Monday Update

It's Monday and time to join readers around the world documenting what we're currently reading. It's Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme sponsored by Sheila at Book Journey. Post what you read last week and what you're planning to read this week and link to Shelia's post. Then visit, visit, visit!

With just 8 days left in this year, I'm pushing really hard to read 7 more books to meet my year-long goal of reading 150 books. I'm fortunate to be on vacation for the rest of the year, but even so I may need to pick short books or those which can be read pretty quickly. This past week I completed two books: The Last Illusion by Rhys Bowen and The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau.

The Last Illusion is book 9 in Bowen's Molly Murphy mystery series. I borrowed it from the local library, as I have all the books in the series. I bought book #10 (Bless the Bride) a couple of months ago and it is sitting right here to start as soon as possible. I'll send a hold request to the library for book #11 shortly.

On my Kindle, I read The Testing—a young adult dystopian novel set in a future where most of the territory of the US is devastated and unpopulated due to the effects of the Seven Stages of War. Sixteen-year-old Cia is one of four high school graduates from her town who are selected to compete in The Testing for the opportunity to attend college. Bearing a lot of similarity to The Hunger Games, the tests are brutal and result in the deaths of many of the young people. Unlike The Hunger Games, the population is not oppressed and most are unaware of the true nature of The Testing. Book two in a planned trilogy is due out in January and it's definitely on my wish list.

Other books which I read last week (and am reading this week) are Princeps' Fury, fifth in Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series and Bertie Plays the Blues by Alexander McCall Smith. Princeps' Fury is a long book with more than 600 pages. It's also checked out from the library and I'm about ½ way through it at this point. I'm listening to Bertie Plays the Blues, seventh in McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street series. I couldn't find the audio book in the US, so last summer I ordered the unabridged CDs from England along with book #8, Sunshine on Scotland Street. I only have one more CD to listen to and will probably finish this book tomorrow if I drive down to town to finish up my shopping.

Queued up are Bless the Bride by Rhys Bowen, Deadly Stakes by J A Jance, The Impossible Cube by Steven Harper, and Miss Julia Paints the Town by Ann B Roberts. These are all high interest books and should be fairly quick reads to help me meet my 2013 reading goal.