Wishlist Wednesday

Wishlist Wednesday is hosted by Pen to Paper.
This is a blog hop focused on books in our wishlist.
This week I'm wishing for:

Eros the Bittersweet
by Anne Carson
Find it on Goodreads:

A book about love as seen by the ancients, Eros is Anne Carson's exploration of the concept of "eros" in both classical philosophy and literature. Beginning with: "It was Sappho who first called eros 'bittersweet.' No one who has been in love disputes her. What does the word mean?", Carson examines her subject from numerous points of view and styles, transcending the constraints of the scholarly exercise for an evocative and lyrical meditation in the tradition of William Carlos William's Spring and All and William H. Gass's On Being Blue.

I can't remember when or how I cam across this. It's not strictly a book. It's essays written in poetry. Long love poetry that is 189 pages. It was published in 1998. And I want it. Carson explores the Greek view of Eros, or desire. I don't typically like poetry so I am a little nervous spending so much money on it. But I feel like it's one of those things I just have to try.

Have you read it? What did you think? Have you even heard of it before? Let me know,

Wishlist Wednesday

Wishlist Wednesday is hosted by Pen to Paper.
This is a blog hop focused on books in our wishlist.
This week I'm wishing for:

Acid 
by Emma Pass 

Find it on Goodreads:

2113. In Jenna Strong’s world, ACID – the most brutal, controlling police force in history – rule supreme. No throwaway comment or muttered dissent goes unnoticed – or unpunished. And it was ACID agents who locked Jenna away for life, for a bloody crime she struggles to remember. 

 The only female inmate in a violent high-security prison, Jenna has learned to survive by any means necessary. And when a mysterious rebel group breaks her out, she must use her strength, speed and skill to stay one step ahead of ACID – and to uncover the truth about what really happened on that dark night two years ago

I like dystopian books. And I can't resist when a read head is on the cover.

Wishlist Wednesday

Wishlist Wednesday is hosted by Pen to Paper.
This is a blog hop focused on books in our wishlist.
This week I'm wishing for:

George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I 
by Miranda Carter

Find it on Goodreads:

In the years before the First World War, the great European powers were ruled by three first cousins: King George V of Britain, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Together, they presided over the last years of dynastic Europe and the outbreak of the most destructive war the world had ever seen, a war that set twentieth-century Europe on course to be the most violent continent in the history of the world.  

Through brilliant and often darkly comic portraits of these men and their lives, their foibles and obsessions, Miranda Carter delivers the tragicomic story of Europe’s early twentieth-century aristocracy, a solipsistic world preposterously out of kilter with its times. 

Besides the fact that the author has my first name, I really want this book. I like History. I'm going to school to become a History teacher. I am especially interested in the First World War. I write essay after essay in this topic and never get bored. This is a book I need!

Wishlist Wednesday

Wishlist Wednesday is hosted by Pen to Paper.
This is a blog hop focused on books in our wishlist.
This week I'm wishing for:

Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries

by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Find it on Goodreads:

Loyal readers of the monthly "Universe" essays in Natural History magazine have long recognized Neil deGrasse Tyson's talent for guiding them through the mysteries of the cosmos with stunning clarity and almost childlike enthusiasm. Here, Tyson compiles his favorite essays across a myriad of cosmic topics. The title essay introduces readers to the physics of black holes by explaining the gory details of what would happen to your body if you fell into one. "Holy Wars" examines the needless friction between science and religion in the context of historical conflicts. "The Search for Life in the Universe" explores astral life from the frontiers of astrobiology. And "Hollywood Nights" assails the movie industry's feeble efforts to get its night skies right. 

Known for his ability to blend content, accessibility, and humor, Tyson is a natural teacher who simplifies some of the most complex concepts in astrophysics while simultaneously sharing his infectious excitement about our universe.

It's Neil deGrasse Tyson. Who wouldn't want to read this?

Wishlist Wednesday

Wishlist Wednesday is hosted by Pen to Paper.

This is a blog hop focused on books in our wishlist.

This week I'm wishing for:

Strange Angels

by Lili St. Crow

Find it on Goodreads

In Strange Angels, Dru Anderson has what her grandmother called “the touch.” (Comes in handy when you’re traveling from town to town with your dad, hunting ghosts, suckers, wulfen, and the occasional zombie.) Then her dad turns up dead—but still walking—and Dru knows she’s next. Even worse, she’s got two guys hungry for her affections, and they’re not about to let the fiercely independent Dru go it alone. Will Dru discover just how special she really is before coming face-to-fang with whatever—or whoever— is hunting her?

This book has a lot of mixed reviews. But it puts me to mind of one of my favorite shows, Supernatural. Except Dru's a teenage girl not two grown men. Therefore I need it. 

Wishlist Wednesday

Wishlist Wednesday is hosted by Pen to Paper.

