What am I Reading - September 2014

What did I read in September? Evidently not very much!!

I did read a couple  of books, just not as much as I think I should have!


Anouska Knight's Since You've Been Gone was such a cute story. It's about a woman whose new husband dies and she's coping with that loss and running a bakery. And of course there is a handsome guy who has his own problems who helps her get on with her life.

And a new Janet Evanovich book came out this summer. Typical Stephanie Plum adventure. I liked it a little more than the last one. It wasn't quite as ridiculous - I'm referring to the giraffe running around New Jersey in the last book.

That's all I read last month. Yikes!

What am I Reading - August 2014

My last post seemed a little light. I only read 4 books during July. As I was reflecting on the books I read in August, I had an "A-ha" moment. The first book I finished in August was Diana Gabaldon's latest, Written in My Own Heart's Blood, which is the latest in the Outlander series. If you are at all familiar with those, then you know how big they are. This one had over 800 pages. It literally took me all of July & August to read it. Of course, I may have picked up some other books during this time, but that is a big part of why my summer reading was lighter than usual.

The last book in the series came out in 2010! This was way too much time in between novels. I really had difficulties getting into this one because I couldn't remember who everyone was! After the first couple of hundred pages, I did finally get into a rhythm. I enjoyed the book & I was especially pleased with the ending. Supposedly, another book is in the works. Even if it does come to fruition, I may not read it. This ending was satisfying with no cliff hangers (like book 7). I am at peace with the series.

It also occurred to me that earlier this summer, I reread the first Outlander novel in preparation of the new Starz series. I didn't include that in my earlier records. I loved it as much as the first time I read it. And for the record, the show is FABULOUS!!! I'm so glad it's been renewed for a second season!!

I read a couple more of the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl titles for this school year. Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library has been my favorite so far. I sure hope they make a movie of this. It was about a wealthy game designer who invites some students to participate in a live board game in the new library. Very creative & exciting.

Serafina's Promise is a story about a young girl in Haiti told all in verse. It was a very quick read & very well written.

And my final book for this month was Sin in the Second City which took me most of the summer to read. It's a non-fiction book & although well written, I just couldn't read more than a chapter or two in a sitting. It's about the red light district in Chicago in the early 1900's and specifically about 2 sisters who were better madams than most. They treated their girls with respect & dignity.

Looking for some lighter reads for September!

YA Book Signing

Yesterday, there was a Young Adult (YA) book signing at the Bookworm in Powder Springs. Hannah loves to read, so I looked up the books/authors that were going to be there. I was quite impressed. One of the authors is being compared to John Greene who wrote The Fault in Our Stars. Another one just had her latest book listed as one of the most exciting YA books by Teen Vogue. Hannah asked some of her friends to come with her to the book signing to support these authors and one of her favorite book stores!

Here are the girls outside the Bookworm.

Author #1 was Jennifer E. Smith. She has written several teen romances.

Her most recent book is called The Geography of You & Me. This title is one Teen Vogue's List of the 15 Most Exciting Books Coming Out This Year.

Here is author #2, Adi Alsaid.

 

Let's Get Lost is his first book. He is being compared to author John Greene.

And author #3 was Vernell Chapman.

She has written a series of books called the The Fountain Books. Her latest book is The Journey of Maggie Mission.

The girls enjoyed talking with the authors about books, school, and their Reading Bowl team.


The girls had to spend time with the Bookworm kitties! These babies are up for adoption through Fancy Feline Rescue of the South.

Here are the girls in the children's section of the book store.

Hannah with her stack of books. She bought one book from each author which she got signed, then she found another 7 paperback books that she just had to get.

What I am Reading - July 2014

My reading in July looks a little light. When I was looking up the titles that I read this month, I was surprised that I only read 4 books. I do have a couple of books "in progress" which have taken a lot of time and I don't include them until I am finished. That made me feel a little better.


The first book I have here is a Y/A title called Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. This was so much fun! It's an "Oz" themed book. Basically, after Dorothy returns home to Kansas, she is unhappy & ends up going back to Oz. She becomes power crazy & evil. A new girl from Kansas arrives via tornado. I really hope they make a movie out of this!

Heir Untamed is book one in the Latvala Royals series. It is about a young photographer woman who is hired to go to Latvala & photograph the royal family for a few months. Predictable, but entertaining.

King & Kingdom is book 2 in the Latvala Royals series.

Dirty Rotten Tendrils is a Flowershop Mystery book. It had been over a year since I've read any in this series. It was fast paced & fun. I won't let so much time pass before reading the next one.

What am I Reading? June 2014

And now for June.

