What's On Your Nightstand? September 2011

This monthly feature is hosted by 5 Minutes for Books on the last Tuesday of every month. Click on the logo to go and check out all the participants.


This weekend was the library Fall book sale so this pile is my result! I didn't just shop willy-nilly - these are books that I have had on my mental wish list, or that complete a series, or are by my "must have" authors so I am very excited about working my way through this stack! From the bottom up...

Back When We Were Grown Ups by Anne Tyler Anne Tyler is a favorite, I try to read all of her books.

Shopaholic & Sister by Sophie Kinsella The shopaholic series is the Chinese food of books, you read until you're stuffed and then ten minutes later you have to read again. So it turns out when I read the description more carefully, that I have read this one already - just forgot. Oh well.

The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith This is another series I abandoned and now want to return to and wrap up. These read so quickly and are very sweet - will enjoy this one.

Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson Probably my most exciting purchase. I loved Backseat Saints and Gods in Alabama, I am an official Joshilyn Jackson fan girl.

Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs More Running with Scissors type stories, I assume, we'll see.

The Shadow of Your Smile by Mary Higgins Clark Another author that I just read every book no matter what. I don't buy them at full price but I do read them...eventually.

The Day of the Storm by Rosamunde Pilcher yes, she wrote the Shell Seekers.. that seems to be all anyone ever remembers of dear Rosamunde. But I am loyal - I read them all, eventually.

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens and I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass Saw these two when they were making the rounds on book blogs and have had them on my mental wish list ever since.

Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah I think I was kind of late to the Kristin Hannah lovefest but have since read a few and enjoyed them very much - looking forward to this one too.

Innocent Traitor by Allison Weir At one point the Facebook Historical Fiction book club chose an Allison Weir and I liked that one so am hoping this one will be as good.

The Abortionist's Daughter by Elisabeth Hyde Title caught my attention awhile ago and it sounds interesting.

What's On Your Nightstand? May 2011

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On the bottom is I'm Black and I'm Proud wished the White Girl, it's by a local author about her experience growing up in small town south in the sixties as a child in a multi-racial family. She's white but identified more with the black community and felt more accepted there as well. It's been very interesting so far.

Next is The Butterfly's Daughter by Mary Alice Monroe. I won this one from the Goodreads First Reads program and am enjoying it thus far.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac is one I couldn't get through on audio so have decided to try the print and see if that is better for me. I'll be honest, I'm not laying any money down on it. I find that the books that appeal to intellectual males, tend not to appeal to me. (Broom of the System comes right to mind)

Finally on top is an audio I came across in a thrift shop, Strangers in Death by JD Robb. She has written approximately a kazillion of these "in Death" books and I have read exactly one, Memory in Death. It's not something I would sit down and read (too many more preferred books in my TBR pile) but it will pass the time in the car!







This same picture was on my March nightstand post! I've made zero progress towards picking out reading an "L" book for the A-Z Reading Challenge so that is still on my "to-do" list! Hopefully I won't be saying that again in June or July!

What's On Your Nightstand? March 2011

This monthly feature is hosted by 5 Minutes for Books on the last fourth Tuesday of every month. Click on the logo to go and check out all the participants. (As you can see if you click through, I am a week late, I was thinking last but it is actually fourth...oops!)

Starting from the bottom...
All The Time in the World - This was a win from Goodreads, I've read the first few stories and should finish it up within the next few days.
Sarah's Key - This is our local library's book club selection for March. The meeting is next week so if I am going to participate I need to get busy reading!
Miss Hidreth Wore Brown - This is a really fun collection of essays of
Southern humor. I've read it once but need to read it again to write a
review for the blog tour coming up in April.
Thomas Jefferson- This one has been hanging around forever, I just need to buckle down and get it done. It's for the President's Reading project which I am very sloooooowly participating in. (I won't say completing because there is no hope of me ever completing it!) I am beginning to wonder who comes after Jefferson, (Washington, Adams, Jefferson,  ____), that's why I am doing this project because my knowledge of history is so lacking.
The Diary of a Young Girl - Since I took this picture, I have finished this one. I had read it before when I was younger and went through my World War II phase - read The Hiding Place and this one and I don't remember what else. But it had been so many years it was like reading it for the first time. Now I want to watch the movie. I rented it to watch last weekend, didn't, returned it two days late with the accompanying late fees and am now preparing to rent it again - what's the definition of insanity?

