Monday's Minutes

“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.
Currently Reading:

  • Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
  • A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
  • Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones

  
Finished:

  • Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines
  • Day 21 by Kass Morgan
  • Bohemian Gospel by Dana Chamblee Carpenter
  • The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

   
Challenges:

Total pages read this week: 1322
Total books for the year: 32 of 90.  I managed to finish 75% of the OWLs.  I finished the Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL on Thursday, Astronomy  and History of Magic on Saturday during the #readathon, and just barely finished Charms on Sunday, the final day of the challenge.  My goal was to finish all 12 OWLs, like Hermione.  Even though that didn’t happen, I still got an Outstanding and I now have 9 subjects to choose from for the NEWTs.  I will, of course, focus on the subjects I need to become a Librarian.  Now, I need to catch up on Les Misérables.
What are you reading this week?

Monday's Minutes

“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.
Currently Reading:

  • Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
  • A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
  • Day 21 by Kass Morgan
  • Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones
  • Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines
  • The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

  
  
Finished:

  • The 100 by Kass Morgan
  • Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

 
 
Challenges:

Total pages read this week: 734
Total books for the year: 28 of 90.  I’m now more than a quarter of the way through my OWLs!  I’m in the middle of 4 of them, and I finished the Arithmancy OWL on Tuesday and Transfiguration on Wednesday.  I was originally going to read The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers, but I really wanted to read The 100.  It was so good I decided to replace The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon for Astronomy with Day 21, but it’s starting to feel like a soap opera, so I don’t know if I’ll read the next book, Homecoming.  I loved Howl’s Moving Castle so much that I immediately bought the next book, Castle in the Air, which I might use in place of The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley for the Charms OWL or Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier for Divination.
What are you reading this week?

Monday's Minutes

“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.
Currently Reading:

  • Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
  • Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
  • A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
  • The 100 by Kass Morgan

  
Finished:

  • The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
  • Skin Picking: the Freedom to Finally Stop by Annette Pasternak, Ph.D.
  • The Heart of the Revolution by Noah Levine

  
Challenges:

Total pages read this week: 778
Total books for the year: 26 of 90.  My OWLs are well under way!  I’m currently taking 2 of them, and I finished the Herbology OWL on Thursday, Muggle Studies on Friday, and Ancient Runes on Sunday.  I was originally going to read The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black, but The Lie Tree was an even more fitting choice.  I also planned on reading Voices of Freedom by Eric Foner but I finished Skin Picking: the Freedom to Finally Stop much earlier than I anticipated.
What are you reading this week?

Monday's Minutes

“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.
Currently Reading:

  • The Heart of the Revolution by Noah Levine
  • The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
  • Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
  • A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
  • Skin Picking: the Freedom to Finally Stop by Annette Pasternak, Ph.D.
  • The 100 by Kass Morgan

    
Finished:

  • Of Books and Bagpipes by Paige Shelton
  • Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
  • The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart

  
Challenges:

Total pages read this week: 626
Total books for the year: 23 of 90.  My OWLs are well under way!  I’m currently taking 3 of them, and I’m hoping to finish at least one of them by the end of the week.
What are you reading this week?

Monday's Minutes

“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.
Currently Reading:

  • The Heart of the Revolution by Noah Levine
  • Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
  • A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
  • Of Books and Bagpipes by Paige Shelton
  • The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart
  • Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

     
Challenges:

Total pages read this week: 436
Total books for the year: 20 of 90.  I finally got caught up on Les Misérables and started Rebecca.  I decided to put Designing Your Life back on my TBR for now.  It has more to do with figuring out a career than anything else, which makes sense since many people spend the majority of their time working, but I’m focused on making a home for the Boyfriend and I right now.  I’ll probably pick it back up in a month or so when finding a job becomes my focus.
What are you reading this week?

