Tag: its monday what are you reading

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. While I am no longer offering up the giveaway incentive, I do hope you will still see the value of visiting other participants and seeing what they are reading- be warned though… this meme tends to add to your reading lists

Another super busy week has passed here.  I was out of town at a work conference on Thursday and Friday, at a Vikings Game in the cities Friday night and ran a 7K mud run in Wisconsin on Saturday before returning home.  I planned a nice post for today as this is the 200th IMWAYR, but I am busy with prep work for upcoming events, cleaning my house, and I have a book club book to read that I have barely cracked the spine and the review is Tuesday.

Basically… the same thing is going on here that has been the story for the past two months.  Life is busy – all is well, I am just not around the laptop that much these days.

I have nothing new to report for what I am reading as I am still working on the same audio books and the same books.  Tomorrow afternoon I will be listening to audio while I mow the lawn so hopefully I will get close to finishing something… The White Princess and The Twelve are both nearing completion.

Below is the link for you to add what you are reading.  I really hope to get a chance to stop in and visit some of you this week.. believe me – its not from lack of trying 😀

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For those of you that read mainly middle grade and childrens books, be sure to also link to the younger version of It’s Monday by using the link below!

Next Sunday – lets plan on that celebration.  The library book sale will be over and I should be ready to roll out a good post prior to going to camp on Monday. 😀

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. While I am no longer offering up the giveaway incentive, I do hope you will still see the value of visiting other participants and seeing what they are reading- be warned though… this meme tends to add to your reading lists

Egads…. I have never been so late on this post.  Seriously.. . this is my 199th Monday What Are You Reading Post and as you can see it almost didn’t happen.  Life has taken over my life.  It’s all good, but things around here are quite a juggle right now.

This weekend I was biking two days for Camp Benedict.  150 miles of awesomeness and awesome people.  Last night, honestly I just wanted to sit on my deck with my husband and not think or do… and that is what I did.  This morning, I was up and on the road by 5 am to do my 6 mile run, worked until 10:15, meeting at the library ar 10:30 – 12:15, lunch with a friend from 12:30 – 4m went grocery shopping hope and writing the post.

Yeah… that about sums it up.  I know I have been mostly absent since June.  I do not plan on leaving, I am just experiencing juggle technicalities and to be honest – the summer sun is winning right now. 😀

Thank you for sticking with me and your patience – here is the link up below- my Sunday is open next week so my post should be beautiful and timely for Monday What are You Reading #200.  Perhaps… we will have to celebrate 🙂

 

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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. While I am no longer offering up the giveaway incentive, I do hope you will still see the value of visiting other participants and seeing what they are reading- be warned though… this meme tends to add to your reading lists

I know I am putting this post up really late.  I usually have it up on Sunday evenings but after a trip to the North shore with my son from Thursday Morning until Saturday, then shopping for a picnic for 300 people and then on Sunday putting together the picnic for 300 people together along with an awesome team and then finally getting home at 3 pm and then falling asleep from 4 pm – 5:30, then dinner, then mowing the lawn…

let’s just say writing this post last night was not in the cards.

Yes… I have been absent a lot this summer, more than I ever have been.  The addition  of the half marathon training on top of my Library duties, job, weekend events, camp prep…  all of this has really made my blog window tiny.  I do believe this is only for a season so please hang with me… 😀

My reading (books) is almost at a standstill.  I have been reading the same book for the last three weeks.  The book is good, but I am just busy and sitting and reading is something I long to d0 – but can not find the time.  My audio book listening is still strong.  I haven’t started anything new this week but am still enjoying:  The White Princess by Philippa Gregory, The Twelve by Justin Cronin, and Dad Is Fat by Jim Gaffigan.  

 

I am hoping this afternoon to get in some reading time.  *fingers crossed*

What are you reading this week?  I am excited to see what books you are accomplishing this time of year!  Please add your link below.

