Reading this past week has been difficult. It isn't that I have not had the time to read. I have. But watching the kitten is so much more entertaining right now; and, therefore, other activities, including reading, have been sacrificed this week as a result. We are getting acquainted with each other, learning each other's habits, likes and dislikes. My friends and family are surely already tired of my constant animal chatter--how this one is getting along with the other and what cute kittenish thing Anya is doing now (even though every kitten in history has done it repeatedly). As I am sure those of you with animals know, it is always cuter and more special when your own kitten is involved.
My friend Christine informed me early last week that the first weekend in August is Panic Weekend. Schools are starting up again and everyone is making a mad dash to fit in the last of the summer projects and activities that they can before life goes back to a more familiar routine. Even though summer can stretch as long as I like since my life does not evolve around the school calendar, there is a sense of something coming to an end as September approaches.
I have big reading plans this month even though I know it's mostly wishful thinking. Still, it is better to have too much than too little when it comes to books on the immediate TBR shelf.
Just a few of the books I would like to get to this month that I am eagerly anticipating:
Rises the Night by Colleen Gleason
The Bleeding Dusk by Colleen Gleason
Goodbye and Amen by Beth Gutcheon
Janeology by Karen Harrington
Matrimony by Joshua Henkin
Sweet Mandarin by Helen Tse
First Daughter by Eric Van Lustbader
The Toss of a Lemon by Padma Viswanathan
Do you find yourself caught in the August rush, scurrying to catch up and finish off projects and activities before the end of the summer season? Are there any books you hope to read this month?
Sundays have reverted back to being the day I start new books as opposed to finishing them up. This morning I began reading J. Scott Savage's Far World: Water Keep, the first in his 5 part YA fantasy series. Having recently finished Penelope Przekop's Aberrations, a little time in a fantasy world sounds quite tantalizing.
My friend Christine informed me early last week that the first weekend in August is Panic Weekend. Schools are starting up again and everyone is making a mad dash to fit in the last of the summer projects and activities that they can before life goes back to a more familiar routine. Even though summer can stretch as long as I like since my life does not evolve around the school calendar, there is a sense of something coming to an end as September approaches.
I have big reading plans this month even though I know it's mostly wishful thinking. Still, it is better to have too much than too little when it comes to books on the immediate TBR shelf.
Just a few of the books I would like to get to this month that I am eagerly anticipating:
Rises the Night by Colleen Gleason
The Bleeding Dusk by Colleen Gleason
Goodbye and Amen by Beth Gutcheon
Janeology by Karen Harrington
Matrimony by Joshua Henkin
Sweet Mandarin by Helen Tse
First Daughter by Eric Van Lustbader
The Toss of a Lemon by Padma Viswanathan
Do you find yourself caught in the August rush, scurrying to catch up and finish off projects and activities before the end of the summer season? Are there any books you hope to read this month?
Sundays have reverted back to being the day I start new books as opposed to finishing them up. This morning I began reading J. Scott Savage's Far World: Water Keep, the first in his 5 part YA fantasy series. Having recently finished Penelope Przekop's Aberrations, a little time in a fantasy world sounds quite tantalizing.
Week in Review:
Review of Kindness Goes Unpunished by Craig Johnson
Cataloging and Where Reading Has Taken Me: Tuesday Wanderings & Tuesday Thingers .
Review of Tragedy in South Lebanon: The Israeli-Hezbollah War of 2006 by Cathy Sultan
Review of Watches of the Night by Sally Wright
Off Topic Chatter: Is It Friday Yet?
Off TopicPhotos: My Furry Threesome
Book Recommendations
New Additions to the TBR Collection:
First Daughter by Eric Van Lustbader
The Toss of a Lemon by Padma Viswanathan
It looks like the fur kids have settled down for a late morning nap. I wouldn't mind joining them, but I have other things that need to be taken care of first. Have a great week and happy reading!
I'm scrambling to get some last minute things done before fall arrives -- a few more day trips and a lot more reading.
