It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date.

I'm reading: 

Something from the library, which has been on my TBR list for a long time.

TITLE: The Joy Luck Club

AUTHOR: Amy Tan 

PUBLISHER: G.P. Putnam's Sons

PUBLICATION DATE: March 22, 1989

FORMAT: Hardcover

LENGTH: 288 pages

GENRE: Classics, Cultural/China, Contemporary

ISBN: 9780399134203

In 1949 four Chinese women-drawn together by the shadow of their past-begin meeting in San Francisco to play mah jong, invest in stocks, eat dim sum, and "say" stories. They call their gathering the Joy Luck Club. Nearly forty years later, one of the members has died, and her daughter has come to take her place, only to learn of her mother's lifelong wish-and the tragic way in which it has come true.

The revelation of this secret unleashes an urgent need among the women to reach back and remember…

I'm listening to:

Another one from the library, which has been on my TBR list for a long time.

TITLE: The Book Thief

AUTHOR: Markus Zusak

NARRATOR: Allan Corduner

PUBLISHER: Listening Library

PUBLICATION DATE: September 26, 2006

FORMAT: Unabridged audiobook

LENGTH: 13 hrs and 56 mins 

GENRE: Young Adult, Historical Fiction

It's just a small story really, about, among other things, a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery.

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist: books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids - as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

I just finished:

TITLE: The Bean Trees

SERIES: Greer Family, Book #1
AUTHOR: Barbara Kingsolver

NARRATOR: C.J. Critt

PUBLISHER: Harper Audio

PUBLICATION DATE: May 19, 2009

FORMAT: Unabridged audiobook

LENGTH: 9 hrs and 20 mins 

GENRE: Contemporary Fiction

Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away.

But when she heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human condition head-on. By the time Taylor arrives in Tucson, Arizona, she has acquired a completely unexpected child, a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle, and must somehow come to terms with both motherhood and the necessity of putting down roots.

Hers is a story about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in apparently empty places.

What are you reading? Have you read any of these books and, if so, what did you think? Please let me know in the comments and, if you are also participating in this meme, leave me a link to your blog post so that I can stop by!