Off my bookshelf May 2011

This month I have been trying to cram in more reading because I know I will not have as much opportunity to choose books to read over the coming months. I am starting a new semester of classes June 1st and I am planning on doing three semesters back to back to back. So, most of what I read will be chosen for me over the next 12 months. Luckily, this month I was able to get in a few great reads a couple of which I will be finishing up in June.

Here is what has come off my bookshelf this month:

I will be taking a creative non-fiction class and thought I would do a bit of light creative non-fiction reading to prepare...I love it. Great book of short stories.

I picked this up at our local farmer's market. It was co-written by one of my favourite farmers from Pilgrims Produce.

I have always loved reading about the last Romanovs and I found this book at a local used book sale. I thought it would be a fun read since it was written before records were more open and DNA testing had been done. I finished the book with a lot more questions than I thought I would...

After reading Anastasia I wanted more of the Romanovs...which led me to pick up this book (another used book sale find). I really loved this book. I recommend it to anyone interested in the Romanovs. This book is the memoirs of Olga Alexandrovna who was Tsar Nicholas Romanovs younger sister. I have read things from the Romanov perspective before but they were mainly journal entries and letters written prior to the revolution. This book was written much later and gives a really interesting perspective on events. So glad I read it!

This has been a great read for days when I am feeling a little overwhelmed. I have had a couple of those...A woman in the 50s with a...shall I say "unsupportive" husband and ten (yes ten...makes my four seem very easy) children. She wants to write and tries to earn extra money for her family by writing short stories and jingles. A good light read and it makes me feel like my life is pretty easy after all...so worth the read.

After reading about the Russians, I started missing the British...and I needed something to read on days I didn't feel like reading "light". I am really enjoying this book...I say enjoying because I am not quite finished...it is 800 pages so I am still working on it.

Sticking with the British theme...I picked up a few collector's editions on the Royal Wedding.

and then finishing off the month...a few more magazines...I think I bought too many this month...but they were all really good!

That was my May reading and what was off my bookshelf this month.