Sunday, August 24, 2014

My Week in Books





What I Read Last Week


  

     Aimless Love by Billy Collins                     The Year of the Book              The Upside of Your Dark Side



The Awakening of Miss Prim                  Life With the Lid Off                        Murder Strikes a Pose



I'm really not sure how it happened, but, despite starting back to work after my summer break, I still managed to finish six good books last week. Here are my one sentence summaries:

Aimless Love is Billy Collins and I think that's all I need to say. The Year of the Book's main character always has her head in a book. The Upside of Your Dark Side reframes bad things; I like that. The Awakening of Miss Prim and Murder Strikes a Pose were both absolutely solid books, but I'd say to skip them both unless you have a desperate need for a Person-is-Transformed story (Awakening) or a Yoga story (Murder). I heartily recommend Life With the Lid Off, my latest read from the Mood-Boosting Books list.



         





What I'm Reading Now



 Biggles is from my 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up list. It's about the fighter planes from WWI. I read two pages and stopped; I didn't understand a single thing I'd read. I'm not giving up yet, but I can see this is going to be a tough read for a war-stupid person like me. Thursdays in the Park is my latest choice from the Mood-Boosting list. And Dinner: The Playbook is a for-review book sent from the publisher.

           







Have you read any of these? What are you reading today?! 



What is the Sunday SalonImagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 
 It is now being hosted here.


Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  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 Book Journey loves to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. 

34 comments:

  1. Two pages! Wow. It's apparently a bunch of vignettes/short stories like The Summer Book. Perhaps Thursdays in the Park will be a nice antidote.

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    1. I tried it just before going to sleep, so my brain wasn't working at 100%. I'll try again today.

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  2. I remember reading one comic based upon the book several years ago... but don't remember if the comic was good or not lol ! Hope you have better luck with the other books, have a great week ;)

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  3. So wait, Billy Collins? What more can you tell me? ;)

    Just kidding. I love Billy Collins. Who doesn't? :) He's my favorite contemporary poet, hands down.

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  4. Life with the lid off is new to me but sounds good. Hope you enjoy and have a great upcoming week.

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  5. Billy Collins is one of the few poets I will willingly read these days. I wish schools would start teaching him too so I don't have to hear my kids moan about poetry (although to be fair, I moaned a fair bit myself and they aren't the English nerds that I was/am).

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    1. Something I've been wondering about lately: Our DNA is letting us down. The Loves-to-Read gene is apparently not the dominant gene. Get on this, please, scientists.

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  6. Totally amazing that you finished six books with the beginning of school. I admire you. :)

    I love your comment about The Awakening of Miss Prim and Murder Takes a Pose. Thanks for the heads up.

    Hope you have a good school year.

    Elizabeth

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  7. The Year of the Book looks good. I have added it to my TBR. The cover is cute. Biggles sounds challenging and like something I wouldn't like at all.

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    1. I liked Year a lot. I think kids would, too. It touches on so many issues: friends, mother-daughter relationships, and adjustment to a non-familial culture.

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  8. I'm definitely curious about Life with the Lid Off...and Thursday's in the Park is tugging at me. Have a great week! Here's MY WEEKLY SUNDAY/MONDAY UPDATES POST

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  9. Wowziers! You read so much! Great week!
    Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings


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  10. Love the idea of a Mood Boosting Book List.

    I've been learning more than I expected about WWI from planning my trip to England this fall. It's the 100th anniversary of the British entry into the war. We're still ignoring it, for the most part, on this side of the pond, but they are giving it a lot of attention over there now. I assume that we'll hear more about this 2017, the 100th anniversary of the US entrance in the war.

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    1. I didn't know much about WWI until our online children's book group read War Horse and, now, Biggles. Lots of WWI books are coming out for the anniversary, so I'm sure we will be seeing more.

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  11. I think I'd enjoy a yoga cozy mystery. I've read many cozy themes, but not a yoga one!

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  12. Six books in one week?! Awesome. :-) I hope you had a good first week back to school.

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  13. I adore the humorous titles of cozy mysteries, but I never seem to make the time to read them.

    You always introduce me to new books in a variety of genres that I would otherwise never read. There are so many here that I would love to check out (some time...) Thank you!

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  14. I have the second book in the Tracy Weber yoga cozies from NetGalley but won't be reading it for a bit since it releases in Jan. I should pick up the first one that you read soon. I would read Dinner and Thursdays in the Park if I had the chance. Thanks for a good post as always.

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  15. I'm curious about both Thursdays in the Park and Dinner: The Playbook. Both look interesting...

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  16. We all have different tastes - I loved Murder Strikes A Pose.

    I hope you enjoy your current books and have a great week!

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  17. Wow! Great reading week! I wasn't sold on Miss Primm but I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it. I have the Yoga mystery book because I can't resist a cozy. I'm curious about Thursdays in the Park and will have to look more at the mood boosting list. I'm also interested to hear more about Dinner the Playbook. Have a great week!

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  18. I have not read any of these, but I'm always amazed on the weirdest titles you discover, lol

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  19. I like the idea of appreciating the importance of the good and bad within a person (within reason of course). :) It does sound fascinating though.

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  20. Being able to read six books a week is amazing. I haven't read any of these books, I mostly read YA. =D

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  21. I'm impressed with the number of books you completed last week...I've never read that many in one week. I have a copy of Thursdays in the Park--hoping to get to it soon. Thanks for visiting my blog.

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  22. You had a great week!!! I only read 3 again. Too much fun with the grandkids means less reading time but I wouldn't change it for anything in the world.

    Happy Reading!!

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  23. Looking forward to learning what you think of Dinner:the Playbook.

    Have a great reading week,
    Shelleyrae

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