ReadingAdventures

After a whirlwind trip to Perth we are back. We had a really good time, balanced between spending time with my grandparents, dad and other family members and making sure that the ten year old wasn't too bored by doing some fun things! More details will follow later I am sure.

I managed to read a couple of books and I was planning to post about them when I found something far more interesting to talk about! I am sure that a lot of people will already have heard about this, but I have to thank Libby from Historicalfictiononline.com who pointed me in the direction of an interview with the totally delectable Richard Armitage over at Vulpes Libris. He talks about what he likes to read, and some of the roles he has played!

Click here to read the interview.

He just seems like an all round nice guy! Le sigh!

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

This week's Mr Linky is going to be up at Eva's blog, so head on over there to add your name to the list!

I thought I would start with something a bit more like anti library loot! This pile of books here are the books that I am having to return unread to the library as I drive past the library on the way to the airport this week!



It's fair to say that I have had a VERY average reading month so far. I haven't actually finished a single book yet. I am hoping that that might change while I am away as I will have at least 7 hours reading time on the flights, although they are early morning and late night flights so that might not happen either.

Of course, not reading doesn't mean I am not borrowing! Here are the books that I picked up this week:




Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich - I stopped buying this series a few books ago, but they are generally still feel good reads. I was pretty early on the list of requests for this one so I am getting a nearly new book to read.












Kissing Sin by Keri Arthur - the second Riley Jensen book. This series is set in Melbourne and so has added interest to me.














City of Bones by Cassandra Clare - I have borrowed this book before but had to return it unread. Second time lucky perhaps?









The Man from Stone Creek by Linda Lael Miller - I recently read and really enjoyed the third or fourth book in this series. Now I am going back to the beginning!











Love Walked in by Marisa de los Santos - I saw a review for this over at Medieval Bookworm and decided that it sounded good so added it straight to the request list.














Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber - this is kind of part of the Blossom Street series. Haven't read one of those for a while so thought I would give it a go.










The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - I really enjoyed Half of a Yellow Sun and this is her new book. I am the first person to borrow it as well! Yay!

Historical Tapestry is turning 2 and we have a really busy week coming up!

Head on over and check out the giveaways, the guest posts and an exciting new feature announcement! (At least we think it is exciting LOL!)

Talking of excitement, when I got out of bed today I was planning to have a couple of days off this week and not do too much other than spend time on the computer, but that all changed while I was having a shower! Suddenly I just got this feeling that I really, really need to go to Perth.

That in itself isn't all that surprising. I originally come from there, and a lot of my family lives there including my dad, my aunts and uncles, my cousins, and my grandparents who are 89 and 99 years of age. Every now and again I think about going back because I haven't been over for a few years, but for whatever reason I haven't been able to. Today though, I had the thought, and now we are going for 5 days! Of course, I should be packing instead of blogging, but you have to have your priorities right.

I will be trying to schedule a couple of posts at least, but we will see how we go really.

In other exciting news, I bought two new tops tonight, both of which were smaller than the size I normally wear! Woo-hoo!

It's been a good day. Anyway, I need to go and pack because tomorrow night we are going to see WWE Wrestling so there won't be any time to pack then!

But a challenge none the less!

The lovely ladies at Lights, Camera...History have come up with this challenge where the idea is to watch between 2 and 12 period drama movies in the twelve months from 1 July 2009. You can choose between a variety of different levels and a variety of different themes. For full details click here.

At this point I have said that I will choose the Becoming Interested option, with my themes being Victorian Mist and Kings and Queens. I probably will try to fit in a Bonnets and Hessian viewing as well (Regency).

I am half considering combining this with the Everything Austen challenge, because I still haven't managed to read any Austen yet and there is a movie component in that challenge as well. I haven't yet decided to commit to this one, but there is every possibility that I will!

How is it that Jon Bon Jovi still looks so great??

I have been having a very musical couple of days. Yesterday I spent the whole day listening to Keith Urban, this morning it was a preview of Rob Thomas's new album then a whole heap of his old songs, and then I came across this clip that I thought that some of you might be interested in.

Bon Jovi have recorded a version of Stand By Me that is available for free download in support of the Iranian people. The other person singing is an exiled Iranian singer called Andy Madadian and part of the song is being sung in Farsi

While it may have looked like there wasn't much happening post wise in the last couple of days, I have been busy behind the scenes writing a guest post for Rosie's Riveters.

