It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

Life…

As expected the past week has been absolutely crazy. I won’t bore you with all details though I will hit some highlights 🙂

I was so proud to watch both my sons receive the Academic Excellence awards for their grades (yr3 and 4) at this years end of school presentation day. They have both also been chosen to join the GATS (Gifted & Talented Students) class next year. Meanwhile, their sister was awarded Dux runner up, this evening is her graduation farewell – high school next year!

On Saturday night we visited the Hunter Valley Gardens Christmas Lights Spectacular with my parents. It was a lot of fun – they have themed displays using over 1.5 million lights!

On Sunday evening we went to our local Carols by Candlelight where my oldest daughter performed with her gymnastics team and my youngest sang with her school Glee group on stage.

I’m so proud of them all though school finishes for the year on Wednesday, which means they will all be underfoot for the next 6 weeks no doubt driving me nuts!

 I got reading done but had hardly any time at home so the blog has been neglected. I’ll have to work hard this week and post date a few reviews!

 

 What I Read Last Week

Euphoria by Lily King

A Nip of Murder by Carol Miller

Chasing the Sun by Robin Baker

The Heart Has It’s Reasons by Maria Duenas

The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths

 New Posts

(click the titles to read my reviews)

Review: Riverboat Point by Tricia Stringer ★★★

Review: Euphoria by Lily King ★★★★

Review: The Heart Has its Reasons by Maria Duenas  ★★

Giveaway: The King’s Sister by Anne O’Brien (Aust only)

 

What I Am Reading Today

 

When Lindsay Starwood moved from her tiny home town to the bright lights of Melbourne, she had no idea that her after-school babysitting job would turn into a career. Her boss was Steven Stavros, the nineties boy-band heartthrob more famous of late for his extramarital activities than his hit records. However, word soon got out about the Australian nanny who was great with kids, cool in a crisis and capable of keeping the secrets of the rich and famous tightly under wraps. But being a celebrity nanny isn’t the Mary Poppins fantasy you might imagine. When Lindsay finds herself caring for the six (yes, six!) daughters of fame-hungry reality television star Alysha Appleby, her patience is pushed to the limit. Will dashing pro-golfer Tommy Grant restore Lindsay’s faith that wealth can go hand in hand with kindness? Or will she have to choose between the children she loves and her own happiness? With a cast of millionaires ripped straight from the headlines, this is a fast-paced, outrageous novel for anyone who loves gossip, glamour and a sneak peek into the unbelievable world of a nanny to the stars. 

What I Plan To Read This Week

(click the covers to view at Goodreads)

Funny Girl is the story of a popular 1960s tv comedy series. The writers, Tony and Bill, comedy obsessives, who each harbour a secret. The Oxbridge-educated director, Dennis, who loves his job but hates his marriage. The male star Clive, who feels he’s destined for better things. And most of all Sophie Straw, once Barbara Parker, Miss Blackpool 1964, who’s changed her name and abandoned her old life because she just wants to make people laugh, like her heroine Lucille Ball of I Love Lucy fame. Nick Hornby’s new novel is about popular culture, youth and old age, fame, class and teamwork. It offers a wonderfully captivating portrait of youthful exuberance and creativity, and of a period when both were suddenly allowed to flourish.

A bright, poignant, and deeply funny autobiographical account of coming of age as an amputee cancer survivor, from Josh Sundquist: Paralympic ski racer, YouTube star, and motivational speaker. Josh Sundquist only ever had one girlfriend. For twenty-three hours. In eighth grade. Why was Josh still single? To find out, he tracked down the girls he had tried to date and asked them straight up: What went wrong? The results of Josh’s semiscientific, wholly hilarious investigation are captured here. From a disastrous Putt-Putt date involving a backward prosthetic foot, to his introduction to CFD (Close Fast Dancing), to a misguided “grand gesture” at a Miss America pageant, this story is about looking for love–or at least a girlfriend–in all the wrong places.

Here is a truth that can’t be escaped: for Mia ‘Rabbit’ Hayes, life is coming to an end . . .Rabbit Hayes loves her life, ordinary as it is, and the extraordinary people in it. She loves her spirited daughter, Juliet; her colourful, unruly family; the only man in her big heart, Johnny Faye. But it turns out the world has other plans for Rabbit, and she’s OK with that. Because she has plans for the world too, and only a handful of days left to make them happen. Here is a truth that won’t be forgotten: this is a story about laughing through life’s surprises and finding the joy in every moment.

 

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