January is over. Woah. Crazy. Some January reading stats for you:

• Total books finished: 3
• Favorite book read: The Bone Clocks (but all three were *really* good)
• Book(s) read by diverse authors (my 2015 reading project): Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay

And now, more about what I bought, finished, and have been reading this past week…

Inbox (books acquired)

• Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles book 2) by Marissa Meyer (Kindle)  — I bought this when I saw it go on sale this past week (it’s still $2.99 on Amazon as of this writing). I read the first book in this series (Cinder) almost a year ago. Each of the books in the series leverages a different fairy tale, but they all take place in an extremely well-imagined sci-fi world. Cinder was loosely based on Cinderella. This one is loosely based on Little Red Riding Hood, I think. And I think the next one is loosely based on Rapunzel. Fairy tale retellings seem to be a “thing” right now, but I enjoyed the first book enough that I want to continue reading the series — not enough that I’m going to drop everything to read these, but enough to grab them on sale and hoard them until I’m ready to be entertained with a fast and fun YA book.
• Cress (Lunar Chronicles book 3) by Marissa Meyer (Kindle) — After I bought Scarlet, I checked to see if book 3 was also on sale, and it was! So, I picked up this one, too. Might as well get caught up while I wait for the most recently published in the series to go on sale…

Outbox (books finished)

• The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (Hardcover, signed, Indiespensible edition) — I finished it! This book was great. One of the things I love about David Mitchell (besides his writing) is that he’s the kind of author that rewards careful readers. He inserts little details into his stories that later become important details: characters, places, objects, etc. So, it pays to read his stories slowly and carefully. I also love that, like Cloud Atlas, each of the sections that are told from different characters’ perspectives each sound different and distinctive. I remember being amazed by his ability to do that in Cloud Atlas. He managed something similar here, but I still think Cloud Atlas is a better example of what I’m talking about here. Even though it took me basically all month, on and off, to read this book, I loved it and I highly recommend it to anyone that likes that cross-over space between literature and genre fiction.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

• I’m still reading Afterworlds as my “bus book” — I don’t think this book is for everyone and I can see why fans of other Scott Westerfeld books might have been disappointed in this one (not that I’ve read any of his other books — I’m basing this on reviews I’ve read)… I think anyone who has ever participated / “won” NaNoWriMo would love this book… they may be the only ones who truly “get” it. It remains to be seen if I love this book. So far, I’m definitely enjoying it.
• On Friday, the work book club is meeting to discuss Half a Yellow Sun. My copy for Kindle is still on hold at the library. So, I have to decide if I’m going to buy this and try to finish it before Friday, or if I’m just going to wait and read it when my hold comes up…

This has been another crazy week and weekend. Outside of work, which always keeps me busy, I’m well into my first month of the brief, but intense, short course yards competitive swimming season. I’ve stepped up my training, which means I’ve been needing more sleep. So, early bed-times and bus naps have been cutting into my reading time. But, I did manage to finish at least one book this week… and it was a good one!

Inbox (books acquired)

• The Secret History by Donna Tartt (Kindle) — This one has been on my list for a while and it went on sale this week. I’m even more interested in reading this now that I’ve read (and enjoyed) The Goldfinch. But it will have to wait for a while…
• Geography Lesson: Stories of Finding the Way by Gail Seneca (paperback, signed) — This is written by a woman in my writing critique group. I went with the rest of my critique group to her reading at Book Passage this weekend. I’m excited to read this, and her novel which should be coming out later this year!
• The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (Kindle) — I just saw this one on sale today and grabbed a copy. This was on Powell’s list of 25 books to read before you die, and is also on my diverse authors reading project list. I’ve been meaning to read it for a while.

Outbox (books finished)

• Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor (Kindle) — This is the third (and final) book in this series, and I read the second book back in November 2012. So, it’s been a while, and I had to jog my memory about where that second book left off. This series has been a mostly romance of star-crossed lovers from different fantasy creature “families” that are fighting to change their world so that they can be together. This book got off to a rocky start for me because it seemed like Ms. Taylor was throwing in a third party to create a trope-like love triangle. But that turned out to be something that was dealt with quickly, and then things really started to get interesting and the plot picked up pace and kept me frantically turning pages trying to find out what was going happen next. Overall, I *really* enjoyed this book. I think this was an extremely satisfying ending to the series and I can’t wait to see what Ms. Taylor does next!

