Where Is Your Bookmark? (01/27/2015)

Did you have a nice weekend? It was very low key in my house. We are in between soccer lessons, and despite the weather being nice, did not even venture to the park. Mouse did play outside with her chalks, making a hopscotch game on the cement and jumping from space to space. We watched Caillou's Holiday movie a couple of times at least. While I want to complain about the fact it's almost February and the Sprout channel is still playing a Christmas movie, I shouldn't throw stones. My Christmas tree is still up. It doesn't have any decorations on it. That should count for something, right? I am thinking now it might need some hearts . . .

I think I am finally settling into my regular exercise routine again. Not being able to do much for several weeks as I recovered from my surgery took a toll on both my body and my motivation.  I have been at it for two weeks now though, and am starting to feel better for it.

I finished the first book in the Coleridge Taylor mystery series, Last Words, by Rich Zahradnik, and plan to have my review ready for you next week. I have just started reading Elizabeth Hall's Miramont's Ghost, a Gothic tale set in the late 1800's about a clairvoyant young woman imprisoned in a castle.  She's only four at the place I left off in the book--such a happy child. I already feel sorry for what is to come.

What are you reading? Is it something you would recommend? 

Every Tuesday Diane from Bibliophile By the Sea hosts 

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where  

participants share the first paragraph (or a few) of a 

book they are reading or thinking about reading soon.

I jumped at the opportunity to read Miramont's Ghost by Elizabeth Hall when I heard what kind of novel it was. I have enjoyed the mysteries I have read as of late, but it's nice to lose myself in something more atmospheric for the time being. Here is the opening of my current read:

Mantiou Springs, Colorado

She sat at the piano, fingers still poised over the now-silent keys. The notes of the night serenade dissipated in the cool air, ghosts of sound, lingering in the periphery of light and shadow. The sun had set. Shadows crept across the room. But Adrienne stared straight ahead, lost in a trance of remembering. The music had carried her away, to another time and another place, when she was young and in love and the future still sparkled with possibility. 

I was swept up into Adrienne's story right from the first paragraph. The image so clear in my mind. There is a strong sense of foreboding, if you well.  At least for the younger, more carefree girl Adrienne once had been.

Would you continue reading?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely ladies at Broke and Bookish.

This weeks' Top Ten Tuesday theme is Top Ten Books I'd Love to Read If I Had A Book Club.  I went back and forth about how to approach this topic. Should I share books I wish I had read with a book club, books I did read with a book club (or in a read-a-long) or books I haven't yet read, but think would make great book club picks?  I finally settled on doing some of each:

Books I read along with others in a book group or as a read-a-long: 

1. Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber ~ I read this one with an online group and enjoyed the discussion. It brought out nuances in the book I might have missed otherwise.

2. Same for, Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, which I read with the same online book group.

3. This past fall, I read Fingersmith by Sarah Waters with Jennifer of Literate Housewife. It's the sort of book I really wanted--needed--to talk about as I read.  I am glad I had that opportunity.

4. Under the Skin by Michel Faber ~ This was the first book I read for a face to face book club and it made for an interesting discussion. I do not think anyone in the group liked the book much, but that, in part, was what made the discussion what it was, I think.

Books I have read that I wish I could read with a book club:

5. One of my favorite books of all time, Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos would make for a great book club pick I think. The characters to the various story threads that run throughout the book . . . Plus, any excuse to read this great book again!

6. Haunting Bombay by Shilpa Agarwal ~ I read this book several years ago, but it has stayed with me. When I read it, I felt it would be a great book club pick, and I still feel that way. From the cultural aspects to the dark family secrets, to the mysticism, this is one worthy of discussion.

7. Another book that screamed BOOK CLUB PICK to me was Charlee Fam's The Last Train to Babylon. This novel deals with very serious and relevant of today issues that should be--and need to be--talked about.

Books I think I would enjoy reading with a book club:

8. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier ~ Because it's Daphne du Maurier.

9. The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian ~ This author's books seem like they would all be good book club picks. This is just one of many on my list of books I want to read by him.

10. Any of Haruki Murakami's novels really.  He's an author that sort of intimates me, and so I figure a little hand holding as I read my first book by him might be the way to go.

Have you read any of these books? What books would do you wish you could read with a book club? What were your favorite book club picks if you are in a book club?

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