It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Nov. 25th)

"It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date."

Happy Monday folks!  It's the week of Thanksgiving AND I have the week off of work which is pretty exciting!  We are staying home all week so it's officially a staycation and I couldn't be more here for that.  I have hopes for lots of reading and relaxing throughout the week.  In honesty, I'm hoping though to get some work done around the house, spends lots of time with my family, and get the Christmas decorations up.  It will be a low key week here which is exactly what I've been looking forward to.  Last week I hit my Goodreads goal of 60 books finished for the year.  It was strangely satisfying watching Goodread's celebrate my accomplishment with virtual confetti.  Has it always done that?  Maybe I've never paid attention until now.....but it was delightful all the same.

I'm actually having a really great month of reading in November compared to last month.  I've already finished six books so far so I'm pretty proud of that number.  I would love to finish two more books this week but time will tell.  I've been thinking a lot lately about blogging and the new year.  What is that going to look like for me?  Keep doing what I'm doing which is mainly just reviews and sporadic reading updates?  Maybe come up with a few fresh post ideas for the new year?  I haven't quite figured it out yet but I have been thinking about it.  Let me ask all of you:  what types of posts do you prefer to read on blogs?  Do you even read book review posts?  Is there something that you wish I did differently here or did more of?  I love reading updates myself.  I love informal talks about the books people have been reading and what their thoughts are as they are reading.  I don't read a lot of reviews myself.  These three things make me think that I need to change the way I'm doing things here and try something different.  But I like being able to go back and read my thoughts on books which is why I've kept writing reviews for so long.  It's something to ponder....

Last week I finished up Lock Every Door by Riley Sager.  I've already written up my thoughts on it and my review will post this week (tomorrow actually).  It was SO good and completely creeped me out!  I only have one more book of Sager's to catch up on which I plan on reading in the new year.  I'm now currently reading the following two books:

A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny is the second book from her Three Pines series which I checked out from my local library.  I'm taking my time with this book and just enjoying visiting Three Pines once again.  The author writes beautifully and I find myself wishing that this was a really village readers could visit.  I'm curious to see where the book is going as there are hints of dark things to come but so far the murder hasn't yet happened.

Husband Material by Emily Belden is a review copy courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley that I'm reading on my e-reader.  It's the perfect change of pace from the mysteries and thrillers that I've been reading lately.  I wasn't sure if this was going to be the book for me based off of the first chapter.  I kept going though and now I'm about 25% in and really enjoying it.

I would love to finish reading both of these books this week so that will be my reading goals.  I do think in the new year I'm going to work on participating in more read-a-thons, buddy reads, and group reads.  I've always enjoyed myself when I do participate in these type of things but I don't do it very often.  I think it will motivate me to also keep working on stretching my reading boundaries in the new year! I'm off to work on my laundry piles for a bit.

Happy Monday and Happy Reading!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (July 29th)

"It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date."

Happy Monday everyone!  It has been a very busy summer which means I've been much quieter on the blog than I would have liked.  I would like to say that's going to change but honestly some years are just like this.  We will have to see as the upcoming school year is coming at a very rapid rate.  This means we have coming up physicals, school supply shopping, and school registrations just to name a few.  It's a busy time of the year but really when isn't it?  Softball and baseball season are officially over but we are now gearing up for tryouts for next year.  My son's is over already (he made the same team again) but my daughter's is in another week.  On top of that, football season is really gearing up which is exciting.  I love this time of year though because it means fall is just around the corner!  I've had a pretty good month of reading in July - I've already finished six books.  Five or six books seems to be my average for this year when I was looking at my reading dates on Goodreads.  This meant that I was perpetually behind on my Goodreads goal of reading 80 books this year - I went ahead and dropped that number down to 60 which seems much more doable.  I've read 80 books in a year before but this year most likely wasn't going to be that year with my current reading pace.  Not much else new going on - still working lots of hours at work and still completely behind on book reviews.

