Skip to main content

Week in Review

       aaa1

It's been two weeks since I participated in this weekly meme. I'd like to say I've been reading and blogging a lot in that time, but I haven't. I do have some reviews planned for this week, and I am determined to finish the book I started over a week ago. I haven't made it very far into it, though.

Reviews and Blog Posts
I compiled a list of 13 historical fiction novels that I recommend. Check it out and let me know what your favorites are.

I also wrote a review of The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett. It's a wonderful novel for book lovers!

Reading
I finished The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell, which I found on NetGalley. I need to write that review, but I had very mixed feelings about the book and am having a hard time putting my thoughts down. Hopefully I'll manage to do that this week.

I've been reading The Beach House by Mary Alice Monroe, which is my August book club selection, but I just haven't felt like reading lately, and I couldn't decide if it was because of the book or just a general issue. So I decided to start another book, The Bone Seeker by M.J. McGrath, and I have to say that I've gotten into this one much more.

C is reading The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart. He read the first book in that series earlier this summer. M just finished Bad Kitty Gets a Bath by Nick Bruel. She also finished Holly the Christmas Fairy by Daisy Meadows recently.

What are you reading this week? It's Monday! is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, so hop over there if you'd like to see what others are reading too. You can also check out the younger version of It's Monday!
Labels:

Comments

  1. Sue JacksonAugust 18, 2014 at 7:03 PM

    Hi, Julie! I've been gone, too (physically gone, not just missing from the blog world), so it's great to catch up with you.

    We liked the first Benedict Society book the best, though we enjoyed both of them on audio.

    Enjoy your books this week and the end of summer!

    Sue

    Book By Book

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JulieAugust 19, 2014 at 10:20 AM

      Welcome back, Sue! I hope all is well. He seems to be enjoying the second book, although he got sidetracked by another series he got at the library yesterday.

      Delete
  2. TeddyreeAugust 18, 2014 at 7:13 PM

    Life sometimes means reviewing and blogging need to sit on the back burner, I only post 3-4 times a week and I find it tough to balance it all lol. I'm off to check out your historical fiction list. Have a good week and happy reading :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JulieAugust 19, 2014 at 10:21 AM

      Yes, life definitely gets in the way sometimes! And that's okay. Have a great week!

      Delete
  3. Kellee Moye (@kelleemoye)August 18, 2014 at 10:00 PM

    I've had the Mysterious Benedict Society (book 1) in my classroom library for years, but have not had a kid read it--happy to hear that the series is good. Maybe C could write a book talk for me to share with my students :)

    And trust me, I understand life getting in the way. Life is more important sometimes. We all understand :)

    Happy reading this week! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JulieAugust 19, 2014 at 10:21 AM

      I would love to get him to write a book talk or review. Unfortunately, he's much more interested in reading than writing! Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  4. ElizabethAugust 18, 2014 at 10:56 PM

    I liked The House We Grew Up In. Will be looking for your thoughts.

    Going to check out your review of The Bookman's Tale. I "think" have that book on my shelf. :)

    ENJOY your reading week.

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My It's Monday, What Are You Reading

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JulieAugust 19, 2014 at 10:22 AM

      I had some issues with The House We Grew Up In, honestly. I think I'll get my review done this week, and I hope you check it out!

      Delete
  5. Myra Garces BacsalAugust 19, 2014 at 3:52 AM

    Hi there Julie, I adored The Mysterious Benedict Society series - still haven't read The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict, but I already own a copy, and can't wait to read it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JulieAugust 19, 2014 at 10:23 AM

      You know, the librarian gave C that one when the second book wasn't available. He really couldn't get into it and asked to return it without reading it. But he seems to like the second book now that he was able to get that.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Popular posts from this blog

Getting back to blogging

It seems that blogging has dropped to the bottom of my list for the past year, and was pretty low for the year or two prior to that. I love to read, and am continuing to do so, but as my regular readers know I haven't been around much. My last blog post was almost a year ago!!

There are many things that have taken me away from blogging. Work has been much more challenging and interesting these past few years, but that means I really don't want to get back on the computer when I get home at night - or on the weekends.

Family life has been more busy with kids having multiple activities in the evenings, leaving little time to just hang out and write about the books that I read.

I will admit to a bit of a Facebook addiction, which means way too much time spent scrolling through my newsfeed instead of doing something more productive. This is one of the things I'm working on and hoping that this will free up some time for getting back to the blog.

Overall, life is good. Work is …
Post a Comment
Read more

Banned Books Week: Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park

This is the end of Banned Books Week and unfortunately, I haven't had a lot of time to write about banned books this year. But I did want to include at least one post about it, so today I wanted to share one of the book series that it seems most people are surprised to find on the list: Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park.

According to Wikipedia:
The Junie B. Jones series came in at #71 on the American Library Association's list of the Top 100 Banned or Challenged Books from 2000-2009. Reasons cited are poor social values taught by the books and Junie B. Jones not being considered a good role model due to her mouthiness and bad spelling/grammar. This is an interesting example of a banned book. Many times there are serious, controversial topics featured in books that are challenged. Things like homosexuality, drugs, vulgar language, etc. You can actually understand why people may not want their children to read those books, and why they may challenge their inclusion in school libra…
10 comments
Read more

April Reading Review

Where exactly did April go? I swear it was just the middle of March and now it's May. Once again, I'm going to provide a quick review of each of the books I read last month. For the last two weeks of the month, I participated in the Spring Into Horror Readathon hosted by Michelle at Seasons of Reading. The only rule was that you had to read at least one book that was horror, thriller, etc. I read one book that qualified. With the exception of the first book in my list, the books I mention below were read during the readathon


My book club's May selection was Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. I had started reading this nonfiction book about the author's work representing men, women and children who were on death row in March but finished the book in April. This is an eye-opening story that everyone at my book club discussion agreed should be required reading for law schools and police officers and even legislators who are making the laws related to judgements. I learned to…
3 comments
Read more