This is a blog hop focused on books in our wishlist.

This week I'm wishing for:

Red-Headed Stepchild

by Jaye Wells

Find it on Goodreads:

In a world where being of mixed-blood is a major liability, Sabina Kane has the only profession fit for an outcast: assassin. But, her latest mission threatens the fragile peace between the vampire and mage races and Sabina must scramble to figure out which side she's on. She's never brought her work home with her---until now. 

 This time, it's personal.

I read a sample of it on my Kindle. I LOVED it! My friend tried to get me to read it in high school. But back then I hadn't started getting into Urban Fantasy. Now that I have and know that I love it, I'm going to have to buy this one.

However I don't exactly like paying over 5 bucks for an ebook. If I'm going to spend that much money I might as well buy the whole damn thing. 

What's in your wishlist?

Wishlist Wednesday

Wishlist Wednesday is hosted by Pen to Paper.

This is a blog hop focused on books in our wishlist.

This week I'm wishing for:

A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent 
by Robert W. Merry

Summary from Goodreads:

When James K. Polk was elected president in 1844, the United States was locked in a bitter diplomatic struggle with Britain over the rich lands of the Oregon Territory, which included what is now Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Texas, not yet part of the Union, was threatened by a more powerful Mexico. And the territories north and west of Texas -- what would become California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and part of Colorado -- belonged to Mexico. When Polk relinquished office four years later, the country had grown by more than a third as all these lands were added. The continental United States, as we know it today, was established -- facing two oceans and positioned to dominate both. 

In a one-term presidency, Polk completed the story of America's Manifest Destiny -- extending its territory across the continent, from sea to sea, by threatening England and manufacturing a controversial and unpopular two-year war with Mexico that Abraham Lincoln, in Congress at the time, opposed as preemptive. 

 Robert Merry tells this story through powerful debates and towering figures -- the outgoing President John Tyler and Polk's great mentor, Andrew Jackson; his defeated Whig opponent, Henry Clay; two famous generals, Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott; Secretary of State James Buchanan (who would precede Lincoln as president); Senate giants Thomas Hart Benton and Lewis Cass; Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun; and ex-president Martin Van Buren, like Polk a Jackson protégé but now a Polk rival. 

 This was a time of tremendous clashing forces. A surging antislavery sentiment was at the center of the territorial fight. The struggle between a slave-owning South and an opposing North was leading inexorably to Civil War. In a gripping narrative, Robert Merry illuminates a crucial epoch in U.S. history.

I love history. In fact I am going to school to become a History teacher. I have a personal goal to read at least one biography or autobiography about most of the presidents. James K. Polk is one of my favorite president. Maybe it's because Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide school was named after him. Maybe it's because when we learned about him in class I found him really interesting. Whatever the reason I really want to read this book. 

What's on your wishlist?

Wishlist Wednesday

Wishlist Wednesday is hosted by Pen to Paper.

This is a blog hop focused on books in our wishlist.

This week I'm wishing for:

 Off Balance: A Memoir by Dominique Moceanu, Paul Williams, Teri Williams

Summary from Goodreads:

AT FOURTEEN YEARS OLD, Dominique Moceanu was the youngest member of the 1996 U.S. Women’s Olympic Gymnastics team, the first and only American women’s team to take gold at the Olympics. Her pixyish appearance and ferocious competitive drive quickly earned her the status of media darling. But behind the fame, the flawless floor routines, and the million-dollar smile, her life was a series of challenges and hardships. Off Balance vividly delineates each of the dominating characters who contributed to Moceanu’s rise to the top, from her stubborn father and long-suffering mother to her mercurial coach, Bela Karolyi. Here, Moceanu finally shares the haunting stories of competition, her years of hiding injuries and pain out of fear of retribution from her coaches, and how she hit rock bottom after a public battle with her parents.

But medals, murder plots, drugs, and daring escapes aside (all of which figure into Moceanu’s incredible journey), the most unique aspect of her life is the family secret that Moceanu discovers, opening a new and unexpected chapter in her adult life. A mysterious letter from a stranger reveals that she has a second sister—born with a physical disability and given away at birth—who has nonetheless followed in Moceanu’s footsteps in an astonishing way.

A multilayered memoir that transcends the world of sports, Off Balance will touch anyone who has ever dared to dream of a better life.

Dominique has been my idol since I was three. My mom tells me I saw her perform on balance beam and started doing flips on the couch. I really want to read about her life from her perspective. 

What's on your wishlist?

Wishlist Wednesday

Wishlist Wednesday is hosted by Pen to Paper. This is when you show off what book you are desperately wanting from your wishlist!

Angelfall by Susan Ee
Summary from Goodreads:

It’s been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels’ stronghold in San Francisco where she’ll risk everything to rescue her sister and he’ll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

Angellfall is on my wishlist because: I love angels, it sounds super interesting, and it has amazing reviews!