a stressful summer and getting back into blogging

This year has been a challenging one for a number of reasons. I started January with a restructuring at work and every time things seem to be settling down a new stressor gets thrown my way. Also, summer is my least favorite season as I melt in the face of heat plus high humidity. With everything that's been going on the past two months I haven't been really been tracking what I've read, hence the lack of an August recap post and no regular updates to the "currently reading" and "books read in 2013" sidebar lists. I have been reading though and I will attempt to get my "books read in 2013" list updated to the best of my ability.

In the meantime, here's a little report on my current reading -

I'm listening to the audio version of Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (public library), which was recommended to me by my friend Nancy, and I adore it. I crave it when I'm not listening to it even though I'm worried that something bad may be in store for one of the main characters.

On my Nook I'm reading Escaping Reality: The Secret Life of Amy Bensen by Lisa Renee Jones (Netgalley), a romantic suspense novel.

I also have Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson (borrowed from a friend) and One Thousand and One Nights: A Retelling by Hanan al-Shaykh (public library) in progress (though One Thousand and One Nights is going to have to go back to the library this weekend as I've just realized that it's overdue and I've reached my renew limit for it). Both of these are best in small installments so they fall into the actively-but-slowly-reading category.

Some of you may remember that my birthday is at the end of September. Russell has a particularly virulent case of the flu so celebrations have been quite subdued. I will have a bookish birthday gifts post up either at some point this weekend.

weekly reading recap

This week I finished reading:

• Killer Insight by Victoria Laurie
  (4th book in the Psychic Eye Mysteries series)
• Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schreiber (see post)

I'm currently reading quite a few books:

• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
  the July selection for the library book club (we met on Wednesday, but I'm not going to post about it until I finish the book)
• The Distant Sound by Gert Jonke
  (to review for Library Journal)
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins,
  which is absolutely fantastic (free download of currently available through Audiobook Community's Sync Link)
• The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke
• The Master by Colm Toibin

weekly reading recap

This week I finished reading:

• Better Read than Dead by Victoria Laurie (2nd book in the Psychic Eye Mysteries series)
• The Little House by Philippa Gregory (see post)
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• A Vision of Murder by Victoria Laurie (3rd book in the Psychic Eye Mysteries series)

I'm currently reading quite a few books:

• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (the June selection for the library book club)
• The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke
• The Master by Colm Toibin
• Vampire Kissesby Ellen Schreiber, which I got free from Audible (see post

weekly reading recap

This week I finished reading:

• Abby Cooper: Psychic Eye by Victoria Laurie (first book in the Psychic Eye Mysteries series; see post)
• The Sonnet Lover by Carol Goodman (see post)
• Wine, Tarts, & Sex by Susan Johnson

I'm currently reading quite a few books:

• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (the June selection for the library book club)
• The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• The Master by Colm Toibin

weekly reading recap

This week I finished reading:

• Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde (Thursday Next #2, reread)
• March by Geraldine Brooks (the June selection for my online book club; post to come)

I'm currently reading:

• The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

weekly reading recap

This week the only book I finished reading is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (post).

I'm currently reading quite a few books:

• The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke
• Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde (Thursday Next #2, reread)
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• March by Geraldine Brooks (the June selection for my online book club)

I also have quite a few others books in progress including: Chef, If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, Knitlit (Too), and Saint Julian.

weekly reading recap

This week I finished reading:

• Castle Waiting by Linda Medley (see post)

I'm actively reading:

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
• The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke
• Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde (Thursday Next #2, reread)
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• March by Geraldine Brooks (the June selection for my online book club)

I also have quite a few others books in progress including: Chef, If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, Knitlit (Too), and Saint Julian.

weekly reading recap

This week I finished reading:

• Angels by Marian Keyes
• Juliet by Anne Fortier (a book I received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program)

I also posted about Paradise Beneath Her Feet by Isobel Coleman.

I'm actively reading:

• Castle Waiting by Linda Medley (the June selection for my library book club)
• The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke
• Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde (Thursday Next #2, reread)
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (in preparation for rereading March for my online book club)

I also have quite a few others books in progress including: Chef, If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, Knitlit (Too), and Saint Julian.

weekly reading recap

This week I finished reading:

• The Host by Stephenie Meyer
• A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cossé (my latest Library Journal review assignment; I really enjoyed it)

I'm actively reading:

• Juliet by Anne Fortier (a book I received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program)
• The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (in preparation for rereading March for my online book club)

I also have quite a few others books in progress including: Chef, If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, Knitlit (Too), and Saint Julian.

recent reading

I haven't felt motivated to post much on the blog recently because I've been having bad luck with my reading selections. There are lots of books that I've started and not finished. Some I've intentionally given up others are simply languishing partially read in one area of the house or other. Of the books I have finished it seems like I've felt decidedly ambivalent about the majority of them.

