{Official Blurb} Inspired by Pop Culture Junkie and the Story Siren, the aim of Showcase Sunday is to highlight our newest books or book related swag and to see what everyone else received for review, borrowed from libraries, bought in bookshops and downloaded onto eReaders each week.

When your home branch is closed on a Monday,…

You get the widely inspiring idea to JUMP YOUR HOLDS, by first sorting out which branch(es) have the books in question, and then, in a mad-dash til close, whip around to both and pick up the following:

• Steampunk: an anthology by Ann Vandermeer; I am not usually drawn to read anthologies,…
• Not Less than Gods by Kage Baker; One of the few times I’ll break my ‘not to read out of sequences’ rule!
• The Clockwork Man by William Jablonsky; I only wish they had found an artist to render the Clockwork Man!!!

The reason your rather desperate to collect the books, all of a Steampunky variety, is because your first book of choice was a bit beyond your depth of understanding, as your footing in Steampunk is thus far just beginning! You have the heart and desire to understand the genre, but you haven’t yet achieved the history of the genre! Hence, the mad-dash to the library, whereupon you find that despite the odd request to ‘jump your holds’, you find the librarians are accommodating, if slightly not understanding the rush to pick them up! I tried to explain it was for a contributing piece I was submitting for a Steampunk event in the blogosphere, but I realised there was a bit of a disconnect in what I was attempting to explain! Of the three books I was able to pick up, its “The Clockwork Man” that I had the highest hopes of being “the book!” that I would find I wanted to review for “The Clockwork Carnival”!! And, guess what!? It not only grabbed me by the opening pages, as the story unfolds through peeking into a personal’s private journal, but I settled into the story knowing it would not be the last book I’d read with a steampunky theme!!

Librarian Assistance, please!

A quick glimpse at your card catalogue confirmed what you already had known by the remote access catalogue, that looking up Steampunk books in your library, is a lesson in futility!! Goodness!! I went back to the help desk to ferret out a bit of help in my search, as I knew even though I couldn’t read all the books [at least not in the first week!] I would be taking home with me, I had to at least make a dent in understanding what the library had to offer! This is when I met the YA Librarian for the first time! She was quite lovely, highly knowledgable, and patiently wrote down title after title that was in that location’s YA section, as well as placing holds on the books that were elsewhere!! I loved that she was as enthused about Steampunk as I was, as the first librarian I spoke too, appeared a bit indifferent at the mentioning of ‘airships’ and ‘Victorian technology’. I suppose it helps to seek out the right librarian to speak too! Thankfully, she informed me that if I were ever able to come back on a Monday, her and the Children’s librarian would be there to answer any future questions OR research requests for books & authors!

And, then you suddenly realise you only thought you would be fetching your ‘jumped holds’, and rather instead noticed that the large canvas sack you brought with you is rather paltry compared to the *STACK!* your carting off!

It began rather earnestly and innocently, as I was all wrapped up in excitement over “The Clockwork Carnival” arriving in towne! Esteemed that I would finally be able to dig my heels and clocks into the heart of a genre that I have struggled to get a foothold in myself! I obtained where they kept the science fiction & fantasy shelves, and promptly slipped into the stacks! I never know what to look for exactly, so I went with the basic instinct that the titles would ‘speak to me’ in that hidden language that all readers can attest to hearing,… “clocks”, “gears”, “steamships”, “trains”, “airships”, “Victorian-era”, “London”, or anything that would be plausible to be “of a Steampunk variety”. Interspersed with the Steam, I just couldn’t help myself when I started to find books that fell under “Magical Realism” because ever since I met the Golem & the Jinni, I am quite literally craving more of this genre!! Notice how an Austen book snuck into my bag!?

• Skybreaker {Book Two: Airborn series} by Kenneth Oppel; Whoopsies! I need book one!
• Goliath {Book Three: Leviathan series} by Scott Westerfield
• Worldsoul by Liz Williams
• Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
• Clockwork Angel {Book One: Infernal Devices trilogy} by Cassandra Clare; When I saw this book was part of the stack, I nearly hesitated as I remembered that the first time I discovered this book a few years ago, I was all excited for it, until I finally checked it out, and I do not remember getting past page 1, chapter 1!! Maybe the timing was wrong, OR maybe as the case tends to be,… I am not a reader who fits into the mainstream category of Steampunk! Not sure!}
• The Search for WondLa {Book One: WondLa series} by Tony DiTerlizzi  ; I sort of  have high hopes for this book & its sequel! 
• A Hero for WondLa {Book Two: WondLa series} by Tony DiTerlizzi
• The Daedalus Book of Finnish Fantasy by Johanna Sinisalo & David Hackston; I truly need to read world literature!
• Crossroads: Tales of the Southern Literary Fantastic by Brett Cox & Andy Duncan ; The title alone had me curious!
• Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke ; I had just read about this book!
• The White Forest by Adam McOmber ; One of the books I appear to check out yet run out of time to read!
• Galileo’s Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson ; Another second attempt book!
• I was Jane Austen’s Best Friend by Cora Harrison; It spoke to me from the shelf! laughs.