Monday's Minutes

“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.
Currently Reading:

  • Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
  • A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
  • Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
  • Of Books and Bagpipes by Paige Shelton
  • The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart

    
Finished:

  • The Kindness Handbook by Sharon Salzberg
  • Bilbo’s Last Song by J.R.R. Tolkien

 
Total pages read this week: 358
Total books for the year: 20 of 90.  Yesterday was Tolkien Reading Day and I chose to celebrate by reading Bilbo’s Last Song.  I’m still trying to catch up on Les Misérables, but I found The Piano Shop on the Left Bank on the free book cart at the VA and immediately started reading it.  I’m loving it so far and it made me spend far too much time searching and considering buying a piano for which I have absolutely no room in my tiny one-bedroom apartment.  I also added quite a few pieces of sheet music to my wish list on Amazon and ordered a copy of The Road Goes Ever On, a book of poems and songs from Middle Earth put to music for guitar and piano.  I only have a 5 octave keyboard, but I’ll do what I can with it until I find the room and money for a full-sized weighted-key digital piano with pedals.  It’s probably a good thing I don’t have one right now anyway since my synovitis has been acting up again.
What are you reading this week?

Monday's Minutes

“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.
Currently Reading:

  • Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
  • The Kindness Handbook by Sharon Salzberg
  • A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
  • Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
  • Of Books and Bagpipes by Paige Shelton

    
Finished:

  • Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
  • A Philosophy of Walking by Frédéric Gros

 
Total pages read this week: 481
Total books for the year: 18 of 90.  I’m doing my best to finish up my current reads now that my reading slump has passed.
What are you reading this week?

Monday's Minutes

“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.
Currently Reading:

  • Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
  • The Kindness Handbook by Sharon Salzberg
  • A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
  • A Philosophy of Walking by Frédéric Gros
  • Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
  • Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

     
Finished:

  • These is My Words by Nancy Turner


Challenges:
Total pages read this week: 392
Total books for the year: 16 of 90.  I’m finally back to listening to audiobooks while I do stuff around the apartment.  I’ve got most of the boxes unpacked, and a couple of the rugs we ordered arrived but there was a major screwup with the furniture so I’m still waiting on that.  Once it arrives, I’ll be spending the majority of my time putting it all together.  I foresee lots of audiobook listening over the next week or so.
What are you reading this week?

Monday's Minutes

“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.
Currently Reading:

  • Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
  • A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
  • The Kindness Handbook by Sharon Salzberg
  • A Philosophy of Walking by Frédéric Gros
  • Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
  • These is My Words by Nancy E. Turner

     
Challenges:

  • COYER: 1 of 30 from The List, 8 for “The One With The Twist”, 0 for “The Strict”

Total pages read this week: 236
Total books for the year: 15 of 90.  I’m in the process of unpacking and organizing all of our stuff in the new apartment and, for reasons unknown, I haven’t been in the mood to listen to any audiobooks.  Instead, I’ve been listening to music and catching up on podcasts, mostly Lore.  When I have taken reading breaks, I’ve only wanted to read These is My Words, which I found in a little book shop and art gallery in Tubac, Arizona.  I put aside The Portable Dorothy Parker for the 2nd time, but at least I got further than I did the last time I tried to read it.  I will try it again some other time, but I’m thinking it just might not be my thing.
What are you reading this week?

Monday's Minutes

“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.
Currently Reading:

  • Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
  • A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
  • The Kindness Handbook by Sharon Salzberg
  • The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker
  • A Philosophy of Walking by Frédéric Gros
  • Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

  
  
Finished:

  • The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
  • Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

 
 
Challenges:

  • COYER: 1 of 30 from The List, 8 for “The One With The Twist”, 0 for “The Strict”

Total pages read this week: 223
Total books for the year: 15 of 90.  The Boyfriend and I left Arizona for California on Wednesday and moved into our new apartment on Thursday.  Since then, we’ve been checking out the neighborhood, buying stuff for our home, figuring out the public transportation, and eating really yummy food.  Yesterday we spent most of the morning at one of 3 local farmer’s markets and OMG, we will definitely be going back for almond croissants from one of the bakery stalls and the triple cream cheese we discovered at one of the creameries.  It’s a good thing we’re walking to and from most places; otherwise, we’d end up gaining a ton of weight!
What are you reading this week?