Book Lists

The Sunday Salon: On Re-Reading

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This year, I decided I would re-read several books I feel I’ve been missing for some reason or another. I even have a list to show how serious I am:

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

Actually, if you know me, I love lists but they have absolutely no bearing on how serious I am about anything at all. I just love making lists! My husband will defend this statement. I believe he secretly hates my prodigious list making skills, mostly because I tend to put them in places he can see them and they’re usually to do lists.

Right now (more like all of February), I’m working my way through Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell as part of a read along and now that I look at the list again, I can’t wait to get to the others. The Mists of Avalon maybe coming up soon. I love me a little Arthur…

Do you re-read? Do you make crazy book lists? You know you do, just admit it. 🙂

Happy Sunday, a little on the late side.

Friday Finds – Vampires, Families, Bones & Ancient Egypt

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Thanks to a bit of warm weather last week that made something bloom, my allergies hit early and instead of sharing my Friday Finds, I spent the day in bed wishing for my headache to subside. So, this week I’m sharing two weeks worth of finds.

The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine. Found on Book Beast on The Daily Beast. A divorce throws a family into chaos and when siblings gather to comfort a mother, they finds they have more problems of their own than they thought. It’s supposed to have a Sense & Sensibility-esque quality to it with love problems galore.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith. Found in About.com Contemporary Literature email newsletter. I subscribe to several email newsletters about books and while I don’t always find something interesting in each one, this one made me stop and read. Yes, Abraham Lincoln the vampire hunter. I can’t wait. I think these knock-off re-writes like Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, and Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters are a love it or hate it thing for most. I find them amusing thanks to an inherited demented sense of humor which I think you need to really appreciate these books.

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith. Found while searching Amazon.com for another book. I figure if I’m in for one, I’m in for them all.

A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters. Found in The Wall Street Journal. Twelfth Century murder, a mystery to be solved, in steps Brother Cadfael to do the sleuthing and the burying. I just couldn’t pass up a medieval murder mystery.

Slayer of Gods by Lynda S. Robinson. Found in The Wall Street Journal. When I looked this one up it turned out to be part of a series and while I can’t read books out of order, I did put it on my list as more of an author find than a book find. This is Robinson’s sixth historical thriller set in Egypt and I adore ancient Egypt as a setting. I think I might search out the first book in this series and see where it leads me.

The Three Weissmanns of Westport

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls

A Morbid Taste for Bones

Slayer of Gods

Any good finds to share this week?

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.

The Sunday Salon: Under the Wire

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So, a little late today. I goofed off pretty much all day and, yes, I enjoyed it. I slept late, read the paper, had a nice brunch, did a little shopping, took a nap (I need to fit more of these in!), and read a book. It was a good day all around.

I had a decent reading week too. I finished two books by Bernard Cornwell, Vagabond and Heretic, and with these books finished up the Grail series. I enjoyed the last two books in the series much more than the first and hope to have reviews up later this week. I read The Taker and the Keeper by Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin today. It’s a young adult book and a fairly entertaining, fast read. I hope to get in a few pages of Powers by John B. Olson tonight too.

While making my way through the paper today, I came across the book section. My paper got rid of the section earlier this year and just includes reviews as part of the style section now so if felt like a real treat. It was a best of 2009 list. I found a lot of books to add to my list and a few I didn’t agree with at all but you can’t make everyone happy. 🙂 It also got me thinking about what I’ve read this year and what I liked and didn’t. I believe this will be turning into a post later in the week.

Now that we’re approaching the end of the year, I always find myself putting together lists — books I liked, didn’t, and what I plan to read next year. How about you? Are you a list maker too? Please don’t tell me I’m the only one out there…