Tag: Book Stuff

Today I am cruising through A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.  This is our book club read that is being reviewed tomorrow night and I have procrastinated on getting it read.  The review is taking place here at my home and we are going to potluck to the theme of the book.  One thing I have discovered about A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – there is a lot of talk about food.  It should be interesting to see what everyone brings.

Last week I finished:

• The Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy
  

• Extraordinary by John Bevere (and giveaway!)

• Football is For Lovers (blog tour this week – review will be up on Wednesday)

• Swimsuit by James Patterson

• The Finanical Lives Of The Poets by Jess Walters (blog tour this week, review up on Wednesday)

As for my week of reading… I have set another lofty goal but as you look at the plan know this…

• I have finished Novel Destinations last night so that one is off the pile.
  
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• Receive Me Falling I started last week and had to put down to get going on A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.
  
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• The 13 Days of Halloween is a blog tour and that review is up yet today, read and scheduled at this time.
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• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society is going in the car with me when we road trip tot he cities for the Women of Faith Conference this coming Thursday afternoon.  I am not driving so that means I can read a bit!  🙂
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• The 39 Clues is a book I am curious about and this one as well is going in the car with me for the weekend conference

Yes… as always a lofty plan but when I break it down,  I think doable.  Chance goes home tomorrow afternoon after being with us for a month.  I am saddened by this as I love having him around.  With this move, my reading routine should increase as I will no longer be playing video games and watching TV with him late into the evenings.

What are you reading this week?  Stop over to J Kayes Blog and be sure to add your reading post to Mr Linky so others may stop by and visit you!

This is hosted by An Adventure in Reading

I am in Abbeville with George Bailey.  Don’t laugh… that really is his name.  His mother had a weakness for It’s A Wonderful Life.  We are at George’s grandpa’s home… a home that George never thought as an adult that he would spend another night in – or want to.  Yet here we are, looking at the old bookcase that used to hold such treasures as Zane Grey’s Stories For Boys, sea tales, a copy of Dale Carnegie and The Robe, a number of Bibles, including one inscribed in German in 1851 by one of Grandpa’s forebears, and more.  Now, the old books were gone.

Abbeville by Jack Fuller

I have my nose buried deep in Kay Cassidy’s book, The Cinderella Society….  SO GOOD!  I am on such a huge YA kick I feel like I should be snapping my gum, twirling my hair and listening to Bon Jovi….  oh – maybe YA don’t do that anymore…LOL  Really enjoying the book!

I am pleased to say that last weeks list of Cleopatra’s Daughter (which was an AMAZING READ), Bo’s Cafe (great book and one to make you think…) and VIOLA in Reel Life (Loved this!)… I only have one that still is sticking out of my TBR shelf, partially read and part of my plan to finish the last two weeks…. that’s right, Pride and Prejudice still waits on me.

The big plan for this week…. and for some reason I feel like I am Stella and got my groove back…. (book groove that is)… so I piled them high for this weeks reading plan.  They are:

Of course to finish the wonderful The Cinderella Society

I have Extraordinary by John Bevere for tour this week along with a giveaway copy!

Abbeville by Jack Fuller has also waited patiently to be reviewed and I pulled this off the shelf to do just that!

Football is For Lovers I have for a tour next week and I am trying to be more proactive on the tour reads and not waiting until the last minute and then cranking them out just under the wire.

The Financial Lives of Poets is also on tour next week

A Worthy Legacy by Tomi Akinyanmi just came in but is one off my wish list and I want to treat myself to this read.

So that’s the plan.  For those of you who are looking at this and saying how can you possibly read that many books in a week?

Well, first it is only a plan and I tend to plan big – but don’t beat myself up if I don’t reach the goal.  Sometimes a book I planned to read may be set aside for a different read because that is the beauty of reading…  you do get to pick what you enjoy.

