Monday, January 19, 2015

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Jan. 19, 2015)


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.

Last week was a nice quiet one. The weather let us go to school every day. In fact, it sort of warmed up - for values of warm in Minnesota in January. We had almost thirty degrees over the weekend. I am hoping for good weather this coming week too since I have my rescheduled annual physical on Tuesday. 

This week is the last week of the first semester which means grades for 12 classes. Monday, I also have a Continuing Education Committee meeting which will mean about four hours of record-keeping for me to fit in this week. I am the chairman of the committee which helps teachers maintain their Minnesota teaching licenses. Tuesday, I leave work early for my doctor's appointment. Wednesday, I volunteered to be one of the judges at our district spelling bee. Thursday is an early release day for students but we teachers will spend the afternoon at a workshop about bullying. Friday is the day I have to finish up grades and get ready for my second semester classes which begin on Monday. I am already tired just thinking about all I have to get done this week.

I have listed some books I want to read down below but don't know if I will have any reading time at all this week. 

Read Last Week
The Secret Cipher by Whitaker Ringwald was an exciting middle grade mystery with magical elements. The story is told mainly from the two main characters' points of view. Both are engaging characters who couldn't be more different. My review will be posted on February 21.

Shadow Study by Maria V. Snyder returns the focus on Yelena and Valek and finds both of them are deep in intrigues both personal and political. Since Yelena and Valek are separated for most of this story, I appreciated that the chapters were divided with each of them being viewpoint characters. Janco also got some chapters as viewpoint character. My review will be posted on February 21.
Stone in the Sky by Cecil Castellucci was an interesting science fiction story. It is the sequel to TIN STAR. My review will be posted on February 18.

No Parking at the End Times by Bryan Bliss was a very interesting contemporary story about a family that is homeless because the parents sold everything and gave it to a preacher who was saying the world was ending. But it didn't end. My review will be posted on February 19.
Vampires Never Cry Wolf by Sara Humphreys was a paranormal romance from my review stack. I thought the pacing was off. All the action and romance was crammed into the last third of the book. My review will be posted on February 26.

Currently
I am reading The Memory Key by Liana Liu. This is the story of a future US when all are implanted with memory keys because of a disease that is like a contagious Alzheimer's. The main character's key is malfunctioning which leads her to questions about whether or not the key is able to erase or re-write memories. I am liking it so far.
Next Week

I am entering a stretch when all my YA choices will be review books. My calendar is full, until the middle of July, of books I have accepted for review. I need to just keep reading them in the order that they are slotted in on my calendar. Here are the next three YA books on my stack.
How to Win at High School by Owen Matthews (March 3)
Lost Boy by Tim Green (March 3)
The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski (March 3)
 
In contrast, I have very few adult books on my review stack and am able to finally dive into some of the books that are on my TBR mountain. For this week, I have chosen some new arrivals to see if I can have one month when I read everything I buy. Here are three I am going to try to read.
The Grendel Affair by Lisa Shearin
Trace of Magic by Diana Pharaoh Francis
Cursed Moon by Jaye Wells

Reviews Posted
Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?
Wish me luck as I try to survive one of the busiest weeks I can remember. Leave a link and I'll try to stop and see how your week went. 

5 comments:

  1. Whew! That does sound like a busy week. I hope you can find time to squeeze in a little reading. It looks like you have some good books waiting for you. I particularly like the sound of The Memory key.

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  2. Nice! I LOVED Shadow Study! Love all Maria's books! I especially enjoyed Janco's point of view! He's one of my very fave characters from this series!

    Here's my Monday Wrapup

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower :)

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  3. The Memory Key doesn't sound like something I would normally read, but it does sound fascinating! I may add it to my list!

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  4. Phew I'm exhausted reading about your week to come. The Memory Key sounds great, my type of Dystopia read. Have a great week and happy reading :)

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