It's Monday 1/14! What Are You Reading?

Another busy week...when are they not busy?  I devoted much of my writing time to a project I am working on but did fit in some blog posts here and there.

And we all enjoyed our reading time - it was Sequel Week at our house!

• I continued reading Across the Great Barrier by Patricia C. Wrede, sequel to The Thirteenth Child, and was totally engrossed in it but had to set it aside mid-week to start a book for this week's neighborhood book group. I never read two books at once (especially two novels), but I admit I have been squeezing in a few pages here and there!
• I am now reading The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman in preparation for my Wednesday book group discussion. I waited for the library as long as I could, but I was #150 on the waiting list when I signed up weeks ago! I finally gave up waiting. To save money (and time), I bought the e-book on my husband's Kindle and have been reading it that way - this is my first ever e-book! I prefer the feel of a real book, but I really love being able to look up words in the dictionary without setting my book aside, especially with all the unfamiliar Australian words in this book. The novel itself is excellent so far.
• I also read a short story, "The Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu. It was the January selection for Books on the Nightstand's new Project Short Story. I haven't read short stories since high school and really enjoyed this first one. Check it out and join in the discussion!
• My husband, Ken, quickly finished The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness, sequel to The Knife of Never Letting Go, and is now eager to read the last book of the trilogy!
• He decided to take a break from that story, though, just to keep things interesting, and is now reading Ransom River by Meg Gardiner, one of my Christmas gifts to him. I chose this novel because it was recommended by Stephen King who says Gardiner is one of his favorite authors! On the very first page, Ken read me a passage, saying Gardiner definitely has a way with words.
• Jamie, 18, read Ruins by Orson Scott Card, sequel to Pathfinder which he and I both loved. He was completely deaf to anything we said while he read the last chapters of the book and said it was amazing!  I'm next in line for this one.
• Now, Jamie is re-reading a favorite series, Seven Realms by Cinda Williams Chima. He lent the first book to a friend at college last week, who read it in a single night and begged for more! He inspired Jamie to re-read the series and then read the newest book. So far, Jamie has read book 1, The Demon King, and has started on book 2, The Exiled Queen. He bought #3 and 4 on his new Kindle last week and shared them with his friend, so he is all set to read the entire series (so far). Jamie says this is one of the best series he's ever read (and that is saying something!)
• Craig, 15 (as of yesterday!), is still reading The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros for his freshman lit class. He says it's OK, but he doesn't like the way the chapters are on random subjects, rather than following a chronological order. I want to read this one when he is finished.

I wrote one review last week, of The Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede. I (finally) posted my 2012 Year-End Summary, including Best of 2012 List. I posted a similar summary and Best of 2012 List for kids/teen/YA books. And, I wrote a Weekend Cooking post yesterday, with a few recipe links from this past week.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kid/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.) 

Happy 15th Birthday to my son yesterday!