Who doesn’t love receiving books for review, right? I go through phases though. Sometimes even though a book sounds good, I have to turn it down because I just have too many other books in the queue. It’s hard because a lot of books sound very tempting but then I realize that this also means less reading at whim as I feel obligated to get to those ARCs.

Anyway, currently I’m in the mode of wanting books and aside from some blog tours I’m hosting later this month and next, I have also received some other new books which sound really good. Here’s what I’ve received:

• Forward From Here by Reeve Lindbergh. From the book: In her funny and wistful new book, Reeve Lindbergh contemplates entering a new stage in life, turning sixty, the period her mother, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, once described as “the youth of old age.” Doesn’t this sound like a great read? I’ve not read Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s famous book Gift from the Sea but I’d imagine it’d be wonderful to read both back-to-back.
• The Eye of Jade & Paper Butterfly by Diane Wei Liang. This mystery series is set in modern day Beijing and the sleuth, Mei Wang, sets up a private investigation agency, something that is technically illegal in the country. Sounds like this could be a the start of an interesting series.
• Dust and Shadow by Lyndsay Faye. Another mystery novel but this one features Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper.
• Hold Love Strong by Matthew Aaron Goodman. From Kirkus Review: A debut novel about a boy coming of age in an inner-city New York neighborhood. The book begins with narrator Abraham Singleton’s birth to a 13-year-old mother on the bathroom floor of her grandmother’s apartment, a circumstance not conducive to future success. We then follow the next 18 years of Abraham’s life, meeting his neighbors and relatives along the way. I love a good coming of age tale and this sounds great.
• Wrongful Death by Robert Dugoni. I’m not very big on legal thrillers but this one sounds like it has potential.

Have you received some good ARCs lately? Tell me what you got so I can be all jealous – heh.

I just finished the wonderful story of The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner. I won’t go into too much detail yet because I’m actually reviewing this book a bit later as part of a book blog tour but I’ll just say that I really enjoyed finally reading something about this famous Spanish Queen.

It’s funny because while I was growing up I always heard my mom talk about the kings and queens of different countries. She was really into historical fiction and non-fiction. And aside from Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and Marie Antoinette, the woman I heard most about around the house was Juana La Loca.

As a kid I was fascinated by this woman who I thought didn’t care about anything but her husband, Felipe El Hermoso (Philip the Fair) and I loved imagining the beautiful country she was from. But even though I knew of this famous couple I didn’t really know anything about their history so this book has been a fantastic peek at what their life might have been like. The virtual book tour has already started with a kick off at Historical Tapestry and you can see the rest of the scheduled stops here.

Now I’m in the middle of trying to figure out who killed Sir Arthur in Georgette Heyer’s novel The Unfinished Clue. A lovely country house, a Mexican temptress, a minister, an unhappy son and a bunch of other people who visited the house on the weekend all have something they hold against Sir Arthur but who could have killed him?

I’ve enjoyed the few Heyer books I’ve read but had been wanting to check out one of her mysteries so thanks to Sourcebooks for sending me two of her books. You’ll hear more about this one and the other soon.

Now, you know me, I typically like to have a couple of books going so I think tonight I may start Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. This is also for another upcoming book tour.

Here’s a bit on the book: In the opening pages Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle’s Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol. This simple act takes old Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the war, when young Henry’s world is a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who is obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American.

I know some of you have already read this book and have read some good reviews for the most part. I know I’m looking forward to it.

Know what else I’m looking forward to? Maggie’s Southern Reading Challenge! I know I shouldn’t be even thinking of more challenges as I’m kind of stalled on all of mine but I have lots of books that would be perfect for this challenge and plus I missed out last year and don’t want to miss out again. So I’m off to stare at my shelves and compose a list.