It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 12/9

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? --From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

Books I Finished This Week:

Payment in Blood by Elizabeth George was a nice, complicated murder mystery.  It is the kind of mystery I usually really enjoy, but it was really difficult for me to get through right now.  I think it just required more of my attention to really get into the book and I don't have that attention to give during the school year.  I spent a lot of Saturday reading so that I could finish this before my digital library loan ended. I would definitely recommend this one to mystery lovers.  Set in England and with a big cast of characters, this book reminded me of many of my favorite mysteries.  I am even more excited now to hear Elizabeth George in the keynote address at Key West Literary Seminar.  I will most likely try to read my way through the Inspector Lynley series this summer.  

I had the opportunity to browse through the books at Target this week.  I was really happy to see that both Journey and The Dark were being sold in the children's book section.  I enjoyed both of these picture books and can certainly understand how they both are appearing on so many lists.  

Salt by Helen Frost is an excellent historical fiction book.  I loved the alternating poems from the two friends' differing perspectives.  The author really captured the way that people will interpret a situation the way that they want to interpret it.  It would be an excellent book to include in a study of Native American cultures and the clash with white settlers.  The miscommunication and misunderstandings that were a part of this awful time in our history are brought out in a way that is easy to understand.  I will definitely be looking for a copy of this one to add to my class library.  

Books I am Currently Reading:

I am still listening to The Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare.  I am enjoying the audiobook narrators and the world of the shadowhunters.  I started reading Ripper by Stefan Petrucha the other day. As I was leaving my classroom the other day to go to my hair appointment, I realized I did not have a book with me.  This one has been sitting by my desk since the book fair earlier this fall.  So far, I am enjoying the story. I also just started reading Unravel Me and The Great and Only Barnum. Both are good so far.

What's Next?

I have a pile of books from the library which I will dig into, because I want to read some more books by mystery authors that I will see in January.  I also just bought Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock and am really looking forward to reading that one.  I don't know what else I will have time for this week.  

What are you reading this week?  I would love to hear from you in the comments.  Have a great reading week!