Sunday Summary: 27 December 2015

Good morning all. I hope your Winter holidays have been fabulous. We celebrated Christmas at my son's house. I cooked a morning brunch of sausages, biscuits, scrambled eggs, ham, and sweet rolls. After breakfast, we sat around to exchange presents. Weeks ago, my daughter asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I told her I didn't have any particular wishes—just lots of boxes to open. So that's what I got. And every box I opened contained a wrapped gift for someone else. It quickly became a contest to guess whose present might be in my box. But I wasn't left out; my kids know my weakness for books, so I received gift cards to buy books with.

Where I've been reading

Since I had taken the entire week as vacation time, I was at home here in Texas. Well, here in Texas, but not necessarily “at home”. The two five-year-old grandchildren were out of school, so I drove down to my sons' house a couple of days to spend the day with them. It was so warm here in Texas that we went to the park with just t-shirts and jeans. Driving back and forth from my house to where my sons live gave me lots of time to listen to my current audio book, The Guilty by David Baldacci.

 

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This week's new books are all from the library. I picked up a couple of short books in the hopes that they'd help me complete my objective of reading 200 books in 2015. In fact, I've already read two of the four books which I borrowed.

From the library:

I was attracted to the description of Illuminae, written in an unusual style. Instead of the usual narrative, the book is composed of transcripts of interviews, medical reports, e-mails, etc. The setting is a planet which has been attacked by the powers of a large corporation. Two teens—who have just broken up—are among those who have escaped and are fighting for their lives. Ezra is recruited as a fighter pilot and Kady becomes a hacker as the survivors struggle to expose the treachery of the attacking forces and win back their freedom.

I don't remember where I heard about Illuminae, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. Perhaps it was even at the library's website. At any rate, I saw that it was listed as a “coming soon” copy and I put my name on the Holds list. Now I have downloaded it into my Kindle and will be starting it soon—probably tomorrow.

Sunday Summary: 20 December 2015

This week I'm combining my Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelves. I've been ignoring my online presence—forums, blog, Facebook, even e-mail—for a couple of weeks as I focus on taking care of things at work. Now that I have a couple of weeks of vacation at the end of the year, I hope to be a bit more visible.

With Christmas coming up, I'm lucky to have two grandchildren nearby to share the holiday with. Yesterday, I flew to Las Vegas to pick up grand-daughter Victoria for a two-week visit with her Daddy. Since he had to work yesterday, I had the honor of escorting her to Texas. He'll take her back just in time for school to start up again.

Where I've been reading

A week ago I was returning from New York City. Everything was brightly decorated and I was fortunate that the weather was quite mild. In fact, I kept wishing I had left my coat at home and just taken a light-weight jacket to keep the wind at bay. I read on the plane both directions and then read in my hotel room each evening instead of turning on the television.

This week just past, I was blessed to be at home. I tried to make plenty of time for reading as I really would like to make my goal of 200 books for 2015. I knew it was a stretch goal when I set it, and I'm running out of time!

 

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After the long list of new books I posted this week, I don't have quite as many to talk about. I did receive a new review book courtesy of the Library Early Reviewers program. And I took a couple of more Mid-grade and Young Adult books from the library hoping that I could read them fairly fast and hit my goal of 200 books for 2015.

Month in Review: November 2015

I had hoped to catch up a bit during November, what with the holiday weekend and all. But I wound up reading only 15 books for the 3^rd month in a row. All of which means that I'm really going to have to push like crazy in December if I have any hopes of completed my goal of 200 books for the year.

I've made a bit more progress so far in December by selecting books that “read fast”. That's generally a factor of the vocabulary and writing style of the author as well as my reading mood. I feel like a teacher trying to locate “high interest” books for a reluctant reader.

I've blown out my secondary goal of 50,000 pages. At the end of November I had read 52,086 pages. I expect to finish up the year at roughly 56,000 pages, even if I don't quite make the entire 200 book objective.

Sunday Summary: 6 December 2015

As I wrote yesterday, I was offline for a couple of weeks. Life suddenly got very complicated and blogging was the thing that had to go. I'm back, but just barely. I need to write and post three reviews for ARCs that I've read, and I want to keep up the two weekly posts of new books received and what's been going on in my reading life. Maybe during the holidays I'll blog ahead a little bit.

Where I've been reading

This past week I was working in Montreal. Such a lovely city and even more so with the Holiday decorations everywhere you look. It was cold—especially to this Texan—so I didn't spend any time out of doors. And, because I'm so conscious of how far behind I am in reading toward my goal of 200 books in 2015, I never turned on the television. Instead, I read from suppertime until bedtime. Wish I could make myself do this while I'm at home, but the hubby is a TV fan and I give in to the attraction.

 

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Yeah, I was offline for a couple of weeks. Sorry about that—life simply got in the way. Between a challenging travel schedule for work, the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, and the failure of our heating system on the first really cold day of the season, I had a lot of other things on my mind. I also didn't read as many books in November as I had hoped, but that's the subject of a completely different post.

