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:How old were you when you realized that you are an AVID reader?

I was pretty young when I noticed that I read more then most kids. I would say about 8 or 9. You see my Mom always took us to the library during the school year and the summer. So I would go home with sacks full of books and I would spend all day reading during the summer weeks and on weekends I read a lot as well. I just enjoyed it. More often then not when I was growing up as a “latch key” kid during the summer ect you would find me on the couch out on the porch reading. Enjoying the nice weather and a good book. Anytime we had those reading challenges or win a prize for how much you read ect in school I would win and honestly didn’t even try that hard.

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: What is your favorite lesson learned, or quote, from a recent book you’ve read?

Well that is a tough one. Most of my recent books have been Tudor books so the lesson would be do not catch the eye of Henry VIII but if I am going to think about a quote I am going to think about Harry Dresden because he is Harry Dresden and hey it has only been a few months since my last read so..the quote: “Paranoid? Probably. But just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that there isn’t an invisible demon about to eat your face.”

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:How often do you use your local library? Are you happy with their availability?

I use it at least once a month though I tend to use it for the online choices. Ebooks and Audio books. I am happy enough with the availability only thing i don’t like is so many of my books often have a very long hold and wait list.

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: Who (or what) influences your reading most?

My Mood seems to b a major influence. Lately I have been on a hug Tudor era kick. I am not sure why, I mean I always have loved the era and have ton’s of books from the era but lately it is back to back of the Tudor’s. I feel bad I marked a shopaholic to read and meant to start it because I love the books, alas. I got hooked on the Tudor era for now. I am sure I will get the shopaholic one done soon though. As for who, no one really. I read what I want.

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: What’s your favorite genre? Why?

My favorite genre is Historical Fiction because I love historical things and i love good fiction. I know that seems like a simplistic answer but it is the simple truth for me. It combines two things I love.

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 I ignored the random question and I am going to shout from the roof stops I AM SO EXCITED. Poldark the series by Winston Graham. It has always been a favorite of mine, and ones I am going to re-read again soon. But BBC and PBS are reviving the series from the 70’s! with Aidan turner as Ross. YUM.

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:Do you have people in your life (face-to-face) that are readers like you? Or, do you find that you have to reach out to those online in order to find like-minded folk?

I do have people in my life face to face who are readers like me. However, many of them I met online in the first place or they were family. In my new hometown I am just started to reach out to people but I have joined a book club and I have made a new friend on my book swap site that lives locally. So for me it is a combination of things.

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: What do you think about re-purposing old books (eg. into art journals, etc)? Why?

This week I am going to show what I am currently reading. I made a goal to myself to try to have two books going all year. One E-reader and One Hard copy. So I am currently working on two books. I just started them both as last week I was busy dealing with some work things.

When Lila Moore inherits her grandfather’s house, she finds herself in a small Midwestern town where margarine is never an acceptable substitution for butter, a coveted family recipe can serve as currency, and the friend who will take your darkest secrets to the grave will still never give you the secret to her prize-winning begonias.

Lila is charmed by the people of Auburn, from the blue-eyed lawyer with the southern drawl to the little old lady who unceasingly tries to set Lila up with her grandson. But when strange things begin to happen, Lila realizes some of her new friends are guarding a secret like it’s a precious family heirloom. It’s a dangerous secret, and it has come back to haunt them. Lila is caught in the middle, and her life may depend on uncovering it. But even if she can, can she stay in Auburn when not everyone is what they seem, and even the house wants her gone?

Meg Wolfe, The Lady of Faire Isle, is a gifted healer who can find a cure for almost any ailment. But she’s also the daughter of Cassandra Claire, a mad witch and heretic with a notorious history.

Meg’s infamous lineage makes her a target from both those who want to use her extraordinary talents for good and those who want to use them for evil.

One man in particular needs her special skills: to execute his revenge on a king. History and a kingdom hang in the balance as Meg tries to navigate the delicate line between right and wrong. And what she discovers is that she can no longer trust anyone or anything…not even her own heart.

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.