Humpitty Bumpitty...

Happy HumpDayBumpDay!

Also- since it's Wednesday, let's do a Reading Challenge update!

Last total book count: 49 books read, 39 books from the Challenge List
New total book count: 58 books read, 43 books from the Challenge List

(Holy moly - only 7 books left to read!!)

Jumping right to where we left off:

#50. Finders Keepers by Sean Costello     N/A category    (fin 8/6/15)
One of those books I was sitting at lunch, bored, and began reading via my phone app - and actually pretty good! It chases a lottery ticket ($10million winner!) around and around as murder and mayhem are committed by those wanting the ticket for themselves... a light read, but well written!

#51. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer    #19/50: A book based on a true story    (fin 8/6/15)
This is a movie I actually saw first, starring Emile Hirsch.  An article was first written for Outside Magazine by Krakauer shortly after the body of Christopher McCandless was discovered in a bus in the Alaskan wilderness, and the article developed into this book.  It leads us all into the wilderness with McCandless, as he traveled through the U.S. on his journey, meeting a number of people along the way (interviews with them are included in the book!)  A great read!

#52. The Christmas Train by David Baldacci    #45/50: A book set during Christmas     (fin 8/10/15)
I've read David Baldacci before and liked his style of writing, so this book won out over guaranteed-to-be-cheesy Debbie Macomber and other Christmas books... A man, after a lifetime of dangerous combat-zone reporting, is set to take The Capital Limited from D.C. to Chicago, followed by The Southview Chief on into L.A. (He had recently been banned from airline travel for two years after an interesting altercation with security at LaGuardia Airport!)
It set up like a Woody Allen comedy, but there was still romance, and mystery (a thief on board!) and danger (record-breaking snow-storm to be traveled through)
I enjoyed reading!

#53. Pretty Baby by Mary Kubrica    #20/50: A book at the bottom of your to-read list   (fin 8/11/15)
I went literal with this category (I had first interpreted it as a book you totally didn't want to read, which didn't really make sense) so I instead pulled the most recently added book from my to-read list (at the literal bottom!)
(This was also a book I read a review for on this blog and literally the same day began reading it!)
I will put out a *TriggerWarning* as the main character, a woman who takes in a homeless girl and her infant, is still basically suffering from PTSD from an abortion she had years prior after a cervical/uterine cancer diagnosis, in order to save her own life... A very interesting read, if you're able to handle the trigger - I'd definitely recommend!

(#54 - 57) The Last Survivor Series by Susan Beth Pfeffer   #32/50: A trilogy
      #54. Life As We Knew It   (fin 8/13/15)
          Book Number One (in a four-part series - so not a trilogy, but close... lol) follows a teenage girl, diary-style, as the world undergoes radical natural changes: an asteroid strikes the moon, knocking it closer to the earth and setting off changes in the tidal cycle that wreak havoc on the world (tsunamis, flooding, volcanic eruptions, ash clouds, temperature changes)
     #55. The Dead and Gone   (fin 8/14/15)
          Book Number Two finds the readers going through the asteroid strike and whole world-ending thing again, but this time from the perspective of a highschool junior boy living in N.Y.C. We get to see a bit more of the global impacts and happenings, as he navigates the new world with his two younger sisters.
     #56. This World We Live In   (fin 8/16/15)
          Book Number Three catches up with the teenage girl from Book One, but approximately one year after The Event, as she (and family members) have adjusted (somewhat) to the new normal in their PA neighborhood.
     #57. Shade of the Moon   (fin 8/17/15)
          Book Number Four follows all of the characters, as they are now four years past The Event, and are living in a new "enclave" - a secure caste-based community rigidly monitored and maintained.
As you can see, I read through these books pretty quickly - not because they were quick reads, but because I couldn't put them down (I did not get as much work done as I should those days, instead choosing to read lol)
I think it's a really interesting post-apocalyptic story because it's a story not quite hit on yet - we've all (hopefully!) seen Armageddon, or we jump to The Hunger Games and see what the world's like decades after whatever happened.  This is a refreshing non-zombie/plague/virus-related tale! Highly recommended!

#58. Remember When #2 by T. Torrest    N/A category   (fin 8/15/15)
This series was one I loved when I read the first book (reviewed here) and became sad when I couldn't find the (ahem free) book anywhere to download... I finally bit the bullet and paid for the 2nd book (another day I was probably dying to read something and only had my phone on me)
A fun read, great steamy sex scenes (that aren't actually cheesy at all...) (and now I'm in the middle of reading the final Remember When #3!)



I'm also currently reading (when not at my desk for Remember When #3) a book called The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - I'll have to be careful, I began it when very distracted last night and it's a book that needs full attention (but seems very good so far!)