How Many Books Are You Currently Reading

I used to have several books going at the same time. There would be one book in my purse for downtime, one in the bathroom, for tub reading and another that seemed to following me around the rest of the house.

Since getting a Nook, I pretty much stick to having one or two books going at the same time. One on my Nook and a hard copy of something else at home, sometimes.

This week we had a snowstorm and I left my Nook in my desk drawer at work. Can you say panic much? I was in the middle of Delirium when I was told to leave on Tuesday because the roads were getting bad. Wednesday wasn't any better and I was called off.  No Nook! So I promptly started reading Jane Porter's She's Gone Country, which is fabulous so far.

A few months ago I would have easily been able to go back to the other book, once I had my Nook back in my hot little hands, but now, I'm more anxious to finish the book I started at home.

So what about you? How many books do you read at a time? Do you ever finish one that you started later over one you had been reading?

Show Me The Free Reading Challenge

Here is how it works:

• Should you choose to participate in this challenge, your goal is to read at least twelve (12) legally obtained e-books which you got for FREE for your e-reading device. While twelve is the minimum there is no maximum limit.
• Anyone can join. You don't have to be a blogger, and you don't have to live in the United States. 
• Any E-Reader will work for this challenge, including: iPad, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Sony Reader, enTourage. 
• Please Note: If you don't have an e-reading device, you can still join in with Amazon's Free Kindle Reading Apps which you can download for your iPhone, iPad, Mac, PC, Blackberry and more.
• The challenge runs from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011. You can join at anytime.
• e-books in ANY genre count for this challenge as long as it was FREE at the time that you downloaded it.
• Every month in 2011, I will make a post for the Show Me The Free Reading Challenge so you can link your reviews. 
• Those that link their reviews will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a different prize each month, such as an Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card, a bookmark, or a GelaSkins for your E-Reader. Winners will be announced at the end of each month.

Challenge Guidelines:

• If you blog, create a post announcing your participation in the challenge. Please include a link back to this post.
• Non blogger must publish reviews on some type of public domain such as Goodreads, Shelfari, LibraryThing, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble to enter the monthly giveaway.
• When you post your book review, you MUST say how you obtained the free read. Please make your source clear.
• You can list your books in advance or list them as you read them.
• Crossovers to other reading challenges is acceptable, but galley e-books DO NOT count. Again, this is a Reading Challenge to read as many of the FREE e-books legally offered for your e-reader. To get started, check out the Top 100 Free books on Amazon, or the Free e-books on Barnes & Noble. 
• Any linked reviews that do not meet the guidelines will not be entered into the monthly drawing for the prize of the month. 

Levels:
Coupon Clipper: 12 Books
Penny Pincher: 24 Books
Super Saver: 30+ Books

Want to sign up? Go here

I'm going for Coupon Clipper, though I may make Penny Pincher.

Awesome Bookshelves Or Unusual Bookshelves?

Some of you are lucky enough to have beautiful shelves to store your books. All about {n} spotlights all the awesome bookshelves out there in the book blogging world. Most of them make me drool and turn green with envy.

Why?

Because this is my bookshelf!

Notice that I have so many books I can't even put them on the shelves properly. Also note that the shelves are warping from the weight of the books!

Where else to I store my books? Itso cubes from Target! Those are great things and can hold lots of paperbacks, especially if you double them up. Plus they are pretty cheap!

So how many of you have wacky ways of shelving your books? Or unusual places that you store them.

Feel free to share them with me! I'd like to know I'm not the only crazy...the only one.

