The Sunday Salon: A Reading Update

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!  The sun is shining, the kids are already playing outside (I shall go join them soon), and spring finally feels like it is here to stay.  I've got my fingers crossed that it really will stay but I'm not sure that the weather forecasters agree.  It doesn't matter as I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts!

I've got lots and lots of stuff going on this week as the upcoming sports seasons starts for my older two kiddos.  What this means is that EVERY single night this week my kids have practice for something.  Seriously!?!  Luckily, we get to skip Friday as we are going out of town for the weekend but it is overwhelming to think about.  I have no clue when I am going to get anything done.  It should be interesting as we all adjust.  It does mean that I should have plenty of reading time while I watch practices, but I will have to wait to see if that actually happens.  Anyways, last week I skipped out on catching you up with the books that I have finished recently so that's what I'm going to share about today.  Here are the books that I've finished since I last updated you:

Deceiving Lies by Molly McAdams - Was an interesting sequel that left me with mixed emotions.  You can see my full thoughts on it here.

The Curse of the Pharaohs by Elizabeth Peters - Has solidified my love for this series!  I loved this one just as much as the first book.  I would already be reading the third if it was on my shelves.  Since it isn't, I will remedy that soon!  I'm going to try to write a double review for the this book and the first soon.

Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews - This series just keeps getting better!  This was my favorite book so far but I just cannot wait to continue on with the next book.  A must read urban fantasy series for me!  Review to come soon as well.

Mind of Winter by Laura Kasischke - Was one of those books that starts off slowly but by the end....oh my goodness!  I've been holding off on reading other people's reviews, but now that I'm finished I can't wait to see what everyone else thinks about it!  I read this one for a TLC book tour and my thoughts will be posted on April 9th.

I also finished two audiobooks recently thanks to my Harry Potter addiction.  I finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as well as Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.  Both were excellent ways to re-experience this series.  I cannot get over how many of the details I had forgotten but there are many.  I'm going to be a bit lost when I finish the last book on audio.  I suppose it just means that I will have to listen to them all again :)

I'm currently reading Vampire Empire: The Greyfriar by Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith.  Steampunk and vampires?  Heck yeah!  I'm kicking myself for letting this one languish on my shelves for so long.  It is really good so far!

I'm not sure what I will be reading next but it will probably be off my April stack of possibilities.  There are just SO MANY books that I would like to be reading right now.  The choices are endless.

Today's plans include the Harry Potter marathon, a run (since I've been failing miserably with this), and my usual loads of laundry.  I'm going to try and get ahead with my blog posting for the next two weeks but I really don't know if it will happen or not.  Otherwise, I might just go blog silent again.  We will see how motivated I get!  Plus, season finale of The Walking Dead tonight!!!!!!!!!  I can't.  I have no words.  Just please don't kill any of my favorite characters!

What are your plans for this week?  Happy Sunday and Happy Reading!

The Sunday Salon - Books! (My Poor Shelves)

Good morning everyone!  The last two weeks seem to have slipped by me in a blur which meant an unexpected blogging break.  It was bound to have happened with all of the hours that I had been working so I didn't stress about it.  And happily enough I'm back to my regular forty hour work week which is much needed (and completely doable).  There wasn't much that happened that was exciting over my blogging break other than I finally broke down, and visited my used book store.  I had a bag filled with books to turn in for credit so I didn't even feel guilty for going.  I came out with a smile on my face and a small stack of books to add to my shelves.  My poor overflowing shelves!  In my defense. I still have over forty dollars worth of credit to use so really I could have brought home so many more.  In fact, I think that if I had known that I probably would have bought more books so maybe it worked out for the best.  Here are the books that I brought home with me (sorry for the crappy picture):

• The Hippopotamus Pool by Elizabeth Peters- only to find out that this is NOT the 3rd book in the series but instead the 8th.  Why they would list the series out of order is beyond me but I've learned my lesson.  Don't trust the list for series books that is included in the book.  Oh well, it gives me an excuse to go back for the third book.
• Birdman by Mo Hayder- First in this series and because I really enjoyed Gone by this author.
• All Shall Be Well by Deborah Crombie- 2nd in this series and because I adored the first book (which I really need to review).
• Beg For Mercy by Jami Alden- It sounds creepy and I love romantic suspense but don't read a lot of it.
• H is for Homicide by Sue Grafton- Next book in a mystery series I love.
• Last Kiss Goodnight by Gena Showalter- A book that I've had on my TBR list for awhile now.

