Monday, October 22, 2012

It's Monday 10/22! What Are You Reading?


Ah...Monday morning...quiet house.  I've had kind of a rough week here.  My college son was home sick much of last week, then I caught his cold.  Even a simple virus like this triggers a severe flare-up of our chronic illness (an immune disorder), so it's a double-whammy.  On the plus side, I've had a little more time for reading than usual!  Here's what we read last week:
  • I finished my first spooky read for the month, the teen/YA novel Magisterium by Jeff Hirsch, which combines a post-apocalyptic/dystopian setting with a magical plot.  Its engrossing suspense was a great distraction from how I was feeling!
  • Last night, I finished my neighborhood book group's selection for this week's meeting: The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka.  It is a unique novel, written from the perspective of a group of women, rather than individual characters, about so-called picture brides who immigrated to the United States from Japan in the early 1900's, following them for the next 20 years.  It should be fodder for some excellent discussions Wednesday evening!
  • I started a new audio book, The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman, a middle-grade novel about a young girl in Louisiana in 1960 who is transported back in time to 1860.  It is excellent and engaging so far!
  • My husband, Ken, is reading In the Woods by Tana French and enjoying it very much.  He says it is a good mystery with plenty of suspense but also very well-written.
  • Jamie, 18, was home sick from college for 4 days this week.  After catching up on all his favorite TV shows in the first 2 days, he picked up a book and remembered how much he has missed reading since he started college!  He read Relic Master (The Dark City #1) by Catherine Fisher and loved it (Fisher's Incarceron was a family favorite here).
  • City of Lost Souls, Book Five of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, arrived at our house last week while Jamie was home sick.  Since this is one of his favorite series, Jamie decided to re-read the entire series...for the third time!  So, he is currently reading Book 1, City of Bones, though he is back at school with plenty of make-up work, so I don't know how much reading time he has!
I posted two new reviews last week: Caleb's Crossing, a wonderful historical novel by the talented Geraldine Brooks and Magisterium, a great spooky teen/YA novel by Jeff Hirsch. I also posted my plans for Spooky Halloween Reads this month, and another Weekend Cooking post yesterday.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kids/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)

3 comments:

  1. My son is re-reading a series right not too - harry Potter. I always think it's so amazing that kids can re-read (and re-read and re-read) their favorite books, while I sometimes can't even bother to watch the movie if I've already read the book. Buddha in the Attic was an interesting book - too short though. And Freedom Maze is also a really unique book. If you like that, then try Kindred by Octavia Butler. Similar scenario, but with a black adult woman and her white husband.

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  2. Tanya -

    I know! My son loves to re-read favorite series. And he almost always re-reads all the books in a series before he reads the latest one! Good thing he is such a fast reader. He hasn't had much time for reading since college started, but when he gets going, he will just read nonstop for days!

    Oooh...Kindred sounds great! Thanks for the recommendation.

    Sue

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  3. Anonymous2:12 PM

    Good luck with the storm! I'm in the DC area so we're in it too. I haven't read any of the books you read, but I enjoyed your review of Caleb's Crossing. Her books are wonderful.

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