Elley the Book Otter

Down the TBR Hole #1

Blogger Lisa at Lost in a Story had this great idea that she calls "Down the TBR Hole." I heard about this over on The Ravenclaw Library's blog and was inspired to join in!

Here's the scoop:

You know this feeling: your Goodreads TBR pile keeps growing and growing, and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You keep adding, but you add more than you actually read. And then when you’re scrolling through your list, you realize that you have no idea what half the books are about and why you added them!

It woks like this:

Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
Order on ascending date added.
Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
Read the synopses of the books
Decide: keep it or should it go?

Remember to keep track of where you left off so you know where to start the following week! My goal is to do 10 a week. Right now my Want to Read shelf on Goodreads is at 2,555 - which is a MONSTROUS amount of books, and even if I never added another book (which is, frankly, not going to happen) I don't think I could finish them all in my lifetime. They go all the back to 2009, so some of them have been hanging on there for almost 10 years... Heh, yeah, time to clean it out.

With this in addition to the #BeatTheBacklist challange, who knows - maybe I'll get my TBR pile down so a somewhat sort of manageable size.

Without further ado, here we go!

Dune by Frank Herbert
I mean, this one is basically a classic, plus I own a physical copy of it.
Decision: Keep

By Mercedes Lackey: Winds of Fate, Winds of Change, Winds of Fury, The Oathbound, Oathbreakers, Oathblood, The Black Gryphon, Storm Warning, Storm Rising, Storm Breaking, The Silver Gryphon, Owlflight, Owlsight, The Lark & The Wren, Owl Knight, The Elven Bane, Elvenblood, Alta, Sanctuary, Elvenborn, The Robin & The Kestrel, If I Pay Thee Not in Gold, The Eagle & The Nightingales, Bedlam's Bard, Four & Twenty Blackbirds, Knight of Ghosts and Shadows, The Phoenix Unchained, The Phoenix Endangered
OK, this is a giant list of 28 (if I counted right?) books, but I'm going to just count it as one and make a mass decision to release them all back into the wild. I love Mercedes Lackey and the Valdemar books I've read (The Last Herald Mage Trilogy, The Arrows of the Queen trilogy, The 500 Kingdoms series, all her Elemental Mages books...) but the woman just has too extensive of a backlog to try to read them all, and I frankly just don't care for some of her series/trilogies. If these stumble across my way later in life and I feel compelled to read them, I will, but for now:
Decision: Go

Babyville by Jane Green
I think I'd added this after reading a few other books by Jane Green.
Decision: Go

Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner
Combines faerie lore with a post-apocalypic world - what's not to love? Plus, Tamora Pierce reviewed it and rated it 5 stars.
Decision: Keep

Graceling by Kristin Cashore
I own a physical copy of this book, and my husband really liked the series.
Decision: Keep

The Faerie Path by Allan Freewin Jones
Didn't get very good reviews.
Decision: Go

Julie & Julia by Julie Powell
Added this when the movie came out and I devoured everything Julia. Eh, I saw the movie, good enough.
Decision: Go

The Trouble With Magic by Madelyn Alt
Cozy mystery, I'll read it someday if it comes across my path and I feel like it, but it really doesn't need to stay on my Goodreads list.
Decision: Go

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
This is one of my BFFs favorite books, so I'd better keep it and actually read it someday.
Decision: Keep

Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland
I must have been on a historical fiction kick, not sure why I added this way back in 2009... Haha.
Decision: Go

Total Kept: 4 I did so good you guys!! Got my To Read shelf from 2,555 down to 2,524. Only a BILLION more weeks to go! Hahaha! Since I'm in the mood to purge, I'm actually going to go keep going so next week I (hopefully) start with a number smaller than 2,524. I'll mention a list of ones I decided to keep (but won't post covers, my decision making process, or titles of ones I deleted, in the interest of not boring my few readers to tears) and then go through the next 10.

Book Review: Chasing Christmas Eve by Jill Shalvis

Chasing Christmas Eve (Heartbreaker Bay #4) by Jill Shalvis

Rating: 5 Stars

Published September 26th 2017 by Avon

Summary: Meet cute...

Run for the hills—temporarily. That's Colbie Albright's plan when she flees New York for San Francisco. Wrangling her crazy family by day and writing a bestselling YA fantasy series by night has taken its toll. In short, Colbie's so over it that she's under it. She's also under the waters of a historic San Francisco fountain within an hour of arrival. Fortunately, the guy who fishes Colbie out has her looking forward to Christmas among strangers. But she's pretty sure Spencer Baldwin won't be a stranger for long.