My reading updates have been too irregular to be able to really share everything that I've read since my last reading update.  Instead, these are the books that I finished this past week:

Three Strikes by Kate Kessler is the third book in her Audrey Harte mystery series.  I loved the beginning two books in this series but didn't enjoy this one quite as much.  It was still a really good read but not a five star read like the previous two had been.  I'll share my full thoughts eventually but suffice it to say that you would really want to read this series in order so start with book one if at all possible.

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin is a book that I read for an upcoming blog tour so I will be sharing my full thoughts then.  I will say that I really enjoyed my time with this book despite a lack of likable characters.  It was a compelling read and I'll be watching to see what this author comes up with next!

I'm currently reading the following books:

I haven't yet started The Cutting Room by Ashley Dyer is going to be my next print read.  I haven't yet started it yet as I just finished The Escape Room earlier this morning (I'm writing this on Sunday).  Her One Mistake by Heidi Perks is my current book on my e-reader that I'm reading as part of NetGalley's reviewathon.  I am always so hopelessly behind on my NetGalley review copies so I'm trying to use this #reviewathon as the extra push that I need to clear some of them out.  This book published back in January so that should show you how behind I really am (and how much I need this challenge).

I would love to finish both of these this week but we will see as we have a lot going on.  I'm going to really focus on getting some more reviews written though because I hate being this far behind.  Tell me what books you have been reading and loving lately!

Happy Monday and Happy Reading!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading (April 8th)

"It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date."

Happy Monday everyone!  It's a bit of a later post over here but I really wanted to share a quick reading update with all of you.  I love sharing my thoughts on books with reviews but I really want to mix it up more here on the blog.  That takes time though which isn't always something I have a lot of.  Are you following me on Instagram yet?  If not you can find me @samsbooks1020 (you can also find me on Twitter and Goodreads with this same handle).  But anyways....on Instagram I mentioned that this month I'm trying to focus on reading some of the review copies that are piling up on my nightstand.  My pile was getting kind of high (for me at least) and I didn't want it to get out of control.  So far both of the books that I've read this month are off of that pile so I feel successful already!  My current read is a NetGalley book but this also counts since it is a review copy (I just mentioned my print copies on Instagram).  I'm SUPER behind on my NetGalley reads as well - although when am I not is probably an accurate statement honestly.  Regardless, I feel like I'm making some good progress and knocking out some of those "should" reads.  After this though I seriously need to mix in some backlist books because I'm slacking there this year.  I've been focusing so much this year on newer releases when I usually mix it up.  Maybe I'll do a backlist May or something.....but on to the books I've been reading!

Since my last reading update (which has been a couple of weeks) I've finished the following:

Murder Lo Mein by Vivien Chien was a fun cozy mystery that has me excited to read the other books in this series.  I've actually already shared my thoughts on it here if you are interested.

A Beautiful Corpse by Christi Daugherty was an amazing addition to this mystery series (book one just released last year so you don't have too many books to catch up on if you are interested).  This book was even better than book one - my thoughts will be up on this one hopefully later this week.

Fierce Justice by Piper J. Drake was an enjoyable romantic suspense and also the first book I finished off of my review stack this month.  I'll be sharing my full thoughts on it hopefully soon as well.

Summer in Paris by Sarah Morgan was SO, SO good!  I'm really looking forward to sharing my thoughts on this one but I will tell you this - I felt a personal connection to this one which is why I couldn't help but love it so much.  SO good!

I'm now currently reading the following:

I'm really enjoying it so far but won't be sharing my thoughts on this one until next month.  I'm participating in a blog tour for it so will be sharing my review then.  I'm off to focus on my laundry piles and watch a little television.

Happy Monday!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (February 18th)

"It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date."

