Pick-a-Shelf discussion

Who can believe that it's that time of the month already where we start making choices of what to read next.
Thanks to Pollyanna's great choice Medieval is next :0)

http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/m...

can't wait to see what you guys pick as usual :0)

Grr, seeing I just read The Once and Future King for Mythology, Medieval is a bit of a repeat. One book then: The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.

I LOVE this choice, Pollyanna. I could read forever on this shelf, lol. Here are some choices I will choose from:

The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis
Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman
To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick
The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir
The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman
Graceling by Kristin Cashore

That out to be enough to choose from!

hmm, i'm going to try for
World Without End - Ken Follett
Graceling - Kristin Cashore
The Prince - Machiavelli

I also found a few romances that I have on the piles somewhere that I might try to get to

I am going to start with The Habitation of the Blessed by Catherynne M. Valente. I started it a month or so ago, got distracted by books for various challenges, and need to re-start it. I love what I read so far!

Then: Grendel - John Champlin Gardner

After that, maybe I'll get to something from:

The Desert of Souls - Howard Andrew Jones
Pope Joan - Donna Woolfolk Cross
Company of Liars - Karen Maitland
The Owl Killers - Karen Maitland (again)
The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century - Ian Mortimer


(I can't believe no one has filed Mark Twain's Joan of Arc on the Medieval shelf! If someone had, I'd read that to do double duty with the RAFTS challenge.)

Candiss wrote: "(I can't believe no one has filed Mark Twain's Joan of Arc on the Medieval shelf! If someone had, I'd read that to do double duty with the RAFTS challenge.)
..."

That's why I picked A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Candiss, LOL. I agree, though, it would be great if Joan of Arc were on there!

I am hoping to read:
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

I'll read Time and Chance. I read the first book a few years ago and loved it.

I'm going to see how many of these I get through:
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway (yes its on the shelf...)

They all fill ROAR requirements for me.

i really like the Gargoyle Lahni - but its very detailed in places, so if you have a weak stomach...

ohh, i might have to add the cellist of sarajevo, that will help me for my around the world challenge

Delicious Dee Challenge Addict wrote: "i really like the Gargoyle Lahni - but its very detailed in places, so if you have a weak stomach...

ohh, i might have to add the cellist of sarajevo, that will help me for my around the world cha..."


Thanks for the heads up but I have a stomach of steel! ;) (Now watch me not be able to get through the book).

lol...it was just descriptive because he suffers from extensive burns...i read a NF about the mass gen burn unit just after which was enlightening

Lyn M wrote: "I LOVE this choice, Pollyanna. I could read forever on this shelf, lol. Here are some choices I will choose from:

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by [author:Mark Twa..."

Oh, you'll love Graceling!

Candiss wrote: "I am going to start with The Habitation of the Blessed by Catherynne M. Valente. I started it a month or so ago, got distracted by books for various challenges, and ..."

What do you know about the Maitland books? Both looked interesting to me as possibilities to put on my list, but I don't really know anything about her or the books.

Susan wrote: "What do you know about the Maitland books? Both looked interesting to me as possibilities to put on my list, but I don't really know anything about her or the books."

Very little, I'm afraid. I got turned toward her work a while back via a mention in some review or article about a different author's work, and I'm afraid I don't even recall that author's name. I just recall the article writer giving Maitland high praise, and the plots of those two books really interested me.

I'm sorry I can't be of more help!

Pick-a-Shelf April
Medieval

I'll be reading from this series by Madeline Hunter. I have 3 of them - just need to look for #3 & #5

By Possession
By Design
Stealing Heaven
By Arrangement
The Protector

Delicious Dee Challenge Addict wrote: "i really like the Gargoyle Lahni - but its very detailed in places, so if you have a weak stomach...

ohh, i might have to add the cellist of sarajevo, that will help me for my around the world cha..."

Lahni - The Gargoyle is a great book. I wish I hadn't read it yet, lol. I could read it for this. And it wasn't near as bad gory wise as I had feared, I am such a wus.

