I just have 5 DAYS left and then I am on SUMMER VACATION!!! I cannot wait!
While I’m not completely work-free (I teach piano lessons year round!) I am greatly looking forward to spending time in the hammock or driving the 15 minutes to Wrightsville Beach and indulging in some wonderful summer reading!
This summer, I am hoping to REALLY catch up on my reading and help reduce my TO BE READ pile. For the last couple of months any book I’ve added to that pile has been forced to endure a 3 month waiting period before I actually get around to reading it. My goal for this summer is to reduce that 3 month waiting period to a 1 month waiting period! – or if that isn’t possible, 6 week waiting period!
So many EXCELLENT Austenesque novels being published every month! Must do my best to keep up!
To help achieve my goal – I’m setting up a plan of reading and reviewing 5 books each month (we’ll see how it goes!)
All Roads Lead to Austen by Amy Elizabeth Smith (reading right now!)
Still a Young Man by P. O. Dixon
Forbidden by Syrie James and Ryan James
Rainy Days by Lory Lilian
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll
~ July ~
Pride and Pyramids by Amanda Grange and Jacqueline Webb
Darcy on the Hudson by Mary Lydon Simonsen
The Jane Austen Guide to Life by Lori Smith
Darcy and Elizabeth: Nights and Days at Pemberley by Linda Berdoll
~ August ~
Dear Mr. Darcy by Amanda Grange
The Ruling Passion by Linda Berdoll
Dear Miss Darcy by Laura Briggs and Sarah Burgess
~ Alternates ~
Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares (may have to reread all 4 books in this series first!)
Miss de Bourgh’s Adventure by Joan Ellen Delman
A Match for Mary Bennet by Eucharista Ward
An Unlikely Missionary by Skylar Burris
The Dashwood Sisters’ Secrets of Love by Rosie Rushton
What’s on your summer reading list?
Where is your favorite spot to read?
Any recommendations?
I laughed just at the idea of catching up with my TBR pile. Amazon free reads have sucked me in!
I love to read in several places. When I travel, the deck of my parents’ home looking out over the lake and the mountains is a fav. Here at home, a chair in the shade does the trick.
I cannot think what to recommend since you have a lot of the ones i was think of on your list already.
LOL! I have a TBR that is kind of a must read – you know from review requests and current new releases. And then I have a TBR that is filled with many rereads and books of my choosing. I’m tired of telling authors, very regretfully, that they must wait 3 months for a review!
I see you like reading outside too, isn’t it the best?
You have some fantastic looking books for summer, Meredith!
Like Sophia Rose, I too have been sucked in by all the Kindle freebies. I certainly have a book for any mood.
I also love to read outside. At the beach. Hammock at the lake house. Outside on a bench during my lunch hour. Really divine!
Have a wonderful summer!
Hi Lori! So good to see you! 😉 If I had a Kindle I would never be able to catch up! So many good deals on ebooks! Hope you have a wonderful summer too!
Oh wow…you have so many great books on your list – many of them are on mine, too. I’m really looking forward to the 2 Amanda Grange books but I don’t think I’ll ever get caught up, esp. with Austenesque books.
I live in an apartment so I don’t really have a good place to read at home but sometimes I go to the park. I need all the sun I can get. I’m like see-through, vampire white. Lol
Books that I have in my library bag at this moment are: A Breath of Eyre, Echoes of Pemberley, Find Wonder in all Things, Still a Young Man, and He Taught Me to Hope. The newest Lauren Kate book comes out this month, as well as one from Kathy Love. I didn’t read all of the Sisterhood series but I did like Brashares’ My Name is Memory.
Happy Summer!
Thanks for stopping by, Monica! I am very excited about 2 Amanda Grange books in one summer! I’m not always an outdoor reader, sometimes I read early in the morning in bed, with my awesome book-light, while my dear hubby still sleeps!
WOW! You have a wonderful collection of books in your library bag! Enjoy them all! I’ll have to look up Lauren Kate and Kathy Love, I’ve never read anything by them. What kind of books do they write?
Don’t know when I’m going to be able to get a vacation again… hopefully by the end of the year! LOL I have several of these same titles on my TBR list, so I’m looking forward to hearing what you think of them once you read them 😉 My TBR list…. Umm… it’s SUPER HUGE!! And doesn’t help that I keep buying books, but the way I look at it is that I will ALWAYS have “something” to read! LOL My favorite place/spot to read is curled up on the couch in my “comfy stuff” 🙂
Hi Valerie! I’m afraid we haven’t been on a “true” vacation since our honeymoon! Hopefully we will take a week off this summer and go visit some friends and family!
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the books we are both reading! In the winter time, I love curling up under a blanket and reading, but in the summer…you can’t keep me inside! Even in the humid 90 degree North Carolina heat! LOL!
my tbr list is just outta control. There’s no way to make a dent in it. At least I have several on the shelf here at home instead of just waiting to get them….heehee.
