It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Dec. 24, 2018)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

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.

I will be combining my YA and adult reading and purchases on this one weekly roundup.

Other Than Reading... 

This was another quiet week. The weather has been warmer than normal though we did have just a dusting of snow Saturday morning when I got up. I was glad that the shortest day of the year was this past week. I'm looking forward to the days getting longer. Needing lights on in my living room at 4PM is not a favorite thing. I think we're expecting more snow this weekend which may give us a white Christmas which had been in doubt earlier.

I bought a little Christmas tree this week. It is a live one that can be planted when Spring comes. It is giving off a nice scent of pine in our living room. After my brother and I went out to lunch of Thursday, we stopped at Walmart and bought a string of little multicolor lights to decorate it. My three foot tree is now strung with 21 feet of lights because they didn't have any shorter sets. 

My brother told me yesterday that he had stopped off at a local butcher shop with our dad's recipe for Polish sausage and asked if they would make a batch. I grew up on that sausage at Christmas, Easter and other holidays and have missed it. No one else in town makes the same flavor sausage even if they call it Polish sausage.

I remember my Dad getting the recipe from the butcher shop in his childhood neighborhood and making the sausage for years after that butcher shop closed. However, we were both sure that the recipe had been long lost after my dad grew too old to make it and then passed away. My brother was digging through some old recipe books and found the recipe recently. However since neither of us wanted to go out and buy a meat grinder and tackle the recipe, I thought our days of sausage were over. The shop is too busy to make it before Christmas but thinks that we'll have nine pounds of the sausage by Jan. 3. I can't wait to see if it tastes the way I remember.

Read Last Week

If you can't wait until the review shows up on my blog, reviews are posted to LibraryThing and Goodreads as soon as I write them (usually right after I finish reading a book.)

• The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye (Jan. 8) - This historical is a bit of a mystery but also a lot about race relations in Portland in the 1920s. My review will be posted on Jan. 5.
• The Wrong Foot by Stephanie Burgis (Mine) - a short story Christmas present from the author to her newsletter subscribers. I won't be reviewing this one on my blog.
• The Promise of Change by Jo Ann Allen Boyc & Debbie Levy (Jan. 8) - This is a middle grade memoir in verse about one of the first black kids to integrate a white high school. My review will be posted on Jan. 8.

• Untouchable by Jayne Anne Krentz (Jan. 8) - The latest romantic suspense title from this prolific author finishes a trilogy. My review will be posted on Jan. 9.
• A Merciful Fate by Kendra Elliot (Jan. 15) - This is the latest in the Mercy Kilpatrick romantic suspense series. My review will be posted on Jan. 8.
• Tear It Down by Nick Petrie (Jan. 15) - The latest in the Peter Ash series of mysteries. I enjoyed this book with its fast-paced action enough to buy the earlier books in the series. My review will be posted on Jan. 10.

• Marked by Stars by Forthright (Mine) - This novella is the most recent in the Amaranthine urban fantasy series. I won't be reviewing it on my blog. 
• The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi (Jan. 15) - This YA begins a new historical fantasy series. I enjoyed the wonderful characters. My review will be posted on Jan. 12.

Currently

Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee is a YA Science Fiction/Fantasy that draws its inspiration from Korean mythology. I'm at about 46% of this story.

Next Week

• Circle of Shadows by Evelyn Skye (Jan. 22)
• The Storm Keeper's Island by Catherine Doyle (Jan. 22)
• A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (Jan. 29)

• Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch (2011 but received from publicist in exchange for a review)
• Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch (2012 but received from publicist in exchange for a review)
• The Burning Island by Hester Young (Jan. 22)

Reviews Posted

• Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch - The first book in the Rivers of London urban fantasy/police procedural series
• Phoenix Unbound by Grace Draven - Epic fantasy/romance recommended by one of my favorite urban fantasy authors
• Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal - ghosts and WWI by one of my favorite authors

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

TBR Pile:

• The Armored Saint by Myke Cole - free from Tor.com
• The Wrong Foot by Stephanie Burgis - free from the author

• The Drifter by Nick Petrie
• Burning Bright by Nick Petrie
• Light It Up by Nick Petrie

New Review:

• Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto (Feb. 12)
• The True Queen by Zen Cho (March 12)

What was your week like?