My friend, Tanya's newest book came out this month. Sometime it's nice to just get caught up in a fluffy romance book.

I picked up this Katie Fforde book in England. I get frustrated because her books aren't released in the US right away. I took a list of Fforde books with me on our trip so I could try to find one. It also gets confusing because many of the titles change when they are available in the US. She has been one of my favorite authors for a while, but her last few books haven't been as good as her earlier works. I am pleased to say that this one was delightful & as good as her earlier stuff.

I received copies of this Mary Kay Andrews book for all of my guests at my recent House Party. I had tried to read the book when it first came out & I just couldn't get through it. A lot of bad things happen to the lead character & I couldn't stand to learn of any more bad luck for her. One of my good friends tried reading it on vacation & had the same problem. She stopped & read another book, but then had to give it another go because she didn't have anything else to read. She told me that it finally got better after page 53. So I gave it another try & I finished it in the next day. If you can get past the beginning, it's a fun book. It's about a women who is going through a nasty divorce and everything in the beginning is going against her.

After waiting for months, I finally got Bossypants from the digital library. It was entertaining & easy to read, but it jumped around a lot. There were some very interesting stories, but I wondered if they were all really true.

The book club selection for June was Ender's Game. It actually was published in 1985, but I had never heard of it until this past year. It's a YA Science Fiction book, which although is not my preferred genre, I really enjoyed it. My only issue with the book was that the main character was supposed to be 6 years old for the first half or so. Then he ages to 10 years. It was not believable that he was only 6. Our book club met to see the movie so we could compare and discuss both.

I'm caught up with the books now. Whew!

What am I Reading? May 2014

May was a slow month for reading. It makes sense because our calendar is always full of end of the year concerts, recitals, and parties, so it's hard to find time to read.

Stephanie Bond's "Baby I'm Back" is a novella in the Southern Roads series. I've loved all of the books set in the fictitious town of Sweetness, Georgia. Of course, I would have preferred a full length book rather than a short novella!

I was selected to have a House Party for Mary Kay Andrews newest book. I got an advance copy  of  Save the Date. It was a typical, fun Mary Kay Andrews book set in Savannah.

Honeymoon for One was either a free Kindle book or a very inexpensive one that I acquired. It was about a jilted bride who goes on her honeymoon by herself and meets a guy. It was very predictable, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

That's all for the month of May!

What I am Reading? April 2014

I can't believe I haven't blogged since May! I blame it on the trip to England! It was so much work to blog about everything, that I must have decided to just take a break from it. But I'm back!

Here's what I read in the month of April.


The Box on the Wooden Box is another HRRB book for the 2014-15 school year. It is the memoir of a man who was one of the youngest Holocaust survivors to be on Oskar Schindler's famous list. Very well written and difficult to put down.

True Love & Other Lies by Whitney Gaskill was a typical chick-lit book. It was a fun, easy read.

Rumour Has It was so cute! It's about a young woman who moves into a small town where there's lots of gossip. Quick paced and fun.

Second Chance Christmas is another book in the Colorado Cades series written by my friend in my book club. Although it is a true paperback romance and follows the standard romance formulas, I enjoyed it. Tanya does a great job of developing her characters.

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton was the April book club selection. I was the one who chose it - I found it on Good Reads as one of the best books from last year. It did not disappoint! The book is set in England in modern times, but goes back to the World War 2 era. I read this right after we returned from England so I was able to visualize the scenery really well. There were also some references to Victory Gardens and Punch & Judy which were both things I had seen on the trip. There's a surprise twist ending which caused me to rethink about the whole book for days after reading it.

Socially Awkward was a little disappointing. It was about woman who develops a fake Facebook profile for her graduate research project. With the popularity of social media, there was the potential to be a really great story, but it fell a little flat.

I am closer to getting caught up!

What am I Reading? March 2014

So here is what I have been reading lately.


Midnight in Austenland was the independent sequel to Austenland which I read last year. It's about a newly divorced woman who goes to England for an authentic "Jane Austen" vacation. Very cute! There's a new movie out about the first one which I recently saw. It was a fun chick flick!

The Marriage Bargain is about a woman who agrees to marry a billionaire so he inherit his father's company and at the same time, she can help out her family. The book was entertaining, but implausible in my opinion.

We just got the list of the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl books for the 2014-15 school year. Chomp by Carl Hiassen was one of the books on the list. Hannah was not happy with me that I only read 2 titles on last year's list, so I am trying to do a better job for the next year. Chomp was a fun read. It's about a young boy who's father runs an animal sanctuary. Sometimes his animals are used in movies and such. A "Crocodile Hunter" type show hires the boy & his father to help with their show.

