It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (April 6, 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.

Other Than Reading...

This was a busy, short week at school. Since it was the end of the third quarter, I was busy doing grades for my 240 or so students. I also printed report cards for my fellow specialists since they were all busy packing their rooms and moving. Our elementary addition project begins when we return from Easter Break and all of their rooms are involved.

I have been on break since Thursday and have enjoyed staying quietly at home. Reading, relaxing, and some cooking have been keeping me busy enough. I did stop over at school on Thursday to submit my formal letter of resignation. I mailed off my application to begin collecting my Teacher Retirement Annuity on Wednesday. It won't quite be official until the School Board accepts my resignation on April 13 and I hear back from TRA but things are in process for my semi-retirement.

There are just seven more weeks of school for the elementary this year and nine weeks for the high school and I will have finished my 39th year as a school library media specialist. Every year seems to go faster than the one before. I'm sure these last weeks will go by in a flash too.

Read Last Week

Hot Lead, Cold Iron by Ari Marmell was an intriguing urban fantasy novel set in 1930s Chicago. The main character is a fae who left faerie for reasons not disclosed in this story and who is working as a private detective. His current case has him trying to find the child of a man prominent in the mob. The child was replaced by a changeling when she was small. The plot had lots of twists and turns and the characters were very interesting. My review will be posted on May 2.

The Heat of the Moment by Lauren Barnholdt was from my YA review stack. I really didn't care for this story because I strongly disliked the main character. Since the story was told from her viewpoint, I couldn't really connect with any of the other characters. My review will be posted on May 6.

Lowcountry Boneyard by Susan M. Boyer was a mystery that I received for review from the author. She connected with me after I reviewed The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook and said I thought her recipe for Pimento Cheese sounded good. I enjoyed this mystery which features a ghost who protects our heroine. My review will be posted on April 22.

Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge was also from my YA review stack. This was a lush fantasy based on a couple of fairy tales. It told the story of a girl who through recklessness became a bloodbound and who was determined to kill the Devourer who ruled all bloodbound and who wanted to conquer the human world. This twisty plot also had a romantic triangle. My review will be posted on May 7.

 

Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti was an intriguing fantasy with some steampunk aspects. I loved the characters and the world the author created. I quickly bought the other two books in the trilogy and added them to my reading stack. My review will be posted on May 7.

The Cost of All Things by Maggie Lehrman was from my YA review stack. This contemporary fantasy was told from multiple points of view and was a story about using magic to ease life's difficulties, i.e. not pretty enough, buy a beauty spell; grieving for a loved one, buy a spell that erases that person from your memory. There was a lot about the consequences of using magical shortcuts. My review will be posted on May 9.

Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs is the latest book in her Alpha and Omega series. In this one, Charles and Anna travel to Arizona to get Anna a horse for her birthday and to let Charles say goodbye to an old friend who is dying. There they run into fae trouble. My review will be posted on May 9.

Currently

The Trouble with Magic by Patricia Rice is a historical paranormal romance that I added to my Kindle in January. I was planning to read and review it earlier in the year but it got pushed back because I had other books I wanted to read first.

Next Week

These are the books that have reached the top of the stack of adult books.

Dark Debt by Chloe Neill is the latest in her Chicagoland Vampires series. I've had it for a month and am eager to finally be able to start it.

Tiger Paw by Charles A. Cornell is also a Kindle book. I saw a glowing review of this one earlier in the year and decided I needed to read it.

These two are at the top of my YA review stack. Both are young adult contemporaries being released in May. I got them both from Edelweiss.

• Making Pretty by Corey Ann Haydu
• The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher

Reviews Posted

• Lies I Told by Michelle Zink
• Thrown by Charlotte Auclair
• The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things by Ann Aguirre
• The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

• Inside of a Dog
• Ms. Martin Teaches Media

March was a good month for reading. I read 25 books this month containing 7414 pages. Ten were mine and 15 were from my review stacks. Thirteen were young adult books and twelve adult books. There were lots of good books this month, but the highlight has to be the three books I read in Anne Bishop's Others series. Dear Hank Williams by Kimberly Willis Holt was the standout among the young adult books I read.  

Thus far, for the year, I have read 71 books. I still have 27 books on my review stack but am current because I have books there that won't be released until August. I am keeping up pretty well with reading what I buy this year. I have nine books on that stack including the four professional books that I bought to read and donate to my HS Media Center Professional Collection and the final two books in the Clockwork Heart series I bought yesterday after finishing the first book. 

What was your week like? I hope everyone who celebrates had a Happy Easter.