Make merry...

Spence's commitment to hiding from the Ghosts of Relationships Past means he doesn't have to worry about the powerful—okay, crazy hot chemistry—he's got with Colbie. Just because she can laugh at anything, especially herself... just because she's gorgeous and a great listener just because she gets Spence immediately doesn't mean he won't be able to let Colbie go. Does it?

and hope for a miracle.

Now the clock's ticking for Colbie and Spence: Two weeks to cut loose. Two weeks to fall hard. Two weeks to figure out how to make this Christmas last a lifetime.

(from Goodreads)

Review: It is a truth universally known that a book that requires the reader to immediately go request the rest of the series from the library must be rated 5 stars.

I'm pretty sure Colbie is my spirit animal (except my mom and brother aren't awful, thanks very much). I love that she's a YA author (and come on, what book blogger doesn't love a good book about a writer who is passionate about her writing?) and that she can laugh at herself. Colbie and Spence both have a self-deprecating sense of humor that I really like, and the development of their relationship was fun to read. There is a part with Spence's female friends taking Colbie to girls' night that make me cry for her, but I won't say more than that because I don't want to spoil it. Suffice it to say that Chasing Christmas Even made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me smile like a total goofball hard enough that my husband asked me what on earth I was reading that put that doofy look on my face!

Chasing Christmas Eve is the 4th book in the Heartbreaker Bay series. I didn't know that going into reading this book, but it became obvious partway through by the sheer number of supporting characters in Spence's life. I even correctly guess that it was the 4th book, based on the information that was tossed out that of Spence's Tribe there are three couples. (Take that, Sherlock!) While this is the 4th in a series, it can absolutely be read at a stand alone. There might be some minor spoilers for the earlier books, but nothing you wouldn't already know from reading the back cover blurbs. It was a little confusing trying to keep all of the side characters straight, so I pretty much just let it go and stopped caring who Elle was in relation to Archer in relation to Joe (though as I type this, I think I actually DO know that relationships, so yay?) and just focused on the main storyline and the fact that Spence has a lot of friends who care about him. I did go request books 1 and 3 from my local library to read them as well, so I suppose if I'm wrong I'll update my review to warn you of any spoilers. :) I have read the second book in the series (The Trouble With Mistletoe) and it was every bit as enjoyable as this book.

2018 Challenges Round Up

I've started participating in a number of challenges, mostly through Goodreads, but there are a few full-year ones for 2018 I'd like to talk about here. I'm trying not to overwhelm myself too much with really restrictive challenges, especially as I'm already starting to feel the pressure to plow through ARCs for review.

2018 Book Blog Discussion Challenge

With such a focus on reviewing things, I thought this 2018 Book Blog Discussion Challenge would be a fun one to get me out of that zone.

This challenge is hosted by hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight, and the goal is to post more discussions on your blog. They've set fun ranking based on the number of discussions posted, and I'm aiming for the Creative Conversationalist (11-20 discussions over the course of the year) ranking. I figure that can be accomplished in one discussion post per month - totally doable, right? Right!

2018 Beat the Backlist Challenge

Another break from all the ARCs, I need to get my to read monster under control. This led me to the 2018 Beat the Backlist Challenge hosted by Novel Knight.

This reading challenge is focused on knocking off titles that have been on your TBR for a while, or even ones that get pushed aside for new releases.

My goal for this challenge is to read 40 of the books that are currently piled up (yes, literally piled up) on a bookcase at my bedtime. They've overflowed the bookcase and are actually climbing my walls, haha. Other acceptable books include ones added to my To Read shelf on Goodreads prior to 2018. These rules are stricter than the actual challenge rules, but that's what I'M counting because I need to get these piles gone!!

I don't have a solid TBR list here because I have well over a hundred books on the unread shelf in my bedroom (it's not hoarding if it's books...) so I will just update this post with a listing of the books I read for the Beat the Backlist Challenge.

To make it more fun, there are teams and points and keeping score. I'm on Team Book Bards!

#BookBardPride

1. You Say It First by Susan Mallery (read 1.2 - review)

2. The Winter King by C.L. Wilson (read 1.10 - review

3. Wintersong (in progress)

2018 A to Z Challenge

I told myself and told myself I was not going to add ANY MORE CHALLENGES... but then I just had to add this one hosted by Ginger Mom & the Kindle Quest.

