It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday December 29, 2014

This meme starts at Book Journey!

What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I hope everyone had as nice a week as I did. This was a great reading week with time to listen while wrapping presents and doing chores. We had a good Christmas morning with the children then a quiet day that was lovely.

Reading was very engaging.  I finished four books and posted four reviews. I also posted my usual memes. 

I visited a good group of sites again early in the week. Though I had hoped to do more during the holiday that didn't happen.
Thanks as always to all the nice people who visit me.

These were last week's posts:

• It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday December 22, 2014.

• Christmas Sharing: Give This Christmas Away.

• Audible Book Review: Seventh Grave and No Body by Darynda Jones Paranormal, Detective; my rating 4.25.

• Christmas Sharing: The Song of Christmas.

• Audible Book Review: A Yellowstone Christmas: Yellowstone Romance Series by Peggy L. Henderson; Historical Romance; my rating 4.25.

• Christmas Sharing: Leaving Heaven.

• Merry Christmas! Christmas Sharing: This is Christmas.

• Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway December 26, 2014. Open Worldwide. Ends 1/1/14.

• Christmas Sharing: Day After Christmas.

• Book Review: A Christmas Hope (Of Love and War) by Stacy Henrie Historical Romance; my rating 4.5.

• Christmas Sharing: Little Drummer Boy.

• Book Review: The Genome: A Novel by Sergei Lukyanenko Sci Fi, Mystery; my rating 4.5.

• Sharing Beyond Books #183 Comment Giveaway 12/27/14. Open Worldwide. Ends 1/3/14.

• Sunday Words of Encouragement December 28, 2014.
  

Finished Reading:
1. eBook/Kindle

A Christmas Hope (Of Love and War)
by Stacy Henrie
This was a warm story. The review is linked above.
Click on book title for full description.

2. eBook/Kindle

The Genome: A Novel
by Sergei Lukyanenko
This is very engaging - first as sci fi, then as mystery.
My review is linked above.
Click on book title for full description.

3. eBook/Kindle

The Advent Bride (The 12 Brides of Christmas)
by Mary Connealy
This is a charming read. I will post the review this week.
New--The 12 Brides of Christmas! You're invited to a Christmas wedding...that is twelve of them!  Discover the joy of an old-fashioned Christmas romance with these twelve heart-warming stories. Brand-new stories from renowned inspirational fiction authors will take you into the heartland of historical America. Releasing each week starting October 6, you'll want to read all of them.

#1: The Advent Bride
Melanie Douglas is alone on the Nebraska plains, teaching school to get by. She finds a unique box with hidden drawers to use over the advent season to engage a young boy in his schooling. When Henry O’Keeffe sees a positive change in his son, he has to see for himself what this new teacher is doing.

4. Audio/MP4

Dreamer's Pool: Blackthorn & Grim, Book 1
Written by: Juliet Marillier
Narrated by: Scott Aiello, Natalie Gold, Nick Sullivan
I found this really remarkable.
I received this title through Audiobook Jukebox.
I will post review this week.
Click on book title for full description.

Currently reading:
1. eBook/Kindle

A Most Inconvenient Marriage
(Ozark Mountain Romance Book #1)
by Regina Jennings
I am enjoying this fun historical romance which I received through NetGalley.
Book Description
Publication Date: November 25, 2014
Abigail Stuart Thought She was Jeremiah Calhoun's Widow.
But Jeremiah Calhoun Is Very Handsome, Very Alive, and Very Perplexed.
Most Inconvenient Indeed.
With few options of her own, nurse Abigail Stuart agrees to marry her patient, a gravely wounded soldier calling himself Jeremiah Calhoun. They arrange a quick ceremony before he dies, giving Abigail the rights to his Ozark farm and giving Jeremiah the peace of knowing someone will care for his ailing sister after he's gone--a practical solution for both of them.
After the war, Abigail fulfills her side of the bargain--until the real Jeremiah Calhoun shows up, injured but definitely alive, and wastes no time in challenging Abigail's story. Abigail is flummoxed. After months of claiming to be his widow, how can she explain that she's never seen this Jeremiah Calhoun before? How can she convince him that she isn't trying to steal his farm? And will she find a way to stay, even though this practical arrangement has turned into a most inconvenient marriage?

