It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Welcome to It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

I love being a part of this and I hope you do too!  As part of this weekly meme I love to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme.  I offer a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment telling me how many you visited.  **You do not have to have a blog to participate! You receive one entry for every 10 comments, just come back here and tell me how many in the comment area.

This past weeks winner:

Laurel Rain Snow

 

Congratulations!  Please email me your book choice out of the recently cleaned up and LOVELY Reading Cafe at journeythroughbooks@gmail.com. 

I am popping in a little later than usual on my post because honestly I had a GREAT MOTHER’S DAY!  While neither of my sons were home (one in college and working, the other in the Navy in Florida), they both called me in the morning and I had great conversations with them both.  Then, my hubby and I went with 16 other friends on a motorcycle ride for the afternoon, THEN we went shopping and picked up the chair that I wanted (SQQQUUEEEE!!!) had frozen yogurt, spent two hours at home assembling said chair, then watched the three hour season finale of Survivor…. which I LOVE!!!!   Awesome day. 😀

Now, moving on here is what happened here this past week:

The Selection by Kiera Cass (YA reviewer Camryn Schmidt!)

MAY BAND Discussion:  Non Fiction… The Genres You Hate To Admit You Love

In The Bag by Kate Klise

Still Alice by Lisa Genova  (Bookies May book club review)

Winter Girls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Spending time with BEES (pics and video)

Lots Of Cake, Plenty Of Candles by Anna Quindlen

 

Pretty decent week and thanks to a 5 hour road trip, and a 3 hour motorcycle ride, AND 3 hours of mowing… I have two more audio books ready to review as well 😀

However, due to all the activity mentioned above, I did not get as far on the real books as I had hoped so I am going to keep that side light this week… here is what I hope to add:

 

Albert Einstein says, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Marilu Henner takes it a step further, explaining, “That’s not insanity; it’s bad memory.” Known for her relatable voice, sense of humor, and life-changing advice, Marilu now serves up an inspiring guide describing how an enhanced memory can help you to improve the quality of your life, come to terms with your past, and achieve your goals. 

In 2010, millions of viewers tuned in to an episode of 60 Minutes which featured Marilu as someone with Superior Autobiographical Memory—an uncanny ability to recall details of every day of her life—a talent shared by only six other people in the world. Here, in expanded detail, Marilu reveals the benefits having a great autobiographical memory has had for her, and then shares her personal insights and experiences as to how having a reliable memory has helped her in countless scenarios. She also gives listeners advice in making memory work for them, from having the right attitude about life and developing a healthy mindset about the past, to building a personal history “track” and using it to actually change your life! Accessible, entertaining, and educational, Marilu’s latest is sure to resonate with listeners everywhere.

 

 

Some bonds can never be broken…

Addie Downs and Valerie Adler will be best friends forever. That’s what Addie believes after Valerie moves across the street when they’re both nine years old. But in the wake of betrayal during their teenage years, Val is swept into the popular crowd, while mousy, sullen Addie becomes her school’s scapegoat.

Flash-forward fifteen years. Valerie Adler has found a measure of fame and fortune working as the weathergirl at the local TV station. Addie Downs lives alone in her parents’ house in their small hometown of La Prairie, Illinois, caring for a troubled brother and trying to meet Prince Charming on the Internet. She’s just returned from Bad Date #6, when she opens her door to find her long-gone best friend standing there, with a terrified look on her face and blood on the sleeve of her coat. “Something horrible has happened,” Val tells Addie, “and you’re the only one who can help.”

 

 

A young woman tries to save three people she loves in this elegant and remarkably insightful coming-of-age debut.

Afraid of losing her parents at a young age—her father with his weak heart, her deeply depressed mother—Naomi Feinstein prepared single-mindedly for a prestigious future as a doctor. An outcast at school, Naomi loses herself in books, and daydreams of Wellesley College. But when Teddy, her confidant and only friend, abruptly departs from her life, it’s the first devastating loss from which Naomi is not sure she can ever recover, even after her long-awaited acceptance letter to Wellesley arrives.

Naomi soon learns that college isn’t the bastion of solidarity and security she had imagined. Amid hundreds of other young women, she is consumed by loneliness—until the day she sees a girl fall into the freezing waters of a lake.

The event marks Naomi’s introduction to Wellesley’s oldest honor society, the mysterious Shakespeare Society, defined by secret rituals and filled with unconventional, passionate students. Naomi finally begins to detach from the past and so much of what defines her, immersing herself in this exciting and liberating new world and learning the value of friendship. But her happiness is soon compromised by a scandal that brings irrevocable consequences. Naomi has always tried to save the ones she loves, but part of growing up is learning that sometimes saving others is a matter of saving yourself.

