Monday, October 16, 2017

It's Monday 10/16! What Are You Reading?

Whew...late on the blog today. I spent the morning running around - therapeutic massage (not the relaxing kind but the "find the spots that hurt the most and dig in" kind!), my annual mammogram, then a bunch of errands. Finally back home & loving the quiet for a few moments...but my son spent the night and will be up soon, and my husband is coming home soon to meet the hot water heater salesman with me.

We tried another relaxing camping weekend...and it was mostly relaxing. But we got skunked with bad weather again. We haven't seen the sun here in the mid-Atlantic in quite a few days now! We did enjoy a nice hike, a campfire, and lots of reading, though. I'll share some photos on Saturday Snapshot. However, we came home from packing up in the rain, with loads of wet, dirty towels and both of us really needing a shower to find that our hot water heater died while we were away! No hot water, a puddle in the basement, and the fuel oil tank empty (it seems it kept trying to heat the water as the cold water poured in and right out the bottom!). So, I showered at a friend's house last night, my husband showered at work this morning, and we have to boil water to do dishes! Hoping that getting a new one won't take too long (or be too expensive).

Anyway, we did enjoy plenty of reading this weekend! Here's what we have all been reading:
  • Still thoroughly enjoying the seasonal R.I.P. Challenge, I have been reading Before the Fall by Noah Hawley, a best-seller from last year that I gave my husband (I think for Christmas). It's a literary thriller about a private plane crash with only two survivors - a man and a little boy. There is plenty of suspense as to why and how the plane crashed (and whether it was some sort of error or intentional), but the novel also digs deeply into each of the characters who were on the plane. It's been really great - completely riveting - and I just have a few pages left.
  • I listened to another thriller on audio last week, If I Run by Terri Blackstock, one of the free audios I downloaded from SYNC this summer. This was another gripping thriller, that starts out with a young woman leaving the crime scene of her best friend's murder and going on the run. We don't know why she is running; those details come to light gradually as she tries to evade the police and the PTSD-suffering vet that the victim's parents have hired to find her. The entire story isn't resolved at the end - it turned out to be part 1 of a trilogy - but I enjoyed it.
  • This morning, during my journeys around town, I started a new audiobook, Local Girl Missing by Claire Douglas - yes, another suspense novel! Are you seeing a theme here? I've only just started it, but it's about a woman who is still haunted by her best friend's disappearance 18 years later and returns to their hometown to see if she can finally find out what happened.
  • My husband, Ken, finished Deadly Cure by Lawrence Goldstone, a historical thriller set in NYC in 1899. He says it was very good and that I will like it, too!
  • Ken is now reading The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton, which won the 2011 Edgar Award for Best Novel. I gave it to him for his birthday recently, as recommended by a reading friend of mine. It's about a young man who the unusual talent of being able to open any lock. He's says it's good so far.
  • Jamie, 23, returned to The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie, an epic fantasy that was recommended by our friends at Northshire Bookstore in Vermont. We gave book 1, The Blade Itself, to Jamie for his birthday in August, and he raced through it in just a few days! He was thrilled to find books 2 & 3 at his favorite used bookstore, and he is almost finished with book 2, Before They Are Hanged and then onto book 3! Score one for mom and dad (and Northshire) for a good birthday gift!
Here's what I posted in the blog last week:
Movie Monday: Everything, Everything, based on the YA novel

TV Tuesday: Ten Days in the Valley - new limited thriller starring Kyra Sedgewick

Middle-Grade Review: Hear the Wolves by Victoria Scott - suspenseful survival story in Alaska

Fiction Review: In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware - dark & creepy suspense

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

What are you and your family reading this week?  

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.    

Camping this weekend
 

6 comments:

  1. Pity about the weather for your camping get away. And no hot water! Doesn't it make you appreciate it.
    I saw a lot of people reading Before I Fall last year. Good to know you are enjoying it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Kathryn, absolutely! I will cherish that hot shower when we get it back :)

      Before the Fall was excellent.

      Delete
  2. Your family always goes on such great adventures! Do you own the camper?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, we've had that little pop-up camper for 19 years! Purchased when our second son was an infant & we had a miserable tent camping weekend for his first time out :) We've traveled all over the country with it! Now it;s usually just my husband and I, staying pretty close to home for now, with the boys in college & my 92-year old FIL nearby.

      Delete
  3. Ugh. My reading has come to a screeching halt this week as I am attending a teacher institute that goes from 9:00am to 8:30pm every day!

    ReplyDelete