Again we had icy roads to deal with today so I stayed home rather than try to make it in to work (250+ car wrecks!). We are so not used to this weather. I guess it’s not really a free day as I’m using up my vacation time but well I’d rather avoid the icy streets and I can always use a day for more reading and bookbinding.

I’m making progress in some of my current reads so today I’ll just tell you about more books I’ve added to my reading list. Most of these books came via reviews from the Book Reporter newsletter and RT Magazine.

• A Walk In the Winter by Maeve Binchy. A story about a restful place by the sea. I’m sure this will be a good, comfort read.
• A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner. A story of two women who lived and loved in New York. The time frame is during September 1911 and September 2011.
• The Taste of Apple Seeds by Katherina Hagena. A young woman inherits her grandmother’s house in the countryside. Will she hang on to it and it’s memories?
• Where Monsters Dwell by Jørgen Brekke. A murder mystery with settings in Norway and the Edgar Allen Poe museum in Virginia. Two places I would love to visit.
• Thirty Girls by Susan Minot. I’ve read a couple of Minot’s books and have really enjoyed them but this sounds very different from her previous books.
• The Vanishing by Wendy Webb. From the author’s site: “A mysterious visitor with an intriguing offer, a centuries-old mansion in the middle of the wilderness, and a séance gone horribly wrong.” – oh yes, I want to read this.
• The Swiss Affair by Emylia Hall. I admit when I first saw the cover I thought it was chicklit (which I do read but not very often) but this actually sounds a bit more like a mystery.

Have you read any of these books or are you planning to?

Top Ten Tuesday has a great meme for this week and I’m going to do a mix of: What are the top ten worlds I never want to live in and what are the top ten characters I don’t want to trade places with:

First here are the places I wouldn’t want to live in:

The Unit because as a childless couple I know what my husband’s and my fate would be. Shudders…. If you’ve not read this book you should give it a try.
The Village of Three Pines sounds idyllic but there are a lot of murders for Inspector Gamache to solve.
The Island of Dr. Moreau. Scary experiments and scary people. I love the beach but I’m sure I wouldn’t like this place.
Broken Harbor stated off as luxury neighborhood but it is half-abandoned and half-built. You are so alone out there you start imagining things.
The planet of Rakhat. If you’ve read The Sparrow you know why. It’s dangerous there.

Now, these are the characters I wouldn’t want to trade places with:

Delia Martin from Delia’s Shadow. She may be a great gal but she sees ghosts all the time and they want her help.
Magdalena from The Hangman’s Daughter. Poor girl, she may be beautiful but what young man wants a hangman for a father-in-law.
Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games. I would die of hunger. I really don’t think I would do too well in the games.
Clare from The Time Traveler’s Wife. I like to travel but a time-traveling husband? No, thanks!
Brooklyn Wainwright from Homicide in Hardcover may get to work with beautiful books as she’s a bookbinder but I think I’ll stick to my little studio and avoid encounters with crazy book collectors.

Alright, I want to hear what some of your choices would be!