This second group is my possible "L" pile. I am working on the A-Z Reading Challenge and ready for an "L" book. These all look good and I have heard great things about three of the four. Haven't heard anything about the Dorothea Benton Frank and she can be iffy for me, but she is such a quick read and so light. I may have to pick that one just as a palette cleanser after the heavier stuff above. If you click  through on the A-Z Challenge you will see that I skipped "E". None of my "E" books excite me (The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Ella Minnow Pea, and Echo). Is there a wonderful "E" titled book that I should be looking for? What I have in my TBR pile just doesn't speak to me.

So for "L" it is either...

Little Giant of Aberdeen County
The Lace Reader
The Land of Mango Sunsets
Little Bee

What's On Your Nightstand? January 2011

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At the bottom is Pat Conroy's My Reading Life. This is one I have had my eye on for awhile and it will count towards Bermudaonion's Okra Picks Reading Challenge. Conroy lives close by and I got to meet him about a year ago. I was completely starstruck and made, at best, no impression or, more likely, a bad one! oh well, better luck next time.

Above that is HP 7. I have it out to dive in come February 1 when the Chunkster Challenge begins but as I think about it, I better go back and check that I read HP 6!

Above that is The Devotion of Suspect X. This was a win from Goodreads. I liked what the preview had to say about it AND...it's an X, I'll knock the X book for the A-Z Challenge out early this year and won't be scrambling in December.

Remarkable Creatures by Tracey Chevalier was a birthday gift from my friend, Belle, a retired school teacher. My birthday was in October. I brought it home and promptly lost it in my TBR black hole. Luckily when I did my inventory at the beginning of the year I found it again!

Above that is Thomas Jefferson. he's been hanging around awhile. Maybe I'll wrap him up this year month.

Finally, at the top is the audiobook, Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. It is next up in the car. I'm looking forward to it because I've got James Patterson going now (Don't Blink) and the single death so far has been so incredibly vile that I can't get it out of my mind. Sparks will be a good cleanse!

What's On Your Nightstand? March 2010

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I have made very little progress on my nightstand from last month. But I am pushing all of those books aside because I just got home from the book store and I have this......



....hooray! I loved the first book, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and can't wait to dive into this one!

What's On Your Nightstand? February 2010

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This is the same picture I used for my Mailbox Monday post a few weeks ago - I have made very little progress on this stack since that post! I have almost finished Cleaving and will try to put my post about it up this weekend for Beth Fish Read's Weekend Cooking event. The Thomas Jefferson is for the US President's Project, The French Mistress is for the Facebook Historical fiction Book Club. Book Of Fires is another Historical fiction and was a win from reviews by lola. Both of those would count for the Year of the Historical challenge if I was in a Historical fiction mood - which I am not. What is not in this pile but I still have every intention of reading in what is left of February are the two Judy Blume book I selected for the Shelf Discovery Challenge. Bermudaonion is hosting a mini-challenge of just Judy Blume this month and I want to get in on the action. I didn't necessarily want to buy them so I was thinking I might check them out of the library. That idea had a prerequisite which you can read about here - hanging head in shame.

Finally, I have a giveaway posted. It's Chicken Soup for the Soul; Living the Catholic Faith. It's a perfect book for Lenten reflection and the giveaway is open until the end of the month.