For this month, I will read Katherine by Anya Seton

I will read The Secrets by Julie Garwood.

Oh, wow!

I keep meaning to read The Name of the Rose, so that will be my main commitment for the month.

There are also several series I love that qualify, so I'll probably pick up the next in some of them.

And I'll be away from home a bit, so I'll take aloong a classic I find in the public domain for my Nook that fits this category. I'll probably choose from Dante's The Inferno or Divine Comedy and Chaucer's Canterbury tales. But undoubtedly I'll only manage one of those, none of which I've ever read before.

I really liked Canterbury Tales when I read it back in college...that and pillars of the earth were like two books that I actually finished in the assigned reading time

Lyn M wrote: "I LOVE this choice, Pollyanna. I could read forever on this shelf, lol. Here are some choices I will choose from:

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by [author:Mark Twa..."

I highly recommend "Graceling" and I liked the second one "Fire" even better!

Natasha wrote: "I'm hoping to have more time in April to read books so I'm shooting for:

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Unknown
[book:Ivanh..."

OOH, Pillars and Ivanhoe are two of my favorites!!!

Went to the library yesterday with a list of about 50 books from this category, the following are what I came home with:

The Fate of Princes
The Archer's Tale
and
The Reeve's Tale

In addition, I already had these at home:
A Clash of Kings (which I had already started before April was announced)

Sword of the Rightful King: A Novel of King Arthur
and
Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country

Lynne wrote: "Went to the library yesterday with a list of about 50 books from this category, the following are what I came home with:

The Fate of Princes
The Archer's Tale
and
..."

I have the Guenevere book somewhere. Or maybe I gave it to you. Anyway, I really enjoyed that book. Hope you like it.

i added The Prince to my list for the month because it fills in a few blanks on various challenges - this one, a philosophy book for the january shelf, a classic for my design your own challenge in another group

I am in for April, just need to do some looking to pick out my book/s

There are quite a few from this shelf that I'd like to read, but I'm going to try to read a few that I already own to try to get my TBR piles down a bit. I'm going to read from this list:

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
1215: The Year of Magna Carta by Dannyy Danziger (already partially read)
The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier
Katherine Swynford: The Story of John of Gaunt and His Scandalous Duchess by Allison Weir
and maybe start
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Untamed (Medieval, #1)
by Elizabeth Lowell

Forbidden (Medieval Series #2)
by Elizabeth Lowell

Enchanted (Medieval, #3)
by Elizabeth Lowell

LynnB wrote: "There are quite a few from this shelf that I'd like to read, but I'm going to try to read a few that I already own to try to get my TBR piles down a bit. I'm going to read from this list:

[book:D..."

Lynn - I hear the Alison Weir book on Katherine Swynford is fantastic. I have read a number of her books and really like them, but I haven't read that one yet.

I think I will read The Goose Girl. It got great reviews, and my library has 15 copies available! It looks interesting. It is an adaptation of a Grimm's fairy tale. My second choice would be Monk's Hood. I've seen some Brother Cadfael (sp.?) episodes on TV and love these mysteries. I don't know how the books would read though...

wow, I am shocked at how many books on this list I have read.

I am not sure what I will read, but I have noticed a few people have listed Ivanhoe as a choice and I just wanted to let you know this novel can be downloaded here, for eReaders (free) if anyone is interested.

Carolyn wrote: "I think I will read The Goose Girl. It got great reviews, and my library has 15 copies available! It looks interesting. It is an adaptation of a Grimm's fairy tale. My second choice w..."

wow, the goose girl looks very interesting, and i will order it from the library now........i will also take a look at ivanhoe

i am so behind on my month topic readings, as it is taking a long time to get books from the library, i am just now reading for the "coming of age" month

but i am reading a lot of mysteries mean while......and i even have my taxes ready for the act.........so far so good

I hate when that happens, onarock. It is the most frustrating thing about the library, but the variety makes up for it, I think.

Lyn M wrote: "I hate when that happens, onarock. It is the most frustrating thing about the library, but the variety makes up for it, I think."

