What books are you reading?

[Laurie]

I finished Building a Future, very good even though I did not care for one of the characters. Hopefully he will redeem himself in the final book of the trilogy. Up next for me is Drawing Fire by Janice Cantore, it is the first book in her Cold Case Justice trilogy. I'm trying to find authors I have not read for a while. Not an easy task to accomplish when one reads as much as I do.

[baysimp]

Finished Extraordinary Education. It was very different from the rest of the series, but I really enjoyed it.
Now I'm reading As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh. Not my usual genre, but I found the synopsis intriguing.

[Laurie]

I finished Drawing Fire, excellent. I'm doing something I very rarely do: I'm starting the second book because I am anxious to see what happens next.

[baysimp]

Finished Lemon Trees. It was quite heavy but also beautiful.

I'm about to start The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase by Wendy Mass. I loved the original so much when I read it last year, and hopefully I'll love the sequel just as much!

[Laurie]

I finished burning Proof. very good. Not as much suspense as the first one had but it still kept me turning pages. Up next is the third and final book in this trilogy: Catching Heat.

[Catspaw]

I'm reading "The Element of Love" by Mary Connealy. The start of the book didn't really impress me but once I got into it, I got more interested. Her books are usually pretty good. This might not be her best but still good.

[Laurie]

Yesterday I started What I Would Tell You by Liz Tolsma. It is the first book in a new series: Echoes of the Past.

[baysimp]

Finished Great Chocolate Chase. It went in a different direction than I expected, but it was good. I would really enjoy a spin off with any of the characters, but especially Daisy.

I'm reading All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook. It's an amazing book and I love it to pieces already.

[Laurie]

I finished What I Would Tell You, very good and very sad too. Up next for me is Dear Henry, Love Edith by Becca Kinzer. This is a contemporary romance which I hope has a lot of laughs in it. After the sadness in the book I just finished I need something light and hopefully funny.

[Catspaw]

I hope the book is just what you're hoping for, Laurie!

I'm starting "Inventions of the Heart" by Mary Connealy. The first one in the series was kind of meh, so I'm hoping this second one in the series is better.

[Bananareader]

I am currently reading Disney Devotionals [Book Three]: 100 Daily Devotionals Based on Disney Films, Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25, Jurassic Park, and Imagineering an American Dreamscape: Genesis, Evolution, and Redemption of the Regional Theme Parks.

[Laurie]

I finished The Words We Lost by Nicole Deese, very good. Up next for me is Cold Pursuit by Nancy Mehl it is the first book in her Ryland + Sinclair trilogy/series.

[Patterson]

I finished 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea last month. It seemed a lot slower than the other Jules Verne books that I've read, but overall it was okay. There was one point where Verne went completely overboard describing the beauty of a wall of ice! Maybe I was just in a weird mood, but I thought that part was hilarious.

"The luminous ceiling had been extinguished, but the saloon was still resplendent with intense light. It was the powerful reflection from the glass partition sent violently back to the sheets of the lantern. I cannot describe the effect of the voltaic rays upon the great blocks so capriciously cut; upon every angle, every ridge, every facet was thrown a different light, according to the nature of the veins running through the ice; a dazzling mine of gems, particularly of sapphires, their blue rays crossing with the green of the emerald. Here and there were opal shades of wonderful softness, running through bright spots like diamonds of fire, the brilliancy of which the eye could not bear. The power of the lantern seemed increased a hundredfold, like a lamp through the lenticular plates of a first-class lighthouse.
“How beautiful! how beautiful!” cried Conseil.
“Yes,” I said, “it is a wonderful sight. Is it not, Ned?”
“Yes, confound it! Yes,” answered Ned Land, “it is superb! I am mad at being obliged to admit it. No one has ever seen anything like it; but the sight may cost us dear. And, if I must say all, I think we are seeing here things which God never intended man to see.”
Ned was right, it was too beautiful.

I recently started Betty Zane, Zane Grey's first novel. I enjoyed reading Riders of the Purple Sage and my grandma has reccomended this one to me several times, so I thought I'd give it a shot. It's more or less a light romance novel thus far, and I don't care for it, but it was kind of Grandma to give the suggestion.

I am currently reading Disney Devotionals [Book Three]: 100 Daily Devotionals Based on Disney Films, Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25, Jurassic Park, and Imagineering an American Dreamscape: Genesis, Evolution, and Redemption of the Regional Theme Parks.

The Michael Vey series was a favorite of some of my friends back when we were teenagers. I only read the fìrst two but I remember enjoying them. I dislike that he called Meridian, Idaho a small town though. I'm from an Idaho small town (or unincorporated community if you want to sound fancy) and it's one of my pet peeves when sizable cities like Meridian (or Odyssey for that matter) claim to be a small town.

[Laurie]

I just finished The Apostle's Sister the fourth and final book of Angela Hunt's Jerusalem Road series. Up next for me is Lave and the Dream Come True by Tammy L. Gray which is the final book in Ms. Gray's A Taste of Grace trilogy.

[Catspaw]

I'm starting "A Model of Devotion" by Mary Connealy. I finally made it to the end of the trilogy. It's been kind of meh but I do want to give the last book a chance to redeem the series a bit.

[Laurie]

I'm reading Differ We Must by Steve Inskeep. New Lincoln book that came out last Tuesday. My cousin in New Mexico (he and I share an interest in Lincoln) is coming in next month for meetings and I thought I would read it now just in case it comes up in conversation.

[Petrichor]

I'm currently reading The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot. It's good! I was familiar with Silas Marner, but I never bothered looking up her other stuff, so now I have lots of options to choose from.

[Catspaw]

I'm currently reading The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot. It's good! I was familiar with Silas Marner, but I never bothered looking up her other stuff, so now I have lots of options to choose from.

Neat! I'm not familiar with anything beyond Silas Marner either so I'll have to check this one out one day.

[Patterson]

I recently finished From A Certain Point of View: Return Of The Jedi. It's an anthology book of short stories about background and/or offscreen characters from that movie. Most of the stories were mediocre at best, unfortunately with four that uh... don't align with FotF's views on family or mine, but there were also a few really fun stories. The Sarlacc story was hilarious (He doesn't want to eat anybody, but those tiny beings keep pushing each each other into his mouth!). There's another with stormtroopers who want to go on strike for lack of coffee! Although it was a serious story, the return of Dexter Jettster (the diner owner from Attack of the Clones) was a good one too.

I only made it halfway though Betty Zane before I gave up on that book. The romance dialog in that one made Anakin's love scenes in Star Wars seem almost well written by comparison Currently, I'm reading the third Republic Commando book as I wait on a library book in the Fate of the Jedi series. My local library has a lot of Star Wars ebooks, so I that's mostly what I read for fun nowadays.

[Laurie]

I just finished The Peasant King by Tessa Afshar, very good. Up next for me is The Warsaw Sisters by Amanda Barratt, first time reading this author.