Happy Earth Day! We are finally getting some spring weather with lots of flowers and trees in bloom, though it still feels more like March than April here in the mid-Atlantic!
I had a very hectic week last week, with my husband out of town for eight days, and lots of things going on here. Some of it was fun - like my mom visiting and coming to one of my book groups with me - but all of it together was very tiring! I was glad to have my husband back home this weekend and am happy to be alone in a quiet house this morning.
It was a great reading week:
- I finished The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom for one of my book groups. I loved this novel about family and race in the late 1700's, where a young orphaned Irish girl is brought up by a family of slaves. We had a lively and interesting discussion - lots to talk about!
- I read Turnabout by Margaret Peterson Haddix next, a teen/YA novel with a fascinating premise: a pair of scientists discover a way to reverse aging and give the drug to a group of elderly people in nursing homes. The catch? They don't know how to stop the "unaging" process. The narrative switches back and forth between the start of the project and 80 years later, when two of its participants are back to their teens and still getting younger. I enjoyed this so much that I lent it to my mom for her train ride home!
- Now, I am - FINALLY - reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Am I the last person on earth to finally get to this wildly popular novel? It is excellent so far - gripping right from the first chapter and on my mind constantly!
- My husband, Ken, read an e-book on his Kindle while he was traveling, a suspense novel by Robert Crais, one of his favorite authors. This was his first time borrowing an e-book from our local library.
- Yesterday, Ken finished The Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede, as recommended by my son and I! He referred to it as Little House on the Prairie at Hogwarts, and he enjoyed it and liked the premise but said it didn't have quite enough action for his taste.
- Ken just started A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin, book 3 in his A Song of Ice and Fire series which our son loves, too.
- Our sons were both busy with school work last week, with no extra time for reading.
What are you and your family reading this week?
(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kid/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)
I'd be interested in hearing how everyone liked The Kitchen House since our opinions of it differed so much!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you're enjoying Gone Girl. That was a good one!
Have a great week!
Julie -
ReplyDeleteThere were 8 of us at book group, and everyone liked the book, except for one person - but she never likes anything we read! lol Really, it's sort of a running joke that at some point during every discussion she says, "I didn't really like this..." She is older (maybe late 70's or 80's) and prefers to read classics - but she does seem to enjoy our book group! ha ha
There were some minor complaints that either it seemed unrealistic for so many things to go wrong or there was just too much tragedy in the story, but everyone else liked it overall.
Sue
Gone Girl is a good one, glad you are enjoying it. I've heard good things about the Kitchen House. Hope you and your boys have a good reading week! We need to head to the library to get my read-a-thon book!
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy Gone Girl, it was one of my favourites last year.
ReplyDeleteI have the Kitchen Room on my TBR list.
What a great eclectic mix, excellent reading.
ReplyDeleteJust finished reading Knots and Crosses and started Haunted Grounds.
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