It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 18)

 

Hello everyone, and welcome to another It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? post, hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Last week I skipped my Monday post because I was so dreadfully behind. But I’m finally catching up to where I want to be. So here’s what I want to attempt for this week, keeping in mind that my anniversary (NINE YEARS SAY WHAAAAA????) is on Wednesday and so I may not have quite as much time as I think I do.

We’re going to go to Chili’s, because although there’s absolutely nothing cool about Chili’s, for some reason we really like it. I think it’s the chips.

And we are going to go see Snow White and the Huntsman, because although it’s receiving kinda lukewarm reviews, it is my husband’s most anticipated movie this year, other than The Hobbit. Yes, I am married to a man who anticipates Snow White and the Huntsman more than The AvengersThe Dark Knight Rises, Spiderman, The Bourne Legacy, and all the other comicy/actiony/geeky movies that I personally am excited about this year.

Don’t get me wrong, he still wants to see those too. But the Snow White and the Huntsman trailer has gotten into his blood, and there is no cure other than seeing it in all its CGI and K-Stew glory. (Disclaimer: he in no way wants to see it because of K-Stew.)

Anyway, I think I just digressed quite a bit. So. Here’s the books on my plate for this week:

First up, finishing Graceling and Fire by Kristin Cashore. I’m enjoying Graceling so far and am guessing that Fire will go pretty quickly once I get to it. I don’t have Bitterblue or the means to acquire it yet, so I’ll just have to wait on that one.

Once those are finished, I am going to exercise some self discipline (fancy that!) and start hacking away at my NetGalley list. I have a bunch of books waiting for me to read, and I keep putting them off, not because I don’t want to read them, but because I tend to give precedence to physical books. I just enjoy the reading experience more with paper.

I don’t know why. It’s just how I roll.

But release dates are creeping up, so I need to get a bunch of these NetGalley titles knocked out. So first up will be:

One Moment by Kristina McBride. This is a contemporary YA, which is not my usual fare, but the synopsis intrigued me. A mysterious death and a case of amnesia? I want to know what’s going on!

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar by Kady Cross. Okay, I’m going out on a limb with this one, because I have not read The Girl in the Steel Corset, which is the first book in this series. I don’t normally plunge into Book 2 without reading Book 1 (actually, to my recollection, I have never done this), but I’ve heard such good things about these books and the cover is so pretty and the book was right there and I couldn’t resist.  I do have TGitSC on hold at my library, so I will eventually get the whole story. I just didn’t want to put this one off any more, since it’s already been released.

So that’s my week! We’ll see how I do 🙂 What are you reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 4)

Welcome to It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It’s time again for me to set lofty reading goals for myself! And maybe kind of achieve them! Huzzah!

Last week I actually read all the books I wanted to read (although I wasn’t able to acquire the two new books. Ran out of moolah. Darn it. Who wants to buy me a present?) so this week I can start all fresh and new. How exciting!

My library finally came through for me this week, and I now have the first books of several series I’ve been hearing tons of good things about. I can’t possibly get through them all this week, so I hereby dub June “Bandwagon Month,” wherein I will finally find out what all the hype is about.

On the docket for this week:

Shadows in Flight by Orson Scott Card. This is not part of Bandwagon Month (although I guess the Ender series could be considered a bandwagon series in the sci-fi crowd). This one’s just for me. I’ve read every other Ender/Shadow book and loved them. Time to find out what’s happening to a very tall Bean in space.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. No, I’ve never read the Mortal Instruments books. Yes, I know this is a travesty. Time to take the plunge.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore. I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about this fantasy series, and I’m so, so excited to finally get to read it. I also checked out Fire, which will probably kick off next week’s list.

And three books is probably about all I can manage this week, considering I’m also behind on my reviews, plus I need to allow time for all the Armchair BEA madness. I think it’s going to be a good week.

PSA: I will probably be behind in my commenting for memes this week because I’m on a Commenting Committee for Armchair BEA, and keeping up with that will be taking up a lot of time. But I WILL reply to your comments after the Armchair BEA madness is over. So please be patient! Thanks!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (May 28)

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey to help us keep tabs on our reading goals for the week, and to also help us discover new books.

Also, Happy Memorial Day! My heartfelt thanks goes out to all the men and women who have fought or are currently fighting for my family’s freedom and safety. Additional thanks if you have or have had friends or family in the armed services.

So this is week 2 of my Dystopiaganza! I actually mostly finished my books from last week – only exception is I still need to finish The Knife of Never Letting Go (which I’m now thinking is not actually a dystopian…but I started it, and it’s interesting, so now I need to finish it). So that will happen this week.

