Sunday Post (36) / It's Monday, What Are You Reading

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s 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 now hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, where we share what we've read and reviewed over the past week and what we plan to read next.

I had a slow week with not much going on but I did finish a couple of books. On Wednesday I took a sick day because of something I ate so I ended up with more time to read! I've been trying to exercise every day though I also spend every evening either watching Netflix (reruns of Friends and Keeping Up Appearances) or reading my Kindle. For some reason I just don't have much energy after I get home from work. Now that winter has finally arrived (we are supposed to get our first accumulating snow this week) I have a feeling I will really have to make an effort to not be sedentary!

I've also started coloring (that's what I'm currently working on above) and I do find it to be relaxing most of the time. I'm picky about which coloring designs I use as some of them are too detailed and the patterns bother my eyes or the pages are too thin or not perforated. I became interested in the whole adult coloring craze especially after hearing from a B&N employee and several librarians about how popular their coloring programs have been. I am actually having a coloring program at my library at the end of the month and patrons have showed a lot of interest. I put together a display with some free coloring sheets and bookmarks to color and those have been incredibly popular too.

Have you tried coloring? Or do you find it too juvenile? If you do color, what do you prefer to use (markers, color pencils, crayons, gel pens) and do you have any recommendations of coloring books or coloring pencils/markers/pens that you like?

#FitReaders Weekly Check In

#FitReaders is hosted by Felicia at The Geeky Blogger and Jen at That's What I'm Talking About

I was happy to hit my goal of 10,000 steps three times this week though I had a few days when I didn't do as well. On Sunday I didn't have time to exercise before church because I overslept. Then on Tuesday I didn't exercise because my feet were hurting (I need new walking shoes) and on Wednesday though I did exercise a little, I ended up getting sick so I didn't get very many steps in. I hope to do better this week!

Sunday--4,123 steps
Monday--8,691 steps, exercised for 40 minutes
Tuesday--4,543 steps
Wednesday--4,183 steps, exercised for 31 minutes
Thursday--10,140 steps, exercised for 45 minutes
Friday--10,169 steps, exercised for 30 minutes
Saturday--12,061 steps, exercised for 42 minutes

Last week on my blog:

End of Year Book Survey and Top Ten Resolutions (post)

Until We Meet Again by Renee Collins (review)

Books read:

The Great Christmas Knit-Off by Alexandra Brown

I enjoyed this holiday book that can best be described as cozy. The main character travels to a small village for Christmas to escape her troubles and repair her broken heart. She gets involved in helping to save the local knitting store, makes friends and meets a new love interest.

Sword and Verse by Kathy MacMillan

I wasn't sure if this YA fantasy debut would live up to the hype but I really liked it. The premise is that the written word is only available to one segment of the population and it is illegal for others to learn how to read or write. The world building is good and while there is quite a bit of romance (nothing steamy-just considerable time devoted to it) I thought the story still had good pacing and action. I loved that it could be read as a standalone novel (it was originally supposed to be but now there will be a sequel).

DNF:

How to Be Brave by E. Katherine Kotteras

This was supposed to be my first book of the year and I so wanted to love it but I couldn't and I just had to quit reading it. The main character has lost her mom to an illness and as a way to honor her mom she decides to make a list of new things to try. This is not a bucket list but a life list of ways to be brave and her items are pretty stupid (smoking pot and cutting class) though some are not as bad (trying out for cheerleading). The secondary characters were also kind of stereotypical but I was okay with that. I was not okay with the drugs. I'm sorry but that isn't "living" and it definitely isn't brave. 

Currently reading:

The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth

I haven't read much of this yet but I like it so far. Very sad to think about anyone losing their memory to dementia but especially when it hits you in your prime.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (reread)

This is my favorite book and it has been years since I've read it. After How to Be Brave failed to captivate me, I started rereading it and I really love being back in the Shire. I've also been listening to the soundtrack while I read. My favorite song happens to be "Concerning Hobbits". Right now I'm at the part where Frodo, Sam and Pippin have left Hobbiton and have just met the wood elves.

Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn (reread)

I'm listening to this on audio at the moment. I started listening to Heir to the Empire last month in anticipation of The Force Awakens. I love this trilogy (I don't care that they aren't "canon"anymore!) and still wish that they'd been made into movies in the early 90s. Highly recommended to Star Wars fans.

What I might read next:

The Impostor Queen by Sarah Fine

I've seen lots of positive reviews for this YA fantasy so hopefully I will like it too. 

The Golden Son by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

I absolutely loved her debut novel, Secret Daughter, so I was thrilled to find out about The Golden Son. The main characters are Anil, a young Indian man who leaves his village to study medicine in the States and his childhood friend Leena, who has been forced into an arranged marriage to an abusive man.

New books received:

The Golden Son by Shilpi Somaya Gowda (for review)

Into the Dim by Janet B. Taylor (for review)