Musing Monday, February 23, 2014

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…Musing Mondays is sponsored by Should Be Reading.
• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it! 
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

I decided to talk about The Clockwork Wolf (A Disenchanted & Co. Novel) by Lynn Viehl.  I really like the series but there are reasons why I might not have.  I have read other books by Viehl.  She writes under several names and I first read something by her several years ago.  She wrote a Science Fiction Romance series called Star Doc and I did not like it at all.  In fact I read the first two books and never picked up any after that.  Since SFR is one of my favorites and I did not like her books you would expect that to carry over to any other series she writes.  Not so with the Disenchanted & Co. Series.  I got the first book from Edelweiss and was hooked.  I had to purchase books two and as soon as I got it it went to the top of my TBR pile.  The Clockwork Wolf is an alternate history mixed with paranormal and steampunk. Looking that that combination you would think it would be a hard mix to pull off.  One thing that makes this series so great is the main character.  Kit Kittredge has her own company and makes her living solving magical crimes.  She is very well developed character.  Helping her (many times without her permission) are Deathmage Lucien Dredmore and Chief Inspector Tom Doyle.  They are very different but fascinating characters.  Then there is the world building.  It is complex and very well done.  The result is a interesting world that is filled with new ideas.  The story in The Clockwork Wolf kept me guessing.  It was full of magic and new characters that added to the world building that was done in the first book.  All of this kept me reading and hoping it would not be to long before the next book is published.

Musing Mondays, February 10, 2014

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…Musing Mondays is sponsored by Should Be Reading.
• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it! 
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

I just read MizB's Musing Mondays post on buying too many books.  I do think that all book bloggers are probably guilty that.  I know I try to keep my book buying down.  Add to that there is the problem of books I accept to review and I always have more than I can read.  That leads me to the my post.  

I loved Gail Carriger's Alexia Tarabotti series.  When her new YA series set in the same world came out I wanted to read it but I wanted to get it at my public library.  However, I kept forgetting to see if they had the book.  Saturday I was visiting the library  and remembered to check.  By then there were two books out in the series and my library had book two, Curtsies and Conspiracies, and it was on the shelf.  They do not have book one, Etiquette & Espionage, at all.  I checked out book two and now I have to decide.   Do I start with book two?  Do I buy book one?  Or and this just occurred to me, I could ask them to get it on inter-library loan.  Yes, that is what I will do.  Thanks for listening and helping me make the decision.  Some times you just have to work through something before you can make a decision.

Musing Mondays December 12, 2011

This week’s musing [borrowed from an old BTT post] asks…

I once knew a man who read about WWII. He read everything he could get his hands on on the subject. He had a whole wall of books that were all about WWII. It amazed me. How could he continue to find one subject that engrossing? My mother, on the other hand, loves to read best sellers. I’ve known other people who read science fiction to the exclusion of everything else; for others it was philosophy, self-help, or history.

So, to the questions…

What kind of books do you like to read? 
Why? Provide specific examples.

Follow this link to see what other are saying.  Should be Reading

My all time favorite is Science Fiction and when I was young (in my teens) that was all I read.  I craved adventure and found it in Science Fiction novels.  Today when I am much older (today is my 69th birthday) I still read Science Fiction but add books from other areas.  I love a good mystery, now there is steampunk, romance is also good and paranormal adds to my reading pleasure.  I read some non-fiction but not much.  


I craved adventure in my teens and have gone out and created my own adventures as an adult.  I carried books with me in all of my adventures.  I hope I still have  a few left and I can still live some through the books I read.

Musing Mondays November 28, 2011

 This week’s musing asks…

Will you be buying books for the holidays, this year? If so, for whom, and why?

To Find out what others are saying go to Should Be Reading. 

I won't be buying books but I will be buying Barnes and Noble gift cards.  All of my sons are readers.  Two have Nooks.  Barnes and Noble gift cards are something all three will use.  They are one size fits all.

Musing Monday November 21, 2011

 This week’s musing asks…

How do you decide to read a book by an author you haven’t read before? What sort of recommendations count most highly in making that decision?

To Find out what others are say go to Should Be Reading. 

There are several things that affect my decision to read a new author.

• If it is Science Fiction I will almost always give a new author a try.  That is my all time favorite and I am always looking for new books and authors.
• Because I like books set in historical settings I will give a new mystery author a try based on the time period it represents if the book sounds interesting.  
• Sometimes I try a book by a new author if I get a copy free.  If that book does not catch me quick I will put it down and not continue reading.
• I read reviews and recommendations on other blogs, that my Goodreads friends post and that appear on author's web sites.
• I like to browse bookstores and read the first few pages to see if the book interests me.
• I sometimes try a new author when their book shows up on my Amazon recommendations.
• I belong to several book clubs and often read picks by  authors I have not read.  

Musing Mondays (November 7, 2011)

This week’s musing asks…

Other than for school, do you read books to learn how to do something? What was/were the topic(s)?

You can find each weeks question at Should Be Reading.


I read a lot of fiction but if I need to know more about a subject then I look for books that will help.  I do a lot of gardening and have a large gardening library.  I used to do a lot of cooking and until recently I had a large cookbook collection.  That went to a my local library's used book store .  I am retired and love to travel so I buy or check out books to get information before I visit.    I read a lot of historical fiction and I like to read nonfiction to see how accurately the author uses the historical background.  Occasionally I do review a nonfiction book on my blog.

Musing Monday (October 31, 2011)

This week’s musing asks…

Would you say that you read about the same amount now as when you were younger? More? Less? Why?

You can find each weeks question at Should Be Reading.

I have always read a lot.  Reading was my escape when I was a child, my way to have adventure as a teenager and young adult, and always an enjoyment.  I am retired now and have more time to read.  I no longer have the need to escape but I still like to have some of the adventures that I can find only in books.  I can now read and am taking advantage of all the time I can just read without letting other important things slide.  In fact my TBR pile is so high my children have threatened to do an intervention.   I just plan to keep reading and keep buying.  There are worse obsessions.

 

Teaser Tuesday September, 27, 2011

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: 

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

"Then again, I was a secular Jew interested in a practicing Catholic who thought I might be a dangerous lunatic.  So I should probably eschew snarkiness about other people's love lives."

Unsympathetic Magic, An Esther Diamond Novel  by Laura Resnick - Paranormal

 

Teaser Tuesday 9/20/2011

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: 

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

" Almost as soon as Jenks veered away , walking briskly, a man in an elegant frock coat and a large wide hat appeared in the gloom ahead, forcing the escort to pause."

"Please send a man to my ship, if you please, and tell them where we are going and who we'll see."

Destroyermen, Rising Tides, by Travis Anderson.  Science Fiction.

Musing Mondays (August 31, 2011)

 This week’s musing is… a book meme!

What was the last book you…

• borrowed from the library?
• bought?
• cried over?

 • disliked and couldn’t finish?

• read & loved?
• got for review? (or: got in the mail?)
• gave to someone else?
• stayed up too late reading?

Here are my answers:


Borrowed from the Library - Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare


Bought - Kris Longknife Daring - Mike Shepherd


Cried over - Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (I cry and think if my Grandmother every time I read it.  She would say "after Mama and the little baby died" when she told about some things in her past.)


Disliked and couldn't finish - Love in the Time of Dragons by Katie MacAalister


Read and loved - Finders Keepers by Linnea Sinclair


Got for review - A Lady Awakened (an ARC from Amazon Vine)


Gave to someone else - Warcry by Elizabeth Vaughn  (I loaned and did not get back)


Stayed up late reading - The Famous Heroine by Mary Balogh (that was last night)


You can find each weeks question at Should Be Reading.