It's Monday 9/21! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

 

Life 

Well, last week sucked. That flare-up of my chronic illness that started last Sunday does seem to be the start of my usual fall/winter relapse. The flu-like aches, recurring sore throats, and low energy continued all week. I did manage to vote in Delaware's primary on Tuesday (thanks to my handicapped parking placard and my husband driving!), but I skipped my neighborhood book group Wednesday. Then I got a message that my beloved primary care doctor left the practice; they gave us no prior notice. Online, I found her at a concierge practice in a nearby town. I may have to pay the fee to see her again, if her replacement can't help with my very complex disease, but our system is seriously broken if you can only get access to good doctors if you are able to pay high annual fees to see them. It was so upsetting.

 

I voted!

My son's wedding is this Sunday, so I am resting as much as possible, in the hopes that it will help. That means spending as much time as possible lying flat on the couch (I'm typing this lying down in bed). Despite that, I felt much, much worse this weekend, so I also started going to bed earlier (even under the best of circumstances, I need a lot of sleep). My energy is better this morning, though the flu-like aches are still there. My dear friend swapped podiatrist appointments with me (mine was Friday - sore toe and dress shoes are a bad combo!), so I'll go to that today. The rest of the week will be Operation Aggressive Rest! I should be able to get some extra reading done at least. 

 

Resting with a view!

Tickseed in bloom in the garden

September means asters in bloom!

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 On Video

The Big List of Shorty Recommendations Book Tag - Here, I recommend 5 short books (under 250 pages & some under 100 pages) that are less well-known, both fiction and nonfiction. What's your favorite short book?

 Weekly Reading Wrap-Up: So Many Good Books! - As one viewer commented, my reading month so far is really fun! I am flying through shorter books with a darker tone: mystery, thriller, sci fi, and more.

 

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 What We're Reading

I'm enjoying fall reading, with several fun reading events I always look forward to: RIP XXI (Readers Imbibing Peril - my 11th year!), Shorty September, Series September, and Sci Fi September.

 

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle was my favorite book as a child, and I read (and still own) several books in the series. I realized that although I've reread the first book several times as an adult, I hadn't done the same with the rest of the series, so I am rereading book 2, A Wind in the Door. In it, the main characters from the first book, Meg (the big sister), Charles Wallace (the genius little brother), and Calvin (Meg's friend) are faced with a new challenge: Charles Wallace seems to have some sort of mysterious illness, affecting his mitochondria and leaving him exhausted and unable to function. They once again meet some unusual non-human beings who help them in their new quest to cure Charles Wallace. I loved being back in this world with these characters. I had completely forgotten about Charles Wallace getting sick in this novel and was stunned by the similarities between what's happening to him and my own illness (in which the mitochondria are heavily involved), so that added an interesting twist as an adult. I just love this series!

 

Now, I am reading Bear Tooth by Callan Wink for both Shorty September and RIP XXI. It was recommended by the booksellers at Northshire Bookstore in Vermont, at Booktopia, that fun book weekend I attend every year. This outdoor suspense novel sounded great, so I gave it to my husband for his birthday last year. Two brothers in their mid-twenties live off the grid in the Bear Tooth Mountains, near Yellowstone National Park. Their father died recently, and the older brother is struggling to pay the medical debt from his father's illness and to keep the log cabin properly maintained. When their truck needs a costly repair, they enter into an agreement with a dangerous man and embark on an illegal mission. It's been excellent so far, with in-depth character development and a growing tension, as they get deeper into trouble.

