Bookish Botanicals

It's spring! Time to start thinking about tulip bulbs and flowerbeds. But you don't have to have a green thumb to delight in a colorful garden of exotic flora and fauna; you only need the right books. Here are ten botanical-inspired titles even non-gardeners can enjoy this season.

The Gilded Lily by Helen Argers

Children of the Jacaranda Tree by Sahar Delijani

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsely

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

The Thorn and the Blossom by Theodora Goss

Snowdrops by A. D. Miller

The White Garden: A Novel of Virginia Woolf by Stephanie Barron

The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig

White Oleander by Janet Fitch

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Happy Reading!

Back to the Classics Challenge

When I saw the categories that Karen at Books and Chocolate chose for this year's Back to the Classics Challenge I knew I had to sign up.  There are 12 different categories to choose from, but the challenge is flexible; you can read books in just six categories, or nine, or all twelve. The whole point is just to read more classics. And what could be better than that?

Here are the six categories (and the books) I'll for sure be reading this year:

A 19th Century Classic: Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

A Classic by a Woman Author: The Castle of Wolfenbach by Eliza Parsons

A Very Long Classic Novel: Armadale by Wilkie Collins (which is 661 pages of very small, very dense type. Gulp!)

A Classic Novella: Either The Bunner Sisters or Madame de Treymes by Edith Wharton

A Classic with a Person's Name in the Title: Aurora Floyd by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

A Classic Children's Book: The Independence of Nan by Nina Rhoades

Here are the three categories that I might read this year:

A Forgotten Classic: A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott

A Classic in Translation: Embers by Sandor Marai

A Classic Play: Henry V by Wm. Shakespeare (or maybe The Merry Wives of Windsor)

And finally, the last three categories that I probably won't get around to reading this year 

(but you never know):

A 20th Century Classic

A Humorous or Satirical Classic

A Non-fiction Classic

Aren't they great categories? Now you see why I couldn't resist signing up for this challenge.  Best of all? I actually own all the books that I've chosen...they're sitting in my TBR pile waiting for me to read them. Looks like this could finally be the year. Are you planning on reading any classics this year? If so, which ones?

Happy Reading!

Feeling blue?

Whatever mood you're in, there's a book for that. Romance, friendship, travel, magic. Every shade of blue imaginable. Maybe you're in the mood for a dystopian future. Or maybe you prefer England in the 19th century. Wherever you want to go, whatever mood you're in, there's a book for that. So, if you're feeling a little blue, here are a few books that just might fit your mood:

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

Blue Willow by Doris Gates 

Mali Blues by Lieve Joris

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy

My favorite?

What color are you in the mood to read? 

Reading by the Numbers...

I love lists, especially book lists. I've run across quite a few recently: Ten Best Beach Reads, Ten Best Books Read (So Far) in 2014, Top Summer Reads, etc. It got me wondering if I could come up with a list where the numbers themselves determine the books. (I even came up with a classics version minus numbers nine and ten, because I couldn't think of any books for them.) The result is a bit random and eclectic, but that's what makes reading by the numbers fun.

One Second After by William R. Forstchen

In one second an electromagnetic pulse changes America forever; what follows is one fast-paced, non-stop, action-packed ride. "It is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when." -Gen. Eugene Habiger

Two Graves by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast is back to solve another chilling case....only this time it's personal.

The Three by Sarah Lotz

(I'm actually cheating a bit with this one because I haven't read it...yet. (But I've got it on hold at the library so will for sure be reading it this summer!)

The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason

An ancient text, an unsolved mystery, and an unexpected murder make this novel a stand-out literary thriller.

Circle of Five by Dolores Stewart Riccio

Mystery and magic combine when Cass Shipton and her fellow Wiccans work together to find two missing boys.

Six Years by Harlan Coben

His first line drew me in: "I sat in the back pew and watched the only woman I would ever love marry another man." Once you start reading this book you won't want to stop.

Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie

This delightfully funny mystery is Agatha Christie at her best!

The Great Eight by Scott Hamilton

Subtitle: How to Be Happy (even when you have every reason to be miserable.)

Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart

This is my ALL-TIME favorite Mary Stewart novel--a perfect novel of romance and suspense. If you've never read her before, start with this book!

Ten by Gretchen McNeil

This YA books is very reminiscent of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians; you might even call it a  modern-day rip off, but with more teen angst. Still, it reads fast.

And, as a bonus, here's my "classics version" of Reading by the Numbers:

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

1984 by George Orwell

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham

House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott

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If you like reading lists (like me), here are a few more you can check out:

Bookish Medicine

Books in Translation

5 Fun Summer Reads

Top Reads of 2013

Once Upon A Crime...

I love mysteries. Not cozies so much; I prefer psychological thrillers--novels with a bit of an edge, a hint of darkness, an unexpected twist at the end. Books that keep you up late at night and thinking about them the next day. Those are the mysteries I like best. So, here's a list of my of my top 10:

1. Now You See Me by S.J. Bolton
2. The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman
3. Where Serpents Sleep by C.S. Harris
4. Sister by Rosamund Lupton
5. Seeking Whom He May Devour by Fred Vargas
6. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
7. The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte
8. Bones by Jan Burke
9. Into the Darkness by Barbara Michaels
10. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (Original title: Ten Little Indians)

Happy Reading!

Other Book Lists:

      Got Romance?

      Books in Translation

5 Fun Summer Reads:

1. Excavation by James Rollins      
2. One Second After by William R. Forstchen 
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
4. Riptide by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
5. Island 731 (A Thriller) by Jeremy Robinson

These are 5 page-turning thrill rides where not all the main characters survive.  Let's face it, none of these books will ever be classified as "Great Literature", but they are a lot of fun.  I enjoyed reading each and every one.  Even better, they can all pretty much be read in a weekend or less.

So, pop some popcorn, buckle your seat belts, and enjoy the ride!

Happy Summer Reading!

A book by any other name...

libro          kitap          boek

vivlio          kirja  

ksiazka        tohi          buch 

Whatever the language it's written in, a good book is a good book.  I've been expanding my reading horizons lately, trying new authors and enjoying some refreshingly novel perspectives.  So, here's a list of 10 of my favorite foreign fiction reads:

1. The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez-Reverte (Spanish)
2. My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk (Turkish)
3. The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Spanish)
4. An Uncertain Place by Fred Vargas (French)
5. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Swedish)
6. The Quiet Girl by Peter Hoeg (Danish)
7. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (Japanese)
8. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (Italian)
9. The Darkest Room by Johan Theorin (Swedish)
10. Codex 632 by Jose Rodrigues dos Santos (Portuguese)

There's my list.  What are your favorite foreign fiction novels?

A Bookish Valentine

       With or without a significant other, Valentine's Day can still be a day of romance.  Just curl up with a good book and lose yourself in love.  Because romance isn't only about candy hearts, diamond rings, and flowers.  Sometimes true romance is a 12-mile sleigh ride in the freezing cold, or a stolen chicken.  So, here's a list of my 10 Favorite Stories of  Love and Romance:

1. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
2. Snow in April by Rosamunde Pilcher
3. A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
4. Precious Bane by Mary Webb
5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
6. Beauty by Robin McKinley
7. The Dark Queen by Susan Carroll
8. Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart
9. These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
10. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute

           (P.S. They're even better when read with a box of Sees Chocolates.)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Top Ten Reads from 2012

     Out of all the books I read in 2012, here are ten of the best (in no particular order):

1. The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston
2. Where Shadows Dance by C.S. Harris
3. An Uncertain Place by Fred Vargas
4. Girl Reading by Katie Ward
5. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
6. Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson
7. The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin
8. Soulless by Gail Carriger
9. In The Sea There Are Crocodiles by Fabio Geda
10. The Quiet Girl by Peter Hoeg