Catching up

So once again, I fall behind. I believe I just have to accept that I'm not going to post on a regular basis and live with it. I have good intentions but they just don't pan out. Oh well, if you are still out there, thank you for hanging in. If not, then I'm writing for myself and that's okay, too.

I found that I was creeping up on the 25 book goal so quickly that I needed to rethink that. I adjusted it upwards to 50 books. Just have to see how that works.

Since my last reading post, I have read 3 books and failed to take a photo before removing them from my Kindle. See how my mind works? I am either rushing, rushing, rushing, or dragging, dragging, dragging. There is no consistency with me. :)

Miramont's Ghost by Elizabeth Hall

This book was a freebie from Amazon and it sounded interesting so I got it. Amazon has a selection of First Books and the first of each month they send an email highlighting 4 books that are being published that month. You are allowed to select 2 at no cost and I have found several really good books through this.

The story is about the life of a French girl who has the gift of premonition. Her grandmother was also gifted with this and was hidden because people didn't understand. She died after giving birth to her second daughter who is Adrienne's mother. The story follows her as she grows up with a loving grandfather, loving governess and a distant mother. There is also a spiteful aunt in the mix with a self serving cousin thrown in for good measure. It follows her from France to America when her aunt takes her to live with her as a maid.

It was a good story and the ending was a surprise which always makes me happy.


The One That Got Away by Simon Wood.

Another freebie from Amazon. It was a really good book even if some of it was a little too far-fetched. It's the story of a girl's struggle to return to normalcy after she and her best friend are  kidnapped. She is able to get out of her bonds and sees her best friend being tortured. She manages to get away and suffers from survivor's guilt as she tries to live her life on her own terms. Unfortunately the person who kidnapped her finds where she is living and starts stalking her, determined to finish what he started. Action packed. A good read.


The Lost City of Z, a Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann

A total departure from my normal type of book. First of all, it's non-fiction and I don't usually enjoy that genre unless it's a biography or autobiography. Secondly, it flips back and forth between the 1920's and the 1990's. However, I was totally engrossed and could not put it down. The background story of P. H. Fawcett, the explorer the story is about, was complete and allowed me to understand his obsession with the Amazon forest and his determination to find Z. This was his name for a large civilization he believe existed at one time in the jungle and he spent his life searching for it. Most others call it El Dorado. On his last trip, he took his son and his son's best friend. They were never heard from again. The author goes to the jungle to try to trace his steps and to hopefully, find out what happened to Fawcett. I found this book very interesting and intriguing. While it had lots of information and facts, they were presented in a cohesive form that didn't feel like a struggle to understand.

Reading will probably slow down a bit.  I joined a CAL on Facebook through The Crochet Crowd and I'm working to get caught up on that. I am only able to crochet for a little while each time as I'm finding it makes my hands, arms and shoulders hurt. I learned that lesson the hard way last Thursday. There are 20 squares to do for the first week. Easy, peasy granny squares. I made 15 between Tuesday and Thursday.  By Friday, I couldn't move my arms and was in a lot of pain. So Friday was spent sitting in the recliner doing absolutely nothing, no crocheting, no cross stitch, no playing on the computer, nada.  All I could do was read. That's how I finished 3 books in 2 weeks. I finally got all the squares done going slow and taking a lot of breaks. Now I'm up to Clue #2. 

By the way, there are 10 clues altogether and this Tuesday will be Clue #8.  Did I mention I'm a little bit behind???  Oh well, the point of the thing is to learn new stitches and finish, right?

2015 Reading Challenge - 50 books
Read to date - 14

Hugs,
Sharon