It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (March 3, 2014)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

It looks like our string of bad weather days is going to hang on a little longer. While we had school all five days last week, we did have a late start on Thursday because our rural roads had drifted shut. Now it is just cold. I think we are setting a record for the lowest high temperature in March today. The temperature isn't supposed to get above 2 below zero today.

I had doctor's appointments on Thursday and Friday but everything went great. I was given the go-ahead to begin adding fiber back into my diet. It will be nice to have a salad once in a while. The only bad part is that I have to say goodbye to my gastroenterologist as she will be moving to St. Louis for a year and then back to Hawaii. That is one disadvantage of the Mayo Clinic. Doctors come and go as they are furthering their educations.

This week will be a busy one too. I'm going out to dinner with a friend and her family to celebrate her birthday on Monday night. Yay, Texas Roadhouse! And then on Thursday evening that friend and I are leaving after work and driving up to the Cities to attend Cecil Castellucci's author signing at The Red Balloon. I'll be spending the night at her house and coming to work with her Friday morning since her house is nearer the signing than mine.

My reading plans may be a bit ambitious considering that I will be away from home two evenings this coming week. I'll see how it all works out.

Read Last Week

I read Retribution by Anderson Harp and enjoyed this thriller. Fans of Tom Clancy are the perfect audience for this one. My review will be posted on March 13.

I also read Dangerous by Shannon Hale and really loved this science fiction story. The main character is a heroine to root for. I can't wait to meet the author at the end of March. My review for this one will also be posted on March 13.

Elusion by Claudia Gabel and Cheryl Klam was also a young adult science fiction story. I liked this one less because I thought the main character was unable to make up her mind about anything. This one is the first book in a trilogy and has a very unresolved ending. My review will be posted on March 15.

Beneath the Patchwork Moon by Alison Kent is an adult romance. It was okay but I felt it dwelt too much on the guilt that both characters faced over events that happened ten years in the past. My review will be posted on March 15.

Currently

I am currently about half way through Dash of Peril by Lori Foster. This is the fourth book in her Love Undercover series and is her usual sensual romance book. The whole series focuses on human trafficking for sexual exploitation as the mystery part of the story. I really like the relationships Foster builds in her books. 

Next Week

I got She Can Hide by Melinda Leigh from the author since I had read the earlier books in the series. This romantic suspense/thriller will be released on March 18.

The Revenant of Thraxton Hall by Vaughn Entwistle is a historical, paranormal mystery that I got from Edelweiss. As a Sherlock Holmes fan, I couldn't pass up a book that has Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as a main character. This book will be released on March 25.

The one disadvantage of being a member of the Amazon Vine program is that quite often the books available are really close to, or just past, the book's publication date. Choosing them throws off my schedule since I try to read books in order of their publication and date and post the reviews just before publication date. 

Sky Raiders (Five Kingdoms) by Brandon Mull is being released on March 11 but the first opening on my blog calendar is March 20. This sounds like a fun middle grade fantasy though.

Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski is also a March 11 release but the soonest I can fit it in is March 27. I was excited to get a chance to read this funny paranormal though.

The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson has been on my review stack since last June. I got an ARC at ALA. I also have the NetGalley eARC for this March 25 release. It is also a middle grade fantasy. This one was already on the calendar and the review will be posted on March 22.

Reviews Posted

Waking Up Pregnant by Mira Lyn Kelly

The Blood Guard by Carter Roy

Thrown for a Curve by Sugar Jamison

Nil by Lynne Matson

February was a good reading month for me. I read 21 books - 19 review and 2 I owned. As usual I bought more than I read. I added 56 books to my LibraryThing account but 22 of them were review books and many were free or cheap for my Kindle. However, 51 of them are still marked TBR (To Be Read). 

What was your week like?