It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

The Its Monday! What Are You Reading meme is hosted at Book Journey.

Life…

I blame the heat for my poor reading record this week, though, to be fair, in total I read 1710 pages which sounds much more impressive :D. We have had a few days of weather in the mid 30’s (around 95F) this week with the nights in the mid 20’s and the humidity around 75%. It’s a rude introduction to summer and it’s going to take me a while to acclimatise I think.

It’s the first of the month so time for a challenge update – just a month left to meet my goals! How are you doing?

2012 Reading Challenge: 269/250 – Completed!

Eclectic Reader Challenge: 11/12

Australian Women Writers Challenge: 98 /100

Aussie Author Challenge: 12/12 – Completed

Crusin Through the Cozies Challenge 7/7 – Completed

With 2013 fast approaching I have been considering challenge options for next year. I have already signed up for the 2013 Australian Women Writers Challenge and yesterday I posted the sign up’s for the 2013 Eclectic Reader Challenge I am hosting for the second year (I hope you join me).  If you are looking for challenges to join make sure you visit A Novel Challenge which lists challenges just for booklovers, I am sure you will find something interesting there.

What I Read Last Week

Absolution Creek by Nicole Alexander

Shadow’s Claim by Kresley Cole

The Toe Tag Quintet by Matthew Condon

Saltwater Vampires by Kirsty Eager

Reviews Posted

(click the titles to read my reviews)

Foal’s Bread by Gillian Mears ★★★★

Elza’s Kitchen by Marc Fitten ★★

Sydney Blue by Bruce Wallace ★★★

Bridie’s Choice by Karly Lane ★★★★

Being Anti-Social by Leigh K Cunningham ★★

The Toe Tag Quintet by Matthew Condon ★★★1/2

What I Am Reading Today

Meg May can’t remember anything about her early childhood but her cookery-obsessed, fairytale-telling mother has filled her in on all the important details. Meg knows that her father was a French chef who died in a tragic pastry-making accident; that as a premature baby she was put on a sunny windowsill to ripen; and that the scar on her cheek was the result of a nasty nip from one of her mother’s crab cakes. But, at eight years old, Meg rebels against this fictional life and decides there and then to turn her back on the world of stories, determined to let logic rule every thought and deed. Now on the verge of a respected scientific career with a scientist boyfriend who believes only in facts, Meg is called home. Her mother is ill and as Meg spends one last beautiful summer baking, gardening and talking with her mother, rediscovering what’s important, she longs to know the reality of her life–but Meg may not discover the truth in time. A poignant, funny and heartwarming novel of mothers and daughters, families and secrets, this is a book to lose–and find yourself–in.

What I Plan To Read This Week

(click the covers to view at Goodreads)

Susan and Ed Middleton are perfectly content with their lives. Two kids, two cars, a solid brick bungalow in a respectable Northern beaches suburb. But when Susan’s older sister, who vanished as a teenager, reappears to claim an inheritance, everything is set to change.

Two very different sisters. Once inseparable, they have long been estranged after an unimaginable betrayal. Organised and uptight Frances married the only man she′d ever slept with. But no-one told her that seven years later she′d be having sexual fantasies about everyone from the pizza delivery guy to Denis Thatcher. Scatterbrained animal-lover Joni never knew she was so attached to her kneecaps until she thought she might have to say goodbye to them forever. After their beloved grandmother — a game-show addict — dies, they discover that they have each been left one million pounds in her will. The kicker is that they can only inherit if they participate as a team in a gruelling reality TV program, Endurance Island. They can survive the jungle. They can survive the humiliating challenges. But can they survive each other?

Wrongly convicted of killing her philandering husband, Mazie Maguire is three years into her life sentence when fate intervenes—in the form of a tornado. Just like that, she’s on the other side of the fence, running through swamps and cornfields, big box stores and suburban subdivisions. Hoping to find out who really murdered her husband, Mazie must stay a few steps ahead of both the law and her mother-in-law, who would like nothing better than to personally administer Mazie the death penalty via lethal snickerdoodle. With the Feds in hot pursuit and the national media hyping her story, Mazie stumbles upon a vast political conspiracy and a man who might just be worth a conjugal visit—if she survives.

Sarah Weaver wasn’t looking forward to starting at an all-girls school. But that was before she met Maddy. Maddy and her best friend, Agnes, are fun and rich and interesting-and for some reason, they seem to really like Sarah. Before long, Maddy and Agnes have moved Sarah into a big house off campus, where they cook together, buy each other presents, and share each other’s secrets. So why does Sarah feel like something’s bizarrely wrong? As more and more cracks start to show in Maddy’s and Agnes’s perfect veneers, Sarah notices some strange and disturbing things: Maddy’s compulsive lying, Agnes’s obsession with Maddy, and the deterioration of their friendship. And just when Sarah begins to question her own sanity, things turns deadly. Fans of Pretty Little Liars will devour this juicy debut novel.

While you are here…

Are you up for the challenge? Join the Eclectic Reader Challenge for 2013!

Thanks for stopping by, I’ll be along to visit you shortly!