An Uncommon Education is a compelling portrait of a quest for greatness and the grace of human limitations. Poignant and wise, it artfully captures the complicated ties of family, the bittersweet inevitability of loss, and the importance of learning to let go.

 

 

When 15-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder – much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing, not even a smear of blood, to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within 24 hours, Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance when her mother disappears, and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary “mundanes” like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know.

 

Thats my week – mostly audio, but book time will be spent on books I need to catch up on 😀  Now I really want to know what you are reading this week!  Add your link to your post below where it says “click here”

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

 

and those of you who read mainly children’s through YA reads – please also link your post here:

66 thoughts on “It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

      1. Bring a box of tissues!! Good grief! I don’t know how many times I’ve burst into tears or laughed outloud. My family’s lookin’ at me funny!!!!

        I’ve visited over 12 blogs & said “hi”!! Too fun!!!

  1. Glad you had a lovely day. I did too – got flowers from Hubby and flowers from Hawaii from our son, plus a journal from our daughter. Very nice!
    I enjoyed City of Glass but had skipped over the prior book(s).
    Have a great listening week!

  2. I’m glad you got the chair you wanted, I hope you enjoy it 🙂 It sounds like your Mother’s Day was a real treat!

  3. Your mother’s day sounds wonderful! Yay!

    I can’t wait to hear what you think of the Mortal Instruments series! I loved the first three books, so I hope you really enjoy them. 🙂

    Have a fabulous reading week!

    1. Thanks Danielle – it was really wonderful. Cant wait to use that chair! 😀
      I am excited about the Mortal Instruments series and hope I can get into them by audio, because that book never makes it off the shelf! 😀

  4. Glad you had an awesome Mother’s Day and got your chair! I’ll have to check out the review of The Selection, I’ve got it coming up soonish. Best Friends Forever has been on my TBR mountain for quite a while.
    Have a great week and happy reading 🙂

    1. I will probably post a pic of the chair on the deck in tomorrow mornings post… 😀 By the time Al and I had it together last night, it was Survivor time and we hurried to watch that. FULL DAY! 😀

  5. I have a couple audios going: one is a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories and the other is On the Beach. My favorite read last week was The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson. Please come see what else I’m reading.

  6. I can’t wait to read the new Weiner title. Hopefully this week I will find my groove again (normalcy that is…). I actually miss reading and listening!

    TM post is up :)…. keep this on your list (to try once). Have a wonderful day!

  7. SQUEEEE! lol…thanks, Sheila…I picked a book and sent off an e-mail.

    Glad you got your chair….perfect for reading, I’m sure. I like your book choices…I’ve heard about Marilu Henner’s fabulous memory.

    And the Weiner book was very good, too. I read that one in Napa on vacation. Enjoy your week!

  8. WOW..sounds like you had a great week, both reading and activities. I will be watching for your review on Best Friends Forever to see if it goes on my “hopefully in my lifetime tbr list” lol. Have a great week!!

  9. I am thrilled you got your chair. We had a quiet Mother’s Day. My daughter-in-law brought my new granddaughter for a visit though. Never can get enough of that little girl. Today is my 29th wedding anniversary. I can’t believe it. I look back at those pictures and wonder where is that skinny girl and what the heck was with those glasses. lol

    Off to visit!

  10. Glad you found the chair you liked. People underestimate what a difference the right chair makes.

    I’ve been juggling a bunch of books – finishing the appendices on The Complete Works of Shakespeare, re-reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, listening to David Copperfield and finishing the last few chapters of Krakatoa by Simon Winchester. Minor Epiphany as I write this comment: I may be ADD. 🙂

    1. Ummmm….. Peter? Might be ADD? LOL…. you sound like me, I have listened to each of the three audio books I have going today and now on my way to the deck to try the chair and a book 😀

      1. Thanks! I was supposed to read it very slowly this time so I could understand how Christie structures the book, but I got so caught up in it that I went ahead and finished it. 🙂

  11. Those final two books you discussed sound wonderful, Sheila. Thank you for sharing about them. I am often in the world of YA or middle grade so am happy to hear about some for adults sometimes.

  12. You have intrigued me with Marilu Henner… I didn’t see the 60 minutes episode. I’m anxious to hear all about that one. Glad you got your chair!!

  13. Glad to hear you had such a nice Mother’s Day, Sheila. I did, too.

    Wow, you accomplished a lot last week! I am always amazed by how many audios you listen to. I finally finished a middle-grade audio I started 2 months ago – lol. I just don’t have much time alone to listen.

    An Uncommon Education sounds really good – can’t wait to hear what you think.

    Sue

  14. Hi Sheila! The Marilu Henner book looks interesting – can’t wait for your review. I’ve popped by 20 blogs today – had some time on my hands! 🙂 Happy Reading!

Hmmmm... what do you think?