2010 Challenges!!!

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I’ve been lagging behind on joining challenges for next year so here goes. I’m sure the list will include a few more but here’s what I’ve joined so far.

I’m participating in the Lord of the Rings Read Along which is being hosted by Shelf Love. Who knew there are so many of us wanting to re-read these books again in 2010!

I love historical fiction so this one is a no-brainer – The Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. This one is being hosted by Royal Reviews. I’m in for the Obsessed level which is 20 books.

The Read Your Own Books Challenge. Yes, I think it is time I read some of my own books. The shelves will thank me. This challenges is being hosted by MizB.

Since I love my library (OK, sometimes I run hot and cold depending on whether it has the books I want to read but I still love what the library means for the community.) and couldn’t pass up the Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge. This is being hosted by J. Kaye’s Book Blog.

Taking part in any 2010 challenges? I plan to update mine as I go along here.

Booking Through Thursday

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Booking Through Thursday asks – What items have you ever used as a bookmark? What is the most unusual item you’ve ever used or seen used?

I have one favorite bookmark that I use pretty much all the time. If I’m reading more than one book, the slip of paper from the library and, on a plane, my boarding pass. I’ve also used the receipt from the bookstore on occasion. I have a stack of bookmarks sitting on the bookshelf that I somehow accumulated over the years so I have plenty to go around if needed.

I don’t dogear. Never have, never will. I would never ever consider putting a book down open to hold my place. That’s just mean! I usually remove slip covers if I can but I’ve once or twice used it as a bookmark when nothing else was handy.

Honestly, I can’t say what I’ve seen other people use as bookmarks. My face is usually buried in a book and I don’t come up for air long enough to notice what others do sometimes.

What about you?

The Archer’s Tale

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The Archer's Tale

The Archer’s Tale

By Bernard Cornwell

HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN: 0-06-621084-4

3.75 stars

Thomas is protecting the Treasure of Hookton, a holy relic, on the eve of Easter when his English village is attacked by the French. The place is ransacked, men murdered, women raped and kidnapped, homes burned, and everything worth stealing, stolen, including the Treasure. In an attempt to save his home, Thomas takes up his bow against the invaders. A son of a priest, Thomas promises his dying father to bring the relic back. He also silently swears to avenge his death.

He soon finds himself in the English army marching through France. Smart and very skilled with his bow, he rises fast among the archers. His conscience, in the form of a friend and fellow soldier named Father Hobbes, keeps reminding him of his promise to his father and his god, which Thomas would rather forget. Unfortunately for Thomas, his road to redemption is not easy. He runs afoul of a knight, and in an effort to help a lady, finds himself hanged. He survives and once again finds himself an archer only this time facing enemies he didn’t know he had and a large French army wanting very much to kill him.

The last month, every book I checked out of the library was set in the 14th Century. It was all coincidence but I’m enjoying the setting.

This is my fifth Cornwell novel this year. I like his writing, enjoy the characters immensely, and like the action, which in some way is always attached to an army. While I liked this book, I didn’t like it as much as the others I read. No reason really, just didn’t get into it as much.

Thomas is an engaging character but I felt bad for him the entire time. His family was killed, home wrecked, a friend constantly reminds of any bit of guilt he might feel, and he’s not so lucky with the ladies. There is a good villain though, Sir Simon, who has it out for Thomas and a few other characters which make it interesting. There’s a lot of information and characters in this book that will obviously feature heavily in the sequel so I’m looking forward to Vagabond to tie up a few loose ends.

Teaser Tuesday

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. The idea is to give everyone a look inside the book you’re reading.

1.) Grab your current read

2.) Open to a random page

3.) Share two teaser sentences from that page

4.) Share the title and author so that other participants know what you’re reading.

Be careful not to include spoilers. You don’t want to ruin the book for others!

My teaser this week —

“Thomas, Robbie and the priest left next morning. Thomas took a change of clothes, a full arrow bag, his bow, sword and mail coat and, wrapped in a piece of deerskin, his father’s book that seemed like a heavy piece of baggage.”

Vagabond by Bernard Cornwell, page 174.

Vagabond

Nefertiti

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Nefertiti

Nefertiti

By Michelle Moran

Three Rivers Press

ISBN: 978-0-307-38174-3

4 stars

Following the death of the Crown Prince Tuthmosis, Amunhotep IV takes the throne. His mother, Queen Tiye, fearful of his temper and rash behavior, wants a wife who will be able to control him. She believes her niece Nefertiti is that woman. Nefertiti is cunning, cruel, sweet, loving, manipulative, and so ambitious that she drips with it. Of course she shows none of this to the Queen mother and when the marriage is arranged, her family becomes one of the most powerful in Egypt.

Shortly after their marriage, Nefertiti and Amunhotep, who soon changes his name to Akhenaten to worship his god Aten, begin planning their dream city, Amarna. They drain the treasury and take soldiers away from the borders to build, ignoring the warnings of vizers who tell the couple they are putting Egypt in danger. Nefertiti is desperately trying to hold onto her husband who is slipping further into his own world and desperately hoping to give birth to a son. Slowly, the city and their dreams begin to crumble. In a flash, their life and the new Egypt that Nefertiti and her husband were building falls, leaving Egypt in peril.

