Sunday Post -- 8/18/13

The Sunday Post is a meme sponsored by the wonderful Kimba, the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.  It's a chance to share news.  A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

We left on our family-vacation-cum-college-dropoff on Friday, Aug. 9, after spending all of Thursday (and most of Thursday night) on last-minute packing.  After three very long days of driving, we reached New Mexico, where we're spending time visiting family and walking/hiking.  The latter is a necessary part of getting 'Robin' ready for her college orientation: a three-week wilderness backpacking trip.  (There's a fair bit of academic and experiential learning along the way; including the week of pre-trip preparation and post-trip assessment, the orientation month is a 4-credit course. Yes, it's a very unusual college!)

Hiking to the end of the mesa.  Photo © K. Pekar

While we're pretty busy with family and hiking, I have been able to squeeze in some reading and blogging time, so at least there were a few posts for you to read in the last two weeks, and will be some in the coming weeks as well.

Thursday we leave to take 'Robin' to college, and next Sunday we'll go on to visit more family in Utah before heading back home to our newly-empty nest.  It's going to feel very odd to be alone in the house after 6 years of homeschooling and being with Robin almost all day.  But I've got a lot to keep me busy, from increasing my work as an indexer to writing this blog and directing my children's and youth choruses.  And Mr. Bookwyrm and I are making plans for some fun "dates" -- including (I hope!) a visit to the National Book Festival in Washington DC.

The past two week on the blog: 

• 8/04/13: Blog Tour, Q&A, Review & Giveaway: The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic.  Rita H of My Home of Books is the lucky winner who will receive a new copy of the book.  Congratulations, Rita!
• 8/06/13: Top Ten Tuesday - Books I Wish Had Sequels
• 8/10/13: News & Notes - 8/10/13: Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post; Barbara Michaels/Elizabeth Peters died; SYNC free audiobook downloads; reading habits and publishing; Harry Potter as feminist text; and some great book lists.
• 8/13/13: Dragonwriter: A Tribute to Anne McCaffrey and Pern (review)
• 8/14/13: The Deepest Night (Sweetest Dark #2), by Shana Abe (review)
• 8/16/13: Rose Harbor in Bloom, by Debbie Macomber (review)
• 8/17/13: News & Notes - 8/17/13

The coming week:

• 8/20/13: Top Ten Tuesday - Things That Make My Life as a Reader/Blogger Easier
• Reviews: to be determined
• News & Notes and Sunday Post will probably not post next weekend, since we'll be moving our daughter into her dorm during the latter part of the week, then traveling north to see more family.

New additions to the hoard:   

For Review:  

Many thanks to Knopf for Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things; to Ballantine for Miracle Road, an Eternity Springs book by Emily March; and to Harlequin MIRA for Candlelight Christmas, Susan Wiggs's new Lakeshore Chronicles book!


Bought or Downloaded Free for My E-reader: 
Nothing in the last two weeks, can you believe it?!  I'm trying hard to cut back on these.  I have plenty of books already in my e-reader that I'm not likely to read, plus more books on my Goodreads TBR and 'someday' lists and on my TBR shelves at home than I could possibly read in the next three or four years, even if I read nothing else.  So it's definitely time to cut back!  From now on, I plan to only buy or download books I really want to read, or books I've read and want to re-read.

Free audiobooks from SYNC: 

As I said two weeks ago, have a great week (month)!  For the rest of August, I'll still be checking in on the blog as often as I can, but because I'm not home and very busy with everything we're doing (see the first three paragraphs), I may not get to the blog every day.  It might take a day or two for me to read and publish your comments, so please be patient with me!