Six Degrees of Separation: From Where Am I Now to Jane Steele

Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate of Books Are My Favourite and Best in which our lovely host chooses a book and participants take it from there: creating a chain of books, each connected to the one before. Seeing where we end up is half the fun! 

I have not read this month's title, Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame by Mara Wilson, but I can think of several different ways to go from here. How to choose?!

I would be surprised if I am the only one who makes a connection between Mara Wilson's memoir and Roald Dahl's Matilda. Just seeing the photo on the cover brings back memories. I recently bought a copy of Matilda to read with my daughter. She's become quite enamored by the songs from the musical version of the book. Who doesn't love the precocious book loving five year old with psychic abilities going up against the evil headmistress with the help of a loving teacher?

Which leads me to Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Did you know Matilda read Oliver Twist before she was five? I wasn't nearly so young when I read the Dickens' novel. It was my first by the author, however. Both children had a rough first few years of their lives and would eventually have the happy endings they deserved. I was quite taken with Oliver, and, in another tie-in to Matilda, I am a big fan of the musical. Oliver is an orphan boy who is taken in by a band of  thieves. His naivety and kind heart make him an easy character to like and cheer for.

Like Oliver, the character of Cosette in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables (which I am just half way through) is a mistreated child early in her life. And thinking of Oliver, the Artful Dodger, Fagin and the rest of the gang from Oliver Twist, brings to mind another thread these two books have in common. The criminal element. Our leading man, Jean Valjean is an ex-convict, having stolen out of desperation and a hungry family and who spends his life trying to atone for his past. Then you have the Thénardiers, or whatever name they use at any given moment--they are always up to something not particularly legal. Even so, I have a soft spot for Gavroche and Eponine, regardless of the petty crimes they have committed.  Although I am Team Marius and Cosette, I have always felt sorry for Eponine, whose love goes unrequited.

From one of my favorite series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling features another character with a questionable past whose love goes unrequited. Harry Potter gets a glimpse into Severus Snape's memories, revealing Snape's love for Harry's mother. It explains so much! Harry and his friends always viewed Snape as a villain of sorts, never quite trusting him. And while I always suspected Snape wasn't the bad guy everyone thought him to be, I know some readers were not so sure about him for a long while.

Thinking of Snape reminds me of the antihero. Jeff Lindsay's Dexter Morgan character from Darkly Dreaming Dexter and the subsequent books in the series, is a perfect example of one. A serial killer in his own right who only targets bad people. As a forensic blood splatter expert for the police department, he is never without a list of victims. The author does a good job of creating a sympathetic character who does some pretty terrible things. While I haven't read all the books in this series, I have read the first several.

And that leads me to Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye, a somewhat twisted retelling of Jane Eyre, only Jane Steele happens to have left a body count behind her. I have yet to read this one, but it is on my TBR pile and I hope to get to it before the year is out.

This was fun! I could see so many different directions to go with each book in the chain, and settling on one was a bit of a challenge at times. There are just so many! I realized as I was going along that my first three were all made into musicals and five have been made for the screen, all of which I have seen. I imagine Mara Wilson would not have thought her book could be connected to a novel about a murderer. You never know where six degrees of separation might take you!

Have you read any of these books? What direction do you think your choices would be if you were playing along?

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© 2018, 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.

Where Is Your Bookmark? (The Impossible Girl & Goblins)

Happy Friday! Where is your bookmark today? Mine is waiting to go in the next book, but in the meantime, I thought I would share a bit of the next book I hope to read, Lydia Kang's The Impossible Girl.

Manhattan, 1850. Born out of wedlock to a wealthy socialite and a nameless immigrant, Cora Lee can mingle with the rich just as easily as she can slip unnoticed into the slums and graveyards of the city. As the only female resurrectionist in New York, she’s carved out a niche procuring bodies afflicted with the strangest of anomalies. Anatomists will pay exorbitant sums for such specimens—dissecting and displaying them for the eager public. Cora’s specialty is not only profitable, it’s a means to keep a finger on the pulse of those searching for her. She’s the girl born with two hearts—a legend among grave robbers and anatomists—sought after as an endangered prize. Now, as a series of murders unfolds closer and closer to Cora, she can no longer trust those she holds dear, including the young medical student she’s fallen for. Because someone has no intention of waiting for Cora to die a natural death. [Goodreads Summary]

A weekly meme where readers share the first sentence of the book they are reading and say what they think. Hosted by the wonderful Gillion Dumas of Rose City Reader.

