Where I've been reading
After a short road-trip and vacation and then two weeks working from home, I went back to a more normal work schedule this week. I flew to Northern Virginia on the outskirts of Washington, DC, on Monday morning and back home on Thursday evening. I wound up with a lot of new library books this week due to requests/holds all coming in at the same time. Fortunately the books borrowed through Overdrive had a three week check-out period, giving me plenty of time to schedule them in over the next couple of weeks. And, on Saturday afternoon, I set out on a drive from Dallas to Atlanta. Although it's only about fourteen hours on the road, I decided to break it up over two days. So here I sit on Saturday night in Jackson, Mississippi, making the final updates to this week's Sunday Summary.
What I've been reading: Completed this week
On Sunday morning, I finished reading The Secret Abyss by Darrell Pitt, the second book in the Jack Mason Adventure series. The series has also been termed The Steampunk Detective. Lots of steam power, young apprentice detective, and a cross-Atlantic voyage in a hydrogen dirigible. Look for a review this week.
With the return to a more normal work/travel schedule, I put my travel time to good use, reading in the evenings in my hotel room instead of turning on the television. I immediately turned to Kris Longknife: Defender because my librarian quickly approved my request to add it to the library's Overdrive subscription. I wasn't really prepared for it to suddenly show up, but I was eager to read it. And, it didn't take me long to finish, so I submitted a request for the next (and last-so-far) book in the series.
Next, I picked up a cozy mystery by Vanetta Chapman: Murder Simply Brewed. It's the first book in the Amish Village Mysteries series. I had already read the second and third books, but wanted to get the first book just to see how things all started.
Lastly, I quickly read two very short works. First was Light of a Thousand Stars, a novella in Siobhan Davis's True Calling YA SF series. Second was a hardback library book which became available on Thursday, so I dashed into the library on Friday to pick it up. The Quilter's Kitchen is the thirteenth book in the Elm Creek Quilts series by Jennifer Chiaverini. This volume was rather short at 204 pages, and I'd guess that probably half the pages contained recipes. So it was easy to read it through on Saturday before I left on my road trip and I dropped it into the drive-up return box on my way out of town.
The Secret Abyss by Darrell Pitt; COYER book #10
Kris Longknife: Defender by Mike Shepherd
Murder Simply Brewed by Vanetta Chapman; COYER book #11
Light of a Thousand Stars by Siobhan Davis; COYER book #12
The Quilter's Kitchen by Jennifer Chiaverini
What I've been reading: In progress
I'm still listening to Dodger by Sir Terry Pratchett. It's one of the free audiobooks from SYNC this summer. After 6 hours on the road this afternoon, I have about 2 hours left. I'll definitely finish it early tomorrow. I need to make sure I have another audiobook on my iPhone before I leave the hotel in the morning. On my Kindle, I just started reading Saving Mars, a freebie that I picked up at Amazon. I've read 6.5 chapters so far and it's pretty good. Since it's free, I'd encourage any SF fans to pick it up. Main character is 16-17 years old, an outstanding pilot, and hoping to be selected to fly a ship on a raiding mission to Earth.
Dodger by Terry Pratchett
Saving Mars by Cidney Swanson
This Week on the Blog
This week I introduced a new weekly feature to the blog: Focus on Freading. I pland to highlight books that catch my attention at the Freading.com online catalog. Most of the time, these will be books that I want to borrow through my library's subscription.
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.
Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which the BookObsessed online community will receive a few cents if you make purchases.
Enjoy your new week! Thanks for sharing your reading. I am curious about Murder Simply Brewed.
ReplyDeleteHere are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
Hi Laurel -- Murder Simply Brewed was fun. Mini-review going up tomorrow.
DeleteWow sounds like you've had a busy couple of weeks! I have tried to schedule my reads and beyond thinking "I'm going to read X book next" I just can't bring myself to do it. I'm a mood reader. Hope you enjoy all of your new reads!
ReplyDeleteSP & STS
Sandy @ Somewhere Only We Know
It has been a busy month! And, I'm running just a little bit behind toward my goal of 200 books this year. I'm not worried, though because I've got a stack of the Boxcar Children Mysteries to read -- which will help me catch up easily.
DeleteI know what you mean about being a mood reader -- me too. That's why I try to have several books in the queue so that I have options to match my mood. Due dates for library books and for reviews can sometimes put a lot of pressure on me, though.
Lots of lovely new books, I love Terry Pratchett's books, he was a genius!
ReplyDeleteHeather | Random Redheaded Ramblings
Thanks for dropping by, Heather. Dodger is the first book by Pratchett that I've ever read. I'm thinking I'll target the Discworld series for next year.
DeleteI note you talk about a cozy mystery? Is that a type of book cos I noticed another blogger talked about their 'cozies' and I wondered what they meant?
ReplyDeleteDeb
Deb, there are varying definitions, but a "cozy" basically means an amateur detective, no sex, no violence, small town, etc. Most cozies are part of a series, so the characterization grows from book to book. You might want to look at Cozy-Mystery.com. Not only does the webmaster provide a description of what makes a cozy, but she's got lists of series and other reference material.
DeleteHow is Dodger so far? I downloaded it as well, but started listening to a book I checked out from the library as well.
ReplyDeleteTerri M., the Director
Second Run Reviews
I definitely recommend listening to Dodger. I normally listen at 1.25x or 1.5x speed, but had to drop it back to the normal speed since my brain was having trouble parsing the Cockney accent in the dialogue. VERY good story, good narration, and definitely fun to listen to.
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