To Read Tuesday

I have to admit, over the past couple of months, my To-Read pile has been getting bigger and bigger. And I haven’t been doing much reading to tackle it. The holiday months seem to just be so busy that I don’t get to take much time out to read. Now that my calendar has slowed down a bit though, I’m getting back to it!

If you saw my Game of Thrones Book Club post, you know that I decided to finally read the book series. Game of Thrones was one of those incredibly rare times where I watched the show BEFORE reading the books. My husband and I both really enjoy watching the show and he didn’t want me to know what happens by reading ahead, so I agreed to wait. Aren’t I sweet?

Anyways – back to what else is on my To-Read list!

Here are two books that I received for Christmas that I can’t wait to dive into.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Book Store – 

Robin Sloan

Amazon’s Description:

The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon away from life as a San Francisco web-design drone and into the aisles of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. But after a few days on the job, Clay discovers that the store is more curious than either its name or its gnomic owner might suggest. The customers are few, and they never seem to buy anything―instead, they "check out" large, obscure volumes from strange corners of the store. Suspicious, Clay engineers an analysis of the clientele's behavior, seeking help from his variously talented friends. But when they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, they discover the bookstore's secrets extend far beyond its walls. Rendered with irresistible brio and dazzling intelligence, Robin Sloan's Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is exactly what it sounds like: an establishment you have to enter and will never want to leave.

Les Parisiennes – Anne Seba

Amazon’s Description:

Paris in the 1940s was a place of fear, power, aggression, courage, deprivation, and secrets. During the occupation, the swastika flew from the Eiffel Tower and danger lurked on every corner. While Parisian men were either fighting at the front or captured and forced to work in German factories, the women of Paris were left behind where they would come face to face with the German conquerors on a daily basis, as waitresses, shop assistants, or wives and mothers, increasingly desperate to find food to feed their families as hunger became part of everyday life.

When the Nazis and the puppet Vichy regime began rounding up Jews to ship east to concentration camps, the full horror of the war was brought home and the choice between collaboration and resistance became unavoidable. Sebba focuses on the role of women, many of whom faced life and death decisions every day. After the war ended, there would be a fierce settling of accounts between those who made peace with or, worse, helped the occupiers and those who fought the Nazis in any way they could.

Weekly Feature - To Read Tuesday

As an obviously avid reader, I have a TON of books on my "To Be Read" list. There is a spot inside a cabinet where I specifically stack the ones I already own. It's ridculous (ly awesome).

Since I have so many books that I want to read (and the list continue to grows every day), sometimes the choice of what to read next is too overwhelming. Thus, To Read Tuesday was born. I need YOUR help to pick which book you want to see reviewed next.

So - check both of these out and leave me a comment with your vote!

To-Read Tuesday!

I recently realized that my To-Read shelf has A LOT of books on it. So instead of keeping all of you waiting in anticipation for my review, I wanted to start "To-Read Tuesdays" to share some of these upcoming reads with you all. Let's kick this off!

Roses by Leila Meacham

This novel was given to me and its been on my to-read list for a while now. Gone with the Wind is one of my all-time favorite novels and People Magazine's snippet is on the front cover comparing the 2 novels. SOLD. Here's Google's synopsis:

"When precocious 16-year-old Mary Toliver inherits cotton plantation Somerset from her father, the first seeds of familial discontent are sown. By becoming the new mistress of Somerset, Mary betrays her mother Darla and her brother Miles, and the Toliver dynasty will never recover.

And when Mary and timber magnate Percy Warwick decide not to marry, though fiercely in love, it is a decision which will have sad and tragic consequences not only for them but for generations of their families to come.

Set against a panoramic backdrop, Roses is a heartbreaking love story of sex, scandal and seduction. It covers 100 years and three generations of Texans."

Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck

I picked this novel up on a whim while at Barnes and Noble out of the "Last Chance" bin. Hemingway is one of my favorite authors so the title of this one caught my attention right away. The blurb on the back sounded good enough to make the sale. I'm excited to get into this one.

Here's Google's synopsis:

"She remembered when Hemingway had planted a banyan tree at his house and told her its parasitic roots were like human desire. At the time she'd thought it romantic. She hadn't understood his warning."" In Depression-era Key West, Mariella Bennet, the daughter of an American fisherman and a Cuban woman, knows hunger. Her struggle to support her family following her father's death leads her to a bar and bordello, where she bets on a risky boxing match...and attracts the interest of two men: world-famous writer, Ernest Hemingway, and Gavin Murray, one of the WWI veterans who are laboring to build the Overseas Highway. When Mariella is hired as a maid by Hemingway's second wife, Pauline, she enters a rarified world of lavish, celebrity-filled dinner parties and elaborate off-island excursions. As she becomes caught up in the tensions and excesses of the Hemingway household, the attentions of the larger-than-life writer become a dangerous temptation...even as straightforward Gavin Murray draws her back to what matters most. Will she cross an invisible line with the volatile Hemingway, or find a way to claim her own dreams? As a massive hurricane bears down on Key West, Mariella faces some harsh truths...and the possibility of losing everything she loves."

Which novel do YOU think I should read first? What's on your to-read list that I need to add to mine?