have checked in with him and his (hopefully) quiet life in the Shire.
  • Ennis Del Mar from “Brokeback Mountain.” Did he ever learn to accept himself and find love?
  • Peter Hatcher. What kind of people did Peter, Sheila Tubman, Fudge, and Tootsie grow up to be?
  • Taran and Eilonwy from Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles. Tell me they got married.
  • Cathy Linton and Hareton Earnshaw. Did they break the family curse and find happiness together?
  • Jane Eyre. What were the Rochesters like after they married? I can’t believe all the adventure was over.

And finally, Top Ten Inspiring Quotes from Books (anything that inspires you, challenges you, makes you think, encourages you, etc.).”

I have a blog widget that shuffles my favorite book and bookish quotes, but here are my favorites:

  • “The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.”—Mark Twain
  • “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”—Ray Bradbury
  • “All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you; the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse, and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was.”—Ernest Hemingway
  • “The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”—Jane Austen
  • “There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before.”—Willa Cather
  • “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.—F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the same horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men. Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly.”—Zora Neale Hurston
  • “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”—Henry David Thoreau
  • “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away.—Henry David Thoreau
  • “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”—Oscar Wilde

In other news this week I finished Attica Locke’s novel Pleasantville, and I’m scheduled to review it for TLC Book Tours tomorrow. Stay tuned for that.

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, and showcase books and things we have received. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme.

Friday Finds

Friday Finds—October 14, 2011

Friday FindsI found a few interesting looking books this week. Also, I have been listening to lots of great new-to-me music on Spotify. I am quickly becoming a huge Spotify fan.

First the nonfiction:

[amazon_image id=”0674048563″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Keats Brothers: The Life of John and George[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”0804841764″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]A Tea Reader: Living Life One Cup at a Time[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”160606083X” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Books: A Living History[/amazon_image]

I think the approach the Keats book is taking is an interesting one. I don’t recall much being published about Keats’s brother who emigrated to America. I don’t know what it is, but when the weather cools, I just become sort of obsessed with tea, and there are several tea-related books on my to-read list. Doesn’t that book about the history of books look good?

Some fiction:

[amazon_image id=”0771084188″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Curiosity[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”1565126297″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]When She Woke[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”1402258585″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Rose Garden[/amazon_image]

[amazon_link id=”0771084188″ target=”_blank” ]Curiosity[/amazon_link] by Joan Thomas is about Mary Anning, who was a hero of mine when I was a girl: I loved fossils. You might also be interested in Tracy Chevalier’s book about Mary Anning, [amazon_link id=”0452296722″ target=”_blank” ]Remarkable Creatures[/amazon_link] (review). I won [amazon_link id=”1565126297″ target=”_blank” ]When She Woke[/amazon_link] by Hillary Jordan from a Goodreads giveaway. It looks intriguing, and I’ve seen some reviews. I think I know what to expect: this one has an agenda. I so enjoyed Susanna Kearsley’s [amazon_link id=”1402241372″ target=”_blank” ]The Winter Sea[/amazon_link] (review), so I’m looking forward to [amazon_link id=”1402258585″ target=”_blank” ]The Rose Garden[/amazon_link].

One more book:

[amazon_image id=”1451616880″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” class=”alignleft”]The Time In Between: A Novel[/amazon_image]Here is what interested me in María Deuñas’s [amazon_link id=”1451616880″ target=”_blank” ]The Time in Between[/amazon_link]—this review by Book Him Danno on Goodreads:

“I am going to be honest. I said I would read this book because I think I need to read more women authors and more foreign writers, just to get out of my comfort zone. But when I finally got the book in my hands and read the synopsis I was scared because it was hitting a lot of things I tend to avoid. What will I have in common with a pre WWII seamstress as she deals with love and intrigue in Southern Europe. A dressmaker for goodness sake! But being the dutiful guy that I am I took it to work with me to read on break, to at least make a start. That was a mistake, a big mistake, because

BLOODY HELL THIS BOOK ROCKED!!”

I’m sold.

