Sunday Salon - My First Ever

Hello everyone! Happy first Sunday in 2010! It is snowing again here and super cold - I think it is about 1 degree with the wind chill. So, I think I will just spend the day in the house, reading, blogging, and drinking hot chocolate. And maybe take down some Christmas decorations. One of my goals for blogging in 2010 is to participate in the Sunday Salon. I always enjoy reading everyone's Sunday posts, so I thought I would try it out.

I had a super reading week this past week. I finished 2 books and an audio book and have started reading another book and audio book.

Last Sunday night I finished Notorious Royal Marriages by Leslie Carroll. My review will be coming up this week, as well as a creative post and guest post on my blog, as part of the Kick Off Event for Historical Fiction Bloggers Round Table. There will be many great events going on at all of the charter members blogs and you can find a schedule of events here. Please join us as we are all excited for this event.

During the week I finished listening to My Horizontal Life by comedian Chelsea Handler and laughed my way to and from work each day. On Wednesday I started the audiobook Going Rogue by Sarah Palin - but only working until Wednesday, I haven't been able to get too far into it.

In the very early hours of yesterday I finished reading The Queen's Dollmaker by Christine Trent. My review will probably be up next weekend, after Notorious Royal Marriages week. But to give you a little hint - I loved it! I read the last 100+ pages straight through and was determined to finish it that night. Early on I predicted how it would end, but it did not go that way - and for that I am very happy.

Yesterday I started reading The Dark Lantern by Gerri Brightwell. It is a little slow going so far, I am about 60 pages into it. Here is the book jacket summary:

London, 1893. Elderly Mrs. Bentley is on her deathbed, and her son Robert has returned from France. But in the Bentleys’ well-appointed home, everyone has their secrets, including Robert’s beautiful and elusive wife, the orphan maid she hires from the country, and the mysterious young woman who arrives, claiming to be the bride of Robert’s drowned brother.

Robert is quickly developing a reputation is anthropometry, the nascent science of identifying criminals by body measurements. Yet soon he is caught up in the deceptions swirling around him, for no one under his roof is quite what they seem. When an intruder enters the house and ransacks the study, a chain of events is set in motion that threatens not only the genteel, comfortable life the Bentleys have managed to secure but also their very survival.

A fascinating portrayal of a vanished England as well as an unconventional mystery. The Dark Lantern exposes the grand “upstairs” of a Victorian home and the darker underbelly of its servants’ quarters. The clash between the clashes makes for a suspenseful novel of mistaken identities, intriguing women, and dangerous deceptions (from book jacket).

I also thought that this would be the perfect time to post the statistics of the books I read in 2009:

BOOKS READ: 47

BOOKS REVIEWED: 43 (though some are pending for upcoming events)

TYPE (some may overlap)
• Hardcover: 6
• Paperback: 23
• ARC: 8
• Audio: 18

GENRE
• Historical Fiction: 17
• Young Adult: 2
• Contemporary Fiction: 19
• Biblical Fiction: 2
• Paranormal Romance: 2
• Non-fiction: 4

SETTING
• England: 13
• France: 2
• Italy: 1
• Ireland: 1
• America: 22
• Ancient Rome: 1
• Ancient Egypt : 2
• Netherlands: 1
• Fantasy: 1
• Middle East/Africa: 3

MALE/FEMALE AUTHOR RATIO: 11/36

AUTHORS MOST READ:
• James Patterson: 4
• Jean Plaidy: 4
• Philippa Gregory: 3
• Michelle Moran: 3
• Robin Maxwell: 2
• Chelsea Handler: 2

FAVORITES:
Nefertiti
The Heretic Queen
Cleopatra’s Daughter
The Queen’s Fool
Eve
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Thirsty
Water for Elephants
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
O, Juliet

LEAST FAVORITES:
Rage
Tara Road
Five Days is Paris
Son of a Witch
Jane Eyre

Hope everyone has a great week and see you for Notorious Royal Marriages week!

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