 

My next pick on audio qualified for all four reading events this month! A Warp in Time by Jude Watson is book 3 in the Horizon middle-grade series of sci fi thrillers. This is one of those kids' series where each book has a different author. Book 1, Horizon, was written by Scott Westerfeld, and book 2, Dead Zone, by Jennifer A. Nielsen. In book 1, a group of kids on their way to a robotics competition  survive a plane crash and find themselves in an unusual place. Plants and animals are different than anything they've ever seen or heard of, and they encounter strange technology, like a device that can control gravity. The stars in the night sky look the same, so they assume they are still on Earth but nothing is familiar. The group of kids are walking through this bizarre terrain, trying to find a way to get home or be rescued. Here, in book 3, they encounter another group of kids, also stranded from a plane crash, for the first time, but something is different about these kids. As the title indicates, this novel plays with time, which is a favorite trope of mine, so I enjoyed it very much. In fact, this fast-paced, twisty, suspenseful novel was my favorite of the series so far.

 

Next, I listened to another dark middle-grade novel on audio, Ghost in the Night by Tiffany D. Jackson (her books are always winners for me, especially in fall). Twelve-year-old Harmony recently lost her grandmother, so when her dad, a jazz musician, goes on tour, she joins him. Harmony misses her grandmother, her friends, and her home in Harlem. Something strange happened in their apartment before they left, and Harmony's become fascinated by ghosts, so she goes on ghost tours in the cities they visit (the opening scene is in New Orleans). They end up in Savannah, which is renowned as the most haunted city in the nation. On this ghost tour, Harmony, a budding photographer takes a photo of a "haunted" house and sees something strange in a window. She and her two new friends investigate. I think this was also my favorite of Jackson's novel so far, a mystery thriller with lots of suspense and a ghostly theme but also plenty of heart and emotional depth.

 

For my next audio, I wanted more sci fi--and specifically time travel--so I picked a novel pretty randomly from Libby! I'm listening to The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi. Beth is a scientist who figured out time travel. She and her husband founded a company to test out her theories, but her husband died, leaving Beth with their young daughter, Isabella. The time travel machine they invented with their team sends a person's consciousness back to re-experience a memory from their life, for just 90 seconds. It seems entirely random which memory is chosen. As with all time travel plots, this one is already thought-provoking: what memory would you want to travel back to again? I'm enjoying it so far, and I'm looking forward to see where it goes.

 

My husband finished reading 52 Pickup by Elmore Leonard. He enjoys Leonard's noir thrillers, and a friend on Booktube recommended this one, so I gave it to him for Father's Day. He enjoyed it. 

 

Ken is now reading Hi Five by Joe Ide, book 4 in his IQ series of thrillers set in L.A., another Father's Day gift from me. He loves this series!

 

Our son, 32, is still reading Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson, book 5 of his famed Stormlight Archive series. He said he loves the way that Sanderson weaves connections among all of his Cosmere books. Can't wait to see him at his brother's wedding this weekend!

 

Our daughter-in-law-to-be finished reading Dust, by Hugh Howey, book three in his Silo series that began with Wool, after finishing Shift, book two (my reviews at the links). I'm happy she enjoyed this fabulous series as much as we did, and she and our son are now on season 2 of the TV adaptation, Silo, and are loving it! My husband and I are currently watching season 3. After hearing all of us talk about it this weekend, our older son said he wanted to see the TV show ... but first wants to read the books! I love when books make their way through our whole family.

 

She texted me when she finished and said the ending was great, but she hated to leave the characters and this world. I gave her the good news that Howey wrote a collection of short stories, Machine Learning, that includes three Silo stories! When she dropped off my hemmed dress, I lent it to her. 

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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:

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  What are you and your family reading this week? 

It's Monday 9/14! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life 

Nothing much happened last week! We are continuing to prepare for our son's wedding (less than two weeks away now!), so I got my dress hemmed, got shoes, we finalized the arrangements for the rehearsal dinner, and I made a photo book (I love Snapfish!) for them as a wedding gift. 

Unfortunately, my health continues to be a struggle. I didn't have any bad "crash" days last week (until Sunday), but my energy was low all week. It took me an hour to drive to the seamstress (due to a traffic accident and detour) mid-week, and I had a doctor's appointment Friday. Our oldest and dearest friends came over Saturday evening and brought take-out. 

