The list grew and morphed from a simple "Ten Books of Summer", into a themed mash up of magical adventures and stories set in other countries. Eventually, we cast aside parameters and let our book loving loose. The final selections are an eclectic mix of YA, fantasy, paranormal fiction, a few memoirs, some mystery and thrillers to round it out. We chose a few classics and two titles in honor of our beloved Maya Angelou.

I'm sure a few more books will be added as we move through Summer. But for now we've stop casting a net for stories and are enjoying the selections. It's like having the dessert cart rolled out and getting to pick as many tasty treats as you'd like, but even better because you're sharing them with a kindred spirit. I love hashing out the deets with Mouse after we've finished a book together. As wonderful as it is to get lost in a good book, it's even better to do it in tandem.

Our "simple" Summer Reading List

...became a Pinterest Board.

 

 

Bring on the Books!

It's starting. The Summer book hoarding gathering is upon us. Mouse and I could make To Be Read lists until the end of time. I think it is completely possible that we could spend our days reading reviews, perusing the stacks and writing titles on whatever slips of paper we found handy, for pretty much the rest of our lives. Happily researching, Merrily listing while humming show tunes. ( I hum a pretty sweet "Everything's Coming up Roses") THEN we start the collecting, the downloading, the requesting, swapping/borrowing and it's great. No, it's Fricken' Awesome. It's like treasure hunting. A book high. I want to think we look as adorable as this sweet, pink mary-janed poppet to my right. Hauling our treasure away. But I suspect we look more like the lovely book hoarder below. I don't care how it looks. I just know how good it feels. To find a book, hold it in your hands and wonder. Will you fall in love, find adventure or make a life long friend. Books are magic. It's why we love them. They take us places, and make us feel things. Book love is transformative. It's starts when you hear your first bedtime story and if stays with your whole life. True, deep, abiding Love. Magic.

To Pin or not to Pin...

You are cordially invited to visit Mouse and Felons Pinterest Board where you can peruse the book lists we're accumulating as fast as our little fingers can pin. Who knew Pinterest was just another way to feed our book addiction? We dare you to come away without a half dozen books for your TBR pile. If you don't we suspect your dead inside.
Happy Perusing!

 

The Lists of Summer

Librarians should wear capes. Seriously, those Summer Reading programs with their tracking charts and colorful plastic prizes, who didn’t love those? Well, maybe non readers, aka troglodytes. Not sure if it was a love of reading or the lure of swag and imagined book glory. Regardless of the allure, the result was a love of reading, (and swag!). Nostalgia led us to attempt our own summer reading list.
Librarians make this stuff look so easy! Rolling up our sleeves, we shall  put our bookish noses to the grindstone to compose the perfect accidental sampling. 10 MUST READ SELECTIONS and what we've dubbed SUMMER SERIES.

There is a lot to be said for those fancy charts. Is this  something you learn in library school? 
 
Armed with a list we are usually a lot like drunks on a bender. In our attempts to procure books we've been known to buy and swap, request every available title from our libraries, troll used book stores and download mass quantities of electronic reading material. The TBR piles will grow, we will once again embrace our inner book hoarder. We will be book drunk. Sampling, dabbling, and occasionally abandoning titles in our ongoing quest to conquer the lists of Summer.

But like all binges there will be casualties. We may be sleep deprived and by mid summer a little pasty. But there is a chart to put stickers on and Swag to be had.

Let the book selections Begin!!

 

 

My Favorite Wizard Named Harry

HARRY DRESDEN—WIZARD Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other Entertainment

So reads the Yellow Page ad for Chicago's only Wizard P.I. Harry Dresden. To say I love Harry is like saying vampire books are sort of hot right now. Jim Butcher's Dresden books are hands down without a doubt, my absolute favorite series. No one wise asses, fights monsters, or saves the world quite like Harry. Not because he's the bravest, strongest or most powerful of wizards but because he is RELENTLESS.
"I don't want to live in a world where the strong rule and the weak cower. I'd rather make a place where things are a little quieter. Where trolls stay the hell under their bridges and where elves don't come swooping out to snatch children from their cradles. Where vampires respect the limits, and where the faeries mind their p's and q's. My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk. When things get strange, when what goes bump in the night flicks on the lights, when no one else can help you, give me a call. I'm in the book." 
How's that for a quote? Oh, and did I mention he's funny?
        'If I need you I'll give you a signal.'
        What signal?"
        'I'll imitate the scream of a terrified little girl'
Click here for a link to Chapter 1 of Storm Front the first book in the ongoing series

My Undead Summer Reading

I'm tearing through MaryJanice Davidson's Undead Series. I love Betsy, the funniest Vampire ever. She's obsessed with shoes, does everything in broad strokes and just blurts out whatever she's thinking. Is it weird that I'm relating to a fictional vampire? Here's a link to Undead and Unwed,  book one in the series. I'm on book 7 and loving it. They're quick reads, perfect for Summer.  And best of all, no scary Fae in this series!