Booking Through Thursday

It's been a while since I did a Booking Through Thursday post.

WHY?

Because I've read an insane number of books lately most of them by the same author. I read 41 books in 1 month. Yeah I know a little crazy. It took too long to blog about the books I was reading and I felt a little odd admitting how much I was reading so I stopped posting.

I found a new author who I absolutely adore, Marcia Lynn McClure. She writes clean romance books that are my new favorites! I read all 32 of her books in less than 2 months time.

Hard to pick a favorite because I enjoyed all of them.

Beneath the Honeysuckle Vine
Saphyre Snow
A Crimson Frost
The Time of Aspen Falls
The Highwayman of Tanglewood
The Whispered Kiss
The Touch of Sage
The Visions of Ransom Lake
The Heavenly Surrender
Shackles of Honor
The Fragrance of Her Name
Daydreams
Divine Deception
An Old-Fashioned Romance
To Echo the Past
Desert Fire
Love Me
Born for Thorton's Sake
Sudden Storms
Prairie Prince
Weathered Too Young
Dusty Britches
The Tide of Mermaid Tears
Kiss in the Dark
The Light of the Lover's Moon
Sweet Cherry Ray
Kissing Cousins
The Rogue Knight
The Unobtainable One
The General's Ambition
Indebted Deliverance
A Better Reason to Fall in Love

I own several of her books so if you're looking for book to read come borrow one!

Total books so far this year 136 and counting....

Booking Through Thursday! - 100 Books!

I did it! I've read/listened to 100 books this year. My original goal was to read/listen to at least 100 books during the year but since it's only May I guess I'm going to double my goal to 200 books in 2010. Crazy I know - but I never watch TV, rarely watch movies and always listen to audio books while driving, cleaning, cooking, etc.
Some favorite quotes on reading:

Of all the diversions of life, there is none so proper to fill up its empty spaces as the reading of useful and entertaining authors.~ Joseph Addison ~

When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading,just as I did when I was young.~ Maya Angelou ~

There are worse crimes than burning books.One of them is not reading them.~ Joseph Brodsky ~

No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.~ Confucius ~

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.~ Groucho Marx ~

The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read.~Mark Twain ~

So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall. ~Roald Dahl

Booking Through Thursday

Another 6 books this week bringing me to 83 total so far this year. I know that seems like an insane amount of books but it's really not! You'ld think I sit around reading all day but I don't.
Here is how I do it. If there is an audio version of a book available I will always choose to listen instead of read because then I can multitask. It's amazing how fast the work gets done when I'm focused on something besides having to fold another pile of laundry or do another load of dishes. I also listen to books while doing family history work and when I'm in the car driving. Just while out running errands & grocery shopping I can easily listen to a audio CD. I typically listen to 3 to 5 audio CDs per day. That is anywhere from 1/3 of a book to 1 full book depending on how long the book is. I don't listen to the radio much. I rarely watch TV or movies. Instead I listen to audio books. Then I also read. In the morning I read 2 to 4 chapters of scripture and then try to read out of an LDS book for a chapter or two. I try to go to bed early enough to be able to read for at least 15 minutes and if I'm on top of it I can get up to an hour in. Of course there are days where I am reading a book I just can't put down and I do spend several hours reading. Unfortunately those days seem to be few and far between because there is always something more pressing that makes me feel guilty when I sit and read. Thankfully our local library has a great selection of audio CDs. That combined with Utah's Pioneer online library means I always have a pile of books waiting to be listened to. The problem I have is there are so many books I want to read and it's not humanly possible to read them all. I could so relate to my friend Mary Ann's facebook status the other day: So many books...so little time!

Booking Through Thursday

I was at Women's Conference last week so this is 2 weeks worth of reading. Total books so far this year 77.

Booking Through Thursday

5 books this week bringing me to a total of 67 for the year. I guess I'm not slowing down at least not yet. I'm addicted to cleaning and running errands while listening to a good book!

Booking Through Thursday

I wonder when the reading bug is going to wear off?
I keep thinking I'm going to slow down on the amount I'm reading & listening to.
So far it hasn't happened. In fact my pace seems to be increasing. I'm surprised at how many books I made it through this week. I usually don't sit around reading unless I get in an hour before falling asleep. During the day I listen to audio books while being the mom, housekeeper, errand runner, etc. There was a night this week I woke up at 1 am and was wide awake. 3 hours later I had finished a book but was still wide awake. That at least added to my number of books this week.
For every book I read I seem to find another 2 or 3 books to add to my list of books I want to read. There will never be enough hours in the day to read everything I want to.
I read 6 books this week and listened to 2 for a total of 8 books this week and 62 books so far this year.