Navigating Early is another reading bowl book for next year. This one is about a boy whose mother dies, so his military father sends him away to military school. There the boy meets Early and goes on an adventure with him.

I was so excited that a new Kristan Higgins book came out this month. It's the latest in the Blue Heron series. The local bartender/owner is the heroine in this one. I really enjoyed this & look forward to Higgins' next book.

In one month, I read 3 of the HRRB titles for next year! Lincoln's Grave Robbers is a true story that reads like fiction. It's about some men in the late 1800's who attempt to steal Lincoln's dead body for a ransom. There are lots of photos throughout the book.

His Secret, Her Baby is the latest by Tanya Michaels. Tanya is in my book club, so I try to read her books when they come out. The book was great, but I don't like the title at all. A lot of the romance books have really basic titles like that and I don't care for that. This book is the first in a series of the Cade siblings. I'm looking forward to reading about the other Cades, especially the brooding, older brother.

Happy Reading!

What am I Reading? February 2014

It's so nice to finally be able to read again!

The French for Love by Fiona Valpy was so cute! It's about a woman who loses her job & her boyfriend & inherits a French cottage from a beloved aunt all around the same time. She decides to fix up the cottage & live there for the time being. I so wanted to go move to France when I finished the book!

Tall, Dark, & Kilted by Lizzie Lamb was a fun read. It got off to a rough start, in my opinion, but once the story moved to Scotland, things picked up. It's about a woman who gets invited by some young, posh socialites to help their mother set up a "spa" type resort at their family home in Scotland.

Nothing Stays in Vegas was not what I had hoped for. It was okay - I was entertained, but I felt the characters were a bit weak. A married woman who is technically separated has a fling with her soul mate in Vegas. Many years pass and they meet again in Vegas.

I absolutely LOVED Facebook Jeanie! It was about a woman who spent all her free time stalking an old boyfriend from college on Facebook. Then one day, she meets Jeanie who installs a new Facebook App on her phone. The app is a "restart" button which allows her to go back to the night where she broke up with her college boyfriend & change things. One of the descriptions that I read about this book was "Bridget Jones meets Ground Hogs Day". I really enjoyed this one.

Rent A Husband is about a woman who needs a date for a big fundraiser ball. Her gay, best friend arranges for her to "hire" a handsome acquaintance to be her date. This theme has been done several times before in movies & books. This one was alright, but not as good as some of the others.

The Bourne Identity was our Book Club book. I am so excited that I completed it before our book club met! I enjoyed the book, but because I had seen the movie first, I harbored some anger. The book is good & the movie is good. But the movie only loosely follows the book. So while I was reading it, I kept trying to refer to my memories of the movie which didn't help at all. I really wished I hadn't seen the movie before reading this.

I have been a long time fan of Sophie Kinsella since her Shopaholic days. Though some of her more recent titles haven't been as enjoyable. I thought this one was more like her older ones. It was about a woman who thinks her long term boyfriend is going to propose. When he doesn't and has no plans to anytime soon, she breaks up with him. Right after the break up, she meets an old boyfriend who reminds her of a pact they had that if neither of them was married by the time they turned 30, they would get married to each other. Very quick read.

So that's what I read this month. Happy  Reading!!

What am I Reading? January 2014

Here are the books that I read in January, 2014.


I was very excited to see a new Janet Evanovich book out. This is number 20 in her numbers series. The series started out strong, then somewhere in the teens, I felt that they lost something. The last couple that I had read reminded me of the earlier ones. This one did not. Don't get me wrong, it was entertaining. It just wasn't as good as some of her others. In fact, it was a bit silly in times. In the beginning, there's a giraffe running around New Jersey. He makes several appearances in the book.

The Rosie Project was such a cute book! It is a romantic comedy told from the male perspective. The male just happens to be very similar to the Big Bang Theory's Sheldon.

I read White Fire which is a new title in the Agent Pendergast series. This one takes place in a posh ski resort town in Colorado. Agent Pendergast didn't appear for the first couple of chapters, so I wasn't sure he was even going to be in it, but he did. Lots of suspense.

The Supermodel's Best Friend was a cute "chick lit". The main character happens to be best friends with a beautiful supermodel. The supermodel is getting married in a destination week-long wedding.

I enjoyed London Falling by Emma Carr. A cute story about a young American woman who gets stranded in London.

Doubting Abbey if you haven't guessed, is a play on "Downton Abby". It's about a young woman who is asked to pose as a her friend in a reality tv show about saving an English mansion. Very cute!

That's all for now.

Happy Reading!