THE QUEST: Read a book starting with every letter of the alphabet in 365 days.

(For the difficult letters like Q, X, and Z they're going to give one "pass" it sounds like, but my goal is to read ALL the dang letters! I've already got a couple options lined up for X, and Q and Z really shouldn't be that hard. Also, leading words "The, A" don't count.)

Deep breath, and here we go:

A: About That Kiss by Jill Shalvis (read 2.1 - review coming soon)

B: By A Charm and a Curse by Jaime Questell (read 1.30 - review)

C: Caraval by Stephanie Garber (read 1.18 - review)

D: A Devil in Scotland by Suzanne Enoch (read 1.21 - review)

G: Game of Hearts by Cathy Yardley (read 2.3 - review coming soon)

H: Hotline by Quinn Anderson (read 2.4 - review coming soon)

I: If Ever I Should Love You by Cathy Maxwell (in progress)

L: Leo Loves Aries by Anyta (read 1.27 - review)

M: Midsummer Delights (read 2.4 - review coming soon)

R: Red Rising by Pierce Brown (in progress)

S: Surrender to the Highlander by Lynsay Sands (read 1.25 - review)

T: The Trouble with True Love by Laura Lee Guhrke (read 1.12 - review)

W: The Winter King by C.L. Wilson (read 1.10 - review)

Y: You Say It First by Susan Mallery (read 1.2 - review)

12 Months, 24 Covers

The last 2018 Challenge I'm doing is 12 Months, 24 Covers, from The Hufflepuff Basement on Goodreads. I'm sincerely hoping I can manage to double up some of these challenge books with the Unapologetic Romance Readers challenge ones, or I'm screwed, haha. I'll update this post with the covers each month.

Challenge: 12 Months, 12 Covers

Choose one of the elements below each month and read a book with that element on the title.

Bonus Mode: 12 Months, 24 Covers
Read two titles each month, one for each element listed.
January: snow, feather

Snow :: The Winter King by C.L. Wilson

Feather :: Red Rising by Pierce Brown (I'm still reading this, but I'm more than halfway through so I'm counting it!)

February: hearts, chocolate/cake
March: flowers, book/paper
April: rain, umbrella
May: clouds/fog, ship/boat
June: dog/cat, bicycle
July: water, stairs
August: sun, hat/crown
September: fire, chair/throne
October: moon, skull
November: leaves, lock/key
December: shoes, mask

Are you doing any challenges for the New Year? How are you stretching and growing this year?

December TBR (in my dreams)

I joined a group on Goodreads called Of Wonderland Book Club, and the December group read theme is Must Read Before 2018. Inspired by The Ravenclaw Library, I thought I'd post my December TBR. This is completely subject to change based on my whims, of course. We'll see if I manage to get these read!!

ARCs

Amid the Winter Snow by Grace Draven, Thea Harrison, Elizabeth Hunter, Jeffe Kennedy (NetGalley, pub date 12/12)
Snowball Oranges by Peter Kerr (NetGalley, pub date 1/1)
The Ones Who Got Away by Roni Loren (BookishFirst, pub date 1/2)

BONUS MODE:

Debudaderrah by Robin Wyatt Dunn (LibraryThing, pub date 1/15)
The Company of Demons by Michael Jordan (BookishFirst, pub date 1/16)
Dragon Age: Knight Errant by (Edelweiss+, pub date 1/16)

Library Books

The Wicked Heir by Elizabeth Michaels (due 12/18)
The Laird Takes a Bride by Lisa Berne (due 12/18)

New Releases

A Duke in Shining Armor by Loretta Chase
It's Hard Out Here for a Duke by Maya Rodale

Book Clubs

Emma by Jane Austen (The Classics Club, Classics Spin #16)
[Spot held for December Group Read for Goodreads group Unapologetic Romance Readers)

What about you? Do you have a plan of attack to get some reading done by the end of the year?
I've already read more than my Goodreads Challenge, so I guess these "musts" are not SO must-ish... ;)

Book Review: Blame It on the Duke by Lenora Bell

Book Review: Blame It on the Duke (The Disgraceful Dukes #3) by Lenora Bell

Rating: 5 Stars

Published April 18th 2017 by Avon

Summary: Have you heard?
The future Duke of Barrington has just been gambled away by his father. To an heiress!
The delicious details thus far...

Nicolas, Lord Hatherly, never intended to marry—nor add to the “mad” Hatherly line—but now he must honor his father’s debt to a social-climbing merchant or lose the family estate.