ReplyDeleteBooks I'd like to read this month:
Sweet Mandarin
The Lace Reader
American Wife
Stealing Athena
So Long at the Fair
The Twilight Series
The Catcher in the Rye
Most of these are ARCs, of course. I've gotten a bit behind so August will be mostly and read and review month for me.
I was expecting a little more from Matrimony. See what you think.
ReplyDeleteI wish you lots of luck in being able to finish up all the books that you would like to read and more!
ReplyDeleteFor my part, I'd like to say that for me Panic Weekend is the weekend of 16 Aug. This is tax free weekend here in Mass. A time when people go crazy shopping just to save a few bucks. I went out once during that weekend...worse than Black Friday...never again. I now prefer to hibernate and avoid the shops!
I read Sweet Mandarin a couple of days ago and was really surprised by how enjoyable I found it. I didn't expect much so it pleasantly rewarded me. =)
ReplyDeleteNo August rush for me, my grad school doesn't start until October. Just trying to make some money and read as much as possible in the meantime!
please my summer break has only just started!
ReplyDeleteMy Sunday Salon Post
Hi Wendy :)
ReplyDeleteI have to get aquainted with Coleen Gleason, I see you and Nat both like her, I like good vampire stories once in a while, so i am putting her on m list.
It seems that Sunday is the day I start a new book.
I totlally understand your life with your new kitty, I played with Oliver today took him for his walk, took photos and posted, it is now 8:30 and I am just now going to start my new book...
The change of season affects me, every time and I can feel the summer slowly sipping away.
Hoping you have a good week and get to read what you plan :)
wow, I just re-read my post....:P sorry for all the errors, I must be tired =)
ReplyDeleteOh, I don't mind hearing the kitten stories! I'd even look at pictures if you had them!
ReplyDeleteRuth - Sounds like fun! Not the scrambling part, but the day trips and lots of reading bit. :-) We will have to compare notes on Sweet Mandarin!
ReplyDeleteDebnance - I am sorry to hear that you found it disappointing. I've heard mostly good things about the book, but I know not everyone has liked it. It will be interesting to see what I think when I'm finished with it.
Irish - Thanks! I need all the luck I can get. :-) A tax free weekend! How fun! And yet I can see how it could get bad with all the crowds. I'd probably stay home too.
Meghan - I'm so glad to hear it! I am looking forward to reading it. Enjoy your time off while you can--stretch it out as far as it will go!
John - Mine doesn't start until next month technically--two weeks of vacation, here I come! Haha
Sylvie - I hope you do get the chance to read colleen Gleason's books. Her latest one is coming out next week, I believe. The animals sure do keep me busy too! Riley and Anya were playing a little earlier and now both are taking their late afternoon naps. :-)
I am looking forward to the cooler weather, that's for sure. Autumn is my favorite season.
Lesa - LOL I'm glad there's someone out there who doesn't! I did post pictures of my furkids yesterday. If you get the chance, take a look! The link is above under My Furry Threesome.
Panic Weekend? I didn't know it had a name. We've still got 24 days till the kids go back to school. Since my husband and I only have them with us on alternate weekends, our "panic weekend" will probably be two weeks from now, when we go out to do the back-to-school shopping :-).
ReplyDeleteI hope to get through more books in August than I did in July, which wouldn't take much. Matrimony is in my TBR plans for this month too.
I hate that it seems to come down to a tradeoff between book time and blog time :-).
So, since Anya is named for a demon, does she have a little devilish streak :-)? (Sorry, I just had to ask that Buffy-related question.)
I like hearing about your time spent with your furkids, Wendy! Hopefully you'll post more of their pics in future. ;)
ReplyDeleteLooks like you've a great reading month ahead of you! I'll be looking forward to reading your reviews on them.
Never heard that it was called "panic weekend," but that does make sense - although I think school starts much too early these days. Whatever happened to the three-month vacation, I wonder? Oops, I'm showing my age again!
ReplyDeleteI'll be interested to see what you think of "First Daughter" - I almost requested a copy of that one and I'd like to know what I'm missing!
Florinda - I had heard the term before but wasn't sure when it was. I know some of the schools in my county start up next week. It seems way too early to me.
