Isabelle Webb, a former Pinkerton spy, is still reeling after the recent assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.  She blames herself for failing to warn him, failing to save the great man from the bullet that took his life.  A vacation is exactly what the 26-year-old needs to take her mind off her part in the tragedy.  Accompanied by Sally Rhodes, her 16-year-old ward, Isabelle heads to Bombay aboard a steamer ship.  While en route to their destination, the women meet James Ashby, a Mormon blacksmith from Utah, who's traveling to India in the hopes of locating his younger brother.  Phillip Ashby, a charming but senseless 20-year-old, has disappeared while hunting down a mythical jewel in the company of a known shyster.

Outside my window:  It's still dark (5:30 a.m.), so I'm not sure exactly.  It's been a little cooler around here this week.  We even had a grey, drizzly day, which was perfect!

I am listening to: Nothing but the birds singing outside.  It's lovely.

I am reading:Now that my reading for the Whitney Awards is finished, I'm focusing on getting through the small pile of middle grade novels loaned to me by the librarian at my kids' elementary school.  I need to read them and write tests for them by the end of the school year, which is less than a month away.  Gah!  At any rate, I just finished 13 Treasures by Michelle Harrison.  It's a fantasy/mystery book that's sort of like Fablehaven meets Nancy Drew.  Now, I'm in the middle of the sequel, 13 Curses.  Both books are a little dark, but also clever and compelling. 

I am going to read:  I still owe Stephanie Worlton a review of her debut novel, Hope's Journey.  I'm also planning to read Psuedonymous Bosch's newest, since I enjoy his zany The Secret series and the librarian needs a test on it.  Also, since I've got a couple of airplane rides ahead of me this week, I'm thinking I may be able to get a good start on The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott.  We'll see what actually happens :)

On the Blog:I'm still way behind on reviews, but I managed to post 4 this week (Wow!  I did?).  I also shared some sweet pictures of my 3-year-old selecting books from her grandparents' Little Free Library.

Around the Book Blogosphere: Last week, in trying to figure out how this whole The Sunday Salon thing works, I found the TSS Facebook group.  Not only did the peeps there give me some good advice, but they led me to some fun, new book blogs.  Check out:  Books in the Burbs and Still Unfinished (His blog scrolls left to right, a design I've never seen before.)

I am thinking:  About my upcoming trip to Utah.  So much to do before I leave.  So much to do.

I am grateful for:  Lots of friend time this week.  I've been able to hang out and catch up with lots of lovely ladies.  I need to do that more often.

Around the house:  I'm gradually (very gradually) getting the kids' rooms cleaned out enough to have them painted.  The husband keeps threatening to have the rooms done while I'm in Utah, which makes me a tad bit nervous.  Especially because I think that by "painters," he means himself and the kids.

In the kitchen: Last weekend, we bought a big basket of produce from a local farmer's market, mostly because that's the only way to get the very yummy bread they sell.  So, I've got lots of vegetables.  It's too hot for soup, so I'm trying to decide how best to cook up all the veggies.  Suggestions?

High of the Week: Book Club!  My friends at church have tried several versions of book club, none of which have ever really worked.  A girl who's fairly new in town just started it up again and I think it's going to go well this time since she's both organized and enthusiastic.  We had our first meeting on Thursday, where we discussed (yes, we actually did discuss the book) Matched by Ally Condie and did a whole lot of chatting.  It was lots of fun.

Low of the Week:  My girls have both been scratching their heads a lot lately.  Since their cousins just had head lice, I feared mine might have it, too.  But, after thorough examinations of their scalps, I don't see any bugs or anything out of the ordinary, so I think it's just dryness and dandruff.  Keep your fingers crossed that it is so.

Family Matters:  Leaving my 3-year-old for a few days always makes me nervous since she's a *little* attached to her Mommy.  Hopefully, she'll behave for her Daddy, whom she also adores.

The coming week:  I'm heading to Utah on Thursday for the LDS Storymakers conference.  I'm excited to hang out with my good friend Robin, as well as lots of other writerly/readerly kinds of people.  I'm hoping to connect with some of my favorite Utah book bloggers as well (look for an email from me, Suey and Jenny—anyone else who wants to get together, let me know).

Words of Wisdom:  Have a great week, everybody!

To the FTC, with love:  I received a PDF of Fires of Jerusalem from the generous folks at Parables via the Whitney Award Committee.  Thank you!

Someone (I believe it was Gaye of Inside a Book) recently accused me of not posting any new pictures of my baby on this here blog.  In my defense, it's a book blog, not a Mommy blog, so I try to keep things mostly book-related.  However, my daughter has grown a lot since I last showed you a photo of her.  She hardly even resembles the cute little toddler I'm holding in the photo on my right sidebar (*sigh*).  Obviously, she's still cute, it's just that she's such a big girl now.  It makes me a little sad to watch her getting so grown up and independent.  Really, where has the time gone?

Luckily for Gaye, my mother-in-law shot some pictures of little Miss J. just a couple of weeks ago.  not only are they dorable, but they're also bookish in nature.  So, here you go:


Isn't she just too cute for words?  That huge grin is always on her face.  It's absolutely infectious and has gotten her out of trouble many, many times.  Someone once said that this little girl's special talent is making people happy and I couldn't agree more.  She brings joy into our lives every single day.  

The pictures are of J. using the Little Free Library my in-laws set up in their front yard.  Have you heard about this small, but ingenious movement?  It's been a fun little project for my in-laws.  Their lush, well-maintained yard has always received lots of attention, but now that it's got this small, take-a-book-leave-a-book library, it's become an even more popular spot!

In other news, I'm now only 8 reviews behind.  Maybe I will finish writing them sometime in this lifetime!  One can always hope ...