I guess the books are back, so to speak. As I’m currently getting through books a bit quicker than I was, I’ve felt able to take on a few more, and I’ve found I’m getting much better at remembering to opt for the later dates on a tour, too, which helps.

Bette Lee Crosby: The Twelfth Child – The author offered her book to everyone who answered her question for a Readathon challenge and I thought ‘why not?’

Elizabeth Fremantle: Sisters Of Treason – I loved Queen’s Gambit and I’ve been looking forward to Fremantle’s next book. That it’s about the Greys is even better.

Elizabeth von Arnim: The Enchanted April – I’d read about this book before, knew it was famous and decided I’d like to read it someday. (It actually became my Readathon book.)

Helene Wecker: The Golem And The Jinni – There have been too many good reviews about this to ignore it. The British edition spells the term ‘Djinni’. I’m confused by that so if anyone knows why there’s a difference, please let me know!

Isla Morley: Above – This was sent to me unsolicited. There’s a dual-genre aspect to it that I look forward to reading.

Jenny Barden: The Lost Duchess – Anything that says ‘Tudor history’ is going to appeal to me.

Have you read/do you hope to read any of the above?

Going by my list of published posts here, I haven’t acquired a new book since 9th December. Whilst I don’t include every single book acquired in these posts (namely because I have already reviewed them beforehand), in this particular case the reason for no posts is simple. I acquired a grand total of zero books in the last few months. Strangely, it turns out that moving home puts a spanner in your reading routine, and you find yourself with a backlog of review copies (yes, I’m being sarcastic – it was always going to happen, I just didn’t realise how long it would last). And whilst I may have had some loyalty points and a gift card or two, I wanted to keep them. I think even my not-in-a-reading-phase-right-now boyfriend is relieved that I’ve finally got a couple of books this year. So this post is both a ‘book blogger has books; all is right with the world’ and a celebration that I’ve managed to go without books for a while.

Anna Hope: Wake – I noted this down as one to read but I didn’t intend on getting a copy so soon. Seeing the hardback, however, and knowing that hardbacks aren’t available for very long, I gave in and took out my loyalty card.

Johanna Lane: Black Lake – This was pitched to me and I liked the sound of it enough to say ‘yes’ where at present I’m generally having to say ‘no’.

Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt (ed.): Rags & Bones – This is a bonus book, of sorts, because if you’re thinking you’ve seen this book on my blog before, you’d be right. I already have the hardback and as such I’ve someone in mind to pass this on to. It’s a fantastic book that I reviewed last year (the title links to my review). If you like retellings and the idea of an anthology of short stories by top authors (Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, Saladin Ahmed, to name just a few), you should put this book on your list.

Yep, just these and the already-reviewed An Invisible Sign Of My Own in 3 months. Pretty good going, I think.

What have you received/bought/borrowed in the last month(s)?

I’ve many books still to be reviewed, so that and the fact I haven’t bought anything or used a gift card for a couple of months now means very few new books these last few weeks. That said, I did finally use a gift card last week, so that accounts for a couple of the books here.

Heather Walsh: The Drake Equation – I was offered this by the author and was particularly impressed by the cover. That’s not to say that the plot isn’t good of course, because it is.

Jung Chang: Empress Dowager Cixi – I think I jumped for joy when I saw that there was a huge picture of Cixi on a book cover. Over the last few years she’s become one of my favourite people to study as there is so much to learn and there’s the eternal question: was she evil, or was she a woman desperate to make a mark in a man’s world who made bad choices? Whichever it is, she was remarkable in many ways. If I can keep myself from reading it I may make this book one of my five for the What’s In A Name challenge, but I really don’t know if I can.

Neil Randall: The Holy Drinker – The author wrote me a rather good pitch and there is a lot of promise here.

Shannon Stacey: Love A Little Sideways – This is the last of the major books of my favourite contemporary romance series (okay, my only series). Despite the fact that Stacey has written them with not too much time in between, it’s the end of an era.

Srikumar Sen: The Skinning Tree – I love Indian culture and need to read more books about the country, so when I was offered this one I jumped at the chance. It sounds quite dark – the title is rather literal – but very good.

Terry Pratchett: Raising Steam – This was given to me a short while ago. It looks lovely, there’s just one problem – I’ve only read up to book 7 in the series so far and feel this might be a bit ahead of me. Ana assured me I should be fine, but I still might leave it for a while.

What have you received/bought/borrowed in the last month?

I know, it’s been a while! Given that I had many pitches over the summer I’ve accepted very few recently, but I knew I’d have less time due to the amazing sun we had, and to read some older books as well, so that’s also played a part. Indeed two of these books were unsolicited so I accepted fewer than it may seem. Incidentally, something I noticed when I previewed this post – it’s a washout! So little colour on the covers this time around. I feel the need to apologise for this post being visually dull.

Debbie Dee: Tiy And The Prince Egypt – A case of being there at the right time, I noticed this book was the subject of an upcoming tour and having read and enjoyed Dee’s previous books I signed up. This is a middle-grade book (not the term we’d use in Britain but I think it’s the best way to describe it) and my current read; it’s taken a while to adjust my adult-and-YA reading mindset!

Kay Kenyon: A Thousand Perfect Things – The publishers of this new digital press are looking to work with bloggers and this book was one I knew I could get behind. With thanks to Jennifer of Books, Personally.