The baby was small. Not so small as to concern Charlotte, but small enough to announce itself as precious. 

My thoughts: A telling opening, don't you think, of someone who will do great things?

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A weekly meme in which readers share a random sentence or two from page 56 or 56% of the book they are reading. Hosted by the wonderful Freda of Freda's Voice.

"Can you believe her? Wanting to do a series of medical lectures. For ladies! For both unmarried and married ladies. It's absurd. No one will have her. We certainly shan't." He mopped his face again. "There is nothing more disobliging than discussion of bills, Miss Lee. I apologize that they took me away from you."

"Oh, I . . . "

"With your face, you ought never to have to worry about money. Never."

The compliment gave Cora the orge to wash her ears out. With lye.  

[56%]

 My thoughts: Nothing like a man who has a strong view of a woman's place. I feel for Cora.


What do you think? Does this sound like a book you would be interested in reading? 

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Originally hosted by Books by Proxy, Friday Face Off is now hosted by the fabulous Lynn of  Lynn’s Book Blog. Participants are asked to feature two more more covers of the same book with the week's assigned theme, and pick a favorite. 

This week the theme is a book whose cover features a goblin or dwarves. My chosen book just happens to be one that is on my TBR pile and would probably fit in well with Carole's Books from the Backlog feature: Goblin Quest (#1) by J.C. Hines.

I have to be honest. None of these covers are particularly appealing to me. I guess it is good this book comes recommended and the synopsis grabbed my attention. If I had to pick, it would be the first one if only because the color contrasts, the font of the title, and the image of such a tiny goblin going up against a big dragon.

Which of these covers do you prefer?

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Every Friday Coffee Addicted Writer from Coffee Addicted Writer poses a question which participants respond on their own blogs within the week (Friday through Thursday). They then share their links at the main site and visit other participants blogs.

Do you have a YouTube channel? If so, do you post book review vlogs? (submitted by Billy @Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer)

YouTube is evidently all the rage. My husband swears nearly every young person out there dreams about making a fortune on YouTube. And so many of them have their own stations. It is not something I have gotten into myself. I am too self-conscious to create a vlog (I won't even video chat with anyone but my daughter and husband). So, my short answer is no, I do not have a YouTube channel. I will stick the written word, thank you very much.

What about you?

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© 2018, 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.

Waiting to Read Wednesday (#12)

The Old(er) 

I have an embarrassing number of unread books sitting on the shelves in my personal library. Carole of Carole's Random Life in Books has given me the perfect excuse to spotlight and discuss those neglected books in her Books from the Backlog feature. After all, even those older books need a bit of love! Not to mention it is reminding me what great books I have waiting for me under my own roof still to read!

The Map of Time (Trilogía Victoriana #1) by Félix J. Palma, Nick Caistor (Translator) 

(Atria, 2011)

Characters real and imaginary come vividly to life in this whimsical triple play of intertwined plots, in which a skeptical H. G. Wells is called upon to investigate purported incidents of time travel and to save lives and literary classics, including Dracula and The Time Machine, from being wiped from existence. 

What happens if we change history?  

Felix J. Palma explores this provocative question, weaving a historical fantasy as imaginative as it is exciting - a story full of love and adventure that transports readers from a haunting setting in Victorian London to a magical reality where centuries collide and a writer's mind seems to pull at all the strings.[Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read it: I am in love with the cover of this one, which I am sure is what first caught my eye when I came across this one. Then the description definitely sold me on it. Time travel and the saving of books (and lives)? A Victorian London setting? I am there!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows 
(Dial Press, 2008)

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

“I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.”

January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb….

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read it: Those who know me will no doubt know why this one landed on my TBR shelf. What may be surprising is that I have yet to read it. The coming out of the movie on Netflix may be what makes me pull this one off my shelf sooner or later to read. Books, letters, and World War II fiction . . . This one has my name on it. 

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The New

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by the marvelous Tressa at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss upcoming release we are excited about that we have yet to read.

Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit (Kopp Sisters #4) by Amy Stewart

Release Date: September 11, 2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Trailblazing Constance's hard-won job as deputy sheriff is on the line in Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit, the fourth installment of Amy Stewart's Kopp Sisters series.

After a year on the job, New Jersey's first female deputy sheriff has collared criminals, demanded justice for wronged women, and gained notoriety nationwide for her exploits. But on one stormy night, everything falls apart.

While transporting a woman to an insane asylum, Deputy Kopp discovers something deeply troubling about her story. Before she can investigate, another inmate bound for the asylum breaks free and tries to escape.