What's On Your Nightstand October 2009

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From last month's post, I read and reviewed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and Revolutionary Road; the latter completed the A-Z Reading Challenge for me. I didn't get to all the others - got sidetracked by football, soccer, tennis, and dance - all the things my kids do in the fall that require me to drive them around town!



John Adams is still there but VERY close to getting finished just a mere nine ten months after I started it! Next is The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown; I've loved all his other books so I am anticipating enjoying this one too. Twelve Ordinary Men I am going to take to church and read during adoration. I've signed up for the Maud Hart Lovelace Challenge but haven't read my Betsy-Tacy book yet - I know it will go fast once I get started! Above that is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for the Everything Austen Challenge although I still have two movies I wanted to watch for that first so it may not get done (again!) this month - we'll see, I think the challenge is open until December so I will have time. The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran is the November selection for the Facebook Historical Fiction book club. And, on top, is The Perks of Being a Wallflower which I am reading at the suggestion of Jennifer at The Literate Housewife, it was banned at a high school near her so she decided to read it as a protest against banning books. Next she spread the word on her blog and started a Facebook Book Club for us to discuss it - very fun!

What's On Your Nightstand? September 2009

This monthly feature is hosted by 5 Minutes for Books on the last Tuesday of every month. Click on the logo to go and check out all the participants.

From last month's list I read and reviewed Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder, an ARC from Library Thing. I got a good chunk of John Adams read but that was it for my Nightstand books. Here's what I have for this month.....





John Adams is still there but VERY close to getting finished just a mere nine months after I started it! Next is The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown; I've loved all his other books so I am anticipating enjoying this one too. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society has just been all over the blogs so I had to grab it when the opportunity arose (it was from one of the girls at No Stress Book Club). Revolutionary Road will complete the A-Z Reading Challenge for me - something I really wasn't sure I would be able to do when I started it! And, finally Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is on my list for the Everything Austen Challenge although I still have two movies I wanted to watch for that first so it may not get done this month - we'll see, I think the challenge is open until December so I will have time.

What's On Your Nightstand? August 2009

***This was supposed to be up at the end of August and now here it is the middle of September, let's just pretend it's still August!***
From last month's list I read and reviewed Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (I think I will get to see the movie this weekend - hooray!) and Bridget Jones's Diary, the latter for the Everything Austen challenge hosted by Stephanie's Written Word. I didn’t have to read nearly as much of my boy's summer reading assignment selections as I expected - I guess they are growing up sniff, sniff! So I just read a smidgen of Holes, Pollyanna, and Treasure Island. I started and abandoned Reading Lolita in Tehran; it has gotten good reviews so I will give it another chance another time but I just wasn't in the mood for it right now. That leaves me still in need of an R book for the A-Z Reading Challenge . And - big news - yesterday was my one year blogoversary! Happy Blog Birthday to me, if you click back you will see I have had a giveaway to celebrate. (But I am so late posting this that it is done - boo, hiss.)Here's what this month looks like….

John Adams still anchors the bottom of the nightstand, no progress there. Next is Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder, an ARC from Library Thing that I have almost finished. It's a great tale about a young African man, Deo, who survived the genocide in his home country Burundi and again in Rwanda. It alternates between his life there and his new start in New York City - they are each horrifying and hopeful in their own way. Next is Nefrititi which is the August selection for the Facebook Historical Fiction book group. The author is available for questions Thursday so I need to get cracking on that one or I will miss out - all the book clubber's reviews so far have been great! Then I have The Art of Racing in the Rain - it's another I wanted to read this week for Jennifer at the Literate Housewife's Dog Days of Summer. If I called in sick the rest of the week maybe I would get both of these read on time!

