Books I'd Slay a Lion to Get Early - Top Ten Tuesday - May 1, 2018

While last week's list was a bit difficult, this week's list became in danger of snowballing very quickly!

"Coming Soon" lists are very dangerous for me and my TBR shelves.
I don't have enough TBR shelves for lists like today!
And that list will grow enormously once I start reading everyone else's lists.

In order to narrow my list down to 10, I tried to leave off any titles that I didn't feel I was desperate for...I'm not slaying any lions for any book...or anything for that matter...but that's another blog post.

Without further adieu...

Ten Books I Wouldn't Slay a Lion to Get Early, but I would be freakishly happy over: 

1.  Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak

Bridge of Clay is a totally different story than The Book Thief...but I would probably read anything Zusak wrote.  I won't even see the movie because I don't want The Book Thief ruined in my head.  Yep, I'm one of those readers.

2.  Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan

I didn't even know Becoming Mrs. Lewis existed until I started scanning Goodreads upcoming lists!
I love C.S. Lewis.  Period.
His wife's story is one that I'm not familiar with at all.
Can't wait!

3.  The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel by Alyssa Palombo

I'm not a huge fan of classic retellings...unless I'm actually familiar with the classic...and my head is in just the right frame of mind.
The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel is a retelling of sorts of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving.  This time, however, Ichobod's love interest gets a chance to talk.
American Lit and history, particularly women's places within those times, are sooooo interesting to me.  Some people don't like historical fiction, but women's stories weren't told then...records are nowhere near as in depth for women as they were for men.  For some stories, historical fiction is all we have.
I love it...especially if it's done well.
And spooky just adds to the equation.

4.  Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver

Kingsolver got my attention with Animal Vegetable Miracle and then kept me interested with Flight of the Butterflies.
As I turn 50 this year, it feels as if Kingsolver decided to write a novel just for me in Unsheltered.  I'm actually putting this one on my auto-ship from Amazon so I'll have it on my doorstep the day it publishes in October.

5.  The Library Book by Susan Orlean

I have Susan Orlean's Rin Tin Tin because of my love for all things German Shepherds.  I haven't read it yet, but I did try to listen to it on audio.  Orlean's writing is not audioish to me...there's so much to take in, and every word is important.  Rin Tin Tin survived the great moving book purge of this year because I couldn't let her words go.  I wanted to save them for a time when I could slow down and savor them.
With The Library Book, she's writing about the great fire of the Los Angeles Public Library in 1986.
I'm expecting words that need to be savored about words...
I'm all in.  

6.  The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White

If you made me choose a favorite classic, it would be Frankenstein.
Now, I didn't read Frankenstein until adulthood...I actually was assigned to teach it so of course, I had to learn it right along with my students.
I don't know if that made all the difference to me or not, but I loved it...and saw immediately that it was so much more than a "monster" story.
The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein is the Frankenstein story told from the point of view of Elizabeth, Victor Frankenstein's adopted sister.
Did you know that the 200th anniversary of Frankenstein is on the horizon??
I can't wait to see the anniversary editions that are sure to be published!

7.  On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior 

I started following Karen Swallow Prior on Instagram and Twitter after some soul searching.
Politics aside, I've had to re-think some beliefs after watching so-called "evangelicals" try to speak for all Christians in ways that I have never in my life purported to believe.
I've finally found some intelligent, theological, educated, outspoken, caring women to follow and guide me in my own faith walk in ways that DO indeed align with the actual walk of Jesus Christ.
I'm excited to read On Reading Well as I continue on my soul enriching journey towards the teachings of Christ and not the pseudo teachings of those who claim to be in the know to the detriment of those they choose to "other."
So much for putting politics aside right?

8.  Becoming by Michelle Obama

Politics aside (again), how can any woman dismiss the story of any of our first ladies.
How?
They are history.  Finally, we've reached a time where their voices can be heard.  We owe it to our gender, to our daughters, to women everywhere to start filling in the gaps.
I'm auto-shipping Becoming.

9.  Look Alive Twenty-Five by Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum novels aren't literary fiction by any stretch of the imagination, but one thing I can always count on this series for is at least a few laugh out louds.
I'll probably either check Look Alive Twenty-Five out from the library or download it on my Kindle...but I shall have it.


10.  Probable Claws by Rita Mae Brown

Another fun series to enjoy some downtime with is the Rita Mae Brown Sneaky Pie series, and this installment hits shelves at the end of May...just in time for vacation!

I'm off to grab as many titles as I can from the other lists!!!!
Join us over at The Artsy Reader Girl every Tuesday for the funnest meme in the Blogosphere!

Can't Wait Wednesday - Between Earth and Sky by Amanda Skenandore

Linking up with Wishful Endings today :)

Every week, I skim through the "Coming Soon" list at Barnes and Noble for the following week.  

I love looking at the covers and selecting finalists for my upcoming favorites.
Yes, I'm a book nerd.

If I find a cover that interests me, then I open it up and read the blurb.