In both cases, Constance runs instinctively toward justice. But the fall of 1916 is a high-stakes election year, and any move she makes could jeopardize Sheriff Heath's future--and her own. Although Constance is not on the ballot, her controversial career makes her the target of political attacks. 

With wit and verve, book-club favorite Amy Stewart brilliantly conjures the life and times of the real Constance Kopp to give us this "unforgettable, not-to-be messed-with heroine" (Marie Claire) under fire in Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read it: Somehow I missed book three in this series (which I plan to remedy). I am so excited to see there is a book four. I really enjoy this series, loosely based on one of the first female sheriff deputies in the United States.

Hitting the Books (Library Lover's Mystery #9) by Jenn McKinlay

Release Date: September 11, 2018 by Berkley Books

When a stack of library materials is found at the scene of a hit and run, library director Lindsey Norris finds herself dragged into the investigation as the police try to link the driver of the stolen car to the person who borrowed the books. Before Lindsey can delve into the library's records, the victim of the hit and run, Theresa Houston, suffers another "accident" and the investigation shifts from driver negligence to attempted homicide.

A clue surfaces in the confiscated library materials that could crack open the case and it is up to Lindsey to piece it all together. But things are not as they seem in the sleepy town of Briar Creek and when the driver of the stolen car turns up dead, Lindsey, her staff and her library friends have to hit the books before the murderer gets the last word... [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read it: I may not have yet read the first book in the series, but the previous book I did read I ended up loving. I can't wait to dive into this series again. Lindsey is a great character and what book lover can resist a series set in a library?

The Lost Carousel of Provence by Juliet Blackwell
Release Date: September 18, 2018 by Berkley

An artist lost to history, a family abandoned to its secrets, and the woman whose search for meaning unearths it all in a sweeping and expressive story from the New York Times bestselling author of Letters from Paris. 

Present day, San Francisco. During her free time, professional photographer Cady Drake shoots local carousels, a hobby inspired by a gift that transformed her childhood: a wooden rabbit supposedly created by master French carver Gustave Bayol a century ago. And when she's offered a freelance assignment for a book on the antique merry-go-rounds of Paris, Cady can't refuse the opportunity to visit the famous carousels for the first time.... 

1900s, France. In a small town outside of Avignon, a husband and young wife struggle to keep up their ancestral chateau--and start the family they so desperately desire. For the children they hope to have, the Clements hire the famous Bayol to build a carousel, but as the carver and his apprentice work on the beautiful and whimsical creation, fate will entwine them all in unseen ways--for generations to come... 

Present day, Provence. As Cady's research leads her to the dilapidated Chateau Clement and its fabled carousel that was lost to the ravages of World War II, she will uncover a shocking truth in a set of one-hundred-year-old photographs that could guide her in reuniting a family torn apart by petty jealousies over several generations. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read it: My daughter and I are quite fond of carousels, and I am always interested in hearing the history of the ones we have had the chance to visit and ride. If that aspect alone did not draw me to the novel, the dual time line and the tie to World War II, certainly would have. 

Do any of these books appeal to you? Have you read them?

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© 2018, 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.

Top Ten Tuesday: Back to School

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana at The Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic is the Back to School in which I am featuring books set in or around schools that are on my TBR pile.

1. Dark Rooms by Lili Anolik ~ Set in an exclusive New England prep school where one sister investigates the death of her younger sister.

2. School for Psychics (#1) by K.C. Archer ~ Set in San Francisco, in just as the title suggests, a school for psychics, where students learn how to use their psychic abilities to serve the government.

3. Flunked (Fairy Tale Reform School, #1) by Jen Calonita ~ Can you imagine Cinderella's stepmother as a headmistress of a reform school? Well, she is. And 12 year old Gilly is the latest student sent there after her third infraction. This one is set in Enchantasia.

4. The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis ~ A historical fiction novel set partly in a long lost art school in Grand Central Terminal in New York City. In 1928, Clara is looking forward to a bright future as an art instructor, while in 1974, Virginia is just trying to make enough money to pay her daughter's way in college.

5. The Daisy Children by Sofia Grant ~ This novel is based on a true story about a devastating New London School explosion on 1937 in Texas.

6. The Magicians (#1) by Lev Grossman ~ Upstate New York seems to be the perfect setting for a college of magic where just about anything can happen.

