Time to round up what I've been reading for the last month! For February I'm joining Leigh Kramer's challenge to read books that I already own…I'm notorious for ignoring the fabulous books sitting on my bookshelves and picking up shiny new ones at the library or bookstore. Once I finished up my last library stash I've been working my way through the backlog on my kindle and to-be-read shelf. And yes, I keep all the books I haven't read together on one bookshelf. #booknerd
What are you reading this month? If you're looking for inspiration, be sure to check out the Twitterature link up today on Modern Mrs. Darcy…I always find so many new books to add to my Goodreads list. Oh, and if you're a Goodreads fan too you can find me here! (
Notes from a Blue Bike by Tsh Oxenreider
I'm sure you've seen this one all over the blogosphere this month! Tsh's message of intentionally slowing down and creating a life worth living really resonated with me. You can read my more in-depth review here. Don't wait too long to start this one-it lives up to all the hype.
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
This novel tells the story of Ernest Hemingway's first wife and their years in Paris before he was a success. Their relationship was fascinating and flawed, but McLain made every moment compelling. Now I'm dying to dig in and find out more about Hadley's later life and read more by Hemingway himself, which to me is sign of a really good historical novel.
Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss
Half grammar how-to book, half funny diatribe about modern punctuation (or lack there of!). Sometimes hysterical, sometimes a bit slow, but a good refresher either way.
Whisper of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn
A novella prequel to Raybourn's forthcoming City of Jasmine. This one really focused on setting up the next story but had fun cameo's by some of the characters from her last novel, Spear of Summer Grass. It all centers around a spectacular New Years party in London thrown to send off the first of the World War I soldiers. Raybourn's novels are always well plotted, witty and smart with the perfect blend of mystery and romance. I'm very excited for City of Jasmine to release in March! Oh and bonus-the novella is free for the Kindle and Nook!
Up next: The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart, which is book 3 in one of my favorite young adult series.
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I read Eats, Shoots and Leaves when it first came out and I loved it! I'm such a grammar geek and this really appealed to me. Also, I have no idea how I've missed The Paris Wife - I love Hemingway and this looks like a fabulous read.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to hear someone's take on The Paris Wife who is a Hemingway fan. I hadn't read any of his work in years, but now I really want to-especially A Moveable Feast!
ReplyDeletethe Jasmine books sound great -- between Downton Abbey and Maisie Dobbs, I am becoming quite a WW1 junkie. =)
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of good ones set in that time frame! Charles Todd writes another series featuring a former nurse and Barbara Cleverly writes one about a former intelligence officer turned policeman (Joe Sandilands) that is excellent-the first few take place in India just after the war and are my favorites!
ReplyDeleteI love a Moveable Feast! His writing is so sparse and spare but I always get such emotion from it. There aren't a lot of authors who can do that, I think.
ReplyDeleteNotes From a Blue Bike and The Paris Wife are both on my to-read list! The Jasmine series sounds intriguing, and I enjoyed Eats, Shoots and Leaves! You're right - it was a nice refresher! Great reviews, Moira! I was excited to finally join Twitterature myself this month! :)
ReplyDeleteEats, shoots and leaves is one of my all-time favs! And Notes From a Blue Bike is on my list of to-reads. Glad to hear you think it lives up to the hype! :) That makes me look forward to it more.
ReplyDeleteI definitely want to read Notes from a Blue Bike - I love Tsh's blog and the whole concept of the book in general.
ReplyDeleteI loved Eats, Shoots, and Leaves! So much grammar-geeky fun. And I've only read book 1 in the Mysterious Benedict Society series so far, but I can't wait to read the rest! So fun.
ReplyDeleteI have been wanting to read Eats, Shoots, and Leaves for a long time now! Whisper of Jasmine sounds great... I love reading about that time period. I've noticed the "wife of a famous, yet jerky, husband" books are pretty popular lately (The Paris Wife, Aviator's wife, etc.) They're certainly fascinating!
ReplyDeleteYes, there's been quite a run of those books lately! I still want to read Z (the Zelda Fitzgerald one) but I think I need to take a breather from them for a little bit :) I really do want to learn more about that community of ExPats in Paris during that time period though, it is all fascinating!
ReplyDeleteIt is just a fun series! I can't wait until my boys are a little older to introduce them to it. The first one is still my favorite, but the others are definitely good reads.
ReplyDeleteYay! So excited that you joined in Ginger! Isn't is fun? My to-read list is probably has more books on it than I will ever be able to read and yet I always find more to read in this linkup :)
ReplyDeleteSo true! In fact, there was a lot of discussion in the Paris Wife about his attempts to get that style down just right.
ReplyDeleteIt was a great read! And I never felt stressed or guilty that I might not be able to "live up" to an ideal while reading it, which sometimes happens to me with that genre of books and made me enjoy it all the more.
ReplyDeleteI just finished The Paris Wife too, and enjoyed it! I read a book about Frank Lloyd Wright's girlfriend a couple of years ago that lead me down a rabbit hole for months. It can be fascinating. And Tsh's book is so great isn't it?!
ReplyDeleteI loved Eats, Shoots and Leaves. I teach a course in which my students are about to embark on a grammar exercise, and I have this cartoon I post: it says "Punctuation saves lives" and there's a picture of a grandma in a rocking chair with the words "Let's eat, Grandma." So that book was right up my alley.
ReplyDeleteIt really can be! I feel like every time I finish one of those books I spent hours on Google trying to figure out what the people really looked like and what happened after the book finished.
ReplyDeleteHa! The grammar cartoons get me every time :)
ReplyDeleteI loved the two books in the Mysterious Benedict Society that I read. Such good, fun books. And Notes from a Blue Bike - exactly what you said about not feeling guilty about living up to an ideal. Good, good book. =)
ReplyDeleteI have The Paris Wife. Can't wait to read it. Eats, Shoots and Leaves - I'm off to add that to my to-read list on Goodreads now ...
ReplyDeleteIt was such a fun series! So far the 3rd isn't quite as good as the first 2 but still a really fun read! And yes, Tsh's book is so, so good. One of my best reads this year so far!
ReplyDeleteI did end up with a good month of books! The best way to start off the year I think :) So glad you stopped by!
ReplyDeleteIt was fun! Very dry British humor…if only she had written more grammar books :)
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