[amazon_image id=”B0038BBA4I” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” class=”alignright”]Sigh No More[/amazon_image]I want to try to share more music finds on this blog. I try to stay on top of music, but I can be pretty slow sometimes. Spotify is great for helping me discover music because I am not locked into owning a music file I don’t want. A colleague told me a long time ago I needed to check out Mumford & Sons because I’d love them. Finally did. She was right. Not a bad song on [amazon_link id=”B0038BBA4I” target=”_blank” ]Sigh No More[/amazon_link].

So, did you find any good books? Or music?

Friday Finds

Friday Finds—September 30, 2011

Friday FindsI haven’t done Friday Finds in a while, seems like. I think it’s just been busy. I hesitate to discuss all the books I’ve added to my TBR pile since the last Friday Finds update, so I’ll just pick the ones I’m most interested in digging into, starting with the one I’m currently reading, which is a great RIP read.

[amazon_image id=”0441020674″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” class=”alignleft”]Those Across the River[/amazon_image]Haunted by memories of the Great War, failed academic Frank Nichols and his wife, Eudora, have arrived in the sleepy Georgia town of Whitbrow, where Frank hopes to write a history of his family’s old estate—the Savoyard Plantation—and the horrors that occurred there. At first, the quaint, rural ways of their new neighbors seem to be everything they wanted. But under the facade of summer socials and small-town charm, there is an unspoken dread that the townsfolk have lived with for generations. A presence that demands sacrifice.

Yep, sounds like Georgia to me. All kidding aside, it’s good so far, and I have heard it’s pretty creepy. Shelf Awareness devoted a whole newsletter to it, which is what caused me to add it to my list anyway.

[amazon_image id=”0385534639″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” class=”alignright”]The Night Circus[/amazon_image]The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves , and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

That novel is getting an insane buzz among booksellers and bloggers both, but it looks good. Starbucks just picked it as its first Digital Book Pick of the Week.

[amazon_image id=”0312648367″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” class=”alignleft”]Garden of Secrets Past: An English Garden Mystery (English Garden Mysteries)[/amazon_image]In the garden of a country estate, an ancient monument holds a cryptic secret. Chiseled on it is a coded inscription that has baffled the world’s cleverest minds for two centuries. When a child playing near the monument stumbles upon the dead body of a man, another mystery is revealed: in his pocket is a scrap of paper bearing a sequence of letters. The police suspect that it may be part of a coded message but their investigation leads nowhere. The case at a standstill, Lawrence Kingston, retired professor of botany, is hired to conduct an independent inquiry. Soon, Kingston finds himself swept along in a dangerous undertow of a centuries-old family feud, a suspicious poisoning and veiled threats, leading him to fear for his own life. To solve the secret of the past and crimes of the present, he must decipher a complex code hidden in the walls of an old manor house. But to do so, he must first delve into the minds of three eminent 18th century Englishmen to fathom what part they played in the age-old mystery. As his search for the truth narrow, his worst fears materialize when he becomes the next target.

English gardens, a Georgian mystery, a family feud, and a secret code! Sounds good, no?

These three nonfiction selections all look great:

[amazon_image id=”0230109411″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Shakespeare Thefts: In Search of the First Folios[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”1592406521″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Just My Type: A Book About Fonts[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”0802717446″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Sugar Barons: Family, Corruption, Empire, and War in the West Indies[/amazon_image]

Some of these I am kind of on the fence about whether to read:

[amazon_image id=”B0046LUCSY” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Mortal Love: A Novel[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”1442422246″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Fury[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”B00509COAK” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Magicians: A Novel[/amazon_image]

The cover of that first one looks familiar… maybe because I used it for my own book. At any rate, the Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood is reading it in October, but reviews are mixed. I’m still deciding about whether to read [amazon_link id=”B0046LUCSY” target=”_blank” ]Mortal Love[/amazon_link]. I think I’m just frightened [amazon_link id=”1442422246″ target=”_blank” ]Fury[/amazon_link] will be too much like the other paranormal YA that is becoming ubiquitous. The reviews for [amazon_link id=”B00509COAK” target=”_blank” ]The Magicians[/amazon_link] have been all over the place. I read a Lev Grossman novel a few years ago, and I really didn’t like it. Anyone able to push me over the fence on any of these three?

