Sunday Summary: 14 June 2015

Though I haven't been reading as much as usual, I found a little bit more time to read this week, making good use of the time on the airplanes from Dallas to Boston and back. On the way out, I was reading The Pilgrim of Hate on my Kindle and on the way home, I listened to The Hit. It's the first time I've listened to an audiobook during a flight and it worked out very well. The PA announcements were a bit annoying, though—just loud enough to interfere with the audiobook and cause me to have to rewind and re-listen.

Where I've been reading

This week just past saw me in Boston and Cambridge. My hotel was adjacent to Boston University and even though my work had nothing to do with the university, I couldn't help but feel just a little bit more intelligent being right there next to so many smart people.

Like most of my business trips, the work day was very long. I'd leave the hotel at 6:45 so as to be at the office before 7:30 and then we didn't leave the office until after 7pm—sometimes as late as 8:15. As you might guess, that didn't leave a lot of time for reading, though I did try to get in at least ½ an hour each evening before bed.

 

What I've been reading: Completed this week

Format: Trade paperback
Source: borrowed from Decatur Public Library
Completed: 7 June

★★★☆☆

An intriguing premise—what if you were to wake up tomorrow and discover that the Internet just wasn't working? Horrible, right? No more working from home. No more e-mail. No more Facebook or Instagram. You'd have to buy stamps, even if it were just to pay your bills.

Wayne Gladstone's Notes from the Internet Apocalypse explores the possible aberrant behaviors that people might adopt in such a disaster. Even more, everyone wants to know who is responsible: terrorists, Corporate American, foreign governments? And then there's the search for the rumored possibility that someone, somewhere still has access to the Internet.

In this short, but humorous look at who we are, both online and off, Gladstone has offered a peek into a possible, terrible future.

Format: audiobook
Source: purchased from Audible.com in May 2015
Completed:11 June

★★★☆☆

I really enjoyed listening to Rom McLarty and Orlagh Cassidy read The Hit, second in David Baldacci's Will Robie suspense/thriller series. Will Robie is one of the top assassins employed by the CIA. When two members of the agency are gunned down, a fellow assassin is suspected. And, since she's dropped out of sight, it seems likely that she's responsible.

Will knows that Jessica Reel always has a reason for everything she does, and he's not convinced that she's guilty of murder. In fact, it seems that the murdered men were traitors and needed killing. It's up to Will to sort everything out—either put Reel down or bring her in to account for her actions.

Format: Hardback
Source: received from a Bookcrossing member in October 2009
Completed:12 June

★★★☆☆

Yes, I had this book on hand for almost six years before I finally got around to reading it. And I'm sad that I didn't get around to it sooner. The New Year's Quilt was a lovely interlude in the saga of the Elm Creek Quilters.

Master quilter Sylvia Compson and her new husband Andrew Cooper travel from Pennsylvania to Connecticut to spend the New Year's holiday with Andrew's daughter, Amy, and her family. Amy was quite vocal about her opposition to Andrew's engagement to Sylvia and by all indications, she was determined to break them up. But, after a surprise wedding on Christmas Eve, they must attempt to mend the rift between Amy and her father.

Along the way, Sylvia adds the final stitches to a New Year's quilt that she plans to give to Amy. Each block in the quilt has special meaning to Sylvia, recalling past holidays, her family, and most of all her estrangement from her sister Claudia—a separation that was never resolved before Claudia's death. Sylvia is determined that Amy and Andrew patch up their relationship before it's too late.

What I've been reading: In progress

I'm still reading the tenth in Ellis Peters' medieval mystery series starring Brother Cadfael. I'm finally making progress and should finish The Pilgrim of Hate within this coming week. In June of 1141, a flood of pilgrims arrive at the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul to celebrate the anniversary of the arrival of the remains of Saint Winifred. Among them may be the killer of a knight whose death struck Brother Cadfael particularly hard. Now he must observe the many pilgrims and try to determine who is the murderer and why the knight was killed.

I borrowed The Target in audiobook format from the library, downloading it via the Overdrive application. I've already listened to an hour of the nearly 13 hour recording.

Will Robie and Jessica Reel are paired for another high risk mission. Unfortunately, there are those in the CIA who don't trust the partners and they're willing to do anything to make sure that the assassins don't survive this mission.

This Week on the Blog

A really quiet week on the blog. I didn't have time to read and I certainly didn't have time to blog. I have a partially written review of Forgotten Suns that I really wanted to complete, but I simply couldn't find any time to concentrate on it. Maybe this next week.

1. Stacking the Shelves (36)

 

I'm pleased to be linking up with The Sunday Post, hosted by Kimba @ The Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on the blog, showcase books and things received. Share news about what is coming up on the blog for the week ahead.

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