I felt much better Saturday--and didn't even overexert since I was working on the photo book--but I woke up feeling awful on Sunday. I was exhausted after a good night's sleep and had a sore throat that was very severe by evening. Sore throat is a sign that my immune system is over-reacting and is often the start of a bad crash or even a months-long relapse ... so I was pretty freaked out! My husband told me I was spiraling (he was right). I went to bed early, slept well and feel a bit better today, but the flu-like aches have set in, so I'm still terrified! My only goal is to feel OK for my son's wedding. I am typing this while lying on the couch, and I plan to stay horizontal as much as possible for the next two weeks. Fingers crossed that will do the trick. 

 So, I don't have many photos to share this week! 

This is the plant my older son and his fiancee gave me for Mother's Day. It's a national park plant, and this one is Acadia (my favorite park). It came as a kit with teeny, tiny seeds that I worried I didn't even get into the soil, but it's doing great! I planted it in late July, and it's growing quickly now.

 

And this is my comfy spot on the couch. This is where I set up my home base when my symptoms flare up, so I plan to spend a lot of time here!

 

 

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 On Video

 

Big Book Summer 2026 Wrap-Up - In this video, I summarize both the overall reading event, as well as what I read this year. We had more participants than ever before! I I set a personal record (though it isn't about quantity) of reading 15 big books this summer, 8 in print and 7 on audio. My apologies to my blogging friends--I started a wrap-up post for my blog but just didn't have the time/energy to finish it.

Weekly Reading Wrap-Up: The Start of Fall Reading - We're all enjoying darker stuff for fall, including thrillers, mysteries, fantasy, sci fi, and a disaster novel. 

 

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 What We're Watching

 

My husband and I enjoyed watching The Madison this summer, a very different kind of TV series from the creator of Yellowstone (and all its spin-offs). It features a wealthy family that lives in a fancy Manhattan apartment. Michelle Pfeiffer plays mom Stacy, and Kurt Russell plays her beloved husband, Preston. As the show opens, Preston is visiting his brother, Paul, in Montana, where they both love fly fishing, living in rustic cabins, and enjoying the beautiful scenery. In the very first episode, Preston and Paul set out in a small, private plane (Paul is a pilot) for a remote fishing spot. They get caught in a storm, the plane crashes, and they both die. Stacy is wracked with grief but immediately gathers her family together to fly to Montana. Accompanying her are her older daughter, Abigail (played by Beau Garrett), Abigail's two daughters, her younger daughter, Paige (played by Elle Chapman), and Paige's husband, Russell (played by Patrick J. Adams of Suits fame). It's an all-star cast, and they deliver! Stacy finds comfort in this place that was so important to Preston, while the rest of the crew suffer from culture shock and struggle with the rustic accommodations (including an outhouse). It is a story about grief, but there is also plenty of warmth and humor, all set against the breathtaking backdrop of nature: mountains, rivers, meadows, and gorgeous light. My husband and I both loved this beautiful, well-made show and are looking forward to season 2!

 

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 What We're Reading

I dove into fall reading last week, with several fun reading events I always look forward to: RIP XXI (Readers Imbibing Peril - my 11th year!), Shorty September, and Series September. And I just added a new event to my reading plans: Sci Fi September.

 After finishing my Big Book Summer reading last Monday, I read my first shorty of the month, Tilt by Emma Pattee. This brief disaster novel focuses on a woman in Portland, OR, who is nine months pregnant and shopping for a crib at IKEA when a huge earthquake hits. This is the one experts have been warning about. Annie manages to crawl out from under the rubble and leave the store, along with dozens of other stunned, injured people. Her purse and phone are irretrievable, and her only thought is to get to the cafe where her husband is working. The novel follows Annie as she walks--hugely pregnant with swollen feet in Birkenstocks and an injured arm--across the city to find her husband, Dom. Chapters in the present alternate with chapters of Annie thinking back over her life: to her brief stint in college, meeting Dom for the first time, through their early years together, the pregnancy, and up to the present day. While there is plenty of tension and suspense, as Annie encounters crushed buildings, other people both injured and dead, looting, and one challenge after another, this is also a novel with emotional depth. Annie's been ambivalent about the pregnancy, unsure if she is equipped to become a mother, and struggling in her relationship with Dom. All of that comes to the surface as she is literally struggling to survive. It's a very moving, thoughtful story, not just of survival, but also of marriage and parenthood.

