Musing Monday is hosted over at Should Be Reading.

Musing Monday asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

Musing Mondays asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer each week…

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ___, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Give a list of 4 books you read last year that you’d recommend to others — and why.

I am going to answer the up next I think I will read today. I just finished a graphic novel for a book club and I think next I am going to read Sex with Kings.

Throughout the centuries, royal mistresses have been worshiped, feared, envied, and reviled. They set the fashions, encouraged the arts, and, in some cases, ruled nations. Eleanor Herman’s Sex with Kings takes us into the throne rooms and bedrooms of Europe’s most powerful monarchs. Alive with flamboyant characters, outrageous humor, and stirring poignancy, this glittering tale of passion and politics chronicles five hundred years of scintillating women and the kings who loved them.

Curiously, the main function of a royal mistress was not to provide the king with sex but with companionship. Forced to marry repulsive foreign princesses, kings sought solace with women of their own choice. And what women they were! From Madame de Pompadour, the famous mistress of Louis XV, who kept her position for nineteen years despite her frigidity, to modern-day Camilla Parker-Bowles, who usurped none other than the glamorous Diana, Princess of Wales.

The successful royal mistress made herself irreplaceable. She was ready to converse gaily with him when she was tired, make love until all hours when she was ill, and cater to his every whim. Wearing a mask of beaming delight over any and all discomforts, she was never to be exhausted, complaining, or grief-stricken.

True, financial rewards for services rendered were of royal proportions — some royal mistresses earned up to $200 million in titles, pensions, jewels, and palaces. Some kings allowed their mistresses to exercise unlimited political power. But for all its grandeur, a royal court was a scorpion’s nest of insatiable greed, unquenchable lust, and vicious ambition. Hundreds of beautiful women vied to unseat the royal mistress. Many would suffer the slings and arrows of negative public opinion, some met with tragic ends and were pensioned off to make room for younger women. But the royal mistress often had the last laugh, as she lived well and richly off the fruits of her “sins.”

From the dawn of time, power has been a mighty aphrodisiac. With diaries, personal letters, and diplomatic dispatches, Eleanor Herman’s trailblazing research reveals the dynamics of sex and power, rivalry and revenge, at the most brilliant courts of Europe. Wickedly witty and endlessly entertaining, Sex with Kings is a chapter of women’s history that has remained unwritten — until now

Musing Monday is hosted over at Should Be Reading.

Musing Monday asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

Another Happy New Year from Fire & Ice and here is the first Musing Monday of the year!

Musing Mondays asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer each week…

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ___, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

How many books, approximately, do you think you have in your personal collection?

Oh dear well this is a thoughtful one. It has been a while since I have counted. I have a great deal of books on my readers and my TBR and such. do not tend to keep to many books that I have read so you have to be very special to be on that shelf. Overall I would say over 1,500 books or so. Perhaps more.

Musing Monday is hosted over at Should Be Reading.

Musing Monday asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

Another Happy New Year from Fire & Ice and here is the first Musing Monday of the year!

Musing Mondays asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer each week…

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ___, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Has any author ever had a huge influence on your reading? Who, and why?

My mom has. When I was young my Mom always encouraged me to read and to read anything. That is why she had such an influence on me. She never said I couldn’t read something, from comics to novels she just wanted me to read. She took us to the library every week and never put limits on how much we could check out. Thanks Mom.

Musing Monday is hosted over at Should Be Reading.

Musing Monday asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

Another Happy New Year from Fire & Ice and here is the first Musing Monday of the year!

Musing Mondays asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer each week…
• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!
• What are you currently reading? What do you think you’ll read next? What did you recently finish reading?

This week’s random question: Did you get any books for Christmas? What are they? Did you buy them yourself, or were they given to you?

I did not get any books for Christmas this year. Bad thing but that is okay my Christmas was a great one either way. I am currently about to start Prince Lestat. I meant to start it last year and even marked it on my Goodreads but then I did not get it done. Holidays and all of that as you know they get busy and I had gifts to make! So I will be starting it as soon as I get something done for an Etsy customer. 🙂 I am nervous on whether or not I am going to like Prince Lestat but I used to be a huge Ricean so worth a try.

Musing Monday is hosted over at Should Be Reading.

Musing Monday asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

Tis the season! While my reading has slowed down due to the whole divorce thing my question has to do with the season. Do you find yourself reading less then usually this time of year? Or maybe you read more?

Musing Monday is hosted over at Should Be Reading.

Musing Monday asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

Alasdair Cynster known to his intimates as Lucifer decides to rusticate in the country before the matchmaking skills of London′s mamas become firmly focused on him, the last unwed Cynster. But an escape to Devonshire leads him straight to his destiny in the irresistible form of Phyllida Tallent, a willful, independent beauty of means who brings all his masterful Cynster instincts rioting to the fore. Lucifer isn′t about to deny his desire for Phyllida, and he′s determined to use all his seductive skills to enjoy the benefits of destiny′s choice without submitting to the parson′s noose.

Phyllida has had a bevy of suitors, her charm and wit are well known throughout the countryside, but none of them has tempted her the way Lucifer does. His offer to teach her all about the ways of love is almost too tantalising to resist. And though she′s not yet completely surrendered, she knows only a fool stands against a Cynster…and Phyllida is no one′s fool.

Musing Monday is hosted over at Should Be Reading.

Musing Monday asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

Seven deadly sins. Seven souls that must be saved. One more no-holds- barred battle between a fallen angel with a hardened heart and a demon with everything to lose.

Isaac Rothe is a black ops soldier with a dark past and a grim future. The target of an assassin, he finds himself behind bars, his fate in the hands of his gorgeous public defender Grier Childe. His hot attraction to her can only lead to trouble-and that’s before Jim Heron tells him his soul is in danger. Caught up in a wicked game with the demon who shadows Jim, Isaac must decide whether the soldier in him can believe that true love is the ultimate weapon against evil

Musing Monday is hosted over at Should Be Reading.

Musing Monday asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

The moment Amber starts her summer job in Scotland and sets eyes upon Aidan, her fate is sealed. Summoned by an ancient bond, she can never love another. Lost in the woods one night Amber enters Aidan’s deadly world when she unknowingly participates in a paranormal race and promptly wins the first prize…a prize worth killing for.

In a world of forbidden love, ancient enemies, legends and rituals, nothing is as it seems and no one can be trusted. Life will never be the same again, unless she enters the Otherworld. But to do so, Amber must die…

Musing Monday is hosted over at Should Be Reading.

Musing Monday asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

“There’s power in the touch of another person’s hand. We acknowledge it in little ways, all the time. There’s a reason human beings shake hands, hold hands, slap hands, bump hands.

“It comes from our very earliest memories, when we all come into the world blinded by light and color, deafened by riotous sound, flailing in a suddenly cavernous space without any way of orienting ourselves, shuddering with cold, emptied with hunger, and justifiably frightened and confused. And what changes that first horror, that original state of terror?

“The touch of another person’s hands.

“Hands that wrap us in warmth, that hold us close. Hands that guide us to shelter, to comfort, to food. Hands that hold and touch and reassure us through our very first crisis, and guide us into our very first shelter from pain. The first thing we ever learn is that the touch of someone else’s hand can ease pain and make things better.

“That’s power. That’s power so fundamental that most people never even realize it exists.”

Musing Monday is hosted over at Should Be Reading.

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

How many books would you take with you on a 12-14 hour plane ride?

I will have my kindle so its not a huge issue but I am thinking to take 3 hard backs.