Two weeks worth… Two weeks worth I tell you! (at least that is my excuse…)

 

 

Freaks by Annette Curtis Klause: I’ve read a couple of other books by Klause, in the past, and found them okay, but nothing special, but Carl talked about this one in his round of his favourite books of the last decade, And then there is that fantastic cover! Bad Bloggers point to Carl.

Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O’Malley: I’ve recently read the first three Scott Pilgrim books and loved them, but it was this review by Nymeth, that first brought this one to my attention. Point to Ana.

The Saddlebag by Bahiyyih Nakhjavani: Picked up this one in my local Oxfam and liked the look of it.

The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontane by April Lurie & The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E Lockhart: Both of these have been well received all over the place but it was Becky’s reviews that caused me to add them to my wishlist. So 2 points to Becky.

• Bad Bloggers: Is hosted by Chris of Stuff as Dreams are Made on.
• Mailbox Monday: Is hosted by Marcia, of The Printed Page.  Head over there if you want to see what everyone else has received in the last week or you want to play along.

A slight cold this last week – otherwise known as that debilitating disease: Man-Flu – really bit into my reading and blogging time. I did manage to finish All Families are Psychotic, and post a pre-written review, but that was about it.

Hoping now the head has nearly fully cleared, I can get back into a productive groove this week, I have a number of reviews to write and quite a busy month with books I need to read, really could do without dropping further behind, so I can keep things as a joy rather than slipping into a chore.

To aid that, once I’ve posted this, I’m settling down with a glass of wine and an hour or two with Freaks by Annette Curtis Klause, which I’m really enjoying so far!

To end, here’s a round of my minimal posting this week.

Blog

• 10 March 2010 : Review: Mouse Guard Winter 1152 by David Petersen (1 Comment)
  

  The autumn of 1152 has left the Mouse Territories and Lockhaven badly prepared for winter and the Guard’s finest has been sent out to gather supplies and medicine from the mouse villages as well as extent invitations to its leaders for a summit. Meanwhile, Kenzie’s group gets split up on their way back to Lockhaven with the precious medicine that the Guard so desperately needs. -- Publishers Blurb I’ve been waiting for ages to get this one! [More...]

  
  
• 2 March 2010 : Review: TimeRiders by Alex Scarrow (2 Comments)
  

  “Take my hand…” Ankle deep in water, Liam O’Connor is trying to make passageway the passageway is clear of passengers, when he comes across Foster. The man gives him a choice to stay and die, or to leave and live. Moments after Liam takes the man’s hand, the ship breaks in half, and the Titanic begins it’s slide to the ocean bed. When he next wakes Liam finds he’s not the only one saved moments before death. [More...]

  
  
• 25 February 2010 : Review: Grl2Grl by Julie Anne Peters (2 Comments)
  

  The fact that I picked this one up as soon as I spotted this in my local bookshop this week, is all down to reading one of Peters’ longer works, the fantastic Between Mom and Jo. And I’m glad I did, because this once again showcases Julie Anne Peter’s skill as a writer. However I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as Between Mom and Jo, this is partly down to short fiction not being my [More...]

  
  
• 23 February 2010 : Review: Out of Time by John Marsden (5 Comments)
  

  A slightly odd one this. It should come as no surprise to you that I’m a fan of Mr Marsden’s writing, and his writing in this is up to his usual standard. Moving, and as thought provoking as ever. And if a moving story is the purpose of the book it does so brilliantly. But, and it’s a smallish, but. I’m not entirely sure what story the book is trying to tell, and that’s because [More...]

  
  
• 19 February 2010 : Review: Scott Pilgrim 1-3 by Bryan Lee O’Malley (3 Comments)
  

  Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life Scott Pilgrim vs The World Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness It seems Book Bloggers are doing some some decent damage to my T.B.R. pile at the moment, just last week I read and loved Between Mom and Jo by Julie Anne Peters, which was recommended by Amanda, and in the same week I also finished the third book in this superbly fun series, and the thanks this time go to Chris. The series [More...]

  
  

…Is up at Best Books Review. There are loads of great reviews featured, you should go check it out!

The next edition of the Book Review Blog Carnival will published here at Bart’s Bookshelf on 14 March 2010

Be sure to submit your articles at the carnival page.

Well, this week brought to the end of a couple of things, first off was a week-and-a-half off of work, which was to use up the last of my annual holidays, and was much needed after the overtime I’ve put in recently.

I managed to get some decent reading time in, while I was at home, unfortunately not Douglas Coupland’s: All Families are Psychotic which I’m (supposed) to be reading with Kelly for a joint review, but I stupidly left in my desk at work and only just remembered to bring it home yesterday after two days back. Sorry about that Kelly, I fully intend to spend a little time today (and next week) catching up!

Depending on how I do with that, I’m certainly hoping to read a chapter or two of Freaks by Annette Curtis Klause, which I got this week and am really enjoying so far. And whose cover I absolutely love. 

Which brings me to the other thing that ended this month (today actually): my 3 month long, Book Acquiring Ban. When it commenced on the 1st Dec, I had 170 unread books on the shelves, of which I immediately cleared out 22 to the local charity shop, leaving me with a base number of 148 to try and drag down some.

At the time I made this suggestion:

If I can get it down by 15-20 books over the next three months I’ll consider it a success.

ROFLMAO! ROFLMAO! ROFLMAO! ROFLMAO!

*ahem*

As of today, I have 156 unread books on my bookshelves! I suppose an increase of only 8 over 3 months is better than what I was achieving, so it’s somewhat on an improvement. Isn’t it? *looks on hopefully*

Still, they do have some lovely new shelves to live on!

So, I know a few of you have been doing something similar, make me feel better and tell me how badly you failed!