7. The Affliction by Beth Gutcheon ~ Murder strikes at a boarding school along the Hudson River.

8. The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi ~ Set in Afghanistan, this novel touches on the bacha posh tradition, which allows a girl to dress and go to school as a boy until she is of marriageable age. 

9. The Broken Girls by Simone St. James ~ Set in a boarding school in Vermont for unwanted girls called Idlewild Hall. The year is 2014, and the school is being restored. A young woman starts to look into its past for a story she is writing, including the death of her sister there twenty years before.

10. When the Men Were Gone by Marjorie Herrera Lewis ~ Breaking tradition, a woman becomes the first high school football couch in this high school town while the men are off to war. Based on a true story.

Do you enjoy reading books with a school setting? Have you read any of these?

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© 2018, 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.

Bookish Thoughts: The Girl From the Savoy by Hazel Gaynor

In my heart, I always knew he would go; that they would all go, in the end. ~ Opening of The Girl From the Savoy

The Girl From the Savoy by Hazel Gaynor
William Morrow, 2016
Fiction (Historical); 419 pgs

The Girl From the Savoy is the first historical fiction novel I have read solely written by Hazel Gaynor. I adored her and Heather Webb’s The Last Christmas in Paris and knew I wanted to read more by both authors. While I enjoy historical fiction quite a bit, I often skip over the ones featuring characters trying to break into show business. Maybe because I live too close to Hollywood and stories like that are a dime a dozen. But this was Hazel Gaynor. And sometimes a story like that actually does catch my eye like this one did, especially when it is tied to a World War or tackles a subject I am particularly interested in.

Dolly Lane has long dreamed of a life dancing on stage, and hopes taking a job at one of the most prestigious hotels in London will bring her closer to making that dream come true. She is immediately taken in by the glamour and vitality of the environment she finds herself in, serving the wealthy, powerful and famous. On impulse, Dolly responds to an advertisement of a songwriter looking for a muse, not quite sure what to expect. Suddenly, she is rubbing elbows with the likes of the famous actress Loretta Mae and her brother, Perry. They have the life she wants and aspires to, and it is impossible not to be swept up in their world.

Below that surface, however, is a past Dolly cannot quite let go of: the boyfriend she loved with all her heart whose war experience has left him broken, and a her own secrets which carries and is trying to run from. Then there is Perry and his growing affection for Dolly, which is hampered by his love for the woman who got away and his time and memories of the Great War. He came back a different man, pained by things he had done, unable to forgive himself. Loretta Mae, too, has her own secrets—that of illness and long lost love. And then there is Teddy, Dolly’s former love who struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (obviously not called that in the 1920’s). There is one scene in the novel that particularly had me in tears and still gets me teary-eyed when I think about it. It is in the final scene in the hospital as Teddy regains his memories (minor spoiler: and watches his favorite nurse walk away. That moment! It was heartbreaking, but it was also the moment I joined Team Teddy, even as much as I liked Perry too.). All these tragedies have shaped the characters into who they became, and I could not help but fall in love with each one of them, wanting for them all to have their happy endings even when that was not possible. The stories of the minor characters are just as compelling, especially the women who work with Dolly at the Savoy. The Savoy itself is a character. What it must have been like during that time! Dolly, Loretta Mae, and Teddy are given a voice in the novel, the chapters alternating between each of the characters, and it is through their eyes we learn about their pasts and present. There is a nice juxtaposition between Loretta Mae and Dolly’s stories—how similar and different they are.

I took my time reading The Girl From the Savoy, immersing myself in the writing and the lives of the characters. Every time I settled in to read the novel, I was immediately swept up into the world Gaynor created. It is rich in detail and complexity. There is much more to the novel that what may at first it may appear to be on the surface. From the discussions about the war experience, something that is not glossed over, and in fact is laid bare as to its impact on those who lived through it, as well classism between the working class and the wealthy. Gaynor does not shy away from taking on gender roles either, including entitlement of men over women, especially those with less advantage. We see this both between maid and employer as well as in the show business realm when a person of influence has all the power to make or break dreams of a young girl. This is also a novel about death, grieving--both life and what was or could have been--and forgiving oneself and others. As someone who has mixed feelings about love triangles—this novel has two—I tend to base my opinion on how it all turns out in the end more often than not. Not exactly objective, I know. I felt that in both cases the love triangles played out well and fit with the characters, although I admit to wishing things could have been a bit different for a couple of the characters. Kudos to the author though for staying true to her characters!

