Beat the Heat Read-a-Thon: What I'll be reading #BtHReadathon

Hosted by Auntie Spinelli Reads or Phantasmic Reads. Sign up HERE before August 5th.

What I'll be reading:

Gracianna by Trini Amador
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (final 80 or so pages for read-a-long)

Not sure what else. I have to get my ducks in a row for my August reading. I'll add more later.

Since I never have time to update daily, I'm just going to do a couple of update posts during the read-a-thon. Plus, I'll be participating in two other read-a-thons in the coming week/weekend so I'll do separate posts for those.

High Summer Read-a-Thon: My Goals and Updates

Wrap-Up at end of post

The High Summer Read-a-Thon is here! I'm a bit late getting this post up, but better late than never, right? There are a ton of people signed up this time and I'm so excited! Not sure how much reading I'll get done this time because I have to work every day, but I'm going to squeeze as much reading in as I can. You can still join us (please do!). Just make a post and sign in at the starting line HERE, anytime between now and Friday at 11:59pm CST.

Here's what I'm reading:

The Queen's Rivals by Brandy Purday (finishing for a review tomorrow)
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (about 80 or so pages for read-a-long)
The Secret History by Stephanie Thornton (for a review/tour on Monday--this is also one of our giveaway books!)
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (trying to catch up on the read-a-long for Summer of Jest)
Under the Dome by SK (trying to finish)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (read-a-long)
Katherine by Anya Seton (read-a-long)

Monday
Books read: The Queen's Rivals, Brandy Purdy (finished)
Pages read:  300 (page 48 through 348)

Tuesday
Currently reading:  The White Queen, Philippa Gregory
Books read: did not finish a book today
Pages read:  79 pages of The White Queen
Total pages read:  379

Wednesday
Currently reading:  started To Kill a Mockingbird
Books read: no book finished
Pages read: 1
Total pages read:  380

Thursday

Mini-Challenge-- A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words hosted by Laura at Booksnob
1. Choose a picture that represents a person, place or thing in one of the books you are currently reading.
2. Name the book you are reading and explain how the picture relates to the story you are reading.
3. Link up at Laura's blog

Here's mine:

On Monday, I finished reading The Queen's Rivals by Brandy Purdy which is a historical fiction novel about Lady Jane Grey and her sisters. The first picture is of the three sisters...Jane on the left, Catherine (or Katherine) in the middle, and Mary on the right (incidentally, Mary was a dwarf/little person...I did not know that until I read the book). The second picture is probably the most famous painting of the Execution of Lady Jane Grey (Paul Delaroche, 1833), who was named as successor in King Edward VI's will, but since it was not reinforced by an Act of Parliament, it was deemed illegal. She was queen for nine days. When Mary Tudor, the rightful heir, took the throne, Jane was convicted of treason and executed.

Currently reading:  To Kill a Mockingbird
Books read:
Pages read:
Total pages read:

Friday
Currently reading:
Books read:
Pages read:
Total pages read:

Saturday
Currently reading:
Books read:
Pages read:
Total pages read:

Sunday
Currently reading:  The Secret History by Stephanie Thornton
Books read: 2
Pages read:  448
Total pages read: 828

Wrap-Up
I managed to read two books, The Queen's Rivals and The Secret History, and about 80 pages of The White Queen for a read-a-long. Not too bad, I think! 828 pages total.

I enjoyed the reading week with all of my read-a-thon pals!

Cat Thursday--Christmas in July: How to Wrap a Cat for Christmas

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! (share your post in the Mr. Linky below)

I found this quite hilarious. The look on the cat's face at the end. Priceless!

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A Couple of Announcements

My sons sometimes play games on a website called TotalJerkface. Well, I'm applying that acronym to myself today because...Book Bloggers International featured me on their site on July 11th and I. forgot. all. about. it. See...total jerkface me! So, I figure I'll announce it now because, although I don't deserve the exposure after my...shall we say, mishap...their site certainly does deserve to be recognized. So, if you forgive me my faux pas, stop by and check out my interview and certainly be sure to browse their site while you're there. Maybe when you're featured, you won't forget. Doh!

In other news...

Check out the Thrift Books Pinterest Contest! The page to find out how to enter is HERE (or click the image above). The Thrift Books contest pin is HERE. The contest runs until July 30, 2013 and is open to U.S. residents only.

Grand Prize is one (1) $50 gift card to Thriftbooks.com. Two (2) $25 gift cards to Thriftbooks.com will be awarded to two (2) runners-up. Winners selected based on their answers to "What’s your favorite book and why?" Prizes are only redeemable on Thriftbooks.com.