A notoriously wild marquess, won by her father at a game of cards, is the very last thing Miss Alice Tombs wants. She’s spent the last three seasons repelling suitors in spectacular fashion so she’d be at liberty to explore the world. She’ll just have to drive this one away as well.

Until Nick proposes an utterly tempting arrangement: one summer together to prove the legitimacy of their union, then Alice is free to travel while Nick revels in the time he has left before the Hatherly Madness takes hold.

It will be easy to walk away after a few months of make-believe wedded bliss—won’t it? Alice and Nick are about to find out...one sultry night at a time.

This ought to be fun...
(from Goodreads)

Review: All of Lenora Bell’s Disgraceful Dukes books are… I don’t want to say “based on,” so let’s say… linked with a book/movie/story. They are as follows:
How the Duke Was Won (The Disgraceful Dukes #1) - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
If I Only Had a Duke (The Disgraceful Dukes #2) - The Wizard of Oz
Blame It on the Duke (The Disgraceful Dukes 3#) - Alice in Wonderland

I was so pumped when Lenora Bell affirmed that this third book in her Disgraceful Dukes trilogy would feature the notorious Alice Tombs and be Alice in Wonderland-ish. Alice Tombs was a side character in the first book in the series, and she was instantly my favorite character in pretty much ever. There’s a scene in a row boat in How the Duke Was Won (that I’ll let you discover for yourself) that pretty much cemented it for me: Alice needed her own book, and if I had to start a petition to get Ms. Bell to write it I was prepared.

Imagine my great surprise and delight when I learned that not only was Miss Tombs getting her own book, but it was to have Alice in Wonderland undertones (overtones?) to it as well!! Alice in Wonderland is an obsession of mine and definitely one of my top fandoms. And elements from Lewis Carroll’s books are interwoven so beautifully into Blame It on the Duke. There’s the obvious of the main character’s name being Alice, to the less obvious “mad” Hatherlys (Mad Hatter, anyone?) right down to minor details like Lord White with his waistcoats embroidered in rabbits checking his pocket watch and declaring that he is ever do late. There is also an in-the-know bit about a paperweight, as well as a play on the White Queen’s ability to believe in six impossible things before breakfast.

Blame It on the Duke turns a well known trope about a woman being trapped into marriage by the machinations of her father (gambling her away, in this instance) right on its head, as in this instance it is the father of Nicholas, Lord Hatherly, who has gambled his son’s hand in marriage! It’s always fun to see well loved trooped turned on their heads, and this was a delight to read. Neither Alice nor Nick wants this marriage, and so they conspire together and, in the meantime, grow closer together. I love Alice’s passion for her studies, and I feel these deep pangs for Nick and his worries about his father, his sanity, and his future.

I love Lenora Bell’s books so much that I own the entire Disgraceful Dukes series both in paperback and audiobook (narrated by Beverly A. Crick). Ms. Crick does an excellent job narrating, giving great personality to the voices of the characters and making the men sound alluring and deep-voiced without putting on a falsely high voice for the women (which is something I absolutely abhor!) I’ve also pre-ordered Lenora’s next book, What a Difference a Duke Makes, which will be the first in a new series called School for Dukes. The expected publication date is March 27, 2018, and I just can’t wait to read it!!

Check out my reviews of the other books in the series:
How the Duke Was Won (The Disgraceful Dukes #1)
If I Only Had a Duke (The Disgraceful Dukes #2)
Blame It on the Duke (The Disgraceful Dukes 3#)

DIY: Children's Book Tree Advent Calendar

OK, so I've wanted to do a Christmas advent calendar type of thing since before I ever even conceived my first child. (For those of you that know me and know that I had a bookcase filled with children's books in the nursery before I had any other furniture or before we'd even conceived our son, this likely does not surprise you.)

I decided that this is the year I fully commit and finally do some of the bookish Christmas things I've wanted to do forever. Since today is December 1st, I started with a book-a-day advent calendar.

The idea is to wrap up 24 books (I went with all Christmas/winter themed Children's books) and starting December 1st you open one book each day. When you open the final one, you know that tomorrow Christmas is finally here! I've seen several posts on Facebook and the rest of the interwebs that have a whole plethora of ways of doing this. I went with wrapping them in shades of green paper and stacking them into a "Christmas tree" (which you may or may not be able to tell from the photos, haha!) My plan is to let my sons (James age 3 and Link age 1) open one book each night at bedtime, and we'll all read the story together as a family.

