Sunday Post (20) / It's Monday, What Are You Reading

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ 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 quiet week which is kind of nice. I was off on Monday for Labor Day and also on Friday since I worked yesterday. I usually don't like to work Saturdays as the day tends to drag and I like having two days off in a row. Yesterday however was very productive as my colleague and I pretty much spent the whole day figuring out the complicated October schedule so the day flew by. I would still have preferred to stay home as the weather was rainy and dreary!

I did watch a couple of movies that I liked. It is rare for me to finish movies these days as I tend to get bored but I really liked The Age of Adaline and pretty much watched it in one evening. I also liked Far From the Madding Crowd. I wasn't familiar with the story so I checked the book out from the library to give it a try too.

This week I have a potluck/movie night for book club on Tuesday and I've figured out what dish I am taking but I'm supposed to provide dessert. The movie is Swedish (The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared) so I thought it would be nice to have a Swedish dessert but that proved to be more difficult than I thought! Now I am torn between pumpkin pie cake and pumpkin pudding. The pumpkin pie cake tastes divine but it has two sticks of butter in it. I found a somewhat lighter recipe but it still has 21 grams of fat. Back to the Pinterest drawing board...

 Last week on the blog:

If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins (review)

Dream Things True by Marie Marquardt (review)

Books read:

After You by Jojo Moyes

I thought this was pretty good and liked how it explored grief. Not as good as Me Before You of course but still I really like this author and it was nice to catch up with the characters. 

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

This was fantastic and surprisingly more of a historical fiction frontier novel (which I love) rather than a fantasy novel like her other books. The only fantastical element was Leah's ability to sense gold. Can't wait to read the next book!

The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee

While this did remind me of Sarah Addison Allen (main character has a mystical way of "knowing" what food will help people), I was not expecting all the steamy scenes! Seriously the couple seemed to spend all their time together in the bedroom. As a reader of romance novels that didn't bother me but it might put some other readers off. I would have liked more growth and depth in the relationship between Portia and Gabriel. It is still a good book and I loved Gabriel's youngest daughter, Ariel. She was so smart and precocious. 

Currently reading:

Avelynn by Marissa Campbell

This is an interesting mix of historical romance with just a hint of fantasy. Kind of reminds me of The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. The setting is definitely unusual for historical fiction. The heroine is a Saxon pagan and she is being trained to be a priestess but has to hide her beliefs as everyone else is Christian and she could be killed if they found out. She falls in love with a Viking (big no no) but is betrothed to a guy who is reminiscent of Ramsey Bolton from Game of Thrones.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

I started reading our September book club pick when the events in Avelynn got too dark and I wanted a break. So far I love it. The main character is a Chinese boy who falls in love with a Japanese girl at a time when the Japanese were being rounded up and sent to internment camps during WWII. 

What I might read next:

Lord Fenton's Folly by Josi S. Kilpack

This is a companion novel to A Heart Revealed. I think it sounds like a more lighthearted novel than the ones I am currently reading.

What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler

Another dark book on my reading list! This one is very true to life and deals with the rape of a high school classmate and how the town sides with the athletes accused of the rape.

Newt's Emerald by Garth Nix

I've never read Garth Nix's books before but this sounds like fun. It is a YA regency romance/fantasy inspired by Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer.

The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach by Pam Jenoff

New books received:

The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian (for review)

Newt's Emerald by Garth Nix (for review)

Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal (library book)

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (library book)