I am going to attempt to read a selection of the books mentioned above to celebrate the last week of: “The Clockwork Carnival”!! I’ve been reading the posts over there, eager to see my review go live, and hoping to settle into a few more author’s styles of Steampunk, as I am learning that Steampunk encompasses ever so much more than Victorian London and airships! Sometimes I notice that the Steampunk is more subtle than explosive, and I love the intense variety that I am finding! I am curious, which books and authors of Steampunk do you enjoy yourself!? OR, is it a genre that either hasn’t yet been explored, or you’ve decided to bypass!?

By Friday, I was able to get to my home branch, where I was happy to speak about JLAS with the librarians who have always been supportive of me and of whom I have been esteemed to know over the years! More of the YA Librarian’s suggestions floated in, as well as the first batch of Austen in August choices that I had placed on hold! Eek! I am truly excited now that I get to take a ganderment of the books up close and personal! :)

• Behemoth {Book Two: Leviathan series] by Scott Westerfield
• Leviathan {Book One: Leviathan series} by Scott Westerfield {part of the Leviathan series: oh, my dear stars! I clicked over to his website, to see what this series involves, when I stumbled across the Leviathan series page,… scroll down, and just sit in awe of the illustrations! I love that he went old school, and brought back the illustrative glintings of stories! The pictures of life are etched into a realism that brings his story to life, at least for me! The airship landing in Hyde Park is my favourite! Not to mention the atmosphere of his site in general is full of clocks, cogs, and gears! Lovely!} Thank you, YA Librarian! The only concern I have is how brutal the war might be, and the level of light verse dark inside the arc of the storylines, but otherwise, I appreciated the learning curve in seeing an author seeking out illustrative art rather than modern cover art variations that are more stock photo collages than original illustrations.
• Steamed: A Steampunk Romance by Kate MacAlister; I have no idea what to expect! Laughs.
• The Iron Wyrm Affair by Lilith Saintcrow; Always felt a bit cheeky and a bit adventurous of a story!
• Stitches in Time by Barbara Michaels
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern; I thought this was an interesting concept when it first came out!
• The Archived by Victoria Schwab; The premise is unique as it’s based on a library that contains the souls of those who are archived into the library itself!
•  Pride and Prescience or A Truth Universally Acknowledged by Carrie Bebris; A series I always meant to get into!
• Two Shall Become One: Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Pride and Prejudice Continues by Sharon Lathan; A new find!
• The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy by Maya Slater; One of the many finds I made awhile ago!
• The Independance of Miss Mary Bennett by Colleen McCullough; I knew I wanted to read this when it came out, but I always found myself distracted! I had no idea it was written by the author of “The Thornbirds!”

I promise I will have more reading adventures to speak about by time next Sunday arrives, as it will be the eve of Bout of Books 8.0, as much as I will be reading at least three of the books for Austen in August! I simply needed a bit of time to relax and unwind from the hard push I made towards going LIVE with Jorie Loves A Story! I am thankful to see that I am growing a readership, with new visitors stopping by each day, and a few returning visitors as well! Likewise, I appreciate everyone who has thus far left me comments, as I enjoy reading the feedback, as some of what was related to me has helped me tweak JLAS to be a bit more visually friendly than it was on Launch Day! :) As well as making sure readers can follow me a bit easier through: Bloglovin’, Blog Nation, FeedBlitz, and Email Updates on New Posts! All of which is at the bottom of my left sidebar for your convenience! :)

Curious whilst I was practically hibernating behind the scenes, as far as putting a full halt on reading is concerned, how was everyone else’s week!? Read anything wickedly exciting!? Shift into a new genre, you weren’t expecting to embark down!? Read any awesomely bookish newsbits on bookish blogs!? OR, did you simply relax into a book, put up your feet, and have a cuppa tea or coffee near you as you soaked in the story!? Have you read any of the books I brought home!?

Be sure to visit, Showcase Sunday’s Link Up Page for this week’s Meme, in order to scope out what everyone else is reading!

 {SOURCES: Showcase Sunday badge provided by for participants
to use to promote the weekly meme by Books,  Biscuits, & Tea.}

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