Currently Reading

The Selection by Kiera Cass

I’m about halfway through this one, and OMG YOU GUYS, I love it. It has some flaws, but I don’t care. If The Hunger Games and The Bachelorette got together and created a baby, it would be this book.  I’m not one to get lost in wish-fulfillment, but c’mon!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling

I know some of you were upset that I liked Goblet of Fire less on my re-read of it. Well, you will be pleased to know that I like this one much more on round three! It’s slow going because I already know what happens, but I’m about halfway through the audiobook.

The Know-It-All by AJ Jacobs

Non-fiction, the story of a man who reads the entire Encyclopaedia Brittanica in one year. I have been working on this one for over a year, and I’m twenty pages from the end. Good thing I wasn’t trying to read the encyclopedia, huh? I would have FAILED. TAKE THAT, NOOK BOOK! I cannot resell you, so I WILL finish you!

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

The story of a girl and a boy who meet at the airport and fall in love over the events of the following 24 hours. I read maybe 20 pages before getting sucked in to The Selection. But since this one is required reading for April, rest assured that I will tackle it in the next four days!

Across The Universe by Beth Revis

Sort of a sci-fi love story, I’m still not sure what this book is actually about. Something about a girl getting un-cryogenically frozen on a space ship and trying to figure out who did it. Just got the audiobook via Overdrive at the public library, after being on the waiting list for about six weeks. I burned it to nine CD’s last night. Depending on if I can renew Harry Potter, I will be starting this one on my drive to Virginia tomorrow.

A note on my post-Picnik photo-editing woes: Getting a graphic with book covers like this was a PAIN in the ASS. I had to use Pixlr, which is like a light, web-based version of Photoshop, to create the basic gray background and add each book cover. Resizing and aligning the covers sucked, but I know how to do it now. Then I uploaded the saved collage to Picmonkey to add the framing, rounded edges, and caption. Yikes, that’s a lot of work. It took me two hours! Granted, it will go faster next time. But it used to take 5 minutes in Picnik.

So, in short, I’m still playing with graphics in a post-Picnik world. If anyone has advice on how they are displaying book covers in better way, please let me know! I like there to be a simple elegance to it.

Hunger Games…Round 2

March is turning out to be a busy month for me! I’m reading like the wind, but I’m currently in the middle of some big ol’ books so I’ve got no book reviews to blog about…yet. Here’s what I’m currently reading:

 

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

I’m about halfway through this, reading it as an e-book from the public library (so I need to finish soon!). It’s considered one of Agatha Christie’s best, with a great twist, so I can’t wait to find out what happens! I’m a little bit confused about the characters, so I need to make a chart or something, but I’m hoping it all comes together at the end…and I’m sure it will. I’m hoping to be done by the weekend.

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

So far this one is REALLY good. Like she does, Picoult is keeping me guessing at every page turn. I’m more than halfway through the novel, but I’m setting it aside in favor of the the others that I need to be reading in a more timely manner. I’m hoping to finish by the end of next week because I’ve picked this is a required reading for March.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling

I was re-reading the series in print, but decided to reignite my enthusiasm for the process by picking this one up as an audio book from the public library. I’m on disc 11 of 17. I must say that Jim Dale’s narration is stellar and I am really enjoying the story this way. I might do book 5 on audio, too. I should be done by the end of next week.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I promised myself I’d reread the novel before the movie hit the theaters, which is four days away. Guess it’s time to get on that! I read it for the first time in the fall of 2009 and I feel like it’s stuck in my mind pretty well. However, I expect that I will love it just as much on the second go-around! I’ll be reading it as a combination of audio and print.

What are you currently reading? Have you read any of these books?

Reading Snapshot: Mid February

Currently Reading:

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

I’m loving this book. I wish I had more time to read lately, because I’m enjoying every page. That’s kind of what I love about good non-fiction — since there’s not always a linear plot, I’m not powering through to find out what happens. Mindy makes me laugh and I want to savor the last 1/3 of the book.

