It's Monday, What are You Reading? [6]

This meme is hosted at Book Journey.

Life

"Monday" is becoming a loose concept around here, eep.  Back to interpreting school after a weekend off and I loved the teacher (we rotate among three).  Our first sensei is a little cold and seems to say, "you're just going to have to get used to it" whenever we say how hard something is.  But this teacher said, "yes, it's hard - it was hard for me, too.  Nobody gets it on the first try.  Practice a little above your level and keep upping that.  Don't worry, everyone goes through what you're going through."  That was the exact message I needed at the exact moment I needed to hear it.

She also had some great study suggestions and even told the class how lucky they were to have a native speaker in the class.  A lot more questions were thrown around than usual and I learned a ton.  I'm sad we only have this sensei once a month but I can't wait to show her how much improve in the next thirty days.

Read Last Week

 

at goodreads

His Royal Pleasure by Leanne Banks  ★★★

My first Harlequin and... eh. I'm trying to give category romance a fair shot but I don't think it'll be my thing. The hero is just this side of being an asshole, and while I like alphas he put me off a little bit. I like the heroine well enough, but wonder why on the ebook cover she's a brunette instead of a redhead with a bad perm. It comes up often enough in the story!  The trip she made at the end seemed rushed, and I don't feel like she faced her choice fully.

I'll keep categories in mind when I want to break out of a slump as they do fly by.  I also want to check out some other lines and imprints while I'm at it.

at goodreads

Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione (Demonica #1) ★★★★★


I loved this book.  It has all the mainstays of paranormal romance - sexy alpha hero, strong heroine, demons, two sides at war along species lines.  What makes the story shine, though, are the characters.  They are layered, interesting, and flawed in believable ways.  Tayla's ignorance is due to her birth and upbringing, not stupidity.  We meet a blood junkie, a brother that acts as a whipping boy, and good guys that may not be so great after all.  I can't wait to get my hands on the next book in the series.

Currently Reading

 

I'm still chipping away at What Every BODY is Saying and The Victory Lab from last week.  Divergent, hinted at in the Next Up, is insanely good.  Lose sleep to finish one more chapter good.

Next Up

 

The library has been very very good to me, coming through with a bunch of holds all at once, so here's a list:

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City by Alan Ehrenhalt
Better than Beauty by H. Valentine
Bayou Heat by Donna Kauffman
A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James

Still Waiting

(books on hold at the library)

Small Space Organizing - 3 out of 3 (six week wait)

Dreaming of Mr. Darcy - 4 out of 4 (two months)

Desire Unchained (Demonica #2) - 6 out of 6 (six weeks)

How Will You Measure Your Life? - 17 out of 19 (two months)

Halfway to the Grave - 12 out of 18 (two months)

Never Seduce a Scot - 9 out of 43 (two weeks)

The Angel - 5 out of 11 (three weeks)

Dark Lover - 10 out of 21 (one month)

Laid Bare - 2 out of 12 (one week)

The Siren - 4 out of 6 (two weeks)

How to Be a Woman - 114 out of 116 (six weeks)