Sunday Post – 5/10/15

May 10, 2015 Sunday Post 30

The Sunday Post is hosted by the wonderful Kimba, the Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week, take a look ahead, and showcase our new treasures – I mean books!

My Week

I didn’t do a Sunday Post last weekend, because we flew across the country to see Robin and attend the dance concert of her choreography class – which was wonderful! The choreography was amazing, the dancers were wonderful, and it was so good to see Robin in her element: at a school she loves and with her close friends. I was very busy with indexing this week to make up for the time I was away, but it was totally worth it!

In blog news: I’ve been slowly working on my ARCs for a while now, and I finally got my NetGalley percentage up from a low of around 60% last summer to 72% as of today – the highest it’s ever been! I’m aiming for 85%. One thing that means is being more willing to say “this book isn’t working for me” and let the publisher know I won’t be reviewing it. (I’m also being a lot more careful about what I request.)

 

The Last Two Weeks on the Blog

Goudge_Elizabeth_ACityOfBells_DustJacket
Goudge_PilgrimsInn_Hendrickson

Elizabeth Goudge Week is over, but check out the links on Lory’s wrap-up post for some more reviews of this wonderful and neglected British author.

 

Aird_HenriettaWho_OpenRoad-ebook
Dennison_Honeychurch-02_DeadlyDesiresAtHoneychurchHall
Alexander-Victoria_DaringExploitsOfARunawayHeiress

 

Next Week on the Blog

McGuire-Sarah_Valiant
  • Mon. 5/11/15:  (TBD)
  • Tues. 5/12/15: Ten Authors I Really Want to Meet (Top Ten Tuesday) (tentative)
  • Wed. 5/13/15: (TBD)
  • Thurs. 5/14/15: (TBD)
  • Fri. 5/15/15: Valiant by Sarah McGuire
  • Sat. 5/16/15: News & Notes – 5/16/15 (tentative)

 

New Additions to the Hoard

For Review
Lackey_ElementalMasters-11_FromAHighTower
George-JD_SilverInTheBlood

Many, many thanks to DAW & Bloomsbury – I am so excited for these!

 

Purchased for Kindle
Dare-Tessa_CastlesEverAfter-02_SayYesToTheMarquess
McKinleyR_SpindlesEnd_large
Tope_Rebecca_LakeDistrict-01_TheWindermereWitness
Holmberg_Charlie-N_ThePaperMagician-01_ThePaperMagician
Holmberg_Charlie-N_ThePaperMagician-02_TheGlassMagician
George-JD_PrincessOfTheSilverWoods
Nesbit_Tarashea_TheWivesOfLosAlamos
Kelly-Vanessa_RoyalRenegades-03_HowToPlanAWeddingForARoyalSpy
Hoyt_Elizabeth_MaidenLane-07_DarlingBeast

Besides these, I picked up about 12 of Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion mysteries, currently on sale through the Kindle Big Deal for 99 cents each (US$).

I’ve read Spindle’s End and Princess of the Silver Woods before, and a few of the Campions; they’re for my “portable” library. The others are new to me. All of them were on sale at Amazon, and some probably still are.

 

Purchased in Print

 

From the Library

Aaagh! About 15 holds came in all at once (because I forgot to extend the “suspend until” date). I’m not even going to list them all because I know I won’t get to read them all before they’re due. But here are the ones I really hope to read:

 

Have a great week, everybody, and happy reading!

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30 Responses to “Sunday Post – 5/10/15”

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I loved Valiant! I got a very early review copy, and scheduled my review based on the release date they gave then – then discovered this week that they bumped up the release and it came out at the end of April. No matter; it’s a lovely little book.

      I’ll have to hold off on looking at your Victorian Fairy Tales review, because I just started reading it!

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      Almost at 80% – well done, Melissa! It is hard, especially for those of us who went overboard early on. 🙂

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I’ve done that in the past, too. Now when I request a book, I put it on the same spreadsheet I use for the books I’ve gotten ARCs for, and mark it “pending”. That way I can see at a glance how many I’ve requested for a given month. It’s helping a lot.

  5. R_Hunt @ View From My Home

    Oh, congrats to Robin on a fun class and performance. She really sounds like a multi-talented person: dancing, singing, writing. You must be so very proud of her! You certainly have a huge haul of books this week- I’m jotting down some of the titles now. I love that you can reread favorite books and buy them for your e-reader to be able to carry them around. I wish I could, sigh…but when I know the conclusion, I can’t seem to enjoy it as much, so I don’t. I don’t like to rewatch tv shows either in the summer. Just me.
    Have a good, if busy, week!
    R_Hunt @ View From My Home recently posted…Every Fifteen Minutes ReviewMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      She is and we are!!

      I do love rereading, but it’s a very individual thing. My mother can only do it because she forgets a lot of the plot; I remember most of the book and enjoy revisiting the things that made me fall in love with the book (and finding new things that I missed the first or fourth time around); and some of my friends can’t stand to reread. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong, better or worse – but I am glad that I like to reread, because for many years I often didn’t have easy access to enough “new-to-me” books to feed my habit!