I came away from The Girl From the Savoy in awe of Hazel Gaynor’s ability to draw me in so completely to the world she’s created and the lives of her characters. There was the occasional moment of things falling a little too easily into place for Dolly and at times the pacing of the novel seemed a bit slower than I might have liked. Those are minor complaints on my part though and rather subjective. Ultimately, I found The Girl From the Savoy to be an enjoyable read, and I look forward to reading more by the author. Thank you to those who voted for this one in my April TBR List Poll!

To learn more about Hazel Gaynor and her work, please visit the author on author's website. You can also find her on Twitter and Facebook.

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© 2018, 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.

Where Is Your Bookmark?

Thanks to everyone who voted in my August TBR List Poll! I never got around to posting the winner, but it was not even close.

Today I am featuring excerpts from the winning book, The King Slayer (The Witch Hunter, #2)  by Virginia Boecker, a historical fantasy novel.

A weekly meme where readers share the first sentence of the book they are reading and say what they think. Hosted by the wonderful Gillion Dumas of Rose City Reader.

I sit on the edge of the bed waiting, the day I've feared for months finally here. I look around the room, only there's not much there to distract me. Everything is white: white walls, white curtains, white stone fireplace, even the furniture--bed, wardrobe, and a small dressing table set below a looking glass. On cloudy days, this lack of color is soothing. But on the rare sunny winter day, such as today, the brightness is overwhelming. 

There's a gentle rapping on the door.  

My thoughts: I can see how overwhelming all that white could be--and how it would not help her mood given she is not looking forward to whatever it is she must face next. The opening is a quiet one, easing us in, especially given what is to come in the pages that follow.

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A weekly meme in which readers share a random sentence or two from page 56 or 56% of the book they are reading. Hosted by the wonderful Freda of Freda's Voice.

As we pass the table, I run a finger along the rim of a cold pewter goblet and think, just for a moment, how easy it would be to drop some poison in here. A salting of Belladonna in a cup or on a plate, just a single taste and it would be over in a five-minute show of spasms and screams, a slowing heart and slowing breath. It would be easy. Easier, anyway, than what they were about to do.  [56%]

My thoughts: I haven't quite reached this moment in the novel (although I may have by the time you are reading this), but, let me tell you, things are tense and this scene confirms how much more tense things are about to get.


What do you think? Does this sound like a book you would be interested in reading? 

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Everyone has a favorite and then we also have something we dislike. Like a coin, there are two sides to every question. Each week, Carrie at The Butterfly Reads and Laura from Blue Eye Books ask participants to list what they like and don't like about that week's topic.

This week's topic is Ugly Cover With the Best Story/Gorgeous Cover With the Worst Story

I leaned on Goodreads heavily for help with this one because no books popped into mind instantly. Just looking at the covers of my top and lowest rated books, however, did the trick.

I read Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer in September of 2005, a year before I began blogging. I was keeping a reading journal at the time, however, and recorded some of my thoughts. Although the details are fuzzy, I remember how much I loved the novel. The cover itself does nothing for me, however. It gives no hint at what the book is about and the font and colors hurt my eyes.

I love the cover of John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany. Although normally I prefer the author's name to be smaller than the title. The photograph and contrast in the dark brown and lighter tones more than make up for it. The book left me disappointed when I read it just the same.

Have you read either of these? Can you think of a book whose cover you loved, but the contents left you disappointed? Or how about a book with a cringe-worthy cover that you ended up loving in spite of it?

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Every Friday Coffee Addicted Writer from Coffee Addicted Writer poses a question which participants respond on their own blogs within the week (Friday through Thursday). They then share their links at the main site and visit other participants blogs.

Where do you post your reviews besides your blog? Please list them all so perhaps we can find some new sites. (submitted by Elizabeth @Silver's Reviews)

In addition to posting my bookish thoughts on my blog, I also post them on the Goodreads site and sometimes LibraryThing, when I remember. I post links to my bookish thoughts on my blog's Facebook page and Twitter, although not the entire review.

What about you?

I hope you all have a great weekend! The Nutcracker ballet auditions are this weekend--so you know where we will be. Happy Reading!

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© 2018, 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.

Wishing to Read Wednesday: The Old and the New (#11)

The Old(er)

I have an embarrassing number of unread books sitting on the shelves in my personal library. Carole of Carole's Random Life in Books has given me the perfect excuse to spotlight and discuss those neglected books in her Books from the Backlog feature. After all, even those older books need a bit of love! Not to mention it is reminding me what great books I have waiting for me under my own roof still to read!