Happy Monday folks!  It has been a crazy few weeks over here but not for the usual reasons.  Last week my dog got super sick.  At first we thought it was just a gastro type of thing as she wasn't eating anything.  After a few days of not eating I took her into the vet to make sure she hadn't eaten something that she shouldn't have (she's only two).  When by this Monday she was in even worse shape and still not eating back to the vet we went.  In a nutshell, she has been diagnosed with Addison's disease which means her body doesn't make cortisol like it should.  This sent her into an acute state where her kidneys were shutting down - it was basically awful.  We have an amazing vet that managed to figure it all out and get her the needed treatment.  I'm happy to say that she is on the road to recovery and getting back to her usual spazzy self that we know and love.  She will need monthly injections but should lead a normal healthy life otherwise.  We are so very grateful that she is here with us and healing.  All of this to say that I really haven't been reading.  No surprises there I'm sure.  Usually stress leads me to read more but honestly it did just the opposite this time.

As things are finally starting to settle down, I thought I would catch up with all of you and give you a reading update.  I was planning on trying to do more regular reading updates this year (you can probably see how well that is going).  I'm going to go ahead and just share what I've read so far in February and will consider myself caught up at this point.

Here is what I've finished so far this month:

Strangers in Death by J.D. Robb was a reread and helped me get out of the reading slump that I was starting to struggle with.  I always enjoy my time with the In Death series - they have become almost comfort reads for me.  I just love all of the characters so much so I always look forward to reading these books.

Stray Moon by Kelly Meding is the second book in an urban fantasy series.  I read and really enjoyed the first book Stray Magic last year.  This book was just as fast paced and compelling as book one.  I'm super hooked on this series now so it is going to be a long wait for the book three.  I'm planning on writing up my thoughts and sharing them later this week hopefully.

I'm currently reading the following:

I don't usually read three books but like I said - it has been a hard couple of weeks.  I actually just started Blink by K.L. Slater which is a review copy.  This book is absolutely huge because it also contains the novel Safe With Me by this author.  I don't plan on reading both books back to back but I'm enjoying this one so far.  On my e-reader I'm currently reading It's Getting Scot in Here by Suzanne Enoch.  I'm not very far into this one yet but I love the premise so I have high hopes.  Finally, I'm also "reading" River Bodies by Karen Katchur.  Technically I've set this one aside as it is overdue at the library and I'm planning on returning it.  I'll just go ahead and put it on the holds list again - I was a little over 100 pages in so I plan on finishing it but it is going to have to wait for now.  I'm off now to curl up and relax with a book.

Happy Monday and Happy Reading!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (November 19th)

"It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date."

It has been awhile folks!  Life just doesn't slow down really when you have three kids even when you expect it to.  Alas, I'm perfectly okay with this and am just now trying to figure out ways for next year to be different.  I'm not ready to give up blogging - I love sharing my thoughts on books too much.  And honestly, I really enjoy being able to go back and read my thoughts on a book years later.  I think my plan is to call 2018 blogging a wash and start fresh in the new year.  I have a couple of reviews I still plan on sharing with you so I won't be completely silent here the next month and half.  But I just think that I'm going to start working ahead and prescheduling posts for next year.  Maybe then I won't have only three posts a month or go weeks without blogging at all.  Ha!  Who knows if that will really happen but it still will be fun to try and get ahead.  I've got plenty of reviews waiting to be written - some of those I will post in the next month or so (just not regularly) and the rest I will save for the new year.  So there are my blogging plans in a nutshell!  I'm not going to lie - I'm already starting to think about reading plans in the new year as well.  LOL!

Reading wise, I've really slowed down these past two months dramatically.  According to Goodreads I'm about four books behind schedule with my reading challenge - I've been ahead all year until now. I'm not too worried about it because really what can you do?  I'm not as fast of a reader as some and I'm perfectly okay with that.  Not much else is new bookwise.  I'm still checking out WAY too many books from the library.  I'm still adding books to my TBR list on an almost daily basis.  And I'm still enjoying reading although I was starting to slump there for awhile (hence, the drop in the number of books I've been reading).  I don't think I'm going to attempt to catch you up on all of the books I've read since my last reading update - instead I'm just going to share with you the books that I'm currently reading and what I finished last.