  6. Stephanie

    I somehow missed that Bill Bryson wrote a book about Shakespeare! That’s amazing and I will need get my hands on it to be read very soon! I am also intrigued by Elizabeth Goudge. I went a little hog wild with the book buying this week so am stocked up with all kinds of good stuff though feeling a little poorer, lol. Happy Mother’s day!
    Stephanie recently posted…RE-READ: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. RowlingMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      The Bryson Shakespeare book was originally called Shakespeare: The World as Stage, which didn’t have photos and such. (We have the audiobook, in fact.) This is the second edition, updated a little and with lots and lots of illustrations – photos, contemporary paintings and drawings, and so forth. Lovely for a Shakespeare fan!

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I don’t forget, but too often I find that what I was in the mood for when I requested it isn’t what I’m in the mood for by the time I get to it! #problems-of-a-mood-reader

  8. Michelle@Because Reading

    Congrats on the Netgalley % I was doing good until they had a bunch of pretty covers show up and I requested like a mad woman.

    Congrats to Robin! That must be so amazing to watch and fills you with so much pride.

    I hope you have a wonderful week! Happy Reading
    Michelle@Because Reading recently posted…Happy Mommy’s Day ~WIR & TSPMy Profile

  9. Deborah

    Will I sound like a terrible wanker if I admit I was excited to see my NetGalley read/shelf percentage hit 97% last week?! I’m such a nerd. Having said that I’ve only requested about 168 books there, so I’m still pretty much a newcomer!

    Deb
    Deborah recently posted…Weekly check-inMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I like her – she’s always humorous but still makes the romance compelling. But I’m very behind; I think I have two or three books of hers that I haven’t read yet. I’ve been on more of a mystery and fantasy kick recently.

  11. Leeanna @ Leeanna.me

    You reminded me about the new Mercedes Lackey book… think I’ll request it, because I adore the Elemental Masters series. But then I’m trying to get my NetGalley percentage up too — it’s a never ending battle! I too need to get a lot better about admitting when a book isn’t working for me, instead of hoping it will turn around. And you got a nice haul from everywhere… methinks you’re going to be even busier 🙂
    Leeanna @ Leeanna.me recently posted…The Reading Machine [15] – May 10, 2015My Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I like the Elemental Magic series, too. And yes, I’ll be pretty busy, but some of the haul is books I’ve read and like to re-read, so there’s no real urgency on them. 🙂

  12. Erin @ Quixotic Magpie

    Silver in the Blood, the Dennison and McKinley books sound good!! I will have to look them up – maybe on audio!! 🙂 Thanks for that tip by the way. 🙂

    And Bill Bryson wrote a book about Shakespeare! How cool. I will have to check back for your review. 🙂

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      You may have to wait a while on the Shakespeare book – I’m swamped with ARCs and library books, so it’s on the back burner. Can’t wait to read Silver in the Blood, though!

  14. Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature)

    The Netgalley thing is something I’m trying to work on as well. I have to quit requesting, and need to go and say if ones aren’t working so that I can have the feedback score. I did have an 82% right before they changed the formatting, and then somehow I ended up requesting a bunch or something and dropped way low to like 65%.
    Check out my Sunday Post

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      It’s really hard to strike the right balance on NetGalley. I’ve cut back to only books in series I’m following, or by authors I love, with once in a while something else that really grabs my attention, but I still over-request on occasion

      One thing I’ve started doing is keeping a spreadsheet of all the books I request. Well, it was originally of all the review books I was approved for, with columns for date of publication, date downloaded, date I read it, date of review, and whether I have let NetGalley/publisher/author know when the review was posted. But recently I’ve started adding books I’ve requested, and I put PENDING in the date-downloaded column. I color-code the books, too, using the “Fill” function in Excel, so books I need to read are bright yellow, books I’ve read but not yet written the review for are green, and reviews that are posted are blue. I leave “pending” requests white. By sorting on date of publication, I can see at a glance if I’ve overcommitted for a particular month, and not request anything else for that month. It helps a lot. (Hmm, maybe I should write that up as a post, with screenshots.)

      • Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature)

        I have a calendar that I’ve started using to keep track of what egalleys I have, and they’re sorted by publishing date. But I also list if they’re from Edelweiss or Netgalley, and if they’re Edelweiss, what is the expiration date. I always review right after I read a book, so I don’t worry about that. My problem with the Netgalley books is that they are all Kindle format so they don’t seem to ever expire, and that makes me often push them off and read the Edelweiss ones since they do expire. Unless it is one I really, really, really want to read!!
        Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday: Children of the Earth (End Times #2) by Anna SchumacherMy Profile

        • Lark_Bookwyrm

          Sounds like a good system. I make a note of whether a book is Edelweiss or NG too, but most of the Edelweiss books I’ve gotten have been emailed to my Kindle, so they don’t expire either. I do know what you mean about reading ARCs out of order when it’s one you really want to read, though!