It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Jan. 25, 2016)

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...

This week was filled with lots more excitement than I really wanted. I came out of the Elementary School on Monday planning to drive to the high school and found that the battery was dead in my car. A friend jump started me and I drove home and put the car in my garage. I then walked to the high school braving wind chills that were quite a ways below zero. I walked home after school and tried to start my car but it was completely dead. I called my car dealership to make an appointment to get a new battery and then started looking for someone who would come jump start my car so that I could get to the appointment. Naturally, the appointment was for Tuesday afternoon.

A friend drove me to work on Tuesday. I walked between schools and home again braving wind chills that were well below zero again. When the guy came to start my car, it wouldn't even start with a jump start. Luckily, he came in his tow truck. I had to have my car towed about 25 miles to the dealership and I got to make conversation with a big black dude named Bubba all the way there. He was quite a nice young man!

I waited at the dealership because they said they could fix the car in a couple of hours. While running the diagnostics to find out what the problem was (in case it was more than a battery that was too old), they discovered that I needed new front brake pads. Since I was already there, I had that done and an oil change. Since I knew I'd be waiting, my Kindle was in my purse. I managed to finish reading one book and read 10% of another.

After reclaiming my now very reliable car, I decided to run a couple of other errands before going back home. I stopped at Great Clips and had six inches cut off my hair. I was trying to grow it out but decided that my fine hair wasn't suitable for long hairstyles. I was getting tired of eating it and picking up long strands of white hair all over my house.

Finally, I took myself out to dinner at Outback and came home with half a steak to eat another day. I arrived home to find that the book fairy had stopped at my house. I received a big box of YA titles from Macmillan and two adult mysteries from a publicist.

Wednesday, bright and early (actually dark and early), I drove into Rochester again to have lab work done before my annual physical. Then I was off to work just one hour late which worked out quite well because we always start one hour late on Wednesdays so that teachers can be in Professional Learning Teams.

Thursday was blessedly normal and Friday was an early out for students and work time for teachers to do grades. Our first semester is over! I left at my usual 1:30 and had my annual physical where I learned that I was doing okay - no changes from last year. However, I do have couple more medical tests on the horizon to get more data for my doctor.

The weekend was quieter with reading, blogging, and assessing 90+ fifth grade reports on scientists. Monday is a work day in preparation for the second semester. I'll be working my new schedule of 9 until 3. I'm eager to see if I like that schedule as well as I have liked my 7:30 until 1:30 schedule.

Read Last Week

Nothing. I've been concentrating on reading the four new mysteries I got for review and which are all being released in early February.

Currently

I'm stuck at the 10% mark of Burning Glass by Kathryn Purdie which I read while waiting for my car to be repaired. I had to switch to one of my adult mystery review books when I got home because it will be released before Burning Glass. I'll be eager to get back to this one.

Next Week

These are all hold-overs from last week which slid down to stack behind some new arrivals.

• A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
• Where You'll Find Me by Natasha Friend
• The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins

Reviews Posted

• The Mystery of Hollow Places by Rebecca Podos
• The Iron Warrior by Julie Kagawa

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

I only bought two books this week. I have been hearing great things about both of these and want to be part of the in-crowd who has read them.

• Passenger by Alexandra Bracken
• Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

I also received a bunch of review books this week. Most of them arrived in a big box from Macmillan. I'm only waiting for two more that I requested from their Spring catalog.

Tommy McKnight and the Great Election by Danny Kravitz came as a result of an email solicitation. I like historical fiction and thought this sounded like a good middle grade title. Though it was released on Jan. 1, I committed to reading and reviewing it in April.

The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry came from Macmillan. It will be released on May 3.

The Vanishing Throne by Elizabeth May was one I discovered while browsing NetGalley. This sequel to The Falconer will be released on June 7.

All the rest of these came from Macmillan.

The Haunting of Falcon House by Eugene Yelchin will be released on June 14.

Trapped by S. A. Bodeen will be released on July 26.

The Ministry of SUITS by Paul Gamble will also be released on July 26.

The Gilded Cage by Lucinda Gray will be released on August 2.

The Secret Sea by Barry Lyga will be released on August 23. 

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