I’ll save my other finds for next week. L’Shanah Tovah and best wishes for a sweet new year to my friends and colleagues.

WWW Wednesdays

WWW Wednesdays—August 31, 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 Sharyn McCrumb’s [amazon_link id=”B000MWFFS8″ target=”_blank” ]The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter[/amazon_link]. I have just been tearing through her books, but this one is fairly dark! Still good. I think I should finish it before too long, and then it’s R.I.P. Time.

Speaking of which…

Peril the First

I’m doing it this year. I am not playing around. Four books or bust! Actually, I think I have a shot this year since I seem to have figured out, at nearly 40 years old, how to read a little faster. Better late than never.

I recently finished [amazon_link id=”0451197399″ target=”_blank” ]The Ballad of Frankie Silver[/amazon_link] by Sharyn McCrumb (review).

I am not sure which books I’ll read next yet, but I have several ideas. Sharyn McCrumb books count for the R.I.P. Challenge! [amazon_link id=”0345369068″ target=”_blank” ]If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O[/amazon_link] arrived in my mailbox today via PaperBackSwap, so maybe that one. Looking forward to the challenge, as I do every year.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesdays—August 30, 2011

Top Ten Tuesday

This week’s Top Ten Tuesdays topic is top ten books on my TBR list for fall.

  1. Right at the tippy top is [amazon_link id=”0312558171″ target=”_blank” ]The Ballad of Tom Dooley[/amazon_link] by Sharyn McCrumb. I have been working through her other ballad novels, and I am so anxious to read this one about perhaps one of the most famous murder ballads.
  2. [amazon_link id=”1594744769″ target=”_blank” ]Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children[/amazon_link] by Ransom Riggs is on my list, too. It looks wonderful, doesn’t it?
  3. [amazon_link id=”031262168X” target=”_blank” ]The Witch’s Daughter[/amazon_link] by Paula Brackson looks good, but I don’t have it yet.
  4. I want to read [amazon_link id=”0345506014″ target=”_blank” ]Summer in the South[/amazon_link] by Cathy Holton before the weather cools too much and reading a “summer” book feels weird.
  5. [amazon_link id=”1416550550″ target=”_blank” ]The Forgotten Garden[/amazon_link] by Kate Morton is well-reviewed everywhere and perfect for the R.I.P. Challenge.
  6. [amazon_link id=”1400031702″ target=”_blank” ]The Secret History[/amazon_link] by Donna Tartt. When I made my prospective list of R.I.P. books the other day, I forgot I had this. I really want to read it this fall.
  7. [amazon_link id=”076793122X” target=”_blank” ]Dracula in Love[/amazon_link] by Karen Essex looks so good and would be perfect for R.I.P.
  8. Also, [amazon_link id=”0062049690″ target=”_blank” ]The Lantern[/amazon_link] by Deborah Lawrenson looks good.
  9. [amazon_link id=”1463612214″ target=”_blank” ]Whitechapel: The Final Stand of Sherlock Holmes[/amazon_link] by Bernard Schaffer—Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes. Awesome. Good reviews, too.
  10. [amazon_link id=”0553385615″ target=”_blank” ]Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor: Being the First Jane Austen Mystery[/amazon_link] by Stephanie Barron because, after all, I am trying to complete the Being a Jane Austen Mystery Reading Challenge.

You have a big list for fall?

Friday Finds

Friday Finds—August 5, 2011

Friday FindsI started back to work this week and didn’t spend as much time scouting for books to add to my TBR pile, but I did find a few.

I came across [amazon_link id=”0312556934″ target=”_blank” ]Yankee Doodle Dixie[/amazon_link] by Lisa Patton at Peeking Between the Pages. What a beautiful, beautiful cover. I love the green in the dress next to the pretty peaches. Sort of a [amazon_link id=”B000QRIGLW” target=”_blank” ]Twilight[/amazon_link]-esque cover, I guess, but prettier. I discovered this book is actually a sequel to [amazon_link id=”B0044KN1EE” target=”_blank” ]Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’easter[/amazon_link], which is on sale on Kindle for just $2.99 right now. I snapped it up. Both books are now on my list.

