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.

I was so excited this week when I walked outside on one of the few sunny days between rain showers and saw purple crocuses. I have lots of bulbs starting to send up green shoots now that the snow has melted, but those brave crocuses were blooming brightly. My husband also brought home cabbage plants and spinach seeds to plant in the garden. Believe it or not, some spinach made it through the winter from last fall. It doesn’t took too good, but maybe it will bounce back while the new seeds sprout. I hope your week is filled with as much sunshine as rain this week. If our rain keeps up, I may have to break out the canoe to float to town!

I even wrote a review in honor of Pi Day on Saturday:  Navigating Early features the story of Pi, so it seemed appropriate!

I finished…

Amazon affiliate link

Triumph of the Lion by Peter Danielson – A satisfying end to this massive saga–19 books in the series. I am sad to leave this world and the characters that populate it. Urnan, Eri, and Sunu remain loyal armorers and warriors to King David as he establishes the kingdom of Israel and makes his new capitol in the city of Jerusalem. The women they love–Jerioth, Balaan and Mara remain strong as well. The new children to be born to the Children of the Lion bring their gifts to life as well–especially Leah, who shows signs of supernatural tendencies. Kaptor journeys to Israel to scout out the land of Canaan for his brother, the Pharoah Sheshonk, and returns to Egypt after being thought dead to find things are not as he left them. Once again, it is a world filled with war and violence, but also with love and loyalty and honor.

Amazon affiliate link

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool – Where do I even start praising this beautiful, haunting story of two boys–really more than just them–trying to find their way back home again after experiencing grief? It combines unforgettable characters, a mythic quest through the Maine wilderness, the story of Pi as told in the numbers and so much more. I won’t soon forget Jackie Baker, who lands far from his Kansas home in a boarding school in Maine. His voice tells the story and worms its way into my heart. Neither will I forget the strange boy, Early Auden, who becomes Jackie’s friend and gives him direction until he is hopelessly lost himself. They encounter saints and sinners, pirates and poets along their journey and discover that our lives interconnect in the most surprising ways.

I’m currently reading…

Amazon affiliate link

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott – There is so much writing wisdom packed into this book. The words that resonated with me this week: “Listen to your broccoli.” Somehow, someway, in order to write, I have to still the outside voices in my head (whether those that dream too big or those that crush any dreams at all) and listen to the voices within the story I am trying to tell. Easy to read about, but oh-so-hard to do. I’m listening and looking. Now I am going to sit down and write what I see and hear without worrying too much yet about where I’m going with this story.

Amazon affiliate link

By the Book: Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from The New York TImes Book Review edited by Pamela Paul – The more of these interviews I read, the more I am fascinated by the different ways people read, the different books they are drawn to and the different histories they have with reading and literature. I am also humbled by how many books and writers I still have to meet. This week I met Katherine Boo, Marilynne Robinson, Sheryl Sandberg, Caroline Kennedy, Isabelle Allende and Anna Quindlin

Amazon affiliate link

Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor – This is another book that is giving me much to think about. For so much of my life (not all of it) darkness was something to be feared and to keep at bay with lights–nightlights, candles, flashlights, lamps, floodlights and more. In many of the stories I read, dark symbolized evil while light stood for all that is good. I suspect that darkness (both literal and symbolic) may have much to teach me, too. Friday night I even sat on the back porch, listening to the rain fall while darkness fell around me.

Coming up…

I’m obviously going to continue with the books I’m reading. After that, I’m going to dig into my baskets of books that make up my TBR pile. I may just pull one out at random and see where it takes me, or I might browse through the covers and choose one to match my mood.

Disclosure: I participate in the Amazon Associates Program. If you decide to make a purchase by clicking on the affiliate links, Amazon will pay me a commission. This commission doesn’t cost you any extra. All opinions are my own.