It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (June 29, 2015)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a meme begun by Sheila at Book Journey. Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts have given it a kidlit focus.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Other Than Reading...

I made a quick trip back to my winter home on Monday and came back to Duluth on Wednesday. My main purpose of the trip was to attend a court hearing. Our townhouse association has taken one of our owners to Conciliation Court because he hasn't paid his association dues for five years. This long drawn out process began in November and still isn't finished today. But, at least, now we have a judgment against him and have some hope for seeing the money he owes the association.

While there, I also stopped at school and turned in my paperwork for insurance for next year. Our rates went up about 25% which caused some concern for lots of the staff. I will become eligible for Medicare in August and decided that going on Medicare and a supplemental insurance was the best way for me to go. I will be going down to 3/4 time next year and beginning my Teacher Retirement pension too. Minnesota has this interesting program where a teacher can retire and begin collecting their pension but still return to work if their school district will allow it. The school district agreed to let me do this since it ultimately saves them money. I plan to completely retire next year as I will reach my full Social Security age. I thought it would make sense to ease my way into retirement.

Read Last Week

I read Among Others by Jo Walton. The book which won a number of science fiction awards and was on Booklist's Adult Books for Young Adults list has been on my stack since July 20, 2011. I enjoyed it especially the references to classic science fiction books but I'm not sure what young adults would actually make of it. For me, it definitely seemed like a book for others like me who read large quantities of science fiction in their youth. My review will be posted on July 29.

Then I tackled my review books that will be releasing in August.

School for Sidekicks by Kelly McCullough is a middle grade fantasy/science fiction story which takes place in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Earth was hit with a hero bomb which killed many and turned some of the survivors into superheroes or supervillains. The thirteen-year-old hero desperately wants super powers of his own but, when he gets them, finds that things are not as they seem. My review will be posted on July 30.

I also read Daughter of Dusk by Livia Blackburne which is the second book in the Midnight Thief series. This fantasy is action packed and our heroine has to make lots of decisions about what is right and what she wants for herself. My review will be posted on July 25.

Currently

Public Enemies by Ann Aguirre is another sequel and another August 4 release. I enjoyed the first in this contemporary fantasy series.

Next Week

I'm going to start the week by finishing my August review books.

I got Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell from Edelweiss. I was curious to read another retelling of the Cinderella story. I hear this one has some twists.

I got Reawakened by Colleen Houck from NetGalley. This book begins a new series for her that is "about a teenage girl entangled in an epic Egyptian quest full of romance, adventure, and mythology!"

Since I have a little break before beginning to read the 16 review books on my stack releasing in September, I thought I'd read a few that have been on TBR mountain for a while.

Seconds Away by Harlan Coben is the second Mickey Bolitar young adult mystery. I've had it since July 3, 2013.

Blood Prophecy by Alyxandra Harvey is in the Drake Chronicles vampire series. It has been on my stack since January 8, 2013.

Reviews Posted

• Seeker by Arwyn Elys Dayton
• Don't Ever Change by M. Beth Bloom
• Between Us and the Moon by Rebecca Maizel

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

I had a great week. Besides the SYNC Audiobooks, I got a big box from Macmillan that had 12 ARCs for Fall release books which is why this stack is so big. Four of them were duplicates that I had already gotten from NetGalley.

The two SYNC audiobooks are both ones I've seen but never read.

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

You have until Thursday to download your own copies.

Here are the ARCs.

 Young Widow's Club by Alexandra Coutts (Nov. 10)

Losers Take All by David Klass (Oct. 20)

 Listen to the Moon by Michael Morpurgo (Oct. 27)

Dead Investigations by Charlie Price (Oct. 20)

 On the Run by Tristan Bancks (Nov. 17)

The Fall by James Preller (Sept. 22)

The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett (Nov. 3)

Finding Fortune by Delia Ray (Nov. 10)

The Devil's Engine: Hellraisers by Alexander Gordon Smith (Dec. 1)

From Amazon Vine, I got:

Soundless by Richelle Mead (Nov. 10)

You can check Inside of a Dog (my other blog) to see what adult books I read, reviewed, and plan to read.