Sunday Update - August 10, 2014

Every other Sunday I try to post a general news post. These might preview things I'm planning for the two weeks following, they might reflect on books I'm looking forward to, or that I've recently heard of and want to discuss.  

I'm hooking into: 

This is a meme hosted by the Caffeinated Book Reviewer wherein everyone gets to share their news for the week. It's a great opportunity to see what's happening out there in the blogosphere, so go check out some other Sunday Posters!

Today's post is going to have a few sections:

1. General Update

2. Currently...

3. Last Week

4. The Week Ahead

1. General Update

Yesterday was my birthday, and I had a great day. Finished reading a book, went and say Guardians of the Galaxy (5 stars, great blend of action, space-opera and humour), and then played the third mission in Zombicide: Prison Outbreak which we won, though the rules weren't entirely clear on a few points so we may have broken them to win. Otherwise, things are mostly same old, same old on my end.

2. Currently...

This is a meme I've borrowed from Coffee Bean Bookshop. "Currently" is a questionnaire style update about what's going on at the moment in my life;

Reading: Game by Barry Lyga.
Watching: Still watching Face Off, and not really much else.
Playing: Assassin's Creed 2 and apparently I'm about to launch Elder Scrolls Online. Maybe. The former, I know, I'm way behind the times on it. I've bought a couple games in the series and have always wanted to play but I find it hard to get into single-player games on a 'if I'm playing on the computer, I should be playing multiplayer with my husband' front.
Feeling: Kind of stunned that my daughter starts full day junior kindergarten in three weeks. *Three* weeks. And then the next phase of her life - the school phase - starts. She'll be off having all of these adventures without me, which feels a little bittersweet because I want her to be an independent person but I feel a little left behind at the same time. Hopefully this means we'll make more of our time together.
Loving: My birthday weekend! I've got birthday cash burning a hole in my pocket which means I need to narrow down my wants to a few solid items that I will actually get to buy!
Hating: That I seem to have lost my cell phone between the end of my daughter's soccer game and getting into the minivan. Debating using the birthday cash towards the replacement even though that seems like not a fun option.
Planning: A trip to visit my sister 'up North.' If I'm going to do it, it'll be the last week of August, and I'll have to bring the kids with me. So the question is - do I want to spend roughly eighteen hours in the van with them?
Wanting: My husband to have an extra week of holidays so he can come with us on the above trip and we can go a little slower and make it a crazy family road trip.
Thinking: That I haven't seen corn-on-the-cob for a good price this summer, and that irks me. Or maybe I've not been looking in the right places - or maybe it's not quite the season for it yet?

3. Last Week

I read *amazing* books last week - three 5 star and two 4 star books.

His Every Need by Terri Austin - 5 stars
I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga - 5 stars
The House of the Four Winds by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory - 5 stars
Jane's Harmony by Ryan Winfield - 4 stars
Love and Let Spy by Shana Galen - 4 stars

There was also another cover reveal: For JP Sloan's The Curse Merchant.

4. The Week Ahead

This week I'll be reviewing Virgin by Radhika Sanghani, Skin by Michele Renae (I was so thrilled to read this last installment in the Paris trilogy, and I was *not* disappointed!), Summer at Castle Stone by Lynn Marie Hulsman, Upside Down by Lia Riley  and The Wager by Lily Maxton. A full slate!