The Sunday Salon: My Week In Books

Finally! A productive week in books! I was able to read a lot this past week, which is a change from recent weeks. I also spent a good amount of time reading new book blogs. There certainly are a lot of us out there and I take such inspiration from all of them. They’re amazing!

Here’s what I accomplished this week in books. First, I posted my review of Jess Riley’s DRIVING SIDEWAYS. I can’t say enough about this wonderful book. You can read my review here. Also, if you'd like to win a signed copy of the book, go to Bookroom Reviews Weblog and get entered. You can read all the details there. This week I finished reading THE SUGAR QUEEN by Sarah Addison Allen and also Bridget Asher’s MY HUSBAND’S SWEETHEARTS, which comes out August 19th. I’ll be posting those reviews in the coming days.

As far as what I’m reading now, author J. F. Englert recently sent me two of his books, one of which was recently released. It’s a murder mystery that is sure to be different. I’m only about 50 pages in and I’m still learning about the characters, so I'll have more about that in the days to come. I’m also reading CHASING WINDMILLS by Catherine Ryan Hyde that was realeased back in March.

A few days ago, one of the bloggers featured a What’s On Your Nightstand? post. I’m sorry, I can’t remember who actually initiated it, but I remember seeing it on several blogs. They all posted photos of their nightstands loaded with books from their TBR lists. It was amazing to see the towering books! I didn’t actually participate, because I didn’t have the means to provide a photo at the time, but I made a mental list. I was really surprised at how many I had! Here’s what I came up with (in no particular order):

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (partially read)
Good In Bed by Jennifer Weiner (partially read)
While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West From Within by Bruce Bawer (partially read)
The Constant Gardener by John Le Carre (partially read)
The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards
Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
Down River by John Hart
Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler
The Rest of Her Life by Laura Moriarty

Whew! I may have left a few off, but that looks like a pretty good list to me! (You should see me Wish List!) I hate leaving books unfinished, so the ones I've started should get priority.

Last weeks Booking Through Thursday was about worlds and eras in books and posed the question, In what book world/era would you want to be or NOT want to be? Also, What author would you want to write your story? That was easy for me, I didn’t want Stephen King to write my story! No way! I went with Sue Monk Kidd. A lot of people answered that they would not want to be in the Margaret Atwood book THE HANDMAID’S TALE. Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with this book, but after reading so many people referring to it, I have to check it out. I have an Atwood book on my list that I got as a trade, but not that one. I thought that was an interesting topic for BTT and I enjoyed reading everyone’s answers very much.

So, that was my week in books. I’ve realized I need to pay some attention to those books I’ve started and not finished. They’re good books, but for one reason or another I laid them off to the side. My goal will be to finish those books by the end of the year. Shouldn't be a problem, right?

Well, I’m off to the blogs now to see what y’all are reading and to get some ideas for new reads. Hope everyone has a peaceful, enjoyable reading day! Thanks for stopping by!