The Red Blazer Girls by Michael D. Biel

I’m reading this as an audio book. I really like it and it’s super cute, I just have some great music CD’s in my car that are calling my name lately. I will finish by early next week.

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

This is our book club read. It’s prompting some great discussions about individuality and social structure in schools. The kids love it! We are about 75% through and should finish by the end of the month (reading very slowly). It was my favorite book in high school, so it’s interesting to read it again as an adult.

Up Next:

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

This may come sooner rather than later. It’s calling my name lately, I’m almost ready to sit down and read it all at once. Maybe this Sunday, since my girlfriend will be elsewhere and I’ll have my first Sunday alone in six weeks!

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

This is part of my February Required Reading, so I’m ready to start it and clear it from my shelf. I can’t wait.

What are you reading right now? What’s at the top of your TBR pile?

Currently Reading

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys 

This is a beautiful story about the movement of a Lithuanian family to work in Siberia during World War II. It’s sad and heartbreaking. I’m about 1/3 of the way through, and I can see why it’s on so many Newbery-hopeful lists.

All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin

YA dystopia about a world where chocolate and caffeine are illegal. Anya is the daughter of a crime boss who trafficked chocolate (he’s now dead), and she’s going to fall in love with the assistant DA’s son. Cue star-crossed romance…but I hear it’s good, and it’s dystopia, so I’m in. I’m on page 100/368.

Hunted by Cheryl Rainfield

YA paranormal/dystopian fiction. I’m excited about it, but I’m having technical difficulties because it’s a digital ARC given to me by the author, so it won’t save the page I’m on.

5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (and Other Useful Guides) by The Oatmeal 

Got this one as an e-book from the public library because I LOVE The Oatmeal. Since it’s graphic rather than text, I’m also having technical difficulties because I can’t zoom in and many of the words are too small. But I’m determined to read it because I know it will be hilarious!

Snapshot

It’s both a blessing and a curse when I’ve got too many good books to read. I’m currently at one of those points. Here’s a snapshot of what I’m reading right now:

Before I Die by Jenny Downham is one of my required reading picks for November. I’m halfway through and I’ve got 72 hours to finish it up. It’s okay, but I know it’s going to end with a bang. However, I keep getting distracted by…

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. I’ve got this as an e-book from the public library and I’m super excited to be reading it. I’ve got eight days left before it disappears.

I’m reading two chapters a week in A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle for our sixth grade book club. I’m kind of getting into it, but I’ll admit that it’s not my favorite book. I’ll be done by next Tuesday.

The book I really, really want to be reading is MindFire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds by Scott Berkun. I’ve read to the end of my free sample on my Nook and I’m not allowing myself to buy it until I finish the other three novels. What a difficult life of denial!

I”m also tossing around a few ideas in my head for December required reading. I’ll narrow it down by Thursday, I guess. But there’s the current state of my currently reading pile. Reading all of these books doesn’t just happen over night, you know!

Currently Reading

Sometimes the books I read are quite long, so I spend longer than a week on them. I’m currently reading three very long books, so I’m working my way through all of them. Here they are, in the order I will likely finish them:

I discovered Delirium while browsing other bloggers’ posts for a Top Ten Tuesday a few weeks back. It is YA dystopian romance, but apparently the ending is jaw-dropping. And I loooooove a good, jaw-dropping ending. I’m particularly proud of this one because it’s an e-book that I successfully checked out and downloaded to my Nook from the public library.

I’ve got The Help as an audiobook. There are sixteen discs in this massive novel. So far I think it’s amazing, even if I have seen many critiques of the historical accuracy.

I received Just My Type as an advanced reader copy from the publisher. I finally figured out how to open it up on my Nook, so I’m finally able to read it. I do so love getting free books. Maybe one day I’ll be cool enough to snag ARC’s/galleys for YA fiction. Here’s hopin’

What I’m Reading This Weekend

I’m starting to see a pattern when I read non-fiction. It will take me months to read a single non-fiction book because I keep getting distracted by shiny new fiction titles. Especially this time of year, when the Title I orders are done and all the books are in for the summer…we’ve got books just bursting from the shelves, calling my name.