Book Haul~ Where Have I Been Lately!!???

If you've been visiting me at all in the past few weeks, you know I've been on a reading blitz!!  I have hardly had time for anything else except reading and reviewing.  Which is the elixir of my life, as you know.  But, it makes for very little reporting of books coming into my door these days.

I decided to give you an update on my latest; although, you know I'm leaving tons out just because there's no room and I can't list the links of all of them!!  I'll picture more at the bottom of the page....

Here they are and why:

Purchased at Barnes & Noble

I'm a total fan of John Irving. I don't think he can write a bad book...  On the inside flap: "A compelling novel of desire, secrecy and sexual identity..."   Well, I'm there already.  I don't know about you!!  Love John Irving.

You may want to purchase this through Amazon

Inside the flap:  When Bitterblue became queen at ten years old, she thought her father's murder meant the end of his violent, sociopathic influence.  She was wrong.

Wooohhh!! I had to have this one.  I started the Graceling series a couple of years ago, and now want to get back to it.

Gorgeous cover!!

"

You need a hard copy of this beauty from Barnes & Noble

First, we need to talk about this author.  Do you remember her from "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane?"  Fabulous author!!  I'm so looking forward to reading this.

Inside the flap reads:

....entrancing historical novel set in Boston in 1951, where a young woman stands on the cusp of a new century, torn between loss and love, driven to seek answers in the depths of a crystal ball.

Here are others I received in the mail for reviewing:

The King's Agent     by  Donna Russo  Morin     "To the casual observer, Battista della Palla is an avid art collector, or perhaps a nimble thief.  In reality, the cunning Italian is an agent for Francois, the Kind of France, for whom he procures the greatest masterpieces of the day by any means necessary.  

From her earliest days, Genevieve Gravois has known one fact above all:  Francois I, King of France, is her enemy.   Yet..one day she will be forced to make deadly decisions about where her heart and her ultimate loyalties lie."  Purchase her book here:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-kings-agent-donna-russo-morin/1103264816?ean=9780758246820

Guilded Age  by Claire McMillan    "Ellie Harr made a brilliant marriage in New York, but it ended in a scandalous divorce and thirty days in Sierra Tucson rehab.  Now she comes home to Cleveland to find that, despite feminist lip service, she will still need a husband to be socially complete..."

A Violet Season  by Kathy Leonard Czepiel   One of my new contemporary author favorites, Taylor Polites, who wrote "The Rebel Wife," says about this book:  "The Violet Season" is a moving and detailed look at the hopes and hardships women faced at the turn of the last century. Her narrative is hopeful, painful and empowering..."

This Beautiful Life  by Helen Schulman   "When 15 yr. old Jake Bergamot receives and then forwards to a friend~a sexually explicit video that an eighth-grade admirer sent him, the video goes viral within hours.  The scandal that ensue threatens to shatter his family's sens of security and idenity~and, ultimately, their happiness."

You may want to look for this one at your local book store.

Oh my gosh, I love this little book.  I love the look of it, the size of it, the deckle edges and the gingham plaid of it.  I love the heart-shaped pie tin of it on the back.  I love the red and white lacy spine of the bookcover of it. The rolling pin and cherry pie of it.  And I love the way the author writes so out-spokenly of her widowhood and

 how the mundane baking of pies got her through it.

I'm taking my time reading this book.  It's another "night stand" book, for sure.  I just love it!!!



This is one you'd have to pre-order.  It was sent to me as a book to review.  C.W. Gortner is a wonderful historical fiction author whose books I've reviewed before.  I like his serious scholarship, mixed with his willingness to give us strong protrayals of brilliant women in history such as Isabella of Castile (Spain) and "Catherine de Medici."  I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing this for my blog.

So, there they are...my books hauled and in the mail for May; or, at least some of them.

Thanks to publishers:

Simon and Schuster

Ballantine Books

Harlequin

Harper/Perennial

Thank you for stopping to see me today.  I know you have lots of places to go and you're busy.  I appreciate your comments...

Deb