ReplyDeleteI am hoping for a good reading month this month too. I am going to a conference this week and am intending to use the quiet time to get some reading done. I have a tendency though to turn on the hotel tv and veg when I'm all by myself. Very unproductive. Haha
Anya definitely has a devilish streak. Maybe it's just a part of being a kitten, but somehow I think it will stay with her when she's older too. :-) Anya is the first of my crew that was consciously named after a Buffy character. She would have been called Xander if she was a boy. ;-)
Melody - Thank you! Now that we've cleared the digital camera there may just be more photos!
Joy - School is starting too early, I agree. Some of the local schools here are staring up next week, if you can believe it.
The school calendar doesn't affect me either but I wish it felt like summer was ending. I never feel like summer has ended until around the end of Sept. because it's still hot until then, and that still feels like a long way off.
ReplyDeleteBoth our boys were about 8 months old when we adopted them so we missed the true kitten stage. Jiro still acts like a kitten a lot of the time though! :)
Nat - I usually like to take my vacations the first two weeks of September as a last hurrah for the summer. Autumn usually comes around the end of September where I live too. I always look forward to the cooler weather.
ReplyDeleteParker was about 6 to 8 months old when we took him in and so this is my first experience with a young kitten. I grew up with dogs, and so I'm much more familiar with them. I'm learning as I go. :-)
Hi Wendy, I'm depending on you to get my kitty dose because hubby still says no to pet cat... :-)
ReplyDeleteHappy reading in August! As for me, the Indy saga continues!
I know what you mean about kitty chatter. Mine are just past 7 now and I still talk about them constantly and how cute they are... I don't really feel the pressure to get thigns done before the end of the summer, but then I don't go to school or have kids in school so I don't have that timeline so distinctly as parents or slighlty younger people do. I can't believe I still haven't tried Colleen Gleason books yet.
ReplyDeleteJuly was slak for me. I read only 4 books. I was kind of in a depressing state of mind. However, I am gonna make it up in August!
ReplyDeleteHere is my SS post
Kittens are irresistible- I can't blame you! I do feel a little rushed and busy, trying to get ready for the school year and do my own reading and work, and all that. And those ARCs! :-) oy!
ReplyDeleteI don't think of it so much as panic, just busy, lol. Now with Hannah in school (1st grade this year), it just seems as though summer ends once school starts.
ReplyDeleteI have a ton of books that I would like to get read this month. I have 3 book tour stops, so need to get those read for sure. Then several ARCs.
My coworker STILL talks about her kitty even though she got her around November. :) What can you do, though? If my cat did anything cute I'd probably talk about her all the time, too. Now she's just boring and lazy--takes pretty good pictures, though. :)
ReplyDeleteI've heard great things about Matrimony--I look forward to your thoughts.
Alice - I'll do my best!
ReplyDeleteRhinoa - It's hard not to talk about our furkids--they're so adorable and bring such joy to our lives. :-) And sometimes mischief too!
Gautami - I hope August will be a better month for you!
Marie - Yes, those ARC's do keep me extra busy! A coworker was so enamored with my kitten that she decided to go out and get her own this past weekend. It's contagious!
April - Sounds like you will be very busy this month! I look forward to your book tour stops.
Trish - I read somewhere that kittenhood lasts about two years. I don't know how true that is though. :-)
I wish I didn't have allergies so I could have some furkids :)
ReplyDeleteBy the way I have Toss of a Lemon on my stack. I got an ARC from First Impressions - yay. We'll have to share notes on that.
I've had the opposite problem, I have been doing a lot of reading, but not so much blogging.
ReplyDeleteIliana - I am allergic to cats, believe it or not, but after enough time passes, I usually can at least grow use to my own pets. If I walk into someone else's house that is full of cats, my allergies will go haywire from the start.
ReplyDeleteI got my copy through First Impressions too. :-) I look forward to reading what you have to say about the book.
Alisia - Now that the kitten has been a part of our household for a week, things are beginning to settle back into a regular routine. Hopefully that means my reading will also get back to normal. :-)