I think it's pretty cute, and since we don't have an actual tree up yet the boys think it's pretty neat too!

Some other cute ideas are to wrap the books (in the same paper or many colors) and put them in a cute basket. Either number each book, or let the kids pick out which one to read.

Rebecca over at Here Come the Girls made this cute advent Snowman out of books and DVDs:

This person kept it classy by just stacking the books and tying them with a ribbon so they look like one big present!

For this next one you'd need a lot of space on your mantel. This would not work with my boys! But maybe if you have older children (who are better listeners) this would work for you!

Are there any other fun ways you like to give the gift of books all season long?

Book Review: If I Only Had a Duke by Lenora Bell

Book Review: If I Only Had a Duke (The Disgraceful Dukes #2) by Lenora Bell

Rating: 5 Stars

Published August 30th 2016 by Avon
Summary: After three failed seasons and a disastrous jilting, Lady Dorothea Beaumont has had more than enough of her family’s scheming. She won’t domesticate a duke, entangle an earl, or vie for a viscount. She will quietly exit to her aunt’s Irish estate for a life of blissful freedom. Until an arrogant, sinfully handsome duke singles her out for a waltz, making Thea the most popular belle of the season.

The duke ruined her plans and he’ll just have to fix them.

Garrett, Duke of Osborne, is far too heartless for debutantes or marriage—he uses dalliances and public spectacle to distract from his real purpose: finding the man who destroyed his family. When his search leads to Ireland, the last thing he needs is the determined, achingly innocent Thea, who arrives in the dead of night demanding he escort her to her aunt. His foolish agreement may prove his undoing. The road to the Emerald Isle is fraught with unforeseen dangers, but the greatest peril of all might just be discovering that he has a heart . . . and he’s losing it to Thea.
(from Goodreads)

Review: All of Lenora Bell’s Disgraceful Dukes books are… I don’t want to say “based on,” so let’s say… linked with a book/movie/story. They are as follows:
How the Duke Was Won (The Disgraceful Dukes #1) - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
If I Only Had a Duke (The Disgraceful Dukes #2) - The Wizard of Oz
Blame It on the Duke (The Disgraceful Dukes 3#) - Alice in Wonderland

Lenora Bell is one of my favorite new authors. While I didn't love this second installment in The Disgraceful Dukes *quite* as much as the first book (How the Duke Was Won), it was still a delightful romp. I actually liked If I Only Had a Duke more on my second read through, which was the audiobook as narrated by Beverly A. Crick. Ms. Crick does an excellent job narrating, giving great personality to the voices of the characters and making the men sound alluring and deep-voiced without putting on a falsely high voice for the women. I feel like Ms. Crick's narration helped bring forth the personalities for both Thea and Dalton and help me enjoy this book even more.

As you can probably tell from the title, If I Only Had a Duke is filled with delightful nods to The Wizard of Oz. Not only is the story great, I had a lot of fun ferreting out the little references Bell makes to The Wiz. The heroine, Dorothea (Dorothy, anyone?) has an Aunt Hen (Uncle Henry) who gives her some red leather boots (her ruby slippers) as a birthday gift. Dorothea (or Thea, as she prefers to be called) spends the majority of the book trying to get back to her Aunt Em (Auntie Em! Auntie Em!) in Ireland (a.k.a. the Emerald Isle... or Emerald City, perhaps?) along with the reluctant help of Dalton, Duke of Osborne, who is a rake with no heart (a regular Tin-Man, he).

As an avid watcher of shows like DareDevil, Arrow, and The Flash, I really loved the vigilante aspect of Dalton's character. Thea was a bit of a struggle for me, perhaps because I had a previous vision of her based on Charlene's portrayal of her in How the Duke Was Won.

I am VERY MUCH looking forward to the third installment in the series, Blame It on the Duke, which features my favorite character from the first book, Miss Alice Tombs. Lenora Bell has tagged blurbs about the third book with "#AliceInWonderland" on her Facebook page, so I am EVEN MORE EXCITED to find fun references to my favorite children's story in the next novel as well! (This is from my original review on Goodreads, which was written before the release of the third book. The third book was everything I hoped for an more!!)

Check out my reviews of the other books in the series:
How the Duke Was Won (The Disgraceful Dukes #1)
If I Only Had a Duke (The Disgraceful Dukes #2)
Blame It on the Duke (The Disgraceful Dukes 3#)