Weekly Mews: Easter Loot & April's TBR List Poll

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by the wonderful Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking to Stacking the Shelves hosted by the great Team Tynga's Reviews and Marlene of Reading Reality a meme in which participants share what new books came their way recently. 

I hope April has gotten off to a good start for all of you! Mouse has been enjoying her spring break and spending time with her grandmother. We had to replace our garbage disposal this week, which wasn't quite as easy as it first looked like it might be. The old one took a lot of effort to finally remove. You never realize how reliant on modern conveniences you are until you cannot use them. The in-laws are in town this weekend to celebrate Mouse's birthday. It is a month late, but they had a prior commitment and with my mom's cancer treatment up in the air at the time, it just seemed better to postpone the family celebration. Mouse, of course, didn't mind once I explained to her that this meant her birthday would last all that much longer--and she'd get more party time.

My Kindle Paperwhite, Charlotte, had a little accident about a week and a half ago. My hairbrush fell on it and cracked the screen. It's a decent size crack, I'm afraid.  I can still read on it, but after much thought, I finally decided that it might be time to put those Amazon gift cards I have been hoarding to use. I love my Paperwhite and considered getting a new one, but ultimately decided to give the Oasis a try. So, in the next couple of weeks I should have it in hand. I am most excited about the ability to alternate between reading and listening to books. Ask me in a few months if I actually use the feature, will you? Now to think of a name!

Life should be getting back to normal here this next week, and then you will hopefully start seeing me around the blogosphere a bit more. That is the plan anyway.

New to My Shelves: 

Easter Bookish Loot:

Ink & Paint: The Women of Walt Disney's Animation by Mindy Johnson

(Anjin's book) 

Sightwitch by Susan Dennard 

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge

Gift Card E-Book Purchases:

Kindling the Moon (Arcadia Bell, #1) by Jenn Bennett

Labyrinth Lost (Brooklyn Brujas, #1) by Zoraida Córdova

Mrs. Roosevelt's Confidante (Maggie Hope, #6) by Susan Elia MacNeal

What I Am Reading: I dove into A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle earlier this week, and finished reading it Thursday night. I last read it when I was in elementary school, and so my memory of it was next to nothing. I have not yet seen the movie, but I want to. I hear it is different, which isn't surprising.

I have also been spending time catching up with Les Misérables and War and Peace (at least for the time being). I was trying to put my daughter to sleep one night and thought she might enjoy my reading a bit about Cosette as Cosette goes into the forest at night for water, and meets Jean Valjean for the first time.Three chapters later, she was still not sleepy, but I decidedly was. I haven't read further yet knowing she wants me to read more to her. I read a bit more of War and Peace to her as well. The part where Rostov comes home on leave from the war.  She keeps asking for more, and I hate to say no . . . I'm going to make a Classics reader out of her yet!

Next up I think I will start the classic The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge. It seems to be calling my name the loudest.

What I Am Watching: I had been watching the new American Idol season and am not all that impressed. Going back and forth between that and The Voice, I definitely know which show fits my tastes more. And so I am done with American Idol, I think.

I have not had a chance to watch this past Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead yet, so I have some catching up to do. I accidentally read a couple spoilers though, although I do not think they will impact my viewing of the episode when I get to it. I am anxious to see how the season will wrap up in the next couple weeks. I have heard rumors of Morgan moving to the Fear of the Walking Dead show, which I missed the second season of. I might have to give Fear another try just for that reason if it is true.

My daughter discovered My Babysitter is a Vampire, and so we have been watching that. The title still confuses me a bit. It's a cute show though.

What I Am Worried About: My mom will be having surgery this next week. Thank you for your continued good thoughts and prayers. It really does mean a lot. On a more minor note, my back is giving me trouble again. Hopefully a little extra caution and care will help with the pain, and I will be back to normal soon.

What I Am Looking Forward To: Life getting back to a somewhat more predictable pattern. And Disneyland, which is still upcoming.

What I Am Grateful For:  Family and such supportive friends (like you!) and coworkers. I am also grateful for Ghirardelli chocolate, especially the dark chocolate ones filled with raspberry, and ice cold water.

