It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. For this meme, bloggers post what they finished last week, what they're currently reading, and what they plan to start this week.

My comments are not meant to be recaps of the story lines as I include a link to Goodreads for their synopsis of the book. I am merely stating how I felt about the book without giving any spoilers.

My 2013 reading list can be found here.

Most of my books are from the Toronto Library, however, once a year you are required to physically go to a branch to renew your card, boggles the mind as I can practically renew anything online even banking information! So I have had to BUY a book this week! I also downloaded some free books from Kobo.

FINISHED:

Synopsis here.

I loved this book for its descriptions of Paris in WWII. I didn't really know anything about Chanel and was intrigued with her friendship with Churchill.

While I was reading I was curious if there were any photos about this period and as I was about to google it a friend and a blogger The Eyrea sent me an email with this link of photos from that period.

A KOBO short story freebie.

Lucy Tuttle is a workaholic financial planner who doesn't let a little OCD get in the way of having a good time. Her biggest worry is how to line up the sticky notes on her desk just so, until her only living relative – her maternal aunt – is killed in a car accident halfway across the world. Suddenly Lucy (apartment-dwelling, doesn't-own-a-hammer Lucy) inherits a handyman's delight on the other side of town. Her boyfriend Oliver - a laid back environmentalist with an affinity for organic lentils and sock thievery - starts to campaign for Lucy to move into her aunt's broken down house. All at once, Lucy is forced to decide if she's going to abandon her Manhattan condo for the outer boroughs ..and if she can live happily ever after in a house that's about to be condemned.

Cute title and cover, that's it.

Another freebie.

Behind The Scenes of The Outsiders from Rob Lowe's Stories I Only Tell My Friends

To be honest I did not expect to enjoy this, but I did! Enough (maybe) to read the entire book.

STARTED:

On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City burst into flames.  The factory was crowded.  The doors were locked to ensure workers stay inside.  One hundred forty-six people—mostly women—perished; it was one of the most lethal workplace fires in American history until September 11, 2001.

But the story of the fire is not the story of one accidental moment in time.  It is a story of immigration and hard work to make it in a new country, as Italians and Jews and others traveled to America to find a better life.  It is the story of poor working conditions and greedy bosses, as garment workers discovered the endless sacrifices required to make ends meet.  It is the story of unimaginable, but avoidable, disaster.  And it the story of the unquenchable pride and activism of fearless immigrants and women who stood up to business, got America on their side, and finally changed working conditions for our entire nation, initiating radical new laws we take for granted today.