However, now that everything is under control (including a brand new heat pump and furnace) I think I'm pretty much back on track. On December 2, I gave myself the gift of Kindle Unlimited for 2016, starting with the 30-day free trial right now. I've already downloaded four high-interest books. I've also gone through several library books since the last time I shared a Stacking the Shelves post. The list of “new-to-me” books is pretty long. That's what I get for not posting for a couple of weeks.

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While there are a couple of new books at my place this week, all of them are from the library. I do like “shopping” at the library, especially for books that I want to read but that I'm not particularly interested in keeping. I do, however, need to speed up my reading or exercise a little bit more discipline so that I read these borrowed books before they are due to be returned. I'm lucky that one of the libraries I frequent has a 3-week check-out period. I rarely have to ask for an extension.

From the library:

I decided to fill in a couple of series by getting the short stories and novellas that are set between the novels, so I borrowed the eBooks from my local library. I'm planning on squeezing these in between the science fiction books I'm reading for Sci-Fi Month. The Shell Game is a short story that introduces con man Nick Fox and FBI agent Kate O'Hare. Time of Death contains three In Death novellas, one of which I read several years ago. Along with Possession in Death, that will leave me with five novels and three novellas to catch up with the series so far!

Sunday Summary: 8 November 2015

Another slow week of reading. I only completed three books, so I'm sliding just a wee bit more behind when it comes to my goal of reading 200 books in 2015. So far, I've completed 165 books and with 7 weeks left in the year, I need to complete an average of five books each week to meet my target of 200. Whew! That's a lot of reading. Guess I need to stop watching TV and Netflix until I've caught up.

Where I've been reading

I was at home all week long. It was the second week in a row that I've been able to sleep in my own bed. However, I had to commute to the office in Dallas instead of working from the house. The good thing about commuting is that I get to “read” by listening to an audio book as I'm driving the hour and a quarter each way. I listened to an entire book in three and a half days and got started on another one.

 

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Sunday Summary: 1 November 2015

Work has been brutal for the past couple of weeks. I'm so tired in the evenings that I just cannot focus on a book. Therefore, I remain a couple of books off the pace to complete 200 by the end of the year. I'm really counting on the holidays to help me rise to the challenge.

 

Where I've been reading

I've been at home! It has been so nice to work in my home office all week long, sleep in my own bed, and not to be in hotel rooms. I get to stay at home another week, though I do have to commute to the office rather than working from my house.

 

What I've been reading: Completed this week

All of the books that I read this week were from the library. Two were electronic books and two were hardbacks. And three of these books are part of my Finishing the Series challenge for 2015. I now have two more books to read in the Elm Creek Quilts series and three more in the Brother Cadfael series. And there's two months in which to read them. I think I'm solid on this challenge.

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Oh my gosh! I went crazy at the library yet again. Well, I have to blame the librarians a little bit, too. I used the “Recommend a Book” option in the Overdrive application and they approved the recommendations right away. So suddenly, I had two eBooks that I had thought would arrive much later. That wouldn't be so bad, except that I had put a reserve on Sonoma Rose by Jennifer Chiaverini and it became available on Thursday. When I stopped by the library to pick it up, I saw the latest book by Alexander McCall Smith and walked out of the library with it.

Given that I've not read any of these (well, not yet), I'm not going to try to include a blurb of any kind. Rather, just click on the cover image or the title to be taken to Amazon to find a synopsis and reader reviews.

Sunday Summary: 25 October 2015

Arghhh! I need to spend more time reading, or I need to pick shorter books, or both. I'm still behind schedule to meet my goal of 200 books by the end of the year. With nine more weeks left in the year and 42 books to read, I'm going to need to average close to 5 books per week to meet my goal.

Yes, I picked a goal that I knew was going to make me push, but I also expected to be reading a lot more middle-grade books than I have so far. Guess I need to take a look at my TBR stack and line up some of those YA and MG books, moving them to the top of the list.

However, when it comes to the Blog Ahead Challenge, I've finally made some progress.

Where I've been reading

After a delightful weekend at home in Texas, I traveled to St. Louis on Monday morning. Spent an uneventful week there—longish days, but no crises. The trip home on Thursday night made up for it, though. Due to stormy weather in Dallas, my flight was diverted to Shreveport where we sat on the ground for almost three hours before we could take off to complete our trip to Dallas. It wouldn't have been so bad except that there was no airflow within the plane. I usually get quite chilled during a flight, but that wasn't the case at all this time! Everyone was hot and cranky by the time we landed in Dallas at 1:15, four hours later than scheduled.

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There was no Stacking the Shelves post last week because I didn't receive any new books. But I made up for it this week. I hit the online library catalog and grabbed a couple of high-interest books.

From the library:

The Heretic's Apprentice and The Potter's Field are the 16^th and 17^th books in Ellis Peters' medieval mystery series starring Brother Cadfael. I have challenged myself to finish all the books in this series by the end of the year. With 20 books in the series, I need to read at least two books this month and next.

