What I Got:
Secret of the Staircase by Steven K. Smith - I first saw this series on Yvonne's blog Socrates' Book Reviews and was intrigued. They're MG mysteries with a dash of history. I put the four books into paperbackswap just to see and just got this one this week. I'm hoping to get the first 3 soon! (paperbackswap)
It was a fairly quiet week book-wise! I actually don't have anything pending at Netgalley which is good. I'm really hoping to get my percentage up and have less books sitting around unread. That will happen right?
Currently:
Reading: Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase and Brooklyn Secrets by Triss Stein
Listening: I'm still listening to In a Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware and it's still excellent. I'm getting towards the end and while I have some ideas I don't really know how she's going to get everything wrapped up.
Watching: I'm still watching Top Chef but I've wandered over to true crime shows and have been watching Web of Lies which is on Investigation Discovery
Off the Blog:
This week was really busy but one of those kinds of busy where you feel like you've been hit by a truck but when you start listing what you've done it really isn't that much. I hate when that happens! Right now I'm super tired and worn out feeling for absolutely no reason which has interfered with my blog visiting so hopefully I'll get caught up in the next couple of days.
We are preparing to add camping vacations to our repertoire and have been working our way down a list of supplies. This past week we finally got a tent! It's finally becoming a real thing and I'm looking forward to it. I've never really been camping so it should be interesting. There are a ton of really pretty state parks and national forests in driving distance that I'm looking forward to exploring.
The play last week with the Tornado was really fun and he really enjoyed it. They did a fantastic job though it wasn't a story from Winnie the Pooh that either J or I remembered. Does anyone remember Kanga being really obsessed with cleanliness and getting rid of germs and thinking all the animals in the Hundred Acre Wood were too dirty for Roo to play with? While I've always liked the stories I never read more than a few so I'm wondering if this is just something I've missed.
We are preparing to add camping vacations to our repertoire and have been working our way down a list of supplies. This past week we finally got a tent! It's finally becoming a real thing and I'm looking forward to it. I've never really been camping so it should be interesting. There are a ton of really pretty state parks and national forests in driving distance that I'm looking forward to exploring.
The play last week with the Tornado was really fun and he really enjoyed it. They did a fantastic job though it wasn't a story from Winnie the Pooh that either J or I remembered. Does anyone remember Kanga being really obsessed with cleanliness and getting rid of germs and thinking all the animals in the Hundred Acre Wood were too dirty for Roo to play with? While I've always liked the stories I never read more than a few so I'm wondering if this is just something I've missed.
On the Blog:
What Happened:
Monday: The Rain Sparrow - Contemporary Romance/Women's Fiction Review
Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Enjoyed that Were Out of My Comfort Zone
Wednesday: Thread and Gone - Cozy Mystery Review
Thursday: Beyond the Books - My Scariest Moment
Friday: Friday Linkups featuring Excerpts from First Family Detail
Saturday: 52 Pins in 52 Weeks - February Edition
Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Enjoyed that Were Out of My Comfort Zone
Wednesday: Thread and Gone - Cozy Mystery Review
Thursday: Beyond the Books - My Scariest Moment
Friday: Friday Linkups featuring Excerpts from First Family Detail
Saturday: 52 Pins in 52 Weeks - February Edition
What's Coming Up:
Monday: A Reckless Desire - Historical Romance Review
Tuesday: Top Ten Books to Read if You're in the Mood For...
Wednesday: Murder in an Irish Village - Cozy Mystery Review
Thursday: Beyond the Books - My Fears
Friday: Friday Linkups with Excerpts from Current Book
Saturday: TBD
Have a great week and happy reading!
Your week does sound pretty busy Katherine! And planning for camping etc... Go you! I'm afraid I'm not a fan of camping or caravanning but a friend of mine goes, but she has all of the mod-cons (airconditioner, generator, fridges).
ReplyDeleteI also had to google MG (middle grade, is that right?), so I'm really slow off the mark today!
Yes middle grade! It's an acronym I use in my head so much I forgot to clarify!
DeleteI like secret of the Staircase, that cover is awesome. Not familiar w/ those, will have to take a peek. Camping- how fun! I like to camp although the first time I tent camped it poured and got swamped. :) But it's great if the weather is nice. I've stayed in cabins a few times too (some of the state parks have them for rent) - love sitting around the campfire!