What's On Your Nightstand? July 2009

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Please excuse the blurry photo - not sure what happened there! At the bottom sits John Adams - untouched since last month - I'm still ignoring John for now. Next is Castaways a win from bermudaonion that I am really looking forward to reading. I read reviews of this one at both bermudaonions and bethfishreads and they made me want to read it right away. But, before I start that, I'm working on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I skimmed through it when my DD Bookworm purchased it at midnight on the release date but I never sat down and actually read it through. Now that the movie is out, I want to read it before I go and see the movie. I'm enjoying it and am about halfway through. I really wish I was ambitious enough to think I might read the whole series again because if I was I could join the Harry Potter Reading Challenge but I don't think I can start over again when I have so many things already I want to read.

I have two books in the stack to complete my A-Z Reading challenge. My R book is Reading Lolita in Tehran. ( I really vacillated on this as I also have The Red Tent and Revolutionary Road in my TBR pile - I don’t want to repeat what happened with "I"! My Y book is The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg. I haven't read anything she's written but all of a sudden I keep seeing her name everywhere so I'm looking forward to this one. And for the Everything Austen challenge, I have Bridget Jones Diary although it would be a re-read so I may watch the movie instead.

It's summer reading time in the Round File household so I have Treasure Island that Tween is reading and hence I am reading as well in order to stay on top of him and to make sure he understands what he read! And Youngest has both Holes and Pollyanna to read. Youngest loves to read so reading them is no problem, the problem is the required journal with chapter by chapter summaries. I checked on him not long after he started Holes and he was on Chapter 25 of 50 chapters - hooray! But then I checked the journal and he had one entry for Chapter One and nothing else - boo!

Missing from the pile is Nefertiti the August selection for the historical fiction bookclub on Facebook. I put off buying it hoping I would win the copy the author provided to our leader, Jennifer, from the literatehousewife but, heavy sigh, I haven't heard anything so I guess I didn't win. Oh well - off to Amazon to buy that and then whatever else it will take to get me free supersaver shipping!

What's On Your Nightstand June 2009

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From last month's list I read and reviewed Dry, Inkheart, and Just Take My Heart. I worked a little bit on John Adams but as you can see it is still there for this month!

This month from the bottom up, I have, John Adams, that I am reading ever so slowly for the U.S President's Reading Project. Then there is Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir which is the June selection for the Facebook Historical fiction book club moderated by Jennifer at The Literate Housewife. The Devil in the Junior League is leftover from last month, it was one of my "D" possibilities for the A-Z Reading Challenge. I didn’t pick it for that challenge but I still want to read it. Next is Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner. That's what I picked for my "G" book for the A-Z Reading Challenge. The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner is the July book for the Facebook Historical Fiction book club. And finally, Zapped by Carol Higgins Clark is my "Z" book for the A-Z Reading Challenge unless something better comes along because Zapped got a very lukewarm review from my friend who passed it on to me at our No Stress Book Club.

What's On Your Nightstand? May 2009

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This is my first month particpating so I'll just jump right in with what's on my nightstand. Starting from the bottom, I have.....

John Adams...I have been working on this one forever for the U.S. President's Reading Project. It was also going to be my "J" book for the A-Z Reading Challenge but that challenge only lasts for the year so I went ahead and bought...

Just Take My Heart by Mary Higgins Clark. A mystery, of course, with a beautiful, brainy heroine, of course! It's a formula but the formula works for me - I enjoy Mary Higgins Clark. I'm pretty far into this one already so should finish it up tonight.

There are four possibilties in the pile for my "D" book. Not sure yet which one I am going to read...

The Devil in the Junior League by Linda Francis Lee sounds fun and light.

Double Take by Catherine Coulter is bound to be good - I've loved all of her's that I've read thus far.

Dry by Augusten Burroughs will probably be fascinating if a little bit icky...at least that is how I would describe his other book, Running With Scissors.

and Dear Mem Fox by Mem Fox interests me because Mem Fox was a favortie author when I taught first grade.

Finlly, Inkheart by Cornelia Funke is a children's book but the series was popular and it became a movie so I wanted to check it out. And, since it is a first in a series it will count towards the 1st in a Series Reading Challenge.