Monday, October 15, 2018

It's Monday 10/15! What Are You Reading?

So, we finally got away for a camping vacation last week...but it was cut short, due to weather, once again! That's four times this year. However, before the nasty weather hit, we did enjoy two and a half days in the Pennsylvania mountains, with beautiful forests and lakes (you can see some photos here) and then we enjoyed two more days' staycation at home. This weekend was catch-up time, with lots of household stuff to do.

Monday has started off with a bang - my car stalled on the way to my massage therapy appointment. A really nice guy who works part-time as a mechanic stopped to help and had a tow rope in his car, so he towed me to the top of the hill, where it worked again (long story). I got to my appointment 15 minutes late and then had to take the car directly to the VW dealer - where it just spent 8 weeks (I just got it back two weeks ago). Now I am back home and waiting for the appliance repairman because our dishwasher broke! Deep breath...it's only Monday and not even noon yet.

Let's think of happier things...books! Here's what we've been reading the past two weeks, since my last update:
  • I finished The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher, a YA novel about a teen girl named Emily whose dad, suffering from PTSD, emerges from the woods one night carrying the dead body of Ashlee, one of her classmates, and is unable to remember anything. Police think he murdered her, but Emily doesn't believe he is capable of that. It was very good - suspenseful and dark. I loved Christopher's first novel, Stolen.
  • Next, I continued my RIP Challenge reading for the season with The Woman in Cabin 10, a thriller by Ruth Ware. It's about a journalistic on a small cruise's maiden voyage who thinks she heard a woman murdered in the cabin next to hers. Everyone tells her that cabin is empty, though, and the more she insists and investigates, the worse things get. I really enjoyed this fast-paced dark and twisty thriller with lots of surprises.
  • Next, I had to set aside the dark and creepy stuff for a review book: The Adults by Caroline Hulse, a debut novel due out in late November. This one has a completely different tone from most of what I've been reading this month! It's a funny farce about two parents (and ex-partners) who go on a Christmas vacation with their daughter - and both of their new partners. What could go wrong? So far it is filled with drama, unexpected twists, and plenty of humor.
  • I am still listening to (and struggling with) Macbeth by Shakespeare. It's a full audio production by L.A. Theater Works with multiple actors, but I was having a little trouble (toil and trouble - ha ha) understanding the language and following the story since it's not one I ever heard/read/saw before, so I have also picked up a paper copy that my son used in high school, and I paused in my listening until I catch up with the written word. I've decided to finish reading it in print before I finish the last of the audio.
  • So, this weekend, I started a new (less difficult!) audio book, The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal. It's the first book in a new thriller series starring Nora Watts, a woman who was brought up in foster care and now lives a solitary life and looks for missing people. This case is different, though, because the missing teenager is the daughter Nora gave up for adoption 15 years ago. It's great so far and was gripping from the first chapter! It's a unique premise, setting (Vancouver), and characters, and I can't wait to hear what happens next.
  • My husband, Ken, finished The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, a book I read for Big Book Summer this year and loved. It's the story of a group of people, including some Jesuit priests, who travel to another galaxy in search of extraterrestrial life. Something horrible and tragic happens during that mission, and only one man returns (not a spoiler). The novel begins with the present (2060), after the mission, and flashes back to the first ideas of the mission, ironically in 2019 (the book was published in 1996), and gradually fills in what happened in between. It is compelling and completely unique - a very powerful and thought-provoking novel. However, it is very dark (you know from page one that things don't end well), and it was a bit too dark for Ken. He liked it OK but found it too depressing.
  • Now, Ken is reading another book I recently finished, Still Life by Louise Penny, book 1 in her classic mystery series of Chief Inspector Gamache novels. I think he's enjoying it so far, though he said the number of characters introduced in the early chapters were a bit confusing (it takes place in a small village).
  • Jamie, 24, is still reading book 3 in the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer, a big brick of a book at 1250 pages (and he's reading the hardcover!). He just came by for lunch and says he has 200 pages to go!
Blog posts from the past two weeks:
TV Tuesday: Forever - a quirky, funny yet thoughtful show starring Maya Rudolph

Teen/YA Review: Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter - survival thriller set in Alaska

Fiction Review: Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel - book 2 in the fabulous Themis Files

Saturday Snapshot: Camping in Elk Neck State Park, Maryland

Saturday Snapshot: Locust Lake and Tuscarora State Parks, Pennsylvania

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.

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

What are you and your family reading this week? 

17 comments:

  1. Oh, I am adding the Killing Woods to my TBR list. That sounds like a good one.

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  2. What a CRAZY experience with your car! Yes, I think I'd be nervous if it was Monday and not even noon, yet. LOL I was just reading back through your previous blog posts from the last two weeks and wanted to thank you for the review of Not If I Save You First. I don't read a lot of teen thrillers, but when I do I usually enjoy them. So I'll have to look into this one (especially if it's eventually available on Overdrive). Have a wonderful reading week, Sue!

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    1. Ah, yes, the perils of driving a 25-year old car. Ally Carter's written lots of good YA thrillers - her Embassy Row series is great, too. Enjoy!

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  3. My daughter went camping with her Girl Scout Troop this past weekend. My weekly updates

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  4. Wow, you’ve had a bad day. I hope it got better! A few days of vacation are better than none, so I’m glad you were able to go camping. Have a great week.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. Thanks, AJ - actually, we found out we need to get a new dishwasher so our rough day continued! Hey, that's life, right?

      At least we did enjoy a few days of vacation last week :)

      Sue

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  5. I was so excited to read your positive thoughts about The Killing Woods. I still recommend Stolen each semester. That book captivated me! I will get The Killing Woods!

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    1. Yes, I agree - Stolen was so powerful. Hope you enjoy The Killing Woods, too!

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  6. It appears that your car is cursed.
    You sure are reading a lot of thriller type books this week. I'm curious about The Lost Ones as Sheena Kamal is a Canadian author and Vancouver is my home town!

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    1. Just a fact of life when you drive a 25-year old car, Cheriee! I love my little VW convertible but it sure has been a rough year for it! I am REALLY enjoying The Lost Ones so far - I think it'll be a great series! Reading lots of thrillers, etc for the RIP Challenge - I love it every fall!

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  7. Hope this week is good for you.

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  8. Oh. I want to read The Killing Wood by Lucy Christopher. Stolne is one of my YA favorites, for sure.

    No worries about the Cybils nominations. As it turns out someone else nominated the book Facing Frederick, so it will be considered. So far over 70 non-fiction books for MG/HS have been nominated so I think all I will be reading between now and then (end of December) is teen nonfiction! Eek!

    I hope everything is getting back to normal. We had a dishwasher leak a few years back and it was a nightmare! Hope yours isn't as bad.

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    1. Oh, good - glad it worked out :) I felt bad I had missed it.

      Dishwasher had to be replaced. We found a pretty good deal but they can't install it for another week...Ken says, "Just pretend we're still camping!"

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  9. Anyone who attempts to read Brandon Sanderson has my absolute respect as a reader - he writes tomes! I think I have several of his novels, but just looking at the book's girth is so daunting.

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    1. I agree, Myra! But my son feels a book isn't worth bothering with if it's under 400 pages - lol

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