Sunday Post (6) / It's Monday, What Are You Reading

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. It's Monday, What Are You Reading is a fun weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey where we share what we've read and reviewed over the past week and what we plan to read next. I will also be sharing my It's Monday post on Twitter #IMWAYR.

I had a really busy week at the library getting ready for our summer reading program which starts tomorrow. Our first event for adults is an after hours concert this Friday night and then next Monday we have a Bigfoot program. I'm also having another murder mystery dinner which seems to be our most popular program for adults (except maybe last summer's beer tasting and brewery tour). I can't believe summer reading program is already here! It feels like we spend most of the year preparing for it. I always enjoy this time of year at work even though it is busy. It is fun to see people so excited about reading. Even the adults have been calling and stopping by to ask when they can sign up. Of course we are giving away an iPad Mini 3 as our adult SRP grand prize which helps... 

I'm surprised that I was able to finish four books last week. It probably helped that Monday was a holiday so I had time to read and write a few book reviews. I still have a long list of review books to get through and hopefully I'll get caught up on my reviews this summer. I'm so happy that tomorrow is the first day of June. I wish it was summer all year round :)

Last week on my blog:

Top Ten Books Beach Reads (post)

Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry (review)

Books read:

The Tower, The Zoo and the Tortoise by Julia Stewart

I struggled with this book at first but then it started getting better and in the end I really enjoyed it. It is sad (two characters are struggling in the years since their child's death) and funny at the same time. I liked the quirky characters, especially eccentric Valerie who works in the lost and found office for the London Underground and falls for a man named Arthur Catnip and Septimus Drew, the young vicar who writes erotic novels under the pseudonym Vivian Ventress.  My book group members also agreed that the book was slow to start but really entertaining and touching in the end.

The Wrong Side of Right by Jenn Marie Thorne

I liked this YA contemporary novel about a teen who finds out that the dad she never knew is actually a senator running for President. She ends up joining his campaign but has second thoughts when the campaign's beliefs don't exactly align with her own and her dad doesn't spend much time getting to know his long lost daughter. I did like that the senator's wife is portrayed as a caring person when she could have been really antagonistic.

The Swap by Megan Shull

This is a "Freaky Friday" kind of novel but instead of a parent and child swapping bodies, it is a girl and boy. 12 year old Ellie is feeling adrift when her best friend morphs into a mean girl who constantly puts her down. Jack is the most popular boy at their middle school and seems to have no problems but his home life isn't that great with a really strict dad for whom good is never good enough since the death of Jack's mom. After a visit to the school nurse they find themselves trading bodies and lives and realizing that the grass isn't greener on the other side. I thought the book was a funny and thoughtful story.

Emmy and Oliver by Robin Benway

Emmy and Oliver are best friends till Oliver is kidnapped by his dad when they are seven years old. Ten years later Oliver returns to town. In the years since, Emmy's parents have become very overprotective so she doesn't tell them that she has learned how to surf and that she loves it or that she is planning to go away to college at a school with a surfing program. Oliver feels smothered by his mom and her expectations and the new family she created in his absence. I really liked this novel about difficult family relationships and friendship and love. It was different from the other books I've read by her (Also Known As, Going Rogue) but it was very good.

Currently reading:

Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey

This novel has both a historical and contemporary story line. Jess is hiding from an abusive boyfriend in an abandoned cottage. At the cottage a letter arrives from an elderly man looking for  someone he once loved. She also finds a box of letters written between the man while he was a pilot in WWII and Stella, his lost love.  Jess tries to piece together what happened to Stella in the hopes of forwarding the letter to her while also figuring out what she will do next in her own life. I really like the book so far though the plot seems really familiar, kind of like a Sarah Jio novel maybe.

What I might read next:

Beach Town by Mary Kay Andrews

Now that summer is sort of here, I am in the mood for some beach reading. I loved Mary Kay Andrews's Spring Fever and some of her other books as well. This one involves a film location scout looking for a beach town. I usually like how the author includes details about the protagonists' careers in her books. I think it would be kind of cool to be a location scout though this particular character may have a hard time ahead since the community may not be okay about a film crew descending on their town.

Sophomore Year is Greek to Me by Meredith Zeitlin

I would love to visit Greece someday but in the meantime I can armchair travel with Zona in this book.

The Idea of Love by Patti Callahan Henry

I was drawn to this as an unusual love story where both characters are seriously misrepresenting themselves when they meet. Ella wants people to believe that her husband died in a selfless act of heroism and Hunter who is a screenwriter (a fact not known by Ella) is looking for a powerful love story to save his career.

New books received:

The Swap by Megan Shull (library book)

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh (library book)

The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert (review book)