I'm currently reading the following books:

Can you tell I was in a reading slump?  I NEVER read four books at a time to be honest but here I am.  I'm off this entire week so I'm really hoping to finish up a couple of these but only time will tell.

A Duke Changes Everything by Christy Carlyle is my current print read and a review copy courtesy of the publisher.  I needed a change of pace from the mysteries and thrillers so I'm excited to read this one.  I've just barely begun it so I'll keep you posted on my thoughts.

It's a Charmed Life (The Grimm Files) by Selene Charles is my current kindle read thanks to Kindle Unlimited (of which I'm trying thanks to a great deal for the next three months).  I'm loving this one so far!  I don't even know how to explain this one or describe it - it has characters from all of the Disney movies you know and love but is so much darker.  I am so glad that I heard about this one and that there is another book for me to look forward to after this!

Watch the Girls by Jennifer Wolfe is a book that I stopped reading only because it was due back at the library and I couldn't finish in time.  I instantly put it back on hold and just picked it back up this past week.  I'm ready to dive back in as it has been really good so far, but I want to focus on finishing up one of the above two books first.

In The Darkest Hour by Anna Carlisle is a NetGalley review copy that is currently languishing on my Kindle.  I loved the first two books in this series but this one just hasn't pulled me in.  It could be because I was trying to read it right in the middle of my reading slump - or maybe it was part of what put me in my reading slump.  I'm not really sure so I moved on to It's a Charmed Life and will be going back to this one afterwards to try again.

I just finished reading:

Too Far Gone by Allison Brennan was such an enjoyable read.  I read this one as part of an upcoming book tour so my thoughts will be posted on it soon.  I've never read anything in this series but I definitely plan on reading more now!  I love when I find new series to read and follow like this!

Up Next:

I'm not too sure what I will read after these four books but these two are currently calling my name the loudest.  Or my mood will change and I will read something completely different (that's what usually happens with me being such a moody reader).

One's a library book and one is the next KU book that I've downloaded to read.  It has been fun chatting with all of you again!  I'm off to work around the house a bit and get ready for Thanksgiving.

Happy Monday and Happy Reading!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (July 31st)

"It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organise yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are!"

Monday, Monday!  It has been a really long time since I did a post like this.  I'm going to sound like a broken record here but it has been a poor year for me in terms of both blogging and reading.  I'm not stressing- it happens.  But I am hoping to make both of these more of a priority in 2018.  School starts this week for my oldest- he is a freshman.  Wow, where in the world has the time gone there?  It's hard to believe but I'm excited for him and this new adventure that he is beginning.  The start of school also means the beginning of football which is something I am VERY excited about.  He's been practicing at the high school all summer long but I'm so ready to go to the games.  My youngest will also be starting flag football for his 2nd year.  My daughter's next travel softball season is getting ready to begin.....I think you can already tell where the majority of my time goes!  Work is crazy as all get out - lots and lots of overtime going on and this coming month is no different.  What else?  I wrote out another book review that will be posting later this week.  I'm pretty proud of myself as this will be two weeks in a row of blogging!  I haven't posted that regularly in months.

Since my last reading update I finished the following book:

 The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal was a really great read!  I enjoyed this one immensely and will be sharing my thoughts on August 11th as part of a TLC book tour.  I've got lots of good things to say if you are curious.

I'm now reading the following:

The Lady Travelers Guide to Scoundrels & Other Gentlemen by Victoria Alexander - STILL but I'm finally making some good progress with this one.  It has gotten better and I'm hoping to curl up with it this week to see how it will all end.

The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen - This is my current print read and FINALLY a book off of my own shelves.  I don't know that I'm really "currently reading" it as I've only read the first couple of pages but I'm definitely reading it next.  I've just been really focusing on the above book as I feel like I've been reading that one for ages.