Queue (what I’m reading next)

• I am almost done with The Bone Clocks, I swear. It’s frustrating me that I can’t find time and a quiet place to just finish the last section of this book. This week, as I’ve been switching back and forth between my commute book (Dreams of Gods and Monsters) and my home book (Bone Clocks) I’ve been really enjoying the parallels between the underlying wars in each book…
• I started Afterworlds on the bus this week. Based on the first few chapters, I think this book is going to be, at least for writers who aspire to traditionally publish, what Fangirl is for fan-fiction writers. So far, I’m enjoying it immensely…

So much more work to do…. better get back to it… Happy reading!

It’s a three-day holiday weekend, but I’m not spending it reading… Instead, I’m helping my hubby build a RC airplane from a kit. It’s a pretty cool project and we’re having lots of fun, but it’s not helping me finish any of my in-progress books. Even though I didn’t finish anything this week, I still managed to add two books to my inbox and add a book to my in-progress stack…

Inbox (books acquired)

• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (Kindle) — This went on sale on Amazon. It was one of the books I’d marked as a “someday/maybe” for my 2015 reading diverse authors project. So, I grabbed it. I don’t know much about this book except that it’s about a Native American teen, it won the National Book Award, and the author of the book was the one who appeared on the Colbert Report during the Amazon/Hachette kerfuffle and gave Edan Lepucki’s debut novel, California, the “Colbert (sales) bump.” I have a signed hardback of California in my physical TBR pile, so it seemed fitting, I guess, that I also read this book…
• Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld (library ebook for Kindle) — I sort-of borrowed this book from the library on accident. I went looking to see if my book club book was available in ebook from the library and, once I put a hold on that, I ended up checking to see if any of the more expensive books on my to-read list were available from the library on ebook. I’ve been wanting to read this one for a while. It’s kind of a writing “meta” book — it’s about a young woman writing a story where the novel she’s writing sort of intertwines with her story. Anyway… the library had it available, one of the only ones I looked up that didn’t have a hold, and so I clicked the “check out” button before I put too much thought into it. Now I have something less than 21 days to finish this before it goes “poof” and disappears off my Kindle. Yikes!

Outbox (books finished)

• no books finished this week… 😦

Queue (what I’m reading next)

• I plan on finishing Bone Clocks before this weekend is over. I have a feeling things are going to pick up after this “Crispin” section, and then I’ll be able to cruise on through the rest.
• I started Dreams of Gods and Monsters (the third and final book in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy). We got off to a rocky start, this book and I, but now I’m in it and am resisting the urge to devour the rest because it’s on Kindle and can wait until Tuesday when I’m back on my commute.
• Because I couldn’t decide between Americanah and Half a Yellow Sun, I downloaded samples for both. I read the Half a Yellow Sun sample first, and I got pretty sucked into it, so I’m thinking I may attempt that book. Both have a queue for the digital versions at the library. So I may end up buying one, unless my hold comes up before I’m done with my two in-progress books and the one I just downloaded from the library this week.

Now… back to helping Hubby finish building this plane so I can get back to reading!

Note: I’ve decided that I’m going to move these weekly posts to Sunday (instead of Saturday). Posts will cover my reading from Monday through Sunday of each week, starting with the day in the title of the post.

The first week back after two weeks of vacation ended up being a very busy week at work which left very little time for reading. I’ve also realized that trying to take physical books with me on my commute is pointless. Weekday reading needs to be on Kindle or it just isn’t going to happen.

