It’s Monday! What are you reading? Is a meme sponsored by Sheila at Book Journey.  Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts gave the meme a kidlit twist.  It’s a great way to reflect on what you’ve read and reviewed the last week and plan what you want to read next.  Join up with us and discover what good books other people  are reading.

It’s been another week of cold and snow, but I’ve stayed toasty warm if a bit stir crazy. I was glad to get out this weekend and walk down the main road through the state forest. I love how the woods and river look draped in snow.

I finished…

The Trumpet and the Sword by Peter Danielson – Gideon, a foolish braggart, is chosen by Yahweh to lead the Israelites back to the worhip of Yahweh and back to freedom. Those who are left of the Children of the Lion have fallen on hard times. Iri’s son Talus made it to Home, where he was banished to live in poverty. Theon lost his memory and lives another life. His twins, Hela and Gravis are stolen into slavery. Nimshi and Micah have been destroyed by the violence of their past. Luti sets out to warn MIcah of danger and ends up a slave herself. Even though this story is one of the darkest of the series so far, I found myself caught up in the drama and intrigue.

Prophets and Warriors by Peter Danielson – Fortune has turned its wheel to crush the Children of the Lion with violence and betrayal, but they remain strong and survive. Theon and Talus find themselves enslaved by the evil Nuhara and working near death in a marble quarry. Only Talus’s carving ablity and  Theon’s eternal optimism sustain them. Hela and the mysterious child Tuk struggle to survive across the desert and hope to reconnect with any survivors from Home. Micah and Luti are forced by the priests of Astarte to spy on the powerful Phoenicians. Cotto and Purah throw their lot together since they have betrayed their people. Once more, the series is filled with violence, intrigue, love and betrayal.

I’m currently reading…

Departed Glory by Peter Danielson – This latest book skips several generations to the time of Samuel and Saul. As always, I’m enjoying the story and the characters, but I want to know what happened to Theon and Talus and Tuk and Hela. So far there has been no mention of those characters from the last book.

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott – I didn’t read any of this one this week. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it and learn from it, but I am nearing the end of my massive series and want to race through to the end of it!

By the Book: Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from The New York TImes Book Reviewedited by Pamela Paul – Just three interviews this week (see explanation above): PJ O’Rourke, Anne Lamott and Ian McEwan. I love it when I discover I share a favorite book when someone–even if its just through these interviews.

Coming up…

I have only four books left in the Children of the Lion series. Can I finish it? I don’t know, but I’m going to put forth a valiant effort!

What good books have you read lately? What books should I read once I finish this series?