ReplyDeleteI like the Pooh stories but I don't remember that one! Hmm... I have a feeling I haven't read all of them though...
I'm excited about the Smith books. They look really fun! I'm hoping we avoid rain! We will probably stay fairly close to home at first so if starts raining I'm heading home! Or at least the car.
DeleteAwe, take some me time today and rejuvenate. I am really looking forward to your thoughts on Dark Dark Wood, but glad to hear that so far the audio is excellent.
ReplyDeleteDark Dark Wood is so good! Hopefully I'll have the review up next week. I'm taking by some rest time and I think most importantly some time on my own.
DeleteSometimes the week just feels like a lot even when it isnt, just relax today and hopefully next week will be feel less crazy busy. I have never been camping either but am not a very out doors person LOL . The Virginia mysteries look interesting. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteMegan @ reading away the days
I'm definitely taking some time this week. An over frazzled tired me is no good to anyone!
DeleteI love Winnie the Pooh, and I remember Kanga not wanting Roo to play with the others. Didn't they kidnap Roo and exchange him for Piglet? And of course, Kanga notices straight away, and took the opportunity to give Piglet a nice, long bath?
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll be able to get the rest you need so that you won't feel tired all the time. I blame it on the changing season, I'm ready for a nap every few hours these days...
Have a wonderful week ahead and happy reading.
Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews
Yes that's the story! Neither of us remembered it but we weren't the biggest Pooh fans. We both loved the stories but definitely haven't read them all.
DeleteI've given up on ever actually clearing my Netgalley! I feel that would be a goal I'd fail regardless...I like to think of it as a case of there are too many good books! Have a great week and happy reading!
ReplyDeleteLaura @ http://a-reader-lives-a-thousand-lives.blogspot.co.uk
I've given up on clearing it up but I would like a little more control over what I have!
DeleteSecret of the Staircase sounds tempting...it reminds me of the old Nancy Drew mysteries I read eons ago.
ReplyDeleteWinnie the Pooh is an old favorite, but I haven't read all the stories. I named one of my sons after Christopher Robin...LOL.
Enjoy your reading and your new week, and here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
I think that's why they appeal to me! I loved the Nancy Drew books and this looks like fun.
DeleteThat play of Winnie the Pooh does't sounds like anything I have ever read, but maybe they were trying to make a cleanliness point...lol. The Secret of the Staircase sounds interesting so I might look that series up. :)
ReplyDeleteI did better this week with my book grabbing. :)
Stormi
Week in Review
The play was really fun though I didn't remember the story. It did make me want to go get some Winnie the Pooh books and see what I've been missing!
DeleteCamping out sounds like it will be a fun experience, I hope you have a great time!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm looking forward to it!
DeleteI love going camping! It is a great time to unplug and spend time together.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to it! It's hard to unplug at home so it should be fun!
DeleteDon't remember that Winnie the Pooh story.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand how you feel, that for me is usually associated with a panic attack that isn't really necessary lol.
Oh have fun camping, I will never camp because bugs! Plus my son sleep walks and that makes me nervous but still Bugs!
I hope you have a great week, Katherine! Happy Reading! ox
Thankfully no panic attack but I can see where they can happen. I kind of just want to curl up in a ball though that's getting better!
DeleteI'm definitely worried about the bugs! I will be investing in some serious bug spray.
Sounds like a fun week for you and the family. I don't remember that Pooh story either and my son used to wake me up at 6:30 am when he was young to watch Winnie the Pooh on the Disney channel, lol, so I'm something of an expert!
ReplyDeleteMy family is into camping (I'm not, but I love nature and time spent outdoors, just not roughing it so much). We did spend a week when the kids were little with my hubs' friends who had a primitive cabin in the Maine woods, and it was such a great experience-- the kids only brought a tiny amount of toys and books, and wound up making up imagination games like building fairy houses, pretending there was a sea monster in the lake, etc. I wouldn't trade that week for the world!!
On the book side, I just put your choice, The Rain Sparrow, on my wishlist-- looks so good to me after some of my grim reads. I'm jotting down the name of the Staircase one for my grandkids.
Also, thanks for reminding me of the Paperback Swap-- I belonged so many years ago. I'll consider it again. I also used to belong to Booksfree for a few years and recommend them to folks, never had a problem with them, a paperback and audio book rental company that is family owned and reliable.