I’m so proud of you for setting it up ahead of time. And even an alternate list. I can read anywhere so I don’t have a favorite place. If it’s nice out (which seems rare at the moment) I like to read in my porch swing on the back porch in the sun preferably. No great view but at least it’s pleasant. I set an iced tea on a small table next to my swing. I’ve read 5 of the ones you have on your list 3 I wouldn’t read again and 2 I would. Several I’m looking forward to in the future. I hope you have a great summer. yahoo
Hello Suzan! I’m a task-oriented person, so I figured if I made a list and posted it here on my blog, it will increase my chances of accomplishing these goals! 🙂
Ooh! A porch swing and iced tea sounds heavenly! I’ll be curious to see if I feel the same way you do about the the five you read.
I thought of you when I added Sisterhood Everlasting to my list, have you read this series? It isn’t Austenesque, it’s about 4 girls growing up and friendship. I read them when I was in high school, this 5th book is their reunion 10 years later.
Thanks meredith! No I hadn’t heard of this series. Sounds interesting. I’ll have to get into it. smiles. I just finished “Much Ado About Anne”. Yes I know it is a kids book but I wanted to see if I could get the grandkid into it since we both loved watching Anne of Green Gables together. I hope she starts it soon now that I’ve finished it. I probably should have read the first in the series first but it was okay. I know she’s really probably too mature for this one but it was worth a shot….smiles. I guess I needed a change from the usual. I was feeling a little to hemmed in.
thanks for the suggestion.
What a great summer you are going to have! Enjoy every minute, every word in it! My summer vacation are still far to come. School leaving exams will take long. I’ll be free mid-July. My summer reading list will be bit shorter, I guess.
Hugs. MG
Oh Maria! I am so sorry to hear your summer starts so much later. The kids hear are going crazy! They need to have their break real soon! I hope you enjoy your summer when July rolls around, it will be here before we know it, I’m sure!
Meredith,
You have a GREAT group of books lined up! I’ve read Linda Berdoll’s first two P&P sequels and they still to this day remain on my top ten list. Just LOVE them. I haven’t read her long awaited third one yet. (Really need to jump on that)
I also got a review copy of Pride and Pyramids. I LOVE Egypt, so I can’t wait to dive into it!
I’ve also read Darcy on the Hudson. I’m from the NY/NJ area so I really loved reading a P&P re-imagining in that area!
Enjoy all your choices! Can’t wait to read your thoughts!
Hi Kimberly!
I am quite behind on Linda Berdoll’s books, having read only the first one. But with like any continuing series, I need to read them in order, and that includes rereading the first one – oh no! 😉 I look forward to rereading one of the very first sequels for P&P I’ve ever read!
I’m originally from NY too, so I can’t wait to see what Darcy on the Hudson is all about!
I look forward to sharing thoughts with you about PRide and Pyramids – Jane Austen is going many different places, isn’t she?
Your TBR list looks awesome….I have some of those in my pile also….sadly no vacation this year…I love to read at the beach…but when I am home I love to read in bed…morning or night and I have a porch swing and a swing under a shady tree that are favorites also…
Thank you! I’m very enthused about all my reading plans! Reading in bed is wonderful! Especially when you have someone to cuddle with and book light that lets him keep sleeping!
My phone isn’t letting me reply in the right place so I’ll add my comment here.
Lauren Kate writes YA paranormal fiction. Her Fallen series is basically about Daniel (a fallen angel- though he’s not bad), and Lucinda (human), who fall in love lifetime after lifetime but something always happens to keep them apart. For her own good he can’t tell her everything so she’s trying to figure out what the deal is so she can stop it. It’s quite similar to Brashares’ My Name is Memory (even the characters there are Daniel and Lucy) only there’s no angels there. Fallen reminds me a tiny bit of Robin Helm’s Legacy bc they’re trying to figure out Lucinda’s importance in the battle of good vs evil. There’s other loveable angels and I’m waiting to see what happened at The Fall and why they made the choice they made.
Kathy Love writes paranormal romance, but it’s not really dark stuff. All her books have a similar theme and flow to them but I’ve loved all the ones I’ve read so far. One series centers around 4 siblings in NYC and the other 3 best friends in New Orleans.
I recommend Definitely Not Mr Darcy and Darcy’s Voyage.
I can read anywhere but my favourite place is in bed 🙂
Ooh, so many good ones, Meredith! I loved Rainy Days and Darcy on the Hudson was a great read too! I would love to read Amanda Grange’s Dear Mr. Darcy! It looks so good! Ooh, & I have Dear Miss Darcy and that one looks really good too! Need to find a time to read that one too! 🙂
Looks like you have a great summer of reading planned! Enjoy! 🙂