Sunday Summary: 11 October 2015

I keep having to pinch myself to remember that it's really October. The year is flying to a close so quickly! This week I again completed three books, but that's one short of the number I need to read each week if I'm going to get to 200 by the end of the year. I should find a little more time to read next week since I have several flights and I'll be taking my suppers alone.

Where I've been reading

Ah yes! I've been in Florida. From Monday through Friday, I attended a conference in Orlando and then drove up to my sister's house just north of Orlando to spend the weekend. I enjoyed the conference very much. Many of the technical sessions were educational and I picked up some new information about the software that I use. I also enjoyed getting to spend time with various colleagues throughout the week.

 

What I've been reading: Completed this week

The Union Quilters
by Jennifer Chiaverini
Format: Hardback
Source: borrowed from the library
Completed: 4 October

★★★★☆

The Union Quilters is the 17th (of 20) books in the Elm Creek Quilts series. Set in the time of the U. S. Civil War, the women of Elm Creek Valley in Pennsylvania are left behind when their husbands, sons, and brothers are mustered into the Union Army. The Bergstrom women—Anneke and her sister-in-law, Gerta—join with their neighbors to make quilts and raise funds to support the troops from their community. Weaving the account of the company's battles in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia with the stories of the community they left behind, Jennifer Chiaverini has delivered a compelling account of a war that changed the very fabric of American life.

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This week was a bit weird when it came to new books. First of all, I've been away from home all week and won't return to Texas for another week. So I'm reading whatever happens to be on my Kindle. However, last week, I put a HOLD on the next two In Death books at the library thinking like the previous book, I'd have to wait the full 21 day checkout period before they became available. On Sunday, I received notice that both were ready for download. I had already downloaded one book, and that gave me three new library books to read. And then last night, I received a notice that the library had purchased The Aeronaut's Windlass on my recommendation and it was being held for me. Of course I downloaded it right away. I'm just lucky that the library gives me a 21 day check-out period.

Month in Review: September 2015

September was a pretty good month for reading. I read fewer books—only 15—which contributed to falling behind just a little bit in my annual goal. However, some of the best books I've read all year were among the ones read this month.

So now that we're at the 3/4 mark in the year, Goodreads tells me that I'm 1 book behind schedule to complete 200 books this year. I hope to make a bit faster progress toward this goal by selecting books that “read fast”. That's generally a factor of the vocabulary and writing style of the author. My reading mood can also affect whether or not I'm reading a book slowly or quickly.

I've read 42,674 pages toward my secondary goal of 50,000 pages. (I set the page goal to keep myself from getting to the total number of books by reading short books.) I'm way ahead of the pace to complete 50K pages.

Sunday Summary: 4 October 2015

As I write this, I'm sitting in the living room of a dear friend who lives in Auburn, AL. We're here to celebrate Homecoming, the annual gathering of alumni for parties, tailgaiting, and football. We have made it a tradition to get back to Auburn each year for Homecoming even though we now watch the game on TV instead of trekking to the stadium. We have BBQ planned for supper around half-time and lots of snacks for before and after. No one will leave here hungry!

Where I've been reading

You wouldn't believe my travel schedule this past week. I flew 7 segment in 3 days to get from Dallas to Poughkeepsie to Louisville and back to Dallas. This was to facilitate two back-to-back meetings in Poughkeepsie and Louisville, respectively. As soon as I landed in Dallas, hubby packed me into the car and we started cross-country toward Auburn. With all those flights, I did have plenty of time to read—when I wasn't dozing. I didn't take as much advantage of the time in the car because I was definitely sleeping to make up for the overnight flights on Tuesday night.

 

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Congratulate me. Another week has gone by and I haven't bought a book. I'm still satisfying my craving for new (or new-to-me) books by borrowing from the library.

From the library:

So, did you ever watch White Collar on television? You know, a charming con-man gets sprung from jail and works with the FBI to capture other con-men. Well, that's sort of the premise of Janet Evanovich's new Fox and O'Hare series which starts with The Heist. Nick Fox is a con man and he gets partnered with FBI agent Kate O'Hare—with a huge slush fund to draw from to set up their cons. It's a fun series with high-speed chases, first class flights, champagne and chocolate, and a bit of romantic tension on the side.

Sunday Summary: 27 September 2015

I started this past week having lunch with hubby's parents. They're both in their early nineties, and I hope I'm as “with it” when I reach that age. They live in the house they've occupied for over 20 years and Dad still drives, so that makes them totally independent. Mom is an avid reader and we've shared many books over the years. She's not reading as much right now because it's baseball season! Once the World Series is over, her reading pace will pick up. I'll be researching books from her favorite authors and seeking out new authors who write in a similar style.

Where I've been reading

This week's travel was a leisurely trip to San Antonio. It's only a one-hour flight away and I flew down on Monday morning and home on Thursday afternoon. I was very busy all week long and didn't have time for a lot of reading. (That's the down-side of those short flights!) I did, however, have time to relax and rest up for the frenzied travel that is scheduled for next week.