Teaser Tuesday - April 21

Today's teaser comes from The Host, by Stephenie Meyer. I just finished the book on Sunday night and a review will be up on Wednesday - that would be tomorrow. I didn't get a chance to do a teaser for it so I wanted to make sure I did that.

From page 245

The pallid man with the white hair was Walter. He was sick, but Doc didn't know what was wrong with him - there was no way to find out, not without labs and tests, and even if Doc could diagnose the problem, he had no medicine to treat it.

Musing Mondays - April 20

Another good question for this week's Musing Monday!

Coming towards the end of April, we’re a third of the way through the way through the year. What’s the favourite book you’ve read so far in 2009? What about your least favourite? (question courtesy of MizB)

Looking back, I have to say that my favorite is the one I just finished last night. I haven't even posted a review but The Host is my favorite so far. I don't know if it's the books or me but I haven't been overly excited to read in 2009. The Host, by Stephenie Meyer was the first book to really get me going and excited to keep reading.

In 2nd place would be Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver. It was the first book I started and finished in 2009. After a rough start, I enjoyed that one as well.

My least favorite was The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory. I'm still a fan of the author but I just couldn't get into this book. It was long and dull. There were few surprises.

Booking Through Thursday - April 16

Today's prompt:

Yesterday, April 15th, was Tax Day here in the U.S., which means lots of lucky people will get refunds of over-paid taxes.

Whether you’re one of them or not, what would you spend an unexpected windfall on? Say … $50? How about $500?

(And, this is a reading meme, so by rights the answer should be book-related, but hey, feel free to go wild and splurge on anything you like.)

As I am not one of the lucky recipients of a refund this year, I can only dream. *sigh* If I were to somehow receive some unexpected money, and I wasn't allowed to be practical with it, I can think of a few things I might splurge on.

Let's just say that $500 showed up one day. I couldn't use it for paying bills and I couldn't put it in my savings account. I would buy a Kindle. Yes, something that I've been on the fence about for a while. It would be wonderful for traveling. Because I know it will never replace an actual book in my heart and my bookcase, it's something I wouldn't use every day. This makes it frivolous and therefore could only be purchased with unexpected money.

There are a few non-book related things I'd buy as well. I want a Flip Mino video camera so I can capture my naughty puppy in the act of dragging my shoes through the house. I'd like to do some re-organizing which requires baskets and shelves, so I'd buy that too. Hmm. . . I think my $500 is spent.

Teaser Tuesday - April 14

Today's teaser comes from Everyone is Beautiful by Katherine Center.

I have to confess that I handpicked this quote. And it's more than two sentences. I'm breaking all the rules today. I'm just so in love with the voice of the main character. She's a real woman and the author is brilliantly bringing her to life. Any book that can use the word "goober" is a good one.

From page 41

I stayed on the floor. The fall had deflated me. I didn't belong here. What kind of goober falls off a treadmill?

Booking through Thursday - April 9

Here’s the question:

Some people read one book at a time. Some people have a number of them on the go at any given time, perhaps a reading in bed book, a breakfast table book, a bathroom book, and so on, which leads me to…

1. Are you currently reading more than one book?
2. If so, how many books are you currently reading?
3. Is this normal for you?
4. Where do you keep your current reads?

I usually have two books going at a time. Rarely more than that. I am currently reading two books. This is pretty common for me as I keep one book by my bed and one book in my car. They occasionally change places if I'm wanting to finish one or the other, but generally they stay in their spots.

I read during my lunch breaks which is where the "Car Book" comes in. I usually get 1/2 hour to read every day which is nice. The "Bed Book" is the book I will drag around the house and read before bed. I like for it to be a lighter read, not one that will keep me up all night thinking!

Musing Mondays - On Tuesday

I'm a little late this week but better late than never!

As a follow up to last week's question, Joseph asked how you keep track of your tbr list. Do you have a paper list or on your computer? Do you take it with you when you go shopping? How do you decide what gets added to it?

I have a spreadsheet listing the books I own but haven't read yet. They are sorted alphabetically, first by author and then by title. This makes it easy for the A to Z challenge. This reminds me that I need to update it again. . .

As for books that I want to read but don't have in my possession, I usually have some sort of list in my purse. I wish I could say it was an organized list, but normally it's just a post it note stuck in a pocket of my purse. I'll be going to a library book sale this weekend and I'm usually looking for specific authors vs. titles.

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

I have to say that it's a good thing I gave this series a second chance. I didn't love the first book, Dead Until Dark. It was fine but nothing that made me really want to go out and get the second book. I did anyway. I'm sure glad I did. I found Living Dead in Dallas to be a lot more fun, a lot scarier, and it had a better plot. I'm not sure what happened with the first book. I might have been in a Twilight fog about then, wanting all my vampires to sparkle and dazzle.

This book continues the adventures of Sookie Stackhouse and her vampire boyfriend Bill Compton. For much of the book she is out of Bon Temps, so many of the characters introduced in the first book are minor players in this one. Eric is quite the intriguing character in this book but I'm not sure of his motives.

Sookie and Bill travel to Dallas so that Sookie can use her mind reading skills to help find a missing vampire. She quickly gets caught up in a trap -not by vampires, but by humans. I don't want to give anything away so I'm not going to get into the plot much at all.

I am looking forward to continuing this series. I'm working my way through the alphabet but as soon as I finish all 26 books, I'm going to re-visit Sookie and Bill. I recommend this to any reader who likes a little supernatural, a little humor, and a bit of adventure.