My library rocks. Most books I request make it to my branch in less than a week (provided they are available of course.)

Lyn M wrote: "I hate when that happens, onarock. It is the most frustrating thing about the library, but the variety makes up for it, I think."

i do love my library.......i am sure it costs a lot to send books back and forth from this remote area.....

hmm, I have a couple of the Brother Caldefel books on the pile that I bought from an ebay auction...my tenative list for the month keeps growing

Carolyn wrote: "I think I will read The Goose Girl. It got great reviews, and my library has 15 copies available! It looks interesting. It is an adaptation of a Grimm's fairy tale. My second choice w..."

Carolyn wrote: "I think I will read The Goose Girl. It got great reviews, and my library has 15 copies available! It looks interesting. It is an adaptation of a Grimm's fairy tale. My second choice w..."

Let me know if you like the Cadfael book. I loved the tv movies but I couldn't make it through the first book. I want to know if I should hang in there.

Lyn M wrote: "I hate when that happens, onarock. It is the most frustrating thing about the library, but the variety makes up for it, I think."

I think the cost makes up for it! LOL My local library pretty much sucks but I take a list of about 30 books from the shelf of the month and end up checking out whatever the library DOES have. I have read some great books that I probably wouldn't have gotten around to any other way. Especially from the science shelf.

Carolyn wrote: "I think I will read The Goose Girl. It got great reviews, and my library has 15 copies available! It looks interesting. It is an adaptation of a Grimm's fairy tale. My second choice w..."

I hadn't heard of The Goose Girl before, but it looks good. I'm adding it to my TBR list.

Don't get me wrong. I love my library, it is huge, with 30 or more branches to order books from. But I have the opposite problem that onarock has. I live in a highly populated area, so even if they buy a large amount of copies of the newest books, there are usually huge lists to go with them. Once I was 267th on the list for a book, I forget which one, though. Usually I have just waited, but it is hard when a lot of the book groups choose them as their group reads, lol.

onarock wrote: "Lyn M wrote: "I hate when that happens, onarock. It is the most frustrating thing about the library, but the variety makes up for it, I think."

i do love my library.......i am sure it costs a lot..."

Where do you live, onarock?

Lynne wrote: "Carolyn wrote: "I think I will read The Goose Girl. It got great reviews, and my library has 15 copies available! It looks interesting. It is an adaptation of a Grimm's fairy tale. My..."

You didn't like the Cadfael books, Lynne?

Lyn M wrote: "Lynne wrote: "Carolyn wrote: "I think I will read The Goose Girl. It got great reviews, and my library has 15 copies available! It looks interesting. It is an adaptation of a Grimm's ..."

Nope, loved the series of movies...couldn't make it all the way through the first book.

Carolyn wrote: "I think I will read The Goose Girl. It got great reviews, and my library has 15 copies available! It looks interesting. It is an adaptation of a Grimm's fairy tale. My second choice w..."

I really like the Cadfael books!

Susan wrote: "Carolyn wrote: "I think I will read The Goose Girl. It got great reviews, and my library has 15 copies available! It looks interesting. It is an adaptation of a Grimm's fairy tale. My..."

I like the Cadfael books too. I have read several. I am sure that I have several books on my "not-yet-read" bookshelf in the bedroom or den that will fit this challenge.

I am going to tackle (finally) The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It's one I've been putting off for a while.

Lauren wrote: "I am going to tackle (finally) The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It's one I've been putting off for a while."

u will not be disappointed........i loved it and it has opened up a whole new reading world to me........u guys....this whole group.......is a very very bright spot in my life......thanx

Lyn M wrote: "onarock wrote: "Lyn M wrote: "I hate when that happens, onarock. It is the most frustrating thing about the library, but the variety makes up for it, I think."

i do love my library.......i am sur..."

i live on a rock in the nw pacific ocean......lol...Haida Gwaii(queen charlotte islands)

k

Cool, onarock. I looked them up on Google. Neat area.