Monday, January 31, 2011

It's Monday 1/31! What Are You Reading?

Well, I am very glad to say hello to a new week!  As you may have read in my last post, I spent every waking moment last week trying to resolve computer problems, so I was unable to do any blogging - reading or writing - or anything else, for that matter!  It was an exhausting, stressful week.  I think (she says hopefully) that everything is OK now - it took a 4th trip to The Apple Store on Sunday.  So far, so good, but I'm still holding my breath a bit.

Reading saved my sanity last week!!  I kept my book with me while I was sitting at the computer desk for hours at a time and read while I waited for various things to load, erase, and re-load.  Here's what we read last week:
  • I finished Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, the novel about teens who turn into wolves and vice-versa, and ended up loving it!  A very pleasant surprise since I don't usually like paranormal romance.
  • Next, I read one of my Christmas presents from my husband, Ken: Room by Emma Donoghue.  WOW.  What an amazing book.  One of the best I've read.  I finished it on Saturday, and I'm still thinking about it.
  • Now I'm reading a middle-grade novel, Eliza's Freedom Road: An Underground Railroad Diary by Jerdine Nolen.  It's very good so far - fascinating.
  • I just moments ago finished an audio book, The Three Weissmann's of Westport by Cathleen Schine.  It really grew on me; I enjoyed it.
  • My husband, Ken, read Gone by Lisa McMann, the last book in the teen trilogy, Wake and Fade.
  • During one of my 4 trips to the mall to fix my computer, I stopped into Borders and treated myself to some new books with my Christmas gift cards - that cheered me up a bit!  I also browsed the BOGOF clearance rack and got two for me and two for Ken.  He started one of them this week, Golf Dads by Curt Sampson, a book of essays about fathers, sons, and golf (right up his alley!)
  • He has also started Under the Dome by Stephen King, a big undertaking at 1074 pages!  We've both been wanting to read that one.
  • Jamie, 16, read The Books of Umber 2: Dragon Games by P.W. Catanese, a series he is really enjoying.  He wanted to re-read Book 1 first but couldn't find it.  Could it be we have too many books in this house??   He thinks he read another book this week but can't remember what it was.  Besides the computer problems, we had several snow days last week - things are just in turmoil around here!
  • Today Jamie started The Islands of the Blessed by Nancy Farmer, the last book in the trilogy that began with The Sea of Trolls.
  • Jamie is also reading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald for his American Literature class.  Definitely an American classic.
  • Craig, 13, is reading The Last Hunt by Bruce Coville, the fourth and final book in one of his all-time favorite series, The Unicorn Chronicles.
I guess that about covers it.  No reviews last week since I was without a computer for most of it, though I did have fun posting Top Ten Books I Wish I'd Read as a Kid on Great Books for Kids and Teens during a brief hiatus in the internet black-out.  Hopefully, I can get back on track this week and catch up on some reviews (after I finish the 400 unread e-mails waiting for me!).  Wow, this post ended up being really long.  Sorry I was so chatty - I missed you guys!

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

3 comments:

  1. Just today I abandoned Anthropology of an American Girl. It was way too wordy and trying too hard to be "deep". At 600 pages, I just didn't think I could stomach it. I gave up after about 100 pages. Now I'm focusing on Mary Tudor: Princess, Bastard, Queen a non-fiction book that I usually just read at bedtime. I love all things Tudor and this book written in a very accessible style. Not quite like a novel, but the history is presented in an easily understandable way. I'm enjoying it.

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  2. Wow, that does sound like a rough one, Pam.

    I was about to say I'm not a big fan of historical non-fiction but I have enjoyed some, if they're well-written. Glad you're enjoying that one.

    Sue

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  3. Welcome back! Glad to hear all is better with the computer. I read while things are loading, erasing or saving, too :) So glad that you liked Room as I'm still one of very few to not have read it yet. I hope you both like Under the Dome--if you're a big Stephen King, you should, despite its enourmous length :D

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