Here's the link to my board with my top ten, if you want to take a look at how it's done: http://pinterest.com/truebookaddict/my-thrift-books-top-10/

If you enter, good luck! And stop back by and share the link to your top ten. =O)

HFVBT: The Queen's Rivals by Brandy Purdey--Review and {Giveaway}

My thoughts
Although I know of Jane Grey's story, her lineage and the circumstances surrounding her execution, I did not know a lot about her family. I certainly did not know that one of her sisters was a dwarf, or that her mother was so very cruel. Now I realize that this is historical 'fiction' and, not having read extensively about Jane Grey, I can't say how historically accurate this book is. However, Purdy has written a great book giving us not only the story of Jane Grey, but a glimpse of the lives that surrounded her. I enjoyed the characterization of the sisters. Jane, it would seem, was very studious and serious...and stubborn, which really rubbed their lady-mother the wrong way. The vivacious Kate was a delight to read about and Mary seemed such a sweet girl. It must have been a difficult life for her.

There were a couple scenarios in the book that were quite shocking. Again, not sure about historical accuracy, but the elements added some interest to the story. Of course, the execution parts of the books were very sad and, Jane's time at the block especially, brought tears to my eyes.

In all, I very much recommend this book. Maybe it isn't completely accurate historically (again, I can't say for sure on what I know of the subject matter), but historical fiction is 'fiction' and the value of a good story is that it makes the reader more interested in the subject matter and thus more interested in history. For me, that's the goal and it was achieved here.

About the book
US
Publication Date: June 25, 2013
Kensington Publishing
Paperback; 384p
ISBN-10: 0758265999

UK Publication Date: September 12, 2013
Avon Publishing
ISBN-10: 1847563457

Their ambitions were ordinary, but they were born too close to the throne...

As cousins of history's most tempestuous queens, Ladies Jane, Katherine, and Mary Grey were born in an age when all of London lived beneath the Tower's menacing shadow. Tyrannized by Bloody Mary and the Virgin Queen, the sisters feared love was unthinkable —and the scaffold all but unavoidable...

Raised to fear her royal blood and what it might lead men to do in her name, Mary Grey dreads what will become of herself and her elder sisters under the reigns of Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I. On their honor, they have no designs on the crown, yet are condemned to solitude, forbidden to wed. Though Mary, accustomed to dwelling in the shadows, the subject of whispers, may never catch the eye of a gentleman, her beautiful and brilliant sisters long for freedoms that would surely cost their lives. And so, wizened for her years, Mary can only hope for divine providence amid a bleak present and a future at the whim of the throne — unless destiny gains the upper hand.

A gripping and bittersweet tale of broken families and broken hearts, courage and conviction, The Queen's Rivals recounts an astonishing chapter in the hard-won battle for the Tudor throne.

Please note this book will be published in the UK as THE FALLEN QUEEN by Emily Purdy.

About the author

Brandy Purdy (Emily Purdy in the UK) is the author of the historical novels THE CONFESSION OF PIERS GAVESTON, THE BOLEYN WIFE (THE TUDOR WIFE), THE TUDOR THRONE (MARY & ELIZABETH), THE QUEEN'S PLEASURE (A COURT AFFAIR), and THE QUEEN'S RIVALS (THE FALLEN QUEEN). An ardent book lover since early childhood, she first became interested in history at the age of nine or ten years old when she read a book of ghost stories which contained a chapter about Anne Boleyn haunting the Tower of London. Visit her website at www.brandypurdy.com, you can also follow her, and her cat Tabby, via her blog at http://brandypurdy.blogspot.com where she posts updates about her work and weekly book reviews.

Visit other blogs on the tour--Tour Schedule
Twitter Hashtag: #QueensRivalsTour

GIVEAWAY:

One copy of The Queen's Rivals to a winner in the U.S. Please leave a comment and be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you win (email address, Twitter handle, etc). Last day to enter is Tuesday, August 6 at 11:59pm CST. Good luck!

A copy of this book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for providing it.

Mini-Bloggiesta: Goals and Updates

It's the start of Mini-Bloggiesta and I have been waiting for this...I actually have some tasks that need to be tended to so this comes at the perfect time. Why not join in on the fun. Check it out at the Bloggiesta blog.

My goals (in order of priority):

1. I recently changed my two main blogs to two column (one sidebar) layouts so I need to make sure everything is arranged correctly in the sidebars. That is here on this blog and at my sister blog, Castle Macabre.
2. Here on The True Book Addict I want to create a page (tab) for my favorite blogs' buttons so as to de-clutter the sidebar even more.
3. Plan out and execute the details and announcement of the revamp of my Fantasy Reading Challenge.

If I have time, I might...

• Finish updating my 2012 and 2013 'books read' lists here on the blog
• Start adding my cataloged fiction books (from my home library...2000+ books) to my library blog, A Library, Collected.

Not sure about mini-challenges, as I'm concentrating on very specific tasks, but I will check them out. I'm also hoping to participate in the Twitter chat. 

Cat Thursday: Christmas in July...Cats in Trees

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Enjoy! (share your post in the Mr. Linky below)

So far this month I have neglected to post any Christmas in July kitties. What!? So, the next two weeks will be dedicated to just that. This week I give you....

Cats in Christmas trees!

The last one is my favorite. Poor Charlie Brown tree...not sure if the kitty makes it look worse or better. LOL!

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