Sunday Post (16) and It's Monday What Are You Reading (4)

I'm linking up with Kimba's Sunday Post here: http://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/ and with It's Monday! here: http://bookdate.blogspot.co.nz/

I hope everyone had a good Christmas, or whatever it is you celebrate at this time of year.

We had a quiet one - just the three of us at home. I cooked chicken and spawn played with ALL THE TOYS. It was a good day. On Boxing Day we went to my brother and sister-in-law's for a family get-together, which was great, as we all found - after mum died - that the glue that pulled us into family things had dissolved.

So now we try to make a bit of an effort. It was a beautiful day, which is rare at the moment, and a good time was had by all.

I got what I wanted for Christmas - books, jewellery, chocolates - and so did J, so we did all right. And, as I said, spawn got ALL THE TOYS and had a great day.

Let's see. I  finally finished Uprooted last week, which I loved, and which I reviewed here:
http://lifetheuniverseandcats.blogspot.co.nz/2015/12/review-uprooted-by-naomi-novik.html and I alos did a shorts review post for We Were Liars and Umbrella Academy #0, both of which I  liked a lot.

I got Stephen King's new short story collection, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams for Christmas, and I've dipped into that bit, and I also got Star Wars: Aftermath by Chuck Wendig which I'll dive into sometime soon, given that I'm still riding the high from The Force Awakens and absolutely plan on going to it again.

As for this week... New Year's will be quiet, but that's no bad thing. It's nearly time for the annual Lord of the Rings rewatch/new project to begin. I'll start on Tuesday and watch one part of each movie per night. I have, however, already started on the cross-stitch, it's so pretty I couldn't resist:

I absolutely love peonies, and the colours in the pattern are amazing.

I'm still working on my Grey Wardens chart, but have to concede that I need to unpick that "V" and move it over a bit. The word is "vigilance" and I don't think I've left myself quite enough room. Other than that, I'm really pleased with how it's turning out.

As for what's next book-wise ... I'm still reading The Gaugin Connection, and picking at The Martian, which was $5 on iBooks.

I'm joining in with Sheila at http://bookjourney.net/ for her first book of the year challenge: http://bookjourney.net/2015/12/05/dont-forget-to-sign-up-for-first-book-of-the-year/

I'm determined to read all of The Dark Tower series by Stephen King in 2016 - I've read the first three books but I'm going to start over on January 1 with The Gunslinger. Should be fun!

Other than that, I'm not sure what I'm going to read next. I should start going through all of the books I've bought since September, perhaps. Hrm.

How's your week been/going? What are you reading?