Booking Through Thursday

Well there is one thing in my life that I've been keeping up with.... READING! Or more accurately LISTENING to audio books. I don't have much time to actually sit and read but I love audio books! I love that it makes housework fly by and seem much more fun. It makes driving enjoyable. And of course it makes exercise less painful.
I'm blessed to have a great library nearby and to have access to an online library where I can download audio books for free. 54 books in 14 weeks means I'm averaging almost 4 books per week. That total is going to slow down because I'm about to start some bigger books that will take me a long time to get through. There are a few classics that I want to read or listen to. One of them is 46 hours long on audio which will take a couple weeks to get through.

Bright Blue Miracle by Becca Wilhite

Shiver by Maggie Shiefvater

A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins

The Heart of a Healthy Marriage and a Happy Family by Wally Goddard

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

Booking Through Thursday

Silver On The Tree by Susan Cooper was the 5th & final book in the Dark Is Rising series.

The Light Princess by George MacDonald was first published in the 1800s.

Loved this cute, clean book by LDS author Becca Wilhite.  I'm definitely going to read her other book.

I spent a lot of time doing family history this week and very little time reading.

Booking Through Thursday

8 books this week bringing me to 44 total this year. If I kept up at this rate I'd be able to read 200 books this year. I'm NOT aiming for that as a goal because I started out reading a lot last year and by mid year got burned out and slowed way down. There are just so many books I want to read! It seems like for every book I read I find another dozen books I want to read.

I listened to 3 of these and read the other 5, they were all pretty quick reads.

The Water Horse by Dick King-Smith is a quick read aimed at older elementary aged kids.

Book #4 The Grey King is my favorite so far in the Dark Is Rising Series by Susan Cooper.

We watched a Christmas movie based on the art of James Christensen. I liked the characters so I got this book A Journey of the Imagination that talks about his artwork.

Cute & Clean. I highly recommend Just One Wish by Janette Rallison.

Since Easter is coming soon I decided to read this book on having a Christ-Centered Easter.

Jane Austen is one of my favorites. I don't remember ever having read Lady Susan.

Airman by Eoin Colfer is a great story. I think teenage boys may enjoy it.

I'd seen the movie but never read the book Babe by Dick King-Smith

Booking Through Thursday

2 books this week bringing my total to 36 so far this year. Life has been a little crazy with being out of town for Spring Break and I've not found much time to read lately.

We listened to Shadow Puppets while driving to and from CA. Another great book by Orson Scott Card that kept me awake while driving late into the night.

I read Greenwich by Susan Cooper. It's the 3rd book in The Dark is Rising Series.

I've started on The Grey King which is the 4th book in the series and will hopefully get that book plus the 5th book finished this coming week.

Booking Through Thursday

Just 3 books this week.

I downloaded this audio book because I needed something to listen to and it was available, I probably would never have picked it up otherwise. I ended up enjoying this story of an Italian American family.

This is a great parenting book by S. Michael Wilcox.

I'm finally getting around to reading the Dark Is Rising Series by Susan Cooper. This is the 2nd of 5 books.

Total so far this year 34 books.
Since we're on vacation I'm not making much progress this week. I've started the 3rd Dark is Rising book and am listening to Shadow Puppets as we travel.

Booking Through Thursday

7 books this week! All quick easy reads except for the Book Thief which wasn't quick but was fabulous. Brings my total to 31 books so far this year!


I enjoyed listening to the first book in the Dark is Rising Series by Susan Cooper.

I love Hilary Weeks. This book was way too short!

This Newbery Honor book was worth reading but not a favorite.

Great Historical Fiction about the Civil War. Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt is worth reading.

A quick book - The Ordinary Princess by MM Kaye was a fun, easy read.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - Highly recommend this book about World War 2.

A quick easy historical fiction book by Sherrie Johnson.

Booking Through Thursday

It was a great week for reading. I listened to 3 books and read 2. I got back in the habit of using my MP3 player with books downloaded from Utah's Pioneer Online Library. Why did I ever stop using it? I'm at 24 book so far this year.

I love to listen to Dr. Laura so I enjoyed this book about being a stay at home mom.

This book by Marie Ricks was ok. A few good ideas but there are other books I would recommend before this one.

Skip this book by Robert Cormier. Great writing but too much objectionable language and content.

Loved this book! The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. What a crazy name but what a great book.