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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. While I am no longer offering up the giveaway incentive, I do hope you will still see the value of visiting other participants and seeing what they are reading- be warned though… this meme tends to add to your reading lists

Another busy week here, typical summer….  here is what I posted this past week:

Restrike by Reba White William

Pics from last weekends Go Commando Race

Looking For Me by Beth Hoffman

Here is what I am listening to this week (and I say listening because reading has been slow going…)

 

 

In the present day, as the man-made apocalypse unfolds, three strangers navigate the chaos. Lila, a doctor and an expectant mother, is so shattered by the spread of violence and infection that she continues to plan for her child’s arrival even as society dissolves around her. Kittridge, known to the world as “Last Stand in Denver,” has been forced to flee his stronghold and is now on the road, dodging the infected, armed but alone and well aware that a tank of gas will get him only so far. April is a teenager fighting to guide her little brother safely through a landscape of death and ruin. These three will learn that they have not been fully abandoned—and that in connection lies hope, even on the darkest of nights.

One hundred years in the future, Amy and the others fight on for humankind’s salvation . . . unaware that the rules have changed. The enemy has evolved, and a dark new order has arisen with a vision of the future infinitely more horrifying than man’s extinction. If the Twelve are to fall, one of those united to vanquish them will have to pay the ultimate price.
 

 

 

In Dad is Fat, stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan, who’s best known for his legendary riffs on Hot Pockets, bacon, manatees, and McDonald’s, expresses all the joys and horrors of life with five young children—everything from cousins (“celebrities for little kids”) to toddlers’ communication skills (“they always sound like they have traveled by horseback for hours to deliver important news”), to the eating habits of four year olds (“there is no difference between a four year old eating a taco and throwing a taco on the floor”). Reminiscent of Bill Cosby’s Fatherhood, Dad is Fat is sharply observed, explosively funny, and a cry for help from a man who has realized he and his wife are outnumbered in their own home.

 

 

 

When Henry Tudor picks up the crown of England from the mud of Bosworth field, he knows he must marry the princess of the enemy house—Elizabeth of York—to unify a country divided by war for nearly two decades.

But his bride is still in love with his slain enemy, Richard III—and her mother and half of England dream of a missing heir, sent into the unknown by the White Queen. While the new monarchy can win power, it cannot win hearts in an England that plots for the triumphant return of the House of York.

Henry’s greatest fear is that somewhere a prince is waiting to invade and reclaim the throne. When a young man who would be king leads his army and invades England, Elizabeth has to choose between the new husband she is coming to love and the boy who claims to be her beloved lost brother: the rose of York come home at last.

 

 

 

I have had some great audio experiences lately and much to catch up on reviewing.  In the mean time, what are you reading?  I would love to know!  Add your link below where it says click here.

 

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And for those of you who read mainly YA or Middle grade books, feel free to also link up the younger version of # IMWAYR as well

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. While I am no longer offering up the giveaway incentive, I do hope you will still see the value of visiting other participants and seeing what they are reading- be warned though… this meme tends to add to your reading lists

I have been absent this week – I have been gone all weekend running 5k’s with my college son, here’s a picture of the one we finished today – the Color Run.

I just came back into town after 8:00 p.m. tonight so I am going to just let you know I have reviews to write, I hardly read a thing this week and that’s about it.  😀  Please share what are you are reading by using the link below:

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Have a great week! 🙂 

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. While I am no longer offering up the giveaway incentive, I do hope you will still see the value of visiting other participants and seeing what they are reading- be warned though… this meme tends to add to your reading lists

It was a gorgeous week here in Central Minnesota.  I finished a great week of training for the half marathon in October and enjoyed a nice mix of work and sunshine and reading.  I even was able to see College son over the 4th!  Here is what I managed to read and post this week:

Is This Tomorrow by Caroline Leavitt

Inferno by Dan Brown (WOW!  Dan Brown really is an amazing writer that makes you think!

You think I would have posted more, I did finish more but the holiday and a busy weekend kept me off the computer (which is a good thing 😀 )

As for this week – here is what I am reading/listening to:

Pain, Parties, Work by Elizabeth Winder is a compelling look at a young Sylvia Plath and the life-changing month that would lay the groundwork for her seminal novel, The Bell Jar.

