It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

Life…

Some weeks just don’t run smoothly despite best laid plans. I haven’t been especially well this week, I have a chronic condition that flares up on a fairly regular basis, but sometimes are worse than others. Thankfully I got it under control quite quickly but it left me largely useless for 48 hours or so, add to that discovering a flat car battery on morning resulting in a mad scramble to get my children to school on time,  some sad news about a friend’s husband, and a huge loss for my daughters basketball team, and it wasn’t a great week.

One thing I couldn’t miss this week despite everything, was a meeting I attended on Thursday night organised by the manningnet.org, billed as a ‘real life chat room’ for women. The local  group, who meet monthly, have asked me to speak to them in April about books, and my blog, so I went along to see how it all worked. I was stunned to find nearly 100 women in attendance (I was thinking there would be 20 or so!), who shared a meal before a presentation by a guest speaker. It was a very nice evening but I am anxious about speaking to such a large group now!

And, it is the first Monday of the month (already!) so here are my challenge updates:

The Eclectic Reader Challenge 2/12

Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 12/50

Aussie Author Challenge 2/12

Around the World in 12 Books Challenge 3/12

What I Read Last Week

The Lost Girls by Wendy James

House of Glass by Sophie Littlefield

The Curl Up and Die by Sharon Sala

The Fourth Season by Dorothy Johnston

Safe With Me by Amy Hatvany

New Posts

(click the titles to read my reviews)

Review & Giveaway: The Lost Girls by Wendy James ★★★★1/2

Review: Fairway To Heaven by Lily Malone ★★★1/2

Review: House of Glass by Sophie Littlefield ★★★1/2

Review & Giveaway: The Curl Up and Die by Sharon Sala ★★★

Review: The Fourth Season by Dorothy Johnston ★★1/2

What I Am Reading Today

If there’s one universal truth, it’s this: You’re always wearing your worst underwear when you land in trouble. Lola’s parents told her that everyone can make a difference. And she believed them. She’s been fighting the good fights since she was eleven years old. But at 23, Lola falls hard for an Australian stockbroker who thinks Doctors Without Borders is a porno and Joni Mitchell sounds like a harp seal being battered to death. She cuts him loose, but over the next fifteen years, through protests, misunderstandings, humiliating predicaments, and a number of poor underwear choices, their lives and paths continue to converge.  Along the way, Lola learns a few important life lessons: Never wear a red lace thong to a strip search. Make sure you take motion sickness pills if you’re going to the Southern Ocean to save the whales. And sometimes, Mr Right can be all wrong, and Mr Wrong just needs time to find the right path.

 What I Plan To Read This Week

(click the covers to view at Goodreads)

Hank, Leland, Kip and Ronny were all born and raised in the same Wisconsin town—Little Wing—and are now coming into their own (or not) as husbands and fathers. One of them never left, still farming the family’s land that’s been tilled for generations. Others did leave, went farther afield to make good, with varying degrees of success; as a rock star, commodities trader, rodeo stud. And seamlessly woven into their patchwork is Beth, whose presence among them—both then and now—fuels the kind of passion one comes to expect of lovesongs and rivalries. Now all four are home, in hopes of finding what could be real purchase in the world. The result is a shared memory only half-recreated, riddled with culture clashes between people who desperately wish to see themselves as the unified tribe they remember, but are confronted with how things have, in fact, changed.

A story about what it means to be a friend … Five women, best friends for decades, meet once a month to talk about books … and life, love and the jagged bits in between. Dissecting each other’s lives seems the most natural thing in the world – and honesty, no matter how brutal, is something they treasure. Best friends tell each other everything, don’t they? But each woman harbours a complex secret and one weekend, without warning, everything comes unstuck. When their circle begins to fracture and the old childhood ways don’t work anymore, is their sense of sistahood enough to keep it intact? How well do these tiddas really know each other?

After years of struggling as a single mother, Jodie Ashton has given up on love and passion. What she craves now is security for herself and her beloved daughter Milly. And marriage to widower Alex McGregor, the owner of the prosperous Glenevelyn cattle station in East Gippsland, will certainly offer that. If only he wasn’t so much old er and so controlling. Needing space to decide her future, Jodie reluctantly agrees to a girls-only weekend at the Riverton rodeo … Meanwhile, cowboy Nate McGregor vows off women, after his latest one-night stand costs him his job in the Northern Territory. Perhaps it’s time to head back to his family home, Glenevelyn, to check out for himself the ‘gold-digger’ his father seems determined to marry. But first, on his way through Riverton, he plans to stop off at a rodeo. Two lives are about to collide in one passionate moment – with devastating results…

If Vivian Dahl’s life had a soundtrack, every song would be the Blues. She’s pushing thirty, her singing career is going nowhere, and the partying lifestyle is taking its toll. Plus, a mysterious man is stalking her. But when she’s abducted from a singing gig, Vivian is surprised to see her stalker become her savior. Jason is her werewolf rescuer sent by the biological father who abandoned her as a baby. Finding herself on the run, Vivian drives across America with the enigmatic Jason and learns about the werewolf war her father’s pack is caught in. Now that an opposing pack has targeted her, Jason will stop at nothing to make sure Vivian’s song isn’t cut short.

Oh, how Jo Pratt’s life has changed over the last few years! Gone are the days of spending a day or two preparing for elaborate dinner parties, using ingredients she hunted down in back-street markets and fancy deli shops. That was all pre-children – now things are very different. She’s a busy mum who has to juggle work, children and all the associated chaos. She lives in a madhouse! Bestselling author Jo has devised a cookbook full of delicious and healthy food that addresses one of the most challenging problems experienced by busy parents: finding time to cook meals for their family. The recipes are simple, easy to shop for and quick to make, with shortcuts and prepare-ahead tips. But there’s much more to the book than this – there are also Lifesaver mini-recipes that give you staples for your freezer and store cupboard, and Leftovers mini-recipes too, to show you how to be clever and get more value out of time spent in the kitchen.

While you are here…

Aussie readers! Enter to WIN The Lost Girls by Wendy James

US/Canadian Readers! Enter to WIN The Curl Up and Die by Sharon Sala.

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