Inbox (books acquired)

• The Enchanted: A Novel by Rene Denfeld (Kindle) — Every year I like to scan the “top five” books of the year lists from each of the Powell’s staff to see if there are any books I missed and should add to my TBR pile. This year the friendly folks at Buzzfeed combined all the “top five” lists and came up with an overall top 13 based on some super secret math. I then made a Goodreads shelf to keep them top of mind, since several are ones I already own. Then I added the Kindle versions of the owns I don’t own to my private “someday/maybe” wish list on Amazon so I can snag them if they go on sale. (This process takes way too long, BTW…) As I was doing that, I noticed this book *was* on sale (and I had some shipping credits). So, I bought it (for 99 cents after my credits were applied). Phew. That was a long story for how I came to acquire this book this week, when I said I was going on a book-buying freeze…
• The Witches of Echo Park by Amber Benson (paperback) — Amber Benson (maybe better known to you as Tara, Willow’s girlfriend, from the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer) came to my workplace on Friday for her book tour. This is not her first book. She’s actually written (I think the interviewer said) 20 books in 15 years. I find this to be seriously impressive. I got a free (paid for by my employer), signed copy of the book for attending the event. I probably won’t read it right away because witches aren’t really my thing, but I’ll add it to the ever-growing physical TBR pile. Amber was really cool and down-to-earth. I feel like I owe it to her to read her book. And also, based on the Q&A discussion, I now need to read Lock In by John Scalzi (which she reads in audiobook form). But that’s a story for another day…

Outbox (books finished)

• Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay (Kindle) — I have lots of thoughts about this collection of essays, and I’m still processing those thoughts. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I completely understand why everyone is making such a (positive) fuss about it. The essays are passionate, conflicted, thoughtful, heartfelt, and amusing — all at the same time. Her views on pop culture (TV shows, books, movies, music, etc.) align very much with mine, and/or gave me new ways of considering things. Her essay “The Trouble with Prince Charming, or He Who Trespassed Against Us” neatly (and amusingly) summed up many of my complaints about both the Twilight series (which I read, but didn’t really enjoy), and the Fifty Shades trilogy (which I won’t read, not because I’m squeamish about the contents, but because I won’t support that type of “fairy tale” with my time or money). I am also a “Bad Feminist” who resisted the label for most of my life for similar reasons. But, as she says, “I would rather be a bad feminist than no feminist at all.”

Queue (what I’m reading next)

• Oh hey, work book club came and went, and I didn’t finish Bone Clocks yet. Don’t misinterpret my inability to make substantial progress, I am enjoying this book. The problem is I am reading a hardcover edition of the book. Hardcovers and bus commutes, regardless of how cushy the commute is, just don’t mix well for me. I’m giving up on lugging this beast with me and making this a weekend/evening book.
• Work book club picked Half a Yellow Sun as the next book to read. I was planning on reading Americanah by the same author (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie). Now I have to decide between reading the book club pick (even though I never seem to be able to attend said book club, even when I do finish the book on time), or reading Americanah as planned, or just reading both. I don’t own either yet. So, no commitments have been made, and either would qualify for my 2015 book project. If anyone has read both and prefers one or the other, please feel free to influence my decision in the comments…

Now I will now resist the urge to start something new, or surf the Sunday night Interwebs, and return to reading Bone Clocks…

Not much to report this week… it was a slow week for books around here…

Inbox (books acquired)

• Amazingly, I aquired no books this week! None. Zero. Zip. Not even a library book. Or a gift. That’s fine by me… as I mentioned, I’ve got plenty to read in my TBR pile…

Outbox (books finished)

• I made some progress on Bad Feminist, but didn’t finish it (yet). I am enjoying it, and it’s definitely giving me plenty of food for thought. So far the “How to be Friends With Another Woman” article is my favorite (online here).

Queue (what I’m reading next)

• Bad Feminist… (see above)
• I need to get back into The Bone Clocks because my work book club meets on Friday and I’m not done yet…

Okay… enough blogging for tonight. I need to get back to reading. 😉

This past week has been a blur of travel and work and family and friends and presents and festivities. So, there wasn’t much time left over for books…. I did carve out a little reading time, though… Here’s what was going on in my book life this past week…

Inbox (books acquired)

• On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft by Stephen King (paperback) — I gave a lot of books to friends and family for Christmas this year, but this was the only book I received for Christmas this year. One of our friends was reading this when we were vacationing together this summer, and we were talking about it. He remembered and got me a copy for Christmas. Pretty cool.