Lost Under a Ladder by Linda O. Johnston (Midnight Ink, 2014)

Is it Luck? Or is it Destiny?

Rory Chasen never thought superstitions were real-until her beloved fiance is killed after walking under a ladder. To find closure and the truth about superstitions, Rory takes her dog Pluckie to a town called Destiny, where superstitious beliefs are a way of life.

Rory's visit to Destiny takes an unexpected turn when Pluckie saves Martha, the owner of the Lucky Dog Boutique. While Martha recovers, Rory reluctantly agrees to manage the pet shop for her. But when Martha becomes the prime suspect in the local bookshop owner's murder, Rory can't believe that the sweet old woman would do it. Convinced the real killer is still roaming Destiny's streets, Rory resolves to crack the case before Martha's luck runs out. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read it: This has been sitting on my TBR shelf awhile. Cozy mysteries with dogs or cats on the cover are always hard to resist. At least for me. I have heard good things about this series, and look forward to giving it a try.

Seeker (Seeker #1) by Arwen Elys Dayton (Delacorte Press, 2015)

The night Quin Kincaid takes her Oath, she will become what she has trained to be her entire life. She will become a Seeker. This is her legacy, and it is an honor. 

As a Seeker, Quin will fight beside her two closest companions, Shinobu and John, to protect the weak and the wronged. Together they will stand for light in a shadowy world. 

And she’ll be with the boy she loves–who’s also her best friend. But the night Quin takes her Oath, everything changes. 

Being a Seeker is not what she thought. Her family is not what she thought. Even the boy she loves is not who she thought. And now it’s too late to walk away. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read it: I can only imagine how excited and ready Quin feels stepping into her life--and then for all of that to be quite different than what she expects. I admit it was the cover that initially drew me to this novel, but I do want to know more about Quin and just how upside down her world is about to become.

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The New

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by the marvelous Tressa at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss upcoming release we are excited about that we have yet to read.

Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia
Release Date: September 4, 2018 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books  

There is a place in Minnesota with hundreds of miles of glacial lakes and untouched forests called the Boundary Waters. Ten years ago a man and his son trekked into this wilderness and never returned.

Search teams found their campsite ravaged by what looked like a bear. They were presumed dead until a decade later...the son appeared. Discovered while ransacking an outfitter store, he was violent and uncommunicative and sent to a psychiatric facility. Maya Stark, the assistant language therapist, is charged with making a connection with their high-profile patient. No matter how she tries, however, he refuses to answer questions about his father or the last ten years of his life. 

But Maya, who was abandoned by her own mother, has secrets, too. And as she’s drawn closer to this enigmatic boy who is no longer a boy, she’ll risk everything to reunite him with his father who has disappeared from the known world. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read it: Doesn't this sound intriguing? I want to know what happened at that campsite and the boy's father. Not to mention I am curious about Maya's own secrets!

Ignite the Stars by Maura Milan
Release Date: September 4, 2018 by Albert Whitman & Company

Everyone in the universe knows his name. Everyone in the universe fears him. But no one realizes that notorious outlaw Ia Cocha is a seventeen-year-old girl. 

A criminal mastermind and unrivaled pilot, Ia has spent her life terrorizing the Olympus Commonwealth, the imperialist nation that destroyed her home. When the Commonwealth captures her and her true identity is exposed, they see Ia’s age and talent as an opportunity: by forcing her to serve them, they will prove that no one is beyond their control. 

Soon, Ia is trapped at the Commonwealth’s military academy, desperately plotting her escape. But new acquaintances—including Brinn, a seemingly average student with a closely-held secret, and their charming Flight Master, Knives—cause Ia to question her own alliances. Can she find a way to escape the Commonwealth’s clutches before these bonds deepen? 

In this exhilarating edge-of-your-seat sci-fi adventure—perfect for fans of The Lunar Chronicles—debut author Maura Milan introduces our world to a thrilling new heroine. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read it: Who wouldn't want to read this one after reading that synopsis? From a girl playing the part of a infamous criminal mastermind to a need to escape and interesting sounding friends, I will definitely be reading this one.

The Glass Ocean by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, Karen White
Release Date: September 4, 2018 by William Morrow

May 2013: Her finances are in dire straits and bestselling author Sarah Blake is struggling to find a big idea for her next book. Desperate, she breaks the one promise she made to her Alzheimer’s-stricken mother and opens an old chest that belonged to her great-grandfather, who died when the RMS Lusitania was sunk by a German U-Boat in 1915. What she discovers there could change history. Sarah embarks on an ambitious journey to England to enlist the help of John Langford, a recently disgraced Member of Parliament whose family archives might contain the only key to the long-ago catastrophe. . . . 

