Currently Reading...

In the past week, I haven't completed a single book, but I've had an incredible time reading all the ones I'm midway through. Sometimes switching it up is not a bad thing -- it's exactly what I want to do. It's difficult to concentrate on an individual piece of writing when I am always reading about the next hot release on my favorite book blogs, using the browsing feature on Amazon.com which just links and links and links, passing through bookstores (where I have no business in the first place), happening upon books that are part of a series (which means the other series books have to be added to my to-be-read list), searching for new titles on my local library shelves.... You get the picture.

So the books that I'm currently reading (and loving!) and how I found them:

• Monkeewrench by P. J. Tracy -- Last week Kay at My Random Acts of Reading reviewed the fifth and most recent release in the Monkeewrench series. How this series had existed below my radar, I'll never know, but I luckily found the first two books while browsing the hodgepodge of items available at the Book Cellar in Crossville, Tennessee. Score! I'm on page 240 and speeding through to the end soon.
• Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard -- I love to browse the new books section at the library, and when I found this memoir involving travel and eating, I knew I had to read it. Plus, the cover has a quote/review from Adriana Trigiani, so it couldn't be bad! Currently on page 189 and reading sporadically when I need a break from murder mysteries.
• Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson -- I found this oft-reviewed new book at the library... Patrons in my small town were obviously unaware of the hype the book has been receiving, so good for me! I've only just begun it (in the first few pages), so we'll see how it goes.
• Fireworks Over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff -- This novel was also included on many book bloggers' sites over the past couple of months. I'm more than halfway through it, and if I read it straight through it wouldn't take long at all. It's a little too Nicholas Sparks for my taste, but I'm sure that means it will really take off at some point. The storyline thus far would make for a great The Notebook-esque summer blockbuster. Again, found it on the "New Book Shelves" at my local library, so the buzz hasn't hit the small towns yet.
• Daddy's Girl by Lisa Scottoline -- I'm listening to this book on audio, and I've only made it through CD 1 of 8. Not sure this one will be finished. I just can't get into it yet. I had never heard of it, so it wasn't recommended from anywhere -- just searching library shelves for something exciting to listen to next. So far, this isn't it.

The race is on... Let's see which book I finish first! (My own bet is on Monkeewrench, since I can't seem to get it out of my hand.)