The story is told through Mutnodjmet’s eyes, Nefertiti’s sister. She’s a kind, loving, and very loyal friend to her sister but never one for ambition. She’s the voice of reason that Nefertiti doesn’t listen to but she’s the one you instantly like. Nefertiti is cunning and a hard person to pin down which makes her incredibly interesting but I can’t imagine the story told by her. Moran makes Nefertiti so intriguing that you almost need the story to be told by Mutnodjmet to be able to take it all in.

This is such an interesting time period in Egypt’s history and Moran does it justice. The court, the people, and the descriptions are wonderful. Moran is definitely one of my new favorite authors and I’m looking forward to her next book.

The Sunday Salon

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This was a light reading week for me. I finished one book, The Devil’s Alphabet by Daryl Gregory, I have a few pages left to go in Star Trek: The Great Adventures, Book 1 by James Blish, and I managed to crack the cover on Bernard Cornwell’s Vagabond. I have three books that are due back at the library and only one is finished. I’m doing my best to read what I have checked out before getting any more. I have a list of books I’m interested in but I’m restraining myself since I have several books at the house that I would like to finish before bringing more home.

My reading always tends to slow down in December. There are so many things to do — shopping, buying a tree, walking it home (We live in a city and, yes, we walk our tree home. We did it yesterday while it snowed. It seemed very fitting.), decorating, parties, visiting friends. I feel like I should be slowing down since it’s the end of the year but there are too many fun things to do to slow down now.

So, two very quick reviews before the tree decorating commences.

The Devil’s Alphabet by Daryl Gregory — In a small town in Tennessee, a strange new disease attacks the population and the ones that survive begin transforming. In the end, survivors become one of three new human-like races — argos (giant like humans), betas (wine colored humans that show no emotion), and charlies (large, squat almost round humans). Pax, the son of the town’s preacher, was not infected, a skip as people in the town like to refer to the unaffected.  He moved away as soon as he could after the transformation. Now, he’s returning for the funeral of one of his best friends. What he finds in the town changes his life forever. The Devil’s Alphabet was an OK story. The writing was good but the main character, Pax, doesn’t ask a lot of questions and is all right with feeling left out and not understanding what people are talking about. I felt left out too and didn’t care for it. I’m not one for having everything explained to me but it’s nice to know what the characters are talking about.

Star Trek: The Great Adventures, Book 1 by James Blish — I still have a few pages left but did want to mention what fun it is. It’s a box set of 5 books all containing several short stories. Each story is an episode with all the Star Trek nuances that fans have become accustomed to. One small caveat, I think you need to be a fan to get the most out of it. I have watched a lot of Star Trek over the years so these are turning out to be fun, quick reads for me.

Well, onto a new week of reading.

Friday Finds

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I haven’t done a Friday Finds in a while so I thought I’d share a few books I found the over last few weeks.

Dreamhunter by Elizabeth Knox. This was reviewed by A Book Lover’s Diary and the cover alone made me add it to my TBR.

Colonel Brandon’s Diary by Amanda Grange. Colonel Brandon is one my favorite characters in Sense & Sensibility so there was no way I would pass this one up. I read Mr. Darcy, Vampyre earlier this year by Grange and it wasn’t too bad so I thought, why not add this one too. I found this over at Becky’s Book Reviews.

The House on Tradd Street by Karen White. It’s a paranormal mystery set in the south and looks like a nice cozy read for a cold night. Thanks Devourer of Books for this read

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti. This book has been off and on my list for a while so I’m adding it back on for 2010. I found this final treasure over at The Literary Omnivore.

SIDE NOTE: My TBR has turned into a monster, not in a mean or nasty way, it’s just so big right now I’m abandoning all hope for this year and moving on to 2010 when I’ll re-visit and make another go at it. So, see you next year books on this list!

Friday Finds is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Leave a comment here with a link to your own finds, or share your answers at Should Be Reading. Happy Friday.

Booking Through Thursday

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Booking Through Thursday asks – What’s your favorite part of Booking Through Thursday? Why do you participate (or not)?

Why participate? I like taking a moment each week to think about what I’m reading and books in general.

My favorite part is reading what others have said. Obviously, the more controversial or crazy the topic the better the reading. I’m not in any way suggesting the questions have to be this way every week but I think that’s when the most creative and thoughtful answers appear. It’s a challenge some Thursdays to answer the question and I enjoy that. I think it’s a good reminder of why we do this.

I found so many wonderful blogs through BTT that I otherwise would not have had the opportunity to read and, well, my TBR has grown to gargantuan proportions that I abandoned it until 2010 when I will be starting over. New year, new list.  And that’s a good thing and a good reason to participate.

What about you? Do you participate and why?