In May of 1953, a twenty-one-year-old Plath arrived in New York City, the guest editor of Mademoiselle’s annual College Issue. She lived at the Barbizon Hotel, attended the ballet, went to a Yankee game, and danced at the West Side Tennis Club. She was supposed to be having the time of her life. But what would follow was, in Plath’s words, twenty-six days of pain, parties, and work, that ultimately changed the course of her life.

A few years ago my book club read The Bell Jar for our Classic Month.  It was interesting to read about Sylvia Plath, really a road almost to madness… When I seen a review of this book (audio) on Kathy’s blog I was thrilled to learn even more about her.

 

 

 

Cousins Coleman and Dinah Greene moved from North Carolina to New York after college to make their mark on the art world: Coleman is the editor of an influential arts magazine and Dinah is the owner of a print gallery in Greenwich Village. But their challenges are mounting as one of Coleman’s writers is discovered selling story ideas to a competitor and The Greene Gallery is in the red because sales are down. When billionaire Heyward Bain arrives with a glamorous assistant, announcing plans to fund a fine print museum, Coleman is intrigued and plans to get to know Bain and publish an article about him. Dinah hopes to sell him enough prints to save her gallery. At the same time, swindlers, attracted by Bain’s lavish spending, invade the print world to grab some of his money. When a print dealer dies in peculiar circumstances, Coleman is suspicious, but she can’t persuade the NYPD crime investigator of a connection between the dealer’s death and Bain’s buying spree. After one of Coleman’s editors is killed and Coleman is attacked, the police must acknowledge the connection, and Coleman becomes even more determined to discover the truth about Bain. In an unforgettable final scene, Coleman risks her life to expose the last deception threatening her, her friends, and the formerly tranquil print world.

Doesn’t this just sound fun?

 

 

Celebrating the healing power of food and the magic of New York City, A Place at the Table follows the lives of three seekers who come together in the understanding that when you embrace the thing that makes you different, you become whole. A Place at the Table tells the story of three unforgettable characters whose paths converge in a storied Manhattan café: Bobby, a young gay man from Georgia who has been ostracized by his family; Amelia, a wealthy Connecticut woman whose life is upended when a family secret comes to light; and Alice, an African-American chef from North Carolina whose heritage is the basis of a renowned cookbook but whose past is a mystery to those who know her. These characters are exiles – from homeland, from marriage, from family. While they all find companionship and careers through cooking, they hunger for the deeper nourishment of communion. As the narrative sweeps from a freed-slave settlement in 1920s North Carolina to Manhattan during the deadly AIDS epidemic of the 1980s to the well-heeled hamlet of contemporary Old Greenwich, Connecticut, Bobby, Amelia, and Alice are asked to sacrifice everything they ever knew or cared about to find authenticity and fulfillment.

I think this sounds powerful.

 

 

Love—and crushes—are in the air for Nikki Maxwell in this sixth book of the New York Times bestselling Dork Diaries series.It’s the biggest dance of the year and Nikki Maxwell is hoping her crush, Brandon, wants to be her date. But time is running out. What if he doesn’t want to go with her? Or worse—what if he ends up going with Mackenzie?!!

Oh my.. this one is fun!

 

 

So that is what is happening here.  Lots of fun reads – and our Book Club Queen Event is this Tuesday!  SO EXCITED!!!!

What are you reading listening to this week?  I would love to know!  Add your link below where it says click here.

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

 

And for those of you who read mainly YA or Middle grade books, feel free to also link up the younger version of # IMWAYR as well

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. While I am no longer offering up the giveaway incentive, I do hope you will still see the value of visiting other participants and seeing what they are reading- be warned though… this meme tends to add to your reading lists 😀

This past week here is what was posted :

The Stranger by Camilla Lackberg (interesting audio)

 

Lisa Jackson House Party!

