Thursday, May 26, 2011

My Summer Book Shelf

Come on let's read again...like we did last summer
Yea, let's read again like we did last year~~
Do you remember when things were really hummin'
Yea, let's read again~~reading time is here!
(Shout out to Chubby Checker)


As far as I'm concerned, it's always reading time. With summer just around the corner, I have my stack of books ready to go....how about you?


Fallen by Karin Slaughter
A Covert Affair: Julia Child and Paul Child in the OSS by Jennet Conant
Portrait of a Spy by Daniel Silva (Gabriel Allon series)
Eve and Quinn~~both by Iris Johansen
Once Upon a Time, There Was You by Elizabeth Berg
Snowman by Jo Nesbo
In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I also make sure to have several romance paperbacks around too, to grab and throw in my bag.


For the summer mystery book discussions~~

China Lake by Meg Gardiner~~June 21st at 4pm
Double Indemnity by James M. Cain~~July 19th at 4pm
The Alienist by Caleb Carr~~August 23rd at 4pm

I know for me, the mood I'm in dictates the book I feel like reading, so I make sure to have several different genres around to choose from. Mixing it up is always a good thing.

What are you planning to read this summer? Let me know.

Let the summer begin! Reading time is here~~~

Happy Reading!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

We Cozied Up!

"Reading is to the mind what exerise is to the body."
Richard Steele


I can't think of a better way to exercise my mind then reading a book....it's great to see how many are in agreement.

We finished up the Cozy Up With a Good Book winter book club at the end of April. It was terrific! We had 68 people sign up; 55 Reader's Cards were turned in; and everyone loved the reading as a great way to pass winter. The best part is when folks tell me they read
someone different, or tried a new genre~~
and discovered that they liked it!

The top books the club read this year were:

1) Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot *
2) Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
3) Night Fall by Nelson DeMille *
4) Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve
5) How Green Ws My Valley by Richard Llewellyn *
6) Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
7) Little Bee by Chris Cleave
8) Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke
9) Growing Up Laughing by Marlo Thomas
10) The Help by Kathryn Stockett
11) Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
12) Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
13) Half-Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls
14) Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
15) Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane

*Denotes books from the winter book discussions

The authors read the most during the book club were:

1) Robert B. Parker
2) James Patterson
3) Stieg Larsson
4) Michael Connelly
5) C. J. Sansom
6) Mary Higgins Clark
7) Lisa Gardner
8) John Dunning
9) Nora Roberts
10) Paul Theroux

We celebrated May 3rd with a party where we discussed~~what else~~books we had read over the winter, gave out raffle prizes, congratulated our top readers, enjoyed refreshments, and looked forward to the summer book club.

Thank you for joining the book club~~and enjoying reading.

Happy Reading!