This Week In Reading Mews:

• Weekly Mews: March 2018 in Review
• Wishing for Wednesday: Speakeasy & On a Cold Dark Sea
• Bookish Thoughts: The Prime Minister's Secret Agent by Susan Elia MacNeal
• Where Is Your Bookmark? (A Peek Into A Wrinkle in Time & My Best/Worst March Reads)

Tell me about what you have been up to! What are you reading, listening to and watching? How was your week? Do you have anything planned for this coming week?

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Thank you for helping me decide what book from my TBR collection I should read next:

My TBR List is a meme hosted by the awesome Michelle at Because Reading. It’s a fun way to choose a book from your TBR pile to read. The 1st Saturday of every month, I will list 3 books I am considering reading and take a poll as to which you think I should read. I will read the winner that month, and my review will follow (unfortunately, not likely in the same month, but eventually--that's all I can promise). 

I had wanted to dive into Hazel Gaynor's historical fiction work long before having read her and Heather Webb's Last Christmas in Paris this past fall, but just haven't managed to. Now seems the perfect time! But which book should I start with? Please help me decide!

The Girl Who Came Home by Hazel Gaynor

A voyage across the ocean becomes the odyssey of a lifetime for a young Irish woman...

Ireland, 1912 . . .

Fourteen members of a small village set sail on RMS Titanic, hoping to find a better life in America. For seventeen-year-old Maggie Murphy, the journey is bittersweet. Though her future lies in an unknown new place, her heart remains in Ireland with Séamus, the sweetheart she left behind. When disaster strikes, Maggie is one of the few passengers in steerage to survive. Waking up alone in a New York hospital, she vows never to speak of the terror and panic of that fateful night again.

Chicago, 1982 . . .

Adrift after the death of her father, Grace Butler struggles to decide what comes next. When her great-grandmother Maggie shares the painful secret about the Titanic that she's harbored for almost a lifetime, the revelation gives Grace new direction—and leads both her and Maggie to unexpected reunions with those they thought lost long ago.

Inspired by true events, The Girl Who Came Home poignantly blends fact and fiction to explore the Titanic tragedy's impact and its lasting repercussions on survivors and their descendants. [Goodreads Summary]

A Memory of Violets by Hazel Gaynor

In 1912, twenty-year-old Tilly Harper leaves the peace and beauty of her native Lake District for London, to become assistant housemother at Mr. Shaw’s Home for Watercress and Flower Girls. For years, the home has cared for London’s flower girls—orphaned and crippled children living on the grimy streets and selling posies of violets and watercress to survive.

Soon after she arrives, Tilly discovers a diary written by an orphan named Florrie—a young Irish flower girl who died of a broken heart after she and her sister, Rosie, were separated. Moved by Florrie’s pain and all she endured in her brief life, Tilly sets out to discover what happened to Rosie. But the search will not be easy. Full of twists and surprises, it leads the caring and determined young woman into unexpected places, including the depths of her own heart. [Goodreads Summary]

The Girl From the Savoy by Hazel Gaynor

Presenting a dazzling new historical novel … The Girl From The Savoy is as sparkling as champagne and as thrilling as the era itself.

Sometimes life gives you cotton stockings. Sometimes it gives you a Chanel gown …

Dolly Lane is a dreamer; a downtrodden maid who longs to dance on the London stage, but her life has been fractured by the Great War. Memories of the soldier she loved, of secret shame and profound loss, by turns pull her back and spur her on to make a better life.

When she finds employment as a chambermaid at London’s grandest hotel, The Savoy, Dolly takes a step closer to the glittering lives of the Bright Young Things who thrive on champagne, jazz and rebellion. Right now, she must exist on the fringes of power, wealth and glamor—she must remain invisible and unimportant.

But her fortunes take an unexpected turn when she responds to a struggling songwriter’s advertisement for a ‘muse’ and finds herself thrust into London’s exhilarating theatre scene and into the lives of celebrated actress, Loretta May, and her brother, Perry. Loretta and Perry may have the life Dolly aspires to, but they too are searching for something.

Now, at the precipice of the life she has and the one she longs for, the girl from The Savoy must make difficult choices: between two men; between two classes, between everything she knows and everything she dreams of. A brighter future is tantalizingly close—but can a girl like Dolly ever truly leave her past behind? [Goodreads Summary]

Thank you for voting! I hope you all have a wonderful April and Happy Reading!

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