I've also received a couple of books for review.  I can never decide if I want to share books I receive for review on here or not.  I've never really done a Mailbox Monday post or anything but I feel like I should at least post about the books that come in to my house.  Kind of to make myself accountable for actually reading them.  But....I just don't know.  Because then that would include ebooks and you guys would really see my reading addiction.  LOL!  Plus, I would have to keep track which I usually don't do.  I received these two books thanks to the lovely folks at Harper.  I'm hoping to add them both to my April reading plans list. 

In keeping with accountability, I have bought a few new books for my ipad. 

In my defense they were on sale AND my library didn't have copies of either.  Good enough reasons for me! 

Since I now have plenty of reading ahead of me (and it's not like I didn't before), I'm going to skip talking about the books I've read these past two weeks.  I will play catch up next Sunday instead.  Plans for the rest of my Sunday include catching up with all of you, review writing, a run, and TONS of laundry.  Oh yeah, and preparing myself for this week's Walking Dead episode since last week's one was CRAZY BUT SO GOOD!  I fully admit that I will be a bit lost when this show goes on break until season five.  Aack!  So worth it though :)

Happy Sunday and Happy Reading!

The Walking Dead: Volumes 1 and 2 (thoughts and a discussion of the show)

Word of warning from the beginning that this post will be filled with possible spoilers.  For both the show and the graphic novels so you might want to skip this post entirely if you haven't had the chance to experience either of these yet.  May I highly, highly recommend both the show and graphic novel series to you though?  I'm so completely addicted to both that it isn't even funny!  So anyways...

In Days Gone Bye, Rick wakes up from a coma to a completely changed world.  His family is missing and there are zombies aka walkers aka roamers (in the graphic novels that is what Rick calls them) everywhere.  He sets out to find his family and gets a first hand taste of this new world along the way.

What I really liked about this first volume was how closely the show followed this volume with the first season.  There are some major differences of course but the majority of Season 1 follows the storyline in this comic in the best ways possible.  The comic goes much, much faster with the storyline in comparison to the show.  Heck, Shane is already dead by the end of this one, and it is Carl that shoots him?!?!  I totally didn't see that one coming!  I loved that so many of my favorite characters are present in both the show and comic.  I'm definitely missing Daryl's character though.  I also found it interesting that in the graphic novel Lori never thought that Rick was dead.  Instead, she left him heading for Atlanta thinking that he would be safe in the hospital.  Say what?  For me, I found myself liking Lori less in the comic compared to the show because of this.  In the show, she believes he is dead.  It made more sense to me for why she turned to Shane and for everything that happened afterwards.  Of course, that is just my opinion but I liked Lori's character so much more on the show.  Overall, this was a fun way to spend a few hours and I felt like I had the chance to connect to the characters more because of it!

In Miles Behind Us, the group is trying to deal with the aftermath of Shane's death along with a few other group members.  They set off in search of shelter and food hoping to find safety from the walkers as well.