The Cinderella Society is sailing right along and I should complete that yet today, Extraordinary has been in the process of reading for a couple weeks now and in this type of book I find that helpful when I can break it down so I only have part of that book left to read.  Football Is For Lovers (I know right… I am still not really sure what I signed on to with this one…LOL) and A Worthy Legacy are both smaller books.  Which leaves me with Abbeville which I hope to roll into the weekend with, but we will see how it all goes.

Most of my evenings are spent reading.  My husband goes to bed around 8:30 or 9 pm as he gets up at 5 am.  That gives me on the average about 3 hours to read a night, not including that I do occasionally read early in the a.m., while I am making dinner and usually longer on weekends when we have no big commitments.

What are you reading this week?  Pop Over to J Kaye’s blog and be sure to connect there to add your post to the linky so we can all see your list of wonderful books as well!

Happy reading all!

This is hosted by An Adventure in Reading

I am in Rome with Alexander and Selene, the orphaned children of Marc Anthony and Cleopatra.  We have just returned from an execution and I am horrified.  As we are going to the Ludi Romani, we are discussing Selene’s sketches for a home for the foundlings (the homeless children).  I like that Selene is so caring and we are well on our way to becoming fast friends… if only Julia would go away and allow Marcellus to follow his heart which at this time, I am believing really must belong to Selene.

Page 211 of Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran

Here is my weekly contribution to J Kaye’s Blog meme.  (Stop over to her blog and sign up to do this too – it is fun and for me… it helps keep me on track!) I really enjoy doing this as it puts into perspective what I have ahead of me for the week… (sometimes this is a bit like Christmas…LOL – NEW BOOKS to read!)

This week:

I am currently 3/4 of the way through Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran and for all of you who have been wondering what I would think of this ….  I am LOVING IT!  (and going back to reading it once I have this post up!)

Viola In Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani is a book I am doing a live chat at Book Club Girl’s on Wednesday so that one will be my next read, probably starting tonight.

Sir Dalton and The Shadow Heart by Chuck Black looks exciting to me and this is one I am ready to grab my armor and head into!

Bo’s Cafe by John Lynch, Bill Thrall and Bruce McNicol is up for tour this Friday and I am pumped about this.  I have peaked into it already and will be happy to share with you my thoughts on this book!

Last week:

I completed The Carpet Boy’s Gift, A Million Miles in A Thousand Years, and 31 Hours.  Pride and Prejudice was on my list to complete last week and it went to the wayside again when I realized I had a blog tour date for 31 Hours.  This week is a pretty full reading week so Pride and Prejudice may again have to wait for the weekend.

That’s my reading week….  How about you?

This is hosted by An Adventure in Reading

I am currently in Cache Valley, Utah with Savannah Campton and Dective Ryan.  We have just left the hospital after visiting Savannah’s sister Allison who is still in a coma from the fall that may – or may not have been an accident.  I can feel Ryans tension as we are driving back to Allison’s home…. is Savannah involved?  Did she harm her sister and if she did…. why?  And wouldnt this whole scenario be easier if Ryan wasn’t so attracted to Savannah in the first place?

The Sister Pact by Cami Checketts

This week I am planning to do a bit of “Blog Housekeeping.”

I want to dust off the awards that run along my sidebar and put them under a header tab along the top part of my blog.  This way they will be neater and I can actually list the people who were so wonderful to send them my way.  Much more organized… that’s the plan.  🙂

I also have a little sidebar updating to do.  I am trying to figure out a cool way to keep my current reads on the side bar that is going to be easy for me to remember to update.  Currently I tend to forget and then see something I have read a month ago listed as my current read.  “Doh”!  So not cool.

I am working on cleaning up my book related emails.  I have them just hanging out all over the in box – book review requests, ones I have accepted, communications with authors/publishers.  It is like a tornado hit and I need to call in a Cleaning crew to come and assist.

I am also a bit behind on my giveaways so need to do some random pics pretty quick here and get them moving so I can add new giveaways that are waiting patiently.

