It's Monday, what are you reading? (31)

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Overall a pretty good reading week. I didn't get much further the biggest book on my list from last week, The One I Left Behind, although I did pick it up tonight (Sunday) and make some progress.  I also managed to read the other three, plus another novella. I sometimes neglected writing, which I was hoping to do more of this week, for reading, so I'm not sure how my balance will be next week but I do have a few great books lined up.

Last week I finished reading:
Ruled by Caragh M. O'Brien

I know this was incredibly short, but I was still happy I finally read it. I think a part of me had been waiting, holding out for that last taste of the Birthmarked world, but considering it had been months since I finished the trilogy I figured it was probably time. Plus it helps boosts up my reading stats for 2013, which was already behind on my 100 book Goodreads challenge. So that was nice. The story itself was pretty good and it definitely made me miss Gaia and Leon. I'll definitely have to reread this series in the future sometime.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Writing this blurb just after finishing, I'm a little unsure about this one. I really loved the scary bits, and it's kinda made me want to look into reading more horror since this may be the first novel that could fall into that genre that I've read. And I do love scary movies. But at some point it stopped being a scary book. Near the end, it regained some of that charm, but ultimately I just didn't like the romance storyline and the main character, Cas, was a bit too confident for me. Still, I think Blake's written an exciting novel, with vivid imagery and creepy ghosts. I'll definitely be picking up the sequel, Girl of Nightmares.

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

A really interesting and insightful book on writing along with quite a bit of memoir type anecdotes that helps turn it into as much of a story as a guide. Hopefully some of the advice will pay off in my own writing; I'm not really convinced but it can't hurt. Besides even if things like telling you it's okay to write a bad first draft are fairly basic, it's still useful to have a reminder.

Radiant by Cynthia Hand

My copy of Boundless, the final book in the Unearthly Trilogy, is waiting to be picked up at the post office but it was snowing too bad today for me to go. So I spent the day reading this novella that takes place between Hallowed and Boundless and it definitely got me even more excited for the final book. I'm not sure if I'm right, but I feel like Radiant is different than a lot of short stories that get released online because it feels like it's actually adding something important to the novels. It's also just as well-written and well-researched as the rest of the series and had some interesting insight into Angela. I'll be curious to see how that plays out in Boundless.

What I plan to read this week:
The One I Left Behind by Jennifer McMahon

Yeah, not going to beat myself up about not finishing this one. Until tonight I hadn't picked it up at all, but I did read some more tonight at least. Plus, I had a productive reading week. But I would like to pick it up again. McMahon always hooks me so that I can't put her novels down, I just haven't gotten to that point with The One I Left Behind yet.

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

I love that this is a tiny, two-book, series that didn't feel the need to stretch itself out into a trilogy. And even though I disliked one aspect of Anna, I'm excited to see where Blake takes the story next in this sequel. I gave a brief test of the audio book and really disliked it, but I'm excited to pick up the print version this week.

Boundless by Cynthia Hand

Once I'm able to pick up my copy from the post office– thanks Ambur for the gift!– I will definitely be diving into this one. I'll be surprised if I get any sleep, because I already know I won't want to put it down. Also, there better be plenty of Tucker. Just saying.

What are you reading this Monday?