Spiritually Centered Motherhood by Sherrie Johnson was also a wonderful book I highly recommend.
http://www.goodreads.com/inspiredby

Booking Through Thursday

You may have noticed–the Winter Olympics are going on. Is that affecting your reading time? Have you read any Olympics-themed books? What do you think about the Olympics in general?

This Olympics is going on?

Where have I been?

No actually I knew the Olympics started because the image on Google was of the Olympic rings. But as far as watching the Olympics... I don't watch TV. We don't have cable and most channels come in fuzzy.

As far as reading this week I finished 3 books bringing my total to 19 so far this year.

Alex Rider: Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

Alex Rider: Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz

A Murder, A Mystery And A Marriage by Mark Twain

If you click on the image of the book it will take you to my review on goodreads.
EDIT: The images just take you to the books on goodreads. To read my reviews you must become my friend on goodreads. http://www.goodreads.com/inspiredby

Booking Through Thursday

2 books for me this week bringing my total to 16 so far this year. I actually read both of them. I spent a lot of time reading this week. I had a good excuse since I was sick.

The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale.
I stayed up until 3 am finishing this book last night. I haven't done that in a long time. I loved this book! I laughed so many times while reading it. I love the way Shannon Hale writes, she is hilarious. Those who have read it seem to be split between loving it and hating it. It was a light hearted, silly, completely unbelieveable, yet laugh out loud funny kind of book I was in the mood for.

Over The Moon by Diane Daniels
One of my friends has a book that is being published this summer. She is doing the final edit and asked me to read it through before she sent the final copy to publishing. What an honor! And what a fun experience that was for me. It's a paranormal romance which is my favorite genre so it was right up my alley as far as books I enjoy. I can't wait to see her book in print!

Booking Through Thursday

The northern hemisphere, at least, is socked in by winter right now… So, on a cold, wintry day, when you want nothing more than to curl up with a good book on the couch … what kind of reading do you want to do?

Paranormal Romance - My favorite type of book to curl up to.


Just one book again this week. This one I read. Enna Burning by Shannon Hale. A great sequel to the book The Goose Girl.
I've found I can't concentrate on family history and listen to a book at the same time. Grrr! The number of books I make it through in a week is going to drastically drop!

Booking Through Thursday

Do YOU like books with complicated plots and unexpected endings?
I love books that aren't completely predictable. Once in a while a book is so predictable I wonder what the point in reading it was. And I don't mind unexpected endings as long as the author doesn't throw something in that is completely out of nowhere and unbelieveable. I hate being left rolling my eyes thinking "yeah, right!"


As far as reading I only read 1 books this week. I've spent a lot of time doing family history work and finished up the conference Ensign so there was just no time for reading much.

The book I did read was FABULOUS!

I loved Nicholas Sparks latest book The Last Song. One of his best yet.

Our hold on Shadow Puppets finally came in at the library so Brian and I will start listening to that. I'm half way through reading Enna Burning and I'm listening to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Booking Through Thursday

Who’s your favorite author that other people are NOT reading?

I'm not sure I can find an author that qualifies. I read books based on recommendations. I don't pick up books that I know nothing about so it's rare I read something that others are NOT reading. I would imagine in general a lot of the books I read by LDS authors are not read by the majority of people might qualify. Emily Freeman is the newest LDS author I enjoy.


The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale was a fun read. My daughter Kim has read it and enjoyed it and I too thought it was a great story. It's the first book in a series of books and I'll definitely read the next book.

Orson's Scott Card's Hidden Empire did not disappoint. It's the sequel to Empire and I enjoyed this book. I found myself walking longer than usual on my treadmill to have more time to read.

FABULOUS BOOK! Contentment by Maria Covey Cole is a must read for mothers. Short and filled with inspiration and motivation for mothers.

How to be Totally Miserable by John Bytheway was a really quick read. Filled with typical Bytheway humor and lots of great quotes.

Dead Wrong by Clair Poulson is entertaining by completely unbelieveable. The potential for a great book was there but this one had way to many coincidences for me believe any of it.

I've exceeded my reading goal for the month and I still have another 10 days. 12 books so far this year. I'm not planning on reading much this week because it will be busy.

I've got a stack of books but none of them are jumping out at me. I am leaning towards listening to The Last Song by Nicolas Sparks and reading Enna Burning by Shannon Hale but I haven't started either yet. I'm working at trying to get through the Conference Ensign and then I need to read the January issue so I'll probably spend time finishing that up before I spend much time reading an actual book.