Aarti from Booklust is a long time book friend and she has come up with a fabulous idea. In her words:

Rosie's Riveters is a weekly posting written by Booklust readers about riveting females in literature. Many readers have strong reactions to the women in the books they read- either very positive or very negative. These are the characters we find riveting, for good reasons or bad ones, and they form the population of Rosie's Riveters. Through this weekly post, we can discuss females we love to hate, or love to love. And maybe, just maybe- we can determine why we react so strongly to them.

The female character that I have chosen to feature in my Rosie's Riveters post is a character from history, Eleanor of Aquitaine.

You can check out my guest post here.

I have had history on the mind this week. Normally that is because I am reading a historical fiction book, but this time it is more recent than that - it is my own history. This isn't just a random thing, but rather than I was friended on Facebook by a person from my teenage years, and to be honest it has kind of spooked me a little.

I have no idea whether this person knows it or not, but he was my first love. Even if I had of found something about him on the net, I would have just read it, stored it away, but I never would have contacted him, so it is kind of strange that he contacted me. Over the years I have heard snippets about what he is up to because my mother sees him occasionally. That in itself really annoys me because she always tells me how well he has done for himself, but when we were going out, she did everything, and I mean everything she could to break us up, and said some truly horrible things about him. I had to think about whether I was going to accept or not, mainly because just the thought of seeing him again, or even just chatting to him, for the first time in 20 plus years freaks me out! This isn't about the possibility of something happening with him because he is married with kids, and lives in another city, but just running into him somewhere would see me running to hide pretty much. Part of that is because I am not proud of my appearance, but I am trying to do something about that now.

I know I am not alone in over thinking things like this. I'm not sure if it is because I have been by myself for so long now, or just because I am a girl, or because he was my first love, or what, but it seems that for the short term at least I will be revisiting my past, or at least the pleasant parts.

No matter what else happens, it has to have been a good reading month when you get a 5/5 read during the month, and I even managed to write a couple of reviews as well! Go me!

The books I read in June were:

Why Shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer 3.5/5
In the Woods by Tana French 4/5
To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt 4/5
Imitation in Death by J D Robb 4/5
Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur 4.5/5
Betrayed by P C Cast and Kristin Cast 4/5
The Bridegroom by Linda Lael Miller 4/5
A Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander 4/5
Made to be Broken by Kelley Armstrong 4.5/5
A Hollow Crown by Helen Hollick 4/5
The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley 5/5
Sin and Scandal in England by Melody Thomas 3/5
The French Mistress: A Novel of the Duchess of Portsmouth and King Charles II by Susan Holloway Scott 4/5

I don't think I have made a lot of progress on my challenges this month.

I am still working my way towards completion of the 100+ Challenge. At the end of June I have completely 74 books so far this year, so three quarters of the way there.

I did manage to finish a couple of challenges though. The first was The Victorian Challenge. The three books I read for that were The Water Horse by Julia Gregson, Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn and, this month, A Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander.

The second challenge that I completed this month was the Pub 09 challenge. The idea of this challenge was to read 9 books that were being published this year. Both The Bridegroom and The French Mistress fit this criteria, so another challenge done! (Completely irrelevant question warning! Am I the only person who always wants to type bridgegroom instead of bridegroom?)

There is one other challenge that is now complete and that is the I Suck At Challenges challenge! Thanks to Chris from Book-a-rama for coming up with such a fun idea!

I have to say that my current challenges section on my sidebar is looking decidely bare now. Maybe I need to go and find some new challenges to join in on. Any suggestions?

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

As far as my own Library Loot goes this week, I have a bit of a mixed bag genre wise as well.




Chosen by PC Cast and Kristin Cast - next book in the House of Night series (YA)













An Affair Before Christmas by Eloisa James - I always think I should like Eloisa James' books better than I really do. After a break of a few months, I am thinking that maybe, just maybe, this book will work for me. (Romance)










Named of the Dragon by Susanna Kearsley - After loving The Winter Sea so much I just had to look at the library catalogue to see what other books were available from her. The answer is a bit disappointing because this is actually the only other one on the catalogue. I will just have to buy all the others! (Not 100% sure what genre this one is really)








Harold the King by Helen Hollick - another chunkster from Helen Hollick. I read A Hollow Crown a week or so again and enjoyed it, so now I am trying to read the rest of her backlist as well. (Historical Fiction)











The Rabbits by John Marsden - The reason why I have borrowed this book is because it is illustrated by Shaun Tan, and I just love his work. The good thing about this book is that I should be able to read it in about 10 or 15 minutes, but then I might need to look through it a couple of more times before I actually return it! (Children's book)