Weekly Mews: Happy 2020/New Books/January TBR List Poll (Please Vote!)

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by 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 The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz where participants discuss what they are reading and other bookish topics. I am linking up to Nicole of Feed Your Addiction's Monthly Wrap-Up Post, where any book bloggers who write monthly wrap-up posts can link up and visit other bloggers to see what they have been reading.   I am linking to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Team Tynga's Reviews and Marlene of Reading Reality a meme in which participants share what new books came their way recently. 

Happy New Year! I hope your year has gotten off to a good start. We brought in the New Year at home and enjoyed our traditional hot fudge sundaes. There may have been a little banging of pots and pans as is our tradition too. I am looking forward to seeing what 2020 holds for all of us, especially what you all are reading!

New to the Shelves:

I was excited to find books under the tree Christmas morning!

Great Goddesses: Life Lessons from Myths and Monsters by Nikita Gill

Harry Potter Illustrated Box Set (includes the first three books) by J.K. Rowling, 

illustrated by Jim Kay

Mouse was super excited to find these two gems under the tree just for her:

Tales from a Not-So-Talented Pop Star (Dork Diaries, #3) by Rachel Renee Russell

Princess in Black and the Bathtime Battle (#7) by Shannon and Dean Hale, 

illustrated by LeUyen Pham

My husband's Christmas spoils:

Empire of the Grass (The Last of Osten Ard, #2) by Tad Williams 

The Art and Flair of Mary Blair: An Appreciation by John Canemaker

Walt Disney's Disneyland by Chris Nichols

Mouse could not resist begging for a visit to Barnes & Noble to spend a gift card she had received for the Holidays:

Sisters First by Jenna Bush Hager & Barbara Pierce Bush, illustrated by Ramona Kaulitzki

Frozen: The Magical Guide

I bought four e-books with an Amazon gift card I received:

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Between Jobs (The City Between, #1) by W.R. Gingell

The Silent Woman (Cat Carlisle, #1) by Terry Lynn Thomas

Honor Among Thieves (The Honors, #1) by Rachel Caine & Ann Aguirre

Have you read any of these? If so, what did you think? Do any of them sound like books you might like? 

What I Am Reading: I am reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, and enjoying it. It is the story of Achilles and Patroclus, set around the Trojan War. I came across high praise for the novel last spring when I was considering Circe by the same author (still haven't read), and decided to add it to my TBR pile. So far it is as good as everyone said it was.

I am also reading the sixth book in the Invisible Library series, The Secret Chapter. The author mentioned something about a heist in the opening acknowledgement section, and so I am eager to see where this installment is going to go. I love a good heist story! And of course anything having to do with books, dragons, the fae, and magic are my catnip.

What I Am Watching: My husband and I watched the first season of The Mandalorian on Disney+.  For those unfamiliar with the series, it is a Star Wars spin-off about a bounty hunter. We both love it.  We also were able to see the new Star Wars movie, The Rise of Skywalker. Despite what the critics are saying, we quite enjoyed it. I am sure after my husband sees it a second time, he will have more to say though. I am just in it for an entertaining movie, but he takes the series more seriously.

We also finally got caught up on Stumptown, another television show we both enjoy watching together. It's a gritty crime drama about a female P.I. I love that there are so many women in the show that are in power positions.

Off the Blog: We had a nice holiday. I took a couple days off, but did have to work part of the time over the last two weeks. My mom was in town during that time and we had a nice visit. My in-laws were able to come for a couple days at Christmas time. I did not do much during my time off--by choice. Yay! It was nice to do nothing, read a little, and spend time with my family. This next week will find us back to our usual routine.

This Past Month In Reading Mews:

• Bookish Mewsings: Sweep of the Blade/Taken/Warcross
• Bookish Mewsings: Well Met by Jen DeLuca & Pretty Guilty Women by Gina LaManna
• Bookish Mewsings: The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow & The Girl in Red by Christina Henry
• Bookish Mewsings: More Than a Touch of Holiday Romance
• Bookish Mewsings: The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter by Hazel Gaynor
• First Sentences of 2019
• Last Sentences of 2019 (Spoiler Alert)
• Books Read in 2019
• 2019: A Year in Review

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

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). 

