I almost didn't make it here today! It's been an insanely busy week that's going to continue into today. Life This week has been a combination of busy at work and busy at home. The kids did not have school on Monday, which is also typically my busiest day at work. So when Monday ended, I felt as if I sucked at both life and work. The rest of the week was better - at least I was able to keep work and life separate. This weekend just happens to be one of those when I have so much to do - thanks to the many tasks and chores deferred from previous days/weekends. We were getting quotes for some home improvement projects, had to start prepping rooms for my parents' arrival next month (mainly because I still haven't moved my daughter's online school materials out of the room from the Fall school year), and do lots of seasonal shopping. If it weren't going to be constantly raining this entire weekend, I would be prepping my garden beds as well, but now that needs t
So far 2013 has started out well for me. At least, for the first time in over a year, my Goodreads reading challenge widget tells be that I am 1 book ahead. I randomly set 50 as my target for the year, but I expect the actual number may be higher because I am listening to a lot of audiobooks currently. I'm beginning to love listening to nonfiction in the car, especially narrative nonfiction, so I've been eagerly looking at my library catalogs for the next read.

- The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton: I know Morton has many fans and I've always wanted to read one of her books, but it took a book club monthly read to finally get me to pick one of her books. I have to say - I absolutely loved The Secret Keeper, which has quite an intriguing suspense and managed to be a page-turner right to the last page.
- Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool: I picked this one mainly because Vanderpool won the Newbery Award a year or two back and I have pretty good success with Newbery winning authors. Unfortunately, it took a long time before Navigating Early began to hold my attention. I had almost given up on this title.

- The Road by Cormac McCarthy: I spent this weekend getting my ebook collection in order (thanks to Calibre) and found a copy of The Road languishing there. I'm about a quarter into this book and although it took me a while to warm up to the writing, I can see why this book is considered a master - I could almost feel the sense of loss and desolation that is prevalent in this book.
- The Man in the Rockefeller Suit by Mark Seal: I have been listening to this book since the mid of December but that's only because the book is really long and I only listen to about 30-40 minutes per weekday. At this point, I'm wishing for it to get over soon, mainly because the protagonist who has been conning people for years is getting on my nerves and I'm beginning to feel as annoyed as Man of la Book was with him.

- Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell: I've heard about Mitchell's sagas for as long as I have been blogging and I love sagas! I love anything that spans a century at least and it's interesting how the authors connect things from different time periods. This one may or may not fall into that category but I'm intrigued.
Picked at the Library
- The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis
- Atmospheric disturbances by Rivka Glachen
- Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez

Comments
Yes, The Road is SO good. So bleak, but so good. :-)