 

The Last Original Wife by Dorothy Benton Frank ( what a fun book!)

 

 

Two events coming up that I need to raise funds for:

Camp Benedict Bike Ride (for those infected and affected by AIDS)

Muckfest for MS – Multiple Sclerosis fundraiser

As for this week – here is what is happening:

I am reading this one now and enjoying it so much!  With the good weather we are supposed to have this week I look forward to deck time and this book!

I am curious what you are reading!  Please add your link below where it says click here:

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

 

And for those of you who read mainly YA or Middle grade books, feel free to also link up the younger version of # IMWAYR as well

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.

Under the new and hopefully improved 2013 guidelines, the winner each week will receive a $5 Amazon gift card.  This past weeks winner is:

Lori – Escape With Dollycas

 

**Note – new guidelines:  When I took this meme over 3 years ago from J Kaye’s Book Blog, I thought it would be fun to customize it a bit to be my own.  That is when I added the additional giveaway of what once was a book from a selection I had, and then moved on to the gift card.  The point of doing this was to encourage you to go and visit other participants blogs.  I think the community of the bloggers is so important and seeing what other people are reading and enjoying (or not enjoying) does indeed not only add to community but also to your book wish list. 😀

However, now as my life has become busier and my online time has actually lessened, I find I just do not have the time to always sit down and  send out the gift cards in a timely manner. It takes a lot of time each week to look through the comments – write a number to each person who said they visited 10 or more blogs and commented, give them their correct points, and then run it through random.org to come up with a winner.   I know as winners this can be frustrating to you as you may think I have forgotten, but it is mainly because the email I use for my bookish communications I do not have the time to look at every day and even when I do, I am on it so shortly that I plan to get back to it and complete the gift cards and I just don’t. 

All that said – as of this posting of Its Monday What Are You Reading, I am going to eliminate the giveaway for commenting on other participants.  I am very hopeful that you will do so anyways as it builds community and it leads people to your blog as well when they see you are a presence on the internet.  I am hopeful that you will all continue to do the IMWAYR without the incentive  of a gift card. 😀

As for those of you with pending gift cards, when I get back home later tonight I will sit down and finish them and get them sent.  It you have been a w inner and have not received your card by Wednesday morning, please email me at journeythroughbooks@gmail.com.

Thank you – all of you for participating.  I really enjoy doing this meme. 😀

 

 

Ok, on to whats happening here…. I am coming in so late today as I did not get home from the North Shore until 8 pm last night.  I had a blast hanging out with friends – we walked, hiked, bikes, toured and had a great time! 

Here is what happened this past week here on Book Journey (as it was audio book week last week many of my posts were directed that way)

 

WASH by Margaret Wrinkle (*fascinating audio!)

 

Me Talk Pretty One Day by Davis Sedaris (Audio review – he is so hilarious!)

 

Quiet The Power Of Introverts  (audio review – SOOOOOO GOOD!)

 

 

and if you missed out on the thoughts of audio book week you can catch my opinions here:

 

How to get into audio books and when you can find ways to listen when a book would just be impracticable!

 

What I am currently listening to

 

What do I do while I listen to audio

 

Where do I find the audio I want to listen to

 

 

This week will be interesting.  I have a pretty mellow next two days here but Wednesday is our annual meeting at work which will be a long day and on Thursday I have a house party here for Lisa Jackson’s Tell Me Summer Secrets party.  It should be fun – I hope its nice where we can sit on the deck and enjoy our time.  Saturday is a rock festival I am hoping Al and I can go too.  😀

 

 

SO that all said –

Here is what is currently going on here:

Discover the North Shore of Lake Superior you haven’t seen! Highway 61, from Duluth to the Canadian border, is peppered with tourist hotspots that Minnesotans love. But even the most devout traveler doesn’t know Lake Superior like Kathryn and William Mayo do. These explorers and residents of the region outline the best sites you may not know about. Get 61 Gems on Highway 61 for your next North Shore adventure. With this book in hand, you’ll experience the beautiful region in a whole new way.