AND last but not least my Challenges need a little updating as well.  I have books completed for the challenges that I have not acknowledged and I need to just get a grip on this.

So – as you look over my blog which is always open to upgrades, do you have any suggestions?

Oh!  It is Monday isn’t it?  I would love to share with you what is true of last weeks reads, what is currently being read in the DeChantal household, as well as what I am hopeful to attack yet this week!  Thank you to J. Kaye who created this wonderful meme so we can talk books!

Last week I completed:

Girl Naw! by Lacrica A. Angelle

Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble

North!  Or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson (with a double giveaway!)

Mix Shake Stir by Danny Meyer

Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms by Jane Doiron (with one to give away!)

and as for my current reads…

The Sister Pact by Cami Checketts (I am so enjoying this book!  It is a Christian fiction read but it is different from any I have read before and I am really excited to review it!  I should be done yet tonight!)

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (yeah… I stated this one a month ago and sat it down to read something else and have yet to pick it back up.  It is not from lack of interest by any mean… I really have liked what I have read so far.  I hope to wrap this one up this week.)

and now for the ones I plan to get going on this week…

Abbeville by Jack Fuller:  This one could very well be the book I had written the song for earlier this week.  LOL.  Patiently waiting on the shelf, this morning as I was choosing the next in line – I grabbed this one.

Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran… this is a self explanatory pick.  Seriously, if this book is in your home how can you not read it?

The Carpet Boy’s Gift by Shea/Morin:  A beautifully illustrated childrens read that I can not bring myself to even put on the TBR shelf.  It must be read.  It must be read now.

I also started (or am working on  the start of…) an online book club called Word Shakers.  Check it out and sign the Mr. Linky if you want to be kepy updated on the reads and participate if you can!

The CSN Bookshelf that was offered to me for review arrived last Thursday.  This afternoon I finally had time to put it together and try it out!

I have put together many bookshelves in my life and had interesting results after sometimes hours of figuring out the directions.  I was thrilled to see that this shelf was not in too many pieces and I easily put it together in 15 minutes.  Love the color and it looks wonderful in the reading room!  Check out CSN Office Furniture for your furniture needs!  They have free shipping on almost everything.

This is the fun meme from J Kaye’s Book Blog.  I am currently finishing up Stray Affections by Charlene Ann Baumbich.  I am on tour with this book later this week.

I have a busy week with book club tomorrow evening (BONFIRE  POTLUCK – OH YEAH!) as we review the wonderful Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross.  I work all week and this weekend is the 150 mile 2 day bike ride I am doing with my cousin.  With all this, I am keeping my reading plans for the week a little low as I am not sure when I am going to fit a lot of reading in.

Here is my tiny TBR for the week.

• NORTH!  Or Be Eaten is a book I have held off reading as I have waited for the tour to come up and like a book to be fresh in my mind.  I have a giveaway coming with this review as well!

• Dreaming Anastasia is also a blog tour coming up

• The Sister Pact I received from the author and that is my bonus book this week that I hope I get to!  I am anxious to read this one as well!

Over the weekend when Al and I traveled NORTH!  (Not to be eaten – but to go to our cabin….LOL) we started listening to the book on CD of Green by Ted Decker, his newest which while it is a prequel to The Circle Trilogy, (which I have two of the three of these books and have not read them – Black, red, White) I was told that this one was actually encouraged to be read first if you had not read the others yet as it is the begining and the end.  Hmmmm….. interesting.

However riding in the jeep is loud and it was a struggle to follow this deep book on audio and as it switches between worlds by the end of CD two, Al and I had switched it up for James Patterson’s Swimsuit which I have to admit, is much better than I thought it was going to be and I am actually anjoying it!

There it is.  The plan for the week.  If you would like to be a part of this weekly meme, create your own post of what you are reading and be sure to link it back to J Kaye’s Book Blog.