Wow!  This volume is so different from the television series and yet the main points are the same.  I love, love, love comparing the two!  It is fun to see which one works better for me and why.  Tyreese is introduced in this volume along with his daughter and her boyfriend.  No Sasha?  Boo!  This was a big surprise for me as we don't see Tyreese until a lot further on into the show.  Plus, Carol and Tyreese?  What?!?  Dale and Andrea?  Are you kidding me?!?!  I'm not so sure how I feel about that one...I will tell you that.  I feel like Andrea's character in the television series was so much stronger than it has been in the graphic novels so far.  We meet Hershel in this volume and experience the farm.  Glenn and Maggie fall in love here (yay!) but then the end?  Glenn stays behind with Maggie and Hershel?  He's NOT part of the group any longer??  Say what?!?  Hahaha!  I feel like all I keep saying is what?  But there were so many surprises and huge differences with this graphic novel in comparison to the show.  We saw a flashback of Shane and Lori turning to each other.  Lori, you knew Rick was still alive!! Ugh!  I found that I was still more frustrated with her character in the comic than I ever was with her in the show.  And the show definitely gave Hershel a better character arc than the comic series has so far.  I continue to be surprised with how much faster the graphic novel series goes.  But it is a good thing I think since that means that the show can go on for many more seasons!  I am hoping that it continues on for awhile since I love it so much!  Oh yes, and they discover the prison at the end of this volume which is almost bittersweet since we saw the destruction of the prison in this season of the show.

Overall thoughts on the graphic novel series so far:  they are fun to read!  I spend half of my time reading them comparing them to the show in every way possible.  What characters are missing?  What major events are happening?  The other half of the time I just find myself completely immersed in the dark world that this author has created.  I love that the author is using this series to really comment on society and the possible break down of it.  It is a scary world that these characters live in, but it is more terrifying seeing how individuals react to this new world.  I will definitely be reading more of this series...in fact, I'm planning on putting volume three on hold at the library right now.

Overall thoughts on the television series:  is that I cannot get enough!  I look forward to every single Sunday thanks to this show and will be completely lost when I have to wait for season five.  Daryl makes the show so much better and I adore both his and Rick's characters.  I think that they are doing a really amazing job hitting the important parts of the graphic novel series while not being an exact replica of it.  But more Norman Reedus please and thank you!  

Bottom Line:  MUST READ/MUST WATCH SERIES!

Disclosure:  Both graphic novels were checked out from my local library.

P.S.- I am SO sorry if I spoiled anything for anyone in this post.  But I've been wanting to discuss it here on the blog now for so long that I just couldn't resist!

The Sunday Salon: Reading Hangover?

Friday night I finished S.J. Bolton's Blood Harvest which is easily going to make my top reads for 2014 list.  It may only be February but I can just about guarantee this one making the cut.  It was just so good!  Thanks to this book though I've been in a sort of bookish hangover since then.  Because what could I possibly read that will be as good as this one?  Won't any book that I read after this pale in comparison?  I felt like this might happen so yesterday I picked up the second volume of the graphic novel series The Walking Dead, Miles Behind Us.  This was perfect for the mood that I was in, and I flew through the pages entirely too fast.  Now I'm completely stuck on what I could possibly want to read next.  Hence, the title of this post: bookish hangover, anyone?

Since I'm completely struggling with book selection I thought that I would get some of your opinions on what I should read next.  Here are the books that are most calling to me:

Which one of these should I read next?  Help a girl out here....pretty please!  Which book would you read next if you were suffering from best book ever syndrome?  Or is there some other book that I should be searching out that you recently adored?  I just managed to put about eight books on hold yesterday at the library but what could a few more hurt? 

Other books besides Blood Harvest that I finished last week were:

Both were VERY good and both will hopefully have reviews up this week.  I'm telling you that I have had a really great reading month in February which is probably one of the reasons that I'm struggling now.  Decisions, decisions.

Plans for today include lots of review writing, laundry, and working out.  The usual!  New episode of The Walking Dead to look forward to which is always exciting.  And starting one of these books....after I hear your opinions that is!  What are your plans for this beautiful day?

Happy Sunday and Happy Reading!

Sunday Funday! (Or what I am doing today)

Today I will be doing the following:

 (Picture courtesy of AMC)

Waiting quite impatiently for the newest episode of The Walking Dead to come back on tonight! I love these two!!

Beginning this as part of Graphic Novels month and in preparation for tonight.  (See above)

And I will be reading more of this possibly if I can get over my Walking Dead obsession :)

The sun is shining, my house is kinda/sorta clean...today is a good day!  I just need to focus on laundry, get my workout in, and then wait for my show to return.  And watch the Olympics of course!  Happy Sunday to me!

Tell me, what are you spending the day doing?