2010 November » Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

Review: The Tapestry Shop by Joyce Elson Moore

Posted by Anastasia on November 9, 2010 3 Responses »

Nov 092010

214. The Tapestry Shop by Joyce Elson Moore
Publication: Five Star (November 5, 2010), Hardcover, 328pp / ISBN 1594148996
Genre: Historical Romance/Fiction
Rating: Borrow it
Read: October 2010
Source: Publisher
Summary from website:

Arras, France 1265
This is the untold story of the wandering minstrel who first penned the story of Robin Hood. Adam falls in love with Catherine, who intends to join King Louis’ crusaders. But Catherine’s piety and Adam’s scorn for the crusades force them both to examine their beliefs, after which they must each make a life-changing choice.

Review

I wasn’t entirely sure what to write for my review for The Tapestry Shop, because while I enjoyed it, looking back on it now I’m feeling decidedly lukewarm.

It’s not a horrible book. Like I said, I really enjoyed it while I was reading it, and the parts that were good were really good. But it’s not one of my favorite books of the year, or even my favorite book of the month, and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing it IS why I’m rating it a “borrow” instead of a “buy.” I just feel sort of so-so about it, which makes it tough to write a review.
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Birdwatching: Pirates!

Posted by Anastasia on November 8, 2010 4 Responses »

Nov 082010

My reason for wanting to make a list about pirate-y books should be fairly obvious: because pirates, though they’re smelly and horrible, are also pretty exciting and adventuresome and fun to read about.

These aren’t NEARLY all the books about pirates I’ve read, they’re just ones that I particularly liked.

The Pirate’s Son by Geraldine McCaughrean (1998).
The Gift of the Pirate Queen by Patricia Reilly Giff (1983).
The Vampirates series by Justin Somper (2005-now) [my review of book #1]
Piratica by Tanith Lee (2004). [my review]
Operation Red Jericho by Joshua Mowll (2007).
Capt. Hook: the Adventures of a Notorious Youth by J.V. Hart (2005).
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (1883).
Polly & the Pirates by Ted Naifeh (2005).
Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini (1922). [my review]

Do you like books about pirates? I prefer ones where the pirates aren’t as horrible as they were in real life, more like the sort of pirates Disney would make movies about. Do you like nicer pirates? Or do you prefer more real-life portrayals of pirates?

Thanks to Once Upon a Bookshelf for the list-y inspiration!

In My Mailbox (3)

Posted by Anastasia on November 7, 2010 6 Responses »

Nov 072010

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren (who was inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie‘s This Week in Books). Basically you just post about new books that came into your house over the past week, whether in the mail or by getting them at the library or by buying them in a store. Capiche?

I actually didn’t get any books in the mail this week, which was more disappointing than I thought it’d be. So I downloaded a lot of books to make up for it. I downloaded…69 books.

BUT WAIT! All of them were free! Only one wasn’t actually available for free itself, but I used a gift card on it so it was free for me anyway. I don’t entirely feel like listing all of them, but most of the non-public domain books can be found here.

So the books break down like this:
- 8 are self-published (although apparently “quality” self-published books. I don’t know yet for sure, as I haven’t read them yet)
- 8 were publisher freebies
- 1 was a freebie from an author that is traditionally published
- 50 were public domain books (37 of which were P.G. Wodehouse books. I think it was 37, anyway.)
- 1 was a non-free book (the Genghis Khan book from here)
- 1 was a freebie from the publisher for buying the print version

(I also downloaded some samples, but I’m not counting them as they aren’t complete books. Obviously.)

It does seems sort of insane, but I can’t resist freebies (or cheapies, for that matter). The public domain books were a surprise, but I was hunting around Project Gutenberg for some lady!explorer books and stumbled upon a bookshelf for travel in Africa that had a lot of Victorian exploration books on it and those are even MORE difficult for me to resist than regular freebies. And then I watched a lot of Jeeves and Wooster and wanted some Wodehouse. So!

What did you get in the mail this week? Or, what did you download this week?

Free (& Cheap) Reads (2)

Posted by Anastasia on November 6, 2010 18 Responses »

Nov 062010

As you may know, I am somewhat obsessed with finding legal free books, music, and other things to keep me entertained. Since I’ve gotten my Kindle, I think I’ve downloaded somewhere around 300 legally free books– mostly from Project Gutenberg, which shall forever hold the key to my spendthrift heart.

But there are other places to get free books besides Project Gutenberg, and that’s where this bi-weekly report will come in. I’ll be posting about freebie downloads I find throughout my internet travels that interest me the most; it’ll be somewhat skewed towards Kindle books, since that’s what I have, but I’ll also let y’all know if other formats are available as well.

I’ve also added a section for books under $3, because that’s the pricepoint that tempts me the most. They’re all at Amazon because that’s where I use my gift cards. Self-centered, I know, but I hope it’ll help out some of y’all who want cheap reads, too. Enjoy!

Legend
[format, DRM/no DRM, location restricted to]
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Review: Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini

Posted by Anastasia on November 5, 2010 4 Responses »

Nov 052010

213. Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini
Publication: originally published 1922, ebook published 1999
Genre: Adventure, Romance
Rating: Buy it!
Read: October 20-29, 2010
Source: Project Gutenberg (download)
Summary from Amazon:

Peter Blood, a physician and English gentleman, turned pirate out of a rankling sense of injustice. Barely escaping the gallows after his arrest for treating wounded rebels, Blood is enslaved on a Barbados plantation. When he escapes, no ship sailing the Spanish Main is safe from Blood and his men.

This classic adventure is alive with color, romance, and excitement and smoothly comments on the social injustices of slavery, the dangers of intolerance, the power of love, the role of fate, and the ways oppression can drive good men to desperate measures.

How to keep feeding your book hunger while on a budget, Part 2

Posted by Anastasia on November 3, 2010 5 Responses »

Nov 032010

This is post two of two on saving money while still indulging in expanding your TBR pile. Because, y’know, sometimes you just need new books! Post one is here, and it’s about BUYING books. This one is about getting them (legally) free!

Paper Books

The Library

Libraries are wonderful, everyone loves libraries (although not everyone has a library near to them), and though sometimes it’s hard to find a book you want in your library, WorldCat.org makes it easier to see what books are where nearest to you. And, depending on whether your library has enabled this feature or not, you can even request books through inter-library loan through WorldCat!
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How to keep feeding your book hunger while on a budget, Part 1

Posted by Anastasia on November 2, 2010 6 Responses »

Nov 022010

This is post one of two on saving money while still indulging in expanding your TBR pile. Because, y’know, sometimes you just need new books!

Long post is LONG.

Part 1: Buying Books

I normally buy my books through Amazon for two reasons: I have Prime shipping free for at least a year (which means I don’t have to spend $25 to get freebie shipping) and I’ve got a Kindle so it’s normally easier (and cheaper) to buy ebooks directly from them.

If you don’t use Amazon a lot some of these tips might not apply to you, unfortunately. Instead, I’d recommend you make BigWords your best friend. It’s a site that aggregates book prices from tons of different online stores all in one swoop, so you can see where the cheapest price is for a book (including shipping).
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