Kimberly S Young: The Eighth Wonder – This could go either way, as I see it, in that it could easily be either heavy-going book or light. I like the sound of the story but have to say that this time the cover was the bigger reason for accepting.

Koren Zailckas: Mother, Mother – This came unsolicited but it sounds good and I’ll likely get to it in the near future.

Matthew D Lieberman: Social – It’s science and it’s about connections, and whilst it may not be the same as Quiet, anything that is at all related gets my vote.

Sean B Carroll: Brave Genius – Science, philosophy, and a Nobel Prize. Should be pretty interesting given the mix of subjects!

Tom Kizzia: Pilgrim’s Wilderness – I blame The Snow Child as I’m not sure I would’ve been interested in reading about Alaska before. That said the subject is interesting overall and the time I expect to get to it will be the perfect time, because I much as I now know Alaska gets a bright summer, it’s still synonymous with ‘cold’ to me.

Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt (ed.) – Rags & Bones – I reckon the publicist who sent this to me has a good idea of my interests; I think I may have scared my Dad with my excitement. An anthology of stories by some top authors, including Neil Gaiman, Garth Nix, and Kami Garcia (those are the ones highlighted on the cover). Melissa Marr has edited it. That, together with the subject matter means that by all accounts it should be excellent.

So not much this time, but I have many others to read from previous months. And I like that there’s a minor leaning towards science here. My favourite teacher of three teachers (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) would be delighted. I’ve not yet reviewed a book by several authors that had more than one editor, so I haven’t the foggiest how I’m going to categorise Rags & Bones. I’d better get cracking.

What have you received/bought/borrowed in the last month?

…And then she broke her vow. I got quite a few books from mid-July through August.

Adelle Waldman: The Love Affairs Of Nathaniel P – I have to be honest and say that whilst a particular review made me want to request this book, I can’t remember whose it was. So if you recall me having made a very excited comment about this on your blog, it was likely you. Edited to add, it was Laurie.

Andrea Zuvich: His Last Mistress – I’m always seeking to broaden my knowledge of English history as it’s become rather stale these last several years, and a particularly engrossing university course on the Civil War has made me fond of learning about the the two kings named Charles (grammatical moment, I can’t remember how to refer to two men named Charles).

Anya Von Bremzen: Mastering The Art Of Soviet Cooking – A foodie memoir for the reader who is really getting into books about food. I was rather excited when I received this pitch.

Bee Ridgway: The River Of No Return – Jenn has read this, as has Judith, but whilst I was very interested, it took seeing the book on the shelf for me to really consider it (the too many books too little time thing is, at the moment, making me picky). It’s a longer book than I’d expected but I do like time travel.

Elizabeth Chadwick: The Summer Queen – I had to get the hardback of this because it’s so beautiful. It’s going to look out of place on my shelves, with the row of paperbacks I have, but I suppose if I like it enough I can always get the paperback later.

Laura Navarre: Magick By Moonrise – I loved Navarre’s By Royal Command and have been eagerly awaiting this book. It’s a historical fantasy romance, so it’s bound to be different, but it’s a Tudor historical fantasy romance and that extra adjective is a magnet to me.

Laura Navarre: Midsummer Magick – The second in the series (though I probably don’t need to say that as it’s obvious) and again, the time period appeals to me. I believe this book includes a fairytale retelling which as you’ve probably realised by now, is right up my street.

Lucienne Boyce: To The Fair Land – 1700s, the sea, an author, and a mystery. There is something particularly appealing about this book that I can’t quite place – I only know it’s a mixture of the elements I’ve listed.

Martin Wagner: Deutschland – I took this to a coffee shop and read a chapter of it a few weeks ago, as a heads up, and despite the fact that I can rarely read with noise the book had me hooked. So far I’d say it’s going to be a thriller-mystery-horror.

N M Kelby: White Truffles In Winter – I know it doesn’t refer to chocolate, rather the strange white blob that was in an expensive soup I once tried, but I can’t get the idea of chocolate out of my head and the cover is gorgeous.

Rainbow Rowell: Eleanor & Park – I’m one of the few, it seems, who hasn’t read this, and I feel that needs to be rectified.

Robert Galbraith: The Cuckoo’s Calling – I’m unsure whether I should be referring to the author as ‘Galbraith’ or ‘Rowling’ in future, given the news, but for now I’ll honour Rowling’s choice.

Ruth A Casie: The Guardian’s Witch – The plot sounded great, the setting too, and whilst I couldn’t make up my mind for the longest time, I eventually gave in.

Stephanie Carroll: A White Room – Audra wrote a brilliant review of this book and it sounds just the sort of story I’d love.

Suzannah Lipscomb: A Visitor’s Companion To Tudor England – I was introduced to this historian via the recent BBC2 programme on Anne Boleyn. I loved Lipscomb’s focus on sources – she came across as very objective and that is something I admire. I’m aware it may be that a lot of the information in this book won’t be new to me, but Lipscomb has won me over. We won’t mention that I later met her and likely came across as a fangirl. You know that situation where you’re aware that you’re not a gushing fan but are worried about coming across as such anyway and then end up doing so? Yeah…

Not surprisingly I’ve been forfeiting days out in order to read.

What have you received/bought/borrowed in the last month?