Last week I decided that I needed a bit of a pick-me-up so I grabbed my copy of The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde off the shelf. The Eyre Affair is the first book in the Thursday Next series, which is one of my favorites.

With this post I may be speaking too soon, but it does seem like with that reread my reading luck has reversed. I genuinely enjoyed reading my latest Library Journal review assignment, A Novel Bookstore. When I finished that book sooner than expected while out of town and away from my book collection I picked up a copy of Stephenie Meyer's The Host. I'm really enjoying The Host. It's much better than the Twilight books.

weekly reading recap

This week I finished reading A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (see post).

I'm actively reading:

• Chef by Jaspreet Singh
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (in preparation for rereading March for my online book club)

I also have quite a few others books in progress including: If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, Knitlit (Too), and Saint Julian.

weekly reading recap

This week I finished reading:

• Mapping the Edge by Sarah Dunant (see post)
• The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe, May's selection for the library book club
• The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman (just last night; post to come)
• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, May's selection for the online bookclub (the Librivox version)

I also started and gave up on Tathea by Anne Perry after a hundred and fifty pages or so.

I'm currently reading:

• Chef by Jaspreet Singh (a book I received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program)
• Saint Julian by Walter Wangerin, Jr.

weekly reading recap

Strangely enough I didn't finish a single book this week, though I did post about The Poetry of Rilke, translated and edited by Edward Snow (see post).

I'm currently reading:

• Chef by Jaspreet Singh (a book I received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program)
• Mapping the Edge by Sarah Dunant
• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, May's selection for the online bookclub (actually I'm listening to the Librivox version)

weekly reading recap

This week I finished:

• The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter (post to come)
• The Memory Thief by Rachel Keener (see post)
• The Postmistress by Sarah Blake (see post)

I also posted about Rumspringa by Tom Shachtman (see post) and started a new feature for the blog, hiding in the bookshelves. Check out the first post.

I'm currently reading:

• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, May's selection for the online bookclub (actually I'm listening to the Librivox version)

weekly reading recap

This week I finished Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir (see post).

I also posted about a few other books:

• The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim (see post)
• Sock Innovation by Cookie A. (see post)
• Under the Sabers by Tanya Biank (see post)

I'm currently reading:

• The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, May's selection for the online bookclub
  actually I'm listening to the Librivox version

biweekly reading update

I haven't gotten much reading done lately, which I assume is obvious based on my lack of recent posts.

I have finished a few books:

• Dark Roots by Cate Kennedy (see post)
• Rumspringa by Tom Shachtman (online book club selection for April; we've just started discussion so I probably won't post about the book until next week)
• Under the Sabers by Tanya Biank (library book club selection for April; post to come later this week)

Right now the only book that I'm actively reading is Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey by Alison Weir. Of course I have a whole pile of books that I've started, but not yet finished, but really they are all languishing at the moment.

belated weekly reading recap

I really didn't get a lot of reading done this week. In fact, I only finished one book: The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim (post to come).

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of the two books I need to read for my book clubs this month: Rumspringa by Tom Shachtman and Under the Sabers by Tanya Biank.

In the meantime I'm currently in the middle of quite a few books:

• Dark Roots by Cate Kennedy (short story collection; to be the book of the month for April)
• If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor
• Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey by Alison Weir

I'm also finally knitting one of the patterns from Cookie A's Sock Innovation: Knitting Techniques & Patterns for One-Of-A-Kind Socks.

weekly reading recap

Finished this week:

• Day of Confession by Allan Folsom (see post)
• The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato (see post)
• Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
  the LibriVox audio version (I found Through the Looking Glass horribly irritating, which is probably why it took me so long to finish it)

I'm currently reading:

• The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim
• If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor

weekly reading recap

I finished two books this week:

• Casting Off by Nicole R. Dickson (see post)
• The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
  the first selection for my online bookclub; post to come

I'm currently reading:

• Day of Confession by Allan Folsom (audio on cassette)
• If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor
• Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
  the LibriVox audio version

weekly reading recap

Finished this week:

• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
  the LibriVox audio version; the book was much shorter that I remembered
• Exodus by Leon Uris (see post)
• The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw (see post)

Reading now:

• Casting Off by Nicole R Dickson
• Day of Confession by Allan Folsom (audio for car)
• Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
  the LibriVox audio version