April 1915: Southern belle Caroline Telfair Hochstetter’s marriage is in crisis. Her formerly attentive industrialist husband, Gilbert, has become remote, pre-occupied with business . . . and something else that she can’t quite put a finger on. She’s hoping a trip to London in Lusitania’s lavish first-class accommodations will help them reconnect—but she can’t ignore the spark she feels for her old friend, Robert Langford, who turns out to be on the same voyage. Feeling restless and longing for a different existence, Caroline is determined to stop being a bystander, and take charge of her own life. . . . 

Tessa Fairweather is traveling second-class on the Lusitania, returning home to Devon. Or at least, that’s her story. Tessa has never left the United States and her English accent is a hasty fake. She’s really Tennessee Schaff, the daughter of a roving con man, and she can steal and forge just about anything. But she’s had enough. Her partner has promised that if they can pull off this one last heist aboard the Lusitania, they’ll finally leave the game behind. Tess desperately wants to believe that, but Tess has the uneasy feeling there’s something about this job that isn’t as it seems. . . . 

As the Lusitania steams toward its fate, three women work against time to unravel a plot that will change the course of their own lives . . . and history itself. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read it: These three authors names alone are enough to give me a reason to want to read this one, however, it just so happens that the subject matter has pulled me in too. And I do love a good historical fiction novel!


Do any of these books appeal to you? Have you read them?

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© 2018, 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.

Bookish Thoughts: Darkest Heart by Juliette Cross

I love the smell of sex and brimstone in the morning. ~ Opening of Darkest Heart

Darkest Heart (Dominion, #1) by Juliette Cross

Entanged/Amara, 2018
Romance/Fantasy; 348 pgs
Source: E-copy provided by the publisher

I can always count on Juliette Cross to write an addicting novel that has me craving more. Darkest Heart is an apocalyptic novel set during the war between angels and demons, where humans are surviving by a thread. Dommiel is a high demon on the outs with his own kind. He is both powerful and dangerous--not someone you would expect to have a blood vow with an archangel, one he would do anything for. When she asks him to assist an angel in her quest to find another archangel, Dommiel agrees. It has little to do with the beautiful stoic angel in front of him who stirs something deep inside him, although that does not hurt. 

Anya has spent time on the battlefield as a warrior fighting for the angels, having long ago given up her post as a guardian angel. What Dommiel does not know is that she carries the deadly poison of a demon prince and her only hope is to find the Archangel Uriel. She must find him--and fast--or risk coming under the prince's control. 

Anya feels the attraction to Dommiel too, but tries to fight it. She is innocent in her own way--at least when it comes to vice, although can definitely hold her own. Dommiel plays the role of the big bad guy, but he is more complex than that. Although Anya helps melt his dark heart, I got the impression his heart wasn't as dark to start as he would want everyone to believe.  There is definite chemistry between the two characters, and they are well matched in personality and skill. Both of them struggle with whether a match like theirs could possibly work--and, of course, there is the little matter of Anya's secret. 

The world the characters live in is indeed dark. The signs of the war are everywhere and a person (or angel or demon) can never be sure who to trust. The reader meets quite a few different types of characters throughout the novel, from human to witch to angel and demon. The author has crafted a world that is not necessarily one I would want to live in myself, but certainly would visit again. 

Darkest Heart has plenty of action and romance, which is just what I was hoping for when I began reading. I will definitely be reading more in this series in the future. 

On a side note, I once had a cat we called Anya, named after a demon in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. She was definitely more like an angel though.

You can learn more about Juliette Cross and her books on the author's website. You can also find her on Twitter and Facebook.

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© 2018, 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.

Wishing to Read Wednesday: Old & New (#10)

Books from the Backlog is a weekly meme, hosted by the wonderful Carole of Carole's Random Life in Books to spotlight and discuss the neglected books sitting on our shelves still waiting to be read.. Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by the marvelous Tressa at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released.

The Old

Murder is Binding (Booktown Mystery #1) by Lorna Barrett (Berkley Prime Crime, 2008)

The streets of Stoneham, New Hampshire, are lined with bookstores...and paved with murder.

