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.

I don’t really have much library loot to report on as I am really trying to read more from my shelves but I did stop in at the library today to pick up one book for my next mystery book group discussion.

We are reading Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov. I can’t say I’m excited about this book because I really don’t read science fiction and already this year we read another mystery which was a bit more of the sci-fi variety rather than mystery but I’m going to try and keep an open mind. Then again, if I get too behind I may just show up to the group without reading the book (the horror, I know) and see what the other readers have to say. Have you read this book? What do you think?

Aside from picking up this book I spent some time checking out Creating Keepsakes magazine. Just like reading all the wonderful book bloggers blogs make me add tons of books to my list, this magazine makes me add a bunch of crafty must-haves to my shopping list. For example, right now I really want these journaling jump-starts. Aren’t those cool?

Anyway, it was time to head out but not before I picked up the latest BookPage magazine. I guess tonight I’ll spend some time adding more books to my wish list.

How about you? What goodies did you find on your latest library visit?