Outbox (books finished)

• This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (Kindle) — This just came out in the US on Tuesday and I started it almost right away. It’s a companion book to These Broken Stars, which I think came out last year. I had such high hopes for this book because I loved These Broken Stars. Unfortunately, I didn’t like this one as much as the first book. I did like it. It was a fun, fast-paced read. There’s tons of tension on almost every level: action, mystery, romance, etc. The tension really keeps the story moving and kept me reading, wanting to know what happened next. The characters were fine. Each chapter is written as first-person narration, alternating by chapter back and forth between the two main characters’ perspectives. They start to sound too much alike after a while, and I had to keep reminding myself who was “talking” in each chapter. They fall for each other quickly (expected), but the story doesn’t really support the instant attraction, so it didn’t feel entirely believable to me. I think the overall plot had the potential to be even better than the first book. But, in the end, I just didn’t love it as much as the first. I have enough thoughts about it that I’ll probably post a more in-depth review this week.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

• It’s about time for me to finish reading The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell in preparation for my work book club discussion coming up in two weeks…
• I have several other in-progress books I’d like to finish before the end of this year… we’ll see how that works out…

I’m due for some end of year posts… at the very least, a “best of” 2014, and definitely some discussion about my reading plans for 2015. So, stay tuned for more from me in the next few days…

This post is a little late, but I didn’t forget about it — I just didn’t have access to to the Interwebs for most of yesterday. But I did a lot of reading (and book buying) this week. So, let’s get started…

Inbox (books acquired)

• Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay (Kindle) — This book has come highly recommended from several different sources, and it’s showing up on a lot of “best of 2014” lists. I thought it might be an interesting way to kick off my 2015 reading project (which I will talk about in a future post). So, when I saw it was only $4.99 on Kindle, I grabbed a copy.
• The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen (Kindle) — This book came highly recommended from one of the women in my UCBx Craft of Reading class. She had it on her “top five” list and raved about it. This came on sale and I went to buy it, but then I saw the reviews and hesitated. There are a lot of negative reviews for this book. I spent some time skimming the reviews (to avoid spoilers) and trying to determine if I would like this book or not. Then I saw that it’s going to be a movie staring Emma Watson, and I figured I’d trust the woman I knew from class over a bunch of random Amazon reviewers. We’ll see how that turns out…
• The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler (Kindle) — I might have mentioned that Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is one of *my* “top five” favorite books. So, when I saw that Erin Morgenstern made a list of *her* favorite books over on her blog (back in 2012), I added them to my “someday / maybe” book list. This was one of those books, and it went on sale this week, so I snatched it up.

Outbox (books finished)

• The Giver by Lois Lowry (paperback) — Okay. I read it. But I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. I think there are other books that tackle the theme / message better, and I didn’t really enjoy the story, characters, or writing. Maybe this is just one of those books that you have to read when you’re in middle or high school in order to love it…
• Attachments by Rainbow Rowell (Kindle) — This book, on the other hand, I loved. I’ve mentioned before, when I read Eleanor and Park then Fangirl, that I could probably read Rainbow Rowell’s grocery lists and love them. I still think that’s probably true. This book is the first one I read by her that features adult characters with jobs. But, like Eleanor and Park, this book is firmly set in that “Y2K” window of late 1999 to early 2000. I loved the characters, I loved the writing, and the story is just unbearably sweet. If you want a warm and cozy, holiday read, this is your book. I plan on giving it to several family members who I think will also enjoy it.

Queue (what I’m reading next)

• I started Bad Feminist and have been reading the essays at a leisurely pace. I might finish it this week.
• My pre-order of This Shattered World should magically appear on my Kindle on Tuesday, and I am so excited to dive into that one. I’m debating re-reading These Broken Stars before I start this one. I don’t think it’s necessary because this isn’t exactly a sequel, but it might be fun.

Hope you are all having a festive holiday season!