 

Next up, I turned to the past ... my past! A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle was my favorite book as a child, and I read (and still own) the entire series. I realized that although I've reread the first book several times as an adult, I hadn't done the same with the rest of the series, so I am rereading book 2, A Wind in the Door. In it, the main characters from the first book, Meg (the big sister), Charles Wallace (the genius little brother), and Calvin (Meg's friend) are faced with a new challenge: Charles Wallace seems to have some sort of mysterious illness, affecting his mitochondria. They once again meet some unusual non-human beings who help them in their new quest. I just started it this weekend and am loving being back in this world with these characters. I had completely forgotten about Charles Wallace getting sick in this novel and was stunned by the similarities between what's happening to him and my own illness (in which the mitochondria are heavily involved), so that adds an interesting twist as an adult. I just love this series!

 

On audio, I listened to Missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones, a YA mystery/suspense novel. Two best friends, Cam and Blair, are taking a journalism class in high school. For their main project, they decide to make a podcast about a famous case in their small town in Washington: Clarissa, a girl their age who went missing 20 years earlier and whose case remains unsolved. They think it will be fun, but as they start to interview people and do research into the case, it becomes something much more important to them. There is plenty of suspense as the two girls dig into this renowned case, and it's clear that the more they learn, the more dangerous it becomes. In addition to the mystery aspects, the novel also looks at the ethical questions surrounding the true crime genre. It was well-written and excellent on audio; I enjoyed it very much.

 

My next pick on audio qualifies for all four reading events this month! A Warp in Time by Jude Watson is book 3 in the Horizon middle-grade series of sci fi thrillers. This is one of those kids' series where each book has a different author. Book 1, Horizon, was written by Scott Westerfeld, and book 2, Dead Zone, by Jennifer A. Nielsen. In book 1, a group of kids on their way to a robotics competition  survive a plane crash and find themselves in an unusual place. Plants and animals are different than anything they've ever seen or heard of, and they encounter strange technology, like a device that can control gravity. The stars in the night sky look the same, so they assume they are still on Earth but nothing is familiar. The group of kids are walking through this bizarre terrain, trying to find a way to get home or be rescued. Here, in book 3, they encounter another group of kids for the first time, but something is different about these kids. As the title indicates, this novel plays with time, which is a favorite trope of mine, so I'm enjoying it very much.

 

My husband is reading 52 Pickup by Elmore Leonard. He enjoys Leonard's noir thrillers, and a friend on Booktube recommended this one, so I gave it to him for Father's Day.

 

Our son, 32, is still reading Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson, book 5 of his famed Stormlight Archive series. He said he loves the way that Sanderson weaves connections among all of his Cosmere books. I texted with him yesterday, and he said he'd enjoyed some reading time this weekend!

 

Our daughter-in-law-to-be is reading Dust, by Hugh Howey, book three in his Silo series that began with Wool, after finishing Shift, book two (my reviews at the links). I'm happy she's enjoying this series as much as we did, and she and our son are now on season 2 of the TV adaptation, Silo, and are loving it! My husband and I are currently watching season 3. After hearing all of us talk about it this weekend, our older son said he wanted to see the TV show ... but first wants to read the books! I love when books make their way through our whole family.

 __________

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:

Facebook on my blog's page

Instagram

Threads 

Twitter 

 

  What are you and your family reading this week?