TTBA Weekly News and Mailbox Monday

This feature was inspired by It's Monday! What are you reading? hosted by Sheila at Book Journey and by The Sunday Salon.

Another Monday and we're that much closer to Christmas and then the new year! Where does the time go, honestly?! I still didn't accomplish everything I wanted to in 2011, but we're all a work in progress and, ultimately, it's not the destination, but the journey that counts.  One thing I am very satisfied with are my (many) blogs and all the wonderful people that I get to interact with in this wonderful community of book bloggers and writers.

Be sure to stop by my home library blog, A Huge Library in a Small Apartment, where I have posted some pics of the process of sorting and shelving my 2000+ fiction books.  This is taking longer than I anticipated, but we finally have them all sorted and now it's time to shelve them.  I hope I have enough room! I have nine of the tall bookshelves and one tall corner one (which I'm going to use to shelve many of my faves, like Anne Rice, Stephen King, and others of which I have all, or most, of their books).  I also have three bookshelves with three shelves, one large and two smaller.  Cross your fingers that they all fit! Funny story...I found two books in my collection that I had duplicates of.  Nice going, buying the same book twice! I also culled some as well and may do more as I go along.  Perhaps I have a giveaway in the works!

EVENTS/NEWS

For those of you who are reading along with me on Bag of Bones over at Castle Macabre, I am a bad read-a-long host.  I'm so behind! I'm so sorry! But I'm going to post an update (over there) in the next couple of days and the final update will be Saturday.  The mini-series airs on A&E Sunday and Monday.  I can't wait! Have you seen the promos?  I have the trailer and the Behind the Scenes posted HERE.  I also have promised Moirae (the fates) that I will record the mini-series for her (yes, I still use VCRs) and, if anyone else is interested, we will do a mail chain of the tape.  She will mail it off to the next person (in U.S.).  You can read my thoughts on the first section of the book HERE.

The Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge is in full swing.  You can still sign up and join us, there is no deadline for sign-up.  You can find out the details and sign- up over at The Christmas Spirit HERE.

My annual season long event, Sharing the Joy, is going on now at The Christmas Spirit.  You can read all about what I have planned for the month at the INTRO POST.  I've already had some lovely guests so far and I have more scheduled, along with some giveaways! I'm still extending an invitation to any authors or bloggers who might like to contribute a guest post.  Please contact me at truebookaddictATgmailDOTcom, if you're interested.  Would sure love to have you!

Save the date! My winter read-a-thon, A Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon, is scheduled for January 23 -29, 2012.  All the details and sign-up are coming next week so stay tuned!

We are reading Christmas-y titles this month for TuesBookTalk Read-a-Longs on Twitter (@tuesbooktalk  #tuesbooktalk) and on Goodreads.  Our first selection, which we will discuss on tomorrow, December 6, is The Quiet Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott.  Since it is such a short book (a little over 100 pages), we will be reading a second book during the last three weeks of December.  The book is The Gift by Cecelia Ahern and our discussion will begin on Tuesday, December 13.  Our chats take place on Twitter at 10:30pm ET/9:30pm CT on Tuesday nights.  If you can't join us on Twitter, feel free to share your thoughts in the Goodreads group.  Get the full reading schedule for The Gift HERE.  Hope you will join us!


WHAT I'M READING
Last week:
--Catherine by Sigrid Weidenweber (Review)
--What Alice Knew by Paula Marantz Cohen (review coming soon)
Currently reading:
--Bag of Bones by Stephen King for the read-a-long at Castle Macabre (see above)
--Lost December by Richard Paul Evans
--The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: 101 Inspiring Ways to Enjoy Christmas by Candy Paull
--The Hypnotist by M.J. Rose...finishing up tonight (look for my review tomorrow and a guest post/giveaway on Friday)
Coming up:
--Still have much more Christmas reading going on from now throughout Christmas, including The Gingerbread Bump-Off by Livia J. Washburn, Tumbleweed Christmas by Beverly Stowe McClure (12/8 at Christmas Spirit), Next Christmas in Girouette by Michael Welch (all for review), and Little Shepherd by Cheryl C. Malandrinos (12/16 at Christmas Spirit).

--Writing Your Way by Julie Smith...review coming up December 14

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia and is currently on tour. This month's host is Jenny at Let Them Read Books (want to read a book description? Clicking the book covers will take you to the book's page on Amazon).

First and foremost are my wonderful goodies from my Book Blogger Holiday Swap Secret Santa, who is Ashley from Complete and Unabridged.  Look at all the lovelies she sent me!

• Queen Defiant:  A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine by Anne O'Brien (from my wishlist)
• Amaryllis: A Holiday Anthology by Pomegranate Writers' Group (a group of local writers in her town)
• A matching Amaryllis bookmark
• Spanish Castile soap...homemade by her mother at Twisted Oak Farm (smells wonderful!)
• Two cat note cards (lurv them...kitties, kitties, kitties)
• A pretty Currier & Ives card (fave) with a sweet note 

Thank you so much, Ashley! I love absolutely everything!

WON:

I won the USA/Canada prize bundle in the Read 2 Review Grand Opening competition! Here's what I won (mostly eBooks...no covers/links...sorry, too many here!):

Print Copies:

Rascals Sing at the Opera House (Patricia Puddle)

Velvet Ball And The Broken Fairy (Patricia Puddle)

Ebooks:

A Choice of Ebook by Kiki Howell – Choices

Between The Land And The Sea--Derrolyn Anderson

Cemetery Street--John A. Zunski
Flidderbugs--Jonathan Gould
For King and Country--Martin Lake
In Search Of Lucy--Lia Fairchild
Nuggets--Martin Lake
Star-Crossed Rascals--Patricia Puddle

Molly Gumnut Rescues a Bandicoot--Patricia Puddle

The Gift Of Illusion--Richard Brown
The Intern--Jess C Scott
The Lost King: Resistance--Martin Lake
The Lost King: Wasteland--Martin Lake
The Other Side Of Life--Jess C Scott
The Uncanny Valley--Bryan R. Dennis
Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat--Andrez Bergen
Unnatural Law--Natasha Larry
War of Gods Trilogy (Special Edition)--Lizzy Ford

From Julie at Knitting and Sundries, I won her Spooktacular giveaway...a $25 Gift Certificate to Cemetery Dance Publications....oh, the horror, literally! YAY!

Christmas Jars Reunion by Jason F. Wright...from Wall-to-Wall Books (this is the sequel to one of my favorite Christmas books, Christmas Jars)

PURCHASED FROM GOODWILL:

The Change-Your-Life Quote Book by Allen Klein

All For Love: The Scandalous Life and Times of Royal Mistress Mary Robinson by Amanda Elyot

The Pope's Rhinoceros by Lawrence Norfolk

FROM MYSTERY GUILD:

The Doll: The Lost Short Stories by Daphne du Maurier