When she moved to Stoneham, city slicker Tricia Miles met nothing but friendly faces. And when she opened her mystery bookstore, she met friendly competition. But when she finds Doris Gleason dead in her own cookbook store, killed by a carving knife, the atmosphere seems more cutthroat than cordial. Someone wanted to get their hands on the rare cookbook that Doris had recently purchased-and the locals think that someone is Tricia. To clear her name, Tricia will have to take a page out of one of her own mysteries-and hunt down someone who isn't killing by the book. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read it: I love a good cozy and how can I resist this one set in a mystery bookstore?!

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Villette by Charlotte Brontë (1853)

Villette is Charlotte Brontë's powerful autobiographical novel of one woman's search for true love.

With neither friends nor family, Lucy Snowe sets sail from England to find employment in a girls' boarding school in the small town of Villette. There, she struggles to retain her self-possession in the face of unruly pupils, the hostility of headmistress Madame Beck, and her own complex feelings - first for the school's English doctor and then for the dictatorial professor Paul Emanuel. Drawing on her own deeply unhappy experiences as a governess in Brussels, Charlotte Brontë's autobiographical novel, the last published during her lifetime, is a powerfully moving study of loneliness and isolation, and the pain of unrequited love, narrated by a heroine determined to preserve an independent spirit in the face of adverse circumstances. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read it: Jane Eyre is one of my all time favorite novels, and I have heard wonderful things about Villette too. Someday, I would like to dive into this one set in a girls' boarding school. 

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The New

Toil Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft by Tess Sharp & Jessica Spotswood

Release Date: August 28, 2018 by Harlequin Teen

A young adult fiction anthology of 15 stories featuring contemporary, historical, and futuristic stories featuring witchy heroines who are diverse in race, class, sexuality, religion, geography, and era.

Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

Glinda the Good Witch. Elphaba the Wicked Witch. Willow. Sabrina. Gemma Doyle. The Mayfair Witches. Ursula the Sea Witch. Morgan le Fey. The three weird sisters from Macbeth.

History tells us women accused of witchcraft were often outsiders: educated, independent, unmarried, unwilling to fall in line with traditional societal expectations.

Bold. Powerful. Rebellious.

A bruja’s traditional love spell has unexpected results. A witch’s healing hands begin to take life instead of giving it when she ignores her attraction to a fellow witch. In a terrifying future, women are captured by a cabal of men crying witchcraft and the one true witch among them must fight to free them all. In a desolate past, three orphaned sisters prophesize for a murderous king. Somewhere in the present, a teen girl just wants to kiss a boy without causing a hurricane.

From good witches to bad witches, to witches who are a bit of both, this is an anthology of diverse witchy tales from a collection of diverse, feminist authors. The collective strength of women working together—magically or mundanely--has long frightened society, to the point that women’s rights are challenged, legislated against, and denied all over the world. Toil & Trouble delves deep into the truly diverse mythology of witchcraft from many cultures and feminist points of view, to create modern and unique tales of witchery that have yet to be explored. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read it: Just mention witches and I am all over it. This collection appeals to me even more because it features a diverse cast of characters from all walks of life. I cannot wait to read it.

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Stars Uncharted by S.K. Dunstall
Release Date: August 14, 2018 by Ace Books

A ragtag band of explorers are looking to make the biggest score in the galaxy in the brand-new science fiction adventure novel from the national bestselling author of Linesman. 

Three people who are not who they claim to be: 

Nika Rik Terri, body modder extraordinaire, has devoted her life to redesigning people's bodies right down to the molecular level. Give her a living body and a genemod machine, and she will turn out a work of art. 

Josune Arriola is crew on the famous explorer ship the Hassim, whose memory banks contain records of unexplored worlds worth a fortune. But Josune and the rest of the crew are united in their single-minded pursuit of the most famous lost planet of all. 

Hammond Roystan, the captain of the rival explorer ship, The Road, has many secrets. Some believe one of them is the key to finding the lost world. 

Josune's captain sends her to infiltrate Roystan's ship, promising to follow. But when the Hassim exits nullspace close to Roystan's ship, it's out of control, the crew are dead, and unknown Company operatives are trying to take over. Narrowly escaping and wounded, Roystan and Josune come to Nika for treatment--and with problems of her own, she flees with them after the next Company attack. 

Now they're in a race to find the lost world...and stay alive long enough to claim the biggest prize in the galaxy. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read this: There are certain keywords that are sure to catch my attention and in this one, "ragtag band  of explorers" was it. This sounds like it will be a lot of fun!


Have you read any of these? Do these sound like something you would want to read if not?

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© 2018, 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.