Book Review: Invincible #4

 
Author: Joan Johnston
Title: Invincible
Publisher: Mira
Publish Date: Oct 26, 2010
Review Copy Provided By: NetGalley
Buy: eharlequin
Book Blurb: Bella Benedict's five grown children are scattered around the world like a handful of precious jewels. Now she's dying and she has one last, secret wish. To bring her children home. And to give them what she once had: a marriage of passion.
Wealthy playboy Max Benedict has no interest in long-term commitment. He had his heart broken once and that was enough. Instead, he travels the world, working as a sometime spy for the CIA. When he's asked to investigate a foreign threat against the president, he doesn't think twice about accepting—until he hears who he'll be working with in London.
FBI Special Agent Kristin Lassiter is under investigation and on the verge of losing everything—her savings, her job, her beloved father. So when Bella Benedict approaches her with the offer to pay her mounting debts, she's tempted to accept. But there's a catch—a big one. Bella wants Kristin to win the heart of her son Max, the very man who destroyed Kristin years ago. A man unaware he fathered her nine-year-old daughter. If Kristin succeeds, she'll get the money she needs—and the priceless Blackthorne rubies Bella has offered to sweeten the deal. The only problem is, can she win Max's heart without falling back in love with him?

Review: Joan Johnston has created a fast paced, glamorous read, that gives you a bit of the world of the rich and famous, as well as glimpse of the tennis circuit. All of that is sprinkled with a little bit of espionage! She's also created some very memorable characters.

This is the first book in the series about the Benedict siblings. We meet Max and his lost love Kristin, but we also meet his mother, Bella and Kristin (and Max's) daughter Felicity (Flick). It is easy to like the playboy, Max. The reader is easily drawn to him and feels compassion for the boy that felt unloved and abandoned by his mother. It isn't as easy to feel sympathy for Kristin. In fact, she's downright unlikable for most of the story.

Kristin runs away after she loses her virginity to Max. She was 16 and he was 18. There was a minor misunderstanding, that she neglected to tell him about. Then about 9 months later there was another. I didn't like that she didn't tell Max about his daughter when they met up again to play and exhibition match in Wimbledon, especially when she jumped into bed with him with ease. I also didn't like how she then proceeded to try to keep Flick from him. It made it hard to believe that she loved him, when she was acting more like a spoiled brat.

Flick more than makes up for the weakness of her mother's character. Flick is a super smart 9 year old, fresh from being expelled from boarding school. It is impossible not to love her. She's inquistive and has a love for big words! And she knows how to use them. She wraps everyone around her little finger, including her grandma, Bella.

Bella was a great matriarch though there is a lot about her that needs to be cleared up, especially her relationship with her estranged husband and her mysterious twin sister, Alicia. Joan only gives us hints at why she isn't with her husband, Bull, who seems to be the love of her life.

I really enjoyed Max and Kristin's story, even though I wasn't terribly fond of Kristin. I definitely want to read more, and I look forward to Lydia's story, which is coming up next.

Rating: 4 flowers

On My Wishlist: #17

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where I list all the books I desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming.

There are three books that I really want and need to read right now!!



These books are part of the Sweet Seasons Series by Debbie Viguie. I found the 3rd book at our local YMCA lending library and read it for one of the Christmas Reading Challenges. I really loved it and now want to read the rest of the series.

2011 Mystery & Suspense Reading Challenge

Timeline: 1st Jan ~ 31st Dec 2011

Rules: Read 12 Mystery Novels in 2011

Rhys Bowen - Naughty In Nice
Carolyn McCray - 30 Pieces Of Silver
Stacey Kennedy - Stolen Dreams
Amanda Stevens - The Restorer
Tana French - In The Woods
Ron & Janet Benrey - Dead As A Scone
Patricia Cornwell - Predator
Ann Charles - Nearly Departed In Deadwood
Deanna Raybourn - The Dark Enquiry
M.J. Rose - The Hypnotist
Sammi Carter - Chocolate Dipped Death
Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown - Santa Clawed

Completed!

The Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge Wrap Up Post

I'm went for the Christmas Tree level which was 5-6 books. I read 5! So I completed the challenge! Can I get a woo hoo?



Charlene Sands - Do Not Disturb Until Christmas

Susan Meier - The Magic Of A Family Christmas

Cara Colter - Their Christmas Wish Come True

Barbara McMahon - Snowbound Reunion

Debbie Viguie - The Winter Of Candy Canes