There are way too many books to read for me to waste one more second, so a book has to grab me...where I am...in that moment.
Most of the time, I can't even predict what that moment looks like.
It's up to the book really ;)

I force myself to stop at 1 choice.  Once I find it, I stop looking...until next week :)

Without further adieu, here's my Can't Wait choice among the "Coming Soon" selections on Barnes and Noble for the week of April 23, 2018:

Between Earth and Sky by Amanda Skenandore

Publisher: Kensington

Publication Date: 4/24/2018

Pages: 336

Here's the synopsis from Barnes and Noble: 

(I've highlighted in red the parts that yell at me loud and clear that I must read this book!)

In Amanda Skenandore’s provocative and profoundly moving debut, set in the tragic intersection between white and Native American culture, a young girl learns about friendship, betrayal, and the sacrifices made in the name of belonging.

On a quiet Philadelphia morning in 1906, a newspaper headline catapults Alma Mitchell back to her past. A federal agent is dead, and the murder suspect is Alma’s childhood friend, Harry Muskrat. Harry—or Asku, as Alma knew him—was the most promising student at the “savage-taming” boarding school run by her father, where Alma was the only white pupil. Created in the wake of the Indian Wars, the Stover School was intended to assimilate the children of neighboring reservations. Instead, it robbed them of everything they’d known—language, customs, even their names—and left a heartbreaking legacy in its wake. 

The bright, courageous boy Alma knew could never have murdered anyone. But she barely recognizes the man Asku has become, cold and embittered at being an outcast in the white world and a ghost in his own. Her lawyer husband, Stewart, reluctantly agrees to help defend Asku for Alma’s sake. To do so, Alma must revisit the painful secrets she has kept hidden from everyone—especially Stewart.

Told in compelling narratives that alternate between Alma’s childhood and her present life, Between Earth and Sky is a haunting and complex story of love and loss, as a quest for justice becomes a journey toward understanding and, ultimately, atonement.

About the Author

Amanda Skenandore is a historical fiction writer and registered nurse. In writing Between Earth and Sky, she has drawn on the experiences of a close relative, a member of the Ojibwe Tribe, who survived an Indian mission school in the 1950s. Between Earth and Sky is Amanda’s first novel. She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Readers can visit her website at www.amandaskenandore.com.

I was a little nervous that Between Earth and Sky would be depressing, but the phrase "ultimate atonement" leads me to believe I won't be left bereft at the end of this complicated story.  Anybody else heard of this one?

Top Ten Tuesday - Freebie - Books Added to My TBR from Other TTT Lists

Top Ten Tuesday - April 17, 2018

I've loved "Top Ten Tuesdays" for a while.

But sometimes I forget to post them.

Even when I plan them.

True story.

One thing that always happens on a weekly basis is my Amazon Wishlist and Goodreads "Want to Read" lists grow immensely with all the books I see on other people's lists. 

Soooooo

Since this week's prompt is a freebie, I finally decided today that I would make a list of those very books!

So without further adieu, here we go!

Top Ten Books Added to My TBR This Week from Other Bloggers' Top Ten Tuesday Lists 

Top Ten Tuesday host, Artsy Reader Girl, gets my #1 pick this week!

1. Sacajawea by Anna Lee Waldo

I actually have read this book before...a looooooong time ago. I'm not a re-reader, but this is one I would re-read and wouldn't mind finding a hardback to keep.

2.  The Road to Paradise  by Karen Barnett

posted by Courtney @ The Green Mockingbird

How did I not know these books existed?? 

3.  Three Things about Elsie by Joanna Cannon

found on Rain City Reads this week

I enjoy good books about life, and this sounds like one not to miss.

4.  Bonfire by Krysten Ritter

I've debated on Bonfire for a while.  

I'm a Krysten Ritter fan but wasn't sure I wanted her to be an author too...I'm also on a mystery/thriller hiatus it seems right now.  Don't have much explanation for that, but Rain City Reads' Top Ten Tuesday list, once again, pushed me over the edge in adding Bonfire to my Goodreads and Amazon lists. :)

5.  Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

I really thought Lilac Girls was already on my lists, but after seeing it on Reading Ladies Book Club today, I double checked.  It wasn't...but it is now.  

6.  The Baker's Secret by Stephen P. Kiernan

Reading Ladies Book Club strikes again ;) 

7.  Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Reading Ladies again...I'm loving this list and their Honorable Mentions, which is the list Between Shades of Gray came from...but hey, it works for me :) 

Historical fiction is my favorite genre right now.  

There are so many parts of our history that I need to know.  

8.  From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty

If you had told me I would be adding a book about death to my TBR tonight, I would have told you that you didn't know me very well.

Apparently, I don't know myself very well because I'm adding From Here to Eternity to my list from Chain Interaction's list...

AND

another book about death by the same author...

which is my #9 book this week.

9.  Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty

and FINALLY!

Because I'm stopping at 10, lest my TBRs overflow!

10.  Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Yes, I realize The Infernal Devices trilogy has been around for years...and I think my oldest daughter actually owns it...but I really wasn't interested in reading it until something about it on A Reader's Fiction made me perk up.

WHEW!

As I prepare to post my own Top Ten Tuesday over at Artsy Reader Girl, there are 184 other lists.  

I only made it through the first 49!

Can you see how so many books get added to my TBR each week?? 

I love every second of it!! 

Till next week!