I also found [amazon_link id=”0571226531″ target=”_blank” ]On Canaan’s Side[/amazon_link] by Sebastian Barry, which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

Did you find any potentially good books this week?

[amazon_image id=”0312556934″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Yankee Doodle Dixie: A Novel[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”B0044KN1EE” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’easter[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”0571226531″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]On Canaan’s Side[/amazon_image]

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]

Friday Finds

Friday Finds—July 22, 2011

Friday FindsI wasn’t scouting for books much this week, but I also have to say I didn’t see too many that caught my interest.

No cover available for it yet, but I just found out that Jude Morgan is writing a book about William Shakespeare called [amazon_link id=”0755358236″ target=”_blank” ]The Secret Life of William Shakespeare[/amazon_link]. I just loved his books about the [amazon_link id=”0312343698″ target=”_blank” ]Romantic poets[/amazon_link] and the [amazon_link id=”B004P5OPAW” target=”_blank” ]Brontës[/amazon_link]. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for the release of that one.

I was looking around for more books set in France, and I found [amazon_link id=”0767904559″ target=”_blank” ]On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town[/amazon_link] by Susan Herrmann Loomis. Loomis bought a 14th century convent in Normandy and set up shop. The book has 50 recipes!

I also discovered [amazon_link id=”0670018775″ target=”_blank” ]My French Life[/amazon_link] by Vicki Archer. Like Loomis, Archer bought an ancient home—a seventeenth century farmhouse in Provence. I’m not jealous. I’m not jealous. I’m NOT jealous.

Can you imagine being able to pick everything up and move to the French countryside? Ah well, at least we can read about others who can.

I’m still on the lookout for more books like this, preferably fiction. Know of any?

[amazon_image id=”0767904559″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”0670018775″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]My French Life[/amazon_image]

Friday Finds

Friday Finds—July 15, 2011

Friday FindsI’m on my way to my parents’ house to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Everyone in my family is an HP fan. You can look for my review fangirly squee tomorrow. Meanwhile, I found a few good books this week to put in my TBR pile.

I’m not sure which of these books I’ll actually read or when, but I saved them for future reference in my to-read shelf on Goodreads. I wish I weren’t so bad at documenting how I heard about these books. If it was from you, thank you, and I’m sorry! I do remember where I found a few of them.

I’m the last book blogger to put a Donna Tartt on my list, but I found [amazon_link id=”1400031702″ target=”_blank” ]The Secret History[/amazon_link]—academics, secrets—I’m there.

I can’t decide if [amazon_link id=”0670022691″ target=”_blank” ]Rules of Civility[/amazon_link] by Amor Towles is something I would like or not, but it has an extremely high rating on Goodreads, even after nearly a couple of dozen reviews. I think I found it via Shelf Awareness.

I think I came across [amazon_link id=”0500286965″ target=”_blank” ]The True History of Chocolate[/amazon_link] by Michael D. Coe and Sophie D. Coe on PaperBackSwap. I think it came up in a list of books similar to a different book I was trying to put on my wish list. But doesn’t it look good? I think I found [amazon_link id=”1594482691″ target=”_blank” ]The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World[/amazon_link] by Steven Johnson the same way.

[amazon_link id=”076793122X” target=”_blank” ]Dracula in Love[/amazon_link] by Karen Essex looks like a good book to store away for the R.I.P. Challenge. I ran across it when I read Essex’s recent post on the Writer Unboxed.

I just can’t remember where I found [amazon_link id=”006176910X” target=”_blank” ]A Thousand Times More Fair: What Shakespeare’s Plays Teach Us About Justice[/amazon_link] by Kenji Yoshino. I love books about Shakespeare and culture.

[amazon_image id=”1400031702″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Secret History[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”0670022691″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Rules of Civility: A Novel[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”0500286965″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The True History of Chocolate (Second Edition)[/amazon_image]

[amazon_image id=”1594482691″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic–and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”076793122X” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Dracula in Love[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”006176910X” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]A Thousand Times More Fair: What Shakespeare’s Plays Teach Us About Justice[/amazon_image]

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?