Whadaya want ... reading here

I'm stealing this from a previous Weekly Geeks: Is your wishlist as big as your TBR pile? What books are topping your list? Are there any new releases that you are counting down the days for? Share a handful of titles and be sure to share why you want to get your hands on these books!

I already shared the new releases for June that I'm anticipating. On Monday, Mailbox Monday, I'll tell you about the ones that came in the house. Today, I'll tell you a little about my wishlist on paperbackswap.com.

I'm missing two books to complete my collection of Margaret Fraser's Dame Frevisse books, THE BISHOP'S TALE:

Attending a funeral dinner at Ewelme Manor, Sister Frevisse and Bishop Beaufort
are amazed when querulous Sir Clement Sharpe brazenly challenges God to strike
him down and promptly falls down dead.

and THE MURDERER'S TALE:

Visiting Minister Lovell while on pilgrimage from St. Frideswide, Sister Frevisse suspects that a mentally ill guest, who is prone to violent fits, has been framed for the murder of an innocent man.

Both of these books for some reason are difficult and more expensive than your average used book to obtain. And why these two and not the others, I don't know but I'm watching for them.

Another difficult one is Alan Gordon's AN ANTIC DISPOSITION of his jester series.

1204, the Fool's Guild is hiding from Pope Innocent III's army in the Black Forest. To amuse the group while they hide, Theophilos, one of the best-known jesters, tells the story of his teacher, Terrence of York, better known as Yorick. The fools played an important part in the Danish civil war of 1157, serving as emissaries and spies while trying to keep bloodshed to a minimum. Yorick served in King Orvendil's court, where he also befriended the king's son, Prince Amleth, who grew up preferring a career as a fool rather than a monarch. The story of what brought the fools to their sylvan hideout-- a fascinating mix of betrayal, treachery, and love.

One of the best books in the series and a big emotional payoff if you've invested in reading the first four. All three of these books I've already read through the library quite a while ago but I'd like to have them for myself now.

I also have CROWNER ROYAL by Bernard Knight on my wish list at paperbackswap.com. I have the other books by this author except this one and I've yet to read four of his works.

Set in 1196, Sir John de Wolfe goes to Westminster, where Richard the Lionheart has appointed him Coroner of the Verge. One hot summer day, from the window of the coroner's office, one of de Wolfe's officers chances to observe a stabbing by the river below. The assailant flees, while the body of a palace clerk is extracted from the Thames. As de Wolfe investigates, he must assert his authority over the haughty and incompetent London sheriff's department. The victim, the coroner learns, appears to have heard something not meant for his ears while servicing the palace's guest chambers. The murder fuels the king's suspicions that traitors are plotting to overthrow his rule.

Here's a couple of quirky ones from my list: Mr Secretary Walsingham and the Policy of Queen Elizabeth (3 vol. set) and Sir Francis Walsingham: A Courtier in an Age of Terror by Derek Wilson. I tell you, I don't know why I have this obsession with Elizabethan times but I collect these texts.

Okay, a couple more. THE NICHOLAS FEAST by Pat McIntosh. This is second of the series featuring Gil Cunningham, a notary in 15th century Glasgow, Scotland.

Glasgow 1492. Gil Cunningham returns to his old university for the Nicholas Feast, where he and his colleagues are entertained by a play presented by some of the current students. One of the actors, William Irvine, is later found murdered. With the assistance of Alys, to whom Gil has recently become betrothed, Gil begins to disentangle a complex web of espionage and blackmail involving William's tutors and fellow students.

I could read this series from the library but for some reason I'm waiting to the get the next one myself.

And THE FALL OF THE TEMPLARS by Robyn Young, book three of the Brethren trilogy. Why? I don't know, I have the first two books, not read them yet, but they're about the Templars. I just do those books.

1295 A. D. The Christian empire in the Holy Land lies in ruins. Returning to Paris, Knight Templar Will Campbell is at a crossroads. He has sworn to uphold the principles of the Anima Templi, a secret brotherhood within the Order whose aim is peace, but peace seems ever more impossible. The Temple has forged an alliance with Will's enemy, King Edward of England, vowing to help him wage war on Scotland. Will now faces a bitter choice: to stay with the Temple and fight another war he doesn't believe in, or to break his vows and forge his own path to peace, even if that too means fighting...for the Scots. Will is unaware that an even more ominous threat is rising, for there is a warrior king on the throne of France whose desire for supremacy knows no bounds and who will stop at nothing to fulfill his twisted ambitions. The fight for the holy land is over, but the Temple's last battle has just begun...

So I have about 25 books in my wish list there. Ones that I'm wanting to own but not in a huge rush to get. Wishing to me implies the possibility of being able to live without the item ... for a while. Wanting is where it gets a bit more serious and you pull out the big guns of ebay or amazon. :)

Much love,

PK the Bookeemonster