Sunday Reads (39)

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Another weekend … another update!

In my life: 

Where did the past week go? It seems like just yesterday, Anne and I were talking about me coming down to visit her in Ohio and now it’s coming up SO FAST! I feel like I’m finally prepared, but mainly because I made myself get prepared these last few days (instead of watching Lost reruns), so this week can happen and then I am off!

Grace in stealth mode. If she can't see you, you can't see her.

Grace in stealth mode. If she can’t see you, you can’t see her.

I worked a LOT this past week, which was awesome. I’m loving the new library facility and can’t wait for the renovations on the other 60% of it to be finished. It does kind of suck working during the day in the week because all you can hear is construction. It can get LOUD! But I mostly work evenings or weekends, so that’s rare.

I got my car back! FINALLY! I hadn’t driven it for eleven days and for ten of those days it was in the shop. I got so used to driving my husband’s very big truck that I forgot where my gear shift was in my car. But that’s okay because today I drove it ALL THE PLACES and was happy to have my car and my music back — as well as a vehicle where I didn’t have to hoist myself up real high to get in.

Ahh ... nothing says Alberta like a vaguely threatening sky.

Ahh … nothing says Alberta like a vaguely threatening sky.

I finally visited the new Target! I think we got 5 of them in the city and it’s alright. I think the ones in the states are better — at least the ones that I’ve visited in the past (last one was in Florida). It’s kind of like Wal-Mart, though I found that Target has more clothes (I scored two awesome dresses!), but less of a food section. I’m torn on if I like it or not.

In reading (& blogging): 

*twiddles thumbs*

SO you know how this week was Bout of Books? Well, I kind of sucked at it. I did finish reading Wedding Night, by Sophie Kinsella, which was awesome, and I’m still working on finishing my second book, Chasing Perfect, by Susan Mallery. I’m loving it and only have a few pages left to go, so I do plan to finish it by the end of today! Although, my initial goal was to read 5 books this week and I only read two, but that’s okay. I still had fun! I missed the chats because I was spending time with hubs, but I guess that’s why I left myself lots of moving room for the week and the read-a-thon. Since I’ll be airplane-bound soon, I plan to get some reading done then ALTHOUGH I did buy a few game books because I like those.

I was hoping to get more deck reading done this week but the mosquitos have come back with a VENGEANCE and it’s hard to go outside without getting swarmed. So, we’ve been housebound. I guess that’s okay, but I wish I could be outside in the sunshine!

How was your week? Have you read anything good lately?

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Book Hoarder’s Selection (26): Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez

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BOOK HOARDER’S SELECTION, is a feature of Reading In Winter, which will feature one book from my collection that I plan to read in the coming week. These are NOT review books, but books I’ve purchased, which have been neglected for a long time.

virtuosityTITLE: Virtuosity

AUTHOR: Jessica Martinez

HOW LONG I’VE HAD IT: Since January.

WHY I’M READING IT: I love a good book about music, especially people PLAYING music. I’m a musician, so I like to think I know a bit about competitions and the stress that comes with it. I’ve only read one other Jessica Martinez book and loved it, so I’m excited to give this one a go!

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SYNOPSIS:

Now is not the time for Carmen to fall in love. And Jeremy is hands-down the wrong guy for her to fall for. He is infuriating, arrogant, and the only person who can stand in the way of Carmen getting the one thing she wants most: to win the prestigious Guarneri competition. Carmen’s whole life is violin, and until she met Jeremy, her whole focus was winning. But what if Jeremy isn’t just hot…what if Jeremy is better? Carmen knows that kissing Jeremy can’t end well, but she just can’t stay away. Nobody else understands her–and riles her up–like he does. Still, she can’t trust him with her biggest secret: She is so desperate to win she takes anti-anxiety drugs to perform, and what started as an easy fix has become a hungry addiction. Carmen is sick of not feeling anything on stage and even more sick of always doing what she’s told, doing what’s expected.

Sometimes, being on top just means you have a long way to fall…

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Sunday Reads (38)

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Another weekend … another update!

In my life (and, thus, blog): 

This past week has been pretty nice! The sun FINALLY came out. It’s funny because a week ago from this past Monday we had a blizzard, like, a HUGE blizzard that made it impossible for me to go to work and now this past Monday it was 30 degrees outside. Talk about a 360 turnaround! Of course, it’s still Canada, so that means that the weather dropped down to 14 the next day and was cold. Typical.

On Tuesday I went to run some errands and my back tire was dragging out of the garage — not turning. So, hubs took it in and it’s been in the shop since Wednesday. This makes me sad because my only other mode of transportation is the husband’s truck and I’m really not a truck driver. They’re too big and awkward. BUT that just meant that I could hibernate watching Lost or reading on the deck with the dogs. Nothing wrong with that!

I read on the deck. Grace tried to decide between two balls.

I read on the deck. Grace tried to decide between two balls.

Later in the week I got called into work for this weekend which is good because I like work, but bad because the weather is sooooo beautiful outside! The grass is turning green and the trees are starting to bloom. And today it’s supposed to be about 28 degrees, which would be PERFECT for some deck reading, but I’ll chat with people about books at the library instead. At least we’re only open for a few hours.

The blooming trees ... so pretty!

The blooming trees … so pretty!

As far as the blog goes, I spent some time moving around my blog schedule and moving posts around. Including the Sunday post, I’ll be posting 4x a week, which isn’t bad at all. I’m going to be scheduling way ahead, but that’s totally fine with me. :)

In books (& reading): 

I actually had a pretty good reading week this week! I’m still in the chick-lit, romancy area of reading and LOVING it. I do have plans to get through my review books so I can mark them all as done, but I’m not quite there yet. I’ve also been reading a lot on my Kobo, which is great. I used it quite a bit, but once I got my iPad, it kind of fell on the back burner. I love using it now! It’s so small and light and perfect for reading when the sun is shining.

This week I finished reading When In Doubt, Add Butter by Beth Harbison (so good – I love any book that talks about food!). I also read Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas, the second one in the Friday Harbor series (I have the first one out from the library … and the third one on hold!). I love this series! It’s so fun to read! Oh, and I read Lauren Graham’s new book Someday, Someday, Maybe, which I really loved. I *may* be biased since I’m a huge fan of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood, but I really hope she writes something else. Soon. AND I read my last Book Hoarder’s book, Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn’t Have), by Sarah Mlynowski. Kind of far-fetched, but still a fun read!

I’m currently reading Chasing Perfect by Susan Mallery, the first book in her Fool’s Gold series — so far, very light, but it’s just what I’m looking for. AND I finagled a copy of Sophie Kinsella’s new book Wedding Night from the library (not yet on the shelves there yet!) and hope to start it today.

Bout of Books is this week! I may actually participate, but not how I used to … I kind of like Anne’s idea of doing a final update at the end so it’s less stressful. I may not even pick out what books I’m going to read, but just wing it. We’ll see … hopefully I can get a post up later today!

How was your week? Have you read anything good lately?

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