Welcome to a new year! My TBR List is one of my favorite memes because I can use all the help I can get choosing my next book to read. Narrowing it down to three choices for you to vote on can be challenging, and I just could not settle on three this time around. So four it is. I promise I won't make this a habit. All of these books are first in a series with sequels being released soon, if they haven't been already--and those sound especially good too!  I hope you will help me decide which one of these great sounding books to read.

Gilded Wolves (Gilded Wolves, #1) by Roshani Chokoshi

No one believes in them. But soon no one will forget them.

It's 1889. The city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance.

To hunt down the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin calls upon a band of unlikely experts: An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian banished from his home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in arms if not blood.

Together, they will join Séverin as he explores the dark, glittering heart of Paris. What they find might change the course of history--but only if they can stay alive. [Goodreads Summary]

The Late Great Wizard (Wayward Mages, #1) by Sara Hanover

A young woman must work with a magician who is not what he seems to find her father in this new contemporary portal fantasy series.

With her father vanished under suspicious circumstances and her old life destroyed, Tessa Andrews is determined to pick up the pieces and forge ahead. If only their borrowed house didn't shake and rumble as if haunted. But at least she and her mom have a roof over their heads, so her luck couldn't be all bad, could it?

As if to prove her wrong, Tessa gets an urgent call for help one night from crusty old Professor Brandard, one of the people on her charity meals route. She dashes over, only to find the house in flames and the professor gone. A handsome young man steps out of the ashes to request her assistance, claiming to be the professor and a Phoenix wizard. She not only has to believe in him, but in magic, for an ancient evil is awakening and it will take the two of them, plus a few shady friends, to stand against it.

Because the rejuvenation ritual has gone horribly wrong. The late, great wizard desperately needs to get his mojo back, for only if Brandard regains all his magic do they stand any chance of defeating this deadliest of perils. [Goodreads Summary]

An Easy Death (Gunnie Rose, #1) by Charlaine Harris

Set in a fractured United States, in the southwestern country now known as Texoma. A world where magic is acknowledged but mistrusted, especially by a young gunslinger named Lizbeth Rose. Battered by a run across the border to Mexico Lizbeth Rose takes a job offer from a pair of Russian wizards to be their local guide and gunnie. For the wizards, Gunnie Rose has already acquired a fearsome reputation and they’re at a desperate crossroad, even if they won’t admit it. They’re searching through the small border towns near Mexico, trying to locate a low-level magic practitioner, Oleg Karkarov. The wizards believe Oleg is a direct descendant of Grigori Rasputin, and that Oleg’s blood can save the young tsar’s life.

As the trio journey through an altered America, shattered into several countries by the assassination of Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Depression, they’re set on by enemies. It’s clear that a powerful force does not want them to succeed in their mission. Lizbeth Rose is a gunnie who has never failed a client, but her oath will test all of her skills and resolve to get them all out alive. [Goodreads Summary]

Spectacle (Spectacle, #1) by Jodie Lynn Zdrok

A YA murder mystery in which a young reporter must use her supernatural visions to help track down a killer targeting the young women of Paris.

Paris, 1887.

Sixteen-year-old Nathalie Baudin writes the daily morgue column for Le Petit Journal. Her job is to summarize each day's new arrivals, a task she finds both fascinating and routine. That is, until the day she has a vision of the newest body, a young woman, being murdered--from the perspective of the murderer himself.

When the body of another woman is retrieved from the Seine days later, Paris begins to buzz with rumors that this victim may not be the last. Nathalie's search for answers sends her down a long, twisty road involving her mentally ill aunt, a brilliant but deluded scientist, and eventually into the Parisian Catacombs. As the killer continues to haunt the streets of Paris, it becomes clear that Nathalie's strange new ability may make her the only one who can discover the killer's identity--and she'll have to do it before she becomes a target herself. [Goodreads Summary]

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

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