It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? March 4, 2013

It’s Monday, What are you Reading? Here’s what I finished last week, what I’m currently reading and other book related posts. As usual, linking up with Book Journey today to recap and visit other bloggers to see what’s on their reading lists. Great way to get new book recommendations.

 

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Last week I Finished

Secret Lives by Diane Chamberlain. Eden Riley is a famous actress whose strange, reclusive mother died when she was a young girl. Eden goes back to her mother’s hometown to learn more about her but what she discovers is shocking and difficult to comprehend. She meets Ben, a man with his own haunting and horrible past. I love Ms. Chamberlain’s books for the depth she gives her characters, the difficult situations they have to deal with and the ways in which they cope and overcome their obstacles. This was a page-turner and an easy, albeit, disturbing read. I always enjoy Ms. Chamberlain’s books for the uniqueness of each story, this one is no exception.

On audibook, I finished Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson as my adventure classic for the Back to the Classics Reading Challenge Adventure classic and the Monthly Keyword Challenge for March using the keyword “treasure”. Jim Hawkins is a young English boy on a journey with pirates to find a lost treasure. I love that the book started quickly and dove into action right from the start. The narrator is great for the parts narrated by Jim and the doctor. However, his English + pirate accent is difficult to understand and I find myself missing parts of the story and losing focus. This is the second time when the narrator diminished my enjoyment of the book. I am going to have to read the paper version to hopefully appreciate the story.

 

This Week I’m Reading

At night, I’m reading In The Woods by Tana French for the book club hosted by two of my favorite book bloggers, Allison of The Book Wheel and Rebecca of Love at First Book. Set in Ireland, three kids go out to play and only one boy comes home. The boy is unable to describe what happened to his friends, he simply does not know. He changes his name, goes to boarding school and attempts to forget the past. His past catches up to him 20 years later when he is a detective on a murder case in his old hometown. It’s an interesting read so far and look forward to seeing how the plot thickens.

I’m listening to The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption and Pee, an autobiography narrated by Sarah Silverman. I figured after my recent disappointments with narrators, who better than a comedic actress to deliver her own story in an entertaining way? I admit that I am enjoying this audiobook. While some stories from her childhood are centered on poop and pee (and she admits as much on the foreward of the book), there are others that are deep and heart-wrenching. One minute I’m laughing and the next I have chills going down my spine. She describes her bout with enuresis, a condition where her bladder is too small and she cannot control wetting the bed. While she jokes about it now, during her youth and young adulthood, Sarah candidly describes how it caused her humiliation, embarrassment and depression. Everyone has a story to tell, I’m enjoying Sarah’s, she’s unpredictable, funny and surprisingly poignant.

 

Other book-related posts from last week: 

Since I’ve been enjoying tackling the classics, I signed up for the Classics Club. This club is a community of bloggers who want to read 50 or more books in 5 years. Members post reviews to the Classics club site, participate in group discussions, challenges, read-a-thons and memes.

I also started a Blogging Events Calendar 2013 page to keep track of all the blogging marathons, read-a-thons, online book blogging conferences and review-a-thons coming up through June 2013. So many free resources and great opportunities to learn from and network with other bloggers I don’t want to miss.

Well,that’s what I’ve been up to. What are you reading this week? Have you read any of the books in my post? What did you think? Tell me in the comments and let me know. Hope you link up or visit Book Journey too and see what other book bloggers are reading. Happy reading and have a good week!

34 Comments

  1. I agree with the commenters above, In The Woods sounds intriguing! I am adding it to my list! I love finding book recommendations in blogs 🙂

    At the moment I’m reading “The Mystery of Mercy Close” by Marian Keyes, so far it’s as fun as her other books which I’ve enjoyed. Next up is “The Painted Girls” by Cathy Marie Buchanan. It’s a novel about a ballerina who models for Edgar Degas, so it’s set in Paris in the late 1800s, I’m looking forward to this one.

    1. Hi Kate! oohhh I’ve heard good things about The Painted Girls and I’d like to read it as well. I haven’t heard of The Mystery of Mercy Close but glad to hear you are enjoying it. I will have to give Marian Keyes a try. Thanks for stopping by and commenting, hope to hear from you again soon.

