I hope everyone had a great weekend. We had a good time discovering a new place for breakfast tacos, eating lots of cold watermelon and of course enjoying some time at the bookstore.
As I promised, I have a review of Karen E. Olson’s book The Missing Ink (click for full review), which is the start of her new mystery series. I thought the mystery was really well done. I kept trying to guess who did it and at one point I think I’d gone through accusing most of the characters. Like her previous series, this one features a strong female lead but what I really liked about this book was that I get the sense that Brett will have some good sidekicks helping her out in future mysteries.
I also spent some time reading Hold Love Strong by Matthew Aaron Goodman which is the story of a young boy growing up in the New York housing projects. It’s a sad story and one I’m reading in bits. I feel for the characters who are trying to get ahead in life but one thing or another keeps them down. Sometimes it’s just bad decisions but not done out of malice, just ignorance and despair. I’m about half way through this one and hope to finish it this week.
I needed a bit more lighter fare in the evenings so I turned to Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand. Well, I thought this was going to be lighter fare but I quickly realized that one of the main characters is a young mother fighting lung cancer. She, her sister and best friend take off to a beach house to get away from it all.
I’m sort of tempted to add another book to my mix, a mystery of course but we’ll see. What about you? How many books are you juggling right now?
I’m changing my reading plan as I have discovered so many great books recently. I finished The Moonstone but have postponed The Woman in White and Rebecca for my Lake Las Vegas excursion next weekend. I’m aiming to read these two all in one sitting, maybe two! Currently I’m perusing Shanghai Girls by Lisa See which reminds me of The Joy Luck Club, except it’s more poignant to read.
Every time I start to make some progress on my current reads pile, I decide I need to start another new book (or another couple of new books). I get to them eventually, but I just can’t make myself stick to just a very few! Sounds like you had a nice weekend!
I’ve been juggling two books lately, and I like it that I’ve another book to look forward to if I’ve no mood to read the one which I’m reading, and vice versa! ;P
Hope you’ve a great weekend, Iliana! 🙂
I generally have two books going, one fiction, one non-fiction but next week I expect to ramp it up a bit since I have a few library books coming my way. I am in the early pages of HOME and am looking forward to starting a Joanne Harris book tomorrow. I like to balance the more complex reads with the lighter fare too.
At the moment, I have a couple of books going. I generally tend to like to read one at a time, though I will through in a non-fiction read or 2 while working on a novel.
I haven’t read anything by Karen Olson, but this one looks like it would be right up my alley!!
I always have at least one hard book going, as well as an audio. (Spies of Warsaw and The Little Stranger right now.) Sometimes I will add a kid audio to the mix for the car, and will sometimes even have a hard book going that I am reading to the kids. But as of right now, we are between kid reads. I am always thinking about that next great book!
I’m loving Alphabet Juice and don’t want it to end so I actually haven’t picked it up in a few days. silly, huh? It’s a lovely day and I ‘m thinking I should get off the PC and go read in the backyard…
I have three up in the air. I, Claudius, The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte and No Graves As Yet. I’m 65 pages into Claudius, 175 into Charlotte’s Diaries and 10 into Graves. All will be completed in due time. Slowly but surely.
I’m reading three books right now: Lost in Austen, which is fluffy and fun; Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather; and Scottsboro, by Ellen Feldman. I plan to add a fourth today when I start Wings by Aprilynne Pike.
Matthew – Oh I bet you are excited about your upcoming vacation. It’s always fun to plan which books to take right? I really want to read Shanghai Girls – I’m glad to hear you are finding it even better than Joy Luck Club. I read that one ages ago but did enjoy it a lot.
Danielle – I totally know what you mean. Sometimes I think I just need to finish all books before starting but it’s just so fun to start a new one. I didn’t start anything last night but maybe today 🙂
Melody – Exactly… I love juggling several books because at least I should have a bit of variety to suit my mood 🙂
Juliann – Oh which Joanne Harris book are you starting? I’ve got several of her books on my shelves but you know how that goes! haha… Now, that you mention non-fiction that’s one genre I always fall very behind on.
Stephanie – I have to have books that are quite different going on as well. And, if I’m reading a mystery then I can only have one. I’m liable to get my clues mixed up! haha…
Sandy – Isn’t that funny? We are always thinking about the next great read. I guess it’s all of our piles of books! ha. I should try an audio again but usually when I’m bookbinding I’m listening to music.
Care – I’ve done that too! It’s hard because you want to know what happens but at the same time you just want the story to keep going. Go out and enjoy your day! 🙂
Mike B. – I read your post on the Secret Diaries book and that’s on my list. Sounds like a really fun read. And, yea, slowly but surely!
Carrie K. – You’ve got quite a variety there! I saw an author interview of Ellen Feldman on Wisteria’s blog and her book is definitely on my list. It sounds so good.
I have no reading plan for this month…so I’m picking up books on a whim.
Only 1. Money for Maria. Rasputin, Valentin. Short stories by Siberian author.
My relatives are in town. I have lost my bedroom to them (TV is also in there). And the other areas are not quiet. So, I can handle only one right now.
Two weeks ago, I was juggling 3.
Hi iliana 🙂
In terms of physical books, I’m trying to read 1 at a time. (Currently reading Caves of Steel which is a scifi mystery).
With the Stanza app on my iPhone, I’ve got quite a few books going. The iPhone is an incredible ereading device !
Thanks for the great review, Iliana!
I just finished Louise Penny’s THE CRUELEST MONTH. I absolutely love this series, this was the third book. There’s one more and a new one out this fall, I believe.
And now I’m re-reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in anticipation of the movie release on Wednesday!
I’ve heard good things about The Missing Ink. Glad to see you enjoyed it. Hilderbrand’s books all look like light reading based on the covers, but I’ve heard otherwise.
I also have three I’m reading right now — a library book, a book for review, and a book I own — and I’m trying to resist picking up any more books. But I did add Hold Love Strong to my list of books to read. Sounds like a good read.
Serena – Now that sounds like a great summer reading plan 🙂
Isabel – You always find the oddest titles – I love it! Hope you are having tons of fun with the kids!
Gavin – Hey, so glad you stopped in. Are you still blogging? Have missed reading your blog. I read Caves of Steel a couple of months ago and really liked it. I was expecting to not like it at all given that it’s sci-fi but I was pleasantly surprised!
Karen – Thank you for the guest post and you know I’m waiting for Brett’s next adventure! Oh I do love Louise Penny’s books too. I need to go pick up Cruelest Month soon before her next one comes out.
Anna – Oddly enough it’s not as “sad” as I expected but I’m not too far along so don’t know if or how things could change. I’ll keep you posted.
Christina – Glad you added it to your list! I haven’t gotten around to the book today but probably will get back to it tomorrow.
I had left Deception point 2 weeks back half-read!! So i am going back to it this week 🙂
I might start another, but I am still not sure which 🙂
I am glad you enjoyed Missing Ink, Iliana. Great review, by the way! I’m only reading one book right now. I had hoped to sneak in some reading today, but I ended up having to work through lunch. Hopefully I can get some bedtime reading in.