In addition, this week I’m planning to tackle:

The Selection by Kiera Cass. After finishing The Maze Runner, which was like 400 pages of pure adrenaline, a pretty and romantic dystopian sounds very refreshing.

And, if I can get them in my possession, I would also like to read:

Starters by Lissa Price. I’ve got to be honest – this cover is not doing a thing for me. But I’ve heard the book is great, in spite of the bad cover.

Partials by Dan Wells. I’ve had this book described to me as Hunger Games meets Battlestar Galactica, and since those are two of my favorite things, I’ve been anxious to read this one for a while.

Only problem is, I don’t actually have either of those last two books in my possession…yet. I am hoping to acquire them both this week, but that is dependent on money and stuff, since my library has pretty much nothing in the New Releases category.

I’ll also be squeezing in:

Suffocate by S.R. Johannes. This is just a novelette, so it should go pretty fast, and it sounds like a really fun little read.

Happy Monday everyone! What are you reading this week?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (May 21)

Welcome to another week of It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? hosted by Book Journey: the part of the week where I set ridiculously lofty goals for myself that I nearly always fail to achieve. But that doesn’t stop me from setting the bar high, because it would seem I am bad at learning my lesson. Speaking of which…

Guys, I have a confession to make.

I failed miserably last week. Failed. With a capital F-A-I-L.

I set out to read at least four books. I read one. ONE. Uno. The Book Thief was just a much heavier read than I was anticipating, and it swallowed my week. Plus, of course, life kept getting in the way. I went to an author event. I saw The Avengers. There were even more birthday parties (seriously, were all the children in my kids’ classes born in April and May?)

But instead of moving all of last week’s reads to this week, I’m changing it up. I’ve been asked to do a guest post on my friend Kelly’s blog in a couple weeks about dystopian books. And to prepare, I need to read some more dystopians. I’ve read some, but I need to read more. I know there’s no way I can read all the dystopians in two weeks, but I can at least put a bigger dent in them.

First off, I have to finish Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore. That will probably happen today, and I’m excited to announce that Shannon (who is ridiculously nice, FYI) has also agreed to an author interview sometime in the very near future when I can get my act together. So be on the lookout for that!

Then, TWO WEEKS OF DYSTOPIAN FUN. I may need a reality check when this is all over, people. On the docket for this week:

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi. I’m so pumped. I’ve been itching to read this one for months.

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. I honestly have no idea what I’m getting into with this one, but I’ve heard great things.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner. Again, heard great things. Again, so pumped.

The Glimpse by Claire Merle. There aren’t an abundance of reviews out yet for this one, as it’s a June 2012 release, and what I’ve read so far have been severely mixed. Some love it, some vehemently hate it. So this one could be interesting. We’ll see.

I am banking on the fact that YA dystopians tend to go pretty fast. Plus, I do not have ALL THE ACTIVITIES planned for this week. Although my children do finish school tomorrow, which means the second half of my week is going to be kid-filled and chaotic. I’m hoping I can somehow squeeze in some reading around….that.

I need to get through these this week though, because I have some more potentially awesome dystopians planned for next week!

And yes, I know I’m setting myself up for some minor frustration by reading only book 1 of a bunch of trilogies. But a girl can only fit so much into two weeks. Books 2 and 3 can wait. I hope.

Off I go to mess with my sense of reality.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (May 14)

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey. It’s a great way to plan your reading week (because some of us are nerds and like to plan our reading week) and also get ideas for other great books!

Last week, as per usual, I got a little bit off my scheduled order of events. Instead of “squeezing in” Defiance when it arrived on Saturday, I just completely replaced The Danger Box. I only had enough time for one more, and Defiance was calling my name. And it. Was. Amazing. I’ll gush more about it later.

So I will attempt to do The Danger Box this week, but it may get shoved off again, because I got some books out of the library that I’m itching to start. Those include:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I’ve heard some great things about this book, and it will be an interesting change of pace from all the fantasy/dystopian I’ve been reading lately.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. This book about a teenage girl surviving in a post-apocalyptic world (after a meteor pushes the moon off its axis, resulting in global catastrophe) has been met with mixed reviews, but I’ve been intrigued by it for a while. Time to plunge in and see where I stand.

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins. I’ve heard this is a fun and magical read, and I think it will balance the other two books this week nicely. 
I may also try to squeeze in (if I have time):
Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore. This was a surprise bonus in the envelope with Defiance. It isn’t that long, and sounds interesting. If I don’t get around to this one this week, it’ll be on next week’s list for sure.
That’s my reading week! What’s yours look like?