Unabridged Chick

Ugh, I'm totally Eeyore this month!  Struggling with a migraine this morning and the lingering head cold from last week -- am snotty and achy and very, very cranky.  I can't even focus enough to read! I'm slowly reading The Serpent and the Pearl by Kate Quinn and The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon.  (They're artfully propped up on flowers my wife bought me to cheer me up.  She's a good one!) What are you reading this weekend?  For those who have Monday off, any exciting plans?

Title: In Defense of the Queen Author: Michelle Diener Genre: Fiction (Historical / 16th Century / Tudor / Court Intrigue / Royal Painter / Assassination) Publisher/Publication Date : Michelle Diener (8/1/2013) Source: NetGalley Rating: Loved. Did I finish?: I did, in a matter of hours. One-sentence summary: Henry VIII's painter and her fiance once more become embroiled in a dangerous plot that threatens their lives as well as that of the royal heirs. Reading Challenges: E-book , Historical Fiction Do I like the cover?: Eh, I don't have any strong feelings one way or the other. I'm reminded of...: Jeanne Kalogridis First line : The houses in Lombard Street leant against each other like a crowd of drunks, propping each other up. Buy, Borrow, or Avoid?: Borrow or buy if you like Tudor-era hist fic, unique heroines, and/or Why did I get this book?: I loved Daughter of the Sky . Review: I'm pretty much a die-hard Diener fan now -- she m

Mailbox Monday is hosted in August by Kathy of Bermudaonion . To learn about any book, click the cover -- it'll open to the GoodReads page in a new tab/window. Just a few arrivals this week -- mostly e-books -- but I'm excited to dig in!  What did you get this week? For Review

More gorgeous summer outside, and I'm feeling well enough to sun myself -- so well, I gave myself a sunburn yesterday! Oops! (My book was good!) One giveaway winner this week! The winner of Mystery Girl is ... Susan T. ! Congrats to the winner! If you didn't win, be sure to check out my open giveaways -- lots of good stuff, and more coming this week! Hope everyone is having a great Saturday!

I have had the worst cold.  I still have it.  It's horrible.  I've become a mouth breather! This weekend, starting now, I plan to finish up Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow , the second book in Juliet Grey's trilogy about Marie Antoinette, and start on the final book, Confessions of Marie Antoinette . Pictured with those books is my drink (addiction) of the moment, Fentimans Rose Lemonade.  It's sour, sweet, a tiny bit floral, and carbonated.  While I've been home and feeling pathetic, I've been drinking it out of champagne flutes like I'm a fancy woman of leisure and not an unceasing snot factory.  Plus, sweet floral-y pink carbonated beverages seem especially suited for books about Marie Antoinette, right? What are you reading this weekend?

Title: Where They Bury You Author: Steven W. Kohlhagen Genre: Fiction (Historical / 1860s / New Mexico / Civil War / Native Americans / Kit Carson / Historical Figures Fictionalized / Con Artists / Theft) Publisher/Publication Date : Sunstone Press (9/2/2013) Source: JKS Communications Rating: Liked. Did I finish?: I did -- raced through it! One-sentence summary: A handful of gamblers try to make a big score in 1860s New Mexico and Arizona, at a time when the region is torn up with conflict and war. Reading Challenges: E-book , Historical Fiction Do I like the cover?: You know what? I do. I thought I didn't, but when I viewed the image full size, the textured background, the 'Western' font, and the silhouettes actually appeal to me. First line : I'll be damned. Buy, Borrow, or Avoid?: Borrow or buy if you like Westerns, the Southwest as a setting, or want a look at a wild and tempestuous time in US history. Why did I get this book?: I

Title: League of Somebodies Author: Samuel Sattin Genre: Fiction (1960s / 1970s / Contemporary / Superheroes / Fathers and Sons / Dysfunctional Families) Publisher/Publication Date : Dark Coast Press (4/9/2013) Source: TLC Book Tours Rating: Okay. Did I finish?: I did. One-sentence summary: A family's obsession with raising superheroes results in damaged fathers, frightened sons, and fraught marriages. Do I like the cover?: I love it -- bright, bombastic, kind of mesmerising -- and lions do feature in the story. I'm reminded of...: Michael Chabon, Gary Shteyngart First line : As a dying man, Lenard Sikophsky would often look back upon the night when he was a child, and his father, Fearghas Murdoch Sikophsky -- the first generation of Scottish/Jewish/Polish (with a lower case 'p') emigres pilgrimming into America by briny way of the Massachusetts coast -- stuffed a sponge soaked with chloroform between his lips, wrapped a sash around his eyes,

Title: Song of the River Author: Sue Harrison Genre: Fiction (Historical / 6th millennium BC / Alaska / Native Americans / Prehistoric / Tribal Life / Revenge / Intrigue) Publisher/Publication Date : Open Road Media (5/28/2013) Source: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours Rating: Liked a good deal. Did I finish?: I did! One-sentence summary: The saga of a young storyteller in 6th millennium BC on a journey to make peace between two tribes and Reading Challenges: E-book , Historical Fiction Do I like the cover?: I adore it. Uh -dore. I love the color, the layout, the fact that the model doesn't appear to be a white woman...! First line : The pain had been terrible, but that was not what K'os remembered. Do... I love this interview with the author by blogger Erin of Oh, for the HOOK of a BOOK!?: YES. I'm always a fan of book geeks losing it over their favorite authors and I really enjoyed the conversation -- especially the tidbit that Harrison

Title: Belle Noir Author: Ava Zavora Genre: Fiction (Short Stories / Fairy Tales / Romantic Relationships / Retellings / Coming of Age / Self Discovery / Fathers-Daughter Relationships) Publisher/Publication Date : CreateSpace (6/1/2013) Source: The author. Rating: Liked. Did I finish?: I did! One-sentence summary: Five short stories inspired by fairy tales and magic, set in a variety of universes with a different twist to each story. Reading Challenges: E-book Do I like the cover?: I do, a bit (although I feel like it also could be a romance or paranormal cover).  It hints at one of the stories, 'Grotesque', really well! I'm reminded of...: Mary Robinette Kowal First line : Some curses fade and leave nothing but the faintest mark, a tea stain on watered silk. , from 'Transfigured' Buy, Borrow, or Avoid?: Borrow or buy (especially as it is $1.99 on Amazon). Why did I get this book?: I love fairy tale retellings! Review: This sl

It's been about a month since my last Mailbox Monday, and I've gotten some uh-mah-zing arrivals.  I'm pathetic sick today so I've mostly had the books swimming around me on the bed because, hello, better than chicken soup for perking me up, I say! Mailbox Monday is hosted in August by Kathy of Bermudaonion . To learn about any book, click the cover -- it'll open to the GoodReads page in a new tab/window. What did you get this week (or, this month!)? Read any of these? For Review Won Thanks to Enchanted by Josephine !

It's a stunning, staggeringly gorgeous weekend in Boston and I am sick like a sick thing!  It's the worst: I feel too sick to even sit and read! The winner of Inheritance is ... Tiffany C-K. ! Last week's winner of the paperback copy of A White Room didn't respond, so I've redrawn: Col of Col Reads ! Congrats to the winners!  Be sure to check out my open giveaways -- there are more coming, as always.  Hope you all are having a great weekend!