Enjoy the first week of March!
i wish I could help with the Winnie The Pooh question but I have never read any Pooh (remiss for an English person perhaps?). One day maybe.
ReplyDeleteI have never been camping but thin it would be a ton of fun. It is great you have a ton of places by you to go. Glad the play went well!! I totally don't remember that though from the stories. I could have just forgot though!! Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteOh, have fun camping! And good luck with getting your NG percentage up; I'm still struggling with mine, too. I got it to 75% and there it seems to be stuck. As for the Winnie the Pooh question, I do remember Kanga being a bit overprotective of Roo, but I've checked my complete Winnie the Pooh collection, and there's not a story about Kanga thinking the other animals were too dirty to play with. (Although she does give Piglet a bath, when he's been pretending to be Roo.)
ReplyDeleteI've never truly been camping, either. We have several beautiful state parks within a day's travel, and it is my objective to get the man and Baby and me going to some starting this spring! As far as Kanga and Roo, I remember Kanga not wanting Roo to play with anyone in the Hundred Acre Wood and she was pretty adamant about it, but I don't remember why.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great way of describing my week too! You put it in better words though:) I used to go camping all the time. Been many years now. Maybe I should start going again.
ReplyDeleteMy Sunday Post - http://fuonlyknew.com/2016/02/28/whats-new-on-my-bookshelf-149-and-the-sunday-post/
When I saw the title Secret Staircase, I was immediately thinking back to my Nancy Drew days LOL - I'd like to try this one.
ReplyDeleteI just have given up on requesting on Netgalley. My percentage is bad. lol Hope you have a good week!
ReplyDeleteThat's great the Tornado enjoyed the play. I do remember Kanga not wanting Roo to play with Tigger so much since they often got in trouble. And probably dirty too lol.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have fun camping! The only type of camping I've done is in a RV and my mom brought a long a rice cooker and mini TV. So I'm not used to roughing it lol. But it does look like fun.
Have a great week!
Good luck on getting your percentage up! I always seem to struggle with that. I have only been camping with other people who actually know what they are doing. It has been years since I went and it isn't anything that I have done with my family. It does sound like fun.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have more energy this week. I've been going through the same thing. Tired, low energy, falling asleep hella early, and not online as much as usual. I hope you're not sick.
ReplyDeleteOh! You are reading Black Rabbit Hall right now? Because of seeing it mentioned here on your blog a while ago, I went to Netgalley to look at it, and after I read the synopsis I requested it. They approved me last week! The tone of it reminds me of The The Thirteeth Tale. I hope you are liking it. I don't remember that Winnie the Pooh story either. Sometimes children's theater directors will write their own plays. The director at our children's theater has done it before with Rupert the bear and the Grinch. If they write their own play they don't have be to pay for the rights to put it on. Ha ha. Camping is great. It will make for some fun memories for The Tornado. Have a wonderful week. :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the book I read by Maisey Yates a couple years ago. One Night Charmer sounds like it will be a good one. What do you think of Black Rabbit Hall so far? I hope to read that one soon.
ReplyDeleteI hope this week will be better for you! We're at the beginning of my busy early March race as I prepare for company, birthday parties, and all my usual obligations. I am glad Tornado enjoyed the play last week. I'm not familiar with the story of Kanga cleaning obsessively. It sounds cute though. I hope you have a good week, Katherine!
Camping!!! :) though you are brave to go in a tent. I enjoy doing that with my husband but we haven't since we had kids. Maybe when they're older. I hope you're share some of your experiences if you go! I'm really hoping to go sometime this spring before the weather gets too hot but then I wonder if I'm crazy to go with a baby. The Tornado will love it!
ReplyDeleteOh man it stinks when you get hit with a week like that and feeling so tired. Hope you're feeling well rested and ready to go soon! Yay for the Yates book! I've enjoyed the ones I've read of hers :D
ReplyDeleteWhat a busy week, I know exactly how you feel!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the tent, I would be totally hopeless camping as I have no patience for putting up a tent!!
Have a good week!
I don't remember that about Kanga. She always seemed laid back but then again, I had only watched the cartoon shows. Have fun camping. My brother and SIL love the outdoors and camp when they can. They started taking the kids like last year.
ReplyDelete