Where Is Your Bookmark? (03/17/2015)

On Saturday, we said goodbye to the last of our company. It was a big relief to have the house to ourselves again. We can finally get back into our comfortable routine. 

Sunday my daughter and I spent a good part of the morning and early afternoon at Mouse's best friend's house. We were attempting to make stepping stones out of plaster that the girls could decorate and maybe step in to capture their foot prints--or even their hand prints. I am afraid the project didn't quite turn out as well as we hoped. The dang plaster dried so fast it was next to impossible to do much with it, no matter what the instructions said. We did our best though. Luckily, each kit comes with ingredients for two stones and so both girls at least got one stepping stone out of the two planned for each. Once Mouse's stepping stone is completely dry, we will attempt to paint it and pray for the best. The girls had a fun afternoon regardless, playing in the mud, coloring, and running around the house while us mothers sat in the garden chatting and listening to the birds. You would never know it wasn't yet spring.

Mouse and her best friend playing in the garden

The thank you cards are made/written. I just need to buy postage for them and then will send them off in the mail. I enlisted Mouse's help in making them since they were, after all, for her birthday gifts. She personalized each one, selecting the shape and how to decorate them. It took a good part of an afternoon to get them all done, but it made for a fun art project. I am sure all the aunts and uncles and grandparents will be pleased. At least I hope so!

On the reading front, I am about half way through Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. It's taking everything in me not to read straight through. I am trying to take my time though, having finally caught up to where my husband is.  So far, he's enjoying it. Jane Eyre has long been a favorite of mine, but it has been a good twenty years since I last read it.  I cannot express in words how much I am enjoying re-reading it. I may have squealed a few times as I came upon favorite scenes and melted at the deliciousness of the writing and in my love for Jane's character.  Then there's Helen and Mrs. Fairfax and Grace Poole.  And, of course, Mr. Rochester.  Oh, how I love this book!  

As hard as it was to tear myself away from Jane and Mr. Rochester, I thought maybe it was best to slow down my reading and let my husband again take the lead. And so I read a novella by Rebecca Chastain called Magic of the Gargoyles, which I enjoyed and will be reviewing at some point. It is an urban fantasy tale about a young woman who is enlisted in saving baby gargoyles after they have been kidnapped for evil dark purposes.  Last year I had read the author's full length novel, A Fistful of Evil, and really enjoyed it.

I also have begun reading Elizabeth Haynes's latest crime fiction novel, Behind Closed Doors, the second in the DCI Louisa Smith series. I have only just started it, and so do not have much to say about it yet.

What are you reading right now? Is it anything you would recommend?

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

This week's Top Ten Tuesday theme is Top Ten Books On My Spring TBR List. I kept this list to books I am excited about and hoping to read this coming spring all things being ideal and perfect. What is the likelihood of that though?  One can hope.  Regardless, I predict a spring full of good books!

1. The Alphabet House by Jussi Adler-Olsen ~ Set during World War II, two British pilots find themselves behind enemy lines, pretending to be insane as their only hope for survival.

2. Diamond Head by Cecily Wong ~ Family saga that takes readers from China to Hawaii. Secrets, murder, sacrifice . . . I cannot resist.

3. The Mapmaker's Children by Sarah McCoy ~ I would read anything by this author. Two women's lives are interconnected despite their very different time periods, a modern tale of a woman who desperately wants a child and the story of a long ago mapmaker for the Underground Railroad. I love books that straddle both past and present.

4. Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran ~ Historical fiction set in India during the 1850's as the last Queen of India takes her people to battle against the British.

5. Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman ~ The sequel to Seraphina (which I also hope to read this spring). Dragons?!  I'm there!

6. The Shattered Court: A Novel of the Four Arts by M.J. Scott ~ a fantasy novel described by the publisher as "Entangled in a court ruled by tradition and intrigue, a young witch must come to terms with newfound power and desire—and a choice between loyalty and survival."

7. A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison ~ Annie Black's past comes back to haunt her, threatening her family and the happy life she has made for herself.

8. A Touch of Passion by Bronwen Evans ~ Kidnapped for an Arab Harem, her only hope is her brother's friend who has vowed to watch over and protect her.

9. Toured to Death by Hy Conrad ~ A mother/daughter team of travel agents have the perfect murder mystery excursion planned--only, they did not anticipate a real murder to trump their fictional one.

10. At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen ~ Set in the a Scottish Highland village during World War II.

Have you read any of these books?  If so, what did you think?  What books are on your to read list for this spring?

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.

Here is a snippet from the opening of my current read, Behind Closed Doors by Elizabeth Haynes:

To begin with, nothing was certain except her own terror.

Darkness, and stifling heat, so hot that breathing felt like effort, sweat pouring off her so her skin itself became liquid and she thought she would simply melt into a hot puddle of nothing. She tried crying out, screaming, but she could barely hear her own voice above the roar of the engine, the sound of the wheels moving at speed on tarmac. All that did was give her a sore throat. Nobody could hear her. 

A cold case is reopened when the young woman who had gone missing ten years ago reappears. It appears the girl's disappearance and sudden reappearance could be related to the recent assault and murder DCI Louisa Smith and her team are investigating.

Would you continue reading?

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© 2015, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.