New Additions:

With how slowly I've been reading I should be saying none here.  Sadly that never seems to be the case with me.  I've been to the library twice and have a towering stack of books checked out. Here is the latest print book to enter my house thanks to the publisher:

This is for a TLC book tour in August- it sounds great and I'm looking forward to reading it soon!  I've got NetGalley books I could share about as well but.....that is for another day. 

Happy Monday and Happy Reading!

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (January 30th)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organise yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are!"

We are almost at the end of the month already.  Crazy to think about yet here we are.  I was already working on coming up with my February reading pile post which is always fun.  I have been debating on if I want to do monthly round up posts or not- I'm leaning towards not just because I tend to stop doing them by the end of February anyways.  Ha!  I guess I always feel like I'm repeating myself especially if I've been doing reading updates on a regular basis (and I have so far this month).  What do you think about sharing monthly round-ups?  I always enjoy reading everyone else's post but never mine.  Not much else is new on my end.  The oldest got papers for a student/parent meeting as he goes into high school next year.  If I wasn't in denial before now that this is really happening.....ugh.  I'm not ready but he sure is so that's something to look forward to I guess.  Baseball and soccer signups are here for the littlest and that will be fun.  My daughter has hitting at the cage once a week but very soon softball is going to ramp up and the madness will begin.  I'm trying to work on scheduling posts for the months to come but have to admit that I'm failing with it.  Oh well, it is what it is.

Since I last shared with all of you, I have finished the following books:

 
Sinful Scottish Laird by Julia London was a delightful romance that I enjoyed immensely.  I read this one for a blog tour coming up later in February so I won't say much more other than I enjoyed it.  I'm super excited to share my thoughts on this one so watch out for my review on the 20th.

Fudge & Jury by Ellie Alexander was just as good as I expected it to be!  This is one of my favorite cozy mystery series and each book has been a delight to read.  I love the characters in this series so it is like visiting old friends with each book that I read.  I will be sharing my thoughts on this one hopefully soon but I can't recommend this series enough!  These are books two and three finished for #COYER Blackout so there is finally some progress with that reading challenge.

I'm now currently reading the following three books:

All print books currently which NEVER happens.  It has been a tough past couple of weeks though, and I'm not sure that it is going to get better any time soon.  I've turned to Survivor In Death by J.D. Robb so that I can just escape into one of my very favorite series.  It is definitely what I needed so there's that.  Before that I was reading Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry which is quite good so far.  I'm just taking a short break from it to fit in some comfort reading first and then I will dive back in.  I picked this one up as it was an Edgar nominee for one of the categories- best 1st book maybe?  I'm too lazy to look it up right now but it is on the nominee list for 2016.  I'm also still working my way through Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.  I'm enjoying this one as well but slowly.

I'm not sure what this week will bring so I'm just taking things a day at a time.  I'm mostly off Twitter at this point as I just find it too stressful.  The lingering cough that both my husband and I have had is getting slightly better so the plan to start back at the gym this week.  I definitely need the boost that exercise brings for both my physical and mental health.  It helps to relieve all that stress that we carry on our shoulders!  I'm also hoping to squeeze in some extra overtime in so I will be busy.  No worries though as I'll be reading every free chance that I get.  Enough rambling out of me though- tell me what book or books are you reading on this cold winter Monday?

Happy Monday and Happy Reading!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (January 16th)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organise yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are!"

Monday madness begins once again!  Actually, I had the day off but chose to work some overtime earlier this morning which is why I'm posting later than usual.  The weekend flew by as it always does.  We cleaned out and rearranged my daughter's room which was quite the project.  How do these kids accumulate so much stuff?  My jeep is packed now ready to drop off a load to donate to our local Goodwill store.  She is excited about her "new room" though so really that is all that matters!  I don't have much else new to report.  The husband and I have both been battling a cold since right after Christmas.  The cough seems to be never-ending so it was a pretty low-key weekend otherwise.  I managed to read two more books in the past week which left me pretty happy.  I finished the following books:

The First Days by Rhiannon Frater turned out to be a much more enjoyable read than I originally thought it was going to be for me.  In the afterwards of the book, the author explained that she started writing this book in installments which explained a lot to me.  I think that is why I didn't immediately connect to the story or characters but that changed by the end.  I'm super excited to pick up the next book in this trilogy soon!

