It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

Life…

An inordinate amount of running around on time consuming errands combined with a range of planned and unplanned activities played havoc this week. Not only did I barely get the opportunity to read, I couldn’t find enough time to sit down and work on reviews which means I am already behind this month.

Anyway, it is the first Monday of the month so here are my challenge updates:

Looks like I have a chance of meeting my goal this week 🙂

The Eclectic Reader Challenge 11/12

Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 102/50 – Finished!

Aussie Author Challenge 12/12 – Finished!

What I Read Last Week

The First Week by Margaret Merrilees

Save Yourself by Kelly Braffet

Shame and The Captives by Tom Keneally

Cartwheel by Jennifer Dubois

New Posts

(click the titles to read my reviews)

Review: Someone Else’s Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson ★★★★

Review: The Good Boy by Theresa Schwegal ★★★

Review: The First Week by Margaret Merrilees ★★1/2

Review: Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller ★★★★

Stuff on Sundays:  My Life According To Books 2013

What I Am Reading Today

A deeply moving, beautifully-written picture of how the smallest crack in a relationship slowly, over decades, becomes a canyon too wide to bridge. When Lucy meets Matt on a blind date, Matt is instantly hooked; he sees Lucy as the fun, sexy, and wickedly smart girl of his dreams. Although she’s still getting over an old lover, Lucy is won over by Matt’s sweet, thoughtful nature. But 20 years later, alone in an empty house trying to imagine the lives of her two young children, Lucy comes to realize that the little lies you tell can create more damage than the truth you’re hiding.

What I Plan To Read This Week

(click the covers to view at Goodreads)

He asked the water to lift him, to carry him, to avenge him. He made his muscles shape his fury, made every stroke declare his hate. And the water obeyed; the water would give him his revenge. No one could beat him, no one came close. His whole life, Danny Kelly’s only wanted one thing: to win Olympic gold. Everything he’s ever done-every thought, every dream, every action-takes him closer to that moment of glory, of vindication, when the world will see him for what he is: the fastest, the strongest and the best. His life has been a preparation for that moment. His parents struggle to send him to the most prestigious private school with the finest swimming program; Danny loathes it there and is bullied and shunned as an outsider, but his coach is the best and knows Danny is, too, better than all those rich boys, those pretenders. Danny’s win-at-all-cost ferocity gradually wins favour with the coolest boys-he’s Barracuda, he’s the psycho, he’s everything they want to be but don’t have the guts to get there. He’s going to show them all. He would be first, everything would be alright when he came first, all would be put back in place. When he thought of being the best, only then did he feel calm. Should we teach our children to win, or should we teach them to live? How do we make and remake our lives? Can we atone for our past? Can we overcome shame? And what does it mean to be a good person?

Help is finally at hand for the domestically challenged in the form of Babe Scott – aka The Lazy Hostess. Babe is the queen of entertaining and will show you how you too can host like a pro without going into bankruptcy or risking a broken nail. If your kitchen is growing cobwebs, chances are your social life is too. Allow Babe to show you how to be a kitchen vixen and wow the crowd with your new-found hostessing skills. Within the pages of this delightful book, Babe lays out on a platter everything you need to know in order to throw the perfect party. From deciding upon your ‘signature sip’ cocktail for the evening, to recipes for devilishly easy hors d’oeuvres. From choosing a killer outfit to selecting your perfect party playlist. She even shows you how to get rid of those lingering guests once the party’s over. In fact, the only thing this book doesn’t do is the washing up! This is the must-have survival guide for the contemporary woman who loves to entertain but hates to cook.

When the bushranger heritage of a family explodes into modern day, buried secrets are unearthed… with lasting consequences. To Taylor Whitworth, knowing that she’ll never meet her deceased biological father is devastating. All she knows is he was a stockman, so she yearns to be like her father and to become a jillaroo. She packs her bags and hits the road, destination unknown, until she happens upon the country township of Driftwood.  Life-burdened Jay Cooper is a cowboy through and through, with his passion for the outback and bad boy image inherited from his forefathers. The whole town whispers about him but Jay doesn’t care. Except that his rough and tumble lifestyle is stopped dead in its tracks when he happens across Taylor on a deserted country road. And soon, their mutual love of horses begins a wonderful friendship that develops when Jay offers Taylor a job as a jillaroo on his cattle station.

How do you prove you’re not an alcoholic? Hildy Good has reached that dangerous time in a woman’s life – middle-aged and divorced, she is an oddity in her small but privileged town. But Hildy isn’t one for self-pity and instead meets the world with a wry smile, a dark wit and a glass or two of Pinot Noir. When her two earnest grown-up children stage ‘an intervention’ and pack Hildy off to an addiction centre, she thinks all this fuss is ridiculous. After all, why shouldn’t Hildy enjoy a drink now and then? But as the story progresses, we start to see another side to Hildy Good, and to her life’s greatest passion – the lies and self deceptions needed to support her drinking, and the damage she causes to those she loves. When a cluster of secrets become dangerously entwined, the reckless behaviour of one threatens to expose the other, with devastating consequences.

While you are here…

Congratulate the winner of  Seven Deadlies by Gigi Levangie : Laurel-Rain

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