  2. In the Woods sounds good, is it really intense? I haven’t ever read Treasure Island but I love the story the miniseries with Brian Blessed was my favorite!

    Right now I’m only reading school books for my Brit Lit class; so Pride & Prejudice, Dracula, and maybe a few Dickens. Oh and fan fiction 🙂

    1. In the Woods is not too intense really, it’s rather slow moving but the characters are kinda creepy and it’s hard to figure out what’s going to happen next and whether the current day murder is related to the incident involving the disappearance of the Detective’s friends 20 years prior. I’m almost half way through and hoping I can finish because it’s going a little too slowly.

      I’ve read Pride and Prejudice, which was good but not my favorite and I have Dracula on my list to read for the Classics Club as well.

      Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

    1. That’s right Rebecca! I hope it works with your schedule so you can participate in these with me!

  5. Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂
    How are you finding ‘In the Woods’ so far? (Or should I just go back to the post discussions…)

    1. Hiya Mel, I find In the Woods kinda creepy and kinda slow. I’m now almost half way through and I’m still waiting for the story to pick up the pace otherwise it’s going to lose me. I like books where I feel a connection with the characters or who are relatable, and the only one I can relate to is Cassie. I’m definitely curious as to which way the story will go but I need something pivotal to happen soon before I lose interest entirely. How are you enjoying it? Thanks for stopping by!

  6. Looks like you’re keeping busy with book blogger events. I visited your Calendar page to see what’s coming up. Very handy list! Thanks for visiting my blog.

    1. Yes I have been busy and I still have reviews that need to be written! Glad the list was helpful to you. If you have an event to share with me, please let me know. I love these events and chances to meet other bloggers and get things done. I appreciate you returning the visit Laura!

  7. I don’t think I could read that many classics. It is 5 years so it shouldn’t be too bad.
    I like your blogging events calendar! I’m going to check out the March portion when it’s posted up. I desperately need to update my blog. Sounds like you had a great week of reading. Hope you have another one this week!

    1. Well it’s “classics” as you define it. So some of the modern children’s classics I have like the 7 Harry Potter books and Chronicles of Narnia won’t be so bad. I tried to mix it up between some lighter reads and some heavy hitters, and you’re right 5 years isn’t so bad. Thanks for stopping by Adriana!

    1. So many good books…so little time. I know the feeling! Why can’t I make a living lying in bed and reading? 🙂

    1. Thanks, Rebecca will be high on my list since it seems so many people enjoy it!

  11. I really enjoyed Into the Wood and it seems you are, too. Have fun with your book discussion, I remember there was some discussion on Shelfari (where I’m a member) about this book when I read it a few years back. My real-life book group meets Friday!

    1. I’m not a member of Shelfari. How does it compare to Goodreads? Glad you enjoyed In the Woods, I still can’t figure out where this story is going to go!

      1. I used Shelfari before I heard of Goodreads, that may be the reason I prefer it. It has a really nice book shelf view, where you can easily see all the books on the different shelves. It’s less popular than Goodreads but that also means the discussion groups are smaller (fewer people) which is nice.

        1. I understand, I am like you and tend to be loyal to the first social platform I use, which is Goodreads for me and I have not explored the others much. That is nice that the discussions are smaller and I do like the shelf view of the books. My in-person book club is small but then sometimes we have trouble thinking of discussion questions, but it’s really a chance for friends to get together. Thanks for your feedback Judith.

  12. I am not sure I’ve read Secret Lives. I am a huge fan of the author. I enjoyed In The Woods, hope you do as well. Have a great week.

    1. Me too, Diane Chamberlain is one of my favorites. She ran a $5 Kindle special on Secret Lives and donated proceeds to American Red Cross for the Superstorm victims in NJ. Thanks Nise’ for stopping by, I’m really anxious to see how In the Woods turns out.

    1. Glad you found it helpful Tanya. Please do let me know of other read-a-thons or events that I can add to my list!

  15. In the Woods sounds awesome – my kind of read! The premis sounds a bit like Cecelia Ahern’s book, A Place called Here which was my favourite read of 2012! I’ll check it out on ibooks. 🙂

  17. I don’t think I’ve heard of any of the books you mentioned (other than Treasure Island), they sound like interesting reads though).

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