2. Audible/MP4

25 Perfect Days
Written by: Mark Tullius
Narrated by: Dave Thompson
This world is a Dystopian nightmare.
I received this audio from Audiobook Jukebox.
Publisher's Summary
Will you follow The Way or be crushed by the Controllers?
A totalitarian state doesn't just happen overnight. It's a slow, dangerous slide. 25 Perfect Days chronicles the path into a hellish future of food shortages, contaminated water, sweeping incarceration, an ultra-radical religion, and the extreme measures taken to reduce the population. Through 25 interlinked stories, each written from a different character's point of view, 25 Perfect Days captures the sacrifice, courage, and love needed to survive and eventually overcome this dystopian nightmare.
©2013 Mark Tullius (P)2014 Mark Tullius

3. eBook/Kindle

Only Enchanting, A Survivors' Club Novel
by Mary Balogh
I am looking forward to reading this novel by one of my favorite authors.
Book Description
Publication Date: October 28, 2014
The Survivors' Club: Six men and one woman, all wounded in the Napoleonic Wars, their friendship forged during their recovery at Penderris Hall in Cornwall. Now, in the fourth novel of the Survivors' Club series, Flavian, Viscount Ponsonby, has left this refuge to find his own salvation—in the love of a most unsuspecting woman.…

Flavian, Viscount Ponsonby, was devastated by his fiancée’s desertion after his return home. Now the woman who broke his heart is back—and everyone is eager to revive their engagement. Except Flavian, who, in a panic, runs straight into the arms of a most sensible yet enchanting young woman.

Agnes Keeping has never been in love—and never wishes to be. But then she meets the charismatic Flavian, and suddenly Agnes falls so foolishly and so deeply that she agrees to his impetuous proposal of marriage.

When Agnes discovers that the proposal is only to avenge his former love, she’s determined to flee. But Flavian has no intention of letting his new bride go, especially now that he too has fallen so passionately and so unexpectedly in love.

4. eBook/Kindle

Shopping for Time: How to Do It All and NOT Be Overwhelmed
Carolyn Mahaney (Author), Nicole Mahaney Whitacre (Author), Kristin Chesemore (Author), Janelle Bradshaw
This is the book I chose for my First read in 2015.
It is from my 2009 TBR Kindle list and
I am reading it as part of the 2014-15 Winter COYER challenge.
Book Description
Publication Date: June 26, 2007
Overwhelmed. Miserable. Exhausted. These are often the words that women use to describe their high-demand lifestyles. How are women who are always on the go expected to cope with the demands of work, family, and ministry?
Carolyn Mahaney and her three daughters, Nicole Whitacre, Kristin Chesemore, and Janelle Bradshaw, recognize the needs of Christian women today. Shopping for Time offers the solution to women who truly desire to glorify God with every use of their time.
These authors offer five tips to help ladies do it all without becoming overwhelmed: rise early, sit down, sit longer (occasionally), choose friends wisely, and take fifteen minutes. By weaving biblical principles of God's Word into these keys, these authors give women practical advice on how to fulfill-and excel in-their daily responsibilities.

I am carrying forward three ebook review titles I need to read in January. that still have Sci Fi  and Christmas titles that will run into January at the rate I am reading. :-) 
I have two reviews to complete so I am still up to date.

Welcome to Mailbox Monday.

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs.  This Meme started with Marcia at A Girl and Her Books (fka The Printed Page) and after a tour of hosts has returned to its permanent home at Mailbox Monday.
Thanks to the ladies sharing hosting duties: Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit and Vicki of I'd Rather Be at the Beach.
Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

I received one review titles and selected two titles at NetGalley.
I purchased three $.99 kindle titles this week. I might resolve to stop purchasing titles since I have so many already - but some are just so tempting. How does a book addict resist?
I added more free kindle titles to my library.

(Although I have gotten to a couple, I still have many author requests to consider and reply to.)

Are your mailbox and TBR piles blooming?

Review Titles

I received this book from the author with review request:

Starship Blackbeard 
by Michael Wallace
This is a military sci fi from an author whose work in other genres I have enjoyed.
I am looking forward to reading this in January.

I selected two titles from NetGalley because they are authors I like:

Snow Angel Cove 

by RaeAnne Thayne

This one sounds like a Hallmark scenario. :-)

'Tis The Season: Under the Christmas Tree\Midnight Confessions\Backward Glance 
by Robyn Carr
I haven't read this author in years and this seasonal collection seemed like a good way to re-visit her work!

Won

None

Purchased

I purchased these three kindle titles for $.99 each:



Christmas in The Duke's Arms
Grace Burrowes, Carolyn Jewel, Miranda Neville, Shana Galen
Four Christmas novellas by authors I like.

Love Brings Us Home (Inspirational Romance Box Set): 
Seven Christian Romances Celebrating Faith and Family
Hallee Bridgeman, Valerie Comer, JoAnn Durgin, Kimberly Rae Jordan, Lynette Sowell, Staci Stallings, Debra Ullrick

After Armageddon
Brian L. Porter, Carole Gill
An anthology of tales by two good authors.

Free

Over the past week I downloaded** (**Note this means I have added them to my library to read "someday") 51 free Kindle titles again. Titles found linked through Bookbub, Bookfun, Ereader News Today, Free Par-tay, Inspired Reads, Pixel of Ink or Kindle ebooks.