The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins was an off pile read.  I actually tried reading this one last year and got about half way before I let it go back to the library unfinished.  I decided to try it again (as I really want to see the movie) and started from the beginning.  What can I say other than this time it worked for me?  I'm glad that I went back to it as now the husband and I can FINALLY watch the movie.  Reviews to come for both of these books soon.

I'm now currently reading the following:

Sinful Scottish Laird by Julia London is my current kindle read.  I was originally going to read Black-Eyed Susans but after finishing The Girl on the Train I decided I needed a change of pace.  This is for a TLC book tour that I am participating in next month.  In print I'm reading Killer's Island by Anna Jansson.  I actually haven't started this one yet but it is what I'm planning on reading next so I'm including it.  This is a review copy that has been on my shelves for a ridiculous amount of time so I'm really excited to finally read this one.  A reading goal for 2017 that I have is to finally read some of these review copies that have been languishing on my shelves and this would fit that description.

New Additions:

Simply put:  I suck at staying away from NetGalley.  They all look AMAZING though so there is that.  LOL!  I will try harder this week for sure!

 

I'm off to enjoy the rest of this holiday and also work on my laundry piles.  It has been raining all day so it feels like the perfect time to curl up with my kindle and get to reading. 

Happy Monday and Happy Reading!

  

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (January 9th)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organise yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are!"

Here we are once again.  My lack of blogging last year meant that I didn't write too many of these posts but I'm hoping to change that in 2017.  I love sharing reading updates (and also reading everyone else's updates).  The past weekend flew by like it usually does.  We managed to get all of the Christmas stuff put away and my house is cleaner than it has been in weeks.  I also went to the used bookstore (twice).  Eek!  I've been really good lately though...besides what makes a cold winter day better than a trip to the used bookstore??  The answer to that is two trips in two days.  LOL!  I also participated in Bout of Books this week and actually hit my reading goal of two books completed!  I'm so pumped about that.  This is always a fun read-a-thon to participate in even though I have a tendency to just read and not socialize very much.  Now I need to work on writing up reviews for those books later today.

I'm now currently reading the following two books:

The First Days by Rhiannon Frater is my current print read.  I bought this one way back when Borders went out of business so it has been on my shelves for way too long.  I'm enjoying it so far although I haven't quite connected to it as much as I hoped.  Maybe as I get further into the book?  We'll see.  Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin is my current e-book which I haven't started yet.  Actually I just decided this morning to pick this one up next after finishing Truth or Beard by Penny Reid.  I'm in the mood for a good thriller and this book definitely sounds like one that I will enjoy!  I would love to finish both of these books this week and keep up my reading mojo but we will see what happens.  Lifting for football starts up again for my oldest plus overtime at work may cut into my reading time a bit.

New Additions:

Too many this week to even mention.  I DID say that I went to the used bookstore twice, didn't I?  I shared pictures on Litsy if you are interested(I'm on there as Samantha.1020 if we aren't friends already - I love finding other book lovers so let me know if you are on there too).  And I actually did kind of bad on the NetGalley front as well.  Above are the two books that I downloaded from NetGalley thanks to a certain publisher's influence.  Heck, I'm always easily influenced when it comes to books.  I'm going to try and stay off of NetGalley this week- for real!  Maybe then I won't have anything to share here next week.  Ha!

I'm off to continue on my laundry piles and all of the other fun Monday stuff that we have going on.  What books have you read so far this year?  What books are you hoping to read this week?  Are there any other week long read-a-thons going on that will help keep me motivated with my reading?

Have a great week and Happy Reading!