Our cabin up North is right off HWY 61 so when I picked this book up this weekend I was thrilled about it.  We actually hit some of the spots yesterday before I cam e home which I will chat more about when I review the book.

 

 

 

In the heart of Italy, Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of history’s most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces . . . Dante’s Inferno.

Against this backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science. Drawing from Dante’s dark epic poem, Langdon races to find answers and decide whom to trust . . . before the world is irrevocably altered.

Just started listening to this one on the recommendation of a friend.  SO good so far.  I have enjoyed Dan Browns writing in the past.

 

 

I have other things I hope to start but I feel I am (again behind on my reading.  If all goes well today I will have some time this afternoon to sit out on the deck (that will be the first time this year!) and read a bit in the sun.  Looking forward to it. 😀

What are you reading this week?  Add your link below where it says click here.

 

 

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

 

And for those of you who read mainly YA or Middle grade books, feel free to also link up the younger version of # IMWAYR as well

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.

Under the new and hopefully improved 2013 guidelines, the winner each week will receive a $5 Amazon gift card.  This past weeks winner is:

Mama Bear Musings

 Congratulations!   please send me an email at journeythrougnbook@gmail.com and I will get this out to you later this week!

A busy week here between organizing a 5k for a fund raiser and book club this past Tuesday.  Here is what was on the blog:

 

However Long The Night by Aimee Molloy  (Wow what an amazing book!)

 

 

The Fate Of Mercy Alban by Wendy Webb (Bookies June read and review)

 

 

Brown Bag Author Event:  William Souder

 

 

The Good House by Ann Leary  (pretty goof listen on audio!)

 

 

This week here is what I will be working on that is new:

Leslie Anne Greene Carter is The Last Original Wife among her husband Wesley’s wildly successful Atlanta social set. His cronies have all traded in the mothers of their children they promised to love and cherish—’til death did them part—for tanned and toned young Barbie brides.

If losing the social life and close friends she adored wasn’t painful enough, a series of setbacks shake Les’s world and push her to the edge. She’s had enough of playing the good wife to a husband who thinks he’s doing her a favor by keeping her around. She’s not going to waste another minute on people she doesn’t care to know. Now, she’s going to take some time for herself—in the familiar comforts and stunning beauty of Charleston, her beloved hometown. In her brother’s stately historic home, she’s going to reclaim the carefree girl who spent lazy summers sharing steamy kisses with her first love on Sullivans Island. Along Charleston’s live oak- and palmetto-lined cobblestone streets, under the Lowcountry’s dazzling blue sky, Les will indulge herself with icy cocktails, warm laughter, divine temptation and bittersweet memories. Daring to listen to her inner voice, she will realize what she wants . . . and find the life of which she’s always dreamed.

Told in the alternating voices of Les and Wes, The Last Original Wife is classic Dorothea Benton Frank: an intoxicating tale of family, friendship, self-discovery, and love, that is as salty as a Lowcountry breeze and as invigorating as a dip in Carolina waters on a sizzling summer day.

 

 

 

 

In 1956, Ava Lark rents a house with her twelve-year-old son, Lewis, in a desirable Boston suburb. Ava is beautiful, divorced, Jewish, and a working mom. She finds her neighbors less than welcoming. Lewis yearns for his absent father, befriending the only other fatherless kids: Jimmy and Rose. One afternoon, Jimmy goes missing. The neighborhood—in the throes of Cold War paranoia—seizes the opportunity to further ostracize Ava and her son.

Years later, when Lewis and Rose reunite to untangle the final pieces of the tragic puzzle, they must decide: Should you tell the truth even if it hurts those you love, or should some secrets remain buried?

 

 

 

 

Tonight I am sitting here watching Identity Theft (funny!)  And getting ready for Audio Book Week that starts tomorrow.

What are you reading this week?  Add your link below where it says chick here.

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

 

 

And for those of you who read mainly YA or Middle grade books, feel free to also link up the younger version of # IMWAYR as well